“R-right here! Phew, this area is relatively safe, everyone, let’s take a break.”
“Phew!”
“Hah... hah...”
Wang Tianwei had pushed herself too hard during the sprint just now, and it took her a while to catch her breath, panting like an old horse on its last legs.
The other three were either leaning on their legs or holding their waists. Jian Jingyu looked back at the direction they had run from, still shaken—nothing weird had followed them, right?
Huang Yan asked before even catching his breath,
“Is everyone’s mech still in one piece?”
Wang Tianwei looked herself over from top to bottom,
“Mine’s fine.”
“Mine’s fine too.”
“My hydraulic line got bitten flat by a mutant beast, but it doesn’t look like it’s torn...”
After reporting on their mech conditions, the four of them stood together, not quite knowing what to say.
After a long pause,
“So... what the hell is going on?”
Zhang Lyra looked confused—advanced parasitic bugs appeared in the finals arena?
Honestly, given how unlucky they had been the whole way, it kind of added up... after all, they had also run into that star beast tide before.
But last time on Kashiir Star, at least the safety officer instructors had come down to warn them. This time, there wasn’t even a heads-up?
Wang Tianwei poked the “little bee” inside her cockpit,
“Hey, safety officer, can you give us a word? Why are there bugs in the arena?”
After waiting five seconds,
“Kirin Military Academy, Squad Four, plus twenty points.”
What the hell? A prize for guessing right??
Before Wang Tianwei could keep asking, the familiar voice came through the “little bee” again,
“Please continue the competition.”
Hearing that, Wang Tianwei raised one eyebrow suspiciously. Huang Yan stared straight at the camera for a long time without any reaction.
Jian Jingyu and Zhang Lyra both scrunched up their faces, their eyes full of disapproval.
“Emm... In that case.”
Wang Tianwei was the first to move the camera stuck to the inside of her cockpit, repositioning it so it faced her face directly, while her right hand fiddled with the back of the “little bee” a bit,
“This way, the audience can better appreciate my badass self!”
As she said that, her hands started working on the control panel.
But with the camera moved, aside from her chin, her two nostrils, and her slightly tired under-eye bags, no one could tell what she was doing on the console.
“Sir Huang... what do you think?”
Zhang Lyra suddenly felt that neither the safety officers nor the organizing committee seemed more reliable than their own squad leader—were those words something a normal person would say?
Jian Jingyu muttered gloomily,
“My dad could probably provide legal aid.”
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got,
“What you’re doing is too much. I reserve the right to sue!”
What kind of military academy tournament was this? Bugs show up and they don’t even warn anyone in advance? Weren’t their lives as cadets just as precious?
Up in the flight vehicle above them, Kes was amused by all this and laughed,
“Hahaha, that is, if you live long enough to sue us.”
For some reason, Kes chose not to turn off the live stream comments and would often stare at them to study. The messages right now were pretty entertaining too—
“I’m begging you guys, watching Sister Zebra and First Military Academy chased by that many bugs is terrifying... when the hell is the military actually going to get here?”
“Are you stupid? Didn’t they say those filthy things would see all the info?”
“But that wave just now was way too scary! I’m really afraid they won’t make it until then.”
“Don’t jinx it! Everyone, do not leak any information to the enemy!”
“Alpha, can we do a hostage exchange? Let me go instead of them!”
“Me too.”
“Yeah, swap us in! A bunch of students aren’t as important as me! I work a federal 9-to-5 every day. You know what 9-to-5 means?”
“Swap my ass! Just wipe them out! You bunch of...”
“Tsk.”
He glanced away from the comments that were starting to get boring again. Didn’t the Chief say they’d be here soon? He was already preparing to make their getaway.
As soon as the military star cruiser arrived, he’d release the students and use the ordinary bugs as bait... then grab that mech pilot Wang Tianwei below and hijack the ship to leave.
After that, he’d follow the Chief’s lead in piloting a mech and launch a full-scale attack on the Federation. Just thinking about it got his blood pumping!
But his original intent had been to make the Federation’s citizens watch the students from the three military academies play blind and then die in terror.
However, the little brats down there were being a bit too alert. If this continued, it would inevitably add some uncertainty to their final exit.
“How about killing two of them first, to throw the rest into panic?”
Every “person” around was busy with their own tasks. No one dared to answer his question.
Whether it was the Security Chief or the Chief, both could kill them with a flick of their mental strength, so all they had to do was do their jobs as usual.
A moment later, Kes felt the familiar burning sensation in his abdomen—humans called it “hunger.”
He walked to the corner, pulled a bag of nutrient solution from a box, and downed it. A few seconds later, that hollow feeling disappeared completely.
Humans really were a clever species, able to invent something so convenient.
Once they parasitized the inventors and took over the memories in their brains, maybe they could also create a “mental nutrient solution” for bugs too?
Then no one would ever have to worry about “going hungry” again, and they’d have more confidence to go conquer other galaxies!
Huang Yan stared at the camera inside the cockpit, thinking for a long time.
He had turned over countless possibilities in his mind, and what remained was the most absurd, the most disadvantageous—but also the only one that plausibly explained the current situation... The safety officers and scorekeepers were all gone.
“Sir Huang!”
Before he could answer Little Bear’s question, Sister Zebra’s voice came through the comms.
Although Wang Tianwei was doing her best to act calm, the other three knew her well enough to hear a hint of panic in her voice,
“Maybe we should go find Valk and the First Military Academy first... and send them out of the game? Those bonus point buttons are probably pretty hard to find anyway.”
Having hacked into the safety officer’s comms channel from the other direction, Wang Tianwei had only heard two sentences and already grasped the key info... This situation was beyond what they could manage. Legit safety officers probably wouldn’t be trying to kill them, right?
It wasn’t that she didn’t think about just cutting the cameras entirely, but after careful consideration, the rescue flight vehicle was probably hovering right above them. She still didn’t know how Valk and the First Military Academy were doing.
If the cameras went dark, wouldn’t that be an outright declaration of war? They hadn’t even managed to warn the other two academies.
Better to get everyone together first, so that when push came to shove, they wouldn’t be caught with their hands tied.
Her three teammates understood as soon as they heard that. Just a few days ago, they had deliberately avoided the First Military Academy... If Sister Zebra was saying this, something was definitely up!
After listening, Huang Yan said lightly,
“Right, we need to ‘take them out’ first.”
“Yes.”
“Alright.”
