Chapter Seventy-Two

Chapter Seventy-Two

Of course, Baisha and her group didn’t come just to steal prey. They were also there to add to Kaisin Greiz’s troubles.

Cen Yuehuai, the fastest, piloted her mech down from the high slope, sparks of golden yellow flying from her feet. She raised her bow-crossbow, targeting the small groups led by Greiz, her arrows falling like meteors.

The rule of the competition was that participants couldn't kill each other; at most, they could perform minor actions to obstruct each other's activities, so Cen Yuehuai's arrows were inevitably aimed at the mutant creatures.

The students from Xizhou Military Academy reacted quickly, using their weapons to break or deflect the arrows. However, Cen Yuehuai's arrow angles were tricky, with several not aimed at the vital parts of the prey. These "less important" arrows, deemed a secondary target by Xizhou's students, instantly enraged the creatures, causing them to roar and frantically charge at the mechs nearby.

"Their goal isn't to kill the prey; it's purely to disrupt our formation!" a student from Xizhou Military Academy exclaimed, "They're here to stir up trouble!"

The term 'troublemakers' was aptly fitting.

Baisha and Xino·Us then charged into the crowd. Both skilled at taking on multiple opponents, they didn't rush to claim prey upon entering Xizhou Military Academy’s encirclement. Instead, they used various methods to trip up the students from Xizhou Military Academy.

Xino, wielding a chain sword and unleashing his full psychic power, created a whooshing sound as the chain sword swung through the air. This was more a method of intimidation than an attack – the mutant creatures sensed Xino's raging psychic power approaching, becoming incredibly agitated and struggling more violently.

"This won't do, we'll be at a disadvantage if this keeps up! Let's take a gamble and kill these mutants!" one of Xizhou's students lunged with a light sword, aiming a deadly blow at the mutant horned bull in front of him.

His mech's wings unfolded, and he propelled upwards, the dazzling light sword targeting the neck of the mutant wild bull.

Just then, he heard a "zzzt" sound by his ear, like the sound of a wire being pulled out.

The next moment, his vision spun wildly as his mech lost balance instantly.

He felt a strong tug on his legs.

—It was Baisha who had fired the silver wire gun!

He managed to stabilize himself in mid-air, but due to inertia, his upper body inevitably plunged towards the ground.

In his blurred vision as he looked up, the last thing he saw was the mutant horned bull breaking through the blockade of two students, charging at him with its sharp horns.

Bang!

The mech took a solid hit from the mutant wild bull's charge, getting knocked back over ten meters and heavily crashing to the ground, with wisps of blue smoke rising from its joints.

...The outer shell of his mech was pierced with two holes by the mutant wild bull. With such damage, he needed to find a mech engineer quickly for repairs, or he wouldn't last a few days.

Two mech engineers from his team, carrying toolboxes, hurried over to repair the mech, only to be immobilized by incoming ice arrows.

"These mech engineers are quite easy to deal with," Cen Yuehuai remarked in the team's communication channel, "Indeed, students from the mech engineer department are far behind those from the combat department in terms of fighting ability."

"Don't get complacent, stay focused. We can use these frenzied mutants to eliminate a couple more from Xizhou Military Academy," Xino advised.

Cen Yuehuai: "Understood."

Due to the significant disparity in strength among the small groups in Kaisin's team, many were crumbling under the combined attacks and distractions from Baisha and her group.

Kaisin Greiz gritted his teeth in frustration, "Forget the prey. Capture them!"

The "wolf pack" obeyed, setting Baisha and her team as their mechs' primary tracking targets.

Baisha, swinging her silver wire gun to dodge an electrostatic bullet from a Xizhou Military Academy student, turned to find the silently approaching "wolf pack" and shouted, "Let's go!"

Kaisin Greiz chased them, leading them away from the plains and towards a tall cedar forest.

Kaisin Greiz ordered, "Keep pursuing. Even in the forest, we have the advantage in speed. We'll catch them sooner or later."

The mobility of the wolf-shaped mechs was indeed superior to the mechs controlled by Baisha and her team, almost lightning-fast, imperceptible to the naked eye, leaving only fleeting afterimages in the air.

Baisha piloted her mech over a hillside, and looking back, saw the Silver Wolf Mech perched atop the highest point of the slope, its hind legs slightly bent, metallic claws extended forward in a diving posture, its eyes emitting a faint blue glow—

Leap, pursuit!

In close proximity!

Baisha and her team decisively stowed their weapons and swiftly climbed up the towering cedar trees.

Just then, a burst of noisy exclamations erupted in Greiz's team communication channel:

"How did someone suddenly emerge from the bushes!"

