Translator: Sean88888 Editor: Elkassar1
If the other contestants were here, they would definitely feel like a layer of fog that had been clouding their brains was lifted after listening to Sheyan’s plan!
“My servant told me that even if you’ve temporarily shut down some functions, the functions remaining on this spaceship would definitely still number more than the two that you claimed. In fact, the optical computers on it might not even be completely destroyed. This is an Atlantic-class warship which had its initial voyage a hundred and thirty-seven years ago. Although production of this model had stopped, there are still thirty-six of them in service in the Imperial Fleet. Its offline database should still contain its design blueprint!” said Sheyan while looking at Hadrick.
“The main optical computers of this spaceship may have been destroyed, but the secondary optical computers installed on the fuselage and the tail are still operational, just like the way a man in coma will still maintain his heartbeat, digestion, and even reproductive function intuitively!”
“Its analytic system will still automatically collect the data of the organisms in the surrounding area and attempt to build a database for research purposes. You didn’t find out that the curly paulownia seeds will harm the Violent Beasts from your experience; it was the result obtained by the analytic system of the spaceship after years of study!”
Hadrick felt a chill creeping down his spine. The others in his room also exchanged glances and shifted their bodies uncomfortably. Sheyan acted like he did not see anything and kept talking, as if he was speaking to himself.
“According to my deduction, the reason you brought us back here is probably because you’d like to find ways of returning to civilised society from us. That’s why you poisoned the food we just ate. Was that the best poison you got? It’s a pity one of my companion is very knowledgeable in plants. One sniff and he already knew what you guys are doing.”
Sheyan heaved a deep sigh and drank the water placed in front of him. “There’s poison in this cup of water too, right? Oh, it seems like there are even two dosages inside. But so what? Even without my companion, your poison is still just a joke to us! Right now, I’m just curious about one thing. Mr. Hadrick, you’re someone who has witnessed our strength firsthand. Why would you let them do such a foolish thing?”
Sheyan’s eloquent speech was delivered very slowly, but with an unshakable finality. He stood up, then walked away. Before leaving, he left them these final words.
“Well, let me see what you have to rely on. I’ll be waiting for you outside. I’m sure you don’t want to see any damage to this ship, do you?”
***
When Sheyan came to the outside of the spaceship, several people were already there. They gave him an “OK” gesture.
Cyborg No. 1 gave him a list.
‘Nine bombs that were mounted on the spaceship had been removed.’
‘The original instructions had been formatted and the highest level of authority of the spaceship had been restored.’
‘The shield of the spaceship had been activated. At present, it can provide a defensive energy value equivalent to at least 3.5 million tons.’
‘Due to the constraints in materials, only 17.33% of the spaceship structure had been repaired, and 6.13% of the functions of the spaceship had been restored and optimised. If there are enough materials, we will be able to repair 27.11% of the spaceship structure and at least 10.31% of the functions of the spaceship.’
‘Connection had been established with the database of the spaceship and offline database had been expanded. All the data collected by the spaceship had been downloaded.’
‘…’
After looking over the list, Sheyan suddenly gave Cyborg No. 1 a deep stare.
“You’re not an ordinary cyborg, are you?”
“The same way you’re not an ordinary contestant, my lord. Courage alone isn’t enough to be picked for a mission to this damn planet,” Cyborg No. 1 answered with humility.
Sheyan laughed. He was about to turn to the native humans when Cyborg No. 1 suddenly whispered to him, “This may sound unnecessary, master, but be careful.”
Sheyan’s body stiffened. “Who should I be careful of?” he asked in surprise.
“If the record in the spaceship is correct, one or more of these people should have some mysterious and terrible power in them too. Although this power is only an imitation, it’s still a highly-advanced technology produced with the combined effort of the whole Empire! Since they’re the survivors of that project and are strong enough to be chosen by the Predators, there’s a great possibility that they’re able to contend against you contestants,” said Cyborg No. 1 in a serious tone.
“What project are you referring to?” asked Sheyan.
Cyborg No. 1 hesitated for a moment and finally answered with some difficulty, “It’s…. The Ten Strongest Project. I must add that when I said the name of this project, I’ve violated the sacred law of the Empire once again.”
