novelraw Chapter 103 : Red Moon Snow Plain
Chapter 103 : Red Moon Snow Plain
"Roar!!"
The Crystal Eaters roared continuously.
Behind them were dense blue eyes lighting up, powerful ice-attributed energy filling Chen Sui's perception. Her gaze grew increasingly cold as she watched the energy bodies gather, hostility rising.
The energy on the Wood-Born Flower tree net flashed more and more intensely.
Xie Chunshi turned around, suddenly calling out: "Ah Sui."
"Here," Chen Sui raised her gun slightly, her voice steady and calm, reassuring Xie Chunshi somewhat.
He sensed a chilling murderous aura, worried Chen Sui might lose control because of it. Learning she was still conscious, his unease dispersed. Seeing the energy barrier broken by high-level energy bodies in front of him, he reminded her: "Prepare to seal off, we need to withdraw quickly."
Chen Sui: "Understood."
Zhou Chen: "Understood."
Both responded simultaneously.
The gun barrels aimed at the energy wall, two guns completing their energy charging one after another, deep blue and fiery red strong light carrying abundant energy.
The energy body's energy storm broke through Xie Chunshi and Chen Sui's joint blockade, opening its fangs and letting out an angry roar at them. Howling wind carried the Crystal Eater's mouthful of rust smell, reverberating continuously.
Chen Sui's vines extended toward the upper cave entrance.
"Go," Xie Chunshi said, turning around the moment the energy shattered.
Chen Sui aimed forward.
The control cannon sparked at its muzzle, a fiery red light streaking through, drawing a meteor-like tail directly ahead.
The burning flame's aura instantly exploded.
Chen Sui's vines wrapped around above, Puluo gripping them tightly, the other end coiling around her waist.
"Xie Chunshi," her hoarse voice called Xie Chunshi's name, her mech extending a hand to him.
Xie Chunshi's eyes flashed, raising his hand to grasp hers. Through the mech sensors, he could feel the cold metal temperature, and through the black gold mech shell, he seemed to see Chen Sui's cold gaze toward the energy bodies.
"Zhou Chen!"
Just as the Crystal Eater was trapped by a layer of fire manacles, with ice crystals condensing, the fire manacles' binding grew tighter rather than looser. The cold air around the Crystal Eaters became increasingly heavy, and a final energy light blade directly shattered the fire manacles.
Seeing the Crystal Eater charging toward the mech, ice spikes rotating and approaching, the sharp energy edge continuously enlarging in their pupils.
Chen Sui reported coordinates to Zhou Chen through the team channel.
The attacker had long been prepared; hearing this, his gun fired into the cave opening.
The quantum cannon, carrying flashing electric light, blasted toward the charging energy body.
The moment electric light and ice spikes crossed, they directly burst into clusters of electric sparks, blasting the ice spikes in midair, ice fragments splashing in all directions.
Chen Sui's mech propelled forward, the vines pulled by Puluo above. With one hand gripping Xie Chunshi, both mechs rapidly propelled upward, exiting through the opening before the quantum cannon fired at the energy body and the explosion occurred.
The mech landed in the snow tin mine. Xie Chunshi's feet touched solid ground, and he looked down at their clasped hands.
The black gold mech, the moment it left the cave opening, glanced down once. Just after landing, without pausing at all, it immediately leaped backward.
"Fall back, quickly to the lifting device!"
Chen Sui pulled on the vines. Through energy manipulation, the vines in Puluo's hands instantly became active, wrapping around all five Zhu Jing Fu mechs in a circle.
She released her grip on Xie Chunshi's hand. As she let go, Chen Sui closed the team channel, lowering her voice to the mech beside her: "You'd better think about how to explain your energy disorder to me."
Her voice was extremely serious.
The moment she touched Xie Chunshi's palm, Chen Sui immediately felt the trembling of his muscles. The absolute synchronization of the mech sensors made Xie Chunshi's mech also tremble slightly in sync. Almost instinctively, Chen Sui's energy quickly entwined with Xie Chunshi's energy at their point of energy intersection, circling the edge of his spiritual domain.
In that brief instant, Xie Chunshi's spiritual domain's disorder made Chen Sui's heart drop.
If the mech hadn't been propelling in midair at that moment, she would have almost uncontrollably manipulated energy to invade his spiritual domain.
