GAMMT - Chapter 107
Chapter 107: Cold Snap
On the flight path west of Beluke Province, there was a strait to cross and an aviation station for inspection. A long line of airships waited, and when it was the turn of the dark green bird airship, number 5266, the signal it transmitted made the station staff pause and report to their superior.
"A carrier of a Divine Temple Purple-grade badge? A secret mission for the Temple? Very likely a powerful individual at the Junior Prelate level. Let them pass immediately, and erase the records."
"Yes, sir."
After the airship passed, Fu Chuan had already merged with Xie Keli's main body. The ship had been purchased from within the Divine Temple, so it wasn't difficult to impersonate one of its members—the badge was a symbol of privilege.
The aviation station she had chosen was also under the Divine Temple's influence, not entirely under official jurisdiction.
Once through, the airship's AI followed the predetermined route westward into the sky. On the satellite map, the provisional destination was the Praya Ice Mountain, thirty thousand kilometers away.
The route was set, but Fu Chuan was still using her East Guan Academy Class S student privileges to view the complete map of the empire.
The Praya Ice Mountain was just a midpoint. She needed to check the weather conditions there before deciding where to go next.
The empire's geography was, of course, the same, but the level of detail was another matter. The access granted to an East Guan Class S student was on par with a special-grade teacher at the academy, allowing her to see highly detailed information.
Fu Chuan displayed the map on the airship's screen, recalling her prior knowledge.
She had a destination in mind.
"To complete the species conversion, there are three most suitable places. The primary condition is a light element concentration of at least 50%. Then, due to the needs of the Solar Black Crane, the space element concentration must also be above 20%. By my calculations, only three places in Beluke and the surrounding provinces meet these conditions."
"Hailuo Canyon, Red Snow Tong Lu Mountain, and the Alona Rainforest."
The original plan had been the Alona Rainforest, but since Xie Keli had obtained the Demon Orchid Flame Dragon's egg, Fu Chuan had other ideas.
"The Xie Clan established their foundation in Beluke Province because the place where their ancestor obtained the Demon Orchid and underwent genetic mutation must be within this region, or at least not beyond the bordering provinces. It's likely not within the administrative boundaries of this province or its neighbors, but in the intermediate zone between provincial borders. This fits the human desire for a moderately safe area. If it were within the province, it would risk being detected by the experts of the other three Orange Blood noble families, as their spheres of influence cover the entire province and are easily explored. The untamed wilderness, however, is a high-danger zone and not easily explored."
"But the Xie Clan holds the secret to enhancing their bloodline with the Demon Orchid. Even if they cultivate Demon Orchids at the Demon Orchid Stele, the quantity isn't enough. Psychologically, they would need a backup resource."
"So, the true habitat of the Demon Orchid is likely in one of these places."
Fu Chuan circled an area on the map with a light pen. The area included Red Snow Tong Lu Mountain and the Alona Rainforest, but it also covered over a dozen large wilderness areas and even some sea regions, totaling three hundred thousand square kilometers.
It was still a very large area.
But Hailuo Canyon was ruled out because it was in Huiguang Province to the north, too far away. Then Fu Chuan had another thought: "The Flame Dragon is the companion beast of the Demon Orchid. The Demon Orchid plant has space, light, and mental attributes, with no fire element. Yet the Flame Dragon possesses the power of magma and crimson flames, which are high-concentration fire elements. Therefore, its habitat must also have a fire element."
The light pen moved again, this time focusing on a volcanic mountain range.
"The Asle Volcano range, with a total of fifteen active volcanoes, is known as the source of barrenness for the eastern provinces like Beluke and Dongke. The high temperatures render the soil desolate, unable to support much plant life. Plants are a primary source of elements and a part of the ecosystem. The Asle Volcano creates unfavorable geographical conditions, but it also creates some special areas."
The newly circled area excluded the Alona Rainforest but included Red Snow Tong Lu Mountain.
According to Fu Chuan's plan, she could choose Red Snow Tong Lu Mountain for the species conversion. Afterward, she could depart from there and follow the Asle Volcano range to search for the Demon Orchid. If she could find more wild Demon Orchids, she could significantly enhance Xie Keli's Demon Orchid bloodline and awaken the Flame Dragon.
"Resources don't just fall into your lap. You have to search for them, conquer them, and obtain them."
This was a professional mantra among resource merchants.
Deciding on a destination should have been a good thing, but Fu Chuan frowned. Among all the potential locations, Red Snow Tong Lu Mountain was the most dangerous.
She would have actually preferred the Alona Rainforest.
