The blizzard that Blizzar always brought was late but not absent, yet today no one complained, because this blizzard was practically saving their lives.
Even if they could no longer fly, the wind and snow greatly slowed the pace of the insectoid creatures chasing them.
Endless waves of small mutant beasts and star beasts were swept away by the gale, so they didn't have to waste effort cleaning them up.
They had never stopped fighting, and now only a few dozen enemy beasts remained behind them, but they were rushing to rendezvous with Valk and truly had no time to stop and finish them off.
Fu Xingyuan and Jian Jingyu, both in light mechs, took the lead at the front,
"Where are you guys now?"
Valk's side had twice the number of mutant beasts, and there were only four of them, so the pressure was immense.
"Two kilometers to the target open ice field."
"Got it."
Under these circumstances, the First Military Academy's see‑through radar was more convenient than Wang Tianwei’s detector, so it assumed responsibility for terrain warnings.
"Ice crack ahead, fifty meters deep, mind your step."
"Understood."
Huang Yan and the others strictly followed Fu Xingyuan's footsteps, figuring that would avoid any problems.
Only Wang Tianwei struggled with the stride, his pace slowing—just how tall was that guy anyway? With steps that big?
Zhang Lyra behind him saw this and hoisted him up directly, which actually made them faster.
Wang Tianwei lay face-up, resigned to his fate, and raised his hand to shoot at the beasts behind them.
"Die, all of you!"
Before they even reached the meeting point, they spotted Valk's four people approaching from the other side in the distance,
"Phew! Ah! Phew!"
"Hah, hah..."
"Finally... you guys."
"We meet."
Shortly after, the mutant beasts from both sides swarmed in as well. He Siyu scanned both numbers,
"Switch attack sides."
First Military Academy and Qilin faced the beasts behind Valk,
"Way fewer than expected? Not bad, you guys!"
Jian Jingyu started his praise mode again, and Wu Fangyu gave a bitter grin,
"Not bad? Hah, we traded our lives for it!"
Once the three academies converged, their firepower doubled.
Even the Valk members who thought they had zero strength left didn't let anyone down—Sister Zebra was still fighting, so they could too!
In the relentless barrage, everyone gained a bit more confidence.
It seemed the insectoids weren't unbeatable after all—just don't get too close, don't let their mental power drag you around, and use the natural environment and terrain to your advantage...
"We can't keep fighting!"
"Everyone, fall back!"
Huang Yan and He Siyu both spoke at the same time.
Because in the distance, another wave of star beasts was charging over from somewhere, and they were too far away to see their pupil colors, but no one could withstand this kind of attrition warfare forever.
"Where are all these things coming from?!"
"Hah, hah... I've never... pushed myself this hard in my life!"
"Who, hasn't!? I—"
Wu Fangyu waved his hand toward the end, he was truly spent.
"Captain, where do we run?"
All three teams were completely lost. The blizzard ahead was getting fiercer, and behind them everything was a threat—where was there even a safe place?
He Siyu felt the howling wind rushing past her, looked at the snow under the mech's feet, and said,
"Wu Fangyu, you guys just came out from underground?"
"Yeah, we wore down a batch of parasitic beasts, but we're not sure if there's a passage on this side."
Leola used the radar for a deep scan,
"Ice layer is five meters, there's a space eighty meters below, but we don't know what's at the very bottom."
Hiranuma Yusho guessed what He Siyu was thinking,
"The space below could also be dangerous—if it's ice pillars or ice water..."
"Then they'd be in danger too."
He Siyu's voice was steady. The members of the other two academies all paused.
"The Director-in-Chief is about to bring people to save us. Alpha Gold Crown's mental power is SS-rank or above. We cannot have anyone get parasitized."
Huang Yan focused his mental power downward,
"Don't be so pessimistic. If there's a space, it doesn't have to be a dead end."
"Attention, the blizzard circle will pass over our position in one minute! Either run or hide."
Leola kept her eyes on the radar.
Hiranuma Yusho only paused for a few seconds,
"Taylor, dig a hole."
"On it!"
Wu Pingzhuo and Zhang Lyra quickly went up to help. Three gunners blasted a large hole in just over ten seconds.
"We'll go first..."
Before He Siyu could finish, Hiranuma Yusho led his team to the opening,
"We have experience. We'll go down first."
Barry exhaled once. This time, he was going to be extremely careful!
The four grabbed their grappling hooks and ropes, descending into the tunnel. Only when they could no longer feel the strong wind did they activate anti-gravity hover, steadily probing downward.
"Ice pillars below, don't descend straight—move south to dodge, there's open space!"
"Got it!"
Once confirmed safe, Qilin Academy went down second. Before they even reached the bottom, First Military Academy descended as well.
The surface blizzard struck, brutally sweeping up the closest mutant beasts, and shards of ice quickly shredded their fur. Within moments, the entire beasts were ground into pieces. The Alpha insectoids in their brains lost their hosts, found no nearby life to parasitize, and quickly froze to death.
The remaining insectoids had no choice but to scatter around—none dared to face the blizzard circle head-on.
After the two teams reached the bottom, they followed Valk's reminder and moved south before landing steadily on solid ground.
A moment later, everyone felt the drastically different temperature inside the cave compared to the outside.
"Ahh~"
Wu Pingzhuo couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief.
Barry, scouting at the front with seasoned experience, warned,
"Don't let your guard down. Warm places breed more dangers. Who knows what's down here...
Back in our tunnel, we left behind a bunch of mutant beasts that were parasitized by high-rank insectoids. I wonder if these two spaces connect or not?"
The space beneath the ice—whether naturally formed or man-made—was surprisingly spacious.
The passage was a bit lower, though with a little bending of their mechs they could pass through. It was cramped, but it was currently the safest option.
As they walked, everyone realized it was a sloped path, taking them further down into the earth.
Valk's four led at the front. Barry turned a corner,
"Whoa!"
The three teammates behind him instantly raised their weapons,
"What's wrong?!"
"How many?"
"..."
When they saw what was before them, all four went silent.
Jian Jingyu was anxious, shoving Taylor in front of him,
"Say something!? Is it the insectoids?"
Barry stood frozen for a moment before taking a few steps to clear the path,
"No... not insectoids, actually."
The four Qilin members moved out with their guns raised, and First Military Academy followed just as tense, weapons aimed. Twelve people looked at what was inside the cave, and none of them knew what to say...
Wang Tianwei glanced at the brooch pinned to his chest,
"The committee is way too authoritative."
