Chapter 2380 Replacement <TOC> Chapter 2382 Water Trace
Translator: SumTLMan
Vibrant, boiling, enduring, surging, steadfast, and violent… Various opposing and parallel concepts or laws fluctuated around Firo, permeating the surroundings.
“Is this the Fire Line?” Angel marveled inwardly. The sensation of the Fire Line was distinctly different from that of the Gravity Line, yet its unique law power was immediately recognizable.
Despite its subtle fluctuations, its presence was immensely pronounced.
Due to its overly conspicuous presence, even surpassing the concealment of the illusion itself, Angel, amidst his admiration, found himself compelled to readjust the illusion nodes in an attempt to mask the surrounding line fluctuations and prevent detection by the mechanical head.
However, relying solely on illusions for concealment proved to be less effective than hoped.
After a moment of contemplation, Angel, with a thought, enveloped the surrounding pervasive fire energy around the illusion nodes. Initially, this fire energy was unruly, but upon sensing the Fire Line, it exhibited a high degree of restraint, transforming from a wild child into a well-behaved one.
The amplitude of the fire also began to adjust, attempting to merge with the surrounding Fire Line.
Overall, the fire energy began to surge wildly, appearing even more pronounced.
Yet, the line fluctuations were masked by the overt flames.
Nearby, the space, with the cooperation of Dangros and Eremy, turned into a space scorched by flames, which, for a short time, successfully concealed the inherent line fluctuations.
Of course, this method could not permanently conceal the line fluctuations. When the fire energy in an area reached its peak, the Fire Line would still disperse again.
However, this was no longer important, as Firo only needed a minute to create a Fire Law Land.
And delaying for a minute was sufficient.
Time passed.
The distant battle grew more intense. Dangros, with Eremy’s restrained power, was like a tiger with wings added. In a short time, they even suppressed the scattering of water bullets, making the nearby flames more turbulent, turning the entire underwater space into a fiery battlefield.
Under the cover of firelight and illusions, Firo finally accumulated seven fire spheres.
He directly infused these newly created seven fire spheres into his body along the Fire Line.
Together with the eighteen fire spheres that had already been merged into his body, a total of twenty-five fire spheres began to accumulate an unparalleled fire energy.
However, Firo did not immediately release them but transformed into a flame and rushed to Dangros’ side.
Taking advantage of the pervasive firelight, Firo and the fake “Firo” played by Dangros successfully switched places.
The switched-out Dangros was then embraced by Eremy and submerged underground, fleeing to Angel’s side.
Having successfully taken the initiative, Firo, instead of being ostentatious, learned from Dangros’ combat style, fighting while stealthily closing in on the mechanical head.
The mechanical head, evidently, had yet to perceive the looming danger.
When a certain critical distance was reached, Firo finally dropped the ‘performance’ facade, a slight smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
“I’ve said that I would burn you to ashes, and I will fulfill that promise!”
With a loud roar, Firo unleashed the long-suppressed Fire Law Land, releasing it!
The flames surged to the mechanical head’s side, and before the mechanical head could react, accompanied by regular fluctuations, it instantly wove into an invisible net, firmly locking it within a cage of flames.
As the Fire Law Land was unleashed, the mechanical head’s perpetual-motion-like chain of water bullets came to an abrupt halt.
For within the range of the Fire Law Land, only fire reigns supreme!
It was only then that the mechanical head realized something was amiss.
“This is… a domain? The law line!” The mechanical head spoke, but unlike the previous inorganic, cold mechanical voice, this time it carried clear emotion.
Moreover, the voice’s texture was different; judging from the voice frequency, it was a woman’s voice.
As this female voice emerged, Angel and Nisi exchanged glances. Nisi had speculated that there might be a controller behind the mechanical head, and now it seemed Nisi’s guess was correct.
The owner of this female voice was likely the observer who had been hiding behind the mechanical head.
Angel turned to look at Reynolds and asked in a low voice, “Can you tell who she is?”
Reynolds hesitated for a moment, then said, “It should be… Number 03.”
Number 03, as Reynolds had previously introduced, was the only female among the laboratory’s formal wizards, which matched the characteristic of the female voice.
