novelraw Chapter 97 : Sultry Red Forest
Chapter 97 : Sultry Red Forest
In the Sultry Red Forest competition field, black clouds rolled, and jungle broad leaves slowly curled, with giant leaf veins drooping toward the ground.
Black soil emitted moist vapor.
In the distance, a cannon carrying raging flames shot toward a giant tree with closing leaves.
An explosion sounded, and flames engulfed a mecha, smashing it into the ground.
Zhu Jing Fu's black gold mecha wielded a long whip, flames splashing as it moved. The thorns on the whip were sharp, displaying formidable power as it fiercely lashed toward where the mecha had landed.
With the damage level rising announcement, an elimination light pillar lit up.
[Sultry Red Forest competition field mecha survival count: 10, coordinate refresh cycle: 1 hour]
[This refresh coordinate is: 4701 (502, 353)]
Gu Qinxue looked back at the Commander and analyst whose mechas were arriving half a step behind.
"Why us again?"
After eliminating Golden Tower, Zhu Jing Fu had been rushing to coordinate refresh points, beginning to clear the surviving mechas from the battlefield.
After Golden Tower and Jacques Delot were eliminated, fewer than 15 mechas remained alive in the field. Following Zhu Jing Fu's two-day sweep, only 5 mechas survived.
At this moment, Zhu Jing Fu's black gold mecha emerged from various positions in the jungle. Zhou Chen and Puluo quickly controlled an external mecha from afar. Puluo's dual scythes struck repeatedly, rapidly increasing the damage level. Finally, Zhou Chen's Four-sided Mace, wrapped in lightning, smacked the mecha away with a "bang."
That mecha directly crashed in front of Chen Sui and the other two.
She glanced at the agile attacker and single combat unit rapidly closing the distance. Zhou Chen patted his hands in front, exhaling: "This is the last one."
As he spoke, a ball of lightning flickered in his palm. The mecha hurriedly rolled to the side, preparing to dodge while quickly saying: "Come on, brother, I'm already at 77%. Can you go a bit easier?"
Zhou Chen paused, looking at him: "How much easier can I go? You're already at 80%, the protection device will activate, and you won't feel pain!"
As he spoke, he was about to smash down the lightning ball.
The contestant in the mecha was still reluctant. Looking at the gloomy sky and the gradually spreading bloody smell in the Sultry Red Forest, he hurriedly said: "Red rain is coming. Why don't we find a place with meteor trees to fight? Otherwise, your damage level will rise too, what a disadvantage!!"
He was quite considerate. Zhou Chen, persuaded by a few words, looked at the sky, saw the gloomy black clouds, and felt there was some sense in it.
Chen Sui glimpsed his movement from the corner of her eye, and her long spear whipped out.
The contestant was still observing Zhou Chen, seeing him seemingly tempted and just breathing a sigh of relief, thinking he had a chance to escape.
But a silver light flashed from the side, and a tremendous force like a giant's hand directly lifted him from the ground. A sudden feeling of weightlessness invaded.
By the time the contestant came to his senses, he was already in mid-air. His body turned in the air, changing from a face-up position to prone. Then he saw the long spear that had lifted him from the ground quickly pass by his side. The long spear was gripped by the mecha's hand, circling in the air as the mecha's hand swiftly switched to a cannon.
The contestant's mind flashed "not good," his pupils contracted, and then he saw the cannon mouth charging energy. A shell shot out directly, like racing fire stars, with a white light drawing closer.
"Bang!!"
The cannon blasted him away. The mecha body that had been lifted by the long spear was directly blown away in mid-air.
[Damage level 83%]
The mecha damage level sounded.
Immediately after, the elimination light pillar and torrential red rain appeared simultaneously.
"Sorry, we don't really need to find meteor trees."
Chen Sui's voice sounded amid the splashing rain. She threw out a section of meteor tree stump, and abundant wood system energy instantly surged in. The stump drove its roots deep into the soil and began rapidly growing. Before long, it became a giant meteor tree capable of sheltering from wind and rain.
"We bring our own meteor trees."
Although the protection screen had lit up around the contestant, the sound of red rain splashing on it was extremely loud, accompanied by the hissing sound of corrosion, making him shudder. He quickly looked toward Zhu Jing Fu.
On one hand, he thought Zhu Jing Fu was so arrogant—had both seven-school teams in this energy field been eliminated? On the other hand, he realized why they couldn't find a single meteor tree anywhere around—Zhu Jing Fu had dug them all up. How many tree stumps did they have?
