“The A8’s spaceship was as fragile as a paper airplane in the midst of the battle, ready to be obliterated by any particle cannon, sustained only by the pilots’ skills.”

Old Lin ended the communication, looking at the virtual screen full of huge enemy ships, his face trembling.

Why were these bastards always picking on him?!

He yelled at a row of pilots assisting the AI: “Lads, the chance to get rich is here! If we save the spaceship today, military merits will double, and I’ll treat you to a month of late-night snacks!”

The pilots were dealing with dense cannon fire and Old Lin’s incessant nagging, so their tone wasn’t as respectful as usual.

“I have to be alive to eat it!”

“Captain, stop talking!”

“If you keep talking, we’ll only be eating ashes!”

Old Lin: “…”

Damn it—never mind, not the time to argue with them.

The spaceship suddenly shook violently, tilting sharply to the left. Old Lin, not seated, struggled with his hands and feet but still slid from one end of the cabin to the other, crashing heavily against the metal door.

“Shit!”

The lights in the spaceship suddenly dimmed, then quickly brightened again.

The AI’s voice sounded:

[Left wing damaged, backup power initiated.]

Another violent tremor, and several pilots reported frantically:

“Boss, all three left engines have stopped working!”

“The left energy storage compartment is leaking!”

“If we don’t make an emergency landing, we won’t last long, what do we do, Boss!”

Old Lin stared at the virtual screen, grinding his teeth.

If they made an emergency landing, with good luck, they could abandon the spaceship and escape, but the enemy force was too large, so they couldn’t get far. With bad luck, they’d be blown up in the spaceship right after landing.

But if they tried to hold on, they wouldn’t last a few minutes!

“No good! The enemy is preparing to fire particle cannons!”

“At this angle, we can’t dodge!”

Old Lin climbed up and roared, “Emergency landing! Quick, emergency landing!”

The pilot’s fingers danced frantically on the console, beads of sweat dripping down their cheeks.

“No! An emergency landing will also be hit!”

Chaos reigned on the spaceship. Everyone could only watch as three medium-sized battleships surrounded them, converging particle cannons from different angles.

Could they really not dodge it?!

Old Lin’s heart stopped. He gave up all resistance.

Under such an attack, any resistance was useless.

Dying in battle was a soldier’s fate; hadn’t he already prepared for it?

The particle cannon shot past at superluminal speed, barely grazing the spaceship’s hull and flying into the endless cosmos.

The spaceship was silent. Everyone gritted their teeth, waiting for death, but after three seconds, nothing happened. They were all momentarily stunned.

Were they already dead?

Is this what dying feels like?

It seemed no different from being alive?

“I-we dodged it!” Someone shouted excitedly, “We’re not dead!”

His heart gradually resumed beating. Old Lin gasped for air, his head pounding and buzzing.

Too excited, his fingers trembled violently, unable even to press the control keys.

The system programmer pulled up the AI record. The logs showed over thirty operations performed on the spaceship before it was hit, allowing it to evade three particle cannons at an extremely tricky angle.

“Beautiful!” Old Lin was ecstatic, telling the row of pilots, “I’ll add chicken legs to your dinner!”

But to his surprise, the pilots were equally bewildered.

“Did you do that? Show off!”

“Didn’t you do that?”

“If I had that skill, I wouldn’t be pissing my pants!”

“Then who did it? AI?”

After a round of discussion, they finally realized something was wrong.

Those thirty command operations were neither performed by the AI nor by them.

Did the spaceship move on its own?

“Here it comes again!”

Old Lin was confused by them and didn’t even have time to delve into it. The enemy’s attack came again.

Just as the pilots were yelling that they couldn’t dodge, the spaceship moved on its own again.

The A8 team members’ emotions were like a rollercoaster, their heartbeats like runaway wild horses, gradually spiraling out of control.

Old Lin was dumbfounded: “Am I—is the spaceship possessed?”

