Chapter 6: The Silver Wolves

Chapter 6: The Silver Wolves

Rong Mi paused, lifting her eyes in astonishment.

Within the energy field, the dark sky, initially obscured by the blizzard, had now turned utterly black.

At the apex of this dark expanse, a crescent silver moon suddenly appeared, hanging high above.

It was an unusually eerie silver glow, beneath which the snow and winds froze.

With a series of cracking sounds, the gale stilled, and the snowflakes solidified, transforming into countless tiny ice needles that plummeted down swiftly.

Simultaneously, a vast swarm of ice butterflies on the snowfield also froze in place.

They turned into ice sculptures before shattering, disappearing into the icy layer that had formed on the ground from the frozen snow.

More rigid ice spread downward along the cracks in the snowfield.

Despite sitting inside a mecha with a temperature control system, Rong Mi still felt the icy air seeping through the armor plates, chilling her to the core.

"Beep- Detection of mecha cockpit damage due to extreme low temperatures ——"

Rong Mi snapped back to reality at the sound of the cockpit alarm. His extended mental energy formed a protective shield, enveloping both his mecha and the lone Gu Ming behind him.

...The situation outside indicated that someone had preceded him in unleashing their mental power!

And the intensity of that person's mental strength... was higher than anyone he had ever encountered.

Rong Mi looked up, ignoring the frozen scene before him, fixated on the clear moon hanging high in the sky.

As the ice thickened, the crescent moon descended, sinking into the icy depths as if it were diving beneath the ocean's surface.

Yet, it still left a silver shadow on the ground.

Not the silhouette of a human, but rather, an awe-inspiring silver wolf.

The ice beneath its paws shimmered bright under the moonlight that fell.

The deep layers of soil beneath the snowfield seemed to have been melted by the radiance, transforming into fine ice particles, as if white fluff was suspended within the glittering and translucent ice layer.

Amidst the fragments were frozen ice butterflies, one after another.

They were layered in various poses within the ice, some close to the surface, others deep within. Illuminated by the moonlight, they appeared incredibly vivid.

The enormous nest of ice butterflies was almost perfectly displayed before everyone, even causing Rong Mi's scalp to tingle slightly.

He observed that within the fractured frozen earth, not only were there low-level ice butterflies frozen in place, but also a few high-level members of the ice butterfly clan.

They were likely high-ranking Ice Butterflies of the first or second tier.

In contrast to the inferior Ice Butterflies, they were smaller in size, but their wings bore a higher concentration of scarlet venom glands, arranged in intricate patterns. These wings could unleash deadly storms and project devastating energy waves.

The intricate crosshatching on the Advanced Ice Butterfly's metallic exoskeleton faded, and its limbs grew stronger as flesh began to bud from its rigid bones. At the apex of its body, an irregular spherical bulge emerged – a sign that the insectoid's mental domain had fully matured and was poised for further evolution.

Rong Mi's eyes narrowed slightly, endeavoring to discern more details.

Yet, in the next moment, a burst of silver light illuminated everything, forcing Rong Mi to blink and momentarily close her eyes.

In this radiance, the countless ice butterflies within the subterranean ice layers met the same fate as their surface counterparts, shattering and vanishing into nothingness.

The earth itself seemed to melt in this instant.

The frozen soil evaporated, turning the original snowfield into an enormous crater that resembled the aftermath of a meteor strike. The bottom of the pit was littered with fragments of insectoid limbs and stone.

The chilly silver moonlight began to withdraw.

It all happened within just a few breaths.

The blackness in the sky dissipated swiftly, and white sunlight filtered through the rifts in the clouds, casting its rays down once more.

Moments later, the heavy snow and silver moon vanished without a trace.

The sky cleared, and ordinary sunlight illuminated the vastly transformed barren planet.

Rong Mi: "...."

Gu Ming: "...."

Announcer: "..."

Viewers in front of all screens: "..."

Viewers: "...What the heck?"

