Chapter 31 Frog Beast (Part 2)

Mingyu's mental power keenly detected the unusual noises outside the base above. He reacted subconsciously, his leg muscles suddenly exerting force.

The footstep booster sensed Mingyu's muscle movements, making a slight "puff" sound, and the power cycle indicator light came on, moving Mingyu and Mu Baixing back nearly three meters in an instant.

At the same time, a dull whistle came from the top of the passage above, which was clearer than before and could not be ignored by anyone.

“Buzz——”

The sound was so close that it seemed to slide the roof of the passage open. The next moment, the heavy metal roof was indeed separated from the outside, curling and cracking in both directions.

The sharp front end of the medium-sized mining starship plunged fiercely from above the base, sliding away the base's steel walls, opening the protective layer above, and slicing through the tunnel's ceiling. Driven by the high-speed drop, it sliced ​​through the tunnel like a metal knife easily slicing through a cake, allowing Mingyu to see the earth-colored sky and the orange sun of the mining area.

Large pieces of debris fell down, and at the same time, Mingyu saw the familiar dark gold color.

Dark golden mental power condensed into a solid shield above Mingyu and Mu Baixing's heads, blocking the falling metal debris.

Less than half a meter in front of Mingyu, the energy blocks within the crashed starship's engines, heated by the impact, ignited into a sky-high flame. But the next moment, the flaming starship was suddenly pulled backward, like a metal dinner knife being pulled back by its wielder.

A long, pink-spotted scarlet tongue jutted out from a nearly five-meter-long gap in the tunnel, gliding through the scorching air. They were so close that Mingyu could even see the barbs on the pink protrusions at the tip of the tongue.

Almost subconsciously, Mingyu suddenly raised his left arm. A red dot flashed on the auxiliary shooting screen in his right eye. The colorless mental force thread extending outward became a more reliable guide than the auxiliary shooting screen. Mingyu pursed his lips, and the arm-cannon fired instantly.

"Bang!"

The heat from the barrel threatened to ignite Mingyu's hair. The deafening sound of the gunfire nearly blinded him, and the immense recoil felt like a punch to the shoulder. He braced himself, but wasn't prepared for the force of the recoil. He stumbled back, only to be supported by Mu Baixing, who wrapped his arms around his waist.

"pretty."

Mingyu vaguely heard Mu Baixing's voice amidst the tinnitus.

He tilted his head and noticed that the laser gun in Mu Boxing's right hand had been strapped open and was now fixed to his arm. The muzzle of the laser gun was glowing with the white light that had just been extinguished. It was only at that moment that Mingyu realized that the heat flow and loud noise were not just coming from the barrel of his left hand.

Mu Baixing and he opened fire at the same time.

Two streams of colorless fire pierced the scarlet tongue, severing its lower end. A foul odor emanated from the severed portion, darkening Mingyu's vision. The starship, previously engulfed by the tongue's tip, fell to the ground along with the upper half. But the next moment, new flesh rapidly grew from the severed portion of the tongue still connected to the star beast's mouth, extending outward. The newly grown tongue nimbly shifted, suddenly opening a wider area of ​​the passageway's ceiling to the side.

It wanted to see who was stopping it from eating.

Mu Baixing pulled Mingyu behind him and signaled him to step back.

A golden mental shield spread outward, holding back the increasing amount of debris. The side hatch of the starship that had just crashed suddenly opened, and a figure leaped out. The scarlet tongue, having apparently noticed this, suddenly turned back in mid-air. Mu Baixing pressed Mingyu's shoulder, signaling him to retreat, but he himself moved forward instead.

Colorless tongues of fire spewed out from the laser gun in his right hand.

The long scarlet tongue that had struck down from the sky broke off again and landed on the ground, this time recovering even faster. At the same time, a massive earthquake rumbled, and more and more strange cries approached from the distance. A second and third scarlet tongue struck at the exposed Mu Boxing and the survivors who had escaped from the starship.

The sun is very strong in the mining area.

Dust danced in the dazzling light. Mingyu's face was pale, hidden in the shadows of the passageway's ceiling, but he could already see with his naked eyes the behemoth that the mental tentacles had just revealed to him.

When the mental tentacles first saw it, he thought that there were huge bronze statues standing on the barren surface of the mining planet.

Those frog-like creatures, nearly five stories tall, leaped across the barren land of the mining area. Their skin glowed with a metallic bronze luster, the color seemingly identical to chalcopyrite, the most common mineral on the mining planet. Only their tongues were of an ominously bright color.

