Chapter 99

Chapter 99

On the roof, Feng Chen realized that behind the pack of wolves followed several mammoth mutant species, their massive bodies like small hills, each step shaking the thick ice.

He clung to the rear of the vehicle, his dagger stabbing at the wolves beside the track vehicle. He also transformed his psychic power into numerous sharp arrows, striking down the wolves following closely behind.

Heilong prowled behind the vehicle, running among the wolves, occasionally lunging and biting those charging at the track vehicle, killing them on the spot.

Yan Bubu, by the wide-open door, quickly dodged to the entrance when he saw a mutant wolf charging at the side of the vehicle.

A flash of the bright blade, and he swiftly returned to the side of the vehicle, while the wolf, carried by its inertia, stumbled a few steps forward and collapsed on the ice.

But the mutant wolves were too many; just as they cleared the area around the vehicle, another group surrounded it. Feng Chen leaped down from the rear, killed the nearest few, then turned to chase the moving track vehicle, grabbed the iron bar at the back, and cleanly flipped back onto the roof.

Yan Bubu also unleashed his psychic power, organizing Feng Chen's psychic field while binding the wolves trying to bite Feng Chen with psychic restraints.

The wolves, just as they leaped, fell heavily down, either impaled by Feng Chen or trampled into mush by the pursuing mutants.

The wolf pack quickly passed their vehicle, but the running mammoth mutants were already catching up, their steps causing the track vehicle to tremble.

Yan Bubu looked out from the door and felt his heart tighten at the sight of the mammoth-like elephants.

"Brother, what do we do?" he called out, sticking his head towards the roof.

Feng Chen, lips tightly pressed, didn’t respond, his eyes between his hair strands fiercely sharp. He focused on the leading elephant and commanded, "Don't panic. You make sure Binunu drives well, I’ll lead away the head elephant. Be ready to back me up."

"Lead away the head elephant? Just use psychic power to kill it; don’t go, it's too dangerous," Yan Bubu said in alarm.

"No, we’re too close. If the head elephant dies, the rest will still charge forward, and our vehicle isn’t faster than them."

Heilong, which had been following beside the vehicle, became Feng Chen's mount as he leapt onto its back, and together they charged towards the rampaging elephant herd.

The elephants stirred up a storm of ice dust, which the wind carried and sprinkled over Feng Chen. He rode low on Heilong's back, covered in frost, his gaze fixed on the head elephant.

When they were about ten meters away from the herd, Heilong suddenly leapt forward into the air, and Feng Chen, using its back as a springboard, jumped high, grabbing onto the dangling long hair on the elephant's back, suspending himself on its body.

Yan Bubu climbed to the top of the vehicle, watching this perilous scene, his heart pounding so hard it felt like stopping.

Feng Chen stabilized himself and thrust his dagger into the front thigh of the head elephant.

The dagger plunged into the elephant's leg, causing it to let out a pained roar, but it continued to run forward without changing direction.

Feng Chen pulled out the dagger and decisively stabbed again.

The head elephant finally realized it was under attack and swung its trunk, trying to knock Feng Chen off.

Yan Bubu quickly unleashed his psychic power, causing the elephant's movements to momentarily freeze, allowing Feng Chen to stab once more into its upper left leg.

Although the elephant’s skin was thick and the three stabs weren’t critically harmful, it was agitated by the pain, running while shaking its body, trying to throw Feng Chen off.

Feng Chen clung to the massive elephant's body, holding onto its long hair, like a leaf trembling in the wind.

"Binunu, get close to Brother, go catch him!" Yan Bubu shouted from above the door to Binunu, who was driving.

Heilong continued running amidst the elephant herd, nimbly dodging their thick legs. Just as the herd was only a dozen meters from the track vehicle, it suddenly darted out, passing in front of the head elephant and veering sharply to the left.

The enraged head elephant, not knowing what was attacking it, chased after Heilong upon seeing it.

The track vehicle kept adjusting its direction, moving closer to the head elephant. As it passed by the head elephant, Feng Chen let go and leaped sideways, hurtling towards the roof of the vehicle.

By then, the elephant herd had reached the rear of the vehicle, casting a huge shadow over it. Yan Bubu, seeing an imminent collision, released all his psychic power and shouted, "Stop!"

His psychic power surged out like a tidal wave, engulfing the entire herd. The running elephants, as if hitting a pause button, suddenly all stopped in unison.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

The track vehicle sped away, increasing the distance from the herd by another dozen meters.

After three seconds, the whole herd continued charging, following the head elephant towards the left.

A few straggling elephants that didn't turn in time found Binunu navigating the vehicle between their legs. The track vehicle, like a small boat in water, drifted perilously but never capsized.

Once the entire herd had finally passed by the track vehicle, Feng Chen timely retracted Heilong back into his psychic field. Losing its target, the head elephant readjusted its course and charged straight ahead.

