When Guan Tong appeared on the helicopter, everyone was startled.
His arrival was completely silent and showed no signs of teleportation, making it seem like he hadn't used any sort of item.
Zhang Minglu, watching through the base’s live camera feed, also guessed that Guan Tong must have some kind of teleportation ability—this had actually already been hinted at back during the earthquake rule.
“You all…”
After Guan Tong had Body Swapped over, he was a bit surprised to see Silver Fox, Bai Xuewu, Yang Ran, and the others on the helicopter.
He had assumed that the “we” Uenoshi had mentioned earlier in the Mind Network communication referred to her and her Serpent Hair Society subordinates, not the official Ascendants from Beixing.
“We came to help.” Silver Fox let out a sigh as she spoke. “But the target is far more terrifying than we anticipated. Right now, it’s hard to handle without endangering the civilians, so we had to call you in.”
In truth, everyone present knew that, given the sheer number of Ascendants in Beixing, even without using nuclear weapons, just swarming this mutated dragonblood tree to death with sheer manpower alone would be child's play.
But from Beixing’s perspective, offering a helping hand that costs them nothing was one thing; paying a blood tax was another entirely.
Beixing’s Ascendants might be willing to risk their lives for their own people, but if they were asked to come to Antu and fight a bloody battle against a mutated dragonblood tree for the people of Sakura Prayer, they would certainly resist.
That was why the Countermeasures Research Office had only sent Silver Fox and her team this time—because they already knew Uenoshi and had even worked together before, giving them some foundation of trust.
But even so, once Zhang Minglu discovered how extremely dangerous the mutated dragonblood tree was, he ordered Silver Fox and her team not to get anywhere near the fight.
“I can do what I did last time with that giant mutated tree in the Pinglu Canyon and use the Snow Traces’ plasma cannon to blast through its core from long range.”
Bai Xuewu then asked Guan Tong: “You saw it last time, right? Did it work?”
After she had fired that shot, she nearly died from Mind Power depletion. It was Guan Tong who saved her, and then someone else had taken her to a safe rear area. As a result, she had no idea what had come of that attack.
“That shot of yours did blow a huge hole straight through the trunk, but it didn't kill it. The key to destroying that mutated tree was crushing its roots, which were buried deep underground.”
Bai Xuewu nodded slightly.
Zhang Minglu’s voice rang out: “Guan Tong, can you handle it?”
As Guan Tong spoke earlier, his gaze had already fallen upon the astonishingly massive mutated dragonblood tree in the distance.
It was also a single, mutated giant tree, but it was several times larger than the one in the Pinglu Canyon. Moreover, its entire body was covered in a layer of resin-like secreted slime, and one look at it told you it was going to be a nightmare to deal with.
“I’ll give it a try.”
Guan Tong released his Shadow.
For him, the enemy’s size and external defensive capabilities weren't the key.
Take the “bright moon” from before, for instance—it was huge and had a gravitational field protecting it, but against the Shadow’s ability to phase between Substantial and Ins substantial and explode from the inside, it had absolutely no way to defend.
How do you block something that doesn’t have a physical form? And by the time it invades your insides and becomes physical again, it’s too late to defend.
After being released, the Shadow swiftly moved toward the mutated dragonblood tree. The creature was still continuously using its vines to snatch people from the various small shelter buildings, and the difficulty of catching them was like a human trying to catch ants.
Yang Ran watched with a pounding heart and couldn't help but say: “A mutated plant at that level… don’t you guys think the best move is to escape its attack range and just wait until the rule ends, letting it collapse on its own?”
Silver Fox heard this and looked over, then said slowly: “For an individual, it’s the best choice. For a group, it’s a decision that leads to utter destruction.”
“Silver Fox is right,” Bruce said. “In a situation like this, you can run, and I can run, but there will always be people who can’t run or aren’t fast enough.”
The moment you abandon those people, even just once… Listen, Yang Ran, just once—and the survivors will all start to wonder if the next time, they’ll be the ones getting left behind. When the next crisis hits, everyone will just think about saving their own skin and won’t care about anyone else. Group cohesion will be completely destroyed.
Yang Ran saw how serious Silver Fox and Zhang Minglu were and shrunk his neck a little: “Dr. Zhang, Major Silver Fox, I understand now.”
At this moment, Uenoshi was only focused on Guan Tong’s progress. If he could just be a little faster, the death toll among Sakura Prayer’s people could be reduced by just a bit.
Guan Tong was equally focused. After his phased Shadow reached the vicinity of the mutated dragonblood tree, he immediately tried to have it enter the tree’s internal structure.
His plan was the same as last time in the Pinglu Canyon: spread the phased Shadow through the trunk and underground roots, then turn it physical and cause an internal explosion to finish it off.
However, the moment the Shadow touched the mutated dragonblood tree’s trunk, an invisible force actually blocked it!
“Could it be…”
Guan Tong’s face showed shock.
“What’s wrong?”
Everyone else looked at him, wondering what kind of obstacle he had encountered.
Guan Tong frowned: “This mutated dragonblood tree… seems to have some kind of field that can defend against Mind Power intrusion, almost like the effect of using a Mind Power barrier item.”
The feeling he had gotten when the Shadow was blocked by the mutated dragonblood tree was exactly like those times in the past when he tried to invade an enemy with his Shadow, only for the enemy to have a Mind Power defensive item on them, causing the invasion to fail.
As soon as he said this, the others were all shocked.
Zhang Minglu exclaimed: “A field that can defend against Mind Power intrusion?!”
