Since who knows when, the area that they were at had become a low-lying area. Just a short distance away was a huge pit. Sand flowed down it like water and the mecha were sinking.
They were within the area of the quicksand.
No one had expected to encounter such an incident. This was simply a nightmare. The mecha were a burden as the heavier they were, the faster they sank. There was no point in shouting for help at this point in time. If they were not able to get out in time, they would be finished in just minutes.
In fact, they had started to sink moments ago. However, due to the howling of the wind, together with the fact that the four of them were inexperienced, they did not pay much attention to it.
Were they going to die in this place???
A few kilometers away, Yuan Ye was astonished. It seemed too unbelievable. If they had moved a little faster, they would be on their way to the reincarnation cycle.
To a mech warrior, if one was to be trapped in the quicksand in the desert, death would be unavoidable.
“What the hell is this? Anyone who was trapped in this would have no chance of survival. This type of selection process is even more ridiculous than the first stage!”
“It’s good that you all are capable. An average person would not have been able to assess when such a thing would occur!”
“Oh, damn, do you actually think that we can make it to the main competition? Those who make it to Aslan won’t be ordinary people. To be competing with a bunch of lunatics would be risking our lives. We should just try to keep our lives intact while trying to achieve a good result. We really couldn’t compete with them anymore!”
“Eh, I think i saw some sort of reflection. Could it be that someone was unlucky?…”
“You’re right! It’s a reflection from a mech. Oh, damn, who is the unlucky one?”
“It seems to be… Runan and her group were just in front of us…”
The four men looked at one another. Suddenly, Yuan Ye let out a weird scream. The engine of the Bata roared and it headed towards the direction of the hole. The rest of them quickly followed.
Although Wang Zheng and his group were not in the center of the quicksand whirlpool, which spanned across hundreds of metres in diameter, they could still feel that their mecha were sinking at a fast pace.
At the crucial moment, the four of them immediately tried to control their machines. The engines snarled loudly, but it was futile. The more they struggled, the faster they sank.
Zhang Shan let out a huge scream. He seemed to be distracted when he suddenly activated his Ability X!
His Bata Type V suddenly jerked and was able to escape the quicksand. Although it was only a displacement of approximately one meter, it was enough to save his life. At this moment, the engine roared louder and the mech was able to get out of the quicksand area rapidly. It was a moment where he pushed the mech to its limit. Zhang Shan was trying to run outwards as though he was crazy.
At the moment of life and death, Zhang Runan shrank her body quickly. The arms of the Bata Type V stopped moving momentarily. Then, suddenly, the arms slammed towards the sides, causing an air explosion.
Boom…
This was an ingenious idea. The explosive force was released in a short moment, blasting away the quicksand. Zhang Runan immediately flew out.
However, Wang Zheng and Meng Tian were closer to the center of the quicksand and had sunk the deepest. The greatest problem was that Meng Tian’s Ability X was useless at this moment.
After escaping the quicksand area with much effort, Zhang Runan and Zhang Shan noticed that Wang Zheng and Meng Tian had not made it out.
“Give me your hand, Meng Tian! Hurry!” Wang Zheng said with strong conviction.
At the moment when Wang Zheng controlled his machine and grabbed hold of Meng Tian, a sudden turning maneuver launched Meng Tian out of the quicksand in one swift motion. At the same time, the sand had totally covered the cockpit of Wang Zheng’s mech. Wang Zheng could not even open the cabin door even if he wanted to at this moment.
Meng Tian was dumbfounded to the point where she almost forgot to move.
“Power steer your mech! Hurry, Meng Tian!!”
Wang Zheng’s screaming finally shook Meng Tian awake. As though it was an instinctive move, the mech flew upwards. Zhang Shan and Zhang Runan quickly came over and helped Meng Tian regain balance by standing at her left and ride sides.
“What can we do now? What can we do now? Oh, damn! What do we do now!”
Zhang Shan and the rest were at their wits’ end. They had to maintain their power steering to be able to maintain their mech above the sand. If they were to move closer, they would probably lose control. This was really a pressing issue.
Just when Meng Tian’s mech was preparing to move towards Wang Zheng, she heard a loud voice.
“Move back at least thirty meters. Hurry!”
Wang Zheng did not sound angsty or depressed. It was the opposite; he seemed extremely calm.
“No! If you die, we will die together.” Meng Tian’s lips were bleeding as she bit her lip.
“Runan, Zhang Shan, move Meng Tian away quickly. You all might have plans to die, but I do not wish to. Hurry! There’s no more time. I have a way to get out!”
Wang Zheng’s words were full of confidence. Zhang San and Zhang Runan were flustered. They immediately pulled Meng Tian’s mech along and moved outwards.
“Listen to Wang Zheng! This guy has a plan! He is the most capable!”
As he completed his sentence, there were no longer any movements.
Zhang Runan gritted his teeth. Her mind had gone blank. How could it be? How did it turn out this way, how did it turn out this way…
“Let go of me…” Meng Tian was exhausted. It was as though that roar from Wang Zheng had drained her of all her energy. Wang Zheng was just lying to them.
In the blink of an eye, the cockpit had sunk below, leaving only the head exposed. In a few seconds, it would also disappear.
The sky had cleared up. Was this the last glimmer of Wang Zheng’s life?
Having reached this stage, even if she didn’t want to use it, she would have to!
At this moment, Meng Tian was able to gather strength that was unknown to her and was able to break free from Zhang Shan and Zhang Runan. She would not let Wang Zheng die alone.
