The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 611

Chapter 611: Boom!! ##

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

A horde of autonomous robots had installed hundreds of anti-gravity devices in all corners of the black battleship, and ready to lift it out of the water. The battleship was much smaller than the space fortress that they had hauled back from Y’zaks’ hometown earlier. It had many protruding structures which were suitable for pendant installation. So the installation process of anti-gravity devices was completed very quickly. Then sporadic light dots began to light up on the surface of the black battleship as it left the bottom of the sea.

The Petrachelys lifted the behemoth up. They picked up speed as they rose. The small spaceship with only a few hundred meters in length hauling a metal monster of more than ten kilometers long looked a little weird, but the whole process was actually not difficult: the anti-gravity devices were doing all the heavy lifting, the tug vessel was just guiding the direction.

The black battleship left the seabed and quickly rose toward the surface. Meanwhile, Hao Ren and Y’zaks had already arrived on the other side of the Evadurant city ruins in an engineering ship. They joined Shaqira and Sorma on the way and found the location of the siren queen by tracing her radio signal.

The engineering ship emitted a blue light as it anchored in the seawater. The sea surface was wavy and having a very strong energy field disturbance. Clearly, they were near to the most distorted spot in the world. Hao Ren got out of the ship and looked around. The shadow of the maelstrom was not far ahead. Though it was just a shadow, its presence was hard to ignore.

But there was no trace of the siren queen nearby.

Hao Ren got nervous and quickly called out in the radio. “Katreina, we are here, where are you?”

“I see you.” A slightly dull voice was heard over the radio. “I’m standing on your left. Do you see the big rock? I’m right behind it. There was a strong current here just now, so I hid.”

Turning his head around, Hao Ren was shocked: not far away behind a rock, there was a mantis shrimp as big as a tank clinging on the rock and waving its claw in the air as if saying it was Katreina!

Hao Ren smacked himself on the forehead. “My queen, would you please formshirt back to normal?”

Waving its claw and after a moment of lapping in the water, the mantis shrimp had transformed back into a beautiful girl. But, the picture of a mantis shrimp still lingered in the minds of Hao Ren and Y’zaks. She swam voluptuously up to them. Looking at the strange engineering ship, she asked in amazement, “Hey… you have such a strange thing! Is this a carrier-based spacecraft?”

Hao Ren squinted at the siren queen. “I’m curious, how do you develop your aesthetics? Don’t you feel that those forms would affect your image?”

The siren queen shrugged. “There is no man around us, so everyone just simply grow.”

Hao Ren was speechless.

In the mind of the sirens, beautiful girl and mantis shrimp had really no difference.

As the least qualified person to talk about looks at the scene, Y’zaks could not care less. His brows knit together looking at the huge portal. “The situation around this maelstrom is even more unstable than Nasaton. The water flow and energy here are turbulent. But shoudn’t the energy levels at both ends of the portal the same?”

“They are the same, but tolerance of the two worlds can be inconsistent,” said Hao Ren while fiddling with the silver-white cube bomb, setting the detonation level and remote control program. “Now you see? The Plane of Dreams is more fragile than the surface world. I heard Raven 12345 said that this universe is not that ‘healthy’, its laws are not perfect. The reaction here is stronger than in the surface world after problem developed in the Wall of Reality.”

There was a slight humming sound in the bomb as the detonation procedure was set.

Hao Ren patted the casing of the bomb and said, “We don’t have to worry about the complicated principles. We just need to blow up this place. Let’s go!”

The surface of the cube bomb was flowing with a stream of light. As its alloy shield opened, it revealed the flashing blue charging tube isnide. Then the entire bomb was detached from the engineering ship and slowly drifted towards the center of the maelstrom. The surrounding water was turbulent, but this did not affect the stability of the bomb movement. As a ‘home cleaner’ with ‘accurate destaining and spot cleaning’ as its selling points, this stuff came with three sets of stabilizers, there was no worry that the current would wash it away.

However, Hao Ren still felt that something must be wrong with the operating manual of this bomb.

After the bomb was anchored in the center of the maelstrom and ready signal was received, Hao Ren brought Y’zaks back to the engineering ship while telling the three sirens. “Everyone, take cover! When the maelstrom collapses, it would create a bit of torrent!”

The three sirens immediately swam over and wrapped their tails around the metal bracket at the rear of the engineering ship. Shaqira waved her hand and said, “We’ve ready, let’s go!”