Xie Chunshi was aware when her energy invaded and, after quick consideration, didn't make any interception, allowing Chen Sui's energy to directly probe into his spiritual domain.
Hearing the analyst's cold reminder, Xie Chunshi somewhat helplessly tucked in the corners of his mouth, seeming to sigh.
Chen Sui heard this sigh and felt the anger in her chest burning even stronger, her gaze growing colder.
With an explosion from the snow melting stone mine below, a sound like a mountain collapse erupted, the entire underground mine tunnel shaking frantically. On the other side of the lifting device, the collapse trend rapidly spread, the snow tin mine and the frozen soil in between violently shaking, spider web-like cracks covering the stone walls, the entire cave showing signs of splitting apart.
Broken stones and ice layers fell toward the entrance.
Just as the lifting device opened, an extremely long ice pillar burst out from below the entrance with a "pop" sound.
The massive energy storm, rising and churning, crushed the surrounding falling objects, directly clearing the entrance that was about to be covered and blocked.
"You can do that?"
Zhou Chen had been worried about the entrance being blocked, but didn't expect the energy body to clear it so easily.
"Holy shit, it's coming up!" Zhou Chen's eyes widened as he watched the Crystal Eater's ice pillar break through the entrance, immediately disintegrating and shooting in all directions. Following that, the sharp sound of stone walls being pierced rang out. Zhou Chen anxiously looked at the lifting device, "This thing won't follow us up, will it?"
"Evidently," Chen Sui looked at the Crystal Eater that had already extended its forelimbs, its sharp claws directly inserted into the stone wall. The hard black stone in the mine tunnel was like thin paper under its claws, pierced easily, sinking in effortlessly, then the entire body of the Crystal Eater exerted force, instantly leaping up from below, "they've already come up."
This wasn't the only Crystal Eater to reach the upper level.
More and more forelimbs extended from below, and Chen Sui sensed the energy level rapidly soaring.
She instinctively swung her gun forward, shielding her teammates behind her. Puluo was at her side, holding his staff, ready to open his umbrella at any moment.
Xie Chunshi frowned as he looked at the energy bodies that had already reached the upper level, his gaze quickly scanning the surroundings.
"How long does the lifting device preparation take?" Chen Sui turned to ask.
After the lifting device opens, there's a waiting period before it closes.
"Ten seconds."
Xie Chunshi answered.
Chen Sui pushed Puluo, indicating him to move aside, "Go in first, ten seconds is enough."
"Little Sui!" Gu Qinxue saw her gun and spear both charging, instantly understanding Chen Sui's intention.
The Crystal Eater's gaze had already locked onto them. The moment it faced the mech, Chen Sui knew it was about to pounce.
"Don't worry, I won't fight them. I'll be back before the ten seconds are up."
The Crystal Eaters' destructive power was too strong; they couldn't damage the lifting device, or else Zhu Jing Fu would have to battle the entire Crystal Eater group in this mine tunnel.
But Zhou Chen and Xie Chunshi's core crystal conditions were both less than ideal.
Chen Sui didn't want to risk her teammates' core crystal damage.
Energy bodies—kill as many as possible; she could distinguish what was more important.
"Puluo, protect the analyst."
Xie Chunshi's voice brooked no argument.
Chen Sui turned her head, meeting his gaze. The Commander's cold face activated the lifting device, his voice somewhat tight: "Only ten seconds, hurry."
Chen Sui quickly turned her head, her spear sweeping from behind to the front, her figure instantly darting out, her voice following a beat later: "Understood."
Puluo opened his umbrella with his staff, ready to spin it toward her position at any moment. The energy cannon was set up in front of the lifting device, with vines from Chen Sui still connecting to him.
The snow tin mine was bombarded and collapsed by the quantum cannon, the frozen soil layer below completely shattered, the ground insufficient to support the mech's standing. Only Puluo, standing on the Star Alliance structure near the lifting device, could ensure he wouldn't fall below again.
But the Crystal Eaters had no such worries.
Because just as several Crystal Eaters all climbed up, they roared and pounced toward the mech position, waves of cold air dispersing, directly freezing the path in front of them.
The Crystal Eaters charged forward at high speed!
