First Interstellar Guide Chapter 45: Don’t Be Afraid

Chapter 45: Don’t Be Afraid

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

The moment Lu Zexuan heard Yu Ran’s voice, he immediately retreated. However, no one had expected that the strange purple trees around the “hill” seemed to come alive suddenly, baring their teeth and claws, fiercely sweeping down towards the ground!

Lu Zexuan was caught off guard by the claws. At this moment, the “plants” seemed to have gained sentience. They writhed and thrashed in the air, resembling the tentacles of an octopus in the deep sea, pulling down the nearby airships one by one.

Tang Ce’s airship was flung away by the purple claws, performing a 360-degree somersault in the air, more thrilling than a roller coaster. He struggled to maintain balance of the airship, shouting through his headset, “Retreat! Fly higher!”

Accompanied by him, both Hummingbird and Chameleon had their airship swept away to a distance.

The sentinels who were supposed to provide support behind the reconnaissance team were not spared either—there were too many of these purple plants here, densely packed claw-like plants suddenly became active. In front of these colossal “monsters,” human airships were as tiny as insects. This scene made Yu Ran unable to help but recall a creature he had once seen in the Southern Triangle— the Red-eyed Spider.

The spider was huge, weaving strange webs with tough silk, waiting motionlessly for prey to enter its hunting range. When enough prey gathered, it would suddenly close its web, capturing them all.

This was not a plant! It was an intelligent creature! When Yu Ran probed with mental tendrils just now, he didn’t sense any emotional fluctuations because it was patiently lurking. Those claw-like things shooting up into the sky, resembling trees, were actually its minions!

It had been silently observing the humans who intruded into its territory, waiting until they flew their airships into its encirclement before launching a sudden attack, intending to wipe out all these “invaders” in one fell swoop!

Yu Ran clenched his fingers nervously, staring fixedly at the scene on the screen.

Mohr’s face turned pale. “What kind of creature is this?!”

Zhao Quan, who was responsible for protecting Yu Ran, immediately drew the electromagnetic knife he carried with him and stood guard in front of Yu Ran like a protector, vigilantly saying, “The starship is positioned in the high altitude and should be safe. They can’t attack the starship. Everyone, be careful!”

Mohr reminded Lu Zexuan, “Major Lu, fly higher! Their range of activity is limited, and they can’t reach the high altitude.”

Lu Zexuan’s low voice came through, “Got it.”

At this moment, the members of the Eagle Special Forces had already been engulfed by the “purple sea.” Those claw-like “purple plants” — no, they should be limbs of some kind of creature — agilely grabbed the airships, pulling and dragging them. The airship in the front, Hummingbird, was about to be torn apart by the claws—

Tang Ce shouted, “Sis Bird, be careful!”

At this moment, his airship was upside down. With his head downwards, Tang Ce pulled the balance bar forcefully, and the firepower of the airship instantly surged to its peak. With a nimble flip in the air, he shook off the claws entwining him and directly pursued towards the direction Hummingbird was falling!

Tang Ce piloted the airship, as fast as lightning, chasing while activating the attack cannons. With a loud “boom,” the claws entwining Hummingbird’s base were instantly blasted into ashes by Tang Ce, and the dark, thick liquid splattered like a torrential rain!

“Aoao—” Deafening roars echoed in his ears, and the entire ground seemed to tremble. The attacks of the claws became more ferocious, and the purple sea surged like towering waves, intending to devour all the invaders.

Hummingbird was rescued, and she quickly regained control of the airship, flying it to Tang Ce’s side, trembling with fear, “What about Xiaolong?!”

Tang Ce looked back in the direction of Lu Xiaolong. His airship was also engulfed in the depths of the purple sea, submerged by countless claws. At this moment, he could only barely see the emblem of the Eagle Legion on the airship through the gaps between the claws…

In this situation, firing recklessly would easily injure teammates. Tang Ce and Hummingbird were anxiously trying to figure out a solution.

