Tempest of the Stellar War

Demon Island was not very huge, they arrived at the southern beach after just two hours. There was no sand, only a messy mass of reef, stones, and pebbles. Enormous reefs peeked when the tides went down, forming a cluster of reef islands.

The three Europa musketeers got to work. They stood in a triangle, hand in hand, and, using a unique method, joined powers to sense their surroundings and direct the team.

Slightly further into their journey, Fatty’s expressions changed. All of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks and started crying out loud. "Ayo, hold up, hold up! Tummy ache, tummy ache! I need to answer nature’s call."

Zhang Shan rolled his eyes. "Jackasses are full of sh*t. Hurry the hell up."

"No, no, this is a big one. It’ll take at least a half hour. I’ve been starving the last couple days and may have eaten something bad. Why don’t you guys go on ahead?" Fatty looked awful. His bright red face was dotted with beads of perspiration.

Yuan Ye was stunned. How urgent or painful could taking a crap get? "Are you sure you’ll be OK going alone?"

"No problem. I won’t be able to bait the target given my current situation. Now, I have to find a place to go. Don’t follow me!"

"Nobody wants to smell your sh*t." Zhang Shan laughed in exasperation. This Fatty, fancy him talking about his crap as if it was a treasure hunt.

Fatty leaving did not make much of an impact to the team. Moreover, his performance at the Tri-College Exchange was below average, so nobody had any expectations of him.

Not too far ahead, the look in Meng Tian’s eyes changed. "Seems like we’ve entered their territory."

Everyone looked at her. She was the core fighter, and the team naturally saw her as their leader.

The three Europa musketeers looked at each other and concentrated. Moments later, their bodies tensed up. "The nest.... Is really here!"

The atmosphere around the team suddenly turned tense.

Although they had come in the name of exterminating the Zergs’ nest, no more than half of the team of 24 truly believed that the nest was by the sea.

"Since we’ve arrived at our destination, let’s camp here for the night to get some rest and make preparations. We will attack tomorrow," Wang Zheng said.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. It was important to first get a clearer picture of the land formation and find the entrance to the nest.

With the number of people they had, it was still rather safe. The team quickly split up to inspect their surroundings and build simple defense tools as a measure to deal with the plausible Zerg attack at night. This was the Zergs’ nesting place, so who knows how many of them would flock out.

It was apparent that most people were nervous about this.

It was hard to believe that Wang Zheng had made the right judgement. It seemed like Milo’s deductions were still erroneous, but nobody else other than Wang Zheng would even deduce the nest’s location using the flavor of meat.

Song Li and friends were still sensing their surroundings in an attempt to determine the nest’s location, but their abilities were weak and could only sense things intermittently. This type of sensing was unreliable. The cave’s entrance could not possibly be perfectly upright to give them a good picture. Furthermore, they were cautious not to make too much contact. The Queen Zerg had similar abilities and in fact could use it to control humans.

As people with Ability X, this was all common knowledge, especially for people with their type of ability. They most certainly could not bump heads with someone of greater power.

"Wang Zheng, how sure are you about this?" Masasi asked. Since they’d made the right deductions, the next step would be to attack. But frankly, it was rather risky for their team. Even though many of those who came along were capable, it was not enough to defend against an influx of Zergs.

"50-50," replied Wang Zheng. Before they saw any results, it was all 50-50.

Meng Tian instructed the team to set up traps and warning systems. She did so expertly and systematically. One look and anyone could tell that she had a good foundation from training.

"Like father like daughter." Masasi laughed. He already knew of Meng Tian’s capabilities back at Ares, it was just that her capabilities were for something else, not common battles.

But in terms of personality, Meng Tian was no threat to Achilles and co. Someone with such poor communication skills could never become a leader.

When everything was almost done, Fatty Luo Fei reappeared. He looked like a vagabond, with dirt all over him.

"Hey, fatso, were you discovered by a Zerg in the middle of your business?" someone teased.

"It was alright. I wanted to find a safe place to relieve myself, but I ended up discovering a cave."

Luo Fei shrugged helplessly.

"Oh? Where?" Wang Zheng asked.

Luo Fei pointed in the direction of the beach. "About 300 meters from here. There were 5 caves, and one of them seems to be the Queen’s lair."

"Fatso, you’re not bragging, right? This is not something to be made light of," Yuan Ye chimed in.

Luo Fei chuckled. "Out of the five caves, the leftmost cave had the messiest walls."

"And that means that the number of Zergs entering and leaving is the highest. That should be the main cave’s entrance." Masasi nodded.

Well, Luo Fei was one of the recognized IG core members.

The crowd looked at one another. To think that this fatty had determined the landscape on his own! It seemed like this joke of a team had strong members after all.

Both control rooms watched the two busy teams on their screens.

Over at the lake, Milo’s team had discovered a cave too. They even sensed the Queen Zerg’s presence. They too were going to strike the next day after they’d made sense of their surroundings.

