Lantern Sister is still very capable.

Chapter 180 Shortcut

There is an old poem that says: "The earth collapses, the mountains crumble, and brave men die."

Xie Xingzhou felt that it was a very fitting description of them. As the boulders rolled down the hillside, a group of monkeys rushed up like soldiers. Their sharp claws had somehow mutated, and the barbs dug into human flesh, leaving it bloody. Their monkey king was a long-armed white ape.

With a swing of its long arm, the white-haired ape unleashed a deafening roar accompanied by a chilling sound of the earth cracking. The trembling ground beneath their feet seemed poised to burst open and swallow them whole. Fortunately, one of their earth-elemental ability users managed to save a teammate who was about to fall into the fissure.

"Mr. Krabs! Capture the leader first!" As one of only two earth-type ability users, Zhao Xiaofeng was under immense pressure, so much so that he dared not even wipe the sweat from his forehead, fearing that if he didn't keep an eye on them for a moment, his team members would fall into the cracks like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Xie Xingzhou was speechless. How could he not know? The monkeys were using physical attacks, while the white-haired ape, a level three earth-type beast, was using magical attacks, and it was a ranged attack at that. He also wanted to kill the white-haired ape!

It's not that I'm limited in ability; it's just that I can't even get close enough to make a move!

"I'll help you head that way and block the white ape's retreat first," Chang Gui said through the earpiece. Now, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.

Xie Xingzhou swung a monkey that was grabbing his leg aside. The monkey screamed and crashed into a tree, where it died.

“Alright, attack from the side.” Xie Xingzhou kicked aside the monkey blocking his way and slowly approached the white ape.

Chang Gui sighed and used his earth-based ability to stabilize the ground. He had been clearing away fallen rocks on the side to prevent a large number of rocks from rolling down and blocking the road. Fortunately, he had already arranged for the injured to be taken out.

Otherwise, he would still be trapped here, preventing the white apes from dropping rocks.

This was truly an unexpected disaster. Their base knew there were some mutated animals in the area, but they were too busy to do anything else. This was an undeveloped, barren mountain, and as long as the mutated beasts didn't come down from the mountain, they wouldn't send anyone to clear it out given their limited manpower.

As it turned out, someone neglected their duty and let a group of idle explorers into the area, including a rich second-generation. His father used his power to rescue his son, contacting several people for help. The ordinary organizations couldn't handle it, so their base had to. However, their best members had just been sent out to participate in a competition, and the people left at the base were scattered to investigate Fusheng Shipbuilding's warehouses and cargo ships in the province. Some of the remaining people were still dealing with strange beast incidents in other places. There were only two earth elementalists assigned to this desolate mountain. It's true that when you're down on your luck, even drinking water can be choking you.

Chang Gui slowly circled around from the side, gradually approaching the white ape standing on the high place. The white ape stared intently at the front, occasionally roaring, seemingly commanding the monkeys below to fight.

The higher the level of the alien beasts, the more intelligent they are, and the stronger their territorial instincts are. Leader-level beasts can even command lower-level alien beasts within their territory. Each time an alien beast is killed, it is no less than a brutal battle. Many of the logistics staff in the base are disabled veterans from the front lines, and many others have suffered psychological trauma and no longer have the courage to face alien beasts, only wanting to retire peacefully.

In particular, their province of Hubei is mountainous and has many rivers. There were rumors that some high-level exotic beasts were hiding in Shennongjia, but they didn't cause any trouble, so things were peaceful for the time being.

Taking a moment to worry about the future of humanity, Chang Gui glanced at Xie Xingzhou and saw that he was almost there. He held his breath, tapped his earpiece lightly, and gave a signal to act later.

After hearing Xie Xingzhou's response, Chang Gui calculated the distance and prepared to rush out to get close to the white ape.

"Woo-wu-wu-"

A strange cry sounded the alarm. The white ape turned its head, its mouth wide open revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, and roared, "Roar!!!"

Then it slammed its two arms into the ground with a loud "bang bang bang—", and several spikes shot out from the ground, forming a circle that blocked Chang Gui's escape route.

Chang Gui's ability activated, and a pillar of earth rose from the ground beneath his feet, lifting him into the air and temporarily freeing him from the circle of earth spikes. However, he couldn't escape for the time being.

While creating the spikes, the white-haired ape was also busy. It leaped over Changgui and swung its arms, slamming them onto the earthen pillars of Changgui Station. With a few "cracks," the earthen pillars shattered and collapsed, resembling a shoddy construction project.

"Ouch!" Chang Gui lost his footing and also lost his balance. Luckily, he managed to steady himself. He stepped on the broken clods of earth and tried to use his superpower to create another foothold for himself. However, the white-haired ape did not give him a chance. It picked up the broken pillar of earth and, under the influence of its superpower, the pillar of earth slowly lengthened. It was swung by the white-haired ape like a golden cudgel and hit Chang Gui in mid-air.

