Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

“The Sixth Battalion stationed at the edge of the High Sea Forest suddenly lost contact. Only a special distress signal is sent at regular intervals. Satellite scans show that the area is completely blank,” Lin Changfeng said with a grim expression.

“The Sixth Battalion has two Level 6 warriors, yet they couldn’t even send a single signal. This is the reason I asked you to come. You must be extremely cautious, and make sure to leave enough people at the base to guard the camp.”

Although Topaz Star’s satellite system isn’t as advanced as the Central Star Domain’s, the blank area must have been deliberately blocked.

The ability to block a large-scale satellite signal and prevent even Level 6 warriors from sending out distress signals made Ruo Manni suspect that this was most likely the work of the Yunkai aliens. Lin Changfeng seemed to share this same suspicion.

Ruo Manni had already conducted drills for emergency situations, so without hesitation, she selected five newly promoted Level 6 warriors—Yu Paul, Gong Jiafeng, Chen Genghui, Cao Juexian, and Zhao Lixue—to go with her. These warriors needed practical combat experience after their promotions.

While Ruo Manni focused on training and combat preparation, the daily tasks of the base were mostly handled by Deputy Commander Tong. Therefore, Deputy Commander Tong, who had practically become the acting Battalion Commander, needed to stay behind.

To ensure the safety of the base, the highly skilled Level 6 Late-stage expert, Deputy Commander Ma, was also left behind.

However, in order to help Tamaki Kazia and Sheila break through as soon as possible, Ruo Manni also brought them along.

Ruo Manni’s team moved quickly. Lin Changfeng had just sent the message, and within five minutes, Ruo Manni had gathered her team and set off.

The Sixth Battalion was not close to the First Battalion—there were more than 2,000 kilometers between them. If they used the small flying ship available to the First Battalion, it would take at least half an hour to reach the destination.

Ruo Manni took out her personal flying vehicle and set it to its first-level state. Not only did the vehicle look sleek and impressive, but its speed was also incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared from the sight of the First Battalion.

In just ten minutes, they arrived, covering the 2,000 kilometers. Tamaki Kazia and Sheila, who had seen their fair share of the world, remained calm. However, the other five, less experienced, were wide-eyed and amazed.

They didn’t have time to be amazed, though, because as soon as the flying vehicle entered a 12,000-meter radius around the Sixth Battalion’s station, they lost all contact with the outside world. Yet, when they looked at the sky outside, nothing seemed to have changed.

Thankfully, the advanced scanning system on the flying vehicle was still functional. As they flew closer to the Sixth Battalion’s station, they saw a dense swarm of insect beasts.

“Heavenly Father, these are definitely not native creatures of Topaz Star,” Cao Juexian said in shock.

“These are locust beasts native to the planet ×××, but the ones from ××× are only half the size of these,” Tamaki Kazia, the academic expert here, explained.

Ruo Manni and Sheila were, of course, aware of this. They had studied it at the military academy. Besides Ruo Manni and Hebrew Adam, the elite class had also trained on the planet that Tamaki Kazia mentioned.

“The locust beasts from ××× have very tough exoskeletons, and their forelegs are their primary weapon,” Tamaki Kazia added.

In Ruo Manni’s eyes, this was a monster that resembled a locust in appearance, but it was larger than an elephant, with a single long leg stretching over ten meters.

The camp of the Sixth Battalion was completely overrun by these swarms of locust beasts. All the buildings had vanished, clearly destroyed by the locust beasts.

When Ruo Manni and the others arrived in their flying vehicle, the locust beasts ahead of them unexpectedly took flight and attacked the vehicle.

The six long legs of the locust beasts appeared very sturdy, especially the front pair, which glowed with a cold, metallic shine. If they were to be directly struck, Ruo Manni thought the sharp tips of the locust beasts’ legs might pierce through her vehicle.

Ruo Manni pressed a button, and the flying vehicle launched three Level 1 missiles, which directly hit the three locust beasts attacking the vehicle.

The three locust beasts were hit, but they did not explode as they had expected. Instead, they simply fell from the air, still alive, and surprisingly managed to retreat back into the swarm at a relatively quick pace.

Everyone inside the vehicle felt a heavy mood. They all knew the power of these Level 1 missiles, which were enough to kill most Level 6 exotic beasts, yet on the locust beasts, they had only caused minor injuries.

After taking down three locust beasts, it was like poking a hornet’s nest—the swarm of locust beasts immediately swarmed toward the vehicle.

Ruo Manni immediately ordered the vehicle to ascend rapidly into the sky. However, despite reaching a height of just over 100 meters, the locust beasts were unable to follow.

