Chapter 262: Attacked
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ye Chong never imagined that he would see a continent here.
How was this possible? Ye Chong had never seen any astronomical body like this. He had travelled far and wide, and the Five Galaxies definitely did not have something like this. Almost all the astronomical bodies in the universe were spherical. This was the first time Ye Chong saw a non-spherical astronomical body.
With Ye Chong’s minimal knowledge in astronomy and astrophysics, he could not fully appreciate the magnitude of the problem that this phenomenon commanded. In fact, he was only slightly surprised by his findings. If he were to publish holographic images of this place in the virtual world, it would be an earth-shattering shock to the world. The astronomy community would undergo a huge revolution. However, even if he realized what this place would mean to the world, Ye Chong would probably feel indifferent about it.
This unique astronomical body was like a huge island among the many smaller rocks scattered about the asteroid belt.
As he stepped onto the continent, Ye Chong immediately raised his guard more. There were too many strange things going on here. To survive, he must quickly adapt to his surroundings.
Returning to the Five Galaxies now seemed like an impossible task. Ye Chong was alone, and had almost used up his energy cells. He did not know where he was, not even a set of coordinates for his location that would allow for a warp jump. In any case, Han Jia was not equipped with warp jump technology.
For now, he should focus on surviving. Inside him was a strong will to live. Growing up in a harsh environment like the trash planet made Ye Chong fearless against dangerous environments. Caution would help you live longer, while fear will be the death of you. This was something that Ye Chong realized since he was nine.
It was as though he had returned to his lonely days of struggling on the trash planet. He had only Han Jia for company. Even Mu and Shang were lost to him.
However, what could he do? Ye Chong made a rare expression of elation. Han Jia was far better than Winnie. Besides, he was a lot stronger than before. The only thing that saddened him was that he was separated from Mu and Shang.
Ye Chong quickly gathered himself. Mu’s calmness was a strong influence to Ye Chong, and Ye Chong rarely found himself losing his cool.
He looked forward, and saw no end in sight. This was a huge plain. The sparkling faint blue dots covered the vast plain like a thin carpet. The view was splendid, enough to overwhelm any visiting artist.
It was a pity that the only one visiting now was Ye Chong, who had zero interest and insight into the arts.
Ye Chong was as cold as a machine, and mostly ignored the scenery. His eyes were staring straight at Han Jia’s holographic screen. Every holographic system would have certain civilian functions. While military holographic scanning systems had more functionalities, it was the civilian type that was more valuable now.
Now was not the time to use the powerful military holographic scanning system, but the all-purpose engineering holographic scanning system.
Ye Chong recalled then that he had an engineering mech. This was the one he bought at Nine Gates of Daylight. It was bought with the insect mech that he used to mine trans.m.u.tated energy ore on the primary planet.
Engineering mechs were an important type of civilian mech. It could provide a certain level of security for engineers working outdoors, and had specialized engineering scanning systems that were not found in average mechs.
Ye Chong withdrew his engineering mech, but did not push forward. Instead, he made a detailed scan of the continent.
Scanning results indicated that there was a large amount of ore where Ye Chong was now. Unidentified ores made up 40 percent of them. The continent was flat, and its size was beyond the measurement limits of this engineering mech. 98 percent of the plain was covered with vegetation. This was considerably high, even when compared against primary planets that were untouched by humans. Other than the plants with light purple leaves and glowing blue orbs, and that dark brown lichen that Ye Chong had seen earlier, the engineering mech’s holographic scans had identified another five additional plant species.
Ye Chong collected specimens of each species, and stored them in the specimen storage device of the engineering mech. He was a capable alchemist, even without his tools. However, the chip that Lunatic Guan gave him had information on many ancient identification tests invented by the Guan family. These tests may be detailed and laborious, but they utilized traditional methods and relied less on modern apparatus.
From that chip, Ye Chong understood more about these plants. As the earliest field that branched out of botany, alchemy knowledge was far more useful and practical to study plants.
