thefictionvixens Chapter 96: Battle test with Abedo, blasting mountains with Klee.
Chapter 96: Battle test with Abedo, blasting mountains with Klee.
Chapter 96: Battle test with Abedo, blasting mountains with Klee.
The electromagnetic detonator is Chen Bo's commonly used weapon; no one can simulate something they haven't seen or understand.
Chen Boneng was able to replicate the floating cannon because he was extremely familiar with its structure.
If Chen Bo were to use the Flame of No Form to completely simulate the ancient mecha that he had never disassembled or understood, he could only simulate the outer shell, not the internal structure.
As the flaming hammer fell, Abedo carefully sensed its power, adjusted his own strength, and swung his sword to block it.
Upon colliding, Chen Bo's flames instantly spread, raising the temperature of the entire camp.
The flower shattered instantly, scattering into a shower of golden rock fragments.
The dissipated rock element energy did not disappear; instead, it was drawn by an invisible force and gathered at the tip of Abedo's sword, forming a continuously expanding golden light curtain.
Or rather, a golden shield.
Two distinct forces clashed violently in the center of the camp, generating a wave of heat that caused the thick snow outside the cave to melt rapidly, revealing the dark brown permafrost beneath.
Even the ground beneath Aberdo's feet showed signs of melting.
"That's enough," Abedo said calmly.
Upon hearing this, Chen Bo had a thought, and the huge flaming warhammer instantly disintegrated, turning into a gentle stream of fire that reformed into wings and tucked away behind him.
The scorching heat in the camp gradually dissipated.
"A very interesting discovery," Abedo said, sheathing his sword.
"Your ability to condense thousands of intricate parts was not entirely the result of mental control."
"It's that special alloy. It provides the framework for the Flame of No Form," allowing the clones to maintain their forms without expending additional mental energy.
He paused, then pointed to the ground that had just melted from the heatwave and the snow that had melted outside the cave.
"However, you still need to practice your control over pure energy. In the collision just now, at least 30% of the flame power was spread out meaninglessly, and the remaining power was not concentrated enough. Out of 100% power, it only had 20% or 30% of its power."
This is a very objective statement. Chen Bo's first time using the Formless Flame clone in battle did indeed have many shortcomings.
Moreover, this clone is a newly formed small flame, a newly born formless flame that has not yet grown and developed, and is therefore very weak.
"Hmph." Before Chen Bo could respond, Farusan, who was standing to the side, was displeased. She crossed her arms and let out a soft hum.
"This is the first time our Anil has seriously fought using his mental power! Those mechs are Anil's true strength."
Chen Bo understood what Farusan meant: she hoped he wouldn't be discouraged, and that his strengths lay elsewhere.
However, as a researcher, Chen Bo is most familiar with failure and will not be discouraged by such a small setback.
Chen Bo readily accepted Abedo's assessment: "Teacher Abedo is right. I do lack combat experience, and I hope you can teach me."
Abedo, however, did not show any disdain on his face and explained, "No, I'm not criticizing you."
"This is just an objective evaluation."
Chen Bo said, "I understand, Professor Abedo."
Abedo continued, "There's no need to call me teacher, Mr. Anil. You've opened a whole new door for me."
"Fusing pure elemental life with inorganic metals to give it a stable physical form—it might even unlock several bottlenecks I've encountered in the field of 'life alchemy'."
"To be precise, our relationship should be that of fellow travelers; you can just call me Abedo."
For Mondstadt's top alchemists to acknowledge that their creations had "greatly inspired" him is itself a very high form of recognition.
Chen Bo silently designated Abedo as his mentor.
According to the system's criteria, anyone who has more knowledge than Chen Boqiang in any aspect is considered a teacher.
Therefore, Cole was also a teacher.
However, the other party did not wish to be addressed as "teacher," and Chen Bo respected that.
"Alright, then I'll call you Abedo from now on."
Being recognized by a renowned scholar from Mondstadt made the senior, Falusanne, feel proud, and she unconsciously straightened her back a bit.
"Now that the test is complete, let's get down to business," Abedo said, putting the record board aside.
"Setting up the kind of nest you described," that is, a feeding alchemy array, requires more than just a location and technical skills.
"First, the energy source. We need a massive amount of high-purity fire element crystals, which I don't have here."
