Chapter 146: The First Dispatch Unit


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


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


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


    "I’ve asked many experts beforeing forth with this idea. All of them agree that a shot from the cannon could tear through the suspended 2,000-meter rockyer easily. Furthermore, the shot will have reached enough third cosmic velocity [1] to break through the atmosphere and perhaps even this sr 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 ck Star space troopers.


    "First, I’ve epted the n. 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 keepmunication 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 ck 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 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 supermaic 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 nning, 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 ? of the Hope’s entire floor waspleted 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 upy 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 sma visibly surged towards the top of the ship. The floating debris above the Hope slowly gravitated towards the walls and formed apact, horizontal rock barrier.


    As everything set into ce, 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 smatic energy center.


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


    3, 2, 1..."


    Following thepletion 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’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 ident. 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 thendscape. Clouds floatedzily up in the sky, pierced asionally 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 tond before leading the troopers out the shuttle. They needed to secure the perimeter. After all, this was an alien... even the nts could be dangerous!


    20 minutester, 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 toplete their own assignments. Samples were collected from the nts, 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 eximed in unison, "This is bad. Danger iing!"


    An unknown danger wasing from above them, from way above the’s surface and even above the sky and atmosphere... it wasing from beyond the 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’sfort, and Yao Yuanmunicated with Ying immediately.


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


    "The... It’s being consumed!"


    With shock and terror, Ying’s party stood transfixed, watching the’s two moons. One of them had irregr 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!


    Trantor’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 sr system.