Chapter 204: Marching and the Perception of Death

This lava giant pig let out an angry roar, seemingly extremely irritable at its inability to break through the transparent barrier before it.

Its massive body accelerated once more, slamming its head violently against the rune force field.

Every impact caused ripples to spread across the force field.

"A mere level-three magical beast." Gao Jie Ming's eyes remained calm; he did not regard this stupid giant beast in the slightest.

The other wizards within the node felt no fear toward this level-three magical beast either; some even had the leisure to point and comment at the creature before them.

Had they encountered such a beast in the wild, they might have treated it with caution, but now, they were situated deep within numerous rune formations.

One of the level-two wizards guarding the node looked at Gao Jie Ming: "Your task is to investigate the situation and collect materials, correct? How about it, would you like to try your hand at it personally? After all, once the beast tide arrives, you won't have this opportunity to personally debug the system anymore."

"Then—I'll trouble you." Gao Jie Ming did not decline; after a moment's hesitation, he nodded.

Under the guidance of several wizards, he quickly familiarized himself with the manipulation methods of the formations inside the node:

"Lightning attribute, level-three charge."

He extended his palm flat, adjusting the control light screen suspended before him.

With his manipulation, soon a blazing bolt of lightning energy gathered instantly in mid-air, emitting a "crackle" sound that illuminated the interior of the surrounding force field.

This was not merely raw energy, but a "lightning energy arrow" adjusted by the rune formation to possess lethal destructive power against a magical beast's energy core. "Go!"

At Gao Jie Ming's low shout, that lightning energy arrow shot forth like an arrow leaving the bow, carrying unstoppable speed, and instantly struck the head of the lava giant pig!

"Roar-aow!" The level-three lava giant pig immediately let out a piercing scream!

Its proud rocky skin was pierced through in an instant under this strike.

Scorched black blood, mixed with the stench of burnt flesh, gushed out from the wound.

The power of the lightning penetrated straight through its skull, dealing a massive shock to its not-so-resilient beast soul.

Its massive body swayed violently, as if all its energy had been drained away.

Finally, driven by inertia, it crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

Even so, this magical beast, brimming with vitality, continued to struggle, its limbs twitching, seeming not yet completely dead.

"Still not dead?" Gao Jie Ming raised an eyebrow, unable to hide his surprised expression.

That previous strike had been a proper level-three wizard art, moreover one specifically specialized for killing magical beasts.

This level-three magical beast had taken such a blow head-on, yet it hadn't died?!

The wizard beside him explained: "This plane is just like that; not only the lava giants and snow monsters, but other creatures also possess exceptionally strong vitality."

Gao Jie Ming nodded, raising his hand to condense an even thicker lightning energy arrow.

This time, he aimed at the heart region of the lava giant pig, the location of this beast's energy core.

Boom!

The second lightning energy arrow accurately slammed into the heart of the lava giant pig.

This time, without even managing to let out a single scream, the entire body of this magical pig went completely rigid; its thick limbs ceased twitching,

and the ferocious light in its eyes was utterly extinguished.

Gao Jie Ming did not waste time, for he had another important task here—collecting materials.

He immediately activated the formation, and near the corpse of the lava giant pig, several rune formations were quickly sketched out of thin air.

These formations were not meant to decompose the corpse, but to capture and pull it.

As the formations glowed with light, the massive corpse of the level-three lava giant pig, accompanied by a ripple of spatial fluctuation, was entirely teleported into the rear camp.

Afterwards, this corpse would be carried away by the automatic machinery on the disassembly line and sent to the bio-beast manufacturing factory.

Gao Jie Ming retracted the fluctuations of his spiritual sense, carefully savoring the sensation of manipulating the formation just now.

The combat-type wizard beside him explained at the appropriate time: "The construction of frontline nodes is basically like this; time is tight, and the materials recovered from the outposts aren't plentiful enough, so we can only make this crude form for emergency use."

"You've worked hard, but will this thing hold up against the beast tide?" Gao Jie Ming nodded politely.

"Against the beast tide, it is sufficient; at the very least, the core used here is level-four, and there are basically no creatures exceeding level four within the beast tide. Even if we truly cannot kill them all, preserving our lives is no problem."

Listening to the introduction from the wizards inside the node, Gao Jie Ming silently nodded.

His task, though called an investigation, was in reality an acceptance inspection,

and the purpose of the wizards establishing these nodes was not to resist the lava giants, but simply to prevent harassment by wild magical beasts.

"Ever since the Ship Plane detached and Master Augustine departed, reports of attacks by wild animals have come from the camp from time to time." Gao Jie Ming silently tallied the current situation in his mind.

