The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 596
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Chapter 596: The Torrent Core
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Nasaton, the city of sirens was about to awaken from 100 years of chaos and darkness, but before that, it had to find ways to sort out the messit was facing. The palace area and the control cabin in the city center were turned into ruins during. the explosion. A large bright fire and continuous energy turbulence seemed to shine on the ruins like a moving torch. Sirens continued to emerge from buildings throughout the city. Many of them had just recovered from their deranged state and had begun to release their imprisoned compatriots. The queen and her court officials probably had to work very hard to maintain social order, but this was nothing compared to the maelstrom above the wall.
“I can still remember the moment of struggle with that monster. Some of its sporadic plans sometimes appear in my mind through the mental connection we share,” said the siren queen as she looked very uncomfortably at the maelstrom. “It used a fusion of our magic skills and a mystical technology to create this huge portal. Nasaton’s energy core and a whole set of extraction equipment for Earth’s core energy provided it with initial power. It works like a creature, after it has grown to a certain stage, it will start to self-sustain… It will be unstoppable like inertia. Anyway, it was not designed with an emergency kill switch.”
Shaqira brooded. “Once the maelstrom collapses… will it destroy Nasaton? Will it blow a hole in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and destroy the planet?”
“No, it will be worse than that,” Hao Ren said as he read the scan report from the MDT. “It won’t just blow up the earth; it will also blow up the entire real world. It’s a bigger hole, big enough to make the real world and another universe annihilate each other. Of course, the situation could be slightly less severe. For example, the scope of the disaster could only be confined within the Milk Way…”
Sorma asked, “What’s the difference?”
Hao Ren shrugged. “There is no difference. We all die anyway.”
The MDT projected a hologram of the maelstrom. Next to it were complex energy charts and radial lines, which showed the energy structure around the giant portal. “The Siren Queen is right. It has become self-sustaining; cutting energy supply will only make its growth slower. This thing’s joined to the city’s great wall; I don’t think there’s any way to pry it off.”
“Then cut off the energy supply first. At least it’ll buy us some time,” Y’zaks said sulkily.
The siren queen thought for a moment before she turned and said, “Follow me to the energy core.”
Just as she swam a few meters away, she suddenly turned and spoke to the confused General Vanaessa, who had just returned from the Petrachelys. “Vanaessa, bring your people to free those aliens, and pacify them first. I will later meet with them personally, for this time we have created too huge a trouble.”
Vanaessa nodded in a confused manner and looked up at Hao Ren. “I remember I was sent to a very strange place with many mechanical tentacles…”
“Vanaessa, go and get things done,” the queen urged from behind. “There are more people who are more confused than you are. Please don’t mention the tentacles for now… It’s not a pleasant word.”
The siren queen led them to the energy core of Nasaton. On the way, she met many sirens who had just regained consciousness, and they came up to her for instructions. She quickly and systematically assigned tasks along the way, which included doing head counts, releasing the captured citizens, restoring the functions of core control zones and counting their losses. She did it so skilfully that one was unable to tell that she had once been trapped in chaos for centuries. “Your Queen is a very strong person, and she looks very smart,” Hao Ren said admirably.
“She’s always been this way, but she’s a person who’s easy to get along with nonetheless.” Shaqira, who was swimming beside Hao Ren looked happy. “We haven’t seen each other for 100 years… It’s good that everything’s back to normal now.”
They came to a shell-shaped building behind the palace ruins. The building had a number of columnar facilities that protruded from the ground. They looked like large, U-shaped connectors. Outside these facilities, there was a layer of alloy heads, the sides of which were arc-shaped crystal walls that could be opened. They were reminiscent of artistically designed elevators. They followed the siren queen into one of the installations before the circular floor under their feet suddenly disappeared and a brightly lit duct appeared before their eyes.
A powerful pressurized stream pushed them into the pipeline. Hao Ren found that the water was carrying him somewhere.
“This is our elevator—it’s also the city’s transportation system,” said Shaqira with a bright smile. “This is a large transit station. The currents can take you to many places. Well, ordinary races may not be able to stand it, but it’s very comfortable for the sirens.”
“Umm… so far, so good,” said Lily, scratching her chin. “But, I do feel like we’re being flushed down the toilet.”
Everyone immediately glared at the husky.
Nangong Wuyue was following closely behind the siren queen. She could not help but carefully ask, “My Queen, do you know a siren named Ayesha?”
“Ayesha?” The siren queen turned and knitted her brows together. “Who is she?”
“She’s my mother,” said Nangong Wuyue quickly. “I’ve asked Shaqira and Sorma. They all have no impression of the name, but my mother has to be one of the siren messengers who went ashore.”
