What Should I Do If My Ex-Girlfriend's Pheromones Smell Too Good? - Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Scouting

The situation shifted so abruptly that Shu Qiong’s first instinct was to inventory her heavy-duty weaponry—only to realize with disappointment that she was carrying weakened, specialized training versions of thermal weapons. Whether it was the guns or the cannons, none of them were standard military-grade armaments.

This was logical. They were only participating in a training assessment. If every student had been equipped with standard-issue artillery, hundreds of high-spec mechas would have plowed through the entire mountain in minutes, leaving it looking like a field after a locust plague. However, this also meant that in the face of this sudden crisis, Shu Qiong realized she lacked the means to launch an effective counterattack against the incoming insect tide.

In the channel, Jin Yan’s voice crackled: “The instructors told us to stay put and wait for rescue. They’re likely trying to find us using our last coordinates before the signal was cut… but that’s completely unrealistic!”

As she spoke, she let out a sharp gasp. A glob of deep-purple viscous liquid dropped from the sky, slamming into the rock in front of her. It instantly corroded the stone into a pitted mess, emitting a powerful, nauseating stench.

Shu Qiong thought for a moment and asked, “Do you have a map?”

“I do, but it’s mostly focused on the base and the mountainside,” Jin Yan replied, activating the internal air recycling system before adding a beat later, “Time was limited, so the modeling isn’t detailed enough.”

As she spoke, she sent a copy to everyone present. Shu Qiong opened it to see the general layout of the mountain range and terrain, dotted with scattered red points. Most of these points were marked with an “X,” indicating supply crates that Jin Yan had already looted. Despite the dire circumstances, everyone’s mouths twitched at the sight.

“What!” Jin Yan grumbled in defense. “This just shows my professional standards as a commander. With such simple terrain, guessing the examiner’s thoughts and finding the crates is incredibly easy.”

Yan Xiangyu didn’t respond to her. Instead, she tilted her head toward Shu Qiong and said, “Drone.”

Shu Qiong understood immediately. This map was sufficient for a competition, but not for survival. They needed more information to formulate a solid plan.

“We need to bring down a drone and fly it high to collect more specific location data,” she explained to the group. “Depending on what we see, we’ll decide our next move: either find a relatively safe place to wait for rescue, or find a hover transport vehicle and head back to the base.”

“Back to the base?” Fang Yingying frowned. “It’s likely already fallen.”

“But we have no choice,” Lin Mi glanced at her. “Only the base has high-power weapons. Otherwise, we’re just sitting ducks on a chopping block, waiting to die.”

She was pessimistic about waiting for rescue, believing the few remaining instructors would be lucky to save themselves, let alone the students. If Base Star fell completely and was occupied by a larger wave of Zerg, they would be the first unlucky humans to die.

“Don’t be so pessimistic,” Shu Qiong comforted her. “If the instructors had time to send a final warning before the signal cut, there’s no reason they wouldn’t have sent a distress signal to the outside world and military high command. Even though some garrison troops left, nearby systems will send reinforcements. We just need to hold out until then.”

She took a deep breath, smoothing out her own nerves and calming her emotions. Worry and passivity were useless; at a time like this, negative emotions wouldn’t yield any good results.

High above, the Zerg spheres were made of a peculiar material; a single sphere seemed to act as a Zerg fleet. The swarms emerging from them were divided into different castes. Some were small and numerous, possessing sharp mouthparts, swarming to devour every tree in their path. Others had sickle-like forelimbs that glinted sharply in the sunlight; they could split a tree trunk as thick as a man’s embrace in two strikes.

The most annoying, however, were the purple-black insects. They were as tall as a person, with highly distended abdomens. They would occasionally rear up and spit globs of highly corrosive slime at distant targets. Everything touched by the slime emitted black smoke and a foul odor without exception.

Shu Qiong felt her skin crawl. She forced herself to look away, raised her gun, and aimed at the nearest drone. The drone, having lost its master signal, was being governed by a pre-set fail-safe program, hovering blankly in the air and faithfully recording the chaos below—until a bullet slammed into one of its wings. The metal wing crumpled, and it spiraled downward.

Without needing a word from Shu Qiong, Yan Xiangyu performed a side-roll and quickly retrieved it. Shu Qiong opened and closed her mouth, then pulled out utility knives from various compartments on Xinghai. She straightened the drone’s wings while attaching her right-hand finger probe—the one with the built-in detector.

Once finished, she pulled a chip from her cockpit and inserted it into the slot on the drone’s side. Then, she transferred the drone’s controls and the detector’s feed to Jin Yan.

