Gonzalez opened the metal case and pulled out a massive weapon.
The weapon resembled a flamethrower, with a large metal backpack connected to a long hose, the front of which looked like a faucet.
After strapping it onto his back, Gonzalez opened a side panel, took out a full box of energy cells, and quickly inserted them. Many fell out, but he paid them no mind before slamming the cover shut.
"Die!"
As Gonzalez spoke, he aimed the "faucet" at the fire spirit and then...
This thing was indeed for spraying water!
Large volumes of liquid were sprayed out, accompanied by a chilling cold.
Condensation dripped from the sides of the hose, instantly forming a layer of frost on the ground as it landed.
Meanwhile...
Hit by the cold and water, the fire spirit began to struggle.
Although the fire spirit had no face, only a humanoid silhouette, its pain could still be felt.
And...
As Gonzalez roared and advanced, under the effect of the cold and water, the fire spirit's body continuously shrank, until finally...
*Crack!*
The magical array beneath the fire spirit emitted a crisp sound, like shattered glass, and completely broke apart.
With the shattering of the magical array, the fire spirit's body also disintegrated, scattering into countless fireballs that dissipated.
Gonzalez, not entirely reassured, continued to spray water at the spot where the fire spirit had vanished until all the fireballs were extinguished. Only then did he relax and plop down onto the ground.
Bai Ye sheathed his twin swords and walked forward, asking, "How are you all? Are you alright?"
Ji Ruyue lowered her head, her voice filled with sorrow, "Li Chengjie is dead."
"Good riddance..." Seeing everyone staring at him, Bai Ye quickly corrected himself, "How sudden his death was. Did that shot hit a vital spot? I remember there were many medical supplies in the supply box."
Ji Ruyue said helplessly, "Although it narrowly missed his heart, we only had basic medical supplies. Injuries of that severity would require surgery."
Allen sighed, "Davis, prepare yourself. Regardless, we still need to bring the remains back."
Bai Ye asked, "Are we proceeding with the plan as before?"
Allen nodded. "We've already paid the price of a comrade's life. Are we going to retreat now? If we retreat, wouldn't Li Chengjie have died in vain?"
*He didn't die in vain; he saved me a lot of trouble in killing him.* Bai Ye thought to himself, but outwardly, he expressed his full agreement. Of course, they couldn't turn back now; otherwise, what about his hidden mission?
Allen continued, "How was your pursuit? Were the attackers crystal people?"
Bai Ye replied, "They were too fast; I couldn't catch up."
Allen asked, "You mentioned crystal people before. What about the one engulfed in flames? What was its origin?"
Bai Ye shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure. I haven't seen that one before. It might be some kind of mutated creature, or perhaps a new type of mutant?"
Bai Ye was employing the "knows nothing" tactic.
However, Allen didn't suspect anything. Due to the environment in the wasteland, mutations were common. Humans had always been researching mutated creatures, but without much success.
Now that they had arrived in another world, encountering some unknown mutated creatures wasn't something Allen found particularly surprising.
Soon, Ji Ruyue and Davis carried Li Chengjie's body back.
Following that, everyone gathered dry branches, piled them into a large bonfire, placed Li Chengjie's body on top, and then poured gasoline before igniting it.
Flames burned, and black smoke billowed, while the faces of the group showed grief.
Bai Ye scoffed inwardly. What was there to be sad about?
He was just a traitor, wasn't he?
Even if they didn't know Li Chengjie was a traitor, he was merely the leader of the androids, not their father or mother...
At this moment...
Bai Ye saw the others' gazes drifting towards him and immediately began to wail dramatically.
"Ah, Brother Li, I've admired you for a long time, and we've only just met..." Bai Ye cried, "Why have you left so soon? I haven't had a chance to drink with you, to have heart-to-heart talks, to tie the knot..."
Ji Ruyue couldn't help but interrupt, "The wording is wrong!"
Bai Ye stopped and asked, "What's wrong?"
Ji Ruyue gritted her teeth, "Tie the knot."
"Oh!" Bai Ye feigned a look of sudden realization. "I haven't had a chance to break off a piece of the peach with you!"
Ji Ruyue: "..."
Soon, the flames gradually died down. The group tidied up and set off into the wilderness once more.
Their objective was to leave the wilderness and return to the border via the highway.
Allen held his gun and said as he moved forward, "Everyone, stay alert. I know you're familiar with the mutated creatures distributed around the border, but this is another world, and it only resembles our border. No one can say for sure how the mutated creatures here are distributed."
Gonzalez and Davis nodded.
Ji Ruyue stated, "It's alright. While in the vehicle, the speed was too high for me to use my reconnaissance abilities, but on foot, I should be able to detect nearby mutated creatures."
Allen nodded. "We're counting on you."
Bai Ye leaned closer to Allen, curious, "What do you mean?"
Allen looked at Bai Ye in confusion.
Bai Ye explained, "I feel like the reconnaissance ability you're talking about is different from my understanding of reconnaissance."
Ji Ruyue was responsible for reconnaissance in the team, but Bai Ye had never seen her do anything that resembled reconnaissance.
Furthermore, while reconnaissance personnel weren't frontline combatants, they required high individual combat capabilities, excellent stamina, agile movements, and proficiency in stealth and tracking.
However, Ji Ruyue possessed none of these.
Yet, Bai Ye could tell that Allen valued Ji Ruyue quite highly.
"She's an android who experienced an anomaly during gene cloning," Allen explained. "Her brain activity is different from that of ordinary humans, and even from most androids. She can see and hear things we cannot."
Bai Ye asked, "The five senses?"
Allen replied, "Yes, her five senses are beyond ordinary, but it's not that simple. To a certain extent, she can see the future."
Ji Ruyue said coldly, "It's not seeing the future, but rather inferring the future to a certain degree through her extraordinary five senses."
Allen gave a dry laugh. "My apologies."
Bai Ye asked, "What's wrong?"
Allen made a shushing gesture and lowered his voice. "Ruyue dislikes people talking about her, so please don't say any more. As for her reconnaissance abilities, just trust her unconditionally; she has never been wrong."
...