Chapter 68: My Fear of Insufficient Firepower, Can Only Be Cured By Madness

"..."

Inside the Base Vehicle

The atmosphere was somewhat wrong - not only did Zheng Mu himself notice it, but Cai Shengkun didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Leng Bingyue had a cold expression on her face as she looked at Jiang Lalan and the others who had come aboard and were curiously looking around everywhere.

"I didn't realize you were so promiscuous. It hasn't even been that long, yet you've bumped into another one already." Leng Bingyue's aura was strangely powerful at this moment. The unfamiliar environment made Ge Feng and the others feel rather awkward. They wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.

Jiang Lalan, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to the ice queen standing before her who looked ready to skin her alive at any moment. When she saw her, her face lit up with delight.

"You're Leng Bingyue, right? I heard about you. The Cold Wind Swordswoman. People fleeing from you guys said you were the Ice Point Demoness."

Damn! Everyone instantly felt the temperature plunge at Jiang Lalan's words. Even Ge Feng standing behind her quickly pulled on the corner of his auntie's clothes, hinting for her to be careful about what she said since this was Zheng Mu's main base. In their current state, with half their HP and MP gone, they didn't even have a chance to resist!

They hadn't forgotten that the notice ending the killing restrictions in this test still hadn't gone out yet.

A look of astonishment also flashed through Leng Bingyue's dangerous gaze, seemingly surprised that the cutting board fish meat in front of her had the audacity to be hopping around wildly on her cutting board.

Seeing that Leng Bingyue actually seemed to be on the verge of smiling, Zheng Mu quickly stepped between the two women and explained:

"Miss Jiang, we have a special rest area with hot water and showers you all can use to freshen up first. After you come out, if there's anything else, I'll discuss it with you then."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Lalan's eyes lit up with delight.

"Showers?"

While Ge Feng and the others were still trying to understand the thought process of Zheng Mu's side.

Big bro, we're on the verge of reincarnation here! How can we still be thinking about taking showers? Are we preparing to marinate ourselves so those insect monsters will go easier on us or something?

But Zheng Mu and Cai Shengkun didn't give them a chance to ask questions and directly pushed them towards the empty rooms.

The crisis was temporarily averted. Cai Shengkun immediately sent Zheng Mu a special male Morse code:

Cai Shengkun: Boss, this time I helped you out. When we get back, you have to keep your promise to build me a blonde twin-tailed loli mecha maid!

Zheng Mu: As long as she doesn't look exactly the same as my Mali Rose, draw up whatever design you want and I'll build it for you.

Cai Shengkun: Boss, you have great wisdom!

Zheng Mu: We sworn brothers share righteousness!

Cai Sheng then slipped away. His role was just to provide fire support. For head-on battles like this, they could still only rely on Zheng Mu himself.

"Ahem... I didn't expect the girl to be so enthusiastic either. Who could've imagined she would really come aboard?"

Zheng Mu's explanation didn't change Leng Bingyue's expression at all.

"When you're reluctantly saying things like that, please pay attention to your micro-expressions - you're smiling very happily."

Zheng Mu: "..."

When the hell did you learn about reading micro-expressions, Leng Bingyue?

Seeing Zheng Mu left speechless, Leng Bingue let out a cold humph.

"I'm also a girl. We understand girls better than you men do. Don't be fooled by Jiang Lalan's seeming artlessness. Let me tell you, it's people like her who are most dangerous. Moreover, her identity clearly isn't simple."

As Leng Bingyue spoke, it seemed she wanted Zheng Mu to believe her. She deliberately moved closer, the faint scent of mint entering Zheng Mu's nose. Seeing her delicate expression looking completely serious, Zheng Mu's head suddenly leaned forward -

"Mmph!"

Leng Bingyue froze. Even Zheng Mu felt somewhat blank. Damn, a moment of impulse!

Seeing Leng Bingyue's brain seeming to crash, Zheng Mu decided he might as well go all out. With a "click", he suddenly pinned Leng Bingyue against the corridor wall, one arm blocking her way.

As Leng Bingyue stared blankly, Zheng Mu suppressed the oily, disgusting feeling and cradled her smooth chin.

"Bingyue, you're so worried about me being around other girls, could it be you want to become the head housewife?"

Saint Zheng Mu: You're a f*cking bastard!

...

At the same time, Jiang Lalan and the others had already been stunned speechless by the facilities inside the base vehicle's rooms.

Jiang Lalan was humming happily in the steaming hot bathtub, fragrant mist filling the air. Next to her, a massage robot diligently worked away.

Jiang Lalan: "Woo woo woo, why does that Zheng Mu get to enjoy life more than me? This is the Devouring Desert, the site of a first-rate college exam!"

In the next room over, Gu Ming was soaking in the tub with a blank look on his face. Sang Luo and Ge Feng were baring their teeth enjoying the back scrubbing service of the massage robots.

