After Kes finished issuing orders, he shifted his gaze back to the two teams below.
The leader had said to kill just two or three first—the rest he wanted to screen personally… Seems like quite a few had made the cut!
Five days on Bliza Star, and this competition was finally starting to get interesting.
After learning about the Federals’ history, he was genuinely curious—how had such fragile beings managed to endure through the long river of history just like the Alphas had?
He wondered whether the students down below might offer him some insight.
“Head due west for three kilometers!”
“Received.”
“Qilin, due west three kilometers!”
“Yes, sir!”
After clearing the first wave of star beasts and mutant beasts at top speed, Hiranuma Yusho immediately thought of leveraging external forces, just like Qilin had done earlier with those ice vine tangles.
Due west, a vast stretch of ground was covered in glacial crevices—they had seen it clearly when passing through the underground tunnels.
Beneath the surface lay unevenly distributed ice pillars and groundwater, and farther ahead was the frostfang mushroom patch they’d spotted yesterday.
Relying purely on their own strength to sweep the area would burn through even their backup energy reserves. Fighting enemies with enemies, saving stamina and firepower—why not?
The eight-person safety circle contracted at once. The airborne mutant beasts were cleared out, and everyone could finally shift their mechs into flight mode, soaring toward the coordinates the captain had given.
The moment Huang Yan heard Valk would switch locations, he knew exactly what they were plotting.
Five days into the competition, they could actually thank Bliza Star’s brutal natural conditions. It wasn’t friendly to the contestants, sure—but it hadn’t let the star beasts or the bug race off easy either!
A faint rumbling of explosions came through the earpiece. Wang Tianwei kept her expression neutral, fingers moving slightly as she routed the audio to every squad member of both military academies.
“Still haven’t dealt with them?”
“Almost there! Squad Leader, they split up too wide in flight mode. They’re heading in your direction now…”
“The leader is arriving shortly. You’d better get it done before he gets here.”
“Understood!”
“All of First Military Academy’s livestream cameras are destroyed. Don’t you have backups?”
“Report—the person who knew the password died before we could parasitize him…”
“Useless.”
Hearing this, the students felt a chill run down their spines.
Sir Huang’s guess was spot-on—the safety officers had long been parasitized by the bug race… and from what they were saying, they’d already made a move on First Military Academy?
Damn it. This frozen, godforsaken wasteland had turned out to be the bug race’s nest?
“Huang Yan!?”
Hiranuma Yusho’s voice instinctively tightened. First Military Academy was in critical danger—and the bug race still had a leader on the way?
Huang Yan’s face was taut as a drum. No more playing dumb.
“Can you hold out?”
Hiranuma Yusho glanced down at the star beasts below and slowly let out a murky breath.
“Yes.”
Wang Tianwei seized the moment to jam the livestream signal.
“Yesterday I fused some stealth crystals into your mechs. If you go underground, radar won’t pick you up either. Run if you get the chance—and don’t forget to destroy the ‘little bees.’ The communication pins are under the seats—use them if you’re too far apart. Got it?”
“Got it!”
Wu Fangyu instantly thought of Sister Zebra’s “heroic deed” of illegal mining on Shuo Desert Star! Thank goodness she’d walked that fine line of the law, and thank goodness the Third Military Region’s commander had been so generous!
“Once you head over there, you’ll probably be exposed… be careful.”
“You two be careful too. Qilin, with me.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Received.”
Kes kept his attention on the two academies below, puzzled by how the stream had stuttered briefly and then Qilin’s team had suddenly reversed direction.
What had they just said? Narrowing his eyes, he went to the “technician” at the cockpit.
“Check the livestream cameras for any issues.”
“Yes, Squad Leader.”
“Squad Leader, they’ve turned back—what do we do?”
“Keep following Qilin.”
“Yes.”
While Wang Tianwei swung her mech around, she also made sure to blast Valk over the open channel,
“Knew all along you’d allied with First Military Academy! The star beasts and mutant beasts are yours to handle now~ We’re out!”
“Sister Zebra, we agreed—no backstabbing!”
Wu Fangyu’s voice was dripping with fake grievance, her two big faces in the camera looking equally smug and insufferable.
Kes began to doubt himself—was this all just a strategy by Qilin?
In the feed, Hiranuma Yusho dropped lower, firing a few shells at the star beasts, provoking their aggression even further. The beasts that had been about to chase Qilin stalled mid-step and lunged toward them instead.
“Hm, why isn’t the scorekeeper announcing?”
The boy’s voice was cold, tinged with confusion. The flight recorder’s score broadcast came quickly,
“Valk Military Academy, Squad One, plus twenty-one points.”
“Report, Squad Leader—self-inspection shows the cameras have no issues. Everything is normal.”
“…Keep monitoring them.”
“Yes.”
Meng Chongyun stared at the livestreams of the two academies, his confidence growing by the second. The timing was too perfect—so perfect it looked deliberate.
Though the acting on those two academies’ part had certainly improved.
Ji Gang ran over in excitement,
“Chief, the stutter timing doesn’t match my factory inspection standards at all—it’s definitely human interference!”
“Can you reach them now?”
“Not yet, but in half an hour, once we cross the midline, I can try! Sharing a satellite doesn’t have to mean using the ‘little bees’—I can also try connecting to their mechs. The signal amplifier is already done.”
“Good. Thank you.”
Ji Gang returned to his seat, satisfied. Nothing like the top three teams, nothing like the genius kids Old Shi bragged about every single day.
They’d figured it out—good. Prepared, they had a fighting chance to make it…
Todd saw the young man beside him go from excited one second to tears the next. He pursed his lips and pulled out his handkerchief, handing it over.
“Wipe your face, or you won’t see the virtual screen.”
“Thanks! I’m just so proud—Old Shi didn’t teach them for nothing… They’ll hold out until we get there!”
Ji Gang’s tears seemed impossible to wipe away.
Old Shi, can you see this? The kids are smart and strong. Please bless us—we have to bring them home safe.
“That’s right!”
Todd couldn’t hold it together either seeing this.
They’d just gone on one business trip, and the senior officers had… The bug race was launching a full-scale offensive. The Federation really couldn’t afford to lose any more.
That Huang Yan kid had always been sharp—it was only about an hour, they could make it!
The young man beside him wiped his tears and switched his light-computer to privacy mode, hands working busily across it.
Todd reopened the Academy of Sciences’ unfinished psychic research project.
No time to dwell in grief. The bug race was evolving—they had to run faster.