So far, with Milo and Lin Ruofeng in charge, the team’s atmosphere was pretty positive and they were rather united. That was because everybody was highly skilled and they all shared one common goal. Both Milo and Lin Ruofeng knew very well that they had nothing to vie for, just glory for their teams.

Achilles and Lie Xin looked at each other. It was clear that they were going to win. Lear was powerful, but the men he used were weak. Other than Luo Fei, they seemed to be average and untalented, definitely not of much use.

Even Raston and Taros’ men were in this team. In actual fact, if Luo Fei had wanted to join them, they would have agreed out of respect for Lear. Yet Luo Fei chose to follow others. It could only be said that he was of a different level of cowardice.

How could Lear use someone like that?

If it were others, fellows who made a single mistake would have been abandoned right away.

As for Zergs attacking at night, it was not much of a worry for them. If they couldn’t handle something like that, they didn’t deserve to be in IG.

There was nothing much to see, just waiting for them to strike the following day.

As for Wang Zheng’s side claiming that they’d found the Queen’s nest using the Europa boys’ abilities, they remained doubtful. Nobody knew how accurate an undeveloped ability was.

But for the control room upstairs, the three generals had their eyes opened. "Is this considered genius?"

"Determining Zergs’ location using taste. Interesting."

"Milo’s sensing ability has grown stronger. With some proper guidance, she can become Achilles’ assistant."

"It will be quite the show tomorrow. We’ll see which team is first to get there."

The truth was, both the entrance by the lake and by the sea led to the Queen’s lair. Now it remained to be seen how the two teams entered. It also boiled down to luck.

Nighttime was obviously not the time to rest. A large number of Zergs were on the move, but now, both teams were in advantageous positions. Long range fighters, close range fighters, and even backups. They had a good battle with the Zergs.

Having been reassured, the Zergs did not seem as scary as they used to. Back at Wang Zheng’s team, Zhang Runan fought ferociously. The crowd’s jaws dropped to the ground as they watched her use the spear. With a unique set of attacks hidden in her fluid movements, she alone could take down a hundred.

The four boys from Europa were solid. They covered for Zhang Runan, and the five of them working together were like a mobile shield. Highly powerful. This was definitely a pleasant surprise.

The Europa group were all strength-type warriors. Their choices of weapon were unique too. They picked knives and shields instead of laser guns. With them around, there was no need for Zhang Runan to defend at all.

With that, those who were ready to fight could only stand and watch. This was a team made in the heavens.

Even Zhang Runan was taken by surprise. If it had been others, they’d have been harvested by Zergs, but with this group of five distracting the Zergs, the rest just had to fight to their best ability.

Meng Tian’s arrows always arrived at the most crucial second, and every shot was fatal. When shot, the Zergs didn’t even get to struggle, they just dropped dead instantly. It was important to note that Zergs had very strong willpower, so if the attacks on them were not fatal, they would still strike back.

Even then, everyone battled for two hours before it came to an end. The Zergs stopped coming at them, but even then, they remained vigilant. The core fighters rested for the war next day.

Compared to them, the team at the lake had a much easier time. They were all masters, and their attacks were astounding. The Zergs were destroyed within an hour.

Of course, those who had chosen to remain at the same place had a tougher time. The battle only ended after a good four hours.

They hoped that the war would end, regardless which side ended it. Only then would they be able to pass this test.

Eight students were eliminated on day three.

Everyone woke when the first rays of the sun shone on them. They were in a good mood. It was day four and also the beginning of their retaliation. With their good performance the night before, they were highly confident.

The first response they all had upon waking up was.... Mmmmm.... How fragrant!

Luo Fei was first to get up. He couldn’t help but salivate. There were five barbecue pits underneath the tree, and on each one were rows and rows of barbecued fish.

"Ah, you’re all up! Breakfast is ready," Wang Zheng chirped.

"Wow! I shall not stand to courtesy! I want a full stomach even if I die, ha!"

Luo Fei helped himself to a stick without a second’s hesitation. The others were hungry too, and one by one, they got up. They had all fallen asleep after midnight, and only Wang Zheng had remained vigilant. He couldn’t bear with the fatigue and hunger.

"Aren’t you having some yourself, Wang Zheng?" Meng Tian asked. The group was devouring fish they normally wouldn’t even glance at. They ate the fish with their skins and scales and even licked at whatever remained.

Wang Zheng smiled and said, "I are long before this."

"Not bad, Wang Zheng! We don’t have to worry about getting hungry with you around. You shall be our fire boy." Yuan Ye chuckled.

"What! Wang Zheng is our core player. How could you even bring yourself to say fire boy?" Zhang Shan said, as he chewed on his food.

There was definitely not enough food, and everybody knew that.

"I shouldn’t be eating for free. Let me check out the caves later this morning. I shall put these 70kg out to work!" Luo Fei announced, wiping his mouth.

"Bullsh*t! You’re at least 80kg!" Zhang Shan spat.