Farther from the base, groups of frogs gazed up at the sky, their long tongues shooting upward to snatch up any starships that had no time to dodge. As they chewed, they spat out the shattered silver-gray husks of the starships, making a crunching sound like they were cracking sunflower seeds, and then reeled in the human flesh inside.

The star beast's black sharp teeth closed, and bright red blood flowed from between its teeth.

Mingyu felt his entire body tremble, but his raised arm remained steady. He leaned against the wall of the passageway behind him and watched as Mu Baixing grabbed the stumbling refugee and lifted him up. The red aiming point and his outward mental power were simultaneously directed at the long tongue that was attacking Mu Baixing.

"Don't waste time firing, or it will be too late." Mingyu murmured, "Run, run, Brother Mu...!"

More copper frog beasts gathered together, and more long scarlet tongues were like sharp arrows shot out. Many of them were cut in half by Mingyu, but a few still fell on Mu Baixing's side.

The golden spiritual power flashed in the air and melted when it touched the pink synapses of the long red tongue. But the short few seconds of blocking time were enough for Mu Baixing to dodge the attack from above. He looked at Mingyu.

The designer's face turned frighteningly pale, but he didn't retreat.

Despite having the support of a powered exoskeleton, he was able to quickly leave the besieged area.

In the most fearful and dangerous moment, reason faded away, and a part of Mingyu's instinct seemed to restrain the human nature of seeking profit and avoiding harm, nailing him firmly in place. When Mu Baixing approached, he couldn't help but take a step forward.

Mu Baixing in front of him was mixed with the large group of frogs attacking from afar that he saw through his mental thread. They overlapped strangely, making Mingyu dizzy.

But he stretched out his hand and firmly grasped Mu Boxing's left arm.

The next moment, dozens of red tongues curled together and thrust straight down from above. The thrusters under Mingyu's feet emitted a nearly overloaded sound, carrying them backward rapidly.

"Thank you." Mu Baixing said.

His breath was sharp and his movements were quick. He transferred the person he was carrying to Mingyu's shoulder, freed his left hand to hold the gun barrel, increased the gun's energy supply to the maximum level, turned around and aimed and fired at the rear, blocking one attack after another with continuous firepower.

Under his cover, the three of them retreated quickly and rushed towards the defense hall at the end of the passage.

Mingyu pushed the door open.

A dim green emergency light illuminated the hall, evidently the only place in the base still operating. The doors to the ten landing and takeoff ramps were open, with starships already taking off from seven of them, and warships already positioned on launch rails in the remaining three.

The Defense Agency's defense standards during construction were clearly several notches higher than those of the passageway outside the base. Mu Baixing pressed the lock on the isolation door, and the heavy metal door closed behind them. A dense thud echoed from behind the door and from the ceiling above. Mingyu's mental power saw dozens of long red tongues raining down on the metal wall, creating dents but failing to penetrate it as before.

But it was only a matter of time before the wall was breached.

The resounding noises of the copper frog beast's movement echoed from all directions. Mingyu placed the starship survivor he was carrying on his shoulders on the ground. The survivor, covered in dust and dirt from the long journey, lay on the ground, retching from exhaustion. Mingyu quickly glanced at the warships in the four corridors and turned to Mu Baixing.

It was unknown when the module interaction between the mining area and the normal star network would be restored, so they shouldn't stay here. However, the standard warships that had not been modified did not have any additional detection systems.

Mu Boxing's mental power can indeed sense changes in energy flow, but as a ship, sensitivity is his shortcoming.

Mingyu knew that his mental power could only provide a little warning which was better than nothing.

His mind tensed as he inquired, "Every passage is the same. Z60 standard battleship, flying?"

"fly."

Mu Boxing removed the gun, which had been scrapped due to overheating, from his arm and threw it to the ground, blood dripping from it. Mingyu only then realized that the clothing on his arm had melted from the heat from the barrel, and the skin on his arm was also burned, having been torn upwards when the barrel was removed.

He quickly walked towards the leftmost passage and tore off a piece of clothing to wrap the wound. Mingyu pulled the survivor up from the ground and asked, "Would you like to join us on the battleship?"

"Go...go...I'll hold onto your thighs tight, you two bosses, take me with you..." The survivor's voice was hoarse, his original voice unrecognizable. He hung on Mingyu's arm, barely able to stand, and in the dim light, he stared at Mingyu, then suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"Oh my... Holy shit!" The survivor let out a cry of shock.

His voice completely changed in tone, and he shouted, "Mingyu!!"

"Why is it you!"