"Wait, you guys even dig up and take things? No wonder we saw fewer and fewer meteor trees later on. Where do you Zhu Jing Fu people come up with so many sneaky moves?"
These people didn't lack energy in the White Sand Sky Pillar Sea Domain, and now they didn't lack meteor trees in the Sultry Red Forest. Why were they always so excellent?
Why hadn't their own team thought of digging up meteor trees?!
"Come in and take shelter, brother," Zhou Chen pressed down the lightning in his hand. Before the red rain, the lightning energy dispersed, avoiding the scenario where the energy would electrocute himself.
Then he looked at the mecha blasted into the distant ground by Chen Sui's cannon. Her cannon hadn't activated the fire attribute energy to ignite the Fierce Fire Star Stone, so its attacking power was still inferior to the energy-focusing cannon. The damage wasn't severe—it hadn't even blasted a big crater in the ground.
Hearing his friendly invitation, the eliminated mecha still lay on the ground, finger twitching, thinking inwardly: a warrior can be killed but not humiliated!
He would never go under Zhu Jing Fu's meteor tree...
"Do I need to invite you?" a hoarse female voice sounded. The blue-green mecha put away its cannon, holding a long spear and coldly looking over from under the meteor tree, her gaze sweeping across the mecha like a knife.
The contestant instantly shuddered, quickly scrambling up from the ground and rushing toward Zhu Jing Fu: "No need, sister. Please stay seated, I'll come myself."
He said, obediently sitting properly under the meteor tree.
Zhou Chen looked at the mecha's change of face with confusion, then at the blue-green mecha gazing into the distance through the rain.
Damn, is his invitation not intimidating enough?
As he thought this, Chen Sui noticed his scrutiny and turned to look at him: "What?"
Her tone carried some weariness. Zhou Chen guessed it was probably because the red rain's appearance had become completely erratic over the past two days, day and night interchanging, causing Chen Sui to stay completely awake, searching for mechas to eliminate.
Hearing this voice, Zhou Chen had a feeling that if the competition didn't end soon, the big bad wolf would adopt some extremely brutal methods to find the other mechas.
"We've just eliminated this team, which is currently the only full team. The remaining four mechas will likely be two teams. After two more refreshes, it should be about finished."
Xie Chunshi's voice came from behind.
The Team Leader was marking points in the team channel. Zhu Jing Fu had traversed the entire Sultry Red Forest over these two days, almost in a dominating stance, clearing more than a dozen other mechas after continuous combat for a long time, and everyone was somewhat tired.
Fortunately, this competition could end before the tenth day arrived.
"I thought clearing would be fast, but I didn't expect just finding the mechas would take half a day."
Zhou Chen lay down against the meteor tree. Seeing the rescue team come to take away the eliminated mecha, he quickly went forward, prying the energy sources from that mecha, taking anything useful he could, while curiously chatting with the Border Army: "Hey officer, have any other tracks finished?"
"Who else has qualified?"
The Border Army rescuer glanced at him, then looked at the other four members of Zhu Jing Fu who were also looking over. Being watched by five pairs of eyes, a sudden pressure came upon him. He shrank his neck, quickly holding up the eliminated mecha and rapidly boarding the jump ship, not daring to answer a single word.
"What's up with this," Zhou Chen watched him rush away as if chased by a fierce beast, scratching his head, "Am I that intimidating? Is our tone not good?"
Chen Sui nodded seriously. The bullet comments, seeing Zhu Jing Fu's confused expressions, all felt complex emotions.
[Guys, you've practically emptied the Sultry Red Forest]
[You really shouldn't see how excited you look when you find energy bodies and mechas, literally like villains]
[Looking at the rescue team like you're going to eat them alive]
[The young man is afraid you'll strip him of resources out of hunger from not finding any in the Sultry Red Forest]
[LOL, Zhu Jing Fu's habit of stripping everything clean after elimination, who did they learn that from?]
[Who else could they learn from? They practiced it themselves in the White Sand Sky Pillar Sea Domain. Haven't you seen how Chen Sui attacks mechas face down? She's afraid of breaking the energy pipes]
[You all should leave quickly. If you don't leave, the Sultry Red Forest ground will be dug up and taken away too]
[Although this energy field has few mining areas, you can't just take everything you see, right?]
