"Did Wu Fangyu and the others run into twenty star beasts or mutant beasts again?"
The four Kirin mechas were still scanning for the location of the college's bonus button in the snowstorm. Hearing Valk's announcement of the bonus points, Wang Tianwei sympathetically spoke up.
"That'll really give them a hard time..."
It wasn't that she was being sarcastic, but she'd noticed that since the last avalanche, it was as if all the star beasts on Planet Blizza had come out of their nests! Not only were there an unusually large number of them, but they were also getting harder to deal with.
At first, they'd even wondered if there had been some kind of natural disaster somewhere that had made the star beasts so restless. There had to be a reason, right?
However, during this time, she'd also noticed that there seemed to be a predator - prey relationship among these star beasts.
Along the way, through the mecha's scans, they'd seen many star beast and mutant beast corpses buried beneath the snow or frozen in the ice. Goldfish had even said that the competition in this nature was quite fierce...
Later, when they encountered more, they didn't even care if it would cause an avalanche. After all, every single one of those packs of enemy beasts wanted to devour them!
Just like now, while they were quietly scanning, a group of mutant worms suddenly leaped up from somewhere, trying to stick themselves onto their mechas!
Wang Tianwei dodged these worms with a fancy step. If they managed to stick on, it would be a disaster!
These things could corrode the mechas! Yesterday, she'd been careless and a piece of her mecha's foot had been eaten away. It had almost damaged her power pipeline!
Moreover, she hated worms the most, especially ones that could jump. Only Planet Blizza could breed such freakish creatures!
Zhang Lyra and Jian Jingyu shot one worm at a time. Each of them could quickly destroy the enemy's nerve center with just one bullet. This was a skill they'd honed back then in the virtual shooting software with Sister Zebra and the others.
The two of them were already imagining how cool and stylish they looked in the live - stream. Indeed, they were that good!
But Huang Yan noticed that there was something strange about the spiritual power of these worms. They seemed immune to his normal attacks and group illusions. Sometimes, they could even break free and counter - attack him!
"Hmm?"
Weren't these just the most common mutant worms on Planet Blizza? They'd encountered them before. Why had they suddenly evolved!?
Thinking back to the strange snow foxes that Sister Zebra and the others had met in the middle of the night a couple of days ago,
"Something seems off..."
"Damn it! They actually dare to ignore my spiritual power!? This is an insult!" Wang Tianwei used her Class - A spiritual power attack as usual. It was soon broken through, and it hadn't even been upgraded. Now, even a few worms dared to defy her? That was going too far!
She took out a Gatling gun with one hand.
"Get out of the way. I'll show them what a Class - A mecha pilot is capable of. Tremble, you lowly worms!"
"Sister Zebra, your taking - out - anger is too obvious..."
"Do we really need to use a Gatling gun?"
"...Let's finish this quickly and then retreat. I have something to discuss with you guys."
"Yes!"
"Got it."
"Rat - tat - tat - tat - tat - tat!"
**********
Meng Chongyun had reviewed the personnel lists submitted by the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Military Regions in his office.
"Tell them to streamline the personnel. Only keep those with the highest spiritual power, and the number should not exceed a hundred."
Based on the number of abnormal star beasts encountered in the three live - streams estimated by the technical team, there were at least several hundred insectoid races stationed on Planet Blizza, and it was uncertain if there were over a thousand.
However, the number of humans going up against the Alpha Insectoid Race shouldn't be too large. Otherwise, the subsequent screening work would be too heavy, and it would also have an impact on the prevention and control of each military region.
They'd finally completed the initial screening. If even one insectoid managed to sneak in, it would ruin everything.
"Yes."
Guo Hongfan closed the paper document in his hand and then said firmly,
"Chief, I request to lead the team personally to Planet Blizza to complete this student rescue mission."
Seeing Meng Chongyun frown, Guo Hongfan continued to explain,
"Each military commander must stay in charge of their military region at critical moments. This is the first direct confrontation between humans and the insectoid race, which is very important. We must rescue the children!
I have over twenty - five years of combat experience and have dealt with the insectoid race for about the same amount of time. I request to go for the rescue. Please approve."
Meng Chongyun didn't answer immediately. Instead, he opened the drawer in front of him, took out two envelopes, and handed them to Guo Hongfan.
Guo Hongfan took them, looking puzzled. He saw that there were words written in black pen on both envelopes.
One was labeled 'Last Words', and the other was 'Letter of Appointment'.
"Chief!?"
Meng Chongyun stood up from his chair.
"Don't rush to say no. Let me ask you, do you have 3S - level spiritual power? Can you guarantee that you'll be able to bring the children back with a hundred soldiers?"
"..."
Guo Hongfan swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
"There shouldn't be many insectoids above the Golden Crown level on Planet Blizza. Now, time is of the essence. As you said, this battle is crucial to us.
We need to pick up the students as soon as possible and then launch a full - scale attack. The longer we delay, the more dangerous it will be for the children."
"Chief... The military headquarters still needs you to oversee things."
Meng Chongyun pointed at the envelopes in his hand.
"Can you not handle the affairs of the military headquarters?"
"I..."
"If you can't, then you've been wasting your time all these years!"
Meng Chongyun's tone became stern.
"The Federation has never been short of a 'Chief'. Before I became the 'Chief', I was first and foremost a soldier, and the strongest soldier in the Federation!"
Meng Chongyun's words carried great weight. Guo Hongfan felt that the two envelopes in his hands were extremely hot.
"But..."
The man in front walked out from behind the table.
"Every Federation soldier has to leave last words before going on a mission, and I'm no exception. I wrote this letter of last words ten years ago and have made countless copies of it.
This time, I'm just giving it to you for safekeeping as usual. Remember to return it to me when I come back."
"...Chief!"
Guo Hongfan didn't know what to say. Every word of Meng Chongyun's had left him speechless. Although there was some logic to it, when had the military headquarters' chief ever gone on a mission personally?
Meng Chongyun strode out of the office and waved his hand back at Guo Hongfan.
"Do as I just said. Tell them to submit the list to me quickly. Transfer starships and weapons from the logistics department. We must set off by tomorrow morning at the latest.
Oh, when I'm gone, ask General Paige of the Fifth Military Region to support Elizabeth at the isolation and control center. You remember to keep an eye on the Alpha Golden Crown. Inform me immediately if there's any situation.
Also, get an academician specializing in spiritual power from Xue Jie to go with me."
"...Yes."
