"Just one strike and all those mutated creatures were taken care of?"
"This is unbelievable."
"My god, how strong must they be?"
Brother Zhang exhaled a sigh of relief and said, "Let's go down first. It's safe below now. Maybe the things on the gate have been dealt with too."
Passing through the scattered remains of the mutated creatures on the ground, the four of them met up with Brother Zhang and his team who had just come down from the defense wall.
Lan Jin asked, "What's going on here?"
Brother Zhang briefly summarized his earlier analysis. In short, no matter what, the insects at the gate needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.
But how to handle these man-eating bugs? Even Lan Jin and the others had no idea.
Ling Jiang said, "Last time we froze them on the ice surface, and then we left them. Now they're frozen on the gate. If the ice peels off, these insects will come back out. One slip and someone could die easily."
"I know, but this is the base gate. If we could dismantle it, we would. I wouldn't even be thinking about trying to get it down otherwise. Dealing with the whole gate at once would be simpler. But can you help find a way to handle it?"
It wasn't that they didn't want to help, it was just that no one could think of a solution immediately.
Lan Jin said, "How did you get out? Maybe we should check what mutated creatures are causing trouble inside the base first, then deal with that?"
Brother Zhang pointed behind him. "You can't go through the gate. We climbed down. Even if you climb up, there are still many insects on the walls. Be careful when climbing. One mistake and you could get bitten."
Lao Gao muttered, "Then how did you just climb down?"
A teammate behind Brother Zhang said, "We climbed carefully. If any bugs break free, we'll immediately freeze them again."
Ling Jiang glanced at the ice on the gate. It was clear that it had been frozen layer upon layer, yet none of the layers were particularly solid.
Ling Jiang thought for a moment and said, "What if we use bait? Break the ice to attract the bugs down. I can freeze them on the ground. Then we can figure out a way to eliminate them. If not, we leave them frozen below."
But as she spoke, Ling Jiang realized the problem. Extreme cold was not an issue, but if they tried heating or breaking the ice and the insects weren't dead, they would attack the base.
And if all these mutated creatures were trying to rescue that big cat, would other creatures start coming over too?
Lan Jin shivered at the thought. "Brother Zhang, those bugs… they haven't come over, right?"
Brother Zhang understood what Lan Jin meant. Fortunately, the multi-legged insects were not near the base, at least not within the range his psychic power could sense.
"No, no. Not here."
But actually, for those waiting outside the base, weren't they natural bait?
Lao Gao said, "If we stay outside, I bet the bugs will rush straight at us the moment they break free. So bait is unnecessary. We should just think about ways to get rid of the bugs."
One of Brother Zhang's teammates asked, "Can't you just electrocute them? You did it to all those mutated animals earlier. Why not small bugs?"
Lao Gao explained, "It's not that electricity won't work on bugs. The problem is the target is too small and scattered. If you gather them together, Sister Lan could use electricity. But when they're spread out, shocking one place doesn't stop the others. How much power would that take? You can stop one side, but the other side still comes. Those bugs will get through anyway."
This explanation made sense. But how to gather all the bugs together… wait, aren't the bugs already clustered on the gate now?
Huang Jinghe asked, "Sister Lan, can you electrocute them through the ice?"
"I can hit targets through a mountain, so yes, I can. Hitting them directly would be better. But if the electricity doesn't hit the bugs and I accidentally shock them out of the ice, what then?"
…
[Level-One Alarm, Level-One Alarm…]
Standing at the gate, even though separated by several other doors, the alarm inside the base sounded unusually clear. There was no time to waste.
Brother Zhang said, "Lan Jin, try first. Everyone else, defend. If the electricity doesn't hit and the bugs break free, quickly freeze them again."
With Brother Zhang's order, Lan Jin did not hesitate. She released her power and aimed at the bugs on the gate.
A bolt of lightning struck from above. No need to wait. The ice clinging to the gate instantly shattered from the center and fell to both sides. The bugs finally found a gap and began crawling out.
At first, the bugs had no direction and scattered. But outside the base, they had natural bait. The bugs immediately crawled toward them. Seeing the bugs surge toward them, Ling Jiang stepped forward and touched the ground, releasing her ice power.
In an instant, the bugs moving toward them were all frozen solid. Not one escaped.
The frost shimmered, crystal clear. The ice was not only solid in appearance, but the bugs trapped inside could no longer move freely. Ling Jiang proved herself a powerful psychic user.
Even stronger than the ice power of the base's strongest psychic squad leader. But thinking of the squad leader losing an arm… best not dwell on that.
For now, their lives were safe. But do not celebrate too early. There were still many more bugs inside the base than outside.
Brother Zhang said, "The base has three defense gates. All are open now. That means even if we clear the bugs outside, two more groups are waiting inside. If we relax now, it's too early. Let's clean up the gate first. I'll find someone to open the doors. We need to get inside quickly."
Without waiting for the four of them to move, Brother Zhang's team began clearing the bugs at the gate.
At that moment, Brother Zhang's communicator buzzed. Li Dui said, "Brother Zhang, how's it outside? We're almost overrun here."
Brother Zhang asked anxiously, "What happened inside?"
Brother Li replied, "The big cat held on the fourth underground level went berserk and injured several people. It has now reached the second level above ground. The outer gate is guarded, but I'm not sure… it may be hard to hold. How's your side?"
"Lan Jin, Ling Jiang, Lao Gao, and Huang Jinghe have returned. We met them at the gate. The outside bugs have been cleared. Now we're opening the base gates."