The mechas landed one after another and were retracted. Lan Yu heard Lu Rankong's voice coming from the intercom: "Everyone, quickly count the number of people and see if there are any casualties."
"One soldier from the first battalion was injured, four mechas were destroyed, but no one died." Lin Zhu was the first to finish the inventory.
"Three mechas of the Fourth Battalion were destroyed, two soldiers were injured, but no one died." Chen Yuqin's voice.
After listening to the statistics of several squad leaders, Lan Yu also said: "Two mechas of the second battalion were destroyed, one was injured, and no one died."
"Go back to the dormitory area first and treat the wounded."
After everyone returned to the dormitory, the four battalion commanders followed at the end and walked back.
Chen Yuqin sighed and said, "I originally thought there were no interstellar beasts and that the military was mistaken, but it turns out there really are."
"These are the Thorn Beasts, right? Why did they come to Weiya Star?" Lin Zhu asked curiously.
Lu Rankong pondered for a moment and said, "This kind of thorn beast lives on the companion star of Weiya, which is only a few hundred thousand kilometers away from here. Although the servant birds have no combat power, they have a special ability to create micro short-distance jump points. They cooperate with each other to hunt interstellar beasts on the surrounding small planets. This should be going to other places and stopping by Weiya to take a look."
"Will they leave? If not, do we still have to stay and drive them away?" Lin Zhu asked.
Lu Rankong said: "If they don't leave, we have no choice but to stay. After all, there is a jump station here and we can't be careless."
Lan Yu looked around while listening to them. When she looked in a certain direction, she suddenly stopped and said, "We can leave tomorrow."
"Well, what's going on?" Lu Rankong followed his gaze and said, "We can leave tomorrow. The Thorn Beast is returning to the companion star."
Not too far ahead, a large group of black servant birds were seen carrying the thorny beasts and flying high into the sky.
When they reached a certain height, all the servant birds gathered together and began to emit white light. And right in front of them, a small black hole gradually appeared. Then, the servant birds flew in one by one, and when the last one entered, the black hole disappeared.
Several people stopped and looked at that place, and only walked towards the dormitory when there was nothing in the night sky.
Lu Rankong said: "I'll ask the military to confirm again. If they have all left, we will return at dawn."
Lin Zhu and Chen Yuqin nodded, and Lan Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After returning to the dormitory area, the four men first went to see several injured people, and then taught a lesson to the two soldiers who had panicked and fired at the first time. Fortunately, the military medical equipment they carried were the most advanced instruments currently available, and the wounds of the wounded are already healing.
The military quickly responded, saying that the interstellar beast had left Weiya Star and was now safe.
"Hold on a little, don't slack off, continue to take turns on duty, and we will return at dawn." Lu Rankong arranged the soldiers and went back to the hut with Lan Yu.
Lu Rankong got into his sleeping bag, opened the bag and called Lan Yu: "Come in, it's warm inside."
"No, I'll just sleep in mine." Lan Yu rejected his invitation and got into the sleeping bag next to him.
"What's wrong? Didn't you say at the beginning that you wanted to sleep with me so it'd be warm?"
Lan Yu turned over and said with her back to him: "It's warm, but you won't let me sleep well."
Lu Rankong laughed, leaned forward to look at his face, and said, "I will hold you in my arms and not move."
Lan Yu thought for a while, turned around and asked, "Do you promise?"
"I promise……"
Lan Yu quickly got out of her sleeping bag and slipped into Lu Rankong's arms.
Lu Rankong really did what he said. He just kissed him on the forehead and said softly, "Go to sleep and get enough rest. I won't disturb you."
In silence, the lights gradually dimmed. Lan Yu leaned against Lu Rankong's chest and yawned. She asked, "Those thorn beasts were unlucky. They got beaten for no reason and so many of them died."
Lu Rankong said, "You don't have to sympathize with them. These interstellar beasts are the most cruel. They love to roam between the stars. Every time they arrive at a planet, they will eat almost all the interstellar beasts on it before leaving. They are just a group of hungry wolves."
"Then it's unlucky for them to encounter us, right?" Lan Yu asked.
Without waiting for a reply, he looked up at Lu Rankong and found him staring at the ceiling in silence.
"What's wrong?"
Lu Rankong spoke slowly, with a hint of confusion in his voice. "In fact, I don't know why the thorn beast came to Weiya, because there is no prey for them on this planet."