The selection of messengers to the surface in the beginning was very confusing. The siren queen had selected the messengers on a whim, and many messengers did not even register when they landed. Therefore, the messengers themselves were not quite sure who else was on the list. Shaqira and Sorma had never heard the name of the Nangong siblings’ mother.
“Ayesha… I remember her; a queer girl with bad temper. She was so bold that she always went to the open sea and brought back some weird human relics. She liked the Vikings very much.” The queen could remember the name of this ordinary siren. “How is she now?”
“She’s… missing, together with my father. A vengeful spirit attacked our secluded home and our entire home disappeared out of thin air,” Nangong Wuyue voice sunk. “This is my brother. Our father is a demon hunter.”
“…Looks like a lot of things happened on the surface,” said the siren queen as she looked in amazement at the siblings, who were eye-catching no matter where they were. “Oh, sirens have no prejudice against demon hunters. I feel sorry for what the both of you have gone through, but I believe Ayesha is still alive. As a siren, she must have been reborn somewhere.”
At this time, the current in the pipeline slowed down rapidly, and a stream of water in the opposite direction rushed from under their feet. At the same time, a large number of precise and powerful little whirlpools appeared on the walls of the pipeline, holding them in position. An arc-shaped opening appeared on the side of the pipe and a light shone through the gap.
“This is the source of energy for Nasaton. We call it the Torrent Core,” the siren queen said as she pointed to a ball of bright light.
There was a huge, fan-shaped hall, which resembled a shell cavity outside the pipeline. Neat vertical pipes and ridges lined the walls, while a bright but not glaring blue and white light filled the hall. This light came from the wonderful object in the center of the hall: it was a big sphere with a diameter of more than 10 m. There was a ripple-like pattern on its surface, and it was as clear as crystal internally. Around the huge crystal, more than a dozen transparent pipes passed vertically through the ceiling and the ground. Light flowed out of them like water.
This was the source of Nasaton’s energy—it was incredible, as it had been running for more than 10,000 years. It was a remarkable achievement for mortals like the sirens.
“This is directly beneath the palace. There was originally a main pipe extending from this place directly into my palace.” The siren queen pointed to a pipe at the front of the Torrent Core. The pipe was currently in a dim state. “I can absorb the power of the energy core there and perform a series of emergency controls on it. But now the pipeline’s been blown up, so we can only use the backup system here to cut off its connection to the wall.”
“You want to shut down the wall?” Shaqira was shocked.
Chapter 597: An Unstable Passageway Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“You want to shut down the wall?” Shaqira could not believe her ears.
The siren queen nodded and said, “The structure of the portal is very special. It is completely integrated with the wall. In fact, its contortions are directly based on the energy of the large wall. To interrupt the energy supply of the portal, the wall must be shut down.”
Hasse, who had been looking on coldly suddenly asked, “What are the consequences of shutting down the wall?”
Shaqira thought for a while and shook her head slightly. “The wall isn’t just a protective barrier; it’s also the foundation of Nasaton’s hidden system. It controls the space surrounding the deep-sea city. Once the wall goes down, the siren city will appear as a natural position on the Pacific Ocean’s seabed. Humans and aliens will likely detect it—they could invade us if they’re willing to pay the price. We’ll lose the most important defense mechanism we’ve had for the past 10,000 years.”
The siren queen placed her hand on a crystallized pipeline next to the Torrent Core, which immediately emitted a pleasing resonance. The queen tilted her head slightly and said, “I know what it means to make this decision, but that maelstrom is becoming more and more powerful. If we do not cut off the energy supply, it will reach a critical point within five days. If we cut it off, we will at least buy ourselves one month’s worth of time. In any case, either both Nasaton and the earth gets destroyed by the maelstrom, or we let Nasaton be exposed to the world temporarily, which is at least a relatively better choice.”
“Not only will the earth be destroyed, the whole universe will be dead,” Hao Ren tried hard to emphasize the danger, but he did it mostly because he was just naturally the mouthy type.
“Shutting down the wall will only cause a temporary lost of the cloak, right? There may not necessarily be people looking for trouble during this time.” Lily looked at them as she held up her hand and gave her piece of opinion. “At least I haven’t heard of any plans from the humans to explore the Pacific Ocean recently. We just need to find a way to solve the maelstrom problem and restart the wall before that. What do you guys think?”
“I have the same thought.” The siren queen nodded. “For 10,000 years, even the aliens of the Mythological Era rarely had the ability to come to such depths of the Pacific Ocean. Even for today’s aliens and humans, to explore Nasaton is no child’s play. We only need to close the wall for a month. A month later we either turn off the maelstrom or everyone dies…”
“There is only one worry.” Vivian suddenly looked up at Hasse. “At present, there is a group who can make it into the Pacific Ocean, and they’re strong enough to threaten the city. No matter how good your resurrection ability is, you can’t fight their seals.”
