Light Fortress-Chapter 1487 - 207: Solar Flare_2

Zhao Qi heard intermittent, indistinct sounds.

He successfully landed in front of the second refugee...

It was an old man covered in mud, emitting a faint glow in the rain.

The reason the old man was glowing was that he was directly scorched by the "sun," with his flesh marked by bright red imprints. Zhao Qi quietly watched this dying person with just a trace of breath.

Among the four-person team, only he reported fully to the captain.

It’s not because the other three had poor vision.

Everyone saw this old man...

However, in their judgment, he was already a "corpse" not worth saving. The journey to the South Cave was too long, with many falling into the muddy mountains, just not all were seen.

And this old man at the moment was actually just lucky to be "seen."

Sometimes life is heavy, sometimes it’s light.

Being seen usually makes it a bit heavier.

"...Zhao Qi! Return quickly!"

A reminder came again from the Spirit Network.

Zhao Qi silently cut the connection.

Everyone feared death, and he was an exception...

He came to Sangzhou Cave with the thought that "dying like this wouldn’t be so bad."

In fact,

dying "on the rescue mission" was the most perfect ending in his conception.

Zhao Qi squatted down, picked up the frail body, and said softly as a routine: "I am Zhao Qi, a member of the North Continent temporary rescue team, and I am now responsible for taking you away."

The old man fallen in the mud already had blurred consciousness.

"Sss!"

Tail fins spewed flames.

The two took off.

In the distance, the mountain range was the source energy boat’s docking base, and Zhao Qi dazedly watched the bright gleaming "end point." There should still be two minutes left in the countdown now, and he saw that some source energy boats had ignited the core flames, preparing to take off.

Is there still time?

If not...

Will he really die here?

Does he really want to die here?

These thoughts came together, surging into his mind, entangled.

Suddenly, a sharp screech broke the night.

"Caw!"

A giant black crow shot out from the woods.

The dazed Zhao Qi only saw a black shadow crashing toward him. He instinctively dodged, but then came a heavy "bang," as the crow gripped his shoulder, the iron claw scraping a silver arc on the Second Order Source Armor!

"?!"

All of Zhao Qi’s thoughts were torn apart at this moment.

In the face of this sudden crisis, his first response was the answer: the source armor’s skeleton quickly adjusted, and he accelerated towards the camp.

Zhao Qi’s overall competence was very poor.

He could be described as the worst recruit of the Falling Silver City.

But his Source Armor flight test score was good, one of his best subjects.

The black crow’s first attack failed, speeding up to attempt a second strike, but Zhao Qi’s minor adjustment inadvertently completed a dodge, with the crow’s shadow grazing the tail flame of the Second Order Source Armor.

But the black crow’s adjustment speed was faster than Zhao Qi’s.

It lived above the sky.

Only to see a black line, zigzagging, then shooting like a black arrowhead—

"Sigh..."

At this moment, Zhao Qi’s mind completely relaxed.

In fact, deep down he already knew his fate...

Even without this black crow, in the last few seconds, he couldn’t reach the camp. Of the ten source energy boats, all except number three had started closing doors, and even number one had begun to take off.

He closed his eyes.

...

...

"Bang!"

A muffled explosion of flesh echoed above Zhao Qi’s head, and he opened his eyes in shock, then saw a familiar curly-haired young face.

Chen Mei punched the black crow to pieces.

This punch was extremely powerful, and a large mass of black crow feathers and flesh exploded in the air—

Like a dark, crimson-tinged, bloody firework.

But at this moment, the explosion of the "firework" was very slow because [Time] had been delayed.

Zhao Qi’s eyes widened. He had been a bird swiftly gliding through the air, but within Chen Mei’s [Time Slow] field, it was as if he had suddenly become a fish sinking to the ocean floor.

Chen Mei grabbed the protruding part of Zhao Qi’s source armor skeleton.

The two fell from the air, and the moment their feet touched the ground, Chen Mei started running, like a child flying a kite between the valleys... and Zhao Qi was that kite at this moment.

The oppressive force of the [Time Slow] field surged in, and although Chen was bearing most of it, Zhao Qi’s face was still distorted by the air pressure.

