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"The oxygen concentration on the surface is normal, suitable for human survival - indeed, the traces of previous transformations are still there. You don't have to turn on the circulating oxygen supply system after you come down. Ha, it's not as cold as you imagined."
"Because we are protected by the power of pioneering... I'm here."
Dan Heng, who also jumped out of the airdrop capsule, looked around and saw overlapping hills at the end of the snowfield, which added a little three-dimensionality to the monotonous scenery.
For conservative reasons, they did not descend directly to the vicinity of the star's core signal, but left a buffer zone.
Then came Eula and Mitsuki. They looked quite cold in their combat uniforms, but after seeing Sora take off his helmet and enjoy the wind and snow, they also chose to exhale a puff of white mist and savor the cool air.
"It's really not that cold. Hmm? Why didn't Befa come out?"
Eula thrust the greatsword into the snow and rubbed the sole of her boots. The energy loss of the Eye of God was slowing down, which also made her feel a little nostalgic and comfortable.
"There's a mechanical problem with my hatch. Please wait a moment... Sorry, everyone, please stand back. It's completely stuck."
However, no matter how Befa pulled the airtight bolt, the landing capsule did not respond.
So, before Sanyue and Danheng rushed to check, Beifa kicked the hatch open...
The detached and deformed sealed door slid a long distance on the snow with a clanging sound, plowing a conspicuous deep groove.
"...The hatch can be replaced anyway, so there's no need to feel too bad about these replaceable parts."
Facing the stunned Mitsuki, Sora shrugged and said, "Give it to Himeko for recycling later. I will help you make some improvements to prevent such failures."
174. This pioneer is super strong but overly cautious
"Want to call your students down?"
After Kong checked the equipment again and confirmed that the readings on everyone's combat uniforms were normal, Eula also attached the greatsword to her back, half-knelt down and pinched the thicker snow buried under the snow, while asking.
The snow was so thick that the permafrost underneath could not be seen. After thousands of years of accumulation and compaction, Eula could not help but suspect that all the water in the entire area had turned solid, and no new water was entering the circulation. Then where did this seemingly endless snow come from? Was it just blown up by the wind?
"Don't be in a hurry. Let's continue our investigation. Although this area is empty, look far away and carefully. Do you see the blue color under the bulge?"
Sora pointed at an unnatural blue color not far away, and then aimed his gun at it.
"…What is that? An ice sculpture? No, it has the shape of a human."
Eula immediately became alert.
"It's a frozen Rift Creature."
Dan Heng recognized the true form of the crystalline object at a glance:
"Although the form is a little different from what we encountered at the Black Tower Space Station, it is definitely a Rift Creature. Be careful, it may suddenly move."
"Wow... Teacher Dan Heng, please stop scaring me. If we get close to it, will a row of monsters suddenly emerge from the snow and trap us?"
"..."
But before March could further express his concerns, Kong put away his gun with one hand, pulled out a dagger from the belt on his chest, and threw it at the half-buried "corpse" from a distance.
"Bah!!"
The dagger piercing the crystal made little noise, but it startled March, who was aiming the arrow, and almost let go of the bowstring - her delicate body under the tactical uniform also bounced up immediately, and it was obvious that she was really a little scared.
Although she was usually very fierce and bold, she had a strange fear of things that were frozen and could not be seen.
"Kong Kong Kong! What are you doing!!"
"No matter whether it was alive before, it should be dead now. At least half of its life is gone."
Leaning over, he pulled the dagger out of the square humanoid head. Sora checked the inside of the cut and then his eyes became more serious: "...This thing just died."
"Hey!! Why are you scaring me too, Sora!"
"I'm not kidding. Its internal organs are not brittle. It's just that the outer shell has been frozen for a long time... If the weather warms up or it is attacked by a high-temperature weapon, it may really start moving again."
The young Pilot tried his best to say it without exaggerating: "It was a correct decision not to use particle weapons to attack it... If we must solve the hidden dangers... using single-molecule weapons to cut them open is the safest. Danheng, Eula, you have to pay more attention."
"Understood. I will deal with those that are not completely dead." Dan Heng picked up the spear and stabbed it into the snow.
