A Chemist's Interstellar Saga

Chapter 88: A Dangerous Territory
Chapter 88: A Dangerous Territory

For Arix, the scalpel was not only easy to use; also, it seemed it didn’t need to be sterilized for surgeries like the normal ones. It was a really great tool.

Arix thought she could try to create other surgical tools with her psychic powers someday.

Arix skillfully twirled the scalpel between her fingers, feeling more and more satisfied.

Calista and the others saw Arix was happy with her creation and felt relieved. Then, they turned their attention to their own psychic weapons and began to play with them curiously.

Calista studied her manifested bow for a while. She then created a long arrow and tried to shoot it. However, the arrow disappeared into thin air before it flew even half a meter.

Calista wasn’t upset; instead, she repeated the process with excitement.

After shooting about a dozen arrows, however, her head started to hurt, as if a rubber band was tied around it. This was a sign of her psychic power running out, so she stopped quickly to rest.

Femi wanted to try chopping meat with his psychic weapon. But even though it looked sharp, it disappeared before touching the meat.

After several tries, Femi began to doubt himself. Looking at the untouched meat, he could only keep trying with a frustrated expression.

Dae-jung was the strongest among the three. His heavy sword was not only large but also powerful, already able to leave deep cuts in the trees.

They all practiced for a long time until Drexel noticed it was getting late and called out, ”Time to move on!”

The four of them nodded and then cleaned up their temporary camp.

Later, they headed deeper into the forest in the formation they used yesterday. It seemed the beasts were still sleeping at this time, so they didn’t encounter any danger along the way.

They smoothly reached the border between the central and inner parts of the forest. There was a stone tablet blocking the path, with eight big letters on it: ”Celesterror Territory, No Entry.”

Seeing the sign only made Arix more curious about what was inside. The five of them exchanged glances, all understanding each other without a word.

”How about we go in and take a look?” Arix suggested, her eyes sparkling. She had never seen a Celesterror before but heard they were very beautiful, which attracted many poachers.

In the Alliance, Celesterrors were protected animals, but in the Empire, they were incredibly rare and highly sought after at auctions. It was said that their prices could go over one billion astracredits for each.

”I think we should head in there. Our instructor never said we can’t enter Celesterror territory, so that’s basically allowed,” Femi said with a sly grin.

”We’ll just take a quick look and come back. It should be fine,” Calista added. She had only seen Celesterrors on the interstellarnet, so she was excited about the chance to see a real one.

As for Drexel and Dae-jung, they looked at each other, then shrugged. Seeing other people’s determination, he knew he had no choice now.

Once they made up their minds, the five of them crossed the stone tablet and entered the central area of The Sugli Forest, where the Celesterrors lived.

At the same time, in the meeting Room of the Sixth Warship...

Ortiz held his forehead in frustration. He had been so proud moments ago, and now he felt utterly embarrassed. Disobedient students were common, but... ’Do they really have to drag their instructor into their antics?’

”This is just great,” Ortiz muttered.

Laiden chuckled and looked at Marlone. ”Your niece is quite the troublemaker.”

”Hmph! Not as much as yours!” Marlone replied sarcastically, watching the footage from the nanobots. Poor Elio was being chased by a group of wild beasts, his fat jiggling with every step. Even Marlone felt exhausted just watching him.

Laiden was instantly annoyed. Elio was his brother’s only son, and he wouldn’t tolerate anyone mocking him. Marlone felt the same way about Arix, the only daughter of the Kering family, cherished and protected.

The tension between Laiden and Marlone was palpable, an invisible battlefield filled with hostile glares and a tense atmosphere.

”Stop it. Something’s not right,” Solis said suddenly, his eyes sharp as he watched the video. His tone was cold and serious.

Laiden and Marlone were startled and immediately stopped bickering, looking at the video with concern.

”What do you mean, Solis?” Marlone asked seriously.

Everyone in the meeting room turned their attention to Solis, waiting anxiously for an explanation.

This test involved the heirs of five noble families and the students from the five military academies, so the exam had to be absolutely safe. Any mishap could have severe consequences, ones the Alliance couldn’t afford.