Unfortunately, Reynolds didn’t know much about Number 03.
On the other side, the woman suspected to be Number 03, after her initial surprise, immediately tried to control the mechanical head to escape the range of the Fire Law Land. However, Firo had been waiting for this moment for a long time and wouldn’t easily let the mechanical head escape.
The dazzling firelight engulfed the mechanical head.
In just a moment, the protective water bubbles around the mechanical head ‘pop’ and evaporated.
With the dispersal of the water bubbles, the water ripples around the mechanical head were finally exposed, and the indiscriminate flames penetrated, turning the water ripples into steam.
By this stage, the mechanical head had essentially sealed its defeat, and aside from the water ripples’ “forced withdrawal,” it faced nothing but the outcome of being burned to ashes!
“Wait!” Number 03’s voice appeared again, with a hint of urgency: “Don’t be hasty in burning this mechanical creation; we can talk.”
“Negotiate? How do we negotiate?” Firo, though picking up the conversation, did not cease the burning as Number 03 had suggested; instead, he even accelerated the combustion speed.
“Stop! Stop!” Number 03 exclaimed, “We bear no grudge against you, why do you attack us?”
“Don’t ask such nonsense. What do you mean by no grudge? That’s just what you think,” Firo said, his mind flashing with the image of Night Butterfly Witch, causing the flames that had somewhat subsided to surge up again: “If you want to talk, then get to the point. Tell me your origins and what you are doing here?”
Number 03 fell silent.
Firo sneered and intensified his efforts, continuing to burn the mechanical head.
“Once you destroy it, you will offend not just us, but its true owner as well.”
After uttering the threat, Number 03 slightly lowered his tone: “Lord Firo, as I said, we can negotiate. We have no grudge against you.”
“It seems you know me?” Firo squinted his eyes.
“The name of the Firewalker is, of course, known to us,” Number 03 said: “We have never had a conflict with Lord Firo, nor with the Savage Grottoes behind you.”
He paused: “No grudge? The moment I arrived here, this metal lump started attacking me crazily. Anyone who attacks me is considered an enemy.”
Number 03, unable to suppress her anger, said: “It was you who trespassed into Snoke Base.”
Snoke Base? So that’s the name of this laboratory? Firo mentally noted, thinking further: “I’ve never heard of the mist having any **. You’re the ones sneaking around here doing **, the ghosts ** should be you, right?”
“We are just conducting some minor experiments here; we have never interfered with the Wizarding World of the Southern Region.”
“Every time you mention the Wizarding World of the Southern Region, it seems you have a ** identity recognition, huh? So, your **, it comes from the outer realms?” Firo’s eyes narrowed: “Hmph, even better. Once I burn this metal lump, I’ll spread the word of your ghost ** activities to the Extreme Sect, to see if they think you’re innocent just because you don’t interfere with the Wizarding World!”
Perhaps the renown of the Extreme Sect had intimidated Number 03, as she remained silent for a long time.
Firo couldn’t be bothered to pay her any more attention, continuing to burn the mechanical head.
Just as the outer shell of the mechanical head was completely burnt and about to reach the core, Number 03 finally spoke faintly: “You will soon understand the truly ** choice you’ve made.”
At that moment, Firo immediately sensed something was amiss.
A surging water energy suddenly appeared behind him.
Moreover, the water energy transformed into a roaring torrent, rushing towards his location.
Firo’s *** choice was to dodge, but if he dodged, the burning of the distant mechanical head would be washed away by the torrent. He did not want to waste all his efforts.
Without hesitation, Firo crushed a freshly charged fire sphere, creating a defensive barrier of flames behind him.
The surging torrent was blocked outside by the barrier.
With this buffer time, Firo then turned around to assess the situation behind him.
He saw a familiar ripple of water coming from the direction of the torrent. Behind the ripple, there was a blurred figure, and the torrent was rushing over from the figure’s hand.
Seeing this scene, how could Firo not understand the situation? The water ripple was definitely that woman’s ability, allowing her to hide safely inside it.
