Age of Cosmic Exploration, 4

by Zhttty

  The Hope started recalibrating its coordination. The invisibility of the mother nest adopted a random pattern. Sometimes its vulnerable parts would be revealed, other times not. This added to the complication of the calibration. After 30 seconds, the calculation was completed after mixing and matching all of the different parts that were revealed at varying times. Now they only needed to take into account its location and movement speed.

  Everything was rapidly processed by the central mainframe.

  "We have 5 more seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1…"

  The assistant mouthed out the countdown that appeared on screen. After it drew to 0, multiple windows of data appeared. Bo Li ordered immediately, "Send all the data over to the main cannon. Fire immediately after the recharging’s completed!"

  "Yes. Captain’s orders…"

  Several seconds later, the Hope was assaulted by another tremor. Another shot was launched from the Supermagnetic Planet Annihilating Rail-Cannon.

  The shot carried humanity’s prayers. Everyone stared at the screen silently as the shot they focused on arced through space…

  There was no sound in space, but everyone could clearly see an explosion as the cannon shot came into contact with the mother nest. It writhed around a small ball of fire that emerged at its center as if it was wincing from the heat and pain.

  With the loss of its last reactor, the entire mother nest reappeared in space because the power gpomg to the ECS system was lost. The mother nest was defenseless… at least until it reconstructed a new reactor.

  Not only that, the surveillance in the Hope showed the density of creator’s particle in space decreasing. Evidently, the mother nest was too injured to be able to manipulate the string.

  "Increase the creator’s particle’s functionality to its maximum. Clear away the creator’s particles within this planet system," Bo Li ordered.

  "Captain’s orders…"

  Several minutes later, as the melody started to slow down, about 70 percent of the creator’s particles had been neutralized. There were still communication issues, but the Hope’s surveillance devices had come back online. The surveillance range broke past the 10 kilometers limitation.

  "There is a high energy reaction within the mother nest. It is creating a new reactor. Size medium, predicted completion time is 37 minutes…"

  "The giant propeller will reach its target in less than 16 seconds… 13, 12, 11… It has made contact. Activating super growth field to push the propeller deeper into the enemy…"

  "Unusual development found within the mother nest. Disappearance of high energy reaction, I suspect it has abolished the plan to create a reactor. Concentration of cells around the propeller increasing… The cells disappeared… The mother nest is collapsing, heading towards dissolution…"

  "Dissolution stopped. Emergence of a new type of cell, and it’s increasing in numbers…"

  When the propeller shot into the mother nest, the nest became animated. Its fleshy surface started gyrating in waves. It was reacting to the appearance of an alien object in its body. The constant motion all over its surface lent it a look of desperation…

  Or excitement.

  Following the disappearance of the melody, the monsters should have returned to their disciplined selves; however, they were weirdly agitated. They flew towards the mother nest to merge their bodies into it. In a matter of minutes, the space was cleared of any living monsters.

  "The plan is working successfully. Increase the propeller’s propulsion to its maximum. The target is… the sun!"

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  Chapter171 Soul Singer

  To be accurate, the giant propeller was not pushing the mother nest towards the sun in a straight line.

  First, the front of the propeller was equipped with a super growth field generator that reacted with the mother nest at the cellular level. It hardened the cell wall so to speak so that the propeller would not simply shoot through the nest. The propeller, although big in size, was as small as a needle when compared to the overall size of the mother nest. It would pierce through the nest if not for this technology.

  Due to its mass, the propeller was unable to push the mother nest in a straight line towards the sun. The plan was to utilize Moon 2’s gravitational force to add to the acceleration. The aim was to circle around Moon 2 to harvest centrifugal force that could add to the propulsion.

  The whole process was slated to last for 2 hours and 40 minutes. According to the central mainframe, the first 2 hours would be the most important. After the 2 hours, the acceleration would have reached an irreversible acceleration.

