Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The situation seemed to be somewhat complex, and the bio-detector indicated that there was no one inside, though this supposedly empty space station was still operating as per normal; its life support systems were even pumping air and creating potable water.
Even if the space station was of good quality and could stay functional even after hundreds of years, there was no way everything could operate on its own without anyone turning it on. This had clearly been turned on by someone.
Xia Fei did not enter the command room; instead, he turned around and headed back to his cabin.
Turning on his microcomputer, Xia Fei once more confirmed the position of Lunar Eclipse.
Lunar Eclipse had a remote control system installed, allowing Xia Fei to control it from afar through his microcomputer. At this very moment, Lunar Eclipse was just a warp away from his present location, its power system fully operational. As long as Xia Fei gave the order, Lunar Eclipse would be able to reach somewhere near the derelict space station within ten minutes.
For some reason, Xia Fei had been unable to shake off the feeling of suspicion and worry regarding this mission the entire time, and having Lunar Eclipse nearby gave him more sense of security.
That was when Chen Dong came knocking at the door. “The situation is different from what we’ve previously expected. We’re gathering for an emergency meeting; from what I’ve heard, it seems that Xiao Haili intends to send someone into the space station.”
“Oh.” Xia Fei nodded and joined Chen Dong, then both made their way to the mess.
“This is the situation we are currently in: Due to GPP1796 Space Station being operational for reasons unknown, I’ve sent a report to the headquarters. In 3 hours’ time, two backup warships will arrive from there. In the meantime, the headquarters has authorized us to collect first-hand information inside the space station,” Xiao Haili said. “Right now, I want to know if anyone among you knows how to fly a warship.”
Beihai very excitedly raised his hand. “I’ve once learned how to operate radar, communications, and firing systems.”
Xiao Haili nodded. “Very good. You’ll remain with Bosingwa in the command room and be the support for the boarding party.
“Next, I’ll give you your assignments. Queiroz, Xia Fei, and I will enter the space station and begin our search. Chen Dong, Manjun, and Moon Song are to form the second team. I’ll tell everyone to attempt boarding if the need arises, while Bosingwa and Bei Hai will remain behind.”
Xia Fei was quite shocked. He had never thought that Xiao Haili would actually want him to join in the boarding.
Moon Song was visibly dissatisfied. Pouting her lips, she asked, “Why does Xia Fei get to go and we have to stay behind?”
Queiroz smiled. “Bosingwa needs to stay on the ship to provide support, while Xia Fei is the only Speed ability user out of all of you, so he’s to stand in for Bosingwa in this.”
There was always a small shuttle docked on a warship in case of emergencies. Xia Fei, Queiroz, and Xiao Haili all got on the shuttle and took flight, heading toward the landing bay inside the space station.
This space station was shaped like a spinning top. It was huge, and after the years of baptism by space debris, its outer shell already mottled, looking like a large pile of scrap metal that was floating in space.
The shuttle sent out a boarding code and the space station opened its sealed doors. Queiroz very deftly guided the shuttle into the landing bay as the thick doors sealed themselves again.
After air was vented in and the air pressure stabilized, the safety lights inside the shuttle and around the landing bay lit up at the same time, then the door opened, and the three men stepped off the spaceship.
Xiao Haili handed Xia Fei a handheld bio-detector. “Let’s go. We’re heading straight for the command center of the space station to take a look first.”
The eerie quietness inside the huge space station gave everyone goosebumps. There was a trace of must in the air. Xia Fei followed Xiao Haili and Queiroz with a lit cigarette, his eyes alert as he took in the surroundings.
“We’ll be taking lift no.16 just a hundred fifty meters up ahead. Anything on the bio-detector?” Xiao Haili checked the map while he maintained contact with Bosingwa.
“The bio-detector aboard our ship is picking up all three of your life signs, but it has yet to find anything else,” Bosingwa reported.
Xiao Haili mulled over this for a moment. “Continue widening your scope; at the same time, use the thermal-imaging detector and the energy-signature detector and do another scan.”
“Roger that.”
The three men stepped into the space station command center, which motion detector lights, immediately turning on the moment someone stepped inside.
The command center was about five hundred square meters in size, and rows of unknown devices and apparatuses were neatly lining its walls.
Xia Fei lightly brushed his fingertips across the table surface, and they came away with a layer of dust. It appeared that it had been a very long time since anyone was here.
Xiao Haili immediately turned out each of the devices in the room, then used the detection system inside the space station to search for life signs; meanwhile, Queiroz sat in the command chair and checked the operations log of the space station through the computer.
“Any leads from the logs?” Xiao Haili asked.
Queiroz’s fingers flew across the screen, his eyes never blinking once as he scrolled through the logs. All of a sudden, he tapped something and stopped the screen.
“The logs show that this space station was activated four days ago, and the method of activation bypassed the main control center, forcefully turning on the power system,” Queiroz said.
“Continue with your search. Check to see if there’s any strange activity in the last few hundred years,” Xiao Haili ordered.
“Understood.”
The quiet and lonely space only had the blinking stars, and Xia Fei suddenly felt that the upper left corner of the starry space seemed to be blurrier as if there was a layer of fog obscuring his vision.
