Sure enough, an enormous monster the size of a small hill pushed its way out of the black tide of the demon army.
Hellfire blazed all over its body as it slowly straightened up.
It opened its enormous maw, and a dark red fireball more than ten meters across rapidly took shape.
The terrifying aura of destruction made the air itself begin to warp!
The boss is about to unleash its ultimate! Lin Mo cried inwardly, instinctively shrinking back.
Trailing flames, the fireball hurtled like a meteor straight toward the section of the defensive line where Fendona stood!
"Guardian Barrier!"
Fendona raised her staff high. Vast amounts of water elemental energy gathered in the air before her, forming an enormous blue curtain of water in an instant.
BOOM!!!
The giant fireball slammed into the water curtain with a deafening explosion!
Scalding steam swept over them instantly. The violent blast drove Lin Mo back step after step, nearly blowing him off the treant.
Fendona glanced at the "frail" Lin Mo, her delicate brows drawing together slightly. She had an elven warrior beside her fetch a helmet, then tossed it to Lin Mo with a flick of her hand.
"Catch! Find somewhere to hide! Whatever else you need can wait!"
Lin Mo instinctively reached out and caught it. Traces of dark red blood still stained its surface.
Whatever. Secondhand is better than a cracked skull!
Without another word, he jammed the helmet onto his head. Staying alive came first.
But before he could find a safe corner to hunker down in, a piercing shriek suddenly sounded overhead!
Lin Mo looked up, his pupils abruptly contracting.
A flying demon with a wingspan of more than five meters had somehow broken through the elves' aerial defenses.
It folded its wings and dove toward him with a shrill whistle of displaced air!
Those scarlet eyes were locked firmly on him!
Its hooked claws gleamed with a chilling light!
I'm done for!
At that critical instant, an arrow of green light overtook it from behind and pierced the flying demon's skull with deadly precision!
Squelch!
Momentum carried the demon's corpse several more meters, and it crashed heavily into Lin Mo.
Lin Mo felt a tremendous force slam into him. He was sent flying, and the back of his head struck a thick branch hard.
Thud!
His eyes rolled back, and he passed out again.
Do you like Fendona in 3D style?
After Lin Mo finished recounting his memories, the entire interrogation room fell silent for a while.
The female officer had yet to recover from her shock, while the male field-grade officer's eyes widened slightly.
It was all too incredible!
And judging by their professional interrogation experience, Lin Mo's microexpressions indicated that he was not lying. He really was recalling memories!
"Officers? Hello?" Lin Mo called out when neither of them spoke for a long time.
Only then did the field-grade officer come back to his senses and say:
"So, you're finished with your story."
Lin Mo frowned.
"Let me repeat myself. This isn't a story. It really happened!"
"I've verified it myself. That world really exists!"
The officer did not dwell on the wording and rephrased:
"All right. Then why did you decide to come to the military district and report this to the state?"
Lin Mo gave a bitter smile and said:
"That gemstone I brought back might fetch enough money to solve my immediate survival problem."
"But then what?"
"Am I supposed to use my mouth as a shipping container and shuttle back and forth, reselling a few local specialties from another world all by myself?"
"That's thinking too small, and it's far too inefficient."
"By the time I make something of myself in that other world and get my hands on a World Tree seed, Blue Star might not even be habitable anymore."
The officer nodded.
"So you want the country's support."
Lin Mo said solemnly:
"Exactly! Against a civilization-level disaster, one person's strength is as insignificant as a speck of dust."
"But if I had an entire nation behind me... a nation with the finest scientists, the strongest ability to get things done, and staggering mobilization capabilities!"
"Then both my survival and the nation's continued existence could be secured!"
The officer continued:
"Then why didn't you go to the police or report it to the government?"
Lin Mo shook his head.
"With the apocalypse upon us, I've seen far too much injustice. Now..."
"I can only trust you. The people's soldiers."
"That's why I came here."
The officer considered this, then nodded to the female officer.
The two stepped outside, and the female officer asked:
"What do you think? How credible is he?"
The field-grade officer replied:
"The logic of his account and his microexpressions both indicate that he's telling the truth, rather than making it up..."
He paused, then added, "At least, I can't find anything wrong with it.
"Let's report it to our superiors and hand him over to the relevant department for a more comprehensive investigation."
After that, Lin Mo's head was covered. After stretches of walking and riding in a vehicle, he was finally brought into a stark white room, empty except for a table and chairs.
The lights were bright, and all four walls shone white. He felt like a lab rat.
