Chapter 4: The Ice and Fire Survival Competition (Part Three)

Chapter 4: The Ice and Fire Survival Competition (Part Three)

The original host didn't have much knowledge about survival competitions, but Rong Mi relied on his own experience to judge that it was entirely normal for the Zerg to appear in such a show.

After all, during the nomadic era, every starship and individual could be at risk of Zerg attacks; there were no safe zones in any warfront.

According to Rong Mi's common sense, since the program was called a "Survival Competition," it was quite reasonable for Zerg to appear in the wilderness.

However, Rong Mi was now staring at his resource panel with great distress.

All contestants were allowed to bring a spatial button with a capacity of one cubic meter or less when participating in the competition.

The original host had been quite particular about his attire and diet, even when he had been borrowing money and slightly downsizing his lifestyle. This hadn't changed much when he decided to join this survival show.

That one cubic meter of space was almost entirely filled with various types of clothing. A small corner held a few expensive, tasty, but not very filling luxury nutrient solutions.

It was clear that the original host didn't have a good understanding of surviving in the wilderness for a week.

In such harsh planetary conditions, with frequent mecha battles, contestants needed a high intake of energy. Although these nutrient solutions seemed sufficient for a week's rations, they would actually run out within three days.

The original owner had been starving for several days, and the nutrient tube Rong Mi suspected was given with ulterior motives by that mecha pilot was consumed the previous night.

That nutrient supply wasn't overly abundant either; Rong Mi was already feeling hungry.

But even more troublesome than that... the original owner hadn't brought enough mecha fuel.

Aside from the initial fuel load that came with the competition mecha, the original owner hadn't brought any extra fuel cells.

Rong Mi glanced at the mecha's fuel storage. Since the original owner hadn't been using the mecha much these past few days, two-thirds of the fuel remained. It seemed like a lot, but this model of mecha had a relatively small fuel compartment, capable of supporting only half a day of full power operation.

Of course, if it were just to be used as the original owner did, as a makeshift tent, it could last a month.

Rong Mi was speechless.

Fuel needed to be replenished.

In this wilderness on an uninhabited planet, processed compressed energy blocks were out of the question. High-purity energy crystals might exist, but they would be difficult to find, usually buried deep within soil or rock walls, making it hard to excavate them with a mecha.

There was one other option... theft.

Rong Mi lifted his head slightly.

It was a casual gesture, as if he were merely observing the sky.

Above the steep cliff, snowflakes tumbled down, stirred by the strong wind from the mountain's peak.

Amidst the descending snowfall, a faint, grayish-black silhouette took advantage of the cover, gently leaping downward from above.

Its movement was incredibly agile, demonstrating exceptional control over the mech.

The mech's thrusters had been minimized by its pilot, serving only to slow its descent slightly.

The soft hum of the engine was nearly drowned out by the howling wind, and the mech's energy signature was almost entirely masked by the pilot's counteracting mental power waves. Moreover, it should have been in Rong Mi's blind spot.

Yet, everything was almost, not quite.

Rong Mi was always on high alert when entering unfamiliar territory. Thus, upon discovering the sheltered cove, he had already noticed this particular mech.

Back then, the snowfall wasn't as intense, and the mecha's hull was only partially concealed, revealing a corner of its gray paint job. Though nearly identical to the black mountain wall, Rong Mi's sharp senses still detected its presence.

Once his attention was focused, no subtle movement from the opponent could escape Rong Mi's watchful gaze.

The mecha initially stood motionless like it was seeking shelter from the snowstorm, leading Rong Mi to assess the environment as temporarily safe. However, as Rong Mi pondered his own situation, the mecha began to slowly approach him.

It was like a predator entering hunting mode.

Approaching its trapped prey with caution, waiting for the perfect distance to reveal its claws and strike with deadly precision—

The ashen-black mecha descended silently, almost unnoticed, but shifted its posture mid-air.

As the attacker closed in on Rong Mi's mecha, the abdominal plates of the assailant's mecha split open to either side, exposing a one-armed width particle cannon mounted in the center.

The roar of the high-powered weapon echoed instantly, like a death knell.

In that very moment, Rong Mi lifted his head.

Not a reaction triggered by the sound of the weapon, but rather a premonition-like anticipation, he looked upward.

Rong Mi's mecha, with its mechanical features bathed in the brilliant white light of the particle cannon charging up.

The young man sighed softly, gazing at the descending mecha with a tinge of regret. "Too slow—"

In the next instant, Rong Mi sprang into action.

The thrusters beneath his feet operated at maximum capacity, stirring up a flurry of floating snow around him.

