Xyrin Empire
Chapter 587 Big Nebula

Chapter 587: Chapter 587 Big Nebula

With the onset of super-space-time acceleration, the starry outer view projected on screen blurred into a streak of light, and the channel composed of redshift and blueshift became the only scenery outside. The entire world seemed like a monochromatic gradient passage, and then, the strip of light gradually dimmed, signifying that the spaceship had entered super-space-time.

Based on the power of the superluminal propulsion engine of this Protos Battleship, the process will probably last for several hours before we can reach our destination.

Ten light-years is a truly bothersome distance. For a Protos Battleship, it’s a bit too close for high-dimensional jumps and a bit too far for super-space-time acceleration. However, when compared to the multitude of messy events that delayed us for so many days in Jetas, a few hours don’t seem like much.

Finally, we might be able to retrieve that crazy girl Lilina—though we only know her approximate location. But at that distance, and with Sakura’s amplifiers aiding us, it shouldn’t be too hard to find her, right?

"Ugh, I’m so bored..."

Speak of the devil, just as I thought of the Crystal Saint Mother that became a wireless router, I heard her bored complaints from behind, along with the pleasant chime of crystal friction.

A several meters tall crystal giant was connected by a dozen optical gratings, semi-fixed in the air two meters above a bowl-shaped depression, slightly floating up and down with the crystal resonance. From the bottom of the cone base of the giant’s lower half, countless blue and white crystal clusters protruded, dense energy sparks striking the surrounding gratings over and over—don’t get me wrong, this is just communication. On the upper half of the giant, a sky-blue crystal sculpture of a young girl laid bored atop her base, occasionally rotating her upper body a horrifying seven hundred and twenty degrees to show just how flexible she was. Sakura had maintained this state for many days by now; after the novelty of transmitting intelligence had passed, all she was left with was boredom.

"The Protos Warships are so dull, there aren’t even cartoons or the internet."

"... A normal warship wouldn’t have those things anyway. Can you not take Bubble’s tasteless modifications to the Imperial Ship as proper standards, please?"

And take a look at the circle of diligent Heroic Spirit Guards around you. Even though the majority of them are just there for the excitement and about eighty percent are currently engrossed in playing cards, there isn’t a single one of them complaining of boredom. As an employee of the group, one should have a positive working attitude.

But without Qianqian around, it does indeed get a bit boring—missing an ever-cheerful little animal. Even though there’s a more cheerful Little One in my pocket, the joy a spoilt, cute pet or a girlfriend with a goofy sense of humor brings is entirely different in everyday life.

Concerned that Jetas would suffer a sudden attack from the Imperial Rebel Army and untrusting that Shepherds wouldn’t send more Supervision Teams over, we left the main force of the Federation and some of our strongest assets there to assist in defense. That included the potentially game-changing abilities of Qianqian and Golden Shining, who had just neared the level of High Order Apostle, as well as the super-weapon Pandora. Right now, only Big Sister, Visca, a bored wireless router rolling on her base, and a bunch of card-playing Heroic Spirit Guards are left with me. This lineup was indeed much duller.

Oh, and I forgot someone: Taville. Since she appeared in this universe as a mass projection, the black-haired, glasses-wearing girl needed to stay close to Sakura to work—the signal is better here. So Taville also traveled with us, incidentally studying whatever the Big Nebula that preoccupied her thoughts constantly was. But even if it’s a bit impolite to say, her joining has made the journey even more tedious...

The Void Wanderer is a high-speed, self-sustaining vessel that the Protos modeled after the Xyrin Expeditionary-class Battleship, representing their pinnacle of technological achievement. This highlights the vast disparity between Kepulu Humans and their Protos friends; despite receiving additional technological guidance from the Empire, the former could still only passively use the ready-made technology handed down by the Empire, with all their effort going to merely understand how to operate it, while the Protos Clan could already innovate based on our blueprints to manufacture their own Ghost Energy Battleships.

This is the Void Wanderer we’re currently aboard—an imposing ship brimming with Ghost Energy, yet its form and overall structure are quite unlike that of an Imperial Ship.

The Big Nebula Zone is the most famous region in this prison universe; it is an interstellar dust cloud with a radius of three light-years that thickens gradually from the outside in. Its composition has an astonishing orderliness—uniformly combined heavy metal molecules, and a radioactive gas cloud isolation zone that does not deviate in thickness by even a millimeter across its entirety. There is no hint of a wrinkled material stratification phenomenon anywhere within tens of millions of kilometers. And some strangely dense material conglomerates, which would never naturally form in that shape, come together to create this sphere with an exact radius of three light-years and a "smoothness" of its surface exceeding 99.99%.

Clearly, this is not the work of nature.

A spaceship traveling at superluminal speeds generates an astounding mass (you could consider it to be infinite, even though the Xyrin People still see it as a calculable number). Gravitational disturbances have a devastating tidal effect on nearby matter. Even if the Void Wanderer is equipped with the most advanced gravity-balancing equipment that Protos Natives can produce to offset the destructive effects on their surroundings, the gravitational disturbance effect remains. However, upon entering the Big Nebula, our observation equipment detected phenomena that cannot be explained by conventional science: those fragile clouds, which have virtually no strength in local areas, acted as if they were oblivious to the spaceship zooming past at a hundred times the speed of light. Even with space slightly warped, their structure remained highly uniform.