Sheyan laughed and said, “As if breaking the sacred law of the Empire matters to you or Major General Mungo anymore. What is this Ten Strongest Project?”
Cyborg No. 1 soon recovered from the terror of breaking the Empire’s sacred law and spoke once again with the eloquence of an old butler.
It turned out that the Nightmare Realms were, in fact, not developed by human technology. When mankind started the colonial era, the first “planet” they tried to conquer was naturally the moon, which was only 380,000 kilometers away. During the exploration of the moon, they found something very strange on the far side of the moon.
It was a boulder as big as a mountain!
However, the boulder was shaped like the womb of a woman.
A lifelike womb which was enlarged countless times and was as hard as iron!!
Opening this strange, colossal object took almost no effort. As soon as a human got close to it, the boulder instantly broke open, as if it could sense when humans approached it. Eight large bronze eggs that had no shell emerged from the boulder. The eggs looked like thick liquid that had undergone instantaneous solidification, and also a little like frozen milk coffee.
For some reason, with one of the eggs, a-third of it was missing.
The eggs hatched after they were transported back to Earth. Those hatched were the first generation Nightmare Realms, and they served the humans obediently.
The only thing the humans needed to do for the Nightmare Realms was to provide them with enough nutrients.
As for their origin, mankind was still at a loss.
They were called the first generation Nightmare Realms because Nightmare Realms could reproduce too. They reproduced in a simple way, that was, by splitting themselves in two.
During the division process, an abnormality occurred in the Nightmare Realm which had been damaged since it was in egg form. Mankind seized this opportunity and finally obtained samples of the core tissues of the Nightmare Realm. These tissues not only laid the foundation for the Ten Strongest Project, they also advanced human molecular biology by leaps and bounds.
This information was different from the official records, but official records were always what the authorities want you to see instead of the absolute truth.
The truth was hidden in….a small node on a giant photonic hard disk in a corner of the Imperial Computer Room.
***
Sheyan’s face got more solemn the more he listened to Cyborg No. 1. Their conversation may be deemed as time wasting, but the native humans raised no objection because the longer they delayed, the more it was to their advantage. The poison in the water and in the food needed time to show its effect.
“You mean, The Ten Strongest Project was essentially a method used by the first generation Nightmare Realms to create strong warriors, but the humans imitated it?”
“Correct! The biggest difference between the imitation and the original is that as long as the Nightmare Realms wanted to, they can make any warrior into one of the Ten Strongest, but the requirements for the imitation technology are a lot harsher. They’re so harsh that in the entire human species currently, only about fifty to eighty people are qualified for the first step of modulation!”
Sheyan drew in a sharp breath. The human population had already reached billions in the era of Old Earth, say nothing of the current Empire which was so huge that it had to occupy billions of planets! In such a terrifying population base, only fifty to eighty people passed the screening… And that was just the first round of screening.
For the first time, he did not have absolute confidence in winning this fight.
“But I reckon that the Ten Strongest will definitely not appear here,” Cyborg No. 1 said seriously, “The real Ten Strongest will never be captured by the Predators. The ones among them should be experimental products who failed in the modulation process, but had survived and had mastered some form of power. They’re defective products, but they’ve inherited some of the powerful abilities of the successful products. You must know that every ability of the real Ten Strongest is very, very lethal.”
Currently, the night was dark with only the Uplos asteroid belts illuminating the ground with a yellow light. Two previously harmonious groups of human beings were going to fight a mortal duel in this place!
In the eyes of the contestants, this was a ridiculous attempt by the ants to challenge the elephants, but the eyes of the native humans, who had almost gone crazy from the desire to go home, were glowing with determination.
Such unwavering faith.
A short, thin man pushed Hadrick aside. He looked straight at the contestants and shouted, “Poisoning you people is a decision made by the three of us! Now that you’ve got the information from the spaceship, do you dare make a bet with us?”
“Bet? As if you have anything else we’d want.”
“We understand well the greed of those goddamn people from the upper society. They look at nothing but profit. That’s why, after we came here, we’ve also seized every opportunity to collect Pi ores. The Pi ores we’ve collected are right behind us. If you win, you can take them away! And I hope that for the sake of this fortune, you won’t hurt the others.”
The small man added in a serious tone, “Of course, if you lose, you have to tell us how you’re going to return.”
