"You're really something, even arresting NPCs."

"I had no choice. The players and the factional advantage weren't on my side. If she kept selling lunch boxes, she'd be arrested as soon as she got off the starship."

"What are you planning? To quietly take care of things on the return trip..."

"Can't wait. Some players have already brought mechs directly. Once we get to Changping Port, and she finds a suitable energy crystal, the mech will fly her back here."

"I told you, with me here, that won't happen."

"I know, but the mech can't go back either. It's possible that more than one person can pilot the Canglang mech."

Mingmei's consciousness gradually returned, and she could hear two people talking. Before she could open her eyes to see who was speaking, she heard—

"I requested the departure time for this starship to be three days from now. This transport ship will never reach Changping Star Port."

Mingmei: !!!!

"Okay, then be careful. Don't worry about my side."

"Okay."

When Mingmei turned her head, Charlie had already closed the video call. He turned back and gave Mingmei a "friendly" smile.

Mingmei: "..."

How was she supposed to smile at a time like this?

"Can you... let me go?" Mingmei noticed an electronic lock on her wrist and frowned. "I'm just an innocent bystander selling spicy hotpot."

"No." Charlie crouched down and looked at Mingmei. "Selling crayfish lunch boxes is like going against me."

Mingmei: "...?"

Damn it, if she had known his identity, she would never have sold crayfish lunch boxes in front of him!

"Instead of arresting me, why don't you arrest the other player who already ate the crayfish lunch box?"

Mingmei was speechless. Charlie was afraid she would sell lunch boxes to Lu Xiaoyao? Wait! Was he afraid of Lu Xiaoyao or of her?

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, the other one won't live that long~"

Looking at Charlie's suddenly gentle tone, Mingmei's eyes widened instinctively.

[Gosh!]

Mingmei quickly called Gui Gui, asking it to switch the backstage livestream to Mandison and Lu Xiaoyao's side. Sure enough, their livestreams had exploded!

Mandison was happily chatting with Lu Xiaoyao in the passenger cabin when, unexpectedly, Mandison coughed up blood. Thinking she was too close, Lu Xiaoyao couldn't avoid being splattered in the face.

In a flicker of her pupils, Da Yao broke through Lu Xiaoyao's confinement and instantly went online.

During the few seconds it took for Lu Xiaoyao and Da Yao to "switch accounts," Mandison's life rapidly drained away. By the time Da Yao had fully taken control of her body and was frantically pulling out first aid equipment from her space button, Mandison had already logged off.

Da Yao: !!

Watching the body in front of her begin to deteriorate, Lu Xiaoyao saw the other's skin turn a scorched brown from the inside out. Finally, before Da Yao's eyes, Mandison's corpse turned into a lump of charcoal...

This scene not only shocked Da Yao but also terrified everyone in the livestream.

[On June 18, 2088, Xia He, a mid-level guard of Xia He, died of the Xingyan Insect venom at the Sigma Military Base Hospital at the age of 32.]

A line of text suddenly appeared on Mandison's blacked-out livestream.

This line of text seemed to explain the original character's time and place of death, which was exactly three days before the Sigma Fortress incident.

Then, the blacked-out livestream lit up again, showing image after image of the other's spirited student days to the audience.

The photos in military uniform, uniform, and combat uniform also revealed the true appearance of the person named Xia He.

There were also excerpts from his speech as an outstanding graduate—"I am willing to use my life to protect the Empire! To protect the peace of the Empire's people!"

The young man in the camera was wearing a military uniform, his right hand clenched and pressed tightly against his chest, standing straight on the podium, swearing with fervent and firm eyes, "Expel the Zerg and defend our galaxy!"

A shot of the spirited young man putting on his military uniform, someone calling him, and him turning back with a brilliant smile toward the camera was frozen, the colorful image gradually fading into black and white until it blurred...

Finally, Mandison's livestream went completely black.

How many of Xia He's relatives, friends, and teachers were already sobbing in front of this camera.

Thirty years later, seeing the appearance of the deceased again, as well as things he had never mentioned presented in another way, the emotions in their hearts were a jumble of feelings.

[Damn! My tears are worthless!]

[Sob sob sob! Even getting on the starship can't change the ending of death?]

[o(╥﹏╥)o I can't do it anymore, bricks fell out of my eyes! Aaaaah!]

[What is Xingyan Insect venom? What are Xingyan Insects? Someone explain, stop crying!]

[Xingyan Insects are a type of Zerg that feed on newborn stars. The temperature of their saliva is comparable to the surface temperature of a star. The main ingredient of Xingyan Insect venom is its saliva.]

[In addition to high-temperature damage, the toxicity of Xingyan Insect venom comes from a special material covering the surface of the saliva that is highly poisonous. When the poison takes effect, the surface material disappears, followed by the burning of the saliva, which burns the poisoned person to ashes on the spot.]

[Damn Zerg!]

The above science popularization made everyone extremely angry, raising everyone's hatred for the Zerg to a new height.

Da Yao, who had personally witnessed someone who was chatting and laughing with her one moment die in front of her the next, could now feel Lu Xiaoyao's sadness and cries, which had retreated into the depths of her heart.

Opening her optical brain and communicator again, Da Yao suddenly discovered that not only was her communicator's signal blocked, but her optical brain also had no network connection.

She remembered that Mandison had said that Mingmei's lunch boxes contained one that could detect hidden Zerg.

"Hidden Zerg..."

These four words were repeatedly chewed in Da Yao's mouth, and Da Yao suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly. So now, she had fallen into a trap set by hidden Zerg?

She remembered that someone had told Lu Xiaoyao to board this starship.

There must be hidden Zerg on this starship. Right now, she needed to find Mingmei to make a deal before she could start the real battle!

However, it seemed like it had been a long time since Mingmei had left, which couldn't help but make Lu Xiaoyao's heart sink slowly.

She stood up, took a Xingyuan gun from her space button, held it in her hand, put the completely carbonized corpse into the space button, and left the passenger cabin with determination in her eyes.

...

"Gui Gui." At this time, Charlie had already left the small room where she was being held. Having witnessed everything in Mandison's livestream, Mingmei only felt her eyes were a little sore. She forced an ugly smile and asked, "Do you know what methods are used to detect Zerg spies now?"

[It's measuring mental power fluctuations and scanning everyone. Some Zerg, because of their special racial talents, can parasitize human bodies; and some higher-level Zerg, even Zerg generals, can directly transform into human form.]

[But whether they are parasitic or transformed into human form, there is still a Zerg core in their bodies. The Zerg core is an important existence for storing the Zerg's mental power and thoughts.]

[The mental power fluctuations of the Zerg core are different from those of humans, and there is no existence like the Zerg core in the human body to store mental power. Human mental power radiates from the brain and spreads throughout the body.]

"So, this time, although several players who ate the crayfish lunch box detected hidden Zerg through the lunch box, those insects cannot be detected by machines, which means that there are no Zerg cores in their bodies, right?"

[That's right.]

After listening to Gui Gui's explanation, Mingmei suddenly let out a single-syllable self-deprecating sound, and suddenly said, "So, Gui Gui, you actually know a lot, don't you?"

Gui Gui: [...]