Solid ice rapidly protruded from the ground, and the mech, facing countless ice spikes, charged forward. The spear cut a silver light through the air, the spear head flashing with light. As the mech gripped the spear handle and stabbed downward, the four-edged spear blade directly faced an extremely thick ice spike roared out by the Crystal Eater.
"Crack......"
The Crystal Eater leaped into the air, its huge shadow in the stone cave pouncing over, its shadow looming over the mech beneath, holding the spear against the ice spike.
[Holy shit, holy shit! I can't watch]
[Good grief, these Crystal Eaters are really troublesome]
[Ahhhh it may be short, but it jumps so high]
[Why doesn't the Crystal Eater hit the wall!!]
[Because it's short]
[The snow tin mine is tall, folks. Is this really the time to discuss this?!!]
Chen Sui's spear thrust out, energy light shattering the ice spike. As the light in front was enveloped, she had just withdrawn the spear in a circle, with a pile of shattered ice in front of the mech, blue energy spiraling out.
The mech stood on the ground, with the huge shadow of the Crystal Eater above. Along with the Crystal Eater's angry roar, it violently pounced toward Chen Sui.
"Roar!"
"Thud!!"
As the Crystal Eater pressed down, Chen Sui's mech raised its knee, heavily kicking the Crystal Eater's exposed waist and abdomen.
A dull impact sound rang out.
The Crystal Eater, pouncing from midair, was intercepted by the mech's raised right leg, its figure halting in midair.
Its howl abruptly ceased, and the Crystal Eater seemed to let out a choked sound as the surrounding blue crystals were shattered by a rippling green light.
This scene briefly held for a second. As the live broadcast camera panned over, everyone could see the mech's leg resisting the Crystal Eater's charging attack. The mech appeared somewhat small in contrast to the giant shadow, but the surrounding aura was extremely dominating, sweeping away the surrounding ice-attributed energy waves as energy swept across.
Crystal Eaters crawling out of the entrance made calling sounds at this time, group communication howls continuously rang out, and they were clearly about to launch a concentrated attack against Chen Sui.
Chen Sui's eyes reflected the Crystal Eater's figure, its scales gleaming brightly, its giant teeth sharp, its footsteps stomping on the ground, directly cracking the already overburdened snow tin mine.
Her gaze moved, looking at the huge Crystal Eater kicked by the mech, layers of blue light fluff dispersing from its body, the mech's foot feeling as if it was touching an iceberg.
Chen Sui's gaze focused, her kick exerting force.
The spear rotated in her palm, the spear butt turning toward the Crystal Eater. Just as the Crystal Eater group pounced toward her.
Chen Sui's wrist exploded with tremendous force, her waist and abdomen tightening, the spear being driven, heavily smashing into the Crystal Eater's soft abdomen with a thud.
The sound of metal striking wasn't loud, but it was like a heavy drum being beaten, a giant force even creating flowing lines in the air. The air seemed to take on a substantial form, drilled by the spear into a sharp pierce.
"Bang!!"
Under this mountain-lifting sea-filling-like mighty force, the Crystal Eater's body directly flew backward.
The pouncing figure uncontrollably flew backward, directly crashing into the leaping Crystal Eater group. The enormous body, struck by the spear, flattened everything in its path, directly sweeping away the broken stones on the snow tin mine ground and its kind behind it!
Chen Sui watched this scene, retracting her long leg as the spear turned.
The Crystal Eater was heavily bashed, causing the surrounding energy to become chaotic for a second, and the blue glow at the entrance dimmed.
However, at this moment, Chen Sui saw in the distant snow tin mine tunnel the faintly glowing snow tin ore.
—It was the mixed snow tin ore discarded by Zhou Chen along the way!
In a flash, she quickly thought of a counter-measure.
"Ah Sui, three seconds."
Xie Chunshi's voice sounded.
Chen Sui's hand tightened: "Understood."
The Crystal Eater was dragged several meters on the ground, rolled twice, flipped over and stood up. The entire group, with new Crystal Eaters continuously crawling out of the ground entrance, growing in number, blocked the mine tunnel ahead.
Chen Sui's eyes swept across, the mech turning, quickly moving and navigating through the snow tin mine tunnel, dodging the energy attacks from behind.
"Puluo, change the energy pipe, wait for my signal."
