Chapter 140: They Returned with an Egg.
If it was possible, Hao Ren really wanted to die with the psychotic goddess but, he could not beat her.
“Can I change the name of this ship?” Hao Ren looked at Raven 12345 with a last glimmer of hope but, he got the expected answer. “No, I have registered its name in the workbook and with the Aviation Administration. If you want to change the name you’ll have to do it yourself and follow the procedures. I have no time for that.”
Hao Ren drew a long breath and sighed. It seemed like he would have to pilot a spaceship called the Tortoise to save the world for the rest of his life…
Raven 12345 looked at Hao Ren, who fell into a sluggish state. She knew that the name she created had struck him again. She then stiffly shifted the topic and asked, “Let’s not talk about the spaceship. How about the egg? Where’s the newcomer?”
Hao Ren found that it did not help much. She just went from one terrible topic to another. They had a lot to do with the mystical egg…
Nangong Wuyue opened her suitcase and took out the carefully protected strange, white egg from a pile of soft cloth. “Well, this is it. What freaking egg is this?”
Raven 12345 took the strange egg, and for a brief moment, compassion flashed through her face. “This is a mermaid egg. It comes from the Otherworld.”
“Mermaid?!” Hao Ren and the rest of them exclaimed in unison.
“Yes, mermaid. And it’s the last of their tribe,” Raven 12345 sighed. “In a remote universe, the end of the world has occurred. The universe already had a problem since the beginning of its conception. It was a malformed baby. The entire universe developed too fast and its basic constant was quite unstable. There was sign of a collapse even before there was a higher civilization. Up until the end of the world, there was only one planet, where complex forms of life occurred. When the patrol arrived, they discovered that the only living planet was being devoured by its own star, and this egg was found in a tightly sealed, underwater cavern. It’s the last remnant of life from the planet. It should have been sent to other places but, I sent it here. You have a siren here so, you should know how to deal with it. At least, make sure it hatches smoothly.”
Hao Ren felt as though he was listening to a story that was quite distant from him. The end of the world? The extinction of an entire civilization? The collapse of a whole universe? Planets being devoured by stars… These things were so far away that they were almost incomprehensible. He only knew that the white egg was of great significance: it was the last remaining individual of the mermaid species in some kind of world. It was a burden he never thought he would have.
“You want me to take care of this?” Hao Ren took the strange egg cautiously from Raven’s hand. “…I have no experience. What if I don’t do my job well?”
“Do your best,” Raven 12345 said and shrugged. “The egg hasn’t reached ‘discovery of fire and civilization’ status yet so, I can’t report it to the higher authorities. I can only hand it to an inspector who’s free to deal with it. You just have to be careful not to break it.”
“I have some doubts.” Nangong Wuyue suddenly raised her hand and asked, “You must be mistaken… I’m a siren, I’m not a mermaid! And even if I was a mermaid, I don’t know how to take care of an egg as well. I was born on land!”
“Oh, is that so?” Raven 12345 looked on curiously. “Is there a difference?”
“There’s a big difference!” Nangong Wuyue pointed to Hao Ren and explained, “He’s seen me in siren form. I can just transform into a mermaid but, my species remains as a siren. I can also transform into a shrimp so, you want me to take care of shrimps too?”
“I know you are a siren.” Raven 12345 nodded. “As far as I know the sirens in this world are similar to the mermaids of the Otherworld. At least all of you are oviparous—I thought you knew how to take care of eggs.”
Nangong Wuyue looked particularly baffled and said, “As I said, I was born on land. I’m a hybrid, okay? I’ve never been to the deep sea, how would I know how sirens, who are born from eggs will look like…”
Hao Ren looked at Nangong Wuyue in surprise and without thinking asked, “So, you can lay eggs?”
Nangong Wuyue’s face immediately turned red. “…Never tried but, maybe I can…”
Cough
Hao Ren sensed that if he wanted to go deep into this topic, it would be better if they went and watched “Animal World”. He quickly stopped dwelling on the topic and looked at the egg awkwardly. He then said, “If even Nangong Wuyue doesn’t know how to take care of it, what about me?”
