Chapter 86: Chapter 74: Mutated Saury Attack

Two straight hours of high-speed driving had cut a trip that should have taken four or five hours in half. They were now less than an hour away from the military base, but the military SUV was about to run out of gas.

At this point, the vehicle only had enough fuel for another 19 kilometers. Flora Bloom watched the fuel gauge steadily drop, not daring to ease up on the accelerator for even a second.

Behind them, the horse mackerel were leaping out of the water with increasing frequency. First one, then two, then three. Just three minutes later, several horse mackerel were continuously jumping out of the water on both sides of the vehicle, scraping against the guardrails with a horrible GRINDING sound.

What had been calm shallows was now churning, the seawater crashing up and creating countless waves of all sizes. From the crest of every breaking wave, a long, slender, silver horse mackerel would leap into the air.

The densely packed silver bodies of the fish rubbed against each other, emitting a piercing shriek that made Flora Bloom and the others’ skin crawl. If you didn’t look closely, you might have mistaken them for two moving walls shaped like crashing waves.

kilometers.

kilometers.

kilometers.

kilometers.

As they watched the chaotic swarms of horse mackerel on both sides of the car, leaping about like beached fish in a dance of death, a sense of terror washed over them.

"What do we do? The car’s almost out of gas." Cynthia Grant’s face was pale as she looked at Flora Bloom, completely at a loss, hoping to find a trace of reassurance in her expression.

Flora Bloom’s brow was furrowed as she forced herself to remain as calm as possible.

"Old Monroe, I’m going to stop the car in the middle of the road in a moment. You’ll use your superpower to build a defensive wall around the vehicle. The horse mackerel are evolved Water Element creatures. Your earth walls are too low-level and won’t have enough defense. Remember, you just need to keep constantly building earth walls outside the car. Dad, your job is to keep reinforcing the car’s exterior. Don’t stop."

"Hold on for one minute. I’m getting out to refuel the car. Mr. Wallace, you act as the situation demands."

Finally, the fuel gauge dropped to 0. Flora Bloom slammed on the brakes, stopping the car. She quickly got out, shut the door, and pulled a prepared fuel can from her dimensional space to start refueling.

It was like the calm before the storm. The scraping sounds from the guardrails on both sides abruptly stopped, leaving only the gentle murmur of the water and the soft caress of the sea breeze.

Seeing this, the others inside the car secretly thought the danger had passed. After all, they had only heard Flora Bloom’s warnings and had never witnessed something like this firsthand.

Flora Bloom’s calm voice came from outside the window.

"Keep reinforcing the car. Don’t stop."

The moment her voice faded, a pillar of seawater suddenly burst through the pavement in the middle of Navy Avenue, shooting toward the sky. Flora Bloom continued to pour the fuel, watching the water pillar out of the corner of her eye.

Under the sun, the pillar, over a meter in diameter, gleamed with a silvery-white luster. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that this was no pillar of water at all—it was a massive swarm of horse mackerel, leaping and twisting over one another as they burst up from the road.

"Old Monroe, earth wall!"

The swarm of horse mackerel that had shot up into the air swirled and leaped, separating from the pillar. They spun and rubbed against each other, gradually flowing into a spherical shape and emitting a harsh, grating sound of metal scraping together.

As soon as the sphere formed, all the horse mackerel aimed their spike-like heads toward Flora Bloom and her group’s vehicle.

Just then, Earth Element energy gathered at the rear of the car, and an earth wall about five or six centimeters thick and three meters high rose up between the sphere of horse mackerel and their vehicle.

A wall like this was the strongest defensive barrier a level-one Earth Ability User could create. But it still wasn’t enough.

A five-to-six-centimeter-thick wall would be completely disintegrated the instant the horse mackerel swarm attacked; it wouldn’t block a thing.

"Old Monroe, keep going! Raise another wall outside that one. It doesn’t need to be as thick—two or three centimeters is enough. Keep raising them, don’t stop."

Receiving the order, Ethan Monroe didn’t dare to hesitate. He continued to use his Earth Element superpower to build walls as Flora Bloom had instructed.

