Chapter 85#
Shutdown#
Ning Feng hurried back to the meeting point. The others didn’t blame him for spilling the water; instead, they comforted him a bit. Only Mad Mouse mocked him for covering himself in dry rations, but was quickly taught a lesson.
Before long, Yin Beichen also returned. Ning Feng had been worried the other might cause trouble, but Yin Beichen just found a corner and rested on his own, not bothering him afterward.
And so, Ning Feng passed a quiet night.
The next day, the team split up according to plan.
After confirming the time and finalizing the rendezvous coordinates, Ning Feng watched the other team members’ figures vanish into the jungle. He weighed the machine gun in his hand, turned back to glance at Yin Beichen, who had remained silent, and raised an eyebrow.
“Let’s go, Commander.”
The two advanced along the planned route, saying nothing beyond mission-related communication. Neither brought up what had happened in the forest earlier—both tacitly agreed to let it go. Ning Feng thought this was fine. Yin Beichen had, after all, worked with him for years, and Ning Feng wasn’t one to hold grudges. They could get along comfortably as ordinary comrades.
Just talk about the mission, don’t annoy each other—everyone’s happy.
After a day’s march, they finally entered their designated zone—Sector D.
This region was a chain of snow-capped mountains, frozen year-round. Ice several feet thick covered the entire area, making it the coldest place on the planet. No plants grew here, no living creatures survived, and even mechs struggled to traverse it.
Yin Beichen’s combat suit had a temperature regulation device, so he moved as usual.
But Ning Feng had a problem.
The sudden drop in temperature reduced the activity of his energy battery. What should have powered him for days was now down to less than 30% after just three hours. And that was with a power pack—without it, he would have shut down long ago.
30%. He could hold out a little longer.
Just as Ning Feng was planning to recharge after crossing the next ridge, Yin Beichen suddenly stopped and pointed to a pile of rocks nearby.
“We’ll rest here.”
Ning Feng blinked. “Already? We haven’t gone far.”
“I’m tired.” Yin Beichen ignored him, walked over to the rocks, sat down, and took out his canteen.
No choice. Ning Feng stood guard with his gun, taking the opportunity to charge. The wind howled, the temperature was brutal, and the charging speed was painfully slow. They rested for a full half hour until Ning Feng’s power reached about 80%. Only then did Yin Beichen continue on.
They went on like this—stop and go—until nearly dusk, having surveyed less than a third of the sector. The temperature difference between day and night was extreme. At night, the weather worsened, making movement nearly impossible. They would have to wait for dawn. At this rate, they’d need at least two more days.
Being alone with Yin Beichen wasn’t a problem. What worried Ning Feng was alarming the Zerg, forcing them to relocate—that would be troublesome.
Frowning, Ning Feng felt a twinge of anxiety.
Suddenly, he noticed some strange marks not far away. He strode over and looked down—it was a spore carpet left by the Zerg. Only an Eyebug left such traces, making it easier for the swarm to move over the terrain.
“Well, well. We’ve got something, Commander.” Ning Feng raised an eyebrow and ground his toe into the spore carpet.
The carpet wasn’t large, but it stood out starkly on the ice and snow. Judging by its freshness, the Eyebug had passed through at least two days ago. From the tracks, there were at least several dozen guards, including mid- and high-level Zerg. This was clearly a small, organized Zerg formation.
Looks like we hit the jackpot.
Ning Feng licked his lips and signaled Yin Beichen to notify the warship on standby.
“They’re an organized formation—not easy to deal with. The environment is terrible after dark. Even fighters have limited support capacity. If we wait until tomorrow when the situation is clearer, it’s better for us.”
“And what if they use the night to deploy and hatch a brood?”
“The blizzard affects us, but it affects the Zerg too.”
“Commander, they’re Zerg. Their adaptability is far superior to ours.” Ning Feng stared at the nearly frozen spore carpet, eyes narrowing. “The whole planet is open to them, but they chose this godforsaken place—exactly to evade our surveillance. If we don’t take out the Eyebug now, they’ll cluster up and become even harder to deal with.”
Yin Beichen’s already slightly furrowed brow tightened. “How much power do you have left?”
Ning Feng paused, pulled up his interface, and saw only 20% remaining.
He clicked his tongue. “We’re just observing, not engaging. Won’t need much power.”
Yin Beichen thought for a long time. “Can you hold on?”
Ning Feng snorted, raising his eyebrows defiantly.
“Commander, are you worried about me, or afraid of the bugs?” He slung the gun over his shoulder. “How about this: you track them, I’ll stay on guard here. We set markers and run—no fighting.”
Yin Beichen said nothing, just stared at him. “Promise you won’t take risks?”
Ning Feng’s brows lifted slightly. “You don’t trust me?”
Yin Beichen’s silence was an answer in itself. Ning Feng smirked disdainfully, found a large rock, and sat down. “Fine. I’ll sit here and charge. Won’t go anywhere. Satisfied?”
Seeing Ning Feng actually pull out the charging cable and plug it in, Yin Beichen’s expression relaxed a little. He checked his equipment again, set up a stealth field nearby, then walked over to Ning Feng and extended his fist.
Ning Feng eyed the fist but didn’t move. Yin Beichen didn’t seem annoyed, only said calmly, “Can’t even be ordinary comrades?”
Ning Feng… Ning Feng let out a snort and bumped his fist lightly. “Don’t let the snow bury you. I’m not digging you out.”
