When marching, each soldier needs to use his own mental power to block the Zerg's perception so that he can take action in the occupied area.
Although the mental strength of the A012 team members could not match that of regular soldiers, they were still the elites of Yuancheng High School. If the four of them joined forces, it would not be difficult for them to survive this wave of rift worm detection.
But now, they have attracted the attention of the Riftworms.
The Zerg's perception was very strong, especially at this moment. The ten Zergs were emitting endless malice and conducting targeted detection. The pressure faced by Team A012 instantly increased more than tenfold.
Lu Yuanji and the others didn't dare to breathe, desperately trying to maintain their mental barrier. Fine beads of sweat oozed from their foreheads, and their faces gradually turned pale due to overexertion.
But they had just fought a battle with Gu Qiongsheng's team, and everyone's mental strength had been drained to the limit. What good were those few minutes of "half-time break"?
Mental strength was gradually overdrawn. Everyone gritted their teeth and persevered in cold sweat. Even if they had a splitting headache, they dared not relax. They were determined to squeeze out a bit of mental strength from their dried-up bodies.
But even so, the barrier in front of them was gradually becoming thinner and seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.
——It’s over.
Lu Yuanji stared at the sky, his forehead covered in cold sweat, his heart aching.
No, I can’t bear it!
They are doomed, they will definitely be pulled out by the rift worms and devoured bit by bit!
Lu Yuanji clenched his pocket tightly, and with such force that he almost crushed the outer shell of the medicine.
But he still had no idea what to do.
The nutrient solution his father had stuffed into his mouth contained a burst potion, not a supplement. In this situation, the more he unleashed his mental power, the greater the fluctuations, and the faster he would die.
What should I do? What should I do?
Do I really have to die here?!
After barely holding on for another minute, Wang Mingzi was the first to give up in Team A012.
His mental strength was originally weak, and he had been constantly putting up shields in previous battles, so it had been almost consumed. The fact that he could hold on until now was a manifestation of his extremely strong willpower.
The moment Wang Mingzi fell, Lu Yuanji almost heard the "crack" sound of the mental barrier shattering.
His pupils trembled violently, and despair stirred up a huge wave in his heart, smashing down fiercely with overwhelming force.
“Wow!”
A brand new barrier silently unfolded above Team A012.
Silently and extremely gently, it skillfully connected seamlessly with Wang Mingzi's retreating mental power, and his control was exquisite to the extreme.
In the sight of Lu Yuanji and others, the barrier emitted a faint and dazzling light like the morning light, which was like a timely help and quietly saved their lives.
The embarrassed A012 team breathed a sigh of relief.
After a roller coaster of emotions, they finally got a chance to catch their breath.
In the sky, the rift worm searched for a long time but found nothing.
They raised their tentacles suspiciously and probed each other, as if they were arguing.
One of them twisted its body violently - it was the one that first noticed the fluctuation. It seemed to want to prove itself, grinning with its smelly mouthparts, bending over and trying to drill into the crack in the ground - which made the A012 team's heart rise to their throat again.
Fortunately, it was pulled back by other riftworms.
There were rustling sounds, and I didn't know what the Zerg were arguing about. Finally, they decisively left the crack in the ground and continued to move towards their predetermined destination.
The one that noticed the fluctuation was a little wilted, and looked back a few more times unwillingly.
But in the end, it was dragged away by its tail.
After all the rift worms disappeared from their sight, Team A012 held their breath and concentrated for a while. Seeing that there was indeed no movement outside, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Wang Mingzi whispered, "S-Sorry, it was my mistake just now."
Ling Kaixuan's voice was slightly cold: "Hurry up and rest quickly. Try to recover as much mental strength as possible. We don't know when those Zerg will return."
As he spoke, he thought of the mental barrier that had saved them just now. His sharply curved lips pursed tightly, and the corners of his eyes twitched inadvertently.
——Even before the exam started, he was still talking big, saying that he would defeat all the members of that girl’s team.
