novelraw Chapter 70 : White Sand Sky Pillar Sea Domain
Chapter 70 : White Sand Sky Pillar Sea Domain
Xie Yi glanced at the vigilant Xie Chunshi, raising both hands: "I don't either! I just wanted to chat with Chen Sui."
Zhou Chen didn't believe them at all. He reached out to pull Chen Sui back, while he and Gu Qinxue surrounded her from left and right. Only then did he raise his eyebrows at them, "Chat? We're all enemies in the competition! Opponents! Whatever you have to say, save it for the off-season!"
"You..." Xue Yaoyao hadn't even extended her invitation to Chen Sui, but Zhou Chen's words weren't wrong either. She could only swallow her anger, looking at the analyst who was standing close to Gu Qinxue, and called out: "Then I'll come find you during the off-season, Student Chen Sui. I have some academic questions I'd like to discuss with you."
Xue Yaoyao emphasized her words, still remembering that explosion in the training room.
Before the explosion, she had felt a strong energy fluctuation coming from the analysis instrument.
This was a bottleneck she had been stuck at for a long time.
She genuinely wanted to discuss such issues with Chen Sui.
Xie Yi was even more straightforward, "Suisui, I have another sticker album for personalized mechas. After the competition, I'll show you!"
Chen Sui first agreed to Xue Yaoyao's invitation, then showed some interest in Xie Yi's personalized mecha sticker album. She nodded to each of them before being led away by her teammates toward the base station.
The two teams, Saint Laurent and Zhu Jing Fu, after cooperating on the ice surface, once again returned to a clear distinction in distance.
On the way to the base station, Gu Qinxue seemed somewhat puzzled as she asked Chen Sui: "When did you get to know Xue Yaoyao?"
"And Xie Yi, how are you so familiar with them?"
Chen Sui shook her head in confusion, "Huh? I don't! I don't know her. Maybe they're just very enthusiastic."
Chen Sui scratched her head, feeling somewhat nervous when the two girls had grabbed her, even through the mecha's hands.
In the wasteland, she hadn't had many good friends. Back then, surviving from day to day was difficult, and the apocalyptic life didn't allow her to establish long-lasting friendships.
Except for the Beacon Squad, who, because of Teacher Chen Jia, had watched her grow up and formed a familial bond, Chen Sui hadn't experienced other types of relationships.
Coming to Yuguang Star, to Zhu Jing Fu, was the first time she had made friends.
Hearing Chen Sui call Xue Yaoyao and Xie Yi enthusiastic, Gu Qinxue thought silently that Xie Yi was indeed enthusiastic, but Xue Yaoyao certainly wasn't.
That person had a strong aversion to the Near Star Ring's family clans.
But the one thing that made Gu Qinxue relax her brows was that the family Xue Yaoyao hated most was the Gu family.
At least she had good taste.
The crossfire at the West Base Station was intense.
When Chen Sui sensed the waves of spiritual body fluctuations, artillery fire exploded in the distance, blasting several meters high waves on the sea surface.
Saint Laurent led Zhu Jing Fu around the artillery along the way, withstanding strong water pressure.
Saint Laurent's strong attacker, He Lanxiu, was a young man with a gentle voice.
Chen Sui knew of him because of He Lanxi.
The two were cousins.
He Lanxiu had delicate features, spoke softly, and his spiritual body was the modest, peaceful pearl oyster, but his spiritual fluctuations were extremely strong.
The energy wall he raised could resist the surrounding powerful deep water pressure, possessing a strength that didn't match his image.
"You're diving so deep, no wonder no one can find you," Zhou Chen said. In the extremely deep water zone, with the battle area above and complex spiritual bodies around, energy fluctuations were chaotic. With Chen Sui's shielding covering them, no one noticed the two teams sneaking through the seabed.
Noya hummed rather proudly: "This is strategy. Do you understand what a first-class Commander is?"
Zhou Chen refused to be outdone: "In front of our Commander Xie, you dare call yourself a first-class Commander?"
Xie Chunshi came up behind him and directly put him in a chokehold.
