Chapter 145 - 111 This is Just the Tip of the Iceberg_1
Due to its long-term active state, the local towns mostly restrict public access to the mountains, and with the small population of locals, evacuation speeds are relatively fast and adept.
When Jiang Chen piloted his steam mecha to this area, he could already see buses driving away along the road and nodded in approval.
With the support of the local civilization, he could fight without reserve, with far fewer concerns—
After all, he was here to complete an advancement task!
The very few casualties that occurred due to the abyssal monster attacks were unavoidable and would not lower the task’s evaluation.
However, large-scale damage to civilization would inevitably decrease it.
Even naturally evil Fire Plunderer mecha pilots would try to avoid such an event in consideration of their evaluations.
Not to mention, Fire Plunderers slaughtering high-rank mecha pilots and plundering Civilization Potential…
The prerequisite is that the civilization has developed enough to cross the abyss and have the qualifications for Fire Transmission!
During an advancement task, both Fire Plunderers and Fire Transmitters have a very consistent goal:
[Minimize casualties, crush the Calamity]
“Cities that can evacuate their population as quickly as this one are, after all, in the minority…”
“Plus, with the seismic activity caused by underground creatures growing more and more terrifying, there will also be corresponding chain natural disasters…”
“It must be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Jiang Chen piloted the steam mecha, hovered in the air, and activated High-Energy Vision.
Sure enough, he saw the familiar energy fluctuations, expanding layer by layer from deep underground, even spreading into the volcano itself.
At this point, the live volcano, under the influence of the energy fluctuations, had started spewing billowing smoke, entering an active state, ready to erupt at any moment.
There was indeed a sign of underground creatures here.
But the problem was…
It was too deep.
Based on the monitoring and judgment of the Seismological Research Institute, the focal depth of this area exceeded two hundred kilometers, classifying it as an intermediate-depth earthquake.
Even though, for the same magnitude, the deeper the focus, the less impact on the surface…
But with the abyssal creature hiding more than two hundred kilometers deep, it was very difficult for Jiang Chen to reach it.
This was a place that even High-Energy Vision could not touch!
Jiang Chen frowned slightly.
This advancement trial once again highlighted his weaknesses.
Through the cooperation with Zero and Yun, his base strength, agility, defense, and even recovery speed had already improved.
However, his abilities seemed relatively poor.
If it were not for the lack of scouting methods, he could have easily located the source of the Abyss Calamity like Senior Yano and issued a challenge.
If it were not for the lack of earth-related abilities, he could easily break through the ground, delve deep underground, and pull out the abyssal creature to slay it.
“The 3rd-Rank Mecha is imperative!”
Although he did not have the 3rd-Rank Mecha and its corresponding modules,
Jiang Chen was not entirely without means to cope.
For the two weaknesses, the former had already been compensated with the help of the local civilization.
As for the latter, special ability modules that could delve deep into the earth and control it could be obtained by killing abyssal monsters!
Just like the basic trial in the Steam World.
When Jiang Chen killed those aberrant creatures, he obtained a large amount of aberrant materials and modules.
In the Earth Cataclysm world, Jiang Chen also acquired a lot of high-quality earth-related materials when he killed underground creatures.
It was only because the monsters that first appeared were 0th and 1st Rank in strength, mere weaklings.
Even with the burst rate bonus of the advancement trial and the Hope Difficulty Level, the output was extremely poor and not worth mentioning.
As long as Jiang Chen killed a few elite monsters, he might be able to obtain a series of high-quality modules!
“Killing monsters, plundering modules…”
“From this point of view, all mecha pilots are actually ‘plunderers’.”
“It’s just that what they plunder are abyssal monsters, not their own kind.”
Jiang Chen waited for a brief moment.
Seeing the buses had taken the townsfolk far away, he no longer hesitated and looked down at the crater below.
At this moment, it was emitting billowing thick smoke.
To dig through two hundred kilometers of earth to find an abyssal monster was somewhat troublesome.
Luckily, it was a volcanic area, which happened to have a suitable, lava channel leading to the underground, saving a lot of time.
“It’s a bit early for a star bath or a nuclear sauna…”
“But a magma bath could be worth the try.”
Jiang Chen felt eager to try and communicated his intention through his trait.
“Yun, are you ready to join me for a magma bath?”
[Bathe with the lord… in a bath?]
Along came feelings of embarrassment, excitement, and agitation.
The steam mecha helmet’s side jets forcefully ejected two streams of white steam.
[Your subordinate… will try my best…]
Jiang Chen:
If he remembered correctly, Bai Ying had carried out the mecha soul prenatal education for Yun with “High-Combustion Remix” and “Hot-blooded Plot,” right?
He was certain nothing strange was mixed in there?
Jiang Chen brushed past the thought and hesitated no longer; he piloted the steam mecha and plunged straight into the billowing smoke of the volcano’s crater, submerging into the fiery lava!
The temperature of ordinary magma is only about a thousand degrees Celsius.
The basic defense of the steam mecha reaches an astonishing 2.5k Armor Value.
Plus, the steam mecha’s inherent high-temperature resistance—without any transcendent attributes—means the magma doesn’t even qualify to break its defense.
Soaking fully in it, not a single Armor Value was lost.