Nero's sudden attack was something none of them had expected, so for a moment, Dan Heng and the other two just froze on the spot.
By the time they came back to their senses, Nero was already flying off while carrying the ice sculpture.
A fierce, rapid wind wrapped around the young man from the Xianzhou, and that wind swept up the snow and ice with it, turning it sharp and freezing cold, like the glints of deadly light shining along an autumn-water blade being drawn from its sheath.
But the one who must have felt even worse was probably the Frostspawn.
It had just been strolling around the snowfield, but when it sensed danger, a huge dark shadow had already fallen over it.
All it had to do was turn its head to see a vicious child swinging an ice sculpture straight at its skull.
Who had it provoked?
'Are you sick or something, attacking me the moment you show up?' If the Frostspawn had its own thoughts and the ability to think, then right now it would definitely be filled with a kind of suffocating frustration, like it had just swallowed three pounds of dung.
Unfortunately, this basic elemental crystal from the Rift only possessed some simple intelligence.
Even as the ice sculpture came crashing down and smashed its body into pieces, its not-very-bright head was still entirely empty.
After smashing the Frostspawn, Nero's eyes widened a little.
Actually, in an environment like Jarilo-VI, the Frostspawn's influence on the ambient temperature was extremely minimal, almost unnoticeable.
But Nero still felt a small sense of satisfaction from destroying it, and he felt a bit warmer.
Only, what really warmed him was the heat generated from exerting himself during the jump-strike, not the disappearance of the Construct's environmental influence causing the temperature to rise.
Tragic. Truly tragic.
Dan Heng and the other two looked at Nero, opened their mouths, wanting to say something but stopping themselves.
In the end, they simply let Nero do as he pleased.
After taking down the Frostspawn, the four continued across the snowy plains, and not far ahead, they discovered some kind of creation completely out of place in the snowfield.
At a glance, it looked like a withered flower. Up close, it resembled a twisted thing woven from charred remains.
Imaginary energy coiled around this flower. It looked like crushed scorched earth.
"What's this?" Stelle asked Dan Heng.
Looking at the strange flower, Dan Heng shook his head. "Take a photo and ask Mr. Welt."
Before he even finished speaking, Nero had already taken out his phone. He took pictures of the snowfield and the flower in front of them, then sent them to Mr. Yang.
[Mr. Yang, it's too cold here!]
[Mr. Yang, what's this thing?]
The four of them gathered together, staring at Nero's phone screen, waiting for Mr. Yang's reply.
In this situation, Nero was surrounded by the other three, and it made him feel much warmer.
Mr. Yang replied very quickly.
[This is a Calyx, a special entity created by a spatial distortion phenomenon.]
[Some real-world data is stored within the Bud. It may have practical value. But be careful when contacting it, its formation principles are still a mystery, and it's hard to judge the danger within.]
[You'll encounter more Calyxs on your journey. The data stored in each may differ, so keep an eye out.]
After reading the reply, the four exchanged glances.
Then Nero made a decisive call, "Mr. Yang said there's something useful, let's get it!"
Saying that, Nero reached out toward the Calyx, and Dan Heng and the other two tacitly drew their weapons.
Everyone took up a guarded stance, prepared in case touching the Bud triggered something dangerous.
The moment Nero's hand touched the Calyx, a surge of energy burst outward. Right after, a massive rift tore open above the Bud.
Space trembled like the surface of a lake struck by a giant stone, and monster after monster poured out of the rift like bees from a shattered hive.
More than thirty blue Frostspawns and red Flamespawns surrounded the four of them.
These creatures from the Rift were restless and aggressive, filled with hostility toward the four who had disrupted their environment. Flames and frost began to churn wildly.
There was no doubt, they were about to attack.
But the Trailblazing Squad wasn't slow to respond. Not to mention that Dan Heng and March were old hands on the Express with plenty of experience.
Even the newbies, Stelle and Nero, while inexperienced in trailblazing, had fought Doomsday Beasts and the Antimatter Legion. Their combat experience was nothing to scoff at.
Exploring a new planet might be unfamiliar to the two, but when it came to fighting, they were very familiar with that.
Dan Heng's spear, Cloud-Piercer, danced like a fierce storm under the power of Cloud Knight spear techniques. Whether it was a tap, a thrust, or a sweeping strike, each move precisely interrupted the Rift creatures' actions or took their lives.
His smooth movements were like a lithe dragon swimming through the mist.
March created distance, nocking arrow after arrow of six-phase condensed ice. These arrows, colder than the snowfield itself, sliced through the air, as if freezing the motion of atoms in the brief instant they flew.
A pretty girl's aim was nothing like her clumsy personality, she swiftly eliminated the Rift creatures rushing from the rift.
Excitement flared in Stelle's golden eyes. The power of the Stellaron surged, airwaves and thunder wrapping around the black baseball bat she had "borrowed" from Herta's Space Station.
She charged straight into the monster crowd, swinging left and right, not as clean or efficient as Dan Heng, but with an unstoppable momentum that smashed apart the creatures' encirclement.
Today was the day the Galaxy Bat-Wielder showed her full might.
Nero instinctively wanted to jump-strike into the fray too, but realized he didn't have any handy weapon on him.
At times like this, he only looked forward to the flying sword the system promised even more. How could he fight properly without a good weapon?
Helpless, Nero could only use the cold wind as his blade, performing Two Sleeves of Pure Wind, weaving through the Rift creatures like a dragon.
Every strand of wind was a sword, and every gust signified another life taken.
Under the combined efforts of the Trailblazing Squad, the raging Rift creatures gained nothing.
Even with the terrifying momentum of wanting to drag them down with them, the monsters quickly collapsed.
The rift above the Calyx also closed at this moment.
Who knew whether the rift simply timed out, or the monsters inside were frightened to death from all the killing.
In the end, not a single member of the squad was injured, only countless corpses littered the snowfield.
But these Rift creatures didn't need to be dealt with. As elemental crystals, they would soon dissipate and return to their most basic form, becoming a drifting snowflake, or a tiny flame on someone's matchstick.
After the battle, March approached the Calyx to see what it contained.
In the end, she found a book inside.
March shouted in delight, "There really is something! It's actually a travel guide!"
And overlapping with March's voice came Nero's, "Mr. Yang was right! There really are useful things inside the Bud!"
Hearing Nero's voice, the others turned toward him, then all froze in place, eyes widening.
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