The young man's steady voice said: "Say less. We're about to land at the base station. Pay attention to attacks from around."
Zhou Chen's attention was immediately drawn away.
Noya silently looked at Xie Chunshi, whose black mecha appeared calm and elegant. Thinking of Xie Chunshi's reputation among the Main Star's family clans, Noya felt somewhat wary.
Among the Commanders of the seven schools, Xie You seemed gloomy but had simple thoughts, Zhang Yingjie was cautious and careful, showing no weaknesses, Song Yuan was resolute and composed but single-minded and somewhat rigid, Xin Yan was successful at a young age, prone to arrogance and self-satisfaction, and Bai Ruhua was easily influenced and indecisive.
Only Xie Chunshi—Noya couldn't figure out his style or see through his strength.
"Fire a shot upward," as they approached the base station, Noya had just started speaking, intending to have Zhu Jing Fu test the waters, when at the same time as his words, a towering water column rose from the deep sea.
Xie Chunshi's palm swirled a palm-sized vortex, and the huge water column above rose from this.
He Lanxiu's eyes flashed with surprise, but he quickly smiled gently: "Seems like there's no reaction."
Chen Sui silently spread her energy perception: "The spiritual body fluctuations around are very weak; an analyst has set up an energy shield."
"Ah," Noya developed some interest in Chen Sui, "It must be He Lanqi, right? Only her spiritual threshold can sustain such a long energy shield."
After saying this, he snickered: "Little sister Chen Sui, is your spiritual threshold also at this level?"
He made a gesture of nine toward Chen Sui.
Chen Sui slightly curled her lips, turning to say: "No, my spiritual threshold is one hundred. Are you looking down on me?"
Noya's smile froze.
Chen Sui looked at him sincerely: "What? You don't believe me?"
Noya thought to himself, a spiritual threshold of one hundred is the maximum. Over the years, there had been 99s and 98s, but never a 100.
Was he an idiot to be so easily fooled?
Saint Laurent's Commander's usually successful, thick-skinned method of probing for information repeatedly failed with Zhu Jing Fu. Noya, feeling somewhat exasperated, led his school team to suddenly surge upward.
Fluorescence spread from his body, and mechas hidden in the nearby seawater felt lightning floating on the sea surface, just a moment away from connecting and discharging.
At the edge of the base station, on the exposed tower at the top of the metal base station, two mechas set up artillery, aiming in the direction of the water column.
In their field of view, a golden mecha suddenly landed at the edge of the base station.
Lu Ting, seeing the dazzling gold, blurted out: "Saint Laurent Island?"
"They're back? Did they find energy so quickly?"
Xiao Er, with his downcast eyes, moved slightly, only asking in the team channel: "Do we attack?"
His voice, like the person himself, carried a sense of etherealness, like a layer of transparent ice in the sunlight that would shatter with a press.
Xie You, at the information tower in the higher part of the base station, looked at the red dots above and said coldly: "How could they be so fast? Wait until they all show themselves before deciding."
Lu Ting watched for a while and noticed that after Saint Laurent's five people, a black mecha suddenly protruded from the seabed.
"No, it's not just Saint Laurent."
He Lanqi, who had been sitting comfortably in the control room, walked to the monitoring station to check through the base station's remote surveillance. Seeing the pattern on the black mecha, the long-haired woman narrowed her eyes.
"Saint Laurent and Zhu Jing Fu—how did they meet?"
Xie You watched as Noya charged his artillery. Teams around had discovered the two teams landing at the base station, and Noya intercepted in the direction of incoming artillery fire, seemingly escorting Zhu Jing Fu ashore.
He speculated: "An exchange—Zhu Jing Fu gave Saint Laurent energy, and Saint Laurent helped them come to the base station."
Simos made a few "tsk tsk tsk" sounds, "Noya is so petty. I suspect he deliberately led Zhu Jing Fu here to fight with us."
Currently, Saint Laurent's points were chasing Na Luo River closely. Zhu Jing Fu was in the middle. Using Zhu Jing Fu to contain Na Luo River, Saint Laurent could sit comfortably on the fishing platform.