The mutant species came fiercely and left just as quickly, leaving the ice plain tranquil once again, littered only with wolf corpses, some flattened into mere skins.

Feng Chen and Yan Bubu both descended into the vehicle. Feng Chen, as always after a dangerous situation, first checked Yan Bubu’s hands and feet.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Yan Bubu, noticing Feng Chen without his hat and scarf, quickly removed his gloves to check his ears, anxiously asking, "Are your ears frozen? Are you okay?"

Although Feng Chen had only been outside for a few minutes, the extreme cold was enough to cause frostbite to his ears.

"I'm fine, I didn’t feel that cold," Feng Chen reassured him, holding his hand.

Yan Bubu felt his ears were cold but still slightly warm, indicating no frostbite, and finally relaxed.

Feng Chen went to the driver's seat, removed the wedge stuck in the energy board, and pressed the brake: "Binunu, take a break. Let’s check the vehicle."

Although they had cleared the wolves that hit the vehicle as much as possible, the car was still dented everywhere, with items scattered inside.

Binunu, standing inside, looked around at the scattered sofa debris and suddenly rushed out of the car, angrily tearing at the nearest wolf corpse, ripping it to shreds.

Heilong, emerging from Feng Chen's psychic field, landed and ran towards Binunu, then slowed down cautiously upon seeing the scene.

Feng Chen was about to get out, but Yan Bubu quickly stopped him: "Wait, you’re not wearing a hat or scarf."

Yan Bubu put a hat on Feng Chen and wrapped a scarf around his neck twice, frowning and muttering, "I’m telling you, if you get frostbite on your ears and they rot, I won’t apply any medicine for you."

He was repeating the kind of admonitions that Feng Chen usually gave him.

Feng Chen looked down at Yan Bubu.

From this angle, he could only see Yan Bubu’s long eyelashes, upturned nose, and a few beads of nervous sweat on it.

"Okay, no need for you to apply medicine," Feng Chen smiled slightly.

"Done, you can get out now," Yan Bubu said, satisfied with how well he wrapped Feng Chen up, then turned to get out of the car.

Although the vehicle was dented and the bumper was knocked off, it still ran, which meant no major issues.

While Feng Chen checked the vehicle, Yan Bubu counted the wolf corpses: "Five, ten, fifteen, twenty…" He paused and asked in confusion, "Brother, what were those wolves and elephants running from? Were they migrating?"

Feng Chen, lying under the car fixing screws with pliers, replied, "Those are ice wolf and mammoth mutant species, living in groups in the tundra. I don’t think it was a large-scale migration; more like they were fleeing in panic."

"Fleeing?"

"Yes." Feng Chen crawled out from under the car, brushing off the ice dust, "But the exact reason, I’m not sure. Maybe they encountered some natural predator."

After checking the vehicle, Feng Chen took a chisel and Heilong to collect ice blocks for boiling water.

While he was chiseling ice, Yan Bubu wandered around, stopping in front of a large wolf corpse and kicked it with his foot wrapped in fur.

His kick didn’t feel like hitting a hard rock as he expected, but rather the kicked part felt slightly elastic.

The wolf corpse hadn’t frozen into ice?

Surprise rose in Yan Bubu's heart.

He had killed many mutant species in the extremely low temperatures of Haiyun City. Each one would rapidly lose body heat after death, their blood would coagulate, and the corpses would freeze within minutes. But these wolf corpses had been dead for almost ten minutes and should have been frozen solid by now, not still soft.

Yan Bubu looked around and realized that the snowstorm had stopped at some point. The endless glacier was a blinding expanse of white.

He felt something was off but couldn’t pinpoint what exactly. It wasn’t until a piece of ice dazzled him into squinting that he found the source of this feeling.

It was too bright, the light was now too intense.

Sunlight scattered on the ice layer, twinkling like a prism, dazzlingly bright.

After turning around in place, Yan Bubu looked up at the sky and saw the long-missed sun.

At this moment, the snow stopped, the wind ceased, and the world was eerily quiet.

He slowly took off his gloves and spread his hand in the sunlight.

His hand, long deprived of sunlight, was nearly pale. He held his hand above his head, gazing at the sun through the gaps between his fingers, even if the brightness brought tears to his eyes, he didn't look away.

After several seconds, Yan Bubu’s scream finally broke the silence.

Feng Chen, who had also sensed something amiss, was looking around. Yan Bubu rushed to him, grabbing his arm and shaking it excitedly, his words jumbled, "Brother, the sun, did you see it? The sun, such a huge sun."

Feng Chen looked up at the sky, standing in a daze for a moment before murmuring, "Yes, the sun, that's the sun..."

The two stood side by side, occasionally glancing at the sky, then at the ice fields, which seemed sprinkled with a layer of crushed gold.

"It's so quiet, not even a breeze. I'm not used to it. How did the sun just come out? It’s so dazzling, I can hardly keep my eyes open, haha."

