Epoch of Twilight

Chapter 394: Escape

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Before he hopped off the spaceship, Luo Yuan’s checked the entire building with his Sense for any signs of life. The insane slashing earlier had damaged most of the energy-transmission structures within the cabin. It was dark inside and apart from some glowing lights on machines that made no sense to him. It seemed to be empty. There were no living creatures or intelligent robots in sight. Although, if there were any, they would not have lasted long against his glowing blade.

While he was still in the air, he went into the Earth Pulse mode. As he landed, he lifted his foot and stomped down hard. His Sense that had gained two points made his Earth Pulse gain a level too. It was now level seven. The power of his Earth Stomp was a few times stronger than it was before.

An explosion echoed through the jungle like a bomb went off on the deck of the spaceship. The deck shook violently, but there was no damage to it at all. It was tough. However, the outer layer, packaging and strange decorations in the cabin splintered and shattered into millions of tiny pieces.

The entire spaceship shuddered for a few moments after. The effect of his Earth Stomp was no longer limited to that particular area. The ‘ground’ was now more of a general reference to his range. As long as the structure was connected to the ground and was not an independent system that floated in the air, the effect was no different to him stomping right on top of it. He did not stop his attack on the ship. He stomped three times continuously and the entire spaceship rocked fiercely.

The weaponry on the ship was no doubt powerful, but at the same time, it had its weaknesses. It was deadly at long distance attacks that were almost impossible to defend, had an almost impenetrable outer shell and it was also terrifyingly flexible to movement and strategy. However, when the interior was compromised, it fell apart immediately. The same would have happened to mankind in a similar attack, Luo Yuan thought, as the extraterrestrial beings had technology that could easily annihilate any human countermeasure he knew.

His strong Sense allowed him to visualize all the movement within the spaceship. Perhaps the attack was too sudden and Luo Yuan’s intrusion into the spaceship was so quick that the aliens had no time to brace themselves for the attack. There were only seven aliens in the spaceship and all of them seemed to have died when the first Earth Stomp hit. They were all smashed into small heaps of minced meat and bone. One of the corpses laid on a crescent-shaped machine. It seemed to be the only one that had managed to escaped the attack but it had passed out and laid there motionless. Seeing that it was was not moving, it was no threat to him so he decided not to slice it open with his saber just yet.

However, as compared to the fragile life forms that were on the ship, all the robots that were still intact had begun stabilizing and rebooting the ship’s powerful defense system. The Earth Stomp was nothing to such terrifyingly intelligent robots. They were similar to the Earthly robots in shape as they were round and sturdy. It seemed like they were categorized into three modes based on color and size.

Luo Yuan had seen the smallest one before. The middle-level one was yellow and stood at a height of one meter while the final robot was green and 1.5 meters tall.

To mankind, such a robot was tiny. Even for the third green robot, it seemed to not pose a threat at all. But, considering the size of the aliens, which was half a meter tall, such robots were considered massive.

The extraterrestrial civilization seemed to worship spherical figures. Be it the decorations of rooms, devices and the shapes of their robots, most of them were designed to be spherical. The shape influenced everything in the spaceship. Suddenly, Luo Yuan sensed the presence of a mini intelligent robot near the cabin that seemed to notice disturbance. It flew straight at him with a wide smile on its robotic face.

Luo Yuan lifted up his foot and stomped down hard again. That was no longer an Earth Stomp, but instead, what happened was more of a powerful Earth Geyser!

The deck shook once more, a terrifying wave pierced through the deck straight at the flying robot. Without a moment to react, it was hit hard by the force, rocketed into the ceiling and fell hard on the ground.

Slashes of electric arcs sparked on its surface. It struggled for a while, its body seemed like it was attempting an escape. But with a soft fizz followed by a tiny explosion, it fell immediately and its body shook the last time.

What the small robot had experienced was not a simple physical hit, but instead, it was hit with a high-frequency quake from the Earth Geyser. The more precise the technology, the more complicated the internal structure. Once a tiny part of the system was affected, the entire system would be compromised.

His Earth Geyser attack was the best against such intelligent robots. Luo Yuan used the same method to kill the rest of them too. If one hit was not enough, he could repeat it two or three times for better effect.

As time went by, the intelligent robots lay paralyzed, fizzing on the deck floor.

The strength of the internal weapons of the spaceship was very limited. After removing the external laser beam ‘claws’ of the spaceship, there were no other threats left within the structure.

He then decided to initiate a large scale attack to take it down. His strong Sense made the entire spaceship a kill zone for the last Earth Geyser attack.

Luo Yuan noticed a trail of smoke out of the control room that was located in the middle of the spaceship. The screens in the room started to shut off one by one.

Something seemed to be affecting the energy-transfer circuit, electric sparks shot high into the air! The reserved energy and machines lost their power and froze.

Soon, all the lights in the spaceship went off and the actual gravity in the ship was restored.