  Prior to that, the propeller couldn’t suffer any hostile attack and must be manually guided. Yao Yuan was tasked with handling these 2 important details. He was successful, so the propeller managed to lodge itself into the mother nest, initiating the tug-of-war between the mother nest and the alien plant. This caused the creator’s particles to decrease in density, because the mother nest was too focused dealing with the alien plant. When the mother nest reached Moon 2’s orbital range, the creator’s particles had completely been removed and communications came back online.

  "…This is 001 combat jet, I am Yao Yuan. Please give me a combat report."

  "002 combat jet suffers from an abrasion to the left wing, energy level at 21 percent…"

  "003 combat jet suffers no damage, energy level at 26 percent…"

  "… 127 combat jet suffers damage to the particle flux accelerator, lowering the mobility by 11 percent. Energy level at 30 percent…"

  After the last trooper gave his report, Yao Yuan calculated there were still 90 troopers still alive. In other words, about 20 Homo Evolutis had died.

  "The undamaged combat jets stay to watch over the proceedings, the rest returns to the Hope... Yao Yuan to the Hope, Yao Yuan to the Hope, request to speak with the acting captain."

  "This is the Hope’s central command. Nice to hear from you, Captain. Connecting you to the acting captain now…"

  "Bo Li? I need a report on the mother nest."

  Bo Li read the crowded data that appeared on screen and replied, "The mother nest’s inner layer is undergoing drastic changes. The scanners show that its cellular structure is rapidly changing, not unlike how the gene vibrator operates. According to our heat scanner, one third of the mother nest has been consumed by the alien plant but the mother nest is stabilizing and fighting back…"

  "How long do we have?" Yao Yuan asked after some thought.

  Bo Li glanced at the computer simulation and answered, "1 hour and 20 minutes until the alien plant starts to get consumed in return, then there will be about 15 minutes of downtime for evolution to occur."

  "1 hour and 35 minutes in total? That’s much shorter than the predicted 2 hours," Yao Yuan groused.

  Suddenly, a voice entered his communicator. It was Xiao Niao’s. "Yao Yuan, the voice just now came from Nian Xi Kong, right?"

  Yao Yuan answered offhandedly because he was preoccupied with figuring out a solution. "Hmm, I asked her to help me pass on my message to attack the mother nest to the rest of you. I wasn’t expecting her power to be so strong that it could affect the mons… Wait, Xiao Niao, do you mean…?"

  "Yes, that is exactly what I mean. If the alien plant couldn’t hold the mother nest that long, we can ask Xi Kong for help. If she can keep the mother nest occupied for about 20 minutes, the plan will work!" Xiao Niao’s voice answered.

  A rejuvenated Yao Yuan yelled into the communicator, "Hope, this is Yao Yuan. Get Nian Xi Kong to central command and give her an electromagnetic transmitter. Ask her to try singing at the mother nest!"

  Following Yao Yuan’s orders, the diffident Xi Kong was brought to command central. She fidgeted nervously under the crowd’s gaze as Yao Yuan explained to her the mission.

  "I…" Xi Kong glanced at her feet, afraid to lift her head. After a long while, she took a deep breath and
said, "Yao, Yao Yuan, do you really need me to do this?"

  "Yes, Xi Kong, I need you! I need you to use your voice to disturb the mother nest’s cellular actions, so sing at the top of your lungs and fill the empty cosmos with your voice!"

  "Okay," Xi Kong replied in a soft voice before closing her eyes to focus.

  Bo Li, who was sitting in the captain’s seat beside Xi Kong, kept her face straight, but a closer inspection would reveal her subtly twitching eyebrows.

  After all the equipment was set up, Xi Kong’s voice was transmitted through space in the form of electromagnetic waves. However, more than that, her voice also reached across people’s hearts in a more ethereal connection, one that science couldn’t explain.

  "She really does have an impressive voice. I get relaxed every time I hear it."

  A male technician in command central offered as he involuntarily closed his eyes to submerge himself in the enjoyment of Xi Kong’s song. The female technician beside him nodded in agreement, but she nudged him out of his reverie, adding, "Look, the cellular distribution in the mother nest is changing!"

