Chapter 216: Apes Eating Tigers
The planet was very strangely positioned, needing to pa.s.s through a layer of red stardust before arriving. There was no radar system that could have located its existence, and it was not possible to find it even with the latest star maps from the Alliance.
The thick layer of stardust and the mess of complicated multi-spectral signals interfered completely with a wars.h.i.+p’s visual and radar systems. Xia Fei followed Phantom’s instructions and dove down at a constant speed while maintaining a forty-five-degree angle, only making it through after flying the s.h.i.+p for over an hour.
Xia Fei peered through the window and looked down at the planet, only to see the sparkling red stardust around. A dim, green planet existed inside that layer of clouds, which had been formed due to the stardust.
“These star clouds contain phosphorus substance that emits light, and the plants on this planet rely on this faint light to survive. You’d better bring some powerful night-vision goggles along, and be prepared to use them occasionally,” Phantom advised.
The green planet was not too large, and there were plenty of plants that grew on its surface, decorating the ground in such a way that made it look angry.
There was no ocean here, only the countless meandering rivers that covered the planet. Xia Fei could see with his bare eyes several, abnormally wide rivers, akin to s.h.i.+ny, green crystal bands wrapped around the planet.
“What’s the name of this planet?” Xia Fei asked even as he piloted Vampire to make a rapid descent.
“It has no name. Since a long time ago, we a.s.sa.s.sins have been using this location as our personal training ground. Every few years, we’ll send a batch of our newest disciples to take part in a trial.” When Phantom began to speak about his disciples.h.i.+p, he momentarily got dragged into his memories, unable to extricate himself as his eyes shone fondly.
“So does it mean you came here for the trial in the past?” Xia Fei asked. He had always been very curious about Phantom’s disciples.h.i.+p, so now that he was given a chance, he made sure to overtly and covertly probe the latter, hoping to learn more information from his lips.
“I was here once when I was younger. Later when I became an apprentice, I even brought some of my juniors here. Do you think this location can be found just by anyone, w.i.l.l.y-nilly? There are plenty of magnetic rock bands that are hidden in the red stardust. One wrong move in piloting and the person will have been immediately pulled over, unable to escape for the rest of their life and can only wait for death,” Phantom said, showing an alarmist look. Highly magnetic rocks were known to be s.h.i.+p-killers; though they were unable to attack the s.h.i.+ps outright, they were more than capable of exerting a magnetic force, making it so that s.h.i.+ps would have trouble moving. Even using a forceful warp in an attempt to escape would be extremely dangerous, for it could potentially result in the destruction of the s.h.i.+ps along with the crew.
“Aren’t you afraid of me running into people from your disciples.h.i.+p by bringing me here to the trial grounds of your a.s.sa.s.sins’ group? Besides, I can easily earn quite a reward if I reveal the location of such a secretive planet to the Alliance Cartography Society.” Xia Fei jokingly laughed.
The Alliance Cartography Society did indeed have such rewards specifically given to s.p.a.ce adventurers that could provide outstanding contributions in the field of interstellar exploration. This planet was not on the starmaps, which meant that the Alliance was obviously unaware of its existence. Xia Fei would really qualify for the reward if he really did reveal this to them.
Phantom glanced over at Xia Fei. “Though the Alliance seems all-encompa.s.sing in size, there are actually plenty of planets they have yet to discover. Just we, a.s.sa.s.sins, have more than a dozen secret trial grounds, and I’ve calculated the time. This isn’t the period when the disciples.h.i.+p will send new recruits here for the trial, or else I wouldn’t be able to lead you here.
“It’s even more meaningless for you to try and earn the exploration reward from the Alliance Cartography Society. Since it’s an unknown planet, who wouldn’t actually want to keep it a secret? Only an idiot would run to go claim an exploration reward and whatnot. What use is there in getting a prize? If you do find the six-leaf rain lotus here, you can just go buy yourself many more,” Phantom retorted.
Xia Fei was speechless. The two of them rarely ever had tried to trump each other when they got into an argument, but it was clear that Phantom had won this round, so Xia Fei could not help but feel slightly irate inside.
Nonetheless, what Phantom had said was the truth; no one would report a yet-to-be-discovered planet to the Cartography Society unless it had absolutely no value. After all, what they could potentially discover on the planet would far outstrip any prize or reward.
This was why interstellar s.p.a.ce explorers would usually first check to see if a new planet had anything of worth; if it had value, they would secretly record down its coordinates and sell it to a shady mining company for resale or development.
Mining companies would incur tax for mining on known planets, and the tax rate would be dependent on the value of those planets. If they were to mine a completely unknown planet, they would at least be able to evade paying taxes, which was why there were small mining companies that would be willing to risk the huge fines the Alliance imposed to conduct unsanctioned mining. Only the planets that were hardly of value would be directly sent to the Cartography Society for registration for a chance at that pithe reward and pointless fame.
Xia Fei suddenly felt that there were truly many opportunities to earn money in this universe, and the key to that was just how clever someone would be about it and if they had enough luck to succeed.
He found a hidden valley to park Vampire. The navigation system was still blank, completely unable to detect anything, same as when he was searching around in the supergravity zone.
Xia Fei pointed at Vampire’s radar. “Look, we’re completely blind. We won’t even know if pirates appear; this can be avoided if we manage to put that super-radar into production.”
“Are you even the sort that will fear pirates? Huh! When that happens, I wonder who will actually end up being robbed?” Phantom pouted.
