My physics masters couldn't possibly be grand mages.

Chapter 77: The Health Bar is Revealed (Seeking First Subscription)

three days later.

Char stood in the courtyard, took a deep breath, and squeezed the last plasma missile into his storage space.

Seeing the space that had been vacated after using the hydrogen-oxygen sphere now occupied by the plasma missile, he was once again enveloped in a sense of security.

In comparison, he even felt that the other useless hydrogen-oxygen spheres were taking up too much space.

Once we get back to 2072, we'll use it as much as we can, since we don't have much left anyway, Char thought.

He turned around, and there stood Einstein on the porch, a pipe in his mouth, unlit.

Night fog drifted in from the valley, blurring the spire of the Tower of Truth into a dark, indistinct shadow. A few dim lights shone from the distant tower, like stars suspended in mid-air.

Einstein spoke first.

"Have you brought everything?"

"All done."

Einstein took the pipe out of his mouth.

"Remember, you're not going to fight. You're going to get data, and incidentally deal with those ghosts. Come back as soon as you've got the data, don't linger. Also, don't trust Cindy too much."

Tesla straightened up from the pillar and handed him the hyperspectral goggles. "Don't die."

Char nodded. "Anything else?"

Einstein and Tesla exchanged a glance.

"That's all," Einstein said.

"Then I'm leaving," Xia said.

Einstein nodded, said nothing more, and just stood there.

Char took a deep breath and raised his hand.

"Clatter".

The sound of snapping fingers echoed through the night fog.

The scent of grass in the valley vanished in an instant.

The sound of the snap still lingered on his fingertips when a cold white light entered Char's vision—the headlights of the armored vehicle.

Then "BOOM!"

The armored vehicle was struck again. Char's body swung violently to the right, his shoulder slamming into a window. Before he could catch his breath, a second impact followed.

"boom!"

The tires screeched as they rubbed against the ground.

Fang Tang's scream exploded from the back seat. Zhao Lina covered her mouth tightly, her eyes filled with terror. Su Ming braced himself on the steering wheel with one hand.

"The car can't hold on!" Su Ming roared, his voice shattered by the impact.

Xia took a deep breath, put on his hyperspectral goggles, and looked out the window.

But... no trace of any ghosts was seen.

Failed?

However, Char quickly realized that the entire armored vehicle had no windows; the so-called "windows" were actually holographic projections.

Therefore, there is a thick layer of composite armor separating him from the outside world.

"boom!"

The powerful impact nearly sent Char crashing into the side wall, but fortunately, he reacted quickly and grabbed the seat to cushion the impact.

The hyperspectral eyepiece was only a few centimeters from the side wall, and it almost smashed to pieces.

We can't hesitate any longer!

Xia glanced around at the terrified faces, steeled his resolve, squeezed past the seats, and rushed to the back of the car in three quick steps.

The armored vehicle's rear door had no external handle, only an embedded touch panel. He pressed his finger on it, and the panel lit up.

Char didn't look at it a second time and pressed confirm directly.

"What are you doing!?" Su Ming's voice came from the driver's seat, filled with disbelief and terror.

Xia didn't answer. He took a half step back, raised his right foot, and kicked the car door.

"Bang!"

A dull metallic clang echoed through the tunnel.

The biting cold wind blew in like a knife, licking across the back of Char's neck.

This time, without the obstruction of the composite armor, Char's true vision was directly exposed to his eyes.

This time, he finally saw it.

Within the limited field of vision framed by the car door, a nearly transparent, azure-blue creature lay there.

It didn't resemble a person, nor any other living being. It looked somewhat like elongated smoke.

But you can vaguely make out a person's face.

Then, it rushed over.

Char had no time to think.

He flipped his right hand, and a plasma missile shot out from the right side.

The moment the plasma sphere came into contact with the ball of cold light, a blue-white arc of electricity exploded in the tunnel. The intense heat and the ghostly chill collided head-on, like ice water being poured into boiling oil.

At that moment, whether it was Su Ming, Lin Guodong, or anyone else in the car, they all heard a piercing wail.

Or perhaps it's the boiling sound produced when high temperature and extreme cold collide.

The ghost's distorted outline was drawn out by the high temperature, and a faint blue light made it visible to everyone in the car, but it lasted for less than half a second before dissipating.

The corridor was quiet for a moment.

"You—" Su Ming's voice was hoarse, as if squeezed from his throat, "You—killed it?"

The car was completely silent. They were completely stunned and even thought that what they were seeing was a hallucination that occurred before their death.

The thing that wiped out the entire Iron Mountain base overnight was so easily killed?

Char did not answer.

That's how the mechanics work; if you don't know its mechanics, it's practically invincible.

But once you understand its mechanics and know how to understand it, its health bar will be revealed.

The scene before him was like a shot in the arm, giving Xia a great deal of confidence.

He rushed out, and as his field of vision widened, Char saw the "ghosts" all around him.

These things were on the roof of the vehicle, on both sides of the armored vehicle, and even on the roof of the tunnel.

They were not afraid because Char had killed one of their companions.

Or rather... Char felt that they shouldn't have any fear, because they were "creations," not real creatures.

"call-"

The ghost on the roof charged towards Xia Ya first.

Char flipped his right hand, and a plasma missile jumped out of his storage space.

"Sizzle"

Blue and white arcs of electricity exploded overhead.

The ghost on the roof had only pounced halfway when its entire body was severed in half by an electric arc. The upper half continued forward half a meter due to inertia before scattering.

On the left side of the tunnel, two ghosts simultaneously launched themselves from the wall. They were much faster than the first one, but still couldn't escape the slaughter by the plasma sphere.

Yes, it was a massacre.

Old Zhou struggled to get up and looked at the screen in front of him, at the image transmitted through the camera.

The objects emitted piercing roars as they came into contact with the high temperatures, echoing throughout the corridor. Plasma splashed onto the roof of the vehicle, making a hissing sound.

His pupils reflected all of this, and his thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the time when he fled this base.

One by one, the people around me fell down. There were no wounds, no blood, their eyes were still open, but there was nothing left.

It was as if someone had lit an invisible fire inside their bodies, burning their souls to ashes.

He climbed into the armored vehicle. The moment the door closed, someone outside was banging on it and shouting for help.

He didn't drive; instead, he crouched under the driver's seat, covered his ears with his hands, and listened as the knocking on the door gradually subsided until it became silent.

That silence was more terrifying than any scream.

Every night, Lao Zhou would hear those urgent knocks on the door, which would wake him up from his sleep.

An electric arc flashed on the screen, pulling Lao Zhou back to reality.

Char just happened to throw out another plasma ball. The plasma outlined a ghostly, distorted silhouette in mid-air, and then tore it to pieces like paper.

Old Zhou watched the young man's back. His dark blue robe looked particularly thin under the emergency lights, but he didn't move an inch. Instead, he gently waved his fingers like a conductor.

These things can die too.

They also have things they are afraid of.

Old Zhou's eyes suddenly welled up with tears. It wasn't crying, but the kind of sour feeling that had been weighing on his chest for a long time, perhaps even for a lifetime, and was finally releasing a little bit.

He looked at Xia, his lips moved, but he didn't say anything.