A group of people quickly arrived.
Xu Jintang looked up. "See this crack? We need to work together to make it even bigger."
Song Tianqi looked at the crack in the earth's crust with a shocked expression. "Why make it even bigger? Won't that cause it to erupt prematurely?"
"Yes, that's exactly what we want to do, make it erupt early." Xu Jintang raised the corners of her lips.
The team members behind them exchanged bewildered glances.
"Prematurely trigger the lava flow?"
"Really? Are we really going to do it?"
Xu Jintang stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes. "Yes, let's begin. Let's try to break this crack open completely within half an hour."
Song Tianqi was still very puzzled.
However, we should just obey the squad leader's orders; he wouldn't do anything to harm them.
After thinking for a moment, Song Tianqi rolled up his sleeves, put his hands on his hips, and shouted, "Come on! Everyone get ready, I'll lead the way and start smashing!"
As soon as he finished speaking, all sorts of supernatural lights began to flash across the scene.
Song Tianqi's Scarlet Flame spearheaded the attack, crashing towards the edge of the crack.
The entire earth began to tremble.
Xu Jintang wasn't idle either; he quickly activated his supernatural abilities to join in the smashing.
With the combined efforts of the team, the crack, which was originally only a hand's width wide, grew larger and larger, revealing the situation inside to everyone.
The dark red magma gleamed with a hint of luster, flowing quietly deep within the earth's crust, occasionally bubbling and gurgling.
"Almost there, keep going." Xu Jintang raised his hand again, urging the Ice Mist Snow Lotus to smash into the crack.
" Crimson Flames of the Nine Heavens!" Scarlet Flame continuously formed behind Song Tianqi, then lined up and smashed into the crack one by one.
After another round of attacks, the crack began to buckle and started to shake violently.
Xu Jintang stopped and took a step back. "Alright, all of you step back. Let me handle the rest."
Song Tianqi led his team to retreat to safety immediately.
At this point, the scalding magma could no longer be contained and gushed out from the crack.
When the molten lava flowed across the wasteland, it instantly scorched the land into a pool of ashes.
Xu Jintang slightly curved the corners of her lips and raised her hands upwards.
A glacier taller than a person formed instantly and began to engulf the lava on the opposite side.
The magma that was about to erupt was completely encased by Xu Jintang's ice layer and temporarily brought under control.
Song Tianqi curiously leaned closer, "Squad leader, what exactly are you trying to do?"
"To give the regular army a surprise." Xu Jintang put his hand away, turned around, and smiled meaningfully.
At this moment, inside the main camp tent of the formal army.
Lei Wenche and several squad leaders were reviewing the outcome of last night's sneak attack.
"Overall, we had the upper hand in last night's battle. That's largely thanks to Captain Lei personally taking to the court."
"Yes, if we can launch a few more sneak attacks like this, slowly wearing down the trainee army's numbers, it will be more advantageous for us later."
Lei Wenche sat in the main seat, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes. "This kind of sneak attack is probably not going to be possible again. After what happened last night, the training army will definitely be on guard."
"However, there are other plans."
"Report! A new spring has been discovered not far to the north. We have immediately dispatched people to occupy it and collect water resources." The team member reported as he entered the camp.
This good news immediately lightened the atmosphere in the tent.
"Great, we don't have to worry about finding a new spring."
Luck is on our side after all.
The squad leaders' faces lit up with joy, and they exchanged greetings.
Lei Wenche's expression softened slightly. "Okay, you guys go first..."
Before he could finish speaking, another team member rushed in, looking panicked. "Something's wrong! Lava has suddenly erupted outside our tent, we don't know where it came from!"
Outside the camp, the magma, which had been encased in ice, broke through the ice and surged towards the main military camp area like a ferocious beast, its momentum fierce and savage.
Chapter 169
When Lei Wenche stepped out of the tent, he was greeted by a scene of flames rushing towards him.
The molten lava erupted wildly, and the resulting high-temperature radiation made the surrounding air extremely hot.
Lei Wenche frowned slightly and immediately raised his hand to summon his supernatural power.
A powerful surge of lightning bolts rushed towards the opposite side, blocking the magma.
The blocked lava was thrown to both sides, and as it flowed onto the ground, it burned into streaks of ash.
"Everyone else, follow!" the squad leader gestured, then immediately activated his supernatural abilities.
The intense heat generated by the lava flow turned the camp area into an oven.
Fine beads of sweat gradually appeared on the foreheads of the team members who were fighting against the lava outside, and their faces turned red from the heat.
"No, where did this lava come from? I don't remember any cracks in the earth's crust near our camp."
