The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 137

Chapter 137: A Really Big Surprise

“That’s the egg!”

When Hao Ren heard these words, he knew the goddess had gottem him into a fix again: how could she not have told him about such an important detail earlier!

Nangong Wuyue was shocked too. Her tail trembled and the oversized egg dropped onto the ground. Hao Ren lunged forward like how Lily would when she saw a bone. Most people would think that the egg was broken but, it was not.

Perhaps the soft sand on the sea floor cushioned it, or maybe the egg shell was solid; it did not suffer a scratch after falling off the siren’s tail. Hao Ren held the egg like a baby and examined it real hard for half a day to ensure it was okay. He finally exhaled in relief. “Holy moly, I was almost scared to death. Luckily, it’s still intact.”

When Nangong Wuyue was playing with the egg, Hao Ren thought it was a ball. It was not until he held it in his arms that he realized it was really an egg. It was pure white with a little yellow spot in the center; much bigger than a goose egg; oval but, more rounded than a normal egg. The egg’s shell was silky smooth and warm to the touch. Nangong Wuyue came up and touched it. She was very curious but, very cautious too. “Thank God, it’s still in one piece.”

“How can this be? An egg?” Hao Ren almost cried as he spoke to Raven 12345. “My new tenant’s an egg?”

“It hasn’t hatched yet.” Raven 12345 spoke matter-of-factly. “It doesn’t matter what it is. Just keep it safely. There are already four different kinds of people with you, and you still can’t shake off your racial mindset?”

“…It’s not about racial prejudice.” Hao Ren half-smiled, half-cried with the egg in his hand. “It was perfectly acceptable when you sent a werewolf and a vampire but, this time…it’s an egg! It doesn’t even have a face! Is that what you mean by ‘person’?”

“Just wait until it hatches,” Raven 12345 sounded totally calm. “It will hatch. And I think you should be happier. Looking after an egg is way easier than taking care of a husky. Just don’t break it and it’ll hatch on its own in no time, without requiring any special environmental conditions. Also, make sure it has enough humidity. That little thing isn’t really fond of a dry atmosphere once it hatches.”

Hao Ren knew there was no way he could convey his heartache to the obstinate goddess. He had to bite his lip as he welcomed his new egg-tenant. The two gave each other a glance before Hao Ren asked with a faint voice, “You have to at least tell me the egg’s origin.”

“I’m about to tell you that. In fact, I’ll do it when we meet. I’m on my way to you,” Raven 12345 sounded cheerful. “I’ve got a big surprise for you to commend you on a job well done! Get the MDT out into an open space now. I’ll be there in about an hour.”

Raven 12345 rudely hung up right after that just like she always did, leaving Hao Ren stupefied.

“She’s coming?”

For two seconds, he tried to grab his thought. Then he came to his senses. The pyscho was coming. He did not know how she had found the time to come over. He grabbed Nangong Wuyue’s tail and curled it up on his waist and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

Nangong Wuyue looked at his familiar act. She grimaced before she uttered a short syllable just like before. The barrier disappeared in a snap. Sea water came back down like water from a burst dam. Amid the thunderous sound of rushing water, the siren carried Hao Ren and shot for the surface.

The return trip felt a lot quicker. The two of them did not say a thing as they headed back to the surface. Before long, they were able to see the sunlight from above and the shadow of the floating ice. As they came close to the surface, Nangong Wuyue let Hao Ren loose and pushed him out of the surface with the help of the flowing current. “Landlord, please pass me my clothes when you get up there. I’ll dress up down here. Hey, grab the egg!”

When Hao Ren broke the surface, he found himself in the most awkward moment of his life as his hand was raised above his head holding the egg, just like the Statue of Liberty…

He wished it was anything but an egg!

The vast expanse of sea water was already under the control of Nangong Wuyue. As Hao Ren reached the surface, the water under his feet turned into an ice bridge, linking to the floating ice. There, Y’zaks was guarding the icy “clothing ball” while playing poker with himself. When he saw Hao Ren, he gave him a very warm welcome. “Hi, welcome back! Where’s the lady siren and the new tenant?”

