Without running for even a minute, Wen Qi spotted an open flyer nearby. He was uncertain whether it was an unregistered vehicle, but he hesitated for only a second before rushing toward it. Fortunately, heaven was looking out for him as the flyer was indeed unregistered.
“To the Death Zone, at maximum speed,” Wen Qi commanded.
However, at that very moment, an abrupt change occurred. A high-pitched beastly roar erupted, laced with raw aggression. As the sound fell, Wen Qi witnessed two nearby Females turn pale and then flush red before coughing up mouthfuls of blood.
The flyer surged forward.
Under the horrified gazes of the two bystanders, his flyer charged toward the source of the roar at breakneck speed. As it ascended, the world outside became a blur of white. Scenery vanished as if it had never existed, and the speed reached an incredible level.
About three to five minutes later, the white blur faded, replaced by a heatwave so intense it felt like he was being roasted alive. The landscape had completely transformed.
The flyer came to a halt.
Wen Qi took a moment to acclimate before stepping out. The area was vast and desolate with no other Zerg in sight. While he had not felt much inside the cabin, out here, an inescapable roar thundered through the air. Following it, a lower, aggressive rumble shook the ground.
The sources were not far off and seemed to carry a unique frequency. Before Wen Qi could shield himself, a sharp pain pierced his head. In his dazed state, he felt a warm, red liquid on his hand. He looked down, and the crimson staining his knuckles was jarringly bright. He reflexively touched his ear and found his palm covered in blood.
I am bleeding just by being in the vicinity, he thought, his face darkening. If I get closer, it might be even worse.
His eyes flickered as he looked toward the source of the noise. Though he could not see anything clearly from his current position, he knew that just beyond his vision stood several monolithic beings, any one of which could end his life in an instant.
Should I go? I might actually die.
Wen Qi, who had initially wanted to get close to see if he could scavenge anything, forced himself to calm down. After staring into the distance for several seconds, he spoke in a low, cold voice.
“System.”
He paused. “If, and I say if, I die in this world, will the me in the real world die too?” His eyes were filled with complex emotions, yet his face remained eerily calm.
Ten seconds passed without an answer.
He stared into the horizon and asked again, “Will I die?”
Still no reply.
Wen Qi’s gaze began to drop as the thought of giving up grew firmer in his mind. Just as he was about to make a final decision, the System’s voice echoed: “No.”
The voice was icy and devoid of emotion. “While you will not die, your physical body will experience the pain.”
The sudden appearance of the electronic voice startled him. “System, are you awake?”
The response remained a cold, mechanical drone: “The System has not awakened. This response was triggered because the host’s question falls under the mandatory answer protocol established previously.”
“In this world, the System can guarantee your life, but any pain resulting from injuries sustained must be endured by you, even upon returning to the real world.”
Wen Qi’s eyes flickered. He looked out again at the pervasive desolation of the landscape. His resolve hardened.
“I understand,” he whispered. “Thanks.”
The System fell silent again. Wen Qi did not mind, and he began to survey his surroundings. He was likely in the middle region of the Death Zone. The stench of death was everywhere with no sign of life in sight. He did not linger, instead running toward the sounds of battle. After five or six minutes, a massive, blurry shape appeared before him.
It was a creature that looked vaguely like a Zerg but with horns, radiating an aura of immense power. Opposite it, a sphere-like creature flailed its limbs. Under Wen Qi’s gaze, the two behemoths collided with raw, unbridled force.
Boom!
The earth shook and dust filled the air. Wen Qi watched the battle between the two Star Beasts with a heavy expression. If the beasts are fighting here, then where is the Star Lord of Blue Planet 1?
Before he could process the thought, his sixth sense screamed a warning of extreme danger. Instinctively wrapping himself in mental power, Wen Qi did not hesitate. He turned and bolted.
Boom!
A small artillery shell exploded beside him, kicking up massive clouds of dirt. The powerful shockwave sent Wen Qi rolling across the ground. Sharp shrapnel and stones sprayed everywhere. A sharp pain lanced through his arm as fresh blood seeped out. Ignoring the wound, he immediately looked toward the source of the attack.
A military flyer was ascending. Through the glass door that had not yet fully closed, he caught sight of a figure, a Male with red hair and red eyes. Wen Qi focused his vision and realized it was Yi You.
The Director of the Blue Planet 6 Hospital.
Inside the flyer, Yi You wore red-framed glasses. His flamboyant red hair, usually suggesting passion, now carried an air of chilling indifference. He looked nothing like the person Wen Qi had seen in front of Gu Nan. He glanced down with an arrogant, emotionless gaze, seemingly unconcerned whether Wen Qi had survived, before the flyer shot into the sky.
