Cass could tell that the stone wall that had blocked the train's impact must have been created by Sam Li or Piper. Apart from them, there was no one else around.
He knew just how powerful that wall had been.
But he wasn't sure if Sam Li and Piper could truly defeat the Notoriety Ethereal—Locomotive.
If they failed, once the Locomotive recovered, it would be almost impossible for them to escape.
Sam Li walked over to Cass and patted him on the shoulder.
"Mr. Cass, would you like to commission me to take care of this Ethereal?"
Hearing Sam Li's calm tone, it was as if killing a Notoriety Ethereal was no more difficult than slaughtering a chicken.
Cass snapped out of it and hurriedly said,
"Mr. Sam Li, I beg you! Please help me get my revenge!"
Sam Li nodded.
"The contract is sealed. Rest for a bit. Leave the rest to me."
With that, Sam Li carried the birdcage in hand and walked straight toward the Notoriety Ethereal—Locomotive.
No weapons. No armor.
Completely unarmed.
Piper hurried after him.
"Mr. Sam Li, are you trying to get yourself killed?! You can't just fight a high-ranking Ethereal head-on!
The boss said you have to wait for the high-ranking Ethereal to make a move. When Ether surges and the yellow glow appears, that's when you counterattack!"
As a member of the Sons of Calydon,
an Outer Ring native,
Piper didn't have much real battle experience against Notoriety Ethereals,
but she had memorized the boss's teachings well.
You couldn't beat a high-ranking Ethereal by brute force.
You had to rely on nimble footwork, dodge their attacks, and seize the right moment to strike.
But no matter how much she said,
Sam Li didn't seem to care.
"It's just a high-ranking Ethereal. No need for all that trouble," he said indifferently.
At that moment,
although Sam Li held no visible weapon,
it didn't mean he wasn't prepared.
In fact, the moment he stepped into the station,
Sam Li had already set everything in motion.
He had issued a command under the name of the Geo Emperor, ordering all Geo elements within a five-kilometer radius to gather and await his command.
As Sam Li and Piper steadily approached,
the Ethereal—fused with the locomotive—finally shook itself awake.
Its monstrous body, like a gigantic centipede, slowly lifted its upper half into the air, dozens of grotesque legs wriggling wildly.
It stared at Sam Li and Piper like predators sizing up prey, ready to strike at any moment.
Piper gripped her axe tightly with both hands, staying close behind Sam Li,
watching the monstrous Ethereal warily, ready to swing at a moment's notice.
The next moment,
Piper spotted something and tugged on Sam Li's clothes.
"Wait! Look over there!"
Following Piper's finger,
Sam Li saw the Locomotive's tail quivering violently.
In just a few seconds,
dozens of nearly one-meter-long Ethereal insects crawled out from the rear of the Locomotive.
Like giant centipedes, they quickly swarmed toward Sam Li and Piper.
Seeing this,
Sam Li and Piper stopped moving forward.
Piper, now wide awake, gripped her axe tighter.
"Sam Li, you've really gotten us killed this time."
"Don't panic," Sam Li said calmly.
Piper took a deep breath.
"There's just the two of us, and they've got an entire swarm! How are we supposed to fight this?"
Sam Li chuckled lightly.
"I'll just summon some help."
As he spoke,
Sam Li lightly waved his hand, scattering a handful of golden light across the ground ahead.
Before Piper could react,
the earth began to wriggle.
A small rock beetle crawled out from the soil,
and as soon as it broke through the surface, it rapidly grew.
In the blink of an eye,
it had already reached the size of a basin.
Piper's jaw dropped.
"What the hell?! Sam Li, are you some kind of magician? Where did that thing come from?!"
Sam Li replied calmly,
"As you can see. It crawled out of the ground."
As the first rock beetle emerged,
the ground all around them began to stir.
A second, a third, a fourth...
In just ten seconds, dozens of rock beetles had appeared.
This was Sam Li's newest technique—
simulating living creatures out of pure rock.
Seeing this,
Piper was utterly stunned.
Her mouth hung open, unable to comprehend what was happening.
Where had all these stone creatures come from?!
The scene was so bizarre that all she could do was chalk it up to magic,
thinking of Sam Li as a magician and the beetles as biomimetic weapons.
Just as Piper stood frozen in disbelief,
suddenly—
the Notoriety Ethereal—Locomotive clattered loudly,
dozens of its legs writhing.
At the same time,
those massive centipede-like insects rushed toward them.
Sam Li, of course, wasn't about to sit there waiting to die.
With a simple wave of his hand,
he commanded the rock beetles to charge and annihilate the incoming centipedes.
And he didn't stop there.
With another graceful wave,
Sam Li released another burst of golden light across the earth.
Immediately,
the ground rumbled once more.
The next second,
a sharp rock claw burst through the soil,
like a giant beast clawing its way out, startling Piper half to death.
What was it this time?!
Moments later,
a massive rock tiger, its body covered in golden patterns,
emerged from the ground.
It let out a thunderous roar at the Notoriety Ethereal—then charged straight at it!
Piper was completely bewildered.
"?????"
It wasn't just giant beetles now—
there were tigers crawling out of the ground too?!
She knew Sam Li must be the one controlling them,
but she couldn't figure out how.
Was he really a magician?
Sam Li said calmly,
"Stay sharp. I'll take care of the Ethereal."
Piper was about to answer,
but before she could,
Sam Li had already leapt into the air.
With a sweeping motion of his hand,
a mass of strange energy condensed before him,
manifesting into a long rock serpent.
The serpent soared through the air and coiled tightly around the Notoriety Ethereal, binding it.
Seeing this,
Piper could only marvel.
Once they finished off the Locomotive,
she had to ask Sam Li how he did all this—
and whether he could conjure her a brand-new truck too.
Taking a deep breath,
Piper gripped her axe and charged at the nearest centipede-like Ethereal.
One clean swing—
and it was sliced in two.
But there were too many.
The rock beetles alone weren't enough.
Piper hesitated for a moment,
then spun around wildly with her axe,
slashing through the centipedes one after another.
...
Meanwhile, on Sam Li's side,
he wasn't planning to use his spear this time.
Instead, he had fully embraced the role of a summoner, testing his newly developed control over Geo elements.
He continued issuing commands to the Geo underground.
Ordering them to condense into fierce lions that leapt onto the Locomotive, tearing at it...
Ordering them to take the shape of giant serpents, wrapping and constricting the Ethereal...
Before long,
five or six rock beasts formed entirely from condensed Geo had surrounded the battlefield.
...