I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

The meeting ended after 9 p.m.

Lin Ye followed Cheng Fang out of B5. As soon as they reached the underground transport passage, the isolation door in front of them slowly rose.

A refrigerated transport truck drove in.

The car door opened, and there were no injured people inside.

There was only one row of black body bags.

Staff pushed the transport cots forward, checking the numbers one by one. Laminated name tags hung next to the zippers, swaying with the trolley.

Jiang Yue.

Feng Jin.

Lin Ye stopped walking.

People who were eating compressed biscuits together in the mountains just a few days ago are now being packed into uniformly sized bags, and even their heights are just a single line of numbers on a chart.

Cheng Fang walked over and took the handover form.

"Have all identities been verified?"

"Everything has been confirmed and completed."

The staff turned to the next page.

"Personal belongings are in the back vehicle. Equipment needs to be cleared out before being handed over to the family."

Cheng Fang glanced at Jiang Yue's body bag.

"Stop washing."

The staff member looked up.

"What?"

"The equipment will be sealed as is."

Cheng signed his name on the handover form.

"Keep the bloodstains and damaged areas, and also attach a statement of the operation."

"clear."

Tang Zhi stood behind, her right wrist still in a sling. She usually chatted with everyone she met, but this time she simply moved aside to make way for the transport bed.

Xu Mian hugged the gun case and looked down at the ground.

Qin Zhao stood on the other side of the passage, waiting for the last cart to pass before speaking:

"Let's go."

No one said goodbye.

In a place like this, saying anything is superfluous.

The equipment area was still lit up.

Lin Ye placed the Zhenling Nail into the inspection slot, and a red warning message quickly appeared on the screen.

Internal structure overload.

The estimated maintenance time is 48 hours.

The discarded protective stone fragments were placed separately in an evidence bag. The surface patterns had all faded, leaving only a few cracks.

The administrator glanced at it.

"This can't be repaired."

"I can tell."

Lin Ye pressed his chest.

"It's completely unusable."

Beside her, Tang Zhi was using her left hand to disassemble the wire-pulling control ring.

Several threads had broken, and the remaining ones were worn to varying degrees. The administrator tried to take them, but she wouldn't let go.

"Can you exchange it for a new one?"

"It can be repaired."

The administrator glanced at her right wrist, which was in a sling.

"Let's focus on healing first, and fix things slowly later."

Tang Zhi then handed the items over.

Cheng Fang's protective suit had a long tear in the shoulder, and Qin Zhao's medicine box was completely empty. Xu Mian sat at the table cleaning the gun, changing the cleaning cloth twice, but mud was still coming out of the barrel.

Lin Ye sat down next to her.

"Is the mud from the mountains trying to settle down?"

Xu Mian looked up at him.

"What?"

"Refusing to leave."

She looked down at the gun barrel, and after two seconds, whispered:

"possible."

Lin Ye didn't bother her anymore.

After returning the equipment, the group was called back to the storage room.

There was no battle scene on the screen.

There is only one simplified result of the action.

The All Souls Bible has been moved to B5.

The giant bear's remains were transferred to the abnormal creature research area.

Most of the records, residual bone, and tissue samples from the Black Locust Ridge training ground have been recovered.

Zhuyin took away two pieces of beast cultivation bone, a burst technique, and some human meridian imprints.

The person in charge of the debriefing paused here.

"This operation was not a complete victory."

"But the core objective has been achieved."

No one responded.

Screen switching.

An enlarged view of the space anchor appears above.

Rice grain size.

It was so dark it was barely noticeable.

"The installer cannot be identified at this time."

"Before the vehicle was evacuated, there were quite a few people who had access to vehicle number two. We will continue to investigate from all three directions: internal leaks, external infiltration, and the Zhuyin Society's prior knowledge of the vehicle's arrangement."

Cheng Fang nodded.

The matter was then put on hold.

The review team turned off the projector but did not adjourn the meeting.

He took a document out from under the table.

"There is one more notice."

Tang Zhi leaned back in her chair.

