Chapter 1729: Chapter 1730: Escape

“Feng Yuan, let Xiao Ji use his ultimate move freely. Everyone, conserve your strength; we’re about to face a long and arduous battle!”

Dou Yanlan looked calmly at the massive mechas and swarms of drones pursuing from all sides and shouted loudly. She had already guessed this situation would arise when she killed the man. Zhang Cheng and Liu Ziwen exchanged glances and immediately split up to command the team to assist in the attack from the sides.

Defense was no longer as important now. In the face of enemies that covered the sky, any defense line they could form would be easily torn apart. It’s become impossible to defend; the only option left is to break through forcefully and run towards the ground.

With Feng Yuan’s permission, Xiao Ji no longer restrained himself. The howling Wind of Death, carrying wandering spirits, blew in all directions. Even though the enemies were all non-living entities, faced with the decaying effect of the Death Series, standard non-living entities couldn’t hold out for long.

Enemies would occasionally get smashed into fragmented data points that vanished before the team. Even though Xiao Ji exhibited a strong range of lethal effects, it only slightly alleviated the predicament faced by the group.

“If we didn’t deal with the mastermind, would…”

Qi Chen asked Dou Yanlan with a trace of doubt. Although dealing with the mastermind was likely a bonus objective, if it led to the team failing the trial, wouldn’t that be counterproductive?

While directing Cotton to support classmates, Dou Yanlan replied,

“They won’t let us leave. Among the three plans, do you still not understand our role here?”

After a while, seeing Qi Chen not respond, Dou Yanlan realized he hadn’t figured it out. At this moment, Tan Xueluo, who just retreated to the group to let Panshi recover strength, overheard the conversation. Tan Xueluo glanced at Dou Yanlan and said to Qi Chen,

“According to Dou Yanlan’s analysis, the Warrior Plan refers to us. This means that in this trial, we are considered warrior experimental subjects among the opponent’s three categories of experimental subjects. It’s just that for some reason, this is not clearly indicated.”

“It should be related to the restrictions of the Data Domain. We’ll find out more after leaving here. I bet from now until we complete this trial, there won’t be any time to stop.”

After explaining briefly, Dou Yanlan continued to command everyone to retreat. The enemies they faced were just too strong, and a disorganized team could lead to severe injuries. Though Dou Yanlan had suspected these circumstances would arise after dealing with that individual, she nonetheless chose to act.

Perhaps negotiating with the opponent would be easier, but she refused to compromise. She had already guessed the trial’s background, understanding the nature of each area as akin to gaming challenges.

Before they tunnelled out of the enemy’s sight, every move they made fell within the enemy’s view. Rather than being out of control, the animal and plant zones were more like waste utilization. The plan was left intact there, likely due to a superiority complex from those above, thinking that even if slowly informed, they couldn’t escape the enemy’s restrictions.

Unfortunately, leaving out the abnormal power of Feng Yuan, the Academy considered both sides’ strengths during design. Otherwise, the bizarre phenomenon where Spirit Substance suppresses the Spirit Beast Ultimate Skill wouldn’t exist. Jokingly, if that were true, the Divine Beasts would be the first targeted.

Clearly, this is impossible. The Academy intentionally set it up to ensure they have the capability to counter the mastermind. Though the suppression effect of the Spirit Substance doesn’t manifest on the students’ beasts, it does significantly dampen the power of ultimate moves during combat. Dou Yanlan initially didn’t notice this, as not everyone easily detects the suppression of their beast’s ultimate move by about thirty percent on a chaotic battlefield.

She only realized the issue when interacting with the mechas after passing through the plant zone. The possibility of reduced ultimate move power after engagement was not singular, yet it resumed, indicating possible environmental suppression. A reflection upon previous encounters made apparent that both the plant and animal zones with Spirit Substance presence witnessed weakened effectiveness.

