"I don't know where these two are either, possibly hiding in a cave," Lu Xian replied.
Treants hunted at night, a fact known to all humans. Animals in the forest were not foolish; those that survived knew to stay away from the woods after dark, either heading to the plains or seeking refuge in the city of Qiūmíng. Treants would not enter cities, and Qiūmíng's city walls had already been breached. Hiding within the city offered no danger. If lucky, one might even snag a late-night snack.
Under this assumption, all wild animals around Qiūmíng had learned to avoid the nighttime peril. To obtain enough prey, treants could only expand their hunting grounds under the cover of darkness. Fortunately, Siberian winters had long nights, with sixteen to seventeen hours of darkness, giving treants more time to hunt.
Furthermore, many resident birds couldn't see clearly at night. Treants could directly capture them as long as they detected thermal signatures.
Regardless, these treants would return to their hiding caves before dawn. Shen Feng wasn't overly worried. As for Zhang Zi and Qi Ling Shan, while they might not be able to defeat the treants, they could certainly escape. They possessed the ability to protect themselves, and as long as they weren't surrounded, they would be fine.
Jin Zi Jue looked at Lu Xian and asked, "Now, it's time for you to play your part. I'm curious to see how you plan to lure the treants."
Upon hearing this, Lu Xian's spirits lifted. He said seriously, "No problem, I'll show you what I've got! But to ensure the final result is good, you all must follow my commands."
"Alright, we'll let you take charge for a bit. But it better be effective, otherwise, we'll make you understand the cost of commanding us," Shen Feng said with a smile.
Lu Xian was brimming with confidence. He wouldn't dare boast about other matters, as many things were clearly beyond his capabilities. However, when it came to luring treants, Lu Xian had many tricks up his sleeve. After all, it was his specialty. His ability was thermal detection, and he was most familiar with changes in heat. This was precisely what was needed to deal with the current treants.
Lu Xian immediately began giving orders: "City Lord, please find a way to get several tons of oil. Mr. Xiao Sheng, go find some tin barrels. Mr. Jin Zi Jue, guard the cave entrance. Next, I need to set up a formation."
"Set up a formation?" Jin Zi Jue couldn't help but scoff when he heard Lu Xian. "You kid read too many novels, didn't you? Setting up a formation? What kind of formation? A 'One-Character Long Snake Formation'?"
Jin Zi Jue had always seen things like the "Heavenly Gate Formation" and the "Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation" in TV shows. He used to believe they were real, but as he grew older, he realized these formations were fake, non-existent. In the face of absolute power, so-called formations were just talk.
Moreover, the concept of breaking formations only existed in storytelling. In a real battlefield, there were no such things as unbreakable formations.
Lu Xian smiled and said, "Of course, it's a maze formation. Just you wait and see. If Zhang Zi and Qi Ling Shan can't stop the enemy, then my maze formation will come into play."
Lu Xian was very confident. Shen Feng and the other two could only trust his confidence, as they had no other options. In a normal fight, stopping the treants' advance wouldn't be easy.
The three immediately went to complete their tasks. Shen Feng and Xiao Sheng's mission was simple: head to the distant oil well. There was still a lot of oil left there, and many tin barrels as well. Their target was the oil well.
On the way to the well, Xiao Sheng said to Shen Feng, "Actually, we already knew Qiūmíng had been breached. After our defeat, some of us chose to return to Qiūmíng to fetch reinforcements. However, the city was in ruins, and the people inside had disappeared. At that moment, we all understood that Qiūmíng was destroyed. Without any population in Qiūmíng, trading oil was impossible. We never told the soldiers about this because we were afraid they wouldn't be able to handle the blow and would collapse."
Receiving this answer, Shen Feng let out a wry smile. "It seems your mission has failed. You were originally tasked with solving the domestic oil crisis. Now, not long after the oil trade began, the city has been destroyed. The demise of Qiūmíng is also closely related to you taking away its vital forces. When you return home, you'll be held accountable. In any case, the position of captain in the Abilities Administration will not fall to you."
Shen Feng had thought Xiao Sheng was unaware of Qiūmíng's situation. Now that Xiao Sheng admitted to knowing Qiūmíng was destroyed, didn't that mean he knew his mission had failed?
Xiao Sheng turned to Shen Feng and smiled, "That depends on whether my brother-in-law is willing to help me. As long as you help me bring the mutated plants back to the country, I will definitely be rewarded, not punished, and receive countless accolades. Whether I receive punishment or commendation upon returning home now depends entirely on you."
Upon hearing this, Shen Feng's heart skipped a beat. Shen Feng was no longer the naive youngster he once was; he could see the underlying coldness in many matters. At this moment, he immediately understood that Xiao Sheng was trying to appeal to his emotions!
"Your demands are too much. I'll be direct: I came to Siberia simply to confirm your survival. Now that Xu Xing has been captured, my primary mission is to rescue my subordinate, not to help you complete your mission. Do you understand?" Shen Feng stated his purpose without any politeness.
Xiao Sheng quickly said, "Shen Feng, this is for your own good! As long as you help me bring the mutated plants back to the country, you will have made a great contribution. This will help ease the relationship between your Yuzhou and the headquarters. Do you understand?"
