God-Tier Awakening: The Dead Can Still Level Up

Chapter 60: Recovery

The medics carried away those who had fainted or could no longer move, carefully removing the weapons and fragments still lodged inside their bodies before placing them into recovery pods.

Although healers could treat most of their injuries, the military’s recovery pods were more effective and placed far less strain on an already exhausted body. Since they were inside the base, there was no reason to rely on healing abilities alone.

Xingluo entered one of the empty pods and leaned back as the cover slowly closed over her. Pale blue liquid began filling the chamber, while several devices connected to the pod started examining the injuries hidden beneath her armor.

Wuxia remained beside her and looked across the medical room.

A normal nighttime assessment had somehow turned into a nightmare. For some, it would remain an unforgettable encounter, while those who had watched their companions die would carry the memory for far longer.

Severely injured contestants and soldiers occupied nearly every recovery pod. Medics moved constantly between them, checking their conditions and directing the healers toward anyone who required immediate attention.

Wuxia released a quiet sigh as he watched them work, the Church had infiltrated a military competition, killed two soldiers and one contestant, and nearly destroyed everyone inside the residential compound.

Even though most of the participants had survived, the military would face serious questions over how the Green Priest had entered the base under a false identity.

Wuxia looked toward Xingluo as the recovery liquid reached her shoulders.

Whatever actions the military took next, this incident had already changed the competition and everyone involved in it.

In one of the city’s neglected outer districts, an old café remained open beneath a faded sign.

A few labourers sat near the front window with bowls of noodles between them, while an elderly man drank tea beside the wall. Behind the counter, the owner wiped a cup as rainwater dripped from the edge of the roof outside.

The rear door opened, and a woman wearing a factory uniform entered from the alley. She brushed the water from her sleeves before walking directly toward the counter without looking at the empty tables.

"The night has grown colder," she said.

The owner placed the cup down. "But the roots remain warm."

The woman slid a worn copper coin across the counter, a circle had been carved into one side, with thin lines extending from its centre.

The owner covered it with his palm and pressed his foot beneath the cabinet. A section of the floor behind him lifted, revealing a narrow staircase descending beneath the café.

The woman entered without another word, once she disappeared below, the trapdoor closed and the owner resumed wiping the cup.

The customers near the window continued eating, during the next twenty minutes, several more people entered through the rear door.

A delivery worker arrived carrying an empty crate, followed by two young men who came separately, one dressed in an academy jacket and the other wearing an expensive suit.

Each repeated the same exchange and presented a marked object before being allowed below.

Another man eventually entered from the alley. His dark coat reached below his knees, while a hood concealed most of his face.

The owner stopped moving as the newcomer approached. "The night has grown colder."

"But the roots remain warm."

The man did not present a coin, he placed two fingers against the counter instead, causing a faint green mark to appear beneath them before fading into the wood.

The owner immediately opened the hidden passage and stepped aside.

The staircase continued far beneath the café, stone gradually replaced the wooden walls, while the smell of food from above disappeared beneath damp air and burning oil.

Two robed figures waited at the bottom, one carried a short blade, while the other held a metal plate covered in symbols.

The plate glowed briefly as the newcomer passed between them, then returned to darkness and neither guard attempted to stop him.

The passage opened into a wide underground chamber supported by thick stone pillars. Dozens of people had already gathered inside, some wearing dark robes marked with green thread while others still carried the clothes of their ordinary lives.

Workers sat beside merchants, students stood near armed Awakened, and several people kept their faces covered despite being among fellow believers.

Conversations weakened when the newcomer entered.

Several people turned toward him, but after seeing the green mark appear briefly across his hand, they withdrew their attention and faced the raised platform at the front of the chamber.

A man stood there with both hands resting on a long staff. Three robed figures waited behind him, one holding a covered box while the other two guarded a kneeling man whose hands had been bound behind his back.

The newcomer found an empty seat near the rear as the last few members entered. Stone scraped against stone when the passage closed behind them, sealing the chamber from the café above.

The man on the platform struck his staff against the floor and the remaining conversations stopped.

"The military has sealed several districts surrounding its base," he said. "Search teams have started checking every identity connected to today’s competition."

Several people shifted in their seats, but no one interrupted him. "The Green Priest assigned to the operation exposed himself and died before completing what was required of him."

A man seated in the front row clicked his tongue and leaned back. "I warned you that he was too new," he said. "He should never have been sent alongside the Lesser Holy Son."

The chamber became quieter, though the man showed no concern over the attention he had drawn.

"He had strength, but no patience, the moment something unexpected happened, he revealed himself inside a military base."

One of the robed figures near the platform turned toward him. "Choose your words carefully."

"Am I wrong?"

The seated man folded his arms. "He exposed his identity, forced the military to raise its security, and gave them a reason to investigate every contestant who entered that base. It is fortunate he was killed before they captured him alive."

A few members nodded, while others remained silent, the man on the platform did not rebuke him, Instead, he looked toward the restrained figure beside him.

"Tell them what you saw."

The prisoner swallowed before raising his head. Blood had dried along one side of his face.

"The military sealed the central roads first and officers are checking the competition registrations, entry permissions, and everyone who approved the false contestant’s identity."

"Were any of our locations exposed?"

"I do not know."

The staff struck him across the face and he collapsed onto one shoulder, but the two guards pulled him upright before he could fall completely.

"You were stationed near the base to know," the man said.

"The Green Priest acted before anyone expected him to," the prisoner replied hurriedly. "Once the barrier rose, communication with the compound stopped. We only learned he had died when the military began moving the injured."

The man seated in the front row laughed without humour. "He caused this much trouble and still achieved nothing, his death was the only useful decision he made tonight."

Several members lowered their heads, though whether in agreement or disapproval remained unclear.

The man on the platform turned toward the covered box, the cloth was removed, revealing stacks of documents, communication devices, marked coins, and several identity cards.

"Before sunrise, none of these records will remain, every residence connected to them will be emptied, and anyone whose name appears inside will leave the city."

A merchant near the front shifted uneasily. "The roads are already being watched." "Then do not use the roads."

"And those who cannot leave?"

The man on the platform looked toward the prisoner, no one asked the question again.

The prisoner pulled against the hands holding him. "I told you everything I know."

The base of the staff touched his chest and green lines spread beneath his clothes, and his body stiffened before collapsing between the two guards.

The people seated closest to him moved their feet away from the body but otherwise remained still.

"The military will search for the dead Green Priest’s contacts," the man continued. "They will find abandoned rooms, false records, and people who no longer exist."

His gaze passed across the chamber before settling briefly on the hooded newcomer near the rear.

"Until new instructions arrive, no one here will contact the Lesser Holy Son or anyone connected to his group. The Green Priest’s failure must not spread beyond this district."

The newcomer remained silent while the others lowered their heads.

Above them, the café continued serving its few remaining customers as though nothing had changed beneath the floor.