"That area is the habitat of a branch of the Mechanical Race, the Aoyin, and also the territory of the Red Earth Dwarves. Both of these races are bloodthirsty, skilled in combat, and particularly hostile towards humans. They are considered opposing factions to humanity."
Since the area had the right conditions—light, space, and fire elements—it was naturally suitable for other creatures as well. She had chosen the region, but the natives were already there. This meant an outsider was intruding on their home turf, which inevitably involved risk.
Especially the Aoyin.
This race was too dangerous. Though small in number, they were very strong. An adult Aoyin was at least level 50, and every one of them was a natural Forbidden Master. Their racial abilities and talents were stronger than Xie Keli's current ones.
This meant that if she encountered an adult level 50 Aoyin, she would lose nine times out of ten. Even with both bodies combined, it would be a draw at best. If their level was even slightly higher, her only options would be to beg for mercy or flee for her life.
Sigh, fortune favors the bold. If she went to the Alona Rainforest first, the round trip would take two months, delaying matters with the Economic Department. That was equivalent to losing an Orange-tier pet egg.
"But Sister, you already have me, and Big Red, plus the Solar Black Crane and the Flame Dragon that will awaken in the future. That's four pets. I'm fine, since I was upgraded from Green-tier and don't take up much of your willpower. Big Red is also okay. But those other two have high potential and powerful races; they'll require a huge amount of willpower. Even the Yun family couldn't handle it. Are you sure you can?"
Fu Chuan replied, "If I can't, I'll sell them. It's not like they aren't valuable."
Little Yellow: "?"
Alright then, my sister is so magnanimous.
"Then you can consider selling Big Red. It's not as strong as the other two anyway, and it takes up willpower. Just sell it."
Big Red: "?"
I'm not even asleep yet, you little bug, backstabbing me?!
The expensive airship was indeed fast. After fifteen hours of continuous flight, Fu Chuan arrived at the Praya Ice Mountain.
Now that she had confirmed her destination was Red Snow Tong Lu Mountain, the goal was clear. But to choose the best route from Praya Ice Mountain to Tong Lu Mountain, she needed to observe the weather here and pick the safest and most time-efficient path.
Using top-tier equipment and theoretical knowledge from her world studies discipline, Fu Chuan spent half an hour testing and calculating, eventually planning out five routes.
"This one is the shortest; I can get there in a day, but there might be an extreme cold snap. It's too dangerous. Even a level 80 Arcanist would die if caught in an extreme cold snap."
"This one is okay… but it's too long; it'll take seven days."
"This one…"
In the end, Fu Chuan chose between two routes. One would take three days with little chance of encountering a cold snap. The other would take two days but might be affected by the low temperatures of a cold snap…
Saving a day was still a good thing. Fu Chuan calculated the temperature limits, checked the ship's heating system, and confirmed it could withstand the cold and maintain operation. With that, she chose the latter.
However, out of caution, she still set a temperature-sensitive command for the equipment. It had to notify her if the air temperature reached a certain threshold.
A day and a half later, the airship was flying over the eastern side of the Praya Ice Mountain. Fu Chuan was in the training room, practicing the Out-of-Body Spirit Attachment arcane art. In the middle of her practice, the system alarm suddenly sounded.
The equipment was alerting her.
The outside temperature had reached the critical limit.
Fu Chuan frowned and rushed to the cockpit to check the sensor data.
Normally, this temperature should have been fine, but Fu Chuan was too cautious with her life. She checked the temperature fluctuation curve and found it was changing in a wave-like pattern.
It was too regular, which meant the weather in the distance had formed some kind of stable cold current, causing the airflow here to change predictably. Once she reached a certain distance, she would enter the Roche fluid gravity rule, and the temperature would start to change erratically and drastically.
It was very likely to enter an extreme cold state.
"Am I that unlucky?" Fu Chuan smiled wryly, but she immediately ordered the ship to activate its high-temperature preheating state, keeping it ready for a high-energy burst. If she encountered the cold snap… being prepared was the only way to escape. Otherwise, if she got caught, the ship would be frozen solid, and she would be trapped inside.
But this consumed a terrifying amount of energy.
Every ten minutes, it burned through energy stones worth a thousand blue coins.
After confirming the command, Fu Chuan ran to the energy bay and filled the main and backup bays with all the energy stones from her backpack until it was empty.
"A full burn should sustain operations for two hours."
"Under normal circumstances, I should have already flown out of the mountain range by then."
After making preparations, Fu Chuan didn't return to the cockpit. Her piloting skills were mediocre, certainly not better than the AI. She… ran to the backup shuttle inside the airship. If the situation became critical, this was her escape route.
Now, she sat inside the shuttle and preheated its systems as well.
