[Excellent performance in combat against the ant swarm. System score: 9.5. Instructor panel average score: 9.8. Bonus points +90.]

A sudden prompt popped up on the score tracker.

Qin Le looked at the others on the team. “Did you get bonus points too?”

“Yes.” Qian Can looked around and found that all six members of the team had gained 90 points. Then he turned to look at Meng Tao and the others.

The score tracker’s prompt was visible to everyone, so Qian Can immediately saw the bonus-point situation on the other side.

[Improper handling of abnormal odor. Points -20.]

[Qualified performance in combat against the ant swarm. System score: 6.5. Instructor panel average score: 6.1. Bonus points +30.]

Song Jin wiped the blood off his military saber and slid it back into its sheath. “If they’d been willing to listen, they wouldn’t have lost those twenty points.”

The members of the team across from them all sneaked glances at Meng Tao, their feelings complicated.

They had always had a filter for the exchange students from Dens. They thought that since they had been selected to come to the military academy first, they must be very strong.

It seemed the exchange students also had a wide gap between strong and weak, and in the future they couldn’t just believe everything exchange students said.

Li Xiao looked at Song Jin. “Don’t say that. Meng Tao’s already injured. He probably didn’t mean it.”

Song Jin said, “Did I name him?”

Li Xiao said, “Was that even necessary? Anyone can tell who you meant.”

Song Jin asked, “Do you want to fight?”

The two of them bickered as if no one else was there, while Meng Tao got humiliated again for no reason, and his face became even uglier.

Nobody had directly cursed him, but everyone seemed to be cursing him. If he tried to lash out now, it would be his fault, and the team might resent him even more.

Qian Can / Qin Le: “…”

It was obvious now. Li Xiao wanted to get Meng Tao killed.

Jiang Hao: “…”

Sly as hell, huh.

After teaming up with Song Jin, the damage output got even scarier.

Da Bei: “…”

Damn it! How exactly was he supposed to break the Second Prince’s prejudice against the Meng family?!

Central Military Academy.

The practical assessment was being livestreamed in full, and students from all grades could watch during their free time.

Li Xiao’s team, which included student council president Qin Le, the mysterious noble Song Jin, and the exchange student Li Xiao, was the most watched team.

During break time, everyone gathered to discuss it.

“HAHAHAHA an excavator?! The school really spent big this time. Where did they even get that antique model?”

“So handsome even sitting on the roof of the vehicle is a scenic view. Every frame looks like a movie still. No filter needed.”

“He drives pretty well too — didn’t flip off the mountain, lol.”

“Seriously though, when he was digging the river channel, he was so smooth. I was stunned.”

“Li Xiao is hiding something. Kind of surprising — at first the forum had a lot of people saying he was just there to fill numbers, a pretty face.”

“Do you guys also think Song Jin’s fighting style looks familiar?”

Royal Palace.

During the lunch break, Qin Luo, the chief of the Royal Guards, walked through the long corridor of the outer hall and entered the king’s office in the government hall.

Inside the large office, the ruler with long golden hair sat behind the desk, happily watching the virtual screen with an alpha in a general’s uniform.

“Your Majesty, Commander.” Qin Luo bowed in salute.

“No need to salute during break time.” The golden-haired ruler waved casually. “Your nephew and my little cub are on the same team for the practical assessment. Come take a look.”

“Lele? Teaming up with Xiaojin? That’s unlucky.” Qin Luo leaned over to watch. “An excavator? They’re even harder on you than we were back then.”

Seeing them successfully deal with the ant swarm, the alpha general nodded in appreciation. “Pretty good. They handled the enemy’s little tricks very well.”

The golden-haired ruler propped his chin on his hand and gave a proud snort. “Who do you think raised them?”

The alpha general ruffled his hair indiscriminately. “You turned such a good child into a beast and still dare to brag?”

The golden-haired ruler said, “You had a share in that merit too.”

After Song Jin’s team continued onward, Qin Luo finally remembered the real business and handed over a file.

