Chapter 209

The refrigeration equipment at the cooling station emitted a piercing buzz, and the fan blades slowed down due to overheating, causing the airflow to no longer feel cool but instead warm to the touch.

The soldiers in the equipment team, covered in sweat, lifted the outer casing of the equipment. The heat sink inside was dark red and covered with a thick layer of dust. They poured cool water they carried with them on it, which instantly made a "sizzling" sound and steam rose up, but it could only temporarily relieve the overheating problem.

"Captain, the refrigeration unit is about to break down! The temperature inside the shed has exceeded 75°C, and there is less than a third of the ice left in the ice storage tank. The melting rate is twice as fast as before!"

The soldiers' shouts were drowned out by the surrounding noise. The number of refugees inside the shelter had doubled, crowding densely around the cooling equipment. Many had flushed faces and cracked lips, and some had collapsed to the ground, their heatstroke symptoms more severe than before.

The defense team was busy feeding the heatstroke refugees with Crimson Sun Pills, but the pill stock was also rapidly decreasing. The soldier in charge of the exchange shouted urgently into the communicator: "We're almost out of Crimson Sun Pills! Another thirty people just exchanged them, and we only have 150 left in stock. That's not enough to last until the next batch is replenished!"

Wang Peng stood beside the ice storage pool, his brows furrowed as he looked at the thin layer of ice remaining at the bottom. The 10 tons of ice he had exchanged for with 5 third-tier demon cores had been completely consumed in just two days. The temperature rise in the later stages of the polar day was more intense than expected, and even double-layered heat-resistant canvas could not block the increasingly scorching sunlight.

He took out his communicator and sent another private message to "I am the God of Wealth," his tone urgent but more restrained than before: "Hello 'I am the God of Wealth,' the temperature at the South City cooling point has reached 75℃, and the ice reserves are only enough to last for 12 hours. The stock of Crimson Sun Pills is running low, and we urgently need to exchange 10 tons of ice and 200 Crimson Sun Pills. We have prepared 20 Tier 3 Demon Pills. Could you please provide some assistance?"

At this moment, Su Jing was organizing supplies in the temporary workshop, and the order notifications in the system kept ringing. She opened her private messages and saw Wang Peng's message, her finger pausing for a moment.

The cooperation with the official base had been relatively smooth so far; the existence of the cooling storage points had indeed reduced chaos, and the limited convenience was beneficial to both parties. She didn't reply immediately, but instead processed other orders first.

A private user named "Sanhu Li" sent a private message: "'I am the God of Wealth,' my mother has collapsed due to heatstroke. I have two Tier 1 Demon Cores. Could you exchange them for one more Crimson Sun Pill? Please make an exception for me!"

Su Jing directly replied to the system's automatic message: "Exchange according to the rules. 1 Tier 1 Demon Core = 1 Crimson Sun Pill. Limited to 3 purchases per day. No exceptions. Sufficient stock. First come, first served." She never broke the rules for private users. In chaotic times, sympathy cannot buy survival.

Immediately afterwards, a private message popped up from an overseas user, labeled "Eastern United States Outpost": "We need 100 Crimson Sun Pills and 5 tons of ice. We are willing to exchange them for 15 Tier 2 Demon Cores. Please ship as soon as possible, or you will bear the consequences."

Su Jing's eyes turned cold, and she replied in a firm tone: "1. Red Sun Pill exchange rules: 1 second-tier demon core = 3, 15 = 45, no bargaining accepted;

2. Ice Exchange: 1 Tier 3 Demon Core = 2 tons, 5 tons require 3 Tier 3 Demon Cores (Tier 2 Demon Cores cannot be exchanged for ice).

3. Overseas users are limited to purchasing 50 Chiyang Pills and 3 tons of ice per day; orders placed after the deadline will not be accepted.

4. Threats are ineffective; failure to accept them will result in the cancellation of your redemption eligibility.

After the message was sent, the other party immediately protested, and Su Jing directly added them to the temporary blacklist, restricting them from placing orders for 24 hours.

After processing the private and overseas orders, Su Jing replied to Wang Peng: "1. Ice exchange: 1 Tier 3 Demon Core = 3 tons (original price 2 tons, bulk discount), 10 tons require 4 Tier 3 Demon Cores (2 extra tons included)."

2. Crimson Sun Pill: 1 Tier 3 Demon Core = 15 pills (original price 12 pills), 200 pills require 14 Tier 3 Demon Cores (total 18 Tier 3 Demon Cores, plus 5 Crimson Sun Pills).

3. Supplies will be delivered within 1 hour; please be ready to receive them.

4. The temperature rise is intensifying, and even stronger monsters may appear later. It is recommended to reinforce the defenses of cooling points and have those with supernatural abilities take the Crimson Sun Pill in advance.

Upon receiving the reply, Wang Peng's tense nerves finally relaxed, and he immediately replied: "Thank you! I have paid for 18 Tier 3 Demon Cores. Please ship them as soon as possible!"

He hadn't expected "I'm the God of Wealth" to offer him a discount; he'd previously thought she was indifferent, but now he understood her principles.

While adhering to the principle of equivalent exchange, they also know how to be flexible, and are not entirely inflexible towards official bases that are willing to abide by the rules and work together to combat the disaster.

After confirming that she had received the demon core, Su Jing took out ice blocks and Crimson Sun Pills from her spatial storage and sent them through the system channel. Looking at the 18 newly added Tier 3 demon cores on the system panel, plus the ones she had accumulated from killing Flamewing Beasts and exchanging them, she now had 32 Tier 3 demon cores.

