“I should probably return… I won’t do this mission at the very most.” Maple Moon was terrified in her heart. Although she had already reached Grade B, the attributes of her character would not help prevent her from feeling fear. She had a feeling that she had a slight phobia toward the deep ocean.
Just when she was prepared to swim upward, an alarm rang on her radar.
“Detecting a large living being! The target is currently approaching!”
The waters around her began to surge, and Maple Moon felt as though she could not control her body. She hurriedly activated her stabilizing device, and white light could be seen shooting out from her armor before her body was stabilized.
Before she could even observe her surroundings, her radar displayed a dot of light shooting toward her like a missile.
Maple Moon turned around in a fluster, and a gigantic beast suddenly appeared in her sights. It had countless claws, and its head seemed like a combination of a snake and a dragon. The mouth of the beast was wide open and approaching her rapidly.
Her sights then blacked out, and she was swallowed by the beast.
The beast slowed down after completing its hunt and was about to enjoy its meal. However, its body suddenly began contorting as though it was in immense pain.
The next moment, a brilliant blue light exploded forth from the body of the beast, and the beast exploded into pieces.
Boom!
Fresh, purple blood and meat fragments exploded in the ocean, and Maple Moon’s armor was covered in a sticky liquid. It was the mixture of the beast’s blood and digestive juices.
Upon witnessing this bloody scene, Maple Moon hurriedly turned off the mature content, and the scene became less gory.
She had previously been shocked by the sudden appearance of the beast and forgotten to fight back. She only managed to snap back to her senses after being swallowed by the beast and used her Grade B strength to easily eliminate it.
Maple Moon put her weapon away and was prepared to swim upward. All of a sudden, her radar detected an abnormal metal object that was inside the body of the beast.
“What did I discover?” Maple Moon’s eyes shone. As a player who enjoyed storylines, she was an extremely curious individual, and her instinct told her that she had found something important.
After hesitating for half a second, she stopped swimming upward and flipped through the corpse of the beast while bearing with her disgust.
Dang!
A one-meter metal object was sucked into her palms by the magnetic force given out by her palms.
It looked like some form of a detection device and was extremely tattered. It had signs of being corroded all around it, with many craters on the surface of the device as though it was bitten by living beings.
_____________________
You have discovered an unknown detection device
Unknown Detection Device: This seems to be the wreckage of some galactic detection device. It is badly damaged, but the technology of the device has far exceeded the range of the planet’s natives. It seems to be from another civilization and may have some hidden message within it. You can attempt to appraise it or give it to a special NPC in exchange for a reward. Or, you can attempt to repair it and activate the device. This will result in a special outcome. Please consider your choice carefully (Requires the ability of a Mechanic).
You have received 6 Exploration Points.
_____________________
“It really is a hidden mission!”
Maple Moon’s eyes lit up, and the fear that she had felt was thrown to the back of her mind. She then toyed around with the unknown detection device with curiosity. She loved digging up such unknown storylines the most.
Without any hesitation, she immediately took the item back to the base. Without removing her armor, she hurriedly appraised the detection device. Her Mechanic ability had reached the prerequisite requirements, and the outcome of her appraisal popped up on the interface.
_____________________
Appraisal complete!
You have obtained [Broken Coordinate Marker]. This item is used to mark a coordinate in space.
Current status: Severe damage, system malfunction and all functions disabled.
_____________________
“This is some high-level tech.” Maple Moon was surprised. This item had already reached the level of a Star System. Could this mean that Planet Pangurus had been discovered by some civilization before?
There was also the possibility that this marker had been destroyed in the universe and eventually drawn Planet Pangurus because of gravity. It then landed in the ocean and was swallowed by the oceanic beasts. If not, Planet Pangurus would have been visited by guests a long time ago.
Maple Moon fell into a dilemma. This marker was indeed valuable intelligence, and she would receive a reward if she handed it over to the army.
However, she could not reign in her curiosity, and she wanted to fix this marker to see what the ‘special effect’ was and what kind of people she would attract.
After hesitating for a moment, Maple Moon gritted her teeth, and her curiosity emerged victorious.
_____________________
You have used [Intermediate Repair] on the [Broken Coordinate Marker]!
Judging… Judgement success.
Your level, INT, Class knowledge, and skills have reached the prerequisite requirements
Repair progress 2%… 14%… 35%…
Repair complete. You have obtained [Barely Fixed Coordinate Marker]!
_____________________
Maple Moon was overjoyed and immediately activated the marker without any hesitation.
Di di…
The marker lit up and began sending out coordinates toward an unknown organization.
_____________________
You have triggered [Coordinate Marker of Unknown Origin]!
Mission Introduction: You have discovered a pretty high-tech coordinate marker on a native planet. You do not know who sent out this marker but chose to activate it. After the coordinates are sent out, it may attract an unknown organization.
