Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 644 - 637: Extreme Testing

Chapter 644: Chapter 637: Extreme Testing

Half a month after the advance team returned to the camp, the initial research conducted by the camp’s research department had been completed. They had extracted active viruses from the bodily fluids of the exotic insects and beasts, as well as the mutated spore viruses from the corpse demons, ready to be sent back to Earth for antibody research.

Meanwhile, due to Feng’s arrival, important samples were also extracted from her and sent back to Earth for research. If everything went smoothly, a solution should be found within two months to deal with the outbreak on Otherworld.

Starting from the tenth day, the progress of the Church Court noticeably slowed down. The main reason was the cessation of the southwestern wind, so they couldn’t rely on the wind to burn out the infected area.

However, the current scope of the infected area had been reduced by over half compared to before, which was undoubtedly a heartening achievement for the Church Court.

As the range of the infected area continued to shrink, the density of the exotic insects and beasts increased, hence increasing the odds of the extermination squad encountering battles. The purifying army, a force specially trained to combat corpse demons, had a grueling half-month wherever the corpse demons were found.

Unlike the advance team, which could travel via convenient air transport, the purifying army had to rely on walking, occasionally aided by draught animals. But most of the time, they had to walk. In the most dangerous situations, they even had to cover over a hundred kilometers a day, an enormous test for this new regiment.

In these two weeks, Luo’er’s foot injury had mostly healed. Although he was left with an ugly scar, it wasn’t a big problem. He could remove it once he returned to Earth.

As his foot gradually healed, Luo’er began to gradually take over the command of the advance team. He started moving around in his wheelchair, assisting Li Si with various tasks.

Relieved of the burden of command, Cheng Ziang was finally free, and his attention turned to Feng, not because he was attracted to her, but because he admired her strength and always wanted to learn from her. After all, he always had a passion for cold weapons, and using a rifle was a last resort.

He knew however, that his strength was no match for Feng’s. He really had no business wielding a cold weapon. It was Luo’er who convinced the superiors at headquarters to indulge him. But his incompetence in the battlefield stressed one fact; times had changed.

"Sit on it, let me check!" Tangmo spread a newly-decorated blanket on the ground and said to Feng.

Hearing her words, Feng obediently knelt on the blanket, sitting straight and waiting for Tangmo’s next instruction.

"Good, now let’s see if the injection of regular atmospheric magic power will exceed your body’s limit," Tangmo said, pressing her hand on the blanket and commanded, "Recite the spell with me!"

Feng obediently placed her hand on the blanket and followed her in reciting a beginning spell silently. As the spell was being cast, magic power from the surrounding air began to rapidly gather on the blanket. The inscribed runes immediately radiated, spreading towards Feng’s kneeling position.

"Can you withstand it?" Tangmo asked, her brow furrowed in concern.

"Yes!" Feng squinted and nodded, showing no signs of discomfort on her face.

The biggest advantage of using runes to charge Feng was that she didn’t need to keep reciting spells. Once the beginning and end spells were cast, the runes would automatically absorb and circulate magic power in the process.

"Well, it seems you can fully withstand the injection of the regular atmospheric magic power," Tangmo nodded satisfyingly and then turned to Baiyue, "Yue’er, prepare the Inlaid Magic Crystal, and let’s ramp up the input of magic power!"

"I understand!" Baiyue nodded and took out three high-concentration Magic Crystals, each the size of an apple.

Don’t underestimate these three Magic Crystals. If the magic power they contained was released all at once, it would be almost as powerful as an artillery shell. Even the magic crystals used in offensive grenades were only the size of a walnut.

Each of these Magic Crystals had output symbols inscribed on them, provided directly from headquarters. As such, the inscriptions were machine-etched with high precision on Earth, significantly more accurate than hand inscriptions on Otherworld.

As mentioned before, for Magic Crystals to function, they must be inscribed with output symbols. Otherwise, the magic power within would not release. Even the magic power would remain within the crystal if it were ground to powder. Magic attacks on the crystal also couldn’t activate the magic inside. In terms of safety, Magic Crystals were safer than modern TNT explosives.

While re-drawing the runes, Tangmo also conveniently created three new rune slots on the new rune base for magic crystal embedding, specifically to enhance its extensibility. This was because if Feng was really going to participate in the battle as a member of the advance team, the replenishment of magical energy was crucial. The more timely the energy was replenished, the longer Feng’s combat strength would last.

For the advance team, supplies were the least of their worries. Even during the early stages of their deployment, they hardly ever ran out of supplies. The frontline headquarters were their strongest shield from beginning to end.

"Do we embed all of them?" Baiyue, holding the magic crystal, came and knelt beside Feng and asked Tangmo.

"No, no, no, one at a time. We don’t yet know her limit," Tangmo quickly responded, gesturing with his hands.

As the first magic crystal was embedded into the rune, Feng’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, but soon relaxed again.

"You still okay?" Tangmo asked, concerned.

"Yes!" Feng nodded her head, her eyes closed.

"The second one!" On hearing her words, Tangmo turned to Baiyue.

As the second magic crystal was embedded, Feng’s brows furrowed again. Unlike before, her complexion also changed, appearing to be somewhat distressed.

"You okay?" Tangmo asked again.

After frowning perhaps for about a minute, Feng exhaled a long breath with her eyes closed. The expression on her face gradually relaxed and she nodded softly, "No... I’m fine."

"Can you continue?" Tangmo asked further.

Hesitating for a moment, Feng nodded again. Tangmo clenched his teeth and signaled Baiyue to embed the third magic crystal. With the embedding of the crystal, Feng’s reaction became even more intense.

She shook all over, her face a picture of agony and beads of sweat started forming on her forehead. Seeing how she was, Tangmo got terribly scared and after a blank moment, he hurriedly asked, "Are- are you okay? I can remove the crystal right now!"

"No, don’t..." Unexpectedly, Feng shook her head, refusing his offer. With her eyes closed tightly and her lips flickering as she endured the pain, she finally managed to say slowly after a while, "I...I can raise my limit now, there’s... there’s no need to withdraw."

"Don’t push yourself, this isn’t child’s play. If you suffer from magic power erosion, you’re done for." Tangmo said seriously, his brows furrowed.

"No...no, I... I can..." Seemingly finding it hard to speak, Feng said these words in bits and pieces, then shut her mouth and focused on absorbing the magical energy gathered in her body.

After approximately fifteen minutes, Feng’s painful expression finally eased and the trembling of her body ceased. Although she was drenched in sweat, it was obvious that she had successfully passed this hurdle.

"This is my limit. Wanting to challenge further will... will be tougher..." she exhaled deeply, and then closed her eyes, saying.

"Ah, you scared me to death. I thought you’d suffered from magic power erosion. I didn’t even know how I was going to explain this to Luo’er..." Seeing her safe and sound, Tangmo gave out a sigh of relief and flopped down next to her feet.

Feng’s ordeal had given him quite a fright. More than anything, he was petrified of Feng suffering from magic power erosion, a disease that both Earthlings and the Otherworlders could fall prey to. For the Earthlings, it was synonymous with death and the damage was almost irreversible. For those in the Otherworld, especially mages, magic power erosion meant they can never use magic again, or else they would be walking down a path of certain death.

The major reason Earthlings have managed to survive so long in the Otherworld is largely due to repellent potions. The primary function of these potions is to ensure reversible damage and moderately reduce the harm brought about by magic power erosion. It’s definitely not some sort of perfect cure.

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