The eye contact between Wuning and Bo Yin gave her an intuitive sense of danger.
It was pure, entirely instinctive human fear of a powerful, even formidable unknown force.
Yet before she could think further, Bo Yin suddenly drew his weapon and spoke indifferently, “The second wave is here.”
The surroundings were eerily quiet. The students huddled together like a flock of lambs, bewildered and pressing against one another.
What? What’s here? The rescue ship?
Sanchez, a member of Squad 191—the one who had earlier suggested cutting off limbs—herded these lambs together effortlessly like a sheepdog and tossed down an energy shield to deploy it.
He appeared to be two meters tall, and even with his mask on, a malicious glint was visible in his expression.
“Hey, you useless lot better stay put inside here.”
The energy shield was a good and effective thing, but it still had a fatal flaw.
Wuning examined it carefully and realized the shield’s protective range couldn’t cover all of them—not even half.
Unable to resist, Wuning turned her gaze toward Sanchez.
The tall Special Operative noticed the girl. Beneath his mask, the corner of his mouth curled into a malicious smirk as he leaned in close, his voice soft and teasing.
“What’s wrong, pretty little lamb?”
The muzzle of his gun pressed silently against the girl’s chin.
It could blow that beautiful head apart at any moment.
Wuning took a soft breath, choosing to conceal her discovery and instead made another request. “Reporting, sir, could we be given weapons for self-defense?”
These Special Operatives clearly didn’t value the lives of Medics. If she pointed out his little game, she might even lose this shield.
Sanchez blinked, then laughed heartily, rubbing the gun barrel against the girl’s delicate skin without hiding his mockery. “No can do, little lamb.”
The remaining Special Operatives also burst into laughter, but before Wuning could say more, they leaped out through the starship’s breach to engage the enemy.
Polluted energy within the Dark Sky Zone absorbed light sources. The earlier blinding brightness now dimmed to a dusky gloom.
For the first time, the students trapped inside the shield saw the appearance of the Dark Sky monsters and screamed one after another.
They were an ugly, evil species that could corrupt the mind and shapeshift based on the fears lurking in their enemies’ subconscious.
Facing their fears directly would drive anyone mad.
But those special forces outside seemed unaffected.
Not only were they unafraid, but they hurled insults in various languages and slang amid the slaughter.
Feeling uneasy, Wuning scanned her surroundings for weapons.
The sounds of battle continued relentlessly. Behind her, within the shield, came the sound of choked, frantic prayers, as if drawing enough crosses would bring divine protection.
A few others, like Wuning, were also searching for weapons.
Suddenly remembering something, Wuning dashed toward the cockpit.
Enduring the nauseating stench of blood, she climbed over a pile of corpses and struggled to pull a dagger from a monster’s spine.
Though called a dagger, it was more like a short sword for Wuning’s hand.
It was the one Bo Yin had thrown earlier.
Without hesitation, she wiped the blood from the hilt on her uniform and prepared to head back.
Suddenly, terrified screams erupted from the other side. “Help—!!”
A small, fish that escaped the net had crawled in through a breach in the ship’s hull.
But those outside didn’t seem to care.
“Hey, looks like one crawled in? Eli, go deal with it.” Sanchez deftly stabbed through the monster’s head.
The man called Eli refused with disgust, elegantly weaving through the enemies, stirring up splashes of blood again and again. “No.”
“We already saved a few earlier, that’s enough. If the rest die, so be it. What does it matter?” A muffled voice let out a few mad laughs.
Bo Yin had no intention of restraining his subordinates.
Every time they entered the Dark Sky Zone, they were dancing on the edge of death. Every swing of their blades could end their own lives.
And as everyone knew, no medic was willing to get involved with the 191 Phantom Squad. So saving medics? Ha.
If they could rescue those two pilots, the mission would be considered accomplished.
Besides, they had already left a few survivors.
The screams inside the ship were like hot oil splashed with water in a frying pan, boiling explosively.
Everyone desperately hid behind the protective shields, frantically shouting for help.
But many were inevitably pushed out.
Even if that monster was small, it could kill all these unarmed medics!
Hidden in the shadows of the cockpit, Wuning’s heart clenched with tension.
She certainly had no confidence in fighting an unknown monster.
She also suspected whether the 191 Squad was enjoying their fear.
Because outside, it was gradually quieting down.
That meant the second wave of attacks had passed, and they were fully capable of coming to the rescue.
As if confirming her thoughts, the next second, Sanchez’s leisurely voice sounded not far away. “You dozen or so people can’t even handle a monster this small?”
“I’ve always said medics are useless.”
The trainees, seeing the members of the 191 Squad, felt as if they had found their backbone and collectively sighed in relief.
But seeing that they had no intention of helping, their faces turned pale and flushed in chaotic panic.
Some trainees, overwhelmed by tension, even vomited and fainted.
One, perhaps having lost their mind, began cursing the 191 Squad. “You’re supposed to protect us! I’ll definitely report you to the military district! How hateful! A bunch of stupid lunatics!”
Wuning tightened her grip on the dagger in her hand, slowly adjusting her breathing.
She had no confidence she could kill it, but if she could inflict a wound on the monster, perhaps the 191 Squad would take over.
But no matter what, she couldn’t bet on the 191 Squad lending a hand at the last moment. She could only do her best.
Wuning didn’t run over because the gravity field here was unstable; she was very likely to stumble halfway.
She casually picked up a piece of rotten flesh—contaminated monster corpses decayed quickly—and threw it over there.
It caught the monster’s attention.
It let out a bizarre, distorted howl and leaped toward the girl.
There was a small clearing near the cockpit.
Wuning knew a little martial arts and barely dodged the monster’s rows of gaping, bloody jaws, desperately thrusting her short sword toward its abdomen.
She didn’t know the monster’s weak point, relying only on common sense from other worlds.
But she was wrong.
The moment she made contact, she knew she had absolutely no chance of winning.
This monster might seem about the size of a large dog, but its weight far exceeded that, as if its entire body were made of iron.
Her strength wasn’t enough to pierce it; she didn’t even leave a scratch.
This completely caught Wuning off guard. In her panic, she forgot the second move she had planned and was thrown straight backward.
In just an instant, the monster twisted its body and lunged forward, arriving right before her.
Wuning felt certain she was finished.
Her breath nearly froze, her limbs stiff with fear.
“Don’t move.”
A cold voice sounded from behind her.
Extremely close.
As a silver light flashed past, the girl’s waist was grasped and pulled back into an embrace.
Before her eyes was the sight of the monster’s head being impaled straight through, mere centimeters away from Wuning!
The entire creature was skewered on the blade, a thick, bloody scent rushing toward her face.
The man behind her flicked his wrist lightly.
The monster was flung into the cockpit like a ragged piece of clothing, landing with a heavy thud.
Before Wuning could regain her composure, the man released her waist and turned to issue commands to the others.
“Make another sound of noise, and your tombstones will be engraved with the highest honor—having your necks personally wrung by Bo Yin.”
Wuning quietly slipped the dagger into the back of her waistband.
The man noticed.