Their group slid down on ropes, using their powers as they went. After freezing the insects on the ground together into a solid mass, they finally dared to set foot on the ground.
At this moment, the entire outer gate of the base was already completely wrapped up by insects, turning into nothing less than a gate made of bugs.
The truly deadly part was that although the insects had been frozen together, they had not been killed. Instead, they writhed and squirmed inside the ice, struggling as if they wanted to break free.
A teammate behind Brother Zhang asked, "What do we do now? This method can freeze the bugs in place so they cannot move, but they are still alive. We cannot just leave them frozen like this, can we?"
The truth was obvious. Insects were not afraid of cold. In extreme winters, even if it was not fifty degrees below zero every day, the temperature could still reach negative thirty. If these insects were afraid of cold, they would have long since perished. Since freezing could not kill them, then only fire could. But what kind of fire could burn them all without damaging the base gate?
Faced with this question, Brother Zhang felt as though he were sitting an impossible exam. With his intelligence, this problem was unsolvable.
He muttered, "If it were the inner defense gate, we could just dismantle it. But this outer gate…" Not being able to dismantle it was one thing. Being forbidden to dismantle it was another.
But before they could even think further, another crisis surged in.
Just as Brother Zhang's headache reached its peak, the psychic ability once again activated, warning them that another wave of mutated creatures was rushing toward their position.
Brother Zhang quickly shouted, "Something else is coming. Hurry back up! It's dangerous, quick!"
No one doubted his words. The instant Brother Zhang said there was danger, the others immediately began climbing the ropes back toward the top of the defense wall.
Within moments, mutated rabbits and mutated snakes came bounding out of the dead forest on both sides, charging straight toward the base gates. Some of the rabbits even hurled themselves directly against the ice coating the insects.
Dangling halfway in the air, the team members saw this and panicked. "They're not going to smash the ice off the bugs, are they? If those insects get out, if they don't eat us then fine, but if they do…" Suspended in midair, unable to climb up quickly, the thought truly terrified them.
There was no other choice. Hanging there, they could not retreat upward, yet at the same time, they had to keep reinforcing the ice layer each time the rabbits slammed into it.
The effort left them completely drained, their strength nearly gone.
Just then, one of the people hanging highest on the defense wall turned to look and saw someone approaching the base from afar.
Hearing this, Brother Zhang immediately looked back. When he clearly recognized who it was, he could not suppress the joy spreading across his face. "They're back! This really is perfect timing."
The others, confused, stared blankly.
But Brother Zhang had not even enjoyed his relief for long before his communicator erupted with an even more urgent alarm.
[Level-One Alarm, Level-One Alarm! Mutated creatures inside the base are showing abnormal activity. All personnel, seal doors and windows, reinforce defenses, do not leave under any circumstances!]
[Level-One Alarm, Level-One Alarm…]
"What? Level-One Alarm?"
If the danger was outside the base, no matter how bad, it would only be a regular alarm. A Level-One Alarm was only sounded when something had gone wrong inside the base itself. The broadcast had just mentioned animals showing abnormal activity. Animals. The base had plenty of experimental mutated animals. But which one was it?
Thinking back to the faint roars they had heard earlier when the swarm first arrived, and recalling the scenes before, Brother Zhang had a bad guess. "These mutated creatures rushing here… could they be trying to rescue that big cat?"
The idea left everyone around him stunned. "Animals rescuing animals makes some sense. Didn't the ants once save their queen? But these aren't even the same species. Could there really be some 'king of the forest'? Isn't the king of the forest supposed to be a lion? How can it be that big cat?"
But in truth, that "big cat" was nothing less than a lion mutated beyond recognition. Its outward appearance had changed, but a lion was still a lion.
In that moment, everyone's mind held only one thought. This time, they were finished.
Yet Brother Zhang said, "Not necessarily. Maybe they have a way."
Following Brother Zhang's gaze, they too looked up the mountain slope. There, Lan Jin, Ling Jiang, Lao Gao, and Huang Jinghe were climbing casually upward.
…
As for Lan Jin, Ling Jiang, Lao Gao, and Huang Jinghe, they had no idea of the danger so near. They were strolling along, relaxed to the point of absurdity.
Lao Gao was still going on about dumplings. "I'm telling you, those instant dumplings and the kind we make ourselves taste completely different."
"Boiled, pan-fried, dry-mixed, they all taste unique. Simply too good. In this world, only hot pot and dumplings are my favorites."
"Nonsense. You clearly said rice was your favorite before," Ling Jiang retorted. Then she added, "But dumplings really are delicious. Especially the ones my grandma made."
Last night, they had eaten dry dumplings with vinegar. This morning, porridge with pan-fried dumplings. At noon, sour soup dumplings and dry-mixed dumplings. They had not missed a single variety or flavor.
As they chatted about dumplings, they finally descended the icy slope to solid ground. After tidying up their gear, the four of them strolled toward the base, laughing and talking.
The path they took was lined on both sides with withered forest. But since the mutated beasts had already gathered at the base gate, this stretch of woods was eerily quiet.
It was not until they had climbed halfway up the slope that the four finally noticed the dozen people hanging by ropes on the defense wall.
Still oblivious to the danger, Lan Jin asked with curiosity, "That looks like Brother Zhang. What are they doing up there?"
Ling Jiang chuckled. "Look at them scrambling with hands and feet. Like Spider-Man. Maybe they're cleaning."
Lao Gao scoffed. "Cleaning? Spider-Man cleans glass. Who cleans walls? Never heard of such a thing. What's there to—"
Before Lao Gao finished, they rounded a bend, and the base gates came into view.
What met their eyes was a mass of writhing snakes, hordes of rabbits, and insects frozen into the gate itself.
Lao Gao's grip went slack. Everything he was carrying clattered to the ground. Brother Zhang finally shouted at them, "You're finally back! We can't hold out much longer!"
Lan Jin's lips twitched. Words failed her. There was no time to respond anyway. The rabbits that had been battering the ice on the gates suddenly turned and came charging toward them instead.
Lan Jin raised her hand, releasing a blast of lightning. In an instant, the mutated snakes and rabbits ahead of them convulsed violently and collapsed to the ground.
The men hanging on the wall stared in disbelief. "That… that's way too strong."