"I understand, which is why I won't help you. After rescuing Xu Xing, I'll watch how you capture the mutated plants. The conflict between me and headquarters is not a matter of pride that can be resolved in a few words. Don't flatter yourself," Shen Feng said coldly.
Another person who thought they could make Shen Feng reconcile with headquarters. However, Ban Xian had already made it very clear to Shen Feng that there was hatred between Yuzhou and headquarters. When the abilities users of the Heavenly Dragon Bureau went on a killing spree in Yuzhou, headquarters had said nothing. Shen Feng could see that headquarters' actions were a clear case of favoritism. Shen Feng would not easily reconcile with headquarters because headquarters was in the wrong.
After receiving Shen Feng's answer, Xiao Sheng could only show a bitter smile and say nothing further.
For Xiao Sheng, the ideal scenario would be for everyone to unite harmoniously to resist the enemy. When they were fighting zombies, they had worked together with one heart. Now, facing the crisis of mutated beasts and birds, they should naturally unite. However, that was not the case.
The matter couldn't be settled. Xiao Sheng didn't mind. If Shen Feng wouldn't help, so be it, as long as he didn't cause trouble. As long as the trapped personnel were rescued, they could still find a way to defeat the treants. The plant heart was definitely hidden within the great tree on the lake island.
Soon, Shen Feng and Xiao Sheng had gathered the supplies Lu Xian needed. Lu Xian immediately began setting up the formation. He disassembled the tin barrels into halves and placed them in the woods near the cave entrance, paying special attention to clearing the surrounding weeds. Finally, he poured the crude oil into them. This was crude oil, which couldn't be directly burned as fuel in an engine, but it could still burn in the open air.
Many people who stole oil in Africa refined gasoline by directly burning the stolen crude oil. After burning, the remaining substance was usable gasoline. However, this method was extremely polluting, and areas around primitive oil refining often became barren.
Jin Zi Jue watched Lu Xian set up the formation with a cold gaze. When he saw that Lu Xian was merely placing tin barrels on the ground, he couldn't help but mock, "This is your maze formation? Even a three-year-old child wouldn't be fooled by your formation!"
Lu Xian said confidently, "Trust me, it will definitely work. Once the treants get close, just light it up, and you'll see if it works."
Shen Feng saw half-cut gasoline barrels all around and felt a sense of unease. "If these tip over, the surrounding forest will be burned down. Setting fire to the mountains will land you in prison for a long time. Have you really thought this through?"
Crude oil was not to be trifled with. It wasn't ordinary cooking oil. In ancient times, crude oil was already in use. People at the time called crude oil "fierce fire oil," which was difficult to extinguish. Moreover, it was winter in the Northern Hemisphere, with dry branches and fallen leaves everywhere. The moisture content in the trees was very low. Once a fire started, tens or even hundreds of square kilometers of forest would be destroyed.
Lu Xian said guiltily, "It's fine, it's fine. It won't easily catch fire."
After Lu Xian finished speaking, Shen Feng had no choice but to believe him. In his mind, since this was Siberia and not their own country, it didn't matter if it caught fire. Back in southern Yuzhou, only a few hills had burned, so the problem might not be that severe.
Coincidentally, shortly after Lu Xian finished setting up his formation, sounds could be heard from a distance. "Dong, dong, dong..." The sounds were like drumming. Shen Feng and Jin Zi Jue exchanged glances, knowing that the treants were approaching.
Shen Feng looked at his watch. It was already early morning, five o'clock local time. However, even by local time, dawn wouldn't break until eight or nine o'clock. He hadn't expected the treants to approach so soon.
As the treants approached, Lu Xian quickly said, "Set up the formation, set up the formation, light the fire quickly!"
When Lu Xian gave the order to light the fire, Xiao Sheng immediately acted. Fireballs flew from his hands, instantly igniting the crude oil in the barrels. Blazing fires erupted in the woods, illuminating the forest and dispelling much of the thin mist in the air.
Seeing the change in the air, Shen Feng jokingly remarked, "It's a shame there are no Pea Shooters here. Otherwise, paired with Torchwood Stumps, these treants would be finished."
Lu Xian quickly used his abilities, feeling that the heat radiating from the burning oil in the barrels had formed a continuous stream. The changes in the air's heat were extremely violent, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems my maze formation has been successfully established. Now, the treants won't be able to get within a single step."
And the situation was indeed as Lu Xian had predicted. The gasoline barrels were not placed randomly; they were arranged in a continuous line. Once ignited, they would create heat waves in the air. The glowing fruits on the treants' heads flickered incessantly upon sensing the surrounding heat changes. They wandered around in the woods, seemingly searching for a way to escape, but it was all in vain. They were surrounded by dozens of gasoline barrels. The waves of heat made it impossible for the treants to distinguish directions, and they could only mill about in place.
By the light of the flames, Shen Feng saw that many of the over thirty treants were covered in white frost. In addition to the frost, many of their vines were frozen solid. Treants wouldn't become like this for no reason. Shen Feng guessed that this was likely the work of Zhang Zi and the others.