“Wuyue needs her clothes back.” As he said it, he tossed the icy ball of clothing into the water. The mermaid jumped out and pulled the icy ball back into the water with her. “This is the new tenant,” said Hao Ren as he shoved the egg in front of Y’zaks.

“…?”

“You got that right. This is the new tenant.” Hao Ren’s face turned solemn. “It wasn’t just straying out of course. It was also arriving way too early—this thing hasn’t hatched yet. Now, I know the reason why they were using a container.”

Y’zaks was still flabbergasted and speechless.

“…?”

After a long-winded explanation, the demon finally came to grips with the situation—the egg was the target of the mission. With an annoyed expression on his face, he said, “My goddess, Her Majesty… tsk, tsk, I was thinking of shaking hands with the new tenant.”

Hao Ren shoved the egg to Y’zaks. “Take it. And, don’t break it.”

“…”

The sound of splashing water was then heard not too far away. Nangong Wuyue was coming out of the water. She had transformed back into her human form with her clothes on, fully dried. As Hao Ren and Y’zaks were sitting down facing each other and studying the egg, Nangong Wuyue reminded the two careless chaps, “Sister Goddess will be here any moment. Where are we going to find open land?”

“The beach, where we landed is pretty wide.” Hao Ren pondered for a moment and his eyes landed on the floating ice. “But, nothing comes close to where we are now if you’re talking about a level field. Wuyue, could you expand the floating ice?”

“Of course, I can if it’s within a one-kilometer radius.”

“Wait a second. I suggest you guys go back to the beach instead,” The MDT suddenly chimed in. “Experience tells me that when Ma’am Raven says ‘big surprise’, she really means B-I-G; since she said, ‘open land’, we should really find a more solid ground.”

Hao Ren concurred. He knew Raven 12345’s style. The three of them, plus the egg, were teleported back to the beach where they had landed earlier. To make sure the chosen spot was wide enough, they found a much bigger beach one kilometer away from their landing spot. And they waited for the arrival of Raven 12345.

And yes, the arrival of the goddess deserved a red carpet treatment.

As the MDT sent out its location, Raven 12345 was just a few minutes away. They went to a higher ground on the beach and stared at the sky expectantly. Hao Ren felt that time was crawling very slowly at that point. Just as he was about to doubt that the pyscho would ever show up, a streak of light appeared in the sky.

A strange vision filled the sky: the sun was gone, and the firmament was filled with thousands of stars. A curtain of blue light like an aurora started to lower itself from above the high sky while a huge door appeared in the centre of the aurora. Seconds later, Hao Ren saw a massive, silver white object emerge from the door.

It was a spaceship.

The spaceship was asymmetrical and hexagonal in shape. One end was bigger than the other, and slightly narrow in what looked like a western-style casket if you asked Hao Ren. Luckily, there were some other attached structures, which helped lessen the casket illusion. On the narrow end of the spaceship were four hexagonal cylinders in pairs, one on each side. The front end of the spaceship had complex and protruding structures, which made it look like a floating monster with many eyes. Hao Ren was not able to tell the dimensions of this monster ship but, he knew it was bigger than any aircraft carriers humans had ever built on Earth—to put it into perspective, it was like a mountain falling from the sky.

The spaceship was covered by a translucent, blue light-curtain. The image of Raven 12345 appeared on it and her voice was like thunder. “How is it? This is the big surprise I was talking about. It’s yours! Just got the approval today and I’m delivering it to you myself!”

Chapter 138: And This Is Your Ship

Hao Ren had a boat load of questions to ask Raven 12345 when she arrived. As the ship arrived, it shocked Hao Ren into a stupor and he almost instantaneously forgot all that he wanted to ask. The only phrase that ran through his head was : This is your ship… This is YOUR ship… He stood there motionless for a good 30 seconds, and only broke out of it after Raven 12345 flicked his forehead.