The feeling it gave me was that a typhoon could not disperse a wisp of blue smoke, nor could a flood wash away a couple of falling leaves. We charged into the cloud mist with the momentum of thunderous force, but the light, drifty latter seemed to coldly observe us from another world.

Yes, I did that for the sake of rhyme.

Taville began her research work after the spaceship entered the Big Nebula, commandeering the intelligence officer’s seat to serve as a temporary workspace: "We have just passed through a thin zone of the Big Nebula that is 0.1 light-years thick. Along the way, the fluctuation in material density around us did not exceed one in a hundred million. Ahead of us lies the radiation layer spoken of by Queen Gotaque, where the density of the Big Nebula suddenly triples after the radiation layer, followed by another uniformly dense material mist band, another radiation layer, another material band... It’s as if there are layers of shells, with each layer of material density being very uniform and suddenly increasing sharply in the next one. My majesty, the inside of the Big Nebula might be solid—we really won’t go take a look? It should be safe—theoretically speaking."

Scientists are very dangerous, especially the Xyrin scientists, this gang of madmen that would do anything outrageous for research, such as—suggesting that our lone ship should charge headfirst into the core of the Big Nebula, suspected to be a Shepherd’s fortress.

Yes, the core region of the Big Nebula is one of the universally acknowledged forbidden zones in the universe, and compared to other speculative locations, the center of the Big Nebula is almost certainly known to house a Shepherd base, or at least a place they frequent often. It has been marked by us as a priority surveillance target, and one hundred thirty-seven large starports inside the Red Giant Star Fortress are working overtime to build a fleet specifically to strike here first after the outbreak of full-scale war. Our mission this time was just to pick up Lilina, and anyone agreeing to Taville’s mad suggestion would definitely be out of their mind.

"Alright, your subordinate understands your majesty’s concerns. I’ll try to keep the probes flying outside the Big Nebula, but there’s not much we can analyze at superluminal speeds. If we could make another brief stop..."

"We’ll talk about it when we get back."

I rolled my eyes to the sky; no need to be polite with this research fanatic because once you are, she’ll climb up the pole and make sure you’re doomed.

"This area must have been created by the Rebel Army," Visca stated, standing on her own chair, trying to establish a sense of looking down from above, "the natural rules of this universe couldn’t form such a region."

Her tone was quite serious, and her expression matched the dignity of a general, but if you have to stand on tiptoe just to be at eye level with Taville... better step down.

"It is said that this was the most horrific battleground after the beginning of the universal melee period," Big Sister remarked as she looked at the holographic projection in front of her. Although the exterior view showed only a vague light band, the simulated image of the Big Nebula was still clearly presented to everyone after compensatory calculations, "those Races that lost their territories in the war or had just arrived here without enough time to establish territories would be driven to the outer regions of the Big Nebula. They would engage in melee there, and only the surviving Races could leave, otherwise, they’d be annihilated by the Shepherd’s Supervision Team."

"Hmph, so those madmen also set up rules," said Visca with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, as she deftly hopped down from the chair, flushing red. Normally, it would be Pandora’s job to knock this girl down with a hand chop or Inch Fist for pulling such a silly stunt, but with "Dunce Sister" absent, she had to jump down herself after realizing the awkwardness. Besides, speaking of madmen, it looks like you’re almost the same, aren’t you, General?

"It’s really unfair," Big Sister sighed, "many Races just arriving in this universe were thrown into the battlefield and obliterated for no reason. But it’s also strange; with so many years of war accumulation, even though the Big Nebula spans a radius of three light-years, shouldn’t there be some remnants of warships left here?"

"They must have all become part of the Big Nebula’s matter, or the energy of the radiation zone," Taville turned his head and pushed up his glasses, "The Rebel Army’s establishment of this zone is surely not just for it to serve as a battleground. This vast Cloud Mist Zone has clear traces of planning, its operational mechanism is not yet clear, but it definitely possesses some function, if..."

"Let’s talk about it when we get back."

"...Alright, Your Majesty."

Now wasn’t the time to launch a frontal assault on the Big Nebula. Our spaceship made a huge arc inside it, bypassing the First Radiation Layer of the Big Nebula, a boundary line set by the Shepherds during the balance cycle. Ships of ordinary races that crossed that radiation belt would be attacked by them. This doubled the length of our journey for no good reason. However, after six hours, the spaceship still crossed the giant "Interstellar Dust". As the ship gradually slowed down to catchable light speed, the first strands of starlight from the Eastern Nebula fell upon the smooth shuttle-shaped hull of the Void Wanderer, like a silverfish entering the silent expanse of space for the Federation Army.

"It looks pretty calm, right? The description says that this is the most chaotic pirate-ruled area in the entire universe, with wars every day," Cu Chulainn shouldered his Magic Spear with a face full of regret, "It’s so black you can’t see anything."