Silently, he removed the head of the monster frozen in the snow.
"Yes, that's right... If we pass through an area where a large number of these world-breaking things are buried, don't make too much noise. What I mean is, Befa, don't rush to open fire even if you encounter danger. First confirm the size of the monster group we have triggered."
"As you wish, Commander." Befa nodded. She folded her hands on her abdomen and moved lightly. Her style was completely different from that of the other cautious crew members.
...and he seems to be the one who is least afraid of the cold.
At the same time, as Kong transitioned from extreme "movement" to extreme "stillness", the sense of separation in his body became stronger and stronger, and for a moment Sanyue could not tell which state of him was real.
But it also made her feel at ease. It seemed that as long as she followed Kong's orders, she wouldn't have to worry about being suddenly attacked.
"Have you noticed? The distribution of the ice sculptures of the Rift Creatures has become more dense."
After walking about five hundred meters, Kong squinted his eyes. Through the snow and fog, he saw cliffs, undulating mountains, the remains of buildings, and many trees that had been permanently frozen before they turned into fossils.
"Uploading our relative coordinates and synchronized images, Jizi, Lao Yang, can you see clearly?"
In the range of the Rift and the Star Core, it stands to reason that conventional equipment cannot send any data back to the vehicle, but psychic energy is really a very convenient energy that is highly resistant to interference.
"Did you see anything related to the database records? Familiar terrain or biological traces?"
"I'm sorry, Captain. The previous generation of pioneers didn't collect data on how the star core was invaded, and we can't match it here. But we can confirm that the place where you landed is relatively safe. Do you want to send Ichinose and Kadokatsu down?"
Lao Yang's reassuring voice sounded on the public frequency, once again diluting the discomfort brought about by the strange atmosphere on the surface.
"We will return to the landing site and wait for them to come down... Asuna, you can land now. Pay attention to the coordinates and don't hit your own people - huh? Any abnormal heat source data?"
Just as Kong was about to give some simple instructions, he heard an alarm from Eula's survey data through his headset.
Youla immediately crouched down, holding the sword at her waist, ready to sweep out at any time:
"…There are heat source activity signals. Befa, this data is called heat source signal, right?"
"Yes, it is based on the same principle as the observation equipment on my ship. It is a high-speed, low-altitude flying unit with a small size, only the size of a basketball. Ms. Eula, I suggest you activate the radiation imaging."
After listening to Befa's instructions, Eula didn't ask Kong for instructions again. She directly put on the helmet hanging on the other side of her waist and immediately obtained more detailed data.
"...There are so many Rift Creatures. They look a bit like... Tsk, they remind me of those troublesome pets of the Winter Warlock."
"Firefly? You know what? They are quite similar."
Sora pulled down his mask, and the outline of the creature displayed on the split screen corresponded to Eula's complaints.
"It seems that they were attracted by the noise of our landing. Don't rush to land, Asuna. The situation is a bit complicated. Wait for us to deal with it."
"receive."
"Once we start, it will definitely attract more people. Can you observe the nearest rift opening, Eula?"
"'Radiation background'... should that be what it's called? The radiation background shows that it's in the frozen woods below the canyon. There are several hot spots inside. Let me switch to the elemental vision to confirm it again."
Feeling that it was too complicated to judge based on data alone, Eula's eyes under the mask emitted a faint golden light: "...A richer blue-white color, it's the ice element. Yes, there must be an entrance to the rift below."
"Take it down. It seems that we have chosen the right direction, and the distance to the star's core is shortening."
Kong quietly aimed at the Rift Creature that had already exposed a part of its wings: "Be careful of those 'corpses' that may be activated, Sanyue, anyone who is attacked should immediately put up a shield."
175. Festival Re-enactment!!
The creatures active on the outskirts of the Rift seem to have low energy levels, and the data displayed on their helmets prove that they are not even small fry.
[Battlefield intensity level 2, the enemy is well-trained, it is recommended to fight head-on. 】
The judgment given by the system allowed Kong to dare to train the crews' coordination in a small-team encirclement formation, rather than quickly eliminating the danger in the cradle.
But while he locked onto the monster below, his attention shifted slightly to the north side of the planet.
