Li Zixuan lowered his voice and said.

He pulled up the 9300’s floor plan and discovered through the minimap that the Desert Worm was located in the dormitory’s cafeteria.

"The spaceship has been attacked by Desert Worms. It seems the crisis within the Prism System is more than just the Emperor. We don’t know the origin of these Desert Worms or how many there are, but it likely isn’t a small group. We must immediately report this to the Third Fleet. Meng Meimei, how’s the repair on your communication equipment?"

"No good, the recent energy fluctuation severely damaged the equipment, and several key components are broken. I don’t have any spares here..."

Meng Meimei is the team’s logistics support engineer, responsible for the entire Mad Bee ship’s logistics support, including emergency repairs of crucial equipment during wartime.

"Captain, the interference from the Crimson Light outside is too strong. Even if I fix the communication equipment, it’s highly likely that the signal will be lost due to interference just like before..."

Li Zixuan nodded, indicating he understood. Now wasn’t the time to discuss this. The Desert Worm was lurking in the cafeteria, and they needed to move quickly to assess the situation and eliminate the threat.

"Follow me, activate tactical stealth mode. From now on, all communication is via closed Mind Transmission equipment. The Desert Worm’s hearing is excellent; we must not make any sound."

Following his instructions, the team enabled the silent mode function on their wristwatches, and a faint airflow enveloped their feet, reducing the chance of detection by minimizing vibration.

Simultaneously, a small blue dot lit up on the helmets they wore, temporarily linking their mental thoughts.

This Mind Transmission doesn’t allow them to fully understand each other’s thoughts directly. Instead, it is developed based on the Phantom Spirit Clan’s communication methods, enabling the Mad Bee team members to grasp low-threshold language abilities for a certain period.

This manifests in their perfect coordination—just a glance, a gesture, is enough to quickly convey their intentions to one another, instantly completing communication.

If used during the games Li Zixuan used to play, such behavior would be called "eye telepathy raid."

"The target count has increased to 3 and they are lurking inside the cafeteria, no survivors found yet!"

Li Zixuan led the team inward, maintaining absolute silence along the way. Middle High Rank Desert Worms might detect this infiltration method, but the Desert Worms ahead were merely low-level Scythe Insects, nothing particularly formidable.

Currently, the three Scythe Insects were happily feasting in the human cafeteria, completely unaware of the impending danger.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~"

Three barely audible sounds of something slicing through the air were heard. The Qin En Spirit Gun discharged its attacks without a sound, easily dispatching the three insects.

The predecessor of this gun was the Qin En Particle Gun, which, after enhancement by the Star Alliance’s research department, had a Spiritual Power device installed, combining Spiritual damage with its Attack Attribute, greatly increasing its Destructive Power.

While the carapaces of the Desert Worms might withstand normal Hot Weapons, their resistance to Dark Spiritual Power damage was low, allowing for easy elimination.

"Captain, I found three survivors!"

Meng Meimei came rushing over, having just pushed open a kitchen door to find three shivering survivors.

Li Zixuan hurried over.

"Hello, we are the Mad Bee team from the Third Fleet. I’m Captain Li Zixuan. We received your distress signal and came to check the situation."

Seeing that their rescuers were humans rather than the terrifying insects they had imagined, and noticing their fully armed state, the survivors were overjoyed and wept with relief.

"Rescue is finally here! Thank you, I thought I was going to die here."

Witnessing their reaction, Li Zixuan felt a bit sentimental—was this his first experience of being so needed by others? In truth, it felt not bad at all.

"Alright, you’re safe now. Don’t worry; tell us about the situation here, and we’ll handle the insects."

After comforting the three survivors, once their emotions calmed down, he gained insight into the spaceship’s condition from them.

It turned out that a few hours ago, the 9300 was in its final phase of operations. The crew had persevered here for a year and were eager to return home.

With a bit of time left, Captain Olson ordered a final batch of mining to accumulate more bonuses.

However, during this last mining effort, issues arose. When the 9300’s laser mining tool pierced the asteroid’s hard rock surface, it revealed not Spirit Stone veins as expected but a group of hideous, fierce Desert Worms.

The Desert Worms attacked the Digger. This mining ship wasn’t equipped with significant weaponry—the only two Spiritual Power Gun Turrets were destroyed by the insect swarm, leaving it defenseless.

A lot of Desert Worms died, but the remaining numbers were beyond what the crew could handle. After breaching the 9300’s defenses, they turned it into their smorgasbord.

"Captain Olson had already wiped out some of the insects with the security team, but he also met with misfortune. The remaining number of insects is about a hundred and fifty, scattered throughout the spaceship. I surmise they should be concentrated near the ore bay, where the others were last seen, likely where those damned insects went searching for them."

Speaking was a seasoned fifty-year-old miner, known as such because he was a Guleng Star Person, formerly in this line of work, now part of the Star Alliance mining team, an expert in his field.

"I see, thank you for the intel. Now, I need to search for remaining survivors. Will you join us or wait here for our return?"

Upon hearing Li Zixuan, the three miners looked surprised.

"Officers, can we head to your rescue ship instead? We really don’t dare stay here any longer."

Seeing the hope mixed with terror on their faces, Li Zixuan couldn’t help but sigh softly.

"Outside, there’s no way out..."

...

Moments later, after understanding the current situation of the Prism System, the three miners were utterly despondent.

They had thought their ordeal was over once out of the Desert Worms’ clutches, only to discover that outside was even more perilous. These people, rather than solely a rescue team, were also seeking refuge.

There was no choice; rather than hiding alone and risking being found and eaten by the insects, joining the Mad Bee team seemed a safer bet. After all, these were Professional Soldiers, equipped with formidable Dark Spiritual Artifacts.

The group continued delving deeper, and upon passing the cafeteria, it was clear the insect numbers had increased.

Because they now had the three miners with them, stealth was no longer an option, forcing them to fight through.

Fortunately, their mission was to clear the insects from the spaceship, and this still aligned with the original plan.

"They’re just minor Scythe Insects; if this weren’t a mining ship, they likely wouldn’t have breached it. But these insects seem different somehow, don’t you notice anything unusual?"

Over time, Li Zixuan also noticed the abnormalities present within the spaceship.