The Record of Unusual Creatures

Indeed, there was no other clue at the moment. Without any clear way out, the only way was to go along with whatever lead found.

If Star Cluster X’s divine blockade and the dormant battleships of the Denizens of the Stars belonged to the same security system, then their control systems were mostly related. Now the fact that all the warships of the Denizens of the Stars were beaming their energy to a particular battlefield meant that this battlefield must be crucial.”

It could be the core area of ​​the divine blockade.

Lily crossed her arms, and her big furry tail wagged behind her, which were the signs of her in thought. “Mr. Landlord, what do make of the battlefield now? Is the war still going on? Or they lost the war already?”

Nangong Wuyue was wide-eyed. “The log in the dormant spacecraft show the war began several thousand years ago. Are they still at it?”

“The Executors and the planet devourer have been at war with each other for nearly 10,000 years, and the guards of the world of Collow and Lockmarton across several epochs.” Hao Ren glanced at the siren maiden. “War lasting thousands of years is not something unusual in this universe. I prone to think that the battle on that battlefield has not ended yet.”

Nangong Wuyue was curious with her tail curling into a question mark in the air. “How do you know?”

Before Hao Ren said anything, Nangong Sanba had already figured it out. “Because there are no signs of recovery of the Denizens of the Stars’ spacecraft, which focus their energy and consciousness on the battlefield. It shows that the defense side has yet won the war. And the divine network as an important security measure is still running, which means that the defense is still holding up. Since one has won or lost, then the likely outcome is that there is a stalemate.”

Lily chimed in to give her take. “There is also another possibility; the forces of resistance of the Denizens of the Stars and the invaders had annihilated each other, and the invaders did not manage to destroy the divine network. But it is just my speculation.”

Nangong Wuyue saw the cocky face of her brother, and the dog maiden who was waiting for compliments, she pouted with her arms akimbo. “Am I the stupidest here?”

Nangong Sanba chuckled. “Then where does Rollie stand?”

Hao Ren and Vivian looked at Nangong Sanba sympathetically. “You have a death wish?”

After everyone dispersed, leaving Hao Ren and Vivian alone at the scene—save for Nangong Sanba, who was lying unconscious on the floor. Vivian played with the strain of hair hanging down her forehead as she looked at the hologram of space scenery. It was the star chart of one-fifth of Star Cluster X, which they had studied so far. “Since you sound so confident, what is your plan to find the battlefield?”

Hao Ren said nothing, just fiddled with the hologram, waving away the space scenery and summoning the image of the giant antenna on the home planet of the Executors, and the array of secondary terrestrial antennas displayed on the corner of the hologram.

“Are these antennas used to scan the resonant signal of crystals?” Vivian recognized these things at once. “You mean, that battlefield is the mysterious planet shrouded by crystals that you have seen in the illusion?”

“It was my intuition,” Hao Ren said. “And not just intuition. The reason why we could find Star Cluster X was that I found the star chart deep inside your soul, and the illusion I saw was buried together with the star chart in your soul. I have a gut feeling that this mysterious Star Cluster X is just a box—a box used by the goddess of creation to protect the truth—and the mysterious planet shrouded within the crystal is the treasure. The divine blockade network and the battleships of the Denizens of the Stars are the guards of the box. So, the only thing that could warrant the guards to pour all out into the war was that planet in the crystal.”

Vivian thought for a moment and asked, “MDT, have these antennas been activated?”

It was Nolan who controlled the drone cluster to build the antenna system, but the MDT was the most frequently-used medium by which Hao Ren got his information. Upon hearing the call of the master, the MDT flew up from the table and said, “It is now online. It is just that we have come back too early, and the secondary antenna array is not fully functioning yet. It may not be stable yet, but the main antenna in orbit is fine; it is already running at full power.”

“Have you found anything?”

“Err, not yet.” The MDT shook. “Maybe the system is not perfect yet; it is just online. So far, there is only background noise.”

Hao Ren’s brows knitted together, feeling that something was wrong. “This is not right. If what I have seen in the illusion is true, then the planet in the crystal should be emitting resonant signal constantly. Even if it does not, the crystal we have at hand are also continuously giving out signals, and the home planet in the crystal should have produced a corresponding feedback frequency.”

“Is the planet in the crystal gone?” Vivian sounded worried. “After all, it does not look good by the fact that we have found the crystal fragments here. The fragments are results of an explosion. It is not a good sign.”