Both the Script Faction and the Non-Script Faction paused their arguments.

"....What just happened...? What's going on...? Was that a high-level Star Beast...? Which contestant's battle pet is this? Why is it dark now?!"

"It must be due to the special mental energy of the Star Beast. What kind of Star Beast is this?! It's unbelievably powerful, isn't it...?"

"So... the Ice Butterflies are gone? They were killed? This Star Beast is that strong?! What did we just see? A wolf?! But where did the wolf go??"

"The wolf was cool! But I'm more concerned about the people!! Where's Rong Mi? Where's Lonely Young Master? Are they alright? The camera signal seems to be bad... I can't see anything!"

"....I'm seeing snowflakes too!"

"It must be that some wiring in the camera got damaged by the energy wave from the Silver Wolves' attack. This camera isn't of good quality. The production team should consider changing brands for future episodes!"

"{Rong Mi} must be fine! I was watching closely! His mech was in great condition before the {Silver Wolves} appeared! ... Damn, even with that sudden divine intervention from a divine beast... Rong Mi still left me awestruck. He was piloting just a Class C mech, but those maneuvers were so dazzling... dazzling to the eyes."

"Oh no, why did the camera malfunction? I wanted to see Rong Mi operate his mech! Will Rong Mi go after the wolf?"

{Rong Mi}: Of course he will!

After confirming that {Gu Ming} was unharmed and not suffering from frostbite, he dashed towards the center of the snowfield.

Rong Mi wanted to witness a starbeast firsthand!

Unlike the alien beasts that preyed on humans and enjoyed attacking them, starbeasts were allies to humanity.

Human colonies protected the habitats of starbeasts, and some starbeasts willingly entered into contracts with humans to become battle pets, fighting alongside them against the insectoids.

However, during the nomadic era, humans had no choice but to abandon their settled star systems, causing the extinction of many unprotected starbeasts.

Most of the surviving species were small starbeasts, such as canid starbeasts, leporid starbeasts, and meow-meow starbeasts.

Among these, Rong Mi had seen canid starbeasts the most.

These were small-scale star beasts that could grow no taller than a human calf. Due to their compact size, some star beast owners brought their companions aboard when they embarked on interstellar journeys, allowing these creatures to thrive and reproduce within spacecraft.

The most common ability among canid star beasts was pain alleviation.

They couldn't cure illnesses, but they could aid in soothing human discomfort.

In Rong Mi's previous life, he had petted many of them, captivated by their texture.

Aside from stroking the fluffy canids, Rong Mi enjoyed watching documentaries about extinct star beasts.

Among all the fluffballs, he had a particular fondness for those resembling wolves.

Large and majestic predators, they exuded an intimidating presence from head to tail.

They... made one crave a good pat or two!

Rong Mi longed to lay eyes on a genuine wolf-type star beast with his own two eyes!

And now, one stood right before him! How could Rong Mi resist the opportunity?

Not to mention, that Icefield Silver Wolf… was incredibly handsome!

Far more attractive than any of the Star Beasts Rong Mi had seen in simulations.

He wanted to see more!

Rong Mi was swift, barely needing to discern directions.

The spiritual energy waves emitted by the Silver Wolf still lingered in the air.

This unique wavelength was glaringly obvious to Rong Mi, serving as a clear path to follow. He proceeded along the direction where the residual energy was stronger, eventually reaching the center of the pit.

There, Rong Mi indeed caught sight of a glimmer of silver.

He maneuvered his mecha closer, but paused abruptly when he saw the wolf.

Rong Mi: "…"

If not for the surrounding spiritual energy guiding him, Rong Mi might have doubted that he had come to the wrong place.

Beneath the snowfield lay a grayish-white soil, upon which rested a tiny Silver Wolf, upside down.

It was smaller than the palm of a mecha's hand, small enough to be held in the palm of a human hand.

It appeared to be a... recently born infant Silver Wolf.