Noya had a good plan.
However, Xie Chunshi was a clever person.
Xie You thought that he wouldn't necessarily obstruct Zhu Jing Fu either.
The layout of the West Base Station was similar to the North Base Station, except there were many high towers suitable for setting up ambushes. As Noya passed through the passage, he waved to several towers below.
Xie Chunshi glanced at his movements, his gaze casually sweeping over the towers.
In the Zhu Jing Fu team channel, Chen Sui sensitively perceived the surrounding gazes. The analyst, extremely sensitive to lines of sight, marked out positions around them.
"Na Luo River has set up ambushes at three points."
Xie Chunshi nodded, watching Noya exchange greetings with different locations, "The control room, the information tower, and the highest point."
As they were about to enter the enclosed passage from the edge, Na Luo River's artillery didn't fire, and all members of Zhu Jing Fu breathed a sigh of relief.
In contrast, Noya was freaking out in the Saint Laurent team channel: "What's wrong with Xie You! He doesn't attack now, but why did he attack when we landed? Differential treatment! Double standards!"
Xie Yi listened to the Team Leader's grumbling complaints, and she and Xue Yaoyao giggled.
Saint Laurent had snatched quite a few mecha points from Na Luo River; it would be strange if Na Luo River tolerated them.
Saint Laurent's current first-place position was largely thanks to Na Luo River.
"You can return from the towers. Go to the control room."
Xie You's voice reached Lu Ting and Xiao Er.
The two canceled their energy charging and retreated from the towers, making their way to the control room via the base station equipment.
Xie You glanced at Simos, who was posing in front of the reflective mirror in the information tower, with a hint of showing off.
He looked for a moment, couldn't resist, and kicked him.
Simos stumbled from the kick, turning around in confusion: "What's wrong?"
Xie You gritted his teeth: "Stop being vain. Go to the control room. Zhu Jing Fu is here to get information, and we can't give it away for free."
Saint Laurent had brought them to the base station, and Zhu Jing Fu had given them energy.
Na Luo River was offering them the West Sea Domain base station information, so Zhu Jing Fu should also show some appreciation, right?
Thinking of this, Xie You felt somewhat confused.
Where did Zhu Jing Fu get so much energy?
On the way from the base station to the control room, it was unobstructed. Both Saint Laurent and Zhu Jing Fu's school teams understood that this meant Na Luo River was making a concession.
"Is Na Luo River so kind-hearted that they won't even fire a few shots?"
Zhou Chen said sarcastically.
Chen Sui nodded in agreement, "We've been targeted. It must be Saint Laurent that exposed us."
Xie Chunshi stated the facts: "Not surprisingly, we should be the fattest team in the competition field."
Having taken resources from three sea domains.
Teams stuck in the West Sea Domain and West Base Station were probably short on energy now. Zhu Jing Fu showing up at this time was like a fat sheep ready for shearing.
Zhou Chen also realized this point and immediately felt a drop: "They're treating us like wool to be sheared?"
"Huh! Aren't we going to fight?"
Xie Chunshi shook his head: "We won't fight. The map distribution of the West Base Station is different from the North Base Station. With so many teams around, the base station's information must far exceed that of the North Base Station. I suspect the base station not only has resource fixed points but also team coordinates."
A bold guess.
This impressed the three judges in the control room, who couldn't help but applaud him.
Ji Qing praised Xie Chunshi's reaction highly: "Zhu Jing Fu's Commander is very skilled at seeing the whole picture from a small part. From just a few details, he can deduce the whole picture. Such an opponent will be very troublesome for other academies."
Jian Run saw something familiar in Xie Chunshi. Watching him lead his team to the control room with absolute calmness, not even charging his artillery along the way, and with full confidence, his self-assured demeanor easily reminded him of another person.
His predecessor as Council Chairman, Xie Liuyun.
It must be said, like father, like son.
"Few surnamed Xie are fools," he sneered lightly.
The younger one might even be more formidable, directly sending the older one in.