Chen Sui's voice was extremely calm, like a sea-calming needle in the chaotic environment.
The red light on the lifting device door lit up, the mechanical door beginning to close toward the center.
Puluo nodded, immediately replacing the energy cannon with an energy pipe.
As Chen Sui looked back, she saw the Crystal Eater adjust and charge forward again. She looked at the snow tin ore on the distant ground and reported the coordinates.
Puluo, at the lifting device, fired an energy liquid cannon rich in energy resources. The energy liquid fell on the distant snow tin ore, spraying all along, covering the entire snow tin mine ground with energy liquid.
High-energy aura exploded in the cave.
Chen Sui's figure rushed forward from the distance, followed by a string of Crystal Eaters. As the energy exploded, dozens of heads looked toward the direction where the energy liquid cannon was fired.
"Shut down mech energy!"
Chen Sui's voice sounded through the team channel.
The black gold mech flashed past Puluo, a long arm extending, directly past his cannon, gripping the mech's shoulder, easily lifting the soldier, her figure like a long arrow, instantly rushing into the lifting device.
"Boom—"
All Zhu Jing Fu mechs simultaneously shut down energy transmission. Without power supply, the mechs emitted a roar, quickly entering a silent state in the non-energy condition.
The lifting device door was one second from closing. In the distance, Crystal Eaters pounced toward them, but stopped several meters from the door, just one leap away from pouncing onto the lifting device.
Then all Crystal Eaters seemed to smell food, collectively turning toward the interior of the cave where snow tin ore was scattered with energy liquid, rushing over.
Heavy footsteps pounded on the ground in front, creating a continuous deafening rumble.
The ground began to shake with these urgent footsteps.
As the Crystal Eaters swept past, the lifting device's time fell to the last second, then with a thud, it completely closed.
"Holy shit," watching the Crystal Eater group swiftly running toward the distance, giant teeth grinding against each other, producing a series of goosebump-raising crunching sounds, Zhou Chen craned his neck and looked through the small window of the lifting device, seeing the backs of a group of energy bodies, "how many are there? Good thing we ran fast."
The lifting device surged upward, directly carrying the five of them through a thick layer of frozen soil and accumulated snow. The shadows of the energy bodies had already disappeared from the small window.
Watching the Crystal Eaters rush into the dim tunnel, only illuminated by the faint glow of energy liquid, Chen Sui reactivated the mech energy transmission.
"How did Little Sui lure them away?"
As the lifting device reached the surface mining tower, the mechs walked out. Upon contacting the crimson moonlight, Zhou Chen turned back to look at Chen Sui.
Chen Sui put away her weapon, extending a hand to pat his shoulder: "Still thanks to our lucky player."
Zhou Chen had a question mark over his head, looking at her in confusion.
The bullet comments, through frame-by-frame enlargement, discovered the clue.
[Good grief, while Zhou Chen was mining, he threw away the mixed snow tin ore and energy liquid, equivalent to high-energy minerals, practically a Crystal Eater trap]
[Is this what being a lucky player means (stunned)? Even discarded minerals can be used, amazing]
[The snow tin ore was too mixed; energy bodies couldn't absorb it fast enough. Didn't you see the unmined portion of snow tin ore directly melting into the energy storm?]
[Zhu Jing Fu really has good luck]
[That kick from Chen Sui was truly stunning (screenshot)]
[Who understands, my sister is thin and weak, yet one foot blocks a Crystal Eater, one spear sends it flying, I'm stunned]
[This is the strength that can shatter energy shields. The Crystal Eater should be grateful Zhu Jing Fu's members aren't in good condition and are in this easily collapsing cave. I see Chen Sui wanted to fight several times]
[Your Sui's aura, she practically wanted to tear it apart]
[The Red Moon is back after a long time]
[Zhu Jing Fu stays true to their roots, even remembering your sled dogs in this situation]
"I've marked the snow wolf position; let's go there directly."
Xie Chunshi looked at the snow layer beneath the tower, turning to them.
Zhou Chen was already standing at the edge, arms spread, rather childishly saying to Puluo: "Puluo, take a picture of my handsome posture from behind."
After speaking, he faced the snow layer and fell straight down.