“How about that? Cool right?” Raven12345 chirped as she tapped Hao Ren on the shoulder. A huge grin was plastered on her face. “I spent half a day at the stardock picking this out for you. It’s the most popular model for inspectors, both official and private. While I’m not sure about the ship’s technology-majigy, I heard recommendations that it’s pretty great…”

The gigantic spacecraft was now sitting on the beach. It was silent throughout its operation and did not as much as move the sand when it landed. The sight was simply amazing for a ship this size. The outer layer of the ship shone in bright silver. Along the body was a series of lines in blue and yellow that Hao Ren could not decipher. On the fore of the ship was the imperial emblem, illuminated in a faint blue light. Beneath the ship, was a network of energy conduits. While the network seemed exposed, it was the strongest and most durable part of the ship. The conduit was the source of the ship’s energy barrier, and also its energized armor. Nearly indestructible did not even begin to describe it.

Hao Ren admitted that he did not know much about space ships. He could not even figure out where the entrance was. What Raven 12345 told him earlier about the ship had already been cleanly forgotten. It was a complete surprise for him, almost too complete that he went back into a stupor, and walked in a state of hypnosis towards the belly of the ship. The size of the ship exuded a sort of pressure that took one’s breath away. In actual fact, the ship was a size smaller than the No. 883 cargo craft, which Hao Ren took. Then again, the perception of size really said a lot about a human who had never encountered things of this scale. Hao Ren could barely tell the difference between the size of the two crafts but, he knew both of them were pretty awe-inspiring.

But most importantly, that ship was his! His very own ship!

For an Earthling who had previously only owned a rickety motorcycle, it would not be fair to expect him to stay composed.

Hao Ren tapped the ship’s armor. The feeling of the cold, sturdy frame was incredible to him. He turned around to Wuyue and Y’zaks. “Please, punch me in the face, one of you…just to make sure I’m not dreaming.”

The great demon and the siren quickly clenched their fists and walked towards him. Hao Ren quickly cowered and said, “…On second thought, maybe not. You two will be the end of me.”

“How about that? This goddess here did a pretty good job don’t you think?” Raven12345 laughed as she looked at Hao Ren. Hao Ren had been ignoring the goddess for a good while as he continued to be awestruck by his new ride but, she did not seem to take any offence. She allowed him to gawp at the ship for another short while before she stepped forward and pulled him by the ears. “Alright, enough of that. We still have work to be done.”

“…Of—of course! It’s awesome!” Hao Ren finally calmed down and he felt that Raven 12345 looked particularly beautiful today. “Say…is this really mine? Can I get on?”

“Oh, yes you can, and you need to go in. We’ll be taking it for our ride home. I also want to see how this thing operates.”

“Huh?” Hao Ren was puzzled for a moment. “Wait…you don’t know how to opera… How did the ship even get here then?”

“Oh, auto-pilot of course,” Raven12345 said nonchalantly. “Had the delivery guy set the course, and I just hopped on. Even the landing was automated.”

Hao Ren wanted to ask about the delivery guy. It seemed like everything the goddess had was pretty OP.

“How do I even enter?” Hao Ren scoured the entire belly of the ship for a door. He only came to realize that his ship was a totally different model from 883 from the general design to the material of the outer armor, leaving the poor sod at a lost. Raven 12345 pointed towards a part of the underbelly armor. “See that thing over there? Oh right, did you bring the key I gave you last time?”

“Yeah, it’s here.” Hao Ren quickly ruffled his pocket for his wallet and pulled out the precious, little crystalline panel from it. Ever since he got the key from Raven 12345, he never let it out of his sight. “Kept it close like it was my babe.”

“Right. Listen up, this key just needs to be activated once. After you complete the activation process it’ll be kept under lock in the ship’s mainframe. Unless there is a change in your ship, the key will be one with the ship,” Raven 12345 said as she led Hao Ren to the entrance of the ship. “Use it to open the door. Point the key towards the blue marker there. I’ll move aside once you’ve done that. Can’t let the scanner have a peek of my glorious awesomeness.”

As she finished her sentence, Raven 12345 ushered both Wuyue and Y’zaks to distance away from the ship. Hao Ren simply followed Raven 12345’s instructions and lifted the crystalline key. A blue ray of light immediately shot out from the panel and scanned the key. After that, the light hovered over Hao Ren as it also took a scan of him. A few seconds later, an entry way opened up. A panel slid away from both sides and opened up an entrance that was a few meters wide. From where he stood, Hao Ren could see a brightly lit corridor.

