Connie struggled for a long while before crawling up from the ground. He wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes fixed on Adonis with immense malice.
Lu Rui was the second to go. He was agile, his movements in the combat arena were extremely flexible, and although he did not defeat Connie’s subordinate, he successfully dragged out the fight to protect himself. Conrad’s victory was even less of a suspense. After all, his racial talent gave him an absolute, crushing advantage in physical strength.
When Conrad stood firm behind Adonis, observing his relaxed figure, Connie having just returned from the medical pod, left a threat: “There is still one more event. Just you wait!” With that, Connie summoned his mech and left first.
The Zerg Star’s shooting competition was not held in a training ground. Instead, it took place on an actual asteroid infested with alien beasts. It was a completely public event, synchronized and live-streamed for interstellar citizens, allowing them to witness the fighting prowess of the military female teams. This not only boosted unity among zergs but also significantly drove economic development. Much like sports betting, citizens could place bets on their favorite teams, converting their star coins into contribution points to inject into the prize pool. The winners would then divide the spoils from the massive pot. Of course, a portion was taken as a commission by the live-streaming platform and returned to the team members.
In the preceding combat match, Adonis had not expended much physical energy at all. He summoned his mech, “Black Warrior.” True to its name, it was completely black, appearing exceptionally cool and stylish. The regular training matches of the First Legion were also very watchable, and this time, it was a confrontation between two teams. Once the official live-streaming site received the news, they immediately made it the headline of their primary portal for females on the First Higher Star Cluster.
Tracy had been broadcasting for a while now, and the number of viewers in his stream had surpassed ten thousand. As a small streamer, this was an incredible achievement. He had even received two interstellar roses and one cruise ship tip, which converted to at least three or four thousand star coins. Tracy could not help but sigh; money on the First Higher Star Cluster was definitely easier to earn. Before, on the local network of the Trash Star, everyone was just poor zergs huddling together for warmth. Only some interstellar rangers who paid high roaming fees would occasionally stop by to tip him. Over the years, he had accumulated hundreds of thousands of fans. But in just two hours of broadcasting, his new follower count had already surpassed one hundred thousand, a qualitative leap.
He checked the time; it was already two in the afternoon. His takeout finally arrived. Tracy opened his salad box and began his eating broadcast.
“Host, do you want to do a reaction video? There have been a lot of popular combat clips of female zergs recently that everyone loves to watch!” someone in the chat suggested.
“That is a good idea.”
Tracy chewed the kale in his mouth and began searching the web for interesting clips. To his surprise, just after entering the home page, he saw a post with a large “HOT” tag. Below it was a red banner reading: The battle is about to begin; please stay tuned. The handsome, cold face on the promotional photo belonged to none other than Adonis.
Tracy was startled and could not help but click on it.
The camera angles of the official broadcast were excellent, and he immediately searched for Adonis’s figure. Unlike the pitiful and fragile female zerg from last night, Adonis was now wearing a pure black combat suit. He held a long, pure black bandage in his teeth, focused on wrapping his right hand.
“What is he doing?” Tracy poked at the dressing in his salad bowl and asked curiously. He double-clicked to zoom in, and the viewers on screen followed Tracy’s perspective, fixing their eyes on the handsome Major General.
“That is a combat bandage. It secures the combat suit tightly so it does not tear or get damaged unexpectedly when jumping out of the mech,” his female fans explained enthusiastically. They liked watching combat, but they did not want to miss a single move Tracy made. Many females were jumping back and forth, but now that Tracy was watching the stream with them, it retained a large wave of fans who had been on the fence. They felt very honored to be able to answer Tracy’s questions.
Today, Tracy was not wearing his antennae, and he was dressed very casually. His cheeks puffed as he chewed, making him look adorable. Many females were howling, wishing they had a younger male brother like Tracy. He was simply too cute; even the way he drank his nutrient solution was charmingly irresistible.
Tracy took a big gulp of plum-flavored nutrient solution, squinting at the sourness. Meanwhile, Adonis had already equipped his weapons and was preparing to board his mech for battle.
“He is going to PK against the team led by that zerg who is as strong as an ox?” After watching for a while, Tracy finally understood the rules. The two teams would be deployed to a desolate asteroid, and the competition was about who could slay the most alien beasts. Each zerg was only allowed to carry one rifle and a certain amount of ammunition; all other armor had to be removed. Even though the live-streaming cameras were scanning everything and countless drones had been deployed to form a dense net to cover their tracks, this was essentially a “hard mode” version of wilderness survival, making Tracy worry for Adonis.