All members of Na Luo River were guarding the control room. As the doors opened, light poured in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the room.
The two Commanders entered first. Xie You, sitting by the control panel, lifted his eyes to look at them.
All three teams had put away their mechas. Chen Sui looked toward Na Luo River, her eyes catching familiar black curly hair. Her peripheral vision glanced at the Commander and Xie Yi, immediately feeling that curly hair must be a Xie family gene, overwhelmingly powerful.
On either side of Xie You were a tall girl with long wavy curly hair and a tall young man in an exquisite uniform. The exaggerated uniform suited his physique well; on someone thinner, it would have looked strange, like a child wearing adult clothes.
"So flashy," Zhou Chen muttered, "Simos is too pretentious. Even in the league, he still cares about his image."
Chen Sui inwardly realized, Na Luo River's strong attacker Simos, a devoted uniform enthusiast, with an unshakeable male idol persona.
Her gaze moved to the furthest side, where a young man, even with his head lowered, was still noticeably tall. His features were hidden behind his collar, only showing ice-blue tousled hair.
Agile attacker Xiao Er.
Chen Sui's gaze moved again, meeting eyes with a dark-skinned, white-haired girl. She wore a cool leather vest, bright pink wristbands, her nails strikingly manicured, and extravagant stickers on her face.
Na Luo River's foot soldier, Lu Ting.
She was also observing Chen Sui. Just as Chen Sui was admiring her aesthetically pleasing athletic build, Lu Ting was marveling at Chen Sui's tiny frame.
"Control room information," Xie You pressed a switch, and a three-dimensional sea landscape appeared. The young man, with snake-like pupils, looked over, his gaze somewhat cold: "You can have it, but what can Zhu Jing Fu offer in exchange?"
Chen Sui, seeing his arrogant demeanor, for some reason felt her hands itching. She still remembered him sticking out his tongue at her.
So, she moved closer to Zhou Chen: "I understand you now."
Zhou Chen turned to look at her, hearing her say: "This guy does indeed look like he needs a punch."
He gave off a rebellious little brother vibe.
In front, Xie Chunshi's ears twitched slightly, and he lowered his voice: "After the competition, we can put a sack over his head."
Zhou Chen widened his eyes, excitedly rubbing his hands: "Really?"
Xie Chunshi swept a sideways glance at him, and Zhou Chen's smile froze as he belatedly realized, looking at Chen Sui.
Oh, so it was letting Chen Sui do the sacking.
He wanted to do it too!
"What does Na Luo River want?"
Xie Chunshi asked.
Xie You looked at the golden-haired, boyish-faced Noya, and then at his cousin whom he hadn't seen for a long time.
"What can you offer?"
Noya, well-versed in getting something for nothing, immediately took out an energy crystal: "Exchange for energy crystals."
Xie Chunshi glanced at him from the corner of his eye, his gaze playful.
Noya wasn't embarrassed at all. The energy for fighting energy bodies had come from Zhu Jing Fu, and now he was exchanging energy crystals for West Base Station information, effectively getting information for free while also selling Zhu Jing Fu a favor.
Xie Chunshi didn't take out energy but just said: "We need the repair room to restore our deterioration rate."
After saying this, he looked at Chen Sui, who understood and stepped forward: "We'll exchange a repair device for the base station information."
Zhu Jing Fu could manually repair mecha deterioration, freeing up the repair device. They had nothing else, blatantly displaying their non-wealth.
Na Luo River's analyst looked at them suspiciously, softly saying: "Zhu Jing Fu arrived at the West Base Station so late. Don't tell me you don't even have energy pipes?"
Zhou Chen unhesitatingly sold out Saint Laurent: "On our way here, we encountered an energy body group. We gave all our energy pipes to Saint Laurent for helping us break through."
Xie You looked at the S-level energy crystal Noya had produced and suddenly laughed coldly: "Do you think I'm stupid? What would I do with an S-level energy crystal? Bring out the energy pipes."
Noya looked at Zhou Chen, who blinked innocently, then looked at Xie You, who was strongly refusing to back down.
"You're too devious!"
