The battle lasted for an unknown period of time, and by the time everyone retreated back to the Immortal Fortress, they were all exhausted.
Beyond this world, in the realm of chaos
Without the sun and moon, there is no day or night; time has long ceased to matter here.
No one knows exactly how long the battle lasted; all they remember is the endless gray fog and wave after wave of soldiers who charged forward.
After one batch died, another batch was brought in to take over the positions of the fallen soldiers and continue the fight.
Lin Yu walked in the middle of the group, the golden rules emanating from his body not completely concealed, still faintly glowing.
Su Xiaoxiao followed behind, carrying the knife, with an unknown liquid dripping from the tip of the blade as she walked.
"I said, aren't you supposed to be pretty capable? How come you ran so fast when you heard we were going back to rest?" She jogged a couple of steps to catch up.
"Hey sis, aren't you tired?" Lin Yu rolled his eyes helplessly.
He had been fighting here for an unknown amount of time. Even with the power of the rules of the entire world as a supplement, Lin Yu's strength would not be exhausted, but his mental fatigue could not be replenished.
On the battlefield, he had to be constantly aware of his surroundings, fearing being ambushed by the endless stream of strange creatures, and also had to guard against the assimilated soldiers. It could be said that he was physically and mentally exhausted.
"You actually know what tiredness is?" Su Xiaoxiao's eyes widened.
No wonder Su Xiaoxiao was surprised. Back on the battlefield, Lin Yu wielded his whip with incredible skill, charging in and out of the enemy ranks seven times over. How could he suddenly be so listless?
"It's a life-threatening job, who dares to hold back?" Lin Yu complained irritably.
The fortress was in complete chaos. Chu Zhen hastily cobbled together a battle-damaged command post.
The room was filled with reports on the situation at the front, which gave Chu Zhen a headache.
Lin Yu found a corner to sit down and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
Su Xiaoxiao couldn't stay still, so she went up to Chu Zhen and nodded repeatedly, whether she understood or not.
As the saying goes, "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down," and as soon as they saw Su Xiaoxiao was free, they immediately came looking for her.
"Commander Su, over at the eastern section of the fortifications..." A staff officer squeezed in, carrying documents.
"Why are you asking me? I don't know how to repair fortifications. Go find the engineering battalion." Su Xiaoxiao waved her hand, interrupting him.
The staff officer was taken aback by her words and left sheepishly.
Seeing this, Chu Zhen glanced at her helplessly but ultimately said nothing.
Lin Yu hadn't rested for long before he was woken up.
General Chu Zhen stood before him, his armor tattered and his face covered in unwashed blood.
"Mr. Lin... I have a favor to ask."
Lin Yu got up and followed him outside the command post.
The gray fog outside had not yet dissipated, and in the distance, something that could hardly be called the sun emitted a dim light that illuminated the entire fortress.
"General Chu, please speak frankly. I will do my best to help you."
Lin Yu also didn't want such a world to be swallowed up by that inhuman, ghostly world.
"We shouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat in this battle," Chu Zhen gritted his teeth.
"The Third Legion was completely wiped out, and less than 30% of the Second Legion managed to retreat..." Chu Zhen became more and more heartbroken as he spoke; these were all promising young men.
"There's a traitor among the crowd," Lin Yu finished speaking for him.
Lin Yu continued, "This strange entity will assimilate our warriors without them even realizing it. Once assimilated, they will blend into the ranks of the living and betray us at crucial moments, stabbing us in the back."
Chu Zhen nodded. "Yes, we can't guard against the supernatural. The main reason is that we haven't had enough time to deal with it and haven't studied it thoroughly enough."
From the time they were still weak, the rules of the alien realm had infiltrated them; it could be said that the aliens understood them better than they understood themselves.
It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. Yesterday's comrade-in-arms may today be pointing a knife at your back without a second thought.
Lin Yu nodded in agreement. "So General Chu wants me to help you find the assimilated members of your team?"
Chu Zhen's eyes lit up. "Mr. Lin, do you... have a solution?"
Lin Yu did not answer immediately, but after a moment he slowly nodded.
"Let's give it a try, but I'm not entirely sure if it will work," he said.
Upon hearing this, Chu Zhen's usually resolute face showed a rare hint of joy, but he only gave a deep bow before turning and striding away.
"I'll go and gather the soldiers right away."
Chu Zhen handled the mobilization very carefully. In order not to shake the morale of the army, he did not make a fuss. He only sent his trusted confidants to deliver the orders in batches, calling the gathered soldiers to the secluded training ground behind the fortress in small groups.
The people who arrived were all baffled. No one knew what the general was up to, and they assumed it was some new order for reorganization.
Lin Yu sat in a corner of the training ground. Once most of the people had arrived, he slowly extended his Divine Sense and gently scanned everyone present.
Under his rule, the vast majority of this group had clean brows.
But there were always a few whose brows had a faint purple mark that Lin Yu noticed.
He didn't make a fuss, but silently memorized the faces of these people, and subtly left a mark on them, making a symbol of their existence.
After the group dispersed, he walked up to Chu Zhen and told him the location and appearance of those people.
"These are all people who have rendered meritorious service." Upon hearing this, Chu Zhen's expression gradually darkened.
Those who were named by Lin Yu were basically veterans who had survived countless battles on the battlefields of these two worlds. But even so, the longer they lived, the easier it was for them to be assimilated by the supernatural.
"Yeah, what a pity." Lin Yu also felt a little regretful.
In particular, some of them are bizarre from the inside out, and are basically beyond saving.
Chu Zhen nodded, said nothing more, and turned to arrange the personnel.
That's what makes it so eerie and terrifying.
Most of those who are assimilated are unaware that they have become monsters.
One second, he might think he's fighting for the world and the homeland behind him, but the next second, his hand might involuntarily point a gun at his own people.
What's most terrifying is that he himself is completely unaware of it.
The strange process of assimilation always happens in such a subtle and gradual way.
It won't kill you outright, but it will gradually rewrite your perceptions, subtly shifting your thoughts and judgments to the other side without you even realizing it.
By the time you come to your senses, you're no longer yourself.
Fortunately, Lin Yu had studied the opponent's methods.
Since arriving in this world, both his main body and his clone have dealt with these strange phenomena countless times. The methods he is currently using are based on his research into the rules of the other side. Otherwise, he would have had a hard time discovering those purple patterns.