Chapter 70

Chapter 70

In the distant rain, the outline of Haiyun Mountain became visible.

This was the only place in Haiyun City that could withstand the tsunami. The base of the mountain was already submerged, its peak shrouded in misty rain, revealing only a small green middle section. During the high temperatures, the mountain had been barren, but now vegetation had sprung up again.

Lin Fen had said that during the flooding, most of the mutants had fled to Haiyun Mountain, so they had no choice but to stay on the ships. Now, as Feng Chen looked towards Haiyun Mountain, a sense of alertness arose in him.

"Heave-ho, heave-ho, heave-ho," Yan Bubu rowed vigorously, incessantly talking, "Brother, don't panic, we're almost there. Do you see it? I can already see the mountain, heave-ho, heave-ho."

As they neared Haiyun Mountain, a rumbling sound, like distant thunder, came from behind.

Yan Bubu turned to look and saw a towering barrier rising where the sea met the sky, its ends stretching beyond sight, continuing to the horizon.

Upon closer inspection, it was actually a colossal wall of water.

Yan Bubu was horrified, shouting, "Brother, look, look behind us, what is that? Is that water?"

Feng Chen glanced back while rowing, his pupils constricting sharply before turning back and rowing even harder, his oars nearly taking flight.

"What is that?" Yan Bubu continued to ask.

Without turning, Feng Chen answered, "A tsunami."

"That's a tsunami..." Yan Bubu stared blankly at the approaching wall of water behind them, shuddering before quickly turning back and rowing with all his might.

People on the hovercrafts ahead also saw the tsunami, and all the boats accelerated to the speed of speedboats. Those without oars lay down to paddle with their hands.

The roaring waves approached, filling the air with a thunderous roar. Though the waves hadn't reached them yet, the water from Haiyun City surged, causing the boats to bob and weave.

"The tsunami is coming!" Yan Bubu kept looking back, shouting in terror.

They had reached the right side of Haiyun Mountain, needing to get around the back to escape the tsunami.

Feng Chen glanced back to see the giant wave engulfing the docks with irresistible force. Their four hive ships had capsized in the waves, pushed forward helplessly like leaves.

The leading hovercraft in the fleet had already turned right behind the mountain, with the others following. Feng Chen's boat was last, nearly capsizing in the rapidly rising flood but managing to stay upright.

Feng Chen desperately rowed along the side of Haiyun Mountain, the sound of the pursuing wave vibrating his eardrums. The light in his vision dimmed as the wave blocked the scant light from above.

The towering wave hit them from behind, drowning out Yan Bubu's screams in its deafening roar. The hovercraft, completely out of control, rushed past the mountain wall and was carried forward by the flood.

Without hesitation, Feng Chen threw away the oars, grabbed Yan Bubu, and leaped from the boat into the floodwater behind Haiyun Mountain, grabbing a sturdy vine on the mountain wall.

Boom!

Simultaneously, a colossal wave, tens of meters high, surged past the mountain wall. Some parts of the wave even towered over Haiyun Mountain, cascading down like a waterfall.

Feng Chen was submerged in deep water, and although he avoided a direct hit from the wave, the current still pulled fiercely.

Holding onto the vine with one hand and Yan Bubu with the other, his body was stretched straight by the water's force.

Yan Bubu had slipped from his embrace but held tightly onto his hand, kicking furiously forward.

The force of the sweeping sea water was too intense, causing Yan Bubu's hand to slowly slip away until he was finally swept away by the waves, spinning out into the sea.

In that instant, the black lion burst out like a black sword cutting through the water, swiftly moving in front of Yan Bubu to push against him, then struggling to swim back, nudging him bit by bit towards safety.

The wave was ferocious in its approach, but it also receded quickly. The immense pulling force lasted less than a minute before gradually subsiding.

Feng Chen, sensing this, immediately grabbed Yan Bubu and swam towards the surface.

The moment they broke the water's surface, Feng Chen gasped for air, glancing at Yan Bubu beside him.

Yan Bubu, coughing and choking, wiped the rainwater from his face, intermittently closing his eyes to cry out.

The fleet was still ahead, separated by a steep mountain wall. To reach them, they would need to swim further.

Feng Chen glanced at his watch, examining the real-time topographic map. He discovered that the tsunami wasn't just one wave; a second one would follow in approximately twenty minutes.

He decided not to look for others first. Instead, they needed to climb higher to avoid being submerged like before, at risk of being swept away by the waves.

The mountain wall was smooth and steep, with only a small platform about ten meters high. Feng Chen looked up at the wall, tugged on a vine he deemed sturdy, and told Yan Bubu, "Climb onto my back."

Yan Bubu, though crying, quickly followed Feng Chen's command, swiftly climbing onto his back and wrapping his arms tightly around his neck.

