"What?"
The sudden turn of events caught Ye Feng and Shen Yun Yao off guard.
What the hell was Wang Ba Tian doing? With a knife in his chest, he didn't evade but moved towards the hilt? Wasn't that just making his own wound worse? And he wasn't attacking Shen Bo Tian, but embracing him...
Under the astonished gazes of Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Shen Yun Yao, Wang Ba Tian, who had embraced Shen Bo Tian, suddenly pushed off with his legs, hooked onto Shen Bo Tian's waist, and clung to him like an octopus!
Immediately, a green light flashed from Wang Ba Tian's body, the wood-attribute arcane energy. Vast amounts of vine-like tendrils instantly wrapped around Shen Bo Tian like a mummy.
"Holy crap... what happened?"
Ye Feng was stunned, and Shen Bo Tian, caught in the middle, was equally shocked.
Just then, the city guards who had surrounded Shen Bo Tian earlier, harassing him and self-detonating, quickly struggled out from the rubble and debris.
These men scrambled to Shen Bo Tian's side, some grabbing his legs, others his arms, and some, like Wang Ba Tian, clinging directly to him.
"Die!"
Wang Ba Tian let out a cruel smile. His entire body, including the wood-attribute arcane energy tendrils he had conjured, began to emit a red glow from the inside out. The city guards did the same.
"This is bad, run!"
Seeing this, Ye Feng's expression changed drastically. He scooped up Xiao Xiao and Shen Yun Yao, arcane energy surging through him, and dashed away at extreme speed.
The stones beneath Ye Feng's feet instantly turned to dust, and the trio moved so fast they were almost a blur...
"Boom!"
Behind Ye Feng, a blinding light, as brilliant as the sun, flashed, followed by an explosion far larger than Wang Ba Tian's previous lightning-infused strike.
"Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!"
A fierce gust of wind roared from behind Ye Feng, and his back could feel immense heat rapidly approaching.
"Rustle rustle rustle!"
At this moment, Shen Yun Yao, held by Ye Feng, suddenly threw out a large stack of arcane talismans.
"Whoosh! Crackle crackle~~ Rumble~~!"
The arcane talismans flickered with light, and in an instant, an ice mountain and a stone mountain appeared behind Ye Feng and the two others.
"Boom! Boom! Rumble rumble!"
The ice and stone mountains created by Shen Yun Yao's arcane talismans were instantly shattered by the shockwave of the explosion.
"Ah! Ya~!"
Xiao Xiao cried out, and Ye Feng and the two were sent flying by the blast wave, lifting off the ground and hurtling into the distance.
"Bang bang bang!"
"Crack crack~ Cough~ Crack~"
After landing, Ye Feng used his grenade launcher barrel to deflect and shatter a crashing boulder, while Shen Yun Yao again summoned a stone wall and a water barrier with arcane runes. This time, they finally managed to block the shockwave.
"Big... Big Brother... That... That..."
Xiao Xiao pointed at the distant explosion site, her expression somewhat dazed.
Ye Feng was equally shocked. The self-detonation of Wang Ba Tian had produced a power far beyond his expectations!
A ball of incandescent light erupted, shooting straight into the sky, even dispersing the dark, ominous thunderclouds. A colossal mushroom cloud soared upwards, obscuring the heavens and earth... Read books.
Countless blazing firestorms, carrying giant rocks and debris, swept outwards from the explosion's center...
The buildings near the blast site had been completely flattened, reduced to scorched earth and ruins...
"Grandfather!"
After her initial shock, Shen Yun Yao let out a tearful cry and rushed towards where Shen Bo Tian had been, heedless of the continuing heatwaves and falling debris.
"Don't go!"
Ye Feng moved swiftly and pulled Shen Yun Yao back.
"Let go of me, let go of me, Grandfather... Grandfather..."
Shen Yun Yao wailed heartbreakingly, tears streaming down her face.
"Yun Yao... with your grandfather's strength... he might have found a way to cope..."
Ye Feng, who was never good at comforting others, forced out a few words of solace, though even he felt uncertain.
The power of Wang Ba Tian's self-detonation was absolutely nuclear-level, far more immense than the fireseed explosions he had experimented with before. He couldn't imagine how a carbon-based life form could survive it...
At the same time, a question arose in Ye Feng's mind: why did Wang Ba Tian self-detonate?
He remembered Wang Ba Tian saying earlier that he wanted to replace Shen Bo Tian as the new City Lord of Mech City. But now, Wang Ba Tian had blown himself up. Even if Shen Bo Tian was vaporized, he couldn't become the City Lord...
What the heck was going on?
Furthermore, Ye Feng noticed that Sphinx had also disappeared. This was very abnormal, as Sphinx had arrived with Wang Ba Tian...
"Xiao Xiao, stay here and be safe. Yun Yao, come, let's get closer to take a look!"
As the blast wave and flames gradually subsided, Ye Feng suggested.
"Okay~!"
If Ye Feng hadn't stopped her, Shen Yun Yao would have rushed forward long ago. Now that Ye Feng had spoken, Shen Yun Yao naturally turned and ran towards Shen Bo Tian's direction.
Although Xiao Xiao wanted to go too, since Ye Feng had said so, she didn't object. Instead, she stood obediently in place, cautiously observing their surroundings.
Ye Feng and Shen Yun Yao moved very quickly, and in a short while, they reached the vicinity of the explosion's epicenter.
"Boom!"
"Clink, clatter~!"
As Ye Feng and Shen Yun Yao landed, a large rock rolled down from a raised mound of rubble, hitting the ground with a sound like shattering glass.
"Has the sand here melted into glass from the explosion's high temperature?"
Seeing this, Ye Feng couldn't help but frown. As far as the eye could see, there were still half-melted steel bars and mech components due to the intense heat.
"Grandfather!"
"Grandfather, are you alright?"
"Where are you?"
Shen Yun Yao scanned her surroundings and then anxiously shouted towards the center of the explosion.
The previous massive explosion seemed to have cooked the entire ground, which was still radiating heat. Ye Feng and Shen Yun Yao, caught within it, felt waves of heat, becoming dry-mouthed and uncomfortable...
"Grandfather, can you hear me? How are you?"
After shouting for a while, Shen Yun Yao's voice became hoarse due to the scorching dry air.
As she shouted, Shen Yun Yao began to approach the hundreds of meters wide, blackened crater formed by the explosion. Thick smoke and dust still billowed from there, and the temperature was even higher!
Ye Feng frowned slightly and followed, also helping to call out.
"Grandfather, how are you?"
"Answer me!"
By now, Shen Yun Yao's shouts were tinged with a sob. She was clearly starting to realize something, but she couldn't believe it, even dared not to think about it...
"Cough~ Cough cough~"
Amidst Shen Yun Yao's dazed cries, a cough was heard from the center of the explosion, from a place where white smoke was continuously billowing.
"Grandfather..."
Hearing the familiar voice, Shen Yun Yao jolted. Her eyes instantly regained their spirit, and she quickly ran towards the sound.
...