"Boss, someone else is here to snatch our prey!"

"He's strong; he just killed three A-class mutants with a single slash—"

"It's another one from Tianquan Military Academy!!"

Kaisin Greiz's eyes widened as he glanced behind him, only to see a deep blue mech emerge from nowhere, wielding a massive, wide flat light sword. The sword's main body was white, with a straight deep blue neon light running down its center. The mech raised the sword and struck down, the blade creating a mist of gray-white water vapor and emitting a series of low hums – at first glance, it resembled a giant whale surging through vast waves.

The students from Xizhou Military Academy inwardly gasped, thinking: This person must be at least 3S class!

Taking advantage of the moment Kaisin Greiz's direct "wolf pack" was drawn away by Baisha's team, this person appeared, swiftly killing several mutants that hadn't managed to escape, without any hesitation!

His sudden attack was so swift and unanticipated, no single fighter on the plains of the same caliber could stop him, allowing him to successfully snatch the remaining prey from the students of Xizhou Military Academy.

"...We've been outsmarted, boss!"

This ploy of drawing the tiger out of the mountains caused heavy losses for Grez's team.

Cassin Grez inhaled sharply, suppressing his anger as he questioned Baisha and the others, "What do you mean by this?"

Baisha stood on the thick branches of a pine tree, whistling lightly: "Isn't an election all about using one's abilities? Deception is part of the game, my friend Grez."

Cassin Grez glared at them sullenly.

Such a situation of being taken advantage of was just bad luck when it happened. Even if he shook Baisha and the others off the tree, he couldn't have a proper fight with them.

This score would have to be settled later.

"Retreat," Cassin Grez ordered emotionlessly, "ignore them."

Then, Cassin Grez turned his mech around and left.

With the 'Alpha Wolf' gone, the rest of the team, despite their frustration, had to follow the order.

"Phew, that was close," Cen Yuehuai leaned against the tree trunk, sighing, "I really thought we were about to be caught by Grez and his team."

"The explosive power of the beast-type mechs is really something," Sino agreed.

Baisha transmitted a message to the team channel: "Yu Yan, how's it going on your end?"

Yu Yan's cool voice came through: "Escaped successfully."

"Good, I'll sync the next part of our route with you. Find a way to meet up with us," Baisha said, then settled cross-legged on the mech, perched on the tree trunk, lost in brief thought, "I wonder what it feels like to pilot a beast-type mech..."

"I've tried it before. Operating a beast-type mech is more complex and restrictive than a humanoid mech," Sino explained, "To be a successful beast-type mech pilot, one must learn from real animals how to control the body, yet not be confined to their movement patterns. Often, it takes years of adjustment with the mech to fight effectively."

Operating humanoid mechs is generally similar, with differences lying in each mech's unique characteristics. With Baisha and their skill level, they could quickly adapt to a new mech. But beast-type mechs are different.

"I see," Baisha nodded slowly, "I knew that beast-type mech pilots often stick with the same mech for a lifetime. Even if they update their mech, the overall changes are minimal."

"That's to maintain the feel," Sino added, "Handling a beast-type mech, the feel is paramount."

After resting in the tree for a while, Baisha and Sino began maneuvering their mechs, leaping between the branches of the pine tree.

Cen Yuehuai watched with trepidation. The mechs were heavy, and it was uncertain whether the pine branches could withstand their impact. But Baisha and Sino, with their exceptional skills, managed every landing on the branches, even with less than a second to react, performing precise and appropriate maneuvers without ever falling from the treetops.

"Do we really have to rush like this?" Cen Yuehuai shouted, "Can't we run on the ground?"

"Come on," Baisha turned to Cen Yuehuai, "We've done similar training at school, what are you afraid of?"

Cen Yuehuai took a deep breath, controlled her mech to dive, and just as she stepped on a branch not far away, she heard a "crack" under her feet—

The branch broke.

Her eyebrows twitched as she controlled the mech to leap sideways, grasping a pine tree with all four limbs.

"That scared me to death!" Cen Yuehuai yelled.

Baisha and Sino turned back, slightly startled, and shouted to Cen Yuehuai, "Watch out behind you!"

Cen Yuehuai instinctively turned around.

Through the lush green foliage, a huge triangular snake head emerged. Its eyes were blood-red, its body covered in rock-like spots, with green moss at the edges of its scales.

This was an S-class mutated creature, the Rock-Spotted Belly Snake.

The next second, a loud exclamation of "Damn!" from Cen Yuehuai echoed through the pine forest.

