Upon arrival at the frontline command post, a ready-made camp was available for Wang Lan to rest. This time, Wang Lan and his group could not enjoy the hero's welcome they had received in the Kingdom of Ice and Snow. Everyone was a compatriot, serving the same country, so the reception was warm but not fawning.

Wang Lan had just set down his luggage and hadn't even had a chance to drink water when Yu Ruoyun notified him that it was time to attend a meeting. Still led by Longya and a group of other teachers, he arrived at the frontline headquarters to meet Mo Tai, the Titled Strongman and overall commander of the East Sea Pioneer Space.

Mo Tai, a dual-element Star Martial Warrior specializing in physical combat and close-quarters battle, had a very distinctive style of dress. His military greatcoat was casually draped over his shoulders, and as he walked, the sleeves fluttered, revealing the tanned, bare muscles underneath.

Mo Tai sported a sleek, cropped haircut and had a long, slanting scar on his cheek. Though the scar was fierce, it didn't detract from Mo Tai's overall aesthetic. To Wang Lan, Mo Tai felt like an uncle with a wealth of experience.

"Longya! You lad, you've ended up in my hands again, haven't you? HAHAHA…" Mo Tai's laughter boomed like a great bell, shaking the prefabricated steel-paneled room so violently that a layer of ash drifted down.

"General Mo, Longya reporting," Longya said with a grin. "HEHEHE… I've always said, I probably won't ever escape your grasp in this lifetime. Even if I did, sooner or later, you'd pull me back. And just like I said, it hasn't even been a few years, and here I am again."

"Bullshit, as if I'm eager to have you," Mo Tai scoffed coldly, his eyes scanning the twelve team-leading teachers, as well as Wang Lan and Yu Ruoyun. "Twelve Star Sea Stage experts... Longya, it seems the academy isn't taking this matter seriously enough."

"Not seriously enough? These are twelve Star Sea Stage teams! Twelve Star Sea Stage teams leading three Galaxy Stage teams. This is a lineup capable of countering an El Nino-level threat."

"I heard that when you reinforced the Kingdom of Ice and Snow, you brought thirty Star Sea Stage teams. That Kingdom of Ice and Snow isn't even a quarter the size of our East Sea Pioneer Space."

"Mr. Mo, that was international aid, after all; naturally, the approach had to be more earnest. Besides, the Kingdom of Ice and Snow was nearly wiped out. But here, we still have you, Mr. Mo, don't we? The strength of our East Sea Pioneer Space could flatten a hundred Kingdoms of Ice and Snow. What's wrong? Is the situation in the East Sea Pioneer Space worse than we imagined?"

"To be frank, I'm not sure if it's worse. But the anomalies in the East Sea Pioneer Space are undeniable. In fact, these anomalies were first discovered two years ago. A twenty-man elite reconnaissance team went out, and only one member returned, covered in wounds, to tell me that a horde of Exotic Beasts was gathering and about to surge out from the mist."

"The leader of that elite team was a Galaxy Stage expert, with seven Star Cloud Stage warriors under his command. The Star Shine Stage members were all skilled Star Martial Warriors. Their main task was to penetrate deep into Exotic Beast territories and observe their movements. For five years, this elite team provided us with countless pieces of valuable intelligence."

"Especially this time, their early detection of the Exotic Beast uprising allowed us to prepare. And indeed, an hour later, Exotic Beasts surged from all directions like a tsunami."

"We fought hard for a day and a night and successfully withstood the Exotic Beasts' impact. Without that early warning, I can't even begin to estimate what our losses would have been."

"We initially thought that beast tide was an isolated incident. But to our surprise, a second one occurred less than two months later. We detected it even earlier and were better prepared, but our losses were even greater than the first time."

"In that beast tide, five hundred Star Martial Warriors perished, and at least three hundred more were so injured they could no longer fight and were forced into retirement. Two such incidents in a row forced us to adjust our plans."