Lightning-fast despite having shed nearly half its weight, the mecha leaped upward, lifting its knee to strike upward with incredible force.

Its acceleration was astonishingly high; the moment the thrusters beneath his knee activated, the impact of the knee thrust was almost unimaginable!

It was impossible for Rong Mi to directly collide with the opponent's armor plating.

His target was the attacker's particle cannon muzzle.

Right at that moment when the particle cannon was about to complete its charge, the outer shield of the muzzle lifted, but the particle energy wave had yet to be discharged.

Within a fraction of a millisecond, a span too brief for the human brain to compute.

"Bang!"

The particle generator, crafted from heat-resistant yet brittle metal, shattered into pieces upon the intense collision.

"Pew!"

Sparks flickered as the internal wiring of the particle cannon exploded, creating a decent-sized hole in the lower abdomen of the mecha.

"Bang!!"

Another deafening boom echoed. Rong Mi forcefully threw the attacker's mecha backward with great force, causing it to crash harshly against the mountain wall behind. Utilizing the impact, Rong Mi retreated and landed on one knee in the snow, stabilizing his stance. His laser blade ignited in his hand.

Simultaneously, the indicator lights on the mecha's arm indicating the use of mental power also lit up.

Amidst the howling wind and snow, a narrow beam flashed. Rong Mi, harnessing his mental power, threw the laser blade like a dart, spinning accurately into the cut on the mecha's abdomen.

Empowered by mental strength, the laser blade sliced through the mecha's inner armor plates as effortlessly as cutting through tofu, severing energy supply lines deep within. It even left a deep scratch on the outermost, most robust protective shell surrounding the cockpit – the strongest part of the entire mecha design.

"Hisss!"

At that moment, both the commentator and the spectators watching the battle through the attacker's live stream were as stunned as the attacker himself inside the cockpit.

"Goodness gracious, I heard Rong Mi can pilot an armor now! I rushed here to criticize, but... what on earth is happening?!"

New viewers entering Rong Mi's live stream asked in confusion.

"The times have changed, mate," someone replied beneath the comment section. "You're still criticizing Rong Mi? Take a look at Young Master Gu's armor! It's been completely disabled! The cockpit was almost penetrated!"

With its main power supply severed by Rong Mi, the attacker's armor had become an immobile iron shell, vulnerable to attack.

Rong Mi rises from the ground. With two deliberate steps, he approaches, nonchalantly retrieves his laser blade and slides it back into the palm-mounted sheath. Then, planting one foot on the attacker's shoulder, he channels full power into his wrist thrusters, augmented by his mental strength, to force both hands downward, bending the armor plating with immense force.

Chatroom reactions: "????"

Like cracking a crab shell, Rong Mi splits the armor of the mech's arm open, exposing the embedded laser rifle beneath.

He reaches out, dislodges the attacker's laser rifle, and slings it over his shoulder.

In quick succession, he kicks aside the side panel of the assailant's mech, delving in to pull out the energy storage unit manually. However, his action suddenly halts.

Rong Mi's brow furrowed slightly.

He sensed a subtle anomaly in the wind.

From beyond the icy plains surrounding the mountain range came a rustling sound like an incoming tide of wings.

They were ice butterflies.

A vast multitude of them.

Seemingly following some scent carried by the wind, they flew against it, heading straight for the outer layer of the mountains where Rong Mi was situated.

In just a few seconds, they were mere miles away.

Rong Mi: Just when I needed points, here come the ice butterflies to deliver them. But really, no need to be so polite – this is quite an overwhelming number!

Rong Mi had dealt with large swarms of ice butterflies before. However, in such cases, the main ship would typically dispatch a trio of mecha operators, not send a single mecha pilot to fight alone.

Rong Mi let out a soft sigh, wishing he had eradicated the ice butterflies before severely damaging that mecha.

But time doesn't flow backward. Rong Mi paused for only an instant before resuming his actions, storing the remaining energy blocks in the attacker's power core into his own spatial button. He then casually said, "Let me borrow the energy boxes and nutrient solution from your spatial button."

The youth's clear voice was transmitted to the attacker through the mecha's communication system.

Contestant Gu Ming, who was known as Lone Young Master, fell silent along with the spectators for a moment.

He spoke quite politely, as if he would return them after borrowing them!

However, Gu Ming only grumbled inwardly before promptly retrieving all the supplies from his spatial button.

Gu Ming was still somewhat dazed.

He was a renowned ace mecha pilot of the Federation's renowned Lyrebird Mecha Club.

This was Gu Ming's tenth year as a professional mecha pilot. When there were competitions, he participated; when there weren't, he ventured to wilderness planets for colonization work to earn some extra cash.