But initially, no wizard paid any attention.

Everyone merely regarded these as normal increases in magical beast activity following the surge of plane energy,

however, less than a month after Gao Jie Ming received the mandatory task to create a bio-beast army!

These "wild animal harassments," originally dismissed by the wizards, had actually developed to an unimaginable extent!

At the camp's peak moment, it had to endure millions of beasts throwing themselves forward in successive waves every single day!

Like an endless ocean, they surged out from the scorched earth of the Fiery Sun Realm and the ice plains of the Frost Dark Realm, day and night assaulting the protective force field of the wizard camp.

Fortunately, investigations inside the camp showed that the strength of these wild creatures madly attacking the wizards was mostly only level one.

Only a small portion of high-level creatures could reach the strength of levels two to three.

For the camp's impregnable protection, a beast tide of this level could be completely ignored.

They simply could not break through the defense system of the wizard camp, which had been designed by level-five wizards.

Therefore, in a certain sense, these endless beast tides were less a threat and more like pure raw materials being provided for the wizards to manufacture bio-beasts.

"It is also because these magical beasts are so annoyingly persistent, with their endless numbers and pervasive harassment, that the camp had to expand several outer protective nodes outward to gain more buffer space, lest these beasts pile up like mountains at the edge of the camp's core force field." Gao Jie Ming summarized in his mind.

This was precisely the task he was currently performing.

Therefore, the node itself did not require overly strict inspection; as long as it could achieve a certain degree of interception and early warning, that was sufficient.

Gao Jie Ming recorded the information gathered this time on the terminal and, amidst the joyful gazes of several wizards, marked the task as complete.

After briefly exchanging existing intelligence with both parties, Gao Jie Ming immediately planned to return to the laboratory deep within the camp to continue his bio-beast design work when...

Buzz—buzz—buzz—

A piercing alarm sounded once more from within the defense node!

The wizards present simultaneously frowned, and one of the Tier-Two Wizards skillfully stepped forward to manipulate the formation.

Soon, a curtain of light unfolded before everyone's eyes,

revealing that the originally gray and hazy dome in the distant sky was now completely covered by a dense swarm of black "Fire Crows"!

Their numbers were so vast they churned like dark clouds, blotting out the sun and sky.

Each one radiated a scorching aura of flames, diving toward this defense node at astonishing speed!

And at the very front of this massive flock of Fire Crows, several tiny "black dots," resembling matchsticks, were fleeing in a wretched state.

When the wizard zoomed in his vision, he saw clearly that those struggling to escape the flock of Fire Crows were actually several wizards!

The sky-blotting flock of Fire Crows above, along with those few wizards fleeing wretchedly ahead of them, instantly shattered the brief tranquility of the defense node. Gao Jie Ming and the other few stationed wizards almost instinctively tensed up.

"Activate the Energy Diversion Core!" the Tier-Two Wizard shouted in a deep voice.

"Received!" The wizard responsible for energy output responded swiftly; the energy stored within the core of the defense node was rapidly drawn out like a surging torrent.

Immediately, thick beams of runic light shot out from the several main gunports of the defense node, accurately bombarding the sky.

They did not target the Fire Crows specifically but, like a giant palm swatting away mosquitoes and flies, instantly blasted the flock of Fire Crows in the sky apart.

Forcibly tearing a huge passage through the cloud-like flock of crows.

The flock of Fire Crows blasted apart by the energy beams let out piercing cries of anguish.

But paying no heed to their injuries, they instead scattered and fled at an even faster speed.

Taking advantage of this gap, those few chased wizards gained a precious moment to catch their breath, and with several flashes, they rushed inside the protective barrier.

"Quick! Shut down the energy field!" the Tier-Two Wizard ordered again.

The transparent force field of the defense node contracted in an instant.

Just as the few wizards entered, they were safely sealed inside by the runic barrier.

"Are you all right?" The stationed wizards immediately stepped forward to ask, simultaneously handing over potions to restore spiritual power.

However, the expressions of these rescued wizards were now exceptionally terrified.

Their faces were as pale as paper, their eyes filled with bloodshot veins, and their pupils were contracting uncontrollably.

Their bodies were even trembling, obviously having reached the limits of both their mental and physical endurance.

They seemed not to have heard their colleagues' concern at all, nor did they care to stop and catch their breath for a moment; they only shouted loudly:

"The enemy is coming!"

"Run quickly!"

Then they tried to pass through the defense node and rush toward the interior of the camp.

"What enemy? Isn't it just the Fire Crows?"