---

In the rescue spaceship’s small medical bay, Rong Shi sat cross-legged against the wall.

Dozens of large and small virtual windows were open in front of him, with various data flashing rapidly.

[01: This little brother is very obedient and can be hijacked for a long time.]

“Very good.”

Rong Shi watched the monitor screen. Before the particle cannon hit the spaceship, his slender fingers danced on the virtual keyboard, sending out command after command.

The spaceship, without surprise, once again dodged the particle cannon.

Song Yu leaned against him, stunned by his operation.

“Are you—controlling the spaceship remotely?”

“Yes.” Rong Shi switched to the spaceship’s energy panel to check, explaining calmly, “Current spaceships are mainly controlled by AI with human assistance. As long as you hijack the AI, you can control everything on this spaceship.”

What he told Chen Mu back then wasn’t entirely false encouragement. AI plays a crucial role in combat; protecting the AI system from attacks is more important than any physical defensive measures.

Having skilled AI system programmers in the legion was like giving the legion an invincible shield.

Song Yu: “Is there anything you can’t do?”

Just when he thought he understood the other person well, the other person would reveal a side he didn’t know, like a treasure trove, endlessly explorable.

Rong Shi: “I can’t coax my wife; I always make him angry.”

Song Yu: “…”

The spaceship’s energy bay was damaged, and the left wing was completely lost; it wouldn’t fly much longer.

Rong Shi seized the opportunity and prepared the spaceship for an emergency landing.

Inside the spaceship, the entire A8 team could do nothing but crouch in front of the virtual screen, watching the spaceship dodge and weave under cannon fire on its own.

The terminal suddenly rang, startling Old Lin.

Seeing it was Jin Dazhao, he quickly opened it.

“Commander!” He kicked his heel back, giving a military salute.

Jin Dazhao sat in the command seat, his face serious: “How’s the situation? How much longer can you hold out?”

Old Lin glanced at the virtual screen, his face troubled: “Originally, we couldn’t hold on for a second, but now—”

Jin Dazhao’s temper flared. He slammed his fist on the armrest: “Stop stammering!”

“Yes!” Old Lin cheered up, “The spaceship is dodging on its own; we should be able to hold out until rescue arrives!”

Jin Dazhao thought he misheard, cocked his head slightly, looking puzzled: “What do you mean ‘dodging on its own’?”

Old Lin was about to speak when Rong Shi’s voice suddenly rang out on the spaceship.

“Old Lin, it’s me, Rong Shi. The spaceship will make an emergency landing near the shallow sea of M80 in 3 minutes. Prepare your escape gear immediately. I’ve already sent the escape route.”

As soon as Rong Shi finished speaking, the pilot over there shouted.

“Boss, a map suddenly popped up in the system, marked with a red line.”

Old Lin’s mind was confused again.

What kind of operation was this?

“Boss?”

Jin Dazhao pondered, tapping his fingers on the armrest. Before Old Lin could speak, he said in a deep voice, “Rong Shi, are you controlling the spaceship?”

In the small medical bay, Rong Shi controlled the spaceship to avoid cannon fire and penetrate V99’s thin atmosphere. Below them was a vast ocean.

Hearing Jin Dazhao’s voice, he calmly said, “Yes, I’ll write a self-criticism later. For now, please allow me to prioritize the rescue.”

Jin Dazhao grunted twice, said nothing, and turned to Old Lin to instruct: “Your side is to be commanded by Rong Shi.”

“Huh?” Old Lin was dumbfounded. “Commanded by Rong Shi?”

Jin Dazhao was angered by his foolishness, his temper flaring again: “You will obey orders unconditionally! All A8 members must return to base! If even one is missing, I’ll give you a hundred military lashings!”

Old Lin’s mouth flattened, almost crying: “Yes!”

That was too ruthless.

Jin Dazhao then said gruffly, “Rong Shi, don’t betray my trust!”

