What Should I Do If My Ex-Girlfriend's Pheromones Smell Too Good? - Chapter 47

Chapter 47: Map

The stone remained where it landed, causing no further movement. Silence reclaimed the corridor. Suddenly, a figure emerged from the darkness. One by one, more silhouettes followed, each with a white searchlight mounted on their forehead, the beams dancing around as they walked.

…Humans?

Shu Qiong and her group stood dazed. Both sides spent a long moment sizing each other up in the dark. Soon, the cadets on the opposite side realized who they were looking at and turned on their external speakers, their voices hushed but thick with relief.

“Cap… Captain?”

“It’s Shu Qiong and the others!”

“Why the hell are you throwing rocks—”

“Why didn’t you guys have your lights on? You scared the life out of me!”

“…”

After a brief round of mutual finger-pointing, the air fell silent again. With unspoken agreement, everyone turned the page, metaphorically shook hands, and exchanged pleasantries.

Shu Qiong breathed a massive sigh of relief and finally switched on her own searchlight. As she swept the beam across the group, she saw that the entire Military University school team was present. Through a quick conversation, she learned that He Xuchou’s group had accidentally found another entrance to this cave. They had gathered a dozen or so other cadets they met along the way and retreated here for safety.

With more people, their courage grew. The strange, dark environment and the surging insect tide outside felt slightly less terrifying. The groups began swapping information. Shu Qiong shared the detailed map they had compiled, adding, “Unfortunately, it doesn’t cover the summit area. The drone was corroded by the swarm once it reached a certain altitude.”

To her surprise, He Xuchou nodded. “As it happens, we came down from the summit. One of our classmates did some basic mapping. It’s not as detailed as yours, though.” She waved toward the mechas resting in the back, and one of them trotted forward.

Shu Qiong heard a soft, gentle voice in the channel. “Xuchou-jie… Hey!”

Chang Xichun’s mecha, Lianzhu, suddenly popped up behind the speaker, throwing an arm around the mecha’s neck. The Omega pilot had zero self-awareness about interrupting; instead, she nudged them: “Go on, keep going. I’m just listening.”

He Xuchou let out a faint sigh before continuing, “Xiao Jiang, share your map of the summit area with Shu Qiong.”

Jiang Guo immediately complied. “No problem.”

Shu Qiong opened the simplified map and fell into a deep silence. Jiang Guo said sheepishly, “I’m a bit clumsy… the drawing is a bit, uh, abstract.”

Inside her cockpit, Shu Qiong silently rubbed her temples. “I have to ask… what does this banana mean?”

“That’s… that’s a gun!” Jiang Guo whispered. “It represents a supply crate.”

Shu Qiong had a moment of realization. “And this beetle with wings is…?”

Jiang Guo continued in a small voice, “That’s the location of the hover transport—the one used to pick up eliminated cadets.”

Shu Qiong gave up on decoding. She decided that if they made it out of this alive, she would be exceptionally kind to Jin Yan for the next month. Since they were all in mechas and couldn’t see each other’s faces, Jiang Guo took her silence for anticipation and asked hopefully, “Can… can you understand it? Actually, I’ve always wanted to study Command at Military Uni. My idol is Lin Yuan! She’s the coolest person I’ve ever seen…”

As Jiang Guo rambled, her voice grew a bit louder. “But my mom changed my application, and I ended up in the Soldiering major at Comprehensive Uni.”

Shu Qiong added dryly, “Dreams are meant for dreaming. Just leave it at that.” Listen to your mother, don’t actually study Command!

She found the name “Lin Yuan” familiar. After a moment’s thought, she remembered seeing it on the Alumni Wall of Honor at her school. Lin Yuan had been in the same year as Shu Qiong’s mother, Shu Ci, though she had reportedly moved from the military into politics. In short, a true heavyweight.

Bringing her thoughts back to the abstract “children’s drawing” map, Shu Qiong asked He Xuchou, “When you came from the summit, you must have passed a mecha transport vehicle.”

He Xuchou hummed. “It’s there, but unfortunately, it’s crashed. It has zero repair value.”

Yan Xiangyu, who had been listening quietly, spoke up: “There should be a spare transport parked at the base of the mountain. It’s on the ground, and the density of the swarm is lower at the base.” The implication was clear: the spare vehicle might still be functional. She knew this because she had been the last person deployed on that route and had seen the empty vehicle parked outside the arena.

“Perfect!” Shu Qiong’s eyes lit up. “Staying here isn’t a long-term solution. Our food, ammo, and energy are limited, and there’s no guarantee the swarm won’t spread into the cave.”

“Agreed,” He Xuchou replied. “Ten more minutes of rest, then we head down the mountain to find the vehicle.”

With a vehicle, they would have a chance to return to the base. Though it relied heavily on luck, they had no other choice. Hearing that Jin Yan was a proper mecha commander, Jiang Guo ran over to exchange “insights” with her. Shu Qiong watched the two of them planning the route in the channel, several times tempted to intervene but ultimately staying quiet.

Inside the corridor, many chose to leave their mechas to stretch their legs and get some fresh air. Shu Qiong opened her cockpit and jumped down, instinctively flexing her legs and enjoying the feeling of solid ground. Yan Xiangyu came down as well, handing her a package of food and water. Shu Qiong took it and took several gulps of water. The two sat together against the hard wall, shoulders touching in comfortable silence.

