Make money by hiding in the interstellar battlefield!

Jian Sheng did not order everyone to flee together. He knew that if a group of people fled together, they would be too conspicuous and would end up with no one surviving.

He immediately ordered Marcus to split the entire team into five groups: he and Zhizhi would form one group, while the remaining four groups, each with seven people, would attempt to break through the encirclement from different directions—only by dispersing the forces in this way could they create a chance for everyone to survive. He reserved the route with the highest survival rate for himself and Lin Zhizhi; he was never some selfless saint willing to die for his cause. This route had a chance of survival entirely because the other four groups would draw the beasts' fire. To put it bluntly, the five groups would act as bait for each other, and it was simply a matter of who could break through this deadly encirclement first.

"Captain, can the doctors and nurses from the medical team come with you?"

Seeing Jian Sheng remain silent, Marcus quickly added, "If you return alive, you'll need witnesses to corroborate everything that happened here today. If all the team members perished and you're the only one who escaped, you'll definitely be in trouble from now on."

Jian Sheng instantly understood his implication. Percival Windsor's radiant and majestic image could not tolerate the slightest flaw or stain.

Today, he abandoned the entire team. Even if this was a helpless order based on rational judgment, once it reached the city, it would completely ruin his reputation, and the Windsor family would never allow such a scandal to happen. Therefore, he must bring at least two witnesses back to prevent the family from launching an attack. At that time, the Windsor family could then take the opportunity to settle the matter peacefully and suppress the negotiations. Of course, Jian Sheng also understood another deeper meaning from the look Marcus gave the doctor: the relationship between the two was already extraordinary.

This was perhaps the first time in his life he had risked the honor of the Windsor family. From the moment he chose to stay, Marcus's fate was sealed. The Windsor family needed the sacrifice of a key figure to whitewash Percival's desertion—no secrets stay hidden forever, and the truth would eventually come out, and Marcus's death would confirm that Percival's actions were out of necessity.

Moreover, the fact that the Windsor family's team was sent as bait suggests that the other eight families must have already offered the Windsor family irresistible terms and benefits.

After a moment's hesitation, Jian Sheng finally nodded in agreement with no choice. At the same time, Lin Zhizhi casually tossed aside her sniper rifle, grabbed two machine guns and six magazines from the logistics team, and quickly prepared for battle. Once everything was ready, Marcus once again gave a stern order: "All Windsor family combat personnel remain! The entire logistics team, abandon all supplies!"

Of the thirty-person team, excluding Jian Sheng and Lin Zhizhi, nine were direct descendants of the Windsor family, and the remaining fifteen, excluding the doctor, nurse, and mechanic, came from affiliated families of Windsor. Marcus's move was a clear statement: the Windsor family was not cowardly, but military orders were paramount and they had no choice but to obey. At the moment he made this decision, Jian Sheng's probability and reasoning systems activated simultaneously, raising the team's survival chances from 5% to 9%.

"Set off!"

At a command, the team instantly split up and sped off in five different directions.

Jian Sheng's chosen route was not a return journey south, because the south was the area with the highest concentration of intelligent beasts, and with their strength, it was impossible for them to break through the beast horde and reach any fortress.

At this moment, the most open area on the entire battlefield is actually in the northwest—where the Omnic Queen's lair is located. The Omnic units in the air have been completely drawn to Percival, while the ground forces will focus all their efforts on defending the lair. Furthermore, the southern forces are unable to return to reinforce in the short term, creating an excellent vacuum for a breakout.

The accompanying doctors and nurses were not ordinary medical staff; they were mecha warriors with C-level talents. The light exoskeletons they piloted, though thinly armored, were lightweight and could barely keep up with Jian Sheng and Zhi Zhi's pace. This was one of the important reasons why Jian Sheng did not refuse in the end.

The four ran frantically, not daring to stop for a moment. Even the usually lazy and lethargic Little White was now on edge, circling alertly in the air, clearly sensing that their chances of survival were slim. During a brief respite, the team doctor, Hill, finally spoke, his voice choked with barely concealed emotion: "Captain, Marcus... is there any chance he'll survive?"

"He had already chosen his own destiny, so there's no need to grieve for him. I believe that when he faced death, he had no fear or regret." Jian Sheng and Marcus were not close, but Jian Sheng always recognized Marcus's competence and knew that as a member of the Windsor family, Marcus was destined to serve the family until his death.

This is the power of family cohesion in times of chaos. In these turbulent times, families are the most unbreakable alliances. On the other hand, forces like churches, which talk about ideals in ordinary times, will inevitably fall apart and fall into chaos when it comes to dividing up interests.

