Chapter 104: Poison Glands (Part One)

Chapter 104: Poison Glands (Part One)

"Beep - Special Alert - Rescue Signal emitted by Hua Oulo Squad - Signal Origin: Depths of the Resource Planet's Mining Area -"

"Inspectors nearest to Hua Oulo Squad, please proceed to verify and provide assistance."

"Task allocation in progress - Inspector team search - Search complete. Task assigned to Lu Yi Squad."

Lu Yi dismissed the notification and knocked on the command cabin door.

Rong Mi was just approaching the entrance.

According to their designated roles, Rong Mi could have stayed on the warship and let Chen Shu descend first to assess the situation.

However, considering the military's special alert and Anna's sighting of the distress signal, Rong Mi couldn't shake off his unease.

With his brows knitted tightly, he mentally prepared for potential scenarios while getting ready to pilot his mecha out of the cabin. The young man, upon hearing the knock, opened the hatch, locking eyes with Lu Yi.

Lu Yi: "Warship requisitioned."

The admiral spoke calmly, "Due to special circumstances, the examination is suspended."

"One of our tasks has arrived," observed the proctors who had been seated inside the connector cabin, having also seen the notification.

They stood up, stretched their limbs, and stepped out of the cabin. Standing in the corridor, they greeted Rong Mi and the other candidates, "Your actions damaged our warship, so we'll have to use yours now."

"Please head to a nearby candidate's warship for the time being. We'll assess the situation, and if it's safe, the examination will resume." As they spoke, they sent notifications to neighboring warships to suspend the exam and remain in place.

The Huao Oulo subordinate warship that had just conversed with Rong Mi received a special instruction to approach Rong Mi's ship, preparing to transfer its crew onto their own vessel.

Rong Mi leaned against the door, gesturing to Phil, Gu Ming, and Chen Shu to switch warships while casually saying, "Ayin and I will stay behind to assist."

"I have more experience dealing with high-level Ice Butterflies."

"My team is still on the resource planet, and Anna might send me information."

The proctors exchanged glances.

Logically, as a candidate, Rong Mi should remain in the safe zone.

However... this candidate clearly has ample experience dealing with Ice Butterflies.

With their formidable strength and straightforward combat style, they'd already witnessed it firsthand!

Rong Mi would undeniably be an excellent ally.

Lu Yi was not at all surprised that Rong Mi wanted to stay behind.

He had long understood Rong Mi's approach to handling situations.

The Admiral nodded, beginning to assume control of the starship's systems.

"Confirm the positions of all candidates," he instructed the chief examiner, Sun Ming, via the communicator. "Are there any other teams that have descended onto the resource planet?"

"Two hours ago, two teams successively entered the resource planet, descending into the mining areas and retrieving some resource samples."

"They didn't dare venture too deep and left the resource planet half an hour ago, planning to resupply before making a second exploration. They're currently stationed at the energy supply station."

"All candidates, excluding Hua Oulo Squad and Rong Mi Squad's scout, Anna, are positioned safely outside the outer orbit of the energy planet."

"Received." Lu Yi pulled aside to remove the starship's weapon control helmet. Sun Tong was at the pilot's seat, examining the ship's basic settings and pushing down the engine control stick.

Rong Mi watched Lu Yi's actions from the side, softly clicking his tongue as he held Lu Yi's wrist.

"General," the young man's arm blocked his path, "Let me take care of it."

Lu Yi looked up at him.

Rong Mi didn't bother with further explanation and took a seat in the chair himself.

A deep purple mental energy flowed into the starship's circuitry, illuminating the outer ring of the main cannon. The light converged in the center, forming a diffuse, ethereal energy mist near the cannon's mouth.

Lu Yi could only step aside and sit in the auxiliary seat beside Rong Mi, pressing the communicator.

"Enter the inner orbit, descending altitude."

Under Sun Tong's guidance, the starship descended into the gas layer enveloping the resource planet.

Orange, red, and white clouds drifted past the cabin windows. They navigated through a dense stream of energy, while Rong Mi attempted to establish communication with Anna, but still received no response.

After several minutes, the starship entered the fluid zone. Their descent was almost in alignment with Anna's coordinates, but there were no signs of reconnaissance mechas around, nor could they see any lights from Hua Oulo's starship.

The public channel was silent, indicating that they had clearly lost contact with the ships above them.

Sun Tong piloted the ship cautiously and whispered, "There's been a change in the energy field here. During the military department's previous assessment, there wasn't any issue with communication loss. The flow of energy within the planet now is too chaotic, as if..."

"…as if there are several small wormholes lurking beneath," Rong Mi calmly continued.

"No fragments of Cheng Die's spiritual power were detected by the military here before," he sighed. "It seems Cecil hadn't come here yet at that time... That doesn't mean it won't come later."

As he finished speaking, the main cannon of the fully charged starship flashed, abruptly turning towards the right.

Lu Yi's brow twitched, and he sharply commanded, "Dodge to the left!"

The starship curved to the left, tilting to one side due to the sudden turn.