[Zhu Jing Fu's spatial buttons can fit anything. As long as it has some use, don't expect anything to be left behind]
[Speaking of which, any other tracks have teams qualify?]
[Yes, Na Luo River and Ink Hills both have. Xitisi and Zhu Jing Fu should be soon too, right?]
[Report: Xitisi just qualified, they're jumping now from the Sand Dune energy field]
[So it's just Saint Laurent and Zhu Jing Fu left?]
[What's going on with Saint Laurent?]
[Haha, Noya sabotaged them, got the whole Saint Laurent team stuck in a quartz mine tunnel. Now they can't get out, waiting for other teams to go in and find them]
[Uh... Noya, that's exactly the kind of thing he'd do]
In the late stage of the Sultry Red Forest, the red rain's fall was no longer regular, generally not lasting even a few hours before clearing for a few hours.
While waiting for the red rain to cease, coordinates refreshed twice. Zhu Jing Fu rapidly advanced along the coordinate positions, and before eliminating teams, Xie Chunshi looked at Chen Sui, asking in advance: "There's nothing else to take from the energy field, right?"
He saw most materials were gathered on Chen Sui's list, and she had even taken away a pile of what looked like very good quality waste materials.
Chen Sui nodded, somewhat lacking interest: "There's nothing good left in the Sultry Red Forest."
This response made Zhu Jing Fu's other members not linger any longer, directly moving to eliminate other mechas.
This reply triggered a wave of laughter in the bullet comments.
In the control room, Mo Qiu'an, who was just watching this scene, shook her head helplessly: "These kids have almost emptied the energy field. Fortunately, the competition area division didn't include the Sultry Red Forest's several large mine tunnels, otherwise the Sultry Red Forest would face an economic deficit this year."
A brief flash of amusement appeared in her eyes as she watched Zhu Jing Fu about to end the competition. She nodded to the referee coming to take over her shift.
As she left the control room, Mo Qiu'an's face suddenly darkened.
She looked toward the aide waiting outside the door, her face completely stern: "Go retrieve all information from the Sultry Red Forest for the past twelve years. After Zhu Jing Fu jumps out, check the entire energy field, especially the five base stations. Make sure to thoroughly investigate why there hasn't been a Magma Beast signal alert for over ten years."
The aide's figure trembled as he solemnly nodded. Mo Qiu'an, leading the Border Army team behind her, quickly left the control room.
Two teams coming out of the medical ward saw her leaving the Border Army competition center. Simos peeked out from the central hall's corridor, turning to look at his teammates: "What's up with Director Mo? Feels like something big is happening."
He imitated Mo Qiu'an's stern face.
Xie You glanced at him, somewhat unable to bear the sight: "Not sure. How are the other tracks?"
Na Luo River was among the earliest to finish, completing qualification at the beginning of the eighth day by eliminating other teams in the same field. They had just finished medical ward checks, and the remaining time was free activity.
So they sat down in the central hall, opening the central light brain to check out the Star League competition situation.
Shortly after they sat down, the five members of Ink Hills led by Zhang Yingjie also arrived. Seeing the newcomers, Simos, dressed in gorgeous attire, raised his hand in greeting. The military uniform sleeve tassels fell, complementing his brilliant smile, looking extremely sunny.
Jipuna quickly walked forward. He was still wearing Ink Hills' combat uniform, a dark blue color scheme. Seeing Simos's changed clothes, he patted his shoulder: "You kid, when did you get out? You even had time to change clothes."
"You don't understand, this is our male celebrity's professional quality, it needs training," Simos said, making room around himself and naturally greeting Zhang Yingjie, who was engaged in an eye-contact standoff with Xie You: "Come, Commander Zhang, Xin sister, sit down. Everyone, make yourselves at home. Would you like anything to eat?"
As he spoke, he waved over a service robot from the central hall. His flowing, natural actions almost made Zhang Yingjie lose his composure.
Na Luo River's strong attacker was quite enthusiastic, but this central hall wasn't his home, right? Acting so familiar, making him feel like a guest.
"Watch together?" Xie You nodded toward the light screen.
Zhang Yingjie and the Ink Hills members thus squeezed onto the long sofa and its sides with Na Luo River.
Simos and Jipuna had such a good relationship that sitting together wasn't awkward at all.