That way would save them a lot of hassle.

The engineering ship quickly moved out with three sirens dangling from behind. It only stoppped after going several kilometers. Though according to the MDT’s calculation, most of the energy from the explosion would be absorbed by the maelstrom itself, but it was far from safe. Keeping a distance was necessary. After hiding behind an old city wall, Hao Ren was connected to Nasaton through the radio while keeping an eye on the maelstrom. “Vanaessa, Vanaessa. Hao Ren’s calling the siren general…”

There was a burst of interference in the radio and then Vanaessa’s voice came through. “Roger. Is the detonation countdown completed?”

“The bomb here is already installed,” Hao Ren said as he looked up at the siren queen. “Your Queen is watching. What is your situation? Is the reading within the threshold?”

Before leaving, Hao Ren had given sirens who stayed back in Nasaton a series of readings to be tested to ensure that maelstrom portal could be safely blown up. At this time, Vanaessa had gotten confirmation from the technicians beside her. “Everything is normal. You can detonate at any time.”

“Roger. Bring your people retreating into the city. I will remotely detonate the two bombs in ten minutes. I wish everything goes well.”

Soon after, the MDT also called in from space. “Boss, we’re ready here too. The sample has been docked in the synchronous orbit.”

“Roger,” replied Hao Ren. Checking the time, he nodded to Shaqira and two others. “Be prepared…Detonate immediately!”

The three sirens tied their tails together and nodding their heads to indicate that they were already tied together: their way of doing thing was full of siren uniqueness.

Hao Ren counted down from ten in his mind and pressed the detonation button.

Y’zaks looked into the distance and saw a sudden burst of light in the center of the maelstrom, as if a starlight in the night sky. In the next second, the light suddenly burst into a huge ball of light. The maelstrom was violently torn apart by the huge light ball, and then began to implode, as if a black hole devouring everything, and also as if the shrinking galaxy. The entire maelstrom shrank into a vague sphere in just a few seconds, and finally burst.

After a while, a loud noise and a strong torrent of water reached the place where everyone was hiding.

The three sirens opened an enchantment to shield everyone from the impact of the torrent. Gravel of the deep sea and building wreckage swept past the enchantment like leaves in the wind. it took half a minutes for it to subside, and after everything quieted down, there was only a stream of muddy water wandering around.

The maelstrom in the distance had disappeared.

“I knew that keeping a distance this far was the smartest choice,” Hao Ren said. “Looks like it’s done. It’s easier than expected.”

Soon, Vanaessa had sent in the news. The portal over Nasaton had disappeared, and according to instrument test, the mutual interference between the two worlds was rapidly disappearing.

“Phew… everything went as planned.” The siren queen exhaled and spurted out a string of bubbles. But she suddenly frowned. “Wait a minute… Why is the current getting stronger and stronger?”

The turbid water flowing around them had not disappeared. Instead, it became much stronge. At the same time, Hao Ren felt a strange chill in the water. The chill gathered from all directions as if consciously. In the chill, he seemed to have heard a scream of anger and hostility.

In that short tenth of a second, countless inexplicable footages flashed across his mind.

A strong sense of crisis began to sink in.

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Chapter 612: Frozen ##

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

The explosion the MDT carried out had succeeded in destroying the portal, and now the deep-sea maelstrom had gone. However, that was not the end—something was wrong with the water body.

The waves of riptide began to gather from all directions, which appeared odd, as it was different from normal water activities. Sea temperature fell rapidly, which again was odd, unnatural phenomenon. The siren queen raised her head in alarm. Scales below her cheeks glimmered in pale-blue light. She had sensed something. “There is something out there… something’s awakening… A consciousness is watching us!”

Hao Ren quickly picked up the radio. “MDT! Something’s wrong here. What can you see?”

There was interference in the radio. “The sea is changing shape… two streams of cold air are forming in the north and south poles at the same time. The sea is behaving weirdly. Something’s on your way! Get the hell out of there quickly!” the MDT told.

Hao Ren had noticed that as well. It was a freezing current coming out of nowhere. It froze the water body on its path in just the blink of an eye. Now the freezing riptide was just a few hundred meters away from them!

“Get the hell out of here!” Hao Ren shouted. He was forced to abandon the engineering ship and grabbed Shaqira who was next to him and rushed back up to the surface. “MDT, send us out now!”

