42: Chapter 42 Firewall and Crows

The cloying, sweet smell in the resource warehouse hadn't dissipated yet when the assembly bell rang.

The bell toll was urgent and harsh, striking three times in a row, instantly throwing the entire Black Well Outer Ring into chaos.

The corridor was filled with footsteps, and someone shouted while running: "The duo offense and defense class has started! Instructor Gu is personally supervising!"

Lu Jin snapped the box of breeding nest powder mixed with ripening powder into the black box, pressing his fingertips lightly against the lid.

This debt won't be forgotten.

He turned and walked out the door, his divine sense sinking first into the Dead Ash Mine.

The newly formed incubation pool in the Breeding Cave was still gently heaving.

The White-Bellied Mother Rat lay by the pool, the white stripes under her belly glowing and fading.

The crystal core's heartbeat had stabilized, but the feeding trough must not be tampered with again.

"Grey Pupil."

Grey Pupil looked up from the edge of the pool, his grey eyes shining.

"Master."

"Seal all the breeding nest powder; do not feed it."

"Add another layer to the sacrificial guard line. Whoever approaches the feeding trough, pin them down first, then report to me."

Grey Pupil nodded and struck his sacrificial staff against the ground; over twenty Red-Eyed Rats immediately flattened themselves against the floor.

They were no longer that group of rats from before that only knew how to charge around with red eyes. Guarding positions, moving materials, layering—after Grey Pupil had suppressed them for so long, they finally had some discipline.

Lu Jin withdrew his divine sense and stepped onto the offense and defense platform.

The offense and defense platform of the Zhuixing Divine Academy was suspended in mid-air, surrounded by black silver spectator stands.

The massive planar light screen in the center was already lit, displaying a small, heavily damaged fortress inside.

The fortress was named Rift Gate Fort.

The name was easy to understand: the main gate was cracked in half, the left arrow tower had collapsed, and the outer wall was broken in several places.

Outside the fort was a ring of dried-up trenches, and inside the fort was a rear warehouse, under which lay an old supply tunnel.

It was a tunnel used for transporting grain; it wasn't high or wide, so large soldiers couldn't enter, but small dependents and material carts could pass through.

This was the foundation for the defenders to turn the tide.

Instructor Gu stood by the edge of the high platform, his cuffs pressed with black silver patterns. His voice wasn't loud, but the arena fell silent instantly.

"Today, we are doing duo offense and defense."

"Defenders in groups of two, guarding Rift Gate Fort. Attackers have three rounds: first the gate-ramming team, then the wall-scaling team, and finally, air cavalry to press from above."

"If the gate is broken, the main flag falls, or the rear warehouse is lost—any one of these means an immediate loss."

"Defend for the duration of one incense stick; points will be awarded based on integrity and battle losses."

After speaking, his gaze shifted and landed on Lu Jin and Ning Yanqiu.

"The two of you, one group."

A buzz of noise erupted from the sidelines.

"Them again?"

"They just fought side-by-side at the abandoned warehouse, and the instructor is already pulling them in to hone their duo class?"

Ning Yanqiu walked over from the other side, her black clothes sharp and neat, with two Mirror Frost Crows perched on her shoulders.

The so-called Mirror Frost Crows were her ice-type dependent line, capable of using ice mist and mirror light to see clearly across the battlefield, or conversely, to disrupt others' vision.

She walked up to Lu Jin, looking first at the fort map, then at him.

"Instructor Gu really wants to save trouble, shoving the two most troublesome people into one group."

Lu Jin looked at the rear warehouse tunnel in Rift Gate Fort, his tone very flat.

"Troublesome doesn't necessarily mean losing."

Ning Yanqiu raised her hand and pointed to the sky in the planar map.

"Give me the sky. High positions, distant points, outer circle visibility; I'll handle the suppression."

Lu Jin looked towards the fort gate and the base of the wall.

"Give me the gate, and the base of the wall too. That tunnel under the rear warehouse must be opened, otherwise we can't hold it."

Ning Yanqiu furrowed her brows slightly.

"You want to go underground again?"

"The gate is already rotten; holding it head-on is just sacrificing battle losses." Lu Jin's tone remained unchanged. "You suppress the sky, I suppress the ground; only then will this fort have a chance to be held."

She stared at him for two breaths, didn't argue further, and just dropped a sentence.

"Don't let your fire burn my crows."

"And don't let your frost freeze my carriages."

The white light of the divine gate swirled, and the two, along with their dependents, landed together inside Rift Gate Fort.