He felt like someone was watching him - it was not an illusion. There was indeed a gaze directed at him just now, but it was quickly buried under the snow. The other party blocked his own breath before Kong could counter-locate him. The purpose was unclear, but there was no hostility, otherwise he would definitely be shocked instantly. Kong was very clear about the difference in perception when intuition exploded.
It seems that this place is not completely devoid of "living things".
According to orbital observations, the temperature readings near the core of the star are somewhat erratic. We originally thought that this was a normal distortion phenomenon, but now we think that there may be surprises behind the thick snow and fog.
I just don't know whether this guy who tried to hide himself was prepared or it was just a coincidence.
While he was distracted, Kong relied on his tactical instinct and clenched his fist towards the crews, signaling them to surround and attack.
After receiving the signal, Eula flew down from the side of the snow cliff without hesitation, dragging the greatsword, drawing a clear silver arc, and hitting the head of an elemental creature that looked like a firefly. In an instant, the pale blue creature cracked into a handful of ice-like crystals. The heavy feeling of the "parts" when they fell made Eula curious about how this thing flapped its wings and flew.
After smashing this work of art, Eula's body did not stiffen after landing on the ground. She raised her boots like a dragonfly skimming the water, raised her sword horizontally and smashed a firefly that March had just taken a fancy to into pieces.
She didn't need to use elemental force to support her moves, and her physical strength even recovered. In this white world, she was like a fish in water. Energy-saving attack methods such as rifles were thrown out of her mind. The coldness that could make people's blood coagulate seemed to welcome her, as if she was the darling of the ice and snow world.
The heat emitted by the body does not require additional cooling and can be neutralized by the outside temperature alone, but she even deceived the physiological regulation system, allowing the tactical suit to actively help her dissipate heat.
In Kong's infrared vision, Eula's body merged with the surroundings and turned gray-blue the moment she cut into the enemy camp. If her outline was not clearly distinguished from the snow, Kong would not even dare to shoot to cover her.
"Wow, Sister Eula, that's the target I've set my eyes on!!"
"Sorry, Sanyue, I'll give you the ones on my left hand."
As soon as she finished her words, an ice arrow cut through her spinning body and nailed Feiying to the ground.
But it only paused for a moment before it rushed towards Eula's back door with full energy again.
"Eh, that didn't work very well - these little monsters are resistant to my ice!"
Before Sanyue could issue a warning, Kong shot the firefly that was trying to attack him in mid-air and blew it up, while madly complaining:
"It's already grown to be full of ice resistance, and you're still shooting it with ice-attribute attacks! Didn't I give you ammunition? And a power-hitting bottle!"
After being reminded by Kong, Sanyue reacted immediately, pulled out a special bottle and a physical arrow from his waist, and put them on the bow.
Originally, she had no habit of carrying ammunition or other supplies, but after learning hunting archery, she always felt that something was missing on her back, so she tied a quiver on it - which came in handy in the first actual combat test.
"Well, I'm just afraid of waking up the unmelted corpses around me!"
"Bah!!"
The red-glowing impact bottle rubbed the arrowhead and part of the arrow shaft and ignited them. The little girl who only knew how to play with ice immediately acquired the ability to attack with fire thanks to the great bonus of technology.
When the flaming arrow hit Feiying, it exploded into a ball of steam and sparks, which looked like a small missile or grenade explosion. It was so powerful that Sanyue couldn't help but be surprised that this was an attack she could launch.
"So cool! So awesome!!"
The guidance of the light cone continued. The strange combat experience made March give up flat shooting and set his sights on targets that were more than 300 meters away from him - monsters from another rift activity range were gathering here, and if nothing unexpected happened, they would collide head-on with Eula.
Sanyue held his breath with the bowstring fully drawn, and using the correction data provided by the ruler and tactical suit, he shot ten arrows in one breath towards the area where the monster was approaching.
The specially made arrows shot out in a curved direction and exploded in the air. The arrow shafts split into countless small explosive grains that looked like cluster bombs. Each of them had an explosive effect comparable to that of a butterfly mine, sweeping the tide of monsters into a gray shock wave and blowing them to pieces.