Chapter 950: Chapter 950: Assault The Ghost Ship Fleet Cluster Core is a massive Planet Fortress, almost three times the size of Earth. Compared to many of the Empire’s active planet battleships, it’s definitely a giant. According to Sandora’s calculations, its combat power is enough to rival the current Empire’s simplified version of the starship “Zero.” This is the most advanced artifact we’ve encountered that was created by a non-Empire civilization. This fully proves the vastness and variety of civilizations in the Void. Although the Empire stands at the pinnacle of all Mortal Civilizations, there are still immensely powerful advanced civilizations, even if they are not as mighty as the Empire. Despite the ungainly appearance of these Ghost Fleets, we cannot deny their capability to navigate, reside, and fight in the Void. They even have planet battleships (and not just one; as mentioned earlier, the Ghost Fleet Cluster has ten scattered cores, and we’ve only contacted one, with this planet battleship being one of its ten starships). In many respects, the creators of these Ghost Fleets seemed like a diluted version of the Xyrin Empire. But speaking of, the design style of these ships is really hard to compliment. We’ve been advancing through this “Rotten Potato” brand Planet Fortress for over ten minutes, traversing an unknown number of forks in the road. The tubular passageways ahead seem endless, with branches seemingly infinite. The scanning system displays the surrounding spaces as an interconnected traffic network, indicating that we have yet to escape the spaceship’s exterior “intermediate layer.” The so-called intermediate layer is a unique term for planet battleships, referring to a spherical shell surrounding the spaceship’s functional part. This shell is used for mounting weapon slots, shield generators, Gnaku, and other battle facilities. It also serves as the last barrier protecting the spaceship’s middle and core layers. It fulfills the role of equipment slots and also acts as the spaceship’s defensive armor and buffer zone. Only by passing through the intermediate layer can one truly enter the interior of a Planet Fortress. In planetary terms, the intermediate layer is roughly equivalent to the Earth’s crust and one-third of the mantle, and it seems like we still have a long way to go in this intermediate layer. The monotonous sound of footsteps echoed through the tubular passageways, accompanied by the dark, twisted walls around us, giving the illusion of walking in an ancient cavern. Qianqian waved her arms in boredom ahead, occasionally lifting Little Qijing, who was playing the role of a searchlight (note: the searchlight function is inherited from her mother), swinging it in all directions with a professional look. I was very curious if this girl knew how to gather intelligence in such an environment. She triumphantly boasted to me, “Ah Jun, don’t forget, I was educated by an archaeologist!” Suddenly, I remembered Uncle Xu, who constantly dug up ancestral graves across the land, and felt something was off: “What does that have to do with now! I don’t believe your dad encountered alloy gate tunnels while excavating the Han King’s Tomb!” “Stop fooling around,” Big Sister looked at Qianqian and me helplessly, “Haven’t you noticed the wind seems to have changed?” I was startled, then quietly sensed it and indeed found there had been a shift! In these maze-like tubular passageways, a cold wind continuously whistled by. At first, we thought it was because we had entered the planet battleship’s ventilation duct, but soon realized that every corridor here had some wind phenomenon, indicating that the corridors were designed this way. Following Sandora’s suggestion, we kept moving towards the direction the cold wind was coming from, hoping there might be a set of ventilation equipment there that could at least lead us to the spaceship’s inner layer. Now, the surrounding wind had clearly changed. Although cold air still blew against us, its intensity was intermittent. “There might be a vent ahead,” Lilina shouted, “We can definitely get out! Let’s move, let’s move, I’m fed up with this ghost place! There are faint life signals ahead, go go go!” It’s not just Lilina who was fed up. The whole family had enough of these dark and monotonous corridors. We immediately started sprinting. Lilina, who had been bouncing ahead, was quickly overtaken due to her short legs, and she hopped and shouted as she ran behind, “Wait! Wait for me! You’ve lost the loli!” A few minutes later, we found the reason for the change in wind speed. It was indeed as Lilina had guessed. At the end of the passage appeared a large cavity, oval-shaped like two large sea bowls placed mouth-to-mouth. The surrounding was lined with identical circular passageway exits, and we were standing at the edge of one