After leaving their final messages, the others seemed to shed the last weight from their shoulders; even their evasive movements carried a faint air of resignation.
Lin Xiaohue opened Fanfan’s transparent cockpit pod.
Fanfan’s roots were already quivering with intense need.
Doudou hoisted Fanfan onto the cannon’s muzzle, aimed it directly at the Star-Eater Bird, and fired.
“Lift off, Fanfan!”
Fanfan cackled gleefully, and with a wet splat, it stuck onto the Star-Eater Bird’s underside.
Seeing this, the entire group let out a synchronized sigh.
The team leader said, “It’s useless. The Star-Eater Bird’s defensive capabilities are extremely strong.”
Even mecha cannon fire couldn’t break its skin.
Wesley remained silent. He was already shattered, his soul having drifted back to the Fourth Star Ring to guard his mother’s side.
Nothing could faze Wesley anymore.
Actually, no. That wasn’t quite right.
Wesley stared intently at the Star-Eater Bird, voicing the question burning in everyone’s mind: “Lin Xiaohue, what the heck did you just launch?!”
What the…
It felt like his worldview was cracking and needed a complete reboot!
What kind of bizarre weapon was this?
There, that small green plant, originally no bigger than a palm, visibly swelled in size at an astonishing rate after latching onto the bird.
Its roots pierced the Star-Eater Bird’s body like poking through thin paper, sinking deep inside. Countless vines coiled around the creature, squeezing tighter and tighter.
The Star-Eater Bird let out agonizing, shrill cries, flapping its wings frantically, but Fanfan remained utterly unmoved.
The bird tried to peck at it with its beak, but that same beak, capable of easily piercing mecha armor, couldn’t break through the thin, delicate-looking vines – vines that seemed like a simple pinch would snap them.
The Star-Eater Bird’s desperate resistance only annoyed Fanfan, who promptly bound its wings completely shut.
CRASH!
The Star-Eater Bird plummeted heavily into the dense forest. The rope cage that had hung in the air dispersed like smoke.
The stunned group hovered dumbfounded in place, looking down from their height as the overwhelmingly powerful Star-Eater Bird was devoured by a plant-based weapon.
Yes! Devoured!
The bird’s muscle mass seemed to dissolve away, its form gradually shrinking until the entire creature was just skin and bones, its vacant, uncomprehending eyes staring skyward.
Even in death, it couldn’t fathom how those tiny roots had pierced its seemingly impenetrable hide!
The perpetrator of this carnage, however, after eating its fill, rolled itself into a ball, tumbled merrily over to the pink beetle mecha, and with a couple of whoosh sounds, shrank down to the length of an arm before scrambling back into its custom cockpit pod.
The sky was clear, not a cloud in sight.
Silence was the prevailing theme.
Lin Xiaohue was in high spirits, humming a little tune.
In that short span, she hadn’t just earned over ten million star coins – she’d also upgraded Fanfan!
This little glutton had finally evolved from the Growth Stage to the Maturity Stage!
“Let’s move, let’s move, hurry up. Pursuers will be coming soon. Team members who can’t move quickly, squeeze in with the others.”
Lin Xiaohue led the way without looking back, simultaneously sending a message to the guidance team: [Rescue successful. Requesting pickup.]
The team leader took a deep breath and obediently followed Lin Xiaohue’s arrangements.
He had been too presumptuous, mistaking a pearl for a common bead.
A top-tier expert wanting to paint their mecha pink – what’s the problem? Absolutely no problem at all.
The group was now as docile as quails, doing exactly as Lin Xiaohue instructed.
A swarm of mechas weaved through the dense forest. The起义军’s air fleet roared overhead, yet completely failed to spot them.
The team leader was certain Lin Xiaohue had done something.
“Ahem, Xiaohe, those weapons of yours?”
Lin Xiaohue had her explanation ready: “I designed them, my dad modified them personally.”
Whoa.
So that’s how it is.
No wonder Lin Xiaohue got specially recruited by the Central Military Academy! A weapons design prodigy, absolutely incredible!
Another ten minutes passed. The team leader hesitated before speaking. “Xiaohe, could I discuss something with you?”
Lin Xiaohue’s guard went up. “Want a refund? No way.”
“No, no, how could I ask for a refund? You worked so hard to rescue us.” The team leader’s voice, even through the comms, dripped with sycophantic sweetness.
“I just wanted to ask… could I have my final message back?”
“Why?”
The team leader said bashfully, “I’ve never actually confessed my feelings to Edusa. What if she doesn’t like me?”
When you think you’re about to die, anyone can throw caution to the wind.
But if there’s a chance to live, suddenly there are too many worries.
Wesley nodded frantically. Oh god, he dared not imagine the living hell his life would become if his mother found out he’d kept something this major from her!
Even though he loved his mother dearly, she was truly ruthless.
Lin Xiaohue’s expression grew solemn, her tone heavy. “I’m a person of integrity.”
“Huh?” Everyone knew that much.
She’d taken their 500,000, and she’d genuinely pulled them from the jaws of the Star-Eater Bird.
Lin Xiaohue continued, “Wesley gave me 500,000 to deliver your final messages immediately. So I’ve already sent the files to the guidance team. I’m sure your families can now hear your most heartfelt, genuine words.”
!!!
This was news of utterly devastating proportions.
Wesley’s world collapsed.
He cried out in despair, “You can actually contact Command?! Those messages weren’t just made up?!”
Lin Xiaohue frowned slightly. “I’m an honest child. I never lie.”
The weight pressing on everyone’s hearts now felt heavier than when they’d faced certain death.
Lin Xiaohue glanced at her communicator and offered encouragement: “Chin up! I’ve got good news. Command is sending someone to pick us up soon. We just need to reach the hideout a hundred kilometers from Casero Canyon.”
“Happy? Excited?”
The group replied weakly, “Happy… excited…”
The team leader felt like an idiot. That hideout was the very spot he was supposed to use to rendezvous with this group of examinees.
After going through all that trouble, they ended up having to struggle all the way back to the starting point. It was a strangely bitter feeling, like they might as well have stayed put from the beginning.
Lin Xiaohue was still quite polite to her patrons. “I dug a tunnel there. We can hide inside and see a really beautiful starry sky at night.”
Thanks, but no thanks. The moment they remembered the impending – or perhaps already happened – social death, starry skies held absolutely no comfort for their shattered hearts.
Lin Xiaohue didn’t understand their sorrow. Her heart was filled only with the excitement of an upcoming promotion, pay raise, and passing her assessment.
The pink beetle mecha’s six legs became a blur of motion.
They reached the hideout quickly.
Seeing the familiar tunnel, Lin Xiaohue smiled with satisfaction. Victory was right ahead!
Suddenly, urgent warning alarms blared from the mechas.
“Take cover!”
Everyone scrambled into the tunnel.
Luckily, Lin Xiaohue had dug it long and wide enough, or they’d be in serious trouble.
The team leader’s face paled. He’d never forget this group, even if he died. “It’s the Iron Meteor Main Battalion.”
The main battalion was heading south.
Lin Xiaohue clicked her tongue softly. See? Her guess was right. The起义军 was luring them into a trap.
She immediately relayed this information to Command, adding that the main battalion’s target was very likely Casero Canyon.