A bright purple flame spewed from the main cannon's barrel. The spiritual power fire serpent intersected with the abruptly emerging crimson ice butterfly's venom sac, tearing the crimson apart.

"Boom."

"Boom, boom, boom!"

At the instant of the energy collision, the starship abruptly dipped, plummeting downward.

Sun Tong slammed the throttle and yelled, "Gravity's increasing below us! ——"

Rong Mi responded, "Because the wormholes below are expanding!"

Sun Tong stared at the scene beneath the starship and was momentarily struck speechless.

Countless crimson ice butterflies spewed out from the solid mineral deposits beneath the planet, swaying like waterweeds, attempting to entangle and drag the starship down with them.

Sun Tong pushed the starship's engines to their maximum capacity.

Lu Yi rose and moved toward the secondary pilot seat, accessing the system to directly assume control of Sun Tong's piloting privileges.

"I'll stay with Rong Mi."

"The rest of you, operate your mechas to detach from the starship, ascend, and leave the resource planet. Regain control of the situation around the resource planet and inform the military command of our circumstances."

"Connect with Robert and Sun Ming. The butterfly spirit fragment in AE sector might have spread through a wormhole."

"Reinstitute the spatial lockdown."

"The energy intensity to contain the butterfly spirit fragment isn't sufficient – it seems this piece is much more potent than the one Seiko had," Rong Mi's mental flames surged, spreading outwards to burn through large swaths of crimson venom glands. "There's also a hypnotic mental wave! We need to amplify it! –"

… Cecil was truly a troublesome one!

The proctors listened to Rong Mi's suggestions, nodding frequently while exchanging uncertain glances. "But there are only the two of you here…"

That being said, their addition didn't seem to make much difference.

"We aren't here for a drawn-out battle," Rong Mi smiled. "We'll test the waters. If we can fight, we will. If not, we retreat."

Despite his words, he felt a tinge of regret.

During the Capital Star Amusement Park battle, he and Lu Yi, together with the Capital Star Guard, had engaged in a lengthy attrition battle against Cecil.

And being closer to the Ice Butterfly Star Region, with even more variables at play, this wasn't an ideal time for such a battle.

Moreover, Rong Mi was unwilling to exhaust Lu Yi's mental power any further.

He could sense that his second awakening was near. Therefore... it would be best to confine Cecil's fragment of mental energy within a specific area, so that after his second awakening... he could give it a sound beating!

Just as the military was planning now.

Their main battlefield against Cecil's mental energy fragment should be in the AE sector, just a few hours away.

In the starship, the proctors exchanged glances before finally deciding to follow Lu Yi's orders and Rong Mi's advice, heading to the mecha preparation bay.

They ejected from the top of the starship, activating their engines to maximum and using the ejection speed to break free from the gravitational pull below, ascending rapidly.

Below the starship, purple flames raged, preventing Cecil's mental energy from penetrating the fiery inferno.

Lu Yi's starship was descending.

Rong Mi observed carefully and, through his mental vision, saw no signs of combat nearby nor any significant residue of Anna's or Hua Oulo's mental energy, allowing him to relax slightly.

The mental strength of these butterfly venom gland tentacles on the resource planet wasn't too high – only marginally stronger than the butterflies themselves. They seemed to be mere offshoots, tiny extensions from the fragment of mental energy.

They were duplicates of duplicates, having traversed through a wormhole to arrive on this planet, likely lured by some energy mineral within its resources for self-nourishment.

With such a formidable level of Butterfly's mental strength, Anna and Hua Oulo would find it challenging to seize control. However, based on Rong Mi's understanding of Hua Oulo's mental prowess, they should be able to manage for a while.

Rong Mi hoped that Anna had entered Hua Oulo's starship. He wished that they would understand not to initiate combat hastily, but instead use their mental strength to support the starship's shields while awaiting rescue.

The supplies on the examination starship were surely sufficient to sustain them. If the ship remained intact, Hua Oulo and Anna might have been coerced into the wormhole by Butterfly's toxic mental glands.

Rong Mi knew of fragmented mental energy in the AE Zone, three hours away. On the other side of the wormhole... there was an eighty percent chance it led there.

Rong Mi was determined to traverse the wormhole, and the AE Zone was heavily garrisoned by military forces. As long as Hua Oulo and Anna could hold on, their chances of salvation were high.

But considering Hua Oulo's temperament... Rong Mi was uncertain what actions he might take.

Anna, on the other hand, wasn't as extreme as Hua Oulo. But... Rong Mi wondered if she could restrain Hua Oulo's group of overly dramatic individuals.

Rong Mi felt a headache coming on, but dwelling on it now would be unproductive.

The purple mental energy flames burned more intensely, spreading a vast inferno around the starship.

Increasing numbers of crimson venom glands extended outward from the depths of the planet. Rong Mi soon noticed that many of the tendrils carried large chunks of red energy ore.

The ores, encapsulated by the ice butterfly's venom glands, rapidly lost their luster, crumbling into dust and dissipating. The portion of energy that couldn't be absorbed by the ice butterflies merged with the planet's existing energy field, while more of the ore's energy nourished the growth of the ice butterfly venom glands.