In the end, not only did he get beaten to a pulp, but he also had to rely on the other party to save his life at the critical moment?
Ling Kaixuan felt very uncomfortable.
He has always admired the strong and wanted to be strong. The first time he encountered a situation where he was rescued by someone, he felt like his heart was overturned with all kinds of emotions, sour, bitter and spicy, making him tense and uneasy.
But after holding it in for a while, I couldn't suppress my conscience.
The favor of saving his life was so great that Ling Kaixuan couldn't get over it if he didn't do something to express it.
Ling Kaixuan's face was tense as he quietly moved closer to the corner of the crack in the ground.
Then he opened his lips.
...didn't say it out loud.
Ling Kaixuan is used to being a cool guy. The words he has said most in his life are "idiot", "trash", and "don't hold me back". The frequency of the words "thank you" appearing in his life dictionary is probably only less than "you are strong".
He stayed there for a long time, and over there, a very dissatisfied voice came from the A1056 team: "Hey, why are you so close to us? Aren't we already burdened enough by you?"
It’s Tan Yao.
Tan Yao is feeling very unhappy now.
Although he understood that Gu Qiongsheng saved people mainly because he was afraid of being implicated - if Team A012 fell and the Zerg went on a killing spree, their mental power would become extremely weak, which would easily affect the mental barrier of Team A1056.
Moreover, the flying pieces of flesh and blood would more easily arouse the Zerg's murderous intent, causing them to search in this crack for a longer time.
By then, even with a mental barrier, they would never be able to withstand the carpet search of 10 rift worms.
Team A012 is too close, and now the two teams are like grasshoppers on the same rope. Saving each other is saving themselves.
Han Tianming was outspoken and also muttered: "What the hell, it will only hold us back."
"If you want to jump across the crack like us, you should jump farther. Is there only one crack here?"
She had long disliked the members of Team A012.
While mocking them for being F-level, he still had to learn from them. After learning, his level was still not good enough, which almost caused a disaster, causing them to be worried as well - Tsk, what a thing!
Ling Kaixuan's face turned pale and blue when he heard this.
He always blames others for holding them back. When is it others' turn to blame him like this?
The young man couldn't help but feel a surge of anger in his heart, his back tensed and stiff, but another more turbulent emotion, which made his whole body hot and couldn't help but find a way to slip in, was surging in his heart, constantly reminding him -
What Han Tianming said was true.
In the crisis just now, they were a complete burden, bringing danger to A1056, the so-called "drags".
Ling Kaixuan held it in for a long time before finally uttering a few words in a low voice: "...Thank you."
"Thank you for saving our lives just now."
Half of his body was hidden in the shadow of the crack in the ground. For the first time, he bent his straight back and bowed deeply to Gu Qiongsheng and others.
"...Humph," Han Tianming said, "Is a simple thank you enough?"
Ling Kaixuan's voice was dry: "I won't cause trouble for your team again."
Han Tianming: "Huh?"
She looked up in disbelief and spoke quickly: "Are you looking for trouble with us?"
"Are you kidding me? We are clearly stronger now. Who can really cause trouble for whom?"
Ling Kaixuan: “…”
"cut."
Han Tianming rolled his eyes. "I really hate you people. You're not genuine at all. Your thanks are all fake. Are the students in Class A so noble that they can't even say thank you and repay a favor?"
Ling Kaixuan: “…”
In the dim light, the young man in black was as stiff as a puppet.
"Okay, stop arguing."
Gu Qiongsheng's voice floated from the side, finally rescuing Ling Kaixuan.
She turned around, her clear eyes fixed on Ling Kaixuan. Her voice was gentle, yet it held a hint of unquestionable determination: "We are classmates after all. I can't just watch you die."
"But only this time. Our mental strength isn't unlimited. Don't expect me to help you next time. Do you understand?"
