"Lower."
"Too low, a little higher."
Zheng Yiran piloted the spaceship, aiming to stop it on the sea surface. The sea was unusually calm today, perhaps the stellar beasts had some premonition.
The others on the spaceship looked outside, judging at what altitude would be suitable for them to catch some stellar beasts.
Zheng Yiran listened to the inconsistent commands from the group, and decided to ignore them. She extended her senses, observing the distance between the spaceship and the sea surface.
The group was taking it easy today. The battles they had fought in recent days had left a lingering aura of ferocity around them. They had intended to simply sit on the spaceship and enjoy some leisure time, perhaps go fishing.
The spaceship automatically docked on the sea surface, and the side door opened. The group sat side by side, each holding a fishing rod, looking quite the part.
After a few minutes, not a single fish was in sight. Zheng Yiran asked Rong Feiven, "Is it possible your fishing rod isn't made correctly?"
Rong Feiven, hearing someone question his craftsmanship, couldn't tolerate it. He argued his case vehemently, his voice even rising a few decibels.
"How could that be? I did my research specifically. I made it entirely according to the appearance of fishing rods in ancient texts. I also referenced videos from the museum!"
Although the fishing rod in the museum was in a state of disrepair, the explanation was very detailed.
Zheng Yiran had only spoken casually, but she realized she had stepped on a sensitive spot.
"Alright."
In truth, it wasn't the fishing rods at all. It was their own aura, which was too conspicuous. Low-level stellar beasts dared not approach, nipping their fishing plans in the bud.
It was Meng Huai who had suggested taking some local specialties with them. Seeing that they hadn't caught anything, she couldn't just sit idly by. She had wanted a leisurely time, but a lack of success was also a problem.
Meng Huai pondered for a moment, thinking she needed to find a solution.
After some thought, an idea formed in her mind. Since she had an idea, she decided to try it.
Meng Huai took a plant and placed it on the fishing hook, not submerging it in the water but dangling it in the air.
The spiritual grass had immense appeal to spiritual beasts, but she wondered if it would attract stellar beasts. Clearly, it had some effect.
The shrimp, fish, and other stellar beasts that had been afraid to show themselves now sporadically leaped out of the water, trying to snatch the spiritual grass. However, Meng Huai was waiting for them. As she lifted the fishing rod, the beasts couldn't reach it.
"Help me out here. Preferably alive."
Meng Huai called to the people beside her. Jing Yuancheng and Hui Xingxiu immediately rushed out to retrieve live specimens. As for Rong Feiven, he couldn't bother with whether they were alive or dead, opting for ranged attacks.
The prepared buckets were placed by the cabin door, and things were constantly being thrown in.
However, Meng Huai and the others were not satisfied with these stellar beasts. Someone said, "There are too few. We'll eat through these in a few days!"
Meng Huai thought for a moment and said to Zheng Yiran, "Senior, create a mental barrier and use mental attacks to herd the stellar beasts towards us."
Zheng Yiran understood Meng Huai's intention immediately. She first used her mental perception to cordon off this section of the sea, then continuously used mental attacks to compress the entire circle. This way, the stellar beasts affected by the mental attacks would all head towards the center of the circle. As the encirclement tightened, the stellar beasts were all confined before them.
While it 'saved a lot of effort,' this task was still very difficult for Zheng Yiran. Sensing Zheng Yiran's strain, Meng Huai also lent her mental perception to help.
Feeling Meng Huai's mental perception, Zheng Yiran felt much more relaxed. However, she also sensed something different about Meng Huai's mental perception. Zheng Yiran, distracted for a moment, thought: Why does Meng Huai's mental perception feel endless? Doesn't everyone have their limits? But she couldn't sense Meng Huai's limit. It was truly strange.
However, given the current situation, Zheng Yiran dared not be too distracted and soon refocused on driving away the stellar beasts.
Through their combined efforts, they had a considerable harvest.
Seeing that the spaceship was filled with so many iron buckets, they turned back.
Meng Huai selected some fish fry that appeared to have a gentle disposition and put them into her space to raise.
By the time they returned to Central City, everyone else from the military academy was ready to head back to the academy. Seeing them return in their spaceship, someone shouted, "They're back! Is that their spaceship?"
When the five of them disembarked, Teacher Wang gave them another stern lecture.
"Don't you know what kind of occasion this is? You went fishing! Are you that desperate for a meal? And you kept everyone waiting for you!"
Zheng Yiran glanced at the time and thought: We haven't exceeded the agreed-upon departure time yet! They must have returned early, afraid of being late!
However, Zheng Yiran didn't dare to voice this thought to refute Teacher Wang, as it might lead to an endless tirade from him. It was better to just listen obediently, and it would be over soon.
As expected, Teacher Wang talked himself out, and after a while, finding it tedious, he said, "Hurry up and get on board, we're waiting for you!"
Hearing this, the group obediently boarded the military academy's spaceship to return.
Xie Xue and others had come to see them off, waving and thanking them for their support.
"Classmate Meng, and all of you, please visit again! Feel free to come to our Blue Sea Star to enjoy the delicacies anytime!"
Xie Xue certainly knew that these students were quite interested in the sea star beasts of their Blue Sea Star, so he invited them under that pretext.
"Of course!"
The group responded to Xie Xue one after another, appearing as familiar as old friends. Teacher Wang watched these students, feeling a mix of emotions. In all his years of teaching, he had never encountered such students!
After pleasantries, it was time to depart. They boarded their spaceship and headed back to the academy.
Their departure was silent, known only to the teachers attending the meeting, with no one else aware. Their return was equally low-key, so much so that when Meng Huai suddenly appeared in class, many people paused to think.
"Huh? Why is she here for class?"
"Didn't she go with the school team for training? We haven't seen her at the academy for a month, have we?"
"Isn't that right! She's different from us! She has a level 3S perception, while we're just a bunch of people loafing around! Sigh, this is boring, let's continue watching the live stream."
However, unlike these students, Ju Yiqiu was extremely excited to see Meng Huai back in class.
She stepped forward, tugging on Meng Huai's arm, and asked curiously, "Meng Huai, where have you been recently? I didn't see you back in the dorm either. Did you go for training outside the academy?"
Li Wei also joined them from behind, his curious gaze betraying him.
Meng Huai, however, replied with a hint of mystery, "I went for a picnic! I brought some delicious food for you too! Wait until after class, and I'll take you to eat!"