"Xiao Xiao, have half of this ice cream too~"
"This ice cream is really big and thick, and it's a different style from the one just now, much tastier!~"
Shen Yun Yao, who had been engrossed in her ice cream, noticed the atmosphere in the Hummer was a bit off as she ate. She looked up and said to Xiao Xiao.
"Here, I haven't bitten this yet!~"
As she spoke, Shen Yun Yao's hand flashed, and she broke off about a third of the ice cream, roughly the size of Xiao Xiao's palm, and handed it to her.
"Uh... Okay~"
Xiao Xiao was taken aback for a moment, then took it.
"Big brother, you don't have any ice cream, so take this fan to cool yourself~!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Xiao handed her folding fan to Ye Feng.
Ye Feng naturally had no objections. He quickly took it and began fanning himself with enjoyment.
...
The Hummer and the convoy loaded with a large amount of coal ore were rapidly heading towards Mech City. However, as Ye Feng had predicted, the convoy's speed was much slower than on the way there, and the distance between vehicles had increased considerably.
"Convoy, attention, convoy, attention, large numbers of Iron Fire Centipedes detected to the front right!"
Suddenly, a man's voice echoed from afar.
"Huh?"
Hearing this, Ye Feng immediately got up and jumped onto the infantry fighting vehicle behind the Hummer to get a better look.
Following everyone's gaze, Ye Feng spotted a large patch of fiery red on the ground to the right of the convoy's path.
"Whoa, it's centipedes!"
He took out his binoculars and was instantly astonished.
The vast fiery red area was composed of densely packed crawling creatures, each about half a meter long – the Iron Fire Centipedes.
The Iron Fire Centipedes were entirely red, covered in shiny, curved scales, and had dozens of legs on each side of their bodies.
While Ye Feng was observing, countless Iron Fire Centipedes were rapidly approaching the convoy.
"Everyone be careful, the Iron Fire Centipedes have a special shell structure. Bullets are likely to ricochet, making their killing power extremely limited. Prepare to dismount and engage in close combat!"
"These things are tricky. Don't try to kill them all; just slow them down so the convoy can pass safely!"
"Damn it, were they attracted by the coal ore and arcane crystals!"
"The Iron Fire Centipedes have a very high surface temperature. Cultivators of water-attribute arcane energy, take the front!"
"Crap, newcomers, don't let the Iron Fire Centipedes get on you. Their leg segments are like red-hot iron hooks..."
...
A string of rather noisy voices reached Ye Feng's ears.
"Old Gao, is there anything that would cause these Iron Fire Centipedes to gather like this?"
Ye Feng frowned slightly and looked at the convoy leader on the infantry fighting vehicle.
"Uh... yes, coal ore or arcane crystals can do that. These Iron Fire Centipedes are probably after these things..."
" convoys with empty loads rarely get attacked by Iron Fire Centipedes, but it's a different story when they're carrying coal ore!"
Although he didn't know why Ye Feng was asking, Old Gao still answered.
"Oh, that's good!"
Ye Feng nodded. As he said this, he leaped backward several times and landed on a large truck carrying coal ore.
Amidst the puzzled gazes of everyone, Ye Feng lifted a piece of coal ore about half a meter in diameter, squatted slightly, and in the next second, threw it far away.
"Bang~!"
The coal ore landed near the swarm of Iron Fire Centipedes. The centipedes seemed startled, scattered, and then swarmed towards the coal ore.
"Holy crap, what is that guy doing? Why is he throwing away the coal ore?"
"Is he trying to smash the Iron Fire Centipedes to death?"
"Don't be ridiculous, are Iron Fire Centipedes that easy to smash?"
"Exactly, if he wants to smash something, he should use something else, not coal ore. Iron Fire Centipedes already like this stuff... Besides, transporting coal ore is the purpose of this trip!"
"By the way, how did that guy train? His small frame can throw such a heavy rock, weighing one or two hundred jin, so far..."
...
Amidst the chatter and speculation, Ye Feng threw several more pieces of coal ore towards the area where the Iron Fire Centipedes were. The centipedes, drawn by the scattered ore, began to congregate in large numbers around the thrown rocks, forming a moving mountain of fiery red.
"That should be enough~!"
Seeing this, Ye Feng muttered. With a flash of light in his hand, a grenade launcher round instantly appeared.
"Whoa, is that a grenade?"
"Is that guy going to use a grenade to attack the Iron Fire Centipedes?"
"Grenades are indeed effective against Iron Fire Centipedes, but that guy doesn't seem to have a gun carriage..."
...
Just as the last person finished speaking, Ye Feng's eyes sharpened. He tossed the grenade into the air, then produced an iron hammer and struck the bottom of the grenade.
"Clang!~"
"Whoosh~"
After a crisp metallic clang, the grenade soared into the air, tracing a trajectory that directly struck the red mountain formed by the Iron Fire Centipedes.
"Boom!~ Rumble~"
A deafening explosion erupted, and fire flashed as a large number of Iron Fire Centipedes turned to ash.
"Holy crap!"
"I... I just saw what?"
"That guy used an iron hammer to detonate a grenade?! And hit so many Iron Fire Centipedes from such a distance?"
"Awesome!"
...
Amidst the immense explosion, a crowd stared at Ye Feng, dumbfounded.
"Ding~"
"Host has killed an Iron Fire Centipede, gaining 0.8 usable points~!"
At this moment, the system's mechanical voice sounded.
"What the... what the heck? 0.8?"
Ye Feng was stunned as he looked at his personal information panel in his mind.
He had long known that killing mutated creatures in this world didn't necessarily yield usable points, and the amount obtained could be quite random. However, this 0.8 still left him utterly speechless...
After all, that single grenade had obliterated most of the Iron Fire Centipedes that formed a small mountain...
Despite his surprise and frustration, Ye Feng had no choice but to accept the reality.
Thanks to that grenade, the convoy found it considerably easier to deal with the remaining Iron Fire Centipedes and soon passed safely through the area.
...
The convoy continued for a while longer. They encountered several more monsters along the way, but almost none of them attacked the convoy. Some even fled far away upon seeing the vast caravan.
"Convoy, attention, convoy, attention, Energy Devouring Water Monkey detected ahead!"
"Energy Devouring Water Monkey detected ahead!"
Suddenly, another male voice came from the front of the convoy. Unlike the previous announcement about the Iron Fire Centipedes, this time the speaker's tone carried a discernible note of tension.
"Energy Devouring Water Monkey? What is that?"
In the Hummer, Ye Feng looked at Shen Yun Yao, who was sitting opposite him, with a hint of confusion.
...