CH 26

Subspecies (3)

Clouds gradually thickened, enveloping the distant mountains.

“Cough……” Bei Maner had blood in her mouth. Gritting her teeth as she stared at the huge creature that was close at hand. She was prepared to fight even at the risk of her own life.

Arms, ankles, back, shoulders, waist…..

The crystal particles quickly coagulate into a solid crystal bone. Her crystal bone was a translucent warm yellow color, like tulips in spring.

The shadow in front of her suddenly moved. The giant spider turned its head, and its limbs rustled.

It unexpectedly didn’t continue to attack Bei Maner, but instead rushed towards the mechas of the other people!

“….why…..!?”

Bei Maner swallowed the blood in her mouth in a daze. For some reason, she felt that her vision had turned even more blurry.

She wanted to get up, but there was a sharp pain in her right calf—she groaned, but she still couldn’t move at all.

Cold sweat slid down Bei Maner’s forehead, drop after drop, she began to sweat unnaturally, and her whole body began to tremble strangely. The girl’s face turned pale, and she was also breathing heavily, with trembling fingers, she reached for her aching leg–

–She felt mucus and hard spider silk, as well as warm blood.

The spit of the giant spider pierced her calf, where the blood flowed profusely, soaking the black military uniform of Silver Big Dipper.

All of a sudden, Bei Maner’s mind buzzed.

She thought in a daze: So…the giant spider didn’t continue to attack because it believed that she was already a prey in its web?

Suddenly, a gust of wind surged from behind.

A white light flashed in front of her eyes, and the mecha Snow Dove flew over the girl’s head!

In Snow’s cockpit, Jiang Jianming pushed the lever to its end, and the mecha spread its wings and flew past the giant spider’s head.

But the giant spider ignored it and was rapidly approaching another M-IP18 by the cliff.

At this moment, Tang Zhen had just got into the cockpit, and when he looked up, he saw a sticky white substance being ejected from the mouth of the alien creature.

“I………shit!!”

He hastily twisted the body of the mecha. The IP rolled down along the cliff and fell down, and the spider silk and venom sprayed all the way behind, leaving a large piece of corrosion between the cliffs.

“Tang Zhen! Run forward!” Jiang Jianming clenched his teeth violently. 

He almost hit the head of the alien creature just now, but the latter didn’t respond!? Snow Dove is an S-type mecha……..does it only focus its attention on larger prey?

Without hesitation, he directly turned on Snow’s original main cannon and its two self-assembled cannons on both sides, and fired madly at the giant spider. With the strong light and smoke, the ice was crushed and rubbles was raised, temporarily enveloping the head of the alien creature.

However, suddenly, a strange sound was heard inside its body. Its oval abdomen squirmed in a disgusting way and an extremely long spider silk was unexpectedly spewed out from its end!

If he’s entangled, there’s only one outcome for him– it would be death.

Snow perilously leaned to the side to avoid, and spun in mid air. Jiang Jianming opened the cockpit, grabbed the front chest of the mecha, and shouted, “Seth——”

The blue-black mecha flew over at the sound, yet there was no one in the cockpit, and only the light of the intelligence flickered on its screen.

[WARNING, HIGH RISK WARNING……………….]

Seth’s voice was extremely sharp.

[The latest intelligent matching result, the matching degree with a B-level alien creature ‘Ghost-faced Belly Spider’ reached 68%………..]

[Master please stay away immediately, woof woof! Please stay away immediately, woof woof!]

Jiang Jianming’s heart sank instantly…..

Subspecies refer to the special mutant species of ordinary alien creatures, which were far more powerful and unpredictable than an ordinary alien creature. If the degree of intelligent matching was within 30%~80%, then the possibility of it being a subspecies would be high.

But according to Seth, this disabled giant spider-like alien creature may not just be a C-level subspecies—

—Turns out it’s actually a Class B subspecies!

This situation was definitely not normal, but there was no time to think about it now. The moment when Snow and the IP were parallel to each other, Jiang Jianming leaped and fell directly from the mecha Snow back into the IP’s cockpit!

He pulled the seat belt and said, “Seth, exchange control! You go control the Snow Dove and listen to my remote instructions.”

[Instructions received, control rights have been exchanged, woof!]

Jiang Jianming pressed his hands on the console, his eyes quickly corresponded to the positioning of his teammates to find them, and at the same time opened the communication channel of the team.