Yi You.
As the vehicle disappeared, a wave of confusion hit Wen Qi. He dared not move until the flyer was completely out of sight.
The two Star Beasts nearby seemed attracted by the explosion. In the span of two breaths, their silhouettes grew rapidly in Wen Qi’s vision, expanding from the size of a fist to the size of a basketball.
Wen Qi did not hesitate. He scrambled up and ran toward a nearby hill with his mental power on high alert.
The roars grew closer, and the sound made his head throb. He pushed himself to go faster, diving behind a rocky outcrop. Barely two seconds after he hid, the two mountain-sized creatures loomed over his position. Compared to these monsters, the craggy hill seemed like a tiny pebble.
This was Wen Qi’s first time seeing the Star Beasts he had written about. He held his breath, wrapping his wounded hand tightly in his clothing as he watched the round beast covered in spikes and the red, Zerg-like beast plated in armor.
His heart pounded against his ribs. Wen Qi tensed his body with half of his mental power shielding himself while the other half stood ready to strike. Fortunately, thanks to a bit of luck and the System’s presence dampening, the beasts failed to notice him and resumed their clash.
Only then did Wen Qi realize both beasts were already covered in blood, indicating a deep-seated enmity. He relaxed slightly but remained vigilant, watching as they moved away while fighting. Eventually, they disappeared from his sight.
He stayed hidden until the sounds of the struggle faded into the distance. Only then did he crawl out from behind the rocks.
With the beasts gone, Wen Qi finally exhaled. His palms were soaked in sweat, marked by his nails from where he had clenched his fists in fear of death.
“Yi You.” Wen Qi took a deep breath. Once his heart rate stabilized, he looked darkly in the direction the flyer had gone. “I will remember this debt.”
Pushing those thoughts aside, he scanned the area and closed his eyes. Males were renowned for their mental power. In the early days before they were protected, they were free to participate in combat, with Females as warriors and Males as scouts.
The moment he closed his eyes, his mental vision expanded. He looked toward where the beasts had come from and saw a large mountain in the distance. There was something inside.
His mental power could only reach so far, so he did not waste time. He began running. Half an hour later, just as his physical strength reached its limit, he arrived at the foot of the mountain. It was majestic and tall, the perfect vantage point for observing the beasts and finding others.
Using his mental power to scan the terrain, he found a secluded spot behind a large rock. Just as he stepped toward it, a chill ran down his spine. He instinctively dodged. No attack followed, but when he turned, he saw a tall Female standing behind him.
The Female wore a crisp blue military uniform with buttons done up neatly and the hem tucked into matching blue trousers and boots. He looked every bit the soldier, but unlike a typical warrior, he had a pair of bone wings that reached all the way to the ground.
This was a high-ranking soldier.
Wen Qi’s gaze fell on the Female’s face, which was the only exposed skin. It was covered in dark red Zerg patterns, making the skin look pitted and distorted. It made him look like a shattered piece of large porcelain. Behind him, the bone wings were covered in sharp feathers and shell-like growths, and the roots glowed with an abnormal red.
This soldier is in the middle of a mental sea riot.
That was the answer Wen Qi’s mind supplied.
As he observed, he met the Female’s eyes. Despite the situation, the eyes were eerily calm, so calm that Wen Qi wondered if the Male was even feeling the agony of a mental sea collapse.
The soldier looked away from the direction of the Star Beasts and asked, “Where are you from?”
His voice was hoarse, sounding as if he were suppressing a great deal of strain. His gaze was so steady it made Wen Qi shiver. It felt as though if he said the wrong word, his head would be taken in the next second. Wen Qi did not doubt that for a moment. He became extremely cautious.
“Blue Planet 1,” Wen Qi replied, his eyes flickering. “And you are.”
Before he could finish, the soldier pointed behind himself. “There is a flyer there. If you want to live, leave this place.”
“I.”
The moment those words were spoken, Wen Qi confirmed the soldier’s identity. But before he could respond, a flash of red crossed the Male’s eyes. In the next instant, the soldier was beside him. Wen Qi had no time to react before a massive force slammed into him, sending him flying.
The force was so great that he was propelled over a hundred meters. As he fell, a pair of gray-white, semi-transparent wings sprouted from his back. He tried to use them to stabilize himself, but he still hit the ground hard.
His back burned with pain, and the newly scabbed wounds on his arm tore open again. The pain made him curl into a ball. He had never suffered like this before. In his current weakened state, he felt like he was falling apart. He bit his lip until the taste of copper filled his mouth, waiting for the pain to numb before he pushed himself up.
