Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Being stuck on that planet was not their long term plan, but leaving the star system was not going to be easy. The Divine Storm around Star Cluster X did not show any signs of abating, and while the stars looked peaceful, as soon as Hao Ren left the system’s gravitational sphere, it would trigger an energy surge within the area. All navigational routes would be blocked, hyperjumps prevented, and the navigational computer would be on bluescreen.
At such a juncture, even a trip back home was a risky undertaking, forget investigating the ancient and mysterious star system further.
To change this depressing back-foot situation, Hao Ren first tried to understand what the surrounding divine storm was actually about. He wanted to understand its strength, structure, operation, and most importantly, how it detected an intruder.
Everyone had arrived at the forward base’s control center. There was a giant holographic projector and data control terminal, which could perform real-time control and data transfer between the Petrachelys and droid swarms. Nolan had moved all the information from the droids there and created an easy-to-understand series of reports as well as diagrams.
“I sent out twenty-two probe units with this planet as the center in a large area search, and this is the result of the search.”
On the big holographic display, a massive amount of silver lines and mists appeared over an originally starry universe. The weaving lines and mists formed a net-like 3D structure, covering the entire galaxy in a very complex pattern. This pattern changed with each moment; every second, every minute, it was changing and reorganizing itself in a complex pattern. Some old structures would disappear, and new ones appeared when the silver lines crossed one another. The whole network was operating like a living being in a confusing and ceaseless manner.
Looking at the network, an image appeared in Hao Ren’s mind: the silver lines of divine power across the universe shook and traversed across light-years of space every time. It seemed like there was an unseen massive system that was allowing this power to operate day and night, and anyone who crossed paths with it would be crushed, as though they were in a millstone. He almost fell into that situation himself.
What was the goddess of creation hiding in that place? Was the powerful system a secretive entity on its own, or was it a wall to protect this secret?
“How big is the actual map on the display?” Vivian asked.
The droid Nolan was controlling flew to the front of the projection before it started to tinker around with its tentacles. “This is only about one-fifth of the entire Star Cluster X. Our probes are at their limit now. The farther in, the stronger the Divine Storm is. And there are many active explosion points. They could be traps, and rushing in headlong would probably end badly for us. Plus, the droid swarm’s operation zone is limited. Going too far in will cut them off from any support or reinforcements.”
“Understood.” Hao Ren nodded. “So, based on these divine structures that we’re seeing, can we surmise that the entire Star Cluster X is full of them?”
“Basically, yes,” Nolan answered. “These structures have a very high level of order, and they form part of the structure we have now. We can derive the entire motion sequence, and in a more reliable model, this divine structure encompasses almost 98% of the area.”
“I never thought this place would be hiding such stuff…” Lily pouted in awe. “But we don’t see it at all.”
“When it’s dormant, the entire structure is invisible. Only a minute amount of information is actively being transferred via the background radiation, and they practically fuse together with the radiation. If the droid swarms hadn’t been deploying a multi-channel probing antenna, we wouldn’t have detected this. But once activated, this network will immediately draw a frightening amount of power and focus it in a small area, forming the storm that we ran into earlier. A very sensitive feedback mechanism is controlling the energy draw, and if the focused energies cannot destroy the ‘invaders’, the network will feed even more energy to that area. At the moment, we are unable to calculate the upper limit of this energy, but it is certainly enough to end us.”
“Clearly, a very effective security system,” Y’zaks said, crossing his arms. “The goddess is probably using it to protect something.”
“Perhaps she’s protecting that crystal planet!” Lily quipped, wagging her tail.
“So have we found the activation rhythm of this network?” Hao Ren asked. “Why are we stopped whenever we take off, but the droids can go about freely? Does this have to do with our life signatures?”
The lockdown of Star Cluster X was determined by a set rule, and this was now a known fact. Swarms upon swarms of droids were never stopped from entering the system, but a hundred-meter-long ship with barely any crew would attract a fierce divine storm. Hao Ren had also commanded Nolan to test things out at the edge of the planet system, which confirmed that the activation of the Divine Storm was regulated.
