All three teams got off to a rough start early in the morning, so each squad became even more cautious from then on.
After four hours of travel, they separately encountered detector failures, sudden ice shelf breaks, and several waves of mid-sized beast attacks...
By the time they set up camp, though each of them was bedraggled in their own way, they were far more composed than when they'd first stepped off the hovercrafts.
Wang Tianwei directed her teammates to angle the four mechs together, forming an impenetrable wall that just happened to block the wind, snow, and ice shards coming from every direction, while also keeping some star beasts from launching surprise attacks.
The cockpit was very close to the tents, so even if danger struck, they could guarantee getting back to their mechs in no time.
"You thought of all this, Sister Zebra? This is practically a mini fortress!"
Jian Jingyu climbed down from her mech fully geared up, an oxygen tank strapped to her back, and whenever she felt like she couldn't breathe, she'd quickly grab her mask and take a couple of hits.
It wasn't just the mechs—they also had to adapt to Blizza Star's environment as individuals. In the seven days ahead, there were bound to be situations where they'd have to go without their mechs, and if they hadn't adjusted by then, things would get ugly.
"Absolutely. All for the best rest possible!"
Zhang Lyra, a bear-type half-beast who'd lived on Karen Star her whole life, adapted to the extreme cold faster than the rest of the team, and was currently busy inflating the tents.
Once she was done, she stared at the sliver of sky visible above the mechs.
"If only we could seal the top too," she muttered.
Wang Tianwei tilted her head up as well.
"I did consider it. But that would require redesigning the mech's head into a triangular arch—exactly ninety degrees—and connecting it directly to the shoulders. The space efficiency would be way too low, and it'd hurt the mech's performance..."
Zhang Lyra tried to imagine what her mech would look like with a triangular-arch head.
"No need! Forget I said anything. Square is just fine!"
The four of them stepped into the temperature-controlled tent and switched on the heater. Feeling every pore open up, they took a breath of oxygen and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Ah~ What do we want for lunch?"
"How about some spicy soup for Goldfish? Falling into that ice crevice—a hot broth will help him sweat it out."
"And we need something filling. Four hours of intense focus in the morning really drains you!"
"Meat."
"Emm, how about I boil some noodles in a pot? And blanch some veggies? As for meat... here's a grill pan. Goldfish, that's your job."
"You got it!"
The livestream "little bee" drone smartly pulled back for a wide shot.
Outside the "mech fortress," the wind howled and everything was a vast white. Meanwhile, the four members of Qilin busied themselves inside the heated tent, making soup and grilling meat. The steam from the food floated up through the stove's exhaust pipe and quickly froze into a ring of icicles.
The contrast between inside and out made the scene inside the tent feel even cozier.
"I knew it—as long as they're allowed to bring their own food, Qilin never disappoints!"
"Ah~ Snow camping has its own charm, honestly. Just as long as it's not on Blizza Star."
"Sister Zebra cooking, Emm... well, as long as it's not Sir Huang, anything's fine!"
"I'm hungry too—heading to the cafeteria to scavenge, fam!"
"Help... the spicy hot pot stall in our school cafeteria is already lining up."
This time, it wasn't just Qilin—the other two military academies had also ditched the old tradition of only drinking nutrient packs.
After all, their progress during this period wasn't limited to just physical ability and mental strength!
Barry felt he had already mastered the essence of Jian Jingyu’s cooking, so he volunteered to make a pot of rice stew for his teammates.
“Are you sure you can do it? I made a bet with Sister Zebra, and the loser has to maintain the other’s mech for three months.”
Wu Fangyu wasn’t very confident in Barry’s skills. After setting up camp, he clutched his soup pot tightly and refused to let go.
“Besides, our rest time is limited…”
Barry yanked the pot out of his arms with a bit of effort.
“Just trust me!”
As he turned around, he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.
“I wrote down all the steps. There’s no way this goes wrong.”
Meanwhile, Hiranuma Yusho didn’t stop his teammate. He quietly took out the buns he’d bought at the cafeteria yesterday and placed them on the heater to warm up.
If Barry’s cooking turned out to be absolutely inedible, at least everyone could have some buns instead.
Back at the screen, the Academy of Sciences academician noticed that the Valk troops had heated up more than twenty large buns in one go… “So it was you kids who bought out the cafeteria’s buns and didn’t leave a single one for me, huh?”
That wasn’t even the main point. The main point was that he could only eat two of those big buns at a time, and they were heating up more than twenty on top of having actual main dishes?
Wait, wasn’t Valk supposed to be a prestigious aristocratic academy?
Lin Youfu and Gaskell watched the livestream, their backs bending lower and lower, their wrist terminals vibrating nonstop with messages from teachers at their own schools.
They didn’t dare look. They absolutely didn’t dare look… The kids had suddenly fallen in love with food — what were they supposed to do about that?!
Even Team One had set up camp after killing the frost wolves and getting back on track.
He Siyu pulled out a tall stack of boxed meals. Leola thought heating them up one by one was way too tedious, so she placed a few mech waste-heat exchangers around them. Once the power was connected, steam soon began to rise from the meals.
Once the food was heated, each person received two boxes first.
“Everyone, start eating. If it’s not enough, we’ll heat up more later — otherwise it’ll get cold.”
“Thanks.”
Fu Xingyuan accepted his two boxed meals with both hands, while Wu Pingzhuo brewed himself a bowl of instant noodles and added two chicken drumsticks into it.
“Let’s keep lunch light. The road ahead doesn’t look peaceful, and eating too much makes you drowsy.”
He Siyu also took two boxed meals.
“Wu Pingzhuo’s right. But at least eat to about seventy percent full, since we don’t know when dinner will be.
If anyone gets hungry this afternoon, feel free to grab a snack in the cockpit.”
“Alright, so I’ll heat up three more boxes then, right?”
“There are four of us — why only three!?”
“Aren’t you already eating instant noodles?”
“That’s soup! Soup is just to fill the gaps, didn’t you know?”
“…Aren’t there two drumsticks too?”
“Chicken soup!”
Fu Xingyuan was so choked by his teammate’s words that he nearly spat out the rice in his mouth!
In the camp livestream room, Celina’s head eventually dropped as well. The teachers from the other two military academies felt a sense of balance — no one was getting away clean.
Fifth Military Region Commander Yu Qian smiled with amusement.
“Heh. By the way, the Fifth Military Region just opened a new cafeteria this month. Twenty stalls — stir-fried, deep-fried, braised, fried, you name it. All-you-can-eat without limit, as long as you don’t waste.”
Lei Deming’s voice followed immediately.
“The Ninth Military Region has three cafeterias total, with over a hundred stalls combined. The variety of food covers almost everything, and the taste is famous as the best among all ten military regions.
Not only is it unlimited, but for soldiers it’s open twenty-four hours a day.”
Yu Qian's smile froze on her face. Twenty-four hours a day? You old bastard, since when did the Ninth Military District come up with such a rule!?