The mech plunged into the snow, creating a human-shaped depression, with the upper snow layer falling down, directly burying him.
"Pah!"
"Pah pah!"
From the snow layer, a figure squirmed and immediately sprang up. The mech stepped on the snow layer, compressing it and creating a height difference that made Zhou Chen wobble a bit.
"How was it? Did you get a good shot?"
Puluo stood dumbfounded at the tower's edge, somewhat embarrassed: "You jumped too quickly; I didn't get my camera out yet."
Zhou Chen: ......
"It's done; I took it for you," Gu Qinxue sent the image to the team channel, perfectly capturing Zhou Chen with his back to the camera, facing the snow plain, the black gold mech's silhouette solemn and dignified, with a strong lone hero vibe.
"Stop playing; let's go quickly," Chen Sui jumped down from the tower, landing steadily, extending her hand to receive Gu Qinxue, who grasped her arm and leaped down without wobbling despite the thickened snow.
Puluo, with strong center of gravity, landed and lifted the swaying Zhou Chen from the snow.
Zhou Chen, being held like a chick by him, turned his head in confusion: "Why can Little Sui lift you, but I can only be held like this by you?"
"Maybe because you're weaker," Puluo suggested tentatively.
This comment was like a critical hit, activating Zhou Chen's proud self-esteem, making him continuously argue back.
Chen Sui helped Gu Qinxue down, asking softly: "Feeling alright?"
"I'm fine," Gu Qinxue blinked, somewhat puzzled, sensing that Chen Sui wouldn't inquire about conditions without reason, she asked further: "What's wrong? Is there something unusual?"
Chen Sui turned her head, looking at Xie Chunshi who was the last to jump down. The Team Leader's steps faltered for a second when he touched the snow, almost falling onto the snow layer.
Chen Sui extended a long arm, blocking his chest position, stabilizing his figure.
There was some annoyance between her brows, feeling uncomfortable about Xie Chunshi concealing his condition, giving her a sense of not being trusted.
But Chen Sui reconsidered, realizing she had also concealed her own condition.
Really counting, who should be angry wasn't certain.
She adjusted her mood, probing his energy fluctuation the moment she touched Xie Chunshi.
Gu Qinxue also noticed the problem from this brief interaction, looking toward Xie Chunshi, frost eyes somewhat anxious: "Is the Commander's energy disordered?"
Chen Sui watched Xie Chunshi stand steady. He revealed a faint smile, softly saying: "The Red Moon state has an energy storm erosion effect on water-attributed awakened ones. No problem for now; let's go to the base station first."
Chen Sui withdrew her gaze, walking toward the snow with Gu Qinxue, leaving Xie Chunshi behind. Seeing the mech's back, he seemed to see Chen Sui puffing her cheeks, a gesture she typically made when dissatisfied but unable to speak out.
In the control room, seeing this scene from the review seats, several people smiled simultaneously.
"There seem to be many rumors on the StarNet about Xie Chunshi's core crystal condition?"
Director Ibis, being somewhat older, might not have surfed the StarNet without being invited into the review panel. For understanding these academies, he made daily records of each academy's situation like studying academic papers.
Thus, he belatedly learned about Xie Chunshi's core crystal condition.
When he mentioned this point, Song Xingzhang in the center paused, his eyes lowering, making no response.
Jian Run, knowing some inside information, explained after removing confidential parts: "Xie Chunshi's awakening process had severe energy interference. His core crystal energy is very unstable; easily invasive energy storms like this are serious disruptions for him."
"However, Zhu Jing Fu's analyst is very experienced in spiritual healing and guidance, so it's not a serious problem for Zhu Jing Fu," saying this, Jian Run reassured, and the facial expressions of the other two reviewers improved as they continued observing the other academies' situations.
At this time, Zhu Jing Fu had already arrived at the position where the snow wolves were fixed, layers of fire manacles locking them to the ground. Large snowflakes fell from midair, the flying snow blocking the mech's vision.
The snow wolves were pressed under a layer of white snow, only their struggling limbs extending from the thick accumulated snow.
"Still alive, really tough."
Zhou Chen sucked in air from the cold. The falling snow carried energy, dispersing circles of cold air on the mech's surface. His core crystal condition was insufficient for him to resist the cold; only behind him, Gu Qinxue's palm produced circles of firelight, enveloping the five Zhu Jing Fu members, spreading heat outward.
