bookbashuk Chapter 137 A Storm Begins from the End of a Floating Stream
Chapter 137 A Storm Begins from the End of a Floating Stream
A crisp mechanical meshing sound rang out.
The terminal, which was previously emitting black smoke, is now completely transformed. The blue holographic screen lights up, the logo of Interstellar Peace Corporation rotates in the air, and a pleasant startup sound is emitted.
"Done."
Ye Xing withdrew his hand, a fine layer of sweat beading on his forehead. Using this causal-level power to repair a precision instrument consumed far more mental energy than smashing a rock.
"Look at these guys, what good stuff they're hiding."
Her fingers flew across the screen, accessing the encrypted logs inside.
As a document titled "Top Secret: Ecological Survey Report 4546B" was opened, a massive amount of data and video footage instantly filled the small space.
The image shows a pristine white laboratory.
An IPC researcher in a white lab coat is facing the camera, his expression one of extreme panic. His skin is covered with a dense layer of tiny, red bumps...
Pustules.
"Record...cough cough...record number A-77."
"We were wrong. We were completely wrong."
"This is not some newly discovered habitable planet at all. This is a petri dish. A... hotbed for incubating 'gods'."
The researcher scratched his neck, his fingernails breaking open the pustules, from which bright red liquid oozed out.
His eyes were wild, and something seemed to be moving within his pupils.
"Official name: Scarlet Plague"
"It exists in the water, in the air, and in the blood of every fish."
"It alters the host's genetic sequence, forcibly implanting... attack commands."
Screen switch.
It is a video recording of cells under a microscope.
Normal cells immediately cease their normal metabolic activities upon contact with that red factor.
The cell nucleus was stained scarlet, and then began to divide and mutate wildly, growing sharp synapses that attacked all the surrounding normal tissues.
"It's like an invisible key."
I watched that video on Sunday.
"It brutally pried open the neural defenses deep within the biological brain. Reason was distorted, emotions were stripped away, leaving only the most primal desire to kill."
"To reduce intelligent life to beasts, and to reduce civilization to a jungle."
"This is... its propagation logic."
Star stared at the red factors.
In her "eyes of the end" that can see through to the essence, these viruses at the microscopic level exhibit a completely different form.
That's not just simple bacteria.
At the core of each red factor are three extremely weak, yet extremely stubborn, energy fluctuations.
The first one, golden and greedy, carries an infinite desire for proliferation—that is "breeding".
The second stream, emerald green and twisted, carries the curse of endless life—that is "Abundance".
These two forces were intertwined and devoured each other, and should have destroyed themselves in the fierce conflict. But at their point of intersection, a strange, almost perfect balance emerged.
A sort of......
Constant.
A sort of......
Forever.
"immortal."
The star uttered those two words.
"The core of this pandemic is the factor of 'immortality'."
"Reproduction provides quantity, abundance provides quality, and this third force forcibly binds them together, creating this perfect plague that can survive even in a vacuum and continue to spread even after the host dies."
Xing felt a chill.
"Immortality? The power of the Dragon Lord?"
"So what exactly does this dragon want to do?"
"Creating gods".
Xi Lian stood beside the planet, her gaze piercing through the holographic images, as if she could see the deepest secrets of this planet.
"It is trying to build a stairway to the throne of the stars with the flesh and blood of mortals."
"Every infected creature is its sacrifice. Every killing is a sacrifice."
"It wants to integrate the breadth of reproduction and the depth of abundance, and finally reach that endpoint called 'immortality'."
"only......"
Xi Lian reached out and touched the screen with her fingertips on the researcher who had gone completely mad and started banging his head against the wall.
"The road it took was too dirty."
"It stole authority but abandoned divinity."
"Therefore, it can only create '魙', which are monsters filled with resentment and malice."
"But there's a problem."
Hoshi frowned.
"Reproduction is dead, but abundance remains. These two are easy to explain."
"But immortal... the Dragon Ancestor has long since perished."
"Where does the 'immortality' factor here come from?"
"Could it be...?"
Her gaze drifted out the window, towards the unfathomable ocean.
Beneath that dark abyss, is there some kind of... remains belonging to the Dragon Ancestor, which have never been recorded in history?
Or perhaps...
Is this planet itself a giant, hatching... dragon egg?
"interesting."
Hoshino tapped her fingers on the control panel, which had been restored to its original state.
"It seems that the IPC has ulterior motives as well. They clearly discovered the anomaly here, but they blocked the news and even tried to capture samples to take back for research."
The screen scrolled through a series of shocking experimental records: live dissections, forced infection, chimera experiments involving different species...
The role that Interstellar Peace Corporation played here was less that of a victim and more that of... an accomplice to greed.
The red light from the holographic screen reflected on everyone's faces, perfectly capturing their solemnity.
The screams of the IPC researchers seemed to still echo between the narrow bulkheads; their wild pronouncements about "creating gods" were more chilling than mere killing.
"So, in order to fight the monsters, they're trying to create even more powerful monsters to control them?"
Sunday broke the deathly silence. His calm eyes were fixed on the frozen image on the screen—the researcher who had been completely mutated and turned into a beast.
"Typical corporate mindset."
He stood up, lightly brushing away non-existent dust from his collar with his fingers, his tone neither sarcastic nor sighing.
"They weren't unaware of the risks. But in the strategic investment department's reports, as long as the return exceeded 300%, they would hand over their pens without hesitation, even if it meant selling their souls to the devil."
"Even if this demon is a chimera of 'reproduction' and 'abundance'?"
March 7th hugged her arms, feeling extremely uncomfortable. She glanced at the still-flashing instruments around her and felt as if the tin can was filled with that nauseating stench of the virus.
"Not only that."
