By evening, the students realized that the daylight snowstorm had been nothing at all—because Planet Blizza had its own definition of the word "blizzard"...
The Kirin squad’s dedicated tent was surrounded by four mechs, but by now the heavy snow falling from the sky had almost buried the tent up to the windows.
Visibility outside was nearly zero, white everywhere you looked, and the only sound was the roar of the howling wind.
The four of them huddled by the stove eating dinner together, feeling nothing but relief.
At least they had pitched camp before the storm got worse—every air pole, ground stake, guyline, and snow skirt was secured rock solid.
"I'll go clear the snow around us before bed. Otherwise by tomorrow we'll probably be buried alive."
Jian Jingyu said this while glancing at the livestream "little bee" drone, swallowing back the complaints she wanted to make about the event organizers. But that sulky little expression on her face said it all.
"Let me translate for everyone: this face means 'The event organizers are inhuman, picking locations that even ghosts would dread!'"
"Thanks, Translator Hero."
"Honestly, finding these backwater planets as competition sites is pretty impressive in its own way."
"Hahaha, day one on Planet Blizza and Goldfish is already done for!"
"A place like this? I wouldn't go there even for five million star coins..."
Huang Yan let out an "mm" and said,
"I'll go with you. You two don't need to go clear snow in the middle of the night—otherwise Sister Zebra will probably get buried directly."
"..."
Wang Tianwei was unconvinced but had no comeback.
Sir Huang's estimate was spot on—the snow was already up to her chest, and within half an hour, opening the tent flap would probably reveal a literal wall of snow.
Still, the tent she'd bought was seriously sturdy. A disaster-level storm like this didn't tear it apart or blow it away. She had to leave the seller a five-star review!
The students from First Military Academy and Valk Academy were completely shell-shocked. So THIS was a real blizzard? Then what was the daytime one?
After barely managing to pitch camp, He Siyu sat inside the tent studying the map. Today they'd covered less than a quarter of their planned distance... At this rate, would they even reach the exit in seven days?
And where would this round's academy bonus button be hidden this time? Just thinking about it gave her a headache.
All four mechs had been fully modified during the day. Tomorrow they absolutely had to pick up the pace. Hopefully everything would go smoothly.
At 2 AM,
Wang Tianwei and Zhang Lyra crawled out of their warm sleeping bags, eyes still puffy, and traded shifts with Huang Yan and Jian Jingyu.
"Not much going on. There's tea on the stove—just keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil dry."
Huang Yan gave a brief handover, and the two boys were breathing long and deep within three breaths of zipping into their sleeping bags.
A full day of trudging through wind and snow, fighting off several waves of star beasts and mutant creatures, then pulling a half-night watch—they were beyond exhausted.
Outside, the gale still howled relentlessly, but it didn't disturb them one bit.
Wang Tianwei and Zhang Lyra wrapped shawls around themselves, walked to the stove, and poured cups of ginger-date tea. After drinking and taking a couple of hits from the oxygen tank, they finally felt more alert.
Outside the tent was pitch black, with sounds coming from every direction—impossible to tell if it was just the storm or some creature lurking.
To be safe, they geared up fully. Wang Tianwei coated herself in molten gold again, ready to step out for a night patrol.
The snow around the camp had already been cleared by Huang Yan and Jian Jingyu, so it was only knee-deep now.
Even so, every step Wang Tianwei took was a struggle to pull her legs free, while Zhang Lyra stayed within arm's reach, ready to catch her at any moment.
After all, for Zhang Lyra, the snow only came up to her calves—walking through it was nowhere near as difficult.
Just as the two finished their patrol and stepped into the outer vestibule to shake off the snow, a white fox with a big fluffy tail squeezed through the gaps between the four mechs with great effort.
Zhang Lyra's bear ears twitched, and she stopped Wang Tianwei from shaking the snow off her hat.
"Wait—I hear something."
Wang Tianwei froze instantly, perking up her ears... After a moment, all she could hear was the howling wind and snow pellets battering the tent.
But the two of them still put their hats back on, pulled up their face masks, and cautiously unzipped the tent's outer flap, rifles raised.
Little Bear was a half-beast person. Her senses were rarely wrong.
Huang Yan and Jian Jingyu seemed to feel a draft and shrank deeper into their sleeping bags.
Snow shards whirled wildly in the gale. Both women wore infrared goggles, but everything ahead was a vast blur—impossible to tell if it was fog or the steam from their own breath.
Zhang Lyra nudged Wang Tianwei with her elbow, signaling her to look left.
Through the goggles, about a dozen meters away in the snow, a fox was struggling toward the tent?
The little creature seemed to sense it was being watched and popped its head up from the snow not long after.
Pointed ears, a black nose, and round, blinking eyes... Found it! There's the bear ears—this must be the team the leader mentioned. Where's the one with the streak of white hair?
Some night-owl netizens still awake were charmed by the snow fox's appearance.
"Ah! Cuteness incoming!"
"Planet Blizza has little cuties like this? I'll take a dozen, thank you!"
"That's way too adorable? It's practically cheating!"
"Calm down, people—this is Planet Blizza..."
"How did it get here? Isn't it afraid of humans?"
"BANG BANG BANG BANG!"
Before the netizens could finish praising the snow fox's looks, the two Kirin students stood their ground in perfect sync and fired a continuous burst from their rifles.
When the snow fox collapsed, its round pupils still held a look of utter disbelief—They... how?!
"AH!!"
"What are they doing? Why did they kill the little fox?!"
"...the ones above are joking, right?"
"Look at the weather! A blizzard! Humans would die outside without protection. What animal wouldn't fear a blizzard and just casually wanders toward people? Use some common sense!"
"Too bloody—my eyes!"
"Where's the blood? Sister Zebra went straight for the head, and Little Bear followed up with shots to the heart, but the blood froze instantly—barely any spilled at all, right?"
"Isn't this animal abuse?"
"I seriously can't with you people—since when are star beasts 'animals'? Go on, take it home and raise it for two days, see if it eats you or not!"
"Some people really can't bring themselves to kill something just because it's cute?"
"What era are we in, still judging beasts by looks? You said nothing when they were shooting those mutant birds!"
"What about the discipline and common sense of interstellar soldiers? You'd be the first to die on a real battlefield!"
"Aww, I know, I was wrong!"
"Didn't think Sister Zebra and Little Bear would be completely unfazed."
"Hmph! That's nothing? Remember those mermaids on Planet Eunox...?"