Zhou Chen quietly inched closer to her position. Gu Qinxue, who would normally give him a cold glance and tell him to move away, now just looked at him once, with concern in her eyes.
"Really fortunate they're alive. Puluo, open the umbrella."
Chen Sui stepped forward, pulling the snow wolf out from the snow pile. The fire manacles still bound it, completely restraining the snow wolf. Because the more it used energy to counterattack, the tighter the fire manacles became, the snow wolf had learned its lesson several times and didn't dare use energy at all. When pulled out by the mech, it only whimpered once, seeming somewhat pitiful.
"Good boy," Chen Sui stroked the snow wolf's fur, murmuring, "be good."
This tone made all Zhu Jing Fu members shiver involuntarily. It wasn't loving but rather chilling, as if the next moment she would grip the snow wolf's neck and tear its body apart.
But Chen Sui didn't do so. Vines wrapped around Puluo's shield umbrella, encircling the snow wolf. She took out an unused energy pipe from the snow.
When she poured out energy, Zhou Chen painfully said: "Less, pour less, we're running out of energy."
"Don't worry, to make the horse run, you have to feed it grass," Chen Sui consoled.
Zhou Chen argued forcefully: "It's a wolf, it doesn't need it!"
As he spoke, he covered the pouring opening of the energy pipe. Chen Sui looked at him helplessly.
The fire manacles on the snow wolf were opened by Gu Qinxue's fierce flames. When the restraint was released, the snow wolf wanted to run away quickly, but just as it began to stride, its agile figure hadn't yet risen before it was caught by the tightly pulled vines.
Puluo overturned the shield umbrella onto the snow surface. Chen Sui placed the energy liquid's condensed ice crystals on the Four-sided Mace. Five mechs sat on the curved surface of the shield umbrella, vines wrapped around the umbrella handle, the Four-sided Mace extended, the scent of energy liquid spreading.
The snow wolf's eyes brightened, immediately howling, stretching its head toward where the Four-sided Mace pointed, its forelimbs continuously rubbing in the snow layer, scraping out a small depression in place.
The five positioned themselves well on the shield umbrella. Chen Sui looked at Gu Qinxue, who touched the Four-sided Mace with her finger. Fire triggered the energy liquid, energy aura exploding.
The eyes of the two snow wolves bound by vines instantly lit up, beginning to sprint toward the Four-sided Mace position, the shield umbrella immediately being pulled.
"Whoa—"
Zhou Chen felt the wind cutting like a knife around him during the rapid run. He stood up from the shield umbrella, arms open, feeling the wild wind of the snow plain: "Ah ah ah, so exhilarating!"
"Big Dog, Second Dog, run faster!"
Chen Sui laughed aloud at his naming of the snow wolves. Gu Qinxue looked up at him, increasing the energy supply in her hand, making the energy liquid's aura explode more strongly, causing the snow wolves to accelerate instantly.
Zhou Chen, unprepared, instinctively leaned forward. Puluo stood up, his arm pinching the back of Zhou Chen's neck, pulling him back from the forward tilt.
"Just sit properly, you might fall off, these energy bodies aren't so easily controlled."
Puluo reminded him.
Zhou Chen retracted his head, patting his chest in relief: "These things are quite obedient, running faster when told."
Gu Qinxue rolled her eyes, coldly snorting.
Chen Sui suppressed her laughter beside her.
She looked at the galloping snow wolves, her tone somewhat regretful: "If only we could catch a few Crystal Eaters, they should be faster than snow wolves, and easier to control."
Just hang snow melting stone on the Four-sided Mace, and the Crystal Eaters would chase continuously.
"Please, no," Zhou Chen thought of that image and immediately felt it was bad, shuddering and politely declining: "Crystal Eaters and snow wolves aren't on the same level, can't be compared at all."
Fighting snow wolves was easy, fighting Crystal Eaters would make him cough blood.
Chen Sui withdrew her idea, looking at the scenery quickly passing by: "Snow wolves are fine too; we're not losing out either way."
The snow wolves galloped all the way, encountering energy bodies on the road, which the mechs could quickly resolve with their guns.
