Chapter 101: Firefly Bugs, Distress Signal?

"Cutie, you look quite unique," remarked Zhou Yuan as he surveyed the bugs in front of him.

During his time in the Hunter Corps, he had perused the federal database, which listed a total of eighteen Arachnisis bug species, in addition to the Mind Worm and Starship Bug, making a total of twenty. The bug before him was not included in the list. It could be a new species or a native of this asteroid.

"Shoo!" 

With a quick aim, Zhou Yuan fired his Gauss Gun, and the C4 Iron Magnetic bullet hit one of the bugs in the head. In an instant, the upper half of the bug disappeared, exploding into a reddish-brown blood flower.

"Killed a Firefly Bug. Obtained 5 soul points."

"Congratulations, the Host has unlocked the 'Hate Flies' achievement."

The system prompt sounded, causing Zhou Yuan's eyes to light up. This Firefly Bug looked like a soft tomato, but he didn't expect to receive five soul points for killing it. Remember that a locust bug only provided three points. As for whether it was an Arachnisis bug or not, he did not care. As long as it provided soul points, it was a good bug.

"Buzz!" 

Seeing its companion killed, the remaining Firefly Bugs became agitated. Two or three dozen of them gathered together and charged towards Zhou Yuan and his team.

"Record new bug species, open fire freely." 

Zhou Yuan stepped back and lifted his hand forward with a slight wave. These Firefly Bugs were not even enough to pique his interest, but considering that they might encounter more later, he still donned the 'Powerful Insecticide' title. With a 20% bonus, one bug was already worth six soul points, equal to two locust bugs. This was better than 'soldier bugs,' but he didn't know if there were any bug swarms or hordes, in which case they could make some extra money.

"Bang! Bang! Boom!" 

After receiving the order to shoot, the six team members immediately pulled the trigger. Firefly Bugs weren't fast-moving creatures, much like ordinary birds, but due to their large size, they were no different from live targets in front of firearms. The sound of gunfire had just started when only a few Firefly Bugs remained.

"Splash!" 

At this moment, something surprising happened. The few Firefly Bugs that had dodged the first wave of bullets suddenly stopped in mid-air and spewed out a flame from their mouths.

The size of the flame was not large, similar to that of a conventional fire extinguisher, with a range of about ten meters and an attack range of less than one meter.

"Cease fire!"

Zhou Yuan immediately raised his hand and ordered the team to stop firing, then stepped forward slowly. Knowing the enemy is half the battle. It wouldn't hurt to test the Firefly Bugs' abilities before killing them. 

"Captain, preliminary inspection shows that the external flame temperature is 600 degrees Celsius, the internal flame temperature is 450 degrees Celsius, and the flame core temperature is 300 degrees Celsius."

"Very well, continue recording."

Just as Zhou Yuan started walking, he received a report from his team members.

The temperature level was similar to that of a windproof lighter, except that the firefly insects were the size of calves compared to the windproof lighter.

It wasn't too dangerous though. Even the highest temperature outer flame couldn't cause any damage to the space armor, as long as it wasn't exposed for too long.

As for the mechs, they could withstand being roasted by the firefly insects for ten minutes without any issues.

"Whoosh!"

When Zhou Yuan approached, the firefly insects made a new move. They leaned back and raised their tails slightly, using the spikes on their tails as arrows, shooting towards Zhou Yuan.

"Huh?"

"These aren't called fireflies?"

Zhou Yuan was a bit surprised. Compared to flies, these insects obviously looked more like bees.

In the next moment, he quickly dodged the stinger attacks from the firefly insects and even caught two of the stingers with his hand.

"Not bad."

"Old Morgan would probably like these."

Zhou Yuan pinched the stingers and found that they were very hard, even harder than the alloy steel used to make military knives.

However, these stingers weren't fast in terms of speed. Soldiers with slightly faster reaction times would be able to dodge them, and even if they couldn't, they could rely on their space armor to withstand the attacks.

After a series of failures, the firefly insects realized that they had encountered a tough opponent today. They no longer dared to approach Zhou Yuan and quickly retreated a distance.

"Take them out and collect their stingers."

Seeing that the firefly insects had no other tricks left, Zhou Yuan casually gave the order.

"Captain, we found something!"

While the team members were wrapping up, Zhou Yuan received a call from Kenny.

Zhou Yuan quickly returned to the cockpit and saw Kenny and Claire gathered there. He asked, "What's going on?"

"Captain, we received a distress signal."

Claire's expression was very serious as she pressed a button on the control panel, and a recording played.

"Emergency call, this is Feimei No. We have crashed. Requesting rescue!"

"Emergency call, this is Feimei No..."

After the recording finished, Claire looked at Zhou Yuan and said, "Captain, I checked the registration number. Feimei No. is a transport ship in the Fudes asteroid belt mining area."

"But... the records show that Feimei No. went missing a week ago."

"Did you try to contact Feimei No.?" Zhou Yuan asked.

"We tried, but there was no response."

"It's possible that our local communication signal range isn't large enough, or it could be that the people on Feimei No. are already..."

Claire explained softly, but stopped at the end.

However, everyone present understood what she meant.

Zhou Yuan nodded, exhaled, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Do you know the location of Feimei No.?"

"It's directly in front of us, about five kilometers away."

Claire nodded.

"Stick to the previous teams. I'll take six people to go and take a look. You guys stay behind and try to repair the communication and power systems."

"Also, send me the necessary parts. They might still be usable on Feimei No."

"I'll be back within three hours, and I'll inform you immediately if there are any special circumstances."

Zhou Yuan hesitated for a moment but decided to go and take a look.

In his opinion, this mission was a failure. They hadn't even reached their destination before crashing. It was definitely embarrassing.

How could Captain Zhou make such a fool of himself?

If he could save some people in this godforsaken place, it would help restore his dignity.

Even if they couldn't save anyone, they could at least find out the truth behind Feimei No.'s disappearance and try to find some useful parts, ammunition, and supplies.

... ...

Two minutes later, Zhou Yuan led his team deep into the icy forest.

The crash site of the transport ship was right in front of them, which meant they might have to pass through the icy forest to reach it.