novelraw Chapter 101 : Red Moon Snow Plain
Chapter 101 : Red Moon Snow Plain
[Star League Competition First Round]
[SS-level Red Moon Snow Plain Energy Field Jump Complete]
As the jump barrier shattered, countless sparks scattered around. Hidden broadcast equipment in the air began turning toward the surroundings, cameras scanning the interior of the energy field.
[Current participants: 25/25]
[Competition instructions and point content has been transmitted to team channels]
[Completion condition for this match: Place energy monitoring equipment at base station monitoring tower]
[Competition duration: 10 days, this competition uses a point system]
[Competition countdown—]
The broadcast cameras swept into the energy field, capturing the vast expanse of white snow. Mountain ranges rose and fell, and the airborne cameras captured mountains and ice pools. Deep blue ice lakes sparkled like turquoise eyes against the white backdrop, gleaming under the crimson light of the crescent moon.
Rugged snow mountains outlined the skeleton of the snow plain. Moonlight poured down like blood. Scattered forests and collapsed ruins of building structures lay about, with snow burying the steel and iron mechanical city.
The camera zoomed in on black and gold mechs shaking off layers of snow, one of which suddenly soared up from under the snow cover.
"Ah, ah, hiss—cold cold cold! So cold!"
Zhou Chen jumped comically on the ground, trying to generate some warmth through this method. However, even without wind, the pervasive bone-chilling cold of the snow plain was enough to strip away body heat.
The heat generated by his movement was quickly dispersed by the icy air.
Through the team channel, Chen Sui could hear his continuous huffing as she emerged from beneath the snow layer, immediately seeing the white snow plain tinted faintly red by the crimson moon.
"It's currently in Red Moon state."
She looked back, pointing as her teammates successively jumped out from under the snow piles. Chen Sui glanced upward.
Zhu Jing Fu's landing spot wasn't ideal, right under a mountain eave, with falling snow crashing onto their heads and completely covering the mechs.
Chen Sui had modified Forest Envelopment significantly, especially the outer paint layer which now incorporated a black and gold color scheme. Finally, it was no longer a distinctive cyan-green mech. The benefit was that outside teams could no longer tell which of Zhu Jing Fu's emerging mechs was the analyst.
"We randomly got low temperature," Xie Chunshi said as he emerged, feeling the bitter cold. "The Red Moon state snow plain refreshes location temperatures, with persistent low temperatures and range fluctuations both possible."
This was one piece of information collected before the competition.
Because of this, Xie Chunshi had applied anti-freezing coating to all Zhu Jing Fu mechs during the point exchange.
Seeing Zhou Chen suffering from the cold, he tossed a fire stone his way.
Fire stones generated heat and could trigger high temperatures when placed in energy liquid.
"Wuwu, Team Leader," Zhou Chen tearfully said with gratitude.
As she watched him throw the fire stone into the cockpit, Chen Sui flexed her stiff fingers, quickly sensing the energy fluctuations around them.
"The Red Moon Snow Plain has many common energy body species, mostly existing in groups. Be careful of the snow layer—it's too thick below, impossible to distinguish between ice layer and ground."
The snow plain had many lakes, especially frozen lakes, covered by extremely cold white snow, indistinguishable from solid ground. But beneath such snow layers lurked more energy bodies than on actual land.
Snow Golden Sharks, Bone-Piercing Fish swarms, and so on.
She marked the energy fluctuations on the surrounding map. The Red Moon Snow Plain maps were designed by Commanders before the competition, only showing approximate ranges and point locations identifiable from available information.
Though the map was only approximate, the base station locations were clear, allowing them to determine their path.
"Let's go to the base station first to get a detailed map, which will facilitate movement," Xie Chunshi looked toward everyone, drawing the forward route on the simple map. "This should be a small energy body nest, leading to the snow forest over there. The energy fluctuation is SS-level; following this route will earn us the most points."
At this, Chen Sui perked up, "So we just need to follow the route with the most points?"