Hasse shrugged. “You mean the demon hunters? I don’t think our credibility is that bad. We’re not going to bully the harmless sirens.”
“The main reason why you haven’t done it is because you’ve never found Nasaton. You couldn’t do damage to the sirens’ foundation, hence the reason why you didn’t want to provoke these seemingly immortal aliens. However, if Nasaton were to be exposed, things would be different. Hasse, as my junior, can you swear to me that no killing instinct arose in you at all when you saw the sirens?”
Hasse was silent. He suddenly stood up and pointed at the maelstrom image projected by the MDT. “Okay, in the face of this threat, we will be honest with you. My two apprentices and I assure you that we will shut our mouths regarding the shutting down of Nasaton’s defense wall. If they detect Nasaton from other sources, we will also do everything in our power to stop them here for a month, including the most routine exploration activities.”
Teuton nodded. “The three of us have the influence.”
Hao Ren and Vivian looked at each other. Then, he smacked his head as something crossed his mind. He grabbed the MDT that was acting as a projector. “Patch me through to Raven 12345 and turn on the loudspeaker.”
The demon hunter had no clue what Hao Ren was doing. A hymn-like tone came ringing from the MDT, followed by the voice of a screaming female. “What’s up?”
“Hey Madam, I’m in the city of the sirens, and someone here is about to make an oath,” Hao Ren said. Summing up things in one sentence, he then pointed the MDT at Hasse. “Repeat what you’ve just said.”
“What do you mean?” Hasse asked with a cautious look.
Hao Ren shrugged. “Repeat it in front of this witness. Don’t tell me you didn’t mean what you just said.”
Hasse grunted. He did not feel any curse or spiritual power coming from the strange “communication device”, so he calmly repeated his promise. When he finished, Hao Ren took the MDT back and telepathically asked, “Madam, you got it?”
Raven 12345’s voice rang in his mind. “Yup. Remember to remind them not to break the promise. I’m not the one who’s going to carry out the punishment. It’ll be an automatic execution of the law of heaven and earth. It’s not a joke.”
Hao Ren turned off the transmission and turned to Hasse. “Whether you believe it or not, this witness has power unlike anything you’ve seen before. So, don’t let any outside demon hunters disturb Nasaton besides the ones present today.”
Hasse grunted. “It doesn’t matter. My promise is more reliable than anything.”
Vivian nodded to the siren queen. “Shut down the wall; let’s figure out a way within this one month.”
The siren queen placed her hand on the two crystalline pipelines near the core of the Torrent Core and began to issue a series of melodic voice signals. A weird resonance then spread from the nodes in the depths of Nasaton. Flowing light appeared across the surface of the gigantic sphere in the center of the hall as the light in some of the pipelines gradually dimmed. The wall above Nasaton began to flicker. Many of the sirens who were cleaning up the rubble in the city had sensed a strange sensation in the water. They looked up at the wall, which had never been shut down for more than 10,000 years. Many anxious sirens began to wander around to find out what was happening. Those who knew the truth or guessed it immediately called everyone to get back to work. On the outskirts of the city, General Vanaessa was having negotiations with some werewolves who had just been freed. The strange changes to the wall had attracted her attention. Seeing the water film gradually disappear, she sighed. “One hundred years of confusion… ”
At the energy station in Nasaton, Hao Ren and the MDT kept their eyes on the the Torrent Core’s operation data. They found an interesting phenomenon.
“There’s a crack… an invisible crack in your energy network,” the MDT’s radar had detected the interaction between the Torrent Core and the wall. It projected a large hologram of the entire city of Nasaton. “Is your city’s energy of a broadcast type?”
As Sorma was a city technician in the past, Sorma was very familiar with this aspect. “Yes, the Torrent Core is connected to the 227 towers around the city. These relay towers can broadcast magic power throughout the entire city and their broadcast limit is the wall.”
“The model is completed,” the MDT whistled loudly. The hologram flickered a moment before a large number of staggered lines appeared over the city’s model. The converging lines were most dense at the top of the wall, where the maelstrom was located. Just below the maelstrom, there was a crack marked in lavender color.
“What’s that?” Shaqira asked in surprise.
