Chapter 77

Chapter 77

The four decided to sign up for the volunteer team.

After verifying their student IDs, their light computers displayed a successful registration, followed by a note.

"Due to the high threat level of the Star-Eater Worm, this cleanup operation is only open to students with psychic power at double S level or higher," Baisha read the line aloud, "The instructors from the four schools will review the applications and select the best candidates. Please await further notification."

"I didn’t expect volunteering to have such high requirements," Cen Yuehuai looked up slightly, speaking to her companions, "But it makes sense... even some double S-level students from Xizhou Military Academy were affected."

Sino asked, "Have the people from Xizhou Military Academy woken up yet?"

Baisha shook her head, "Probably not yet. Their psychic power was heavily depleted, and they inhaled a lot of the weird tree's poison gas. The Star Worm Prevention and Research Institute wanted to get more information from them, but they’ve been unconscious, unable to provide any answers."

Cen Yuehuai pondered, "Isn’t it quite a coincidence that the Star-Eater Worm mutated just as we arrived on Green Pasture Star? Do star worms mutate that easily?"

"Star worm mutations are completely random," Sino mused, "But only those displaying extraordinary characteristics are classified as ‘new types of star worms’."

New types of star worms usually appear on the front lines, where countless star worms and humans clash. First, the high concentration of star worms increases the likelihood of genetic mutations; second, the star worms evolve through constant 'slaughter'—as humans grow stronger, so do the star worms, a case of 'survival of the fittest' because if they don't evolve, they die.

But Green Pasture Star doesn’t meet these conditions.

Green Pasture Star is one of the regular training grounds for the four military academies, with a reasonable distribution of star worms. Moreover, it's routinely cleared of star worms to prevent overpopulation. Apart from being a training ground, Green Pasture Star is mostly idle, guarded only by one or two airships, without the issue of competition for living space between humans and star worms.

For star worms on Green Pasture Star to mutate so suddenly... should be an extremely low probability event, yet it happened.

Cen Yuehuai chuckled softly, "Do you believe this is just a mere coincidence?"

If Green Pasture Star were truly overtaken by the Star-Eater Worm, most of them would be in trouble the moment they landed.

"Let the higher-ups worry about these things; we're just students," Sino slightly raised an eyebrow and stood up, walking towards the fridge, "Want something to drink?"

The top floor of the dormitory where they were staying, nominally an "isolation room," was actually an extremely spacious flat, seemingly intended for conferences. Due to their stay, the school had it temporarily furnished. Tianquan Military Academy doesn't skimp on student comfort; they had been quite comfortable these past few days, despite their limited freedom of movement, even more so than in their usual double rooms.

They almost didn't want to leave.

But they had no choice; their quarantine period was over. The four had to go their separate ways, each returning to their own dormitories.

Meanwhile,

On Yudu Star,

Cecil Roning sat behind his desk, fingers moving over the light computer console. He flipped through a document and then flipped back, his gaze calm as water, but his brows never relaxed.

Wei Li, sitting beside the Emperor, finished discussing matters of the Privy Council with him and transmitted the documents for the Emperor's signature. After completing this, he spoke somewhat helplessly, "The Star Worm Prevention and Research Institute is already developing a drug to kill the activity of the Star-Eater Worm, and no casualties have been reported from the four military academies... You can relax a bit, Your Majesty."

"How can I relax?" Cecil Roning looked up at him, "It's her first time leaving Tianqu Star and she encounters a highly threatening mutated star worm? How can this be just a coincidence?"

"We have already investigated everyone we could," said Wei Li, "Green Pasture Star... after all, is a customary training ground for the Empire's four military academies. It's highly secure, and the guarding is strict. There are clear records of all spaceships and personnel entering and leaving Green Pasture Star, and we couldn't find anything unusual."

The problem was the secretive activity of the Star-Eater Worm. Even though the military academies constantly monitored the number of star worms on Green Pasture Star, they failed to notice any problem.

Even if they suspected that the Star-Eater Worm was deliberately planted on Green Pasture Star... the Star Worm Prevention and Research Institute conducted a special assessment on the weird tree specimen. Given the Star-Eater Worm's activity level, it could have been rooted on Green Pasture Star for no more than three days. However, these three days coincided with the highest personnel movement on Green Pasture Star—students from the four military academies arriving one after another, with many people coming and going. The Emperor's security department checked everyone they could, but couldn’t find any clear clues or prove that someone deliberately smuggled the Star-Eater Worm onto Green Pasture Star.

Cecil Roning: "No matter how clever the method, it's impossible to leave no trace."

Wei Li hesitated for a moment before saying, "There are still a few people we haven't thoroughly checked."

The Emperor: "Who?"