The next moment, a clear eagle cry suddenly came from high above, followed by a snow-white arc of light cut out by the electromagnetic knife in Lu Zexuan’s hand, severing all the claws entwining him! The man spread his huge wings and swooped down from high above like lightning. The electromagnetic knife in his hand swung left and right agilely, actually cutting out a path in the purple sea, amidst the claws!

Lü Xiaolong, who was engulfed deep inside, thought he was done for this time. However, just when he was desperate to close his eyes, he suddenly saw the claws entwining him being cut open one by one, and a familiar face appeared in his vision.

The man’s gaze was sharp, his voice calm, “Everyone, fly up high immediately and retreat to the starship!”

Lü Xiaolong was rescued, and he decisively stepped on the airship controller, swiftly flying out from the gap opened by Lu Zexuan. But not long after he left, the claws cleverly folded back and trapped Lu Zexuan.

Seeing Lu Zexuan being engulfed by the claws, Hummingbird shouted, “Major Lu, I’ll help you!” She directly abandoned the airship, lightly landing on the “claws.” Compared to piloting the airship, Hummingbird possessed the most agile spirit body among the sentinels. Especially when facing such huge creatures, she could rely on her agility and lightness to dodge the opponent’s attacks and strike back swiftly.

Hummingbird rode on one of the claws, swiftly wielding her short knives in all directions! She moved quickly between the claws, swiftly jumping and shuttling. Soon, she reached near Lu Zexuan.

Lu Zexuan was fighting with the claws. Sensing Hummingbird’s approach, the pressure on his back suddenly eased. He immediately turned and cut off the claws attacking him, leaping up and grabbing Hummingbird’s collar, bringing her up into the sky.

From high above, it was clear that most of the Eagle Special Forces’ airships were tightly controlled by those claws. One after another, the airships were like small insects caught in a spider’s web, stuck and unable to move at all!

At this moment, they couldn’t use firepower bombardment. They had to engage in close combat to rescue their teammates.

Hummingbird’s face slightly changed, trembling as she said, “Major Lu, this… this monster is too big! How can it have so many claws?!”

The creature she knew with the most claws was a centipede, which could have up to hundreds of legs. But the creature they encountered today had countless claw-like limbs that couldn’t even be counted. Those towering claws seemed to converge into an ocean.

Is this a myriapod?

Lu Zexuan said coldly, “Not just one— we may have disturbed a herd!”

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sudden buzzing sound under his feet, and the whole ground began to shake violently, like an earthquake. Following that, one after another, the monsters finally revealed their true faces—

They were monsters resembling octopuses, with countless tentacle-like claws. They had been sleeping underground, and the two “hills” they had seen just now were likely their heads. With each awakening monster, the speed and ferocity of the claw attacks increased. They seemed angry, roaring as they attacked the annoying “bugs” around them.

At this moment, Lu Zexuan heard painful screams in his headset, “Ahh—”

An airship was torn apart by the monsters, and a sentinel from the Eagle Legion had his body torn in half. Blinding blood sprayed from the inside of the airship, and the lower half of the sentinel’s body was instantly swallowed by the claws!

Lu Zexuan watched this scene with gritted teeth. Without hesitation, he flew forward, lightning-fast, cutting off the claws and quickly pulling out the member who was left with only half of his body from the encirclement of claws.

The sentinel who was torn in half had fainted from the pain. He was a recent graduate from the military academy who had just reported to the Eagle Special Forces yesterday. It was his first time encountering such a situation, lacking in combat experience. When the airship was entangled and overturned, he panicked and failed to activate the protective shield in time, resulting in the airship being swiftly torn apart! He was only 20 years old this year, his parents were definitely waiting for news of his return to the capital star… not the news of his sacrifice!

Lu Zexuan didn’t hesitate anymore, throwing the injured member to his spirit body, White Eagle, “Take him to the infirmary.”

White Eagle worriedly said in his mind, “Are you going to cooperate with the spirit body in combat? In that case, the energy consumption will double!”

Lu Zexuan interrupted it, “Hurry!”

White Eagle could only obey his master’s order and flew with the injured sentinel towards the starship.