Soon, someone brought him food and water.
Four dishes and a soup, with both meat and vegetables, and as much rice as he wanted.
Lin Mo was starving. He forgot all about appearances and devoured the meal on the spot.
Delicious! So damn delicious!
It was easily the best meal he had eaten in the past six months.
Amid the apocalyptic crisis, getting to eat natural rice and braised pork without any dubious additives or food-processing tricks was sheer luxury.
Then came hours of seemingly endless "expert consultations."
Different experts took turns questioning him: psychology, physics, sociology, military strategy...
Each question was trickier and more outlandish than the last.
"You said the elves have magic. What exactly can it do? Have you learned anything about its outward manifestations or underlying nature?" A leading physicist adjusted his glasses.
Lin Mo replied, "I'm not sure. I only just got there myself. There's a lot I don't understand."
A military expert wore a grave expression.
"You described a Demon Clan army numbering in the tens of thousands. Please describe their appearance and the forms in which they exist."
Lin Mo replied, "Uh, well, they're like monsters. Some are biological creatures, and some are things like energy beings. Anyway, there's nothing scientifically plausible about how they look!"
"You claim that you travel between worlds by sleeping. What do you subjectively experience during the crossing?"
"Does time pass at the same rate?"
The questions left Lin Mo bewildered, but he answered every one. If he did not know, he simply said so.
His frankness and the strong internal consistency of his answers gradually replaced the experts' skepticism with grave concern.
This kid was either the most brilliant con artist in history, or... he was telling the truth.
Several hours later, the interrogation room door was suddenly pushed open.
A middle-aged man entered, followed by a group of experts who had questioned Lin Mo earlier.
The man wore simple civilian clothes rather than a uniform, but the iron-and-blood bearing of a soldier was even stronger in him.
He pulled out the chair across from Lin Mo and sat down, his movements crisp and decisive.
"Hello, Lin Mo. My name is Zhao Gang."
Zhao Gang leaned forward slightly, his deep eyes seeming intent on seeing straight through Lin Mo.
"We tested the item you brought."
"It is indeed unusual."
He paused, recalling the experts' assessments, then continued:
"But there's a world of difference between an unusual stone and an entirely new world."
"Now, convince me."
"Convince me why I should commit national resources to believing a story that sounds like the opening of a webnovel."
Here it comes!
Lin Mo's heart began to race. He met Zhao Gang's gaze without looking away.
"Hello, sir."
"If I could invent such a watertight story and get through questioning by all your experts without batting an eye..."
"Then I should be the king of spies, not holed up in a rented room waiting to die."
He spread his hands.
"And yes, everything I mentioned-elves, the World Tree, magic, the Demon Clan... does sound ridiculous."
"But please think about it. Wouldn't Blue Star's rotation slowing down have sounded just as ridiculous three years ago?"
A subtle change crossed Zhao Gang's face.
Lin Mo's words had struck right at the heart of the matter.
Indeed, compared with the utterly absurd reality that their entire planet was dying, a magical world did not seem quite so hard to accept.
"You have a point." Zhao Gang nodded, but then shifted his tone.
"But this is still only your account. I need verification. Repeatable, observable verification."
"You said you can carry things back and forth between worlds. I want to see it for myself."
"All right." Lin Mo had already worked out what to do.
"But my ability is limited. I can only bring back small objects from that world in my mouth."
Zhao Gang nodded.
"Understood. When can we begin?"
Lin Mo glanced around at the dazzling white walls.
"Prepare a room where I can sleep. Once I fall asleep, I can go over."
Before long, Lin Mo was moved into another room.
Compared with the stark white interrogation room, this one had an added bed, soft and comfortable, but that was the only difference.
High-definition cameras were installed in the corners and on the ceiling, providing full 360-degree coverage without a single blind spot. It was practically a film set.
And Lin Mo was the leading man.
Several instruments he did not recognize even stood beside the bed, their screens glowing green.
"Get some good sleep." Zhao Gang escorted him there personally and left him with one final sentence before departing.
"We'll be waiting for you to wake up."
The heavy door slowly closed behind him with a dull sound.
Zhao Gang went to the monitoring room next door, which was packed with excited scientists.
More than a dozen screens displayed real-time readings of Lin Mo's heart rate, brain waves, and other data.
"Is everything ready?"
"All set! All monitoring equipment is functioning normally!"
Through the one-way glass, several researchers in white coats watched Lin Mo looking around from the bed, wishing they could give him a shot of diazepam and get him to sleep already.
Before you continue