Upon landing, a dry, cold wind hit them.

In front of the fort gate was full of rubble and dry soil, the left wall had a significant collapse, and a few broken stakes remained by the trenches.

Lu Jin's first glance was at the ground; Ning Yanqiu's first glance was at the sky.

With a flick of her wrist, twenty-four Mirror Frost Crows soared into the sky, first occupying the remains of the arrow tower, then the high points of the broken walls on both sides, and finally spreading out in three layers to illuminate the open ground outside the fort clearly.

Lu Jin wasn't idle either.

"Two Black Shield Bone Carriages, block the gate."

"Tunneling Rats, dig shallow slits in front of the gate, three inches is enough."

"Cart-pulling Rats, clear out that old tunnel at the rear warehouse for me."

"Fire Oil Throwers split into two lines: one to guard the gate, one to follow to the rear warehouse."

The Black Shield Bone Carriages quickly pushed up to the fort gate.

Those were the two sturdiest bone carriages in Lu Jin's hand, their frames wrapped in black shields, with wind-guiding buckles on the sides of the wheels; they could ram and they could block.

Ten Tunneling Rats dug fiercely against both sides of the gate opening, not digging deep holes, but just shallow slits a little over three inches, enough to trap feet and sink wheels.

On the spectator stands outside the arena, someone was already laughing.

"Using broken carriages to block the gate? How long can that hold?"

"Ning Yanqiu suppressing the sky is fine, but this setup of Lu Jin's will shatter as soon as it hits the front."

The sound of a horn soon blew.

The first round of attackers came from the main gate.

At the very front were two battering rams, coarse wood wrapped in iron plating, with four soldiers pushing them from behind.

Followed on both sides by a row of short-spear soldiers, fast-legged and ferocious in their charge; as soon as the gate cracked, they could squeeze in in the blink of an eye.

"They're coming." Ning Yanqiu spoke from high up.

Lu Jin glanced up.

"Disable the carriages first, don't rush to burn the people."

The battering rams slammed up with a boom.

Bang!

The remaining gate and the bone carriages trembled together, debris and dust falling down with a clatter.

The two Cart-pulling Rats at the gate were knocked over by the impact, and the short-spear soldiers behind immediately seized the momentum to rush forward.

Ning Yanqiu raised her hand and suppressed them.

Six Frost Crows swooped down, their cold feathers slicing like knives into the faces and backs of the hands of the front-row soldiers.

Those guys instinctively raised their shields, their footwork rhythm disrupted, stepping right into the shallow slits.

Two people twisted their ankles, and everyone behind them crashed into them, instantly causing a pile-up in front of the gate.

"Fire Oil!"

Four Fire Oil Throwers knelt and swung their arms, the grey-red fire bladders smashing directly onto the wheel axles and wooden beam joints of the battering rams.

Once the fire got in, it drilled along the gaps, and the battering rams immediately began to smoke black.

The soldiers pushing the carts from behind still wanted to exert force, but Lu Jin raised his hand, and the bone carriage on the right suddenly skewed outward.

"Loosen the ropes, push at an angle!"

Eight Cart-pulling Rats changed positions simultaneously, the bone ropes tightened, and the right carriage crashed sideways into the burning battering ram on the left.

The two large carriages tangled at the gate, and the gate opening, which previously had half its width left, now only had a narrow gap remaining.

The first round of attackers couldn't rush in anymore.

The laughter on the spectator stands cut off instantly.

"He's not blocking the gate, he's remodeling it."

"Once the gap is narrow, the numerical advantage of the short-spear soldiers is gone."

Ning Yanqiu also realized this, her gaze lingering for a moment on the two jammed bone carriages at the gate, then she shouted aloud: "Thirty steps to the right outside, there's a second wave!"

Lu Jin looked in the direction of her gaze, his expression unchanged.

The second round of attackers didn't ram the gate hard again; they switched to coming from the collapsed left wall and the trench side.

In front were grappling hook throwers, carrying flying claws and long ropes, specializing in scaling walls; behind followed a Grey-Armored Charging Beast, bull-like in size, with an entire iron plate tied to its forehead, specializing in ramming wall corners.

This round was the real trouble.

The outside of the gate could be blocked, but the collapsed wall and the base of the wall were the hardest to guard.

Ning Yanqiu tapped her toes and darted directly towards the remains of the left arrow tower.

"I'll watch the left wall."

Lu Jin raised his hand to stop her: "Don't suppress too low. Leave the base of the wall empty for me."