It was also his fifth year participating in the survival reality show.

In his ten years of piloting mechas, he had encountered dangers and been defeated before.

It was just that this was the first time he had been so swift... Before his mind could even process a countermeasure, his opponent had cleanly and efficiently... disabled his mech.

The opponent's movements seemed deceptively simple, but each shift in direction and every connection between moves was dizzyingly fast, bordering on flawless perfection.

Gu Ming was utterly stunned by Rong Mi's dazzling sequence of actions!

Not only did he surrender all his supplies, but he also proactively offered his score crystal, intending to hand it over to Rong Mi.

With his mech severely damaged, there was no way he could continue in the tournament.

Moreover, from those few exchanges, Gu Ming could tell that Rong Mi hadn't even exerted full effort, nor did he display the ruthless tactics of some unscrupulous competitors who would exploit their advantage to finish off their opponents.

Gu Ming accepted his defeat with genuine admiration.

However, Rong Mi didn't notice Gu Ming's gesture.

He was inspecting the quality of the energy cubes and nutrient solutions that Gu Ming had surrendered.

High-energy compressed energy cubes, high-energy nutrient fluids – they looked professional at a glance!

Rong Mi was quite satisfied. He emptied out the pile of clothes that the original owner had prepared and tossed them onto the snowy ground. He then modified Gu Ming's energy cubes and nutrient solutions. He asked, "Do you have any weapons on you?"

Gu Ming responded with an "oh" and quickly rummaged through his spatial button again.

"I do, I do," he nodded profusely as he took out the items one by one. "A portable particle gun, a heavy particle gun, a handheld laser blade..."

Rong Mi smiled.

"I'm not going to snatch this from you; you can keep it." He turned around and used his mental power and the scanner of the mecha to look beyond the mountains. As he estimated when Ice Butterfly would arrive, he said, "Let's hide somewhere else and wait for rescue. Don't stay here."

Without a mecha, humans were too vulnerable against an Ice Butterfly.

As he spoke, he propped the laser gun against a large rock.

Gu Ming: "?"

Everyone in the live stream: "...?"

"Ahh... is he marking his territory?" a confused viewer asked. "What's so good about this place?"

"It doesn't seem like it. I think there's an attacker in the distance," someone speculated. "Perhaps Rong Mi sensed more people coming and decided to clear the area before engaging?"

"But from Young Master Gu's live stream perspective, there's nothing in the distance, right?"

"What can a camera really show? It's definitely his heightened mental power that detected something amiss first!"

"But it seems Young Master Gu didn't notice anything unusual around him."

"Well... Should we say that Young Master Gu's mental power level is A-, but judging from how Rong Mi just tore apart his armor with a few grabs, Rong Mi's mental power level... He must be at least an A+, if not an S?! It's only natural for him to spot enemies that Young Master Gu can't!"

The other viewers: "......."

"An A+ is acceptable, but S is too exaggerated! Out of the twenty main inhabited planets and dozens of military outposts in the Federation, there can't be more than a hundred S-level mental power users, right?"

"If Rong Mi is truly an S-level mental power user, why would he live under the title of a D-class therapist? He would've been famous throughout the Federation as a mecha pilot long ago!"

"Student upstairs, you should watch Rong Mi's match again before making assumptions... Who knows what's going through his mind? Maybe family pressure is stopping him from being a mecha pilot?!"

While the live stream comment section was buzzing with discussions, Gu Ming was less preoccupied with such thoughts in the competition arena.

He only knew that Rong Mi was definitely a big shot. Although he didn't know why they had to leave, he still had to listen to the big shot's words!

"Big shot—" He turned around, ready to go, then suddenly remembered that he hadn't given Rong Mi the score chip yet.

Gu Ming: This is the aura of a big shot! The big shot must be way ahead in points, not even bothering with the points of other contestants!

As he thought this, he climbed out of the cockpit. After a moment's hesitation, he stood on the wreckage of the mecha and shouted against the wind and snow, "Big shot—this score chip is useless to me! I'll give it to you—"

The wind was too strong, and his voice too soft. Rong Mi couldn't quite hear what he was saying. But noticing the movement behind him, he turned his head slightly.

They weren't too far apart.

Seeing Rong Mi look back, Gu Ming took advantage of the wind and threw the chip forcefully forward.

"Hold onto your points! —Ah—"

Rong Mi still couldn't make out what Gu Ming was saying, but he casually caught the chip thrown at him, then realized it was the score recording chip for the competition.