A gentle voice suddenly spoke in his head. “First time activation successful. Mainframe engaged. Visitor mode disabled. Level C and above areas now accessible. Please proceed with follow-up operations.”

“And there you have it. The ship is now fully engaged for the first time.” Raven 12345 popped out of nowhere as she tapped Hao Ren on his shoulder. “The mainframe has completed the registration of your personal profile. It has now changed from Visitor-Trial mode to Normal Operations mode. Most of the functions have unlocked. After you insert the key into the mainframe, the ship’s weapon systems and what not will come online. Hold on to that properly. We’re going in.”

Hao Ren meant to ask what weapon systems Raven 12345 was talking about. But, before he had the chance to speak, he was pushed into the ship by the goddess. Wuyue and Y’zaks followed after that. Once all four of them had entered the ship, the door silently shut itself behind them as if there was no door to begin with.

In front of them was a wide corridor, which was very well lit. White and silver, alloy walls extended all the way to the end. On the walls were moving lights that guided them to where they needed to be. Hao Ren, like the country bumpkin he was, moved along cautiously. After a few steps, something struck him. This was his ship… So, why the unnecessary caution?

It seemed like Hao Ren still had a lot of adjusting to do with things happening so quickly.

“Wow, this is beautiful.” Wuyue’s reaction was much, much more natural than Hao Ren’s. She curiously walked about and knocked or fiddled with anything that was lit up. “So sparkly. I can’t imagine the power consumption for this!”

Y’zaks also had a curious look on his face. “A beautiful ship indeed. It’s almost similar to the one I came on. Must be the same model.”

“This is one of the most widely used spacecrafts among inspectors, with 60% of them using it. Due to its excellent functionality, it is a popular spacecraft,” the MDT explained as it floated beside Hao Ren’s face. “By the way, I found the product description of the ship. Do you want to have a look?”

Hao Ren quickly nodded. “Yes! Yes!”

The MDT generated a holographic image and it contained various information of the ship that they were on. Hao Ren decided to stop and have a good look at the description.

“Model S-X6. Military/Civilian-Use Special Light Patrol Frigate. There are two different variations; the first variation comes equipped with top-end military equipment and weapons, a basic scouting vessel of the Empire. The second variation comes equipped with a specialized life support system and various energy cores, and is for civilian-use, a mainstay vessel for inspectors. This ship is the second type. The length of this ship is 565 meters, and the widest point is 200 meters. It comes equipped with various complicated but excellent systems. The civilian model was first launched in the year 9986 of the New Imperial Calendar and the reception was very positive. Production was ramped up by the Pan Galaxy Commonwealth’s 16 giant military industries, and after various modifications and improvements, it quickly became one of the most loved vessels among inspectors. As a vessel that is so commonly used for missions, it uses a very safe Secondary Psionic Drive as its main source of movement. It can perform warp and cross-world travels. The ship also comes with self-defence weaponry (Not suitable for combat roles; no ability to perform ground bombardments) and also a self-sustaining life support system. The storage system utilizes a dimensional expansion storage and is able to carry cargo many times its own size. Its speed and defensive capabilities are exceptional plus, it is a very useful vessel for inspectors who run about all the time.”

That was the brief description of the ship.

Chapter 139: I Got Your Ship a Good Name!

After reading the brief introduction of the spaceship, Hao ren paused for a while. He glanced at Raven 12345 in surprise and asked, “So, it’s just a few hundred meters long? I thought it would be at least two kilometers…”

“You still think it’s small?” Raven 12345 rolled her eyes and explained, “This is for when you’re on duty, not for you to use it as a colonial ship. So, it is enough for you. Besides, the ship has an excellent internal space expansion device. A part of the actual bay section is larger than its external dimension. As for the size…you must be dizzy. You can’t estimate its size after you’ve seen something bigger than this.”

Hao Ren agreed. This ship in front of him was as big as a mountain. It looked like it was the best model according to the introduction he read so, Hao Ren told himself to appreciate it. All the questions he had earlier were due to the deep impression left by ship No. 883, and he unconsciously compared the two ships, which were completely different in function.