She tilted her head and looked at him, clearly a bit impatient.

"What on earth do you want the base of the wall for?"

"Let them collapse on their own."

Ning Yanqiu didn't understand, but she still raised the flock of crows up one level.

This was where she was impressive. Her temper was hard, but she wasn't stubborn when fighting; as long as she judged that you were right, she would change, and she would change very quickly.

As soon as the Frost Crows rose, a string of grey shadows darted out from those few slits at the base of the wall.

It was the Ambush Rats.

The old supply tunnel at the rear warehouse had already been cleared by the Cart-pulling Rats. The rat swarm crawled through the tunnel to the base of the left wall, and whoever threw grappling hooks from above, they would bite their ankles and pull on their rope buckles.

The grappling hook throwers had just straightened their ropes when they felt pain at their legs, and they fell directly into the trenches.

Only then did Ning Yanqiu understand the meaning of Lu Jin's words just now.

She cursed with a cold face: "You could have said so earlier."

Lu Jin was still standing behind the gate, his voice very faint.

"It's not too late now."

"You're really stubborn."

"Same to you."

Neither of them gave an inch verbally, but their hands were already coordinating seamlessly.

The Charging Beast roared and rammed towards the collapsed left wall. Ning Yanqiu raised her hand and opened a mirror screen; the cold white frost mist, like a translucent curtain, hung directly outside the collapsed gap.

The Charging Beast rammed into it, its vision blurred, and its charging angle immediately skewed by half a foot.

Bang!

It didn't hit the base of the wall, but rammed into a position slightly to the outside.

This half-foot was exactly what Lu Jin was waiting for.

"Tunneling Rats, dig under its front hooves!"

Six Tunneling Rats had long since hollowed out the shallow soil crust under the base of the wall.

The Charging Beast had just lifted its hooves to follow up with a second hit when the soil layer beneath its feet suddenly sank, and its front body immediately tilted downward.

Grey Pupil emerged from the side of the collapsed wall, carrying his sacrificial staff, and smashed it right at the gap in the iron plate on its forehead.

Two Ambush Rats crawled into the crack, biting wildly at its eyelids and the bridge of its nose.

The Charging Beast retreated with a miserable howl, crashing right into the two grappling hook throwers behind it.

This wave at the left wall was forcefully dismantled by the two of them.

Instructor Gu stood by the edge of the high platform, watching the line of fire at the gate, the rat paths at the wall base, and the mirror screen in mid-air; there was finally a hint of genuine brightness in his eyes.

"Not bad."

A nearby instructor lowered his voice: "These two lines are really tied together."

"Watch the third round first." Instructor Gu's tone had no ripples. "The real test is when the air cavalry presses down."

The third round came the fastest.

A series of sharp cries suddenly came from the sky outside the fort, and six air cavalry riding small Wind-Winged Beasts swooped over.

That kind of Wind-Winged Beast wasn't big, but it was very fast, most adept at scattering nails, throwing grappling hooks, and disrupting vision from above the defenders' heads.

The remaining short-spear soldiers and cart-pushing soldiers on the ground also pressed up together, clearly intending to tear a hole from both the sky and the ground simultaneously.

Ning Yanqiu looked at the air cavalry, her eyes sharpening instantly.

"I'll take this whole round; you hold the gate yourself."

Lu Jin glanced at the remaining fire in front of the gate, the collapsed opening of the left wall, and the distance to the rear warehouse, immediately speaking.

"No. If you pull all the crows up, the ground will leak."

"Then how do you want to fight?"

"Push the mirror screen forward eight yards; don't cover the fort gate, cover the open space outside the gate."

"Leave the gate to the fire wall."

Ning Yanqiu was stunned, then immediately reacted.

This time she didn't talk back, just nodded once.

"Eight yards for you."

As soon as her words fell, all the Frost Crows rose in unison. The cold white mirror screen, which was originally spread out, quickly pushed forward, pressing down at a position eight yards outside the fort gate.

That place instantly became a vast expanse of white, as if someone had erected a moving wall of ice mist on the open ground.

The air cavalry swooped down, seeing only cold light flashing chaotically, completely unable to distinguish which was the trench and which was the gate on the ground.

Lu Jin pressed his hand down.

"Fire oil, pour it all in front of the gate."

"Cart-pulling Rats, turn the carriage sideways!"

The remaining usable Black Shield Bone Carriage was forcefully turned sideways by the eight-yard Cart-pulling Rats, the front of the carriage stuck in the gate, the belly of the carriage pressing against the side of the broken wall, just enough to block the last remaining gap of the gate opening.

