The eerie frozen town

Wang Mengmeng's voice trembled, and she involuntarily grabbed the back hem of Chen Yu's clothes.

Chen Yu's expression remained calm: "It looks like they were attracted by the geothermal ferns and built a nest here. The warmer the place, the more of these things there might be."

Deng Yuxin let out a cry of surprise: "Doesn't that mean..."

Zhang Wanyue shushed her: "You're thinking right. The prototype machine must be much hotter than these few clusters of ferns. Next, we might have to keep them company..."

Wang Mengmeng shuddered: "Hiss~ Alright then."

"Class Monitor, Yuxin,"

Chen Yu lowered his voice: "See that protruding black rock on the front left? Take them over there. In three seconds, everyone turn your flashlights to the brightest setting and focus the beams on this area..."

Zhang Wanyue understood instantly: "Use the strong light to stimulate them and create an opening for you?"

"Exactly."

Chen Yu nodded, his gaze sweeping over Li Mengyao and Wang Mengmeng. "You two don't drop the ball. Keep the light steady. No matter how much you shake, don't let it wander. Unless I say to turn them off, no one is allowed to."

Li Mengyao nodded vigorously, gripping her flashlight tightly.

Wang Mengmeng also swallowed hard, her voice trembling slightly: "U-Understood, Brother Yu."

"Let's go."

Zhang Wanyue immediately led the three girls to the side.

The four of them quickly crouched down behind the rock, their flashlights aimed together at the target area.

Chen Yu took a deep breath of the icy air and crouched slightly... In the distance—

"What are they doing crouching there?"

"Why did they split up?"

"Who knows? They really aren't afraid of being eaten by bugs..."

The remaining five members of the Directing Department team looked at each other, still not understanding the situation.

Behind them, several more teams soon arrived.

It seemed everyone had gradually overcome their fear and made their way down.

Just as they arrived, they saw... the black figure ahead suddenly dash out!

His speed was incredibly fast!

Almost simultaneously!

From behind the rock on the front left, several beams of intense light suddenly erupted, all striking the upper part of the rock wall!

"Holy crap! What's going on?!"

"They turned on the lights? So bright!"

"They're dividing the labor! Someone's attracting attention while someone else goes to grab the stuff!"

"You can tell at a glance he's a Speed-type Awakened!"

The crowd marveled, but they soon saw a dense swarm of bugs gushing out!

They crawled toward the light source; the scene was terrifying to the extreme!

"Oh my god! What are those monsters?!"

"Bugs! So many bugs!"

"Are they crazy?! Luring the bugs out?!"

Meanwhile, the man in question, Chen Yu, moved through the surrounding swarm as if it were uninhabited territory. He raised his hand to crush the bugs in mid-air and stomped on those scuttling beneath his feet, his movements clean and efficient!

Then he snatched up the geothermal ferns, turned, and ran!

At the same time, at Chen Yu's signal, the light source was instantly extinguished!

Only the onlookers were left with their flashlights still on... "Fuck! Turn off the lights! Those bugs are coming over!"

A boy from the Directing Department was the first to react, shouting hoarsely as he slammed his flashlight off.

This sent a jolt through the other teams who were still dazed.

"Turn off the lights! Turn off the lights!"

"Stop shining them! Do you want to attract the bugs?!"

"Damn it, who still has theirs on? Do you want to get us all killed?!"

Amidst the panic and angry cursing, the flashlights were turned off one after another.

However, there were still some whose reactions were half a beat too slow.

In a three-person team that had just come down, one person's flashlight seemed to be stuck and couldn't be turned off for a moment, its beam aimlessly illuminating the ground.

That bit of light became the new source of stimulation.

The bugs, having just lost their target, swarmed toward it.

"Ah! They're coming! Old Zhao, your flashlight! The flashlight!"

"I can't turn it off! The button is stuck!"

"Throw it away! Throw it away quickly!!"

"Ah—! Don't come over here!"

A shrill scream erupted in the darkness!

Followed by short whimpers, the crisp sound of a flashlight shattering... the beam finally went out... but in the darkness, only the hair-raising sound of sucking and the rustling of crawling bugs remained.

Those still alive held their breath, not daring to move an inch, and no one dared to turn on a light to see the situation.

Meanwhile, further ahead... Chen Yu had already regrouped with Zhang Wanyue and the others, though the girls were not in good shape.

Zhang Wanyue leaned against the rock wall, her chest heaving.

Deng Yuxin was almost limp, supporting herself against the rock wall.

Li Mengyao and Wang Mengmeng were supporting each other, clearly scared to death.

Just now, that swarm of bugs had almost caught up to them, yet Chen Yu still hadn't allowed them to turn off the lights.

Fortunately, at the most critical moment, Chen Yu got the geothermal ferns... though for safety's sake, he didn't even have a chance to activate the Grand Tutor Container before fleeing!

"This is the geothermal fern?"

Zhang Wanyue looked at the three clusters of geothermal ferns in Chen Yu's hand, somewhat curious.

The leaves of the plant were palmate, with orange-red veins flowing through them, and the roots still clung to bits of rock.

Most importantly, this thing was truly radiating heat.

It dispelled the bone-chilling cold within a two or three-meter radius; the temperature had risen by at least twenty degrees.

And this was only three clusters; what if there were more?

"Class Monitor, you keep one cluster. Yuxin, you take this one."

His distribution was concise and direct, without explanation.

Zhang Wanyue silently took it.

Deng Yuxin also hurriedly took her cluster, holding it tightly in her arms, her eyes looking at Chen Yu full of reliance and happiness.

Li Mengyao and Wang Mengmeng watched eagerly, waiting for the distribution of the final cluster.

Maybe, possibly, just in case... but what they got was Chen Yu holding it himself: "Let's keep moving."

The two girls: "..."

Zhang Wanyue glanced at them, her pace faltering slightly as she unobtrusively moved half a step closer.

Deng Yuxin blinked, looked at Chen Yu's back, then at the shivering Wang Mengmeng, and also quietly leaned over, tilting the geothermal fern in her arms slightly to share a wisp of heat.

This made the two girls' noses sting, and their eyes instantly grew hot, nearly bringing them to tears.

Chen Yu didn't care at all about these small gestures behind him.

He used his flashlight, constantly searching for bugs.

The terrain of the ice valley continued to extend downward, the slope gradually leveling off.

They walked for about another ten minutes.

Rounding a huge corner, the end of the electric beam was suddenly no longer the familiar rock wall.

Instead, it was the open world outside the mountain... it was as if they had passed through the entire mountain body.

"Hmm?"

Chen Yu stopped, the beam slowly moving upward.

It was a cluster of buildings with a regular layout.

Two-story stone houses were lined up one after another, only they were covered in a thick layer of snow.

Looking out... it could almost be called a "Frozen Town," solemn, silent, and deathly.

The entire environment appeared extremely eerie.

Chen Yu, of course, knew.

This was the true... Glacier Research Outpost.

The group stood on the street, and on both sides, they could still see some... things that looked like signposts.

But the words on them had long since been frozen beyond recognition.

Standing in the center of the entire outpost was a square tower about six stories high.

Like a square monument, it pierced toward the invisible sky above.

"We have to go there."

Chen Yu had the answer almost immediately.

In a place full of two-story houses, the sudden appearance of a tower was strange.

It was inherently illogical.

The possibility of it housing the prototype machine was the highest.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!!"

But without any warning!

A burst of dull, terrifying thunder exploded in the distance!