"We should still avoid high-level energy bodies," Xie Chunshi said somewhat helplessly, seeing her practically have 'fight' carved on her forehead. "The snow plain has numerous energy bodies, and the dominant control effect of high-level energy bodies is stronger than any we've encountered before."
Chen Sui nodded, her expression showing some regret. "Fine, let's start then, heading to the nearby base station first."
In large energy fields like the Red Moon Snow Plain, besides the central main base station, there were many secondary base stations built around the perimeter according to energy body fluctuations and resource distribution.
The secondary base station Zhu Jing Fu was about to visit lay along this route.
The snow layer was thick; when mech feet stepped on it, there was a noticeable sinking feeling.
Zhou Chen stepped out and immediately tilted to one side. He seemed to find enjoyment in this walking style, wobbling back and forth across the snow like a moving roly-poly toy, leaving a long trail of deep footprints.
"We shouldn't have let this guy walk in front," Chen Sui said, somewhat laboriously stepping in Zhou Chen's footprints. Her height made it difficult to match such strides.
Seeing Chen Sui struggling to reach the footprints ahead, Gu Qinxue extended a hand from the side, catching the Commander raising his hand in her peripheral vision.
Xie Chunshi quickly placed his palm on his mech, as if finding something to touch, in a somewhat furtive manner.
A flash of strangeness passed through Gu Qinxue's eyes, but she paid it no mind, extending her arm to loop around Chen Sui's, helping her step into the snow ahead.
"Forget it, let's not follow him," Gu Qinxue advised, breaking away from the footprint trail and independently forging a path on another side.
This time, Chen Sui walked very smoothly.
The lower crescent of the Red Moon gradually filled out, illuminating the snow surface with a pink glow, a dreamlike color. But as the crescent moon became fuller, the color deepened.
Zhou Chen gradually stopped feeling the cold. The energy liquid in the fire stone was diminishing, and his need for external heat was decreasing. By the time the fire stone went out, Zhou Chen finally stopped playing in the snow and suddenly realized: "Whoa, has the temperature risen?"
He looked up; the crescent moon was now a half-circle.
"The temperature in Red Moon state changes with the Red Moon's phases."
Xie Chunshi noticed this information.
The surrounding temperature rose, but the snow layer showed no change, remaining extremely heavy, making mech movement difficult.
"I don't think this walking method is feasible," Chen Sui suddenly stopped. She looked at the snow layer almost reaching the mech's knees. The mech could move by pushing forward, but the energy consumption was too great.
The energy pipes for the formal competition were standard energy sources, one pipe per day, with supplies at the base stations. Pushing through wasn't practical.
"Walking to the base station like this would take forever. The snow keeps getting thicker—it's too time-consuming. We need to find a means of transportation," Chen Sui said. As soon as these words left her mouth, her teammates all straightened their backs, instantly having the same idea.
Viewers familiar with Zhu Jing Fu's style also sensed a premonition at this moment.
[Sis, who are we taking on?]
[Emperor Sui, give the word, and I'll follow!]
[I have an ominous feeling→I'm talking about energy bodies]
"You say it, I'll do it."
Zhou Chen looked earnestly at Chen Sui, but as he finished speaking, he tilted into the snow because he stepped into a void. Puluo on the side couldn't bear to watch and pulled him up with one hand.
Chen Sui glanced down, "Let's get a sled, no, sled dogs."
Before her teammates could figure out where in this snow plain environment they'd find sleds and sled dogs, they saw Chen Sui marking the location of clustered energy bodies on the energy map.
"There's a low-level energy body group nearby. If they run fast enough, I think we can try tying them up with rope and letting them pull us."
Zhou Chen looked at her with an approving gaze: "Are you really a genius?"
Ignoring his teasing, Chen Sui looked at Puluo, who immediately understood, whipping out his staff and opening his shield umbrella. The folding shield surface unfurled layer by layer, forming a huge curved surface that overturned onto the snow, creating a sled that could be pulled.