  Following Xi Kong’s singing, the cells inside the mother nest started to show a "rogue" condition. They started to slow down until they reached inactivity. This gave the alien plant the break it needed to spread out across the mother nest. Slowly but surely, more and more of the mother nest was consumed by the alien plant!

  The troopers who were still fighting cheered in relief when they saw this development. Even Yao Yuan sighed in relief.

  "…Please don’t revive again. We’ve used everything we got, just become plant food already!" Yao Yuan mumbled to himself while looking at the gyrating mother nest before him.

  As time passed, the troopers who returned to fix their jets came back to surround the mother nest, and Yao Yuan returned to the Hope in the Red Lightning to personally give support to Xi Kong… The girl’s voice had gotten hoarse from singing nonstop for about an hour. She was reaching her limit.

  The room was as still as the inside of a coffin as Xi Kong finished another song. The initial excitement was replaced by a heavy solemnity. Many civilians crowded the corridor outside of central command after they heard what was happening. Many hugged each other closely and stared at the singing girl in silence. Some of the younger girls in the crowd even started to cry.

  "That’s enough!"

  Yao Yuan strode to Xi Kong’s side and took the trembling girl in his arms, adding, "You’ve done more than enough, please leave the rest to us."

  Xi Kong smiled up at him. There was a faint, sickly blush on her face. She said weakly, "I hope I’ve been of use to you…"

  "Of course, you’ve done more than what I could have possibly asked for, so please, rest now," Yao Yuan replied kindly. Then he felt pressure on his arms because Xi Kong had collapsed.

  "Carry her to the care unit, and keep a close eye on her." Yao Yuan passed Xi Kong to the crew of doctors who were already waiting. After they had left, Yao Yuan turned to Bo Li. "Bo Li, I’ll leave the Hope to you. Keep me updated on the mother nest’s condition. We’ve done everything we could. The rest…

  "We shall leave to fate."

  Yao Yuan left for the hangar after that. He got on the Red Lightning to finish the rest of his mission.

  In his hurry, he failed to notice the disappointment that flitted across Bo Li’s eyes and hatred that flitted across Ji Jie’s.

  Xi Kong, in her unconsciousness, returned to the empty space she occupied whenever she sang. She was surrounded by light orbs and dots. She instantly spotted the biggest orb that represented Yao Yuan, but to her consternation, she found a dark orb behind it. It was bigger than the size of the normal orbs, and instead of emanating light, it seemed to be sucking the light from its surroundings. It was cold, as cold as the touch of death…

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  Chapter172 The Truth…

  Yao Yuan left the Hope in the Red Lightning. In a matter of minutes, he joined the rest of the troopers who were guarding the mother nest that was heading towards the sun.

  With a one-hour-long disturbance, the alien plant had consumed 1/3 of the mother nest… It was true, even with the disruption from Xi Kong’s song, the mother nest hadn’t stopped evolving. At the height of Xi Kong’s song, half of the mother nest had been consumed by alien plant, but it had started to fight back.

  The moment the song stopped, the mother nest was jolted into action. It showed a drastic increase in cellular activity. The alien cells were consuming the alien plants at record speed.

  Simultaneously, a great amount of dead cells and metallic alloys, water vapor, and air were steadily removed from the mother nest. It had shrunk by 30 percent, and it was still shrinking.

  Everyone watched all this unfold with nervous hearts. The time finally crossed the 2 hour threshold, so the mother nest was hurtling towards the sun with exceptional speed. The propulsion from the propeller kept increasing; its speed was now 270 kilometers per second. The acceleration was still increasing, but it wasn’t as strong as it was in Moon 2’s orbital range.

  Thus far, the mother nest had flown past the first 2,000,000 kilometers. That was only a small part of the total distance, which was 140,000,000 kilometers. Then again, the aim of the operation wasn’t to push the mother nest directly into the sun but to let the mother nest reach an irreversible acceleration. It would be hard for an organism this big to decelerate after constant acceleration. Even when it does stop, it will be too near to the sun not to be affected by its gravitational pull. It would also have to contend with the Hope’s sniping of its reemerging reactors. That was the true purpose of Celestial Wolf Operation.

