Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 891 - 884: Blasting the Roadblock

Chapter 891: Chapter 884: Blasting the Roadblock

Hu Daoke dismounted and placed his weapons and armor on the horse’s back, then secured the horse before saying to everyone, "Let’s get to work quickly. We should strive to open the tomb before nightfall; I do not wish to sleep in the snowy wilderness."

"So you’d rather sleep inside the tomb?" Cheng Ziang asked with a cry of laughter.

"Why not, it at least provides shelter from the wind. It’s not like these ancient relics from over a thousand years ago can bother me," Hu Daoke said, shrugging.

"Let’s get to work!" Luo’er and Cheng Ziang exchanged glances, then dismounted to move the stones.

The stones were not ordinary in size; it was strenuous for a person to even push them, let alone lift. Only someone with the immense strength of Hu Daoke could roll the stones away directly. The others could only manage to push them to the side with great effort.

By midnight, the team had finally moved a large portion of the stone roller, revealing the flat stone slabs embedded in the ground. But facing these slabs that offered no obvious way to be moved, everyone was at a loss for what to do. Even Hu Daoke could not budge these massive stone slabs.

Just as everyone was at their wits’ end, Baiyue suddenly seemed to think of something and whispered a few words into Cheng Ziang’s ear, causing his face to light up with realization.

Following that, Cheng Ziang drew the longsword that had been reforged for him by headquarters from its sheath on the horse’s back. He approached and struck a stone with all his might.

There was a crack, and Cheng Ziang’s blade did not chip or break. Instead, the stone he had chopped cleaved neatly into two, revealing a relatively smooth cross-section.

"Holy smokes, it cuts through iron as if it were mud!" Hu Daoke exclaimed in amazement.

Cheng Ziang carefully wiped the blade and then nodded in satisfaction at Baiyue. Luo’er also quickly understood. If he remembered correctly, the edge of Cheng Ziang’s sword was supposed to contain Kedal metal.

It had been mentioned that this metal would lose its resistance to chipping when heated to a certain threshold. Therefore, headquarters had the swordsmith blend Kedal metal with steel, creating this longsword for Cheng Ziang that could truly cut through iron like mud.

With the use of Kedal metal in the blade, the sword gained resistance to chipping. That’s why it could easily slice through the stone without any damage to the edge. The property of Kedal metal was such that the greater the resistance it encountered, the stronger the internal forces within the metal became, making the blade more durable. As a result of this chipping resistance, the hard stones were no different from plaster in the presence of a Kedal metal blade.

"All right, everyone clear the way, I’m ready to work," Cheng Ziang said as he hoisted the sword and walked over to the entrance with the stone slabs.

He lifted the sword and stabbed down hard into the stone slab. With no resistance, the blade pierced nearly a dozen centimeters deep. Instantly, a cut appeared on the slab along with a network of cracks.

Then, Cheng Ziang bent down, bracing his foot against a protuberant stone on the ground, and grasped the sword handle with one hand while the other hand held the back of the blade that was near the stone slab on the ground.

He took a deep breath and, pressing on these two points of leverage, he forcefully pulled open a gap in the stone slab. Through his effort, the blade began carving through the hard slab, and as the cracks grew, small pieces of stone would intermittently pop out from the parts split by the blade.

It took Cheng Ziang almost over five minutes to carve a crack from left to right on the slab, and he was so exhausted that he could hardly straighten his back.

After pulling out the sword for a brief inspection and estimating based on the blade’s markings, he discerned that the thickness of the stone slab was around ten centimeters. Without the Kedal metal sword, it would be impossible to know what to do.

However, after the struggle, Cheng Ziang also noticed the limitations of the sword. He saw that the body of the blade had swollen noticeably, and it was clear that if he were to continue cutting, the sword was likely to be ruined.

Of course, this was not because Kedal metal was incompetent, but mainly because the long sword was forged with steel wrapped around Kedal metal, with the Kedal metal adhering to the blade of the sword.

