Major Kris took a deep breath and turned to Ethan:
"That's why, even though what you destroyed was just an immature organ, its potential danger was off the charts!"
"The merit you've earned this time is far greater than you can imagine!"
"You didn't just save yourselves—you may have prevented a future disaster. The base and the military will recommend you for the highest honors! But for now, you need to rest, and…"
Major Kris's expression turned grave.
"After you leave the base, do not mention to anyone that you destroyed the Mutated Heart. It could cost you your lives!"
"Remember—you were just a group of students taking shelter from the monster tide at the base. You had nothing to do with the dungeon incident."
Ethan and the others felt a chill run down their spines.
The appearance of the Mutated Heart and the Demon God Apostle was clearly no accident.
A single name flashed through all their minds: Cultists of the Fallen Gods.
It was a name that cast a shadow over governments and militaries across the globe.
They were not a traditional religious group worshiping a specific deity—instead, they were a fanatical coalition of extremists and terrorists who pursued the forbidden power of the Demon Gods at all costs.
Their core doctrine preached that the current world order was destined to collapse, and only by embracing and sacrificing themselves to the Demon Gods of chaos and destruction could they gain blessings and immortality in the new era.
They viewed the Demon Gods' power as the only path to evolution, willing to burn Blue Star to the ground to achieve their goals.
"Alright, go get some rest now."
The conference room door closed softly behind Ethan and the others, cutting off the outside noise.
But the atmosphere inside the room didn't lighten up—in fact, it grew even more tense and murderous.
The look of approval and relief on Major Kris's face vanished instantly, replaced by the cold, hard vigilance of a seasoned soldier.
"You all heard that?" His voice was low and dangerous.
"A Demonic God Organ appeared right under our noses!"
"The Cultists of the Fallen Gods have infiltrated our Lincheng Base, and we had no idea!"
"A mole?" another stern-faced officer said bluntly.
Major Kris fell silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
"We can't rule it out, but let's not jump to conclusions yet."
"Our top priority now is to conduct a full inspection of all dungeons on the base—especially the low-level ones!"
"I want you to assemble our most trusted personnel and deploy the highest-grade detection equipment. Turn every dungeon upside down if you have to, and confirm whether this was an isolated incident!"
"Yes, sir!" The officers saluted and accepted the order immediately.
He scanned the room, his voice firm and unyielding:
"The official story for the public is what I told the students: the Blood Wasteland dungeon collapsed due to an unknown energy imbalance, and the student team was merely taking shelter from the monster tide. They had nothing to do with it."
"Internally, step up surveillance. Pull out all the stops—find out who planted this Demon God seed on our doorstep! Once you find them… eliminate them without mercy!"
"Understood!"
"Additionally, all information regarding the Mutated Heart, the Demon God Apostle, and the specific actions of Ethan's team in this incident is to be classified as the base's highest-level top secret."
"Without the dual authorization of myself and the command center, no one—no one—is to leak a single word of this. Anyone who violates this order will be charged with treason."
"Yes, sir!"
"Dismissed!"
Meanwhile, guided by the logistics staff, Ethan and the others arrived at the base's living quarters.
The rooms assigned to them were clean and tidy, though spartan, typical of a military base.
The immense mental and physical exhaustion was too much for the others—they collapsed onto their beds and fell into a deep sleep almost immediately, their steady breathing filling the room.
But Ethan couldn't fall asleep at all.
He sat cross-legged on his bed, staring intently at his upgraded Grace talent—especially the newly unlocked Trait 4:
[Trait 4: You can consume any 3–10 talents to forge a single, more powerful talent.]
While he had accumulated a fair number of talents over time, only a handful of them were actually useful in combat.
Some were barely functional, and others were completely useless:
Damage Reduction (E-rank): Reduce all incoming damage by 10 points.
Arrow Enhancement (E-rank): Increase the attack power of arrows you fire by 30.
Spell Resonance (B-rank): When your spell scores a critical hit, there is a 50% chance to refund 30% of the spell's base mana cost.
Gale Blade Barrage (A-rank): After attacking the same target three times in a row, there is a 20% chance to trigger Gale Slash—locking onto the target and dealing (Attack Power + Speed + Spell Power) × 200% damage.
Frenzy (B-rank): For every 10% of your HP lost, gain +2% Attack Power and +1% Lifesteal.
Weakness Mark (B-rank): Your basic attacks and skills have a 15% chance to apply a Vulnerable debuff to the target for 5 seconds, increasing all damage taken by 10%.
Out of these six talents, the first three were completely useless, and the latter three were only marginally helpful.
Gale Blade Barrage and Weakness Mark had low trigger chances, and Frenzy's stat boosts were negligible.
Should he fuse all six at once, or fuse them in groups of three?
After thinking it over for a moment, Ethan decided to split them into groups.
After all, fusing too many low-rank talents at once was risky—it could result in a dud.
Even though these six talents were mostly useless, it would be a shame to waste them entirely.
"Let's test the waters first. Damage Reduction, Arrow Enhancement, Spell Resonance… you three are up."
He locked onto the three talents with his mind and silently commanded: "Forge!"
Hum—
[Confirm Talent Forging: Damage Reduction (E-rank), Arrow Enhancement (E-rank), Spell Resonance (B-rank)?]