Rong Shi: “Don’t worry, if one is missing, Old Lin will pay for all the pensions.”

The team members all looked at Old Lin in unison.

Old Lin: “…” Damn.

---

As they got closer to land, the spaceship’s energy was almost depleted, the balance system failed, and it still had to dodge cannon fire. The spaceship swayed violently inside, enough to make people dizzy.

If it weren’t for this intense discomfort, Old Lin would have felt like he was dreaming.

A first-year military academy student remotely controlling a spaceship?!

Repeatedly dodging dangers that a group of professional pilots couldn’t avoid?

This was just—divine!

Where in the world did Rong Shi come from?!

Old Lin took a deep breath and wiped his face hard.

The kid had helped this much, so he couldn’t drag them down too much.

The team members looked at each other.

“Boss, was that really Rong Shi?”

“Are we really going to listen to an intern’s command?”

They had already witnessed Rong Shi’s combat prowess, but everyone must have weaknesses, right?

He couldn’t be good at fighting, flying spaceships, and commanding, too, could he? Was he even human?

“Didn’t you all hear the commander? Listen to Rong Shi!” Old Lin snapped, then shouted to everyone, “Everyone gather in the hangar, prepare to run!”

In the main ship’s command center, the adjutant, seeing Jin Dazhao end the communication, asked doubtfully, “Commander, is it appropriate to leave that side to an intern?”

“He’s not an ordinary intern. Besides, the mech units will arrive within five minutes; there won’t be any problem.” Jin Dazhao stared at the tracking screen, unable to calm down.

The last time he thought about taking an apprentice was 25 years ago.

He wasn’t a naturally gifted individual and never believed in so-called talent. Ordinary people, if they worked hard enough, could still break the shackles of talent and stand on the same level as those geniuses.

Geniuses often didn’t work very hard; this was his long-held prejudice and also partly true.

Until he met Rong Guang, this prejudice was completely shattered.

It made him believe that there truly were people in this world who could stand at the pinnacle purely by talent, yet still worked harder than average people.

When he finally brought himself to take an apprentice, Rong Guang had already been snatched away.

He still remembered the last time he saw Rong Guang, who smiled and said that if he had an alpha son, he could become his master. Now, even the son had been snatched away!

“No integrity whatsoever!” The more Jin Dazhao thought about it, the angrier he got.

Seeing his commander’s face getting sourer, the adjutant: “?”

Jin Dazhao gritted his teeth and muttered, “It’s okay, I can still wait.”

If he couldn’t get a son, a grandson would do.

Adjutant: “???”

---

The damaged spaceship successfully made an emergency landing on the coast.

Upon landing, Old Lin took his team members into a military hovercar and quickly sped away along the escape route.

Not long after they left, a huge explosion erupted behind them. A wave of scorching impact rushed over, shaking the hovercar, making it swerve in S-shapes in the air.

Old Lin looked back through the hovercar window: “Shit! Almost blown to dust.”

“Boss, above!” The driver shouted.

Dozens of battleships formed a continuous line, piercing through the atmosphere and rapidly flying towards them.

Old Lin looked up through the car window: “Holy crap! Give me maximum horsepower!”

Driver: “It’s already at maximum!”

Old Lin roared: “Use your faith! Use the power of your soul!”

The driver, unable to bear it any longer, roared back: “How the hell do you use the power of your soul?!”

“Here, here they come!” The co-pilot pointed ahead, excited, “Rescue is here!”

Dozens of large mechs flew past them, shielding the military hovercar below, and hundreds of tracking missiles simultaneously fired at the enemy.

“Find cover, we’ll handle the rest.”

Hearing Qing Song’s voice in the communication channel, Old Lin almost cried.

“You’re finally here!”

---

In the small medical bay, Rong Shi leaned against the wall, relieved.

Song Yu ended the communication and massaged his wrist.

