CH 25

Subspecies (2)

The mechanical feet of M-IP 18 was stable and powerful, and it broke the ice on the rocks as it went down along the way. Under the shadows of the mountain, the five mechas quickly approached the big thing lying motionless on the low ground.

Jiang Jianming sat in his cockpit. The screen in front of him showed the images captured by the several people’s mecha cameras, and the spider-shaped alien creature gradually enlarged as they approached.

Half an hour later, he was able to see the guy’s bent limbs, the gray fluff on its limbs, and the crystal blocks attached to the joints……..This means that it can protrude crystal bone from these parts.

Jiang Jianming narrowed his eyes and looked at it for a long time, but still didn’t recognize it. He bent his index finger and tapped the screen of the mecha.

“Seth, examine it.”

In fact, he didn’t dare to have too much hope. Seth’s database stored information on hundreds of thousands of alien creatures, but this database hadn’t been updated for three years.

As everyone knows, alien creatures in the distant interstellar may produce variations every minute and every second, and the old data could only play a limited role.

[Instruction received. Starting search in the prepared illustration book, woof!]

On the other side, Tang Zhen conveniently posted a sharing of monitoring data in the team’s communication channel. “Look at the concentration and fluctuation frequency of its crystal particles, it’s right to categorize it as C-level.”

Ellie: “Look at its feet, and eyes……this guy is seriously injured!”

At this time, they had already circled to the head of the spider. There were eight huge single eyes arranged in two rows in the head and to the abdomen of this giant spider, but one of its eyeballs was already blind.

Its eyeballs were a very eerie dark green in color, surrounded by gray fluff, and it was motionless at the moment, seemingly dead.

Jiang Jianming couldn’t help comparing it with His Royal Highness’s eyes.

If the latter reminds people of translucent emeralds or cold icy lakes, then the former could only remind him of venom, mold or rotten vegetables.

……….In short, it was really a disgusting color.

Li Youfang smiled. “It should have been here to recuperate. Turns out that our good luck is just waiting here all along.” He took a deep breath, “How about it, guys, let’s do it?”

Tang Zhen: “We’re already so close to it, yet it doesn’t even have any reaction, I think it will work, let’s do it!

Bei Maner hesitated for a second, and asked through the communication. “Student Jiang? Are you…… Are you still observing this alien creature?”

Seth’s voice came at this moment. 

[Search failed, woof woof, the corresponding alien creature could not be identified in the known illustrated book.]

“……No, don’t do it, just wait a little longer.”

Jiang Jianming closed his eyes and pinched the center of his eyebrows, and suddenly said: “Seth, try intelligent matching again, but exclude D-level.”

[Instructions received, starting to compare according to the characteristics……]

“Jiang Jianming, why are you still hesitating? There are but only a few C-level creatures that can be found in the illustrated book, right?” Joe said in a disgruntled voice, but immediately, his face lit up with excitement. “But in terms of merit, if we can kill such a big guy, moreover, I feel that it is probably dead……Ah!, the Lieutenant only looks at the real crystal ore, no one will know that we took advantage of its situation. “

Li Youfang manipulated the mecha and walked forward, standing on the edge of the rock. His voice sounded very confident. “Come on, come on, there is no time. This battle will be very easy—”

He opened the cockpit and pointed to it from a distance. “Look, the two legs on the right side of this spider are broken. I will attract the attention of this thing later. The four of you should work together in pairs, and cut the other two right legs first, so that when it wants to escape, it won’t be able to!”

“It’s perfect,” Joe echoed, and immediately manipulated his mech to stand next to Li Youfang to show his attitude, “I think Li’s combat plan is great!”

“…….”

Jiang Jianming gave them a dull look, and he pressed his temples helplessly, thinking to himself: It’s perfect? ​​Right, it’s too perfect……

How could anyone come up with such a trifling plan? If any link went wrong—for example, if they couldn’t cut off the giant spider’s leg at all—wouldn’t it be just them hand in hand, delivering themselves to be annihilated?

No, no, this thing really won’t work!

Jiang Jianming made up his mind in an instant: These good teammates have too little experience and shouldn’t be let loose to take risks.