“A rift. An unstable but invidible spatial channel,” the MDT explained. “Your spaceship was definitely damaged when it landed on Earth. Although it seems that its energy core is still operating normally, there’s an abnormal turbulence at the top of the broadcast field. It’s leading to the instability of the space there, and in the unlikely event, it could connect to the Plane of Dreams—undoubtedly, that’s how the brain monster came in. Its plan was also very simple: to expand the rift and stabilize it. So, it allowed the sirens to create a giant portal at the top of the wall… When the center of the maelstrom grew to completely merge with that rift, the portal would then open.”
Chapter 598: Blow It Up Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The ancient, deep-sea city of Nasaton was shutting down the large protective wall for the first time in 10,000 years. The translucent film above the city was slowly crumbling and receding from the apex and the spatial layer and the layered, invisible labyrinth had gone. With the shutting down the wall, the maelstrom directly above the city gradually lost its energy supply. Its edge shook slightly and then it spun slower. However, just as the siren queen had predicted, the maelstrom did not disappear. It is still growing albeit slowly but unstoppable.
Hao Ren led everyone back to the city’s surface (in the deep sea, the word ‘surface’ is a bit weird). He looked at the maelstrom above, it felt like the maelstrom could fall down any time and consume them all. “Now we have a month to shut down this thing. I think it will directly affect my year-end bonus this year… So who of you has a better solution?”
“Blow it up,” said the MDT without hesitation.
Hao Ren thought for a moment before he reached and grabbed Lil Pea and held her in front of the MDT. “You have thirty seconds to explain it clearly or else you would have to play with her for the whole day.”
The MDT took several ‘steps’ back. “Put down the fish! I’m not kidding!”
Lil Pea clapped happily. “No kidding! No kidding!”
“Okay,” Hao Ren let Lil Pea loose to swim in circles as he looked up at the MDT. “Are you really going to blow up this maelstrom? To be honest, I don’t think this thing will go away easily; it has accumulated the energy of Nasaton and of the earth. Once these energies are released…”
“Once they’re released it, you would become the most wanted man of this century. Like in movie, the superheroes would shoot you for an hour, and when you resurrect in the next episode the same process repeats,” the MDT circled around Hao Ren. “However, theoretically we can deflect the energy other places, such as the void. We can detonate concurrently at both ends of the maelstrom and destroy its structural stability, so that its energy will be concentrated in the centre, and its ‘centre’ is located in the rift between the surface world and The Plane of Dreams, the energy will be deflected into the void. Of course, this requires a little bit of precision… but once it’s successful, we will not only be able to solve the problem of this maelstrom, but the power it generates will also push The Plane of Dreams and the surface world a little bit apart. That essentially will reinforce the Wall of Reality—speaking of taking two birds with one stone.”
Hao Ren listened carefully and tried hard visualise it in his mind pretending he knew it like a pro. “Although I don’t really understand it, it sounds very cool. What do you mean when you said you’re going to detonate at both ends of the maelstrom concurrently? The other side is in…”
Nangong Wuyue who was listening suddenly chimed in. “The Plane of Dreams?”
The MDT floated up and down. “Yes, the Plane of Dreams. According to observations, this portal has already begun to take shape, and its other end should have opened somewhere in The Plane of Dreams. We will set explosions on both The Plane of Dreams and the surface world concurrently, and then it would be gone before you know it.”
Hao Ren looked around and nodded. “I think this is feasible.”
Lily scratched her chin and thought for a moment. “But I don’t really understand.”
“It’s okay, I too don’t understand,” Hao Ren waved. “All in all, we’re going to blow it up at the same time on both sides of the maelstrom, and we don’t need to know how it work, after all, we haven’t been able to understand how things work. How do we know the position of the other end of the maelstrom?”
Hasse and the other two demon hunters looked on with excitement. White Flame suddenly could not help but mutter. “Can you really save the world like this?”
“It’s said that they always do this every time they save the world.” Nangong Sanba smiled as he spread out his hand. “It’s like having special effects…”
“If you’re not helping, please go away.” Vivian shot them a sideways look. “We’re discussing how to save the world, you know.”
Hasse’s stiff facial muscle twitched a little, his only eye filled with a strange light. “Will you take time to explain to me what is happening after you all are done? I am interested in you people…”
Hao Ren waved his hand calmly signalling he had heard him. The old obstinate demon hunter whose only concern was hunting the demons had taken the bait. His effort seemed to begin to pay off as the demon hunter was taking initiative to explore what had once happened in The Plane of Dreams, much effective than to convince him. Hao Ren had loosen the first brick of obstinacy of the world’s most stubborn demon hunter.
Moreover, judging by Hasse’s tone of voice, this brick was rocking quite violently.