“Young man, do your best,” Raven 12345 said and patted Hao Ren’s shoulder. “I received an analysis from the top. Presumably, this mermaid species was born in a harsh environment. Their eggs can survive and hatch in very harsh environments. I firmly believe that as long as you don’t cook it, a fish baby will be born smoothly…”
“…”
All three of them with a right mind thought things just did not work this way but, the one with the right to decide was a crazy woman. Raven 12345 had happily decided everything before anyone could oppose. Hao Ren now had to find a way to hatch this important egg.
“All right, now keep the egg. Let’s get out of this place.” Raven 12345 clapped her hands, urging them to depart. She seemed to be in a hurry to go back. “Mobile Data Terminal? Start the engine. Let’s try this thing and test its speed after the launch!”
The MDT had been stuck in the host’s add-in slot for quite some time, and could not wait to start. Becoming a battleship’s host was its biggest dream ever since it was still in the production line, and of course, everyone knew that it eventually became a PDA. However, this did not obliterate its ambition. It now felt like it had gotten a new lease on life. It could never be a battleship’s host. However, at least it could temporarily pretend to be the host of a business ship. With the instructions emanating from its core being received one by one by the powerful devices on the spacecraft, the surging power from the energy core made the MDT extremely excited. It gave out commands with great momentum. “Listen to my command, let’s go!”
“Why does it feel like this thing’s the boss?” Hao Ren glanced at the MDT strangely and went on to curiously study the dazzling data on the control platform with Raven 12345.
“You, go back and study the operation guide.” Raven studied the controls for a while and gave up on answering her own question. It was too hard for her. “Try to figure out how to control this ship within three years.”
Lift off was very fast. Although they could not feel the acceleration inside, it had already reached the edge of the atmosphere in a moment. The MDT activated several sets of external monitors. The silvery white walls in the front of the control room immediately became transparent, and the curved horizon appeared before them. Raven 12345 looked at the planet, which was full of vitality. She could not help but exclaim, “This planet was actually created when I had nothing to do. Thousands of years ago I came here to add a biosphere. At that time, it was still a wasteland. Now, look at it… Nature has such marvelous workmanship.”
“Are you declaring the power of nature on the planet you created?” Hao Ren looked at Raven 12345 strangely.
“Oh, I have such great workmanship.”
The group was speechless.
“I suggest that you keep the coordinates of this planet.” Raven 12345 said and again, patted Hao Ren’s shoulder. “The ecological environment here is perfect. Your tenants can survive here. It could be a good tourist spot in the future. Keep the coordinates of this planet just in case. You may need it.”
Hao Ren looked at Raven with a curious stare. She did not seem to be the kind of person who would mention such trivial opinions. The goddess was always careless. How could she have time to concern herself with Hao Ren’s life and entertainment as well as the superhumans living in his house? So, his instincts told him that Raven 12345’s intentions were quite suspicious.
However, what Raven 12345 said made sense as well. This journey was the first step in Hao Ren’s life among the sea of stars. He should keep something to remember it by. Since they discovered a terrestrial-like planet full of exotic scenery, they should just keep its coordinates.
Maybe he could bring Lily over to play in the future. The canine sister would absolutely love the spacious beaches and chewy sticks.
Therefore, Hao Ren allowed the MDT to choose a suitable place to keep the coordinates. The MDT navigated the spaceship afterwhich, it arrived at the planet’s and local star’s point of gravitational equilibrium. It then said, “Let’s take the relative coordinates here. Take the gravitational balance of the planet and its star as the benchmark. The instant calculation during transmission can prevent us from hitting the sun next time.”
Staring at space from that point of equilibrium, the sun looked like a dazzling, great fireball. The nameless planet disappeared amid the gorgeous sunshine. Hao Ren stared at the waning sun blankly for a while, and then he gently exhaled and said, “Let’s go back.”
A blue light flashed through space, and the Petrachelys Patrol Frigate left the nameless as well as remote star system.
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