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Chapter 44 - Solidified Fire Used Up?

This means that the puppets manufactured by the Wood Puppet Monster already wield the power of the Earthripper Realm!

"Leader Bruce, we're out of solidified fire oil, can I get a bit more?"

George's voice came, and Bruce turned to look, immediately feeling a tightness in his heart.

Lucas and the other two were still strenuously distinguishing between real and fake; each of the three had saved more than a dozen people, but the solidified fire oil on their hands and weapons was running low, and they were all carrying some injuries.

And George, who was seeking help from him, was surrounded, even taking a blow to his waist in a sneak attack, blood continually trickling down.

George, along with the three, had broken through to the Earthripper Realm not just a day or two ago.

Bruce had observed before that all four of them had a basic strength superior to his own.

With his solidified fire oil, the four of them ended up like this, which could only mean that those puppets mixed among the real ones were indeed, as he suspected, all of the Earthripper Realm.

"Leader George, catch this!"

Seeing George in a dire situation, Bruce tossed the remaining piece of solidified fire oil he'd been using on his weapons to him.

George caught it, quickly breaking it into four pieces, handing one to each of Lucas and the other two behind him, then immediately applying it to their hands and weapons.

Solidified fire oil, indeed, was effective.

Any puppets intending to sneak attack them would scream in agony upon contact, even if they wielded Earthripper Realm strength, they'd gain no advantage over George and the other three.

Having replenished their supply, George and the others were reinvigorated.

In just a moment, they'd rescued dozens more people, and in this little time, they'd distinguished nearly a hundred people behind them.

Since entering the camp until now, the look of despair plastered on the four's faces finally started to show some change at this moment.

Though the number of people they saved was less than one-tenth of the total population, at least it was some salvage.

However, there were simply too many people, and the solidified fire oil was running out!

"Leader Bruce, give us a bit more solidified fire oil, and we can save more people."

Seeing his solidified fire oil running out, George looked toward Bruce with immense hope, expecting him to offer more.

Yet, Bruce's expression shattered his hopes immediately.

"Leader George, solidified fire oil isn't something you find lying around. I only had two pieces in total. We've already used one, and with this last piece for you all, can we discern everyone at the back? That Wood Puppet Monster hasn't shown itself so far either!"

George glanced at the interior of the wooden house, estimating roughly three to four hundred people still left, making his face turn grim.

He knew Bruce wasn't wrong; it was impossible to identify so many people with solidified fire oil, and the Wood Puppet Monster wasn't showing itself, probably fearing the solidified fire oil.

Once they ran out of solidified fire oil, what would happen if the Wood Puppet Monster reappeared?

"Leader George, let's give up. Use the solidified fire oil to open the wooden house. The crowd outside is also very dangerous, and if something happens to them, the situation will only worsen!"

George clenched his fists, looking at the crowd inside the wooden house and those crawling on the ground nearby.

Though his heart wavered, he immediately made a decision.

"Lucas, apply the solidified fire oil to your weapons and break open the wooden house. Let these people escape safely first."

"Yes, leader!"

Seeing George so decisive, Bruce immediately felt relieved.

He feared that the other would be indecisive and unwilling to give up on the people inside the wooden house.

There were many people inside the wooden house, but saving them all just wasn't possible, and continuing to try would not only waste solidified fire oil but also pose risks.

After all, they had no idea how many puppets were controlled by the Wood Puppet Monster.

Moreover, staying inside longer would endanger those outside.

All the Axeheart Realm individuals of Rogel and Harper, along with the Axeheart Realm forces of the four factions, including Benhong and the others, were outside.

If anything were to happen to these people, defeating the Wood Puppet Monster today would be meaningless.

The wooden house imprisoning them seemed only to confine people at the moment, with no other apparent function, but the other four houses were unclear.

As Bruce pondered, George and the other three had applied the last bit of solidified fire oil to their weapons and pulled together with all their might to chop at the newly sealed wooden wall.