“Clearly hiding behind the water ripple all along, aiding the mechanical head in recovery, yet putting on an innocent face, claiming this is a misunderstanding,” Firo sneered in his heart. This woman had been there from the beginning; she never intended to negotiate with Firo, otherwise, she wouldn’t have waited until the mechanical head was burned to speak up.
Without any hesitation, Firo fired a fireball directly towards the direction of the water ripple.
The figure inside the water ripple moved again, and another column of water, like a torrent, rushed out. Firo continued to control and replenish the flame barrier while maneuvering the fireball to follow the water column, heading straight for the water ripple.
His goal was clear: to destroy the water ripple.
No ability is perfect, and this magical water ripple certainly had its drawbacks. Firo had fought several battles with the mechanical head, so he was relatively familiar with the situation of the water ripple.
The opponent, being behind a layer of water ripple, must have her abilities limited. Because if she could still release powerful water abilities through the ripple, she could have ambushed him secretly much earlier.
This could be inferred from the fact that the mechanical head had to enter the water ripple for recovery. If the water ripple did not constrain abilities, the woman could completely repair the mechanical head through the ripple.
Thus, through these details, it was easy to deduce the nature of the water ripple: the water ripple provided the opponent with a safe “shell,” but it restricted her ability to exert power.
Therefore, Firo’s goal was to destroy the water ripple.
As expected, when the fireball was about to touch the water ripple, the ripple actively closed.
Not only did the water ripple restrict the opponent’s ability to exert power, but the ripple itself was also very fragile, unable to withstand even a single fireball. This was evident from the previous battles.
With the water ripple gone, the torrent naturally disappeared.
However, the opponent was obviously not someone who would give up easily. Soon, another water ripple appeared in a different direction.
Firo was not surprised by this and continued to target the destruction of the water ripple according to the previous countermeasures.
This forced the opponent to continuously close the water ripple and then move to a new location to continue.
After several times, Firo also noticed another flaw of the water ripple: it could not be opened in places of energy convergence.
Every time Number 03 activated the water ripple, it was always in a place where the energy was relatively stable. She would never dare to activate the water ripple around the Fire Law Land.
The flaw in the water ripple gave Firo a greater scope for maneuver.
He ignited the air directly, turning the area within a hundred meters into a rolling sea of fire.
This meant that if the water ripple wanted to be activated, it could only be outside of the hundred meters. Being outside of the hundred meters immediately made the possibility of a “surprise attack” with the water ripple lose its effectiveness, allowing Firo to deal with it more calmly.
“Thinking you can defeat me by hiding in a fragile turtle shell is utterly impossible,” Firo sneered, then directly caused the energy within the Fire Law Land to ignite continuously, accelerating the melting speed of the mechanical puppets inside.
Seeing this scene, Number 03 obviously became anxious. She activated the water ripple several times in succession, but facing Firo, who had already seen through the weakness of the water ripple, it had no effect whatsoever.
“In fact, you could look for help. I believe, whatever ghost organization you’re from, it shouldn’t just be you alone,” Firo said mockingly on the surface, but in reality, he was trying to get more information out of Number 03.
However, Number 03 was determined this time and completely ignored Firo’s mockery.
“Your silence is useless. Your companions haven’t come out to help you because they’re not here right now, are they? Otherwise, having been here playing for two days, it wouldn’t just be you showing up.”
“Let me guess, where have they gone?”
Firo narrowed his eyes: “Have they gone to… that nest?”
After Firo’s words, Number 03, who had been silent all along, finally spoke: “It seems I have underestimated you; you did not come unprepared… but that makes it even more impossible for you to leave!”
With those words, another water ripple appeared.
However, this water ripple was different from the previous ones; after it appeared, it didn’t release any water columns or floods.
After hovering for a few seconds, the silhouette behind the water ripple suddenly took a step forward.
A glitzy blue crystal high heel was the first thing to appear.
Followed by a shimmering blue scale gown and the vaguely visible fair long legs.
The air kept rippling, and when the ripples reached their peak, the woman hidden behind finally stepped out.
Silver-white long curly hair, partially exposed shoulders, and a face marked with the tattoos of 0 and 3.
Without a doubt, this was Number 03, one of the few formal wizards from the laboratory!