Crisis Resolved

[Morning of the Sixth Day on Longevity Island]

Was it going to end?

Within the unfamiliar jungle at the island's center, Liu Ma lay sprawled on the ground like a puddle of mud, the Tactical Suit on his back soaked through with sweat.

Looking at the mutant gorilla so close at hand, he closed his eyes in despair.

In an instant, his world seemed to fall completely silent. All he could hear was the gorilla's heavy breathing and the bizarre sound of vines writhing.

Yet the agonizing pain he had expected never came. A pale blue wall of ice suddenly rose between him and the gorilla. Its surface bristled with sharp ice spikes, and just as the monster lowered its head to bite, its tongue was pierced into a bloody pulp.

Dark green blood flowed from its forked vine-tongues, dripping down the ice spikes onto the fallen leaves below. Fine white smoke rose with an eerie sizzle.

"!!!"

Sensing the commotion outside, Liu Ma abruptly opened his eyes.

Isabelle was half-kneeling on the ground, her pale blue hair plastered to her pallid cheeks by sweat. Several strands clung to the corners of her lips, trembling lightly with her ragged breaths.

Her right hand was pressed hard against the ground, pale blue Star Energy flowing like water from her fingertips into the ice wall before her.

The ice wall was so cold that even Isabelle's exposed forearm had been coated in a thin layer of frost. Clearly, she had forcefully overdrawn her Star Energy to activate this Skill.

"Stop spacing out and get up!"

Seeing that Liu Ma still had not reacted, Isabelle immediately warned him.

Her voice trembled, but not from fear—it was the result of excessive Star Energy depletion.

At the same time, spiderweb-like cracks had already appeared in