It was only at this point that she understood why there might be items for carrying Spirit Substance storage. Perhaps it was meant to suppress enemy Spirit Beasts. Merely carrying the item mitigated the restriction on their beasts’ usage of ultimate moves due to the Data Domain. The opponent’s beasts were restricted from using ultimate moves, barely leveling the immense power disparity, even…behind the scenes BOSS’s face…

Dou Yanlan felt someone would have their pay docked after this.

Qi Chen and the team, although unclear on the specifics, knew this was not the time to ponder such. Unlike before, this time enemies surrounded them from all sides, and even Cotton’s use of War Fog with Xiao Ji was restrictive with the enemy’s numerical advantage.

Thus, after attempting briefly, Dou Yanlan instructed Cotton to remove the War Fog. Facing the constantly pursuing foes, the team could only maintain a quick pace heading towards the exit. After blasting open the locked door and seeing the passage massive enough for several trucks to drive alongside, Dou Yanlan pondered and said,

“You go first.”

“What are you going to do?”

Qi Chen anxiously asked Dou Yanlan after glancing at her. Dou Yanlan swept an eye over the space behind her and replied,

“Of course…revenge. Even though this is just the trial background arranged by the Academy, the feeling of being treated as experimental subjects and ridiculed isn’t pleasant.”

“You’re not trying to blow up this place, are you? Is that possible?”

Feng Yuan couldn’t help but ask doubtfully while looking at Dou Yanlan. Normally, Dou Yanlan wouldn’t have that capability, but if she harnessed the facilities here, it was uncertain if she could achieve her goal.

Dou Yanlan nodded and said,

“Even though the three files don’t mention it, they all intentionally avoided something quite important, the Dream Domain and dream power. If they didn’t consider it, it might mean using dream power could cause changes. Just so, this is still a Spirit Substance-rich zone, but this transport passage has none.”

Dou Yanlan explained with a smile. Just as the group paused, the pursuing enemies arrived again. Glancing at the tanks approaching from the passage ahead, Feng Yuan lightly tapped Xiao Ji’s back and spoke to Dou Yanlan,

“Stay safe, and try not to stray too far from the group.”

“Ah Chen, hurry up and leave.”

Seeing Qi Chen standing beside her, Dou Yanlan commented worriedly. Qi Chen shook his head and said,

“If something truly did happen, Ah Mu’s presence here is evidently safer.”

Realizing her words couldn’t sway him, Dou Yanlan said no more. Although she didn’t know what changes would unfold from this attempt, but…it’s worth trying!

Cotton, under Dou Yanlan’s command, used his mastery of the Dream Chasing Ultimate Technique. As dream power manifested, the open hall drastically changed. Pink and purple mist continuously surged, and even at the passage entrance, Dou Yanlan sensed a terrifying force accumulating, ready to explode.

“Explosion!”

Dou Yanlan shouted loudly, quickly turning to have Cotton follow her as she pulled Qi Chen towards the team ahead. Following Qi Chen’s instructions, Ah Mu secured the rear, utilizing the Vine Barricade Ultimate Move to block the passage and strengthen it with vines for defense. However, the intense explosion still struck the vine wall despite Ah Mu’s multiple reinforcements, destroying it.

Fortunately, because the vine wall was sufficiently solid, although the explosion’s shockwave destroyed it, its power significantly decreased; the group merely set up simple barriers and successfully blocked the explosion’s impact.

Yet at that moment, continuous explosions sounded from behind. Feng Yuan touched his chin and remarked,

“Is this…something even Dou Yanlan’s actions were anticipated?”

At this moment, the explosion noise and tremors didn’t appear as a mere trigger from the recent blast in the room they resided in. Instead, it seemed like the entire underground research institute had been detonated.

“There are stairs here! Go!”

Seeing a staircase leading upwards ahead, Zhang Cheng shouted loudly. He didn’t intend to venture further along the passage. With explosions persisting, remaining on this level wasn’t a good idea.