Hill remained silent. A soldier by birth, she had long since become indifferent to life and death the moment she joined the mecha team, yet a single tear still uncontrollably slid down her cheek. After calming herself slightly, she immediately took out medical equipment and provided emergency treatment to the four.

At this moment, except for Lin Zhizhi, the bleeding from the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose of the other three became increasingly severe. Warm, fresh blood continuously gushed from the corners of their lips, ear canals, and nasal cavities, covering their cheeks and soaking through their close-fitting combat suits. These were typical symptoms of overloading the mechs, causing nerve overload and damage to the soft tissues of the brain. There was no cure for this; the only option was to inject a specially made biological cooling agent into their bodies. The piercing coolness spread along the blood vessels, forcibly cooling down the boiling blood and organs.

After a brief rest, just as the four were about to set off again, a sharp cry of a strange beast suddenly came from the sky—they had been discovered. An eye beast, accompanied by several flying beasts, was rushing towards them with a foul wind, its huge, bloodshot eyes locked on the four of them.

"You two break out to the east immediately! Don't worry about us, run as fast as you can! If we survive, we'll catch up with you!"

Bai Sheng was about to rush back into his mecha when Jian Sheng sternly stopped him: "You go with them, don't stay behind. If I die, you go back to the woods of the temporary camp and live out the rest of your lives peacefully with your companions."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jian Sheng raised his sniper rifle. Before the flying beasts could even enter his attack range, he locked onto the distant Eye Beast. This creature was the command center for the flying beasts; once it targeted them, the four of them would be entangled by the horde and torn to pieces. The Eye Beast was extremely cunning. The moment it sensed Jian Sheng raising his gun, it immediately began to rapidly ascend into the sky. But Jian Sheng gave it no chance to breathe, and to ensure absolute certainty, he decisively fired seven shots in quick succession.

"Bang bang bang bang..."

Armor-piercing bullets tore through the air, precisely piercing the eyeballs of the Eye Beasts. A gushing stream of murky bodily fluids mixed with foul-smelling blood erupted, and the Eye Beast let out a piercing scream, its massive body convulsing violently in mid-air. Simultaneously, several flying beasts swooped down, their gleaming insect stings raining down on the two, piercing the air with ear-piercing shrieks. The Libra immediately raised its dual pistols, unleashing a furious barrage of fire. Bullets instantly tore through the flesh of the flying beasts, sending bone fragments and pieces of flesh flying everywhere. Thick, dark red beast blood poured down like a torrential downpour, splattering onto the mech's outer shell and flowing down the seams, forming foul-smelling puddles on the ground. Accompanying this was the piercing alarm of the mech's internal systems. Deep scratches were carved into the mech's outer shell by the insect stings, and parts of the armor directly cracked and fell off.

In pursuit of speed and ammunition capacity, Jian Sheng reduced the armor of the mech by 30%. Now the mech has been severely damaged, and the ear-piercing sound of metal tearing is incessant.

Ignoring the damage to his mech, Jian Sheng gripped the cannon tightly with white knuckles, quickly drawing an armor-piercing incendiary magazine from his waist and pushing the patching system to its peak power. The excruciating pain of overloading overwhelmed his entire body; blood gushed from his seven orifices, warm blood blurring his vision and dripping down the gaps in his mech, spreading into tiny bloodstains at his feet. His consciousness began to waver amidst the agony.

"Bang bang bang bang bang!"

Seven more gunshots rang out, and incendiary grenades hit the remaining flying beasts. Flames instantly engulfed their bodies, and the smell of charred flesh mixed with a strong stench of blood filled the air. The flying beasts struggled and twisted in the flames, eventually turning into pieces of charred remains that fell from the sky and crashed to the ground, leaving them mangled and bloody.

"Run!" Jian Sheng's voice was extremely weak. A metallic taste rose in his throat, and a mouthful of blood spurted out. His consciousness was already beginning to blur.

Lin Zhizhi suddenly opened his mecha mask and saw his face covered in blood, his features soaked in blood. Tears mixed with the beast blood splattered on her face and instantly burst forth. This was the first time Jiansheng had ever seen her cry.

"Hurry up, or we'll all die here! You still have so many orphans to take care of, and you still have to help Sister Lin Lan fulfill her dream! If you can get out of here alive, there's a secret compartment under the bed in my suite with a Windsor Bank card containing 30 million and 50 kilograms of general-grade crystals, enough for you to live on through charity."