“Locust beasts from ××× can’t withstand a Level 1 missile attack; it’s usually fatal. So these locust beasts here must have been modified. However, the locust beasts from ××× can fly up to 500-600 meters, while the ones here seem to be limited to only 40-50 meters in altitude,” Tamaki Kazia said.

Although the missiles earlier didn’t kill the locust beasts, the defense data they collected from the locusts left everyone feeling quite troubled.

The missiles equipped at the military camp couldn’t even kill these locust beasts, so it wasn’t a matter of the Level 5 mechs being ineffective. Faced with thousands of locust beasts, how many could a few dozen Level 5 mech warriors really kill? No wonder the Sixth Battalion fell so quickly—no one escaped.

“We’ll need to wear mechs to go down. With our own strength, we can’t kill these insect beasts,” Tamaki Kazia was the first to react.

“Damn it, when did Topaz Star get such terrifying creatures? They couldn’t have just appeared out of nowhere. Didn’t anyone in the Sixth Battalion notice any signs?” Yu Paul muttered angrily.

Ruo Manni didn’t say anything. She exchanged a glance with Tamaki Kazia and Sheila. They both suspected that this was yet another incident related to the desolate forest.

The eight of them suited up in mechs and left the flying vehicle. Ruo Manni was the last to exit and immediately stowed the vehicle, after which they all flew directly to the Sixth Battalion’s camp.

The entire camp had turned into a ruin. The locust beasts seemed to be searching for something among the rubble and had no intention of leaving.

Ruo Manni “saw” the emergency shelter located about ten meters underground, where about five or six hundred people were hiding.

“There are still a few hundred people alive in the shelter. We need to get them out first,” Ruo Manni said.

The dark-red mechs shot like meteors toward the largest locust beast in the Sixth Battalion’s camp.

The locust beast noticed Ruo Manni’s mech. With a powerful push of its hind legs, it flapped its wings and charged at Ruo Manni, moving faster than her mech.

Just as the mech and the locust beast were about to collide, Ruo Manni’s left hand suddenly produced a lightsaber, sweeping it toward the locust beast.

A bit slower, Yu Paul watched as the locust beast was struck directly by Ruo Manni’s lightsaber. The beast was cut in half, and yellow blood splattered out. The two halves of the locust beast fell to the ground, motionless.

The other seven let out a breath of relief and drew their own lightsabers.

One of the common weapons for advanced mechs was the lightsaber, which could be adjusted in length. Ruo Manni adjusted hers to eight meters long.

The long lightsaber swept across, and the two closest locust beasts were immediately cut in half. To an outsider, the killing seemed effortless, but Ruo Manni glanced at the energy consumption. The energy box of a Level 7 mech could only support her in killing a little more than fifty locust beasts at most.

The energy consumption of the other mechs would be even faster, and the locust beasts’ shells were stronger than the data collected by the flying vehicle earlier.

According to the mech’s scanning data, there were no fewer than 8,000 of these locust beasts.

“Clear the locust beasts near the military camp first,” Ruo Manni ordered.

The eight mechs went into action without regard for energy consumption. Though the others weren’t as powerful as Ruo Manni, who had an eight-meter-long lightsaber, they still managed to kill two or three locust beasts with each swing of their five-meter lightsabers. In most cases, one swing was enough to kill a locust beast.

Although Tamaki Kazia and Sheila’s cultivation levels were slightly lower, their mechs’ performance and combat abilities were nearly on par with the others. Yu Paul and the others took it for granted, as these two were renowned prodigies in their battalion.

The eight mechs slaughtered their way through the locust beast swarm. At first, the locust beasts tried to swarm and trap them, but Ruo Manni reacted quickly, and the mechs ascended to escape the encirclement. However, Cao Juexian, Zhao Lixue, and Gong Jiafeng were trapped.

Ruo Manni immediately launched four Level 2 missiles, which accurately hit the locust beasts’ eyes, blowing off half of their heads.

“Level 2 missiles cannot kill them directly. You must target their eyes,” Ruo Manni said.

All the mechs in their group were equipped with Level 2 missiles. Seeing the result of Ruo Manni’s missile launch, the others immediately followed suit, launching a barrage of missiles to break the encirclement and save their three trapped teammates.

In just a short while, the three mechs had been heavily damaged. The locust beasts’ sharp legs had left marks on the mech armor.

Gong Jiafeng’s mech had a large hole in its right arm, exposing the mechanical skeleton inside, but luckily, it didn’t affect the combat capability of the mech.

After the missile bombardment, each of their mechs had launched four or five missiles, but they had only killed a dozen or so locust beasts.