Feng Chen, gripping a vine, began to climb, with Yan Bubu twisting his head looking for the black lion, "Where's the lion? Where's my lion?"

The black lion was climbing just below them on the wall. Hearing Yan Bubu looking for it, it nudged his foot with its big head.

Feng Chen agilely climbed up and soon reached the platform.

The platform, about a square meter in size, was high above the water and quite a distance from the mountain's edge, safe from the waves.

He set Yan Bubu on the platform before climbing up himself. As he landed, the black lion quietly squeezed in too.

The black lion, despite its large size and trying to curl up to make itself smaller, made the small platform crowded.

Feng Chen thought to send it back to the psychic realm but felt its obvious reluctance. It extended a paw around his shoulder to fiddle with Yan Bubu, seeking protection.

Yan Bubu, thinking the lion was scared of the tsunami, grabbed its paw and brought it to his face, reassuring, "Don't be scared, daddy's here."

Feng Chen: "..."

Squeak squeak!

Suddenly, monkey cries sounded from above.

Both the men and the lion looked up to find that over a dozen monkeys were clinging to the vines high up on the mountain wall, baring their teeth and screeching at them.

Monkeys have a strong sense of territoriality, and Feng Chen figured they considered this part of the mountain wall their territory and wanted to drive them away.

With the second wave of the tsunami approaching, it wasn't possible for him and Yan Bubu to leave. Feng Chen ignored the monkeys and instructed Yan Bubu, "Don't look at them."

These monkeys were muscular and fierce-looking, obviously mutants. Making eye contact with animals can be seen as a challenge. In such situations, it's best to ignore them, sit still, showing no intention to invade their territory, in hopes of reducing their aggressiveness.

These mutant monkeys were very aggressive and would usually attack humans on sight. However, their wariness of the black lion kept them perched on the high vines, continuing their ferocious screeching.

Yan Bubu, looking down at the sea with Feng Chen, quietly asked, "Will they attack us?"

Feng Chen replied, "I don't know."

"Do you remember the incident with the furry chestnuts in the fashion city?" Yan Bubu asked.

Feng Chen remembered that incident. While they were trying on clothes in a store, a monkey had jumped out and attacked Yan Bubu, who had slashed its belly with a knife.

"I remember, but that monkey wasn’t a furry chestnut," said Feng Chen.

"Yeah, not a furry chestnut," Yan Bubu moved a bit uneasily closer to Feng Chen, whispering, "But I see it now."

Feng Chen turned in surprise, "You can recognize it?"

"Yes, it's right above us. It has a patch of white fur on its chest, and there's a healed scar on its belly," Yan Bubu said seriously, "the one you cut with your knife."

Feng Chen couldn't help but look up and immediately spotted the monkey Yan Bubu was talking about.

The monkey was hanging from the vine above them, identifiable by the white fur on its chest and a healed knife wound on its stomach, staring down at them malevolently, its eyes seeming venomous.

The monkey met Feng Chen's gaze without flinching, then suddenly let out a piercing screech. The other monkeys began swinging up the vines towards the top of the mountain, quickly disappearing into the foliage.

Feng Chen didn't know what they were planning, but he heightened his alertness.

The next tsunami wave was expected to arrive in about five minutes, and he hoped they could endure through these crucial moments.

The rumble in the sky returned, and another wall of water, tens of meters high, rolled towards Haiyun City. The group of monkeys reappeared above them, each holding several stones in their arms.

Feng Chen: !!!

They seemed intent on using the stones to knock him and Yan Bubu into the water as the wave surged over Haiyun Mountain.

Within seconds, the wave had rushed past the dock, reaching Haiyun City. As the towering wave surged past the mountain wall, splashing water over them, the white-furred monkey suddenly let out a sharp screech, and the stones rained down on them.

The entire mountain seemed to shake under the impact of the wave, the stone platform beneath them trembling. The massive roar drowned out all other sounds.

Yan Bubu buried his face in Feng Chen's chest, clinging tightly to his waist. The black lion positioned itself over them, shielding them from the falling stones.

The monkeys screeched shrilly, baring their long fangs. One of them, from somewhere, brought a large rock, hoisting it with both hands, ready to smash it down from above.

The black lion roared, ready to climb the wall to confront the monkeys, but Feng Chen stopped it, instructing it to protect Yan Bubu.

Feng Chen harnessed his psychic power, sending several energy spikes towards the monkeys. The ones hit by these spikes fell from the vines, plummeting into the raging waves.

He took down four or five monkeys, but this failed to intimidate the rest. Instead, it incited greater hatred and ferocity in them.

The white-furred monkey howled skyward, and more monkeys climbed up the wall, hundreds of them, each holding stones of various sizes.

