Under the dark red dome, the Giant Serpent City, darting back and forth, dug twenty massive round pits into the ground in one go.
The Alatreon slowly advanced, approaching the nearest pit and peering down to observe.
Rumble~ Rumble~
The skull of the Serpent King Dragon surged out of the dark, giant pit.
Clang!
The pale yellow bone collided with the inverted shell on its chest, splashing a shower of sparks.
Reeling from the impact, the Serpent King Dragon's skull, along with several sections of its tubular body emerging from the pit, tilted backward.
Shanshan quickly tightened its silk threads with all its might, drawing its body tighter to maintain balance.
The Alatreon stepped back half a pace, flames flickering from its mouth.
"Is the shell that hard?"
Yudola, with its head emerging from the giant pit, exclaimed in shock.
"And it has strength,"
Li Fan informed him.
Mere shell hardness, clearly, was not enough to withstand the direct impact of the Giant Serpent City.
Without any prior buildup, a sphere coated in flames was spat from the Alatreon's mouth.
The fire sphere's propulsion lacked force, tracing an arc in the air before descending.
Seeing this, Shanshan swung its body, its fan-like blades slashing towards the fire sphere.
Crackle~
After the black shell of the fire sphere was sliced open, a crisp cracking sound echoed, and the flame light radiating from the cracks instantly intensified.
Boom! A blast of fire, accompanied by thick smoke, erupted, engulfing the Giant Serpent City.
Roar~
A piercing, grating roar, like metal scraping metal, sounded.
A shockwave of hot wind swept across the ground as the two people and one cat poked their heads out of the pit again.
"Did the Alatreon just roar?"
Yudola, having never heard such a strange cry, asked tentatively.
"Did it, meow? What did it say?"
Dill looked at Li Fan eagerly.
"It's questioning... it seems to be saying, has Felyne technology developed to this extent?"
Li Fan explained.
"Ah meow!"
Dill's fur stood on end.
"No way, isn't Shanshan controlling the Giant Serpent City?"
Yudola couldn't understand.
"This is my first time hearing the Alatreon roar too. Perhaps the translation is off..."
Li Fan also found it unreasonable. Why did it suddenly bring up Felynes?
As the smoke cleared, the Giant Serpent City, aside from a layer of black ash on its surface, showed no significant damage.
Clank! Clank!
Two circular plates with cat paw patterns, located in the eye sockets of the city, rose at this moment.
"Ah! It's not my translation that's wrong... it's two giant coins that made it think the Giant Serpent City was a Felyne creation."
Li Fan suddenly realized the truth of the matter.
Shanshan possessed no dragon-type energy, so if the Alatreon wanted to ascertain its identity, it could only rely on its appearance.
The Giant Serpent City was clearly just the skeleton of a Serpent King Dragon. The only discernible feature left was the cat paw pattern on the giant coins.
The Alatreon did not continue its attack. Its neck straightened, its body stood tall, and it let out two low roars that weren't particularly sharp.
Roar~ Roar~
"It says... we are enemies, and then it said we are not enemies."
Li Fan, with a strange expression, provided the translation.
"Huh? It's contradicting itself..."
Yudola was also quite astonished.
Roar~ Roar!~ Roar...
"Chaos is order. As long as the Felynes do not... if they can abide, they will perish... no, they will endure for a long time."
Li Fan found it particularly arduous to translate the Alatreon, which seemed to contradict itself in almost every sentence.
"Why would abiding lead to perishing, meow!"
Dill clutched its block-shaped helmet, feeling as though the entire Felyne race was facing its greatest crisis.
"What it likely means is that it wants to persuade Shanshan not to obstruct it, and that by adhering to a certain order, the race can continue to exist."
Li Fan interpreted.
"Will Shanshan believe it?"
Yudola said worriedly, as this was a forbidden level of persuasion.
"Uh... for the Mantis tribe, perhaps only the fact that the males are delicious is what Shanshan cares about most. And since arriving on the New World, insect swarms rich in life energy have become Shanshan's favorite food."
Li Fan explained.
Clatter~ Clatter~
The Serpent King Dragon's skull swayed left and right, expressing its attitude.
Roar~
The Alatreon let out a soft cry.
"Hello, goodbye... Shanshan, quickly burrow underground!"
Li Fan sensed that the situation was dire and immediately urged Shanshan to evade.
Within the gaps of the layered, inverted shell, a light flashed, changing from orange to blue-green.
Hiss-gasp~ Hiss-gasp~
Ice began to spread outwards from beneath the Alatreon.
Due to the faint moonlight filtering through, the dim divine realm became brighter.
The dark red heat currents swirling on the outside gradually transformed into a silver-white, laced with countless swirling ice crystals.
The Alatreon, mist escaping its mouth, leaped into the air, arched its neck, and unleashed a torrent of breath.
Giant ice shards condensed in the air and smashed onto the ground.
Thump! Thump! Thump!...