Ten minutes passed quickly. Those who hadn’t been eliminated yet weren’t stupid; they knew time was of the essence. No one dawdled as they began final preparations, stretching and sharpening their focus.

“Scared?” Shu Qiong asked as she stood up.

Yan Xiangyu turned her head and shook it, standing up as well. She leaned in toward Shu Qiong, her lips briefly grazing Shu Qiong’s forehead—a touch that was gone as soon as it landed. “Let’s go,” Yan Xiangyu said with a smile. “We’re still young. We have another century to spend together. We won’t die that easily.”

Thanks to technological progress, the average human lifespan in the Alliance was now 120 years. Shu Qiong laughed. “You’re being conservative. Life is exhausting—I say if you don’t live to 150, you haven’t made back your investment!”

The tension in her heart dissipated significantly. She climbed back into Xinghai and waved to Yan Xiangyu. Jin Yan sent the planned route to everyone. It wasn’t the shortest path, but it offered the most cover, with most of the journey weaving through the forest. “If all goes well, we should be there in twenty minutes,” Jin Yan’s voice came over the channel. “Be extremely careful. Don’t make too much noise.”

Mechas were equipped with infrared and acoustic jammers; as long as they didn’t run head-first into a Zerg, a stealthy descent was possible. The group formed up. Shu Qiong and Yan Xiangyu exchanged a glance and moved to the front of the line.

They returned through the corridor. This part of the path was safe for now, and the group reached the familiar entrance smoothly. The vanguard was responsible for scouting the environment. Shu Qiong detached another finger probe and threw it out the entrance, feeling a pang of sorrow. They’re expensive! She had poured a lot of effort into making them.

The probe sent the external view back to her viewport. After a dizzying spin as it was tossed, the image stabilized. Shu Qiong saw a low-angle view of a gloomy sky. Gloomy days were rare on Base Star. What filled the sky and blocked the sun wasn’t clouds, but dense formations of the insect tide. At first glance, they seemed static, but closer observation revealed they were flying forward in perfect unison. Occasionally, a few would drop to the ground to devour or corrode anything suspicious or moving; these were the scout soldiers.

The finger probe was small enough that it didn’t attract the swarm’s attention. Shu Qiong let out a breath and adjusted the angle to look sideways. Suddenly, an enlarged insect face filled the screen.

Shu Qiong hissed in fright, nearly jumping out of her seat. The Zerg had been observing the probe for who knows how long, curiously poking it with a forelimb and tilting the camera. Saliva dripped from its mandibles, and its antennae swept back and forth. Every disgusting detail was presented clearly by the probe.

Shu Qiong forced herself to ignore the nausea. With a stony face, she propped up her left arm’s gun, checked the silencer, and pulled the trigger. Silently, the bullet spun into the Zerg’s mandibles and into its body. It was the softest spot, similar to a human neck. A muffled squelch came through the detector—the bullet had exploded internally. Green fluid splattered, and the insect corpse tumbled backward.

Shu Qiong used the probe to check the surroundings again. After confirming there was only one scout in the area, she sent a signal in the channel. Yan Xiangyu received it, flexed her joints, and was the first to leave the cave. Shu Qiong followed immediately. The mechas behind them maintained a proper distance, moving in pairs to watch each other’s backs.

The mecha cloaking devices were far more effective against Zerg than against fellow mecha pilots, as they were specifically designed for the Zerg’s unique visual processing. A journey that would normally be effortless felt crushing under the weight of the stress.

The tense group made it through without major incident, dealing with four scattered groups of scouts along the way. After each kill, they didn’t dare linger, speeding away to avoid attracting the main swarm. Jin Yan’s estimate was spot on; twenty-two minutes later, Shu Qiong saw the perimeter fence of the arena.

The fence wasn’t high for a mecha—only reaching Xinghai’s waist. However, the physical part was just for show; during the match, there would normally be an electromagnetic shield to prevent unauthorized entry or exit. But now, likely due to the failure of the base’s control systems, the shield was completely dead.

Shu Qiong sighed inwardly as she watched Yan Xiangyu vault over the fence with one arm. To her joy, the spare transport vehicle was actually parked there! Shu Qiong followed Yan Xiangyu over the fence and headed toward the vehicle.

But before they had gone many steps, they caught a strange sound—the sound of hard objects striking each other.

Klang! Thud!

Yan Xiangyu, walking ahead, rounded the back of the transport first. Shu Qiong saw her body go rigid as she drew her weapon. Shu Qiong hurried to join her and looked up.

She saw bodies. Many bodies. Humans and Zerg alike, creating a scene like a circle of hell. There were seven or eight human corpses; some wore training uniforms from various schools, while others wore instructor uniforms. The only commonality was that they had been torn to shreds, soaked in black-red blood, looking as if they had been dug out of their cockpits alive by something horrific and tortured to death.

Zerg corpses were even more numerous, scattered everywhere in pieces, their green and purple fluids polluting the ground. The striking sound came from the center, where a few Zerg soldiers had formed a circle. They were slamming their forelimbs into a mecha’s head like they were playing with a ball.

The person inside was still breathing. The mecha’s arms spasmed occasionally, as if trying to raise a cannon, but failed every time. The damage was catastrophic; the mecha was covered in horrific corroded pits, and Shu Qiong could see the cockpit and the dying person through the gaps in the armor.

That was…

Shu Qiong’s eyes widened.

That was Instructor Chu!