Waves surged past them, splashing towering tides. The two could only stay on the platform, unable to evade.

Feng Chen had to repeatedly unleash his psychic power. With each burst, several monkeys fell into the water, but others took the opportunity to hurl stones down. The black lion watched the sky, swatting away the barrage of stones.

The wave had passed, but the monkeys' assault didn't cease. Yan Bubu was held tightly in Feng Chen's arms, with only the continuous screeching of monkeys filling his ears.

After what seemed like an eternity, many monkeys, including the white-furred one, were knocked into the water by Feng Chen.

The remaining monkeys finally realized they were up against an insurmountable foe. With the white-furred monkey dead, they retreated resentfully.

Only then did Feng Chen release Yan Bubu.

Yan Bubu slowly lifted his head, still shaken, and looked back, "Are the monkeys gone?"

"They're gone."

"Will there be another tsunami coming?"

Feng Chen lifted his wrist to check his watch, replying softly, "No more… it’s over now."

Yan Bubu noticed the unusual tone in Feng Chen's voice, looking up to see his exhausted expression, his lips pale, and strands of wet hair clinging to his forehead, making his face appear even paler.

Yan Bubu reached out to touch his face, finding the skin icy and damp, and asked anxiously, "Brother, what's wrong with you? You seem sick."

Feng Chen didn't feel cold, but he was shivering as if chilled. His head pounded as if a dull hammer was striking inside, causing a buzzing sound that made it hard for him to hear Yan Bubu's words clearly.

He saw Yan Bubu's face close to his, filled with fear, his lips moving. Feng Chen wanted to say he was okay, but he lacked the strength even to speak and felt himself falling.

At this moment, the black lion suddenly disappeared, but Yan Bubu didn't notice, only frantically holding onto Feng Chen's upper body, continuously calling out for his brother loudly.

Feng Chen felt as if he was floating in the air, his feet finding no ground, then felt like he was sinking into an abyss, sinking deeper and deeper into a chaotic, swirling black fog.

His consciousness began to blur, and bizarre images flashed before him. Sometimes he walked in a colorful ocean with rotating lights around him, other times he was entangled in a spider web, struggling but unable to break free from its layers.

The heavy hammering sound in his head continued, each blow heavy and relentless.

Bang, bang, bang.

Deafening.

It was a chaotic and painful sensation, his entire sensory system seemed to be twisted and kneaded into a tangled mess.

The world in his mind was absurd and unreal. The wind turned into a flowing liquid, the ground beneath him spinning ceaselessly, the sky bubbling like boiling water, causing him both pain and fear, fear so intense that his breathing almost stopped, shaking uncontrollably.

Feng Chen's eyes were tightly shut, his teeth chattering, as if in immense pain, his body covered in cold sweat.

"Brother, what's wrong with you, brother…"

Yan Bubu was terrified, desperately supporting Feng Chen's body to prevent him from falling, touching his face repeatedly in panic, crying out loudly.

But Feng Chen's condition seemed to worsen, his body convulsing, teeth clenched tightly, with increasingly longer intervals between each breath, as if suffocating himself.

"Brother..." Yan Bubu, terrified, pressed his face against Feng Chen's, repeatedly caressing his back.

"Brother, what’s wrong with you? Tell me, what’s happened? You don’t have a fever..."

Yan Bubu embraced Feng Chen's head in his arms, bending down to touch foreheads. Overcome with fear, he looked no better than Feng Chen, his lips drained of color, his body trembling uncontrollably.

He desperately wanted to know what was happening to Feng Chen, when suddenly he felt a void in his mind. His body remained stationary, yet he felt as if he was moving rapidly forward, as though he had penetrated some barrier into an unexplored realm.

This place was an absolute void, emptiness in every direction. Looking down, he couldn’t see his feet or body, as if only his eyes existed in this place.

The silence here was extraordinary, an extreme quiet where not even the slightest air movement could be felt.

But strangely, he didn’t feel scared. Instead, he felt a sense of safety, an inexplicable reassurance.

Yan Bubu slowly moved forward. He didn't know why he could walk without feet, but the moment he thought about moving forward, he noticed some shimmering filaments flowing past him.

He was advancing.

He reached out to grasp the filaments. Although he still couldn't see his hands, he felt a smooth, warm sensation flowing through his palms, as if he had really caught something.

Like an instinct, like a memory etched into his blood from the dawn of time, he felt the need to capture all these filaments.

Though unsure of the origin of this sensation, it was incredibly firm and clear.

No sooner had this thought surfaced than he felt himself infinitely extending, spreading out in all directions. He seemed to become countless selves, each reaching out to touch those filaments, carefully holding them in their grasp.

Some of these filaments were already broken, some dimmed, but as they slid through his hands, the broken ends reconnected, emitting a shimmering light.