"Overtime notice?"

"Personnel adjustments".

The file was pushed to the center of the desktop.

"The second field reserve team is no longer in reserve status, effective today."

"Formally incorporated into the field operations sequence, retaining the second group number."

Tang Zhi sat up a little straighter.

Xu Mian also raised her head.

"Cheng Fang will continue to serve as the team leader."

"Xu Mian, Tang Zhi, and Qin Zhao will retain their original positions."

"Lin Ye's temporary assignment has ended, and he has officially become a member of Group Two."

Lin Ye looked at his own name.

From being temporarily placed into the training group to fighting their way back from Black Locust Ridge, this piece of paper was lighter than I had imagined.

No one inside the room applauded.

Tang Zhi stared at the document for a while.

Will injury benefits increase?

"rise."

"What about holidays?"

"Three days."

She nodded.

"This is more practical."

Cheng Fang took the documents away.

"Submit the report first."

Tang Zhi looked up at him.

"The team name has been officially approved, why hasn't yours been approved yet?"

"Switch to what?"

"Turn like a human being."

Qin Zhao coughed softly.

Xu Mian lowered her head, and the corners of her mouth twitched.

The atmosphere in the room finally eased a little.

Before the meeting ended, Zhou Heng came to find Lin Ye.

"The Book of All Souls briefly provides a short-term energy supply."

"It took the initiative to initiate communication."

Lin Ye glanced at the time.

"Now?"

"It will only last three minutes."

Inside the B5 isolation room, the silver-gray storage box remained in its original position.

After the power supply was connected, the spirit did not take the roundabout route like last time.

"Let's put the matter of inheritance aside for now."

Lin Ye repeated what he had said before asking:

"Have you figured it out?"

"You people from the Seventh Division are too cowardly."

"Then keep it locked up."

The spirit remained silent for a few seconds.

"The cultivation method can be changed."

Zhou Heng looked up from the observation room.

Lin Ye said: "What can I exchange for it?"

"Stabilize the spiritual energy."

"Repairing the materials of the classics."

"And also information from your era."

"I will give you basic cultivation knowledge."

"One segment at a time."

Lin Ye asked, "You're not going to become an apprentice?"

"Will you cooperate?"

"They definitely won't cooperate."

"Then what's there to say?"

Zhou Heng spoke through the earpiece:

"Tell him that the plan can be evaluated."

"All content must be verified separately and must not include breathing, luck, or consciousness guidance."

Lin Ye relayed the information.

The spirit snorted coldly.

"I only taught him three sentences last time."

"They almost landed me in the emergency room."

"Your poor health is my fault?"

"If you teach me a few more times, I'm afraid my body will need to be moved to another place."

The spirit did not respond to that sentence.

After a moment, he said:

"Let's start with those that don't involve the human body."

Lin Ye looked toward the observation room.

Zhou Heng raised his hand.

Power supply interrupted.

The spirit's voice then disappeared.

The deal fell through.

But he finally agreed to move from "accepting apprentices" to "trading".

That's enough.

When Lin Ye left Qi Chu, it was drizzling outside.

There weren't many people in the parking area, and the streetlights made the wet ground look white.

Cheng called out to him from the doorway.

"Three days off."

"Are you really going to release it?"

We will let you know if anything happens.

"The second half of the sentence can be omitted."

Cheng Fang ignored him and turned back into the building.

Lin Ye stood by the roadside and took out his phone.

The message Lu Zhixia sent a few days ago is still at the top.

Tell me when you get back.

He clicked on the input box.

The mission is over, I'm fine.

After typing, I looked at it for two seconds.

Then I deleted them all.

My chest still hurts.

The back of my hand was also swollen.

Someone has returned.

Some people didn't come back.

Lin Ye only sent three words in the end.

came back.

My phone vibrated as soon as the message was delivered.

It was Lu Zhixia calling.

The forest is connected.

There was no small talk on the other end of the phone.

"Where?"

"Seven intersections outside."

"Wait."

The phone hangs up.