Chapter 17: Rescue
The starship had descended deeply, and the pale sky above them had shrunk to a tiny point, no bigger than a needle’s tip.
As they descended, Rong Mi occasionally spotted deep claw marks on the rock walls under the ice to the side, marks left by advanced ice butterflies climbing upward, only to be dragged into the mouth of a larger creature below.
The air around them was filled with the cold aura of Lu Yi’s spiritual energy, so much so that when looking into the distance, their eyesight was more useful than their spiritual energy vision.
The spotlight at the bottom of the starship turned on, casting a bright white light deep into the pit.
Rong Mi saw a massive ice crystal.
It was an ice crystal much larger than the starship, buried deep within the planet. It spread out along the walls of the pit, extending in all directions, and its end was difficult to see.
Beneath the ice crystal, faint blue butterfly wings could be seen, along with a blood-red hue.
The red color was flowing quickly, merging into strange patterns of dots and lines, before spreading out again.
Sensing the light from the starship’s spotlight, the ice butterfly angrily fluttered its wings and struck the ice crystal forcefully.
“Whirrrrrrr…”
A faint hum rose from beneath the ice.
The force was great, and under its blows, cracks appeared intermittently in the ice crystal, but new ice quickly formed, repairing the cracks.
“Bang!!”
A loud collision followed.
After failing to break the ice, the butterfly’s wings suddenly folded, and several bright red tentacles emerged from below.
Each of these tentacles was as wide as the starship, attempting to pierce through the ice, but they could not succeed.
After several attempts, the thick tentacles withdrew, and a human-like head emerged from beneath the ice.
Its skin was pale, and the head was pressed tightly against the ice layer, its blood-red eyes staring at the starship. The eyes had no pupils, only swirling, chaotic black spots that shifted endlessly, resembling a pool of blood, with mosquitoes emerging from it.
Rong Mi: “…”
This ice butterfly’s one eye was already bigger than their starship!
The more advanced the ice butterfly, the more beautiful its appearance.
But if that face was dozens or even hundreds of times larger than a normal human face… it was difficult to appreciate its beauty.
Not to mention the floating black spots in its eyes, which looked like eggs of lower-level ice butterflies in the process of incubation…
“Whirrrrrrr…”
The hum echoed again from beneath the ice, and when the huge red eyes looked toward them, a faint red hue appeared in the air around the starship.
Advanced ice butterflies had the ability to attack across space.
The toxic and corrosive energy particles of the ice butterfly quickly gathered around the starship. However, almost immediately, the silver spiritual energy surrounding the starship surged violently, forming cold silver blades that sliced through the red mist, freezing it into falling snowflakes.
“…Stop staring at me.” Rong Mi locked eyes with the fifth-level ice butterfly’s bright red eyes, his tone full of disdain. “This thing… no matter how many times I see it, it’s impossible to get used to. Close your eyes now!”
The deep purple spiritual energy trembled as he spoke.
“Whirrrrrrr…”
Thousands of spiritual threads vibrated under Rong Mi’s control. The outer edges of the triangular formation in the air trembled, emitting a sound that matched the frequency of the ice butterfly’s wings.
The deep purple triangle rotated in midair, and its vibrations overlapped in a special, patterned rhythm.
This unique vibration pattern was a solution Rong Mi had developed after repeatedly experimenting and observing the energy characteristics of ice butterflies in combat.
During the interstellar nomadic era, fleets were scattered across vast distances, and the space stations established in the universe were sparse, often damaged by ice butterfly attacks.
Rong Mi had witnessed many tragedies where support was too late, and the insectoid species had consumed entire fleets. Using his keen spiritual energy sensitivity and constant research, he had spent eight years carefully studying and finding patterns.
Under the continuous frequency vibrations, the red eye beneath the ice slowly moved, and the white of its eye appeared. The blue butterfly wings rose, covering its head and body beneath them.
This was the sleeping position of the ice butterfly.
The frequency of its wings striking the ice decreased, and the ice butterfly’s humming gradually stopped.
Ten minutes later, the planet fell into complete silence.
“Alright.” Rong Mi sighed in relief. “It won’t wake up for a while, at least not for seventy or eighty days. That’s enough time for the fleet to surround and kill it… trust me, you can unfreeze it and see.”
The precise control of spiritual energy required a considerable amount of energy, and Rong Mi had just fought with the advanced ice butterfly. While he appeared to handle the hypnosis of the large ice butterfly with ease, once he stopped, he found himself a little breathless, wiping his face to discover beads of sweat.
Around the starship, the silver spiritual energy gradually faded.
The snow in the sky froze and dissipated, and the frozen earth began to melt.
The mechas that had been frozen in midair fell to the ground, pulled down by the melting ice pillars.