The ground of the divine realm, in a state of high-frequency vibration, was buried under an all-directional, no-dead-angle bombardment.
Hiding in the interconnected horizontal tubular passages underground, Li Fan saw that the vertical passages in front and behind were blocked by ice shards. He immediately released Bingbingzi.
Splash~ Splash~...
Relying on the elemental resonance triggered by the [Ice Dragon's Zero Jade], the ice shards blocking the passages began to shatter and disintegrate.
Sizzle~
However, before the team could break free, countless silver electric arcs began to dance and flash on the surface of the ice shards.
"Ice wall!"
Li Fan shouted a warning.
Bingbingzi, who was still curious why the ice shards were flashing with electricity, was startled awake.
Sizz-gasp~ Sizz-gasp~...
With two bursts of frigid breath, the sides of the passage where the team was located were sealed off by ice walls formed from ice pillars.
Boom! Crash!
The sound of ice shards shattering and exploding echoed.
The ice walls on both sides, as they withstood the incoming impact, slowly shifted backward a short distance, with countless cracks appearing on their surfaces.
The team, diving to the ground, breathed a sigh of relief as the ice walls held against the blast of shattered ice.
Reality was indeed reality, with no gaming aspect whatsoever...
Li Fan thought to himself, feeling that even underground, they were suffering severe repercussions. On the surface, they would likely face attacks from all angles.
Splash~
Bingbingzi disintegrated the ice wall, and the vertical passage leading to the surface was now cleared.
Feeling the tremors from above, it was clear that Shanshan, after evading this wave of attacks, had re-engaged in the battle.
Li Fan wanted to rush to its aid, but as he stepped into a puddle, he suddenly felt a strong sense of stagnation.
He looked down and saw that he had stepped into viscous liquid formed from rapidly melting ice shards.
"Is this the flammable liquid you mentioned?"
Yudola asked worriedly, looking at the puddles covering the passage floor.
"Yes, we must avoid igniting it... Bingbingzi, please help freeze it."
Li Fan confirmed.
With Bingbingzi's assistance, the team returned to the surface.
The temperature within the divine realm had plummeted, and countless giant, sharp ice shards hung from the curved dome.
Facing the approaching Alatreon.
The Giant Serpent City, covered in a thick layer of ice crystals, scraped and creaked as it slid stiffly.
"Fire-element team! Help Shanshan clear the ice!"
Seeing this, Li Fan released Xiao Bendan, Wanpi, and Yuanjiao.
The approaching Alatreon glanced back and was momentarily bewildered to see four more monsters entering the fray. xxs壹贰
"Yudola! The throwing is up to you."
"Got it!"
Yudola responded, floating upside down. He aimed at the Alatreon's position and swung his arm with all his might, tossing a fist-sized Dragon Crystal towards the area in front of its claws.
Clink~ Clink~...
Looking at the Dragon Crystal rolling across the ice, the Alatreon couldn't help but become curious.
A moment later, seeing the crystal's blue light flash, it let out a low, seemingly enlightened growl.
So it was used for targeting...
Hum!
A bright blue beam of light pierced the dome of the divine realm and struck vertically down, hitting the Alatreon's back.
The Alatreon, with its four claws on the ground, held on for a moment, but the ground, unable to withstand the pressure, cracked. Its body sank continuously as the energy beam propelled it.
Twisting its neck, the Alatreon exhaled a large amount of cold air upwards, forming ice to block it.
However, before the energy beam could melt through, the ice layer collapsed over a large area on its own.
Amidst the shattered ice crystals, the Alatreon glimpsed Bingbingzi's figure.
Xiao Ming, suspended high above in the divine realm, had no intention of giving it any quarter. As it slowly descended, it pushed the output of its energy beam to its limit.
The clearing of ice crystals on the surface of the Giant Serpent City was somewhat different from what the fire-element team had anticipated.
The ice crystals did melt, and the sliding of the bone joints became smoother, but because it was flammable ice, the surface of the city quickly caught fire.
Shanshan, having regained its mobility, didn't bother with the details. It immediately moved to the edge of the pit where the Alatreon was trapped and began to slide rapidly in circles, its tubular body stacking up layer by layer.
Sizzle~ Sizzle~ Boom!
As electricity flashed, a thick lightning bolt struck the ground, followed by a sky full of lightning, blinding to the eyes.
Li Fan knew that neutralizing this violent lightning element would be a great strain on Xixi, but there was no other choice at the moment.
With a flash of white light, Xixi appeared in the divine realm.
Seeing Bingbingzi, which was continuously shattering the ice, a lightning bolt was condensing above its head.
Xixi's crown rubbed against its head as it roared and flew towards it.
Boom! The thick lightning bolt struck Xixi's back, then scattered into countless small electric arcs, radiating outwards.
"Xixi! Are you alright!"
Li Fan, holding Dill and dodging the falling lightning, called out to ask.
Roar~
Xixi was silent for a moment, then indicated it was okay.
Boom! Boom! Boom!...