Just now, he had been wondering how to deal with the massive swarm of ice butterflies that were about to arrive, but he had completely forgotten about this matter.

Rong Mi offered a sincere gesture of gratitude towards Gu Ming, a smile on her face.

"Uh, what does that mean?" Some viewers were puzzled. "What's the meaning behind Rong Mi's gesture?"

"It's a universal signal of appreciation among mecha pilots. You know what? Rong Mi looks pretty cool doing it!"

"Ai, is Young Master Gu leaving already? I'm actually quite curious about what Rong Mi is planning to do next."

Gu Ming was oblivious to the rapidly approaching Ice Butterfly outside.

The snowstorm was intense, making it impossible for him to leave the mountain range. Therefore, after pressing the distress button, he leaned against the mountain wall and moved deeper into the mountains.

After turning a sharp corner, the narrow path along the cliff was suddenly blocked.

A torrent of snow cascaded down from the mountain peak like a vast waterfall. If he took another step forward, he would be swept away and crash into the abyss by the snowflow.

Gu Ming had no choice but to turn back.

In the few minutes it took for his return, Rong Mi had already set up her gun.

He noticed Gu Ming turning back, realizing that the path ahead might be cut off.

The swarm of Ice Butterflies was rapidly approaching, entering his firing range just within reach.

Rong Mi didn't have time for further conversation with Gu Ming. Without looking back, he made a signal for them to take cover, then crouched down and peered through his scope.

Then, he lifted his head, looking beyond the laser gun, squinting into the distance.

The long-range targeting system inside the mecha's cockpit lagged in capturing the swift movement of the Ice Butterflies, serving only as a supplementary aid.

True aiming relied on the power of one's mind, a 'visual' achieved through mental focus.

Rong Mi was very familiar with this scenario.

Each of his movements flowed seamlessly, as natural as breathing.

He adjusted his shooting angle, already planning the trajectory of the second and third shots before pulling the trigger for the first.

Rong Mi's finger curled around the trigger.

He was in a kneeling position, his elbow resting on a hard rock.

With a slight curl of his fingers, the laser gun's barrel lifted slightly, piercing through the snow-filled void with a bright beam.

The calculated angle of fire compensated for any potential deviation caused by the fierce wind's particle flow.

The straight line of light cut through the storm-ravaged snowfield effortlessly, as if guided by an aiming assist in a basic shooting game... It hit its target dead center, a swiftly flying ice butterfly.

"Phewt."

The butterfly's abdomen was punctured by the laser gun, causing it to plummet down.

Gu Ming was currently hiding behind the angle formed by the wreckage of his mecha and the mountain wall.

He still couldn't see the swarm of butterflies in the distance, and the live stream's range didn't cover them either, leaving the audience anxious and frustrated.

"What's going on! Can someone tell me! What is Rong Mi doing!"

"There must be an attacker! ...His mental strength is incredible, and I can see that Young Master Gu is still clueless, clearly not seeing anything."

"Where’s the commentator? Does he have any idea what’s going on out there?!"

The commentator: "...."

Of course, the commentator knew.

".... Fen Ge," the commentator whispered off-mic to the live-streaming assistant nearby.

Clearing his throat, he nodded toward the in-arena live screen, signaling the assistant to check the footage.

To provide a more immersive experience for the viewers, the production team had strategically placed environmental simulation cameras around the planet. At that moment, several cameras captured fleeting glimpses of transparent, icy butterfly wings against the backdrop of the raging blizzard, with a bright red body at their center.

In multiple camera feeds, a massive swarm of ice butterflies could be seen climbing up from cracks beneath the snowfield. Reaching the surface, they traversed the snowy landscape, moving in a single direction.

The sight of the enormous swarm made the commentator's knees tremble.

"Fen Ge!" The commentator's face contorted as if he was about to cry, "Have we connected with the director yet... This can't possibly be an interactive holographic projection! There's no projector capable of covering such a vast snowfield!"

Live-streaming assistant: "....!!"

The live broadcast assistant was dumbfounded.

"Di... Director!" His call finally went through.

Fen Ge, filled with terror, shouted, "Director! Director Zhang! Have you seen the live stream? Something major seems to have happened! Should we stop the match and call the police?"

Click.

The security robot stationed by the door of the live broadcast room spun around, and the red button indicating the activation of its laser gun illuminated on its head.

"Don't panic," the director replied with a smile. At that moment, the robot's laser gun simultaneously aimed at the live broadcast assistant and the commentator.

"If you want to stay alive, don't mention stopping the match or calling the police."

"Xie Sen, calm your voice. Don't tremble so much that people can tell something is wrong."

"Or else, never open your mouth again."