"Secondly, we need the ashes of incineration" to neutralize the overflow of energy during the rampage, and we also need a special alchemical solvent to convert the solid energy of the crystal into liquid nutrients that are "most easily digestible for your clone." We need these things, and each one is very valuable; gathering them will take a considerable amount of time."
As Aberdo spoke, he wrote down his thoughts and quickly compiled a list.
Chen Bo took the list, glanced at it, and then smiled.
He turned to look at Cole: "Cole, bring out all the materials I prepared."
"OK."
The Eye of God has certain spatial attributes and can store a certain amount of resources.
Because Chen Bo doesn't have the Eye of God, many supplies were entrusted to the care of Senior Cole and Senior Farusan.
Ke Lai took out the items that Chen Bo had stored away, one by one.
Boxes upon boxes of crimson crystals, and various precious alchemical materials in crystal bottles.
And, the large denomination Mora, used as a catalyst for alchemy.
Chen Bo was not completely ignorant about alchemy; in fact, he had systematically studied many alchemy books and had prepared a large amount of alchemy materials when he went to capture the Flame of No Form last time.
This time was no different; we were very well prepared.
Dolly is a famous merchant in Sumeru; basically, any supplies you need can be purchased from her.
Therefore, Chen Bo had everything on Abedo's list.
Chen Bo said casually, "Problems that can be solved with Mora are not problems for scientific research."
I'm not a poor kid.
Making some money is simple.
Abedo remained silent for a moment. His alchemy was not as commercialized, and he was indeed not as wealthy as Chen Bo, and he was somewhat dependent on the Knights' funding.
"The materials are perfect. So, we still face one last, and most difficult, problem."
He pointed to the surrounding environment.
"There isn't enough space."
The group looked around. Although the camp provided shelter from the wind, it was not very large, and half of it was already occupied by Abedo's various experimental equipment. There was simply not enough space to set up a "super-large" alchemy array.
Outside the campsite, there was howling wind and snow and rugged mountain terrain.
"We need a flat, circular site with a diameter of at least fifty meters, and it must have a mountain wall as a barrier to protect it from wind and snow."
Now, even Chen Bo was caught up in thought.
In a place like Longji Snow Mountain, finding a perfectly formed natural site is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Or, shall we go to the forest?
The forest isn't good either; the next environment to be transformed is to create a world of fire.
Forests are prone to fire, and if a strong wind blows away the flames, it will be troublesome if they catch fire again. Chen Bo thought about it and his gaze fell on the thick, steep, cold rock wall on the side of the camp.
"If there's no suitable site, then—we'll just carve one out ourselves, a cave fifty meters in diameter."
"What do you guys think about blasting the mountain to create a tunnel?" Chen Bo asked.
"Blast the mountain to create a tunnel?" Amber's tone changed, and she waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "No way, Commander Jean will definitely not agree to blasting on the mountain."
"Moreover, it's unimaginable how much power it would take to blast a fifty-meter-deep cave in the mountain."
However, Klee was quite happy: "Klee likes blasting mountains, Klee can blast them for you."
Chen Bo ruffled Ke Li's hair and said, "Then thank you in advance, Ke Li."
Farusan was used to Chen Bo's unconventional and straightforward way of thinking, and simply asked, "Is there a specific plan?"
"Yes," Chen Bo said, "I don't know if you've ever heard of a technology called directional blasting."
.
"Directional blasting?" Everyone was puzzled.
The technology isn't complicated, and the people of Liyue should use it a lot.
Simply put, it involves drilling holes in the wall, inserting explosives through the holes, and detonating them little by little.
In the past, similar technologies were used for mining and tunneling.
"Yes, that's right, directional blasting. I'll demonstrate it for you and you'll understand."
Chen Bo walked to the steep rock face, reached out and gently touched the cold stone surface, feeling its internal structure.
This is not a single, massive rock, but rather a patch of frozen ground.
The next second, the wings of the formless fire on his back moved in response, and the flames decomposed like flowing water, splitting into dozens of thin streams of fire, like living tentacles dancing in the air.
Immediately afterwards, the tip of each stream of fire began to spin at high speed, transforming into dozens of drill bits that began to drill holes in the wall.
"Buzz"
A screeching sound rang out as dozens of flame drills started up simultaneously. The flames could melt the water in the frozen soil, and the high temperature of Chen Bo's Formless Fire could even melt rocks, so piercing into the frozen soil was not too difficult.
