Chapter 430

Chapter 430: Direct Impact

In Fresnel’s view, the Giant Trees seemed to writhe slowly, stretching and contracting like worms standing upright.

On their thick trunks, streams of energy gathered toward the crowns, as if building up pressure.

The energy’s accumulation grew more evident, and the seemingly endless trees appeared to enter a phase of imminent eruption, contracting downward like tightened bowstrings.

In "Sleepless’s" biological field vision, the glowing dots, bright as torches, began to shine even more intensely, as if on the verge of bursting.

"Gulp."

Both Fresnel, observing the trees, and the closed-eyed "Sleepless" in the third vehicle swallowed hard at the same time.

In the next moment, Fresnel saw hundreds of big trees explode upward. Each seemed to stretch nearly one-third longer in a single second, and the sky above them darkened instantly.

Fresnel’s first thought was of fireworks—he had read about them in a long-abandoned book about the Old Era, where such items, powered by gunpowder, soared into the air and burst, bringing joy through their fiery colors.

But these were clearly no ordinary fireworks.

Fresnel didn’t know what they were; all he could do was instinctively shout:

"Enemy attack!"

At the same time, in "Sleepless’s" biological field vision, the hundreds of glowing orbs from the Giant Trees dimmed, replaced by a glowing band in the sky.

This left him momentarily stunned—whether imagined as an extraordinary beast stretching kilometers or countless small enemies, it was terrifying.

So, the instant he heard Fresnel shout, he yelled:

"Watch the sky!"

The all-terrain vehicles raced forward, meeting the tide of emerging bugs head-on.

Densely packed gray dots appeared in everyone’s sight, and more oddly, intermittent orange-red glimmers flickered among them.

From a distance, the self-detonating bug tide resembled a massive dark cloud wrapped in lightning.

Now, this long-accumulated lightning was about to strike the three vehicles below.

"Deploy defenses!"

Wang Xiao calmly issued the command.

Human technology was steadily advancing, but it would take time before defense systems like "Holy Shield" could be mass-produced.

Fortunately, humanity had superpowered individuals. Though no two abilities were identical, different powers could achieve similar effects.

The moment the order was received, Ink Drench from Unit One, Luke from Unit Two, and "Mercury" from the third vehicle each used their abilities to protect the vehicles.

The sky above Ink Drench darkened further as she leaned out of the sunroof, arms raised as if embracing the sun.

After rest and practice, she no longer needed to center her ability around herself but merely include herself within it.

Thus, a field capable of causing rapid decay among living creatures formed above Ink Drench, bringing no discomfort to her teammates inside.

Countless self-detonating bugs lost all vitality as they passed through the field, their semi-transparent wings quickly dulling and turning to gray dust carried away by the gentle breeze.

Bug carcasses that couldn’t be blown away curled up and fell to the ground, crushed into powder by the tires.

Luke’s glowing right arm dissipated into the air as his sleeves fluttered in the wind, and a semi-transparent Energy Shield enveloped the second vehicle.

How similar was his ability to the spaceship system carried by Lucas? Every time he used it, he thought of his father, who had given everything for humanity and himself.

The Energy Shield blocked most attacks aimed at the second vehicle, and only when a few stray bugs appeared would Luke unleash the blessing from his dreams, stirring a whirlwind to gather and explode them.

The two powerful superpowered individuals reassured everyone, but as for the third vehicle…

"Mercury" remained silent, enduring the blows.

Not long ago, Fulan had detailed the exploration trip to Ji Yongxing and Lin Qingliu. She mentioned that the swamp flowing with black mud was deceptively complex, closely linked to the endless abyss in the south.

Previously, Lin Qingliu had heard about an exploration report related to the swamp from the Ink Drench team. As for how they traversed it, the five members had used superpowered "Mercury" as their vehicle.

Thinking of this, even though he knew "Mercury" had a reputation for not being very bright, Lin Qingliu ultimately included him in Wang Xiao’s exploration team under Arthur’s name.

After all, if it were a normal swamp, it would be fine. But if the swamp was connected to the abyss and "Mercury" went in and out unscathed, it made Lin Qingliu value his physical strength.

Time returned to now. At the moment "Fresnel" and "Sleepless" reported the enemy situation, "Mercury" had already climbed to the top of the all-terrain vehicle.

The vehicle’s main body was a metal frame, covered only by a layer of tough raincloth, which had no effect on "Mercury."

He quickly climbed to the roof, gripping the frame with hands and feet, and then his body flowed like liquid metal, enveloping the vehicle from above, forming a resilient metallic outer shell that reflected sunlight.

Then, there was nothing more.

The driver of the third vehicle watched as the first vehicle was showered with bugs, while the second vehicle had its shield and whirlwind; his vehicle… only had self-detonating bugs continually exploding on "Mercury."

The exploded bugs died without a trace, while "Mercury’s" surface remained shiny as new, without a single scratch.

The only issue was the "bang bang" sound from the explosions, making the driver feel as if his vehicle might take off at any second.

Hopefully, that was just an illusion… the driver thought.

“Boom!”

An explosion sounded, causing everyone in the third vehicle to momentarily leave their seats and crash back down heavily.

“What’s happening? Are we flying?”

Someone yelled inside.

It felt as if they briefly launched into the air after hitting something, and the people inside were jolted in disarray.

The driving superpowered individual then saw a gray-black mass, round and rolling, seemingly moving away from their vehicle.

That thing looked like… The driver squinted and then shouted in astonishment:

“Holy crap, a tire!”