Ling Kaixuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He nodded, his eyes swept over Qin Yuan who was thinking about something in the corner, and then jumped to the eyebrows of Gu Qiongsheng who was holding up the barrier. His lips were slightly open, as if he wanted to say something.
But in the end, he still said nothing.
He just looked at Gu Qiongsheng deeply, turned around and left quickly.
After returning to the A012 team, Ling Kaixuan suddenly realized that something was wrong.
The two teams fought, and their energy consumption was obviously the same, so how come A1056 was able to hold up the barrier so easily?
Especially Zhou Qing, he was secretly shocked by the explosive power of the giant sickle and had to temporarily avoid the edge. The consumption of his mental power was definitely multiplied.
And there is Tan Yao, who also uses a gun. How could Ling Kaixuan not understand the consumption of hot weapons?
These people are all students in Class F. Even if their total mental strength has increased in the past few days, there is no reason for it to increase far beyond my level.
Ling Kaixuan frowned tightly and turned to look at Gu Qiongsheng again - Gu Qiongsheng was whispering something to Qin Yuan, Zhou Qing was holding up his mental power and standing guard, Tan Yao and Han Tianming tried to release their mental power out of the crack in the ground to sense the movements of the Zerg.
The division of labor is clear and the efficiency is extremely high.
The most important thing is that they all look refreshed and energetic, and don’t look like they are exhausted at all.
...Team A1056 must have the secret to quickly recovering mental strength.
Ling Kaixuan was both annoyed and curious.
But he had just been criticized by these people, and he really couldn't bring himself to go over and ask again.
Lu Yuanji and Zhao Qingke also realized what was happening. They came over and looked at Team A1056 with suspicion, saying, "Why don't they look tired at all?"
"Yes, there must be something fishy here."
Wang Mingzi approached cautiously and raised his hand weakly: "Well, I heard that classmate Gu Qiongsheng is a healer with great healing skills. Class F relies on her for treatment..."
“Tsk,” Lu Yuanji waved his hands irritably, “You believe the rumor that three people make a tiger.”
"Don't you know what the level of treatment in the Federation is?"
"In my opinion, they must have smuggled in some illegal medicine, such as...replenishing medicine."
Lu Yuanji said this without changing his expression.
He had this suspicion as early as when he discovered that there was nothing unusual about Gu Qiongsheng and others.
After all, he had a "slippery fish" in his own pocket.
After he finished speaking, Wang Mingzi showed a look of disapproval, but he was soft-hearted and did not dare to refute Lu Yuanji, so he could only lower his head and stop talking.
Ling Kaixuan's face was as gloomy as ever, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Zhao Qingke's eyes suddenly flickered, and he whispered, "What if we get evidence that Gu Qiongsheng used illegal drugs? Then, can we..."
Lu Yuanji was stunned.
He turned around and looked at the pretty girl next to him.
The other person's face was very pretty, quite charming like a beautiful girl from a small family, but at this moment, when Lu Yuanji looked at Zhao Qingke's beautiful facial features, he suddenly felt that her expression was extremely ferocious, her eyes were dim, and as cold as the vertical pupils that had just fallen from the crack in the ground.
The coldness emanating from inside out, like a snake or scorpion, made Lu Yuanji's scalp tingle.
After a moment of silence, he said vaguely: "I'm just... guessing."
The viciousness in Zhao Qingke's eyes was barely concealed.
She stared at Gu Qiongsheng's back, her expression like a venomous snake spitting out its tongue: "But this guess is very likely to be true, right?"
"If we find evidence of their violations, we can become number one!"
“That’s enough!”
Ling Kaixuan's cold voice sounded beside him.
He stared at Zhao Qingke coldly, his eyes sharp as a knife: "They just saved our lives. How can you not repay this favor? And you want to get evidence of their violation?"
The black-clothed young man's expression was too cold. Zhao Qingke froze for a moment under his stare, and his expression was a little flustered.
She still didn't give up: "But, that really is against the rules..."