There was still a strong interference in the radio as the MDT replied. “…I can’t! Coordinates misaliged! The Wall of Reality hasn’t completely restored yet. Teleportation is interrupted!”

“Dang it…” Hao Ren turned to looked back across his shoulder. “Give me a solution! There’s a minus-200-degree ice storm up on our tail. The water pressure is going to crush my shield!”

“Keep going. Get out of the sea. Once you’re away from the collapse point of the Wall of Reality, I’ll be able to send you out,” said the MDT quickly. “Move as fast as you could. The water surface has begun to freeze up. Something’s not right!”

“Dang you! Of course nothing’s right here!” scoffed Hao Ren while rushing with Y’zaks and the three sirens up to the surface as quickly as they could. Behind them was a bizarre swath of ice half a kilometre in width. An invisible freezing current could freeze steel into metallic powder in an instant. Soon, Hao Ren quickly realized that this freezing current was not the worst: in fact, the entire ocean was freezing up!

As icicle formed in the water, sharp ice crystals were crushing on their shields and enchantments like bullet rain. At the same time, as the water pressure rose, they felt the water was dragging them down despite that fact that they were actually rising. Out of nowhere, a strong, imminent sense of drowning hit, Hao Ren finally experienced what deep-sea phobia was like.

“We almost lose control of the water!” Shaqira warned. A thin layer of ice crystals had covered her tail as she struggled to maintain the water enchantment. Hao Ren and Y’zaks had to rely entirely on the three sirens underwater. Now they had slowed down significantly. “Something much stronger is in control of the sea… it doesn’t listen to our command anymore!”

Y’zaks roared and he suddenly burst into flame as magma and molten iron erupted from his body. The heat instantly melted a large area of ice. He had turned into a giant magma demon and used his dark-green Demonic Barrier covering the water enchantment of the sirens. This reduced the pressure on the sirens.

Y’zaks turned his head around and said to the siren queen in a loud voice, “Bring us back up to the surface; I’ll handle the water pressure and the cold.”

Despite of that, the great demon could only drive the freezing ice out to a certain limit as the entire ocean had almost frozen completely. Water froze in from all directions and blocked their escape route. Looking up, under the illumination of Y’zaks demonic flame, Hao Ren saw glacier was forming in the water. Recalling what the MDT had said just now, an incredible reality suddenly struck him:

The entire planet of Io was rapidly freezing up!

As unbelievable as it was, Hao Ren believed that the planet (or some ancient consciousness on the planet) had awakened. It was trying to trap the intruders. The glaciers that contained a powerful energy were not a natural phenomenon; this power force was not going to allow the intruders from escaping!

Hao Ren took out his gun from the dimensional pocket. However, he quickly realized that the radiation produced by the gun would contaminate the entire water body and even poison the sirens and the demon. So he chose to use the Graviton Grenades. He threw the grenades out at the glacier and called out over the radio. “Can’t you send us out yet?”

“In a bit!” The voice of the MDT sounded as hurried. “Something slows down the Wall of Reality’s recovery. Now the noise from the friction between both worlds prevents me from locating your position. We’re talking about the natural forces of two universes! Give me a minute!”

Huge ice shards crushed on their shields. Sorma and Shaqira screamed in fear; they had completely lost control of the water.

The scales on the siren queen were glimmered with light. Using her powerful magic, she tried to regain control of the water from the sea and she succeeded. They could not afford to stop; stopping even for just a few seconds, they would be trapped and frozen in an instant.

“Hurry up!” Hao Ren struggled to clear a way. He yelled over the radio. “I think I’ll be frozen with the three fish in a few minutes! Only Y’zaks is free from ice, for now!”

An even more powerful freezing current and riptide began to bring down the Demonic Barrier. It was the power of the entire ocean of Io. With each wave of impact, the current was powerful enough to flatten any mountain on the surface. It was impossible for Y’zaks to fight the forces of nature no matter how strong he was. His Demonic Barrier dimmed.

The great demon’s voice rumbled from behind Hao Ren. “I feel the ocean is filled with anger, hatred and resentment… that negative energy feels very familiar. It shouldn’t be here!”

Hao Ren cleared a passage by blowing up the underwater glacier, which barely allowed them to pass through. “What did you say?”

“I said that negative energy sounds very familiar!” Y’zaks rumbled again. “It’s the restless spirit! This ocean is filled with their cry! I’ve heard it many times in the spirit furnace in Serathon!”

Hao Ren froze for a moment; he was shocked. “Is there such a wicked restless spirit in this world?”