After an hour, the situation was stable. The airship was passing through the mountain range smoothly and getting ever closer to the Tong Lu Mountain region.
Fu Chuan relaxed a bit and checked her communicator. There were many messages, but she ignored most of them, only looking at those from people she knew.
Her academy acquaintances mentioned that the three from the Dongke Province Purple Blood family had gone back. Apparently, their family had discovered a dungeon and recalled them for some internal training.
Carol Diel analyzed that Xie Keli and Wei Mingtang had put a lot of pressure on them, so they went back for some special tutoring.
Another message was from Xie Siyi: "Since you're out, I'll tell everyone I took you out for training. The people from the Xie Clan can vouch for this. Don't rush back. There's trouble brewing, and things won't be stable for the next month. You're safer outside."
Fu Chuan frowned. This matched up. Something big was indeed happening in Beluke.
From the current looks of it, the Economic Department needed her, Liu Wuxiang thought her involvement was optional, and Xie Siyi wanted her to stay away.
Fu Chuan was pondering the differences when… she suddenly noticed the signal on her communicator weakening, and in the next second, it cut out completely.
She was startled.
At the same time, the system alarm blared: "Cold snap incoming! Cold snap incoming! Airship is entering escape mode. Flight path has been altered. Please check."
"Hull is preheated, preheated. Operation temporarily normal. Master, please be cautious, cautious, cautious!"
Fu Chuan's brow furrowed.
Seriously!
She checked the sky's airflow map and saw the route had been diverted around a cold, blue-lit area, but the blue cold snap was spreading wildly.
However, because the ship was prepared, its speed had been maintained at maximum, and its temperature was at a cold-resistant state. The current prediction was a safe escape.
Fu Chuan's finger rested on the shuttle's activation button, her expression completely calm.
Fifteen minutes later, the airship and the cold snap maintained a stable distance. It looked dangerous, but it was actually on a safe escape route.
They were still three thousand kilometers from exiting the mountain range. At this speed, it would only take another ten minutes.
Once they were out of the mountains, the cold snap would be blocked by the heat from the Asle Volcano range… and she would be safe.
"Escape route complete, complete. Ship entering stable piloting mode. Master…"
Before the system could finish its report, Fu Chuan, who was just starting to relax, suddenly heard a faint sound.
It sounded like a sharp cutting noise… a living creature?
Startled, she quickly activated her pupil technique, her vision piercing through the hull into the cold world outside.
Although they had escaped the main vortex of the cold snap, the outside temperature had reached the planet's extreme of -3000°C.
Fortunately, she was using the Mental Eye technique, which operated on a spiritual level and was unaffected by physical temperature. She saw, within the terrifying cold snap… a streak of blue light moving at extreme speed, shooting straight out.
The speed was terrifying, 1.5 times that of the airship. At this speed, it quickly overtook the distance between the airship and the cold snap the moment it broke free. The system couldn't even track it. All it knew was that this blue light was incredibly sharp and closing in on the airship.
We're doomed!
Alarmed, Fu Chuan decisively hit the shuttle's activation button, putting it into flight mode…
In almost the same instant, BOOM!!!
The airship's hull was pierced by the sharp body the blue light transformed into.
Explosion!
The moment of the explosion, the entire interior of the ship was bathed in the red light of system alarms, but the shuttle had already shot out of the hull. Five hundred meters away, the massive, seven-to-eight-meter-long bird that had pierced the ship let out a shriek, about to break through the other side and chase the shuttle.
"Self-destruct command complete."
"Detonate!"
BOOM! Under Fu Chuan's remote control, the airship detonated, catching the bird in the split second before it could fully pass through, using all the remaining energy stones in the energy bay.
A massive explosion!
The power of this explosion was equivalent to the self-destruction of a level 70 Orange Robe from the Divine Temple.
The blue bird took the full force of the blast and shrieked in agony, the cold frost on its body consumed by flames…
Below, Fu Chuan in the shuttle saw the explosion in the rearview mirror. Her heart was pounding, but before she could relax, she saw… the bird burst out of the flames of the explosion.
The terrifying cold it naturally commanded instantly extinguished the flames on the burning wreckage, turning the pieces into frozen fragments. After putting out the fire on its body, its icy plumage looked like the most grim and cold of gemstones.
It was truly a beautiful bird.
But also an extremely dangerous one.
"An Orange-tier Extreme Cold Light Falcon, and a level 70 one at that."
Fu Chuan's face turned pale. She saw that although it was heavily injured, it was still chasing her at a terrifying speed… and in high-speed flight, its body could absorb cold matter to repair its wounds. Its damaged feathers were already regenerating automatically.
