Inside the rescue aircraft hovering above Qilin Military Academy, a safety officer who had just finished his shift braced against the icy wind and pulled open the aircraft door to peer down below.
"Kes, why did you open the door? Aren't you afraid of freezing into an ice cube?"
His teammate Weng Lin passed by from behind, rubbing his arms, confused.
Kes hurriedly pressed the door-close button and turned back around with his face already flushed red from the cold.
"I wanted to check the snow and wind conditions outside. If Qilin and the others can push forward through a blizzard like this, Wang Tianwei's piloting skills are truly solid."
"Idiot... Just look through the live feed and the glass. Why on earth would you open the door?"
Weng Lin rolled his eyes and continued walking toward the lounge.
"I mean, that's the youngest recipient of the Second-Class Merit Medal in history. The transform mechs we use now were all invented by that kid! Of course the skills are solid.
Don't let their age fool you—my bet is that they're all but guaranteed to win this year's championship."
Kes rubbed his hands together and sat down across from him.
"Haha, I think so too!"
In a corner the aircraft swept past, an adult frost wolf opened its eyes groggily.
It sensed something—the presence of kin passing by?
After a moment, it stood up, adjusted to controlling four legs, and stepped forward into the wind a couple of paces. A glint of gold flickered in its eyes.
Indeed, star beasts capable of living on Blizza never feared the cold themselves.
"Howl—"
Still in isolation, Li Qin kept his eyes glued to the live broadcast of the military academy tournament. He didn't want to miss a single frame, not even while sipping nutrient fluid or using the restroom.
Wang Tianwei's genius in mech design was utterly unmatched!
But the others just made him angrier the more he watched. A sophomore already managed to materialize a mental shield? These people absolutely needed to be cut off—completely—so the Federation would hit a dead end...
His optical computer showed a message from the contact labeled "Daughter"—more useless drivel.
Without even reading it, he gave a perfunctory reply: "Busy."
Just as predicted, no new message came afterward.
Human attachment and relationship maintenance were enough to drive him mad. What was there to talk about every single day?
He had to deal with that female commander and his fellow soldiers without showing any cracks, and on top of that, he had to exchange pleasantries with people who meant nothing to him. Going on for more than ten days was already his limit!
Li Qin sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to sort through the information and resources he had.
The vanguard units of the insect swarm should have already reached Blizza. They needed to find a body suited to the frigid environment and then locate the people he wanted one by one.
And he couldn't rush now. To leave Tianshu Star, he needed to fully map out both the attack and retreat routes, ensuring zero margin for error.
Whether it was him or the ones he wanted to intercept—Wang Tianwei and the others—as long as they had human bodies, no food meant death, no water meant death, no oxygen meant death...
It was almost laughable. Such fragile creatures had managed to hold out against them for so many years, never once showing signs of surrender or giving up? Their extinction really couldn't be blamed on him.
His "eyes" outside had already confirmed the escape route from the quarantine control center. If that old man still wouldn't let them leave, it was time to raise some hell.
Before that, his "original body" had to get out of that sunless underground chamber first.
Li Qin's expression was caught somewhere between a smile and a grimace. Ah... he was already getting excited!
For the three military academies this year, a place with strong winds naturally had no shortage of energy.
Or perhaps—in this place where snow poured endlessly and the sun never showed—it was a blessing that the fierce gales accompanied them.
Without those winds, they'd be truly cornered, with no way to fight back against the mutated flora and fauna.
Qilin and their team of four had to whip out high-temperature flamethrowers before the white vines clinging tightly to their mechs would retreat.
Who would've thought?
In this God-forsaken place where even metal-built mechs were crippled, there were still plants capable of surviving?
Jian Jingyu was fuming. He had scanned for some vines just moments ago, but he never expected them to launch an attack!
Sir Huang said these white vines were called frost stranglers. As long as they detected even a trace of heat, they'd latch on like ghosts... refusing to let go of their "prey" until they drained every last bit of energy dry.
Every single tendril of the frost strangler was covered in ice-crystal barbs. Even the perfectly smooth surface of mech armor could be hooked, climbed, and rapidly grown upon!
Just a moment ago, it had almost blocked his pulse nozzle. It even tried to crawl inside—impossible to guard against!
"No wonder there were no star beasts or mutated creatures nearby. Turns out there's a pack of top-tier predators living right here."
...He got it now. In Blizza, the safer a place looked, the more dangerous it probably was.
Jian Jingyu ripped off the scorched vine branches from his mech, sidestepped, and fired his rifle straight into the heart of the tangled mass.
"Bang! Bang!"
The frost strangler recoiled a few meters, but it still seemed eager to make a meal of them.
Wang Tianwei's mental energy hadn't fully recovered yet.
Seeing this, she pulled an empty can from her spatial buckle, filled it with a quarter gallon of low-temperature thermal gel, a measured ratio of explosive powder, and sprinkled in some oxidizer so it could still combust even in low-oxygen environments.
"Goldfish, back off!"
With perfect timing, she hurled it straight into the center of the vine mass.
Flames burst out of the can instantly, and the massive knot of vines writhed and shrank back, too pained to keep coveting their mechs.
This plant feared fire above all else. In no time, the massive clump of white vines in the middle began to blacken, shrivel, lose moisture, and lose all will to attack.
But the blizzard on Blizza was too fierce. Before the frost strangler could burn completely, the flames were nearly smothered by the snow.
Huang Yan stepped forward and continued roasting it with his mech's high-temp flamethrower, Zhang Lyra following close behind.
The frost strangler was reduced to nothing but a thin layer of ash. Wang Tianwei steered her mech and stomped the ashes fully flat with both feet.
"Alright, all clear. Let's move."
Huang Yan pulled his gaze away and cautioned the team,
"From now on, even a plant sighting needs to be reported. No matter how small or unremarkable it looks, on Blizza, anything can be a threat."
"Got it."
Jian Jingyu holstered his weapon, patted his own cheeks inside the cockpit, and decided he'd keep his eyes peeled wider than ever.
As the scout, he absolutely wouldn't miss a single hazard again.
By the time they got moving once more, it was already six in the evening, and night was just about to fall.
"Once we clear this area, we'll find a spot to camp and settle in for the night. If we don't finish the distance, we don't finish it. We'll tackle it tomorrow. The storm looks like it's getting worse..."
Huang Yan checked the time. Even if they hadn't made the day's planned mileage, there was no way they could keep pushing forward.
Dangers multiplied after dark, and the real blizzard seemed only just about to hit.
