TL: Hua

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Chapter 23

The Alpha froze, completely not expecting this reaction. Just as he was about to tighten the dagger, he suddenly met Ji Xuan’s gaze as he turned his head.

There was no anger, no fear, only a pure, inorganic reflection of his image, like a deep, cold pool.

The next second, Ji Xuan gave him a faint smile, and a sharp, frost-like mental power spread out silently.

“Ugh…!”

The Alpha immediately let out a painful whimper, his arm unable to move as if it were nailed down. A mountain-like, majestic mental power crashed down from above his head, making even moving a single finger a luxury.

Ji Xuan raised his hand and gave a light flick to the man’s wrist; immediately, the dagger fell to the ground with a “clang.”

This terrifying pressure also enveloped Lance Vaughn nearby.

As a 3S-grade Omega, a rarity in the military academy and even the Alliance, Lance had always been conceited about his mental power. However, at this moment, he felt like a small boat in a raging sea. He desperately tried to mobilize his mental power to resist but was seized by a fear he had never felt before; he could only freeze in place, his mental power being blown to bits by Ji Xuan’s.

…A low-grade Omega, with mental power only at S-level, yet in front of him, Lance felt like a mantis trying to stop a carriage!

The total subversion of his perception was far more devastating and shocking to Lance than being suppressed by mere physical force.

Ji Xuan didn’t even look back at that Alpha. He drew a dagger from his leather leg sheath and swung it backhand.

The dagger precisely slit the Alpha’s throat. The system’s judgment took effect, and the opponent was instantly teleported out.

Several teams that were waiting for an opportunity witnessed this scene. Their restless offensive was halted by this overwhelming mental power; those of lower grade even felt their legs go weak.

A few seconds later, the enveloping mental power receded. Lance was nearly exhausted, his face as pale as paper. The look he gave Ji Xuan was now replaced by a complex emotion mixed with fear, humiliation, and resentment, replacing his previous contempt and anger.

But Ji Xuan didn’t pay him any mind at all.

“Keep up.”

Without rebuking his mistake or blaming his recklessness, Ji Xuan ran straight toward the mecha Pei Yingye had just seized, picking up a few guns along the way.

The cockpit door of the mecha slid open, and Pei Yingye’s voice carried a lazy smile: “Quick work, settled?”

As he spoke, the mecha’s machine gun turned, hitting a distant mecha that was trying to ambush them until sparks flew everywhere.

Ji Xuan nimbly jumped into the interior of the mecha, barely finding a “co-pilot” seat in the narrow space. His gaze swept over the new scuff marks on Pei Yingye’s sleeve.

Pei Yingye followed his gaze, looked for a moment, and said nonchalantly, “I took care of two as well.”

His chin was tilted up, and he even manipulated the mecha to perform a small, showy turn, the mechanical tracks crushing the debris on the ground.

An untimely thought suddenly occurred to Ji Xuan.

Like a puppy asking for a reward.

It makes one want to pet his head.

“Very impressive.”

The tone used for coaxing a child made Pei Yingye’s eyes darken. He wanted to say more, but Lai Zhou, who had been protected inside the signal tower the whole time, suddenly rushed out clutching a terminal, almost colliding with the mecha’s lower leg.

“Open the door quickly, I’ve got the map!”

–

Lance Vaughn ducked into a semi-collapsed command post. The mecha battle outside was chaotic, and no one paid attention to his actions.

He was a medic; if he didn’t find enough medical supplies, there would be no way to calculate his contribution in the assessment.

Keep up? How could he keep up?

If only he were still teamed up with those Alphas, they wouldn’t let him work so hard searching; they would have prepared the corresponding supplies for him. Lance thought indignantly while rummaging through a metal cabinet.

Stuffing the Omega inhibitors into his bag, he caught a glimpse of a small silver box in the corner.

It looked like important supplies.

Lance quickly ran over and easily pried the box open. Inside lay a sealed amber test tube. The handwriting on the label was fragmented and blurred; he could only barely make out the word “…sample.”

Just as he picked up the test tube, a prompt came from his personal panel—

[Points +50, Personal Contribution 100%]

These were points that belonged entirely to him!

Lance’s heart skipped a beat. Without time to think, he immediately shoved the test tube into the inner pocket of his combat uniform.

