89: A miracle? No, it's a giant iron dragon!

In the distance, on the horizon, a colossal, mushroom-cloud-like black smoke was churning, rising, and soaring into the sky, almost obscuring the entire firmament. Below the dense smoke was a dazzling sea of fire, as if the sun itself had fallen.

"What... what is that?" Sister Ling's voice carried an undisguised tremor.

Everyone's heart sank to rock bottom.

Was it some kind of super-giant volcanic eruption? Or... had some terrifying, world-destroying creature descended upon this island?

Whichever it was, for them, it meant the end of days.

"Xiao Ma!" Chen Jin's face became more solemn than ever. He roared at the scout on the rock, "Quick! Use your Talent to see what's happening over there!"

"Yes, Captain!"

Xiao Ma also snapped out of his intense shock. Without a moment's delay, he immediately activated his [Eagle Eye] Talent to its maximum. His pupils instantly contracted to the size of pinpricks, and the entire world's scenery rapidly zoomed in, magnified, and became incredibly clear in his eyes.

His gaze pierced through the swaying treetops, crossed over the continuous mountain ranges, and finally, focused on that burning sea of fire.

Then, his breathing stopped.

His body began to tremble violently, uncontrollably. The binoculars in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter," shattering into pieces, but he was oblivious. He just stared wide-eyed, fixed on the distance, his expression a mix of extreme terror, incomprehensible bewilderment, and a trace of... worshipful awe.

"Xiao Ma? What's wrong with you? Speak!" Chen Jin's heart was filled with an ominous premonition when he saw his reaction.

"God... God..." Xiao Ma's lips trembled. He wanted to say something but found his throat was tightly gripped by an invisible hand, unable to utter a complete sound.

"God my ass! Speak!" The brawny man with the giant axe, anxious, kicked the rock.

Xiao Ma was startled awake by the kick. He suddenly turned his head, his face contorted with fear, wearing an almost frantic expression. He used all his strength to shriek at his teammates,

"A dragon... it's a dragon! A... a fire-breathing, mountain-sized... steel dragon!!!"

The air instantly became dead silent.

Chen Jin and the other three team members were stunned. They looked at each other, seeing a thick absurdity in each other's eyes.

Steel dragon?

Had this kid been scared witless? Was he starting to babble nonsense?

"Xiao Ma, calm down, speak clearly!" Chen Jin said in a deep voice.

"I'm not crazy!" Xiao Ma pointed into the distance, explaining incoherently, "It's real! A... a black, scaly giant dragon! It's flying in the sky! That sea of fire just now was from a single breath of fire it spat out! I saw it clearly!"

Just then.

In the distant sky, another anomaly occurred.

The "steel dragon" circling above the sea of fire suddenly lit up with dozens of dangerous red light points on its broad back.

The next second.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

Dozens of streaking beams, like meteors with long fiery tails, shot out from the dragon's back, scattering like celestial maidens throwing flowers, covering another vast stretch of jungle below!

They carved precise and deadly arcs in the air, bypassing all mountains and giant trees, accurately landing among the Orc camps hidden deep within the jungle.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of even denser, continuous explosions, like New Year's firecrackers, echoed across the entire island.

This time, Chen Jin and his team saw it clearly.

It wasn't magic, nor was it an attack from some creature.

They were... missiles!

They were weapons of war, existing only in their memories, belonging to the old era, representing absolute firepower!

"I... damn..." The brawny man with the giant axe, his battle-axe falling to the ground with a "clank," stared blankly at the Orc camps being engulfed by fire in the distance, his mouth agape wide enough to fit an egg.

He muttered, speaking a sentence that represented everyone's feelings at that moment.

"What the hell... we're still on the island playing turn-based melee with Orcs, and they... they're already piloting Gundams?"

"Good effect."

On Fafnir's Bridge, Lin Mo looked at the land below, thoroughly plowed by the flames of war, and calmly offered his evaluation.

Both the "Dragon King Plasma Breath" for area destruction and the "Scale Blade Missile Array" for precision clearing far exceeded his expectations. Especially the missile array, with the assistance of the shipboard AI, achieved almost omnidirectional saturation strikes.

In less than ten minutes, Lichi Island (Tooth Island), which was occupied by nearly a thousand Orcs, had been completely cleared.

"More than good," Gu Zhixia's satisfied voice came through the communication channel, carrying a hint of exhilaration after battle. "This is simply a dimensionality reduction strike. Let alone these low-level Orcs, even another LV25 elite dragon would just be a slightly larger dish in front of Fafnir."

She piloted the thunder dragon mecha, circling Fafnir nimbly, feeling the surging power of the new thunderstorm core beating in its chest. She hadn't even truly made a move, and the battle was already over.

This feeling left her both a little regretful and immensely at ease.

"Alright, test over, prepare to return to base." Lin Mo controlled Fafnir, preparing to ascend.

However, the moment he gave the order.

A new notification from the Natural Selection's Bridge directly connected to his cockpit.

"Captain, multiple high-intensity biological energy signals detected in the northwest valley area of Lichi Island (Tooth Island)."

"Signal characteristic analysis: humanoid intelligent life forms, energy level between LV14 - LV17, not native Orcs."

"Preliminary judgment: Other survivor player teams."

Lin Mo's movements instantly froze.

His brows furrowed slightly.

Other players?

He immediately pulled up a detailed scan of that area. Five humanoid light points emitting blue light were gathered in a hidden valley, motionless, seemingly in a state of extreme shock or fear.

"What's wrong?" Gu Zhixia immediately noticed Fafnir's halt and asked.

Lin Mo didn't hide anything, directly sharing the scan to her mecha screen.

"There are other people on the island."

Gu Zhixia's eyes instantly sharpened. She looked at the five blue light points, her voice carrying a hint of imperceptible coldness.

"Should we deal with them?"

Her thought was simple and direct. In this world where the strong prey on the weak, any unknown factor could become a potential threat. Lan Yue's warning was still fresh in her mind; no one could guarantee that those predators who specifically hunted "lucky ones" wouldn't appear in the guise of ordinary survivors.

Nipping all threats in the cradle was the most efficient and safest approach.

Lin Mo was silent.

He was not a bloodthirsty person. But he was certainly not a soft-hearted saint either.

If this team showed any hostility, he would not hesitate to wipe them and this island off the map.

But now, they were just quietly hiding there.

To kill, to spare, or... to ignore?

As he weighed the pros and cons, Gu Nianqiu's voice, carrying a hint of nervousness and curiosity, came through the communication channel.

"Brother Mo, Sister, why did you stop? Did you find something?" She had obviously also seen the scan on the public screen on the deck.

"Found a few little mice." Gu Zhixia replied succinctly.