He turned to the communication, and was about to try his best to persuade the hot-blooded young people to come back—

–When suddenly, the intelligence, Seth Henry, shouted in a frenzied manner.

[Abnormal, abnormal…..]

[Intelligent matching results, the matching degree with a C-level alien creature ‘Gray-headed Spider’ reached 41%….]

[It is suspected that this creature is a subspecies. The danger of subspecies is extremely high, please stay away quickly, woof!]

–Subspecies!? 

Jiang Jianming’s eyes changed suddenly, he quickly opened the team’s internal communication channel, and said with a cold voice.

“Everyone will have to come back right now, this giant spider may be a special mutated subspecies.”

Tang Zhen: “What?”

Ellie: “You mean subspecies!?”

Joe: “Uh… what’s a subspecies?”

In the channel, the voices of several people sounded in disorder.

Since everyone had come to Silver Big Dipper, how could one even forget the concept of subspecies?

Jiang Jianming was so angry that his heart ached for a second. His eyes became icy-black, and his voice became even harsher. “Everyone, come back right away!!”

Bei Maner’s face turned pale in an instant, she knew what the word “subspecies” meant. “Everyone turn around, retreat temporarily, let’s go back the same way!

The atmosphere changed suddenly. The four IP’s that had already circled around the giant spider’s head all turned around instantly!

However Joe was a beat slower, the fat young man was obviously flustered. He only thought that the term ‘subspecies’ was familiar and that he should have memorized it, but unexpectedly his mind went blank.

“Wait, wait for me……..wait!”

He was terrified by the suddenly tense atmosphere of his teammates, and his crystal bone manipulation became disorderly in his panic, afraid of falling behind and being left behind.

But as the saying goes, the more flustered one would be, the more disorderly one’s action would get. Just now, in order to show that he agreed with Li Youfang, he manipulated his mecha and stood too far ahead—

–Whoah!

The unforeseen accident only happened within a second. They only saw one of Joe’s IP mechanical legs slipping on the ice. As the driver lost control, it caused the entire mecha to slide down the cliff!

Boom!! 

Joe’s IP kicked up a piece of gravel and it crashed and fell down in front of the huge alien creature.

Everyone instantly became pale.

Tang Zhen yelled, “You idiot!”

“Uh…”

On the alloy glass outside the cockpit, a few pieces of gravel rolled down, revealing Joe’s face full of fear.

Too close……too close.

Pungent fishy smell assailed his nose, as the giant spider subspecies was right in front of him, not even thirty meters away.

“No……” Joe’s pupils were trembling, his teeth were chattering and creaking non-stop.

He could see the body of the creature in front of him like a black-gray hill, the appendages on the mouthparts were bright red, and the condensed crystal bones were chewing regularly like pliers.

And those two rows of huge turbid green monocular eyes—

It seemed to have turned a bit.

All of a sudden, all the originally dead eyes were fixed on the mecha in front of it.

The giant spider, which had been lying quietly all this time, suddenly moved. The five intact joints tightened, and its mouthparts pointed towards the IP in front!

The frightening shadow of the alien creature enveloped the mecha in an instant.

Joe immediately cried out in horror, “AHHHHHHH!”

At the critical moment, another M-IP 18 leaped down from the cliff. Its cockpit hatch was wide open, and a red chestnut color crystal bone flashed in mid-air.

It’s Tang Zhen!

Tang Zhen landed on Joe’s mech. There was only a crisp sound like metal collision, then the crystal bone extended from his shoulder blade brazenly and immediately blocked the appendage on the mouthpart of the giant spider.

“Ugh…Ah!” A huge force came from his shoulders. The blue veins on Tang Zhen’s forehead bulge, and he gritted his teeth hard, almost crushing his molars

Damn it, this thing……just how strong is it!?

The next moment, IP figures slid past on both sides of him——Bei Maner and Li Youfang manipulated their mechas to fire almost simultaneously, one left and one right bombarded the two appendages of the giant spider!

The giant spider became agitated, shook and contracted its head. Tang Zhen gasped for breath, and then shouted at the stunned Joe.

“What are you shouting about, run away!!”

Suddenly, a fishy wind blew across his cheeks, and shadows swayed above his head.

Tang Zhen felt cold for no reason!