"Do you think the population density of outer space is the same as a market where people fight all day long?" I glanced at this guy who had no idea what cosmic civilization was, "Deputy Officer, connect the transmission controller."

With a "zzt zzt", a faint buzz of energy, the crystal panel in front of the Commander’s seat disappeared like a phantasm, and a strange-looking, joystick-shaped controller rose up. This was our little gift to the New Eden Federation, an instantaneous Transmission Device that could, in an extremely short time and with minimal consumption, gather scattered troops within a star system to a base. It was a taste of the Xyrin Regular Army’s ability to teleport legions under any circumstance. The Protos Vanguard we sent here should have established a base nearby. If we were to travel there with conventional space jumps, we would still have to wait for the spaceship’s Super-Space Time Engine to cool down. But with this device, as long as we have the coordinates, we can teleport without the need for any cooldown.

Let me think, what was the launch code for targeted teleportation again...

Ah, it’s down-forward, down-forward, square, then back-down-forward, triangle.

...Go ahead and laugh, this thing was designed by Bubbles. The return code for the Imperial Admiral is still up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-A+B.

A flash of white light — cheesy, though it may be, using the ultra-advanced Imperial Transmitter was definitely much faster than a Protos Jump Engine that took minutes just to start. Just a flash of white light, and we were now in an Asteroid Belt.

Ahead lay a semi-fixed base in its early stages, a typical Asteroid Belt fort template. A dozen or so larger asteroids were connected by high-strength Interstellar Alloy Skeletons, resulting in a three-dimensional defense line constructed relying on their original relative positioning. Each asteroid had signs of having been hollowed out, and metallic luster had almost entirely covered eighty percent of the surfaces inside and out. Various buildings with the golden flair of the Protos Natives were fixed on their surfaces, while the insides presumably functioned as storage or similar facilities. The Alloy Skeleton that stabilized this cluster of asteroids extended outward, connecting several starports and landing pads. It looked like they were ready for use.

However, the entire base was silent.

After a communication call, what responded to us was a background noise of static, the Starport’s Interstellar Alloy Skeleton radiating a cold metallic luster, yet conspicuously lacking the flow of energy. Only a few buildings within the entire asteroid system maintained lighting, the other areas were dark as if devoid of energy, and the landing pads were cluttered with messy supply containers, half of which were already damaged, their contents scattered everywhere — the base’s artificial gravity had been shut off.

This was all we saw after completing the teleportation.

"The spaceship stopped thrusting, and let the probe go over to transmit the images back."

Big Sister spoke cautiously, now having somewhat the demeanor of a regular army commander.

"They have been attacked," I immediately came to this obvious conclusion after the images were transmitted back and the details were enlarged, "there’s not a single person."

The recently established base seemed to have been abandoned in an emergency operation. Only after we enlarged the images did we discover that one-third of the interstellar alloy skeleton, constituting the entire base’s structure, had been broken. Two metal asteroids, housing Ghost Energy Reactors, had been cast out of the architectural cluster due to the breakage of the connecting skeletons and some sort of shock wave. They drifted forlornly behind the base, spinning rapidly, depriving the base of energy supply. Of the three landing platforms, two bore clear signs of melting, their surfaces pitted with metal bubbles – likely the result of bombardment by high-intensity energy weapons. The central asteroid of the base, that might have been used to install a Ghost Energy Shield Generator, was now shattered, appearing to be destroyed by a severe overload. Around the base, we found only the remains of guard tower and photon cannon emplacements.

Further out in space, there existed some inconspicuous metal fragments, seemingly pieces of warships, but the bulk of these fragments had evidently been salvaged by someone, with only the leftovers discarded here.

"Complete silence across all frequencies, and that expedition’s mother ship channel is also not within the broadcast domain," a Protos officer shook his head and said, "Great Mentor, there are no life signs within the base. Should we approach?"

"Uh-huh, stay alert."

The spaceship, reflecting silvery light, approached the abandoned base slowly and descended onto the only intact landing platform. Most of the Heroic Spirits and Protos Warriors were ordered to stay aboard the spaceship to protect the Void Wanderer and the more important Crystal Saint Mother. Big Sister, Visca, and I, along with a few high-powered Heroic Spirits, boarded this silent outpost.

"Artificial gravity has completely failed."

I floated lightly on the landing platform, observing mechanical devices and shattered stone pieces suspended in midair, and communicated through spiritual connection.

"This...this is indeed a challenging battle environment..."

A very troubled voice echoed in my mind, and as I turned, Saber was drifting over, head-down at a thirty-five-degree tilt.

"Saber, you can just use the magic jet, Dai Mao spinning faster won’t work like a propeller."

"...How rude! With your status, please don’t say such disrespectful things!!"

You think you can bite me?

"Alright, alright, we have serious business to tend to," Big Sister still played the eternal peacekeeper, quieting down the indignant Lion King and the mischievously amused Imperial Leader with a single sentence, "Now, it would be best to see if there are any bodies or something..." (To be continued. For more of the story, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters available, support the author, support genuine reading!)