Chapter 34: Earthfire's Frenzied Assault: The Burning Defense and the Thorny Reinforcement

The engine's roar tore through the wasteland's silence like the horn of the Grim Reaper. The instant Lin Mo and his two companions sprinted back to the edge of the depression, they saw a rolling cloud of dust on the eastern horizon! Five tracked combat platforms, codenamed "Venom Sting," larger than the previous "Stalkers" and far better equipped, were thundering toward them at full speed! No longer machine guns on top—instead, two energy cannons flashing a dangerous blue and a multi-tube rocket launcher nest! What made Lin Mo's heart lurch even more was that atop one of the platforms stood a figure in a dark-gray skintight combat suit and a full-coverage helmet, holding a tablet-like device whose screen clearly displayed three blinking dots representing Lin Mo's group—the tracking powder's signal!

"It's 'Viper'! Black Scorpion's battlefield commander! He came in person!" Wrench's voice was laced with terror.

"Xiang Lingna! Get into the cellar!" Lin Mo bellowed toward the shack. Xiang Lingna had long since moved the important supplies and those few stalks of "Starlight Moss" into the relatively sturdy underground storage room they had dug earlier.

Sister Ai Li crouched behind the broken wooden fence, the last few ghostly-blue crossbow bolts already nocked, her icy gaze locked onto the approaching "Venom Sting" platforms. Wrench, meanwhile, was frantically hauling out his unstable inventions—"Blind-the-Dog Flashbangs," a few "Pop-Rock" incendiaries, and even an "Iron Porcupine"—a tracked idler wheel retooled and stuffed with rubble and iron spikes.

"In range! Open fire! Destroy all resistance! Capture the energy-reactive target alive!" Viper's cold voice boomed through the loudspeaker.

"Zzzt—Boom! Boom!"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!"

The energy cannons' blue beams and rockets trailing flames came pouring down on the depression like a rainstorm! This time, the firepower was more precise, more lethal!

The remaining wooden fence was vaporized in an instant! Cover was blasted to splinters! The ground was gouged into deep craters! The shack took a direct rocket hit and half-collapsed with a thunderous crash!

"Sister Ai Li! Watch out!" Lin Mo saw an energy beam streak straight at Sister Ai Li's cover, his eyes nearly splitting with rage!

Sister Ai Li rolled through the blast wave like an agile cat, narrowly dodging the lethal beam, but a flying splinter gashed a bloody wound across her left shoulder! Without pausing, she raised her short crossbow mid-roll and loosed a vengeful bolt at the observation window of the lead "Venom Sting" platform!

"Thwack!" The bolt punched through the not-very-thick bulletproof glass of the observation window, and a scream rang out from within! That platform's gun barrel instantly swung askew.

"Wrench! Bomb!" Lin Mo braved the flying shrapnel, lit a "Pop-Rock," and hurled it with all his might at another platform!

"Boom!" The blast's fire and fragments blinded that platform's view, but failed to inflict real damage.

The battle instantly reached a white-hot fever pitch! The depression became an inferno! The energy weapons' searing heat scorched the ground black, and the rockets' explosions were deafening. Lin Mo and Sister Ai Li used the ruins and craters to desperately dodge and counterattack, while Wrench screeched as he tossed his "Blind-the-Dog Flashbangs."

"Buzz—Bang!"

The blinding white light and EMP burst out again! This time the effect was startlingly good! Two "Venom Sting" platforms that had drawn close had their electronics instantly knocked out, their turrets jammed, and they spun in place! Even Viper's command platform rocked!

"Now's our chance!" Lin Mo was about to focus fire on the crippled platforms.

Suddenly!

"Rumble rumble rumble—!!!"

From deep within the depression, in the area where the Heart of the Vein fragment lay buried, a muffled, earth-roaring boom erupted without warning! The entire depression heaved violently! A crimson pillar of light, like molten lava, burst from a fissure in the ground and shot straight into the clouds! A violent wave of heat swept over them in an instant!

It was the Heart of the Vein fragment! Completely triggered by Wrench's earlier pulse bomb and the fierce energy-weapon crossfire now raging! Wild fire-attribute energy was erupting out of control!

"Warning! Extreme heat source! Energy level: danger!" Viper's command platform let out a shrill alarm!

The erupting crimson pillar swept across the depression like the Grim Reaper's scythe! The nearest "Venom Sting" platform was grazed by the pillar's edge, its heavy armor melting like butter in an instant! A sympathetic detonation tore through the platform's interior, turning it into a burning fireball!

