Until he had dealt with the squad sent by the Empire, Lin Ye still didn't understand what the Empire's purpose was in sending these people.

'It can't really be that they want to recruit me, can it?'

Lin Ye continued constructing the base within the city. The parasitic network kept expanding outward, bringing back the materials he needed.

Many spiritual energy creatures still survived on this planet. These spiritual energy creatures and spiritual energy materials were all Lin Ye's hunting targets.

Up to now, the parasitic network had not made contact with the Empire's base, nor had it discovered those so-called enemies of the Empire.

If this activity wasn't the Death War Front, Lin Ye would have thought the war was just an excuse the Empire used to clean up these locals.

Just as Lin Ye was seriously contemplating his action plan, he suddenly sensed a massive gap appearing in the parasitic network.

The gap was located in the middle ring of the parasitic network. It seemed some kind of attack that had suddenly appeared in that location had cleared out all the parasitic creatures in that entire area.

Lin Ye shifted his 'gaze' to the periphery of that area. He found that the area showed no obvious signs of an attack, but inside that area, all living creatures had vanished. Not even plants remained.

'It's quite similar to when those combat squad members disappeared, but when they vanished, the nearby creatures didn't disappear...'

'Is disappearance a certain phenomenon that exists here? Has the Empire gained some control over this phenomenon and wants to use it to attack me?'

Lin Ye asked Xiao Mei and Martha about information regarding disappearances. They both stated that this phenomenon had not occurred on this planet before.

'Then this phenomenon was brought by the Empire. Perhaps it's related to the war...'

Lin Ye pondered various possibilities and added this phenomenon as an influencing factor into his action plan.

The gap in the parasitic network was being filled, but now Lin Ye had to consider whether establishing a base here was still useful. If the battlefield was in another space, if he could also be pulled into that space, the effectiveness of the base and the parasitic network would be infinitely diminished. He might also be suddenly teleported to the center of the battlefield, or even suddenly face an attack that could cause his death.

Lin Ye kept revising his action plan. Just as he was about to modify the previous structural layout of the base, a flesh and blood giant monster, its body bristling with various metal turrets, materialized out of thin air outside the Holy City.

In the instant after the fleshy monster appeared, Lin Ye suddenly appeared behind the flesh and blood giant monster, holding its energy core in his hand.

The flesh and blood giant monster was dismembered into several massive chunks of flesh. One of these chunks contained a humanoid figure, with various tubes connecting it to the giant monster embedded within its body.

In that brief instant, Lin Ye first used Red Flash to close the distance, then used a compressed spiritual energy piercing attack to breach the flesh and blood giant monster's spiritual energy shield. After that, he used the Flesh and Blood Rule Fragment and a collapse rune to destroy the giant monster's body. Finally, he passed through the shattered flesh and took the energy core from within it.

This was a direct display of Lin Ye's basic strength after his advancement.

'This Red Flash is way too useful!'

This was the first time Lin Ye had used Red Flash in combat. That instantaneous explosive force was something Blood Burning couldn't compare to. This was an extreme skill created for burst damage and sudden advancement.

Lin Ye walked over to the humanoid figure. After being separated from the flesh and blood giant monster, the other party's life force was rapidly declining. It was as if it wasn the controller of the giant monster, but rather a disposable biological component of it.

"Do you want to survive? I can give you a chance."

The other party's body was undergoing complete collapse. This was likely a method to prevent captives from leaking information. Lin Ye didn't need information from him, but he was willing to give him a chance.

Not many people could save the other party in this situation. Lin Ye, who controlled numerous mutation pathways, mutation structures, and the Flesh and Blood Rule Fragment, was one of them.

"Yes! I don't want to die!"

The man used his last bit of strength to roar these words. His body was collapsing, and excruciating pain was obliterating his consciousness. Shouting this was the last thing he could manage.

"Good. I hope you can seize this opportunity."

The man was lucky, as not many people get a second chance. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Lin Ye used a mutation rune and the Flesh and Blood Rule Fragment to reconstruct the man's body. For him, this wasn't particularly difficult.

The man scrambled up from the ground in shock, then knelt forcefully, bowing his head to Lin Ye.

For the first time since his birth, he felt the tangible sensation of being alive.

"Tell me all the information you know. I advise you not to lie, because your body is something I created."

The surrounding flesh chunks grew limbs. They lifted the metal turrets and quickly crawled into the Holy City.

Lin Ye planned to go back and study those metal turrets, as well as the connection method between flesh and machinery.

The man quickly told Lin Ye everything he knew, but the information he possessed wasn't actually much.

He was a refugee from some chaotic nation. One day, he was captured by the lord's subordinates. After a period of bodily modification, he was stuffed inside the flesh and blood giant monster.

The flesh and blood giant monster didn't require him to control it. His role was merely to provide the brain's thinking capacity for the giant monster. During the giant monster's operation, he couldn't even think, only remembering some vague lights and shadows. Therefore, he knew nothing about the outside world.

"Very good."

Lin Ye turned and walked towards the Holy City. Although the man hadn't provided much information, it was enough for him.

The man hesitated for a moment, then carefully followed behind Lin Ye.

"Since you chose to follow me, I'll give you two options. You can stay in the city and join this war, or go underground in the Holy City to take refuge."

Now the man's fate was under Lin Ye's control. Lin Ye let the man make his own choice. He could sense the power of the Fate Rule Fragment during this process.

"I want to work for you. Can I stay in the city?"

The man said seriously.

"I will leave this place after this war ends. And no matter what you do, it won't have any impact on me. Do you still want to stay in the city?"

Lin Ye said casually.

"Please let me stay in the city."

As a refugee, the man understood very clearly that when war comes, hiding solves nothing.

He spent the first half of his life hiding from war, and in the end, he became a component of a war machine.

So this time, he had to live differently.

"Fine."

Lin Ye didn't make the man do anything. Just as he said, the man couldn't help him at all.

Returning to the center of the Holy City, Lin Ye continued modifying the base. Even though the war might be fought in another space, he didn't stop constructing the base, because the Empire's forces were still here.