Chapter 15: Ice and Fire Arena (Part 10)
The force of the blade broke through the butterfly wings’ defense, shattered the crimson insect body, and then pierced the hard human-like form beneath it. From top to bottom, with a swift and decisive cut, it split the massive advanced Ice Butterfly in two without hesitation!
Blood splattered, creating a rain of blood in midair.
The blade cleaved through the energy field of the Ice Butterfly, creating a whirlwind that surged outward uncontrollably, pushing away all the sand, stones, and distant suspended mecha starships.
The Ice Butterfly’s body cracked in two, falling into the deep pit below.
The black mech stood in the sky, its purple glow brighter than the daylight behind it.
A moment later, the mech lowered its arm.
The fingers and forearm of the mechanical hand had melted under the high temperature, dripping black metallic liquid. The mech’s outer shell was pockmarked, filled with cracks, exposing large areas of sparking pipelines.
The damage alert and energy depletion warnings blared inside the cockpit. However, Rong Mi didn’t immediately bring the mech down, but instead looked down into the deep pit.
The young man took a deep breath.
His face was covered in sweat, and there was no excitement from victory. Instead, he was still on high alert, in a state of readiness.
Rong Mi pressed on the mech’s control panel and murmured, “This is bad…”
The pit into which the Ice Butterfly had fallen was very deep, as if it reached the core of the planet. Rong Mi still hadn’t heard the heavy, muffled sound of the advanced Ice Butterfly hitting the bottom.
Instead, he heard another sound coming from the pit.
A sharp, crunching chewing sound.
It was as if the butterfly wings of the advanced Ice Butterfly were being torn apart and swallowed, its tough body slowly being chewed and consumed.
Along with it, the still-present mental energy of the Ice Butterfly was also being devoured.
Mixed in with the chewing was the sound of countless small friction noises.
It was as if more advanced Ice Butterflies were folding their wings, climbing up the pit’s rocky walls with their insect legs, attempting to escape.
They were trying to fly out but didn’t attack Rong Mi. It seemed as if they were scattering in all directions, fleeing for their lives.
However, before they could fully fly out of the cave, those advanced Ice Butterflies were being pulled back into the depths by some force.
The human faces on their bodies appeared to show intense fear, and their mouths let out sharp, desperate shrieks.
A few seconds later, the screeching stopped abruptly.
Rong Mi: “…”
“…No way.” Rong Mi murmured as he observed the strange situation below, “This is not the script for someone who’s been reborn!”
“I was just saying how lucky I am to have been reborn… and now I get a different show.”
“What’s going on down there…”
“Devouring their own kind, replenishing energy… looks like a top-tier fifth-level advanced Ice Butterfly… signs of it about to evolve into a sub-butterfly…”
For a moment, everything around was silent.
Only the unchanging alarm in the mech’s cockpit kept ringing.
“Beep beep… Mecha remaining energy below 10%… warning…”
“Mech damage exceeds 90%… backup systems cannot be activated… Mecha core is about to shut down… warning…”
“Whirr…”
“Whirr…”
But soon, the humming of the Ice Butterfly’s wings overwhelmed the alarm sounds.
The air on the entire planet seemed to vibrate. From deep within the earth, the Ice Butterfly’s cries rumbled.
The ground cracked open and sank again. From the cracks, bright crimson light shot out once more.
The scene was even more shocking than before!
The flattened mountain ranges, the snowfields farther away, the mountains on the snowfields, and the icy shores in the distance…
It was as if the planet was about to collapse, torn apart by vast swathes of red.
This red light pierced the sky, visible even from distant space.
The once white barren planet now glowed with a blinding red, as if those crimson rays from within the planet were seeping out, making the entire surface shine with piercing light.
Inside the Space City, the live broadcast director, who had been watching the barren planet, stood by the window. His pupils widened slightly, his face displaying a bizarre expression that mixed both fear and excitement.
The live broadcast screen beside him was already filled with distorted static, but the brief glimpse of the advanced Ice Butterfly before the signal cut off had alerted the military investigation team, who had already been monitoring the competition.