"Yeah, scrub it nice and clean. Even if I die, I want to die all fresh and clean!"

When the few people exited their rooms after washing up and changing into clean clothes, Tiffany immediately brought them to the recreational area inside the base vehicle. When they arrived and saw the neatly arranged wine cabinet and various gaming setups, they were shocked once more.

And when Jiang Lalan saw there was even a drink-mixing robot providing service here, she immediately rushed over in excitement.

"Classmate Zheng Mu, this place of yours is simply amazing! It's hard to imagine being able to enjoy such comforts while outside leveling up and fighting monsters."

As she spoke, she couldn't help looking all around.

Ge Feng and the others also nodded. The white-haired Gu Ming looked deeply at Zheng Mu.

"That dangerous feeling I sensed from the person in Yuanping City's teleportation plaza should have been you, right?"

Zheng Mu smiled slightly, tacitly affirming it.

Seeing no one discussing the current situation, Sang Luo, who had personally experienced the horrors of the [Golden Ant Queen], immediately became anxious.

"Classmate Zheng Mu, you should hurry up and tell us your plan. Don't tell me you're really planning to go fight that Golden Ant Queen?"

As he spoke, without waiting for Zheng Mu to reply, he immediately opened his own status panel and displayed the information he had scouted on the [Golden Ant Queen].

"This boss should be in an injured state, resting and recovering underground in the desert. But she was discovered by Wang Long and his people. But your excellency, it has 140,000 health!"

"Even in an injured state, that's still 140,000 health! How do you plan to kill that monster amidst tens of thousands of ant minions?"

Seeing Sang Luo shaking in fear, everyone could tell how terrified he still was.

Gu Ming beside explained what happened with Sang Luo barely escaping with his life. Hearing this, Zheng Mu only nodded, without the slightest intention of turning back. On the contrary, his face revealed a confident smile.

"If before I only had a 40% chance, after seeing Classmate Sang Luo's scout info here, I now have at least an 80% assurance."

"80% assurance?"

Everyone looked incredulous. Even Jiang Lalan couldn't help pulling on Zheng Mu's sleeve.

"You can't be planning to send those mechanical creations of yours to fight the ant legions right? Even if for some reason they can avoid attacks at such a high frequency in battle, those ants aren't human! They're fearless monsters!"

Jiang Lalan's anxious expression made Cai Shengkun, who was standing by with arms crossed watching the show, look at his boss strangely.

No way, right? Shouldn't be, right?

The boss has already reached such an outstanding level!

Zheng Mu cleared his throat and imperceptibly shook off the hand pulling his sleeve. He faintly smiled.

"Just watch patiently. Even if the plan fails, I can still guarantee everyone here gets safely to an evacuation point."

Since Zheng Mu had already said this much, the others didn't feel it was suitable to keep pressing him. But they were very curious what other world-shocking methods this A-rank mecha master could still pull out.

While Zheng Mu and his team were hurrying towards the Golden Ant Queen, a battle had already started on that side.

The stubbornness of the Golden Ant Queen as the ruler and summoner of these ants exceeded Qin Zhi and their expectations.

"Fist skill ultimate - Fireworks Across the Heavens!"

Fei Yun Zhou was still midair when He Guang had already leapt down. His fists unleashed a frenzy of void punches, igniting a blaze of raging fire. In the next moment, flames wrapped around He Guang's body, transforming into a fiercely descending meteorite.

"Boom!"

With just one move, the ants within a hundred meter radius were instantly pulverized by the shockwaves.

Yet in the blink of an eye, the sand dunes surged again as several dozen mantis-like monsters instantly erupted towards the still skill-stunned He Guang.

"Crack!"

Qin Zhi's figure instantly appeared in front of him. Thunder rumbled in the sky above. Lifting his longsword straight to the heavens, he let out a loud roar -

"Thunder God, aid me!"

"Crack!"

The next second, amidst the clear skies, several violent lightning bolts suddenly crashed down, instantly charring those nearly lv30 ant guards into coals.

However, seeing the sand dunes surging with ants again, Qin Zhi and the others all changed color.

"Damn it! Just how many monsters can this bastard summon? There's no end to them! What are Liu Wei and the others doing? Why haven't they taken care of the Ant Queen yet?"

Flung back by the retreating, battered shadows that answered him was the deputy principal of North Wu University, Liang Jindong. He was currently holding an obviously unconscious person, spitting out blood as he quickly retreated towards the Fei Yun Zhou vessel behind them.

The principal of Tianji University, Principal Wang, also blinked out a second later. Seeing everyone's gazes, he immediately put on a crying face.

"General Qin, this Ant Queen isn't ordinary. That mental attack skill's cooldown time is short and its might can reach the level of lv70 monsters at least. We're not proficient in this!"

Seeing the raging Qin Zhi and the others, it was clear they hated that they couldn't give their predecessors a good beating right now.

