Chapter 170: The sun! The sun has risen!
There were only two possible outcomes after the lake water poured into the lava cave.
One was that a large amount of steam would cause the local terrain to explode.
The other was that the rapidly cooling flowing lava would solidify.
But no matter which one, it meant that the advantageous terrain of the lava cave was destroyed by Cheng Tian himself, and the BOSS unit Amphibious Blaze Dragon residing there would also face two possible situations.
One was that it didn't manage to escape in time and was sealed under the igneous rock along with the rapidly congealing magma. After all, being amphibious didn't mean it could move freely within rock.
The other was that the opponent wasn't sealed and swam out along with the lake water, forcing the battlefield to shift from the lava cave to the volcanic swamp lake.
Although Cheng Tian's water combat ability was also rather average, forcing it out of the lava cave and into the lake was already a huge step forward in the strategy. Moreover, Cheng Tian didn't need to fight it in the water; he just needed to wear it down by the lake shore.
He didn't know how much hatred destroying the opponent's nest would generate, or if it would be enough for it to abandon its aquatic advantage and come ashore to fight him.
Just as Cheng Tian was rapidly surfacing in his submarine, the lava cave's pressure cooker mode was fully activated.
However, the first to suffer were not only the Amphibious Blaze Dragon, who witnessed its home disappear, but also a small family of pterosaurs nesting on a nearby low mountain.
This low mountain was occupied by their clan because there was a vent that continuously emitted heat, and the temperature was very suitable for hatching dragon eggs—it was the exhaust port connecting the underground lava cave to the surface.
And at this very moment, the lava cave had turned into a high-pressure cooker, so the excess, enormous amount of steam naturally... [Successfully steamed! ~~~]
[You have successfully used the power of nature to create 4 Steamed Pterosaur Eggs.]
[When you use the natural environment to create food in the wilderness, there is a small chance of creating recovery items.]
Just as Cheng Tian jumped out of the single-person submarine, a short audio clip like a Monster Hunter BBQ played in his ears, and after the audio ended, he received this puzzling spatial prompt.
"What exactly did you do?"
Aileen, who had sworn not to complain about Cheng Mouren anymore, ultimately couldn't hold back and asked him directly.
After all, Cheng Mouren's actions were simply too outlandish, making it impossible to predict what he would do next.
She clearly remembered Cheng Tian going underwater in a submarine, but an hour later, he emerged from the ground in a drill tank, and not only that, he brought a purple, talking, neutral NPC giant lizard. Yet, before a few seconds passed, he drilled back into the ground and then re-emerged from the water in a submarine.
No matter how hard Aileen racked her brain, she couldn't guess what Cheng Tian had been doing for the past hour.
"...Steamed four eggs?"
Cheng Tian answered a question with a question, which was hardly an answer, so all he got in return was Aileen's attempt to perform a wrist lock.
Of course, Aileen was basing her assessment on Cheng Tian's strength from their previous playful sparring in their personal space, which was higher than hers but not yet qualitatively different.
What she didn't expect was that after nightfall, Cheng Tian's sunfire mask provided strength and agility bonuses. 27 points of strength were enough for Cheng Tian to hoist Aileen, who was attempting a joint lock on him, into mid-air.
With her two thighs wrapped around Cheng Tian's neck, clamping his upper arms, and hugging his forearms, Aileen and Cheng Tian stared at each other.
"Here, this is for you. Go play ~"
After about ten seconds, Cheng Tian, as if coaxing a child, pulled out something and dangled it in front of Aileen's eyes.
Aileen didn't react at first, only feeling that Cheng Tian's tone was extremely irritating.
But when she clearly saw the plum blossom-patterned pterosaur egg in Cheng Tian's hand, her entire body trembled.
"My Godfather above!"
Aileen let out a surprised shriek like a male college student being fed by his roommate!
A small whirlwind swept by, and the dragon egg vanished from Cheng Tian's hand, taking Aileen herself with it—
The girl had already shrunk to Cheng Tian's feet, tightly clutching the primordial pterosaur egg, continuously muttering nonsensical lines like "My precious ~ my precious ~ ~" in her mouth.
Splash ~ ~ ~ ~
This was a sound that could only be made by something clearly leaping out of the water.
Turning his head, Cheng Tian saw the head of the Amphibious Blaze Dragon, covered in pangolin-like scales, and its two eyes filled with human-like hatred.
As expected, the Blaze Dragon, a leader-template unit, was not so easily sealed in obsidian (×) igneous rock (√). Instead, after failing to catch Cheng Tian and returning, it witnessed the cold lake water hitting the scorching magma, causing a large amount of steam and magma solidification, and chose to escape.
It perfectly replicated Cheng Tian's previous escape route, sniffing out the scent that only mechanical engines could leave behind and quickly followed it to the surface of the lake. It immediately locked onto Cheng Tian, the heinous individual who had flooded its home by some unknown means.
It was evident that the hatred generated by directly destroying the opponent's field when they were setting up their play might be even greater than summoning a fist to attack the opponent's face.
However, Cheng Mouren was completely unwilling to indulge its temper.
Cheng Tian simply pushed Aileen's head, which was smiling foolishly while holding the egg, to face away from him. Then, he made a gesture to Utan, who had somehow developed a rather good relationship with Hongsigua and was squatting on Hongsigua's head, by pulling down his middle finger and pushing it against his nose bridge.
Utan understood. He first whimpered twice at Hongsigua, causing it to curiously but somewhat confusedly poke its head into the ground hole opened by the drill tank. Then, he decisively covered his own eyes with both hands.
The elder purple dragon was still good at reading expressions. Seeing that all the surrounding animals, under Cheng Tian's intervention, were either covering their eyes or turning their backs, it also bent its body, directly shrinking into a ball, tucking its head into its abdomen, saving Cheng Tian the trouble of a second explanation.
As for the Mammoth and the Crimson Tyrannosaurus, they were currently on standby in Cheng Tian's garage and inventory, respectively.
And seeing that his countermeasures were complete, Cheng Tian spread the five fingers of both hands on either side of his brow and loudly shouted the name of that move, which had been repeatedly successful and never outdated since its invention.
"Solar Flare!!!!"
In an instant, a light so intense that it was like the sun suddenly rising erupted from Cheng Tian, illuminating the central area of the entire swamp jungle as if it were daytime.
Thanks to Cheng Tian's prior warning, the allied units, who were either turned away or had their eyes closed, were slightly better off, only being dazzled and unable to easily open their eyes. However, the Amphibious Blaze Dragon in the water, which was looking directly at Cheng Tian, suffered greatly.
The strong light instantly penetrated the Blaze Dragon's retina. Its eyes immediately went completely white, while the excruciating pain in its optic nerves and the bursting of its tear ducts also struck at the same time!
The Amphibious Blaze Dragon let out a tragic cry, then began to thrash around in the lake water.
But at this moment, a small light-feathered snake also shot out from Cheng Tian's brow along with the Solar Flare, directly hitting the Blaze Dragon. With the Solar Flare's enhancement, the current area was temporarily considered daytime, and the 'Light and Shadow Serpent Form' check passed.
[Amphibious Blaze Dragon (Dual Mutation): Leader Template. Ancient reptile, dual-mutated creature, meme infection source. HP = 2100, MP = 240. Strength 35, Agility 18, Spirit 24, Charisma 25.]
[Creature Traits — Spade Fusion, Club Fusion, Metallurgic Scales, Death Roll]