Chapter 44: Cool

In the eighteenth century, humanity touched the sky for the first time.

All it took was a stitched leather sheet, some firewood, and a basket.

Hot air is less dense and lighter than ambient air… A principle so basic even a middle schooler would know it — yet right now, it was Han Nuo’s lifeline.

“Survival is simply a matter of using initiative— logically deducing the conditions required to escape, and then creating those conditions.”

Han Nuo admired his handiwork with satisfaction.

Wooden planks nailed into a basket, leather sheets stitched into shape, everything connected, and then a fire lit beneath.

The simplest method of ascent was complete.

AX-7 class hot air balloon, envelope volume 2,670 cubic meters, lift capacity at room temperature: 600 kilograms.

Five hot air balloons — enough to carry the entire Ark team.

Before Jing Ye (Mirror Night) descended, they could rise into the sky, look down upon the earth in peace, behold the apocalypse, and drift away from the Manggu Mountains.

“Team One, launch.”

“Team Two.”

“Team Three, watch your altitude and the wind.”

“Team Four.”

One massive balloon after another rose into the sky, until only Han Nuo’s team remained.

Han Nuo let out a sigh of relief, just about to climb into the basket with his teammates.

“Don’t move.”

A shadowy figure leapt from the treetops.

Han Nuo didn’t even have time to react! A sword was already at his throat.

“Take your people away from this balloon. Back up a hundred meters. Don’t force me to get violent,” Bai Xiaozhi said coldly, her pretty face hidden in the shadows.

“That voice…”

Bai Xiaozhi’s voice was unmistakable—cold, commanding, and beautiful. Han Nuo quickly recognized his assailant.

“With Jing Ye so close, infighting among the raiders doesn’t look good, does it?”

“A man like you, Han Nuo — who used others as stepping stones and abandoned them to escape disaster— has no right to say that,” Bai Xiaozhi retorted icily.

“The true flame of hope must be carried on by the strong, not by those who should’ve been weeded out. You’re too young, you wouldn’t understand even if I explained…” Han Nuo glanced at the time. “Tell you what, I’ll let you on the balloon. Time is short. Let’s talk once we’re airborne.”

“Leave the balloon. Or I knock all of you out. I’m counting to three. Three…” Bai Xiaozhi began the countdown.

“Knock all of us out? Hah… Are all you people from the Far Shore this arrogant? Looks like they taught you sequences at school, but not how to assess a situation.”

A greenhorn girl, claiming she’d knock out eight battle-hardened mercenaries?

Even with a few extra sequences from the Spiritmaster Academy, they couldn’t match the life-and-death combat experience these men had forged.

“Two.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I can forgive your little stunt. Let me go now and I’ll take you up with us. Otherwise… even if you kill me, you’ll just end up a corpse in the wild tonight.”

“One.”

Thud.

The hilt of the sword smashed into the back of Han Nuo’s head.

He touched the blood at his nape in disbelief before collapsing.

—She really did it?!

The other Ark members immediately rushed to attack.

As they closed in, Bai Xiaozhi shut her eyes.

Despite her blindness, the positions of every Ark member lit up clearly in her mind.

Each of their napes was marked, glowing faintly.

Suddenly, Bai Xiaozhi opened her eyes.

[Combat Sequence— 79]

[Lightning Prison: Instant Kill!]

A flash of lightning.

Bai Xiaozhi vanished from where she stood.

“Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang—”

Eight rapid blasts.

Afterward, Bai Xiaozhi wiped the blood from her sword hilt and reappeared where she had stood.

“Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang—”

Another eight sounds.

Bodies hitting the ground.

“Hoo—”

Bai Xiaozhi steadied her breathing, didn’t look back, and climbed straight into the hot air balloon.

Liftoff.

……

The beast-faced tribesman’s spiked club swung into empty air.

Wu Xiaomi, scrambling on all fours, grabbed hold of the rope Bai Xiaozhi had thrown down, with Lulutina beside her.

The hot air balloon lifted them into the sky.

To keep from slipping, they looped the rope around their wrists and legs, saving a good deal of strength.

The ground slowly fell away. The mirror fiends below let out frustrated roars.

“We… survived?” Lulutina asked herself in disbelief.

“We made it. But wait— Xiaozhi! Lower it a bit!”

“Lower it more?”

“Just a little.”

Bai Xiaozhi turned down the flame, and the balloon dipped slightly.

Wu Xiaomi raised her hand crossbow and aimed at a figure among the Jing Ye horde.

“Don’t think I can’t tell you apart just ‘cause you all look the same, you pervert.”

Thunk—

The bolt flew.

Right between the eyes.

No idea if it killed him.

But damn, it felt good~

Speaking of which… how are Kang Jie and the others?

She opened Pineapple Pineapple and tapped into Huang Xiao’s livestream.

[(The Flame Never Dies!) Jing Ye Survival Battle — Full Live Coverage Tonight]

Wu Xiaomi clicked in.

“……”

Wait, this isn’t the Flame’s stream?

Where is everyone?

Where’s Huang Xiao?

Why are there only mirror fiends on screen?