Deep into the night, within the pristine white hospital room, machines operated while the healing series’ sealant radiated a halo of light, enveloping the room.
A man, resembling a withered husk, lay on the hospital bed.
His expression was extremely weary.
He slowly opened his eyes.
"Mr. Hong Zhong, you’re awake."
Outside the hospital room, many were waiting. Now, sitting at Hong Zhong’s bedside was a tall and burly man with a face as fierce as a wild beast’s, yet with an unexpectedly gentle voice.
Hong Zhong extended his desiccated hand to rub his forehead.
It was still searing hot.
The world seemed to spin, and he felt light as a blade of grass, ready to be engulfed by the waves at any moment.
"My surname is Zou, Zou Hai, I am Vice Officer to Quasi-General Lin Lin," Zou Hai said slowly.
"You’ve been in a coma for three days now..."
The military had initially prepared to conduct a final Spiritual Assessment on this fortunate "survivor," but then, Hong Zhong suddenly lost consciousness.
Something odd appeared on the ledger of life and death.
His "spiritual existence trace" had vanished, yet bizarrely, signs of life persisted... This man lying on the hospital bed still had a beating heart, and theoretically, he could continue to live simply by being administered nutrient solutions.
No one had ever encountered such a situation before.
Thus, the Spiritual Analysts of Gu Castle Fortress could only choose to wait.
Three days later, they finally witnessed the "patient’s" awakening.
"Spiritual... Assessment..."
This phrase seemed to pull Hong Zhong back to the real world.
He was like a ghost wandering outside of reality, just returning from a sleepwalk, his gaunt face so pale it was devoid of any color. Upon hearing Zou Hai’s name, he repeated it softly and subconsciously.
The memories in Hong Zhong’s mind began to stir vividly once again.
"I recognize you... Vice Officer Zou."
This was Quasi-General Lin Lin’s right-hand man at Gu Castle Fortress, someone he had met before setting off with the Investigation Corps.
Hong Zhong coughed violently.
Memories flooded back like a tidal wave, and this withered man who had been lying still for three days suddenly remembered his "mission." He became agitated, grasping Zou Hai’s hand tightly.
Hong Zhong sat up, clenched his teeth, and said hoarsely, "Mission thirty-eight of the maze... the investigation succeeded, the seventeenth exploratory route is correct, I... I’ve seen ’the Oasis’!"
His emotions were extremely agitated.
At the side of the bed, bottles and jars, nutrient solutions, glucose, all shook violently.
Vice Officer Zou’s expression became somewhat complicated.
He gently extended a hand, covering Hong Zhong’s, signaling him to calm down.
This gaunt man looked as if he might collapse at any moment, but the first words he spoke upon regaining consciousness were to report the major discovery of this mission... How could anyone doubt the dedication of such a committed investigator?
This was an old soldier.
He had been in the Investigation Corps for nearly twenty years.
"What about the others?" Zou Hai asked softly.
Yet this seemingly inconsequential question.
Felt like a heavy hammer blow.
The hospital room suddenly fell silent... Hong Zhong, struggling to sit up, was suddenly plunged into bewilderment, struck by that question.
"I... I don’t know..."
Hong Zhong’s mind went blank.
A sadness welled up within him.
He stared down blankly, watching the tears fall onto the bedsheet.
Hong Zhong murmured, "I can’t remember..."
He could no longer recall the details of "Mission Thirty-Eight."
Those memories had become fragmented light, floating in the air.
Shattered, like pieces of a mirror.
Whenever he tried to remember, those memories would shimmer with Holy Light, piercing into his mind.
Zou Hai sat silently by the bed, no longer speaking.
The six-member investigation squad was the optimal solution given by the Deep Sea for exploring the maze, with the Old World’s Snow Mountain Canyon to the north of Gu Castle now shattered, making it impractical for large exploration parties.
And in this elite team, only Hong Zhong had returned.
For the Investigation Corps, what mattered most was not just the "results of the investigation" but every person who could return alive.
In the Old World, there were too many mysteries.
A person’s "verbal account" could hardly serve as substantial evidence.
"We need to know... the process."
After a long while, once Hong Zhong’s mental state had stabilized, Vice Officer Zou spoke again. His fierce, rugged face softened with a hint of apology, and he said gently, "There’s no need for tension; we will request a sufficiently reliable Spiritual Transcendent... to perform a check for you."
Must be verified through a "Spiritual Assessment."
It was not that the officials were heartless... but in similar events of the past, the Investigation Corps had paid a heavy price for mistakes made in "trust."
"Is it... you don’t trust me...?"
Hong Zhong’s now stable mental state once again became tense.
He gripped Zou Hai’s hand nervously, trying to hold on to the tall man as he prepared to rise and leave, then he began to fumble around himself, muttering, "I have evidence... I have evidence... I saw ’the Oasis,’ and I saw living people there, I have proof..."
"We’ve already submitted that piece of wood," Zou Hai replied.