The Record of Unusual Creatures

In the control center of Naqdal Continent, Lil Pea was mingling with a group of sprites, playing a game that was probably only the sprites would find it fun. The sprites transformed themselves into balls of light, and their companions would throw them out toward the little mermaid, who would strike the light balls away with her tail. Every hit would be accompanied by an around of cheers and laughter.

Lil Pea was having a field day, and she enjoyed it a lot.

Hao Ren and Vivian had gone into space to examine the wreck samples. Hao Ren had decided not to let Lil Pea tag along for the sake of her mental health considering how hideous the wrecks were. He left Lil Pea on the surface. Interestingly, the sprites and Lil Pea, who were similar in body size, clicked and acquainted with each other quickly.

When Hao Ren and Vivian returned, the sprites stopped the games and scurried up and surrounded Vivian, yelping, “The queen is back! The queen is back!”

“Queen, have you eaten?”

“Queen, do you eat chopsticks.”

Hao Ren glared at the baby mermaid, who hid behind the sprites. “What did you teach them?”

Vivian struggled to deal with the sprites, her reaction was just the same as when she was faced with Hessiana. “I am not fond of becoming a queen. I wonder what the goddess of creation was thinking that she decided to leave me with this mess. Are these sprites really here to help me save the world while they cannot even save themselves?”

“I know why. When your mother broke down, she already had schizophrenia. She could do anything.” Hao Ren shrugged helplessly, but he still came to her rescue. “Everyone be quiet! Have you all forgotten our agreement? The Queen can’t go back to the throne now, so you must cooperate with us both. First, be steady. Do you understand?”

The sprites shook their heads. But they stood still there for a moment.

They figured that they could still talk among themselves.

The three sprite representatives stepped out from the crowd, and looked at Hao Ren, who could only identify them as “the long-haired sprite”, “the youngest sprite”, and “the boy sprite”. He could not help it; those sprites did not even have names.

The goddess of creation must have used some “mind network” and “recessive IP while she created these magical species. The sprites had no problem distinguishing one from another, so they had never had a naming concept. Earlier, Hao Ren had a hard dealing with them because of this, but soon, this did not bother him anymore.

When facing the noisy creatures, who would never talk to you individually, there was no point in knowing their names.

“I come to check on the navigation crystal.” Hao Ren nodded to the three sprites. “I heard there have been some results.”

“Over here! Over here!”

“This machine has just suddenly lit up!”

“The crystal hums…”

“It makes me sleepy…”

Hao Ren followed the three sprites and came before the navigation crystal. This large crystal had been completely lowered to the ground and surrounded by a bunch of new instruments that apparently not belong to this room. Various sensors and scanning beams constantly monitored and examined the crystals, and in between the instruments, sprites were busily moving around—they were here to help.

The sprites did really help, of which Hao Ren was really grateful. The resonant crystal had a unique structure and working principle, which Hao Ren had still not been able to figure out. Using a brute-force attack to hack the crystal would only produce a half-assed result. But it was a different story with the aid of the sprites.

The sprites were born out of crystals. Technically, they were still a crystal but just in a unique form. Behind their incessantly noisy behavior hid the mechanism of resonance between crystals. It was because of these little sprites acted as measurers and amplifiers that the analysis of navigation crystals could make progress so quickly.

In other words, these little sprites were noisy, careless, disorderly, and know-nuts, but they had something that you badly needed. So, what can you do about them?

The MDT flew up the console of the analysis instrument and presented the results on a hologram. The sprites, who were busily working nearby, were attracted by the hologram. They gathered around and gave their opinions while gesturing with their hands and legs. Hao Ren had learned how to block off the interference. Otherwise, he would have a nervous breakdown.

“The navigation computer is just a secondary function of this crystal. Just as what we have guessed it, the secret of crystal lies deep inside the encryption,” the MDT said while looking for information. “It turns out to be a good thing. It means that its navigation data is actually not important, and having lower-level encryption.”

“Here, and here. We have retrieved some space coordinate shifting records in the surface data of the crystal. The coordinate shift traces back to about three thousand years ago. According to the information that the sprites provided, it was the period during which Naqdal broke apart, and the celestial fragments drifted in alien space.

“So, I guess this navigation crystal should still be running after the Naqdal fortress was destroyed and wandering in space for some time. During the period, the crystal and the surviving hyperspace sensor module automatically recorded its own drifting trajectory.

“We can sort out the coordinate shift record. Using the current heading and speed of the Naqdal Continent, and then calculating the gravitational influence of the nearby celestial bodies, we can trace back to the break-up point. We could then further introduce the coordinate shift value and backtrack to arrive at the original coordinates when the planet broke up.

“I have finished calculating. Here are the coordinates.”

The complicated chart and figures faded, leaving behind a set of symbols and numbers on the hologram.

The coordinates.

Vivien breathed a sigh of relief. “If I am not mistaken, this must be the entrance to the battlefield. Finally, we got it.”

The sprites had no idea about what everyone was discussing. But when they saw the queen spoke, they began to follow suit. “Found the battlefield entrance! Found the battlefield entrance!”

Unlike Vivian and the sprites, Hao Ren knew about space navigation. So, he asked, “Are the coordinates relative or absolute?”

“Of course, they are relative,” the MDT replied. “I have done the math. We are lucky to have the data on Star Cluster X’s coordinate shift; otherwise, I could not guarantee the accuracy of the calculation.”

Relative and absolute coordinates were a problem during warp jump. The problem would be especially apparent when the coordinate data was not up to date. Just as the need to update the navigation star chart constantly as the celestial bodies moved in space, the jump points were also constantly shifting.

Some universes were expanding, some were shrinking, and some distorted over time. Absolute coordinates, which were fixed, could only pinpoint the specific location in space in a particular form and at a specific point in time. Hao Ren needed relative coordinates to find the space distortion point three thousand years ago.

This set of coordinates could lead him to the location where the Naqdal fortress first plunged into space turbulence.

“That will be fine,” Hao Ren said as he exhaled softly. “Get ready to go.”

“We should do more preparations,” Vivian reminded. “It was where the Naqdal fortress was destroyed. Considering that the guards near the ‘heart’ are at a disadvantage, most likely, the place has fallen. We could expose ourselves to the line of fire of the minions of the Mad Lord.”

“And the Naqdal Continent is still a problem,” the MDT said. “The propulsion system of this continent is only 80% installed. The air defense system is still largely non-functional. We can only depend on drone turrets. If our main forces leave and the festered monsters come, these sprites will be on their own.”

Vivian and the MDT were right, and Hao Ren knew when to take heed of advice.

There could be millions of Mad Lord’s minions waiting for them near the coordinates, and another planetary fortress could be lurking around. The size of the enemy forces could be a hundred times more than those in the previous battle.

It would be a full-scale war.

Hao Ren wanted to assemble the best fighting forces in the shortest possible time, build their formation, and conduct reconnaissance. And he had one more idea.

He wanted to reequip Naqdal Continent to turn it into a war fortress.