Heilong and Binunu were also surveying their surroundings, gazing up at the sky.

Since their arrival in this world, they had never seen such weather. Heilong was calmer, but Binunu was visibly nervous, its little claws clenched tight.

"It's not cold anymore, hey, it's not cold!" Yan Bubu took off his gloves, not feeling cold, and then proceeded to remove his hat and scarf, eventually starting to take off his fur coat.

Feng Chen hurriedly interjected, "Wait, let me check the temperature first."

He looked at his wristwatch, reading the digits: 14°C.

"How is it? Can I take it off? How is it?" Yan Bubu's fingers lingered on the fasteners of his fur coat.

Feng Chen, however, didn’t answer his question but kept staring at his wristwatch, murmuring, "What’s going on, why has the extreme cold disappeared overnight..."

Seeing Feng Chen's serious expression, Yan Bubu suddenly thought of a grave issue, his smile fading, "If the temperature is this high... will the ice melt?"

They were on the sea surface; if the ice melted, it would be disastrous.

Feng Chen tapped on his wristwatch screen without looking up, replying, "It's fine, we'll head back to shore now. Just the high temperature isn’t a big problem, the ice won’t melt that quickly, as long as there are no dark clouds."

Yan Bubu sighed in relief, continuing to gaze at the sky. But just then, he noticed dark clouds appearing on the horizon, rolling towards the sun, and tugged at Feng Chen, "Hey, Brother, look, dark clouds are forming."

Feng Chen looked up in surprise, and his expression changed drastically upon seeing the dense black clouds.

"This is bad!" he exclaimed, turning to Yan Bubu, "I finally understand why the ice wolves and mammoths were fleeing."

Yan Bubu, seldom seeing him so tense as if a major crisis was approaching, stood frozen in place in fear.

"Quick, quick, get in the car!" Feng Chen pulled Yan Bubu towards the vehicle, shouting, "Binunu, Sasaka, get in the car! Hurry up!"

The track vehicle started and quickly turned in a new direction, heading straight for the coast on the left.

Feng Chen floored the energy pedal, quickly shedding his fur coat, and while speeding explained to Yan Bubu and the two quantum beasts, "Those clouds we saw are cumulonimbus clouds. Considering their size and thickness, a heavy rainstorm could be coming. If it was just a rise in temperature, the ice wouldn’t melt so quickly, but with the rainstorm, it could melt all the ice on this sea surface in a day. We must get to shore quickly."

Yan Bubu, standing next to the driver's seat, asked anxiously, "If what you say happens, can we reach the shore before the ice melts?"

"It's uncertain," Feng Chen said, his brows furrowed. "Our vehicle is a track vehicle, not very fast. We can only hope the wind will disperse the clouds. Even if there's no wind, let's hope there's no thunder. Thunder is the worst."

Boom! Boom!

Just as he finished speaking, several claps of thunder resounded overhead, vibrating the windows of the vehicle.

Yan Bubu, who hadn’t heard thunder in years, reflexively tightened his grip on Feng Chen's shoulder. Binunu, looking ready to fight, bared its teeth and looked around, trying to locate the source of the noise, while Heilong calmly licked its head, signaling it to not be nervous.

"It’s thundering now..." Yan Bubu asked in panic, "What happens if it thunders?"

As soon as he asked, he regretted it, reaching to cover Feng Chen's mouth, "Brother, don’t say anything!"

"It means a downpour is coming," but Feng Chen spoke the words before Yan Bubu could stop him.

Yan Bubu stomped his feet in urgency, "Do something, hurry and fix this."

"Don't be so superstitious," Feng Chen chided, but then added, "Let's hope this rainstorm doesn’t fall."

No sooner had he spoken than a deluge of rain poured down, pattering on the roof like beans, making a loud noise.

Yan Bubu and Feng Chen both fell silent.

The rain instantly wet the windshield. Feng Chen turned on the wipers, saying, "I did remedy it."

"That's not a remedy, that's a curse," Yan Bubu yelled in despair.

"How is this my fault?" Feng Chen was somewhat speechless, "Rain would have come regardless of what I said."

The warm torrential rain poured down on the glacier, which hadn’t seen rain in a long time. The ice quickly developed a thin layer of standing water, with the track vehicle splashing through it.

Binunu and Heilong squeezed in front of the window to look outside, and Yan Bubu joined them, all three heads pressed against the window.

It wasn’t obvious up close, but when Yan Bubu looked into the distance, he saw those areas were no longer white, but had turned a faint ink color.

The ice was rapidly disappearing, melting, and thinning, revealing the sea water below.

Feng Chen kept the energy pedal floored, constantly checking the map on his wristwatch.

According to the track vehicle's speed, it would take half an hour to reach the shore at full throttle, but the ice was melting too quickly. In another ten minutes, the vehicle would sink into the sea.