Lhaozi’s Note: Hello, sorry for the confusing situation, sorry for the sudden change of title,Author and bookcover, for I really did a great mistake putting up the wrong raw, author and bookcover huhu, I am really sorry and I hope this clear some mis-understanding… Thankyou @Freeksngeeks for pointing it out, and thankyou all for reading!

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Outside the base.

The temperature was still dropping.

The sky was completely black, with no distinction between day and night.

Heavy leaden clouds were blown down by the wind, shattering like ice crystals onto the frozen ground with a crackling sound.

Beneath the ice, rocks were continuously splitting apart from the cold with sharp cracks, only to freeze solid again.

The howling wind roared like ghosts wailing and wolves crying.

It battered against the base, but this time, with the walls reinforced by extremely stable carbon, they no longer shattered. Instead, they became even more solid.

Searchlights from the base shone outward, but even with their strong penetration, the beams could only reach a dozen meters at most.

Beyond that was nothing but endless darkness.

A patrol squad was stationed within the fifty-meter-thick steel city wall.

Captain Wan Bing looked out at the monstrous, clawing “gale” and listened to its shrill, weeping cries. He tightened the cotton coat around him.

The coat gave him endless warmth.

In the guardhouse, a pot of rice and meat was cooking, with fresh vegetables placed beside it.

Steam rose, hot and fragrant.

“Captain, come eat something!”

His teammates called to him.

He rubbed his hands together and went over.

Thanks to the cotton coat, he wasn’t actually cold, but his thin clothing in the past had left him with the habit.

Once he arrived, a steaming bowl of food was shoved into his hands.

Before, they only had dry, foul-smelling nutrient fluid.

A teammate beside him sighed:

“Luckily we met the Savior, who brought us energy, food, and cotton coats. Otherwise, how could we live like this?”

Another teammate corrected him:

“You’ve got it wrong. Without the Savior, the cold would’ve shattered the city walls. We’d be exposed to the blizzard and turned into solid ice corpses!”

The first man was struck speechless.

“Right, right, you’re right.”

Everyone laughed.

Now, no one could say anything bad about Gu Man. No matter how much they praised her, it never seemed enough.

Wan Bing drank the steaming meat porridge. Warmth filled his body, his heart, and his stomach.

He didn’t join his teammates’ chatter; instead, both ears were focused on the outside.

His patrol grew ever more attentive.

Before, it didn’t matter.

Life had been hopeless.

Death could come at any moment—

Starving to death, dying of illness, being bitten by mutated beasts, or freezing to death…

One way or another, death was always waiting.

Those days had been utterly meaningless.

But now, he didn’t want to die. He had a family, children.

They wore warm cotton coats, ate their fill.

Their frail bodies were gaining flesh.

He felt life had an anchor, the future held hope, and he had the strength to fight for it.

“All right, after you finish eating, resume patrol.”

Everyone responded in unison.

But just then, a sudden change struck.

Boom!

A thunderous crash—something slammed against the steel city wall.

Once!

Twice!

Again and again!

Each massive impact was like a nuclear warhead striking the wall, unleashing terrifying force. The wall couldn’t be breached, but the vibrations were earthshaking.

One teammate lost his footing and was thrown into the air.

Screech!

Screech!

Screech!

Along with the terrifying collisions came shrill, high-frequency screams.

Glass made of special materials shattered one after another, fragments shooting out and cutting the faces of those who hadn’t ducked in time.

The sound was beyond the tolerance of the human body, forcing everyone to vomit blood.

Their heads spun, skulls felt like they were splitting apart.

“Mutant beasts attacking the city! Quick, quick, particle scan, now!”

Wan Bing barked the order. He was a B-rank super-strength ability user, his body naturally resilient.

He grabbed fallen teammates, quickly fitting them with helmets that blocked penetrating sound waves. Only then did their condition improve slightly.

The particle imaging scanner began to activate.

But eerily, nothing abnormal could be detected.

“How could this be?”

Wan Bing had never seen such a thing.

As long as it was a mutant beast, no matter the type, it always gave off life fluctuations. That meant they could be scanned, identified, and targeted for counterattack.

But now—nothing showed up.

How were they supposed to fight back?

He first suspected the scanner was broken.

After a quick check, it wasn’t.

Yet the pounding impacts and shrieks continued.

That left only one possibility.

The worst-case scenario.

A kind of mutant beast had appeared that couldn’t be scanned at all. Without being traceable, there was no way to fight them with conventional methods.

After all, even a nuclear bomb required a target to strike.

