But, the pain could be endured without screaming out, although the body’s physical reaction couldn’t be suppressed.
Lin Beichen’s entire body trembled, and he was instantly drenched in sweat.
The most obvious sign...
Was naturally his skin, which turned a flushed red color.
At this moment, the onlookers around the gymnasium erupted in uproar.
"Hey, hey, look quickly, Lin Beichen’s skin instantly turned red!"
"It was exactly the same yesterday, identical situation!"
"..."
The crowd watched Lin Beichen inside the gymnasium with surprised expressions, suddenly realizing that the two lightning strikes in the clear sky yesterday might really have had nothing to do with Lin Beichen.
After all...
Lin Beichen’s current state was an exact replica of his state yesterday.
But there wasn’t a peal of thunder in the clear sky right now.
"But how did Lin Beichen turn his skin to such a color instantly?"
Someone in the crowd muttered.
Everyone present was puzzled over this question, sparking a new round of discussion. Some said Lin Beichen was ill, others said he had prepared for the crowd by taking some kind of medication.
The explanations were wildly speculative.
And such discussions played out every day as Lin Beichen trained, right up until the day before he was set to leave for an academic exchange in the Divine Light Country.
Following his plan, Lin Beichen did not go to the gymnasium to train but instead went shopping at a shopping center near Imperial Capital University.
"They say that fruits in Divine Light Country are extremely expensive, so I have to buy some."
"Their cuisine is also bland, I can’t go without Lao Gan Ma."
"..."
Soon, he was done with his shopping.
Lin Beichen paid at the checkout and walked out of the supermarket carrying several large bags. Just as he was about to hail a cab back to school to pack, he suddenly stopped, looking towards the northwest with astonishment and confusion.
"The fire elements in the air over there..."
After these days of training, Lin Beichen had firmly established himself in the Second Realm of Fire Element.
He had made great progress!
His perception of the Fire Element had also increased tremendously.
He sensed that the concentration of fire elements in the northwest was higher than the surrounding areas, significantly higher.
Although it hadn’t reached an extremely dense level, it was at least several times higher than what he had perceived during his recent training sessions.
"What’s going on?"
Lin Beichen was very curious, as this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
Suddenly, he thought of his Thunder Tribulation Sword, or more precisely, the Thunderstruck Wood used to make it.
He thought, "Could it be a natural treasure similar to Thunderstruck Wood, which has a significant effect on the Fire Element?"
Lin Beichen’s eyes lit up with excitement. He no longer hurried back to school, and instead, he immediately turned and ran towards the northwest.
At the same time, three kilometers northwest of the shopping center.
An old residential building with six floors was engulfed in flames. Black smoke billowed from the windows between the second and fifth floors, and red-orange flames were spreading from the second and fifth floors to the first and sixth floors.
The entire building was on fire!
The flames were raging!
Because this old building housed many elderly residents who were not very mobile, many were trapped inside since they couldn’t escape in time.
"Help, help!"
"Cough, cough, help!"
"..."
Weak cries for help could be heard amid the thick smoke.
Meanwhile, the area below was crowded with onlookers.
"What do we do now!"
"It’s over, it’s over."
"How could the fire grow so big!"
"Where are the firefighters?"
"It’s not that the firefighters are slow, the fire spread too fast!"
"..."
Voices of anxiety rose and fell.
The onlookers were anxious; after all, everyone knew each other in this old community.
However, despite their anxiety, there was nothing they could do.
They could only be anxious.
Fortunately, at this time, the sound of fire engine sirens grew closer.
Two fire trucks arrived, screaming, and stopped beneath the burning building.
Their doors opened in unison.
One after another, firefighters jumped out of the trucks.
The fire chief, Li Bin, seeing the severity of the fire, immediately started giving orders, "Set up a perimeter, use high-pressure hoses to extinguish the fire, quickly rescue the people!"
Following his command.
The firefighters, already well-coordinated, didn’t need specific instructions and immediately sprang into action.
The perimeter was quickly set up.
The onlookers were kept outside.
At the same time, two high-pressure hoses began spraying, their powerful streams arcing through the air to hit the largest flames on the upper floors.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen firefighters, fully masked, charged into the inferno without hesitation.
"Alright, alright, the firefighters are here!"
"I hope everyone is safe."
"Two fire trucks are here, they should be able to control the fire, right?"
"..."
Seeing the arrival of the fire brigade, the crowd of onlookers felt somewhat relieved.
As they watched.
The streams from the high-pressure hoses quickly brought the blaze under control and started to shrink the flames.
One by one, the residents trapped in the fire were rescued by the firefighters.
Everything was moving in a positive direction.
"Captain, all the residents below the fourth floor have been rescued. Based on our information, there are no residents at home on the sixth floor at this time, which means only the ones on the fifth floor remain trapped. There have been no fatalities reported for now, most of the rescued residents are conscious, although a few have inhaled too much smoke and are semi-conscious, they’ve been sent for emergency treatment. The fire on the upper floors has been reduced by half."
A firefighter reported the status to Li Bin.
Hearing this, Li Bin let out a long breath. When he first arrived at the scene and saw the fierce fire, his heart sank, fearing the rescue effort would be very challenging, but it turned out to be surprisingly smooth.
"How many people are roughly trapped on the fifth floor?"
"Based on the cries for help, we estimate there are two. However, since the fifth floor is the last to be rescued, we can’t rule out that someone might have inhaled too much smoke and become unconscious, unable to call for help."
"Which teams are on the fifth floor?"
The fire team was divided into groups, each consisting of two to three people, to facilitate rescue operations.
"Three teams."
"Bang——!!!!"
At this moment, a loud explosion rang out.
In the next instant.
A series of explosions followed.
With these blasts, flames burst forth from the windows, as if someone inside was using a flamethrower.
The fire, just about to be suppressed, suddenly surged back.
In fact, it became even fiercer than before!
"Oh my god, what’s happening?!"
"Why is there another explosion?!"
"Could someone’s gas tank have exploded?"
"..."
The onlookers were thrown into a panic.
All their discussions reached Li Bin’s ears.
Already troubled, Li Bin’s face grew even grimmer. As he arrived on the scene, he had already assessed the situation in this old community.
This neighborhood had completed a natural gas retrofit several years ago.
So, he hadn’t considered the possibility of gas tanks during the rescue.
And...
They hadn’t discovered any gas tanks during the previous rescues.
That made him overlook this possibility.
But now, with the explosions and hearing the residents’ discussions.
He remembered that many of the elderly residents in this old community were used to using gas tanks instead of natural gas, making it highly likely that they continued to use gas tanks!
Li Bin felt a deep sense of guilt for not considering this possibility earlier.
While the rescue efforts would have proceeded regardless, the strategy might have been different, taking into account the risks to better control the operation.
However, as an experienced firefighter.
He did not lose his composure.
Just as he was about to give new instructions.
The bad news came.
"Captain, something’s wrong!!"