"Stop talking, let's force the lava back first, otherwise our entire camp area will be finished."
The team members had no choice but to shut up and bury themselves in activating their superpowers.
About half an hour later, the team members guarding the rear of the camp rushed over, " Captain Lei, a lot of lava flows have suddenly appeared behind us!"
Lei Wenche seized the opportunity to stop, frowned, and turned to look. "There are more behind here? Send someone over to handle this first, and make sure the camp is safe."
"Yes!"
Shortly after, two more team members ran over, shouting, "An unidentified lava flow has appeared on the left side of the camp!"
"There are also some on the right side of the camp."
Upon hearing this, Lei Wenche could no longer contain his expression.
It's as if the entire camp was surrounded by lava flows from all sides.
Normally, magma eruptions only start from cracks in the earth's crust, but there were no cracks in the earth's crust around their camp, so how could so much magma have come?
"Send people to handle this first, and we'll discuss the rest later." After saying that, Lei Wenche increased his mental energy again and forcefully smashed the lava opposite him.
The players on both sides quickly turned around and led their respective teams away.
At this moment, on the hillside outside the camp.
Xu Jintang stepped onto a boulder, brushed the ashes from his palms, and said, "All done, let's go."
Song Tianqi stood on tiptoe and peered into the camp area that was already in chaos not far away.
"Squad leader, that's a pretty ruthless move."
At first, he was also unclear about Xu Jintang's intentions.
He was stunned when he saw Xu Jintang directly engulf the gushing lava into the glacier slide, and then extend the glacier slide all the way to the camp area.
"Sending a surprise? If you're going to send one, send a big one." Xu Jintang turned around. "I'm leaving."
Song Tianqi clapped his hands and quickly turned around to follow.
Half an hour later, the lava around the camp was extinguished.
Lei Wenche, his face dark, turned to the other squad leaders and said, "Pass the word: everyone, gather at the main tent in five minutes for a meeting."
The squad leaders, looking dejected, replied, "Yes, sir."
The lava flow was suspicious; everyone knew something was definitely wrong.
Since it wasn't a natural disaster, there's only one possibility left: it was the work of the training army next door.
Inside the main business tent.
The atmosphere was somewhat silent.
It wasn't until one of the squad leaders spoke up, "I just went to the site to investigate. There are ice shards and water stains. The commander-in-chief in the command center across the street, Xu Jintang, has ice-based abilities, so I speculate that she may have used her abilities to transport lava from other places."
"Magma is extremely hot; any container that tries to hold it will melt instantly. But ice is different; extremely cold ice can hold magma for a short time," another squad leader added.
Lei Wenche rested his hand on the armrest of his chair and sneered, "That was the work of the other side. They're too weak, so they resort to these petty tricks."
" Captain Lei, how about we counterattack?" someone suggested.
"Not now. The temperature will continue to rise after today. We don't have time to deal with this." Lei Wenche decided, "Everyone be on guard against enemy attacks. Continue to intensify the search for water resources. We must find at least two new springs before tonight."
"Yes!"
"Squad leader, if we do this, won't they launch a sneak attack? Should we take precautions?" Song Tianqi reminded them.
"No, they still need to find water resources, they can't spare that much energy." Xu Jintang stepped into the command room.
All team members in the command center were intently focused on the screens and operating the controls.
Xu Jintang arrived at the main monitoring station, placing his hands on the edge of the control panel. "Have the Armament Camp continue scouting the regular army's movements. Don't attack this time; give them a chance to catch their breath."
"Clear!"
It was noon.
The scorching sun beat down on the earth.
The temperature continues to rise.
The regular soldiers who were searching for a new spring were resting behind a boulder.
One of the team members carefully took out a bottle the size of a test tube, unscrewed the stopper, and poured the little remaining water into his mouth.
"Comfortable."
You'd better drink it sparingly; water resources are already scarce.
"It's not that they're extremely thirsty."
"Be careful, watch out for any flying insects or anything like that, and remember to swat them away if you see them."
A green-eyed flying insect quietly perched on a dead tree trunk not far away, unnoticed by anyone.
Behind it is the drone surveillance footage from the Armament Camp.
Xue Zhongqi crossed his arms in front of him, bent slightly, and stared at the several regular military personnel on the surveillance screen. "Let them off this time, but keep an eye on them."
"Yes!"
Xue Zhongqi turned around, went to the communications area, and initiated a communication with Xu Jintang.
"Squad leader, we've got them on our radar, but they're very vigilant. They've damaged a lot of our reconnaissance equipment."
Xu Jintang: "Have they found a new spring?"
"We found two new locations, but surveillance is quite tight, so we don't dare let the drones get too close."