The Four-sided Mace was handed by Chen Sui to Xie Chunshi. The Team Leader planned the route more professionally; it was better to let him control the direction.
There were no high-level energy bodies along the way, and low-level energy bodies passing by could be quickly dealt with by the gun's power and energy intersection, without even a chance to block the path.
Under the temptation of energy liquid, the snow wolves carried the five Zhu Jing Fu members racing across the snow plain.
[To be honest, is Zhu Jing Fu really a team of geniuses?]
[Looks like fun]
[The accumulated snow carries energy, fortunately, the Zhu Jing Fu soldier's shield is well-made, otherwise it couldn't withstand such abuse]
[Wow, they're really fast. Next door, Saint Laurent just entered and is using sleds, but they're still battling energy bodies on the way]
[Saint Laurent is hilarious, using guns as skis, then finding it very inconvenient to fight energy bodies, can only use cannons hahaha]
[Noya sometimes can't match Zhu Jing Fu's nerve for a reason]
Although the snow wolves were low-level energy bodies, they were quite capable of surviving on the snow plain. With snow wolves pulling the "sled," by the end of the second day on the Red Moon Snow Plain, the shield umbrella crashed into the ruins of a remaining building.
The energy on the Four-sided Mace was knocked off by the impact. The snow wolf lunged forward to bite the energy ice crystal, pulling the shield umbrella, nearly causing the mechs on top to crash into the collapsed high-rise wall.
Chen Sui raised her palm, directly breaking the vines. The snow wolf rushed into the abandoned building group, crashing into a metal wall with a crisp "clang" sound. Sharp canine teeth bit the energy ice crystal, producing "crunch" sounds as they bit down, growling continuously in their throats.
The shield umbrella was thrown by its tremendous force. To avoid hitting the wall, it quickly drifted in place, rapidly retreating several meters backward.
Watching the snow wolf dragging broken vines to bite the fallen energy ice crystal, the vines on its neck particularly conspicuous under the desolate crimson moon and white snow, as the shield umbrella stopped, Chen Sui raised her palm, a green light extending from her hand.
Zhou Chen had just jumped off the shield umbrella and saw the snow wolf frantically sniffing the traces of energy ice crystals, still marveling: "Look how hungry the child is, already licking snow."
He had just finished speaking when he saw Chen Sui manipulating energy.
The vines on the snow wolf's neck seemed to come alive, the broken end beginning to sway. Before the snow wolf noticed, they directly wound to the front of the snow wolf, along its open maw, drilling inside.
"Squelch!"
"Squelch—"
Two sounds of flesh being penetrated rang out.
The snow wolf was directly pierced through by the vines, the thorns on the vines sharp, their tips curling around the snow wolf's energy crystal.
Chen Sui dispersed the energy cluster, withdrawing the vines from the snow wolf's body, the energy crystal falling onto the snow.
The snow wolf's body convulsed and fell, its mouth still open from biting the energy ice crystal. The crushed energy ice crystals fell out, the snow-white body crashing into the thick snow layer.
"Tsk, good grief, you acted so quickly," Zhou Chen turned to look at Chen Sui. His heart didn't feel any pity; the relationship between energy bodies and humans had long been one of irreconcilable enmity. It was just Chen Sui's sudden action that somewhat surprised Zhou Chen. "I thought we could still run a stretch from here."
The ruins were still some distance from the base station, though walking wasn't far, but having transportation and then walking seemed somewhat disadvantageous.
Chen Sui shook her hand, dispersing the vines. The snow wolf's blood splattered onto the snow, appearing somewhat black under the Red Moon's red light, slowly merging into the snow.
"No need. We can just go through here."
Chen Sui nodded her chin toward the metal ruins ahead.
Collapsed high-rises, split metal ground, the entire surface seemed to have been flipped open by a giant hand, revealing the frozen soil layer beneath.
Zhou Chen stepped in the snow layer, his foot tentatively testing the ground. Due to the extensive cracks, the city's ground was somewhat shaky, not very stable. He gingerly stood on it, sighing: "Now I understand the benefit of standing on solid ground; this energy field is really philosophical."
If someone were watching both Zhu Jing Fu's and Ink Hills' cameras simultaneously at this moment, they would definitely notice that philosophers from both academies were expressing their views.