"Even if it violates the rules, it's to save us."
Ling Kaixuan's expression grew increasingly gloomy, his voice tinged with frost. "From now on, even if they use a replenishing potion in front of us, you must pretend you didn't see anything. Do you understand?"
Zhao Qingke: “…”
She lowered her head reluctantly: "Oh."
As her hair fell, a look of unwillingness flashed across her eyes.
Lu Yuanji finally breathed a sigh of relief.
An indescribable feeling lingered in his heart - although Gu Qiongsheng and his group were extremely annoying, and the thought of being rescued by them made his scalp tingle, but the act of repaying kindness with enmity and turning the tables really crossed the bottom line of his conscience.
Hundreds of thoughts were running through his mind. Lu Yuanji caught a glimpse of Zhao Qingke lowering his head from the corner of his eye, and he couldn't help but frown slightly.
He subconsciously took a step to the side, putting some distance between himself and the girl.
Suddenly, he saw that on the side of A1056, Gu Qiongsheng threw out a thread of mental power and hooked it onto the protruding rock on the surface of the crack.
Then one by one, they began to crawl out of the crack in the ground.
What's going on?
Lu Yuanji was at a loss.
After avoiding the rift worms, shouldn't we just wait quietly for rescue?
What were they trying to do by climbing up there?
Afraid that you won't die fast enough?
…
Five minutes ago, Gu Qiongsheng repaired the sensor that he had pulled off his left shoulder.
Compared to power boots, this little thing consumes much less mana.
It is within Gu Qiongsheng's ability.
The camera in the sensor was activated, transmitting images of the rift worm back to the spacecraft in real time.
Although it was only a one-way connection, Gu Qiongsheng still tried his best to scan the crack carefully from top to bottom. He also tried to wrap the sensor with his mental power and lift it over the crack in the sky, so that the examiners could see the surface conditions as much as possible.
"I hope help arrives soon," she murmured softly. "One Silent Worm, ten Rift Worms... They really think highly of us."
After a while, she suddenly remembered something and stood up straight: "Wait, did we forget something?"
Han Tianming and others looked at her and asked in confusion: "What?"
Qin Yuan seemed to be thinking about something. He raised his hand and pointed to the east. "Indeed...why do you think the riftworms would go in that direction?"
"Why were you in such a hurry? Even if you sensed the fluctuations of spiritual power, you didn't plow the crack in the ground to save us from this disaster?"
After thinking for a moment, he took a deep breath.
Raising his head, the young man's serious eyes met Gu Qiongsheng's, and they both said in unison: "That's the safe house!"
Yes, it can only be because of this.
Halfway through the competition, a large number of eliminated students gathered at the Security Institute, and most of them were in a coma or injured and were receiving treatment.
In the absence of mental shielding, the Zerg's safety at this time is like a naked and fragrant feast in front of them, so delicious that it makes them drool.
And the ingredients are of high quality.
For the weak Silent Bugs that are in urgent need of food, the outstanding students with the potential to become warriors are naturally the most delicious delicacies and the most nutritious ingredients.
"What should we do then?"
Hearing that the students of the Security Center would become food for the Zerg, Zhou Qing frowned, with a look of pity in her eyes.
Gu Qiongsheng also took a deep breath and clenched his fists tightly.
"There's nothing we can do." Qin Yuan whispered, "We can only wait."
With their strength, it was impossible to deal with eleven Zergs. If they acted rashly, not only would they fail to save the students at the safe house, but they would also lose their own lives.
Time passes by every second.
It was dark and damp under the crack in the ground. The cold wind was mixed with moisture and blew towards the body stickily, reminding people of large pools of blood.
The long wait made everyone feel very annoyed.
Han Tianming whispered, "The safe house has defensive protection, right?"
Is it possible to resist the Zerg attack?
