Chapter 78

Chapter 78

"Does the inhibitor work that fast?" someone murmured in surprise.

"Not necessarily," another student nearby said, "Don't forget what's written in the safety manual. Never underestimate star worms."

The giant vine rapidly wilted towards the ground.

The military academy students who inflicted severe damage on it didn't stop there; they followed the rough vine to the ground and continued to slash at its roots with their knives.

Before their sharp blades could touch the stems buried in the soil, they felt the ground shake violently beneath them—two more thick vines, similar to the first, burst through the cracked earth, swiftly stabbing towards them.

At that moment, a brown-chested white-feathered crested eagle soared on the wind, its golden irises trembling slightly, its black pupils fixed on the intersection of the two vines. It dove swiftly towards the roots of the vines.

Suddenly, the eagle let out a piercing cry, and several black whirlpools spread rapidly from it, shredding all the dark green mutated plants in their path.

The two vines were crushed to the ground by an unseen force, writhing like snakes, and were promptly sliced into pieces by the knife-wielding students. They then poured the exterminating substance into the underground root system.

Only then did the mutated vines cease all activity.

"Is that a psychic field?"

"I recognize him, Baili Yi from the third year, a 3S level psychic. It's not surprising he can use a psychic field so adeptly."

Cen Yuehuai blinked and turned to whisper to her companions, "What's a psychic field? I’ve only heard of star worms having psychic fields."

A common self-defense mechanism of star worms is to establish a "field" using their powerful psychic energy. Lower-level star worms create weaker fields, while higher-level star worms naturally have stronger fields—like the "weird tree" Baisha and her team previously encountered. To break through a star worm's field, one must target the core of the field, like the purple tumor hanging from the crown of the "weird tree."

However, breaking a high-level star worm's psychic field is not so straightforward. When external forces cannot reach the core, it requires overpowering the star worm's psychic energy, akin to piercing a can with a sharp spike. Once the field is broken, the star worm's body can then be destroyed.

"Can humans have a psychic field too?"

"Of course, humans can have a psychic field. Well... only a few do," Sino explained, "The next step after materializing psychic power is learning to construct a psychic barrier, which evolves into a field—do you understand this explanation?"

Cen Yuehuai nodded.

"Each person's psychic field has slight differences, but the attack effects are generally similar," Sino continued, "For instance, the one we just saw could shred star worms with his psychic field. Others might have effects like crushing, tearing, disintegrating, and so on."

"…A psychic field is a symbol of highly developed psychic power and can be used as an offensive tool."

Cen Yuehuai asked Sino curiously, "Have you developed a psychic field?"

"I could, but there's no need to use it," Sino shook his head, "My current strength is sufficient to solve most problems."

Cen Yuehuai: "..."

She turned to Baisha, "What about you, Your Highness?"

"I haven't tried," Baisha sincerely looked into her eyes, "But if you need, I can assist you in developing a psychic field."

Cen Yuehuai: "How do you develop it?"

Baisha made a weightlifting gesture, "Of course, it's developed through real combat."

Cen Yuehuai: "..." Just say she needs to get hit!

"I'm just kidding. With your psychic power level, developing a field shouldn't be difficult. The hard part is how to control it," Baisha patted her shoulder with her mechanical arm, producing a clear metallic clanging sound, "You can’t fully control your own psychic body yet, so don’t worry about the field. You don’t need to develop a field to become a powerful fighter."

Cen Yuehuai sighed and said softly, "Oh."

As they conversed, the spaceship carrying Baisha and her companions continued its journey. The gradually withering vines and the military academy students dispersing to clear Star-Eater Worms were gradually disappearing from their sight.

Ten minutes later, the spaceship finally arrived at their assigned mission location: the mangrove forest that Baisha and her team had visited once before.

Their arrival at the mangrove forest was not a coincidence. Baisha, Cen Yuehuai, and Sino had previous combat experience in the mangrove forest and were familiar with the terrain nearby. Most importantly, the mangrove forest had been designated as a key monitoring area.

Experts from the research institute believed that, given the coverage and survival mode of the mangrove forest, it must have accumulated a lot of energy, likely surpassing the previous "weird tree" that drained the psychic energy of many military academy students.

They also hoped to capture live Star-Eater Worms in the mangrove forest.

Baisha and her team landed in their mechas, facing a row of imperial soldiers piloting pure black mechas.

"The Star-Eater Worm's main body must be hidden deep in the mangrove forest. Your task is to cooperate with these soldiers, helping them to encounter live Star-Eater Worms," the instructor who landed with them instructed the students, "But remember, prioritize your own safety—this is not the only live sampling site. If it's too dangerous, retreat to a safe distance immediately, and don't be reckless."