Xiao Er, sitting in the side two-person seat, hadn't expected someone to sit beside him. The sofa sank, and he only saw black long hair falling from the shoulder of a somewhat sickly-looking young man.
He tugged at his hat brim, moved aside a bit, and shrank his face further into his collar, appearing unwilling to communicate.
Jiang Zhongyu glimpsed the ice-blue hair revealed under the hood from the corner of his eye, somewhat disgruntled as he propped his elbow on the armrest, his slender phoenix eyes gazing at the screen.
Xie You first clicked into the forum. Zhang Yingjie, seeing his action, reminded him: "The competition special area probably hasn't opened yet."
It usually opened during the official competition.
Simos peeked from the side, explaining: "The audience made their own area, I think. Unofficial. I remember checking before going to the medical ward, but there weren't many people posting reports."
Zhang Yingjie's eyes showed understanding. Ink Hills had come out later and hadn't yet caught up with the StarNet situation.
The unofficial competition special area posts seemed to have just gone through a verbal battle. The posters were all these people, with several names back and forth.
Chen Sui and Zhu Jing Fu's terms directly became hot words in the search bar. Looking at the homepage full of two battling teams, they were still unfamiliar with some of the terms interspersed in between, but because they didn't know each other well, no one asked out loud, as if asking would show weakness.
It was Xie You, controlling the central light brain, who skillfully bypassed these hot words, clearly no stranger to lurking in forums, precisely avoiding a host of flame posts and directly clicking into a summary post. He scrolled to the bottom, glanced at it, then immediately exited.
Zhang Yingjie hadn't even clearly seen the text between the unfamiliar terms, only noticing the screen full of "grass," which seemed somewhat indecent.
This composed and serious Commander pursed his lips, hearing Xie You's voice: "Zhu Jing Fu and Saint Laurent are still competing. Which one do you want to watch?"
"Zhu Jing Fu!"
From the side, Na Luo River's usually silent agile attacker and Ink Hills' analyst who hadn't spoken all day suddenly spoke simultaneously.
Simos and Jipuna, who were about to express their opinions, looked at each other and swallowed their words.
Simos pressed down Jipuna's raised hand: "Forget it, our Team Leader will definitely watch Zhu Jing Fu. He's just asking as a formality."
Sure enough, He Lanqi and Lu Ting both murmured: "Let's watch Saint Laurent."
The two women looked at Xie You with amusement. The Black Mamba's eyes flashed with discomfort behind his bangs, but his hand clicked into Zhu Jing Fu's livestream: "Let's watch this first."
He Lanqi and Lu Ting knowingly smiled.
So stubborn, just say you want to see Xie Chunshi.
Xiao Er and Jiang Zhongyu only had eye contact when they simultaneously suggested watching Zhu Jing Fu. Afterward, they had no further communication, remaining silent until they watched Zhu Jing Fu eliminating mechas and heard Zhang Yingjie say: "Looks like they're about to finish too."
Only then did Jiang Zhongyu relax a bit, thinking to himself that Na Luo River's agile attacker didn't say a word, like a mute. If he also didn't speak, wouldn't it be awkward?
With this thought, Jiang Zhongyu uncomfortably shifted his body to the other side, involuntarily coughing a few times, making some noise to cover up the unnaturalness beneath this silence.
Xiao Er heard his coughing and moved the hot water that Xin Ming had passed over toward his position: "Drink."
His voice was cold, like ice fragments falling on a river surface.
Jiang Zhongyu looked at the water cup, nodded to Xin Ming on the side, then looked at the cold agile attacker, hesitantly uttering two words in a low voice: "Thanks."
"Mm." Xiao Er nodded coldly, showing no intention of conversation.
Jiang Zhongyu's desire to discuss the livestream was immediately suppressed.
Fine, Na Luo River's agile attacker wasn't a suitable viewing companion.
He forcibly endured watching the entire Zhu Jing Fu elimination process. During this time, he heard Simos and Jipuna on the other side talking like a comedy duo, one raising topics, the other playing along. He couldn't help nodding along. When he heard Jipuna praising Zhu Jing Fu, he instinctively added: "This analyst is really quite formidable."
Xiao Er's eyebrows twitched, his gaze landing on him for the first time, suddenly realizing this was Ink Hills' analyst.
Observing that others were chatting animatedly while the two of them maintained a suffocating silence, he pondered for a second, hesitantly asking: "You're also an analyst. Who do you think is better between you and her?"
