The seafood brigade approached, with less than ten minutes remaining.
How long did it take to absorb a level 9 crystal?
One-fifth of a day.
Five days for one crystal!
"Zheng Rui!"
Qin Feng looked around.
Far away, only the giant leech was visible, but Zheng Rui was nowhere to be seen.
Right!
Everyone's eyes lit up.
How could they forget Zheng Rui?
The giant leech could continuously devour crystals, precisely because its time was accelerated.
"Gack!"
At this moment, the leech opened its mouth and spat.
Out came...
A person covered in sticky slime.
It was Zheng Rui!
"You..."
Qin Feng's eyes widened. "Are you out of your mind?"
Before.
Zheng Rui hid inside the leech's body because the leech was strong in combat.
And he had no other abilities besides time acceleration.
His summoned beasts were powerful.
He was not.
Hiding inside the leech's body was for safety.
Was it the same now?
He was a member of the base.
With so many experts by his side, why worry about safety?
"I..."
Zheng Rui's face was odd, and he stammered.
"Quick! Accelerate Ruo Ruo, stack it as much as possible!"
Qin Feng had no time to argue with him. He shoved two low-level crystals into Zheng Rui's hand to replenish his spiritual energy.
Zheng Rui gripped the low-level crystals and absorbed them.
Time acceleration!
He stacked it on Xiao Ruo Ruo again and again.
This was multiplication.
Each additional release increased the acceleration multiplier, geometrically.
Absorbing two level 9 crystals originally required ten days.
But now...
Five minutes later.
Xiao Ruo Ruo finished absorbing.
Level 9!
She was the only level 9 esper in the entire base, not even Qin Feng had reached that level.
There was no choice.
To deal with the tens of millions of seafood monsters.
Qin Feng could protect himself.
But he couldn't instantly kill all the seafood.
What about the more than 20,000 people in the base? How many would die tragically?
Except for the handful who were skilled at escaping or could fly, everyone else would perish!
"Oyster omelet!" Qin Feng shouted.
Caw!
The eagle-headed sea eagle swooped down.
"Zheng Rui, accelerate Oyster Omelet, quick!" Qin Feng yelled.
"Understood!"
Zheng Rui nodded.
His face was visibly pale.
He had continuously stacked on Xiao Ruo Ruo so many times that his spiritual energy was severely depleted.
His absorption speed from the crystals was not fast enough.
Gulp!
He simply swallowed the crystals directly.
Absorption would be much faster this way.
Accelerate again!
This time, the target of acceleration was the eagle-headed sea eagle.
The eagle-headed sea eagle's speed was Mach 2.
Now.
It reached dozens of Mach!
In the blink of an eye, carrying Qin Feng, Xiao Ruo Ruo, and Zheng Rui, they appeared at the location where the Honeycomb Mushrooms were placed.
"Captain?"
Liu Pi only saw a blur as the three and the bird appeared before him.
"Liu Pi, undo the ice seal!" Qin Feng ordered.
"Yes!"
Liu Pi didn't ask why.
He knew the seafood army was just around the corner, and the war would begin soon.
The captain's timely return was precisely to resolve the crisis.
Instantly.
The ice seal was removed.
The greyish-white Honeycomb Mushrooms stirred.
Fungi depend on humus to survive.
Exposed mycelium was not viable.
It immediately burrowed into the soil.
"Ruo Ruo!"
"Got it."
Xiao Ruo Ruo's eyes flashed, and her plant manipulation ability was unleashed.
"Accelerate her!" Qin Feng commanded.
"Yes!"
Zheng Rui released the acceleration again.
Although Xiao Ruo Ruo was level 9, higher than the Honeycomb Mushrooms.
But unlike ordinary plants, the Honeycomb Mushrooms were too massive.
Therefore, Xiao Ruo Ruo's control would be a struggle—it would take time!
"Captain."
Zheng Rui, while releasing his ability, frowned and said, "After this, I suddenly had an idea."
"Speak."
Qin Feng had no time for his rambling.
"When facing enemies, if I accelerate everyone, does that mean they can use more abilities per unit of time? Their combat power would be greatly enhanced?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Then wouldn't we be invincible?!"
"We have over 20,000 people. How many can you accelerate?"
Qin Feng glanced at him.
Even with continuous replenishment of spiritual energy, it couldn't keep up with the constant depletion.
Just like before, when he accelerated Xiao Ruo Ruo to absorb crystals, he had completely drained his spiritual energy.
In other words.
Time acceleration could generally only be used on a few individuals.
Too many people wouldn't work.
"Furthermore, once the acceleration multiplier is too high, the accelerated party will instantly release countless abilities."
"Do you know the consequences?"
Too fast.
Unable to stop.
The result would be...
Spiritual energy overload, leading to light injuries and collapse, or even the shattering of their own crystals!
In short.
Time acceleration was not that simple.
There was also a crucial point.
For example, the two crystals that should have taken ten days to absorb were finished by Xiao Ruo Ruo in just five minutes.
Therefore, she lost ten years of her lifespan!
"I forgot about this!" Zheng Rui chuckled bitterly.
"However..."
Qin Feng grinned. "Later, you and I can team up."
"What do you mean?" Zheng Rui was startled.
"I don't use spiritual energy in close combat, so my sustained combat power is much stronger," Qin Feng explained.
"You mean..."
Zheng Rui's eyes lit up.
This would be amazing!
"Done!" Xiao Ruo Ruo shouted excitedly.
"Let's go!"
Qin Feng leaped onto the bird's back.
...
The frontline defense.
The giant crocodile leading the seafood army finally saw the dense crowd.
It was ecstatic.
So many people?
What a joke!
Compared to its seafood army, they were nowhere in the same league!
Today, it would have a great feast!
"Roar!"
To express its excitement, it let out a roar to the heavens.
The next moment.
It waved its front claws forward.
Charge, the entire army!
The sky-shattering seafood army charged.
Just as the seafood was preparing to charge, a massive tremor shook the ground.
An earthquake again?
The giant crocodile had experienced the plot of "2012," with frequent global mountain-building and earthquakes, even underwater quakes and volcanoes.
It didn't take earthquakes seriously.
Continue charging...
As the seafood was about to charge again, countless large mushrooms erupted from the ground.
With a flick of their stalks.
The caps detached from the stalks and floated away, like parachutes descending from the sky.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The caps exploded one after another.
This level of explosion could not harm the seafood army.
However.
Billions of invisible spores drifted towards the vanguard of the seafood army.
The way to block the spores was actually simple.
Psionic wall.
Space shield.
And so on.
As long as a sealed space could be formed to prevent spores from entering.
But the problem was...
Among mutant creatures, only a very small minority had awakened abilities; the vast majority relied solely on their physical bodies.
How could they block the spores?
If you can't see it, pretend it doesn't exist.
The seafood surged forward, a boundless tide.
Flesh and blood!
Food!
Crucially, the number of humans was minuscule compared to the seafood.
If they didn't run fast enough.
The seafood behind wouldn't get any.
Seeing its subordinates' fervent excitement, the giant crocodile displayed a look of satisfaction.
But it was unaware that the most fatal danger had already arrived, as countless spores silently entered the bodies of those seafood.
At first, they felt nothing unusual.
By the time they sensed something was wrong, it was too late to save themselves...