Chapter 1526: Bracing for Impact
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Intelligence obtained from the guardian giants should be accurate—from their personal experience at least.
So as Vivian said, the Crimson Moon might not be as simple as a projection of a single point in the history of the Star of Creation. It was much complicated than that, and what was shown might not logical. It was very likely that the projection had included things of the various period in the history of the Star of Creation.
But the study in this area could wait. Right now, the star chart was complete, and the drone cl.u.s.ter had determined the warp-jump route to the X Galaxy. Hao Ren decided to pay a visit to the mysterious galaxy first.
Who knows, he might solve the mystery of the Crimson Moon in X Galaxy? Sir-Ominous like him might be able to achieve something positive, Hao Ren thought to himself.
The giants knew Hao Ren was going to go to a distant unknown galaxy, but Hao Ren did not tell them that the coordinates of this galaxy originated from the G.o.ddess of Creation. It could be a trap that the G.o.ddess of Destruction left behind. If the giants learned about it, they would insist on going there too. The concern was that what would be their reactions if they knew the split of the G.o.ddess. Hao Ren wanted to avoid this uncontrollable factor like this as much as possible. Not to mention that the giants had a close relations.h.i.+p with the G.o.ddess, the three giants and Loken were races that the G.o.ddess of Creation had created in two different eras. There would be a problem if there were ambush awaiting them at X Galaxy.
“I do not even want to you along,” Hao Ren said to Vivian while they were walking to the flight deck. “There are too many unknowns. Yes, the drones have been exploring there for a while, but things could be different when we are there personally. I am worried that you will trigger something like ancient seals, and we will be in trouble.”
Vivian had long known what was in Hao Ren’s mind. She was not surprised at all. “Do you think I will stay home and wait?”
“Apparently, not.”
“So, be done with it.” Vivian waved her hand. “I have lived for 10,000 years, and I do not like to fight, but I have never backed down when coming to it. All the more so since things concern me. I am not reckless nor simply out of curiosity. But… how should I put it? It seems like fate has it that the star chart is leading me to find something, and only I can find it; no one else, but I can open it.”
Hao Ren smiled and shook his head. “It looks like I cannot stop since you call it fate.”
Hao Ren was bringing everyone, except Noobie, along; the little guy was unpredictable. He had asked the help of the Nangong couples to look after Noobie. There was an advantage in bringing everyone together; Hao Ren was unsure what was going to happen in X Galaxy, and they could take care of themselves very well. Even Rollie had no problem doing that. As for Lil Pea, she could just hide in his dimensional pocket.
Hao Ren stood in front of the console on the flight deck. He put Lil Pea in the sink filled with water, which he specially made for her. He called up the star chart, which had been calibrated earlier, checked the flight plan, and then said to Nolan, “Is the information link online?”
“It is online now. The s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p computer has established a direct connection with the drone cl.u.s.ter. You can now control all the drone nodes directly in the s.p.a.cecraft and receive information from any drones.”
The X Galaxy was a weird place; it was especially apparent with its discontinuous s.p.a.cetime and the high-energy ma.s.s floating in the universe. It was hard to say what would happen when they got there. There could be a delay or even lose contact with CARS. So, using Nolan as a mobile communication station was necessary. The s.p.a.cecraft had the excellent processing power and antenna system. The redundant data units could connect and control a large number of drones. When Nolan arrived at the X Galaxy, the gravitational network of the drone cl.u.s.ter should have been ready. The drone cl.u.s.ter could then come to X Galaxy and start to build a new large drone nest, which would become an operation base for Hao Ren in X Galaxy. All subsequent investigations and expeditions would come from this drone nest.
Hao Ren could directly control the drones in the X-Galaxy through Nolan, bypa.s.sing the CARS and thus improving the efficiency of the drone cl.u.s.ter.
Lily lay on the chair listlessly. The self-proclaimed First Officer knew nothing about flying a s.p.a.cecraft. Wearing the uniform was just for the fun of it. When it came to flight preparations, she started to get bored quickly. She wagged her tail and watched before suddenly said, “Mr. Landlord, why do you not tell the truth to the giants?”
“What truth?” Hao Ren asked back without looking up.
“The Creation Engine. The stop work of it.” Of course, you did not lie to them. The blueprint has bugs. But you did not tell the whole truth; at least you did not tell them what happened to the G.o.ddess of Creation.”