Xiao Er had collaborated with Chen Sui on the Still River Flowing Backward holographic simulation, though only partially, but he could feel that in her perception, no energy fluctuation escaped her eyes. The battlefield seemed to have nowhere to hide.
Actually, Xiao Er still found it hard to understand whether this was an analyst's sensing ability toward energy bodies or if Chen Sui personally possessed an admirable battle talent.
Jiang Zhongyu, being asked, was surprised that this agile attacker would actively engage in conversation, while also considering his question.
"I haven't faced her," Jiang Zhongyu said. "From what we've seen so far, Chen Sui's level is definitely that of a qualified analyst."
Jiang Zhongyu's answer was directed at the StarNet discussions claiming Chen Sui had only studied for three months. From what they could see, despite only three months, Chen Sui's demonstrated abilities indeed made her a very qualified analyst.
Xiao Er seemed thoughtful. Just as Jiang Zhongyu softly exhaled, thinking he was about to end the conversation, Xiao Er asked another question: "If there are many energy bodies around, can you precisely locate their existence?"
Jiang Zhongyu found this question strange: "Of course, all seven-school analysts can do that."
"You analysts have high mental thresholds, so you should be more excellent in energy perception, right?" His gaze fell on He Lanqi's direction as he spoke flatly.
Xiao Er lowered his eyes, seemingly pondering something.
"Then—if it's not energy bodies but mecha attacks, can you determine those too?"
"Theoretically, as long as there's spiritual body fluctuation, it can be determined. Even if awakened individuals don't use their spiritual bodies, in energy fields, the concentrated energy causes spiritual body fluctuations to amplify. Unless energy concealment is employed, analysts can determine awakened individuals' positions from these fluctuation signals. But regarding the attacks you mentioned, those are unpredictable. Energy perception can only guide position and trajectory, not determine attack types."
Jiang Zhongyu glanced at him, finding the agile attacker's questions strange. "You could also ask your own analyst. Isn't this common knowledge?"
Xiao Er was said to have executed many missions as an awakened individual; he couldn't possibly not know these things.
After Jiang Zhongyu ended the topic, a sudden silence fell between them. He belatedly looked at the other person, suddenly understanding.
Could it be this person also felt awkward and was deliberately making conversation?
Realizing this, he turned back to look at Xiao Er. As their gazes crossed, the surrounding atmosphere spelled out two words: awkward.
Jiang Zhongyu's eyes hesitated, tentatively asking: "You're asking so specifically, have you encountered Zhu Jing Fu's analyst?"
"Teamed up in a holographic competition field," Xiao Er replied.
Jiang Zhongyu curiously looked at the screen. Zhu Jing Fu was about to eliminate the last two mechas. The two outputs were fighting, while the analyst was setting up a cannon in the back, restricting the opponent mecha's trajectory. Watching Chen Sui's movements, he somewhat exploratively asked: "Do you think she resembles a strong-attack analyst?"
Jiang Zhongyu, being a disciple of He Lan Yi, was a faithful defensive-type player. His habitual weapons were either strong defensive energy shields or controlling cannons, completely different from Chen Sui.
Hearing his question, Xiao Er thought for several seconds, then looked at Jiang Zhongyu, pointedly saying: "She does, and she really likes hitting energy shields."
Jiang Zhongyu's hand holding the water trembled.
Xiao Er knew that among the seven schools' information, the school with the highest energy shield configuration was Ink Hills' analyst.
Had Chen Sui, who had broken so many energy shields, possibly shattered Jiang Zhongyu's shield?
"Haha," Jiang Zhongyu laughed dryly, immediately feeling he'd be better off not speaking. "I won't bring a shield for the next competition."
His eyes returned to their listless state.
Xiao Er raised an eyebrow, looking toward the central Team Leader. Xie You's eyes met his, slightly raising an eyebrow.
Ink Hills had scored higher points than Na Luo River in the previous competition. For the second elimination competition, points could determine the challenger-host identity based on ranking.
Speaking of this, the Star League official competition system must be mentioned.
The five qualifying teams for the official competition would choose challenger-host identities in order, holding energy monitoring instruments.
Successfully placing the monitoring instrument at a base station would be considered a successful defense, doubling that field's points. If obtained by another team, that other team's points would double.
Although the official competition didn't count mecha elimination points, only energy body kills, because of this challenger-host system, there would still be competition between teams.