“Let’s pray that it is not the case,” Hao Ren said quickly. “But I don’t think such an elaborate creation of the goddess of creation would be so fragile.”

Just when Vivian wanted to say something, the MDT suddenly called out, “Buddy! The long-range cognition array has fired up successfully. Zorm is coming!”

The construction of the long-range cognition array was much faster than the crystal-searching antenna. The long-range cognition array was completed as early as when the three set off the return journey. But this system was unique and complicated; it ran a series of debugging and parameterization after its completion to make it compatible with the mind of the demigod.

Now, this system finally passed the tests and was in commission.

The long-range cognition array, built on the Great Plains, stood on its pedestal as if a steel city. The center of this triangular pedestal was a massive circular hollow, which was the location of the original great fissure where artificial nerves extending out from the hollow were connected to the First Born’s nervous system in the ground and three symmetrically distributed data processing centers on the surface.

The large antenna structure stood on the extension of the apex of the triangle ‘city.’ It was several kilometers tall as if a straight sword gleaming under the sun. It had been injected with energy, and all systems were running now. Blue veins had surfaced on the silver-white tower. As the blue veins glowed, Zorm’s will beamed through hyperspace in superluminal speed and was about to arrive on the planet.

Hao Ren stood under the tower, watching the completed facility. His frustration from looking for the planet in the crystal began to ease up.

“Establishing connection…. Connection established. Synchronization on the rise. 50%… 60%… 70%…”

As the facility broadcast the connection status, Hao Ren watched as a large holographic image appeared around the giant tower. A small antenna icon appeared in the upper right corner of the hologram with a stepped signal- strength indicator next to it. Now, the fourth bar had changed from gray to white.

Lily looked up while wagging her tail. “Wow… we have got almost full bar!”

“So, who designed this interface?” Hao Ren jumped to his feet upon seeing the icon. “I cannot remember that we have this thing!”

An autonomous robot floated over with the holographic image of Nolan on top. “Well, boss, it looks more intuitive.”

“So, it was you—” Before Hao Ren could finish, an announcement blared in the loudspeaker. “Synchronization is 100%. The connection is stable. Consciousness transmission is successful.”

Hao Ren turned away from the ship girl to look at the holographic image around the giant tower. The hologram flickered a couple of times, and then a series of symbols appeared.

Hi~ o(* ̄▽̄*)ブ

Zorm’s koumoji skill had evolved to a strange level.

“Err, it seems the connection is going smoothly.” Hao Ren saw the kaomoji and suddenly was lost for words. He could only say hello, awkwardly. “I thought it would take you a day. After all, things have not been going on well around here these few days.”

The symbol on the hologram disappeared and changed to a funny one.

Yes, it was a funny expression.

Hao Ren’s brows knitted together. “Can’t you write properly?”

A word popped up on the hologram. “Okay.”

“Don’t just send text, you should be able to speak now,” said Hao Ren. “This system has incorporated all the research achievements of the First Born. Your mind can now not only drive the body of the First Born on this planet but also control the various ancillary facilities in the base. The free processing power of the data processing center can also help you think about some of the problems. Try it out.”

A holographic image of a little man with bubbles coming out of his mouth popped up. A few seconds later, an electronically synthesized sound sounded throughout the base. “Err… can you guys hear me? Aah, it really works!”

“It looks like the brain-computer interface is in working fine.” Hao Ren nodded with a smile. “Move your limbs slightly and see how the body is driving—be gentle. Watch out the ecosystem.”

There was no reminder needed as Zorm was a superb gardener. He certainly knew how to stretch out without harming the lives on the planet.

Everyone felt a tremor under their feet. And then, a rumble was heard from the direction of the lifeless battlefield in the northern part of the Great Plains. The earth bulged in front of their eyes as a black thing that looked like a mountain range rose and separated from the land in the distance.

It was a massive tentacle, which at first, resembled a mountain range and then turned into a giant pillar sweeping across the sky. This indescribable and horrific tentacle writhed in the atmosphere with a heart-stopping sound. Dark and creased surface covered the tentacle, which slowly bent into a terrifying symbol.

It was a smile.

Hao Ren was struck dumb.

Was the Cthulhu-style guy trying to look cute?

Anyway, Zorm was finally online.