of them. At the bottom of the cavity was a large constantly opening and closing gate, from which a fierce cold wind blew out. Together with the large surrounding space and numerous passageways interfering, this formed the intermittent airflow that flooded into each exit. “Wait, the interference phenomenon is weakening here,” Sandora waved her hand to stop us from approaching the gate immediately. She took out her data terminal, enlarging the images, “Here you can clearly see a larger scan image… and material composition… rich metal rock layer, soil, water, carbonized fossils… plant remnants…” Sandora spoke while letting out a breath: “So that’s how it is, that’s how this Planet Fortress was constructed!” “What’s going on, what’s going on?” Qianqian immediately got interested again. She loves sudden news breaks; sometimes Anvina frying a double-yolked egg would keep her watching for ages. “Look, this is the image of the Planet Fortress I just simulated.” Sandora projected the image from her data terminal, showing a planet divided into two distinct parts with bright colors: a regular planet with mountains and rivers, covered by a thick metal shell! “This Planet Fortress is built on the foundation of a planet,” Sandora said excitedly. “It resembles the Xyrin Empire’s ‘Zero’ level battleship but more elaborately crafted. Inside this Planet Fortress is a complete planet. Analyzing the material residues suggests it was once a rich, life-abundant ecological planet. Then it was transformed, with its interior hollowed and crust infused with rich metals. Finally, numerous massive metal structures were built on the planet’s surface. These metal structures are the tubular passageways we traversed earlier, filled between with support metal beams, forming an extremely heavy buffer barrier. Beyond that is the Planet Fortress’s outer layer. Those bulging things resembling lumps are its weaponry and defense systems. Altogether, that makes this Planet Fortress we’re in.” “A spaceship modified from an ecological planet,” Big Sister squinted, seemingly recalling something, “Don’t know why they did this. Usually, ‘Zero’ level starships are constructed using lifeless rock or metal planets as the base. Using an ecological planet for this kind of modification means destroying the original ecosystem, which seems wasteful.” “The spaceship’s layered parts show clear age differences,” Sandora tapped the data terminal’s casing. “The construction of this spaceship probably took thousands of years. Perhaps it gradually transformed into its current form over time, but to know the specific situation, we still need to contact the local residents. We’ve come this far, yet they have not appeared. They must be hidden quite deeply.” I sent a text message to Scorpion Sister, who was digging around some unknown corner: “Vega, where are you.” “Your Majesty, we found a nodule-like cavity and were planning to report to you. The reconnaissance soldiers discovered traces of life at the base of the cavity, indicating live organisms operated here within the past few days.” “They also found a cavity,” I turned to Sandora and said, “and traces of life.” “Let’s go down and have a look. Have Vega maintain vigilance in another cavity in case of potential conflicts with the local residents,” Sandora nodded and said. I transferred the command to Vega, then she and I started descending cautiously along the immense metal pouch, which resembled a squished hamburger. The path from the edge to the pit bottom was therefore not very steep, though those flickering dim red lights behind the layers of pipes beneath our feet made us uneasy, like lurking wolves in the dark. We quickly reached the bottom of the cavity, where an enormous metallic gate was opening and closing continuously, releasing bursts of cold air with a faint sweet metallic smell. The wind blew hard, and I was very glad that Dingdang was asleep… The monotonous footsteps echoed through the tubular corridor, matching the dark, twisted walls surrounding us. It felt like walking in a long-lost catacomb. Qianqian swung her arms in boredom in front while carrying Little Qijing, who served as a searchlight (note: the searchlight function is inherited from her mother), swinging her around in all directions showing off her professional demeanor. I was very curious if this girl knew how to properly scout in such an environment. She boastfully told me, “Ah Jun, don’t forget, I was raised by an archaeologist!” I immediately recalled Uncle Xu, who spends his days digging up ancestral graves all over the place, then felt something was off: “What’s that got to do with now! I don’t believe your dad would end up in a passage with alloy gates while excavating the Han King’s Tomb!” This text is hosted at novel-fire.