A few minutes later, all the flame drills stopped simultaneously, were pulled out of the rock wall, and reassembled into flames that flowed back behind Chen Bo.
The once smooth rock face now bears sixty-four holes of uniform depth, densely packed together like a honeycomb.
The depth is approximately thirty centimeters.
After drilling was complete, Chen Bo snapped his fingers lightly.
Sixty-four floating cannons flew over, their muzzles automatically locking onto the holes in the rock wall.
At the muzzle, green light began to gather.
Once the shortest charging time was over, the sixty floating cannons fired simultaneously from different positions. Dozens of crimson light bullets, trailing trails, shot into the tiny holes in the rock wall without any deviation, like a flock of precise hummingbirds.
"boom-!!!"
All the ignited grass elemental bullets exploded simultaneously.
Unlike conventional surface explosions, this precisely calculated internal directional blasting confined most of the energy within the mountain. Although the explosion was extremely loud, the soil on the front wall was loosened, shattered, and collapsed in a loose manner.
The power was perfectly controlled.
After a quick cleanup of the soil that had been shaken down.
A semi-circular cave entrance, about the height of a person and forty centimeters deep, suddenly appeared before them.
"Wow—" Klee's mouth gaped open in an "O" shape, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Amazing!"
"Klee understands. The bomb explodes in the ground, so we can dig a hole."
"Klee has learned how, Klee wants to drill holes too, Klee wants to plant bombs too."
After Chen Bo demonstrated it once, everyone immediately understood what directional blasting was.
It's simple, efficient, and has extremely high energy utilization; the energy from the explosion is mostly used to break through the rocks.
Looking at the shallow crater precisely blasted out, and then at the numerous holes dotting the rock wall, Abedo said, "I see. By setting multiple blasting points inside, the impact force is confined outwards, ensuring both demolition efficiency and preventing large-scale structural collapse. A very ingenious idea."
"Klee wants to play too! She wants to play too!" Klee tugged at Chen Bo's sleeve and shook it, saying, "Brother Anil, use Klee's bomb! Klee's bomb is the most powerful!"
Chen Bo chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Alright, from now on, Keli will be our chief demolition engineer. But you have to follow orders, understand?"
"Yes!" Klee nodded vigorously, her little face tense, looking serious as if she had accepted an important mission.
Amber and Cole exchanged glances, feeling uneasy about the idea of making Klee the chief demolition engineer.
"Really—are they going to blast a fifty-meter-deep cave out of here?" Amber still couldn't quite believe it.
"Hmm," Chen Bo said, "I was just demonstrating. After the test, I confirmed that the cave can withstand more violent explosions. Every explosion after that will use a higher yield."
Therefore, the speed will be very fast.
Once a decision has been made, it should be done immediately.
The Formless Fire behind Chen Bo transformed once again into dozens of high-speed rotating drills, buzzing as they pierced the mountain wall, leaving behind holes.
Klee, like a happy little rabbit, hugged her bouncy bombs and carefully stuffed them one by one into the drilled holes, even meticulously blocking the holes with snow.
"Ready!" Klee finished setting up the last bomb, ran to a distance, covered her ears, and looked on with anticipation.
Meanwhile, Abedo used his rock elemental power to create a temporary rock barrier around the mountain to prevent flying debris from injuring people.
After all, Klee's bombs are quite powerful.
With clear division of labor and excellent teamwork.
"Klee, you can detonate the bomb now."
"Okay, Brother Anil."
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A series of dull bangs rang out.
Large amounts of rock and permafrost were loosened from the inside and collapsed with a crash.
Before the smoke and dust had cleared, Chen Bo, Farusan, and Cole's mechs activated autopilot mode and began clearing away the dirt and rocks.
Drilling, planting bombs, detonating, and clearing.
This process is repeated continuously.
Half a day later, a huge cave with a diameter of over fifty meters, a rounded ceiling, and a flat ground was created.
"Perfect." Abedo walked into the cave, tapped the cave wall with his hand, and nodded in satisfaction. "A perfectly round shape, the structure is very stable, and it completely meets the requirements for setting up an alchemy array."
Because it is permafrost, the structure is almost unaffected in areas where there was no blasting.
Klee stood with her hands on her hips, puffing out her small chest, looking very proud.
"Hmph, this is all thanks to Klee!"
Chen Bo smiled and encouraged, "That's right, Ke Li was a great help this time."