At that exact moment, the horse mackerel swarm attacked. The sphere spun in the air nearby, and suddenly, about twenty horse mackerel broke away from it. They formed a neat line, aimed their spiked heads at the earth wall, and charged.

A sound of something tearing through the air rang out. Ethan Monroe had just finished raising the second wall when the horse mackerel’s attack struck. The wall instantly disintegrated, and inside the car, Ethan Monroe felt a cold sweat break out on his back.

After piercing through the outer wall, just as the horse mackerel were about to break through Ethan Monroe’s first, inner wall, Flora Bloom shouted.

"Keep going, don’t stop!"

Flora Bloom finished emptying one fuel can and immediately started on a second. Seeing how fragile Ethan Monroe’s earth walls were, alarm bells screamed in her mind. As Ethan Monroe’s Earth Element energy began to gather once more in front of the swarm, a deep blue Water Element energy surged into it. She used her own powerful control to rapidly solidify the slowly gathering Earth Element.

It was another earth wall only two or three centimeters thick, but with the addition of Flora Bloom’s Water Element, it became much harder and more resilient. This gave Flora Bloom an idea.

"Old Monroe, put your back into it! Keep reinforcing this wall."

More and more earthy-yellow superpower energy gathered around Ethan Monroe. Behind the car stood two earth walls. The one closest to the vehicle was five to six centimeters thick, completely shielding it.

The other wall was only two or three centimeters thick, but thanks to the boost from Flora Bloom’s Water Energy, it actually managed to block the horse mackerel’s attack.

The spiked heads of the horse mackerel swarm embedded themselves in the earth wall. Although they seemed on the verge of breaking through, their momentum had been stopped. Even if they managed to pierce this wall now, their attack would be too weak to penetrate the thicker wall behind it and harm the people in the car.

Furthermore, Caleb Bloom was currently expending his superpower to reinforce the vehicle, starting from the rear, just in case Ethan Monroe’s earth walls failed to hold back the attack.

But just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and even Flora Bloom thought the greatest danger had passed, ten slightly larger horse mackerel suddenly broke formation from the top of the sphere. They formed a line, rose above the earth wall, and aimed their spikes not at the car, but at Flora Bloom herself.

"Flora, watch out above you!"

"Flora Bloom, get in the car, quick!"

"Sister! Get in here!"

With absolutely no warning, the ten horse mackerel organized themselves and charged straight at Flora Bloom. No one had time to react. Even Ethan Monroe was too late to release his superpower again to block the attack for her.

Even Flora Bloom herself only noticed them at the last moment. The ten massive horse mackerel were already upon her, their spikes just a second away from piercing her body.

"Flora!"

Jade let out a piercing scream and lunged for the car door, about to rush out and shield Flora Bloom with her own body.

But Caleb Bloom grabbed her and held her back.

Flora Bloom looked down at the horse mackerel whose spikes were already sinking into her flesh. With a final shout, she cried, "Take care of Mom! Don’t get out of the car!" The next second, she vanished from the spot.

The ten horse mackerel vanished along with her.

Inside the car, the group stared at the place where Flora Bloom had disappeared. It was empty, save for the drops of fresh blood splattered on the ground.

"Flora! My daughter! You bastard, why did you stop me from saving my daughter! Why did you hold me back!" Jade hysterically wrenched her hands free from Caleb Bloom’s grasp and began beating his chest.

"She’s your daughter too! How could you... My Flora!"

Listening to Jade’s sobs, Caleb Bloom’s eyes also grew moist as he struggled to hold something back. Ethan Monroe was stunned. If not for the fact that the horse mackerel, their momentum blunted, were still trying to break through the wall on the other side, he might have forgotten to keep using his superpower.

’That little firecracker is just... gone? Bah, no, I mean, vanished?’

Only Neal Wallace kept his composure, his brow furrowed and his face full of worry, but calm nonetheless.

"Ma’am, please don’t get upset. Flora Bloom might not be dead."