“Calm down everyone, can you hear me?”

However……..the scene was completely chaotic.

Joe had already been scared away a long time ago. He turned his mecha and ran downhill at that time. Ellie, seeing the giant spider crawling towards their side, started running regardless. Tang Zhen, who wanted to turn back to go rescue Bei Maner, almost collided with Li Youfang’s mecha at the inclination……

The situation was out of control, and this was simply not a state where one could fight against the alien creature.

Jiang Jianming made a decision at that moment. “—Don’t turn around, everyone, run straight ahead, at full speed!!”

Tang Zhen roared: “Maner’s mecha is broken, I want to take her away!!”

Jiang Jianming manipulated the IP to drop to the ground, switched to the same terrestrial mode as his teammates in mid-air, then the four mechanical legs landed on the ground with a bang.

“Tang Zhen.”

His voice was frigid cold. “If you want to save someone, just listen to me, go now!”

Tang Zhen’s eyes were bloodshot, he gritted his teeth for two seconds, then turned his IP around, and followed Jiang Jianming closely.

Jiang Jianming nodded at him, turned his eyes sideways and used the wrist device to command the intelligence. “Seth, go up to the sky and circle around, after the target is led away by us, use Snow Dove and bring Bei Maner over.”

The Snow Dove flew high into the sky over the giant spider. The giant spider raised its abdomen and sprayed spider silk several times but failed to hit it, afterwards, it ignored the Snow Dove and continued to chase the five IPs on the ground.

Jiang Jianming raised his head and took a deep look at Snow’s back.

Sure enough……

As the IP’s ran ahead, this thing ignored the smaller Snow Dove.

Snow Dove was much faster than the IP, as long as they turned ahead and as the giant spider continued chasing them, they could definitely rescue Bei Maner.

Along the way, they avoided the spider webs sprayed from the rear and ran at full speed frantically, leaving all the barren valleys and rocks behind.

When night fell, the dark clouds above also caught up, and another snowstorm howled.

In the cold wind, when Jiang Jianming confirmed that the giant spider was no longer behind, he opened the communication channel. “Stop…all stop!”

At this time, almost everyone’s mind was muddled, and Jiang Jianming yelled at the top of his voice for half a minute before his teammates stopped. Dragging their heavy mechanical feet, several mechas struggled to get around to the leeward side in the heavy snowstorm, and fell silent.

There was a dead silence on the communication channel, no one spoke, and only theheavy breathing of everyone was heard.

About a full minute passed.

Tang Zhen said hoarsely, ”Come down.”

“……….Those who still have the strength to move, come down and set up the tent with me.” as he said this, he pushed open the cockpit hatch, then wobbly jumped down.

After a while, Li Youfang, Ellie, and Joe also got off the mecha numbly. Everyone’s faces were ashen, and their limbs were stiff.

Jiang Jianming didn’t move, he panted with slack eyesight, groped around with trembling fingers, grabbed the crystal particle tranquilizer and a few injections, rolled up his sleeves and injected them into his arm above the elbow one by one.

His physical strength had already reached its limit, exhaustion and soreness filled his limbs and bones.

If it wasn’t for the last stretch of thread of his brain power, he felt that he could even collapse into the cockpit and sleep in the dark at any time.

The snowstorm outside was getting heavier and heavier.

Surrounded by completely unfamiliar gray mountains, the visibility was declining, and everything was changing in a worse direction.

Jiang Jianming collapsed in the cockpit of the IP and couldn’t get up. He felt that his low-grade fever symptoms began to recur again, and his perception of time and space became a little vague once more.

“What to do…….this is simply……!!”

“By the way….who to contact…..to……”

A shrill wind was heard in his ears, and he could vaguely discern the agitated voices of his teammates who were talking high and low.

He was so dizzy that he didn’t even know when the others had already set up the tent.

Until Tang Zhen smacked hard on the hatch of his cockpit, and his shouts sounded as if they were far and near at the same time.

“Little Jiang…Little Jiang, wake up…Jiang Jianming!!

Jiang Jianming became startled, he sat up suddenly, and gasped a deep breath.

There was a lot of cold sweat on his back, and after blinking, his vision finally became clear.

He noticed Tang Zhen had climbed up to his IP against the wind and snow, and was knocking on the glass with his fist.