“The rare metal mining in Andromeda is not going well. The estimated usable rate won’t even reach 0.01%.”

The golden-haired ruler quickly skimmed the file, looking somewhat disappointed. “They used to say it could reach more than 10%. A bunch of useless old fossils.”

Qin Luo handed over a second file. “There’s something off about the exchange students from Dens, but we still can’t confirm any connection to super-omegas. The Fourth Prince is currently gathering their physical data.”

After Qin Luo left, the alpha general asked softly, “Now that the person you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived, when are you going to see him?”

“I won’t interfere for now.” The golden-haired ruler looked at Li Xiao on the screen. “If he can’t even pass the little cub’s test, then he doesn’t need to come talk to me about cooperation.”

Tianqi Zuo Q303.

The excavator rattled along the stream, weaving around the hillside and passing through a dense patch of mutated gentian flowers until it reached a valley.

“Brother, there are so many students gathered over there!” Da Bei pointed at a cluster of bushes several dozen meters ahead on the left.

Qin Le checked the locator and the surrounding terrain. “We need to pass through there. The other routes would require climbing several mountains.”

The trees were dense, and Li Xiao’s vision was limited. When he stood up to look, he saw more than a hundred students crouching by the bushes, and through the gaps in the branches he could faintly see many crawling worker ants.

The only road was blocked, and the excavator was too unwieldy. Song Jin told Jiang Hao not to drive forward yet.

Once they got closer, the view became clearer, and the sound of countless worker ants slaughtering each other made their scalp tingle.

Song Jin said, “Looks like two nests are fighting over territory. Being with you always means trouble.”

Li Xiao scanned the surroundings. “Being with you, I haven’t had much luck either.”

Ahead on the ground and slope were many little mounds, which were all entrances to ant nests.

In a level-two danger zone, an ant nest was the size of a small city.

The worker ants wouldn’t finish fighting any time soon, and staying here was dangerous.

Several dozen meters to the right-front, the ant swarm had left a gap, which looked very strange. Li Xiao glanced at it twice and motioned for Song Jin to follow.

Song Jin looked over, unable to figure out what he was up to.

After pushing aside the bushes, they really did see some red-and-green fruits, about the size of ping-pong balls. Li Xiao picked one and was about to smell it when Song Jin slapped it away.

“What kind of fruit do you just pick up and eat? Aren’t you afraid of poisoning yourself?” Song Jin said coldly.

Li Xiao teased him, “You care about me that much?”

Song Jin said, “As long as you don’t die in front of me, do whatever you want.”

“I wasn’t planning to eat it.” Li Xiao picked another one, pinched it open with a little force, and showed him. “Mutated peppercorns. Don’t you know this?”

A numbing, spicy smell drifted out. Song Jin turned away in disgust. “It’s mutated so much even its own mother wouldn’t recognize it. Why is it strange that I don’t?”

“Mainly because you don’t eat peppercorns, right?”

Li Xiao cut some branches with his long military saber and handed them to Song Jin.

Song Jin couldn’t refute that and changed the subject. “You want to use this to drive them away?”

Li Xiao praised him in a flat tone. “Young Master really is smart.”

When Li Xiao handed it over again, Song Jin grabbed his wrist. “Will you die if you don’t tease me?”

Li Xiao shook him off and kept cutting branches, asking casually, “Aren’t we exactly that kind of relationship?”

Eight out of ten sentences were tests, two were arguments, and not a single one was honest.

Song Jin said, “Where’s your intermittently nice-person personality?”

Li Xiao said, “If you don’t answer my questions honestly, it gets too angry to come out.”

Song Jin: “…”

He was really good at talking.

After carrying a pile of peppercorn branches back, Li Xiao asked Qin Le and the others to help tie them onto the excavator.

Qian Can sneezed several times in a row and covered his nose, giving Li Xiao a thumbs-up. “Boss, you really are my boss. You even thought of such a wild move.”

