# 1597
Chapter 1597
"Lu Baoyou！！"
The reserve team members who had been laughing and chatting froze simultaneously, then cried out and reached toward him.
But one figure moved faster!
A blur shot past everyone and steadily caught Lu Baoyou's falling body. Only then did the wind from that movement brush past the others' faces. They saw who it was and their eyes widened with astonishment.
Lin Qiye, who had just been sitting in a wheelchair in a daze, had caught Lu Baoyou. And in those vacant, lifeless eyes, a rare glimmer of clarity appeared.
"Lu Baoyou!!" Fang Mo rushed forward and began examining his body carefully.
Lu Baoyou's eyes remained tightly shut, his eyelids twitching constantly as if trapped in a painful nightmare. Drops of sweat slid down from his temples, soaking Lin Qiye's clothes.
"Someone ambushed us?!" Su Zhe spun around scanning the surroundings but found no enemies.
"No, that's not it... His God's Ruins are fluctuating." Fang Mo's heterochromatic eyes appeared as he gazed intently at Lu Baoyou's body, murmuring to himself, "The Fallen Angel Lucifer... died?"
The only thing that could cause such intense fluctuations in a delegate's God's Ruins was if the deity they served had died.
"Lucifer's dead? Then won't Lu Baoyou directly gain the Demon Law and ascend to godhood?!" Su Zhe seemed to have realized something. "Didn't that senior Wang Mian become a god this way?"
"The situations aren't the same! If Lu Baoyou truly gained the Law now, he'd likely collapse from the backlash instantly. He's far from that level." Fang Mo shook his head decisively.
At that moment, Lu Baoyou in Lin Qiye's arms suddenly opened his eyes, gasping剧烈ly.
"Are you alright?" Li Zhenzhen asked with concern.
"I'm fine... I just saw something." Lu Baoyou took a deep breath. His eyes flickered with light—joy mixed with confusion. "Lucifer died. I vaguely saw Him die at the hands of a gray angel."
"What about the Law?"
"Lucifer's Law and corpse seem to have been devoured by that angel... So Lucifer's soul contract never activated."
Hearing this, everyone finally relaxed and exhaled.
Lucifer's death was cause for celebration, but if Lu Baoyou had been affected too, that would have been terrible.
"A gray angel... so there are gray angels in this world after all?" Li Zhenzhen murmured in confusion.
"Whoever killed Lucifer has done Great Xia a great service." Fang Mo recalled that nightmare-like figure he'd encountered on the battlefield, still traumatized.
He glanced at Lin Qiye standing silently behind Lu Baoyou, and joy appeared in his eyes. "And... Instructor Lin showed a reaction, which means he's close to recovery."
"Yeah, Instructor Lin was so fast just now. I couldn't even see him move."
"Don't just talk about seeing him—I didn't sense any spiritual energy fluctuation at all. Truly worthy of Instructor Lin."
The group tried talking to Lin Qiye a few more times, but he showed no other reactions. When visiting hours ended, they reluctantly said their farewells and left the Purification Chamber.
Lin Qiye sat in his wheelchair, gazing at those departing backs. His cracked lips pressed together slightly.
"What do you think? These kids have grown a lot, haven't they?"
A familiar voice sounded behind Lin Qiye. Zuo Qing, draped in a dark crimson cloak, walked slowly from the helipad.
Wu Quan, who was about to push the wheelchair back, saw the newcomer and stepped back several paces, unsurprised by the visit.
Ever since Lin Qiye had been admitted to Sunshine Psychiatric Hospital, Zuo Qing had come to visit roughly every other day. Today just happened to be his visiting day.
"They've been incredibly busy these past few days, rushing all over Great Xia. To find time to see you, they compressed three days' worth of work into a day and a half. They didn't even sleep... The team you trained is looking more and more like a real special squad." Zuo Qing sighed with emotion.
Zuo Qing pushed Lin Qiye's wheelchair as they strolled through the open area. Lin Qiye lowered his head, and in those turbid eyes, a trace of clarity emerged.
"Has Cao Yuan... been found?"
His hoarse voice rang out. Zuo Qing's footsteps faltered. After a long while, he苦涩ly shook his head.
"No. We and the Great Xia Gods searched the waters near Heavenly Court thoroughly, but we couldn't find his body... However, we did find traces of the Black King breaking its seal."
Lin Qiye's eyes slightly contracted, then fell into deathly silence once more.
The Black King had completely escaped the Fate Lock, which meant Cao Yuan was dead. In the end, he was merely the "prison" housing the Black King. When the prisoner broke free from prison, the "prison" itself would naturally cease to exist.
"There's one more thing..." Zuo Qing chose his words carefully before continuing. "The battle between 【Chaos】 and the Great Xia Gods destroyed the spirit spring that could rapidly restore divine power. But don't worry—neither Skadi nor Jialan were injured.
The bad news is that without the spirit spring, Skadi can't use divine power at high frequency, and Jialan's awakening will be delayed... The good news is that over this past month and a half, Jialan has already absorbed nearly a century's worth of time.
According to Skadi's prediction, even without the spirit spring, Jialan should naturally awaken in less than a month."
Hearing these words, Lin Qiye's heart suddenly stirred. Color returned to his face.
Jialan's awakening was no longer far away. For him, this was undoubtedly excellent news. After all, the only one he had left now... was Jialan.
Lin Qiye raised his head and asked hoarsely:
"So... 【Nightfall】, has it been forcibly dissolved?"
Once a special squad's numbers dropped below three, it would be forcibly dissolved—this was Night Watch regulation. And now, 【Nightfall】 had only Lin Qiye remaining. Even if they desperately clung to this regulation until Jialan's return, they would only have two people, still failing to meet the requirements.
"...Not yet." Zuo Qing shook his head. "Although according to regulations, 【Nightfall】 should indeed be forcibly dissolved, its designation and resources given to a new special squad... your situation is special. I've overruled other senior leadership's objections and want to wait until you recover."
Lin Qiye had witnessed 【Nightfall】's collapse, and with the blow to his "heart barrier," he was already in extreme anguish. To now take away 【Nightfall】's 005 designation and announce its forced dissolution would simply be too cruel.
Lin Qiye gazed toward where the Sixth Reserve Team had departed. Those young, vibrant faces reappeared in his mind... His eyes, filled with struggle and pain, slowly closed. He spoke softly:
"I've heard that the Night Watch headquarters has a stone monument inscribed with the names of all special squads throughout history... Can I go take a look?"