The young man’s complexion was very bad, almost to a pale white, and his chapped lips were trembling. “Come out quickly, Snow Dove…..brought Maner back.”

Under the automatic control of the intelligence Seth Henry, the mecha S-Snow Dove stopped next to Jiang Jianming’s IP, and a layer of snow had already accumulated on its wings. Jiang Jianming was assisted by Tang Zhen in coming out from the IP, and then said hoarsely, “How is it now, did you get to contact the fortress?

Tang Zhen’s face became even more gloomy. “Officer Huo Lin has been notified of this abnormal situation……but it turns out that we are not the only ones who encountered high-level alien creatures in the team.”

“And…….and the first team, they ran into a B-class alien creature at noon today. When we sent the communication to him, the first team was already……” 

When he spoke, his teeth were shaking, and his fingers unconsciously squeezed Jiang Jianming’s arm tightly, “Already……..the whole team was already wiped out.”

Jiang Jianming: “…….”

“Officer Huo Lin asked us to find a way to hold on…..” Tang Zhen closed his eyes as he said this, as if seeing again the blood flowing like rivers and broken limbs on the opposite side of the projection. Lieutenant Colonel Hou Lin, who came late, stood in that pool of blood, while Lieutenant Raymond hunched on the ground in distress.

When they said that they encountered a B-level subspecies, Tang Zhen had never seen such a pale face and gloomy eyes on this ever strict Lieutenant Colonel.

“He said he would immediately report to the higher authorities and send someone to rescue us…however–”

“However,” Jiang Jianming secretly sighed, and then looked up at the path engulfed in the wind and snow again, “No one knows when that B-level subspecies will catch up, right? “

Tang Zhen stopped talking, and the two walked in front of the Snow Dove.

Bei Maner was lying in Snow’s treatment cabin. Her eyes were closed tightly, and her cheeks had a strange bluish-gray color. She had fallen into a coma.

Looking further down, the girl’s right calf had turned purple-black, and grew more than doubled in size. The wound caused by the spider silk had been cleaned by the equipment in the treatment cabin, but the hideous rolled flesh was still shocking, even the broken bones could be seen.

Jiang Jianming glanced at it, and his eyes sank. He turned his head and beckoned, “Need one more person, first unload the entire treatment cabin and move it into the tent.”

Li Youfang walked over quickly, and together with Tang Zhen, they used crystal bones to move the treatment cabin into the tent.

The tent isolated the wind and snow, Ellie and Joe were already sitting inside, the former was sobbing and crying with her head buried in her knees, while the latter seemed to have lost his soul, and had on a dull expression like a puppet.

Who would have thought that………things would turn out this way?

The distant interstellar space was a battleground of life and death, and the Silver Big Dipper Army was a warrior fighting with blood…….Everyone was clear about its principles, and everyone could even recite it backwards.

They even knew that every year there would be recruits still in adaptation period that would die before they could officially go to the battlefield. They all thought they were well aware, but when the crisis suddenly appeared and death really came in front of them, who could stand still in front of fear?

Half a minute later, Jiang Jianming came in with his combat bag. He walked over, opened the transparent cover of the treatment cabin, and took another look at Bei Maner’s injured leg.

The black-haired young man closed his eyes for a moment, and said in a calm tone, “The poison has gone too deep……it needs to be amputated.”

When he said this, the air in the tent froze instantly.

The surroundings seemed to be colder than the snow and wind outside, and at the same time, there was also a darkness darker than the outside.

“What did you say…?” Ellie raised her tear-stained face in a daze, and she stammered, “To cut..………cut……”

Tang Zhen sprang up abruptly, roaring with bloodshot eyes, “——No!!”

But as soon as he yelled, his momentum also instantly disappeared.

“Little Jiang, no…….this is really not possible, let’s think of another way……..”

Tang Zhen’s expression was so distorted that he appeared about to cry, and while trembling he said, “Look, the data in the treatment cabin shows that her vital signs are still very stable, and it hasn’t reached that point…..…”

Jiang Jianming took out a dagger from his combat bag.

Tang Zhen rushed up to hold his hand, and said hoarsely, “Isn’t Snow’s treatment cabin still able to supply energy? Can’t we just let her lie like this, I beg you Little Jiang…”

“No.” Jiang Jianming forcibly broke free from Tang Zhen’s hold and said in a low voice, “This Ghost-faced Belly Spider is a subspecies, and Snow’s medical treatment can’t detoxify it. And…Snow doesn’t have much energy left. If the energy is cut off, it will be already too late. “

“Then let’s go back to the fortress!!”