"Teacher, how can we military academy students say it's too difficult?" a student joked with a deliberate laugh.

The instructor gave them a warning glance and said solemnly, "Let me warn you, if you don't follow instructions, you won't get any credits."

All students: "..."

This threat quickly made all the students behave more obediently.

They dispersed according to the planned sectors, spraying the substance to exterminate the star worms into the mangrove forest.

However, the mangrove forest remained eerily quiet. No matter how much substance they sprayed, there was no reaction from the forest, in stark contrast to the giant vine they had encountered earlier.

The four maneuvered through the lush forest, hearing faint sounds of water under their feet.

"Don't you think it's too quiet here?" Cen Yuehuai looked up at the darkening sky, "Not even the sound of a bird, let alone any mutated animals."

She looked down at the green, clear water, "…Even the fish are all gone!"

They had previously visited the mangrove forest, killing many plunder crocodiles and blood ants along the way. But this time, deep inside the forest, they encountered nothing.

It couldn't be that everything was absorbed by the mangrove forest, could it?

The four exchanged glances.

"Let's continue spraying the substance according to the plan," Yu Yan pondered for a few seconds before suggesting, "This water area is connected; the components of the substance will permeate further with the water flow."

Anyway, since the Empire has decided to obliterate Green Pasture Star, what does it matter to spray more star worm exterminating substance? Moreover, while the substance might be effective, it's not potent enough to guarantee instant death upon contact with star worms. And the life cycle of the mangrove forest is inseparable from water—increasing the concentration of the substance in the water is actually a good approach.

They moved forward another hundred meters, roughly reaching the boundary of the area they were responsible for.

Baisha slightly raised her hand, signaling a halt.

She stared into the deep darkness ahead and said, "There's something ahead."

After speaking, she opened her tool kit and took out several components, assembling them together to create a small detection device. She inserted the device's three metal legs into the water and pressed a button on the interface.

Beep… beep beep.

The detector emitted a silent countdown, and after a few seconds, it captured a psychic signal from a star worm.

Baisha adjusted a few knobs, and two mosquito-sized micro-robots popped out from the back of the detector, flying towards the source of the signal.

About half a minute later, the detector began to emit a rustling sound, intermittently mixed with faint "click" noises.

"What's going on here?" Cen Yuehuai asked nervously, watching the device and whispering, "Is this machine broken? Why are there only static sounds?"

Baisha shook her head, "It's not static. This detector has the highest-level noise filtering function."

Cen Yuehuai, puzzled, asked, "Then what could these sounds be?"

Just as Cen Yuehuai finished speaking, a particularly clear cracking sound—"crack"—suddenly erupted from the detector.

Cen Yuehuai swallowed hard.

She understood now. Not just her, everyone present had heard it clearly.

It was the sound of chewing.

The breaking of cartilage, the collision of teeth, these were vividly descriptive chewing sounds.

Baisha stared unblinkingly at the detector's screen, maneuvering the two micro-robots to probe through the darkness bit by bit.

In the monitor camera, glowing faintly green in the darkness, she finally caught a glimpse of the source of the chewing sound.

It was a gigantic monster—its shape somewhat resembled a bonfire. Several black spider-like legs surrounded a deep red blood-eye, with a black eyeball constantly moving within it. Under the monster's belly, there was a dark slit that faintly opened and closed, revealing sharp white teeth, chewing with relish.

Beside it, there was another similar monster. However, it lay motionless on the ground, its body mangled, with only its black spider-like limbs intact—resembling an emptied sea urchin, leaving only a hard shell.

Baisha and the others held their breath quietly.

Had they stumbled upon a scene of Star-Eater Worms devouring each other?

"What do we do, should we send a signal to report?" Sino Us took out a communicator from behind and said, "This time we might actually catch a live one."

Just then, heavy footsteps and faint conversation came from the detector.

"There's nothing in this mangrove forest..."

"Let's patrol one more round. It's even better if there's nothing. Isn't it great to get credits for nothing?"

At this moment, the monster immediately stopped its chewing motion, its black eyeballs excitedly rolling around. Carefully, it pushed the remains of its companion into the bushes, then its black spider legs retracted inward, and it hopped on the spot, flying out like a dandelion, silently heading in a certain direction—its speed incredibly fast, its movements unbelievably agile.

Too late!

Baisha pressed the alarm button with one hand, notifying the instructor and others about the presence of a Star-Eater Worm.

The four rushed towards the direction of the Star-Eater Worm.