The tentacles extending from the wormhole below grew thicker and longer after absorbing the energy ore. They multiplied in an instant, shooting upward several times their original length. Taut like arrows, they targeted Rong Mi and Lu Yi's starship, as well as the mecha pilots hastily escaping the planet.

From the vantage point of space, the small planet underwent a bizarre transformation. Countless bright red tendrils emerged from its orange, red, and white clouds, wriggling and stretching endlessly into the void, as if they were part of some monstrous creature's lair.

The crimson ice butterfly mental fog spread throughout the cosmos, turning the planet into what seemed to be the breeding ground for a terrifying creature with tentacles.

The candidates who had been waiting on standby gasped, exchanging uneasy glances. They were worried about those who had entered the resource planet but also aware of the imminent danger ahead. They were unsure whether to attempt a rescue or retreat to a safe distance.

"Retreat," Chen Shu instructed, holding Damon, the agitated rabbit, whose fur stood on end. "That's not an ordinary high-level or sub-butterfly... it's likely the mental energy gland of a fully grown butterfly."

"The energy fluctuations resemble those at the Capital Star amusement park."

Having witnessed Cecil's power, Chen Shu knew that the current low intensity of the ice butterfly's mental energy didn't guarantee safety. Change was still possible.

With resolve, he connected to the public channel and calmly addressed the surrounding candidate spacecraft, "There's a high probability of a Butterfree mental energy fragment ahead! Everyone, retreat further back! Three star miles more!"

"One can retreat, but we shouldn't, right?" The pilot, who had a good relationship with Hua Oulo, sitting in the spaceship's cockpit glanced at Chen Shu and earnestly said, "Brother Hua, Rong Ge, and the proctors need someone to respond. What if everyone flees? What will they do?"

"We just need to avoid causing them trouble," Chen Shu said, his gaze fixed on the window. "With Ami and Admiral Lu Yi there, I believe they'll be fine..."

Before he could finish, his assumption was confirmed.

The ice butterflies that had emerged from the planet's atmosphere, their venom sacs extended, suddenly ceased all movement. They stiffened mid-air, like electric toys that had lost power.

In the next second, purple flames appeared within the planet's clouds.

More magnificent than any erupting volcano.

A purple glow originated from a single point, swiftly expanding and engulfing the bright red venom sacs of the ice butterflies in an instant, melting them away.

A surreal image of a dragon-bird emerged from the flames. Its body was more massive and relaxed than ever before. As its dragon tail swayed, the flame's luster swallowed nearby clouds, while the dispersing energy particles spread outward, casting a faint purple hue over the distant parts of the planet's atmosphere.

The intense energy fluctuations stirred the entire sky above the planet, as if it were boiling water.

The entire planet seemed to have undergone a unique metamorphosis, roaring as it bore Rong Mi's signature.

In the midst of the fiercest purple flames, a few narrow gaps emerged.

Black military mechas swiftly rose from those openings, heading towards the planet's orbit.

Despite Rong Mi's control over his mental energy to avoid attacking the mechas, their outer shells were inevitably scarred by the flames, leaving faint marks.

The proctors wore expressionless faces. As they immediately contacted the military, they repeated in their minds what they had just said not long ago.

...With Rong Mi's strength, he would be more suitable as a proctor for them!

The vast expanse of purple flames that had just engulfed the hull... it made their hearts race with fear.

They were relieved that Rong Mi was on their side, not their adversary.

Inside the starship, Lu Yi tilted his head slightly and said earnestly, "Impressive."

The starship was surrounded by flames. Countless ice butterfly venom sacs, stored by Rong Mi's flames, melted away, while innumerable tendrils shot out from below.

Amidst the roar of flames and venom ducts battling, the starship descended through the chaotic energy currents.

Rong Mi handled the situation with ease, even finding time to jest, "Since the General asked me to stay, I naturally have to seize the opportunity to showcase myself."

A small curve formed at the corner of Lu Yi's lips.

"Because I know you're capable," the Admiral said calmly, "I specifically requested you to remain and stabilize the situation."

"Such eloquence!" Rong Mi couldn't help but laugh, addressing the General.

The starship continued its descent, yet the glow of the flames intensified.

At this point, neither Lu Yi nor the wolves were needed.

"Ao." Ayin crouched behind the command center, scraping its claws against the floor, seemingly disappointed.

After a small section of Chengdie's venom duct was repeatedly seared by the flames, it seemed to realize that its opponent was an indomitable force. Instead of engaging Rong Mi further, they collectively retreated into the planet's interior.

In an instant, the starship's descent slowed as the wormhole beneath it closed along with the retreating venom ducts.

Yet Hua Oulo and Anna were still unaccounted for; Rong Mi and Lu Yi couldn't let it escape their grasp.

Not to mention this venom gland... It seemed like the softest of soft targets!

"Let's follow it! General!" Rong Mi narrowed his eyes. "We'll also pass through the wormhole to the AE sector and see what Cecil is up to this time!"