"We've sent investigators multiple times to determine the cause of the Exotic Beast uprisings, but all attempts have been fruitless. However, based on the patterns of these uprisings, we've concluded that powerful Exotic Beasts have been continuously arriving in the Pioneer Space over these past few years."

"The arrival of these powerful Exotic Beasts disrupts the existing ecological balance, leading to a redefinition of territories based on strength. Those who fail in these power struggles are forced to relocate."

"The migration of a single Exotic Beast tribe can trigger a cascade of changes affecting numerous other tribes and ecological niches. Each arrival of a powerful entity signals an impending beast tide. By this count, a dozen or so powerful individual Exotic Beasts or entire tribes have arrived in the last two years."

"Three months ago, there was a large-scale Exotic Beast uprising. A Star Traveller, leading a Star Sea Stage team, penetrated deep behind enemy lines. They witnessed several colossal, previously unseen Exotic Beast tribes battling chaotically. Their chieftains towered into the clouds, each one invincibly powerful. It was only when the Star Traveller ambushed an injured beast that they managed to slay it and obtain a top-grade Soul Bead."

Hearing about the top-grade Soul Bead, Wang Lan's eyes lit up. The critical point was, an Exotic Beast possessing a top-grade Soul Bead still required a sneak attack by a Titled Strongman to be killed?

Hearing Mo Tai's words, Longya and the others grew solemn. The strength of those giant Exotic Beasts was likely at least on par with a Titled Strongman's!

Longya then asked, "In these two years, has the difficulty of surviving in the East Sea Pioneer Space increased significantly?"

"The stronger Exotic Beasts inhabit the deeper regions of the Pioneer Space," Mo Tai explained. "When the territories of powerful Exotic Beasts are seized by even stronger ones, these displaced beasts are forced to conquer the domains of slightly weaker Exotic Beasts. This chain reaction ultimately compels those who have lost their territories to attack our positions."

"Over the past two years, we've killed batch after batch of Exotic Beasts. Yet, the greatest threat our brothers at the front now face comes from Exotic Beasts that were three hundred kilometers away just two years ago. By my original estimates, it would have taken us at least sixty years of pioneering work to reach that area."

"So... what's your plan, Mr. Mo?" Longya inquired.

"We'll hold our current positions for two months. The Vermilion Bird Squad is due to finish their current mission and return in May. When they do, we'll have them come here and clear out those newly arrived Exotic Beasts."

Had Mo Tai not mentioned it, Wang Lan would have almost forgotten it was already the end of February.

The arrangements for Wang Lan and the other reinforcements were simple: integrate the academy's elites into the Pioneer Teams. They would act as the steel rebar, and the Pioneer Teams as the concrete, together fortifying the defensive line.

Of course, in the event of a beast tide or other insurmountable circumstances, Wang Lan and his team had the option to abandon their positions preemptively.

「The next day, the sixty students who had come as reinforcements were led by their teachers to the designated support area. Yu Ruoyun carried her luggage, but Wang Lan was empty-handed. Thanks to his Void Storing Star Martial Skill, Wang Lan had it easy; it was like having personal, indestructible spatial storage.」

Wu Shaohua drove the Soul Bead tractor, carrying Wang Lan and Yu Ruoyun. They swayed and bumped along for an entire day and night.

"Old Wu," Wang Lan mumbled, waking from the bumpy ride, "where on earth have we been banished? We've been traveling for seventeen hours! We must have been sent to the most remote place, right? It's been a whole day and night, and we're still not there?"

Yu Ruoyun chimed in, "Old Wu, don't tell me you've gotten us lost and now you don't even know which way to go?"

"You're joking, right?" Wu Shaohua retorted. "This vehicle has a navigation system! We'll be there in another thirty kilometers."

"Thirty kilometers?" Wang Lan asked. "How many kilometers in total have we traveled? It's been a day and a night."