“This ship has self-defense firepower?” Hao Ren pointed at some points in the projected introduction, which he cared about the most. “And this cross-world travelling… How would I know about these things? Do I still have to learn artillery and navigation?”

“Hehe. You’d be considered smart if you could lift this ship off on your own, right now.” Raven chuckled and walked forward. “Your current piloting skills are at zero, lower than my level. There’s a lot of stuff to learn. The main piloting work will be handed over to your MDT later. We’ll just watch from the side. By the way, the ship has to be docked at the Kuiper Station. When parking in the solar system, the ship must not leave the mask area. It also can’t land on the earth. Do you understand?

Hao Ren nodded. He knew it without the need to mention.

They walked along the spaceship’s corridor for a while, and then entered an area similar to a crossroads. It was as wide as a small hall, where four corridors converged, and an object akin to a round table stood in the middle. A holographic projection floating above it was showing several complex charts and data. Hao Ren noticed that a similar holographic projection had been following him. When he saw the device, he realized that the projection next to him was being released by the MDT. Hao Ren poked the projection beside him and asked, “What is this? Is it from the spaceship? I don’t know—”

“The ship’s host will, by default, set up a projection which follows the captain. It’s purpose is to report the ship’s status to you immediately. Just shut it down if you can’t understand it. There’s actually nothing to pay attention to. When a real emergency happens, the ship’s host will contact you via radio and mind communication,” Raven 12345 said and pointed to the corridor lights and the signs floating on the wall. “Lighting, environment, gravity, markers; everything is on factory setting. You can adjust them according to your needs later. Usually, it will take several navigations before you can adapt to it and completely conform to the habit. The corridor ahead is a central fork. Turn left and it’ll lead you to the ecology and residential areas; turn right and you’ll head to the energy section with all kinds of engine rooms and laboratories. Go straight and you’ll find the control room and intelligence center. In the middle of the central fork, there is a transmitter launcher below the holographic projection. Standing near it will enable you to order it telepathically to teleport you to the upper container area or shipboard hangar. I will send the ship’s structural plan to your MDT, and then you can take your time to adapt to it. If you can understand all of this within three years, you are considered gifted. Now, let’s go to the control room.

The messy partitions and sections made Hao Ren feel a bit dizzy. Just when he was about to ask a question, he suddenly heard a faint buzz. He turned around to look, and found that there was a strangely shaped, mechanical “creature” drifting towards them!

It was a silvery gray creature with an irregular, chubby body. It had two rows of symmetrical bright eyes and several writhing mechanical tentacles stretched out from the bottom of its body. The total length of its body was about two to three meters. Overall, it looked like a mechanical squid that would appear in horror films. This strange and frightening, mechanical monster emitted a series of gabble and drifted towards them. Nangong Wuyue jumped on the spot and asked, “Where did the squid come from! Why is it floating?”

Hao Ren was also startled by this object but, he noticed that Raven 12345 had no particular expression. It seemed like the object belonged to the spaceship. So, he did not move but, looked curiously at the robotic squid. It drifted nimbly towards him, waving its tentacles and ‘jabbering’ a bunch of meaningless words. Then, it floated up to the ceiling and began to detect certain devices with a probe on its tentacles.

“It’s a self-regulating machine. Many of these little people can be seen in all the imperial ships or in a large facility.” Raven 12345 pointed to the mechanical squid and continued explaining, “It is responsible for maintaining the spacecraft, repairing equipment, cleaning, doing all kinds of chores, and taking care of others however, it doesn’t do them well most of the time. It can also be a sentry but, its combat power… Well, it can be used to scare people.”

“The ship’s handyman?” Hao Ren just realized something. “So, this means all the ships’ crew members have been replaced by these self-regulatory machines?”

“Almost. After all, I can’t give you hundreds of workers to do nothing every day other than polish the ship. Also, these self-regulatory machines usually stay in the upper deck of the shipboard hangar. They will repair and maintain each other. Additionally, they will produce new self-regulatory machines based on the circumstances, completely without your intervention. So, just treat them as a part of the ship’s inner biosphere.”