He only saw the giant spider twisting its head violently, dragging its broken leg around half a circle, and making a strange ‘rustling’ sound from its mouthpart.

Its eight green single eyes squeezed into two rows, including that blind eye that had pus flowing out and stinking, all reflected Bei Maner’s M-IP 18.

Li Youfang yelled, “This is bad, Maner, get away!

It all happened suddenly, and none of them didn’t even had the time to set down their baffle plate.

“Ah……!” Bei Maner raised her head in bewilderment.

Through the alloy glass, the girl’s short chestnut hair and pale pretty face were clearly reflected in the eyes of the alien creature.

The giant spider crawled swiftly, and its limbs made a rustling noise, like a gray-black ghost.

Its speed was so fast, no one knew how it could be so fast, but in just a blink of an eye, Bei Maner’s IP was already bitten by the black shadow rushing towards her!

Ellie exclaimed. “My God, Maner!!”

“I’m fine!” Bei Maner’s pupils contracted. The moment the cockpit hatch opened, her crystal bone was instantly whipped against the giant spider’s head like an iron whip! 

Clang—

A crisp sound was only heard. The human crystal bone, unexpectedly, only bounced away, while the alien creature remained unaffected.

Bei Maner’s face turned white. How could this happen!?

Her crystal bone was B-level, and facing a C-level alien creature, even if it was a subspecies, it should not—

Boom!! 

Dust and gravel flew up. The giant spider suddenly slammed itself against the mecha, hitting it straight to the rock wall.

Bei Maner in the cockpit screamed under the huge momentum, her IP sparked all over the place, emitting an overwhelming crackling electric noise. 

“—Maner!!!”

Tang Zhen’s eyes bulged out, and he was about to rush forward in madness!

However, at the next second, Jiang Jianming’s cold and tense voice came from the communication channel of Joe’s mecha below him.

“Tang Zhen! Go back to your own mecha!!”

Tang Zhen: “Little Jiang!?”

“Maner,” Jiang Jianming’s voice was unusually calm, but then he suddenly said, “jump out of the mecha!”

In the cockpit, the alarm red lights kept flashing together. Bei Maner was dizzy, and her mouth was filled with the smell of blood.

“Cough…”

The crystal bones extending from her arms trembled, as they manipulated the mechanical arms to withstand the extended mouthparts of the giant spider.

The giant spider’s appendages bit the mechanical arm with a crack, and then another ominous “rustling” noise from inside of its mouthparts sounded again.

Under the shadow of death, the voice in the communication seemed incomparably ethereal, and Bei Maner thought in a daze: Jump……what? Jump out of the mecha!?

But in this kind of situation……..being face-to-face with an incomparable alien creature…….but if she left the mecha, it would be absolutely impossible to escape with human speed alone……

Jiang Jianming: “Jump!!”

In the next second, a mixture of white spider silk and venom suddenly sprayed out from the giant spider’s mouth!

And almost at that same instant, the cockpit was ejected urgently under Bei Maner’s control.

However, when the spider silk grazed it, it was like steel spikes, the cockpit directly cracked and burst out, and the soft body of the pilot was thrown out high.

“Maner!!!”

The shouts of several people were mixed together, as if coming from another space and time.

Bei Maner hit the ground, then bounced up again. She rolled twice before stopping, lying sideways between the icy rocks, with blood all over her mouth and nose.

The severe tinnitus made her unable to hear anything, and it took a few seconds for her to move and raise her face with difficulty.

In the blurred field of vision, Bei Maner saw the giant spider right in front of her eyes.

Its eight huge turbid green monocular eyes, mucus-hung mouthparts, black jointed limbs, and gray-red fluff.

Looking back beyond the giant spider, her own IP fell to the side, and had a big hole that was corroding. A white spider silk was stuck on its mechanical arm and cockpit, turning into a pool of iron mud.

If she hadn’t ejected from the cockpit at the last moment, she would have been corroded to the point where her skeleton would be exposed.

Beyond the state of the scrapped IP and then…..

However, Bei Maner suddenly became stunned. As she saw the endless sky of the alien star, and the dark clouds rolling over, which would then bring another blizzard—

There was a white light gliding across the sky, faster than the clouds.

It was the white S-Snow Dove flying.