ɴet “Stop it,” Big Sister looked at Qianqian and me helplessly, “Haven’t you noticed the wind seems to have changed?” I was startled and then quietly felt around, realizing there indeed was a change! In these intersecting tubular tunnels that resemble ant nests, cold winds were howling past us consistently. Initially, we thought it was because we were walking into the ventilation ducts of the planet battleship, but quickly discovered that every corridor here had a blowing phenomenon, indicating that the corridors here were designed this way. Following Sandora’s advice, we kept moving towards the direction the cold wind was coming from, hoping there might be a set of ventilation equipment there that could at least lead us into the inner layer of the spaceship. Now, the surrounding wind is noticeably changing. Although the cold wind still hits us, its intensity seems to waver. “Maybe there’s an air discharge outlet ahead,” Lilina yelled, “We can definitely get out! Let’s go, I’m fed up with this ghost place! There’s a faint life signal ahead, go go go!” Lilina wasn’t the only one fed up; the whole family was sick of these dreary, monotonous corridors. The group immediately bolted, and Lilina, who had been hopping ahead, was instantly left behind due to her short legs. She jumped and shouted while running behind, “Wait! Wait for me! You’ve lost the loli!” A few minutes later, we discovered the reason for the change in wind speed. As Lilina had guessed, a huge cavity appeared at the passage’s end. The cavity seemed oval-shaped, like two large sea bowls joined at the mouth, with identical circular passage exits surrounding it, and we stood at the edge of one exit. At the bottom of the cavity, a massive gate opened and closed continuously, blasting gusts of cold air with a faintly sweet metallic scent, which, combined with the large surrounding space and numerous passageways, formed intermittent air currents that flooded every entryway. “Wait, the interference is weakening here,” Sandora waved to stop us from approaching the gate immediately. She took out her data terminal, “The interference phenomenon is much weaker here, and the scanner is starting to show some results… Enriched metal rock layer, soil, water, carbonized fossils… plant remains…” Sandora exclaimed excitedly, “I see, so that’s how this Planet Fortress was built!” “What’s going on?” Qianqian immediately took an interest again. She loves shocking news and sometimes watches Anvina fry a double-yolked egg with great attention. “Look at this image of the Planet Fortress I just projected,” Sandora said, projecting the screen of her data terminal. It showed a planet divided into two distinct halves with bright colors: a regular planet with mountains and rivers, covered by a thick metallic shell. “This Planet Fortress is built on the foundation of a planet,” Sandora said with excitement. “It’s like a modified version of a ‘Zero’ level battleship from the Xyrin Empire, but more intricate. Inside, it contains a complete planet, and analyzing its leftover materials showed that it was once a rich, bountiful ecological planet that was hollowed out and had its crust enriched with metals. Eventually, enormous metallic structures were constructed on its surface—these are the tubular passageways we’ve been traversing. The spaces between the passageways were filled with metal support structures, forming a massive buffer barrier. Beyond this is the Planet Fortress’s outer shell, with all those bulging structures resembling tumors made up of its weaponry and defense systems. Altogether, this is the Planet Fortress we are currently in.” “Using an ecological planet to modify it into a starship,” Big Sister squinted slightly as if recalling something, “I wonder why they would do that. When building a ‘Zero’ level planet battleship, they specifically select lifeless rock or metal ones.” “There are clear age differences in the starship’s layered parts,” Sandora tapped on the casing of her data terminal, “The construction of this starship probably took thousands of years, and it might have been gradually modified over time into this form, but to know the exact situation, we still need to contact the residents here. However, we’ve come this far, and they haven’t appeared. They must be deeply hidden.” I sent Scorpion Sister a text message while she was tunneling somewhere: “Vega, where are you?” “Your Majesty, we discovered a pouch-shaped cavity and were about to report to you. Reconnaissance soldiers detected traces of life at the cavity’s base, indicating live organisms have been active here in recent days.” “They also found a cavity,” I turned to Sandora and said, “and traces of life.” “Let’s go down and have a look. Make sure Vega stays on alert in the other cavity, as they might encounter the local residents,” Sandora nodded and said. I relayed the command to Vega and then, along with Sandora, we proceeded slowly down this