Chapter 232
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Chapter 232: Seeking Life in Death
At this moment, four were trapped, and one was watching.
Shi Jin was not one to fear death; on the contrary, whether in her past as Master Hand or her current life after redemption, she was quite content with her existence.
The girl, who had no family, genuinely felt a sense of warmth from her teammates, making it impossible for her to escape alone, even with precious samples on her person.
This was where she and Ink Drench’s personalities diverged completely.
Shi Jin’s "short-sightedness" made her focus more on the present rather than the future, prioritizing her inner desires over acting against her will.
In stark contrast, the coldly renowned Ink Drench would undoubtedly choose to retreat, preserving samples and the flame to minimize human losses.
However, as she watched the layers of branches encroaching, Shi Jin felt that with her slender arms and legs, she wouldn’t be able to contribute effectively.
After being wrapped in who knows how many layers, Wang Xiao felt a significant pressure.
Clearly, according to the normal progression of events, without being able to control Bomb Man’s flames, this cage resembling a willow figure would begin to shrink.
Before long, Fresnel would be bleeding all over the ground.
This was something everyone was unwilling to see.
"Find a way!"
Fresnel, whose brain had overloaded, shouted his thoughts, attempting to connect the teammates’ local network to share the load of command among them.
"We’re trying our best!"
The first to respond to Fresnel with a curse was Beacon, who at this moment felt completely helpless.
She watched the advancing mycelium in the distance, unable to do anything but ignite some humus on the ground using a signal flare to obstruct the mycelium’s progress.
In this seemingly evil ritual-like dead end, the reassuring voice echoed in Wang Xiao’s ears once more:
"Plants fear fire; blow it up."
Wang Xiao instinctively felt confused for a moment, then understood Lin Qingliu’s meaning.
A strange expression briefly crossed his face.
This was truly insane…
Before he could think too much, Wang Xiao quickly spoke up:
"Actually, I…"
Wang Xiao had only said half a sentence when he saw Fresnel’s gaze, a look of a drowning person grasping at straws.
"Transfer the command to you, no explanations needed; give orders! Quickly!"
It was clear that, at this critical moment, Fresnel was indeed in a hurry.
Wang Xiao quickly used his still-functioning arm to disengage his armor and free himself, while simultaneously starting to give orders:
"Beacon, keep burning the ground to prevent the mycelium from getting close. Leave one signal flare for me and fire the rest."
"Puppet Master, possess quickly."
Su Xiaogu, who had only ever entered the bodies of extraordinary beasts with her consciousness, paused for a moment and asked:
“(Possession) Who?”
The surrounding plants were simply too numerous; even if one plant’s consciousness was seized, there were many more continuing to shrink.
“Any of them; their thoughts are connected.”
Upon hearing this, the Puppet Master said no more.
Her mismatched eyes darkened instantly as her body leaned back, allowing her consciousness to enter the nearest stout tree.
“What about me? What do I do?”
In the night, the helpless Fresnel felt as if he had been abandoned.
Wang Xiao, who had already stepped out of his armor, offered a reassuring smile:
“You put on the armor and maintain stable lighting.”
With that, he picked up the fallen Puppet Master and placed her in the custom life pod behind the armor as agreed.
Fresnel reluctantly approached; he knew the night was his weakness, but he didn’t expect that at this moment, he had become an outsider.
Wang Xiao looked at Fresnel and said lightly:
“Wait for dawn.”
Fresnel exerted all his effort to maintain the stability of the brightness. As the signal flare burst into flames, Beacon handed Wang Xiao the gun loaded with the last signal flare.
She didn’t know what her teammate intended to do, but having an idea was better than having none.
“Sorry to put you through this.”
Wang Xiao took the signal gun with one hand and lifted Beacon off the ground with the other. In her wide-eyed panic, he stuffed her into the life pod—
another life pod, the unknown one discovered in the forest.
The armor slowly closed. One side bore Fresnel’s tense expression; the other side showed Wang Xiao’s confident smile.
“What do you want to do?”
Feeling like there was no room for maneuver, Fresnel finally voiced his question.
He was feeling a bit desperate.
As the branch cage tightened, it began to grow spikes, the ground softened, and the surrounding mycelium slowly crept closer.
And now, Wang Xiao had entrusted both the armor and the life pods to his teammates. What did he intend to do?
Wang Xiao did not answer; instead, he shouted through the overlapping branches to the anxious Shi Jin watching outside:
“After the explosion, save them!”
With that, he paid no attention to whether she heard him clearly, turned around, and pulled down the helmet visor, severing Fresnel’s contact with the outside world.
The Captain and the Puppet Master were completely isolated. Although Beacon wasn’t fully isolated, Wang Xiao had placed her in the life pod upside down; even if something went wrong, she wouldn’t be disfigured.
After confirming in less than a second that his actions had no oversight, he yanked two thick cables connected to the back of the armor and pulled the Energy Battery, personally produced by the first team’s top superpowered individual, Disaster Core, from its slot.
He aimed the signal gun at the unstable battery, recalling the message from designer Ji Yongxing when he received the armor:
“The Energy Battery is unstable due to excessive energy accumulation and is more fragile than you can imagine. Please protect this during combat.”
“I’ll see just how unstable you are.”
A hint of frightening madness seeped into Wang Xiao’s indifferent tone.
Only by confronting death could one seek life from it.
He hoped it would turn out better than becoming a flesh blob.
With that thought, Wang Xiao pulled the trigger.
“Click.”
“Boom!!!”
In the distance, Shi Jin saw a fireball expanding rapidly.
It was her first time closely witnessing an explosion while in the state of Ephemeral, and it was clearly not a pleasant experience.
She watched the projectile fly out, hit the bizarre material of the battery, and then saw the birth of a miniature sun.
The ground, mycelium, armor, flesh, branches…
All living things had their lives stripped away; everything whole lay shattered.
As Shi Jin gazed at the slowly expanding fireball, she wished it would slow down, slow down, so she could see more clearly.
Slow down!
Though she didn’t know which point in objective time this corresponded to, at that moment, Shi Jin understood what she desired.
Time seemed to freeze; Shi Jin returned to that dream, now holding a chess piece in her hand.
Her body began to undergo transformation.