“Can you put a detector on the other side?” Vivian summoned a bat and made a throwing gesture in the direction of the maelstrom. “I think that portal is almost open. Maybe there is a crack or something we can squeeze through. We use a detector to find out the coordinate on the other side, and then enter The Plane of Dreams from somewhere else to find the other side of the maelstrom…”
“Please, don’t,” the MDT quickly dismissed her suggestion. “We must do everything possible to prevent ‘information’ from crossing the Wall of Reality. You must remember that ‘information is everything’ and sending a detector with a signal sending function to the opposite side is more dangerous than shooting at it in the face. If possible, don’t let even a stone to pass through it, let alone a detector.”
“Then how do we know where the other end of the portal is in The Plane of Dreams?” Y’zaks asked sulkily. “The universe is such a big place; are we going to sweep slowly with a radar?”
The MDT rocking slightly. “So the biggest difficulty with this plan is to determine the location of the other side of the portal: we must find it within a month, and then throw explosives into it. Everything else is much easier.”
The siren queen was listening attentively, trying to keep up with the rhythm of their topic. Although she could not understand many things, she could still guess what these people wanted to do. “You want to know where the Maelstrom leads to?”
Lily’s ear suddenly stood erect. “You know the answer, my Queen?”
“Call me Katreina. You all are my distinguished guests. You don’t have to be over courteous in the city of the sirens,” said the siren queen. “If I’ve not guessed it wrongly, the maelstrom probably leads to our hometown.”
“I know, The Plane of Dreams…” Hao Ren said, but then he suddenly came to his sense, “Wait a second, do you mean the sirens’ original planet?”
“We don’t know exactly where we’ve come from, but we vaguely know that we are from a very distant place—and it’s definitely not here,” said the siren queen, nodding. “The water inside the aqua dome of Nasaton is slightly different from the water on this planet. Of course, the chemical composition is the same, but the siren can appreciate some very subtle differences: we believe that the water inside the aqua dome comes from our hometown.”
Hao Ren looked up at the aqua dome over the city. After the wall was shut down, the city had still a barrier, which was Nasaton’s very own dome shield. This shield shielded the entire city from the outside world. It had not lost a single drop of its internal water body for the past 10,000 years. Instead, the water was constantly going through a recirculation cycle. This was how the city’s ecosystem worked.
The entire city was a huge space fortress. It still maintained a very good airtightness until today.
“You feel the same smell inside the aqua dome from the maelstrom?” Lily asked, blinking.
Katreina closed her eyes slightly and said, “Yes, and probably that smell was the reason why the monster had taken the sirens so easily—we were eager to return to our hometown, and then when the maelstrom emitted the smell of our hometown, the siren unconsciously gave up resistance… we were homesick.”
The atmosphere now was a bit gloomy. Vivian clashed her hand. “Well, we now have a target: to find the position of the siren’s planet in The Plane of Dreams. However, it’s weird that I feel that the level of difficulty has not lessened much?”
Nangong Wuyue forced a force. “From a needle in a haystack to pea in a haystack—there’s not much different. God knows where our planet of origin is!”
Lil Pea overheard someone seemingly calling her name. She quickly swam over in the arms Wuyue, hovered there, and stopped moving: she was waiting for someone to pick herself up.
Hao Ren scratched his chin, and an idea came to mind. “‘Someone’ knows. Nasaton is an interstellar spacecraft. It knows where it came from!”
Chapter 599: Io Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Regardless of what happened when the unusual creatures came to Earth from the Plane of Dreams more than 10,000 years ago, they all forgot their hometown and everything in the past. The same applied to the sirens. Hao Ren could imagine the scene in the city back then: Nasaton fell through the huge spatial rift, crashed down to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and took root in the deep sea. When the sirens woke up in the “unfamiliar” starship city, they were confused and helpless. They did not know who built the city, or the true functions of the city. They only knew everything was as it was when they woke up. Today, their greatest achievements were only having mastered the life-support system, part of the defense system and maintaining them. They knew nothing about navigation, flight, and the navigation databases of the starship city.
The reason was simple; these systems involved complex core systems. They were not as simple as pulling some levers and pressing some buttons in order to operate them. The sirens did not understand the writings on the system.
However, Hao Ren believed that the ancient operating system had to have recorded some information on the sirens’ mother star.
“This is a colonial ship, and it could very well be an escape spacecraft. In any case, it was not used for sightseeing in the galaxy.” Hao Ren pointed at the magnificent facilities around him. The look on his face was that of a greedy real estate agent. “According to the most basic rules of interplanetary navigation and the manufacturing habits of navigation systems for the vast majority of intelligent organisms, such a spacecraft usually contains logs of the relative position of its parent planet in the universe. Marking the coordinates of a planet are the basics. The current people of Earth certainly know, so the sirens who created this spacecraft would also have certainly known. If I’m not mistaken, there should be a database in the spacecraft, a dedicated storage of the star map. In accordance to the power output of the Torrent Core, the starship should have had a Class II space warp capability when it was in good condition. So, the range of the star map will be large enough for us to find its starting position in the universe.”