"Brother, don't give up! We'll definitely get back! Aren't you the most afraid of dying, always saying you want to survive?"

"Who told you I'm afraid of dying?"

"That's what you say all the time!"

Ke Jiansheng's consciousness became increasingly scattered, his brain felt as if it were being torn apart by excruciating pain, and the system's notification sound was cold and piercing, carrying a sense of oppressive death:

「系统报警：脑部能量耗尽，距离脑死亡还有10秒。9、8、7、6……」

The next second, Jian Sheng completely lost consciousness and collapsed, blood still seeping from his mouth and nose. In this critical moment, Lin Zhizhi did not hesitate and disregarded the risk of the mecha overloading, forcibly connecting the Libra's neural interface to the White Mongoose's energy core.

"System rebooted, legendary energy injection successful."

When Jian Sheng awoke again, the two were far from the battle zone, hiding beneath a cliff in a jungle. Bloodstained fragments of mechs lay scattered on the ground, and the lingering stench of blood still hung in the air. Clearly, Lin Zhizhi had carried him here, covered in blood as they fled. The mechs were incredibly heavy, but the two absolutely could not leave them; otherwise, they would have no chance of survival. Lin Zhizhi lay unconscious to the side, her face smeared with beast blood and dust, her eyes still wet with blood. The mech's outer shell was covered in scratches and bloodstains; she was utterly disheveled.

Jian Sheng examined his own condition and found that the system energy had returned to saturation, the energy storage value had reached the limit of C+ level, and the severe pain in his body had been relieved by most of it, but his nasal cavity was still filled with a strong smell of blood that he could not get rid of.

He vaguely recalled that when he first arrived in this world, he was also on the verge of death and was forcibly repaired by the system. Could it be that the system saved him again this time? But just now, his brain energy was completely exhausted, and he was about to suffer brain death. How could such a turn of events have occurred?

He couldn't afford to think too much right now; they were in a dangerous situation and couldn't afford to waste a single moment. Despite his reluctance, he gently woke Lin Zhizhi beside him: "Silly girl, wake up, you can't sleep."

"Brother, you're awake!"

"Where are we now?"

"You just passed out, so I replaced your mecha energy core and carried you eastward for more than 20 kilometers. Along the way, I also shook off two lone intelligent beasts."

"No, we're too close to the beast tide. We'll be discovered at any moment. If we're surrounded, we'll be devoured, leaving not even bones! Move east immediately!"

The two quickly checked their equipment: they only had three magazines of armor-piercing incendiary rounds left, and Lin Zhizhi only had one spare magazine left. Their guns were still stained with undried beast blood, and if they encountered intelligent beasts again, they would have almost no chance of fighting back.

Just then, a familiar "chirp chirp" sound came from the sky! Bai Sheng landed on the shoulder of the White Meerkat mech, its feathers covered in blood, and excitedly darted up and down, clearly having also returned covered in blood.

"Didn't I tell you to go with the two medical staff?"

"Chirp chirp!"

"You're a loyal friend, kid."

It was already broad daylight, so we had to speed up. At this moment, there was no need for eye beasts or aerial intelligent beasts to search; the strong smell of blood on their bodies was the most conspicuous signal, making them moving targets in open areas.

Bai Sheng took the initiative to fly forward to scout the way. The two of them had already exhausted their physical strength to the limit. Every step the mecha took was accompanied by a heavy, dull thud, and they could only barely keep up with its speed.

Suddenly, Bai Sheng's cries became rapid and sharp, filled with extreme vigilance!

"There's trouble ahead!"

The two immediately slowed their pace, focused intently on observing the movements ahead, and gripped their weapon triggers tightly with their fingertips.

The dense forest ahead was eerily quiet, seemingly normal to the naked eye, yet this deathly silence was the greatest danger. In an ordinary dense forest, even in the quietest place, there would be insects and segmented quasars, but at this moment, there wasn't even a trace of life. Scattered on the ground were fragments of bones and dried black blood; all living things had already scattered and fled.

Bai Sheng stretched out its nose and sniffed incessantly in the air, its small body tense and feathers standing on end, trying to pinpoint the source of danger.

"Climb the tree!"

Lin Zhizhi understood immediately, drew her heated twin swords, plunged the blades into the tree trunks, and quickly climbed towards the canopy. The blades left scorching marks as they sliced ​​across the tree trunks. Jian Sheng dared not take a detour rashly. The enemy's location was unknown, and a hasty escape would only lead to his own demise. Staying put and remaining on guard was the safest option.