He turned to point at Zhou Chen: "Ungrateful, burning bridges after crossing them. Have you forgotten who helped you control the energy bodies, who took you to the deep water area, who cleared the way for you to the base station?"
After saying this, he turned to look at Xie You: "And you, is the base station your home? Does it belong to you because you came first? And you want an exchange? Today I'm going to walk out with the information, and I'd like to see who can stop me!"
Noya raised his head and stepped forward. Xie You just gave a look, and to the side, Xiao Er pulled out a curved blade from his waist. A snowflake floated above it, and the surrounding temperature dropped sharply.
Noya's movements paused.
Xie You said coldly: "I haven't settled the score with you for sniping yet."
Noya swallowed; now he had no leg to stand on.
Meanwhile, Zhu Jing Fu, seeing the tense atmosphere, directly tossed out the repair device. Xie Chunshi smiled with narrowed eyes: "Can I take the information now?"
Xie You, looking at his warm smile, tried to maintain his cold face, but couldn't keep it up and moved aside to let Zhu Jing Fu through.
Seeing the holographic information in the control room, Xie Chunshi's eyes flashed with understanding as he quickly input the information into the team channel.
He looked at the two teams still facing off, and decisively retreated.
"After using the repair room, Zhu Jing Fu will leave the base station."
With these words left behind, Noya's face stiffened. Before he could say anything to stop them, the five school team members quickly left.
Good, good, good. They wouldn't even leave him second-hand information.
Now... Noya looked at the adamant Na Luo River. The other side had been stationed at the base station for several days, and in a real fight, Saint Laurent would have no advantage.
"Five energy pipes. I don't have any more."
Noya looked dejected. The energy pipes he had tricked from Zhu Jing Fu.
Xie You knew Saint Laurent had no resources. This encounter was just to vent his anger. Seeing Noya deflate, he felt refreshed.
Leaving the control room, Zhu Jing Fu quickly headed to the repair room to fix their mecha deterioration.
Over these days, the mechas hadn't experienced large-scale firefights, with damage coming from energy bodies and Sky Pillar energy, so the repair process was quick.
Having obtained the base station signal, the five entered their mechas, only to realize it was a real-time signal, just as Xie Chunshi had said.
"It really is resource points and mecha coordinates. No wonder Na Luo River's mecha points rose so quickly."
The West Base Station information provided real-time updates on remaining resource points and mecha signals detected by energy scanning.
"Based on the resource distribution in the West Sea Domain, teams that get the signal will evacuate along this route first. We'll ambush them too."
Xie Chunshi traced out a route. As the sixth day ended, whether they got the information or not, teams would prioritize resource points, and this route was the best choice.
"They want resources."
Chen Sui said.
Her gaze turned to Xie Chunshi, her words clear: "Let's fake the Sky Pillar."
"Fake the Sky Pillar?" Zhou Chen repeated, his tone full of shock.
The Zhu Jing Fu school team left the base station through the underground passage, following the route Xie Chunshi had planned. The West Sea Domain had more real islands than other sea domains, with White Sand Island stuck among them, looking extremely inconspicuous.
"Now many teams must know the rules of the Sky Pillar. They want resources, and when they see the Sky Pillar, they definitely won't miss it, especially teams that haven't obtained the map information."
Chen Sui looked at Xie Chunshi: "The Team Leader's energy drive is enough to create the illusion of a Sky Pillar, right?"
Whether it was freezing the fish school or the deep-sea water column, Chen Sui could feel the energy fluctuations of an SSS-level spiritual body from Xie Chunshi.
Sure enough, the Team Leader nodded.
"Fake the Sky Pillar to attract other teams, making them actively seek us out," Xie Chunshi said calmly. He looked at the map and marked a position, "Let's set up an ambush near here."
There were quite a few mecha signals around, showing they were experiencing the same landing battle as at the West Base Station.
Xie Chunshi had another purpose.
"Saint Laurent encountered He Lanxi and Cheng Wei's sub-team. According to the information they provided, they should also be nearby."
Saying this, the five headed toward the islands in the sea domain.