From Abyssal Invasion to Bursting Stars with a Single Sword

Lu Heng smiled and said, "No worries, I just met with the head of the Southern War Zone, and we exchanged a few words."

Li Xiuyun, upon hearing this, was even more delighted, but still used a chiding tone as she said, "You little rascal, meeting such a high-ranking officer and not saying a word in advance, do you know how worried everyone was?"

Lu Heng quickly apologized: "It's all my fault, it won't happen again."

Lu Mingli, a military man himself, had a better understanding of such matters and asked, "What exactly happened? Can you talk about it?"

Of course, it was not something that could be discussed, because the matter involved too many secrets.

Lu Heng casually replied, "It's nothing serious, don't worry. When I returned, I had already applied to the state for identity protection for you. It's better if you go out less during this time."

Su Mu nodded in agreement, saying, "That's no problem, I can stay at home all day, I don't even have to go out."

She didn't want to become a drag on her daughter, and now that they were living so comfortably, she had no more extravagant desires.

Lu Heng clarified, "It's not that serious, just be a bit more careful on a daily basis."

Li Xiuyun pointed to the ceiling and asked, "I heard this castle is pretty special, we'll still be able to come here in the future, won't we?"

Lu Heng nodded and answered, "Of course, you can. Lin Zeyu is in charge of that, just ask him."

Lin Zeyu quickly agreed, "That's easy, I'll just talk to the manager of the Flame Emblem, and then uncle and auntie can come whenever they want."

"Jing Sister mentioned it before, saying that Mu Yu is carving at the Quenching Castle every day, and once she leaves, she's out for the whole day. She wanted to come and see but didn't dare to ask," Li Xiuyun said, hugging Su Mu's arm and exposing her inner thoughts.

In the past two months, Su Muyu had been soaking all of her time in the Gem Workshop of the Quenching Castle for the experience of becoming an Engraver.

Sometimes she wouldn't see her daughter for a whole day, occasionally seeking out Li Xiuyun to talk about family trivialities.

...

After arranging his parents' affairs, the four members of Lu Heng's team gathered separately to discuss the next steps.

"After this incident, the likelihood of Xie Shi'en 027's identity being leaked is high."

Xie Shi'en nodded and said, "I'm mentally prepared for this; such a secret can't be kept forever. Although the content of this conversation is unlikely to leak out, the Creator Organization will probably be able to guess my identity."

Lu Heng had thought of this during his time with the Sikes Civilization.

The exposure of Xie Shi'en's identity was not due to a slip in the operation, but rather the culmination of many incidents that collectively pointed to an answer.

There were definitely clear-headed people within the Creator Organization, who, by compiling all information and analyzing it, could easily come to a conclusion.

From the Black Iron Dwarf world to the Elf World, and now this incident with the Sikes Civilization, 027 had appeared in all of them.

For a Superpower User to be present in all three Abyss Battlefields was rare; only a few individuals matched the profile, and a simple process of elimination could confirm 027's identity.

Lin Zeyu sarcastically remarked, "It looks like it's a fight to the death between us and the Creator Organization now."

Among the four in the team, only he had no direct conflict with the Creator Organization.

Lu Heng and Xie Shi'en were considered to have "defected" from the Creator Organization.

Su Muyu had made a promise to the Knowledge Ancient Tree of the Quel'dorei World to help retrieve the "Life Tree Vine," which had been stolen by a raiding team of the Creator Organization.

If she wanted to retrieve the "Life Tree Vine," she would have to be at odds with the Creator Organization.

The three of them exchanged glances and shared a smile.

After a moment of thought, Lu Heng said, "Since we're going to be up against the Creator Organization and there are only four of us, we're a bit short on hands."

Lin Zeyu asked in surprise, "Are we adding a new teammate? Who? How about Jian Qing? I think she's pretty good, heh heh heh..."

Su Muyu gave him a sidelong glance and said, "Lu Heng is talking about a shortage of hands, not just one or two people. We only have one slot left on our team contract; adding one more person wouldn't make much difference."

Lu Heng offered her a knowing look and continued, "What I mean is, relying on the Dragon Might Mercenary Group, we should build an elite force."