Jin Yan let out a “tsk” of admiration upon receiving the feed: “A technician really is a useful brick.” You move it wherever you need it.

Soon, Jin Yan mapped out the surrounding terrain. She said to the group, “One good news and one bad news. Which one first?”

“Bad news,” Shu Qiong said without hesitation.

“I’m telling the good news first,” Jin Yan huffed. Before Shu Qiong could punch her, she continued: “About a kilometer away, there’s a relatively hidden cave. It’s safe for the time being.”

As the others were about to speak, her tone turned serious as she delivered the bad news: “This insect tide seems to have a unified command. When I pull the view higher, I can see they have a clear division of labor and are already closing in on our location.” She hissed, then cursed, “Crap, the drone’s being eaten by slime.”

A glob of slime had corroded the drone’s battery casing. Exposed to the air, electricity crackled and sparked before the entire drone exploded. At the moment of the blast, the finger detector sent back one last image: several nearby Zerg were blown to bits, limbs and ichor flying everywhere, but new swarms immediately filled the gap like a well-planned web being mended.

Jin Yan frowned as she finalized the map with detailed data and quickly planned an optimal retreat route, sending it to everyone. Fang Yingying took the lead, lunging from cover and sprinting forward. At this point, no one cared about energy or ammo reserves—it was maximum power or nothing.

Shu Qiong held her most intimidating laser cannon, providing cover while timing their movements. Once the others had safely reached the next piece of cover, she and Yan Xiangyu brought up the rear.

Along the way, they inevitably encountered scattered Zerg guards. These were low-intelligence drones following simple patrol orders. Shu Qiong’s group followed a strict rule: avoid if possible; if not, kill in one hit before they could signal the swarm.

After much effort, they finally entered the cave Jin Yan had mentioned. The entrance was piled with rocks and branches, barely large enough for a mecha to crawl through. Once inside, however, it widened significantly into a pitch-black corridor wide enough for two mechas to walk side-by-side.

This was not a natural cave. The realization flashed through all their minds.

They didn’t turn on lights recklessly, opting instead for their mechas’ built-in night vision as they inspected the interior. The corridor was deep, stretching into a bottomless darkness. The entrance area was empty; aside from the construction material lining the walls, there were no other man-made traces.

Shu Qiong asked in the channel, “Do we need to rest?”

Yan Xiangyu, closest to her, shook her mecha’s head. The others also indicated they weren’t tired yet. Shu Qiong’s question had been instinctive, but after speaking, she realized she had unconsciously stepped into the role of leader. She paused for two seconds.

How did a mecha mechanic like her end up as the brains of the squad?

Shu Qiong glanced subtly at Jin Yan. The only commander on the scene snapped to attention and replied: “Daughter, give the order! Should we move forward or stay put?”

“…” Shu Qiong withdrew her gaze. “Let’s move forward.”

The corridor seemed endless, as if hiding a man-eating monster in its depths. They walked for ten minutes without seeing an exit. The unchanging, gloomy environment kept their nerves frayed; the slightest sound caused an overreaction. Once, Lin Mi walked too fast and accidentally stepped on Jin Yan’s heel, causing the latter to jump and latch onto Fang Yingying, who nearly drew her gun in response. Another time, someone kicked a pebble; the sound of the stone rolling nearly caused a riot, sending the group scrambling back five or six meters.

Shu Qiong waited a moment. Seeing no hostile reaction, she stepped forward, knelt down, and picked up the hard, angular object. It was indeed a small stone.

The group looked around. The floor they had walked on was smooth, covered only in dust, with no other visible debris—no gravel, no leaves. Lin Mi squinted and leaned in, saying uncertainly, “Maybe someone carried it in on their mecha when they entered?”

But that felt wrong. Why would it fall off now after walking for so long? It was a stone, not a ball of glue.

In the silence, they heard the sound of hard objects rolling again. Clack-clack, rumble-rumble.

This time, no one moved. Everyone stood frozen. In the darkness ahead, right at the corner of the corridor, another stone the size of a chicken egg rolled out. Faintly, at the turn, a pale light seemed to flicker, making it feel like a scene from a horror movie.

Shu Qiong’s hair stood on end. She instinctively grabbed Yan Xiangyu’s arm, debating whether to fire her cannon or turn and run. Yan Xiangyu patted her hand reassuringly; she had already drawn her weapon, her body tensed and ready for action.

The stone rolled a few times and stopped a few steps away, motionless.