“Good job. When we get back, Old Lin will treat you to a meal.”

Rong Shi held out his other hand for him to massage: “Such a bad reward.”

Song Yu chuckled, leaning in to kiss him: “How about this?”

Rong Shi: “Did you secretly eat candy again?”

Song Yu paused, then backed away: “No.”

Rong Shi: “Then why does your mouth taste so sweet?”

Song Yu, feeling guilty: “…Really, no.”

Before they could get enough of their sweet talk, the AI’s voice sounded in the cabin, indicating the spaceship was about to land.

The doctors, based on the information they had received, contacted the injured separately.

But before they could even leave the spaceship, a huge explosion suddenly echoed from outside.

Rong Shi stood at the hatch, looking up at the sky, his brows deeply furrowed.

The original battleship fleet had been broken up by the mech units, and the battle was under control. However, the enemy had now also dispatched mech units and even doubled their battleship numbers.

Judging by this scale, they were prepared to fight to the bitter end.

Rong Shi immediately contacted Jin Dazhao, asking him to send more reinforcements.

Song Yu placed a hand on his shoulder, whispering, “My people are nearby and can help.”

“No need.” Rong Shi shook his head. “It’s not time yet.”

Song Yu: “They won’t be discovered as my people.”

Rong Shi: “Unless absolutely necessary, your forces shouldn’t get involved.”

From the legion’s perspective, this was currently just an unknown organization’s attack. If a third party got involved, it would complicate things greatly and make it easy for ill-intentioned individuals to exploit the situation.

[01: Attempting to hijack the enemy’s AI. Defense system is high; it will take at least ten minutes.]

In war, ten minutes could change too much. It might be too late.

The enemy’s offensive suddenly intensified. The mech units were under immense pressure, and several mechs were severely damaged, rendered immobile.

Qing Song listened to his team members’ reports and sent a reinforcement request to Jin Dazhao.

Jin Dazhao quickly replied.

“Rong Shi has already sent me the details. Three combat groups have already departed.”

Qing Song acknowledged, then added, “This enemy force doesn’t seem so simple; they’re not like ordinary star pirates or rebels.”

Jin Dazhao’s expression was grim: “I understand. Try to gather as much intelligence as possible.”

Qing Song: “Yes!”

---

In the distance, a tracking missile from an enemy mech hit the military hovercar where Old Lin and his team were!

The hovercar’s power system was damaged, forcing an emergency landing.

Old Lin was about to lead his squad out of the car to escape, but the ongoing barrage of cannon fire outside gave them no chance to open the car doors!

Rong Shi and Song Yu stood at the spaceship hatch, observing the battle outside.

Jiang Huai walked over, taking a cigarette from his white coat pocket and putting it in his mouth. He said nothing, just quietly watched the two young ones discuss.

Song Yu vigilantly glanced at him, then slightly turned, shielding Rong Shi.

Jiang Huai: “…”

Even with his back turned, Song Yu could feel the gaze. He suppressed his irritation and said coldly, “Gege, you should never pick up smoking.”

Rong Shi, whose full attention was on the outside: “Hm?”

He didn’t smoke.

Song Yu: “My dad said smokers are no good.”

Rong Shi: “…”

Stop talking.

Jiang Huai: “…………”

This cigarette was burning his mouth.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion. One of their mechs was hit, crashing onto the beach less than a hundred meters from the spaceship. Thick smoke billowed from the cockpit, and flickering flames were faintly visible.

In a moment, an escape pod ejected from the cockpit and rolled onto the ground. The pilot, covered in sparks, crawled out but soon collapsed motionless.

Jiang Huai’s expression changed. He put the cigarette back in his pocket, pressed the duty button on his uniform, picked up his medical kit, and headed there.

Song Yu: “Come back!”

The battle raged outside. Without any protective measures, even being hit by flying debris was no joke.

Rong Shi narrowed his eyes slightly and quickly followed.