His long numb cheeks were now full of terror.

He hadn’t expected to run into Chen Mei, an old "acquaintance," here, having met him several times in special occasions during his indulgent days in the Dadu District.

His father and Chen Mei’s father were the two most powerful people dominating the Dadu District. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

They were naturally compared by various people...

In fact, there was nothing much to compare.

At a young age, Chen Mei took down half of the Sincere Heart Association with his iron fists, earning him a reputation on par with Song Ci.

As for himself, Zhao Qi was nothing.

However, the young and arrogant Zhao Qi didn’t think so at the time. He knew the gap between South Bay and Hua Zhi, which was precisely the difference between Chen San and his own father, so he believed that the one who truly was "nothing" wasn’t him, but Chen Mei.

At this moment, Chen Mei’s lips curled up, as if mocking past events.

Zhao Qi felt utterly ashamed.

But he hadn’t noticed that there wasn’t much laughter in Chen Mei’s eyes.

This meant that Chen Mei was serious about saving him.

"Boom——"

The time within the [Time Slow] field was very slow.

For Zhao Qi, the time of this [Time Slow] field felt immensely vast, as if a century had passed!

He watched helplessly as the "several seconds" of his life’s countdown, extended to dozens of seconds with Chen Mei’s help.

The feeling of having his life forcibly extended was not pleasant.

In the end, he was thrown hands-held into the source energy boat by the guy he once looked down on the most, and into a highly private exclusive VIP conference room no less.

"Bang!"

Once [Time Slow] ended, Zhao Qi was overtaken by a wave of nausea and dizziness, holding his stomach and retching violently, causing those around him to hurriedly step aside. Fortunately, he didn’t actually vomit, and after dry heaving a few times, he passed out cold.

"Zhao Qi, why is this guy here?"

Inside the source energy boat were the elite members of the Sincere Heart Association.

Su Cha raised an eyebrow.

"This guy joined the ’North Continent’... Rumor has it he’s in Falling Silver City."

Qi Lv wiped the hot barrel of his large gun, having just exhausted his ammunition in the beast tide counterattack, puzzled as he looked at the collapsed Zhao Qi and another old man on the verge of death: "But with Zhao Qi’s nature, it’s hard to imagine this lump of mud participating in an away mission?"

"Indeed, it makes no sense."

Wu Yong slowly sharpened his knife while sneering: "This ’Brother Lanni’ is the one I look down on the most in Da Du, without exception. If someone like him is conscious enough to come to Sangzhou Cave to save people, and even willing to risk his life... then my worldview is likely to collapse today."

"Gentlemen, now is not the time to discuss this ’Brother Lanni’."

Chen Mei’s voice came from outside the conference room.

He walked in, glancing at the passed-out Zhao Qi: "I have to admit, encountering this old acquaintance in such a situation is indeed both surprising and delightful, but this guy has really changed a lot."

"Is he dead?"

"Not quite, he’s just passed out now. My [Time Slow] field was too much for him, though... if I hadn’t increased the time flow to five to one, I couldn’t have returned to the cabin."

Chen Mei got straight to the point: "My main goal isn’t just to save Zhao Qi... this old man is very important."

Everyone’s gaze fell on the old man.

"The Sincere Heart Association just saved a little girl, and she was covered in ’Sun Flare’... this old man has even more ’Sun Flare’ on him."

"Sun Flare?"

Su Cha murmured: "This is the handiwork of the Light Church."

"Yes... many refugees in the West Cave have ’disappeared’, and I think the Light Church has been targeting them."

Chen Mei said with a lowered gaze: "The marchers of the West Cave have all vanished, and many Neutrals have ’died’ because of this."

"In such a situation, these only two ’survivors’ become exceptionally important. Mr. Qi Mo just sent me a message, hoping I could save this old man, not merely from a humanitarian standpoint."

"Not merely from a humanitarian standpoint?" Su Cha asked, "Does Mr. Qi intend to conduct research or something?"

Chen Mei shook his head, sincerely saying: "I don’t know. After boarding the ship, Mr. Qi Mo connected himself to a machine and immersed himself in codes that no one could understand... All I know is that I should trust him."