Everyone had their eyes on the siren queen. The latter thought for a long time with both her hands spread out. Her tail was rolled into a question mark in the air. “What are you talking about?”
Everyone was speechless.
“Umm…” Hao Ren, who had been pretending to be an expert the entire time almost choked. “Dang… In theory, you should be the captain of this ship…. Well, I don’t want to confuse you. Does Nasaton have a place like a central control room where there are a lot of display equipment like a bunch of buttons, an operating console, and many seemingly useless blinking lights? You may not know what they are, but they’re obviously very important—is there such a room?”
The siren queen lifted her finger and pointed at the ruins of the palace. “It’s over there.”
“We blew up the bridge.” Y’zaks shrugged his shoulders. “The palace is the bridge.”
Hao Ren smacked himself on the forehead. “I forgot.”
“Another deadlock?” White Flame asked curiously. After her mentor showed his curiosity towards the unusual creatures, she could finally ask questions openly.
“No, we don’t need the bridge.” Hao Ren searched the Starship Structure and Spacecraft Design Guide in his mind. “The database could not have been placed on the bridge. It has to be in the core cabin of the spacecraft, which is safer. The bridge is just a bunch of operating terminals. We find the cabling route, we find the database. Everyone, split up, and see if you can find the main structure of the bridge from the rubble. Then, sort out the main line.”
“This is a laborious job,” the siren queen responded. “We’ll get people to clean up the ruins.”
Vivian nodded. “Well, let’s do it. Everyone will have something to do, and it will help restore the spirit.”
Shaqira as well as Sorma immediately went to gather the overseers. They conveyed the queen’s decree so that they would bring other sirens to clean up the ruins. Hordes of sirens soon gathered and some brought equipment they had salvaged. The atmosphere became lively again as the sirens enthusiastically cleared out the debris and rubble. The sirens came in various shapes; mermaids, sea serpents, mantis shrimps, and king squids. There were even two sea urchins larger than a tank, who were rolling around—no one was sure what they were doing. They were probably slacking off, but trying to look busy.
Hao Ren led his small group of friends as they watched and marveled at the ways these sirens worked. He could not actually tell if the sirens were working or fighting.
Lily stretched her neck and observed for a long time. Then she exclaimed, “It’s fascinating to see a race contain so much diversity.”
“Look at these Type-59 mantis shrimps and Type-99 sea urchins… Tsk, tsk.” Hao Ren turned his head to look at Nangong Wuyue and said, “Be frank with me, do you want to become like that?”
Nangong Wuyue lowered her head in thought as she poked a small stone with the tip of her tail. “I can’t fight anyway. I can’t fight anyway…”
Hao Ren was at a lost for words.
Water was a powerful element, especially in the deep-sea city where the sirens could maximize their power. The huge ruins and broken walls were being pushed around by Type-59 mantis shrimps and sea crabs. The large area of ruins was quickly cleared out, revealing the original layout. Hao Ren took the MDT and began to search for the original framework of the bridge in the cleared out area. The siren queen followed him, recalling from memory the functions of each section of the ruins before the collapse.
While the clean-up work was on going, a group of special helpers suddenly came.
It was a group of unusual creatures—Blood Clan members, werewolves, shadelings, and a few short people of an unknown race. These people came over and immediately began to work without saying a word. Shaqira looked at them in surprise. “You guys…”
A werewolf holding a broken pillar walked past and ginned at her. “We heard from the siren general that the ruins need to be cleared out. Since we’re free, we may as well help out. After all, you’re not going to send us back to shore any time soon.”
“Actually, I didn’t want to help, but the elder sent us… Who would dare disobey her?” said a Blood Clan member, who shrugged and glanced in Vivian’s direction with reverence.
Hao Ren gave Vivian a surprised look, and the latter waved her hands indifferently. “What? I just sent a bat to say something to them.”
“I didn’t expect them to be so generous.” Y’zaks scratched his chin. “I thought they would at least ask for some compensation, or something from the sirens.”
“Most of the otherworldlings don’t care about that. We prefer forthrightness.” Vivian smiled. “Since it became clear that the sirens have also been victims, we can’t blame them. Survivors from the Mythological Era are practical people.”
“Of course, there will certainly be some who are more hot-headed,” said Sorma as she lifted herself up and looked into the distance. A violent vortex was in that direction and a vague noise was heard. It seemed that a conflict had broken out. “I’ll see what’s going on.”