Song Yu cursed under his breath and quickly followed suit.

“I’ve never seen someone so unafraid of death.”

Jiang Huai: “With you two here, what’s there to be afraid of?”

Inside the enemy battleship, Lin Jing’s holographic image stood before the virtual screen, which was locked onto the military hovercar where A8 was.

Lin Jing’s face was extremely grim. He ordered his subordinates: “Bring that entire carload of people back, alive!”

The beta on the left said: “Live capture is very difficult—”

“If they die, how do we get the data back?!” Lin Jing roared. “We must retrieve the data at all costs!”

The beta on the right asked: “Do you think they had the ability to back up such a massive database in such a short time?”

The beta on the left: “And we still don’t know if it was them. If it wasn’t, then not only do we lose the data, but we also expose our whereabouts and directly confront the military, which will be very troublesome later.”

Lin Jing gritted his back teeth, his eyes fierce: “What ‘later’ are you talking about if the data is gone?! Better to kill wrongly than to let go!”

The two betas exchanged glances and nodded.

Rong Shi and Song Yu covered Jiang Huai as he went to the beach to rescue the person.

The path through the small forest was difficult, full of arm-thick roots. Jiang Huai accidentally tripped and fell forward.

His hand was suddenly pulled back and he managed to steady himself.

Song Yu’s face was sour, and he released his hand with clear disdain: “Can’t you be more careful?”

Jiang Huai’s lips curved: “Thank you.”

Song Yu didn’t acknowledge it and strode away with his long legs.

To salvage his wife’s image in his father-in-law’s eyes, Rong Shi lowered his voice: “Xiao Yu just has a sharp tongue, but he’s actually kind-hearted; he’s a good kid.”

Before Jiang Huai could speak, Song Yu’s voice came from ahead.

“Gege, if you keep whispering to him, I’ll kill him.”

Jiang Huai: “Kind-hearted? Is that so?”

Rong Shi: “…”

Amidst the charred craters on the beach, Jiang Huai knelt before the injured person, checking for signs of independent breathing. A medical robot swiftly arrived, bearing a stretcher.

“Help me lift him,” Jiang Huai instructed.

Song Yu, clearly annoyed, retorted, “You dare order us around? You—”

“Quick!” Jiang Huai urged.

“Damn,” Song Yu muttered.

As Rong Shi and Song Yu helped lift the person onto the stretcher, preparing to return to the spaceship, three enemy mechs suddenly landed fifty meters away.

“Move quickly,” Rong Shi said, drawing his sidearm and stepping in front of Jiang Huai.

Laser beams shot from the mechs. Song Yu dodged backward, firing several shots at a mech. However, the mech’s outer shell was too robust for ordinary bullets. In such a situation, using 00 was out of the question, as exposure would only complicate matters further.

“Aim for the joints,” Rong Shi instructed, covering Jiang Huai’s retreat. He fired a precise shot at the right elbow of the central mech. Sparks flew from the metal exterior, and the mech’s gun-wielding arm abruptly dropped. The mech pilot, upon hearing the alert for main circuit damage to the right arm, almost thought he was hallucinating. Such precision, combined with deep knowledge of mech vulnerabilities, was required to penetrate the joint’s seam and disrupt the main circuit with a single shot. He was stunned when the left arm’s circuit also reported damage.

As they fought, Rong Shi explained the technical aspects to Song Yu, knowledge not found in standard military theory. Song Yu quickly grasped the concepts, hitting the left elbow of the mech on his fourth attempt.

“You learn fast,” Rong Shi remarked.

“Are you praising me or yourself?” Song Yu countered playfully.

“I teach well,” Rong Shi replied.

“Hmph,” Song Yu scoffed.