As mentioned before, due to the resistance to fragmentation of Kedal metal, weapons made from this metal were absolutely indestructible. However, it is worth noting that Kedal metal’s resistance to shattering works against most materials, so if pressure is applied to a Kedal metal blade, it will likewise exert a shattering resistance on the sword’s steel body, leading to the body of the sword fracturing.

Cheng Ziang’s recent action had already confirmed this, and if the cutting were to continue, the sword would likely end up scrapped.

The main problem with this sword was that due to the urgent construction schedule, headquarters hadn’t acquired metal material from Ilanadale that could reduce the shattering resistance of Kedal metal for the sword body, resulting in the use of steel as the material for the sword body. Consequently, the resistance to shattering was two-edged, affecting both the strength of the target and the weapon itself.

"Alright, you go rest. Leave the rest for us to resolve," Luo’er said, stepping forward as he saw Cheng Ziang’s distressed expression.

Since the ice and snow had not completely melted, the night was as bright as day, and although the temperature had dropped significantly, it did not affect everyone’s construction work.

With Cheng Ziang’s example in mind, Luo’er also thought of a good method to deal with the obstructive slab of stone. The Advance Team not only had Kedal metal swords but also Kedal metal bullets, so Luo’er’s plan was to chisel a series of holes into the stone slab using the Kedal metal bullets and then directly stuff powerful explosives into it to blast the slab apart.

After Cheng Ziang stepped aside, Luo’er went directly to the slab, observed it for a bit, and then summoned Baiyue to discuss where to drill the holes. Luo’er knew that no matter what, they had to blast through the obtrusive stone slab, even at the risk of triggering an avalanche.

After more than ten minutes of discussion, Baiyue took a burning stick from the fire and began to make cross marks on the stone slab. Once the marks were made, Luo’er started drilling with his gun.

He fired tentatively at first, to ensure there would be no avalanche, then continued drilling. Technically speaking, Luo’er felt as though every shot was piercing through the stone slab. In fact, if they had enough ammunition, they could use the bullets to shatter the stone slab entirely.

Once the holes were drilled, Baiyue came over to insert the explosives. These were a kind of explosive similar in nature to C4 but much more powerful. Baiyue shaped the explosives into small balls and then packed them into the drilled holes.

Next, she took the particularly precious Rune Detonators out of her pocket and inserted one into each hole stuffed with explosives. It had been said before that Rune Detonators are mainly activated by Active Runes. Usually, the detonator and the rune are stored separately, and they are combined only when needed. This is to avoid accidental activation of the detonator by someone who knows the Spells and threatens the safety of one’s allies.

However, as long as the Spells are not activated, these Rune Detonators are quite safe, even safer than conventional detonators since these can only be detonated through their Runes.

After installing the explosives, Baiyue started to back away, then nodded at Tangmo who wasn’t far off. At the same time, Luo’er instructed everyone else to take the horses and personnel far away, so even if an avalanche occurred, they would not be affected.

As for Tangmo, there was some danger involved since initiating the Activation Rune required a certain distance, meaning she had to remain in the danger zone to activate the rune before she could evacuate.

After everyone had retreated, Tangmo took a deep breath and began to adjust her breathing. At this moment, her personality had switched to her sister Moumou’s, who was most proficient with magic.

After calming herself, Tangmo, standing about ten meters away from the stone slab, began to wave her Magic Wand and chant Spells. Since magic operates through sound waves that influence magical power, she had to chant loudly so that the Rune on the detonator could "hear" her chant.

Following a brief guided incantation, a muffled sound came from not far away, and the ground shook slightly. Several points of light suddenly lit up on the stone slab, followed by lines connecting the points like lightning. These phenomena disappeared in an instant. The large stone slab was blasted apart by the force of the explosives. Although it was a targeted demolition, fragments flew in all directions, fortunately not injuring anyone.

The moment she saw the points of light, Tangmo turned and bolted, sprinting down the snow trail cleared by the others towards Luo’er. She then plunged into his embrace.