Chapter 31: Infiltration
The high temperature distorted the air, heat rising toward the fortress's summit. On the open ground before the fortress, stone slabs had been turned into molten lava by the intense heat, dark red magma flowing down the city walls.
This was the power of Apollo. Even before its third modification, having obtained the Alchemy Codex, Su Xiao felt more confident about Apollo's third transformation.
When the assault team launched their first wave of attacks, Su Xiao waited. He waited for the assault team to retreat, allowing the alien horde to gather, so the explosion would claim more.
The magma trembled as a figure stood up from within. From its human-like form, this was a Fission Variant. It hadn't died on the spot due to its high-temperature resistance.
All aliens had high fire damage reduction, up to 67%. However, Apollo dealt true scorching damage. Under true damage, fire damage reduction was essentially nonexistent.
"Cough, cough~"
The fully carbonized Fission Variant stepped forward, sparks flickering across its body. This was the residual burning after Apollo's explosion. Though not true damage, the damage intensity still reached 6,000 points.
The Fission Variant took only one step before collapsing into the magma with a thud, dying instantly. As an alien, dying from high heat was something it could never have believed.
"What now? Dean."
"Charge in."
"Charge into the magma blasted by a supernatural bomb? I'm covered in fur. Are you kidding me?"
"Retreat."
The one who said "charge in" was, of course, not the Dean. The open area before the fortress now resembled the inside of a volcano, complete with supernatural magma. Charging in meant enduring massive scorching damage, along with various toxic gases produced by the explosion, all equally lethal.
The assault team retreated. Only a few thousand Ground Crawlers pursued, along with flying Fission Variants.
King Kong King, the Dean, and the others withdrew boldly, with thousands of Ground Crawlers and flying Fission Variants in pursuit.
On the eastern side of the fortress wall, at a corner, climbing here would lead to the top of the main structure. The previous explosion had affected this massive building, but its front wall hadn't been breached.
Climbing to the top of the main structure was out of the question, but Su Xiao had a way inside.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang blended into the environment, lightly bumped Su Xiao, and activated his growth equipment, [Sacred Traveler]. In this state, he could pass through over 80% of solid objects.
Bubu walked into the wall. He needed to scout the interior first.
A few seconds later, Bubu Wang contacted Su Xiao through the team channel. It was safe inside. The wall thickness was 20.6 meters.
Hearing this, Su Xiao felt relieved. He could use the Dragon Shadow Flash ability to penetrate space and move, with a maximum distance of 23 meters. However, in combat, he usually moved within 0 to 15 meters, rarely reaching the maximum.
Baha vanished from Su Xiao's shoulder. His spatial ability was even more impressive—he could teleport through space with no cooldown, the cost varying by distance.
Once Baha entered the main structure, Su Xiao tossed the glass bottle in his hand to the Autistic Brothers and vanished from his spot.
"Th-this, this, this..."
The Ghost Girl was dumbfounded. She was stunned by this trio of master and servants. One or two having infiltration abilities she could accept, but all three were exceptionally skilled—one ignoring solid objects, another teleporting through space, and the third penetrating it.
"What do we do?"
"Tree."
The Autistic Brother said only one word before assuming a stance, ready to ram his head into the wall.
"Ram it headfirst? Brother, I'm now a bottled navigator. Sure, I'm pretty and have a sweet voice, but I'm very fragile. Wait, I..."
The Ghost Girl spewed profanities. Amid her friendly curses, the Autistic Brother slammed his head into the wall.
His body transformed into a mass of branches, quickly merging into the wall. The Autistic Brother behind him stepped forward, grabbing the soft branches.
The Autistic Brother's body also began to branch out, pulled into the wall by his younger brother.
The Ghost Girl only saw a large patch of green leaves. When the leaves disappeared, she began to free-fall, caught by a hand—Su Xiao's.
"Direction of infiltration."
Su Xiao looked at the Ghost Girl's spirit form inside the bottle.
"Let me think."
The Ghost Girl knew the general layout of the fortress, but she couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the Space-Time Power condensation. She could only judge the general direction. Moreover, the images transmitted to her by the small spirit were fragmented and unclear. She needed to see her current location and compare it with her memory.
"We're on the first floor of the main fortress building. This room is... the dwelling of some Fission Variant. The place we need to go should be on the fourth or fifth underground floor. Definitely underground, I'm sure of that."
Bringing the Ghost Girl was a wise decision. At least they wouldn't have to search blindly inside the fortress.
Su Xiao leaned against the wall beside the wooden door. After waiting over ten minutes, he pushed the door open and stepped out of the room. Baha and the Autistic Brothers followed.
Bubu Wang led the way ahead. There was no need to worry too much, but Su Xiao and the others suppressed their auras. Unless someone got very close, detection was unlikely.
Suppressing their auras prevented detection, but Su Xiao couldn't use his perception either. Once he did, they'd be exposed immediately. This was inside an alien fortress, so the defense intensity was predictable.
Leaving the dim room, they entered a stone corridor lit by firelight. The corridor was about five meters wide, the blackened walls slightly damp.
After advancing over ten meters, Su Xiao, holding the Ghost Girl, stopped at a corner and raised three fingers.
Baha understood. The Autistic Brother beside him took a wooden tube from his younger brother and inserted a spiral nail into it. The spiral nail was the main killing tool. Using different weapons produced different effects. This time, it was for silent assassination.
Three Fission Variants walked around the corner. The [Banishment] on Su Xiao's sleeve detached, slowly shrinking to the size of a dust particle.
The moment the three Fission Variants turned the corner, Baha appeared behind one of them. Backstab claw, throat slash, venom shadow injection.
A nearly negligible sound of air being cut followed. The second Fission Variant's body tilted as three spiral nails embedded into its head, side neck, and other spots.
The last Fission Variant was just beginning to fall. [Banishment] fragments pierced out from its neck, silent and deadly.
Branches spread across the ground, absorbing the falling blood and wrapping around the three corpses. The branches thickened, even blooming small white flowers.
When the branches retracted into the Autistic Brother's body, the three corpses vanished without a trace. The blood scent in the air was absorbed by those white flowers. When the Autistic Brother noticed everyone staring at him, he stiffened, at a loss.
Shy, autistic personality, and a cannibalistic ability—that was the Autistic Brother.
Perfectly eliminating three patrolling aliens, Su Xiao walked past the corner and continued. After advancing over twenty meters, he stopped. Bubu Wang was directly below. According to his scouting, there was a prison cell beneath. They could consider passing through the floor to reach the first underground level directly.
Using the same method, Su Xiao's Dragon Shadow Flash ability had finished its cooldown. A few seconds later, the group arrived in a prison cell on the first underground level of the fortress.
The entire first underground level was lined with rows of iron cages. In the dim environment, the cages stretched endlessly. Each cage held a Ground Crawler, starved to the point of losing all reason.