Swallowing the blood, he focused his blurred vision on the mountain. He looked at his new wings and flapped them twice. He could only lift himself a few inches off the ground before falling back down, so he gave up.
A beastly roar erupted again, sounding furious. A silhouette appeared in the air, which was the soldier. He moved with a speed so great that Wen Qi had not even perceived his movement.
It was then that Wen Qi realized that the speed Gu Nan had shown earlier was also abnormal.
Before he could think further, the two Star Beasts charged toward the area. The soldier dove toward them with a speed that made Wen Qi’s eyelids twitch. Wen Qi did not blindly rush in because he knew he would be a liability. He looked around.
The soldier had thrown him with precision. About two hundred meters away sat a military flyer. It was damaged with its door hanging precariously from an explosion, but it was cover. Wen Qi ignored the pain and hid behind the vehicle. He closed his eyes.
The world around him vanished, replaced by a God’s eye perspective from above. He felt as if he were floating in mid-air. After adjusting to the sensation, he directed his mental power into the battlefield.
The soldier covered in Zerg patterns was gone, replaced by a Zerg-shaped mecha. The Male was covered in shimmering mirror-like plates that formed the suit, which was the latest portable mecha technology. The Blue Planet 1 Star Lord’s mecha was pinkish-white, matching his hair, and was equipped with two rocket launchers designed like bone wings.
Wen Qi was not an expert on mecha, but he could see this light model was built for speed and portability rather than raw power. For the Star Lord, however, it seemed enough. He was not trying to kill the beasts, only stall them.
Wen Qi solidified his mental power, piercing through the mecha’s shell. His vision fell upon the Female inside. Dark red patterns completely covered his skin, and his eyes were a solid, bloody crimson. He was encased in a thin membrane, seemingly devoid of reason, as only a raw intent to kill remained. Through the mecha’s interface, the Male moved with the suit as if it were his own flesh and limbs.
A green liquid flowed within the membrane, repairing his broken body as he fought, only to have the skin crack open again. The sight of the blood seemed to drive him into a greater frenzy.
Looking at this hysterical Star Lord, Wen Qi felt an unspeakable emotion. This was a side character in his book, a Star Lord mentioned only in passing, yet even at the brink of death, he was using his final value to protect his planet. He protected this place, which was essentially a refuge for the undocumented Zerg.
He felt a rush of conflicting emotions. But there was no time. He looked at the Star Lord. Half of his mental power locked onto the Star Beast that had been blown back and was about to charge, while the other half condensed into a single line. After the Star Lord’s next attack missed, Wen Qi’s mental power dove into the Male’s mind.
Instantly, the Star Lord’s riotous mental sea fought back. Wen Qi did not have time for a gentle approach. Seeing the beast’s attack closing in, his eyes turned sharp, and he diverted another quarter of his mental power into the mecha.
The gap between Male and Female mental strength was vast. Soothing or suppressing a Male was usually easy for a high-ranking Female. But this was Wen Qi’s first time performing a suppression, and the Star Lord was resisting with primal fury. Even with the strength gap, Wen Qi was struggling to manage the chaos. The pain in his head seemed to spur the Star Lord into an even more frantic and effective combat style.
Combined with Wen Qi’s remaining mental attacks on the beasts, the Star Lord managed to gain the upper hand. But Wen Qi knew defeat was a matter of time. They had enraged the beasts, and the Star Lord could not maintain this state for long.
Another attack landed, blasting the two beasts back. Wen Qi stopped holding back. He unleashed his full mental power, intensifying the suppression. The Star Lord’s movements stalled for a fraction of a second, his temples throbbing, but a flicker of clarity appeared in his bloodshot eyes.
Crash!
The mecha was slammed into the ground by a charging beast. The Star Lord spat out blood, his eyes alternating between madness and clarity. Wen Qi sensed the shift and immediately projected his thought.
“Keep fighting. I will suppress the riot for you.”
Forcible suppression was not as kind as soothing. It caused immense pain to the recipient. However, it was the fastest and most efficient method. For a Male facing death, temporary agony was a small price for survival.
The Star Lord did not answer in words, but the mecha’s movements became more calculated and powerful. Wen Qi focused everything on holding down the mental sea.
A minute later, the madness in the Star Lord’s eyes was fully replaced by clarity. While still fighting, he spoke in a raspy voice: “A targeted orbital bombing is about to begin. Give me your coordinates.”
He seemed certain Wen Qi could hear him.