“Lance Vaughn, the ten minutes are almost up. We have to go.”

Pei Yingye’s voice came through the internal communication. Lance was startled and turned back guiltily, only to find that the mecha had moved outside the command post at some point, its huge shadow looming over the broken doors and windows.

He suppressed his racing heart, quickly adjusted his expression, ran out from behind the ruins, and scrambled into the cabin.

“Medics shouldn’t wander around.” Pei Yingye manipulated the mecha to turn, moving rapidly toward the north of the Military Zone. “If you encounter danger, I won’t be able to protect you.”

The interior space of the mecha was very small. Lance squeezed into the even less spacious back row next to Lai Zhou. He curled his lips in distaste and defended himself, saying, “I was just looking to see if there were any overlooked medical supplies. What if someone gets injured and needs them?”

Lai Zhou pretended not to notice his attitude. He opened his terminal and pulled up the nest distribution on the map. He was about to hand it to Ji Xuan when it was grabbed by Pei Yingye.

“Comrade, please don’t underestimate the ability of us Alphas to multitask.”

There was no interface device on this military mecha, so Pei Yingye was connected to the mecha through his own mental power. Lai Zhou’s original intention was to ask Ji Xuan, who was closer to the control panel, to transmit the map data to the mecha because he was worried that his actions would affect his piloting. However, he did not expect that the despicable Alpha would take his good intentions for granted.

“Reporting, Comrade Lai Zhou doesn’t dare underestimate Alphas,” Lai Zhou said, “But please, Comrade Multitasker, be kind to us technical soldiers.”

Pei Yingye laughed and quickly uploaded the map.

“The nearest nest to us is Z-12,” Pei Yingye said. “Go farm some points first?”

“We can do that.”

As soon as Ji Xuan finished speaking, the mecha happened to roll over a patch of debris, and the hull jolted violently.

He casually reached out to brace himself, and his hand landed right on Pei Yingye’s forearm, which was gripping the control lever.

His palm was warm, and the sensation was clearly transmitted through the fabric of the combat jacket.

The muscles in Pei Yingye’s arm instantly tensed, but more than that, what he couldn’t ignore was Ji Xuan’s gaze.

Ji Xuan’s gaze swept over the back of his neck, asking with a hint of curiosity, “What is this?”

What else could it be?

Perhaps to test them, the cramped cockpit wasn’t even equipped with a normal intelligent air system. Because of the heat, Pei Yingye had to unbutton his jacket slightly, revealing two needle marks near his gland.

He glanced at the two in the back seat; he didn’t know if Ji Xuan really didn’t know or was just pretending.

But Pei Yingye felt a bit uneasy under his gaze. He turned his head away and told the truth: “My rut is coming soon. I took two shots this morning.”

Upon hearing this, Lai Zhou joked, “Two shots? Brother Pei, you’re quite ruthless to yourself. As expected, it’s better to be a Beta; we don’t have these troubles.”

What Ji Xuan was thinking was: a mere dream was worth him taking two shots?

–

The mecha raced toward the target point and soon arrived at the Southern District, where the Z-12 nest was located. This used to be a densely populated residential area, but now it was left to be covered by various Zerg tissues. Traces of humans were almost erased, with only dilapidated shops and aircraft that fell during the disaster testifying to the fact that these original inhabitants once existed.

“Three hundred meters ahead, we’ll reach the sewage entrance above the Z-12 nest,” Lai Zhou reported.

“Blast it open directly?” Pei Yingye’s finger hovered over the weapon fire button.

“Let’s enter through the side opening,” Ji Xuan said. “There might not be supplies nearby; save some ammunition.”

Pei Yingye raised an eyebrow and executed his plan without hesitation. The mecha performed a nimble side-slip, its tracks rolling over the slope of crushed stones, and crashed into the underground space through a semi-collapsed opening.

Light was stripped away, with only the faint headlights of the mecha illuminating the darkness. Damp, viscous secretions covered various parts of the corridor; the smell of rot and stench could be detected even through the mecha.

Rustle, rustle… Crimson spots of light suddenly lit up in the darkness as countless Zerg opened their compound eyes.

“Hold on tight.” Pei Yingye licked his dry lips, his eyes turning sharp.