“That’s why I said it shouldn’t be here!” said Y’zaks loudly.

Before Hao Ren could say anything more, a deafening boom came from above, everyone froze.

“Boom—”

The continuous loud booms reverberated across the frozen sea like the sound of a large bell, like a hammer pounding on a solid ice ball, and like the world was tumbling down.

The surrounding seawater had completely frozen; no route of escape for them, however the slightest. Even the power of the sirens would make no different in such circumstances. However, just as the boom continued, the heavy ice above them began to crack open.

“Boom—”

Another boom. Then Hao Ren began to notice flashes of light above the thick ice—it came from the explosion.

It did not matter what the explosion was; now there was an escape route.

Hao Ren threw out two Graviton Grenades to blow a wider fissure in the glacier. He led everyone climb before the fissure closed again. “Everyone! After me!”

Finally, after getting out of the glacier, the interference caused by the collapse of the Wall of Reality declined. In a flash of light, they were teleported out of the planet, which was now a frozen hell.

Chapter 613: Eva

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Io, the planet of water, was undergoing a tremendous change. Looking down from space, almost no one would have believed what they were seeing: the ocean that covered the entire planet had quickly turned white. Thousands of white spots appeared on the ocean of ​​Io and rapidly turned the ocean into ice, defying the known law of nature. Waves, thousands of meters high froze mid-air instantaneously while whirlpools turned into ice caves. The freezing storm carried thousands of tons of ice and snow into the air before raining back down on the glaciers that had just formed. The planet was becoming a frozen hell. Lily was shocked looking down from the Petrachelys in space.

The holographic projection in the centre of the flight deck showed the radar images under the ocean of Io. However, the visual was blurry as noise of interference oscillated on the images. The interference was the result of the topical collapse of the Wall of Reality. Though the instantaneous double explosions had closed the portal, the effect of the collapse of the Wall of Reality remained. A certain powerful force was amplifying the interference. Lily had no idea what these images meant, but she knew something was amiss. Her hair puffed up. “Please quickly think of a way, MDT! Drop me down there if can, I’m going for Mr. Landlord!”

“You’re kidding me! You can’t possibly dig through the dozen kilometres of ice,” Vivian grabbed Lily who became panic. “MDT, what else we can do here?”

The MDT did not say a word. It quietly activated the weapon system of the Petrachelys.

The belly of the spacecraft slid open, exposing two rows of subcannons flashing in blue light. The holographic projection on the flight deck showed the visual of the ocean of Io as the MDT scanned the ocean surface. Then it found the traces of Graviton Grenades explosions, did a little bit of calculation before firing the subcannons.

The spacecraft’s ‘air-to-surface attack restrictions (ASAR)’ had been turned off earlier as the spacecraft had determined that Planet Io contained no civilization. The MDT would not be able to use the subconnons without higher-level authorisation if ASAR was active.

Light beams shot across the space silently before mushroom clouds of vaporised ice rose up from the white surface of Io. The bombardment had created a temporary escape route in the heavy ice.

A moment later, the door to the flight deck slid open silently. Hao Ren’s trembling voice was heard. “We… we made it… anyone kindly help knock the ice off my body?”

He staggered into the flight deck, covered in ice. Behind him, Y’zaks’ baldhead poked out from cloud of water vapour like a glaring eye. “Help the sirens; they are frozen like ice-cream. Wuyue, you know what to do, don’t you?”

Lily lunged at Hao Ren, scraping the ice off Hao Ren’s body. “Mr. Landlord, you scared the hell out of me. You’ve scared the hell out of me! I thought I wouldn’t be able to eat the braised pork that you make anymore!”

Ice fell off his body to the ground. Hao Ren finally regained mobility and stared blankly at Lily. “How could you still think of braised pork in such situation?”

Lily rubbed her nose. “I’ve also thought of noodles… and spare ribs.”

Vivian exhaled; relieved to see Hao Ren was back. She consoled him with a smile. “You should be grateful that the husky sees you as important as her food; you mean a world to her.”

Nangong Wuyue came up, checking if Hao Ren and Y’zaks was all right before she saw the three sirens behind Y’zaks. “Queen, Shaqira, and… oh well, no wonder you called them an ‘ice cream bar’.”

Outside the doorway, the three frozen sirens lay on the floor like ice cream bars. Carrying them manoeuvring around the corners in the corridor had been quite a challenge; it took Y’zaks and Hao Ren considerable effort to bring the three ice-cream bars from the on-board portal to the flight deck.