"The five of us should definitely fit," Puluo said, examining the folded form of the shield umbrella.
Chen Sui nodded with satisfaction, looking toward Xie Chunshi.
Her proposal was indeed good. The location was slightly off from their forward direction, but Xie Chunshi didn't hesitate much, immediately adjusting to this route. At most, it would take a bit more time, with minimal impact on their overall points.
Seeing the Team Leader change the route, all five Zhu Jing Fu members became excited. In the freezing environment, nothing warmed the body and soul better than battle.
A string of footprints in the snow changed direction, heading toward the energy body nest.
Meanwhile, the Saint Laurent school team had landed in another part of the snow plain.
Xue Yaoyao fixed the energy monitoring equipment to the position in front of the cockpit of her mech. Noya observed the surrounding environment. The snow plain terrain was diverse, with endless white plains as far as the eye could see.
The Red Moon Snow Plain also contained undulating high mountains, forests between mountain groups, deep blue lakes embedded in the white canvas, and ruined cities covered by energy storms.
The main base station was built in a ruined city in the snow plain, with energy barriers protecting the remaining traces of the city.
"Shall we go directly to the main base station?"
Xue Yaoyao looked toward the Team Leader.
Noya was still studying the map. All five teams had found similar information, holding the simplest maps that could only roughly distinguish directions and base station locations, with no further guidance.
"Let's head toward the main base station first. Our energy isn't enough to rush straight there—we need to go through several secondary base stations for supplies."
Noya said, his expression becoming somewhat cautious: "We might encounter other school teams at secondary base stations. We're in the defender position, so the possibility of combat is high."
"I say we avoid areas with the highest energy bodies. Zhu Jing Fu will definitely be there, and we should steer clear of them," Xie Yi offered a good suggestion, then analyzed the other school teams: "Na Luo River, Xie You is likely to take that route too—he's quite confident. If we take the eastern base station, we'll run into two teams, which is too dangerous."
Noya was somewhat tempted, turning to look at the western range. Compared to the eastern snow plain environment, the western side had noticeably better temperatures. If it were Ink Hills, they would probably prefer this route.
Their team's analyst had somewhat weaker physical abilities and was water-attributed. In the snow plain's mutated ice-attributed energy storms, the water attribute would cause extremely high impact on him. Even with the pre-competition cold-resistance training by the Competition Committee for the Crimson Snow Star environment, their analyst would inevitably be strongly affected by the energy field environment.
"We'll take the middle."
Noya made his decision.
Based on the styles of the other four academies, if Saint Laurent wanted to maintain its defender position and successfully place the equipment, they would need to find a team to ally with. Otherwise, if the other four academies eliminated Saint Laurent first, there would be no chance to compete.
Noya's inclination was toward Xitisi.
Song Yuan was resolute and upright, unlikely to betray them.
Na Luo River and Ink Hills had a low probability of joining forces. As for Zhu Jing Fu... Noya felt those people were too unpredictable; when it came to nerve, he fell slightly short and dared not gamble.
Xitisi was Saint Laurent's first choice for an ally.
Saint Laurent determined their route and began trudging through the snow.
By the time all five teams understood the snow plain environment and confirmed their routes, Zhu Jing Fu had already arrived near the energy body signal.
A black forest in the midst of white snow, tall trees with fallen leaves, leaving only frost-hardened dead branches stretching out, covered with layers of frost and accumulated snow. Within the dense black grove, clusters of bare shrubs distributed on the ground combined with the huge tree trunks to cover the snow plain, obstructing the mechs' vision.
The mechs trudged through the deep snow, hands bracing against tree trunks, slowly walking toward the interior of the forest.
Zhou Chen's hand touched the ice layer on the tree trunk's surface, and he immediately recoiled with a shiver: "Ow! So cold, so cold!"
His hand jerked away, the mech's palm covered with a thin layer of ice. If left longer, it could have been stuck to the trunk, frozen together with the tree.