Each mech was equipped with only twenty missiles, and the team didn’t dare to continue firing. They switched to using their lightsabers to attack the locust beasts instead.

This time, the team had gained experience and, naturally, they didn’t get trapped by the locust beasts again. Gradually, the ground around the battalion’s camp was covered with the corpses of locust beasts.

An hour later, the team noticed that the locust beasts stopped charging toward them.

“Captain, these locust beasts seem to be retreating,” Sheila shouted.

“Captain, the locust beasts are pulling back. They seem to be retreating in an organized manner,” Tamaki Kazia said.

Ruo Manni had noticed these movements even earlier. She also discovered the “leader” of the locust beasts.

Ruo Manni wanted to deal with the “leader,” but it seemed very intelligent and had strong stealth abilities. After detecting its presence, Ruo Manni used her telekinesis to tightly “lock onto” the “leader” and flew her mech over toward it.

However, the locust beast seemed to sense something and quickly hid into the swarm. The other locust beasts immediately surrounded the spot, blocking Ruo Manni’s mech from approaching.

The “leader” then broke free from Ruo Manni’s telekinetic lock and disappeared into the swarm.

Ruo Manni then used her telekinesis to “scan” the area, but all she saw were identical locust beasts. The special “locust beast” was gone.

The locust beast swarm then began to retreat.

In less than five minutes, the swarm had completely retreated. Within a few thousand meters, only the corpses of the locust beasts remained; no live ones were left.

Once it was confirmed that the locust beasts had fully retreated, Ruo Manni piloted her mech to a section of the ruined buildings, using her lightsaber to clear the debris.

Although the locust beasts had retreated, communications were still not restored. Ruo Manni used a special signal to contact the people in the shelter.

About four to five minutes later, as the debris in the cleared area revealed a small hole, a Level 6 warrior from the military jumped out.

Ruo Manni instructed the others to remain in their mech suits while she herself jumped out.

As soon as the Level 6 warrior saw Ruo Manni, he excitedly approached and saluted her. “Captain Hua, I’m Gao Ting, Deputy Battalion Commander of Battalion Six. We’re very grateful for your rescue.”

Ruo Manni returned the salute, and since the other person had already recognized her, there was no need for introductions. She directly asked what had happened to Battalion Six and how severe the damage was.

“Half an hour before these strange insect beasts appeared, we received a distress signal from a mercenary group in the High Sea Forest. Our battalion commander led a team of over a dozen people to the ***, in High Sea Forest, to rescue them. Half an hour later, these terrifying insect beasts suddenly appeared around our camp, and none of the alarm systems were triggered. We were caught completely off guard. The insects kept advancing in layers, and all the buildings were destroyed in less than a minute.” Battalion Commander Gao’s voice faltered slightly as he continued, “We didn’t even have a chance to get into our mechs, and the weapons we had couldn’t deal with them directly. These creatures are terrifying—they use their claws to impale the soldiers, and within moments, they devour them…”

“At that moment, I had no choice but to order a retreat and get everyone into the shelter. But inside the shelter, none of our communications worked, and we could only barely send out a special distress signal.”

Battalion Six originally had more than 1,200 soldiers, but now only about 300 remained. The casualties were horrific, and it was no wonder that even a tough man like Battalion Commander Gao had tears welling up in his eyes as he spoke.

Ruo Manni glanced at the remaining soldiers. They all looked at Gao with grateful eyes, but she felt her heartache. Many of these soldiers were severely wounded, yet because there were only one or two medical devices in the emergency shelter, they had no choice but to endure.

These men were no longer fit for combat, and the priority should be to find a place to treat their injuries.

Ruo Manni’s expression grew serious as she said to Gao, “I’ll go rescue your battalion commander. You take your people and retreat to the nearest city. Have the mayor prepare for battle—these locust beasts are likely to attack the city.”

The situation was urgent, and communications were blocked. Gao Ping City, like Battalion Six’s base, could be surrounded just as suddenly. The million-plus citizens inside the city…

Ruo Manni didn’t need to say more—everyone could imagine how severe the consequences would be. The deputy battalion commander was decisive and immediately led the remaining soldiers toward the nearest Gao Ping City by flying vehicle.

Although the camp of Battalion Six had been destroyed, in general, most of the important supplies were stored in the space devices of the battalion commanders. Gao had a small flying ship. Though it was cramped, it was still enough to fit all the survivors.

Since communications were down and the positioning system was unavailable, Ruo Manni and the team relied on the directions provided by Gao.

They were accustomed to using the positioning system, but since the mech systems had a limited range, it took them over ten minutes to find a suspicious site.

The area was in disarray—fragments of mechs, torn human clothing, and scattered bloodstains all indicated what had happened there…