However, before he could fire, a powerful mental power spread out from the mecha as its center. The Zerg rushing at the front froze, suddenly losing their sense of direction and turning into headless flies.

“Woah…” Lai Zhou, squeezed in the back row, shouted in disbelief.

He definitely didn’t want him to use too much mental power, so he purposely shared the burden before he took action.

Pei Yingye thought proudly and instinctively readied his weapons. The heavy machine gun on the mechanical arm spat fire, easily eliminating those Zerg that were still in a daze one by one.

The cleanup progressed extremely quickly, and the team’s points surged.

But Pei Yingye’s breathing grew several degrees heavier as he continued to control the mecha.

Although he had taken two shots, having an Alpha who was suspected of approaching their rut piloting a mecha was indeed a bit straining. After all, mental power also affects pheromones; high-intensity use is indeed not friendly to a body already in a state of chaos or sensitivity.

Ji Xuan’s gaze fell on him once more, this time staying a bit longer, as if he were contemplating something.

Pei Yingye felt it but didn’t dare respond. That gaze was like snow; the moment it passed over his scalding skin, it triggered a surge of numbing tremors. He slammed the thruster forward, and the mecha surged ahead. The swinging mechanical arm smashed a B-grade Zerg pouncing from the side, as if using the action to mask his abnormality.

Then he let out a slightly impatient “Tsk,” unsure if it was directed at the endless stream of Zerg or his uncontrollable body.

Just as they finished clearing the third nest according to the map, an announcement suddenly popped up on the panel—

[Regional Warning: The number of nests in the Southern District is below the critical threshold, triggering a “nest Migration”!]

Before they could think, the entire underground space began to shake violently! In an instant, hundreds of Zerg moved together, creating an extremely intense resonance. Secretions on both sides of the corridor shook and fell, and the concrete pipe walls overhead let out overburdened moans, as if they intended to collapse at any moment.

Pei Yingye pushed the thrusters forward to rush ahead but was soon blocked by falling steel bars and stone slabs. “The road ahead is blocked! Lai Zhou, find a new exit!”

“Go this way!”

The vibrations grew stronger, and stones occasionally crashed down, hitting the mecha with “thudding” sounds. Pei Yingye had no doubt that if they didn’t reach the surface within a minute, they would be completely buried underground by the collapsing passage.

He had no choice but to push his mental power to the limit. The mecha scraped along the violently shaking passage at high speed, making a desperate dash toward another corridor Lai Zhou had marked on the map.

Sweat slid down Pei Yingye’s temples and dripped onto the control lever. His mental power, already unstable due to the approaching rut, was forced tight, like a bow pulled to its limit.

“Left! Smash through that door!” Lai Zhou yelled.

The small mecha crashed through the rusted metal door like a bull, entering an even narrower upward passage. Behind them, at some point, a black mass of migrating Zerg had gathered like a dark cloud over a city; the dense insect bodies were crowded together, making a hair-raising sound.

In the violent jolting, Lance was thrown against the cabin wall. He gripped the simple seat tightly. The sample tube he kept close to his body seemed to make a faint sound of the seal loosening under the continuous impact, but he failed to notice it.

“Klang—!”

Finally, the mecha slammed through the covering at the end of the passage and returned to the dim daylight. The massive impact sent it sliding for quite a distance across the rubble-strewn ground, knocking over half a ruined wall before finally stopping with a piercing screech of friction.

The kicked-up dust temporarily obscured their vision.

Lai Zhou was shaken: “Cough, cough… Are we… are we out?”

Ji Xuan didn’t answer, instead immediately checking on Pei Yingye’s condition.

The connection between the mental power and the mecha “clicked” shut.

Pei Yingye was slumped in the driver’s seat, somewhat exhausted, breathing heavily. Sweat soaked his black hair at the forehead, and his face was an unnatural red. His long, thick eyelashes were clumped together in sections, drooping miserably.

Inside the cockpit, the pheromones, like a scorching sun over a wasteland, were exceptionally thick. The restless aura was overwhelming, making it hard to breathe.

“Pei Yingye?” Ji Xuan frowned, calling out tentatively.

Hearing him, Pei Yingye lifted his eyelids. His blood-red eyes met Ji Xuan’s gaze; within his blue pupils, it seemed as if countless dark undercurrents were churning.

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