Mission Requirements: Come into contact with the unknown organization.
Reward: 3,000,000 Experience, 70 Exploration Point, x1 [Bold Explorer] skill fragment (Requires 2 fragments to be combined)
[Bold Explorer]: Special skill. When exploring an unknown location and appraising an unknown object, you can use this skill to obtain some information. It can be used repeatedly on the same target. Cooldown: 7 days. Every time the skill is used, you will fall into a [Rash] state. -60% LUK, lasts for 14 days.
Remark: As long as you are bold, the universe is your home.
This mission is connected to the Flickering World Main Storyline Mission. You can report the situation to your faction and obtain the aid of an NPC faction (Strongly Recommended).
_____________________
“The reward is a skill fragment? Such a reward is pretty rare. I can seek help from the faction as well. Does this mean that the outcome of activating the marker is extremely severe?” Maple Moon was shocked.
Upon thinking about handing the marker over, the figure of her Army Commander floated up in her head.
…
“You discovered a coordinate marker of an advanced civilization on this planet?”
Looking at the coordinate marker in Maple Moon’s hands, Han Xiao could not help but be surprised.
He had thought that Maple Moon was there to learn skills from him, not expecting her to bring him a hidden tool.
Only the dynasty was exploring this region, and this marker could only belong to one of the unknown native civilizations in the Flickering World. According to the technological skills within the marker, the origin of the marker should be a Star System level civilization.
Furthermore, this marker made use of an ordinary thruster technology to travel. Even if it traveled for a few hundred years, its speed would still be limited. This meant that the civilization that
sent out this marker should be within the Star System.
However, Han Xiao could not remember any Star System civilizations around the southern region of the Garu Star Cluster in his previous life. The exploratory data of the Crimson Dynasty did not indicate any Star System civilization in the region. He also had not heard of such an incident from the NPCs in his previous life.
Could it be that the civilization that sent out this marker had already been destroyed and only their remains were left? That was a possibility as well.
However, the hidden mission also popped up on Han Xiao’s interface when he received the marker, and the mission requirement suggests that the unknown civilization was still around.
In his previous life, the initial exploratory phase of the Flickering World was during the version update period, and the players only managed to piece together information of the initial exploratory phase by finding various records and stories. Could it be that this hidden storyline had not been found by the dynasty in his previous life?
Maple Moon did not know that Han Xiao could also accept the mission and was thinking about how she should explain to Han Xiao that this marker was still useful.
“Let me study this thing for a while,” Han Xiao said at this moment. “I may be able to find something.”
Upon hearing that, Maple Moon thought that she was handing over the mission object and did not object.
Upon witnessing Maple Moon leave, Han Xiao began to study the marker in his hands with his eyes glowing.
“I never expected to make such a discovery on Planet Pangurus. The ability of the players to find hidden missions is truly reliable.” Han Xiao chuckled to himself.
The reward of the hidden mission had truly tempted him. [Bold Explorer] was an appraisal skill and reached the level of appraising the unknown. There were very few players who had such a skill in his previous life. Although it was not useful to combat, it was very useful to dig out hidden storylines.
However, he did not know how to obtain any additional skill fragments.
Although the skill was extremely limited, it was still useful to him. Not to mention anything else, he still did not have any progress on the strange data that EsGod had left behind. Aesop was not able to predict anything either. If he could obtain this skill, he may be able to find some clues.
“It is a pity that it isn’t a complete skill but only a skill fragment,” Han Xiao said with pity.
Shaking his head, Han Xiao entered the quantum network and began studying the marker. Since the marker also made use of quantum network technology, Han Xiao could use his Virtual Mechanic skill to trace the origin of the item.
The mission required him to come into contact with the unknown organization, and it seemed as though he had to wait for their appearance. However, there was a hidden trick within it.
The Flickering World was not like the explored universe, and there were no laws in place. The native civilizations were still in an era of darkness and did not know of each other’s existence. Thus, the moment they discovered that the marker was activated, this would mean war for the civilization who sent it out.
Coming into contact with the marker was akin to being attacked by the other party.
As such, rather than waiting for the other party to find him, Han Xiao would prefer to take the initiative by sending his forces over. Since the mission only required him to come into contact with the other party, it would not matter who took the initiative.
After backtracking the roots of the marker through the quantum network for a while, Han Xiao opened his eyes abruptly. He then opened a star map and pointed at a location a couple of Star Zones away from Planet Pangurus.
“I found you.”
Han Xiao’s eyes narrowed. He remembered that there was no native civilization at this location in his previous life.
After thinking for a moment, Han Xiao snapped his fingers and Psionic Prime appeared before him.
“Master.”
“I have a mission for you.” Han Xiao said slowly, “Bring a few Mechanical lives and a mechanical army to find the fellows who sent out this coordinate marker. Subdue them if they attack you.”