In over twenty Doomsday Rules, there had been monsters immune to human thermal weapons, but none had ever appeared with something like a Mind Power barrier. This mutated dragonblood tree was undoubtedly the first being to possess such a trait.
“If it has a field that defends against Mind Power, then our attacks are completely useless!”
Bai Xuewu stood up and said. Her mech was also a product of Mind Power, and all the weapons it carried were converted from Mind Power. If Guan Tong’s Shadow was useless, then hers was naturally useless too.
“Huh? Then my flames are definitely not going to work either… Wait, I guess the flames weren’t really working in the first place. That sap this dragonblood tree secretes seems to be able to just smother the flames outright. Isn’t this power the ultimate counter to my ability?” Yang Ran said, quite frustrated.
“No, this defense must have an upper limit,” Guan Tong said. “Just like Mind Power barrier items—they can only block a limited amount of total Mind Power attacks.”
“Guan Tong is right!” Zhang Minglu quickly calmed down after his initial shock. “Even if this mutated dragonblood tree has a Mind Power defense field, as long as the total amount of Mind Power used in the attack is large enough, it can be broken through!”
“But Doctor, will the amount we have here be enough?” Silver Fox asked.
“This… The amount you all have certainly isn’t enough. We’ll have to rely on Guan Tong.”
Zhang Minglu knew that Guan Tong could reserve Mind Power, but exactly how much he had was always a mystery.
Everyone looked at Guan Tong. At that moment, he thought to himself: “A mutated dragonblood tree this huge… trying to brute-force through its defense field by pouring in Mind Power would be way too draining. I might not be able to handle it… But if I could neutralize its defense field, like last time with the ‘bright moon,’ then it would be much easier.”
With that thought, Guan Tong said to the group: “I’m going to step away for a moment to find some backup. Don’t do anything reckless.”
After saying this, he left a Mental Stability Anchor totem for Uenoshi, then his figure flickered and vanished instantly, leaving the people on the helicopter staring at each other in confusion.
Back in the farm warehouse, after Guan Tong had left, Adam sat silently on a stool for a long time.
In all the time he had been working with Guan Tong, this was the first time they had a real conflict or argument. Though neither had resorted to harsh words, they genuinely disagreed on how to handle Bruce.
Adam knew Guan Tong well. From the latter’s usual way of doing things, it was clear he wasn’t someone who cared about rules and regulations or standard procedures.
So when he heard Guan Tong talk about going on a rampage at the press conference, he wasn’t overly shocked, because he knew Guan Tong was exactly the kind of person who would do that.
To Guan Tong, having evidence to prove an enemy’s crimes was ideal. But without evidence, he wouldn’t get hung up on it either; he would just go straight to the source and settle the score.
If it were anyone else he was going after, Adam wouldn’t just not oppose him; he would help.
But Bruce of all people…
Adam rubbed his hair. He knew that as long as his wife and child were in Bruce’s hands, he could never bring himself to kill the man, and he didn’t want anyone else to do it either.
But deep down, he also knew better than anyone that if Guan Tong was truly set on doing this, there was no way he could stop him.
“Hey.”
Just as Adam was tangled in his thoughts, Guan Tong’s voice rang out.
He looked up, surprised that Guan Tong had returned from his errand so quickly. He was a bit puzzled: “You…”
“Don’t talk about that now. Come with me to take on a big one.”
Guan Tong said as he walked outside to release his Wordless Book shelter.
Though Adam was a bit confused, he still walked inside. Just before he closed the door, he said: “Guan Tong, about Bruce…”
“We’ll talk about that later,” Guan Tong said. “First, we need to save people.”
“Alright.”
Then, the Wordless Book shelter disappeared as Guan Tong recalled it into the Wordless Book. After that, he contacted Uenoshi through the Mind Network.
“Ueno, get off the helicopter and find an open space down below.”
“Got it.”
Uenoshi said, and less than half a minute later, her voice sounded again.
“Alright.”
Using the Mental Stability Anchor totem he had left with Uenoshi, Guan Tong Body Swapped over to her.
The helicopter was still hovering not far away, and Silver Fox stood at the hatch, a hint of confusion on her face as she wondered why Uenoshi had suddenly jumped down.
Not long after, she saw a house appear on an empty patch of ground below. After one person walked out of it, the house vanished again.
That was…
She recognized the person who had come out of the house. Tall and lean, with a head of golden hair, and wearing an exoskeleton-powered prosthetic combat armor—who else could it be but Adam?
Then, the three of them headed together in the direction of the mutated dragonblood tree, apparently planning to handle it themselves without relying on Silver Fox and the others.
After Silver Fox reported the situation, Zhang Minglu said: “Guan Tong brought Adam? Then it seems he plans to use the latter’s field ability to simulate the dragonblood tree’s field. If that works, he won’t need to expend a massive amount of Mind Power to force a breakthrough.”
“Like when Adam simulated the ‘bright moon’s’ gravitational field before?” Silver Fox asked.
“Exactly.”
“I’m going to assist,” Bai Xuewu said, standing by the porthole and watching the three figures fade into the distance. “I don’t want to just spectate from here.”
“Let’s all go,” Silver Fox said. “Doctor, since we’re already here, we can’t just sit back and do nothing. Besides, those three are all our friends.”
“Alright.” Since it was said like that, Zhang Minglu had no choice but to agree. “Go ahead, but you must be extremely careful. I don’t want any of you getting hurt just as the rule is about to end!”