He bent down and picked up two pieces of rotten logs, throwing them forward with all his might. The first one had no effect; the second, equally lifeless. But Bai Sheng's cries grew more urgent; it was absolutely certain that a deadly danger lurked ahead. Along the way, Bai Sheng's keen intuition far surpassed that of its kind, and Jian Sheng had no doubt about its judgment. Perhaps it wasn't because of albinism that its mother abandoned it, but because it was born so different from its kind, possessing a more acute sense of danger.

However, Jian Sheng dared not fire his gun easily, as the sound of gunfire would only attract more intelligent beasts, putting him in greater danger. Thus, the two sides fell into a deadly stalemate.

Suddenly, the ground trembled violently, the soil churned wildly, and with a piercing thud, a colossal creature burst forth from the earth—it was the Earth Spider, a top-tier existence among general-level intelligent beasts. Its dark carapace was hard and heavy, and its eight massive claws, covered in barbs, were stained with mud and rotting blood. As its mandibles opened and closed, sharp fangs were revealed, and saliva mixed with the remaining flesh dripped down, corroding the ground with a sizzling sound. It was adept at underground stealth and ambush, capable of unleashing a burst of poisonous barbs all over its body in an instant. If one were to inadvertently step into its ambush zone, even wearing a C-level mech, one would be pierced through the heart by a thousand barbs and instantly turned into a bloody mess.

The creature moved slowly underground, yet the vibrations it created were extremely intense. Finally, losing patience, it emerged from the ground, its eight massive claws unleashing a flurry of attacks, kicking up clouds of earth as it lunged at Jian Sheng. A foul stench, a mixture of decay and blood, filled the air. Jian Sheng quickly raised his cannon and fired, armor-piercing incendiary rounds hitting its targets one after another. The bullets pierced the carapace, exploding open bloody holes, and dark green fluid mixed with thick blood gushed out. However, the earth spider's frontal carapace was incredibly thick; these injuries were far from fatal, and instead, they thoroughly enraged the behemoth.

Unlike other intelligent beasts, the Earth Spider dwells underground year-round, relying not on sight for navigation but on scent and the fine hairs on its body to detect pheromones. Its vital head is hidden beneath its body, making it virtually impossible for ordinary attacks to hit. The seven bullets fired by Jian Sheng caused it to roar in agony, its massive claws slamming into the ground, creating deep craters and instantly crushing the surrounding vegetation into dust.

Just as the Earth Spider was about to pounce and tear the mech apart with its giant claws, Libra leaped from the treetop. Its dual heat blades, glowing red-hot and radiating scorching heat, propelled it with the force of its fall, piercing the Earth Spider's soft abdomen and pinning the behemoth to the ground. The scalding blades instantly shredded its internal organs, and thick flesh, blood, and intestines gushed out, filling the dense forest with a stench and leaving a gaping hole in the ground.

Just as it was about to die, the Earth Spider suddenly unleashed its full power, its body covered in venomous stingers shooting out wildly with a whooshing sound, densely packed like a deathly rainstorm. Jian Sheng rolled to the side, desperately taking cover behind a large tree, but the stingers instantly pierced the trunk, sending wood chips flying. He narrowly escaped death, but Libra was crushed under the giant beast's corpse, riddled with holes from the stingers, its armor shell cracked, metal fragments flying everywhere, and it remained motionless for a long time.

Jian Sheng's heart tightened, and he immediately rushed forward, climbing onto the corpse of the earth spider. His feet trod on the sticky, soft flesh and blood, each step incredibly slippery. He struggled to grope through the viscous flesh and entrails, finally managing to pull out the Libra. The mecha was severely damaged, with several bloodstained venomous spikes deeply embedded within, some even piercing through the armor layers. Beast blood mixed with machine oil seeped from the gaps in the armor. Fortunately, the Libra's frontal armor had been thickened by 30% during its initial design, so the spikes did not harm Lin Zhizhi, nor did they damage the energy core.

Lin Zhizhi recovered, wiped the blood from her face, and pulled a huge general-grade blue crystal from her mecha. The crystal was still covered in the flesh and slime of the earth spider. Her tone was filled with joy: "Brother, haven't you been collecting general-grade blue crystals all this time? We've fought so many intelligent beasts, and we've finally gotten a complete one. This one weighs at least five kilograms!"

"What time is it? Still thinking about this! Hurry up and leave! The commotion was too loud, and the smell of blood will attract all the beasts within a hundred miles. If we're any later, we'll be surrounded and torn to pieces!"