“Beep beep… beep beep… beep beep…”
His communication wristband vibrated violently, and he couldn’t tell whether it was from the military, the entertainment department, or the Space City Police Department.
Soon, footsteps echoed in the corridor outside the hotel, and there was a loud knock on his room door. He heard shouting from the outside, demanding they open the door or it would be forcibly broken.
But the live broadcast director didn’t care about these things.
He stared intently at the distant planet, muttering to himself, “This is what Lord Cecil wanted…”
It was a fifth-level Ice Butterfly, about to evolve into a sub-butterfly.
Its massive body could span most of the planet. When it broke through the planet’s crust, its wings would be visible from afar.
It had been sleeping deep within the barren planet, slowly absorbing the core of the planet, gathering the energy it needed for evolution.
And they had awakened it, helped it feed, and began its evolution.
The more than 500 mecha pilots were just appetizers.
It didn’t matter whether they were devoured by lower-level Ice Butterflies or by its subordinates, the third-level Ice Butterflies.
Because all these Ice Butterflies were merely reserve food for its evolution into a sub-butterfly.
Soon after, the military would launch an attack on this Ice Butterfly about to evolve into a sub-butterfly.
But because the situation was urgent and the fleet couldn’t be coordinated in time, they would only become even more delicious food for it.
Then, it would complete its evolution.
After a satisfying meal, it would leave the military’s encirclement and search for its own resting place.
It would understand their efforts and help them achieve their desires…
The live broadcast director fantasized about the future, eagerly waiting for the massive red light to shatter the planet’s surface and for the Ice Butterfly’s silhouette to rise from the planet.
However, in the dark cosmos, the vibrant red light suddenly vanished.
The eerie red glow covering the barren planet faded, and everything in the universe returned to its usual stillness, as if the strange event of the planet’s surface nearly shattering had just been a fleeting illusion.
The live broadcast director straightened up abruptly.
“Impossible!” His breath was rapid as he pressed his face against the glass.
And on the surface of the barren planet, beyond human vision, snow began to fall.
Crystal-clear white snowflakes descended, drifting down lightly to the ground, seeping into the cracks.
The ground was frozen.
A translucent layer of ice covered the earth, penetrating deeper into the planet, trapping the crimson light within, and connecting the surface that was about to shatter.
In the distance, mechas that had been struck by red light and were about to crash, their movements erratic as they tried to avoid the red light, as well as the starships from the competition team, which seemed to be headed for the ground, were all frozen in place by rising ice pillars from the ground, firmly supporting them.
In an instant, the Ice Butterfly’s howling stopped, and time around seemed to freeze.
But the next second, a dull thud came from beneath the ground.
“Boom… boom!” It sounded as if the Ice Butterfly was crashing violently against the icy shell that imprisoned it, trying to break free.
Rong Mi’s heart tightened. He operated the mech, intending to descend into the pit, but the silver wolf in his pet ball cried out.
“Woof.”
The roar of human starship engines echoed through the snow-filled clouds.
Amid the fairy-like falling snow, a black starship descended from the high cloud layers.
The starship was surrounded by mental power grooves, emitting a blinding silver light.
The grooves gathered around the starship, forming four cannon tubes, which connected in a circle around the ship, creating an impenetrable shield.
More mental power expanded from this center, turning into ice and snow that enveloped half the planet.
“Beep…”
The black starship continued its descent, and the indicator lights below lit up, opening the outer shell to reveal the docking bay.
“A starship has requested a mech docking.” The cockpit, finally free from the endless repeating alarms, issued the docking prompt.
“Detected starship is not on the trusted list for the competition. The system has automatically rejected the docking…”
“Detected starship belongs to the military system. Automatic docking rejection failed… Please, pilot, take control…”
Rong Mi shifted his gaze away from the deep pit.
He looked up at the starship above and, after a moment, pressed the docking command.
In the silver-white world, only Rong Mi’s mech and the black starship above were not covered in ice.
The black mech rose vertically, entering the docking bay’s passage and locking into the mech connection track.
With a soft click, the cockpit popped outward.
Rong Mi hugged the silver wolf and jumped off the mech, quickly scanning the layout of the starship before heading toward the end of the docking bay.