Leola continued working while keeping an eye on the snowstorm range above, silently praying it would move slower—slower still.
The twelve of them worked together and quickly finished repairing and locally modifying their mechs, also taking care of their injuries along the way.
Another layer was added to the air filter in every cockpit, energy was restored to full, and their confidence was bolstered.
“Teacher Ji, there’s another passage beside us. Do you know where it leads?”
Huang Yan stared at the path next to the bonus button and asked.
Ji Gang replied promptly,
“The organizing committee says it leads to the nest of a swarm of mutated downy moths—the final challenge they set for you. Originally, you were supposed to enter through that entrance. But we’ll be there soon, so why not just wait right where you are…”
“We can’t wait.”
Huang Yan’s mouth turned down,
“Alpha Gold Crown is coming.”
Leola spoke tensely,
“Once the snowstorm clears, he’ll easily spot us.”
He Siyu also sensed that vast mental force,
“He might have already spotted us…”
Meng Chongyun reviewed the map Shen Jie had sent once more, then said to the starship pilot,
“We won’t go through the port. We’ll land directly from this spot—it’s closer to where they exit.”
Then he took the communicator from Ji Gang,
“Huang Yan, He Siyu, no one knows whether those moths have been parasitized yet. You must all be careful.”
“Understood.”
The three squads re-entered their mechs. The stable recovery of external communication signals settled everyone’s nerves.
At least they weren’t fighting alone—the military and the Commander-in-Chief had their backs.
This passage was extremely long. As they went deeper, mutated downy moths kept flying out, all killed by the vanguard fighters at the front of the formation.
“The moths don’t appear to be parasitized.”
Hiranuma Yusho observed carefully before speaking.
Though he couldn’t see their eyes clearly, he didn’t sense anything unusual about these mutated beasts’ mental strength.
“Right, just ordinary high-grade mutated beasts.”
He Siyu also reached the same conclusion. Now everyone opened up more,
“As long as they haven’t been parasitized by the bugs, I fear nothing!”
Taylor directly opened fire with his flamethrower, torching the swarm of mutated downy moths in front of him.
Charred remains fell onto the mechs, but no one felt afraid—a quick sweep and they disappeared.
Some of the moths had been dormant; disturbed, they charged at the group, soon leaving everyone dizzy and lightheaded—so these were also mental-attack types…
With countless wings flapping together, all electromagnetic equipment on the mechs was disrupted.
Artillery fire landed at the wrong moment, radar screens devolved into chaos. So it was you moths blocking our signals all along! Wang Tianwei suddenly realized.
“Watch out—these downy moths specialize in layered encirclement tactics.”
Ji Gang was still studying the finals data Shen Jie had sent him.
The more enjoyable these matches had been to watch before, the more worried he was now. He wished nothing but for the kids to clear this completely unharmed.
“It’s fine. They can’t encircle us.”
Even the organizing committee could never have imagined that all three teams would join forces to clear this challenge together.
The moths were numerous, but they couldn’t withstand twelve people attacking together with firepower and mental force.
On top of that, the group had grown highly skilled, with smooth coordination—these moths’ mental strength was nothing compared to the Alpha bugs…
The dense swarm of moths in the cavern was quickly annihilated, and the opening above that had been covered was revealed.
“Attention, we’ll reach Blizzar in eight minutes. Once you get out, head straight north—just hold on a little longer!”
Ji Gang’s voice was filled with excitement.
“Got it. We’re going up now.”
He Siyu replied.
The cave opening sat at the very edge of the snowstorm zone. Not the windiest area, but it still made the mechs unstable.
One by one, the twelve climbed out of the cave. Unable to transform, they had no choice but to keep running forward on foot.
Today’s long-distance run might as well be the longest they’d ever done—and a wounded obstacle run at that! Even their toughest training sessions had never been like this.
As Wang Tianwei ran, she felt a burning sensation across her body. Her mental power kept leaking out unconsciously, her forehead throbbed violently, and even both eyelids began twitching.
“Don’t do this. Don’t you dare do this…”
They were in the middle of fleeing for their lives—she had no time for a mental power upgrade!
“Chief, we haven’t scanned them.”
The pilot of Alpha Gold Crown’s aircraft arrived at the designated spot per his chief’s orders.
But all that lay before them was the snowstorm. Not daring to fly straight into it, the pilot circled around with scans on full sweep.
Those students must have gone underground, yet the radar still showed no sign of them.
Alpha Gold Crown closed his eyes, extending his mental probe further afield. After a moment, he marked a coordinate on the screen.
“They got out. They’re bypassing the snowstorm—head that way and chase.”
“Yes.”
Twelve mechs sped across the ice, drawing nearby star beasts and mutated beasts toward them by scent.
Even the usually thick-skinned Jian Jingyu noticed something was off,
“Did we have this many star beasts on Blizzar the other day?”
Fu Xingyuan was not far from him,
“No—these are clearly new arrivals.”
Then he kicked aside the carcass of a star beast he had just killed at close range,
“Some of them obviously haven’t adapted to Blizzar’s environment yet. Give them a bit longer and they’d probably freeze to death on their own.”
Huang Yan shared the same opinion as Fu Xingyuan.
Right in front of him stood a bizarre-looking star beast—though it howled ferociously, its whole body trembled like it had a vibration mode on.
Bang!
A single shot ended its life.
“Maybe this has something to do with the bugs?”
“But these ones haven’t been parasitized yet.”
“There has to be a connection. Otherwise they wouldn’t be chasing us so persistently.”
Hiranuma Yusho used mental influence to turn three of the largest star beasts and make them turn on the medium-sized ones behind.
“In such extreme cold, their first instinct should be to survive, not chase us. Something’s definitely wrong.”
He Siyu did the same, opening a path through the front.
Star beasts on both sides tore into each other, while the squad members picked off any beasts from the opposing side.
The three commanders were of one mind. Their sense of danger pushed them to run faster.
If even the star beasts were tied to the bugs, then the previous star beast tide…
Alpha bugs were far too strong. They had to be wiped out completely!
Finally, the silhouette of a military aircraft appeared in the distance—a tiny speck in the wind and snow. Could it be the Commander-in-Chief and the others?
The kids hesitated, but Ji Gang’s voice cut through first,
“I see you! Keep running this way—we’re coming to you right now!”
“Copy that.”
“It really is Teacher Ji Gang!”
“Come on, comrades!”