Crack…

Just like before, their blades all sunk in without immediately breaking open the door, but unlike before, once the blades embedded into the wooden wall, sparks burst forth.

The sparks, meeting the moving wooden wall, grew excited and rapidly expanded the flames, burning a large hole in the wooden wall with remarkable speed.

The wooden walls, originally trying to close up again, hesitated upon contact with the flames from the solidified fire oil, relinquishing the burned parts instead.

In no time, a flaming hole of four to five meters in diameter was burned into the wall.

"Everyone, escape quickly!"

At George's command, the rescued people scrambled through the fire-lit hole.

Bruce didn't rush ahead with those people; he merely observed the situation outside through the hole, and what he saw made his face grow increasingly anxious.

"Leader George, hurry up and help!"

Bruce ignored the remaining people inside, shouting to George, then darted out first, bypassing those ordinary people.

George gritted his teeth, originally intending to stay and rescue more people inside the wooden house.

But upon seeing the situation outside, his face tightened, and he dared not hesitate any longer, leading Lucas and the others to rush out together.

---

In the valley, at some unknown time, a Wooden Puppet Giant towering over a hundred meters had appeared.

The giant's body was extremely small, with its limbs almost making up eighty percent of its body.

Its legs were like two colossal pillars reaching to the sky, each step causing the valley ground to tremble, making the surrounding vegetation sway precariously;

Its arms were narrow and long, reaching forty to fifty meters, almost taking up half of its body, and though its hands had no visible fingers, they clenched into fists like two meteoric hammers with a diameter of over ten meters, crazily smashing down on the people on the ground.

You must know, the valley was only three to four hundred meters wide, with the wooden giant blocking the middle, leaving little space on both sides for dodging.

All fifty-four people from the six camps outside were now desperately fleeing in chaos.

There were a total of fifty-four people who remained outside.

Bruce stepped out of the wooden house, glanced quickly, and immediately realized more than ten people were missing, his face tensed up, and he hurriedly searched among the fleeing figures for Tony, Clark, and others.

"Leader, we're here!"

Tony's voice came from the left side, and Bruce turned his head, a hint of relief appearing on his face.

On the rock wall on the right side of the valley, Tony, Clark, and the other six were all there.

But the relief on Bruce's face vanished instantly as he saw the situation the six were in.

For the six were currently stuck in a stone crevice.

And outside the crevice, the massive right fist of the Wooden Puppet Giant was pounding down frantically.

Although the crevice was one or two meters thick, under such bombardment, cracks began to appear on its surface, clearly unable to withstand a few more hits before breaking completely.

The Wooden Puppet Giant had no fingers to pull the six out from the crevice, so it could only attack with brute force, and it knew to aim at the only exit of the crevice, increasing its speed, clearly not giving Tony and the others a chance to escape.

Even more outrageous was that the Wooden Puppet Giant was multitasking; attacking the six was just a task for its right arm, while the other limbs targeted the other forty-something people in the valley.

"Leader Bruce, catch the knife!"

"Thank you."

Bruce unhesitatingly rushed towards the six, with George tossing a large knife to him, which he caught without turning around, quickly charging towards the stone crevice where the six were.

As the Wooden Puppet Giant's limbs pounded the ground repeatedly, the Earth was quaking, and Bruce's body was staggering as he ran, the expression on his face growing ever more grave.

The ground of this world is different, and the Earthripper Realm isn't just a saying.

To cause such a disturbance in the ground, the Wooden Puppet Giant's power must be unimaginably strong.

It's not just himself, but even George might not be able to withstand it.

As he pondered, Bruce had reached the crevice's edge.

Seizing the opportunity as the giant smashed its hammer-like fist onto the crevice once more, he stepped onto the rock wall for leverage, raised his knife, and slashed down on the giant hammer-like fist.

This Wooden Puppet Giant, unsurprisingly, was transformed from the other four wooden houses of the camp, likely made from the Golden Frost Tree.

