"Team One of the First Military Academy gets 14 additional points."
"There have been quite a lot of star beasts today, haven't there?"
Wu Pingzhuo gasped as he retracted the gun barrel and murmured, looking at the dead big bird in the distance.
Right after they set off at dawn, they encountered a group of high - order mutant beasts, more than twenty of them, extremely aggressive.
After struggling to deal with them, six ice - ridge bears soon appeared. They were as big as small mountains, opening their big mouths and chasing them everywhere!
After their encounter with the Qilin team, the group still had a phobia of close - range attacks...
So, under He Siyu's strict control, he and Leola used cannons to shoot the beasts in the head from a distance. Fu Xingyuan didn't even get a chance to make an appearance.
It was already quite absurd up to this point. How long had it been since they had a break? Then they met fourteen snow owls!
They hadn't been this unlucky before. Could it be because they met the Qilin team on the way? After all, netizens said they were cursed...
He Siyu stared intently at the dead snow owls.
She had never seen this kind of mutant beast on Tianshu Star or in previous matches. Did they originally have such powerful spiritual power?
She had only had a similar feeling when facing a large number of giant tube worms on Eshuinuo Star in the previous match.
But the giant tube worms were insects, and their spiritual power was more chaotic. The spiritual power of these big birds was almost on par with that of humans...
Snow owls had such huge bodies, sharp claws and beaks. Shouldn't they be mutant beasts that attacked with their size? It just didn't seem right.
"All done. Let's go!" Leola said happily.
Great, they got another 14 points. Their total score had now exceeded that of the Qilin team!
Only then did He Siyu look away.
"Everyone, be careful. I think there might be hidden rules in this match."
Fu Xingyuan asked in confusion,
"How do you know?"
"The spiritual power of those snow owls is not like that of ordinary mutant beasts. I suspect the organizing committee might have some new tricks up their sleeves."
Hearing what the team captain said, the three team members all looked up at the sky.
The rescue aircraft was still in stealth mode. Even though the safety officers heard their conversation, they didn't make any response.
But no one doubted He Siyu's judgment.
"Maybe it's not time to announce the rules yet?"
"Could it be a characteristic of this kind of mutant beast? I've never encountered this kind of bird before. How about you?"
"Neither have I." Leola replied immediately.
"I once read a description of this kind of bird. They seem to only live in extremely cold places. Their claws and beaks are very sharp. Despite their large size, their body energy consumption is very low when they're still... However, there was no special mention of their spiritual power."
Fu Xingyuan tried hard to recall the knowledge he had seen from a documentary a long time ago. The whole thing was about the physical strength of snow owls, how fast they could fly, and how aggressive they were. There really was no mention of spiritual power.
If, as the captain said, it wouldn't have been left out, right? Or did he not finish watching it?
It was too long ago, and he couldn't remember clearly.
He Siyu thought for a moment.
"Let's go first. If we meet more star beasts later, remember to use your spiritual power to test them. See if there really is a problem, or if there's something wrong with my spiritual power or it's being interfered with."
"Okay."
"Got it."
"No problem."
**********
Hiranuma Yusho found a large area of cold - erosion mushrooms underground, along with sac - root grass. There were many frozen star beast and mutant beast corpses near these two kinds of mutant plants. Illuminated by the headlights of their mechs, the scene looked rather eerie.
"Captain... It seems like they were frozen to death. Why is that?"
As Wu Fangyu spoke, she glanced at the thermometer. "Ten degrees Celsius."
This was ten degrees above zero! Compared to the outside, it was so much better!
Among the corpses were snow foxes and frost wolves. These mutant beasts were lively outside, but they were frozen to death at ten degrees? It was a bit strange...
Barry slowly covered his nose and mouth in the cockpit.
"Is there poison in the air!?"
Hearing this, Taylor also felt a bit panicked.
"I have antidotes in my space button, but I don't know if they'll work..."
Hiranuma Yusho calmly explained,
"This is sac - root grass. It's rich in water and is a natural water source. It's non - toxic.
Next to it is the cold - erosion mushroom. It's also non - toxic, but when a prey gets close, it will spray ice - breath spores at extremely low temperatures, which can instantly freeze the animal's respiratory tract and then spread throughout the body. These two kinds of mutant plants only grow in geothermal gaps."
"Wow! So dangerous." Taylor quickly took a step back.
After hearing what the captain said, Wu Fangyu waved his hand confidently.
"Don't worry. I've upgraded the breathing filtration system in our cockpits. The spores definitely won't get in."
Didn't they, as mech pilots, do a lot of research to prevent insects from climbing into the mechs through the pipes? He would never forget those days on Kashler Star when they were working non - stop from dawn till dusk...
Hiranuma Yusho casually glanced at the eyes of a frost wolf on the ground and then stood there stunned for a long time.
"Everyone, back off! Hurry!"
Hearing the order, the three teammates immediately retreated more than ten meters.
"What's going on, Captain!? Is there an enemy? Where is it!?"
Barry's head spun because he moved too suddenly. His post - concussion symptoms lasted quite a long time...
Hiranuma Yusho zoomed in on the observation screen in disbelief.
"Look at the second frost wolf from the left. Are its eyes golden?"
The teammates quickly looked over. The second frost wolf?
Wu Fangyu obviously knew something. After looking, he stood there stunned and didn't say a word for a long time.
But Barry and Taylor didn't understand.
"Yeah, they're golden. I've never seen that before."
"But it should be completely dead. Is it a threat to us?"
Hiranuma Yusho felt as if his throat was being choked. It really was golden. How could this be? The organizing committee wouldn't be so inhumane, would they?
He couldn't help but look at the camera in the cockpit. Unfortunately, the safety officers were still above, and the "little bee" didn't give any response either.
What on earth was going on?
Wu Fangyu swallowed hard and said cautiously,
"I heard from my mom that when they were fighting insects before, those insects would parasitize humans... The eyes of the parasitized people would turn completely black."
Hiranuma Yusho forced himself to calm down.
"My father also once told me that there's a kind of insect that, after completing the parasitism, the host's eyes will gradually turn golden.
It's a high - order insect called Alpha. But I'm not sure..."
After hearing the teammates' explanations, Taylor blinked twice.
"Wait, are you saying that the organizing committee is using high - order insects for the final project?"
Barry was silent for a long time. After his mind finally caught up, he said stiffly,
"So, in the eyes of the organizing committee... our strength has reached the level where we can fight against high - order insects?"
