The Last King Of Darkness
Chapter 284 - 203: May the Hero Live Forever

Chapter 284: Chapter 203: May the Hero Live Forever

It had been a long time before Rod’s consciousness returned from chaos.

The last scene still lingered in his mind, but now he found himself in a completely unfamiliar room.

"Where... is this?"

Rod looked down at his hands.

His skin was delicate and clear, like that of a newborn baby, without a trace of dirt or blood, nor any wounds,

The horrifying sense of tearing in his soul was also gone, but his Spiritual Energy was depleted, not a drop remained.

[Frost Blue] was slowly restoring Spiritual Energy, its cool essence spreading throughout his soul.

Of course, with the level of his current Spiritual Energy, the amount restored by [Frost Blue] was hardly sufficient.

Without a doubt, the Resurrection Stone had taken effect, and he had been resurrected.

This was a reborn him.

The task was complete, all the aftereffects of [Awakening] had disappeared, everything was as he had expected.

But where exactly was this place?

Rod stood up and surveyed the room.

It was simplistic, bright, clean, and had the neat atmosphere of a fighter’s quarters.

This style suggested it was a room within a hidden base.

"Didn’t I set my resurrection point to be in my private residence? This isn’t my room, is it?"

Rod stepped out the door and immediately saw Mina, the girl from the Mechanical Research Institute.

She was half-kneeling on the ground, drawing something, her raised white lab coat making her posture less than elegant.

Rod raised his hand in greeting, "Hi, Mina, long time no see."

Mina turned her head, and the moment she saw Rod, her pretty face quickly flushed red, the blush spreading along her fair skin down to the collarbone on her chest.

"How come..."

Slap!

A writing board came flying and hit him on his abs.

"Aaaaahhhhh!"

Piercing screams suddenly filled the research area of the hidden base.

—

When Rod sat in the office of the hidden base with his face swollen and bruised, he looked somewhat displeased.

Just because he ran around naked, was such a big reaction really necessary?

Vera and Soron, who had just returned from the war zone, were looking at Rod with stern expressions.

"Weren’t you undergoing an interrogation by the investigation team? Why have you appeared in a Restricted Area?"

Rod snorted and didn’t want to speak.

These two obviously didn’t know he had been on a mission.

Soron’s face darkened immediately, and with a fierce slap on the table, he stood up and shouted, "Do you realize what you’ve done? Breaking into a Restricted Area, naked and teasing female researchers, that’s enough to have you locked in the dungeon for three years!"

Mina, who had been surreptitiously dabbing eye drops, immediately looked up and said quietly, "But... Commander Soron, it wasn’t Rod’s intention, was it?"

Soron glanced at her disapprovingly, can’t you just play along and scare the kid a little?

Dean Vera coughed deeply before asking, "Rod, what exactly happened? Tell us."

Rod didn’t know either, and wasn’t sure what he could disclose and what he couldn’t. After hesitating a moment, he answered, "Your Excellency the Dean, perhaps you should notify the Military War Department that I am here; as for the rest, I’m not clear either."

Vera nodded.

It had been the Military War Department that took him away last time; perhaps an accident had occurred, and notifying them seemed the best choice.

Who would have thought this would stir up a hornet’s nest? A host of Spirit Cars flew down from the Upper City, and countless centaurs in red military dress stormed into the hidden base.

Leading them was none other than First Commander Herman.

As soon as he saw Rod, he rushed forward and hugged him tightly.

"Alive!"

He announced loudly.

Cheers immediately erupted throughout the base.

Everyone rushed up to embrace him, shake hands with him, or simply touch him.

In an instant, Rod was swamped by a crowd, and Vera and the others were squeezed aside.

He grabbed someone and asked, "What’s going on?"

The person said with a broad smile, "Dean Vera, congratulations on training such a fine student!"

With his explanation, Vera and the others finally understood what had happened.

A surge of elation rose from deep within, and Vera, overcome with emotion, wept openly, murmuring, "Dean, do you see? Do you see? Little Rod is a hero; he saved us all."

Soron and Mina were also thrilled, with the former’s joy mixed with pride and the latter’s tinged with regret.

Rod was quickly escorted away, leaving someone behind to learn the details.

"So you’re saying, you just saw him come out of the Restricted Area?" the person asked.

Mina nodded slightly.

"He wasn’t wearing anything?"

Mina’s face turned pink, but she still nodded.

"Give me a detailed description of his features."

Mina said meekly, "Is that necessary?"

"Of course, it’s necessary!" the person said sternly: "This is very important, please cooperate with our investigation."

"Alright, okay, it looked like this..."

Snap!

Everyone covered their faces.

"Miss Mina, I was asking about physical features! Body characteristics!"

Mina’s entire face flushed to the base of her neck, and she said quietly, "Why didn’t you make that clear..."

The investigation ended swiftly; nothing unusual had happened, except that an item was missing from the Restricted Room. It was an unknown object taken by the Conquest Legion from some ruins, and because its use was unknown, it had been sent to the Mechanical Research Institute for assessment.

Mina had placed it in the Restricted Area, as per regulations.

"Huh? Where did it go?"

The group searched the Restricted Area thoroughly but found nothing.

"Miss Mina, do you remember what that thing was?"

Mina hesitated and said, "It was a silver spherical object the size of a fist, possibly a creation from the Second Epoch, with unknown use."

The person sighed, "It likely has nothing to do with little Rod. He was naked; he couldn’t possibly have hidden anything."

Mina paused, thinking there was a place to hide, but her lips quivered and she remained silent.

Vera said gravely, "It might have been lost, or someone might have stolen it. We will conduct a serious and thorough investigation to uncover the truth."

The person nodded nonchalantly, not particularly concerned with the matter.

----

Meanwhile, in the main hall of the Military War Department, Rod was receiving an unprecedented welcome.

Not only the Defense Chief but also the King’s Envoy, the Elders of the Supreme Council, the Bishops of the Holy Church, and the Governors of the Government Affairs Hall were all present.

Under the gaze of everyone, Rod recounted the events in detail, altering only a slight detail related to the Dream Realm.

For the unexplainable, Rod consistently used "I don’t know" and "Perhaps it was a contingency spell left by the Dean" as an excuse.

That tactic never failed—everyone had a very high tolerance for the miracles the Dean could create.

After the story, all present observed a moment of silence for the fallen Tomman and Demetri.

The First Defense Chief Dalin said solemnly: "Molly, double the compensation for the two fallen, allow their direct relatives to reside in the Upper City, and provide their children with reputable employment."

A woman with a cold demeanor, who was a dispatch officer, spoke: "Your Excellency Dalin, Demetri’s only son has already fallen at the Giant Stone Lighthouse, and Tomman’s parents have long since passed. They have no relatives."

First Commander Herman exclaimed loudly, "Impossible, Tomman was always talking about his compensation. How could he not have any relatives?"

The aloof female dispatch officer replied, "When we were preparing to execute the compensation, we realized the family information Tomman had registered at the Military War Department was incorrect. His so-called daughter was merely the name of a dog he had bought three years earlier from the Life Sect, a wrongly resurrected species with nine tails."

An uncomfortable silence flowed through the hall.

It took a while for Dalin to collect himself before he sighed, "Inscribe their names on the Trolian Monument, may the heroes be immortal."

Everyone spoke in unison, "May the fire burn eternally, may heroes be immortal, may the torch pass on, their spirits endure, and humanity prevail."

Rod recited softly with them, feeling as if something intangible within his spirit had risen.

It expanded like a balloon, causing his soul to heat up.