Despite their playful banter, their actions were swift and decisive. Song Yu focused on severing the mechs’ joints, while Rong Shi targeted their cannon lines. The three thirty-meter-tall mechs, too large to be discreet on the beach, were subsequently disabled by their own side’s tracking missiles once they retreated into the tree line. Jiang Huai, walking alongside the stretcher, glanced at them, a smile playing in his eyes. Their sharp tongues aside, they were quite effective.

Just as they finished dealing with the mechs, a roaring sound filled the air. Rong Shi looked up to see more mechs and battleships flying towards them.

“Xiao Yu, cover the doctor’s retreat,” Rong Shi said in a low voice. “Use 00 if necessary and protect yourselves.”

Song Yu frowned. “What about you?”

Rong Shi’s gaze swept across the battle unfolding over the sea, then settled on their damaged mech on the beach. “I’ll be away from you for a few minutes.”

The thought of separating at such a critical moment made Song Yu’s face darken. He likely understood Rong Shi’s intention, but rationally accepting it was one thing; emotionally, it was another.

“Make sure to protect the doctor,” Rong Shi stated, then quickly ran towards the beach.

Song Yu gritted his teeth, turning to Jiang Huai. “Hurry!”

The surrounding explosions were incessant. Jiang Huai looked at Song Yu. “Aren’t you going after him?”

Song Yu’s handsome face was tightly furrowed, his eyes cold as ice. He raised his gun at Jiang Huai and pulled the trigger. Jiang Huai flinched as the bullet grazed his shoulder. A muffled thud sounded nearby, and an ambushing enemy soldier fell from a tree. Song Yu pushed Jiang Huai’s head down, and both simultaneously ducked, dodging three incoming bullets. He quickly retrieved a fresh magazine from his lower back, reloaded, and fired three rapid shots in different directions.

“He has his reasons for doing this,” Song Yu said, his face grim, as he walked beside Jiang Huai. “I trust him.”

Jiang Huai’s eyes briefly glinted. He caught sight of a mech in the distance, its laser gun aimed at them.

“Look out!”

Jiang Huai grabbed Song Yu’s arm, about to dodge, when the mech was suddenly hit in a vital spot and crashed into the forest. Another mech flew overhead, a section of its cockpit charred and damaged—it was the one that had been stranded by the sea.

“I’ll cover you,” Rong Shi’s voice came from inside the mech.

Song Yu looked up, a smile spreading across his lips. Who said he couldn’t coax people? He was too good at it. With Rong Shi as their guardian, Song Yu and Jiang Huai successfully brought the injured person back to the spaceship.

---

Meanwhile, in the military hovercar, Old Lin and his team were on edge. A swarm of mechs battled overhead, any stray shot could mean their end. Qiu Tianhao, single-handedly facing four mechs, had already sustained considerable damage to his own.

“Master, this can’t go on! Should we have someone carry the hovercar away?” he yelled.

Qing Song, also hard-pressed by several pursuing mechs, was struggling. “The problem is, there’s no one available!”

The sheer numerical disparity between the forces was immense. Maintaining the current stalemate was their absolute limit. A laser cannon blasted towards Qing Song, but having just dodged another shot, his mech couldn’t instantly twist in a different direction.

“Master, watch out!” Qiu Tianhao cried out in alarm.

Qing Song gritted his teeth, quickly making a decision for minimal damage. However, before the impact, his mech was suddenly pulled sideways. Qing Song was momentarily stunned. He saw the mech behind him on his virtual screen and asked through the team’s public channel, “Old Liu, what are you doing over here?”

No sooner had he asked than he saw the mech fire a shot that hit an enemy mech’s right shoulder, causing an electrical explosion that instantly disabled its arm.

“No, you’re not Old Liu,” Qing Song said, his face grim. “Who are you?!”

“It’s me.”

Rong Shi drew the long blade from the mech’s back, maximized engine output, swiftly dodged incoming fire, and with a single strike, severed the head of another enemy mech. Qing Song and Qiu Tianhao’s eyes widened in disbelief. In a blink, two enemy mechs were annihilated.