“Captain, look—what’s that?”

One of the teammates, who had a B-rank super-vision ability and could see through obstacles into the distance, spotted something unusual.

He quickly pulled up the surveillance feed.

What the particle scanner couldn’t detect was displayed on the video monitor.

They were clumps of matter, like clouds yet also like fog. When they merged, they became a formless monster that furiously attacked the base, letting out piercing high-frequency howls.

When they dispersed, they randomly turned into threadlike strands, clinging to the outer walls of the base, searching for any possible gaps to infiltrate.

Everyone was horrified.

What kind of monster was this?

It was nothing like the usual concept of mutant beasts—this was something far more terrifying.

“Captain, look—wherever those threadlike things appear, the temperature plummets to minus 200 degrees. And when they gather together, it drops all the way to absolute zero.”

Absolute zero: minus 273 degrees.

Anything that touched it would instantly become an ice pillar.

They absolutely could not allow it to enter the base.

Otherwise, the entire base would become a frozen hell.

“Quick, report this to the higher-ups immediately!”

Wan Bing shouted, his heart filled with unspeakable dread.

Was this terrifying plunge in temperature caused by that monster?

Why was it attacking the base?

The monster’s assault continued.

He couldn’t wait any longer.

“Counterattack first! Aim at where they’re condensing and fire!”

“Yes!”

Everyone followed orders, dragging their injured bodies into the weapon stations, controlling wave after wave of laser cannons, railguns, and particle cannons to fire.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Blinding white light flared, blue electromagnetic blasts and crimson particle beams shot outward.

They dispersed some of the thread-like mist, but when the attacks reached the condensed form of the invisible filamentous monster, they stopped unnaturally.

Absolute zero.

The instant they touched that core, even the attacks became useless.

“Launch a nuclear bomb!”

In such unbearable cold, cold sweat poured down Wan Bing’s forehead.

Nuclear bombs could suppress the vast majority of mutant beasts—even beast kings would retreat before them.

But against this monster?

Boom!

The nuclear bomb detonated!

In the dark night, a mushroom cloud rose high into the sky.

The good news was—this monster did fear the instant billion-degree heat of a nuclear blast.

The bad news was—at the very moment of the explosion, it dispersed completely.

Because it was formless to begin with.

Wan Bing felt as if he had plunged into an ice cellar.

If this thing couldn’t be locked onto, how could it ever be defeated?

If it lingered outside the base forever, who would dare leave again?

Would they be permanently trapped inside the base?

The news of the monster’s siege immediately reached Song Lufeng.

An emergency war council was convened.

The seasoned veterans who had fought countless battles and generals who had faced all kinds of mutant beasts were all dumbfounded at this completely unknown monster.

“What on earth is this thing? Even the most powerful weapons barely affect it?”

“Only nuclear bombs can threaten it—yet it can disperse and evade!”

“A formless being… its body like mist and cloud, able to gather and scatter. When gathered, it produces destructive power comparable to a nuclear explosion, and it can unleash high-frequency sound waves. When scattered, it’s as if each fragment has its own consciousness and can act independently. Hiss…”

This monster was simply unsolvable.

“If weapons can’t threaten it, then ordinary abilities probably won’t work either.”

“The worst part is, we can’t completely cut off communication with the outside. Once the ventilation hatches are opened, they might seize the chance to invade.”

“At absolute zero, the human body can’t possibly withstand it.”

Everyone’s faces changed.

Against such a monster, conventional tactics were clearly useless.

As for human-wave tactics—not only would they likely be ineffective, but sending people out blindly was nothing more than sending them to their deaths.

There was only one option.

“I’ll face it myself.”

Song Lufeng spoke.

“City Lord!”

Everyone objected.

“You can’t go, it’s too dangerous!”

“The base cannot lose you!”

Shi Hai and Cheng Fang stepped forward.

“We’ll go!”

Song Lufeng donned his combat uniform and declared without hesitation:

“I am the most suitable one.”

“I’m the only SSS-level ability user. Against this entirely new monster, only I have a chance to retreat safely.”

“If you go, it would only be to die.”

Everyone fell silent. Shu Weng wanted to say something, but held his tongue.

The City Lord was right.

In such a situation, if they went out, they would only die.

A heavy sorrow pressed on everyone’s hearts.

That crushing sense of helplessness…

If only they could become stronger, stronger still—to lift the base up on their shoulders…

“But City Lord, closing the gates and not going out is also an option.”

Song Lufeng glanced outside.