Yin Beichen’s eyes softened, and the corner of his mouth twitched into a faint smile.
“Stay alert.”
“Got it, Commander.”
Ning Feng hugged his gun, not looking at him again—until Yin Beichen’s tall back disappeared into the wind and snow. Only then did he glance sidelong.
**
The sky grew darker. The storm intensified, snow and ice stinging faces with bitter cold. Ning Feng sat by his cover, slowly charging, while monitoring the situation ahead through Yin Beichen’s shared coordinates.
“See anything?” Ning Feng’s voice was lazy, but his eyes were fixed on the monitor.
“No.” Yin Beichen’s voice came through from the other end.
“Still nothing?” Ning Feng rubbed his chin.
They’d been tracking with thermal imaging for nearly half an hour. Normally, the Zerg shouldn’t be that slow—why hadn’t they appeared?
Something felt off. Ning Feng was about to suggest Yin Beichen come back when, suddenly, a blurry mass appeared at the edge of his vision: three eighth-order Thunderbeasts at the front, several sixth-order Stinger Serpents slithering nearby, and more than a dozen low- to mid-level Lesser Bugs surrounding them.
That Zerg formation!
Ning Feng froze for a second, then quickly crouched into cover. He activated the highest scanning frequency, locked the fire-control radar, and whispered excitedly, “Hey, guess what I see?”
“Tell me,” Yin Beichen said coldly.
“Guess.”
Yin Beichen paused for a moment, then lowered his voice. “Zerg formation.”
“Bingo!” Ning Feng quietly reached for a grenade, his dark eyes locked on the target. “Their tracks showed they should have gone ahead. Why did they turn back?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Yin Beichen’s breathing was unsteady, as if he were running. “Stay where you are. Don’t move.”
“Well, they’re heading this way, Commander. That’s not up to me.” Ning Feng leaned forward slightly, pressing the machine gun tight against his abs, like a poised predator.
“Time to contact?”
“Fifteen minutes.”
“Wait for me.”
The sound of hurried footsteps followed.
Ning Feng scoffed. “I’ll try.”
Against a formation of that size, given their current firepower, a direct fight was out of the question. But once support arrived, it would be a different story. All he could do now was keep tracking and wait for backup.
Just as he tried to send the coordinates to the aerial support—
Beep! Beep!
Suddenly, a low-power alarm sounded from his chest.
[Warning! Remaining power below 5%!]
[Automatic power-saving mode activated.]
The sound wasn’t loud, but it was piercingly clear in the empty snowfield. Ning Feng’s face changed drastically. He shut it off immediately.
But it was too late.
ROAR!
A terrifying roar erupted in the distance. The ground began to tremble violently. Ning Feng looked up and saw dozens of massive bugs charging toward him. He tried to activate his environmental stealth—but after several attempts, he was still standing there, exposed. He realized the remaining power was insufficient to run any functions at all.
“Damn it!”
Without a second thought, Ning Feng turned and ran.
[Warning! Remaining power below 3%!]
But the low-power battery couldn’t provide any more energy. The percentage kept plummeting visibly. In just a few seconds, even basic functions became a struggle.
[Thermal imaging function disabled.]
[Location sharing disabled.]
…
The ground shook harder. The Zerg’s roars mixed with the alarms in a cacophony. Ning Feng pushed his engines to the max, even shutting down his audio receiver, but he couldn’t stop his speed from dropping.
He gritted his teeth and instinctively ran away from Yin Beichen’s direction.
Damn it! Faster! Move faster!
[Warning! Remaining power below 2%!]
The bugs were closing in. Ning Feng could feel the snow they kicked up lashing against him, threatening to knock him off balance. He tried to dive into a crevice between rocks, but within seconds, a giant claw flipped the boulder aside. He just pumped his legs and ran for his life.
For the first time, he found being reborn as a robot troublesome—but he also couldn’t help thinking: if he were lucky enough that the bugs didn’t crush his chip when they tore him apart, maybe he could still be salvaged.
[Warning! Remaining power below 1%!]
His vision switched from color to black and white. The edges of his interface darkened visibly. Finally, no matter how many commands Ning Feng sent, his body slowed to a halt.
He figured he’d run far enough. The bugs wouldn’t find Yin Beichen. Whatever happened to him, Yin Beichen could continue the tracking. If Yin Beichen found out he’d run out of power… he’d probably be pissed again.
Ning Feng wanted to laugh, but couldn’t even make the motion.
The tremors grew stronger. The swirling snow blinded everything. Perhaps because he had already experienced death, Ning Feng’s mind was eerily calm.
Just as he closed his eyes, waiting for the massive body to crush him, the world suddenly spun. When he came to, he was rolling across the snow, pinned down by someone.
Through the grainy, static-filled image, Ning Feng saw Yin Beichen’s face.
He was stunned. He had run in the opposite direction—so why was Yin Beichen here? Or had he run the wrong way?
Ning Feng wanted to ask, but he couldn’t speak. He could only stare at Yin Beichen, watching his brows furrow, his mouth opening and closing, as if saying something. But Ning Feng couldn’t hear a word.
Probably cursing him.
[Warning! Power at 0%!]
[Initiating shutdown sequence.]
After a sharp, piercing beep, the system went silent. The engine vibrated violently, then stopped completely. Ning Feng’s eyes were wide open, Yin Beichen’s frantic expression the last image etched into his mind.