Interstellar Survival: Invasion

”Old Du, why are you so surprised? It ’s just a letter, ” said Zhang Bao ’er jeeringly.

”The letter C reminded me of Captain Zhang Han ’s friend, Cassie, ” said Old Du.

”Are you trying to say that the man in black is Captain Zhang Han, and this pair of socks is Cassie ’s gift to him? ” I asked.

”Everything is a guess.
We need more proof if we want to verify the guess, ” said Old Du cautiously.

”How did you escape danger in the end? ” asked Master Crystal, returning to the topic.

”I took the opportunity when the lion-faced beasts weren ’t paying attention to ambush them from behind.
Two of them were killed that way, but the pilot was able to hide.
I couldn ’t find it, so I started studying the ship ’s control system.
By referring to what I had seen, I was able to quickly grasp how to pilot the ship.
At the time, I only had one thought in my mind: this ship filled with beasts could not be allowed to reach Blue, ” said Li Yizhi.

”Lady, you described yourself as someone so capable that you ’re a god.
But in the end, you were ambushed by the last lion-faced beast, right? ” asked Zhang Bao ’er doubtfully.

”I tried killing the lion-faced beasts through the control dashboard.
But I found that the ship was mainly a transportation ship.
A different system was in charge of cultivating them.
Thus, I had to personally enter the rooms to do something about them.
Realizing that, I opened the door of one of the growth rooms.

”I immediately headed to the room, completely forgetting to bring my raygun with me.
The hidden lion-faced beast took the chance to rush out and ran after me with my gun.
During the critical moment, I calculated its movement speed and shut the door the moment it reached the entrance, severing its body into two, ” said Li Yizhi.

”What an exaggeration.
I can ’t believe that.
You killed the three lion-faced beasts so easily? One of them was crushed to death by a door after you calculated its movement speed? Are you trying to convince me that these beasts all descended from pigs? If they ’re so useless, they won ’t be able to do much even after reaching Blue, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

In truth, most of us did not believe what Li Yizhi said.
Who would believe that three furious beasts could be killed so easily? I believed that Li Yizhi was still hiding something from us.

However, she did not bother explaining.
Rather, she continued with her story, ”After killing the last beast, I studied their growth equipment.
I found that their growth would be slow when there is air while and their growth will accelerate when there is no air.
Thus, I planned to open all doors and lower their growth speed before eliminating them. ”

”And then you used your own strength to eliminate a bunch of lion-faced beasts, right? ” sneered Zhang Bao ’er.

Even a fool would understand what Zhang Bao ’er meant.
Li Yizhi wasn ’t happy, but she did not show it on her face.
Instead, she simply shut her mouth.

”Don ’t mention the past anymore.
I need to put an end to these lion-faced beasts.
Lightning still has the coordinates of Blue recorded in it as well.
I can ’t take any risks, ” said Li Yizhi after a short silence, showing a responsible attitude toward Blue.

Regardless of the truth in her words, as a Blueling, I could not allow the lion-faced beasts to get to Blue.
That was one goal the both of us shared.

”Master, is there a way we can return to the surface and eliminate those beasts? ” I asked Master Crystal.

”I don ’t think we need to return to the surface.
The core of the planet is here.
If we can create something that can destroy Lightning with these programs, wouldn ’t that be better? ” said Master Crystal.

”Are you suggesting that we can hack into these programs to control the natural environment on the planet ’s surface? ” asked Baron Sisse as he pointed at the shut doors of the many buildings nearby.

”If these doors are the secret key to accessing these programs, we only need to master the secret key to be able to alter these programs and create something we need, ” said Master Crystal.

”Too bad Dodo isn ’t here.
We don ’t have a master hacker here, ” said Zhang Bao ’er with a sigh.

”Don ’t worry.
We still have a super master, someone who had received the highest level of education in the Divine Empire with us, ” said Master Crystal as he pointed at Baron Sisse.

”You overpraise me.
I specialize in military system computing.
I only know a little bit about programming, ” said Baron Sisse in a humble manner.

”After leaving Lightning, I recorded its coordinates, ” Dondon gave us a piece of good news.

”Can these programs create a volcanic eruption to destroy the ship? ” asked Li Yizhi.

”According to my analysis, a volcanic eruption is not one of the programs available in Cloudcast ’s system.
If we want, we ’ll have to write the program ourselves, ” said Baron Sisse.

”To destroy Lightning, we must use fire to burn it into nothingness.
Wind or water won ’t be able to fully destroy those beasts, ” said Li Yizhi.