"This is frozen plain wood. The trunk can conduct ice-attributed energy."
Chen Sui explained. Frozen plain wood was a common low-grade material, somewhat useless, generally used for construction and decoration.
Zhou Chen cautiously sidled through the grove, his gaze sweeping through the forest: "Where's the energy body group?"
Just as he asked this, with the Red Moon now a gibbous moon gradually transitioning to full, the moonlight increasingly brilliant, casting a crimson glow on the ground, Chen Sui's perception spread out: "Right here. They're watching us."
Zhou Chen curiously looked around, peering in all directions. Behind him, Gu Qinxue also surveyed the surroundings, noticing a black fixed point flashing twice in the black dense forest. Her eyes sharpened, and her gun immediately fell into her hand.
Chen Sui noticed her movement and quickly marked the location: "Don't kill them. These are our sled dogs."
Gu Qinxue nodded, smiling faintly at her: "Don't worry, I have good control."
"Actually, I think this tree could work as a ski board, what do you think?" Zhou Chen asked sincerely.
Subduing low-level energy bodies without killing them was much harder than slaying them.
Chen Sui glanced at the frozen plain wood, wondering what he was thinking, and directly asked: "You'll make it?"
Zhou Chen turned his head, looking at her, his meaning very clear.
Chen Sui twisted her wrist, coldly laughing: "I'm just an ordinary, unremarkable analyst, simply handling mech business. I certainly don't know a bit of everything."
"Make skis from frozen plain wood? Do you want to freeze yourself into an ice sculpture?" Gu Qinxue also didn't understand his thinking; the ice crystal conduction of frozen plain wood could freeze an entire mech in ice.
Zhou Chen rubbed his nose, saying dejectedly: "I was just preparing a backup plan."
"Forget the backup plan, get ready to catch the sled dogs," Chen Sui sensed the black eyes in the dense black forest growing brighter. As the mech's gun charged and energy aura erupted, cracking sounds of trampled snow began to reach them. "Puluo, release energy."
As soon as she spoke, the soldier immediately flung out an energy pipe, spraying energy liquid into the air. The liquid froze into ice crystals the instant it was thrown, scattering onto the snow with a swish.
"Use less! Our energy is precious," Zhou Chen said, somewhat pained.
Just as the energy ice crystals fell, a low growl sounded, seemingly a signal from the alpha wolf. Surrounding tree branches rustled, and a black and white mottled figure rapidly sprang from between shrubs and snow with a swish.
"Awooo—"
Waves of wolf howls, numerous pairs of pitch-black gleaming eyes lit up from the shrubbery. Under the alpha wolf's lead, an ice spike rapidly shot up from beneath the snow layer, attacking toward the mechs' position.
The five Zhu Jing Fu members immediately scattered. Gu Qinxue's gun blasted at where the energy ice crystals had fallen. Chen Sui's hands condensed green energy, with the Wood-Born Flower phantom rapidly flickering.
Zhou Chen drew his Four-sided Mace, rushing toward the alpha wolf's position with weapon raised high. Before the wolf could pounce, he swung downward, a thunderbolt descending from the swinging mace toward the wolf pack.
"Rawr!"
The lightning quickly surged forward, directly splitting the ice spike, a blue-purple electric flash creating a track as thick as an arm through the snow, violently striking toward the alpha wolf's body.
The alpha wolf lunged forward but was struck head-on by lightning, its body instantly flashing with exploding electric light. Lightning lines radiated outward, electrifying the entire wolf pack rushing toward the Zhu Jing Fu mechs, immediately dropping them to the ground, convulsing continuously.
The alpha wolf's fur stood on end, with a deep black lightning strike mark on its body, then it raised its head and howled long and loud.
A wolf's howl under the Red Moon seemed ethereal and distant, immediately causing the forest branches to shake.
Chen Sui had already released her energy, forming vines in the snow, ready to bind the low-level energy bodies.
