Gonzalez opened the metal case and drew out a massive weapon.
The weapon resembled a flamethrower, with a large metal backpack connected to a long hose, the end of which looked like a faucet.
Gonzalez strapped it onto his back, opened a side panel, and quickly stuffed in a whole box of energy cubes. Many fell out, but he didn't care, then slammed the cover shut.
"Die!"
As Gonzalez spoke, he aimed the "faucet" at the fire spirit, and then...
This thing was actually used to spray water!
A large volume of liquid was sprayed out, accompanied by a chilling cold.
Much condensation dripped from the side of the hose, instantly forming a layer of frost on the ground the moment it landed.
On the other side...
Hit by the cold air and liquid, the fire spirit began to struggle intensely.
Although the fire spirit had no face, only a humanoid outline, one could still feel its pain.
Moreover...
As Gonzalez roared and advanced, under the effect of the cold and liquid, the fire spirit's body continuously shrank, and finally...
*Crack!*
The magic array beneath the fire spirit emitted a crisp sound like shattered glass, breaking completely.
With the fragmentation of the magic array, the fire spirit's body also shattered, dissipating into countless scattered fireballs.
Gonzalez, unwilling to be assured, sprayed water towards where the fire spirit had vanished for a while longer, until all the fireballs were extinguished. Only then did he relax and slump to the ground.
Bai Ye sheathed his twin swords and walked forward, asking, "How are you all? Are you alright?"
Ji Ruyue lowered her head, her voice full of sorrow, "Li Chengjie is dead."
"Good riddance..." Seeing everyone staring at him, Bai Ye quickly corrected himself, "He died so suddenly. Did that shot hit a vital spot? I remember there were many first-aid medicines in the supply box."
Ji Ruyue sighed helplessly, "Although it almost hit his heart, we only have first-aid medicine. An injury of that magnitude would require surgery."
Allen sighed, "Davis, go prepare. Regardless, we still need to bring his remains back."
Bai Ye asked, "Do we continue with the plan?"
Allen nodded, "We've already paid the price of one companion's life. Are we going to back down now? If we retreat now, wouldn't Li Chengjie have died in vain?"
He didn't die in vain, saving me a lot of trouble in killing him.
Bai Ye thought inwardly, but outwardly, he expressed great agreement. Of course, they couldn't turn back now; otherwise, what about his hidden mission?
Allen continued, "How was your pursuit? Were the attackers crystal people?"
Bai Ye replied, "They ran too fast, I couldn't catch up."
Allen asked, "You mentioned crystal people before. What about the one who was burning with flames all over? What was its origin?"
Bai Ye shook his head, "I'm not too sure. I haven't seen that one before. Maybe it's some kind of mutated creature, or a new mutant?"
Bai Ye was playing the "knows nothing" card.
However, Allen didn't seem to suspect anything. Due to the environment in the wasteland, mutations were commonplace. Humans had always been researching mutated creatures, but without much success.
Coming to another world now, and encountering some unknown mutated creatures, didn't seem like a big deal to Allen.
Soon, Ji Ruyue and Davis carried Li Chengjie's body back.
Next, everyone gathered dry branches, piled them into a large bonfire, placed Li Chengjie's body on it, and then doused it with gasoline to set it ablaze.
Flames burned, black smoke billowed, and sorrow appeared on everyone's faces.
Bai Ye curled his lip. What was there to be sad about?
He was just a mole, wasn't he?
Even if they didn't know Li Chengjie was a mole, he was just a leader of androids, not their father or mother...
But at this moment...
Seeing others' gazes drifting towards him, Bai Ye immediately began wailing dramatically.
"Ah, Brother Li, I've admired you for so long, and we've only just met..." Bai Ye wailed, "Why did you have to leave so soon? I haven't had a drink with you, had a heart-to-heart talk, or sworn eternal brotherhood..."
Ji Ruyue couldn't help but interrupt, "That phrasing is wrong!"
Bai Ye stopped and asked, "What's wrong?"
Ji Ruyue gritted her teeth, "Sworn eternal brotherhood."
"Oh!" Bai Ye put on a look of realization, "I haven't 'broken my sleeve and plucked a peach' with you yet!"
Ji Ruyue: "..."
Soon, the flames gradually died down. The group tidied up and set off into the wilderness again.
Their target was to leave the wilderness and return to the border via the highway.
Allen held his gun and said as they moved forward, "Everyone, be alert. I know you're familiar with the mutated creatures distributed around the border, but this is another world. It just looks like our border, but we can't be sure how the mutated creatures are distributed here."
Gonzalez and Davis nodded.
Ji Ruyue said, "It's alright. When we were in the vehicle, the speed was too fast for me to activate my reconnaissance abilities, but on foot, I should be able to detect surrounding mutated creatures."
Allen nodded, "I'm counting on you."
Bai Ye leaned closer to Allen, curious, "What do you mean?"
Allen looked at Bai Ye doubtfully.
Bai Ye explained, "I feel like your 'reconnaissance ability' is different from what I understand reconnaissance to be."
Ji Ruyue was responsible for reconnaissance in the team, but Bai Ye had never seen her perform any reconnaissance duties.
Furthermore, while reconnaissance personnel weren't front-line combatants, they required high individual combat capabilities, excellent stamina, agility, and proficiency in stealth and tracking.
However, Ji Ruyue possessed none of these.
But Bai Ye could tell that Allen placed quite a bit of importance on Ji Ruyue.
"She's an android who experienced a mutation during gene cloning," Allen explained. "Her brain region is different from ordinary humans, and even from most androids. She can see and hear things we can't."
Bai Ye asked, "Senses?"
Allen replied, "Yes, her five senses are beyond human, but it's not that simple. To a certain extent, she can see the future."
Ji Ruyue stated coldly, "It's not seeing the future, but rather making a certain degree of prediction about the future through extraordinary senses."
Allen chuckled dryly, "Sorry."
Bai Ye asked, "What happened?"
Allen made a shushing gesture and lowered his voice, "Ruyue dislikes others discussing her matters, so let's not talk about it anymore. As for her reconnaissance abilities, just trust them unconditionally; she has never been wrong."
...