Baisha and Sino raised their eyebrows slightly and, brandishing their weapons, flew towards the tree where Cen Yuehuai was, wondering as they did: Was Cen Yuehuai's luck good or bad?

The group roamed the pine forest, bagging a few prey but encountering no more high-level mutated creatures.

They followed the plan, leaving the pine forest before sunset to meet Yu Yan by a lake, where they set up camp.

Under the vast night sky, the stars reflected on the lake's surface. Their light illuminated the snowy white pebble beach, where a campfire flickered and danced.

"This time, it's grilled fish," Sino confidently said, turning over a branch skewered with fish, "There’s no way this can go wrong."

Recalling the taste of lunch, Cen Yuehuai looked dubious: "Maybe don't get your hopes up too high."

"This aroma, this color—could you do any better?" Sino challenged, handing Cen Yuehuai a skewer with perfectly charred fish skin revealing milky white flesh, "Want to try?"

Cen Yuehuai took it, blew on it a couple of times, and tentatively took a bite.

Then she quietly spat it out.

"Bitter," she said numbly, "Did you forget to remove the innards?"

"Impossible," Xino frowned. "I always clean them thoroughly before grilling."

Yuyan also picked up a grilled fish, took a bite, chewed slowly for two seconds, then spat it out: "It's bitter and inedible."

Xino: "Why can't it be eaten?"

Yuyan: "It's poisonous."

Xino: "..."

Xino looked deeply hurt.

"I mean, this type of fish is inherently poisonous. None of you should eat it," Yuyan said, glancing towards the clear, cold pond nearby, "I'll go catch some fish."

Upon hearing this, Cen Yuehuai spat out twice, while Baisha and Xino exchanged glances.

Although Green Grass Star is a planet where they can move freely, it is not a habitable planet. It's normal that some creatures there are edible, while others are not and may even be highly toxic. Their "wilderness survival" here inherently involves the risk of poisoning.

The outrageous thing is Yuyan's ability to discern toxins with his tongue.

Xino asked skeptically, "How do you know this fish is poisonous?"

Yuyan: "I have a lot of experience."

Xino: "..."

What kind of experience? Experience with poisoning?

Where exactly did Yuyan come from?

Under Xino's somewhat surprised gaze, Yuyan calmly stood up. A giant white bear slowly materialized from the void, shook its ears adorably, and followed Yuyan to the lakeside to fish.

A few minutes later, Yuyan returned with four fish, their backs lined with silver, cooked them over the campfire, and distributed them to everyone.

Cen Yuehuai's eyes lit up after the first bite of fish, quickly devouring the whole fish down to the skeleton, then gave Yuyan a thumbs up.

At last, a decent meal!

Tears of gratitude welled up in Cen Yuehuai's eyes.

Afterwards, they set up makeshift tents, taking turns to keep watch through the night.

"You guys sleep first, and then replace me in the latter half of the night," Yuyan said. "I don't have the habit of deep sleep outdoors, a few hours of rest is enough for me. Besides, you all traveled a long way today looking for me, you must be exhausted."

Baisha and Xino were relatively fine, but Cen Yuehuai, full from the meal, was already struggling to keep his eyes open.

"It's alright, let's take turns fairly through the night," Cen Yuehuai said, squinting and yawning softly, "But right now... um, I really am quite sleepy, I'll sleep a bit first..."

Cen Yuehuai crawled into the tent, lay on his back, hands on his abdomen, and within seconds, his head tilted to the side, deeply asleep.

Baisha and Xino discussed the order for the night watch and then went to rest as well.

A few hours later.

The starlight dimmed gradually, and a bright, full moon rose in the sky.

"Woo—"

"Awoo—"

All but Xino, who was on watch, were jolted awake by the sound.

Crawling out of their tents, the howling grew clearer: a series of loud, echoing wolf howls, and not just from one!

Cen Yuehuai, infuriated, yelled out, "What's wrong with them? Howling in the middle of the night, doesn't anyone sleep anymore!"

Baisha, too, seemed bewildered. She hissed, tidying her disheveled hair, "Is that Kaxin Greiz and his team? What's going on, are they trying to get back at us?"

Xino, equally baffled, remarked, "Surely not, it might just be a coincidence."

Kaxin Greiz's team wasn't far from them, and it was possible they were both operating in the same area. Moreover, wolves are nocturnal. If they still had energy, hunting at night could actually be advantageous for Kaxin Greiz and his team.

"Staying up this late, are the students from Xi Zhou Military Academy monsters, or is it just Kaxin Greiz?" Cen Yuehuai muffled his ears, weary, "Anyway, all I want now is to sleep..."

But the mournful howls continued, relentless. Even if these wolves were just spiritual entities, their howling was overly zealous.