Wuyue came up, knocked on the ice that covered Shaqira. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Shaqira blinked and tried to spit some bubbles. Apparently, she could not; there had no liquid water in side.

The siren queen struggled to move her tail. Her tail tipped up a little.

“Hey, easy. It’ll take a while to thaw,” Wuyue got up to her feet. “You all will be fine.”

Hao Ren carried the three sirens that looked like flagpoles into the flight deck, found a space near the wall, tied them into a bonfire tripod, and let Y’zaks grill them with fire. Hao Ren then looked up at console. “How did you break the ice?”

The MDT said with a lackadaisical voice. “A desperate measure.”

Hao Ren looked at the console, and was shocked. “What the heck! You used the subconnons?”

“Cool man. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You as an inspector know that!” The MDT said wryly. “It’s just the self-defence subconnons. It was a calculated targeting, completely safe. There wouldn’t be a problem even if the shots hit the spot where you were as I calculated that ice layer overhead could withstand the hit.”

Hao Ren: “…Dang it, I’ve just cheated death!”

“What have just happened?” asked Nangong Sanba, shocked. He had witnessed the planet freezing, the orbital bombing of the planet; he could no longer pretending to be smart.

“I don’t know,” Hao Ren spread out his hand. “Looks like we’ve have awakened something. Suddenly the ocean turned against us—”

Before Hao Ren could finish his sentence, Vivian screamed. “Look! Io’s ice is melting! Something is coming up!”

Everyone rushed over to the monitor and saw yet another incredible phenomenon on the surface of Io: the planet that had turned into an icy sphere a while ago began to thaw. The thawing process this time was quicker than the freezing process. Hundreds of thousands of kilometres of fissures quickly spread across the planet. The gigantic glaciers began to tumble into the sea and water surged up from below and covered the planet in the blink of an eye. As Io thawed, something shocking emerged.

It was a face.

A lifelike female face on the planet.

The creepy face was entirely composed of seawater, which spanned from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere. It changed its fine details constantly as the water moved. However, ‘her’ eyes affixed to the Petrachelys in space, full of insanity and paranoid.

‘She’ opened her mouth. Immediately ice swords shooting out of the sea on both sides of the face at the Petrachelys like anti-aircraft fire. At the same time, in a frightening manner, seawater in other part of Io began to rise and form a strange ‘arm’ reaching out into space as if it was trying to grab the spacecraft in the orbit.

However, because of the distance, the ‘icy anti-air artillery’ and water arm could not keep up with the spacecraft. The Petrachelys with the black spacecraft wreckage behind it had dodged every attack, but everyone on-board was still scared to death. Lily clutched Hao Ren’s arm and cried, “nnn…nnn…nnn… what’s that thing?”

Hao Ren’s body shield began to flicker as he tried to break free from Lily’s grab. “How would I know?”

Suddenly they heard a loud crash; the siren queen, Shakira, and Soma finally thawed. They looked around in surprise. “What’s wrong? Why are you people screaming?”

“What is that thing down there?” Nangong Sanba pointed to the images on the hologram. “Can anyone tell me what is in the water?”

The siren queen turned around, stunned. “This is… Eva?”

Chapter 614: Siren, Siren!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Surprised, Hao Ren looked at the siren queen who was standing next to him. “Eva? What is Eva?”

“In our legend, we believe that the ocean’s original consciousness created the siren race. The original consciousness is called Eva and all sirens are pieces of Eva. Eva is asleep in the ‘Mother Water’; every wave and tsunami in the sea is Eva’s breath, and every lightning strike on the water is Eva’s gaze,” the siren queen explained. Her voice was reverend. She came closer to look at the hologram. “No known scripture has ever described Eva’s appearance, but if she really exists… I believe she would look like this. Most sirens imagine Eva like this.”

Io’s surface was turbulent, and the “she” looked even angrier. A great amount of seawater had left the surface of the planet and extended into space forming a frighteningly strange arm.

Hao Ren was using an instrument to scan the energy flow in the ocean. “Ancient legend? You’ve forgotten everything about your homeworld, yet you still remember this Eva?” Hao Ren asked in surprise.

“Because the legend itself only came about after we arrived on Earth.” The siren queen shook her head. “Perhaps some memories of our homeworld were still in our subconscious until they imperceptibly became about Eva…”

Vivian knitted her brows together. “That means you don’t really know what it is?”