The gravity in the spaceship was only 60% the gravity of the earth. Luo Yuan felt like he was floating and it made him very uncomfortable. After a few seconds, the gravity went back to normal, and he felt much better.

After the power of the spaceship was completely out, he proceeded to destroy the possible cameras and all the controls on the spaceship. Now, he felt safer as nothing recorded his massacre of all the aliens.

Finally, Luo Yuan was relieved that the mission was a success. There were two stories in the spaceship and the bottom floor had a larger compartment. It was the location of the power center and an engine filled with gigantic metal tunnels. It was complex like a maze, and that floor was no doubt the core of the spaceship was where the most valuable pieces of technology were stored.

However, those gadgets were not what Luo Yuan was after. Those objects were massive and at least 100 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes. Even a simple small part weighed 100 kilograms! With him alone, even if he tried, he would not be able to take much back with him. Furthermore, he knew very well that the technology that was needed the most by the reconstruction area was not from the spaceship engine. Instead, they were more interested in the attack capabilities developed by the extraterrestrial civilization.

Higher functional energy weapons, higher density and more concrete nuclear fusion devices as well as more powerful analyzing abilities or more advanced detection techniques were part of the inventory he was supposed to search for in the wreckage.

Fortunately, all the intelligent robots were fitted with the first three technological advancements they needed. Although they were small, size did not determine the power within it. Though it was not the latest updated technology, skills were transferable and the differences were not too major. The biggest difference would have been the matchlock and flintlock, which came with similar threats anyway.

For the fourth technology they needed, it all depended on luck. However, based on Luo Yuan’s estimation, that was a simplified version of such a technology within the intelligent robots.

Immediately he ran towards the cabin like a puff of smoke. The cabin was locked with a dark metal rod. It would have been difficult for an ordinary human being to open but it would not stop Luo Yuan. He unsheathed his Zhanmadao, and in a few slashes, the door fell apart.

There was an alien lying flat on the floor, and it seemed to be a ranked official among the extraterrestrial civilization. It was 1.5 meters tall as compared to the rest which was only half a meter tall. This alien being seemed to be more important than the others. At the same time, it did manage to take six Earth Geysers before it collapsed.

There was a transistor on the concave arc of its round head, and it was still blinking. Although it could not move as it was completely paralyzed, Luo Yuan was still cautious. He summoned a hint of Will that made his palm glow and directed his it towards the robot. After a fizz came from it, the robot had been totally incapacitated.

He went ahead to lift the alien. As it turned out, it was quite heavy. It was almost 600 kilograms but with his +17 Strength, he could handle it with ease. He then rushed out through the tunnels with the only survivor on his back. No matter what information they had about the extraterrestrial civilization, the captive alien could reveal a lot more and even help mankind advance themselves with their technology. It was crucial to his whole mission. Its willingness was not an issue as many evolved humans in the reconstruction area had the hypnosis and mind control abilities. Luo Yuan chuckled at the thought.

To prevent the alien from regaining consciousness, Luo Yuan used his Will to put it into a deep sleep. The half-meter tall robots were petite and weighed not more than 30 kilograms. He placed it on top of the alien and lifted them both. To his surprise, it did not seem to add any extra burden to him at all.

He dared not stay any longer. He glanced at all the machines around him for one last time with a heavy heart. His eyes especially lingered on the supercomputer that was outside the control room in the middle of the spaceship that had caught his eye since he started searching the place. Unfortunately, he could not bring it along as it was not part of his inventory.

He turned around in regret and ran immediately with the aliens on his shoulder.

He knew that in all that time since the outpost spaceship lost contact with the mothership, the base camp of the extraterrestrial civilization in outer space would have been notified. The longer he stayed, the more dangerous it would be.

Even the surrounding area was not safe anymore. He was lucky this time that the civilization had not managed to fight back. His ability would have only played a small part in his victory while the rest of the mission was completely due to good fortune. He was not sure if he could be this lucky next time.

He went back to his cave, retrieved his backpack and continued to run. He scaled the mountains at lighting speed and hid in the shadows of the forest to conceal his retreat. He launched his four-dimensional vision to aid in his escape. With all the weight added by his loot, the speed that he could travel through his space-time bubble was slowed down significantly.

Worry began to settle on his shoulders as his heart raced in his chest. He was not this afraid when he attacked the spaceship. However, he only realized the consequences of his actions as he began his escape. Not only was his life on the line, he now realized that he had most likely initiated a war with the extraterrestrial civilization and that they might launch an attack on the planet.

The incident was very serious as six out of seven aliens were killed while one was held captive by him, and the entire spaceship was completely destroyed. Without major repairs, it was completely useless. He could not be sure if the attack had revealed who he was to the aliens in outer space. He had attempted to destroy all recorded evidence but was not sure if any video identification of the attack was sent to the mothership. The difference in technology was too vast, and no matter how careful he was, there was a possibility that he could be recognized. If they found out or even suspected that it was done by a human, Luo Yuan could not imagine what they would do to seek revenge.