Li Xiao jumped onto the roof and nodded toward them. “Let’s leave early. Staying here is too dangerous.”

They didn’t hide their actions on purpose, so the other students gathered around to watch and quietly discuss.

“Peppercorns might work! The smell can repel the ant swarm. Should we go get some too?”

“Should we try it? If we keep waiting, we’ll still be here after dark, and it’ll be even more dangerous then.”

“But there are so many worker ants — going over there like this is terrifying.”

Zheng Lin was there too. When he saw the team members cutting peppercorn branches, his gaze at Li Xiao became subtle.

As a royal, how did Li Xiao know so much about practical combat? And he seemed even calmer than the military academy students, completely unlike someone making their first expedition on a desolate planet.

This Second Prince was becoming harder and harder to see through.

The fully armed excavator took the lead, and the ant swarm really did scatter after smelling the pungent peppercorn scent.

When the other students saw it worked, they hurried to follow.

On the roof, Li Xiao saw Song Jin put on his goggles with a sour expression and found it a little funny.

“So you really hate peppercorns that much?”

Song Jin was very unhappy. “I hate all spicy things.”

Li Xiao didn’t understand. “Then why are you so spicy?”

Song Jin looked at him and said coolly, “I think one beating would bring back your nice-person personality.”

Li Xiao: “…”

After crossing the area with the most worker ants, everyone’s nerves relaxed a little.

Sure enough, riding on a powerful backer meant you got to eat meat.

Then a very faint vibration suddenly sounded in their ears, like the beating of wings. Li Xiao subconsciously looked toward the source of the sound.

Song Jin followed his gaze.

A basketball-sized head suddenly emerged from an ant nest on a small slope. It was pitch-black, covered in fine fur, with antennae at the top that had evolved into hard shells.

The surrounding worker ants rushed to attack it, but it broke free.

“The queen ant came out?!” Da Bei swore under his breath, his whole body tense with fear.

Li Xiao suddenly caught sight of the gentian flowers they had passed on the way and immediately understood.

“Blue Shadow Butterfly. More troublesome than the queen ant.”

“Blue Shadow Butterfly?” Da Bei asked in confusion. “How could a butterfly come out of an ant nest?!”

Song Jin explained, “Blue Shadow Butterfly is a parasitic species. Its larvae release pheromones that confuse worker ants, making the ants bring them back to the nest and raise them like babies. Once they pupate and emerge, they escape from the nest.”

The Blue Shadow Butterfly burst out of the nest, and after unfolding its wings, it was as long as two meters.

Qin Le looked serious. “Maybe we guessed wrong from the start. The worker ants weren’t fighting over territory — they were dealing with Blue Shadow Butterflies that were emerging in the nest.”

After metamorphosis, the Blue Shadow Butterfly’s original pheromone effect disappears, and the worker ants detect its true nature and attack these invaders.

Li Xiao felt something was off about that explanation, but he didn’t have time to think further. He listened closely to the sounds around him — the wingbeats came from all directions, one after another, countless beyond counting.

“Quickly remove the peppercorns. Blue Shadow Butterflies like the smell of peppercorns.”

Song Jin asked, “A lot?”

Li Xiao said, “A lot.”

Song Jin looked around in confusion and only saw one.

“Damn it!” Qian Can, sitting in the passenger seat, heard that sentence as soon as he stuck his head out and hurriedly started pulling at the branches.

Jiang Hao asked, “Butterflies don’t eat people, right?”

Li Xiao explained while removing the branches, “They don’t, but their mucus and fur are toxic to humans, and their pheromones can cause hallucinations.”

Jiang Hao: “…!!!”

Losing consciousness in the ant swarm was basically a death sentence.

Qin Le shouted to the students behind them, “There are Blue Shadow Butterflies! Throw away the peppercorns and hurry through!”

“Throw away the peppercorns?”

The students looked at each other.

The ant swarm hadn’t even cleared yet — wasn’t that just asking for death?