“Whatever she is, she’s obviously angry now…” Hao Ren said quickly. “Her attack is incoming!”

The ice flying out of Io’s surface accelerated to subluminal speed under the influence of some supernatural forces. It began to bombard the Petrachelys’ shield, and shattered into millions of ice shards. It looked like a scene inside a comet’s tail. The ship’s shield glinted, but it was stable. Hao Ren let out a sigh of relief. “Phew… looks like the attack has done little damage.”

The MDT shouted, “But our samples have been smashed!”

“Oh sh*t!” Hao Ren turned around and was astonished: the black battleship, which he worked so hard to bring out from the seabed was in the line of fire. The shells traveling at subliminal speed hit the black crystal slabs on the spacecraft, sending debris flying into deep space. “Get it out of there quickly!”

As soon as his voice trailed off, he saw a light flash in the belly of the black battleship. The light burst out in an explosion, shattering the wreckage, which was dozens of kilometers like a string of exploding firecrackers.

Hao Ren remembered the warhead that exploded in the Zalazarn wreckage. He knew the black battleship’s arsenal had been hit.

Debris from the explosion crashed onto the Petrachelys’ shield. Lily murmured, “…It’s too late to get out of there.”

Even after the black battleship shattered into pieces, Io-Eva’s attack did not stop one bit. Instead, it launched more ice shells towards the Petrachelys at subluminal speed. Obviously, the Petrachelys now became “her” sole target. Hao Ren scrambled to check the spacecraft’s shield life; the capacity was dropping. He immediately ordered an evasive maneuver while he yelled to the MDT, “Have you found out what that thing is?”

“Boss, you may not believe this…” The MDT paused its voice for a moment. “But, she looks like a siren.”

“What?”

“She’s a siren; super huge, super powerful, and as large as a planet… A siren,” the MDT sounded less mouthy this time. “I have a record of the characteristic spectrum of the sirens. I can now confirm that she’s a siren. The whole Io is a siren!”

Shaqira and Sorma hugged each other, horrified (they were literally curled up into a ball). Something seemed to have crossed Nangong Wuyue’s mind as she muttered to herself, “Water is amorphous… ”

Meanwhile, the siren queen nodded. “This is Eva.”

Io-Eva’s violent attacks continued. The tiny Petrachelys was dodging the furious attacks from the planet like a moth. The planet completely distorted into an appalling face. Aside from the face, two-thirds of its water had also shot far out into space, forming countless arms and tentacles that looked almost like corals, from which the dense, subluminal-speed ice missiles were launched to envelope the entire space. The ocean had come off the planet, exposing the solid, ancient surface of the planet below. The siren kingdom of thousands of years of history and the even more ancient submarine shoals were exposed on the ‘surface’, and received sunshine for the first time since the planet’s formation. It was a weird phenomenon to the extreme, beyond the description of common sense, and only the wildest and most absurd primitive myths would ever describe.

However, it was what Hao Ren must face now.

“I need to warn you,” the MDT shouted amid a series of alarm sounds. “This siren is resorting to magic now. She is becoming cleverer! She’s probably completely awake!”

Outside the spacecraft, aside from the subluminal-speed ice missiles, the arms of water that extended into space were emitting a glow. Then a large amount of laser-like beams hit the Petrachelys and immediately triggered the alarm system throughout the spacecraft: The recharging rate of the shield had fallen below the discharge rate, power reactor was about to reach its limit.

Hao Ren turned and asked the siren queen loudly. “Will you mind if I open fire at your god?”

The siren queen froze for a moment before she responded, “I… Well, okay, since we have no other choice…”

“Thank you for your cooperation.” Hao Ren quickly launched the control console. “All weapons online!”

The main cannon and subcannons extended under the weapons bay before firing indiscriminately at the arms of water. The water arms broke into splashes before they reformed. The water arms reformed so fast that they overwhelmed the Petrachelys’ subcannons.

“This isn’t a warship… We can’t fight it here!” Nangong Wuyue had curled herself up into a ball in the corner. “Can we find another strategy?”

Hao Ren checked the shield’s capacity; he knew that the Petrachelys could turn around and fled, but the shield could still hold on for some time. He looked at Io-Eva, and felt that he should not flee just yet.

He wanted to find out wt this ‘siren’ was.

Y’zaks suddenly said thoughtfully. “Perhaps … this was the siren that had not managed to escape, that remained in Io.”