Right now, the Golden Ant Queen was still in her injured stage, basically doing everything she could to avoid direct confrontation with them. Once she completely recovered, would they have to deploy the Divine Decree commanders?

The ten Imperial Guardian Deities were all at extremely vital locations. Unless absolutely necessary, they could not casually mobilize them.

If possible, even at the cost of their lives, they had to strangle this crisis in the cradle as much as they could. Just imagining the Devouring Desert becoming an ant colony main base if the Ant Queen escaped today made Qin Zhi and the others shudder in terror.

Just as Qin Zhi led the team from the Southwest Martial Official University, braving the dense hordes of ants to advance towards the Golden Ant Queen, the communication device at his waist suddenly emitted Qi Tai's anxious voice.

"General Qin, big trouble! Zheng Mu is heading your way!"

"And on his vehicle there are also several other remaining S-rank candidates!"

Qin Zhi felt dizzy in the head.

"What?"

Vaulting through the air, following the activation of his movement skill, a thin layer of mist condensed under his feet, actually directly lifting him atop the clouds. Amidst the roaring gale, Qin Zhi spotted that massive battlewagon slowly undulating its way over in the distance.

Seeing the rolling sandstorms swirling up behind it, Qin Zhi nearly fainted from anger.

He suddenly understood why his teacher had been so furious when he had rashly charged into those Japanese academy teams back then.

"Damn, a huge pain in my ass!"

This time, it wasn't just Zheng Mu alone that had come. There were also several other new S-rank career holders with him. Apart from Gu Ming coming from an ordinary family background, the rest were backed by either wealth or influence.

If anything happened, it would truly offend many people.

"Sovereign Qin Zhi has arrived, estimated time until contact - five seconds... He's here!"

Seeing Qin Zhi's enraged expression on the light screen, Zheng Mu and the others couldn't help swallowing. Sang Luo and Ge Feng were the first to raise their hands.

"Let's make it clear first that we were pulled aboard against our will!"

Cai Shengkun immediately shot the two a look of contempt.

Zheng Mu shook his head and directly ordered Hong Hou to open the vehicle door. Not long after, Qin Zhi arrived, wearing a furious expression, led by Tiffany to where Zheng Mu and the rest were. However, after witnessing the shocking capabilities and design of the base vehicle, much of the anger on his face had clearly faded, replaced by astonishment.

"Didn't you get the notification cancelling the credit points? What are you still doing over there, looking to lose your lives?"

Ge Feng and the others immediately stood to one side without the slightest hesitation, already having forgotten who had kindly let them enjoy a nice scrubbing just earlier.

Zheng Mu didn't speak, only signaling to Red Queen beside him with his gaze. In the next moment, an aerial view encapsulating the entire insect battle region appeared before everyone's eyes.

Zheng Mu pointed to He Guang and the others currently still advancing towards the Ant Queen, but now at an extremely slow pace.

"General Qin can now clearly see the current situation at the scene. At your current rate of advance, you simply can't catch up to the Ant Queen's movement speed."

As he spoke, a pit at a certain position suddenly enlarged on screen. One could see large ants carrying the bloated Ant Queen as they slowly moved her deeper underground. Over a dozen oddly shaped ants below were quickly digging an escape tunnel.

At that speed, the Ant Queen could completely vanish from sight underground in one hour tops.

And in one hour's time, they wouldn't even be able to evacuate the high number of candidates still remaining in this region.

"General Qin, after the Ant Queen escapes, the ants she summoned won't disappear. Their numbers will only keep growing... You won't have enough time to pull everyone out."

Hearing Zheng Mu's analysis, Qin Zhi fell silent.

"So you've come up with a way to destroy the Ant Queen before her escape?"

Suddenly, it was as if Qin Zhi thought of something as he loudly slapped his thigh.

"Of course, why didn't I think of it earlier!"

Zheng Mu was confused. What did you think of?

He only saw Qin Zhi's eyes light up brightly.

"That Ant Queen's greatest attacking power right now lies in that astonishingly potent mental attack skill. Even if I took one hit from that, let alone getting taken out today, I might end up crippled!"

"But your situation is different! No, I mean your mechanical creations are different!"

Zheng Mu finally understood. But he shook his head, faintly smiling.

"What you said does offer a solution. As long as you help me tear open an entry point or simply fly my mechanical creations directly above the Ant Queen's head and drop them down, we can definitely try it."

"But... too troublesome."

Too troublesome? Qin Zhi was dumbfounded. This was an absolutely dire situation! And you're telling me it's too troublesome? I'd rather be able to easily take out that monster with a single sentence. That would be relaxing. But is it possible?

Seeing Qin Zhi's dazed expression, seemingly on the verge of losing his temper to impart some guidance to his junior, Zheng Mu waved his hand.

"General Qin, I know you're anxious, but don't be impatient first."