The lightning bolts continued to fall, but their power and frequency were rapidly decreasing.
By the time Xiao Ming's energy beam, which lasted for a full three minutes, ended, the flickering electrical arcs in the air could no longer form a lightning bolt to strike downwards.
Xiao Ming quickly swung one wing, clearing the attack trajectory that was perpendicular to the top of the pit.
Huihui, in the higher sky, peered down, locked onto the figure at the bottom of the pit, and accelerated its dive. It intentionally extended the scorching carapace at the edges of its wing guns to heat them up.
The ice-bound divine realm, which had just dimmed, lit up again as two bright blue lights descended.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The blue light flashed and disappeared, followed by two piercing sounds.
Thump! Thump!
Two muffled thuds and tremors came from the bottom of the pit.
The Serpent King Dragon's skull, from the top of the Giant Serpent City coiled at the cave entrance, extended downwards.
Click~
The jaw dislocated and hung open.
Within the black, cavernous mouth, two purple compound eyes slowly lit up.
Screech~
The pulling sound of silk threads tightening was heard.
The tip of the Dragon Slayer Lance mounted on the Serpent Emperor Ballista flashed with a cross-shaped star.
Thump~ Whoosh!
The Serpent King Dragon's skull tilted backward, and the Dragon Slayer Lance head shot downwards towards the bottom of the pit.
Clang! Hiss~
Hearing the sound of piercing flesh and bone, both people and the cat trembled.
After a long silence, Yudola spoke tentatively, "Did we... win?"
"We don't know yet, but after this combo attack, I doubt anything on this planet could withstand it."
Li Fan said with uncertainty.
"May the Cat Ancestors protect us! It's impossible to survive, meow!"
Dill stated with conviction.
At this moment, the moonlight above the heads of the two people and one cat suddenly became hazy.
Sensing the abnormality, they looked up and saw that the gap in the ice-bound divine realm's ceiling was gradually shrinking.
Drip... Drip...
Something dripped onto Yudola's shoulder. He reached out, wiped it, and brought it to his nose to smell.
"It's flammable liquid..."
Drip~ Drip~...
As he spoke, the dripping sound intensified, and it seemed to be raining lightly within the divine realm.
At this point, Li Fan noticed that not only was the ice layer of the divine realm's dome rapidly melting, but the large amount of flammable ice accumulated on the ground was also continuously melting, forming puddles.
If this scale of flammable liquid were to ignite all at once, it would undoubtedly cause regional devastation.
"Dill! Recycle the monsters in the divine realm first! Starting with the fire-element team! Leave only Shanshan and Bingbingzi."
As Li Fan shouted, he immediately raised the capture balls.
"Understood, meow!"
Dill raised its paws, opening and holding up two capture balls.
As the rain intensified within the divine realm, the team quickly completed the monster recycling.
"Huihui's rendezvous can't be too close, or it will detonate the entire area directly. For now, we can only rely on Bingbingzi to leave the divine realm first."
After stating his plan, Li Fan swung his silk threads, wrapping them around Bingbingzi's claws.
While freezing the surrounding flammable liquid with its frigid breath, Bingbingzi flew rapidly in one direction.
However, the bad premonition came true again. The color outside the divine realm had already shifted from silver-white to dark red.
The two immediately discarded their heavily damaged Huihui outfits and changed into new ones.
Then, they switched to Wanpi, whose carapace had higher flame resistance, and charged into it.
"Go, Wanpi!"
A moment later, Li Fan encouraged them and looked back at the increasingly indistinct interior of the divine realm.
At this moment, a black fire sphere suddenly leaped up from the pit where the Alatreon was trapped.
"It's still alive, I don't believe it..."
Wail~ Wail~...
Countless dense shockwaves propagated outwards from the divine realm.
Hearing the rumbling of the earth behind him, Li Fan had no intention of looking.
"Hold onto me tightly! As soon as we leave the divine realm! Huihui can lock onto us immediately! I'll handle the towing, Dill, you recycle Wanpi!"
Li Fan deployed his plan as he shouted.
"Leave it to me, meow!"
"What about me?"
Yudola asked.
"Uh... guide the airflow to give Wanpi some assistance."
"Okay."
Yudola extended his palm, and the Dragon Jade of the Wind God glowed with a soft light.
Wanpi, flying with difficulty at the edge of the divine realm, suddenly felt its wings lighten slightly.
Whoosh~
Not long after, the serene night sky suddenly appeared before them.
The team felt a strange sensation of returning from the magical to the real, but they had no time to savor it.
The massive explosions and shockwaves that followed were hot on their heels, about to engulf the team.
Dill took out a PSP from its block armor, opened the disc drive, and looked at the two discs on its claws, feeling a bit lost.
Yudola, looking back at the explosion, glanced at the names on the discs and, without hesitation, picked up Li Fan's disc and inserted it into the drive.
"There's no time, we can only trust Huihui. Dill! Recycle Wanpi!"