But the main conflict remained between participating teams and energy bodies.
Jiang Zhongyu's statement about not bringing an energy shield meant Ink Hills was not planning to increase the analyst's defense level, indirectly indicating that Ink Hills didn't want to be the first challenger-host.
Xiao Er detected this information from his words and immediately looked at Xie You. Xie You understood and nodded slightly, continuing to focus his gaze on Zhu Jing Fu.
And at this moment, in the control room, referees observing both Zhu Jing Fu and Saint Laurent's competition status watched as Zhu Jing Fu surrounded two mechas, eliminating them before the red rain descended.
On one side, Jian Run watched the Sultry Red Forest field, where red rain fell immediately after the eliminations, and couldn't help but laugh: "Zhu Jing Fu's meteor tree was really dug at the right time. With the late-stage unpredictable red rain, the rain shields wouldn't have been enough."
Zhu Jing Fu was still moving forward in the red rain, searching for other teams. Using more rain shields now would help them find mechas at refreshed coordinate locations faster, ending the elimination competition sooner.
Fortunately, they had meteor trees; otherwise, after the rain shields were used up, Zhu Jing Fu's own damage levels would have been increased by the red rain.
"This team, I remember at the beginning, not many people were optimistic about them," Ibis, who had come over, hadn't watched the StarNet for a long time. Seeing Zhu Jing Fu, his impression of them was still from the White Sand Sky Pillar Sea Domain era. "But now they're truly surprising. Jacques Delot and Golden Tower, both teams with impressive achievements, were both defeated by Zhu Jing Fu."
"Director Ibis didn't expect this either, right?" Jian Run looked past Ji Qing to Ibis on the other side, explaining to him: "Every year people say Zhu Jing Fu gets to the official competition through luck, but this year few will say that. This is a strong team that has defeated two of the seven schools to enter the official competition."
Ji Qing nodded, watching the sixth mecha exit the Sultry Red Forest field. He nodded: "The Sultry Red Forest track is finished."
As the final scene fell, a middle-aged man far away on Wisteria Star put away his light brain and pushed his wheelchair, glancing at the jump flight signal. A recruitment from the Analyst Association lit up on his wrist.
His fingers hesitated for two seconds on the light screen. His gaze passed over the starport, looking toward the scenic Wisteria Star, with purple petals flying, like a dream-like fairytale retreat.
Song Xingzhang remained silent for a long time. Before boarding the jump flight, he pressed the confirm key.
[Energy field mecha survival count 5/50]
[Surviving team count 1/10]
[This Sultry Red Forest energy field competition is concluded]
[Please surviving team proceed to the jump ship for departure]
As the mecha lit up with elimination signals, the system prompt sounded simultaneously in the mecha channel.
The eliminated team looked at the clearly Zhu Jing Fu black gold mecha with surprise: "Ah? Jacques Delot and Golden Tower were both eliminated?!"
He was still half a beat behind, surprised for a second when seeing Zhu Jing Fu fully survived, unable to imagine that this team had defeated two of the seven schools.
"Yeah, look, you survived longer than them. You're above the seven schools," Zhou Chen gave him a thumbs up, teasing.
He helped up the mecha hammered into the black soil. "Cordially inviting you to take shelter under our Zhu Jing Fu meteor tree."
The mecha, still not understanding what he meant, saw Chen Sui throw out several tree stumps, scattering them around. Under the wood attribute energy concentration, the meteor trees instantly grew, quickly creating broad-leaved giant trees that sheltered from wind and rain in the partially destroyed jungle.
Zhu Jing Fu's five members used up the last of their meteor trees. The analyst and strong attacker searched for the shadow of the livestream camera, and facing the hidden camera, Chen Sui sincerely said: "Currently all meteor trees have been returned to the energy field. We haven't damaged the energy field environment too much."
Zhou Chen nodded alongside: "That's right, Director Mo shouldn't talk to our Teacher Yan anymore. We Zhu Jing Fu don't need worthless—oh no, we wouldn't take things central to the energy field ecosystem."
Zhou Chen almost slipped up. Chen Sui elbowed him, making him jolt and quickly correct himself.
But the truth was heard clearly by the bullet comments.
[Brother, you think I can't tell what you meant from half a sentence?]