enormous flattened hamburger-shaped metal pouch. The path from the edge to the pit bottom wasn’t too steep. The dark red little lights unconsciously flickered beyond the layers of pipes beneath our feet, resembling lurking wolves in the darkness, creating an uncomfortable feeling. We soon reached the bottom of the cavity. The huge metal gate opened and closed continuously before us, spewing cold air with a faintly sweet metallic scent. The wind was very strong, and I was relieved that Dingdang was sleeping… The monotonous sound of footsteps echoed in the tubular corridor, complemented by the dark, winding walls around us, giving the illusion of walking in an ancient cavern. Qianqian was waving her arms out of boredom in front while occasionally lifting Little Qijing, who was acting as a searchlight (note: the searchlight function is inherited from her mother) and swinging in all directions, looking very professional. I was curious whether this girl knew how to gather intelligence in such an environment. She proudly boasted to me, “Don’t forget, Ah Jun, I was educated by an archaeologist!” I was immediately reminded of Uncle Xu, who was always digging into ancestral graves all over the place, and it seemed off to me: “What does that have to do with now! I don’t believe your dad encountered alloy gate tunnels while excavating the Han King’s Tomb!” “Stop it,” Big Sister looked at Qianqian and me helplessly, “Do you feel like the wind has changed?” I paused, then quietly felt it, realizing there was indeed a shift! In these intersecting tubular tunnels resembling ant nests, cold wind constantly whooshed through. At first, we thought it was because we had entered the planet battleship’s ventilation ducts, but soon discovered that every corridor here had such a phenomenon, indicating these corridors were designed this way. On Sandora’s advice, we kept moving towards the direction from which the cold wind blew, hoping there might be a ventilation system there that could at least get us into the spaceship’s inner layer. Now, there was a noticeable change in the surrounding wind. Although cold wind still blew against us, its intensity was intermittent. “Maybe there’s a wind outlet ahead,” Lilina shouted, “We can definitely get out! Quick, quick, I’ve had enough of this spooky place! There are faint signs of life ahead, gogogo!” It wasn’t just Lilina who had enough; the whole family was long fed up with these dark, monotonous corridors, and we all immediately started sprinting. Lilina, who had been hopping up ahead, was suddenly left behind due to her short legs and was jumping and shouting as she ran from behind, “Wait! Wait for me! You’ve lost the loli!” A few minutes later, we discovered the cause of the changing wind speed. As Lilina had guessed, there was a gigantic cavity at the end of the tunnel, appearing as two large, overlapping sea bowls. We stood at the edge of one of the identical circular tunnel exits surrounding it, with a massive, continuously opening and closing gate at the bottom of the cavity. The fierce cold wind blew out from the gate, and along with the vast surrounding space and numerous interfering passageways, it formed intermittent air currents that poured into each entrance. “Wait, the interference is less here,” Sandora said, raising her hand to stop us from approaching the gate immediately. She took out her data terminal, zooming in on the image, “You can clearly see a broader range of the scanned image here… including material composition… rich metal rock layers, soil, water, carbon fossils… plant remnants…” As Sandora spoke, she suddenly let out a breath: “So that’s how it is. This Planet Fortress was built this way!” “What’s going on, what’s going on?” Qianqian immediately took an interest again. She loves unexpected news; sometimes she could watch Anvina cook with great interest, especially when she found a double-yolked egg. “Look, this is the image of the Planet Fortress I just projected on the data terminal,” Sandora said, showing a globe with two distinctly different parts, one with mountains and rivers, covered by a thick metallic shell on the outside! “This Planet Fortress is built on the foundation of a planet,” Sandora said excitedly. “It’s similar to the Empire’s ‘Zero’ level starship but more intricately crafted. Inside this Planet Fortress is a complete planet, rich in resources with a previously rich ecosystem. The planet was hollowed out and its crust was enriched with metals. Finally, numerous gigantic metallic structures were built on its surface. These structures are the tubular passages we’ve been walking through. The space between the passages is filled with supporting metal beams, forming an extremely thick buffer barrier. Further out is the Planet Fortress’s outer layer, with those bulge-like lumps as its weaponry and defense systems. All