Apart from the military camps on the northern line discovering attacks by mutated beasts, the southwestern and southeastern fronts also reported their appearance. Everyone had ceased fighting for about a week, and the beast tide had shown no movement. Now, suddenly encountering a night raid by mutated beasts, everyone was immediately mobilized. Whether soldiers or mercenaries, all rushed to the front lines, opening fire as soon as any mutated beasts were spotted approaching.
Guo Pinming and Lu Xian found it strange. Why would these mutated beasts suddenly break through? Moreover, from a great distance, they could still see the fires within the encirclement. Had something caught fire, causing the entire forest within the encirclement to burn?
Although Shen Feng had long since recruited workers to clear the trees outside the encirclement, it was obvious to anyone with discerning eyes that this was the creation of a firebreak. Once a fire broke out within the encirclement, the firebreak would serve its purpose. However, before setting any fires, Shen Feng would definitely notify his subordinates, and as of now, there was no news from Shen Feng's side.
"No matter what, it's good that the beast tide isn't staying put," Guo Pinming thought to himself.
The scale of the beast tide was simply too immense. If the beast tide ultimately chose a single direction to break through, the defensive line might indeed be breached. However, now that the beast tide was scattered and breaking through in different directions, the pressure was dispersed, and the defensive line could not be easily breached.
The soldiers in the encirclement, upon discovering the mutated beasts charging forward, immediately began to strafe. The forest was now a blur of shadows, making it impossible to discern the exact situation. They couldn't tell if these dark figures were moving mutated beasts or the shadows of trees swaying. Thus, they fired a burst of bullets. It was regrettable if they hit trees, but as long as they hit mutated beasts, the expended ammunition was worth it.
Blood flowers bloomed from the bodies of the mutated beasts. The scorching bullets, upon exiting the barrel, spun and struck the mutated beasts, creating fist-sized holes. There was no question of igniting the beasts' ferocity; their ferocity had long since flowed away with the blood gushing from the holes in their bodies.
At this moment, the mutated beasts could only retreat helplessly under the fierce artillery fire. If viewed from a divine perspective, these mutated beasts, if they had acted in unison, would have had a chance to escape regardless of which direction they chose. However, the mutated beasts simply did not understand cooperation and fled in different directions, thus being picked off one by one.
The soldiers on the periphery were unclear about the situation within the circle, while Shen Feng, inside the encirclement, was even more unaware of what was happening. He too was stunned by the sudden fires and explosions to the north, completely oblivious to what was unfolding ahead.
"Rumble..." Shen Feng first heard the sound of explosions in the distance. Then, he stood still and looked intently into the distance. In the area behind the mountains, he could faintly see firelight, which immediately astonished him.
"This, this, this... Does Ke Yiming have such strong abilities? His combat power has soared after becoming a fifth-tier esper!" Shen Feng couldn't help but exclaim.
In Shen Feng's impression, Ke Yiming's combat power was actually quite ordinary. Moreover, even after becoming a fifth-tier esper, he would likely be similar to Xiao Sheng, capable of killing a few thousand mutated beasts at most. But now, there were intense fires and booming sounds to the north, which was clearly not right. Such violent changes shocked the surroundings, scaring away countless mutated beasts, and the sky-high flames were clearly not something an ordinary person could achieve.
Li Keyi frowned and pondered, then said, "I don't think this is something human esper abilities can achieve."
Qin Ke'wei frowned, and suddenly thought of something, becoming anxious. She shouted, "Let's go quickly! Something might have happened to them. Let's go and check!"
Qin Ke'wei was worried about the safety of her subordinates and immediately rushed north. She judged that such dense explosions could not possibly be achieved by Ke Yiming, so something must have happened on the battlefield.
Shen Feng also reacted, rushing forward while using his walkie-talkie to inquire, "Ke Yiming, Fang Qinghao, please respond. How are things on your end?"
However, there was no response from the walkie-talkie for a long time. After two minutes, a reply came through the walkie-talkie, but it was a message from Commander Lu Kaiyang, not from Ke Yiming's side.
"City Lord, what exactly happened on your end? Why has the beast tide dispersed and broken through now?" Lu Kaiyang was inquiring about the situation, but Shen Feng didn't know either, so he decided not to answer, waiting to explain the situation after understanding the truth.
When Shen Feng and his entourage of three arrived at the battlefield, they were instantly stunned. The air was filled with the smell of scorched earth, and mutated beast corpses were scattered all over the mountains. Fires were still burning on the battlefield, and some flames had already spread into the forest. It was unknown how many mutated beasts had died in this explosion and fire.
At this moment, Shen Feng quickly began searching for the traces of others. Finally, he found Fang Qinghao, with a face covered in soot, pinned beneath a mutated wild boar. He was completely immobilized by the wild boar, and his body was in immense pain, as if he had been run over by a tank. It seemed his bones were all broken.
"Save me, quickly push this wild boar off me! I can barely breathe!" Fang Qinghao said weakly.
Shen Feng quickly pushed the wild boar off Fang Qinghao and then asked, "How are you now? What exactly happened? Why are you all in such a sorry state?"
Fang Qinghao shook his head helplessly and said, "You shouldn't ask me about this. You should ask that scoundrel Ke Yiming. We were about to retreat, but this kid got his hands on it and started a fire, igniting all the pollen. Then there was a dust explosion, and we were all blown apart."
Fang Qinghao was also fortunate to be alive. The situation had changed too quickly; he didn't even have time to defend himself before the explosion arrived. He could only manage to wrap himself in water, hoping to resist the explosion, and was ultimately blown away by the massive blast. Afterward, a mutated wild boar was burned to death and, by chance, landed on Fang Qinghao, pinning him down. This, however, shielded him from the scorching flames, saving his life, but the downside was that he almost couldn't breathe.