The Eagle starship hovering in the sky was relatively safe at this time. Yu Ran watched anxiously at the large screen. Due to the attack and destruction of the surveillance drones, the starship had lost its monitoring signal, and the image on the screen became blurry, unable to see clearly what was happening in the distance.

At this moment, Yu Ran heard the clear cry of the White Eagle. He looked up and saw the white eagle spread its wings, flying back with an injured sentinel.

Yu Ran’s heart sank suddenly, “Is he crazy? Letting the spirit body cooperate in combat?”

Cooperating with the spirit body in combat meant turning the illusion of the four-dimensional space into a physical entity in the three-dimensional world to assist the owner in combat. Both the sentinel and the guide could make the spirit body cooperate in combat, but in this case, the physical consumption of the sentinel and the mental energy consumption of the guide would double.

If the guide’s mental energy was depleted, he could simply fall asleep, but the sentinel… Once the ability consumption was severe, it could lead to the collapse of the mental landscape and sudden berserk state!

Yu Ran clenched his fingers and looked at White Eagle, “What are you doing?!”

White Eagle looked aggrieved, “This sentinel is dying. He must be taken to the infirmary immediately… I can only obey his orders!”

It threw the sentinel into the landing bay and then glanced reluctantly at the little white fox before spreading its wings and flying away.

The little white fox said worriedly, “This is very dangerous.”

Yu Ran frowned without speaking. He quickly turned around and, together with Mohr, carried the unconscious sentinel inside— the sentinel’s body had been torn in half, losing too much blood, and had fallen into a coma. Without being put into the infirmary immediately, he would die soon.

Lu Zexuan still had to save other teammates, but he was too busy. That’s why he let White Eagle bring the wounded back.

Mohr’s face was pale. As he dealt with the severely injured sentinel, he whispered, “Major Lu often does this. It’s not the first time he’s cooperating with the spirit body in combat. He won’t let any soldier who follows him die in vain.”

Yu Ran was silent. He’s a really good captain. Ignoring his own safety, he only wanted to save people as soon as possible. Even though this new recruit had just joined the Eagle Special Forces for a day and was not familiar with Lu Zexuan at all, in Lu Zexuan’s heart, this was also a comrade-in-arms he needed to protect.

***

In the distance, Lu Zexuan tightened his grip on the electromagnetic knife and shouted sternly, “Hummingbird, Vulture, follow me to rescue people! Xiao Tang, A Long, provide air support! Others, abandon the airship immediately if your protective shield is breached, save yourselves, everyone hold on!”

With the captain’s command, the sentinels quickly abandoned their airships. The airship’s protective shield had already been shattered by those sharp claws, and close combat was their only chance.

Most of the sentinels were skilled in close combat, especially those with beast-type spirit bodies. Although there were many claws, their electromagnetic knives could cut through iron like mud, handling one after another for the moment.

One sentinel had a turtle spirit body, using its hard shell to protect himself. The monster’s claws attacked the shell frantically, causing the sentinel to sweat profusely. His abilities were being overused, and his mental landscape was shaking violently. It was on the brink of collapse.

At that moment, a snow-white blade sliced through the air—

The claws attacking him were all cut off by the electromagnetic knife. Lu Zexuan, covered in dirt, appeared in front of him, tore at the back of his collar, flew him into the air, and promptly handed him over to White Eagle.

White Eagle, in cooperation with its master, delivered the sentinel to Tang Ce and Lü Xiaolong.

Tang Ce and Lü Xiaolong were the first to escape. They were in the air, assisting their teammates, but the airship could only accommodate two people at most, making the transportation inefficient. Tang Ce came up with an idea, saying, “Brother Long, lower the balancer on the top of the airship, use it as a platform to stand on. Let everyone stand on it, and we can take turns transporting our teammates!”

Lü Xiaolong understood immediately and acted according to Tang Ce’s instructions, “Got it!”

White Eagle placed the rescued individuals on the platform above the airship.

