Above the desolate desert of the plateau continent, amidst the withered trees of the Devil's Desert, the dark clouds pressed down almost to the tops of the gnarled branches.
"Crack!"
A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed, illuminating the sky shrouded in clouds as if it were day. In this light, beneath the heavy, dark clouds, the bare, withered forest appeared like the dancing arms of demons and monsters, enough to make the faint-hearted shriek in terror.
"Rumble!"
"Rumble!"
Peal after peal of thunder followed the lightning, striking extremely low!
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
The desert surrounding the withered forest was struck by lightning, kicking up a tempest of sand and dust.
"Crack."
A flash brighter than the first one illuminated the clouds.
"Sizzle, sizzle."
Flames erupted at the tips of the withered trees, only to be quickly doused by the falling, boiling sand and dust, preventing any larger conflagration.
"Rumble!"
"Rumble!"
Even more violent thunder roared.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
Lightning struck the same patch of desert again, this time even lower, kicking up even more sand and dust.
"Crack!"
"Rumble, rumble!!"
This time, lightning and thunder arrived almost simultaneously. In the glare of the lightning, an observer could clearly see the thunder strike beneath the surface of the desert.
Yes, beneath the surface, because a crater had erupted where the desert had been.
"Sizzle, sizzle."
The branches of the withered trees were burning.
"Crack!"
"Rumble, rumble!"
The pace of the lightning and thunder accelerated.
The boiling sand and dust no longer had time to settle, and the fire in the withered forest had already turned half the dark clouds red. The conflagration, in coordination with the lightning and thunder, seemed intent on destroying the entire world.
Meanwhile, the scattered special ability team members felt their internal energy dispersed by some force as the lightning struck, making it impossible to concentrate, as if they had reverted to ordinary humans.
Upon sensing the dispersion of energy within him, Zeng Jingrong had no time to worry about himself or the team he had brought. His concern was whether the special ability members of the special forces team had been affected.
He was even more worried about Tian Jing.
In Iron Town, the lightning and thunder only added to the chaos.
The underground laboratory had spiraled out of control. White-coated figures rushed frantically into the elevator, heading for the surface.
To their surprise, upon reaching the surface, the seemingly powerful special ability users were sprawled on the ground, trembling as if driven mad.
The elevator continued to ferry people up. Accompanying the white-coated individuals were experimental subjects, including those who had lost consciousness and turned into zombies.
Seeing wave after wave of experimental subjects emerge, the man with blonde hair wanted to curse, but he was too weak to even crawl.
The white-coated figures also noticed the experimental subjects following closely behind. They tried to escape the building, only to find the outside world like hell itself.
The zombies, already attacking each other, began to tear into one another upon hearing the thunder and lightning. Both zombies and monsters were engaged in a frenzied battle, turning the area outside the building into a charnel house of decaying flesh.
With no escape from the outside and the relentless attacks from the experimental subjects behind them, the building quickly transformed into hell, a hell of flying flesh and blood.
These people were merely incidental casualties; the true target of the lightning was Tian Jing.
In the entire underground Iron Town, only Tian Jing could still stand, albeit with difficulty. With each lightning strike, several layers of her energy shield vanished.
After several more strikes, her energy shield was gone, and she immediately conjured another dozen layers.
Unable to hit her, the lightning outside seemed to grow furious, striking down in a barrage of three bolts at once.
The dozen layers of her energy shield disappeared instantly. Tian Jing continued to focus and recreate her energy shields.
The lightning became even more enraged, striking lower and lower, converging in clusters before descending.
After numerous such strikes, the iron roof of Iron Town finally appeared from the depths of the crater.
At this moment, Tian Jing felt an immense pressure from above, forcing her legs to buckle. Without hesitation, she transformed all the seeds within her into vines, rapidly wrapping herself into a cocoon of vegetation. Finally, she unleashed all the energy within her body, layering her energy shields over the vine cocoon. This time, she would either prevail or perish.
She had no time to be distracted as a thunderbolt, forged over a long period and imbued with world-ending power, struck the exposed iron roof of Iron Town.
Iron finally served its purpose.
The lightning crackled and hissed, spreading across all the iron casings of Iron Town.
Shen Wei, leaning against the iron gate, had no time to utter his final fear before he turned into a charred husk.
The building, though made of glass, had its glass panels set in steel alloy, which was also conductive. Most people were electrocuted, their hearts ceasing to beat.
"Crash!"
Under the force of this massive strike and the conductivity of the steel alloy, the bulletproof glass shattered. Though it wouldn't crack, it could no longer bear the weight. Doors and windows collapsed in various disarray. The few remaining survivors were crushed by the falling glass, and more hearts stopped beating.
As for Tian Jing, the primary target, when the lightning and electricity struck simultaneously and Iron Town played its part, she fell, losing consciousness.
The withered forest had been consumed by fire.
Above the withered forest, the dark clouds slowly dispersed, and sunlight streamed into the desolate landscape.
It was good to be alive!
All the members of the special ability team and the special operations team felt a sense of relief, as if they had narrowly escaped death. It wasn't that they feared death, but rather that in the face of such celestial power, they felt as insignificant as ants.
Zeng Jingrong climbed out of the sand dune. Without bothering to brush off the residual sand and dust, or even to check if his special abilities were still intact, he signaled to his team and then rushed towards the massive sand crater. Upon seeing the iron-clad structure beneath the crater, he roared in fury, questioning the sanity of the town's builders. The long-dead builders, however, would have pleaded innocence, for how could they have foreseen lightning striking hundreds of feet into the earth?
The special operations team members used cutting torches to breach the town gate. Upon witnessing the scene inside, they couldn't help but crouch down and vomit. The special ability team members, not yet having mourned their fallen comrades who had lost their ranking, scoffed at the display of the special operations team. However, as they ventured further in and saw the stench of rotting flesh mixed with monster limbs, they too felt the urge to vomit.
The special operations team members, having already emptied their stomachs, retaliated with mockery towards the special ability team.
Zeng Jingrong stood by the pile of flesh and shouted towards the dilapidated building, "Tiantian? Tiantian?"
The captain of the special operations team pointed to the charred corpse by the iron gate: "Is this her?"
Zeng Jingrong turned and saw a charred vine cocoon on the ground.
...
Within the special ability team, Li Weihao stood on top of the prison cell, relaying the status of the special ability members to Li Weixin and Han Lush.
Li Weixin shot up: "It's Mom, it must be Mom." He knew more than his elder brothers and had met with Mavet twice with his mother.
Li Weihao recalled his father's panic: "Ranan, what do you think happened to Mom?"
"Mom, she..."
"Team Leader Li!"
Li Weixin had only uttered three words before Han Lush interrupted him. Li Weixin slumped back down. Mom was on a mission, so she couldn't speak of it. But why had Mom exposed her special ability level? Was it a suicide pact? Suddenly, Li Weixin stood up again, pacing back and forth in the prison cell, pulling at his hair. Li Weihao had never seen his younger brother in such a state: "Ranan, what happened to Mom?"
Li Weixin shook his head: "Don't ask! In short, Mom is in great danger, and none of us can help her."
"Stop pacing!" Han Lush, annoyed by Li Weixin's constant movement, shouted for him to stop, then said to Li Weihao: "Go up and observe. If you no longer feel panicked, you can leave. For now, do not activate your special abilities or accept any missions. Let the martial arts team handle missions. Wait for the captain to return and report to him for a resolution."
The agitated Li Weixin regained his composure: "Right, Big Brother. Go up and sense it. If you're not panicking anymore, then the danger Mom is facing should have passed." They could only hope Mom was alright.