Xia Fei chuckled. Pirates operating within Alliance territory were all just small misfits that could hardly cause much of a disturbance since committing any major crime would result in the Alliance Navy descending upon them.
Given Vampire’s strength, a single frigate would hardly be its match, and it would have no problems going toe to toe with cruisers. Thus, if Xia Fei were to run into pirates, it was very unlikely for him to be the one robbed.
Getting up to his feet, Xia Fei cleaned up himself and headed for the landing bay.
The hatch opened and what greeted him was an unfamiliar world.
Because of the red stardust that orbited the planet, the world itself was completely painted red; everywhere he looked was in that color. It was raining, and upon closer inspection, Xia Fei saw that even the rainwater was in that strange red color, making it seem as if the raindrops were fresh blood.
The sky was dark, and because of the spa.r.s.e light that made it through to the planet, the place looked similar to Earth when the sun was setting. The moment Xia Fei set his foot on the planet proper, he could not help furrowing his brows.
Due to the year-round rain, the ground was wet and muddy. Xia Fei, who was by no means heavy, actually sank while he walked, the red mud reaching up to his knees.
“I think I know why you a.s.sa.s.sins choose this place as your trial ground; even a martial arts capable person will not be able to use their skills one hundred percent in this type of environment,” Xia Fei said.
Phantom smiled. “It’s not just the mud. There live a species of extremely clever, white-faced apes in forests on this planet. They are able to form groups living among these trees, swinging from tree to tree.
“Plus, they’re capable of making weapons, plucking branches from the poisonous Mandalo and using their teeth to bite them into spears. Intruders will all be shot with spears by the apes, and while the poison of the Mandalo isn’t fatal, it can cause numbness to any animals’ nervous systems.
“By depending on their ability to live on trees and their poisonous spears, the white-faced apes have become the local overlord, able to hunt down tigers and lions whenever they’ve got the time. It’s very interesting.”
Xia Fei’s mouth went agape. “The apes will eat tigers? Aren’t they afraid of the toxins from the Mandalo and of injuring themselves as a result?”
Phantom was unconcerned. “What’s so strange about that? The intelligence these apes possess is far higher than that of the average animal. After so many years of partners.h.i.+p, they have already gained an immunity toward it. Besides, it’s normal for apes to eat meat. Who made the rule that they could only eat fruits?”
Xia Fei was speechless for a while. Such a muddy ground would greatly reduce what speed he had. He would be in great trouble if he ran into any danger.
Xia Fei thought things through for some time when he suddenly came up with an idea.
Stepping through the mud, he arrived at a thick tree trunk. He spat on the palm of his two hands and looked eager to begin.
“What are you intending to do?” Phantom curiously wondered.
“Climbing up the tree.” Xia Fei pointed to the tree branches above as he answered. The canopy of this tree was at least a hundred meters from the ground, lush with dense leaves and thick branches. It would really be hard to spot him if he were to hide in it.
*Tap tap tap—*
Xia Fei agilely climbed to one of the tree’s top branches, which looked st.u.r.dy and thick, and stood on it as he looked into the distance.
“This isn’t bad. I won’t be hampered by the mud now that I’m up here, and the view is great, too. The leaves can even act as cover for the rain.”
Phantom was feeling depressed. He had mentioned the white-faced apes because he wanted to use them as a warning about the dangers of this place, so Xia Fei would not underestimate this land, but the latter had, instead, uncovered a good way to avoid the muddy terrain from Phantom’s words.
Xia Fei then shuttled through the thick forest. Thanks to his dexterity, he was able to leap from tree to tree easily, and just as he had said before, the scenery from up high was much better than being down on the ground.
With a light kick from his two feet, the branches swayed as they rustled loudly from the force. Xia Fei borrowed the tensile force of the branches to leap dozens of meters away, using one hand to grab hold of another tree branch as he swung to the next, dexterous like an ape.
“Do you know what’s the biggest difference between humans and animals?” Xia Fei asked.
“What?”
“Humans learn; since the white-faced apes are able to live a good life on the treetops, why would I want to trudge through the mud myself?” Xia Fei quite happily said. “Besides, I realized that such a movement form is a good way for me to practice my Sly Thrust.”
With that, Xia Fei repeated the same few actions, except this time the pattern was more complex as if he was an acrobat doing a trapeze.
As he continued his way forward in this manner, moving from one tree to another in such a manner, Xia Fei gradually became accustomed to this way of traveling among the trees. He was a speed ability user to begin with, so he would always be better than the average human in terms of his ability to bounce or his mental acuity. The act of climbing trees did not stump him at all.
Phantom shook his head and continued to point the direction Xia Fei was supposed to go.
There was a narrow valley far ahead, and both cliff faces were smooth, while the valley was covered with a flouris.h.i.+ng forest.
Due to the year-round rain, the cliff faces were covered in moss, which was slippery to the touch. Even the white-faced apes had trouble climbing there.
The cliff faces not only reached beyond the clouds, many caves of varying sizes pockmarked the surface, too. Some had water, which continuously gushed out from it, cascading below to form a series of waterfalls of different sizes—a wonderful sight to behold.
Xia Fei continued ahead even as he took note of movements from both sides. Having the Beast Spirit Codex on his side meant that he was not afraid of any white-faced apes. It was merely that having a large pack of aggressive apes swooping down on him could be quite troublesome, and it would greatly reduce the love he had for such animals.
All of a sudden, Xia Fei crouched low on one of the tree branches as his eyes focused an opening on the cliff face.
“What?” Phantom asked.
“Someone’s there.” Xia Fei knitted his eyebrows together. “Two people, in fact.”