He could not help but open his terminal to send a message to Adonis, only to suddenly remember he was in the middle of a live stream. Doing so would undoubtedly expose their information and disturb Adonis. So, Tracy had to stare at the screen, watching their performance in the wilderness along with the audience.
“I bet the big guy will win!” the bullet comments argued noisily. “That big guy has so many medals of honor on his chest he can barely wear them all! Plus, listen to how his subordinates address him; he is already a Major General! Isn’t his next step to become a Marshal?”
“Heh, being a Marshal is not that easy. Do you know how many legions there are in the Zerg Star? I suspect the number of Legion Commanders exceeds the number of males on the First Higher Star Cluster! Let alone Major Generals, who are as common as stones on a beach!”
“Then by your logic, that lean female zerg has a lower rank, so his strength must be even worse?”
“Not necessarily.” A sharp-eyed fan said, “Did you see that red medal he is wearing? That is the ‘Blood Medal.’ Only female zergs who are obsessed with killing and are on the Main Brain’s watch list are ordered to wear it. That zerg must be a battle maniac. Today is definitely going to be a show!”
The comments argued endlessly, and they could not help but ask the host: “Who are you betting on, host?”
“Me?” Tracy was stunned. That goes without saying—obviously Adonis! But deep down, having seen Adonis’s fragile side, he was worried about whether his true strength could support him in completing this training.
Although he was burning with anxiety, Tracy remained calm. He gently moved his cursor and, in the betting section, wagered everything he had: “I bet on Adonis.”
As for the reason? Naturally, it was because he saw a line of small print next to it: The side with the lead in support may receive random drops of medical supplies.
Tracy chewed on his tasteless grass while praying in his heart: Dear consort, take it easy this time! Do not add a fresh wound on top of the old ones before they have even healed.
Adonis had no idea that everything he did was being seen by the male. He adjusted his gear and signaled for the two female zergs behind him to follow. The mech lifted off rapidly, leaving only a blur. After reaching the designated altitude, Adonis opened the hatch. The gale winds tousled his hair, but his expression remained unchanged. He simply measured the altitude with his eyes and jumped, embracing the vast, boundless wilderness.
After he leaped, two black dots followed. The camera zoomed out rapidly, and the three zergs disappeared from the frame.
“That must be several thousand meters, right?” Tracy’s mouth hung open in shock. If he had not seen it wrong, apart from the particle beam rifle on his waist, the poor guy did not even have a parachute for protection! He just jumped like that?
“Did the host forget? Female zergs have wings!” Looking at Tracy’s stunned, adorable expression, the chat laughed out loud. They thought the host was truly professional and was acting incredibly well—just like a real male zerg. They did not even want to explain the host’s gender anymore; they even started to doubt themselves. Could it be we remembered wrong? The host is clearly just a cute baby male zerg.
The female fans were determined to treat Tracy as a real male zerg. They watched as the host kept switching drone perspectives, trying to find the female zerg, and patiently comforted him: “After the female zergs land, experienced teams will immediately regroup in open areas and follow the source of water to find the alien beasts’ nest.”
The theme of this competition was shooting. As long as one team member scored the first point, their location would be immediately locked, and they would be able to watch the performance that followed.
Sure enough, Adonis’s abyss appeared soon. He leaped onto a tall tree and immediately locked onto his target.
“Found them so fast!” the chat exclaimed. “How can his mental detection skills be this powerful?”
Seeing Adonis lock onto the first alien beast nest and successfully hunt dozens of disgusting low-level insect beasts, the viewers who bet on Adonis cheered instantly. A smile appeared on Tracy’s face. He stared at Adonis, took a big gulp of plum juice, and felt a surge of sweetness in his heart. The heart that had been suspended all this time gradually settled.
The score gap gradually widened, and the competition time passed second by second.
“Hey, why is Connie’s group also approaching Adonis’s group?”
The asteroid was so huge, and alien beasts were everywhere; logically, they should not run into each other. But unexpectedly, they met. A particle beam shot past Adonis’s ear. If he had not tilted his head, his head would have been blown off by Connie.
“Ah, I am so sorry.” Connie’s face was full of malice. “The gun went off by accident just now. I trust you do not mind, right?”