“Yes master.”
Psionic Prime nodded and immediately left the room to organize his troops.
Because it was a few Star Zones away and would be a waste of time for him to go, Han Xiao did not plan to make a personal trip.
His Mechanical lives could now hold their own, and he could transmit his Mechanical Force to the mechanical soldiers not beside him through the [Quantum Infinite Distance Transmission Channel]. Thus, his mechanical army had the ability to set off on a long-distance expedition, and he would still have the combat strength of a Beyond Grade A Super even if it was a few light years away.
This was one of the reasons Beyond Grade A Mechanics were feared in the galaxy! The range of their ability was the most frightening among all the Classes!
Chapter 826 - 826 Great Cosmos Corps
826 Great Cosmos Corps
At the same time, the location data sent out by the marker had reached a certain desolate planet a few Star Zones away through its quantum link.
A mountainous disc-shaped battleship was parked in a crater. It was completely metal gray colored, and its diameter was more than thirty miles. The material used was an ordinary alloy considered to be the most basic spaceship battleship material in the known universe. This disc-shaped battleship had anti-gravity suspension and highly condensed nuclear thrusters. Its hyperdrive technology was very elementary. If there were galactic residents there, they would know that the technology level of this battleship was somewhere between the level of a Star System civilization and a planet surface civilization.
The only technology worth mentioning was that it had quantum communication technology.
There were a large number of frozen sleeping capsules at the bottom of the cabin where countless ship members were sleeping in. Only a very few were awake and maintaining the functions of the spaceship from the bridge.
Dozens of creatures wearing simple battle suits were busy in front of the control desks. These creatures were rather short, with gray skin and six arms.
This time, an alert suddenly popped up on one of the control desks.
“Beep! Marker 0278 is activated. Location data received.”
All the people in the room suddenly turned around and swarmed toward this control desk, speaking among themselves. Then, a tall creature that was clearly of a different species pushed the crowd aside and squeezed to the front of this control desk.
“Out of my way, let me take a look… Hehehe… Have we discovered another new planet?”
This tall creature was clearly their leader. He was close to three meters tall; the others around him were only as tall as his knees. He was wearing full metal armor that made clanking sounds as he walked. He looked absolutely barbaric, even more ferocious than the Beastmen, and did not match the aesthetic of most human shaped beings.
“Great Chieftain Kikiga, we lost contact with this marker a long time ago. Now that it is activated, it means that our marker has been discovered by an unknown intelligent species! They have repaired the marker!” One of the operators was rather nervous.
“Isn’t that even better? We can even make them slaves and give them to the Great Emperor. The Great Emperor loves new species!” Kikiga laughed out loud.
“Gre—Great Chieftain, it’s not that simple. The target this time is different from the races we have invaded in the past. The fact that they can repair the marker means that their technological level is close to ours. There are only a few in the entire universe who have this kind of technology! The target this time isn’t going to be easy to deal with! The reason they repaired the marker might be to look for us.”
“What, they dare look for us‽”
Kikiga’s expression became fearsome. He said furiously, “What an ignorant bunch. Have they not heard of us, the Great Cosmos Corps? They want to track us? They must have a death wis
h!”
If Han Xiao was there, he would not be a stranger to the name ‘Great Cosmos Corps’. This was a native organization of the Flickering World. It was once a wandering civilization that had lost its mother ship to a disaster. It was originally wandering in the center of the Garu Star Cluster looking for resources to sustain life.
When they started wandering, they searched for planets around them through markers and gradually discovered some undeveloped civilizations. Due to the complete lack of trust and means of communication, they eliminated all the civilizations they had met and robbed a ton of resources and technology. Gradually, they got used to this method of development and turned from a wandering civilization into a galactic pirate organization.
As most of the native civilizations in the Garu Star Cluster were very weak and had no contact with each other, this organization became unstoppable in the central area of the Star Cluster. Through robbing others, they had accumulated a ton of resources and manpower, and there were no longer any civilizations nearby that could match them. Hence, these people thought that they were the kings of this universe and called themselves the Great Cosmos Corps.
It was obvious how arrogant these people were just from this name they gave themselves.
Afterward, the Great Cosmos Corps started to explore toward further areas. Of course, with their technology, they had no way of figuring out the overall structure of the Star Cluster, so they were completely ignorant of what was in the unknown areas and could only slowly explore.
Although they had taken over many planets as their territory, they did not do a complete exploration of this Star System and lacked all kinds of fundamental facilities. They thought that they ruled over this area just because they had some of the planets under their control. Compared to the control the civilizations in the known universe had over their territory, these people were a complete mess.
This was a lawless Star Field that had yet to be explored, which was why special organizations like this had appeared. They had control over an area much larger than Star System civilizations, but they were weaker than the weakest Star System civilizations. Due to the lack of opponents, they felt very good about themselves.
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