Hao Ren’s eyebrows twitched. “Huh?”

“The collective soul phenomenon,” Y’zaks pointed to the furious planet. “For some talented, intelligent race, when they are faced with a catastrophic disaster, there is a chance that the sense of crisis of the race will spawn an instinct. Their spirituality will resonate with something similar to the collective consciousness. The collective consciousness will strive to avoid a total extinction. Even if individuals of this race haven’t perceived its existence, it still produces various miracles—this is why when crisis hits, some races will suddenly inspire certain natural talents of survival. It’s not from the power of individual geniuses, but the will to live of the entire race.”

Speaking of this, Y’zaks turned his head around and looked at the four sirens on board (which had curled into a ball). “This phenomenon happens to sirens most likely because they are amorphous, which means the relationship between their soul and flesh isn’t rigid. They also have an immortal characteristic, meaning that their souls are tougher than the flesh. The spirituality of such creatures can easily be detached and produced…”

Hao Ren turned to look at the holographic projection. “…Eva.”

“What happened to her?” Vivian asked loudly.

“The spirit of the race became a restless soul,” Y’zaks’ voice was low. “She failed to prevent the end of days. Her components died on the planet, so she directly transformed into a massive restless soul. Because of the immortality of sirens, this restless soul fully retained the powers of a living soul.”

Explosions never stopped outside the spacecraft as high-energy beams constantly struck the shield. Hao Ren looked at the alarm message on the console. “Well, MDT, how much time do we have?”

“An hour. We’re dealing with a whole race plus a whole planet. It’s impossible for such a small spacecraft to hold up for too long,” replied the MDT. “What are you going to do?”

“I want to talk to Eva.” Hao Ren got to his feet. “This restless soul was the prime witness of the catastrophe that happened 10,000 years ago.”

Chapter 615: Historical Memory

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

As soon as Hao Ren’s voice trailed off, everyone looked at him as if he was mad. Stupefied, Nangong Wuyue said, “Are you crazy?”

“I’m not kidding.” Hao Ren stood in front of the holographic projection and watched the siren spirit named Eva roar silently in space. “She was the sole witness of the catastrophe 10,000 years ago. She can tell us who attacked Io. Now that we’ve lost the battleship sample, she’s the only lead…” He paused, and pointed his fingers into space. “I always thought the First Borns were the cause of the catastrophic disasters in the universe, but now it looks like there’s something else. We must find out exactly what this is all about—plus, the brain monster tried to open a fissure to the surface world from here. There must be something special about Io. I’m not going to leave without doing something.”

Vivian frowned as she stared into Hao Ren’s eyes. “I know how important this is, but do you think you can talk to Eva? This…”

She turned and glanced at the visual on the holographic projection. “This ‘god’ doesn’t seem to be open for communication. She’s now just a restless soul; she is mindless. Even if she has intelligence, how do you talk to such a… ‘creature’? Her face is as wide as the planet! Are you going to stand in the middle of the ocean and speak with her?”

“When the ocean started to freeze, a vast amount of information rushed into my head for a short while.” Hao Ren gave his head a little knock. “I wonder if it lasted even a second… However, I’m sure it was a memory related to the siren. Therefore, I think Eva and I are also able to communicate like I did with the brain monster. Anyway, just let me try. If it doesn’t work, then we can flee.”

Lily and Vivian looked at each other. They could not help but mutter, “Mr. Landlord, you truly are Lil Pea’s father; both of you are daredevils. How are you going to establish the connection? Are you going to jump into the water again? What if this time you really get trapped?”

Hao Ren took a few breaths before he nodded. “Yeah, I’ll make the jump but I need a few sirens to help me control the currents in the ocean. With no more interference below, if the communication with her fails, I can be teleported back up immediately. At the very least, I won’t be trapped or frozen.”

The MDT shook in a buzz before it reluctantly said, “According to my calculations, you do have a certain chance of success, but I still have to say that this is against safety protocol!”

Hao Ren hit the console with his hand. “Don’t make me laugh! The first clause of the safety protocol in the manual clearly states that this line of work is never safe. If you really want to help, please keep firing in space. I’ll give you access to weapons control. Your job is to create a distraction so that I can go down there safely.”

The MDT remained silent for a while before it made a cartoonish “okay” gesture on the holographic projection. “You have 55 minutes.”