Xia Fei rubbed his eyes a little, then looked again, and that haziness seemed to have disappeared, for the stars he saw were back to normal.
“I’ve confirmed that, aside from that one instance of forced activation, nothing out of the ordinary appears on the logs. Perhaps the intruder has left long ago.”
“Hmm?” Xiao Haili furrowed his brows and made a sound of uncertainty.
Xia Fei walked over out of curiosity to look, and he could not help but be surprised.
The screen displayed the complete blueprint of the entire space station, and there was a single small red dot flashing unceasingly on it. It was self-evident that the E131 automatic pressurized door on the nineteenth level was repeatedly opening and closing, like an elevator door that was being obstructed, unable to close no matter how hard it tried.
Xiao Haili turned on the surveillance system in hopes of getting a look at the situation there, only for the light of the surveillance system to turn red. The surveillance system of the entire space station had been damaged long ago and was no longer in use.
None of the three said a word as the atmosphere turned severe.
That was when the results of the space station’s bio-detector system came back, and it clearly showed that there were only three living lifeforms in the entire space station, which was precisely Xia Fei and the two other men.
Xiao Haili acted quickly. He switched on the power system diagnosis tool, and a look at its results left the three men even more shocked. Someone had made adjustments to the power system! At the moment, the power system had been partitioned into several independent zones. It had completely bypassed the command center and was able to be operated independently!
Queiroz patted Xia Fei’s shoulder and laughed. “Don’t worry; this sort of thing is very commonplace. There are many pirates and criminals that use such methods to construct their secret bases. It’s nothing major.”
Xia Fei nodded. That foreboding feeling he had in his heart was getting stronger by the minute, but he did not say a word about it.
Xiao Haili pushed a button on his communicator and contacted Bosingwa back on the warship. “I’ve got a new problem here. Immediately use the radiograph and do a forced scan on the E131 automatic pressurized door, the reactor room, and the power control room.”
“What happened, Xiao Haili? Activating the radiograph by force requires a large amount of power, meaning we’ll have to shut down our energy shields and main thrusters temporarily,” Bosingwa somewhat anxiously asked.
“It’s fine; I just have some suspicions. Just do as I instructed.”
Soon, the radiography system produced an image and was sent to the three men. It was a very blurry image that had some visual snow.
The reactor and power control rooms were fine, but the E131 automatic pressurized door showed abnormalities as if a black mass of something happened to be stuck in the middle of it, preventing it from sliding shut.
Xiao Haili knitted his eyebrows. “Can it be any clearer?”
Bosingwa shook his head. “The electromagnetic interference in this part of space is very strong. That’s already the best our radiography instruments can pick up.”
Xiao Haili was gritting his teeth when he ordered grimly, “Use the remote function to take control of this space station. We’re heading down to find out just what that black mass is.”
“Understood. It’s clear that we’ve come across an unknown organism, for the space station was modified by someone else. The mission level has automatically been raised to tier-3; should we inform the headquarters?”
“Not at the moment. The bio-detectors have not discovered any lifeforms, so the space station should be relatively safe.”
The three men left the command center and got on the lift, now heading toward the nineteenth level of the space station.
The moment the lift doors closed, Bosingwa’s agitated voice could be heard from the communicator. “Something happened! The E131 automatic pressurized door closed itself all of a sudden, but the bio-detector showed no indication of any changes.”
Xia Fei could feel his heart sinking. That thing that had been blocking the door from shutting did not look small from the image they had seen before, so what was the reason for it to suddenly move? Could there be people aboard this space station? If that was the case, how was it that the bio-detector had not managed to pick up their life signatures?
The expression on Xiao Haili and Queiroz’s faces turned unusually nervous, neither of them knowing what sort of situation they were facing.
Xia Fei suddenly discovered that there were some particles of sand, which were nearly imperceptible to the naked eye in the air around him, and these sand particles were slowly orbiting around himself.
Upon closer inspection, Xia Fei realized that they were not only around him; Xiao Haili and Queiroz were also surrounded by the same strange sand particles.
Queiroz turned to Xia Fei and chuckled. “Quicksand Defense, for your protection.
“A Defense ability!” Xia Fei was quite stunned, nodding his head deeply.
The lift reached the nineteenth level, and Queiroz was the first to dash out, with Xiao Haili right behind. Playing it safe, Xia Fei did not use his Speed ability to dart forward. Instead, he very nimbly jogged behind them. After all, he was the lowest rank out of the three of them, so there was no reason for him to be taking the lead.
Only
“Oh, no! There are anti-surveillance devices installed in the lower levels of the space station, and our connection with Bosingwa has gotten jammed,” Xiao Haili urgently said as he ran, the AI computer in his hand registering a blank.
*Shing!*
The moment Xia Fei heard that being uttered, he understood the severity of the situation that they were in. He astutely unsheathed the Chasing Light on his right arm!
When they made it to the E131 automatic hydraulics door, all they saw was the ground completely covered in fresh blood, a long and gruesome trail that extended from the door toward to deep within.
Evidently, someone had died here, and his corpse was dragged deeper inside.
Xia Fei stooped, then lightly brushed his finger on that blood, and he could not help but break out in a cold sweat from his alarm.
The blood was still somewhat warm!
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