This made him wonder if the goddess of creation had set up any filter protocol in her security system to ward off any invasive life forms.
“Since we’re unable to read the data within this ‘divine power network’, I’m not able to confirm what sort of assessment system it uses when it’s activated. But based on our reports, we can confirm that it has some sort of sensory system and will automatically scan any object that comes into the area. It can determine the scanned object’s life form and energy levels. That’s the biggest difference between me and the droids; my energy levels are beyond any droid, while the life signs would be coming from you guys.”
Nolan’s deduction on the lockdown system’s mechanism was based on the comparison between the passenger-carrying ship and unmanned droids. It was probably the most effective line of thought, and Hao Ren went along with it before he pointed out something else. “Also… all of us have divinity within us, but the droids don’t. We have complete mental faculty, but the droids are only a little part of the hivemind, and they could be seen as being without any cognitive abilities. Plus, the psionic purity level of the Petrachelys is way higher than the droids’—”
Vivian then interjected, “Perhaps the lockdown was designed to block me alone? I’m probably the most unique being around here, and I’m created by the goddess of creation herself. Now that I’ve recovered the divinity left by the goddess, my presence is about as obvious as a lighthouse’s.
Lily threw Vivian a glance before she added, “If so, that means the goddess of creation was already rather screwed up. Don’t forget, the map to this place was from your head. Did the goddess leave that map in you just to stop you at the gate?”
Hao Ren coughed dryly. “Ahem, the goddess of creation’s problem is well known. She did, after all, suffer a mental fracture.”
“I think we’re going off-topic here.” Nangong Sanba looked around before he gave his opinion, “Since we can’t determine the factor that’s activating the ‘security system’, why don’t we try this; first, let Nolan fly out without any passengers. If she’s intercepted, then it means that the ship is the problem. If not, let her bring a few of us along to test it and see who’s actually being targeted by the system…”
Wuyue gave her brother a surprised look before she grabbed him by the waist with her tail and spun him about. “Brother, your idea is surprisingly good!”
There were only afterimages of Nangong Sanba being spun around. “Then… why are you spi- spinning me for?!!”
Wuyue retorted without a hint of regret, “Oh, I’m celebrating. It’s become a habit.”
Hao Ren agreed with Nangong Sanba’s idea too (at the same time, he was also a little sympathetic). “Nolan, give it a try, but safety comes first. If you get caught outside the divinity net, you won’t be able to come back.”
“Understood. I’ll head back now to test it out.” Nolan nodded before she switched the images on the holographic display. “I made another discovery regarding the divine powers within Star Cluster X; you may be more interested in this.”
With a flash on the screen, Hao Ren saw a faintly-glowing mist and dust-covered disc-shaped structure appearing in the middle of the image. It was in a milky-beige color and around the glowing disc was a large amount of diffusion debris. The whole thing looked like the ancient dust cloud of an incomplete star.
Hao Ren recognized the object at a glance. “Isn’t this one of those weird energy bodies the droids found across Star Cluster X?”
“Yes,” Nolan answered. “These energy bodies are scattered across the entire system without much coordination. Based on current calculations, this system probably has thousands of them. And a few hours ago, an exploratory probe approached one of them, and took this pretty closeup picture.”
Hao Ren asked, “Have you figured out what these energy bodies are?”
“Not yet, but the droids have recorded some interesting information.”
Vivian who was by the side raised her eyebrows. “What information?”
“Some were sent directly by the object to the droid while some were intercepted. These are the results after translation…” Nolan immediately displayed the information on the screen.
“Detected unauthorized unit approaching. Please provide your contact authorization or identification serial.
“Did not receive verification signals. Please do not approach, or coercive actions will be taken.
“Unable to contact central command, response solution affected – destroy the unverified unit.”
The next second, the seemingly formless cloud of light and gas suddenly radiated as the blurry diffusion belt became an elegant line like a crystal “pillar”. This curved “pillar” then blasted out a powerful beam, and that was the last image sent by the droid.
It had been destroyed.
