Ninth class citizen

Chapter 292 The Lava Lake Has Cooled Down

Amid Ji Jun's shrill and piercing screams, the two of them fell into the lava lake simultaneously, without even a splash.

Chen Hao hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. He had thought that Nan Rong would at least put up some resistance.

However, no matter how much she struggled, it wouldn't change her ultimate fate.

Those who oppose equality will only bring about their own destruction.

The relief of completing the task was quickly overshadowed by the still difficult challenges ahead.

Even after the three minutes were up and the transparent sacrificial shield disappeared, they still hadn't received the feedback they wanted regarding the execution outcome.

In other words, the difficulty of the lava level has not been reduced.

"Captain, what's going on?" someone couldn't help but ask.

"Could it be that the sacrifice failed?"

"Once you're inside the lava lake, not even ashes remain. How could we possibly fail!"

"But what's going on? There has to be an explanation after the sacrifice, right?"

With everyone talking at once, Chen Hao felt dizzy.

"Stop arguing!" he said. "Just wait patiently. There might be a delay on the system's end."

Thinking this, he subconsciously opened the team interface, and after just one glance, his pupils suddenly contracted:
The team currently has a total of 16 members!
Chen Hao remembered clearly that there were 17 people in the team before the sacrifice. After subtracting two people, there should still be 15 people left. How could there be one extra?

His gaze swept across the list and he noticed that Nan Rong's name was still shining brightly, unlike Ji Jun's, which was dull and lifeless.

“I understand.” After a moment’s thought, he guessed the reason: “Nan Rong is still clinging to life, which is affecting the outcome of the sacrifice.”

"She has fire-based supernatural abilities and naturally possesses a certain level of fire resistance. Coupled with defensive supernatural items, it's normal for her to be able to hold out for a while longer."

Once the cause was found, the other team members breathed a sigh of relief.

"No wonder, the captain is indeed more experienced."

"This person is really troublesome. She's already at this point, why is she still making a fuss? She should just die already, so we can still remember her good qualities."

"That's right. What if we delay any longer and affect the team's progress?"

At that moment, within a hundred-meter-wide open space between the tunnel and the lava lake, the ground suddenly trembled and cracked, and several streams of lava shot out like venomous snakes, heading towards the people standing at the entrance of the tunnel.

"It's a hellish activated magma flow!" Chen Hao leaped into the air and shouted, "Get out of the way!"

The other martial artists reacted quickly, immediately unleashing their martial arts techniques and rushing out, leaving only the extraordinary individuals to remain in place.

The metal-type superhuman quickly condensed a metal shield, and just as it took shape, a torrent of lava poured down on him.

The metal shield melted into molten iron at a temperature of 3,000 degrees Celsius. The screams lasted for a few seconds before abruptly ceasing.

As the lava flow receded, two dark human-shaped figures were left on the ground.

The warriors who had narrowly escaped death were still in shock when the lava lake suddenly boiled, and three five-meter-tall fire giants emerged from it.

Their bodies shimmered with a liquid, golden-red luster, and their eye sockets pulsated with white, fiery cores powerful enough to burn the retina.

"Don't be afraid, everyone!" Chen Hao activated his extraordinary weapon, with an ice blade extending more than half a meter long from the front of his longsword: "Hold on a little longer, and it will be easier once the difficulty decreases!"

"understand!"

"Hey guys, come with me!"

Several mid-level martial artists imbued their weapons with martial arts techniques and charged towards the leading giant. The magma giant radiated astonishing heat from its body and swung its massive magma hammer down with tremendous force.

The weapons and shields formed from ice and water-based supernatural items instantly vaporized, and the bursting hot water mist drenched the attackers from head to toe.

They covered their faces, screaming as they retreated, but fiery tentacles extended from the lava giant's body, reaching out to grab them.

At the critical moment, Chen Hao rushed forward and severed several lava tentacles in succession. However, several blazing white fireballs spewed out from the severed tentacles, burning the three martial artists who had no time to dodge to charred remains.

In just a few dozen seconds, the team lost five members in succession.

This was simply no match for them. Without Chen Hao needing to say anything more, everyone had already abandoned the idea of ​​confronting them head-on, and instead used the lava warriors' slow movements to dodge and weave.

Even so, the randomly erupting, activated lava flows claimed three more lives.

"Why hasn't the sacrifice been completed yet!" a mid-level martial artist, half of whose body was burned, said miserably. "It seems we won't be able to wait until then!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he was ensnared by a fire giant's tentacle, screaming as he was burned in two at the waist.

Morale plummeted to zero at that moment.

"Hold on a little longer! As long as Nan Rong dies, we can survive!" Chen Hao said, dodging a sudden stream of activated lava.

The next second, the three lava giants suddenly stopped, their golden-red bodies gradually dimming.

Meanwhile, the magma column that had been gushing from the center of the lake slowly receded, and the bubbling lava lake surface became increasingly calm, its color visibly changing from bright red to dark red.

"Great! The sacrifice must have been successful!" The survivors were overjoyed.

"If only we had done this sooner, so many people wouldn't have died!"

"It's all Nan Rong's fault. It's a good thing she's dead, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have let her off the hook!"

Chen Hao also breathed a sigh of relief: "Everyone, take a quick rest and wait for the announcement that the difficulty will be reduced before crossing the bridge!"

"Manager, there's another problem!" a staff member hurriedly reported. "The temperature in the lava level has suddenly dropped! In just one minute, it's fallen from 3,500 degrees to 1,500 degrees and it still hasn't stopped!"

"Impossible!" That was Steward Wu's first reaction.

Just kidding. He's been running the Tulan Star Blackthorn Arena for so many years and has seen all sorts of special situations, but he's encountered an especially large number of them today.

First, the acid liquefied into water, then it cooled down upon encountering lava. These were all unprecedented and unheard-of strange occurrences.

"What happened! Have you checked the surveillance footage?"

Manager Wu knew very well which team was currently in the lava checkpoint.

He had been keeping an eye on Nan Rong until he saw her isolated, chosen as a sacrifice, and thrown into the lava lake. Only then did he forcefully suppress his reluctance and regret and shift his gaze away.

Unexpectedly, just a few minutes later, another unexpected event occurred.

No, wait a minute. Perhaps these changes are related to Nan Rong?
The moment the thought of this possibility crossed Steward Wu's originally extremely heavy heart, a hint of unspoken anticipation suddenly arose within him.

"Manager, we haven't found anything unusual on the monitors. But the temperature is still dropping, it's already below 800 degrees Celsius. If it drops another 200 degrees, the lava will freeze!"

"Can you see what's happening beneath the magma?" Steward Wu asked.

"It's not impossible, but it requires professional heat resistance monitoring equipment. Because it's not necessary, the site hasn't purchased any yet. If we order now, we'll have to wait a while."

"Never mind. Let's wait and see." Steward Wu's gaze was fixed on the center of the screen, or more precisely, on the spot where Nan Rong had fallen. His eyes gleamed, and he himself didn't know what outcome he wanted to see.

"Huh?" a backstage staff member suddenly exclaimed, "Why isn't this team's sacrifice over yet?"