A blanket of silence.
The eighteen Transcendents of the Investigation Corps, draped in white linen robes, silently watched the nearly hundred Gu Castle Soldiers on the opposite side.
Both sides were silent.
The matter of Hong Zhong, the entire Northern Continent Border had become aware of it, and not just the Second Team of the Investigation Corps.
Everyone, the North Continent Fortress, the nobles of Central City, as well as the three great generals... All Transcendents on the soil of the North Continent were paying attention to the latest developments of this event, waiting for news from "Oasis."
And this case was not classified; every Transcendent could see the mental state of Hong Zhong.
This was a man who had burnt out everything.
From what could be seen in the case files up to now... he indeed was a hero.
A title well deserved.
Thus, after learning about the "Maze Mission," some people from Northern Continent Central City expressed dissatisfaction with the military’s actions, and others posted protests on the deep water area forum; initially, these waves of public opinion were insignificant but with time becoming increasingly intense, they had already formed considerable pressure.
The mental state of this returnee was too poor, unsuitable for undertaking an assessment; the best approach was to wait peacefully.
Thus they could only keep dragging it out, forming such a repetitive vicious cycle.
Lin Lin spoke softly, "If you are done, please feel free to leave."
Yuan Yuan fell into silence.
In fact, before they set out, he had guessed that this was the only response his group could get in Gu Castle.
The accompanying Transcendents from the Investigation Corps were taken away from this place.
While Yuan Yuan was brought by Zou Hai to the adjacent observation room, the voice of Vice Officer Zou was no longer as harsh as before but had returned to being mild, "Just wait... As soon as the assessment results are out, you all may take the man and leave."
Yuan Yuan lowered his eyelids, not uttering a word.
The Spirit Transcenders of the Gu Castle Fortress were now in place... Spiritual Assessment actually didn’t need tremendously powerful skills; it was an art that all Spiritual Extraordinaries could master.
The most prominent feature of this art was that it required the consumption of mental energy from both parties.
This also led to the necessity for the mental examiner’s level to be higher than that of the examinee... Otherwise, the results of the assessment would be meaningless.
The man lying on the hospital bed was in a severely poor state.
His consciousness was very scattered.
As if a lost person free-floating in a dream.
Awake and dreaming, no longer under control.
Next to the bed, the treatment seal was constantly emitting a glow, an experienced veteran among the Spiritual Extraordinaries quietly waited; what was needed now was... waiting for Hong Zhong to open his eyes.
Then to perform hypnosis and enter the dream together.
The instrument measuring vital signs steadily traced its curves, under the glow of the sealing artifact, Hong Zhong slowly became conscious.
That Transcendent cast an inquiring look towards the observation room.
Lin Lin nodded, effectively giving the order.
"Spiritual Assessment test... begin."
The moment Hong Zhong opened his eyes, his consciousness was chaotic, subconsciously recalling something significant... Before he could report the success of the Maze Mission for the third time, he saw a warm glow.
That glow was as gentle as a mother’s embrace.
His face, which was about to become anxious, slowly turned gentle, and his facial muscles relaxed.
He was being hypnotized.
"The techniques of this Spiritual Transcendent are very skilled," Gu Shen quietly observed, his inner voice whispering, "This way of entering dreams is extremely gentle..."
"But the situation is not good."
Chu Ling calmly stated, "Hong Zhong’s vital signs have fluctuated."
The steady curves on the instrument had fluctuated.
Looking at the instrument, the Spiritual Transcendent felt somewhat nervous.
Although it was the least demanding assessment, it still required some spiritual power... This kind of assessment would be the same for anyone, but he always worried about accidents occurring until he saw the approving look from the Quasi-General in the observation room, which restored his calm.
"You are now in the warm sea, in the embrace of light, don’t be nervous, don’t be afraid, just relax..."
The voice, laden with gentle spirit, blossomed within the ward.
Hong Zhong’s pained expression slowly softened.
The life-support machine returned to stability.
The mental examiner sighed in relief and spoke softly, "Hong Zhong, you can let go of all concerns, speak of what you’ve seen, what you’ve heard... What did you encounter in mission thirty-eight of the labyrinth..."
This was the most anticipated news by the North Continent Army!
What exactly had Hong Zhong and that elite team encountered?
"I saw the skies filled with light, the melting snow, I saw... an oasis..."
The moment those words were spoken, Yuan Yuan’s eyes lit up.
Under the state of entering a dream, it was impossible to lie... This meant that the "oasis" Hong Zhong mentioned wasn’t fabricated!
The mental examiner gently guided.
His voice began to tremble, and his emotions started to surge as he said, "I also saw... them..."
The mental examiner asked softly, "Who are they...?"
The instrument’s curve began to fluctuate.
Gu Shen furrowed his brows, the file showed that the psychic states of the entire elite team had shattered, and after Hong Zhong’s return, he also exhibited a "feigned death" phenomenon, a kind of spiritual feigned death that could deceive the ledger of life and death usually without leading to changes in vital signs, which was why Gu Castle insisted on conducting a spiritual assessment; Hong Zhong’s life-support curve had been steady these past few days.
During the mental assessment process, fluctuations appeared in Hong Zhong’s life presence.
"Old Yao, Yuan Zi..."
Hong Zhong’s voice was hoarse, mentioning "their" names, who were his teammates in the elite squad...
His eyes became moist, and murky tears flowed down.
"I... I... I’m sorry for them..."
Investigation Corps Second Team, labyrinth mission elite squad, a total of six people, five dead.
Only he returned alone.
This was a survivor’s miracle, yet also a heart-wrenching tragedy.
The instrument’s curve began to fluctuate, the mental examiner grew anxious, he sped up his speech, there were still many questions in this assessment: "How did you manage to come back, what exactly did your team encounter..."
The instrument emitted an alarm sound.
The emaciated man lying on the bed slowly shifted his head, he lay sideways looking towards the mental examiner.
Hong Zhong’s eyes bulged, resembling snake eyes.
The man exhaled his last breath.
"I’m sorry for them."
On the instrument, the life curve that had begun to violently fluctuate within a mere few seconds.
At this moment, completely flatlined.