Four Fire Oil Throwers threw all the remaining oil in their fire troughs in one go, the grey-red fire slurry burning along the rubble, bone carriage wheels, and broken wall bases, spreading into a fire wall in front of the mirror screen.

People behind the mirror screen couldn't see clearly.

By the time the attackers rushed in, there was fire everywhere under their feet.

The three short-spear soldiers in the front row had just passed through the frost mist when they were immediately forced to retreat by the fire wall.

The air cavalry was even more miserable; their swooping angles were all skewed. Two riders' flying nails stuck directly into the trench, another rider was too low, and just as it wanted to pull up, Ning Yanqiu's Master Crow had already pounced in front of its face, striking the Wind-Winged Beast's eye with one claw.

"Fall!"

As her voice fell, seven or eight Frost Crows pressed down simultaneously, forcefully beating that Wind-Winged Beast until it tumbled and crashed to the ground.

The group of attackers on the ground still wanted to squeeze in through the gaps in the fire wall, but the rat swarm at the base of the wall had already arrived.

The Ambush Rats flipped up from the bottom of the trenches, and the Tunneling Rats crawled out from the shallow slits at the side of the gate, specializing in biting legs, pulling ropes, and flipping over footing points.

Bone carriages blocking the gate, fire wall sealing the opening, rat swarm drilling at the wall base—once this set was locked in, the attackers became more squeezed and chaotic, unable to enter at all.

Ning Yanqiu suppressed the air cavalry from above, and Lu Jin handled the gate from below; neither of them gave up the rhythm, yet the rhythm locked together perfectly.

In the final few dozen breaths, the air cavalry still wanted to scale into the fort from the upper left.

The last few Master Crows on Ning Yanqiu's shoulders pounced out together, pinning them firmly outside the mirror screen.

Lu Jin took advantage of this opening to ignite the last two barrels of fire oil brought up from the rear warehouse along the trench at the base of the wall. The fire traveled along the trench, cold mist covered the sky, rat shadows scurried wildly on the ground, and the entire outer circle of Rift Gate Fort seemed to come alive in an instant.

No one on the spectator stands was joking anymore.

Everyone was staring at that forward-pushing mirror screen, staring at the burned and cracked bone carriage at the gate, staring at those flickering grey shadows at the base of the wall.

"This is ground control plus air control..."

"She covers the sky, he turns the ground into a mouth; whoever charges in loses flesh."

The sound of the gong finally fell.

The Rift Gate Fort's main flag was still standing, the rear warehouse was not lost, and although the fort gate was blackened and cracked, it was firmly not torn open.

Ning Yanqiu landed from the remains of the arrow tower, with only five Frost Crows left on her shoulders, and the Master Crow's right wing was still stained with blood.

Lu Jin's side wasn't easy either; three Tunneling Rats died at the base of the wall, two Ambush Rats were pierced by the air cavalry, one bone carriage was completely ruined, and the fire oil trough was also almost bottomed out.

The battle losses were not light, but they held.

And they held it extremely beautifully.

After Ning Yanqiu landed, she first looked at the line of fire at the gate that hadn't completely extinguished, then glanced at the newly dug dark trench at the base of the wall, and finally spoke.

"You asked me to push the mirror screen forward just now, it was to leave a layer of cover for the fire."

"Hmm."

"If I had been half a beat slower, the gate would have been gone."

"You weren't slow."

Ning Yanqiu was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled, the smile very faint, but she was truly a bit impressed.

"You, your mouth is still not very pleasant, but your battlefield judgment is really fast enough."

Lu Jin handed a wounded rat to the Cart-pulling Rat at the rear warehouse and looked up at her.

"That move where you suppressed the air cavalry was also not bad."

"Just not bad?"

"It was already very high."

"Fine." Ning Yanqiu closed the mirror case. "I'll take that as you knowing how to speak."

On the high platform, Instructor Gu finally came down.

He stood in front of the two, his gaze sweeping over the fire wall first, then over the flock of crows, and finally looking at the underground supply tunnel that had just been firmly trodden again.

"Rift Gate Fort integrity, excellent."

"Battle losses, suppressed well."

"More importantly, the two of you didn't fight your own separate battles."

He paused, his voice not loud, but it was heard clearly throughout the arena.

"Lu Jin, Ning Yanqiu."

"From today on, you are directly entered into the academy team reserve list."

As soon as these words fell, the entire arena exploded with noise.