“I see the cracks on the wall, so I thought I’d stick some talismans to ‘patch it up’!”
Zheng Yiran didn't quite understand the power of these talismans, only listening to Meng Huai. Looking at the small pieces of paper, could they be used to mend walls?
Zheng Yiran’s words remained unspoken as the group continued to walk along the protective wall.
Suddenly, an S-class star beast with bloodshot eyes rammed into the protective wall with its body. Zheng Yiran immediately ordered, “Hui Xingxiu, you go!”
“Got it!”
Hui Xingxiu instantly entered his mecha. The weapon mounted on his mecha was a sword, nothing out of the ordinary. He held the sword in his right hand; for an S-class star beast, a photon cannon wasn't even necessary, it would be a waste for him.
After a few exchanges, the S-class star beast was slain beneath the protective wall.
“Collect the star beast’s corpse and redeem items later.”
Zheng Yiran reminded him, and Hui Xingxiu placed the star beast’s corpse into his spatial buckle.
However, he still grumbled with disdain, “It’s so dirty, and I still have to put it in my spatial buckle!”
Rong Feiwen then slung an arm around Hui Xingxiu’s shoulder and said, “If you don’t want it, you can give it to me. I don’t mind the dirt, and I’ll redeem items later!”
“Forget it!”
The five continued forward, but their playful banter showed no tension of an impending battle.
Watching them from the command center, Er Hu breathed a sigh of relief. The appearance of that S-class star beast had startled him. The star beast’s bloodshot eyes clearly indicated it had lost its mind.
If the star beast had become desperate and lunged, it would have been his responsibility if any of them were injured. Er Hu had his hand on the controller, ready to activate the protective wall to attack the star beast if the five students encountered any problems.
However, it seemed no intervention was needed, and Er Hu relaxed. A soldier next to Er Hu also commented, “3S is truly much more powerful than us. Even if we knew these star beasts’ weaknesses, it would take us twice as long with two people cooperating, right?”
Er Hu heartily agreed with his comrade’s words. All of them were S-class, so they could only deal with the minor stragglers that slipped into the central city. Only those of higher ranks could fight on the front lines.
Er Hu looked enviously at the five students, thinking, “If only my rank could be higher, even dual S would be great!”
However, as Er Hu and his comrade looked at the protective wall’s surveillance feed together, the comrade suddenly exclaimed excitedly, “Over there, isn’t that a wolf pack? Are they chasing something?”
Er Hu adjusted the camera to the direction his comrade pointed, and after zooming in, he clearly saw more than twenty wolves rushing towards the protective wall.
Ahead of them were two dark figures. Zooming in further, they appeared to be two people running in front of the wolf pack.
“This is…”
Er Hu, watching the scene on the monitor, exclaimed in confusion and excitement, “Are those two people? Why are there still residents outside at this hour? Haven’t they all been sent to the safe zone?”
“Yes, could they be stragglers? Let’s open the protective wall and let them in!”
Er Hu also wanted to open the protective wall, but, “I’m afraid it’s too late.”
The wolf pack was about to catch up to the two people running in a sorry state, but they were still some distance from the protective wall. Even the long-range attacks of the protective wall wouldn’t reach the wolf pack, and it could easily harm people.
What should be done?
Zheng Yiran’s group had also clearly noticed the situation. Their location was closer, and a few more steps would be enough to rescue them.
Zheng Yiran directed the other four, “The three of you go, rescue those two. Rong Feiwen, fall back.”
Zheng Yiran and Rong Feiwen retreated together. At the same time, Jing Yuancheng and Hui Xingxiu quickly entered their mechas, while Meng Huai did not.
Meng Huai still held the saber, and the three formed a triangular formation to charge into the wolf pack. Jing Yuancheng and Hui Xingxiu stood at the front, one on the left and one on the right, each holding a sword and a saber, simultaneously slashing at the wolf claws reaching out towards the humans.
Having cooperated for years, their attacks landed in unison, taking down a pair of wolf claws.
Behind them, Meng Huai struck with a delayed but decisive charge into the wolf pack. The saber in Meng Huai’s right hand was the one refined just a few days prior.
Meanwhile, the two watching this scene on the command center’s monitor, the soldier beside Er Hu exclaimed with surprise and worry, “Why isn’t that female student in her mecha? Did her mecha necklace malfunction?”
However, there was no mecha necklace around Meng Huai’s neck; she wasn’t wearing one at all. For her, the difference between having an A-class mecha or not was negligible. And her custom-made 3S mecha was still in the blueprint stage! Who would have known they would be out fighting so soon!
If Teacher Wang saw this scene, she would have immediately given her a spare mecha! It didn't matter to Meng Huai which mecha she used! She had even piloted Li Wei’s mecha proficiently back then!
Er Hu and the soldier were worried, but the help was too far away. They could only watch the video and decide whether to open fire if the wolves approached the protective wall’s remote firing range.
Initially worried about Meng Huai, they later couldn’t take their eyes off her in admiration.
The saber in Meng Huai’s hand had a blade center made of some unknown material, astonishingly blood-red. The blood of the slain wolves dripped along those patterns onto the ground, and that area was soon littered with corpses.
Jing Yuancheng and Hui Xingxiu wouldn’t let their junior schoolmate ‘steal the spotlight,’ and each broke through from one side, not letting a single wolf breach their defensive line!
The two people who had been chased by the wolf pack saw people coming to their rescue and scrambled forward. With the help of Jing Yuancheng and Hui Xingxiu, they were finally able to escape.
The two ran a few steps forward and stood behind Zheng Yiran and Rong Feiwen.
“What’s your situation?”
Zheng Yiran remained vigilant. According to Comrade Er Hu, ordinary civilians shouldn’t be in this area anymore; all residents had been taken to the safe zone the day before.
The two had not had a good day; their clothes were disheveled and tattered. They were covered in dust, their faces filthy, and many wounds adorned them.
The younger of the two men asked, “Are you guys from the Central City Guard? Or from the First Military Zone?”
Without waiting for a reply, the man continued to explain to Zheng Yiran, “The day before yesterday, we were told to lead the residents to the safe zone, but we didn’t make it in time.”
As for how they missed it, the man didn’t elaborate further, but at this point, the older man’s face showed embarrassment.
Zheng Yiran knew that the words of these people were not entirely trustworthy. She used her mental perception to warn her companions to be cautious of these two, especially Rong Feiwen, who was standing next to them. Upon hearing Zheng Yiran’s telepathic message, Rong Feiwen subtly shifted a step sideways.
After the three had finished killing all the wolves, the young man exclaimed with admiration, “Truly amazing! To think there’s a military officer without a mecha!”
“That’s not a military officer.”
The older man, seeing that these people were powerful but had no insignia on their combat suits, remarked thus.