  "Let’s stop… We shall return to the Hope," Yao Yuan ordered as the mother nest continued to drift on its trajectory.

  All that was left to do was wait.

  The biggest difference between the particle flux propeller and traditional combustion engine was their longevity. The traditional combustion engine was limited by its fuel, but the energy source for the particle flux propeller was at the 4th industrial revolution level. Its battery was the size of a match box, but it could provide the energy output of a small electricity plant.

  This energy source was none other than a mini polymerized reactor. In other words, the acceleration could be trusted to keep constant. Even though the acceleration speed was expected to decrease as time went on, the mother nest was slated to reach 300 kilometers per second in the next 3 hours and 320 kilometers in the next 10 hours. That would also be when the propeller would run out of fuel…

  So Yao Yuan was correct, all they could do then was wait.

  After Yao Yuan and the troopers returned to the Hope, they went to take a well-deserved rest. The Hope’s surveillance kept on running…

  "2 hours and 22 minutes in, all traces of alien plant has disappeared like the simulation said it would. The mother nest is beginning its evolution. The time it’ll take is unknown…"

  "3 hours and 47 minutes in, a mass cellular collapse within the mother nest. It’s shedding off extra weight, according to our calculation, its current mass is about 1/30 its original mass. This increases the propeller’s acceleration. It is now at 600 kilometers per second and still increasing…"

  "4 hours and 56 minutes in, the cellular collapse has ceased. It’s current mass is 1/90 of its original mass. Current speed is at 1,400 kilometers per second…"

  "5 hours and 4 minutes in, the propeller is starting to get digested. The mother nest is showing a green coloration. We suspect that it is mass producing new supercells…"

  "5 hours and 32 minutes in, the evolution into supercells has been completed…"

  When Yao Yuan woke up, it was already 6 hours since the initiation of Celestial Wolf Operation. He quickly took a quick shower before resuming his duties in central command.

  "…Currently all the cells in mother cell are supercells, it’s going at 1
,500 kilometers per second, and it is about 12,000,000 kilometers away from the sun. It’ll be another 9 hours before it reaches irreversible speed," Bo Li mumbled beside Yao Yuan.

  Yao Yuan looked at the mother nest that appeared on screen… It was about 1/90 of its original size. With a green color coat, it looked less like exposed flesh but one with green-colored skin.

  "How’s its internal energy reaction?" Yao Yuan asked.

  "This part is weird because there is no energy reaction. We can’t pick up any traces of it…"

  "…then we shall wait to see what it does next."

  This wait lasted for 2 hours. The mother nest seemed to have hibernated.

  Suddenly, when everyone thought things were going to be fine, a cyst grew on the back end of the nest. It unfolded to reveal a giant particle flux, resisting the nest’s acceleration.

  "The target is slowing down drastically! Current speed 1567, 65, 64 kilometers… per second, the number keeps on dropping!"

  Yao Yuan yelled, "Don’t get flustered. Ready the main cannon, aim at the cyst!"

  "Yes. Captain’s orders…"

  Like how it was planned, the Hope started utilizing its main cannon to snipe at the mother nest. Due to the distance between them though, even with the cannon shot’s speed, it would take several hours to fully monitor its impact. Thankfully, with the aid of the central mainframe, in the next 14 hours, 3 shots were fired. By then, the acceleration of the mother nest was at 600 kilometers per second…

  However, one thing of note was that after the evolution, the mother nest had a harder time responding to the cannon shots. Perhaps it was still unfamiliar with the particle flux’s operation.

  That gave Yao Yuan the impression that this supercell might not be as strong as they feared.

  However, a new development came over from the biology lab…

  The supercells that were bred in the petri dish had undergone another evolution. They had evolved to adopt the alien plant’s shape. The new cells had a trademark as well!