Lu Yi controlled the starship to rise. Rong Mi suddenly thought of something and raised his hand.
The cannon above the starship glowed with purple light, and a burst of spiritual energy flames shot toward a nearby white competition starship that had collapsed on the ground. In an instant, its shell was burned black, and all the internal circuits were damaged.
The purple fire came quickly and extinguished just as fast, vanishing after achieving its purpose.
Rong Mi glanced at Lu Yi and explained, “I suspect that ship has a device designed to lure the advanced ice butterfly to wake up.”
Civilian starships often had special luring devices… this was no small matter.
These devices were typically used in combat zones to attract ice butterflies to specific locations, where they could be captured all at once.
Because of their danger, such devices were strictly controlled within the military. Even the devices for attracting ordinary ice butterflies could only be operated by commanders at the brigade level or higher, let alone devices for attracting advanced ice butterflies.
Lu Yi had stopped forcing himself to release spiritual energy.
He removed his helmet, his expression cold, frowning as he said, “The military will investigate.”
Rong Mi also took off his helmet and leaned forward to inspect Lu Yi’s spiritual domain.
“Your spiritual energy is greatly depleted,” Lu Yi said, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. “Rest first.”
“I can’t afford to,” Rong Mi said, leaning forward, pressing down on Lu Yi’s shoulder to push him back lightly. His other hand found a button on the side of the pilot seat, his finger pressing it tightly…
The pilot seat tilted backward with Lu Yi. The general’s expression turned slightly colder, and he tried to sit up, pushing against the seat.
But Rong Mi was faster.
The young man bent one leg and pressed it against Lu Yi’s side. He straddled the pilot seat, firmly blocking Lu Yi’s path from rising.
“…Awoo!” The silver wolf, who had been sitting at Lu Yi’s feet, leapt up, landing on Rong Mi, its claws gripping his wrist in an attempt to stop him.
But the wolf’s movement was more for show, and because it was careful not to hurt Rong Mi with its claws, it didn’t use much strength. Rong Mi took the chance to grab the wolf and hold it in his arms.
“Don’t make a fuss.” Rong Mi patted the wolf’s head once, then shoved it into Lu Yi’s arms. “Hold it tight!”
Lu Yi: “…”
He stared at Rong Mi, his gaze dark and unclear.
“What’s wrong, didn’t expect to be controlled by me this easily?” Rong Mi chuckled. “I know you’re probably really strong usually, but that’s when your body is in good condition… Can you still hear me?”
Lu Yi furrowed his brow.
“Can’t see clearly anymore, huh?” Rong Mi reached out and covered his eyes. “Relax, I’ll check your spiritual domain.”
“If you can’t hold on, just sleep… I promise you’ll be able to open your eyes and see the world again.”
“Oh right, your starship should have spiritual energy replenishment liquids, right? After I treat you, I’ll probably need some too…”
As the young man babbled softly, Lu Yi did his best to relax, feeling Rong Mi’s spiritual energy sinking into his domain.
The general did not resist much, and Rong Mi smoothly entered his spiritual sea.
Before entering, Rong Mi had already guessed the state of Lu Yi’s spiritual domain.
It should be similar to the silver wolf’s spiritual sea he had seen—chaotic silver waters, spiritual trees poisoned by insectoid toxins, and a sky with a faint silver hue.
However, upon seeing Lu Yi’s spiritual domain, Rong Mi realized that he had underestimated the severity of the general’s spiritual condition.
Before him was a violent silver-black ocean, the waters swirling in vortices, rising high into waves that completely submerged the spiritual tree. Rong Mi couldn’t even locate the tree, let alone understand the condition of Lu Yi’s spiritual tree. The large patches of black swirling in the waters were enough to tell him that the situation wasn’t good.
Above this silver-black sea, another silver sea hung high. The sea above was also filled with swirling vortices, but it was much calmer. A mental tree extended down from the inverted sea, its branches visible.
The color of this sea was slightly lighter, like a shadow, yet there were several solid water columns connecting the two seas. The tornado-like water columns moved across the surface, their silver color mixed with deep black. The mentally corrupted energy, turned black, surged from the lower sea toward the upper one, merging into the inverted sea, where it was absorbed by the mental tree.
Rong Mi: “…”
Rong Mi recognized it—the suspended mental sea above corresponded to the Silver Wolf’s mental domain.
Indeed, the mental domains of Lu Yi and the Silver Wolf were connected, and both were troublesome in their own way.
The young man fell silent for a moment, muttering to himself, “It feels like there’s work to be done from now on…”
A massive silver-black wave surged from below, crashing down with a roar that seemed to shatter the world. Rong Mi quickly regained his focus and released purple mist.
No matter what, he had to pull Lu Yi back from the brink of death!