"Report! The Swarm is advancing toward us!"
"Our firepower is insufficient; we can't suppress these Zergs anymore."
"A Swarm of over a thousand Zergs detected at eight o'clock!"
The communication channel was filled with chaotic noise, with various reports coming in one after another.
Su Lan removed her headphones and surveyed the battlefield before her.
The corpses of Zergs had piled up over a meter high, and an indescribable stench permeated the air—the smell of Zerg blood.
"Senior Su Lan, the energy of my small laser cannon is down to 15%!" Xue Xiaoxiao was currently operating a laser cannon turret mounted outside the ship hull.
Due to a system malfunction, after brief modifications, the small laser cannon could be manually activated directly from the gun emplacement.
"Our laser rifles are almost out of energy too!" Zhao Wan'er fired her laser rifle at the endless waves of Zergs rushing toward the frontline.
One after another, Zergs exploded, splattering green fluid that even splashed onto the teachers and students still fighting.
Fortunately, the fluid wasn't corrosive—it just carried a foul stench.
"Hold on a little longer. Teacher Qin just said they detected starship signals in the surrounding star sectors. It might be a rescue ship coming for us.
Unfortunately, the communication was cut off due to a malfunction. The engineers are rushing to repair the communication components," Senior Su Lan encouraged.
"Bad news! The defensive line at eight o'clock has been breached!" a sudden report came through.
This news filled Senior Su Lan and the others with terror.
The reason they had held out until now was the solidity of their defensive lines, using the crashed starship as a fortress to fend off the surrounding Zerg attacks.
If one direction of the defensive line was breached, it almost certainly meant the collapse of all fronts.
The consequences of being overrun by the Zerg were unimaginable!
Senior Su Lan climbed to a higher vantage point and looked toward the eight o'clock direction.
Several starship cannon positions there had fallen silent due to various issues, and the appearance of a shockingly large number of Zerg had directly led to insufficient firepower in that defensive line. The Zerg surged into the frontline.
A student, seeing an Zerg charging toward him, panicked and dropped his weapon, trying to flee into the starship.
But how could his speed compare to these Zergs?
Soon, an Zerg half a person tall pounced on him, pinning him to the ground. Excruciating pain shot through his leg.
"Ahhh... Help... Help me..." the student struggled and screamed.
A laser shot over, blasting the Zerg away and freeing the student.
"Pick up your weapon and fight like a man!" the male teacher who had saved the student roared angrily.
The student nodded numbly.
The next second, an Zerg suddenly pounced on the male teacher, its terrifying mandibles tearing a chunk of flesh from his body.
"Get off me, damn Zerg!"
Gritting through the pain, the male teacher used his laser rifle to blast the Zerg to pieces.
But the next moment, more Zergs swarmed over him.
Three... five... ten...
The gunfire that had persisted soon fell silent.
The student, horrified, began running desperately toward the starship behind him.
Behind him, more teachers and students from both academies were pounced on and devoured by the Zergs.
For a moment, the area was filled with agonized screams.
It even reached the other three defensive lines.
"It's over... completely over..." A student beside Su Lan slumped to the ground in despair, having completely lost the will to fight.
Su Lan wore a complicated expression. She wanted to say something encouraging, but given the current situation, she felt any words would be powerless.
"Senior Su Lan... is Xiaoxiao going to die..." Xue Xiaoxiao stood on the gun platform, speaking timidly and fearfully.
Zhao Wan'er stood at the forefront of the defensive line, holding a laser rifle, and said firmly, "Perhaps we will die today, but as students of the North Star Starship Military Academy, future Captains of the interstellar fleet—at least at this moment, we fought to the end!"
"Wan'er is right. As long as we have done our best, even if we truly face death, we will have no regrets!" Senior Su Lan said with a carefree tone.
Although they spoke these words, one could see a sense of unwillingness in their eyes, a longing for life.
They were in the prime of their youth, with bright futures ahead. They had not yet begun their interstellar journeys.
How could they be willing to die here!
"These damn Zerg! Xiaoxiao still wants to become a T4 Star Battleship Captain in the future... can't... can't die here!" Xue Xiaoxiao shouted tearfully, aiming the recharged small laser cannon at a cluster of Zerg and firing.
Zerg flesh splattered far and wide, but it was insignificant to the overall situation.
Just as despair began to fill the hearts of the students and faculty from both academies—
Above the clouds, a Starship broke through the clouds at an incredible speed and dove downward!
"Look! What is that!" A student pointed at the Starship in the sky, both surprised and overjoyed.
"Could it be a fleet coming to rescue us?"
"We're saved! We're saved!"
"Strange, why is there only one Starship?"
The joy swept away everyone's despair.
They could see the Starship continuously firing at the Interstellar Zerg in the air, causing the Zerg to fall from the sky like fireballs one after another.
At the same time, dozens of unknown Stellar Drones dove down, attacking the Zerg around the wrecked Starship base!
The barrage of cannon fire blasted the Zerg into pieces in waves.
One Stellar Drone happened to race past above Su Lan and the others, shattering the Zerg that were about to charge into their defensive line.
However, despite this, the swarms of Zerg from all sides continued to shrink the encirclement of the area.
"Everyone, hold on! We can still survive!" Zhao Wan'er shouted, firing her laser rifle continuously.
"Take this shot!" Xue Xiaoxiao wiped the tears from the corner of her eye and fired in one direction!
But at that moment—
The ground suddenly shook.
A giant bug emerged directly from beneath the ground within the defensive line, followed by a large number of Zerg.
It was less than a few meters from Zhao Wan'er and the others' defensive line.
"Not good! It's a bug tunnel! Throw magnetic storm grenades!" Senior Su Lan exclaimed in alarm.
"The magnetic storm grenades were used up long ago," Zhao Wan'er said, firing at the bug tunnel in front of her. But the giant worm-like bug had already lunged toward her to bite.
Warning, warning. Gun energy insufficient. Please replace the energy cartridge.
At that moment, the energy in Zhao Wan'er's laser rifle was depleted, and she could no longer fire.
"Wan'er... run!" Su Lan suddenly rushed out, pulling Zhao Wan'er behind her while positioning herself in front of the giant worm.
Zhao Wan'er's pupils dilated as she watched Su Lan's body about to be swallowed by the giant worm, her life on the brink of extinction.
Suddenly, a massive black figure descended from the sky.
Crunch...
The giant worm's body was crushed into a pulp.
Su Lan slumped to the ground, staring blankly at the "black giant" before her.
It was a black mecha she had never seen before!
A teasing yet familiar voice came from the black mecha.
"You're having such an exciting party, how could you not invite me."
On the shoulder of the mecha, a man wearing pitch-black powered exoskeleton combat armor revealed his face beneath the helmet, looking down at them with a relaxed smile.