”Just now, our heirs, whether by accident or on purpose, all entered Celesterror territory. This can’t be a coincidence,” Solis said, his voice filled with cold fury.

”Celesterrors would never let them enter like this. Normally, they would have been attacked by now. So, there can only be one explanation: the Celesterrors are facing a bigger problem!” Marlone’s voice was cold as ice. He immediately used his opticomputer to contact the soldiers near the Celesterror territory to check the situation.

The soldiers received the orders and rushed towards the Celesterror territory without delay. However, before they could enter, an invisible barrier threw them back. Ignoring their injuries, they quickly reported this to Marlone and the others.

”Bang!” Marlone slammed his fist on the table, his eyes filled with cold fury. ”This is a grand scheme!”

Before the soldiers were thrown back, Marlone and the others saw what the barrier was. It was a massive psychic power shield, created by dozens of Supergiant-Class insectoids combining their psychic powers.

Even more alarming was that these were just the insectoids on the surface. The situation inside the Celesterror territory was likely even more severe.

The examiners from the military academies didn’t waste a moment. They immediately sent a distress call to the Fifth Legion for assistance.

At this moment, in the Celesterror territory...

”Arix,” Cupid’s voice sounded worried in Arix’s mind.

Arix was walking at that time. She stopped and quickly asked in her mind, ”Cupid, what’s wrong?”

”Arix, do we have to stay in the forest? I feel something uncomfortable here,” Cupid said anxiously.

”What makes you feel uncomfortable?” Arix asked nervously.

”Bugs, a lot of bugs,” Cupid, usually fearless, said with rare trembling and panic in his voice.

”Insects? Insectoids!” Arix’s pupils contracted as she finally understood.

”Yes, it’s them,” Cupid nodded frantically.

”Okay, I understand.” Arix’s gaze turned sharp and cold.

Then Arix directly tore off her digital bracelet, which immediately shocked Drexel and the others!

”Arix? What’s wrong?” Calista was the first to express her confusion, not understanding why Arix suddenly chose to quit.

”Arix, you know that taking off the bracelet means quitting,” Drexel didn’t ask why because he trusted his sister wouldn’t do something like this for no reason.

”Why hasn’t the instructors shown up since I took off the bracelet?” Arix asked seriously.

Drexel and the others finally realized what she was doing. They took off their bracelets, but after waiting for a long time, there was no sign of the instructor or anything at all.

”Did something happen to the instructors?” Femi asked with wide, frightened eyes.

”I think something has happened to us. There might be a problem in this Celesterror territory,” Drexel said with a serious expression, furrowing his brows.

”What should we do? Should we try to leave now?” Calista asked, looking worriedly at everyone.

”If we could leave, the instructors would be able to come in. I’m afraid we are already trapped. We need to contact the outside world and find out what’s going on,” Drexel said coldly.

”Is there any way to contact them?” Arix asked Drexel, confused.

They didn’t have an opticomputer and couldn’t leave, so how could they contact anyone?

”There is a way,” Drexel said. Then he took off his high boots and pulled out an opticomputer from his pants.

Arix’s eyes widened in surprise.

Dae-jung and the others were almost stunned.

”Pfft!” Arix couldn’t help but laugh despite the serious teammates.

”Drexel, you smuggled an opticomputer into the competition? If the instructors find out, they might take you out and skin you alive in fury,” Femi said, eyes wide with surprise.

Femi silently prayed in his heart, hoping the instructors would go easy on Drexel after this was over.

Calista looked at the opticomputer, then at Drexel, repeating this a few times before finally accepting the reality that, the honorable and upright Drexel might actually be a troublemaker.

”Let’s not worry about how the opticomputer got here. Look, it’s coming in handy now,” Drexel said, coughing awkwardly to justify bringing the opticomputer.

”Enough talk, just use it already,” Arix couldn’t listen any longer and interrupted Drexel’s awkward conversation.

Drexel nodded, turned on the opticomputer, and called Marlone.