"I remember it being five hundred kilometers," Wu Shaohua replied. "It's mainly this vehicle that's not up to snuff."

"Just five hundred kilometers?" Wang Lan suddenly sat up, dumbfounded. "We've traveled for a day and a night for a mere five hundred kilometers? Even a Star Shine Stage novice wouldn't be this slow! I thought we'd covered over a thousand kilometers by now!"

"HEH," Wu Shaohua retorted. "Why don't you try running five hundred kilometers yourself? Since we have transportation, why walk? The Soul Bead tractor's top speed might only be fifty or sixty kilometers per hour, but at least we're sitting. Don't worry, we have thirty-six hours to reach our post, and there are still over ten hours left."

"We can all fly, and there weren't any Exotic Beasts en route. Why didn't we just fly? We could have been there in under two hours!" Wang Lan was astounded by Wu Shaohua's logic.

"You all can fly, but I can't!" Wu Shaohua huffed. "Are you expecting me to be dangled along by you? I couldn't bear that embarrassment!"

Wu Shaohua confidently shifted gears, and the Soul Bead tractor sped up. However, he soon felt the vehicle losing traction. Looking down, he saw all four wheels had lifted off the ground; the rear wheels were still spinning stubbornly in the air.

"What's going on?!" Wu Shaohua exclaimed.

"The Weight Exchange skill," Wang Lan explained. "Who said it could only make one person fly? If I wanted, I could instantly turn this blanket into a flying carpet."

"Turning a tractor into an airplane... that's a stroke of genius!" Wu Shaohua marveled. "Why didn't you think of it sooner?"

"Are you blaming me now?" Wang Lan asked.

「A few minutes later, under Wang Lan's control, the tractor landed steadily at their destination.」

"Strange," Wu Shaohua muttered, looking around. "The map shows the Ninety-seventh Group's camp should be right here. Why isn't there a trace of them? They've been stationed here for over a year; the camp should be well-established by now."

Just as Wu Shaohua finished speaking, the ground suddenly rumbled. The surrounding earth split apart, and several square, earthen platforms rose up. Once these platforms had fully ascended, a group of Star Martial Warriors in colorful attire emerged from them.

They looked at Wang Lan and his two companions with a mixture of curiosity and wariness in their eyes.

"Hello! Are you the support group dispatched from headquarters?" a man stepped forward. "I'm Feather, leader of the Ninety-seventh Pioneer Team. My team and I welcome your arrival."

"Wolf?" Suddenly, an exclamation came from behind Wang Lan.

"Hmm?" Wang Lan turned to look at the young Star Martial Warrior before him. The face was somewhat familiar, but the camouflage paint made it hard for Wang Lan to recognize him immediately.

"It's me, Xing Feng! From the Star Martial Contest," the young man said.

"Oh, it's you!" Wang Lan exclaimed. "You're back in a Pioneer Space? Wait, that's not right. I remember you were from the Northwest Pioneer Space, weren't you?"

"Not long after I returned to my Pioneer Team, I was transferred to the East Sea," Xing Feng explained. "If it weren't for you, I might never have turned back from the brink. You made me realize that as long as I stay true to my original aspirations, I can always find my way. If I had given up my identity as a Star Martial Warrior to stay in Suzhou City, I doubt I'd be as happy as I am now."

"Congratulations on successfully advancing to the Star Cloud Stage," Wang Lan said with a smile.

"HAHAHA... Indeed! Sometimes, the more anxious and hopeful you are, the less progress you make. When you approach things with equanimity, then—hey!—you break through without even realizing it."

"By the way," Xing Feng asked, "are you in university now? Which one are you attending?"

"I'm studying in Modu City," Wang Lan replied. "Oh, let me introduce you. This is my supervising teacher, Wu Shaohua, a Star Sea Stage instructor from the Modu Star Martial Academy's tactics department. And this is my senior, Yu Ruoyun."

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