Vivian shook her head. “After all, they are of different races, have different code of conducts and behavioural standards. Disunity is common.”
White Flame whispered. “It seems that the otherworldlings are facing great social problems.”
“No, our biggest social problem is that we have almost no society,” said Vivian, glancing at White Flame. “Thanks to you.”
Hasse shrugged and said nothing.
The MDT glided past a collapsed metal post and scanned it with light, rendering the outlines of the hidden pipeline structure beneath the ground. It suddenly whistled. “Found it!”
Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and came over. Hao Ren saw the MDT’s light shining on a device that looked like a palace pillar. He stepped forward, cleared the debris around the device, and found that there were a lot of pipes and cables hidden below.
“This must be the place where the navigators worked back then. I’ve detected a large number of cables leading to a central node.” As the MDT spoke, it approached those cables, its hologram showed the connections and cracking progress bar.
The siren queen looked on in amazement for a long while before she spread out her hands. “I don’t know… I often curled up on the pillar and slept on it. I didn’t know what it was.”
Hao Ren remained silent.
“I found the navigation log,” after waiting for a long time, the MDT finally reported the good news, “Io, the name of the siren’s planet is Io.”
Chapter 600: Bombs Are the Best Way to Solve Problems
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The sirens must have had superb technology for Nasaton to remain in good condition after 10,000 years, and its database to be readable despite the lack of maintenance for such a long time. Their technology seemed much more advanced than the Tannaeans’. The MDT activated the spacecraft database by applying stimuli to the cables and scanning the wave feeds. It then finally found the storage location of the navigation logs. On an ancient star map, a planet named Io was marked in the most striking place; there were six type Ia supernovae around it to pinpoint its location.
Undoubtedly, this was the planet everyone was looking for.
“Do you have any impression of this name?” Hao Ren looked at the holographic star chart projected by the MDT, and asked the siren queen casually.
“I wish I could remember even the slightest thing…”—the siren queen shook her head in regret—”but we know nothing about our homeworld.”
Hao Ren knocked the MDT on its shell. “Copy the star map and duplicate the navigation log of the spacecraft. It may come in handy later. Lily, go and find out where Rollie has gone, we’re ready to go.”
Shaqira swam up and asked, “You’re going to leave?”
“There is one last thing to do before we leave.” Hao Ren looked up above the city; the maelstrom was still running quietly. The center of the maelstrom was brewing with a hazy light. “Let’s prepare the explosives on this side. Katreina, you’d better bring some people and come with me. There are some things I want to explain to you.”
The siren queen immediately reacted by calling her people. “Vanaessa! Sorma! Go and gather the elite soldiers and engineers, we’re going to the maelstrom!”
When Hasse saw where everyone was going, he could not help but ask, “May I observe on the side?”
Vivian glanced at Hasse and said, “Come if your worldview is strong enough.”
Hundreds of siren soldiers and engineers quickly gathered. They were all elites who had just been released from the brain monster’s control. They were eager to find something to divert their attention away from their upsetting feelings. Hao Ren led them near the maelstrom cautiously. As they drew closer, they could feel the pressure that the massive portal was releasing.
The ubiquitous maelstrom occupied their entire field of vision as if the only thing left on the heavens and the earth was this body of water, which was capable of devouring all things. It looked like the entire sky was distorting itself and converging into a broad passageway. Nangong Wuyue looked straight up at the center of the maelstrom, and subconsciously rolled her tail into the same shape of a maelstrom. “This thing is… so massive…”
“To tell you the truth, watching the World Gate is less intense.” Hao Ren shook his head, trying to shake off the dizziness brought about by the maelstrom. “The scale of this thing is enough to make people giddy. Well, everyone stop here. It’s time to witness a miracle.”
Everyone stopped. Hao Ren moved forward and opened up his Dimensional Pocket.
A light blue spatial rift appeared mid-air and quickly expanded as much as 100-m across. Within the spatial rift, there was a silver-white metallic glow. It was a cube, which was tens of meters wide, and its surface had blue lines as well as a series of bright red spots. The cube looked simple and unpretentious, but people with a certain level of strength could immediately feel the enormous energy contained within it.
Hao Ren approached the control panel on the side of the cube and carried out a few actions. The latter immediately emitted a soft sound, followed by a circle of thrusting light at the bottom. This pushed the huge metal cube to the center of the maelstrom until it finally remained steady there.
The covers around the cube opened, exposing a group of crystallized cylinders that glowed with blue light. The cold sensation was especially daunting.