The terrifying heat and energy turbulence stalled Black Scorpion's offensive! Viper himself was so startled by this sudden wrath of heaven and earth that he retreated again and again!

"Lin Mo! Guide it!" Wrench stared at the erupting pillar, his bean-sized eyes blazing with Frenzied Thoughts. "Use your 'Seed of Life'! It's pure energy! Guide it to attack Black Scorpion!"

Lin Mo was stunned by this mad idea! Guide this destructive energy? Could the 【Seed of Life】 do it?

At that very moment, the 【Seed of Life】 in his chest throbbed as never before! An intense longing pulsed out from it! It craved that violent energy! But at the same time, a massive premonition of danger came with it—forcing a guide could leave both sides in ashes!

The erupting pillar raged indiscriminately, drawing ever closer to the cellar where Xiang Lingna was hiding! The searing heat had already made the wooden planks at the cellar's mouth begin to smoke!

There was no choice!

"Sister Ai Li! Cover me!" Lin Mo roared, then burst from cover and sprinted toward the center of the vein eruption! He focused his entire mind on the 【Seed of Life】, sending out the strongest possible call and guidance with his will!

The 【Seed of Life】 erupted with an unprecedented emerald radiance! A powerful suction radiated from Lin Mo, like a vortex, trying to capture and tame the violent crimson torrent of light!

"Crackle—!"

Emerald and crimson, the two streams of energy collided violently in front of Lin Mo! A shrill tearing sound rang out! Lin Mo felt as if his body were being ripped apart! His very organs were burning! His skin instantly flushed red, as if about to melt!

"Argh—!" He let out a pained howl, but his feet did not stop! Gritting his teeth, he used his will to forcibly guide the two colliding, intertwining energies, directing them toward Black Scorpion's "Venom Sting" platforms!

A twisted torrent of energy—wild crimson earth-fire wrapped in emerald life energy—roared like an untamed dragon, hauled with agonizing effort by Lin Mo, and hurtled toward Viper's command platform! Where it passed, the ground melted and the air warped!

"Madman! Retreat, now!" Viper watched that world-ending torrent of mixed energy rushing toward him, the blood draining from his face beneath his helmet, and let out a terrified roar!

However, at this life-or-death moment!

The time Lin Mo had agreed upon for the spiritual link with Priestess Liyana had arrived!

A faint yet resilient thread of spiritual will, accompanied by a few precious drops of otherworldly holy water, crossed through the planes to reach him! Priestess Liyana's spiritual force, like a cool breeze, swept across Lin Mo's frenzied consciousness in an instant!

At the same moment, the moment the mixed-energy torrent Lin Mo was guiding touched Priestess Liyana's pure spiritual force, that violent crimson earth-fire energy became—for the briefest instant… slightly docile! Like lava doused by a clear spring!

That single sliver of docility!

"Rumble—!!!!!"

The mixed-energy torrent slammed brutally into the side of Viper's command platform! The violent crimson energy instantly tore through the armor! The emerald life energy, like a bone-clinging parasite, seeped into the platform's interior and went berserk destroying precision circuitry!

The command platform, like a toy struck by a giant hammer, was sent tumbling violently outward, crashed into the ruins beside it, and was completely crippled! Flames shot into the sky!

At the last instant, Viper was hurled out by an ejection device and slammed heavily into the distance—alive or dead, unknown! The other two surviving "Venom Sting" platforms were utterly cowed by this world-ending strike; their drivers, terrified beyond measure, turned tail and fled!

After releasing most of its energy, the vein eruption gradually subsided, leaving only a massive fissure in the ground and wisps of bluish smoke.

Inside the depression, all was deathly still. Lin Mo, scorched black all over and trailing wisps of smoke, lay rigid on the scalding ground—alive or dead, unknown. Sister Ai Li, heedless of her own wounds, rushed to his side. Wrench stared, slack-jawed, at the catastrophe and miracle he had unleashed.

And far away in the Withered Forest, the instant she finished transmitting the holy water and spiritual force, Priestess Liyana suddenly coughed up a mouthful of silver blood! The silver sanctuary beneath her feet heaved violently, its range shrinking by a ring! Weakening, she steadied herself against the remains of the World Tree, her green eyes clouded with a gray film gazing into the depths of the mist—those two murky yellow giant eyes were slowly approaching, brimming with cruel greed!