However, with the alpha wolf's howl, the wolf pack that had been electrified to the ground suddenly rose. Their pitch-black wolf eyes took on a crimson color, and the pack howled in unison, with growls and panting sounds reverberating through the air.
The snow layer began to shake violently, snow continuously falling from the black forest branches, hitting the ground with repeated thumps.
"What's happening? Have they gone berserk?"
Zhou Chen rested his Four-sided Mace on his shoulder, confused by the wolves' unified howling.
Chen Sui positioned her gun, observing from a distance, watching the mark on the alpha wolf's body heal, and warned Zhou Chen: "Just kill the alpha wolf. We only need two or three energy bodies to pull us."
Zhou Chen understood, nodding, finally able to go all out. He responded with relief: "You should have said so earlier. I wouldn't have spared it."
As he spoke, ice spikes began to emerge from the snow around his feet and the mechs, countless crystalline solid ice spikes shooting toward the mechs from all directions along with the wolf pack's howls.
Simultaneously, the crimson-eyed wolf pack continuously pawed at the snow with their forepaws. Upon reaching the ground beneath the snow layer, dozens of snow wolves collectively pounced toward the mechs, their mouths ferociously agape, sharp fangs and claws slashing toward the mechs.
Puluo thrust out his staff, swinging it toward the nearest lunging wolves. The staff whistled through the air, its tremendous force creating howling winds, beating back the wolf pack, hammering them into the snow.
The repelled wolves, seemingly oblivious to pain, immediately rose again, attacking the mechs once more.
"Annoying."
Gu Qinxue frowned, her Thorny Fire Whip coiling around a snow wolf's body before flinging it away. The thorns ground against each other, exploding in mid-air, blasting the snow wolf's body apart, dropping the energy crystal into the snow.
This energy crystal held no value for Zhu Jing Fu. Chen Sui glanced at it, instantly spurring her vines to grow, emerging from beneath the snow to ensnare the wolf pack layer by layer.
Gu Qinxue's Thorny Fire Whip lashed away the ice spikes around her, circling back to loop around a wolf whose limbs were entangled by vines, directly securing its head. One snow wolf was completely controlled.
Chen Sui switched to her control cannon, firing at this snow wolf. The shell struck the wolf but didn't explode, instead seeming to create an energy barrier. A layer of fire manacles instantly coiled from the impact point, completely immobilizing the wolf on the ground.
[Wow, Chen Sui changed guns again]
[I vaguely remember she's used ice-fire cannon, mist cannon, fierce fire cannon... this seems to be a control cannon, interesting]
[Strange, this control cannon actually uses fire attribute for control? Using attack for control instead?]
[Wait, don't control cannons have time limits? Just leaving the snow wolf here, won't it escape when the control effect wears off?]
[Um, maybe the weapon has something we don't know about. I think it shouldn't, because as we all know, Zhu Jing Fu never lets anything they value slip through their fingers]
[Good point. Goodness, Chen Sui's cannon is a bit cheating]
[Zhou Chen handles killing, Chen Sui and Gu Qinxue handle control]
[Then what do Puluo and Xie Chunshi do?]
Looking at the soldier and Commander standing beneath black branches with their shield umbrella open, the bullet comments were reminded of the analyst who elegantly advanced under an umbrella in the Sultry Red Forest, and slowly said:
[They're responsible for living a peaceful life (crossed out) responsible for peace and quiet]
However, the words "peace and quiet" had barely appeared when nearby, Zhou Chen's Four-sided Mace struck directly on the alpha wolf's body, lightning instantly exploding.
"Roar—!!"
The alpha wolf let out a miserable cry. Ice spikes drove into the snow around it, and a layer of ice crystals covering the Four-sided Mace was instantly crushed by flashing lightning, scattering like powder.
The alpha wolf struggled violently, with such force that, combined with the surrounding ice spikes, Zhou Chen sensed something unusual and quickly looked toward Chen Sui: "Is this really a low-level energy body?"