[Just say it directly, our Zhu Jing Fu doesn't value these meteor trees]
[What an excuse he came up with]
[Did Director Mo really talk to Zhu Jing Fu's school teacher? Curious]
[What are you talking about? Director Mo and Zhu Jing Fu's teacher used to be colleagues. They're just catching up]
[Wow, honestly, never thought the qualifier would be Zhu Jing Fu]
[To be honest, Zhu Jing Fu goes to the official competition every year and ranks at the bottom every year. I thought they wouldn't go this year, but surprisingly, mysticism is still powerful]
[Mysticism again? Really funny. Before, you said they got into the official competition through luck. This year they faced two seven-schools and you're still talking about mysticism?]
[They've eliminated both Jacques Delot and Golden Tower. What more do you have to say? Zhu Jing Fu is really formidable]
[If that's not enough, get your eyes checked. If that can't be fixed, check your brain. One of those should be working, right?]
[Sultry Red Forest is finished now. My goodness, this field was truly intense. I can see how exhausted Zhu Jing Fu's people are]
The most tiring part of the Sultry Red Forest was the last two days. Continuous field movement and combat allowed Zhu Jing Fu to finish the Sultry Red Forest track on the ninth day, successfully completing the qualification mission and becoming the fourth official competition team.
When leaving the competition field via the jump ship, returning to Zone Eleven through the jump channel, Mo Qiu'an was waiting at the jump point with a squad of Border Army soldiers.
Yan Mingyu was saying something to her when they heard the sound of the jump ship landing.
As the cabin door opened, the five members in Zhu Jing Fu's black gold combat uniforms slowly walked down, each with sleep marks on their faces, the exhausted expressions not completely gone.
"Good work!"
Yan Mingyu patted the shoulders of each person. Chen Sui's legs trembled from her strong hand, making Yan Mingyu laugh: "You weren't so weak to patting during the competition, Student Chen Sui. It seems you're truly exhausted."
Chen Sui smiled sheepishly.
Zhou Chen hurriedly said: "Teacher, if I didn't know Chen Sui's endurance was poor, I'd suspect she was deliberately hiding her strength in daily life."
Chen Sui looked at him in surprise: "Your brain can think of this? Quite impressive, Zhou Chen."
The two bantered for a few exchanges. Yan Mingyu's eyes carried some amusement, then she looked behind her, and Zhu Jing Fu's playful voices stopped.
"First, let's do the handover procedures. Energy Field Management Department Director Mo Qiu'an has something she wants to discuss with you."
She revealed Mo Qiu'an behind her. Mo Qiu'an saluted the five members of Zhu Jing Fu formally, then displayed a light brain investigation order: "On behalf of the Energy Field Management Department, I submit an investigation request to all of you. Please cooperate with my work."
The five members of Zhu Jing Fu, who originally thought she was coming to settle accounts, saw the investigation order and suddenly became solemn. After returning the salute, they followed Mo Qiu'an to the Border Army conference hall.
At this moment, Mo Qiu'an's aide was also on the jump route to the Sultry Red Forest energy field.
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
At three in the morning, Zhu Jing Fu came out of the conference room. Yan Mingyu was waiting at the bottom of the conference building. Seeing the five emerge, she hurried forward.
"What's the situation?"
Chen Sui's mind was still replaying Mo Qiu'an's words: "An abnormal energy body incident occurred in the Sultry Red Forest. After investigation by the Energy Field Management Department, besides the Sultry Red Forest, all major energy fields have experienced varying degrees of anomalies. I reasonably suspect that energy bodies are undergoing a transformation that cannot be captured."
Yan Mingyu, seeing her lowering her head with a contemplative expression between her eyebrows, called Chen Sui's name.
Chen Sui came to her senses, hearing her voice, and finally responded: "It should be about the Magma Beast. A Magma Beast appeared in the Sultry Red Forest, but the base station didn't detect its signal. It's as if—the Magma Beast and the energy field aren't in the same space. Director Mo is investigating this matter, and since we dealt with the Magma Beast, she wanted to understand the specific situation from us."
Zhou Chen thought of this and felt somewhat pained: "She got it, but why did she have to take some of my snow bud branches?" Zhou Chen thought of this and felt quite pained.
Mo Qiu'an had exchanged some snow bud branch and snow melting stone samples with Zhu Jing Fu.
But after the Magma Beast was killed, Zhu Jing Fu themselves hadn't taken many samples of the snow melting stones either, so they could only suggest she ask Golden Tower, who were still lying in the medical ward.