Hao Ren immediately turned and motioned to Shaqira as well as the other three sirens. “Katreina, Shaqira, Sorma, I want to negotiate with your ‘god’. Would you like to help?”

“You bet. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance.” The siren queen stepped forward without hesitation. “There’s nothing better than going close to Eva.”

Nangong Wuyue followed suit and said, “I’m going too. I’m a siren, and I’ll show my worth of the bloodline I carry.”

Hao Ren nodded then turned to look at the others. “You guys just stay on the spaceship. I’ll go now. There’s nothing to worry about.”

The Petrachelys quickly maneuvered around the water arms in space. After calculating a series of trajectories, it reached the perigee. A flash of white light beamed down onto the planet.

Hao Ren and the sirens were standing above the ocean of Io.

The ocean was turbulent as endless strange waves surged, forming a spectacular scene. The thick clouds in the sky had disappeared. Eva’s activities had torn the planet’s high-altitude clouds apart and disrupted the original atmosphere. It caused a weird, “clear sky” phenomenon. The sun shone on the ocean amid the turbulence of the atmosphere and water. Io’s natural order was completely out of balance while the violent soul relentlessly showed its power.

Nangong Wuyue looked at the scene in horror. She saw a magnificent peak of water rising in the distance, and a giant column of water, which looked like a pillar to heaven reaching out into space. She struggled to take her eyes off the horrifying scenario and focused instead on controlling the water with the other three sirens. This time it was more difficult.

“You’re good to go,” said the siren queen. “Please hurry up. This is very strenuous!”

Hao Ren nodded to Shaqira and Sorma, who was next to her before he slowly lowered himself into the water.

Calming his emotions, and getting himself focused, Hao Ren tried to recreate the previous momentary state of connection. Having done it before with the brain monster, Hao Ren had already figured out how to make such a connection. Emotions such as nervousness and alertness were unnecessary. Only a calm and focused mind could make the connection more stable.

He felt his consciousness slowly sinking into chaos, which was not the same as his connection with the brain monster. However, he knew the connection was successful.

The chaos was Eva’s memory.

However, after the chaos was over, what he saw was not the scene of Io’s destruction, but a serene and peaceful primeval seafloor.

Hao Ren’s mind was walking across the deep sea in ancient times. He saw an endless stretch of sand and gravel spread out before his eyes. Above it was an endless dark sea. Luminous primitive algae and deep-water fish lived in peace along the seafloor, oblivious to the outside world.

Sirens were born in this serene and peaceful deep-sea paradise. Initially, they were slow and torpid omnivorous creatures, covered in scales. They had human bodies, they were skilled in mimicry, and acquired a form that was a fusion between elemental and carbon-based creatures in the planet’s magical environment. They lived in the caves that they dug out from the sand and relied on luminous algae as well as slow-footed shellfish to survive. The sirens developed in the primitive conditions, acquired wisdom, and formed its own fragile primitive but interesting ancient society.

Their earliest tools were shells of deep-water shellfish, which they had eaten. They polished the shells for digging sand and cutting seaweed. They subsequently made use of corals, rocks, and iron-rich meteorite residues that occasionally fell from the sky. When the meteorite in space crashed into Io, it burned in the atmosphere, and rapidly cooled in the seawater, so it became stronger. This was the miracle of a natural forging process. Every iron-containing meteorite, which fell into the deep sea through this process was a treasure to the sirens. They called these meteorites the “Heart of the Black Water”—because they thought the endless dark ocean above was the boundary of the world. Beyond that boundary was an even darker, more chaotic endless body of water, and the forged, iron-filled meteorite was the foundation of the world. Their earliest primitive religion revolved around the water and these ferrous meteorites.

They worshiped the deep waters, submerged volcanoes, and ferrous meteorite. They once thought that the meteorite from the “sky” was a sign that the world’s outer shell was wearing down and collapsing. They felt wary and sent the brave ones to get the meteorite back to the upper level (they hoped to extend the world’s lifespan in this way). However, due to their inability to adapt to the low-water-pressure environment, every expedition failed. They later realized that the ferrous meteorite was a blessing from the “upper water”, and so the siren’s Meteoric Iron period began 60,000 years after the first siren used seashells as tools.

The sirens learned other means of acquiring metal and replacing corrosion-prone iron tools many years later.

Hao Ren’s consciousness constantly leaped into Eva’s memory. He was unable to leave, and he had no intention of leaving. He finally knew what Eva wanted.