As they were talking, the squid-like, mechanical machine completed its inspection of the corridor, waving its tentacles and gradually drifting away. Nangong Wuyue was finally relieved and said, “Phew… This place really has quite a lot of interesting stuff.”

They finally arrived at the spacecraft’s control room. It was a wide, circular compartment, divided into upper and lower layers. The upper layer was slightly crimped, which made the entire control room feel like a truncated, hemispherical hall. They came in from the entrance of the lower end of the control room. They then saw a hologram device floating in the center of the room, which was showing a projection of the spaceship itself.

“There’s no place for us to sit?” Nangong Wuyue curiously walked around the room and found that there were no seats available.

“If you need a seat, just ‘think’ about it.” As Raven 12345 spoke, a couple of silvery white lines appeared mid-air behind her and these lines instantly condensed into a seat at just the right size for her. “The whole ship supports telepathic control as long as you’ve registered your identity when entering the ship. You can use generic devices that do not require permissions, and the seat is one of them. All right, that’s it. Hao Ren, insert the key into the console’s mainframe interface, that glowing part with a circle of arrows pointing towards it.”

Hao Ren saw light blue arrows emerge from thin air, indicating what to do next. He approached the device called the “Command Console”, and found a keyhole of the right size for the crystalline key. It was on the side of the crystal-like structure.

As the startup key was inserted into the keyhole, they heard the clear and loud sound of beeping, followed by a muffled boom coming from the depths of the spaceship. The core of the power furnace had begun to increase its output.

Hao Ren broke a cold sweat and asked, “Why does the beeping sound so familiar?”

“I specifically asked the people in the customization department to add it in for you.” Raven 12345 smiled while she pointed to the console. “How do you find it? Does it sound kinda cordial?”

“…This is the sound of a motorcycle’s anti-theft lock! You used the sound effect of a motorcycle’s anti-theft lock for such a sophisticated thing?” Hao Ren asked.

Raven 12345 agreed and said, “Oh okay, this seems to be a little low-class… Then, we change it to a car security lock next time.”

Hao Ren was about to nod but, he suddenly realized something and yelled, “The two are exactly the same!”

“Okay, don’t fret about the details.” Raven 12345 waved her hand to lightly cover up the embarrassing moment. She then pointed to the components near the console and explained, “The console itself is a varying crystal panel. Is it lit up? Depending on the status of the ship, the control instructions and keys will appear here. There is a small groove next to the console. Plug in your MDT and let it take over the ship’s navigation.”

“I don’t need your help, I’ll do it myself!” Without waiting for Hao Ren, the MDT took the initiative and rushed into its own slot.

Bang.

However, it bounced back out.

“Why can’t I get in?”

“Follow the direction of the arrows! The front of your body faces left!” Hao Ren pointed at the instructions on the slot. Then suddenly, he felt curious and asked, “I’ve known you for two months, which side is the front?”

“You treat me like a brick, you don’t study me well enough, and now you don’t even know where the front is.” The MDT kept on groaning and moaning. However, it was also puzzled. “By the way, which side is the front? No one ever told me I had two sides when I was in the factory…”

Raven 12345 grabbed the MDT and examined it for a while. She finally confirmed it and said, “The one with the serial number is the front.”

After struggling for quite some time, the MDT finally connected to the ship’s host. A variety of device startup sounds came from all directions immediately. The control room was illuminated with holographic projections or indicator lights, which were dizzying. Raven 12345 took the opportunity to tell Hao Ren one thing, “By the way, I’ve already named your ship…”

Hao Ren’s state of joy left him immediately as he suddenly remembered that this crazy woman previously named another thing… Yes, she created a weird name before, Heaven’s Office on Earth (HoE) in Bastard Barrio…

While other girls could always surprise him in good ways, every time Raven 12345 spoke, she always gave him a terrible surprise. He could not imagine what terrible name she had given his ship. “…If you dare to call my ship the Bastard Barrio, I’ll fight you!”

Raven 12345 laughed. She waved her hand and said, “How could I possibly give it such a lame name? Don’t worry, I chose a particularly domineering name—The Petrachelys, how about that? It means as hard as a massive rock, which is suitable for the ship’s high protective force.”