He took a deep breath and removed the negative thoughts from his mind. At that moment, it was no use overthinking it. Since the extraterrestrial civilization was capable of deadly warfare, facing them should not be a cowardly affair. Even if that meant the end of mankind, they were ready to fight for their lives.

...

With the extra weight on his back, it was a surprise that his space-time bubble still managed to propel him forward at full speed. The first 10 minutes of his flight had him moving forward slowly but at a consistent pace. Although, half an hour later, he broke through the speed of sound with ease. He got faster and faster and soon, the island disappeared in the distance beyond the horizon. He could feel the breeze of the ocean, blowing on his face and with whatever he had, he proceeded to fly as fast as he could.

He did not dare fly straight to the reconstruction area as it was too risky. He barely had any knowledge of the extraterrestrial civilization’s protocol for search and rescue operations. Regardless if it was the intelligent robot or the alien that survived, he could not guarantee if any of them had positioning signal on them that alerted the others of their locations.

An hour later, Luo Yuan landed on a small island off the coast. He put the robot down in the sand, and carefully slid the alien off his back. He started to check the alien thoroughly. It wore a tight one-piece suit which was similar to a space suit but compared to those usually worn by mankind, the one it had on was light, smooth and soft to the touch. On its head, it wore a mask that was connected to its suit, similar to a gas mask.

Luo Yuan had done a scan earlier, and it was nothing like a common gas mask. Instead, it was an intelligent filter system that balanced air pressure. There was no circuit he recognized inside it and the structure was extremely complex. It was powered by a small piece of semi-transparent material he had never seen before. He had absolutely no clue as to how it was operated, but he was well aware of the vast difference in technology and did not question its superior craftsmanship.

The alien’s body was similar to that of a human body. It had no hair, a slender frame, and a sharp chin. There seemed to be small horns shaped like a crown on its head, and its spine was slightly hunched. Its skin was a dull gray color.

As compared to a human, it only had four long fingers and each of them had five joints. It looked like each finger could bend backward and in many other complicated movements that would have been a swordsman’s dream, Luo Yuan thought.

Perhaps because the gravity was lower on earth as compared to their motherland, it was weak and seemed to only have the strength of a six-year-old. It could be easily subdued and defeated if it dared challenge, Luo Yuan. He continued his probing of the body, pressed its body and scanned it using his Will. His strong Will broke the defense system of its body easily, and he scanned its body right down to its core.

Soon, Luo Yuan found out that there was a piece of tissue at the back of its head. It looked strange to him, as the tissue was shaped like an ocean wave. It was the size of a coin, and the details were very intricate.

What concerned him was the patterns and distorted words on the tissue.

"Was it a personal messaging system for the aliens?" Luo Yuan thought to himself. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. How could any living thing have tissues that were carved with patterns and images?

He jolted and felt a chill spread through his body. Fortunately, he was lucky he found out sooner than later or else, with this built-in personal messaging system, the extraterrestrial civilization would have surely found out where he was. He did not hesitate for a second. Immediately, he placed his palm on the back of its head and unleashed a burst of his Will. Soon, the tissue within its head was incinerated there and then. He exhaled, breathing a sigh of relief.

He then went to the intelligent robot and checked for the same built-in messaging system. He also wanted to see if there was a reservoir of energy within its body that was still working. He was relieved when he realized that every part of its body was out of service. However, due to safety concerns he could not stay put any longer and put his captives back on his shoulders.

Although his Strength had yet to be fully restored, Luo Yuan continued on his journey. He flew more than 1,000 kilometers away and landed on another island. As he landed, he stumbled and almost fell on the ground. Traveling with the space-time bubble continuously for more than two hours had drained all his energy. He was weak and rested for a moment in the sand. There were giant sea beasts that were skulking not far away from him, but he could not care less about their intentions. The beasts made the waves crash loudly on the shoreline, which greatly irritated him. He got to his feet and looked towards the jungle a few meters away from him. Shortly after, he found a hole in a tree and rested in it.

The hole was small. After placing both the robot and the alien in it, it was quite cramped. Even though he could not even straighten his legs, the small and smelly hole relaxed him into a deep sleep. In exhaustion, he laid against the wall and passed out. He did not plan to continue running any further as he had done all he could. As to whether the extraterrestrial beings would find him or not, it was all down to luck now. Even if he were to die, there would be nothing he could do in his state of fatigue.

After what seemed like hours of slumber, he began to feel thirsty. He placed his backpack on his knee and unzipped it. He retrieved his bottle and unscrewed the cork. Just when he prepared to take a swig of water, a ball rolled out of his pack. He looked at the ball and was stunned. Thirst did not bother him anymore. He put the bottle back into his backpack and picked up the ball.

It was a soul-eating beast’s eyeball with the ability to dream walk. Suddenly a thought crossed his mind. With the alien asleep, should he take a look at its dream?