The live broadcast cut off abruptly, and in just five minutes, everyone across the Federation experienced a tremendous shock...
"We need them to resume the broadcast, and have the technical team extract as much useful information from the footage as possible—figure out the Zerg's defensive layout, numbers, ranks, and attack methods.
Have the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Military Districts each report how many troops they can send to Bliza Star? We need to ensure there are no problems in their own regions. If there are difficulties, report them immediately—don't drag it out."
Meng Chongyun started to stand up, but only got halfway before feeling dizzy. Xue Jie rushed over to help him sit back down.
"You haven't gotten your injection yet, Chief Commander. Where were you planning to go?"
Meng Chongyun then remembered he was here for his shot... Xue Jie quickly prepared the medication and pushed the needle into his arm.
"Two consecutive days of injections—the effects today won't be as strong as yesterday's, and it will take longer to kick in.
You just drew out mental energy last night, so try not to use it again for the next couple of days.
On our side, we have Elizabeth. She still can't fully kill the Zerg, but after her training, she's already quite good at screening and detection.
Today she's conducting checks on the key government personnel on Tianxu Star. She's young, but she hasn't shown an ounce of fear. The Paige family and the school have raised her well."
"I fought alongside General Paige's father back in the day... He didn't hesitate at all when he sent Elizabeth to us. Make sure you take good care of that girl."
Meng Chongyun pulled his sleeve back down,
"Thank you for your hard work."
Xue Jie paused, her hand cleaning the worktable, and let out a long sigh,
"People like us working hard is nothing... I just hope it will all be worth it."
Meng Chongyun stood up again, his tall frame blocking part of the sunlight streaming in from the window,
"It will be worth it."
The Qilin Squad successfully made it through three days on Bliza Star. Wang Tianwei had already figured out the pattern of the blizzards here.
Usually, the wind and snow start to pick up around dusk and become most intense at night! By the early hours of 4 or 5 a.m., the snow lets up, and if you're lucky, it might even stop for a little while.
So they adjusted their travel schedule accordingly—setting out in the early morning and resting whenever it became difficult to move in the afternoon.
Today, thanks to good weather, they managed to push a bit farther, making up for all the distance they had lost in the first two days due to unexpected situations.
It's worth noting that even though they didn't walk that long every day over these three days, the overall intensity was equivalent to special forces training. Without the week-plus of brutal physical conditioning they had done beforehand, they never would have held out this long...
Jian Jingyu ladled hot soup for everyone. Wang Tianwei lay stretched out on her sleeping bag, oxygen mask over her nose and mouth, looking utterly spent as she sucked in a couple of breaths of oxygen.
"So am I oxygen-deprived or oxygen-intoxicated? Why do I feel dizzy and foggy all day?"
Huang Yan looked at her miserable state with concern.
"You're not catching a cold, are you? Or... are you actually about to level up?"
"Huh? Did you feel dizzy before you ranked up to S-class?"
"Not really. I just felt a little restless..."
"Sister Zebra, if you're about to level up, don't hold it in! Just step out and let the shuttle take you back—the three of us can still win the championship!"
Little did she know, the people listening from outside were nearly heartbroken.
"Of all times, she picks now to level up? Bliza Star doesn't have any potions!"
"Sister Zebra, hold on! The military will definitely send people to rescue you all!"
"Why does it have to be now? Damn those Zerg!"
"Hey! Alpha! If you've got a problem, come at us adults! What's the point of bullying a few kids!?"
"Exactly, are you Zerg so pathetic you're taking your anger out on children? I guess you guys really have no class!"
In the camp hospital, Dr. Lin's fingers flew across the virtual keyboard in a panic.
"Commander, I'm not asking about classified matters, but I beg you—if the military goes to Bliza Star, they Absolutely must bring a mental power physician!
At the very least, we can't be short on level-up or mental energy supplement potions..."
Oblivious to everything, Wang Tianwei frowned at the little golden fish's comment, pushed herself up with one hand, and took her meal box.
"Don't make leveling up sound as easy as going to the bathroom.
And besides—winning the championship is something I want to properly show off about. I'm going to endure all seven days no matter what!
Just remember to remind me to hold my head high, and if at all possible, give me time to change into clean clothes..."
Jian Jingyu couldn't believe Sister Zebra was still thinking about "showing off" at a time like this.
"Fine... Well, eat more then. You want more steamed buns?"
Wang Tianwei listlessly shook her head.
"Four is enough."
Zhang Lyra frowned and turned around.
"Eating that little won't get you through the night! If you don't sleep well, your head might hurt even worse tomorrow."
"...Fine, give me one more then."
Huang Yan said nothing about how the three of them attributed everything to not eating enough or not sleeping enough.
To be fair, about 80% of the problems they encountered could indeed be solved by those two methods—but the other 20% was surely them storing up for something big.
In his opinion, Sister Zebra was definitely building up to something... but even after she unleashed it, they'd usually recover with food and sleep, and at least the supplies they had prepared were sufficient.
Huang Yan mentally counted the untouched inventory in his space pendant and relaxed.
"We've already stepped into the area marked on the map for the academy bonus button today, but the search difficulty has been way harder than the previous two times. Want to sweep through this section again tomorrow before moving on?"
Zhang Lyra was still worried they might have missed the bonus button today. After all, while a button might seem big on its own, buried under the snow, it would be practically invisible.
Take their tent, for example—after a single night, from outside it just looked like a slight bulge in the snow, with no sign that people were still underneath.
Even with the detector Sister Zebra had made, they could only scan the areas they had personally walked through, not to mention there were spaces beneath some of the ice sheets.
"No need to double back. Let's push forward. There are still four days left—the event organizers probably wouldn't place the bonus button this early."
Huang Yan pulled out the map to analyze the situation.
"The last match had all the bonus buttons clustered together... As long as we haven't heard any announcements from the other two military academies, there's no need to panic."
Wang Tianwei added,
"We already ran into the First Military Academy on the second day. The three teams must be fairly close to each other—the organizers probably want to see us clash."
She sniffled.
"We'll probably run into them again next, right?"
Zhang Lyra bit her spoon.
"It's time for me to avenge my three cannons."
Wang Tianwei hurriedly shut her mouth.
Wu Pingzhuo, why did you have to mess with Lyra's cannons of all things? Now you're on her hit list.
But then again... Leola probably wouldn't hold a grudge like that... right? Maybe not, right?