As the temperature rises more intensely in the later stages of the polar day, the level of the monsters also increases. Although her current second-tier lightning-type ability is sufficient, she will need even greater strength to deal with the upcoming swarm of third-tier monsters.

"It's time to upgrade my lightning-based abilities."

Su Jing muttered to herself, "I absorbed the heat-resistant fragments to enhance my heat resistance. Now I can use the third-tier demon core to advance to the lightning element."

She sat down in the center of the workshop, took out 10 third-tier demon cores, arranged them in a circle, activated her Qi Refining Level 2 spiritual power, and her fingertips emitted a faint green light as she guided the energy within the demon cores to be released.

The moment the demon cores came into contact with the spiritual power, they all lit up with a dark red light. Pure energy surged out like a stream, drawn by Su Jing's spiritual power, flowing into the dantian along the meridians.

The lightning-type ability was originally light purple, but now, upon contact with the energy of a third-tier demon core, it begins to change.

The pale purple lightning gradually deepened into a deep purple, and the speed of energy flow increased several times. The meridians were widened by the energy, causing a slight swelling and pain, but this was quickly relieved under the nourishment of the Qi cultivation spiritual power.

Su Jing concentrated her mind, guiding the energy to circulate in her meridians, fusing the energy of the demon core with her own lightning-type superpower. With each cycle, the power of her superpower increased.

Xiao Jin lay on the metal platform beside her, watching the lightning around Su Jing grow stronger and stronger. Deep purple lightning swirled around her, forming tiny lightning snakes that crackled intermittently, and a faint smell of ozone filled the air. "Su Jing, your light has deepened! Such powerful energy!"

Su Jing did not respond, focusing entirely on upgrading.

The energy of the 10 third-tier demon cores was gradually absorbed, and the lightning-type power core in the dantian expanded from the size of a fist to the size of a volleyball. The deep purple lightning was interspersed with tiny golden patterns, which were signs of the perfect fusion of the demon core energy and one's own power.

When the energy of the last demon core was completely absorbed, Su Jing suddenly opened her eyes. Two deep purple lightning bolts flashed from the depths of her eyes, and the lightning snakes around her instantly converged into a thick pillar of lightning, soaring into the sky, piercing through the heat-resistant canvas of the workshop, and exploding in mid-air, forming a small thunderstorm cloud before quickly dissipating.

"Success." Su Jing raised her hand, and a deep purple lightning bolt condensed at her fingertip. It was three times thicker than the previous second-tier lightning bolt. Her power perception showed that it had reached the mid-third tier. It could instantly penetrate the defense of a third-tier demon beast and could even release three lightning pillars at the same time, with the coverage area also expanding by two times.

She tried to activate her supernatural power, and a bolt of lightning shot towards a discarded metal plate in the corner of the workshop. With a "boom," the metal plate was pierced through with a hole the size of a basketball. The edges were charred black and still emitting blue smoke. The power was more than twice as strong as before.

The upgraded lightning-type ability gave Su Jing more confidence. She put away the remaining third-tier demon cores and was about to check the system orders when she sensed dense energy fluctuations from a third-tier demon beast in the distance—

These are not the high-temperature lizards from before; their energy is even more violent, radiating a scorching heat. There are at least several dozen of them, and they are moving towards the cooling point.

Su Jing immediately activated her flight ability, took to the air, and looked in the direction of the energy fluctuations. She saw a faint red glow in the northwest sky, the vegetation on the ground was withered and yellow from the heat, and dozens of demonic beasts, each a size larger than the high-temperature lizards, were moving rapidly.

They are entirely crimson with reflective scales, thick tails, and small flames that occasionally burst from their mouths. They are mutated fire lizards, third-tier demonic beasts, more adept at group combat than flame-winged beasts, with higher flame temperatures and the ability to shoot fireballs.

"It's a swarm of mutated fire lizards; their target should be the cooling point."

Su Jing's heart sank, and she immediately sent an urgent private message to Wang Peng: "A large number of Tier 3 mutated fire lizards (about 50) have been discovered in the northwest. They can spray high-temperature fireballs and will arrive at the cooling point within one hour. Immediately have all ability users in position, strengthen the defenses, close the entrance to the cooling point, have the refugees hide in the core area, and prepare fire-fighting equipment!"

Upon receiving the private message, Wang Peng's expression changed drastically. He immediately shouted into the communicator, "Emergency notice! All personnel on duty, assemble at your positions immediately! All ability users, activate your abilities! Ice and water ability users, move to the front; lightning and fire ability users, bring up the rear! Close the entrance to the cooling point and seal it off with defensive barriers! Have the refugees inside the sheds move to the central cooling zone and do not wander off!"

The cooling point instantly fell into a tense state of preparedness. Soldiers quickly reinforced the fences, and the superhumans activated their powers, their bodies radiating various colored halos. Although the refugees were panicked, under the guidance of the soldiers, they all hid in the core area of ​​the cooling point, tightly clutching the Crimson Sun Pills in their hands, their eyes filled with fear.

Su Jing landed in the workshop, put away her flight ability, took out the tracking laser cannon from her spatial storage, and checked the energy and aiming system.

Deep purple lightning swirled around her fingertips, resonating with the energy of the laser cannon. She looked in the direction the mutated fire lizard was heading, her eyes resolute.