“The Petrachelys has a full range of functions. It does not only have a cannon, but also an armory and munitions manufactory. This thing just rolled out from the factory.” Hao Ren cheerfully observed the cube, which was suspended quietly in the middle of the maelstrom. Lights started to flash in a regular pattern, signaling the completion of the deployment process. “In the manual, this thing is called the Housekeeping Cleaning Assistant. It can effectively clean a large area, and its power is highly controllable. Each charge tube can be intelligently and individually triggered. This should be enough.”
The MDT whistled loudly. “No matter what the problem is, a bomb can always solve it—if one doesn’t work, then use two. If you can’t solve the problem, that means you don’t have enough bombs; it’s a universal truth.”
In an exaggerated motion, Lily kept her distance from Hao Ren. “Mr. Landlord, I find that you feel particularly dangerous right after you touch these munitions.”
Hasse pointed at the cube. “I’d like to ask—do you know for sure whether this thing is made by… alien or human?”
“Look under your feet,” said Vivian. Holding her hands in her arms, she gestured with her head at the city of Nasaton below them. “An alien spaceship with a history of at least 15,000 years is lying here and you never thought that the sirens were different from other aliens. The world is big place. You still don’t know many things. Is it so strange for us to yank out some alien munitions?”
Hasse found something amiss in what Vivian had just said, but he did not know how to put forward his argument, so he could only respond with, “Surely, my elder is very knowledgeable.”
“This thing will hover on this side of the maelstrom. Once we’ve set up another bomb on the other side, they will pull towards each other and then boom! If the model put forward by the MDT is correct, the energy of the explosion will be completely absorbed by the maelstrom. So, Nasaton and the entire world will be safe.” Hao Ren looked at the siren queen. “Success is guaranteed, however your soldiers should guard this place before I issue a detonation warning. Make sure you don’t let anything fall into the maelstrom. Also, monitor the energy readings around the maelstrom. If there’s an abnormal surge, let me know immediately. I have a Plan B.”
Lily was as blunt as usual. “Why don’t I know about Plan B?”
Hao Ren grinned. “We’re going to seek Raven 12345 for a ‘blessing’…”
When the siren queen heard Hao Ren’s instructions, she nodded solemnly. Nevertheless, she appeared to be a bit worried. “I don’t find it safe putting an explosive over our heads…”
Y’zaks faintly said, “Relax, the maelstrom you’ve got for yourself is no less powerful than the bomb, and mind you, it has been hanging over your head for months.”
The siren queen was speechless.
After setting up the bomb on this side of the maelstrom, Hao Ren was ready to lead the rest to leave Nasaton.
The spatial layer and the invisible labyrinths that used to shelter the entire city had been temporarily disabled. They rose up unimpeded from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to the Shrouded Isle located diagonally just above the city. Now that the enchantment around the island had also been shut down, the sea and the sky around the island had returned to normal.
The water wavy and foaming with bubbles as groups of people began to resurface—it was not only Hao Ren and his entourage, but also all the otherworldlings who had just gained their freedom.
“From now on, no one’s going to believe in the Day of Return sh*t,” said Shaqira, looking at the unusual creatures who left the waters under the protection of other sirens. She then breathed a sigh of relief. “A hundred years of chaos has finally ended.”
Hao Ren shook his head and sighed. “But it’s going to take a long time for the aftermath to settle.”
Groups of unusual creatures who were prisoners in Nasaton left the Shrouded Isle in batches as they were escorted by the sirens who used to escort him. When all of them finally left, Hao Ren and the rest began to depart. However, the siren queen suddenly emerged from the water. “Wait a minute, I will go with you.”
“You?” Y’zaks’ eyebrows twitched. “Don’t you need to take care of the city?”
“I’ve arranged all the follow-up works. Sirens are a much disciplined species. As long as the work instructions are clear, there will be no supervision needed.” The siren queen looked determined. “It’s not that I can go back to my homeworld everyday—I know that you have the ability to enter the Plane of Dreams. I won’t ask too many questions. I only hope that you can take me along. At least I can tell everyone how our homeworld looks like when I’m back.”
Hao Ren thought about it with his brows pulled together. He finally nodded. “Well, the trip shouldn’t take too long. What about the both of you—Shaqira and Sorma?”
Shaqira and Sorma looked at each other and nodded in unison. “We’ll tag along.”
“Okay, well, the ship is big enough,” Hao Ren said.
Hasse looked at them, and he finally squeezed a little smile out of his stiff expression. “Can I hitch a ride home in your ship too?”
Lily’s ears stood up in an instant when she heard the word “ship”. “Oh, right! Why don’t you transform into the Lexington, Nangong Wuyue?”
Wuyue was startled. “You haven’t forgotten!”