The plane landed at a military airport in City B. After meeting up with Mutou, who was already waiting there, the group quickly learned about the current situation and immediately drove toward the mountain range where the children were trapped.
Mutou was a man of few words. When he saw Mo Xiaobai, he merely nodded in greeting.
Li Bai explained to Mo Xiaobai that Mutou’s real name was Lin Qing. The reason everyone called him “Mutou” (which literally means “wooden head”) was because he wasn’t just a total straight man—he was extremely taciturn. Other than when necessary for missions, he hardly ever spoke.
Mo Xiaobai expressed her understanding; everyone had their own personality.
From their briefing, she learned that the rescue team had already reached the mountain and begun their operation.
Nearby towns and villages had also been fully prepared for the coming earthquake. All rescue vehicles were on standby, ready for deployment. The main focus now was rescuing the trapped children.
The driver was Duke—the man with the refined, aristocratic aura—who, surprisingly, was recognized by the team as a master driver. His driving was utterly wild.
No one knew whether he was always this daring or if it was because time was so critical, but a journey that was supposed to take two hours took him only half an hour.
As for Mo Xiaobai, she had no idea what to think—only that when she stepped out of the car, her legs were so weak she nearly collapsed.
If Luo Yifan hadn’t grabbed her in time, she would have fallen for sure. Fortunately, not only did she manage to stay on her feet—she didn’t even throw up.
Everyone showed concern for her, but time was tight. Since planes couldn’t get near the mountain range, this was already the fastest they could possibly arrive.
In Mo Xiaobai’s prophetic dream, she hadn’t seen the exact time of the earthquake—only that it seemed to be near dusk when the sky was darkening.
Now it was already 5 p.m. With time slipping away, every second counted.
Mo Xiaobai understood this and didn’t waste any time. She immediately began climbing the mountain toward the cave.
The rescue team had been on the mountain for quite a while already, but the road to the cave where the children were trapped was extremely difficult to traverse. They were still some distance away, though the medical team was already prepared and waiting to receive the children.
The group moved quickly. Although Mo Xiaobai hadn’t been formally trained, her genetically enhanced body wasn’t ordinary. Her reflexes and speed kept up with everyone else’s, and soon they had even overtaken the original rescue team.
When they finally reached the cave, everyone let out a breath of relief—it looked like they’d made it in time. Their contingency plans wouldn’t be needed.
But they relaxed too soon. Just as they were preparing to enter the cave, the earthquake struck—suddenly, without warning.
Luo Yifan and the others immediately began acting according to their prearranged plan.
Mo Xiaobai quickly activated her powers, stimulating the surrounding plants to life, causing them to spring up and deflect falling rocks. The others rushed into the cave to check on the children and prepare for evacuation.
Whether Li Bai truly lived up to his nickname “Wine Immortal” was uncertain, but his medical skills were exceptional. He immediately began checking the children’s conditions and instructed team members to feed them water, making sure they could hold on until the medical team arrived.
The quake was strong, but because of Mo Xiaobai’s presence, the cave turned out to be the safest place on the mountain. The team abandoned the idea of immediate evacuation and focused instead on stabilizing the children.
However, although Mo Xiaobai’s mutated wood-type ability was powerful, she had only awakened it recently. Her energy was quickly being drained.
Growing anxious, she called out to the Fubao System.
“Fuwa, my energy is almost gone! Check the Merit Mall—what can I use right now?”
“There’s a primary energy solution available, 5,000 merit points per vial. Do you want to redeem one?” The little Fuwa immediately opened the page for her.
“Redeem!” Mo Xiaobai gritted her teeth. She just needed to hold on a little longer.
“Alright, congratulations to the host for redeeming one vial of primary energy solution. 5,000 merit points have been deducted.”
As soon as she got the vial, Mo Xiaobai drank it down in one gulp.
She quickly felt her nearly exhausted powers surge back to life, and even her little jar-like container spirit seemed more energetic.
After redeeming another vial and drinking it, the earthquake finally subsided. The cave wasn’t buried, though the surrounding area was now encircled by piles of rock and boulders.
The cave itself, though intact, had effectively become a giant pit.
Seeing that the danger had passed, Mo Xiaobai collapsed onto the ground, completely drained.
When Luo Yifan came out of the cave and saw her pale face, he hurried over and handed her a bottle of water. “The children are all fine. They’ve woken up, just still weak. Don’t worry.”
Mo Xiaobai took the water and gulped it down greedily, finally exhaling in relief.
They were all safe. How wonderful!
Before long, the rescue team arrived. Many of them bore minor injuries—though they’d prepared in advance, it was impossible to come through an earthquake completely unscathed.
When the rescuers saw the scene before them, they were utterly stunned. This couldn’t have been accomplished by human strength!
Though they didn’t know exactly what the terrain had looked like before, there was no way it had originally featured a massive pit surrounded by towering trees and thick vines.
It was obvious that these trees and vines had stopped the landslide from crushing the cave. Otherwise, the entire opening would have been buried under tons of rock.
It wasn’t until Big Lin shouted, “Stretchers!” that the rescuers snapped out of their daze and quickly began carrying the children down the mountain to the waiting medical vehicles.
After the children were handed over, the team members gathered around, staring at the pit in shock.
So this was the power of an ability? Incredible. Soon, they would awaken powers too—they couldn’t wait. With strength like this, they could save so many more people.
In fact, the original plan hadn’t been arranged like this. Mo Xiaobai had volunteered to protect the cave from collapse while the others focused on rescuing the children.
At first, the others had disagreed, but after seeing her ability in action—and with Luo Yifan’s approval—they had accepted the plan, while privately preparing a backup strategy just in case.
None of them had expected Mo Xiaobai’s ability to be this strong. On the plane, she had only demonstrated growing a seed—no one had imagined she could stimulate the surrounding vegetation to such an extent.
Fang Yu even went over and tested one of the plants’ vines with a knife, discovering that it was extremely tough and hard to cut. No wonder it could block so many falling rocks.
“Xiaobai, you’re amazing!” Li Bai said, patting her shoulder. “These plants you grew are almost as tough as weapons!”
“It’s okay,” Mo Xiaobai said weakly. “After I level up, they should get even tougher. Thank goodness I still had some merit points—otherwise, I couldn’t have held out this long.” She was deeply relieved that she had earned 10,000 merit points from her previous mission—just enough to get her through this one.
Once all the children were safely rescued, the team left the site with the rescue crew.
Along the way, the rescuers kept glancing at them curiously, wondering what exactly had happened back in that cave.
But curiosity was one thing; no one dared to ask. They all knew better—whatever it was, it was clearly classified.
They’d been briefed beforehand not to ask unnecessary questions.
As the vehicle headed back, Mo Xiaobai soon received the system notification: Mission Completed.