A stationed wizard asked in confusion; they had just witnessed with their own eyes the wretched flight of the Fire Crows.

"No! Those Fire Crows—they are not the enemy; they are fleeing for their lives!"

A wizard, frightened to the point of near collapse, shrieked with a sharp voice, his throat already somewhat hoarse.

The wizards still did not quite understand the deeper meaning behind these words.

Because in their field of vision, apart from those chaotically fleeing Fire Crows, no new enemy had appeared.

But Gao Jie Ming, at this very moment, felt an indescribable chill!

It was a coldness that penetrated deep into the soul, like an invisible blade held against his neck.

This was an omen of death so extreme it was beyond words, surging up instantly like a tide, soaking through his entire body!

It was his "spiritual sense," reminding him in the most extreme way possible, frantically—Death is approaching!

This was no ordinary crisis, and certainly not as simple as the Fire Crows before their eyes!

Gao Jie Ming's adrenaline instantly surged to its limit.

"Run!!" he roared fiercely, his voice carrying a fear and determination erupting from the depths of his soul, causing the surrounding wizards' bodies to tremble.

At the same time, his body instantly erupted with brilliant white light!

"Five Aggregates Rainbow Mirror" was activated by him without hesitation; in that instant, his entire person transformed into a dazzling streak of light, fleeing at extreme speed toward the core area of the camp!

His speed was so extreme that in the blink of an eye he vanished within the defense node, leaving behind only a white afterimage.

In fact, it was not just Gao Jie Ming.

In this environment where the sense of planar rejection was extremely oppressive, the wizards' spiritual senses had become exceptionally sharp.

Gao Jie Ming's warning and his own actions acted like a fuse, causing several other wizards who had similarly sensed something amiss to suddenly wake up.

The instinct for survival instantly overcame all confusion and hesitation,

and paying no heed to thought, they subconsciously sought to activate their teleportation, high-speed flight, or various other means of escape!

However—

In the very next instant after Gao Jie Ming transformed into light and departed.

Swish!

A faint strange sound, so slight it was almost inaudible, as if the air itself had been frozen for a moment.

Everything suddenly stopped!

Inside the defense node, those few wizards who had just escaped death from the flock of Fire Crows stood with their mouths wide open.

Terror and panting still lingered on their faces, but their bodies were completely frozen in place as if cast under a immobilization spell,

unable to tremble even a single hair!

In the distant sky, the flock of Fire Crows that had been fleeing wretchedly in the air, their wings just having flapped, were also rigidly frozen mid-air, their feathers no longer drifting down.

Outside the defense node, the dust previously kicked up by the giant boar's charge and the shattered stones rolling on the ground from the earlier explosions were now completely suspended in the air, as if time had been paused, ceasing to fall!

Even those wizards who were preparing to activate various escape methods—their hand seals, their incantations, the surging fluctuations of their spiritual sense about to erupt—all abruptly ceased!

Their bodies froze mid-motion, just before completion, their faces still bearing expressions of bewilderment and resolve.

An extreme silence instantly replaced all the clamor.

The entire world was completely fixed, motionless, like tiny insects congealed in amber!

They did not even have time to emit a single sound; even the light in their eyes was frozen in an instant.

Only Gao Jie Ming, whose light had transformed into a rainbow, had already vanished into the distant horizon.

Moments later—in the blink of an eye for the wizards within all the nodes—a cloud of dust surged upward from the distant horizon with an unstoppable, vast momentum!

It was none other than a torrent of lava giants!

Blocking out the sun and sky, a massive horde of lava giants that nearly covered the entire horizon advanced toward this direction with irresistible might, their heavy, synchronized steps shaking the earth!

Their bodies were covered in hard rock and scorching magma, each forward step accompanied by a earth-shattering rumble.

Their numbers were immeasurable; as far as the eye could see, only their terrifying figures dominated this scorched land.

The horde of lava giants neither accelerated nor paused unnecessarily;

merely their vast advance itself was enough to destroy everything!

Whether it was the residual fire crows previously "frozen" in the sky, or the wizards who remained locked in specific poses, motionless like sculptures, this terrifying horde of lava giants, like an unstoppable wall of flesh and blood, ruthlessly crushed them all.

Crunch!

All living beings had no chance to resist; they could not even utter a single groan before being completely crushed by the mountain-splitting, rock-crushing force into shattered blood mud and bone fragments!

In the blink of an eye, they became entirely part of this land!

The defensive node, which had been functioning normally just moments before, also collapsed with a thunderous crash at this moment, shattering into pieces and being completely flattened beneath the iron-like footprints of the giants!