Tang Zhen roared, but his eyes were a little wet, and his lips trembled more and more violently. “There are more comprehensive medical facilities and professional doctors and nurses in the fortress, what is a B-level subspecies poison!? Let’s go now, As long as we can hurry back, she doesn’t have to be amputated!!”

In the end, he was already roaring to vent.

Several people turned their eyes sideways, with sad expressions on their faces.

Go now? The B-class subspecies is still in front, and they are all exhausted. How can they go in such a heavy snowstorm?

“No one can move now.”

Jiang Jianming said coldly, “Tang Zhen, calm down.”

“It’s you who can’t move!!” Tang Zhen’s eyes widened, and he grabbed Jiang Jianming’s collar, his fist already raised, “Who said I can’t move…..”

But before he could even finish his sentence, tears rolled down his face.

The corner of Tang Zhen’s mouth twitched, and the hand that was holding Jiang Jianming’s collar loosened, and he covered his eyes.

After a long time, he sobbed. “If I hadn’t insisted on coming to Silver Big Dipper…she just wanted to follow me, she just…….”

Jiang Jianming sighed softly, his eyelashes faintly drooped, and there was a little pity in his eyes.

But his hand holding the dagger didn’t even tremble from start to finish.

“I’m going to start, if you can’t take it…….just turn around.”

****

At the same time, as the heavy snow whitened the night.

Silver Big Dipper First Fortress.

The emergency meeting had just ended. There were chaotic footsteps and shouts from the corridor outside the door, and light leaked in through the cracks in the door and windows.

Only the Major General was left sitting in the innermost seat of the meeting room while he propped his forehead with five fingers, burying himself in the darkness.

He hung his headset on, and his wrist device flickered on his bent wrist, indicating that he was talking to someone.

At a certain moment, the Major General raised his face and spoke swiftly in a low voice,

“Your Highness…Your Highness Garcia?”

“I’m Xie Yuduo, are you outside right now? What type of mecha are you driving?”

An indifferent voice came through the headset.

“Get straight to the point.”

Major General Xie was already used to His Highness’s cold and arrogant attitude, therefore he spoke promptly. “It’s a pressing unusual circumstance, Your Highness. Several high-level alien creatures suddenly appeared in a low-risk area. We are instructing those who went out to withdraw back to the fortress, but today just happened to be the day the officers in adaptation period went out for training, and the children somehow bumped into one head on…..”

“One team has been wiped out, and two teams are trapped in the snow-capped mountains. It’s too late to rush over from the fortress, thus I am asking His Highness for help. Look, can you go?”

The person on the other side of the headset was silent for a few seconds, and there also seemed to be the whistling sound of the mecha, then Garcia said, “Got it.”

Major General Xie breathed a sigh of relief.

As far as his understanding of His Highness, his meaning of “Got it” could basically be synonymous to “All right. Leave it to me, leave this matter to me, you bunch of trash”.

Xie Yuduo: “I’ll send you the positioning coordinates. The fifth team is not in danger for the time being, but they’re in too deep, and they won’t be able to come back for a while. We are worried that if they walk around indiscriminately, they might bump into high-level alien creatures, that’s why we let them be on standby.”

“And the third one…In their report, they claimed to have encountered a B-level subspecies.”

Speaking of this, Major General Xie paused bitterly. “I know the hope is slim, but after all, it’s a few young lives, I still hope that you can…..go and see.”

Unexpectedly, His Royal Highness thought for a moment, and then suddenly said, “This is not necessarily true.”

“Ordinary military officers in the adaptation period, their whole team would have been wiped out long ago when encountering a B-level subspecies. Since they are still alive, they can contact the fort—”

In a corner of the night sky far away from the fortress, a mecha as black as steel stretched out its slender wings and turned around quickly—

—Leaving a mountain of corpses of alien creatures and a sea of ​​blood, as well as the crimson real crystal clusters that slowly dissipated and disappeared.

In the cockpit, Prince Garcia unhurriedly picked up the headband from his hand, tied his long hair that was scattered on his shoulders behind his head, and fastened a knot. The headset was still flickering, and he slightly and imperceptibly hooked the corner of his lips.

“……There might just be an acquaintance.”