Wen Qi projected his location. The Star Lord replied, “Get inside my flyer. It is damaged, but it will minimize the impact of the blast. I have unlocked the clearance. There is a white button on the dashboard. Press it.”
Faced with life or death, Wen Qi did not hesitate. He scrambled into the flyer and pressed the white button. A defensive field activated, surrounding him in a cool glow. After signaling the Star Lord, Wen Qi watched as the mecha triggered a signal. Soon, missiles were delivered from the sky.
As the bombs fell, the Star Lord pulled back to a safe distance. The power of the blast was immense. The mecha was thrown back, and the roars of the beasts shook the atmosphere.
The beasts’ screams were agonizing and laced with aggression. Even with the flyer’s protection, the sound hit Wen Qi like a sledgehammer to the brain. He lost control, pulling his mental power back to shield his own head.
A terrifying heatwave followed the explosion. Even inside the vehicle, Wen Qi felt like he was in an oven. Fortunately, the sensation passed quickly. Then came another boom. The flyer shook violently but remained intact.
Boom!
The third shell fell. The flyer rattled as if it were about to fall apart. Wen Qi curled up, protecting himself. After five seconds of silence, he checked his limbs. He was intact. He exhaled in relief.
He expanded his mental power again to survey the area. What he saw shocked him.
The mecha had lost its luster, battered by the beasts and the shockwaves, yet it continued to charge, holding the monsters in place. The beasts were injured, with one missing an arm and the other missing several spikes, but they were still alive.
And the mecha. Wen Qi’s shock turned into admiration. Even with half of his mental power retracted earlier, the remaining half inside the suit had witnessed the courage.
The first bomb had made the beasts want to flee, but the mecha had kept them there. The second bomb had damaged the suit’s left leg, but the Star Lord had continued to tangle with them. By the third bomb, the Male inside was severely injured, and the repair fluid was no longer able to keep up. Yet, as the beasts tried to crawl away, the mecha lunged forward again to break their path.
Star Beasts were not intelligent, but they were fast and resilient. If they escaped now, they could reach other planets in five minutes. Most planets could only stall or drive them away. Blue Planet 1 had simply partitioned off an area for them. To truly eliminate them usually required massive weaponry that could cause irreversible damage to the planet itself. There was only one way for a low-power planet to solve the problem, and that was using a high-ranking sacrifice.
The Star Lord of Blue Planet 1 was acting as that sacrifice, using his life to hold the beasts.
Looking at the weakened monsters and the battered mecha, Wen Qi decided he had to act. He condensed all his mental power into a single needle and drove it directly into the brain of the spherical Star Beast.
He met resistance, like an invisible wall. Wen Qi gritted his teeth, his fingers gripping the steering wheel so hard the veins bulged. After three seconds of stalemate, his power pierced through, wreaking havoc in the creature’s mind.
A low, pained howl erupted, turning into a blood-curdling scream. The beast collapsed mid-flight, crashing in front of the mecha and kicking up a wall of dust. Wen Qi immediately repeated the process with the second beast.
As the beasts fell, the Star Lord seized the moment, firing shells directly into their open, screaming maws.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion followed.
Wen Qi collapsed, clutching his head as his mental power bottomed out. Blood began to leak from his eyes, nose, and ears. His vision blurred. The two beasts on the ground were frozen for a split second before the shells exploded from within their bodies.
Wen Qi’s nails dug into his palms as he fought the agony in his mind. He was drenched in sweat, and his temples throbbed with a rhythmic pain. The smell of blood was overwhelming. Exhaustion threatened to pull him into unconsciousness. He fought the urge, waiting until the pain subsided slightly. He looked down at his clothes, which were soaked in his own blood.
Swallowing the metallic taste in his mouth, he pushed his mental power to its absolute limit one last time.
The two beasts were dead. He could not sense the third beast nearby. It had likely fled when things went south. He relaxed slightly, but a wave of fatigue crashed over him.
Just as he was about to retract his power, a new signal flared, which was a warning of extreme danger.
His head throbbed. A sense of palpitations spread through his body. Despite the agony, he expanded his vision to the maximum. In an instant, he saw five or six spherical objects flying rapidly toward the mecha.
Wen Qi’s pupils contracted.
They were shells, twice as large as the ones used before. Six of them. Three were aimed at the Star Lord and three were aimed at him.
The battle was over. The Star Lord was not seeking death, and with his intelligence, there were certainly others monitoring the situation. These shells were not for the beasts.
Someone is trying to kill us.
A cold sweat broke out on Wen Qi’s back as the realization hit him.