“It’s only one Blue Shadow Butterfly. Nothing to be afraid of.”

Just after someone said that, a large mass of black shadows suddenly burst out of an ant nest in the distance. The shadows spread their wings and reflected a deep blue sheen in the light.

“So many!”

“There are more over there too!”

“Too many!”

Blue Shadow Butterflies kept flying out from different ant nests, quickly filling the entire field of vision.

The nearby butterflies were attracted by the strong peppercorn smell and flew over the excavator. Their spined legs were sharper than military sabers.

Li Xiao held Da Bei down and ducked to avoid them, and his sleeve was cut open by one of the spines.

Song Jin snapped at the people behind him, “Throw the peppercorns into the ant swarm! Quickly!”

Seeing this, the students behind them panicked and hurriedly threw the peppercorns far away.

A number of Blue Shadow Butterflies chased after the peppercorns and fell into the ant swarm, almost instantly swallowed by the densely packed worker ants.

Without the peppercorns, some worker ants gradually began crawling toward the students.

“Why are you just standing there? Run!” Li Xiao tapped the roof. “Jiang Hao, cover them.”

“Got it!” Jiang Hao turned the mechanical arm around and used the bucket to sweep away the approaching worker ants in layers.

The nearby trees were dense, and many students used rope launchers to jump up into the branches to hide. Compared with the ground, far fewer worker ants could climb trees.

The smell of peppercorns wouldn’t disperse so easily, and the butterfly swarm was drawing closer.

Seeing Li Xiao in a tough spot, Zheng Lin felt that it was time for him to shine.

He took out his launcher, hooked a tree branch at the top of a tree, and shouted, “Don’t panic! It’s just a swarm of butterflies — nothing to be afraid of!”

Noticing his intention, Li Xiao shouted, “Stop!”

But it was already too late.

Zheng Lin hugged a big tree to stabilize himself, tightened the rope, and then released it. The tree swung left and right like a giant flyswatter, scattering the butterfly swarm.

Large amounts of Blue Shadow Butterfly fur blew over in the wind.

Li Xiao and Song Jin cut down several that lunged at them and raised their hands to shield their faces.

Song Jin gritted his teeth. “Why are all the people from Dens such idiots?”

Li Xiao couldn’t refute that. “They’re still young.”

Song Jin said, “Aren’t you the same age as them?”

Li Xiao said, “Complimenting me? You can be more direct next time.”

Song Jin beheaded another Blue Shadow Butterfly with one strike. “Shameless.”

Behind them, Meng Tao got a face full of it and, furious, ran forward. As he passed Zheng Lin, he kicked him and yelled, “Idiot! You’re going to get us killed!”

Zheng Lin felt the skin on his face and hands start to itch and numb. He had failed at showing off and had also been cursed at by Meng Tao. His expression was ugly too.

“You’re not any better than me, idiot.”

After everyone reached a relatively safe area, Li Xiao used the launcher to wrap up a bundle of peppercorn branches and threw them far away.

The flock of Blue Shadow Butterflies flying in followed the scent and turned in the air.

Taking this opportunity, Li Xiao had Da Bei and Qin Le climb into the excavator cabin. He again fired a rope to hook onto a high branch and patted Song Jin. “Go!”

The two of them jumped onto the trunk one after the other and flipped onto a branch to crouch and observe the situation below.

A large number of Blue Shadow Butterflies chased the peppercorns to the ground and fought the worker ants in a brutal scene.

Song Jin felt the right side of his face itching a little and raised a hand to scratch it, but halfway there Li Xiao grabbed his hand.

“Let go.”

Li Xiao said, “Such a pretty face. It’d be a pity to scratch it up.”

Song Jin said, “Are you complimenting me?”

Li Xiao was just about to answer when he suddenly heard a faint movement beside his ear.

He looked over in the direction of the sound.

Inside the unknown mucus, the severed abdomen of a Blue Shadow Butterfly was writhing, and soon a brownish insect head crawled out —