"Forget it, don't think about it, it's just their bad luck." Lu Rankong closed his eyes and said, "Let's go to sleep, it's getting late, we have to leave early tomorrow morning."
Lan Yu also closed her eyes and said sleepily, "Go to sleep. It must be very late now."
Lu Rankong was silent for a moment, "It's seven o'clock in the evening now."
"What? It's only seven o'clock in the evening?" Lan Yu opened her eyes in surprise.
"Yeah, didn't we go to bed at around four o'clock?" Lu Rankong replied.
It’s only seven o’clock?
At this time of day, sometimes I haven’t had dinner yet.
Lan Yu suddenly felt no longer sleepy.
"Why aren't you sleeping? Weren't you feeling sleepy just now?" Lu Rankong couldn't help asking when he saw that his eyes suddenly became energetic.
"It's only seven o'clock, how can I sleep?"
"But didn't you know it was seven o'clock? Aren't you yawning?"
"But now I know. Now that I know, how can I sleep?"
Lu Rankong pressed his head against his chest and said, "Listen to Brother Bao's heartbeat. Each beat is a lamb. Count them and you will fall asleep while counting."
Lan Yu really listened to his heartbeat quietly. After listening for a while, she heard Lu Rankong's light snoring above her head.
He listened for a while and gently pushed Lu Rankong, "Leopard, Leopard, I can't sleep."
Lu Rankong stopped snoring and asked sleepily, "Can't you fall asleep even if you count your heartbeats?"
"I can't sleep..."
After Lu Rankong asked this question, there was no response. His breathing was slow and long, and it was obvious that he fell asleep again in an instant.
Lan Yu angrily opened her mouth and bit his shoulder, and whispered: "Who told you to tell me the time? Who told you to tell me it's only seven o'clock? Otherwise, I would have fallen asleep a long time ago."
Lu Rankong was woken up again. He laughed but did not open his eyes. He just raised his hand and patted him gently on the back.
It was quiet all around and the soldiers were all asleep. Lan Yu blinked and looked ahead. His vision gradually became blurred and he finally fell asleep.
The next day, when Lan Yu woke up, she found that the person next to her was gone, and she could hear the footsteps of soldiers coming and going in the corridor outside the door.
As soon as he got out of his sleeping bag, Lu Rankong pushed the door open and said, "I received news ten minutes ago that a hurricane is coming. I just woke everyone up and prepared to eat something before setting off."
Lan Yu dragged the backpack over again, took out two nutrition pills from it, handed the apple flavored one to Lu Rankong, and said, "Here, the banana flavored one."
Lu Rankong took it, unscrewed the lid and drank it, then pointed at Lan Yu with his finger and said, "You're trying to lie to me again. It's obviously watermelon flavored."
Just when Lan Yu was about to speak, he smiled and said, "Just kidding, it's apple flavored and very delicious."
Lan Yu walked over, gently bumped his forehead with his, and also laughed.
The team got ready and set off for the starship's berth. Because a hurricane was about to arrive, everyone sped up the process, and soon they arrived at the canyon filled with ice thorn worms.
Lan Yu hesitated and stopped. When he thought of the dense dark red spots, the bumpy touch under his feet, and the crackling sound of ice when being stepped on, his scalp began to tingle.
Lu Rankong stood with him at the entrance of the valley, looking into the canyon, and asked in a low voice: "Do you think the thorn beast is more terrifying, or the ice thorn worm? The thorn beast will hurt you, but the ice thorn worm will not."
Lan Yu was silent for a while, then said, "I am willing to fight the thorn beast again."
A soldier from the third battalion was walking and looked back. As soon as I turned around, I couldn't help but look back again.
"What are you looking at? Why are you not walking properly..." said the soldier behind him.
The soldier said, "It's okay. I might have seen it wrongly."
After walking a few steps, he turned back and rubbed his eyes.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you looking back?" The soldier behind him turned his head and looked in the direction he was looking, then stopped talking.
"Am I seeing this correctly?"
“You’re not mistaken…”
The other soldiers also looked back curiously and talked about it in shock.
"Why did Dad carry Black Heart K on his back?"
"Colonel K still has his head buried in his shoulder. Is he feeling unwell?"
"When did they become so close?"
Their discussions became louder and louder, attracting the attention of the soldiers from the Second Battalion. A squad leader was the first to notice this and quickly left the team and ran to the back.