“There are still people fighting out there. I can’t stand by and watch.”

After saying this, he strode out and vanished in an instant.

Everyone fell into silence again.

One by one, fists clenched tight, jaws grinding hard.

Not strong enough. They were still not strong enough…

The next second, Song Lufeng was already standing atop the steel fortress wall.

His gaze pierced through the copper walls and iron barriers, “seeing” the battlefield outside.

Just as he was about to head out, he recalled Gu Man’s instructions.

He was a man of his word.

Unless he hadn’t agreed to something, he would always see it through.

Even if it meant he didn’t want her to worry.

He pulled out the pink antique cellphone and spoke softly.

As his words flowed, the situation at Xuanwu Base and all the data on the terrifying formless monster clearly appeared on Gu Man’s side as well.

Weakness analysis.

And then she discovered—

“Song Lufeng, this monster fears heat!”

“As long as you create a space large enough to hold them all—think of it like… an electric oven, you know what that is? I’ll send you a picture.”

“It has to be a space like that, heated from the inside. The temperature doesn’t even need to be too high—around 2,000 degrees should be enough to completely suppress it, force it into submission.”

“Trap it inside, and the danger will be over.”

Song Lufeng looked at the image Gu Man sent.

He deeply agreed with her plan.

“Savior, you’re incredible!”

His praise was heartfelt and genuine.

But Gu Man felt slightly undeserving.

Because it wasn’t her own deduction, but the phone’s analysis that gave her the idea—she had only seized on it in the moment.

And whether it was even possible depended entirely on Song Lufeng.

“Is this plan too difficult?” she asked anxiously.

The data displayed on the phone was truly terrifying.

If such a monster ever appeared in the modern world—

No, she didn’t even want to imagine it.

As for the plan she had proposed…

Wasn’t it like trying to fit an elephant into a refrigerator?

Song Lufeng smiled.

“It’s not too difficult.”

Looking at the handsome and resolute young City Lord smiling as he said this, Gu Man felt her heart tighten slightly.

It was like an invisible hand gently brushed against it, then quickly let go.

“In any case, be careful. If things get too dangerous, retreat.”

“We can always think of another solution. But if you die, there’s no coming back.”

“Remember this—your life belongs to me.”

Afraid he would recklessly charge forward, Gu Man said this.

A warm surge welled up in Song Lufeng’s chest, filling him with boundless courage and strength.

“Mm.”

Don’t worry, Savior.

He would not die.

He couldn’t bear to lose such a good Savior.

Unlike before, when she couldn’t witness his battles, now that she had his promise, Gu Man was able to watch the entire battlefield unfold on her phone.

She didn’t have time to wonder why this was happening—her attention was wholly seized by the fierce combat, her heart gripped tight.

Song Lufeng flashed outside the city.

The bitter cold swept across the heavens and earth, gnawing at him.

But he did not feel the chill.

He wore a sporty cotton jacket—one that Gu Man had given him. But inside the jacket, he had integrated high-tech elements: a stable carbon structure and a thermal barrier system that shielded him from the cold.

His gaze fixed forward.

Those mist-like filaments began to gather once again.

They seemed curious, yet also threatened.

Sensing he was just a human, not some nuclear-level superweapon, they condensed together, forming a colossal mass of ever-shifting shape.

It resembled a vast heap of black clouds, but imbued with consciousness.

It launched a probing attack at Song Lufeng.

Boom!

From the heavy, writhing cloud-mass extended a hand-like formation that smashed down on him.

Frozen earth shattered, a massive crater blasted open.

Song Lufeng teleported instantly, appearing at another location.

The black clouds seemed enraged.

The cloud-mass swelled, sending out countless appendages that lashed at him with lightning speed.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Deafening crashes echoed, dirt and rock flying, his figure nearly impossible to track.

Screech! Screech! Screech!

High-frequency vibrations rang out, enough to burst a human head.

Onlookers broke into cold sweat, praying with all their hearts that he could triumph.

“This thing’s attacks are overwhelming—nuclear bombs can’t even hurt it! It can launch physical strikes and psychic howls alike!”

“It’s too difficult to deal with—practically invincible!”

“How can anyone defeat such a monster?”

Inside the command room, battle-hardened generals were at a loss.

Shu Weng’s sharp eyes suddenly caught a change on the battlefield.

“What’s that?”

Everyone stared intently.

They realized that at some point, Song Lufeng had erected a massive cube-shaped barrier around the monster.

Each side nearly 5,000 meters long, enclosing the entire creature within.