If Shen Feng had arrived any later, Fang Qinghao might have suffocated under the heavy boar.
It was only when Shen Feng arrived that Fang Qinghao finally saw hope. Now he had survived. He had never experienced such a perilous battle, not dying at the hands of the enemy, but at the hands of his own people.
Meanwhile, Li Keyi found Ke Yiming, who had fainted on the ground. He was unharmed and had not been injured by the flames and explosions. It was understandable, as he was a fire-element esper; it would be truly ridiculous if he were burned to death by fire.
Qin Ke'wei also searched everywhere and found Hou Xiaohua and Jiang Kui, who were buried by mutated beasts. These two were still breathing.
"Is someone missing?" Shen Feng asked. He remembered there were eight people when they set out, but now only seven were found. Where was the remaining person?
Qin Ke'wei's expression changed drastically and she said, "Xiao Yue is gone! Where is he? Let's go find him quickly! Leave these injured people together for now and find Xiao Yue first!"
The three then separated and searched everywhere for Yue Hengyi. Ke Yiming also slowly woke up, rubbing his head and saying, "What's going on? Where am I?"
Ke Yiming had been blown away by the strong airflow, but he was fine. The flames and explosions did not harm him, but unfortunately, his head hit a rock, causing him to faint on the spot. He finally woke up, his head still aching, but he had forgotten where he was.
Fang Qinghao, covered in soot, saw Ke Yiming's innocent expression and was so angry that smoke came out of his ears. He cursed, "It's all your fault, you scoundrel! The mission was already completed, but you lit a fire, and now we're all like this because of you."
Ke Yiming slowly began to recall. It seemed that as he was leaving, he encountered a toad and couldn't resist throwing a fireball, which ultimately caused the pollen to burn intensely.
Thinking of this, Ke Yiming's expression changed drastically, and he thought to himself, "Could it be because of me that this tragic scene has occurred?"
At this moment, Ke Yiming rubbed his head, his expression filled with confusion, and asked, "Who are you? And who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going?"
It turned out that Ke Yiming, seeing that the situation was not good, decided to feign amnesia. Didn't such plots frequently appear in TV shows? When a person suffers a blow, it's easy to lose memory. In this case, feigning amnesia would likely help him evade responsibility.
Seeing that Ke Yiming seemed to have amnesia, Fang Qinghao's immense anger was choked in his throat. He never expected the other party to have amnesia, even forgetting who he was. This was too bizarre! Continuing to scold him was useless; it was better to wait for subsequent arrangements.
"When you recover your memory, we'll settle the score!" Fang Qinghao said resentfully.
Hou Xiaohua slowly woke up. As soon as he did, he began scratching his skin. Instantly, the burnt skin began to peel off, and the previously blackened skin immediately turned white. This regenerative ability was truly enviable.
"Thank goodness my skin is thick! I almost got burned to death. What happened? Was there a missile strike? Otherwise, why would there be a series of explosions?" Hou Xiaohua asked while scratching off the burnt skin.
Fang Qinghao explained helplessly, then leaned against a giant mutated goat, waiting for Shen Feng's search results. Currently, only Yue Hengyi had not been found, and he didn't know how Yue Hengyi was doing.
Shen Feng and Li Keyi searched the mountain for a long time but couldn't find Yue Hengyi. They even began to examine the corpses of mutated beasts, fearing that Yue Hengyi was trapped beneath them and would suffocate, which would be a truly frustrating way to die.
Finally, ten minutes later, Qin Ke'wei found Yue Hengyi in the forest, severely burned. Yue Hengyi was completely black, much of his clothing had been burned away, and his skin was red, clearly indicating burns. Most critically, Yue Hengyi's breathing was intermittent, and his heartbeat was unstable.
When Qin Ke'wei found Yue Hengyi, he was hanging upside down from a tree branch, completely unconscious. Nearby, trees were burning fiercely. If Qin Ke'wei had arrived any later, Yue Hengyi would have been burned to death.
"I found him! Hurry over!" Qin Ke'wei exclaimed after pulling Yue Hengyi down from the tree, then began calling out.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Yue Hengyi suddenly stopped breathing, and his heartbeat instantly ceased. This terrified Qin Ke'wei. As a friend with whom she had shared life and death, Qin Ke'wei had always cared for Yue Hengyi, and Yue Hengyi was always obedient, doing whatever Qin Ke'wei said. Their relationship was very good.
Now that Yue Hengyi had stopped breathing, Qin Ke'wei's fear was about to become reality. Was her good friend about to die before her eyes?
Thinking of this, Qin Ke'wei immediately began to perform rescue. She first found a flat area, laid Yue Hengyi flat on the ground, crossed her hands over Yue Hengyi's chest, and pressed down with straight arms. She began to perform CPR while also giving Yue Hengyi artificial respiration.
Shen Feng and Li Keyi arrived in the forest and immediately saw Qin Ke'wei leaning over and kissing Yue Hengyi. They stopped in their tracks, seemingly having arrived too late.
"Sorry to interrupt. We'll leave right away!" Shen Feng said. Seeing himself and Li Keyi appear, he thought he was interrupting Qin Ke'wei and Yue Hengyi, a man and a woman. It was understandable for them to be intimate in the forest, and kissing was normal. Instead, his two companions had become unwanted guests, so it was best to leave quickly.
"Leave? Where are you going? Xiao Yue is about to die, and you're not hurrying to find a way to save him!" Qin Ke'wei turned around and said angrily, her face already streaked with tears.