"Colonel K, are you feeling unwell?" The team leader ran to Lu Rankong breathlessly and stood in front of him.
Lu Rankong said: "He has a stomachache. After he gets out of this canyon, he will be fine after using the healing device."
Lan Yu buried her whole face in Lu Rankong's back. Upon hearing this, she just shook her head, then nodded, without saying a word.
Seeing that he still had a reaction, the team leader breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Lu Rankong warily and said, "Thank you, Colonel Lu. Let me carry Colonel K on my back next."
"Just go back and take care of those soldiers. I'll carry him." Lu Rankong said.
The team leader knew that he had conflicts with K, and he was really worried, so he insisted, "Colonel Lu, let me do it."
Lu Rankong stopped, sighed, and said, "Really, there's no need. K is my alpha. Do you think I can let you carry him?"
"What?" the team leader asked in confusion.
Lan Yu could no longer hold back her temper, and raised her head and said hastily, "I'm fine, you go take care of the soldiers."
“Yes, sir…”
The team leader obediently turned around and walked back, still thinking about Lu Rankong's words. As he was thinking, he looked back and saw Lu Rankong lowering his head and gently biting the hand that was around his neck, then smiling and saying something to the person on his back.
The team leader walked forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and returned to the team as if sleepwalking. The soldier next to him asked him how Colonel K was doing, and he just said no problem and stared straight ahead.
Lu Rankong lifted Lan Yu up on his back and said, "Are you satisfied? You didn't tell your soldiers that you are afraid of bugs."
Lan Yu said: "I wasn't afraid at first, I just felt disgusted."
After saying that, he patted Lu Rankong on the shoulder and said, "Be gentle on your feet and don't make so much noise."
They had now entered the canyon. Fortunately, they had been there before and were now at the end of the team. The ice thorn insects on the road had been almost trampled. When Lu Rankong's leather boots stepped on them, there was a fine rustling sound.
"This noise is not loud, but when it's about to come, it makes a crackling sound." Lu Rankong said.
Just as he finished speaking, he stepped on an intact one, making a muffled sound.
Lan Yu felt a numbness on her face and said quickly, "Watch your step."
"good……"
"After we get back, let's wash our shoes downstairs in the dormitory before going upstairs."
"Um……"
Puff, puff.
As he was speaking, two more sounds were heard.
Seeing that Lan Yu was silent again, Lu Rankong said quickly: "I wasn't paying attention to the road when I was talking. Now I don't care even if meteorites fall from the sky. I just focus on the road."
Lan Yu buried her face in his back and suddenly asked, "Look, are there no more ice on those bugs?"
"how?"
"The voice has changed..." Lan Yu said.
"What has it become?" Lu Rankong asked with a bit of amusement.
Lan Yu crawled on top of him and said, "It's like the sound of stepping on a live insect."
After Lu Rankong stepped on another bug, he stopped and bent down to look at the ice thorn insects on the mountain wall.
He was surprised to find that the insects had indeed changed. Before, they were covered with a layer of ice, like they were buried in amber, but now the ice was gone, and the whole body was exposed, sticking to the mountain wall.
Looking closely, some of the bugs seemed to be wriggling slightly.
"What did you see? Why didn't you move?" Lan Yu asked.
After observing for a few more seconds, Lu Rankong murmured, "You may be right. These bugs are alive."
"Let's get out, let's get out!" Lan Yu said anxiously, "I said these bugs sounded like live bugs exploding."
"Calm down, calm down, you're choking me." Lu Rankong coughed a few times.
Lan Yu continued to kick his legs, "Go, get out now."
"Wait, wait, don't panic, these bugs are not moving yet, they just woke up."
"They're going to move right away, right away, and they're going to take off!"
"It can't fly. The ice thorn insect can only crawl." Lu Rankong comforted.
Lan Yu was not comforted by these words at all. Thinking about the bugs crawling everywhere, she felt her whole body numb.
"No, no..." Lu Rankong stood up and murmured, "This situation is not right..."
"Let's go out first, and then think about it slowly after we get out." Lan Yu just wanted to leave the canyon as soon as possible.
This time, Lu Rankong did not follow his advice but just stood there in deep thought. After a moment, he suddenly said in the intercom: "Xiaozhu, Yuqin, you take your people to the starship first. I need to go back to the jump station."
Lin Zhu asked in confusion: "Why are you going back to the warp station? What did you forget to take?"