"The students from Xizhou Military Academy who were knocked unconscious by the Star-Eater Worm," Wei Li spoke cautiously, "As you know, even if we investigate students from Xizhou, it usually leads nowhere. At most, they follow the Grez family and harbor some opposition to the royal family. But that doesn’t mean they would risk their lives in this way."

If they planted the Star-Eater Worm... what would they gain? They almost died at the hands of the Star-Eater Worm themselves.

"What about their personal luggage?" Cecil Roning inquired.

They might have inadvertently brought the Star-Eater Worm into the training grounds.

"Their remaining luggage has been checked. However, since they were injured in the fight against the Star-Eater Worm, their mechas were heavily damaged, and many personal belongings were destroyed," Wei Li shifted his sitting position and sighed softly, "To conduct a thorough investigation, we can only wait until they wake up to ask them."

Although there was a check of personal items when students entered Green Pasture Star, it was only to exclude prohibited items, and it was impossible to record every single thing they carried. If there's suspicion that their belongings included the Star-Eater Worm, only the students themselves could assist in the investigation.

The Emperor scoffed, "Then we'll wait until they wake up."

"We can't push too hard in the investigation," Wei Li explained diplomatically, "Otherwise, the response from the Grez family might be even more intense."

"From what I know of those fools in the Grez family, they certainly wouldn't do such a thing. But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be set up," Cecil Roning’s face showed disdain, "Intense reaction? What do they have to react intensely about? Isn’t it better to completely clear themselves of suspicion?"

Wei Li: "After all, the truth of the incident is still under investigation. No one likes being treated as a suspect."

"Do I need to teach them the simple principle of using a borrowed knife?" Cecil Roning smirked sarcastically, "If I really wanted to throw this dirty water on them, I wouldn’t care about the truth."

Wei Li: "..."

Wei Li pinched the bridge of his nose, giving up on convincing the proud Emperor.

What can be done? The necessary investigations must still proceed.

The one who took the lead in the rescue was Baisha... This makes things easier. Perhaps the Grez family might consider Baisha’s act of saving people and not oppose the Emperor.

……

The next day, Baisha had just opened her eyes from sleep, instinctively checked her light computer, and discovered that her application to join the volunteer team had been approved.

It was seven in the morning, and the sky over Green Pasture Star was still somewhat gray. As they walked to an open space in front of the dormitory, the strong wind blowing towards them messed up their hair.

"Such bad luck, it's windy today," Cen Yuehuai said as she fixed her hair and pushed down her windblown collar.

They followed the map to a gray building, stepped onto the stairs, verified their identities at the door, and then entered the hall.

The hall was already filled with many students. Cen Yuehuai tiptoed for a better view and quickly spotted Sino and Yu Yan in the crowd. The four of them gathered together and saw their instructor, Tixiya, and an unfamiliar instructor from another school appearing side by side in the hall.

"Everyone, quiet down," Instructor Tixiya, with her hair neatly pinned up, spoke with a cool demeanor, "No need for unnecessary chatter. The only requirement for this volunteer mission is to follow orders and strictly adhere to the procedures. The mission safety instructions have been sent to your light computers; please make sure you read them thoroughly."

Baisha looked down at the mission content.

Main mission: Extensively spray a substance to exterminate the Star-Eater Worm in the designated area, preventing the fusion trend of the existing Star-Eater Worms on Green Pasture Star.

There was no task like "capturing live Star-Eater Worms" as she had imagined. Probably, that task was assigned to other imperial soldiers.

This volunteer mission was in collaboration with the Star Worm Prevention and Research Institute, and experts had already created a specialized inhibitor for the Star-Eater Worm's DNA—astonishingly quick work. Unsurprisingly, this inhibitor was likely modified from other star worm extermination substances.

Although the institute had created the inhibitor, it had only been used in the lab and not yet proven effective in the field. Therefore, caution was necessary when using the substance... Even if it seemed to be working, they couldn't let their guard down and needed to be wary of any backlash from the Star-Eater Worm.

Baisha signed to confirm the instructions, and then two small robots with flashing lights flew to her side. Red lasers scanned her, and the robots buzzed as they wove a quarantine suit to her size.

Dressed in quarantine suits and helmets, the students boarded several S-grade mechas, hastily dispatched and led by their instructors, onto a dozen spaceships.

Looking down from the spaceship window, the ground was still lush green, vibrant with life, showing no signs of the ravaging Star-Eater Worm.

Suddenly, with a loud "clang," a spaceship flying in front of them was struck fiercely by a green vine shooting up from the ground.

Immediately, several students jumped down from the spaceship, one hand revealing a blade, plunging into the vines, sliding down the thick vine while cutting deep marks into the greenery. In their other hand, they held a spray gun, injecting the extermination substance into the wounds.

The huge vine, after a brief twitch, suddenly lost its strength and plummeted straight to the ground.