Qi Songhuai had taken quite a lot.
Mentioning this, Yan Mingyu frowned, but didn't show much expression in front of them, only reminding: "It's too late today. Go rest first, and remember to complete the post-competition check at the medical ward tomorrow."
"Oh, and," after finishing, she reminded them again, "after the elimination competition, all break periods and preparation periods for the official competition will be in the corresponding areas of the energy fields, but you can visit the online Star Ring Banquet. After the official competition, everyone's summoning bodies will also be arranged successively, and according to energy field changes, there will be modifications to mechas and weapons. You can look ahead to see if there's anything you need, and the academy will try its best to secure it."
Yan Mingyu briefly explained the arrangements for the official competition, then, considering it was indeed very late, hurried everyone to rest.
Early the next morning, Saint Laurent finished their competition ahead of time and had already completed their post-competition check. Zhu Jing Fu, having rested well overnight, was a step behind, becoming the last team to go for post-competition checks.
Chen Sui separated from them at the medical ward entrance, heading to the analyst special area.
She didn't have any major injuries; the medical pod on the jump ship could fully repair those. As for psychological issues, there was even less concern.
Only when it came to the awakening check did Chen Sui wait somewhat anxiously in the outer corridor.
Her gaze wandered aimlessly around the medical ward.
Further out was the Border Army Zone.
The Border Army Zone, also called Zone Eleven, was the headquarters of various battle zones and the Star Alliance's defense line against energy field descents.
The medical ward was on slightly higher ground. Looking out, one could only see various mechanical structures spanning the air, with some communication bridges crossing between buildings. On the ground, the silhouettes of cleaning robots appeared very small.
But one could clearly distinguish which dots were people and which were robots.
When seeing the figure standing by the huge statue, Chen Sui's gaze paused slightly. Behind her, the medical practitioner's voice approached: "Student, your check report. Scan here to get the electronic version."
She handed a stack of paper materials to Chen Sui. "Awakening status is healthy. Core crystal damage level is slightly high. If necessary, you can apply for spiritual healing. Also, make sure to feed your spiritual body more, avoiding spiritual body energy depletion."
Chen Sui nodded, acknowledging each point.
She looked at the check report. The data didn't show significant changes. The awakening check wasn't as detailed as the awakening detection process and wouldn't examine specific values or check the mental threshold. It could only determine the state of her core crystal and spiritual body.
Looking at this report, although the core crystal state wasn't ideal, from Chen Sui's perspective, the anomalous energy crystal fusing into her spiritual domain would naturally cause damage due to the impact of two energies colliding.
She sat on the long bench for a while, organizing her thoughts.
The energy field battles had kept her nerves constantly tense, with no time to think about her own situation. But now with some downtime, Chen Sui slowly recalled her gradually recovering memories.
What she knew: she often saw Flower Cloud Dream, one of the ten major energy fields, and Wood-Born Flower's prototype came from there. Initially, she could confirm that Wood-Born Flower was an energy crystal from Flower Cloud Dream.
Secondly, her mecha was salvaged from the God-Abandoned Domain energy field, which should be the first location she landed after crossing over.
So how did she get to that starship, and how did she encounter that human energy body whose tentacles pierced her eyes and took something from her body?
The energy in her spiritual domain wasn't originally from the same source as the energy crystal, indicating she should have awakened with her own core crystal, and the current energy crystal—
Was just parasitizing her.
Just like Fierce Fire Star Stone and meteor trees.
Her thoughts became clearer, and Chen Sui's eyes grew colder.
Parasitizing.
When this concept emerged in her mind, she instantly darkened.
The human-like energy body—everything originated from that starship battle.
Chen Sui stood up. She had to find that energy body.
On the way out of the medical ward, she had to pass by the huge statue she had seen.
It was an image of a person with a lazy expression, with an inconspicuous halo above their head.
This human image could be seen everywhere in the interstellar space—it was Master Jin's sculpture.
Below the giant figure, a middle-aged man with graying hair was pushing a wheelchair.
In the interstellar era, such antique wheelchairs were rarely seen, though they were quite common in Chen Sui's world.
With the maturity of mechanical prosthetic medical care and the development of the mechanical industry, many things could replace such wheelchairs. Seeing him laboriously turning the direction, Chen Sui couldn't help but look again.
From his somewhat long graying hair, she inadvertently glimpsed his face, and Chen Sui was suddenly stunned.