Xie Xingyan's squad was in dire straits. The other three had lost all their supplies when their spatial buttons were robbed. Now, only her and Dalman's remaining nutrient solutions were left—enough to last the five of them at most one more day.
Each student's spatial button was the lowest level, only one square meter in capacity. They hadn't brought much to begin with, and now two people's supplies had to be stretched to feed five.
Seeing morale plummet, Xie Xingyan quickly offered comfort:
"Don't worry about food. Dalman and I can spend the day searching for edible plants."
But instead of lifting spirits, her words plunged Emil into self-blame.
"It's our fault," Emil murmured, guilt-ridden. "We were useless. We couldn't even protect our supplies."
"That's not fair to say. There were only three of you against four of them, and three of those were from Class A."
The first to speak up in comfort was Sayer. He couldn't bear to see the girl he liked feeling down, so he tried to reassure her.
If Emil hadn't known what kind of person he was, she might have thought he was mocking her lack of strength instead. His attempts at consolation were as awkward and ineffective as always.
They pressed on for another three hours before finally stopping to rest.
Between them, they only had two nano-tents, one for the male members and one for the female members. They took turns keeping watch through the night.
The next morning, a sudden downpour interrupted Xie Xingyan's plan to forage for edible plants.
Fortunately, the rain passed as quickly as it came, lasting only half an hour. But the aftermath was troublesome—the ground turned treacherous, boots left obvious tracks in the mud, and the air grew oppressively hot and humid.
"Captain, I found some usable Jueming fruit."
Dalman had luck on his side. Not long after he began searching, he came upon a cluster of the pale, translucent fruits—one of the main ingredients in spirit-soothing potions. Only those with sharp eyes could spot them, since their color was nearly invisible.
The team's spirits lifted at the discovery—only to plummet again when their pursuers caught up from behind.
The four enemies approached, bristling with rage. Instantly, Xie Xingyan's squad closed ranks, forming a tight back-to-back circle.
"Xie Xingyan, hand over the chest and hit the withdrawal button yourselves. Do that, and maybe you'll be spared some pain…"
Before he could finish, Xie Xingyan darted forward with her laser sword. With one flick, she disarmed the speaker, sending his weapon spinning into Emil's hands.
At the same time, Sayer seized another blade and passed it to a teammate.
This was part of their plan all along—if chased, first reclaim weapons, then worry about the fight.
But Li Yuanyuan's face soured when she realized no one thought to get her a weapon. Her resentment deepened.
The enemies weren't slow to respond, and soon the two sides were locked in combat. Just as the clash reached its height—
The ground began to tremble.
The vibrations grew stronger, unmistakably familiar. Xie Xingyan's face paled as memory surged—this was the same shaking she had felt when being hunted by the Zerg.
Her voice rang sharp and urgent: "Run! It's the Zerg—the tremors come from their movement!"
The instructors monitoring the trial turned grim. None of them had expected the long-quiet Zerg to leave the frontlines and wreak havoc on another planet.
Through the holographic feed, massive insectoid beasts—each the size of a mech—charged through, scattering mud and trees in their wake.
Both squads broke apart, fleeing in all directions. Soon it became clear—the Zerg were chasing only Xie Xingyan.
And Xie Xingyan herself wanted to curse out loud. How was she supposed to know why the damned things only targeted her?
One of the instructors immediately fired a signal and deployed his mech to aid her escape. But against hundreds of Zerg, a single mech could hardly hold the line.
Clutching her laser sword, Xie Xingyan infused it with her mental power, boosting its lethality. Each time a Zerg drew close, she slashed at it, letting the force of impact propel her body further ahead.
But provoking them only enraged the swarm.
She quickly called out to Little Tian in her mind, asking it to weave an illusion that could slow the Zerg down.
With its help, she finally found a moment's respite. But her tenacity only infuriated Direna, the Zerg queen. With a furious screech, Direna's long legs lashed toward Xie Xingyan's head.
Sensing the killing intent, Xie Xingyan flipped backward just in time. But that maneuver cost her speed, allowing the swarm to catch up.
Direna, unwilling to waste time toying with her prey, spread open her maw, intending to swallow the girl whole. Eight long legs stabbed down, cutting off every path of escape.
Xie Xingyan's mind raced. In a split-second decision, she pulled a nano-tent from her spatial button, hooked its tether around part of the queen's body, and scrambled up.
She landed on Direna's back. Immediately, the queen thrashed violently, trying to dislodge the pest.
But Xie Xingyan gritted her teeth, driving her laser sword deep into a joint and gripping the hilt with bloodied hands.
No matter how much her body ached, she refused to let go—instead, she twisted the blade deeper.
The lesser Zerg hesitated, fearful of harming their queen, and held back.
Direna's roars shook the ground. In her fury, she slammed her limbs down wildly, accidentally crushing her own swarm.
Xie Xingyan knew this wouldn't last. The queen would soon realize she could simply endure the pain and order her underlings to strike her down.
When Direna's mind cleared, she unleashed a surge of overwhelming mental power to crush her.
Xie Xingyan resisted with everything she had.
At that moment, a wisp of black mist slipped unnoticed into her consciousness.