Hao Ren’s heart finally calmed down. Although the name was rather baffling, it still sounded a bit impressive. However, his relief lasted just for a few seconds because Nangong Wuyue realized that something was not right and said, “Doesn’t it just mean ‘rock tortoise’ in simple terms?”

“…”

Chapter 140: They Returned with an Egg.

If it was possible, Hao Ren really wanted to die with the psychotic goddess but, he could not beat her.

“Can I change the name of this ship?” Hao Ren looked at Raven 12345 with a last glimmer of hope but, he got the expected answer. “No, I have registered its name in the workbook and with the Aviation Administration. If you want to change the name you’ll have to do it yourself and follow the procedures. I have no time for that.”

Hao Ren drew a long breath and sighed. It seemed like he would have to pilot a spaceship called the Tortoise to save the world for the rest of his life…

Raven 12345 looked at Hao Ren, who fell into a sluggish state. She knew that the name she created had struck him again. She then stiffly shifted the topic and asked, “Let’s not talk about the spaceship. How about the egg? Where’s the newcomer?”

Hao Ren found that it did not help much. She just went from one terrible topic to another. They had a lot to do with the mystical egg…

Nangong Wuyue opened her suitcase and took out the carefully protected strange, white egg from a pile of soft cloth. “Well, this is it. What freaking egg is this?”

Raven 12345 took the strange egg, and for a brief moment, compassion flashed through her face. “This is a mermaid egg. It comes from the Otherworld.”

“Mermaid?!” Hao Ren and the rest of them exclaimed in unison.

“Yes, mermaid. And it’s the last of their tribe,” Raven 12345 sighed. “In a remote universe, the end of the world has occurred. The universe already had a problem since the beginning of its conception. It was a malformed baby. The entire universe developed too fast and its basic constant was quite unstable. There was sign of a collapse even before there was a higher civilization. Up until the end of the world, there was only one planet, where complex forms of life occurred. When the patrol arrived, they discovered that the only living planet was being devoured by its own star, and this egg was found in a tightly sealed, underwater cavern. It’s the last remnant of life from the planet. It should have been sent to other places but, I sent it here. You have a siren here so, you should know how to deal with it. At least, make sure it hatches smoothly.”

Hao Ren felt as though he was listening to a story that was quite distant from him. The end of the world? The extinction of an entire civilization? The collapse of a whole universe? Planets being devoured by stars… These things were so far away that they were almost incomprehensible. He only knew that the white egg was of great significance: it was the last remaining individual of the mermaid species in some kind of world. It was a burden he never thought he would have.

“You want me to take care of this?” Hao Ren took the strange egg cautiously from Raven’s hand. “…I have no experience. What if I don’t do my job well?”

“Do your best,” Raven 12345 said and shrugged. “The egg hasn’t reached ‘discovery of fire and civilization’ status yet so, I can’t report it to the higher authorities. I can only hand it to an inspector who’s free to deal with it. You just have to be careful not to break it.”

“I have some doubts.” Nangong Wuyue suddenly raised her hand and asked, “You must be mistaken… I’m a siren, I’m not a mermaid! And even if I was a mermaid, I don’t know how to take care of an egg as well. I was born on land!”

“Oh, is that so?” Raven 12345 looked on curiously. “Is there a difference?”

“There’s a big difference!” Nangong Wuyue pointed to Hao Ren and explained, “He’s seen me in siren form. I can just transform into a mermaid but, my species remains as a siren. I can also transform into a shrimp so, you want me to take care of shrimps too?”

“I know you are a siren.” Raven 12345 nodded. “As far as I know the sirens in this world are similar to the mermaids of the Otherworld. At least all of you are oviparous—I thought you knew how to take care of eggs.”

Nangong Wuyue looked particularly baffled and said, “As I said, I was born on land. I’m a hybrid, okay? I’ve never been to the deep sea, how would I know how sirens, who are born from eggs will look like…”

Hao Ren looked at Nangong Wuyue in surprise and without thinking asked, “So, you can lay eggs?”