Just as Zhou Chen finished speaking, the surrounding wolf pack suddenly ran toward the alpha wolf's position. Their agile bodies crashed into the circles of exploding lightning. The wolves' bodies were scorched by the electric shock, and the smell of burning spread, blood seeping into the snow layer, the snow surface becoming increasingly red under the Red Moon's reflection.
"Awooo!"
"Awooo—"
Successive wolf howls accompanied the snow wolves' bodies as they crashed toward the alpha wolf's position like sacrifices.
Chen Sui hurriedly intercepted a snow wolf about to crash into the lightning net. Gu Qinxue reacted swiftly, immediately helping her control the energy body. The control cannon fired at the snow wolf, instantly creating fire manacles.
The controlled snow wolves struggled violently, but as their energy converged, causing temperatures to drop, the fire manacles' control became increasingly intense.
With the two controlled snow wolves still struggling, Chen Sui's perception returned, confirming the energy bodies had no other issues. Though puzzled by Zhou Chen's question, she still called out in response: "They are low-level energy bodies. Just finish them off!"
Receiving the command, Zhou Chen no longer restrained the thunder energy of his Four-sided Mace.
A steel needle burst from within the bamboo segments of the Four-sided Mace, stabbing toward the ground.
As the steel needle pierced the snow layer, reaching the earth beneath, a shrill eagle's cry sounded!
A massive purple lightning bolt followed the phantom trail of a black arrow eagle, striking down from the sky.
"Boom!!"
A tremendous explosion, lightning like bursting fireworks, with final spark showers sizzling in mid-air. The snow wolves were electrocuted with continuous sizzling sounds, the alpha wolf's body becoming completely charred.
Its crimson eyes stared fixedly beneath the snow layer. Just as lightning was about to strike its energy crystal, the alpha wolf suddenly emitted an extremely faint wolf howl.
"Awooo—ooo—"
The sound was drawn out very long, sounding plaintive and shrill—the wolf pack's final lament.
The thunderbolt smashed its body in half with a bang, the energy crystal falling into the snow layer. Just before the energy crystal separated from the body, an extremely long ice spike shot out from the alpha wolf's body, piercing down toward the snow layer below.
The extraordinarily long ice spike penetrated the snow layer, directly piercing into the solid ground below.
On the snow-covered earth, mechs stepped in accumulated snow, making creaking sounds as the snow compressed. Zhou Chen put away his Four-sided Mace, and several Zhu Jing Fu mechs approached his position.
The instant Chen Sui's mech landed, her ears caught a crisp sound.
Xie Chunshi discovered the anomaly almost simultaneously.
"Alert!"
The Team Leader had barely uttered the two words when the snow layer beneath their feet clearly collapsed downward, a feeling of emptiness assailed them, and the ground they stood on suddenly dropped.
The snow layer split open with the surface, sliding into the crevice with a rumbling crash. Solid frozen snow chunks and soft accumulated snow together hammered down on the mechs.
The five Zhu Jing Fu members hadn't prepared, only to see green vines whipping out at the moment of descent, encircling the five, directly falling with the snow layer's collapse speed toward the depths of the earth.
"Shit! Falling again?!"
Large chunks of snow debris struck the Zhu Jing Fu mechs as they fell. The black and gold mechs at the top were completely enveloped in white snow. Finally, upon falling into a cave beneath the frozen soil layer, they crashed against the cave wall with a thud.
Something hard jabbed into Zhou Chen's waist, causing him to suck in a breath, unwittingly letting out an expletive.
"These energy fields are such shoddy construction, constantly collapsing. Who can stand this?"
Zhou Chen cried out, his mech rolling to the side to avoid the large rock at his waist. He crawled up from the ground, only to see his four teammates encircled by vines.
Puluo's shield umbrella faced upward, firmly holding four mechs, landing steadily.