Yuyan listened for a moment, then in silence said, "I think they might be in trouble."

Wolf howls are used to communicate or express emotions. In any case, they wouldn't be howling like this without a reason.

Cen Yuehuai, annoyed, replied, "What trouble could they be in? Don't we all have monitors tracking our condition in real-time?"

The monitors tracked the students' vital signs, sending rescue teams in case of severe fluctuations. However, to avoid disrupting the competition, rescuers wouldn't appear unless absolutely necessary.

The monitors on all four of them were functioning normally.

Most importantly, Kaxin Greiz and his "wolf pack" were formidable. Even Baisha and Xino cautiously avoided confronting them. With their strength, clearing Green Grass Star's monsters should be no problem.

Gradually, the howling subsided. After a few final, throaty whimpers, the surroundings fell into complete silence.

It all happened within just twenty seconds.

Even Baisha felt something was amiss—her little white Jiu suddenly appeared, fluttering its wings to land on her knee, its eyes fixed in one direction, alertly chirping twice.

Seemingly at the behest of little white Jiu, the spiritual entities of the other three also manifested, catching Xino, Cen Yuehuai, and Yuyan off guard.

"It seems there really is a problem," Xino said, looking towards the seemingly tranquil forest in the distance, "We should check it out."

In a matter of seconds, the four gathered their tents and jumped into the cockpits of their mechs.

Before entering her mech, Baisha suddenly remembered the seeds found inside the abdomens of the blood-eating ants and impulsively opened the box in the storage to check—

The seeds had indeed begun to develop.

They were germinating, sprouting, and leafing at a visible rate. Lacking nutrients and surviving only on moisture, their stems and leaves were slightly transparent, with only a few pale yellow leaves.

Realizing the box's nutrients were insufficient for full growth, they started devouring each other. Roots burrowed into their companions, leaving only the two strongest plants, whose stems sprouted flesh-like buds that slowly swelled, turned red, and transformed into egg-like transparent fruits...

Tiny black shadows appeared inside the fruits.

Baisha took a closer look and was instantly startled.

Those black shadows were unmistakably minuscule blood-eating ants!

She threw the box on the ground and without hesitation, grabbed a flamethrower from the toolbox, incinerating all the wriggling fruits.

Cen Yuehuai noticed Baisha's actions and asked, "What's wrong, Your Highness?"

"That redwood forest we visited earlier definitely has issues," Baisha slowly raised her head, a foreboding feeling emerging in her heart, "And they're not minor."

Why would seeds of a plant transform into blood-eating ants upon maturation?

This completely contradicts the reproductive behavior of blood-eating ants. Although mutated, their breeding methods aren't much different from regular ants.

Moreover, this transformation occurred overnight, with only the residual moisture from melted ice in the box. Although "malnourished," these seeds still germinated into full form at a terrifying speed.

...What if these seeds had remained inside the bodies of the blood-eating ants?

What differences exist between these "new ants" hatched and the original blood-eating ants?

Baisha shared this information with the remaining three.

"I think it's necessary to check the condition of the redwood forest," Baisha suggested, "How about I go, and you guys search for Kaxin Greiz and his team?"

"No way," Cen Yuehuai was the first to object, "Your Highness, we can't let you go alone. I've seen in movies—it's always like this. A team splits up, and then they're picked off one by one."

Xino scoffed: "Can't you be a bit more optimistic?"

Cen Yuehuai glared at him: "Do you agree with letting Her Highness go alone?"

"I don't agree either," Xino declared decisively.

Cen Yuehuai: "Then less talk, more action."

Baisha hesitated slightly, then decided, "Let's first check on Greiz's situation."

As soon as she finished speaking, the Silver-throated Long-tailed Tit above them, as if receiving a command, fluttered up, hovered for a few seconds in the air, leading the way for them.

Several mechs navigated through the dense, shadowy underbrush.

They controlled their movements, making no sound.

After advancing at high speed for about ten minutes, Baisha at the front frowned slightly, hefted her spear, signaling her companions to stop.

A strange scent wafted faintly from ahead.

Baisha used her long spear to part the dense shrubbery, peering through the gaps in the branches ahead.

A faint red hue spread through the air.

Countless large, plump, and smooth fruits clustered tightly on a massive tree—or perhaps it shouldn't be called a "tree" but rather a mysterious creature resembling a plant. Black roots and vines stretched across the ground, while at the top, where the crown should be, was a huge purple tumor, entwined with gray veins, its core faintly emitting light.

Baisha's gaze lowered.

Among the tangled black vines, a fragment of a mech arm was faintly visible.