Nangong Wuyue’s face immediately turned red. “…Never tried but, maybe I can…”

Cough

Hao Ren sensed that if he wanted to go deep into this topic, it would be better if they went and watched “Animal World”. He quickly stopped dwelling on the topic and looked at the egg awkwardly. He then said, “If even Nangong Wuyue doesn’t know how to take care of it, what about me?”

“Young man, do your best,” Raven 12345 said and patted Hao Ren’s shoulder. “I received an analysis from the top. Presumably, this mermaid species was born in a harsh environment. Their eggs can survive and hatch in very harsh environments. I firmly believe that as long as you don’t cook it, a fish baby will be born smoothly…”

“…”

All three of them with a right mind thought things just did not work this way but, the one with the right to decide was a crazy woman. Raven 12345 had happily decided everything before anyone could oppose. Hao Ren now had to find a way to hatch this important egg.

“All right, now keep the egg. Let’s get out of this place.” Raven 12345 clapped her hands, urging them to depart. She seemed to be in a hurry to go back. “Mobile Data Terminal? Start the engine. Let’s try this thing and test its speed after the launch!”

The MDT had been stuck in the host’s add-in slot for quite some time, and could not wait to start. Becoming a battleship’s host was its biggest dream ever since it was still in the production line, and of course, everyone knew that it eventually became a PDA. However, this did not obliterate its ambition. It now felt like it had gotten a new lease on life. It could never be a battleship’s host. However, at least it could temporarily pretend to be the host of a business ship. With the instructions emanating from its core being received one by one by the powerful devices on the spacecraft, the surging power from the energy core made the MDT extremely excited. It gave out commands with great momentum. “Listen to my command, let’s go!”

“Why does it feel like this thing’s the boss?” Hao Ren glanced at the MDT strangely and went on to curiously study the dazzling data on the control platform with Raven 12345.

“You, go back and study the operation guide.” Raven studied the controls for a while and gave up on answering her own question. It was too hard for her. “Try to figure out how to control this ship within three years.”

Lift off was very fast. Although they could not feel the acceleration inside, it had already reached the edge of the atmosphere in a moment. The MDT activated several sets of external monitors. The silvery white walls in the front of the control room immediately became transparent, and the curved horizon appeared before them. Raven 12345 looked at the planet, which was full of vitality. She could not help but exclaim, “This planet was actually created when I had nothing to do. Thousands of years ago I came here to add a biosphere. At that time, it was still a wasteland. Now, look at it… Nature has such marvelous workmanship.”

“Are you declaring the power of nature on the planet you created?” Hao Ren looked at Raven 12345 strangely.

“Oh, I have such great workmanship.”

The group was speechless.

“I suggest that you keep the coordinates of this planet.” Raven 12345 said and again, patted Hao Ren’s shoulder. “The ecological environment here is perfect. Your tenants can survive here. It could be a good tourist spot in the future. Keep the coordinates of this planet just in case. You may need it.”

Hao Ren looked at Raven with a curious stare. She did not seem to be the kind of person who would mention such trivial opinions. The goddess was always careless. How could she have time to concern herself with Hao Ren’s life and entertainment as well as the superhumans living in his house? So, his instincts told him that Raven 12345’s intentions were quite suspicious.

However, what Raven 12345 said made sense as well. This journey was the first step in Hao Ren’s life among the sea of stars. He should keep something to remember it by. Since they discovered a terrestrial-like planet full of exotic scenery, they should just keep its coordinates.

Maybe he could bring Lily over to play in the future. The canine sister would absolutely love the spacious beaches and chewy sticks.

Therefore, Hao Ren allowed the MDT to choose a suitable place to keep the coordinates. The MDT navigated the spaceship afterwhich, it arrived at the planet’s and local star’s point of gravitational equilibrium. It then said, “Let’s take the relative coordinates here. Take the gravitational balance of the planet and its star as the benchmark. The instant calculation during transmission can prevent us from hitting the sun next time.”

Staring at space from that point of equilibrium, the sun looked like a dazzling, great fireball. The nameless planet disappeared amid the gorgeous sunshine. Hao Ren stared at the waning sun blankly for a while, and then he gently exhaled and said, “Let’s go back.”

A blue light flashed through space, and the Petrachelys Patrol Frigate left the nameless as well as remote star system.