Inside the live stream room, Rio sat back down. “Interesting. What kind of stardust mutated creature is this? I’ve never seen it before.”
Crazy Lao Cao searched with his smart brain but couldn’t find any matching information. “Where did Nuwa get the original model for this thing? Are there any knowledgeable viewers out there who can give us an introduction?”
The chat exploded:
【I work at the First Star Ring Library. There’s no record of this monster on the internal network.】
【I’m from the Stardust Biology Research Institute. I couldn’t find anything either.]
Rio’s eyes lit up, and he became visibly excited. “Could this be a new creature generated by Nuwa? Whoa, the Central Military Academy really went all out! The early points were just an appetizer, meant to relax the contestants. When they start thinking that’s the real difficulty of the exam—bam! They hit them with something big!”
Crazy Lao Cao glanced at Beasts and his team, who were desperately trying to stop the monster, and said something fair.
“Beasts’ reaction is actually pretty good. The patrol unit’s weapons are prioritized for non-lethal force. All they have are taser electroshock weapons and restraint nets.”
“Electroshock weapons are effective, but they require close contact with the target, which isn’t suitable here. So Beasts chose to deploy the restraint net first.”
“Unfortunately, Nuwa made the monster’s combat power way too strong. It broke free of the restraint net effortlessly. That kind of strength is already on par with a B-level stardust mutant beast.”
Rio’s eyes showed a hint of appreciation. “To be fair, he didn’t hesitate to contact Li Hao and Chu Xue nearby and ask for backup. That shows a strong sense of the bigger picture.”
The biggest flaw of young, talented prodigies is that they often find it hard to lower their heads and ask for help from those less capable than themselves.
Beasts did very well in this regard.
The students fought fiercely against the monster. The Mech Department students arrived with compact particle beam pistols.
The monster’s black shell glowed with faint red streaks, deflecting the speeding bullets.
“The eyes!” Beasts ordered his team to aim for the monster’s fiery red eyes.
A white membrane covered the monster’s red eyes. It seemed hurt by the attack and let out a high-decibel, earsplitting screech, charging recklessly toward the students.
Everywhere it passed was left with nothing but severed limbs and broken bodies.
【Nuwa: 30 civilians dead. Space Combat Department, Alien Planet Combat Department, Mech Department, deduct 30 points.]
Beasts performed admirably under pressure. “Head to the nearby plaza. It’s spacious and has fewer people.”
The students fought while retreating, but the monster’s speed exceeded their imagination.
In the blink of an eye, the monster was right in front of them.
One student standing at the front didn’t even realize what happened before a sharp monster leg sliced him cleanly in half.
Red and white organs writhed as they spilled out from his waist.
As if venting its anger, the monster stomped on his head, smashing it, then raised its own and let out a piercing shriek.
Beasts’ pupils dilated in shock. The monster’s speed, defensive ability, and offensive power were far beyond what he had imagined.
He turned and ran. “Run! Go get mechs and warships!”
There was no way mere flesh and blood could stop a monster like this.
The monster locked onto the group of students.
Its two tentacles stabbed viciously into two students who hadn’t managed to run fast enough.
They looked down in agony, watching the tentacles pierce straight through their chests.
The tentacles were dark and glossy, covered in fine, dense black scales, with a suction cup at the tip.
Blood dripped down the tentacles onto the ground.
The tentacles writhed triumphantly. Before the horrified eyes of the others, they lifted the two still-living students up to the monster’s mouthparts.
The mouthparts pierced into the students’ heads.
The skin of the two students turned transparent, and everyone could see their internal organs being corroded into liquid by the green mucus.
The transparent skin stretched to its limit, bulging and squelching, ready to burst at the slightest touch.
Only then was the monster satisfied. It sucked hard.
The mixture of red and green liquid was drawn into the monster’s belly. The two students instantly became two flimsy, transparent sheets of skin.
