The aftershocks of the teleportation were like an invisible giant hand, violently clenching everyone’s insides.
Dizziness, nausea, a sense of weightlessness... The familiar side effects washed over them like a tide.
The dazzling white light faded. The ground beneath their feet was no longer the solid alloy floor of the Martial Arts Room, but soft, dark red soil that carried the scent of rust.
"HUMMM—"
The power armor’s life-support system let out a soft hum, quickly filtering the thin gas that permeated the air, a gas with a sickly sweet, metallic odor.
Even so, the side effects of Subspace Teleportation still made many students double over, letting out pained, dry heaves.
"Straighten up!"
Wu Shangfeng’s cold voice rang through everyone’s comms channel like a sharp blow. "Regulate your breathing, circulate your Spiritual Energy, and adapt to the gravity! On the battlefield, no one is going to give you a minute to adjust!"
Qin Feng’s feet were planted firmly on the ground. The Amplification from his power armor allowed him to resist the discomfort from the teleportation much better than the last time.
He took a deep breath, and the Spiritual Energy within his body swiftly circulated along the pathways of the Imperial Body Refining Technique, dispelling the lingering sense of dizziness.
He looked up and surveyed his surroundings.
They were on the edge of a massive, open-pit mine.
The sky was a murky, grayish-yellow. Three dim stars of varying sizes hung above, casting a light devoid of any warmth.
The air was thick with the heavy scent of dust and industrial exhaust.
As far as the eye could see, there were only exposed, ochre-red rock formations that had been violently gouged out by massive machinery, and abandoned, rust-covered mining equipment.
The entire world presented an apocalyptic scene of decay and desolation.
However, the most striking feature was not this minefield, which was like Purgatory itself.
It was the disproportionately massive statues that stood at the edge of the pit every few hundred meters.
Without exception, these statues all depicted the Emperor.
Clad in golden power armor, wielding a massive golden sword, reigning supreme as he gazed down upon all creation.
But here, these idols, which should have been solemn and majestic, looked incredibly eerie.
They were mottled and worn, eroded by the wind and sand. The golden paint had peeled off in large patches, revealing the grayish-white stone underneath.
On the faces of some statues, dark red rust stains had dried into what looked like tracks of tears.
They stood in silence over the lifeless mining field. Far from inspiring any sense of the sacred, they exuded an inexpressible gloom and desolation.
"What... the fuck is this place."
Qian Duoduo leaned on his giant shield as he caught his breath. His voice came over the comms channel, tinged with shock and confusion. "Why put so many statues of the Emperor on the edge of a mine pit? Who’s supposed to see them? The ore underground?"
Shi Potian said nothing, merely tightening his grip on the Battle Saber in his hand. His T-shaped visor turned toward the depths of the pit, from which a faint, nauseating stench of decay was wafting.
"BEEP—"
Everyone’s Tactical HUD interface lit up simultaneously.
[Mission map download complete...]
[C-3 Mine interior schematic loaded...]
[Life signs detected... Commencing IFF scan...]
[Identification complete. 19 "Nagash" contamination sources marked.]
A three-dimensional map materialized in their field of view.
On the map, nineteen crimson dots flashed at the bottom of the pit and at the entrances of several main tunnels.
One of the dots was brighter and more glaring than all the rest.
"Mission objective: eliminate all Nagash Followers."
Wu Shangfeng’s voice rang out again, devoid of any emotion.
"The strongest among them is a retired soldier from the Star Realm Army, codenamed ’Kro,’ with a current life force index assessed at 14.5. The remaining eighteen followers are all miners he has contaminated; none of their life force indices reach 10.0."
"Time limit for the mission is two hours. The clock starts now."
As soon as he finished speaking, a blood-red countdown timer appeared in the top-right corner of their HUDs.
02:00:00.
Two hours. That was less than half the time they had to wipe out the greenskins.
This meant no probing, no flanking—only the most efficient and direct slaughter.
All eyes turned to their temporary commander, Chu Lan.
Chu Lan was clad in power armor, wielding a long-handled Horse-Slaying Saber—he had switched to it after the last combat mission, having found a sword to be too ineffective in a chaotic melee.
He quickly glanced at the 3D map, his voice cool and decisive as he gave the order over the public channel:
"Attention, everyone. This is an annihilation mission. The terrain is open, leaving no room for tactical cleverness. We will descend directly to the bottom of the pit and launch a frontal assault."
His finger swiped across the virtual map.
"Total enemy count is nineteen. We will operate in our dorm room squads, engaging targets at will. Prioritize clearing the weaker targets on the periphery, then we will regroup to corner the leader, Kro."
"Dorm 402, you are responsible for the three targets at the nine o’clock position. Dorm 101, you’ll take the twelve o’clock position..."
Chu Lan’s commands were clear and swift; in just a dozen seconds, he had assigned initial engagement zones to all the teams.
"Remember, the enemy are Nagash Followers. Prioritize destroying their heads and torsos! Avoid unnecessary close-quarters combat! Now, move out!"
"Sir!"
With a single, unified response, the Steel Warriors of Year One, Class Three, charged like tigers descending a mountain. They surged down the steep slope of the pit, toward the abyss filled with decay and death.
The ramp inside the mine pit was steep and rugged, littered with rubble and discarded metal parts.
But with the aid of their power armor, the students moved as if on level ground. Their alloy combat boots dug deep into the red soil, kicking up clouds of dust as they descended toward the bottom of the pit at an astonishing speed.
Combat was imminent.
Just as he had last time, Wu Shangfeng activated a drone to record the entire field. He scanned the battlefield with his full attention, prepared to intervene to prevent any student deaths and, at the same time, assess their progress.
---
Qin Feng’s trio formed a standard assault formation.
Qian Duoduo was at the front, his massive tower shield almost completely concealing all three of their figures.
The edge of the shield flickered with a faint energy glow, a sign that its Force Field Generator had been activated.
Shi Potian followed close behind on the left flank, his Standard Long Saber already drawn. The blade reflected a grim, cold glint under the grayish-yellow light of the sky.
Qin Feng took the right flank, carrying the three-meter-long Alloy Long Spear in one hand. Its tip was angled toward the ground, carving a straight line in the earth as he ran.
His steps were steady and rhythmic, and he constantly maintained the optimal support distance from his teammates.
Their targets were three Nagash Followers located in the northwest corner of the mine pit.
As they closed the distance, the stench of decay—a mixture of death and a sickly sweetness—grew ever more potent.
Soon, they saw the enemy.
They had once been three human miners.
But now, they could no longer be called "human."
Their bodies had undergone terrifying mutations.
Their skin had taken on an unhealthy, waxy yellow hue, and it was covered with swollen pustules and sores that constantly oozed murky pus.
Their bodies were bloated and obese, like overinflated balls, stretching their original miner uniforms to tatters that clung tightly to their rotting flesh.
Their eyes were cloudy and lifeless, yet a bizarre, contented smile hung on their lips, as if they were reveling in some form of ultimate bliss.
A few flies, appearing from god-knows-where, buzzed as they circled the wounds on their bodies.