“Holy crap! Is this—a simulation battle?!” Qing Song muttered.

With the communication channel open, Rong Shi heard this. Assuming Qing Song was confused about his use of a blade, he calmly stated, “I’m more accustomed to using a blade.”

“Who the hell asked you that!” Qing Song retorted.

Watching Rong Shi, with just a blade, utterly dominate the enemy forces, Qing Song suddenly remembered the familiar, often hollow, phrase he used to lecture his subordinates: “Mechs are just tools. As long as your skills are good enough, even the most ordinary mech can be invincible.” Now, it had come true.

---

In the main ship’s command center, Jin Dazhao abruptly stood up, his eyes gleaming. “Beautiful!”

His adjutant and the others were dumbfounded. Such a masterful display of piloting came from an intern?! With Rong Shi’s arrival, Qing Song and Qiu Tianhao’s pressure significantly eased.

“Boss, help!” Old Lin’s desperate plea suddenly echoed through the communication channel.

The three switched their monitor to the ground view. At some point, numerous enemy assassins had surrounded the military hovercar, its exterior already deformed by bullet impacts. 

The mech units, preoccupied with enemy mechs and battleships, couldn’t spare the effort to deal with these smaller, ground-based threats. Moreover, mech attacks had too broad a range, making them unsuitable for small targets and risking friendly fire.

Rong Shi magnified the surveillance range. On the beach, less than a kilometer from the military hovercar, a group of enormous hermit crabs was scuttling. He instructed Qing Song and Qiu Tianhao via the communication channel, “You two hold them off; I’ll be right back.”

“Huh? Where are you going?” Qing Song asked.

Rong Shi swiftly flew towards the hermit crabs and fired a tracking missile at one’s shell. However, the hermit crab’s shell was incredibly tough; the missile only managed to flip it over. Its legs quickly retracted, leaving only a short, fat pincer exposed. Rong Shi fired another tracking missile at a second crab, which also flipped over. Both lay there, perfectly still, as if nothing had happened.

Rong Shi: “…” He thought to 01: [Try to provoke them with an over-frequency wavelength.]

[01: Received!]

Ten seconds later—

[01: Completely ineffective, no fighting spirit at all.]

Rong Shi: “…” If that was the case, he had to resort to another method.

Qing Song and his team didn’t wait long before Rong Shi returned. Qiu Tianhao couldn’t help but ask, “What were you doing?”

Rong Shi blocked an enemy laser beam with his blade, then executed a rapid leap and sweep, severing a main circuit with a single cut. “Finding someone to deal with those assassins.”

Qing Song and Qiu Tianhao switched the monitor back to the ground view and were left utterly speechless. A group of hermit crabs rapidly moved from the beach to the military hovercar, forming a circle. The leading one, “Lira,” a dazzlingly purple and notably flashy hermit crab, climbed onto the car roof. 01 clanged its two crab legs together, making loud thudding sounds.

[01: A good battle armor isn’t a good battle armor if it can’t be a hermit crab, hehe.]

On the rescue spaceship, Song Yu observed the overall battle situation, relaying real-time updates to Rong Shi, dutifully acting as backup. 00’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

[00: Master, I want to be a hermit crab too.]

Song Yu: “?” Hermit crab?

Moments later, next to the flashy purple Lira, a flashy red “Short-wristed” crab appeared, holding its chubby pincer and clanging loudly against the car roof.

[00: I am a good battle armor.]

Old Lin and the others, suddenly surrounded by hermit crabs, trembled in fear. “…” Was death finally upon them?

The assassins, who were attempting to breach the hovercar and capture its occupants, were equally terrified. “…” What kind of death-level mission difficulty was this?!

__
Author’s Note:

Rong Bunny: Why are you so sweet?

Song Cat: I just stole five tablespoons of honey.

Rong Bunny: …

01/00: More strange knowledge has been added.

A8/Killer: I choose death.