Lan Jin's eyes flicked with thought, and an idea sparked almost instantly. In this world, nothing was truly immune to fire. Mutated or not, everything would reveal its true form once scorched.
She turned to Lao Gao and said firmly, "Lao Gao, burn them. Burn the ground under their feet. Burn all those vines around us. Use your strongest fire. Burn everything."
Lao Gao immediately understood her intent. Without hesitation, he unleashed his ability, flames roaring out and scorching the ground beneath their feet. His other hand raised, sending blazing fire toward the mutated trees surrounding them.
His hands moved quickly, the flames never lingering in one spot, but his power was immense, and with Lan Jin urging him to use his full strength, the fire's burst was overwhelming. The instant the flames spread, the mutated plants seemed to sense danger. They recoiled, desperately avoiding the inferno in Lao Gao's hands.
The things restraining their non-ability teammates were vines—mutated vines capable of hiding themselves.
Right now, though, calling them "invisible vines" seemed more fitting.
…
Feeling the scorching heat, the vines couldn't hold back. They revealed themselves.
Gasps filled the group. Everyone turned to stare at Lan Jin, speechless. Their expressions, however, said it all: How did you even figure this out? And not only that, you even knew how to counter them!
Once visible, the vines became Lao Gao's main target. His fire concentrated on burning the vines gripping his teammates' legs. After a long burn, the vines finally gave in, loosening their coils and slithering away, retreating rapidly from the group.
As soon as the vines left, every team member felt the same overwhelming relief.
After the vines were gone, Shen Zhiyan couldn't help asking, "Lan Jin, how did you even know there were invisible vines wrapped around us? It's strange… Even though they were wrapped tight, I couldn't feel anything. And my pants didn't even wrinkle or change shape. That's so weird."
Normally, when something wrapped around a body, the clothing's shape would change. But despite the vines twining tightly up their legs, their pants hadn't shifted at all. That was why no one had noticed.
Lan Jin couldn't explain why that happened.
But as for why she told Lao Gao to burn them, her answer was simple. "There's nothing in this world that's not afraid of fire. If it's not afraid, that just means the fire isn't strong enough. So I figured Lao Gao should give it a try. And look, it worked."
Everyone's lips twitched at her reasoning. What could they even say?
Still, Lan Jin's teammates and Captain Zhang's squad were already used to her unconventional methods.
…
With the problem solved, the group had no reason to linger. It was time to keep moving.
Thanks to the absence of attacking mutated creatures, their next leg of travel took only two hours.
Once Captain Zhang marked the map, Lan Jin suggested, "Captain Zhang, there don't seem to be any mutated creatures here. Should we rest a bit?"
Captain Zhang frowned. "I'd like to, but just because we don't see mutated creatures doesn't mean there aren't other dangers. If those invisible vines come back while we're resting, they might take us all, and no one would know. My advice is we don't stop. We should head straight to the destination."
Zhou Zhiye countered, "Captain Zhang, I get your point, but if we don't rest now, who knows what's ahead? What if we reach the endpoint and we're already too exhausted to fight?"
Captain Zhang paused, unable to refute that. Zhou Zhiye wasn't wrong.
"I know what you're saying, I just—"
Before he could finish, Lao Gao dropped his pack to the ground and sat. "We're not talking about a long break. Just water and some food. We've already covered two-thirds of this map, and that alone took us five hours. Who knows what's waiting at the end? I'm not sure I can make it there on an empty stomach."
Almost on cue, the three professors sat down as well.
They weren't superpowered. They really needed the energy.
The four of them quickly opened their packs, ignoring the others, and started eating and drinking.
Though all they had were compressed biscuits, the sweet scent of milk filled the air, making it impossible for the others to walk away.
And so—
The group, who had wanted to rest anyway, naturally followed suit, sitting down to restore their strength and drink some water.
Water was in short supply, but they had a water-ability user. Even if their bottles ran dry, Huang Jinghe could refill them.
After filling everyone's cups, Huang Jinghe chuckled, looking smug. "I've never felt so important in my life."
Lao Gao teased, "You've always been important."
…
Though they stayed put, no one dropped their guard. Once their stomachs were full, Captain Zhang asked, "We've rested long enough. Ready to move?"
Lao Gao packed his bag and said, "Yeah, we can go. But a better meal would've been nice."
Captain Zhang chuckled. "What, craving something fancy? There's plenty of game around in this forest. If you're that desperate, hunt one down and roast it."
Thinking of the mutated creatures, Lao Gao grimaced. "I was just eating a biscuit. Did you really have to disgust me like that? You think those freaky things are edible?"
"Why not? No matter how strange they look, they're still animals. That's a fact. Facts don't change," Captain Zhang said calmly.
That only made Lao Gao shudder more. "Alright, alright, I get it. I was wrong, okay?"
After some laughter, the group got back on their feet and continued their journey.
…
This stretch of road was very different from the last.
There were no mutated creatures, no vines—nothing but an eerie silence. It felt lifeless, like ash. With every step, a bone-deep chill crept over them, as if they were walking toward the abyss.
But that made no sense. The temperature outside was over seventy degrees Celsius. How could anyone feel cold?