Fu Chuan gripped the controls, pushing the speed to its maximum, heading for the last and highest mountain cliff in the vicinity…
The Extreme Cold Light Falcon shrieked, spitting out arrows of cold… but Fu Chuan used her Mental Eye to pinpoint their trajectory.
She maneuvered the shuttle to swerve… the cold arrows missed. Annoyed, it kept firing.
Swish! The shuttle dove into the narrowest dark valley between the cliffs.
The gap was very small. The shuttle could fit, but the bird could not.
After Fu Chuan flew in, the Extreme Cold Light Falcon was indeed stuck outside. But! It flew up, attacking the ravine from above.
At least this created some distance, and a stable altitude difference. The opponent couldn't get down to her level.
Fu Chuan just needed to control the shuttle and dodge.
"Cunning human, I will eat you tonight!"
Enraged, the Extreme Cold Light Falcon spoke in human language. Just as Fu Chuan was about to persuade it to let her go, she realized something was wrong.
The temperature. The temperature was dropping incredibly fast.
She took a closer look and realized that the missed cold arrows had turned into small vortices of cold, rapidly lowering the temperature inside the canyon.
And this temperature was approaching the extreme low.
The shuttle didn't have the same advanced heating system as the airship. It immediately alerted Fu Chuan that it was on the verge of freezing over…
Damn it!
The cold was already seeping into the cabin. Fu Chuan felt an absolute chill. She slammed the shuttle's controls, burning all its remaining energy… and burst out of the other end of the ravine. But the Extreme Cold Light Falcon was already diving down from above, catching the shuttle with its talons in a swift swoop and crushing it.
BOOM!
The shuttle exploded.
But the Extreme Cold Light Falcon didn't get a kill confirmation. What was going on? It quickly sensed the air currents and found it! Near its original diving position, at the very top of the canyon, a body of light was streaking away.
So fast!
Much faster than the shuttle.
"Still trying to escape!"
With four wings spread, Fu Chuan flew towards the final mountain peak, propelled by the frantic push of her variant wings… she had to get over the mountain range!
"In your dreams!"
The Extreme Cold Light Falcon gave chase frantically from behind.
Its power was comparable to a level 70 Orange Robe. Fu Chuan was no match for it right now. She could only flee!
In this desperate chase, Fu Chuan maintained a speed 30% faster than the airship's maximum, but the Extreme Cold Light Falcon was 50% faster.
So the distance was shrinking, shrinking, constantly shrinking…
Just as it closed to a vertical distance of one thousand meters, it prepared to attack.
Suddenly!
Fu Chuan turned around and unleashed an attack.
Mental Eye's Probability God Slash + Forbidden Arcane.
God help me, let this work!!!
Miss! Probability God Slash missed!
But Forbidden Arcane succeeded!
For just a second, because the opponent's resistance was incredibly high.
Just one second… Fu Chuan's pupil technique had already swept across the thick layer of snow on the mountain peak.
BOOM!
A terrifying avalanche cascaded down from the sky, crashing down on the Extreme Cold Light Falcon below.
Although it was a child of the cold, a favorite of ice and snow, the impact force of the avalanche was immense, not to mention being buried… As it fell, Fu Chuan successfully reached the mountain's summit and leaped over in a parabolic arc…
Behind her, the Extreme Cold Light Falcon shrieked in anger, and the mountain trembled. An icy storm rushed towards Fu Chuan's back.
It turned out that before being hit by the avalanche, it had already summoned the storm at the peak…
BOOM!! Fu Chuan was struck hard in the back by the storm. Her variant wings and the Golden Sun Rakshasa Vine's tentacles had already formed.
Envelop, defend, impact.
Falling…
Below was a terrifying river of magma, blocked by the mountain range, constantly cooling and regenerating.
In the final second before her dizzying fall into it, Fu Chuan snapped back to her senses. With a glide of her wings, she skimmed along the terrifying magma flow, the heat scorching her skin.
A minute later, she flew over the magma river and plunged directly into a steaming hot spring pool in a dense forest.
Splash. The water was hot and steamy.
But…
The moment she emerged from the water, her expression changed.
Because right in front of her, a battle even more intense than the one with the Orange-tier Extreme Cold Light Falcon was raging.
It was an Aoyin from the Mechanical Race and a young man.
And they had both noticed her.
Fu Chuan: "…"
At that moment, she thought this definitely wasn't due to her own luck, but one hundred percent because of Qin Minfeng's stallion-protagonist-like fate. If this young man had been a woman, given his handsome looks and noble, unusually refined aura, she would have known he was one of Qin Minfeng's future wives.
But when it came to her… a wave of attacks from the young man and the Aoyin just happened to be directed her way.
There was no time to dodge.
BOOM!
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