If he were barehanded, Bruce wouldn't be confident in chopping it down, but with a knife in hand, it was no problem.

Crack…

As the knife hacked into the wooden fist, the sharpness of the iron met Bruce's expectations, chopping open a crack over a meter long without any suspense.

Yet facing the crack, Bruce was stunned.

Beneath the crack lay a dense layer of transparent white threads.

Before he could react, the giant puppet's right hand, which he had struck, seemed unaffected, lifting again and ignoring him as it continued pummeling the crevice where Tony and the others hid.

Boom… boom… boom…

The crevice where Tony and the six hid was already small, and after being smashed over a dozen times, it was teetering on the brink, with Clark and Tony, standing at the forefront, even being crushed by the stones, blood leaking from their mouths.

If the giant puppet continued like this, the six of them would surely die!

Bruce lifted his head, observing that the crack he had just made in the giant puppet's descending right hand was already slowly healing.

Daring not to hesitate further, he took the Solidified Fire Oil from his breast, directly applying it to the knife's blade.

The giant puppet's right fist alone had a diameter of over ten meters; from the start, he hadn't intended to solve it with one strike, only to divert the Wooden Puppet's attention and assist Tony and the others out of their predicament.

But unexpectedly, the giant puppet didn't take the bait.

Gripping the long knife tightly, Bruce seized the moment when the giant puppet was once again smashing downward, leapt up, and embedded the blade into its right hand, then exerted force with both arms, gripping the handle firmly.

Accompanying the giant puppet's lifted right hand, Bruce was also taken up.

The moment the blade pierced the giant puppet's right hand, the Solidified Fire Oil already began to take effect, the white threads mixed in the wood igniting instantly, then spreading in all directions continuously.

Success!

Clutching the handle tightly, Bruce thought to himself, just as a relaxed expression appeared on his face, it instantly changed in shock.

The knife embedded in the giant puppet's arm seemed to be falling out.

No, it wasn't the knife falling out but the section cut by the knife, accurately the part burned by the Solidified Fire Oil, detaching.

The giant puppet was actually surrendering the small portion of its fist burned by the Solidified Fire Oil, separating it from its body.

Bruce, realizing he was about to fall with that fist segment, clenched his face, gritting his teeth as he yanked out the knife.

Next, he leaped up, racing up along the giant puppet's elongated right arm.

Despite the giant puppet's large fist, its right arm was thin and elongated, like a hammer handle to a hammerhead.

Seizing the opportunity to sprint upward, Bruce applied another layer of Solidified Fire Oil on the knife's blade.

Racing to the thinnest part of the giant puppet's right arm, with a grim expression, he slashed downward.

The giant puppet's focus seemed to always be on Yuan Chuan and the others on the ground, considering Bruce climbing its right arm as a mere distraction.

Thus, it continued hammering at the stone crevice where Tony and the others hid.

Bruce's slash employed nearly all his strength.

As it must, for even the narrowest part of the giant puppet's right arm seemed two to three meters in diameter, making him worry he might not cut through it without using full force.

Tear…

Luckily, the cut worked!

Though not directly severed, the slash dug over two meters deep into the right arm.

The white threads touched by the Solidified Fire Oil burned instantly, the uncut centimeters incinerating along with the flames and breaking off directly.

Boom…

The giant fist, carrying its immense inertia, still struck the stone crevice where Tony and the six were hiding.

However, lacking the giant puppet's control, its force was as diminished as it could be.

Crash… Crack…

Still, even so, the stone crevice where Tony and the others hid fractured.

Tony, Clark, and the others pushed away the stones, escaping with looks of fortunate survival on their faces.

Had Bruce not severed the giant puppet's right arm, that punch landing normally would have crushed all six into a pulp.

As he watched the six escape, Bruce glanced at the Solidified Fire Oil in his hand, then at the giant puppet's remaining limbs still attacking George and the others, his face showing hesitation.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and tossed it to George in the distance.

"Leader George, catch this, it's the last one; cut its arm!"

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