【GAG!】
【I %#*】
A large number of viewers who had never witnessed such a sight suffered violent fluctuations in their mental energy and were kicked offline by Nuwa.
Rio frowned deeply as he watched. “The Central Military Academy is being too reckless. These students are only freshmen and sophomores. They haven’t even interned at military districts yet. How can they throw them against a B-level stardust creature right off the bat?!”
Crazy Lao Cao resisted the cramping in his stomach and the urge to vomit, then snarked, “Well, Nuwa is fair. The greater the reward, the greater the risk. At least the logistics students don’t have to face monsters like this.”
Kailyn Renault watched Beasts fleeing in panic and clenched her fists tightly. Her beautifully shaped lips pressed into a thin, tight line.
Are they really that powerful?
No—not it, but them!
All across Kepler 503, the cries of monsters echoed.
The contestants on the field soon received standard-issue mechs from the Kepler military.
With mechs, Beasts and the others could finally show their true abilities.
After two hours of fierce fighting against a single monster, they finally managed to kill it.
【Successfully killed one Black Beetle. Participating teams receive +300 points.]
Beasts checked the rankings.
Because the monsters were everywhere, the points deducted for civilian deaths were spread across all departments.
Currently, the Space Combat Department was still in first place—with 12 points.
The Alien Planet Combat Department was second with 10 points.
The Mech Department had 9 points.
Li Hao looked at the civilians protected by the stationed troops and let out a long sigh of relief.
There were too few students. They couldn’t possibly fight monsters and protect civilians at the same time.
“Work together?”
The Black Beetles were too hard to kill.
Beasts nodded. “Work together!”
The plan sounded great in theory, but reality was harsh.
These monsters seemed to have a unique way of communicating. Whenever one was cornered, nearby Black Beetles would be summoned to help.
Beasts and the others could barely kill one Black Beetle together. Against two, they started struggling, with casualties mounting.
When it rains, it pours. A black hole suddenly appeared in the once-blue sky.
The black vortex spun larger and larger until a plump, fleshy fat worm emerged from it.
On its sides were two transparent wings. With a light flutter, it flew up to the warship hovering in the air.
It opened its enormous mouth, revealing rows of dense, razor-sharp teeth.
Crunch, crunch.
In just five seconds, it had devoured the entire warship.
It slowly descended to the ground. The Black Beetles near its landing spot instinctively gathered around, stacking their bodies into a moving castle.
The moving castle crept forward slowly. Wherever it passed—whether people or steel buildings—everything was devoured, leaving only bare, yellow earth exposed.
And of all places, it chose to land less than a kilometer away from Beasts and the others!
Beasts’ scalp tingled. He could feel the fat worm’s gaze fixed on him!
…
Crazy Lao Cao shook his head repeatedly. “It’s over. They’re all going to be wiped out.”
They could barely defeat one Black Beetle with tremendous effort, and this fat worm was clearly the big boss.
There was no way the students could win!
Rio sighed gloomily. “You can’t blame these contestants for lacking skill. The difficulty is just beyond their level. Even active-duty soldiers would struggle to defeat these monsters on their own without firepower saturation.”
In the live stream room, people started packing up.
This was a contest with no suspense. Who won the championship no longer mattered. The students were facing a crushing defeat.
Suddenly, a flashy, flamboyant figure burst into the contest hall.
Cassian recognized her instantly. “Lin Xiaohe, what are you doing?”
Lin Xiaohe had rushed and hurried, but she’d finally made it!
“To compete.”
“Wait—the competition—”
Lin Xiaohe pushed off hard with her right hand, flipped her whole body into the Star Network connection pod, and shouted, “Nuwa, take me into the arena.”
Wait for what?!
If she waited any longer, even the flowers would wilt.
Her 25 billion, her meteorite, her hope of becoming stronger—all of it was waiting for her in the arena!
Lin Xiaohe: Stupid Babu! You almost made me miss the competition!