"Is there something wrong with the jump station?" Chen Yuqin asked.
Lan Yu was originally kicking Lu Rankong to hurry up, but after hearing these conversations, she suddenly stopped moving.
"Nothing, I just have to go back for something, I'll be back soon."
"But the hurricane is coming soon." Lin Zhu said anxiously, "You will encounter a hurricane if you go back."
"There's still some time left. If you run faster, you still have time. You guys can get on the starship first."
After Lu Rankong finished speaking, he turned off the intercom and the connection channel with other people.
"There is only a short section ahead with ice thorn worms. I will carry you out and you can go to the starship by yourself." Lu Rankong said as he ran forward.
"Then, you, what about you?" Lan Yu was almost speechless due to the shaking.
"I need to go back to the warp station to check. I feel like something is wrong."
There was indeed only a short distance ahead. After Lu Rankong ran over, he put Lan Yu on the ground, turned around and ran back, saying loudly: "Don't delay, go to the starship and wait for me. I will come back after checking the situation."
He didn't have time to say more, he just ran forward and looked at the terminal in his hand. There was still more than half an hour before the hurricane arrived, so he had enough time.
After running out of the canyon, snowflakes began to float in the air. Thick dark clouds had gathered in the sky, rolling very low over our heads. The outline of the iceberg in the sky is unclear, and everything is blurry as far as the eye can see. The wind has already started to blow there.
Lu Rankong had just run for a distance in the snow when he heard footsteps behind him. Before he could turn around, a figure passed by him, and a familiar voice sounded at the same time: "Why don't you run faster?"
When Lu Rankong heard the voice, he was excited. He was surprised and worried at first. He quickened his pace to catch up and asked loudly, "Why are you here?"
Lan Yu said without tilting her head: "I'm afraid of insects..."
"Haven't I carried you past the area with the bugs?" Lu Rankong wiped the snow off his face with his hands and said, "It's going to be windy soon. It's not safe. Go back quickly."
"I'm not going back. I'm afraid of bugs." Lan Yu kept walking and replied.
"Then aren't you afraid of bugs since you came to my side just now?" Lu Rankong asked.
Lan Yu didn't say anything. Lu Rankong turned his head to look at him, and saw that the face under the cold-proof hood was a little pale. He suddenly felt distressed and angry.
"You are so scared but you still want to catch up with me? Go back quickly. If you don't dare to leave the canyon, wait for me at the entrance. There is no wind there. I will carry you on my back after I see the jump station." he said.
"If I were to go to the jump station alone, what would you do?" Lan Yu asked.
Lu Rankong was speechless.
He definitely wouldn't let Lan Yu go to the warp station alone.
Lan Yu turned to look at him, her eyes full of seriousness and persistence, "If I go to the warp station alone, you will definitely be worried and want to come with me. So if you go alone, can I be assured?"
Lu Rankong was no longer able to speak. After running in silence for a while, he reached out to grab his hand, but Lan Yu pushed him away.
"You have to understand one thing. We were companions before. Even if we become lovers, we are still companions." Lan Yu said, "If you want to go alone when you encounter danger, it actually means you underestimate my ability."
He closed his mouth after he finished speaking, his face tense.
Lu Rankong jumped over a small snow hill and said in a hoarse voice: "I'm sorry, I won't do it again."
"What did you say? I can't hear you clearly..." Lan Yu said deliberately.
"I'm sorry, I won't do it again." Lu Rankong shouted loudly and stretched out his hand to him, "You are not only my lover, but also my strongest and most reliable companion."
Lan Yu extended her hand this time.
"What have you discovered? Tell me now..." Lan Yu said.
Lu Rankong ran side by side with him and replied, "Remember what I told you about these ice thorn insects? They used to live only underground. It was because the jump point to Qichu Star caused changes in the atmosphere and formed special substances that they crawled to the surface. As a result, the jump point was closed, and the ice thorn insects died before they could return to the underground."
"Yes, you told me."
"In fact, they are not dead. Rather, they are pretending to be dead to protect themselves. When the conditions are right, they will come back to life," said Lu Rankong.
Lan Yu asked as she ran, "Your conditions are suitable, which means that there is that special substance in the air again?"
"Yes..." Lu Rankong affirmed.
"you mean……"
Lu Rankong stretched out his hand and pulled Lan Yu over a snow ditch, and said in a deep voice: "I suspect the jump point has been opened."
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