Four black and gold mechs lay face-up on the umbrella surface, maintaining comfortable positions during the fall. Zhou Chen looked on with a tilted head, completely confused: "Am I the only one who flew out, got hit by snow, then fell down, and still got jabbed by this thing—"
He pointed at the rock on the ground, the mech's searchlight illuminating the rock as he looked down.
Meanwhile, the four helped each other up. Xie Chunshi glanced upward; the collapsed snow had buried the cave entrance, sealing the crevice, not allowing even a ray of light through.
"It's the frozen soil layer. The snow wolves' energy disturbed it, causing it to shift and create a crevice that dropped us down here."
Looking upward, sensing the energy within the soil, Xie Chunshi explained.
Chen Sui raised her head slightly, her cheeks puffing up as she stood: "What's going on? The sled dogs we just tied up are gone."
She was still thinking about the controlled snow wolves. Xie Chunshi turned back at her words: "It's fine. We'll go out from here and catch the snow wolves again."
After all, Chen Sui's control cannon was practically a long-lasting tool in the snow plain environment.
That was all they could do now. Chen Sui looked at the cave; they had fallen right in the center, with passable routes leading both forward and backward.
"There's actually a cave here?"
Chen Sui was somewhat surprised that there was a cave in the frozen soil layer. Could it have been created by energy bodies?
Xie Chunshi seemed to see through her question. He turned on the mech's searchlight, and as the illumination device activated, the cave immediately brightened, allowing them to see the surrounding environment clearly.
"This should be a former industrial mining area on Crimson Snow Star—traces left by the Star Alliance's construction," Xie Chunshi noticed special markings in the mine tunnel. These were energy imprints, specifically left around energy ore as a mining operation signal. Though the imprints around them had been eroded by energy, the original form could still be discerned through the remaining traces. "This is a surviving mine tunnel from Crimson Snow Star."
"Crimson Snow Star has many mining areas, with thousands of large and small mineral types inside."
Just as Xie Chunshi finished explaining, Zhou Chen dug out the rock that had jabbed him from the ground. The ore, as large as a mech's two hands, was lifted by him and presented to Chen Sui.
"Little Sui, take a look. What kind of mineral is this?"
Chen Sui looked at the extremely ordinary black stone, her expression somewhat exasperated: "Not everything that appears in a mine tunnel is energy ore. Calm down a bit."
Although the stone in hand wasn't energy ore, after hearing Xie Chunshi say this was an energy mine, Zhou Chen's irritation at being dropped into the cave instantly vanished, replaced by extreme delight: "What is this, a windfall?"
Chen Sui shook her head helplessly. The Red Moon Snow Plain had numerous mining areas, even remains of Crimson Snow Star's industrial ruins, containing many useful resources. However, she hadn't expected they would stumble upon a mine pit so soon after entering the energy field.
"Let's call it a lucky player's blessing."
Chen Sui said softly.
Zhou Chen only heard her say something but couldn't make out the specific words. "Huh?"
He looked bewildered.
Chen Sui patted him on the shoulder. True to form, even when killing a low-level energy body, he could uncover a mine tunnel.
At this moment, the bullet comments fully understood Chen Sui's mindset.
[Emperor Sui's speechlessness]
[Tremble, energy field, this is a lucky player]
[Wait, they found a mine right at the start. Does Zhu Jing Fu have enough spatial buttons?]
[Well, what else can they do but dig?]
"Shall we dig?"
After learning it was a mine tunnel, even Gu Qinxue looked at Chen Sui, inquiring.
Chen Sui smiled helplessly, preemptively warning: "We haven't reached the mineral area yet. If we want to mine, we might not get out very soon."
Hearing this, Xie Chunshi reminded them: "It's fine. If this is a Star Alliance mining area, there should be mine-to-surface connection tunnels at regular intervals, leading directly to ground targets. While searching for minerals, we can exit through the nearest target."
With this reassurance eliminating afterthoughts, Chen Sui nodded: "Then let's find minerals first. Since we're here, might as well take some."