She raised her head sadly, her eyes gleaming with anticipation. Unfortunately, the next moment, her hope was dashed by Qin Yuan without hesitation: "It's probably just an ordinary safety measure, mainly used to prevent sandstorms and earthquakes, and mainly to prevent internal interference from eliminated candidates."
"Alas, no one expected there to be Zerg on Weilun. The Federation probably won't put in a lot of effort. Having three basic barriers is good enough."
Three layers of basic barriers.
In Gu Qiongsheng's knowledge system, facing a fierce attacker like the Riftworm, one can only last for 8 minutes at most on each level.
On the third floor, more than twenty minutes, will the examiners have enough time to organize a rescue?
and……
There were not just one rift worms rushing over, but ten in total.
There is also a silent worm leading the group.
Closing his eyes helplessly, Gu Qiongsheng opened his innate vision to confirm the distance between the Zerg and the safe haven.
"……Um?"
She was suddenly stunned.
In the visual field, the Zerg split into two groups. The first nine were running very fast, undoubtedly the Rift Zerg rushing towards the safe house, but the last two began to stop moving and even slowly returned to the path they came from.
Not only did they return, they also stopped for a while from time to time, as if searching back and forth in the cracks in the ground along the way.
Gu Qiongsheng clenched his teeth and frowned.
……Oops.
Are they exposed?
"It's not necessarily that they've been exposed. It's possible that the leading Silent Bug has become so weak that it can't move forward."
Qin Yuan's voice was as clear as a spring. In this urgent and anxious moment, he gently soothed his teammates' emotions and helped them regain their composure: "There is another possibility, that is, the Riftworm still refuses to give up."
"On the battlefield, Riftworms are also the most cunning Zerg. They are vindictive. There have been cases in the past where a team killed a Riftworm and was then attacked by the Zerg in retaliation in the middle of the night."
"Perhaps it insisted on its own judgment and wanted to come back to continue searching for prey?"
Qin Yuan smiled bitterly and said, "According to what Qiongsheng said, they will probably search the cracks in this area carefully. It will be difficult for us to hide."
Han Tianming frowned: "Not necessarily. If we find a deeper and more remote place and continue to deploy the mental barrier..."
Gu Qiongsheng suddenly spoke up: "But how long can our mental barrier last?"
She still had one tube of blue bars left.
To say more is too much, to say less is too little.
If the federal rescue is delayed, they can rely on this mental power to hold on for a while.
But the blue bar will eventually run out, and by then, they will have very little mental strength left and will not even have a final chance to resist.
Gu Qiongsheng raised his head, his eyes sweeping across the faces of his teammates. He spoke slowly, "Rather than exhausting our mental energy on the barrier and ultimately becoming helpless prey, I think... it's better to set up an ambush and defeat it while we're still fully charged."
"There are 11 of them. We can't defeat them. We have to hide."
"But there are two of them, can we fight each other?"
The clear voice echoed slowly in the underground, ethereal and distant, as if it were an echo penetrating distant time and space.
A moment later, Zhou Qing raised her hand and condensed a giant sickle.
She walked forward silently and stood behind Gu Qiongsheng.
Tan Yao also pursed his lips.
"Kill the real Zerg," he lowered his head, wiped his hands on his trouser pockets, and grinned, "Fuck, why do I feel like I'm on fire?"
Han Tianming said with a bitter face: "Oh...Okay, okay, I'll beat you then."
She held her cheek, her tone somewhat helpless, but her expression was eager to try: "Let's see if I can freeze it. Haha, if I can freeze the silent bug, my hypnosis department will be famous forever, right?"
Gu Qiongsheng said, "There's another question. If it's indeed the Silent Worm that's returning, will our attack on it attract other Rift Worms to come back for support?"
"...Not necessarily," Qin Yuan said with a wry smile, "I don't know how weak it is, and many things cannot be accurately judged. However, there is one thing I can be sure of."
"If we can kill the Silent Bugs and the Silent Barrier is immediately closed, the examiners on the spacecraft will definitely be able to land on Weilun Star as soon as possible."