Hummingbird used her agility advantage to swiftly jump and shuttle between the claws, assisting Lu Zexuan in dealing with the pressure from behind! Zhao Feng, whose spirit body was a vulture, also utilized the ability to cooperate with the spirit body in combat— spreading his black wings, he flew together with Lu Zexuan. The sharp beak of the bird of prey ruthlessly bit through the claws surrounding Lu Zexuan!

The three of them cooperated in the rescue mission, and one after another, the trapped sentinels were sent into the air.

Tang Ce and Lü Xiaolong alternated in transportation, swiftly sending back a group of five people to the starship. The sentinels who returned to the starship were temporarily safe, but everyone remained on edge, anxiously running to the command center and looking towards their teammates still in battle in the distance.

Nothing could be seen clearly on the screen, and the expressions on everyone’s faces became more and more serious.

“It seems Major Lu is injured,” a sentinel with a silver wolf spirit body said worriedly.

Yu Ran’s heart trembled, and he quickly asked, “Is it serious?”

The silver wolf replied, “I saw him bleeding from his shoulder. It should be when he was torn by the claws while saving us!”

Yu Ran was extremely worried, staring fixedly at the roiling purple sea below his feet. It was the first time he felt such anxiety and concern. Lu Zexuan was an S-class sentinel. With White Eagle’s assistance after cooperating with his spirit body, his combat power doubled. He could handle so many claws and still save his teammates, indicating his strength.

But Yu Ran was still very worried. The hidden dangers in his mental world had not been eliminated. This was very dangerous!

***

Lu Zexuan, his strength drained, his camo uniform soaked in sweat, held the electromagnetic knife with trembling hands. His body was covered in thick blood from the monsters, and even the color of his clothes couldn’t be distinguished. His left shoulder was injured and still bleeding.

White Eagle, also weakened, flew at a noticeably slower speed. It weakly reminded, “Master, you need to rest.”

Lu Zexuan tried to remain calm and asked through his earpiece, “Xiao Tang, how many people have we saved?”

Tang Ce replied, “We’ve rescued 46 people!”

The total number of members from the Eagle Special Forces deployed this time was 52, subtracting their team of five, he should have saved 47 people. But there was still one missing. Where could they be?

Taking a deep breath, enduring the discomfort in his mind, Lu Zexuan forced himself to use his abilities to soar into the sky, scanning below with sharp eyes. Most of the claws, having lost their prey, stood defiantly, ready to attack the rescue ships in the sky. But there was one area where the claws were besieging something…

That’s it! Without hesitation, Lu Zexuan dove down. His hand, shaking slightly, tightened around the electromagnetic knife. With lightning speed, he severed the claws surrounding a sentinel—

It was an experienced veteran of the Eagle Special Forces, thirty-five years old, about to retire at the end of the year to take care of his wife and children. The sentinel was now covered in injuries, his crocodile spirit body fighting desperately against the surrounding claws, on the verge of distortion…

With a cold look in his eyes, Lu Zexuan used all his remaining strength to cut off the claws surrounding the sentinel. He grabbed the sentinel’s arm and threw him upwards with all his might, “Go!”

White Eagle caught the sentinel and flew into the sky, placing the last teammate on the airship.

Tang Ce urgently shouted, “Everyone’s here, Major Lu, retreat!”

Hummingbird sensed something was wrong and shouted with widened eyes, “Major Lu!”

Zhao Feng roared, “Major General!”

Suddenly, the wings on Lu Zexuan’s shoulders disappeared, and he plummeted straight into the depths of the purple sea below—

Inside the starship, Zhao Quan suddenly exclaimed anxiously, “Oh no, Major Lu has exhausted his abilities!”

On the monitoring screen, nothing could be seen, and the people on the starship were unaware of the situation on the scene. But the bond between twins allowed Zhao Quan to instantly sense the danger. He anxiously turned around to rush out for help, but when he turned back, he saw Yu Ran had already left the command room ahead of him.

With a swift leap, the youth flipped into a mini-aircraft. Blue flames rose beneath the aircraft as it instantly started up, flying out at the fastest speed possible!

Lu Zexuan, don’t be afraid. I know what this monster is.

I’m coming to save you.