Xie Shi'en understood what he meant and asked, "You're thinking of utilizing the skill upgrade ability?"

Lu Heng nodded, "Exactly, it's about time to capitalize on the value of that ability."

Divine Evolution could not only upgrade one's own skills but also help others unlock Skill Locks and undergo Skill Upgrades.

With this ability at their disposal, they could have a tremendous impact.

Of course, to fully exploit this ability's value, one precondition is that one must be able to keep this ability secure.

If it had been a year earlier, and the secret of Lu Heng's ability to help others upgrade their skills had leaked,

what would have happened?

He would undoubtedly have been confined by a great power, organization, or even a nation, and forced to indiscriminately upgrade skills for Superpower Users.

This ability was too powerful; no organization or power would let go of it, and would even go so far as to amputate Lu Heng's limbs to keep him as a captive cripple.

One must not harbor illusions about human nature in the Abyss Era.

Take the Creator Organization as an example; if they had discovered Lu Heng's "Divine Evolution" from the beginning, they would not have sent an invitation but would have instead dispatched their strongest team to capture him.

This was also why Lu Heng had previously only helped team members upgrade their skills. With the team contract in place and the interests of the team tied together, they could be trusted.

It was hard to guarantee the same for others.

An innocent man bears no sin, but a man with a prized jade does.

This proverb applies in any era.

Lu Heng now had the capability to protect this secret, and he could finally unleash the full potential of "Divine Evolution."

Xie Shi'en then asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Lu Heng shared his initial ideas, "I plan to talk to Li Guining and form an elite force within the Dragon Might Mercenary Group, under the direct control of our team. Based on the members selected, I will help them upgrade their skills."

Xie Shi'en nodded in agreement, "That is a good approach. If we are picking the candidates, we shouldn't run into any issues."

Lu Heng turned to Su Muyu and Lin Zeyu, asking, "What about you? Any thoughts?"

Lin Zeyu spread his hands and replied, "I agree. If we pull this off, I'll have a bunch of underlings in the future."

Su Muyu also nodded in agreement, saying, "We definitely need to take this step, and the timing is right, but I suggest that they should make some effort to upgrade their skills. Benefits gained without any effort can lead to different mentalities."

Lu Heng pondered and said, "Indeed, it would be best to treat skill upgrades as rewards and even better if it can bind their loyalty."

After discussing the plan,

Lu Heng called Li Guining's personal number, briefly outlining his thoughts without mentioning the ability to upgrade skills en masse over the phone, but rather asking to meet in person.

Li Guining sensed from the call that Lu Heng hadn't revealed everything.

Being at such a rank, he was accurate in judging people, and he understood Lu Heng's character; he would never partake in meaningless actions.

So, he immediately agreed to the meeting time for the next day.

The next day,

Lu Heng went to a military base in the Southern War Zone and met with Li Guining there.

Initially, Li Guining's aide was present, but when Lu Heng looked at him with a smile,

the aide glanced at Li Guining, seeking approval with his eyes.

As Li Guining's aide, one of his important duties was to protect Li Guining, so most of the time, he stayed by his side, inseparable.

In times of peace this level of caution might be unnecessary, but in the Abyss Era, anything could happen.

Li Guining remained calm and waved him off, saying, "Go ahead and leave us. Let me have a private chat with Lu Heng."

After all, if Lu Heng really wanted to do something, the aide staying would make no difference.

In the Southern War Zone, Lu Heng's combat power data was updated almost daily,

so Li Guining was very clear about how strong this young man was; even if he picked the strongest Super Soldiers from the Four Major Battle Zones, they wouldn't be able to suppress Lu Heng.

Once the aide left, Li Guining took the initiative to ask, "What are your new thoughts? I've already heard about the intelligence you shared with Captain Jian yesterday, and indeed, antimatter technology needs to be handled with care."

Lu Heng did not continue on that subject but instead said, "I've come today with a proposal to discuss with the commander. I'm planning on assembling an elite force within Dragon Might, under the command of my team."

Li Guining thoughtfully questioned the proposal, "Dragon Might is already an elite force."

Lu Heng smiled and said, "What I want are the elites of the elite. To put it bluntly, I have a way to help them upgrade their skills, similar to the Moon Well Spring Water."