”To use fire, we don ’t have many options apart from a volcanic eruption in terms of natural phenomenon.
The core of this planet has quite a lot of lava, but the issue is sending it to the surface, ” said Baron Sisse.

”No, apart from a volcanic eruption, there are other ways to create flame naturally.
On Blue, lightning strikes frequently cause wildfires.
We only need to produce a powerful enough lightning bolt to destroy the ship, ” I said.

”Good idea.
Since the ship is called Lightning, we will return it to nothingness with lightning.
It is as if this is what fate had intended, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

Having decided on a plan, everyone grew excited.

”But out of so many buildings, which one contains the program to produce lightning? ” asked Wind Spirit.

”There are nine layers to the ring around us.
Too bad we don ’t have the blueprint of this place.
Before this, Dodo told me that the arrangement of the buildings here follows a certain rule.
We need to discover it ourselves, ” said Master Crystal.

”You mentioned previously that inside each building is at least one droid? ” asked Wind Spirit.

”Yes.
The droids will be in charge of maintenance and defense.
According to the records, only by opening the door correctly will the droid remain in maintenance mode, ” said Master Crystal.

”In other words, if we open the door incorrectly, the droid will turn violent, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

Thinking that the discussion was leading nowhere, I left the group and approached one of the doors.
I started studying the door.
The odd door was filled with countless dots of different sizes.
Each dot was attached to a delicate wire.
Any accidental damage to one of these wires could very well create a powerful storm on the surface.
Although I wanted to destroy Lightning, I did not intend to senselessly slaughter Cloudcast ’s garrison.

”Perhaps we need to take a risk, ” Master Crystal ’s voice rang out.

When I turned around, I saw that the others were also starting to study the doors.

”Master, how do you intend to take this risk? ” I asked.

”I had studied three of these doors earlier.
I can ’t observe any pattern in the arrangement.
No known formula can explain the arrangement employed here.
I believe the arrangement here is something beyond what physics entails, ” said Master Crystal.

”Perhaps we can combine the known physics of Eternal and Blue to solve this riddle? ” I suggested.

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”I tried observing from the perspective of Blue ’s physics.
I still couldn ’t find any pattern.
The master is right.
Perhaps we can only take a risk, ” said Old Du.

”I intend to force a door open and observe what ’s inside, ” said Master Crystal.

”No.
I disagree.
We don ’t know which program is hidden in which room.
What if the one you opened is the one storing the self-destruct program? This princess is too young to die here with you, ” said Wind Spirit.

Dondon agreed with Wind Spirit that this idea was too radical.
Alas, everyone ignored the two cats and started discussing the ways to open one of these doors.

”I did a rough calculation earlier.
There are around 999 doors here.
Even if 20 of them lead to the destruction of the planet, the odds are still at a level we should take the risk, ” said Old Du.

”Since everyone is in agreement, Master Crystal, please select a door, ” I said.

Master Crystal was startled to receive the task, but he could only helplessly agree to take on the task I had deflected to him. 

Master Crystal slowly roamed the area.
After walking by dozens of doors, he suddenly stopped.
He pointed at a door and said, ”I have a good feeling about this door.
Let ’s pick it. ”

We gathered around him.
The door before us looked the same as any other door, but the color of the electrical currents running along the door was different from the other doors.
They were bluish purple in color, looking much more dazzling than the others.
Perhaps that was the reason Master Crystal had selected this door.

Apart from Wind Spirit and Dondon, who had stayed away in protest, everyone was gathered before the door in preparation to break through it.
There was a combination lock to the right of the bluish-purple door.
The lock was connected electronically to the door, and the keypad on the lock consisted of some Eternal numbers and Sirius characters. 

It was obvious that we didn ’t know the password, and we did not dare to rashly insert a random password either.
The door was deeply embedded in the wall, to the point there wasn ’t even a gap we could pry it open.
It did not look like we would be able to open it with a gentler method.

”Canyue, let ’s use our old tactic.
Creating miracles with force, ” suggested Zhang Bao ’er.

I looked at Master Crystal.
He nodded at me, silently agreeing to the plan.

”Bao ’er, install a cluster bomb on the door and blast it apart, ” I gave the order.

With the order issued, everyone retreated, leaving Zhang Bao ’er to install a bomb on the spot between the lock and the door.

Thirty seconds later, a blinding explosion erupted.
The door collapsed outward, creating a loud sound as it dropped onto the ground.
From afar, the door looked to be as thick as five meters.
It had merely dropped after losing its balance from the explosion.
Even more astonishing was the lush green we saw behind the door.