Jipuna had just jumped down from the cracked ground, the collapse of the earth beneath his feet still leaving him shaken. As Xin Ming reached out to receive him, he couldn't help crying: "Wuwu, only when I stand on solid ground can I have an unyielding soul. On collapsing ground, anything can easily trip me."
"Alright, stop wailing," Zhao Jingzhi pulled up the agile attacker who had become somewhat withdrawn just after landing, "We're almost at the base station."
Jipuna looked back; the city ruins in the snow were like a sleeping giant beast, occasionally letting out thunderous snores, and even occasionally turning over, too dangerous.
"Let's quickly go to the base station. I hope the Competition Committee has prepared more energy liquid for us. I don't want to work hard anymore; I want to fly."
Zhao Jingzhi said impatiently: "You wish."
After speaking, he looked toward the analyst who had been somewhat listless all along: "How's Little Yu? Still okay?"
"Mm," a weak voice transmitted from the mech. Jiang Zhongyu breathed heavily, the ice-attributed energy's suppression very intense on him. His metal heart's beating frequency accelerated, his face becoming extremely pale, lips without a trace of red.
Zhang Yingjie sensed the analyst's weakness from this one response. Xin Ming hurriedly walked to his side, extending his hand to support the analyst.
"Thank you, Sister Xin."
Jiang Zhongyu said faintly.
"You're welcome, let's hurry. The Red Moon state will pass soon."
Jiang Zhongyu nodded, but just as he was about to step forward, he suddenly looked back, "There seems to be energy fluctuation approaching us."
His spiritual domain was too weak to even distinguish whether it was a spirit body or an energy body.
Zhang Yingjie said gravely: "Doesn't matter, go."
Several ink-blue mechs from Ink Hills walked toward the distant metal base station.
The base station entrance was built on the surface, a huge tower building situated on the ground, with parts buried beneath the snow layer below.
Viewers noticed something at this point.
[Folks, these ruins look familiar to Ink Hills]
[Just came from Zhu Jing Fu, looks very similar to where our school team just entered]
[White Soto Tower City, once a major transportation center on Crimson Snow Star, with several large star ports, also headquarters for many starship and aircraft parts production]
[Good grief, looking at it, Secondary Base Station C is right next to White Soto Tower City, now Ink Hills is already outside Secondary Base Station C]
[Um, Zhu Jing Fu and Ink Hills meeting at the secondary base station?]
[These two school teams aren't both defending champions, so they shouldn't have much competition]
[Not necessarily, the base station's energy is limited. Who takes it, or who takes more and who takes less?]
[I sense that Xie Chunshi and Zhang Yingjie, the two most cunning minds of the five schools, definitely won't fight]
[These two academies are quite something, all invalids]
Passing the outer collapsed high walls, the mechs entered White Soto Tower City. The ground had been completely dug up, leaving only bare frozen soil. Buildings had fallen, and from the parts not yet eroded, one could see traces of the city's remnants.
"White Soto Tower City," Xie Chunshi recognized the location underfoot at a glance. He looked up; the highest point of the entire city was a stone statue embedded in the ground, that stone statue shaped like a starship, "One of Crimson Snow Star's few transportation hubs, once the transportation center of the northwest hemisphere of Crimson Snow Star."
"Transportation?" Chen Sui raised an eyebrow.
Her tone was somewhat excited. Zhou Chen quickly looked at her: "You have a good idea!"
He was certain.
Based on his understanding of Chen Sui, whenever she had mischief brewing, she'd have this somewhat smiling and excited tone.
"Yes," Chen Sui looked at the city ruins before her, "Transportation center, in charge of aircraft and starship parts design, so there should be many remaining design parts."
"With enough parts, making a snow terrain transport tool shouldn't be a problem."
Zhou Chen's eyes widened, "Yet you said you couldn't make skis from frozen plain wood, you can even make this!"
Chen Sui turned her head away, not wanting to look at him.
Zhou Chen deliberately circled to her side, and as he walked, the ground beneath his feet suddenly cracked.
The ground collapsed downward, with one of the mech's feet already falling through. Puluo, quick-eyed and quick-handed, grabbed him immediately.
"Holy shit! That's scary?"
Zhou Chen's heart jumped, exclaiming in panic: "Wait, why does this place just collapse too?"