novelraw Chapter 626 422: Sudden! Ultra-Cold Rain of Ice
Chapter 626 422: Sudden! Ultra-Cold Rain of Ice
Just two or three minutes later, the strong wind arrived.
It carried a biting chill, blowing across Zong Shen's somewhat weathered face.
It blew his medium-length black hair backward.
Zong Shen stood silently, letting the bone-chilling wind sweep over him.
Dark clouds were tumbling and piling up, undergoing their final brewing.
From the terrace, one could vaguely see outside the blacksmith shop.
The Dwarf Uncle was leading two blacksmith apprentices, installing snow plows on four Burden-Bearer Mechas.
One of them was driven by Doris from the living quarters.
The other three were driven by Marie, who also brought two more using her personal storage grid.
Besides the snow plows, the Dwarf Uncle also hastily made seven or eight sets of anti-slip ground spikes.
He handed them over to Marie as well.
Being too far away, Zong Shen couldn't see the specific models of these anti-slip spikes.
The Dwarf Uncle and the others installed them quickly, taking only seven or eight minutes to complete everything.
The hook-hanging-style external attachment, combined with supporting arms and latch covers forming a simple self-locking structure.
Allowed the Burden-Bearer Mechas to rapidly install the snow plows.
Now the Burden-Bearer Mechas had become Burden-Bearer Snow Tractors.
Their powerful engine, weighing one or two tons, and the tracked transmission structure made them divine artifacts for commuting in the snow.
Not to mention the addition of the snow plows.
Compared to them, traditional ice field sleds were just a pile of crap.
In terms of load capacity or overall applicability, there was no comparison.
With such convenient snow commuting tools, using so-called sleds again.
Was like discarding epic weapons to use whiteboard-level weapons.
Zong Shen was looking forward to the modified Burden-Bearer Mechas.
Just as he was gazing out, a white glow representing a time stop filled his vision.
As expected, twelve o'clock noon had arrived.
[Frosty Winter Challenge has been ongoing for 24 hours]
[Frosty Winter First Phase has ended]
[In this phase, you acquired a total of 1200 basic survival points]
[Territory casualties: 0]
[The Frosty Winter Second Phase will now begin]
[Frosty Winter Frost Scar]
[Randomly determining the locations for the arrival of 10,000 Yetis]
[This phase will last 48 hours]
[This time stop announcement will end in one minute]
After the white glow vanished, the announcement subtitles appeared.
The Frosty Winter Second Phase had finally arrived.
The boring first phase had left Zong Shen quite weary.
Fortunately, the first phase lasted only 24 hours and was not too lengthy.
Otherwise, Zong Shen might not have frozen to death but would definitely have died of boredom.
The time stop effect faded exactly one minute later.
The surrounding time flow suddenly resumed.
The bone-chilling wind started flowing again.
Zong Shen looked up, closely monitoring the weather changes.
The clouds in the sky seemed to have finally reached their peak.
"Plop!"
A raindrop the size of a soybean suddenly fell.
It smashed forcefully onto Zong Shen's shoulder.
Zong Shen turned his neck to watch the raindrop hit the bear skin coat.
Then it rapidly froze into ice.
"Is this what's called supercooled water..."
"Strange ice rain, is the second phase's prelude an icy sealing of everything?"
Due to gravitational collapse, the raindrop had already turned into an ice chip as it froze.
Zong Shen brushed off the frozen droplet from his shoulder.
What he referred to as supercooled water is a concept from Earth.
It denotes water being below 0℃ and not freezing.
As long as there are no ice nuclei, supercooled water can remain liquid at temperatures dozens of degrees below freezing.
When these supercooled raindrops fall from the sky, attaching to dust, they immediately crystallize.
The principle of supercooled water is not too complex; it essentially requires water droplets to remain free of contact with ice crystal nuclei.
In other words, an ultra-clean state, where water can keep cooling without crystallizing.
With Earth's technology, this can be achieved in a dust-free cryogenic laboratory.
But here, the supercooled water becomes a disastrous ice rain.
Zong Shen didn't know how these supercooled raindrops managed not to acquire dust as they fell.
Ultimately, he could only attribute it to the extraordinary power of the Lord System.
The first raindrop fell like a bugle call.
Then the "pitter-patter" of raindrops began to plummet down.
As soon as these raindrops hit the ground, they quickly froze into ice.
In the distance, Doris and Marie had already started returning in the Burden-Bearer Mechas.
The front snow plow worked excellently, progressing as the Burden-Bearer Mechas moved.
The ground collapsed underfoot, scraping off the wet snow and ice layers down to ten centimeters, which the snow plow quickly shoved aside.
Progressing swiftly against the supercooled ice rain.
Compared to the ground ice layers, this supercooled water was the true terror.
Regardless of where it landed, it could quickly freeze to ice.
Marie and Doris were soon covered in a layer of thin ice.
The driver's seat and cargo hold of the Burden-Bearer Mechas as well.
As the ice rain accelerated its fall, the ice layers thickened rapidly.
The ice rain increased in intensity, eventually falling like an endless torrential downpour.
When Marie reached the Lord's Courtyard, Doris still had to press forward.
Their Burden-Bearer Mechas were covered in an almost three-finger-thick layer of ice.
Marie was similarly affected, her face frozen ghostly pale.
A layer of ice armor formed on her fur coat.
If not for Zong Shen activating the [Magic Energy Thermal Ball] and using the [Blazing Shield]'s magic disc at the crucial moment to brave the ice rain and meet her halfway.
Marie might well have ended up frozen into a living ice sculpture.
He cradled Marie in one arm, folding up the Burden-Bearer Mecha with the other.
Then hurriedly returned under the eaves of the Lord's Small Tower.
This ice rain was too terrifying; it was manageable if sheltered.
But without cover, it was easy to be covered and frozen by the ice rain.
At that moment, Doris was still on the road, waving her [Scorching Barrier] wand.
She activated the energy-saving mode of her Scorching Barrier lv10, creating a 10m x 10m scorching zone.
The ice rain vaporized as it hit the heated barrier, turning into steam.
Then she activated the [Magic Energy Thermal Ball].
It warmed her surroundings and allowed the ice to sublimate.
Fortunately, Zong Shen had equipped everyone with a Magic Energy Thermal Ball for emergencies like this.
Otherwise, faced with such a situation, Doris would have found herself in dangerous trouble.
After all, in Earth's technology, supercooled water can be achieved in a dust-free freezing lab.
Doris safely overcame the scare, though.
Despite these challenges, she was still essentially an extraordinary talented Fire Mage.
The brutal challenge has officially begun!
Those left with such convenient snow commuting tools, were they to rely on so-called sleds again.
It would be as if they discarded their epic weapons for whiteboard-level equipment.
The moment the first raindrop fell, it was like the bugle of charge being blown.
Then the patter of raindrops began to fall hard.
As soon as these raindrops landed, they quickly froze into ice.
In the distance, Doris and Marie had already started returning, piloting the Burden-Bearer Mecha.
The front-mounted snowplow worked excellently, easily pushing aside the wet snow and ice.
In turn, it piled them up on the roadside.
The scorching barrier raised the temperature, turning the supercooled water drops into vapor.
Doris narrowly avoided danger by activating the Magic Energy Thermal Ball around her.
Encircling her was warmth, preventing the quick icing.
Fortunately, Zong Shen had activated the Magic Energy Thermal Ball for her in time.
Otherwise, in the face of such circumstances, Doris might not have frozen to death, but she would have definitely died of boredom.
At the beginning stage of the Frosty Winter's second phase, barely any time had passed.
The brutal challenge finally started!
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