Age of Cosmic Exploration

Chapter 146: The First Dispatch Unit

Bo Li’s suggestion sounded crazy to say the least.

It was preposterous enough that a supermagnetic field generator needed to be built to essentially open a tunnel, and her plan required the usage of the Supermagnetic Planet Annihilating Rail-Cannon! A weapon strong enough to demolish a medium-sized space satellite with 1 hit!

"I’ve asked many experts before coming forth with this idea. All of them agree that a shot from the cannon could tear through the suspended 2,000-meter rock layer easily. Furthermore, the shot will have reached enough third cosmic velocity [1] to break through the atmosphere and perhaps even this solar system to disperse itself in space! There is no harm in doing this!"

Yao Yuan was convinced by her sound argument on one hand and conflicted by the ludicrousness of the situation on the other. In the end, he came to a decision and asked for a meeting among the Black Star space troopers.

"First, I’ve accepted the plan. It sounds ridiculous, but in reality, the generator only needs 20 days to build. After it has passed the safety check, a shot will be fired by the cannon to create an upward path. Then, a first dispatch unit of about 15 people will take a shuttle to the surface to conduct field study and sampling."

Yao Yuan addressed Ying, "Ying, you’ll be leading the team. Bring Zhang Heng and Ren Tao along. Make sure to keep communication open at all times. In cases of emergency, I’ll ask Xi Kong to use her power to reach you. Your team will also consist of 5 scientists and 7 Black Star troopers. Please ensure the safety of these 5 scientists. Among them will be Professor Mitsuda, the Whisperer."

Ying nodded. "What about our equipment? I request for gear that is suitable for a planet with an atmosphere."

"Approved," Yao Yuan answered immediately. "Other than those, I’ll allow your unit to carry 1 lightweight Gaussian cannon, and for every one of the members, a supermagnetic guided mine."

Ying felt that there was nothing for him to add, so he nodded satisfactorily.

Then Yao Yuan left the rest to Ying. He had faith in Ying’s meticulousness during mission planning, so he didn’t drop in to check.

Ying didn’t disappoint. Other than Zhang Heng and Ren Tao, who were nominated by Yao Yuan, he picked Ebon and Liu Bai, making the total number of skilled Homo Evolutis to 5. Finally, he picked 5 Survivors to round up the party.

Without being told, Ying understood Yao Yuan’s intention. Other than the ostentatious mission objectives, the hidden point of the mission was to provide field training to the Survivors. That was why Ying opted for a 50-50 ratio between the skilled Homo Evolutis and the Survivors, even though the Survivors’ ability wasn’t as powerful as the other Homo Evolutis'.

With the increased progress brought in by the 4th revolution, the generator that took up ¼ of the Hope’s entire floor was completed within 20 days. Unfortunately, because the machine was too unwieldy to be fitted in the Hope, it had to be attached to the ship’s outer wall. This action earned Bo Li’s ire, since treating it as an external attachment would mean exposing such delicate equipment to damage.

Yao Yuan, though, paid her no mind. It was, after all, a necessary decision. The thing would occupy a quarter of one of the Hope’s individual levels. Putting it inside the Hope would naturally mean sequestering part of the public space. The public ire from that would be worse than the wrath of a single Bo Li. Furthermore, since they were loaded with resources, if the device was damaged, they could just as easily build a new one.

After exhausting a whole polymerized reactor, the generator was activated as plasma visibly surged towards the top of the ship. The floating debris above the Hope slowly gravitated towards the walls and formed a compact, horizontal rock barrier.

As everything set into place, the front of the Hope opened to reveal the barrel, body, and even the rail where the cannon sat on. The cannon slowly pointed upwards and electricity could be felt suffusing the area as it charged up. Electricity could be seen running through coils inside the cannon, creating a plasmatic energy center.

"Starting count down: 30, 29, 28..

3, 2, 1…"

Following the completion of the count down, the whole ship shook. In barely a second, a hole of 50 meters in diameter appeared above the Hope. Several pieces of pebbles broke away from the edge, tumbling downwards. However, the rest of the barrier held. Finally, through the hole, the people of the Hope could see the sky!

The cannon shot would be out of the planet’s atmosphere by then, far into the reaches of the cosmos.

Everything was ready, but… the hole was too small for the shuttle to navigate through. In the end, Yao Yuan had no choice but to order 3 more shots. The shots increased the size of the hole to about 170 meters in diameter, and finally the shuttle could squeeze through.

Inside the shuttle, everyone was in their spacesuit. With the anti-gravitational system activated, the shuttle floated slowly through the hole. The shuttle was grazing the walls at every side, but thankfully, with Ying’s power, there was no accident. However, due to the difficulties in navigation, it still took the shuttle about 10 minutes to pass through the 2,000-meter-long tunnel.

The moment the shuttle broke through to open air, it felt like they were transported back to Earth.

Beyond the windows was a field of grass where animals galloped away hurriedly, startled by the shuttle’s appearance. Ferns of many kinds and colorful flowers dotted the landscape. Clouds floated lazily up in the sky, pierced occasionally by aviaries of some sort. The sky was awashed in a palette of gold and red, for a sun was setting in the western horizon. It was so… beautiful.

Ying wasted no time enjoying the scenery. Certain of the mission, he found a safe spot to land before leading the troopers out the shuttle. They needed to secure the perimeter. After all, this was an alien planet… even the plants could be dangerous!

20 minutes later, Ying allowed the scientists to descend after making sure there were no obvious signs of danger.

The moment they heard Ying’s consent, the group of scientists rushed out of the shuttle with much glee and excitement. Then they spread out to complete their own assignments. Samples were collected from the plants, animal feces, soil, air, and microbes. This was not a project that could be hurried, so even when the sky was fully dark, the sampling process hadn’t seen its conclusion yet.

Suddenly, Chou Yue, Mao Miao, Yao Yuan in the Hope and Zhang Heng on the surface lifted their heads upwards and exclaimed in unison, "This is bad. Danger incoming!"

An unknown danger was coming from above them, from way above the planet's surface and even above the sky and atmosphere… it was coming from beyond the planet itself!

What kind of feeling was this?! This was an unbridled malice, intent on swallowing everything… They felt like they were like meat stranded in a circle of hungry beasts!

Zhang Heng’s first reaction was to connect to the Hope, Chou Yue went searching for Ren Tao, Mao Miao sought Ning Xue’s comfort, and Yao Yuan communicated with Ying immediately.

"Ying, what’s happening?! Report immediately! I feel something extremely dangerous coming from beyond the sky! What’s happening?"

"The planet… It’s being consumed!"

With shock and terror, Ying’s party stood transfixed, watching the planet’s two moons. One of them had irregular bite marks on its surface. The culprit was a mass of muscles adhering to the moon’s surface, slowly digesting it!

The scene was captured in Ying’s mind using his seeker’s power.

His eyes met the stare of the many eyes that covered the meat monster’s massive body. It shifted its gaze away from Ying and to the shuttle behind him… and then to the giant hole beside the shuttle!

Translator's Thoughts

Lonelytree Lonelytree

[1] The 'third cosmic velocity' is the speed that a spacecraft needs to attain in order to be able to leave the solar system.