At that very instant, the three of them suddenly felt a suffocating source of power. Soon after, a light blue cold ray exploded, turning the scorching hot desert into a blazing cold hell.
The three people could never forget this scene.
Using the Bata as the center, everything surrounding it was freezing at a rate that could be tracked with the naked eye.
The quicksand was frozen!
Zhang Shan’s jaw dropped to the point that he could swallow his own hand… What was this?…
After approximately ten seconds, everything in a twenty meter radius of the mech was completely frozen.
Meng Tian had already rushed towards the center with her Bata Type V. The quicksand had indeed been frozen, but she was not thinking about this anymore.
“Hurry over and help!”
Zhang Runan and Zhang Shan hurried over. With three mecha’s engines operating at maximum capacity, they applied a force together and pulled Wang Zheng’s Bata out as though they were pulling out a carrot.
“Hurry… Let’s go…”
Wang Zheng could not remember anything. It was as though he was drained of all his energy.
The three of them carried the mech and ran with all their might to over more than a hundred meters away to escape the quicksand area before they stopped. The quicksand behind them was moving down at a faster rate compared to before. The previous scene seemed like a dream to them.
When they opened the cabin door, Zhang Shan carried Wang Zheng out. At this moment, Wang Zheng was pale and his face was white as snow.
Meng Tian pulled Zhang Shan aside and moved closer to Wang Zheng’s chest area. His heartbeat was weak and his breathing… was also weak.
Immediately, Meng Tian separated Wang Zheng’s mouth and started performing CPR. Tears were racing down Meng Tian’s face.
Zhang Shan shrugged his shoulders helplessly… He actually could’ve done this for Wang Zheng too.
Zhang Runan touched Wang Zheng’s head. “He should be alright. He has most likely exhausted all his energy. It was surprising that the attribute of his Ability X was the same as yours!”
Compared to Zhang Shang and Meng Tian, Zhang Runan was calmer. Meng Tian came from a military family background and was familiar with first aid. She probably had a better understanding with regards to Ability X and knew that Wang Zheng’s current condition was a classic result of over exerting oneself.
Finally catching her breath, Meng Tian realised that she had lost her cool previously. However, she couldn’t care much about it. Wang Zheng had indeed given the hope of surviving to her just moments ago.
“Keke, Meng Tian, what class would this ability fall into? It was truly scary to be able to freeze the quicksand in just an instant.”
Meng Tian and Zhang Runan looked at one another. Such a domineering ice attribute ability was truly amazing.
“I am not too sure either. But it was definitely C Class or above!”
Could it be that the two of them had achieved a breakthrough at the same time that day?
Wang Zheng’s attribute was ice too. However, if it was of the same source, why hadn’t she felt it?
“There are people coming this way. It’ll be best if we do not say anything,” said Zhang Runan. Zhang Runan was still the calmest person. Meng Tian might look resilient, but she was in fact the one most likely to suffer a breakdown.
Wang Zheng had a strong ability but would fall unconscious once he used it. They couldn’t let anyone know about it or there might be big issues.
Meng Tian caressed Wang Zheng’s face, took out a bottle of water, and drank a mouthful of it before passing it slowly to Wang Zheng.
At this romantic moment, Zhang Runan gave Zhang Shang a kick. Zhang Shan had intended to continue watching but had to turn around. Sigh, he would have liked to save the damsel in distress too, but he just did not have the opportunity.
Wang Zheng was too cunning, always choosing the best opportunity to save others.
Although this ultimate move had great power, it was a pity that it could only be used for a huge move instead of being controlled subtly. However, this was not an issue as gaining control of it was just a matter of time.
Practically, only Wang Zheng knew the truth about it. This wasn’t an issue about exerting his ability in smaller amounts.
In fact, this was the weakest form that he had control over.
His spiritual energy, which was the source of his Ability X, was too strong, so it caused his body to not be able to completely withstand it.
Meng Tian moved Wang Zheng’s head into her arms and tried to feel any changes in Wang Zheng’s body. She could not let anything happen to Wang Zheng.
When Wang Zheng opened his eyes, the Moon was already hanging high up in the sky. He did not feel anything different, just that his whole body was sore and as though he had not rested for a long period of time.
“You have finally awakened.” Zhang Shan jumped down and the others quickly crowded around.
“How long was I unconscious for?” Wang Zheng shook his heads.
“It was more than three hours, but we had a good rest too. Yuan Ye and his group happened to be nearby and they want to travel with us,” said Zhang Runan as he winked at Wang Zheng.
Yuan Ye looked at Wang Zheng and said, “It couldn’t be Wang Zheng. Did you overexert yourself too much previously and became exhausted? How could you faint from fatigue after running for such a short period of time?”
Wang Zheng was taken aback by what Yuan Ye said. He also knew it must’ve been Zhang Shan who had concealed the real situation.
“What? I overexerted myself and caused myself to feel a bit unwell.”
“Can you still move?” Song Li asked curiously as Wang Zheng did look a bit pale and weak.
“It’s not a big issue, just feeling a little hungry now. Let me have something to eat and drink and I should be alright.”
Yuan Ye and his group were amusing. They could have left first but had chosen to stay behind. It would be better to be travelling together as having Song Li and his group could help prevent them from walking into quicksand. In other words, Wang Zheng and his group were lucky. If they had sunken a little deeper, they would have all perished.