"By then, both us and the students at the safety center will be saved."
…
Under the incredulous gaze of Team A012, Gu Qiongsheng and others took the initiative to climb to the ground.
The sky outside grew darker, the wind grew more biting, and the debris of the drone that had fallen from the ground was swept away, whizzing up into the sky.
An ambush point was quickly selected. Gu Qiongsheng held his breath and focused his attention, carefully staring at the Zerg in his natural vision.
Not long after, she saw two ugly figures appearing in the distance on the horizon.
The slender one is a rift worm, and it seems to be the one that first discovered the mental fluctuations. The other one is wrapped in a blue eggshell, swaying like a chick that failed to hatch.
There was a crack on the edge of the eggshell.
It was held together by a sticky, blue liquid that looked like glue and blood, barely protecting the weak Zerg inside the eggshell.
“…I’ll go.”
All members of Team A1056 were shocked.
Isn’t the thing wrapped in this thing the “ore” they saw underground?
The size and shape of the broken piece on the edge are exactly the same as the one they just picked off from the stone wall!
Qin Yuan's brows knitted tightly together, his thoughts racing: "This is a form I've never seen before... Could it be the larvae of the Silent Worm?"
"The Zerg protect their young so well that the Federation has never discovered them, and the data has never recorded the appearance of their larvae. So is the eggshell filled with hatching fluid?"
"Because of the injury, it had to hatch early, so it needed to eat a lot to absorb energy?"
Gu Qiongsheng stared at the insects slowly approaching from a distance, his eyes slightly narrowed.
She took a deep breath and said, "It just so happens that we have already hurt this guy once without intending to."
The girl clutched the sensor tightly in her palm.
Everything they saw and the conversations within the team were transmitted to the examiner team on the spacecraft through the camera.
The image just now was just a quick glimpse, but this time it was a longer and clearer video, which made Staff Officer Wu and others excited, but also worried.
Lieutenant Colonel Zhou almost crushed the corner of the table.
Her face was extremely pale, her breathing was rapid, and the veins on the back of her hands were taut. "What are they doing here?"
"Why don't you hide and wait for us to rescue you?"
Staff Officer Wu said in a serious voice, "Calm down, don't get excited."
"The anti-silence shield is on the way. You'll be able to go down and kill people soon."
"From these children's perspective, their choice wasn't wrong—they didn't know when help would arrive, and despite their limited mental strength, they chose to fight back, leaving important information for the Federation... They were a group of courageous children."
Principal Zhou's temples throbbed, and she shouted in her heart: She didn't want these children to have any "blood", she just wanted them to be alive!
But no matter how excited she was, Gu Qiongsheng couldn't hear her.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the Silent Worms and the Rift Worms gradually approached the hill where Team A0156 was hiding.
The silent worm wrapped in the blue mineral gurgled and spit out bubbles, and its scarlet vertical pupils looked around unhindered in the liquid. Its body was slender and flexible, and many tiny tentacles extended from its body, clinging to the broken eggshell.
Gu Qiongsheng lowered his voice to a whisper, "Aren't Silent Bugs able to become invisible?"
"Doesn't its larvae possess this ability yet?"
"It seems so," Qin Yuan opened his thin lips slightly, and his warm breath fell on Gu Qiongsheng's ear. "From larvae to adults, the strength of the Zerg will increase by leaps and bounds, just like a caterpillar emerging from its chrysalis to become a butterfly."
"If the one in front is really a larva, our chances of success will be even greater."
Gu Qiongsheng made an "OK" gesture.
She held her breath and concentrated, her body stretched into a strong curve, her amber eyes fixed straight ahead without blinking.
When the rift worms drilled into the crack of the ground, leaving only the silent worm wrapped in its eggshell facing away from them, Gu Qiongsheng's figure suddenly rushed out like a shadow!
The author has something to say:
There will be another chapter later~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