these together make up the Planet Fortress we’re in.” “A spaceship modified from an ecological planet,” Big Sister squinted, seeming to remember something, “I’m not sure why they did this. When building ‘Zero’ level planet battleships, the Empire specifically selects lifeless rock or metal planets as bases. Modifying an ecological planet destroys its original ecosystem, which seems wasteful.” “The layers of the starship have clearly different ages,” Sandora tapped the exterior of the data terminal, “The construction of this starship probably took several thousand years. It may have gradually transformed into its current form over time. To know the exact situation, we’ll still have to make contact with the residents here. We’ve come so far, yet they haven’t shown up. They must be hiding quite deeply.” I sent a text to Scorpion Sister, who was somewhere drilling, “Vega, where are you.” “Your Majesty, we’ve found a pouch-shaped cavity, and were about to report to you—reconnaissance soldiers have discovered traces of life at the bottom of the cavity. Live creatures have been active here within the past few days.” “They also found a cavity,” I turned to Sandora, “and there are signs of life.” “Let’s go down and have a look. Have Vega keep watch in the other cavity; they might have conflicts with the local residents,” Sandora nodded and said. I passed the command to Vega and, together with Sandora, began to make our way slowly down into the immense metallic pouch. The path from the edge to the pit bottom wasn’t very steep since it resembled a flattened hamburger, and the twisting pipes beneath our feet made the pit walls less smooth, making it relatively easy to walk. However, the dark red little lights flickering behind the tangled pipes gave an uncomfortable feeling, like lurking wolves in the dark night. We quickly reached the bottom of the cavity. The massive metallic gate continuously opened and closed in front of us, spewing gusts of cold air with a faintly sweet, metallic odor, which was very strong. I was quite glad I hadn’t brought Dingdang out, otherwise… “Ah Jun, why is it so windy outside! Dingdang is sleeping… whoa!” We should go and pry that little thing off the wall. “Below here is a gas molecule accelerator,” Sandora stood at the edge of the metal gate with a radius of over ten meters, looking down, the warm yellow light flickering on her face unpredictably as the gate opened and closed, “Without any mechanical ventilation equipment, it sure is quite a hassle…” “Swish!” Before Sandora could finish speaking, a dark figure suddenly rushed out from the airlock, accompanied by a sharp screech, swiftly pouncing towards us! The appearance of this shadow was so sudden that I didn’t have time to see what it was, though our group is the least afraid of surprise attacks. Lin Xue had already pulled out a massive frying pan in mid-air a second ago, which I had doubted its purpose at that moment. Now, I saw that the shadow collided with the bottom of the pan with a “bang,” the echo lingering for a long time. The frying pan in Miss’s hand vibrated violently in mid-air with visibly intense vibrations, which traveled along the handle up her arm and throughout her body. Without exaggeration, Miss appeared to have double vision in front of me at that moment, showing how fierce the collision was—additionally, I say wickedly, she has quite a good figure. “Oops, miscalculation,” Lin Xue stowed away the pan and scratched her itchy ear, “This vibration is overwhelming.” We all turned to look at the shadow from earlier. After colliding with the frying pan, it was directly bounced to the side, thankfully avoiding falling back into the gate and being crushed. Instead, it landed on the edge of the hole, escaping a colorful photographic fate. Now, it’s staggering to get up, looking heavily hit. It’s surprising it’s able to stand; Lin Xue, who has undergone multiple enhancements with considerable body strength, complained about the overpowering shock, yet this entity that voluntarily struck the pan can still rise—it’s undeniably tough. It’s an exceedingly peculiar creature, perhaps one of the “masters” of the ghost ship, but this figure exudes an exceptional aura completely alien to humans—this attacker, standing shakily, hissing softly, resembles an enlarged black-shelled insect the size of a motorcycle. It has an insect-like body and triangular head, with four joint-covered limbs and a short, thick bone-spur tail. Its body posture somewhat mimics a mantis. This mysterious creature boasts two distinct pairs of forelimbs: one pair akin to fragile yet agile “arms,” which apart from their hard shell and mere four fingers, appear as dexterous as those of humans. The other pair, positioned higher, resemble robust, crab-like pincers, seemingly surgically altered, with half of the claws sliced off revealing