The star closed the terminal.
As the light source went out, the cabin fell into darkness again, with only the shimmering light filtering through the hole in the ceiling and flickering on the ground.
"Their initial intentions may have indeed contained a kind of arrogant 'goodwill.' Just like their attempt to take over Ariello-VI, in their closed-loop logic, the only solution is to bring everything under the walls of 'preservation.'"
She turned around and looked at the large hole leading to the outside world.
"Unfortunately, the wall they built this time failed to keep out the wolves outside; instead, it kept the wolves in their home."
Hoshino's voice was soft, yet it carried an indescribable weariness.
Using her ultimate power to rewind time places an immense strain on her mind. Her right hand is trembling slightly, and the tingling, numb sensation, as if countless ants are crawling inside her bone marrow, is a reminder of the limits of her body.
A warm hand silently grasped her right hand.
Xing didn't speak.
She simply stood beside the star, the power of the star core in her palm pulsating slightly, like a silent furnace, continuously supplying heat.
"Let's go."
Xing held the Flame Spear in his other hand, the tip of which lifted a patch of seawater, causing white mist to rise.
"It's too stuffy here. Now that we know these guys are up to something, let's go and turn their hideout upside down."
Several people filed out of the escape pod.
The moment I returned to the seabed, that feeling of being watched by countless eyes washed over me again.
Colorful fish darted around them, and swaying "seaweed" stretched its plump limbs in the waves. Now that they knew the truth, the crowd looked at this beautiful scene as if they were gazing at a heavily made-up corpse.
Those aren't fish; they're swimming pustules.
Those weren't grass; they were wriggling, rotting flesh.
"Over here."
Xi Lian suddenly pointed to the southeast.
In that direction, the seawater had a strange grayish-white color, which clashed with the surrounding deep blue tone.
"There... is no sound of 'life' there."
Her eyes were closed, and her long pink hair spread out in the water like blooming cherry blossoms.
"All the 'fakes' around are avoiding that area. There is only... a deathly emptiness there."
The group swam off following the directions.
As they drew closer, a massive building, strikingly different from anything on this planet, gradually emerged from the murky seawater.
That's not some underwater relic.
Instead, it's a... platform.
A floating platform made entirely of an unidentified white metal.
It resembles a giant white bone, deeply rooted in the seabed, piercing straight through the sea surface, towering between heaven and earth.
The metal surface was as smooth as a mirror, without any seams or barnacles or algae. That extreme industrial cleanliness seemed particularly jarring on this planet teeming with mutated flesh, even carrying a sense of sacred inviolability.
"Splash—"
The five people surfaced and climbed onto the waterfront deck that extended from the platform.
The ground beneath my feet felt cold and hard, devoid of any warmth.
"This material... is a synthetic derivative of 'amber gold'."
On Sunday, he squatted down and tapped his knuckles on the ground, producing a clear, metallic sound.
"A special material used by the Builders Division of the Interstellar Peace Corporation. It is said that this alloy contains trace amounts of fragments of the Protector Star God's body—of course, this is just marketing hype. But its strength is indeed sufficient to withstand a direct hit from the antimatter legion."
"This place looks like a... quarantine zone?"
March 7th shook the water droplets off her hair and looked around.
The platform was very spacious, about the size of a football field. Towering energy towers stood all around, their tops flashing yellow warning lights.
In the very center of the platform stands a black obelisk.
The surface of the obelisk is covered with golden geometric patterns, which are unique energy circulation paths that protect one's destiny.
Hoshi walked up to the obelisk.
A line of common phrases is prominently inscribed on the monument:
【4546B Outpost - Emergency Defense Protocol Control Terminal】
Current status: Standby
[WARNING: Unauthorized personnel are prohibited from operating this device]
"It seems this is the central hub they use to control this area."
Xing came closer, curiously examining the interface that was floating in front of the obelisk.
"Perhaps it contains the truth about the Starship crash? Or... the formula for the antidote to that 'Scarlet Plague'?"
"It could also be a self-destruct program."
As Hoshi stared at the flashing cursor, his unease grew stronger.
On this platform, the feeling of being spied on disappears.
Instead, there was a sense of oppression, like having a gun pointed at your forehead.
"Let's see if we can read the logs."
It was suggested on Sunday.
"If this is an outpost, then it should be connected to the entire planet's surveillance network. Perhaps it can help us find out where that 'god' in the deep sea is hiding."
Hoshi nodded.
She reached out her hand, her fingertips hovering above the interface.
however.
Just as her finger was about to touch the virtual button.
The cursor suddenly jumped by itself.
drop.
A soft sound.
No logs popped up.
No warnings were issued.
The golden patterns on the obelisk suddenly burst forth with a blinding light.
"wrong!"
Xi Lian's eyes widened suddenly, her eyes, which always held a gentle smile, were now filled with terror.
"This energy...is not for external defense!"
"Retreat now!"
Xing reacted the fastest, grabbing Xing and March 7th beside him and about to jump into the sea.
But it was all too late.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—!
The entire platform began to shake violently.
A thick golden beam of light shot up from the top of the obelisk, piercing the sky.
The beam of light was like a sharp sword, instantly piercing the sky.
Immediately afterwards, the beam of light exploded high in the sky.
Countless golden hexagonal light shields rained down in all directions, rapidly joining, interlocking, and spreading in the air.
It was just a fleeting moment.
The sky disappeared.
Instead, there was a thick, amber-colored sky that exuded an ancient and oppressive aura.
That celestial canopy stretched toward the horizon at an incredible speed, enveloping the entire planet in the blink of an eye.
Not just the sky.
Even beneath the surface of the sea, golden light can be seen shining from the depths.
This is a... sphere.
.....................................