“How should I tell them? Tell them that their mother has committed suicide, or that their mother is the one responsible for the deicidal war, or she has caused the death of all the guardian? It was the G.o.ddess of Destruction who did that. But things are too sensitive.” Hao Ren shook his head. “It may not matter when the guardians have a strong mental quality to hear this mind-bending news, but there is an even more sensitive question. Once we found the G.o.ddess of Creation and her two split bodies had completely mutually infested each other, or worse still, they merged into an even more evil and darker creature, becoming the carrier of the Mad Lord, would the guardian giants go crazy?”
Lily thought for a moment with her mouth agape and her ears drooped. “That seems to be a problem.”
“If I were to tell them the truth, the problem will bug them from now one. They will worry about what if their mother and the evil force have become a unified whole, should they follow their mother to go on the path of destruction or do the right thing by letting their mother die one more time? These might be the worst-case scenario, and they may not happen, but there is still this possibility. Life of the giants are already hard enough, do not put them on the horns of a dilemma.”
“But you cannot keep this thing from them forever,” Nangong Wuyue curled herself into the shape of a mosquito coil and poked her head out and said. “They will find out sooner or later.”
“I will tell them after I find the G.o.ddess of Creation. If the G.o.ddess is still two distinct bodies, then everything will be fine. If the G.o.ddess is completely corrupted, then I will see what we can do to cure her. In any case, it is better to find the solution first rather than telling the giants when the situation is still uncertain.”
Suddenly, Nolan’s voice coming through the PA system interrupted their conversation. “System self-diagnostic is completed. Navigation beacon checked. The flight path is clear. Departure at any time.”
Hao Ren sat on the captain seat. His fingers tapped on the control panel in front of him. “Start the warp jump.”
The stars began to move past them. Starlight had turned into a long tail of lights, changing their colors to a blurred red-blue, and then gradually disappeared. When the s.p.a.cecraft broke the speed of light, there was only darkness on the outside.
Since the drones had calibrated the coordinates on the star chart and set up a strong guiding force field, Nolan did not need to crawl slowly for a few days like the drones before them. Soon after, the closed s.p.a.cetime around the s.p.a.cecraft reopened, and when the intense light stabilized, Hao Ren had already come to an unfamiliar s.p.a.ce.
“We have arrived in a discontinuous s.p.a.ce.” Nolan’s voice was heard on the flight deck. “We will fly through the area at sub-light speed.”
Hao Ren became slightly nervous when the s.p.a.cecraft slowly approached the boundary marked on the star chart.
The boundary is invisible. s.p.a.ce here was discontinuous, but it would not pose any threat to the travelers except for seeing the s.h.i.+ft in positions of the stars. As the s.p.a.cecraft is slowly approaching the horizon, no one onboard the s.p.a.cecraft could see anything unusual ahead.
The only thing that changed was the drops in readings on the console.
It seemed nothing would happen, but the feeling of knowing something was waiting for you up ahead made them on the edge of their seats.
At last long, the s.p.a.cecraft had crossed the dividing line safely and without a hitch. Hao Ren saw the s.p.a.ce as shown on the monitor flicked for a second. Immediately, the entire universe appeared in an entirely new angle as if someone had s.h.i.+fted its position.
s.p.a.ce here looked very different.
It was in purple with a bright galaxy hanging on this backdrop. A little further from the galaxy, some luminous cl.u.s.ters of stars were scattered in the surroundings. Those were the outliers of the galaxy, and they were large.
“We have entered the X-Galaxy, the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p is running normally. Recalibration of starlight in progress… Autopilot engaged and fly toward the nearest drone outpost.”
Lily’s ears and hair on her tail returned to normal, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Still lying on her back in the chair, she said pretentiously, “Hah! I was expecting more, but that was not exciting at all!”
“Oh, was it?” Vivian shot the husky a look. “Your tail had puffed up just now, and you still had the nerve to say you were not nervous.”
“Battie, you—”
Just as the husky maiden was about to jump to her feet, an alarm sound blared throughout the s.p.a.cecraft.
“Warning! Warning! High energy detected! High energy detected! It is hostile! Activating emergency s.h.i.+eld booster… Brace for impact!”