The strongest rationale in history—"since we're here"—once spoken, Zhu Jing Fu simply had to dig something.
Zhou Chen looked at the black mineral, sighing somewhat disappointedly: "I thought I'd find a treasure as soon as we fell down."
"If you really want, take it with you. I'll carve you a memento when we get back," Chen Sui consoled him.
Zhou Chen's eyes brightened, and he immediately picked up the stone, tossing it into his spatial button, then quickly caught up with them.
Following the mine tunnel inward, they finally saw signs of ore. In the pitch-black stone cave, besides the light from the mech searchlights, another light source appeared—faint energy fluctuations spreading out.
Chen Sui looked at the white crystals piercing through the tunnel ahead, crisscrossing toward the entrance, almost blocking the entire stone cave's path.
"This is snow tin ore. This material can be used for mech parts—the higher the purity, the stronger the defense."
Snow tin required continuous refining to increase purity and was one type of mech defense material.
Not the best, but not too bad either.
The most excited about the snow tin wasn't Zhu Jing Fu but the audience watching the online store.
[When snow tin appears, I know new stock is coming]
[Damn, they can't not list a hundred or so, right?]
[When I see snow tin, a defensive material, Zhu Jing Fu won't need it—definite listing]
[As we all know, Zhu Jing Fu can use any material except defensive materials]
[Our Zhu Jing Fu doesn't need defense. Our school team's defense strategy: Eliminate all enemies]
[Good, good, good, so many materials, dig them all up]
[No rush, Grass Grass will handle it]
[Zhou Chen... is too rough. Can't he learn from Grass Grass and dig only high-purity ones? Spatial button storage space is precious!]
[No worries, Grass Grass previously wrote a purchase plan (crossed out)]
[I'm really laughing. Who posted a shopping list in the Zhu Jing Fu section? You think our school team is going grocery shopping?]
[Wow, so much snow tin]
[As expected of the Red Moon Snow Plain, this icy environment must produce excellent snow tin quality]
[This material is a bit insufficient for high-level mechs, but perfect for me]
[I checked—the school team doesn't need it. They should use snow melting stone tier materials. Grass Grass digging so much definitely means online store updates!]
"Come here," Chen Sui watched Zhou Chen roughly breaking off snow tin ore, somewhat helplessly pulling him over. "Look for ones like this, without impurities, high purity. The ones in your hand need several refinings—not worth it."
Zhou Chen immediately showed an understanding expression, excitedly saying: "You should have said so. I was thinking the more colorful ones looked better."
Who knew it needed to be pure color?
He dumped all the impure snow tin from his spatial button onto the ground. As the mech advanced through digging, Zhou Chen tossed away low-purity snow tin along the way.
The mechs walked toward the depths of the mine tunnel. In the distance, the discarded snow tin and surrounding ice snow energy rippled outward in circles.
Faint crystalline light flickered within the mine tunnel.
At this moment, beneath the mine tunnel, layers of crisscrossing frozen soil, sensing the energy withdrawal, began to tremble slightly.
Zhu Jing Fu's members remained oblivious. The frozen soil below shook while the stone cave above seemed frozen solid by ice crystals, with only a barely perceptible tilt, showing no other movement.
The five dug all the way to where they could see the mine tunnel marker, looking toward the marker, they could indeed see a lifting device on top of the stone cave.
Zhou Chen had passed several marker positions. Some either had no such device, only a sealed opening, or the lifting device was completely destroyed. Upon seeing a relatively intact marker position and device, he immediately called out: "Here, there's an exit tunnel here."
Chen Sui stopped mining and quickly walked to the lifting device embedded in the stone wall to examine it.
"Energy erosion isn't severe, thankfully," checking the lifting device's condition, Chen Sui looked at the activation code outside and turned to Xie Chunshi.
The Commander stepped forward, scanning the lifting device's specifications, calculating based on the remaining maintenance time, and immediately input a string of numbers.
"Beep—"
The control panel of the lifting device lit up.