With five times the gravitational force acting on him, Ye Chong felt lethargic from his study.
Perhaps due to the strong gravity, the continent was extremely tough, feeling like alloy under his feet. The plants also boasted strong leaves and stems.
Soon, Ye Chong returned into Han Jia. He finally used the rope ladder that he had not used all this while to climb up. With five times the gravitational force, Ye Chong dared not climb up into Han Jia’s pilot cabin. At this height, Ye Chong felt as vulnerable as an infant. Every move was difficult. This made him yearned for the easy movements that he could make under normal gravity. However, he quickly dismissed such useless thoughts. The only way now was forward.
There was no choice - he had to adapt! Five times the gravitational force ... Ye Chong’s expression was calm, but his eyes shone brightly with determination.
He took a deep breath, and Han Jia began marching forward on the plain.
This time, Ye Chong covered 350 kilometers. If it was in outer s.p.a.ce, this distance would only take a short while. However, due to energy conservation and safety measures, the flight had took a full three hours for Han Jia.
Fortunately, the journey was smooth. Aside from the three new plant species that Ye Chong discovered, there was nothing interesting. Here were a good many herbivores that Ye Chong had seen earlier. Beside them, Ye Chong did not see any other animals, much less carnivores.
However, Ye Chong did not let down his guard. He knew that while the carnivores remained unseen, they must be here somewhere. Nature was curious this way. Even in a harsh environment like the trash planet, carnivores still sat at the top of the food chain.
Ye Chong found something new again.
Water. There was water here. In fact, ever since he saw the plants, Ye Chong had guessed that there must be water around here. However, when he finally saw it, his heart still jumped with joy.
This was a large river. According to Han Jia’s holographic scanning results, the widest part of the river was a good 15 kilometers wide. The river was calm, but Han Jia still managed to calculate the speed of the river flow. The only question was, where did the water come from?
This river divided the continent into two. Ye Chong pondered for a moment, before flying Han Jia across the river.
Just when Ye Chong reached the center of the river, Han Jia’s sharp alarm that had been quiet so far began to ring.
Ye Chong groaned.
Ye Chong’s reaction did not slow down due to the abnormal gravity.
A 10-meter thick tentacle suddenly rushed out magnificently from the river’s surface and came straight for Han Jia.
The attack was sudden, but Ye Chong had enough time to react. Mech pilots often had to make decisions in milliseconds, or they would not stand a chance in modern fast-paced mech battles.
Han Jia quickly unsheathed its two daggers and pulled its hands over the chest in a cross, the two daggers s.h.i.+elding before its chest. It was too late to evade using the main engines, but with slight adjustment of the auxiliary engines, Han Jia’s position s.h.i.+fted to face the enormous tentacle.
Ye Chong was shocked deep inside. Such a huge tentacle suggested an enormous creature under the waters. The brown tentacle was covered with curly patterns of green, making it look like a log entwined with seaweed.
Bang!
Han Jia flew straight towards the other side like a baseball off a bat.
The powerful impact left Ye Chong’s head spinning. This kind of attack should have been manageable, but with five times the gravitational force, the force on his body was five-fold, and the pain was unbearable. Without Han Jia’s hydraulic suspension system, Ye Chong would have been squished into a meat patty.
He felt a long absent feeling of wanting to throw up, and had to breathe deeply a few times to suppress the undesirable urge.
Before Ye Chong could react any further, he suddenly found himself already on the other side, and still flying further. Han Jia was still flying from the momentum of the impact. One could appreciate how strong the attack actually was. Ye Chong quickly steadied Han Jia to avoid a crash landing.
His two daggers were bloodied, a sure sign that the tentacle was injured as well. Ye Chong was confident of the sharpness of his daggers. The attacker must have suffered, probably with a large gaping wound to show.
Suddenly, the center of the river riled up like boiling water.