Chapter 352: Official Login

‘Could it be… Xiao Xi didn’t come?’

Lin Zhen’s heart trembled. For a moment, he didn’t know whether he was disappointed or relieved. Complex emotions surged within him.

No, it’s too early to jump to conclusions. There’s also the possibility that Xiao Xi disguised herself, or chose to land at a different time.

Lin Zhen shook his head and quickly observed the abilities of the eight enemies during this rare opportunity.

These eight people were all formidable. Among them, four had abilities whose effects could be directly identified.

But visually, none of them possessed the overwhelming, unstoppable power that Xiao Xi had. Most of them were likely second-level star power users.

That’s good. Lin Zhen exhaled slightly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. Five years of accumulation, nearly 100% second-level perfect path. Now, as long as they are second-level… even Xiao Xi… absolutely won’t be his match anymore!

Lin Zhen estimated that they could completely pass through the canopy gap, so he immediately began to reverse-push the metal beneath him, forcing it to decelerate to avoid crashing headfirst into the ground after passing through the canopy.

“Start decelerating.”

This pure metal lander had no cushioning device. If it crashed into the ground at this speed, in such a cramped space, even if they were star energy users, they would turn into a pile of meat paste.

The slowly decelerating streamlined metal, as Lin Zhen expected, passed through the gap just before the canopy closed.

But those Combatants of the Saints’ Hand Society weren’t so lucky. The land in Sector A0 was completely covered. They watched helplessly as the crab wall completely sealed itself, forming a hemispherical canopy covering the entire land.

They intended to forcefully break through by force. But before they could get close, the already sealed crab wall underwent a new change.

Countless red crabs gathered together, forming many distinct raised dots on its surface. These protrusions grew at a visible rate, transforming into extremely sharp spikes, making the entire crab wall look like a curled-up hedgehog.

“Trying to defend with spikes?”

The wind whipped against her face. Shi Linglin squinted as she looked down, vaguely feeling it wasn’t that simple.

The Saints’ Hand Society’s invisible landing pods were technologically advanced.

But being discovered before even breaking through the atmosphere, and even having their landing pods forcibly destroyed, already demonstrated the level of the Carapace Race’s planetary defense system.

To be honest, this kind of mission where they forcefully break through the planetary defense system for a decapitation strike really wasn’t suitable for their Nightingale Team.

Since their inception, their duty was support. Assault missions like this were usually handled by 【Dark Dust】. But they were still second-level star energy users. Breaking through this red canopy shouldn’t be a problem… right?

“Watch out!”

Shi Linglin’s gaze sharpened. She shouted, and her voice was quickly transmitted to everyone’s ears through the communication system. She extended both hands forward, freezing water molecules and quickly forming an ice wall nearly a meter thick in front of her.

The next second. Massive arrows over a meter in diameter, assembled from red crabs, shot up from below like a rainstorm. The meter-thick ice wall shattered instantly upon impact with two arrows. Shards of ice and red crab corpses rained down like hail.

“Help!”

Hearing a cry for help through the earpiece, Shi Linglin jerked her head to look. She just saw a teammate with poor mobility in his ability, after blocking five or six arrows in a row, his defense failed and he was directly “smashed” into a bloody pulp by one of the arrows at the tail end of the volley.

The Nightingale Team had long accompanied 【Dark Dust】 on various high-risk missions. There were occasional casualties, and people often got promoted and left.

Moreover, the Saints’ Hand Society people were inherently cold and wouldn’t actively express emotions to strangers.

So aside from Ye Lan, Shi Linglin had no feelings for any of her colleagues around her. But even so, seeing a second-level star energy user die like that still stirred a feeling of sorrow and empathy in Shi Linglin’s heart. Next wave, would it be her turn to die like that?

“【Canary】!”

Shi Linglin gritted her teeth and said: “Requesting support, the infiltration has been discovered. We need 【Dark Dust】.”

“Unable to confirm specific locations of Chatosi or Lin Zhen. According to restriction clauses, 【Dark Dust】 is not permitted to participate in prolonged ground operations.”

Shi Linglin had known this would be the result of requesting support, but only after hearing the answer with her own ears did she completely give up hope.

“Understood.”

The 【Canary】 AI’s rules were all designed to protect and maximize the utilization of 【Dark Dust】. The safety of the Nightingale Team members was not within the calculation. Even if they all died, 【Canary】 wouldn’t care.

Shi Linglin, with red-rimmed eyes, roared: “Advance, keep advancing! We must break in before the next wave of arrows is ready!”

As her voice fell, she took the lead, her entire body shrouded in ice, transforming into a continuously growing ice meteor crashing downward.

The remaining six team members also knew this was their only chance to survive, and without holding back, they charged with all their might toward the canopy.

“Tatakai, tatakai!”

“Isn’t that the white-haired person from the bakery in Episode 2? So she’s also with the Saints’ Hand Society.”

“Unstoppable. Saints’ Hand Society Convergence Theorem, right? How is it that wherever Lao Zhen goes, they run into Saints’ Hand Society people.”

Bolodi, located at the crab wall’s central control, looked up at the sky. His eyes turned pure red, as if seeing what was happening above the canopy through something. He sneered coldly.

“Very good. Taking the initiative to attack? But if you think the crab wall is only capable of this, you’re sorely mistaken. Activate Thorn Gall Meteor!”

Bolodi commanded loudly.

The adjutant beside him glanced over the control panel and looked up: “Officer, the other four have already landed on the surface and are heading to Little Screw City. Should we intercept?”

“No need. Just pass the information to Zachary.” Bolodi replied flatly. “These four are the ones Zachary wants. Since they managed to enter before the crab wall was fully activated, they have some skill. So let Zachary handle it himself.”

“After all the twists and turns, it was Xiao Yu who made the contribution.”

“Without Xiao Yu’s phone call, Lao Zhen would probably be getting chased by the crab wall too.”

“This is connections.”

On the dark field path, Lin Zhen and the other three ran quickly. Since they had been discovered, there was no need to hide their tracks. This crab wall was indeed powerful.

But the Saints’ Hand Society people definitely wouldn’t be held back for long. They had to take advantage of this hard-won time gap to take Chatosi away before the Saints’ Hand Society acted.

And if the Saints’ Hand Society chose to land in Dark Swamp, then the Interstellar Security Office’s intelligence was correct. Chatosi really is hiding here! This is probably the only good news today.

Lin Zhen thought to himself.