Jie Xingzhou was dumbfounded. "Holy crap, the Monkey King!" Despite his amazement, seeing that Chang Gui was about to be hammered by "Brother Monkey," Jie Xingzhou quickly pushed Chang Gui away with a water ball, causing the white-haired ape to hit nothing. Then, a thin stream of water spun in the air and landed under Chang Gui's feet to give him leverage. After stomping a few times, Chang Gui finally stood on the ground.

"That was terrifying." Chang Gui breathed a sigh of relief. Xie Xingzhou also rushed over, and the two finally met up, but the battle had just begun.

The white-haired ape swung the stick a few times, then, seemingly finding it ineffective, threw it over.

Is it even possible to hit it?

The two smiled contemptuously to themselves, then separated, not going too far away.

Just as the stick was about to hit the open space next to the two, it suddenly exploded. Countless earth spikes, controlled by the white-haired ape, were about to pierce the two like a rain of needles. The two tried to save their lives, one with an earth shield and the other with a water shield. Chang Gui was unharmed, but Xie Xingzhou's water shield was pierced, and the earth spikes continued to attack him without stopping.

Realizing that Xie Xingzhou couldn't do anything to him, the white-haired ape shifted its gaze, aimed all the earth spikes at Xie Xingzhou, turned around and jumped to Chang Gui's side, smashing them directly into the earthen shield in front of Chang Gui.

"boom--"

The clods of earth crumbled, and Chang Gui's face was covered in dust. He spat twice, squinted, and backed away.

The white-haired ape fought Chang Gui one-on-one with its physical body, but used its supernatural abilities to relentlessly pursue Xie Xingzhou, holding its own against two opponents.

The two were locked in a fierce battle.

"This way." Chu Deng pointed to the road. Jin Dahai looked at the hillside, which was almost vertical to the ground at a 90-degree angle, and was drenched in sweat.

"I don't think I can get up there?" Jin Dahai couldn't help but say.

"Yes," Chu Deng said firmly, even more confident in himself than Jin Dahai. "The shortcut is faster."

After saying that, Chu Deng put the flowerpot on the ground, touched the branches of the fire tree, and the fire tree shook in response.

Jin Dahai stared in disbelief as the sapling in the flowerpot pulled its roots out of the soil and jumped out of the pot like a little girl lifting her skirt. The originally slender roots became thick and long, extending from the bottom all the way to the top of the vertical slope. Protrusions like stairs also grew on the roots, making them look easy to climb.

"Alright." Chu Deng nodded, touched the roots of the fire tree with his palm, and transferred his supernatural power to it. The fire tree excitedly shook its leaves.

The leaves shook vigorously.

Jin Dahai was already happily climbing up the tree roots, exclaiming, "This shortcut is great! This shortcut is wonderful!"

He can brag about this experience now; it's true that you see everything when you live long enough.

Chu Deng stood guard behind Jin Dahai, rushing down the hillside towards the white ape. They had to deal with the white ape first; it was about to collapse.

"boom--"

The earthen shield shattered one after another, and the white ape showed no signs of fatigue. However, Chang Gui's superpower was almost exhausted. His defense was not enough to cause any damage to the white ape. He tried to trap the white ape in the ground, but it pulled itself up with its two feet and was completely unaffected by his superpower.

Does he really have to fight hand-to-hand with this three-meter-tall, giant mutant ape?

"boom!"

The white-haired ape punched Chang Gui, who had made a mistake, sending him flying several meters away. He fell to the ground and nearly stopped breathing.

"Cough cough!" He sat up halfway, spitting out a few mouthfuls of blood. He saw the white-haired ape jump over again, and his tense muscles rolled him around a few times, narrowly escaping death.

Jie Xingzhou caught a glimpse of Chang Gui's predicament out of the corner of his eye, and his heart pounded with fear. He wanted to help, but he was distracted by the attacks that could appear from below at any moment. After all, he had not yet mastered the ability to stay airborne, and if he was on the ground, he would be chased by the white-haired ape's earth-type ability. He was really in a precarious situation.

All he could do was splash some water on the ground while Changgui was rolling around to reduce friction and make it roll faster.

Chang Gui, panting heavily, dodged several of the white-haired ape's leaping attacks. He was exhausted, and the lack of oxygen to his brain slowed his reaction by half a beat. Just as he was about to be trampled by the white-haired ape, he tried to retreat but misjudged the direction and rolled right into the ape's landing spot. The three-meter-tall giant ape weighed over a hundred kilograms, and it was not impossible for it to turn him into pieces instantly when it fell on him from the height.