two blades exuding an eerie blue glow—I quietly glance at Miss: “Seriously, did you use Star Gold Stone just for a frying pan?” “That belongs to Monina,” Lin Xue sticks out her tongue, “The Divine Race are such nouveau riche.” “Hiss… hiss…” The unsuccessful black creature stands about ten meters away from us, its mantis-like form almost reaching human height when upright—Vega, another arthropod, is undoubtedly cuter than “it.” Due to its unfathomable appearance, I’m still unsure whether to refer to it as “it” or “he,” nor whether it can communicate. Well, perhaps the latter doesn’t even need asking, it’s evidently a creature with advanced intelligence. Just because it possesses an insect-like triangular head doesn’t denote a lack of intellect, as evidenced by those light sabers on its dexterous forelimbs, seemingly a later-added weapon, and I absolutely don’t believe it emerged from its mother’s womb by slicing a path using a light saber… Incidentally, aren’t insects typically oviparous? “Ah Jun, what are you mumbling about?” Sandora casts me a side-eye, and I smile sheepishly. “Hiss… hiss… hiss…” Nearby, the insect alien crosses the light blades on its forelimbs across its chest, assuming a cautious defensive posture, while slowly retreating and emitting incomprehensible hissing sounds. Qianqian steps forward and imitates: “Hiss… hiss, hiss… hiss!” “Hiss?” The other pauses, seemingly confused. Qianqian continues: “Hiss… hiss!” The counterpart looks bewildered; I quickly pull Qianqian back: this girl knows zero alien languages, she’d better not let them assume this is some local dialect requiring lengthy translation… Speaking of which, we’ve finally met someone speaking a language none of us understand, should I celebrate this historical moment? Meanwhile, another unexpected event unfolds. The adjacent airlock opens once again, and suddenly another figure bursts out from within, enveloped in blue light, swiftly positioning itself between us and the insect alien. This time, it’s not a mantis-headed fellow but a young boy clad in light armor, seated on a floating motorcycle (a name I’ve given that thing on a whim, since it resembles a motorcycle with two handles; calling it a plane would be an injustice to the Wright Brothers). Having leapt in front of us, he nervously retreats, then turns and loudly asks the previous mantis fellow: “Tuolulu! Are you hurt?” Now I know, it turns out the mantis fellow has a name, sounding as if named during a water accident by his father… Is it a bit rude to think that way? “Human?” Big Sister mutters softly, which is also the source of my astonishment. Initially, I presumed the insect-like alien ahead was a crew member of the ghost fleet, yet unexpectedly, a humanoid riding a floating device emerged—definitely not an Earthling, though virtually indistinguishable from one. Of course, aliens resembling Earthlings don’t surprise me; statistics reveal 80 to 90 percent of intelligent species in the Void possess human-like or similar appearances. There’s reasoning behind this: a significant portion of worlds arise from the handiwork of the Star Domain Divine Race, who initially habitually modeled creatures with high potential based on their own form (allegedly, it saves creation costs, with life temple MODs on sale generally adopting Divine Race forms at buy-one-get-one-free in Divine Realm malls…), and subsequently, virtually all native worlds endure massive informational interference from the Divine Realm, akin to a powerful brainwashing broadcast, with its strongest message being those gods, thus aside from the more remote or complex worlds, virtually all worlds’ high-potential species share resemblance with the Divine Race. Hence, claiming aliens look like Earthlings is perhaps better expressed as 80 to 90 percent of worlds’ intelligent beings evolve in the likeness of gods. At this moment, the young soldier dismounts the flying device, wielding a strangely shaped weapon (appearing as a curved rifle with a beam bayonet upfront), assuming a defensive stance, while his insect alien companion finally has a moment to rub its neck, speaking in a raspy voice: “My neck vertebra was fractured earlier, but fortunately, it’s fully regenerated now.” … I suppose the mystery of the untranslatable alien dialogue is now unveiled; the being never uttered words. “You shouldn’t have rushed out… Now we’re definitely doomed…” The young soldier gripped his weapon, speaking to his ally, “Damn it, how could this happen… These lunatics would kill us all… Damn…” “Fear of meaningless death,” Tuolulu vigilantly observed our side, “They never leave survivors; the Tobelu Clan fear not death, having slaughtered three fleets already, we’re the last.” I realize this alien suffered a severe impact, can’t even speak… (To be continued. 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