Chapter 125: A Primitive Planet
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Boundless space; a blue and green planet floated alone in the endless darkness. A light blue spaceship, which suddenly appeared on the planet's orbit broke the silent scene.
The spacecraft emerged from a space bubble and the curvature engine's safety component began to stabilize the turbulence caused by superluminal velocity. The radiator grid of the spaceship emitted a glowing, white light. It looked like it needed some time to cool down before it could sail again. Three of them were sleeping in their rooms. At that moment, a broadcast announcement woke them up.
"So, this is our destination?" Hao Ren asked as he rubbed his sleepy eyes and walked out of the room. He saw the MDT floating in the living room and producing a holographic image. The image showed them a blue and green Earth-like planet. "...The biosphere there is so developed?!"
"Very much Earth-like, with complex life forms and carbon-based ecosystems which have evolved to the stage of mammalian exuberance. Intelligent species groups have not yet emerged. Temperature, atmospheric structure, gravity are suitable for short-term human survival but, the atmospheric oxygen content is higher than the earth’s, thus containing micro-toxicity. A long-term stay there will cause many physiological diseases." The MDT was relaying the contents of the planetary bulletin downloaded from the ship's mainframe. "Of course, it’s not a big problem for the three of you. With your current physique, you guys can ignore these effects."
Hao Ren came forward to keep the MDT. At the same time, he heard a crew member’s voice coming from the direction of the cabin door. "Sir, we’ve arrived."
Hao Ren opened the door and realized it was the same dark,lean young man, who led them the way before. He was still wearing a slightly restrained smile on his face. "The captain was supposed to personally take the three of you onto the landing,but, he’s in the brig, copying the traffic law. So, I’ll take you to the surface of the planet."
Hao Ren remained silent.
Such a huge ship could not have, of course, descend directly onto the surface of the planet. Even if it could land, it would have taken too much energy to get back up. Therefore, the three of them had to switch to a small landing craft in order to land. The landing craft, which looked like a triangular plate, needed only one person to pilot. It was ideal for transporting a small number of passengers or small cargo between the planet and the mother ship. The three of them counted their carry-on baggage and followed the young crew member aboard the ‘little plane’. The moment the small craft detached from the mother ship’s garage, Hao Ren finally fulfilled his dream of experiencing the sense of weightlessness. The small craft was not equipped with an artificial gravity device. Once it left the comfortable environment of the mother ship, the occupants inside felt the real sense of being in space.
"Our technology is still primitive. There is no way to install the artificial gravity generator on this little plane," the young man said with a smile. "It is said that the demoted military fighters and small transport aircraft of retired Imperial servants, were armed with miniature gravity generators. Our captain is trying to get some back but it’s not easy."
"What are you guys going to do with that stuff?" The MDT floated in the cramped cabin of the landing craft and asked the question without a second thought. "After the demolition of the weapons, they will only be ordinary shuttles which can only accommodate a few people and they don't even have a hold. Other than the fast speed and stronger shield, there’s nothing else useful. Yet, the price is damn expensive. Other than looking fashionable and trendy, the small gravity generators are useless. The value of price over performance is almost zero."
"Oh, it is the style value." The young man shrugged and continued, "Our captain believes that it doesn’t matter whether it’s useful or not. Just buy it. You see, this ship doesn't even have a passenger license, but still, he’s prepared 20 sightseeing shuttles."
Hao Ren found it odd and said, "... That uncle is quite interesting."
The shuttle flew for a while in a weightless environment and began to approach the dense atmosphere of the planet. After a thrilling deceleration, it finally landed smoothly on the point indicated by the MDT: a rocky plateau next to the shoreline.
"So, you guys are leaving now, right?" Hao Ren carried a small suitcase and stepped on the ground of the alien planet for the first time in his life. A thought occurred to him before he could breathe in some fresh air. "How can I get back?"
"I don’t know about that." The young cabin crew member stood on the shuttle ramp and said, "The order we received was to send you here. The return should be arranged by the Empire." He shrugged and continued, "We are just a private company and the agent's activity is a secret that we are not prying into."
After saying this, the crew member walked back into the shuttle. Then, the shuttle silently lifted up into the sky in front of Hao Ren. It turned into a streamer and rapidly disappeared into the horizon.
"I have a bad feeling..." Hao Ren felt cold sweat began to seep slowly from his neck. "Do you think that the crazy woman actually won’t arrange a return trip for us...? Will she forget about it?"
Crack!
The moment he finished his sentence, a loud bang reverberated from the sky. Hao Ren was frightened by the clear sound of thunder and almost fell to the ground. "The heck, this goddess’ punishments are everywhere and never late!"
"Tsk…" When the MDT saw that the thunder just gave Hao Ren a fright and did not really strike him, he answered Hao Ren in a slightly disappointed tone. "Send a message to Chief Raven after the task is complete. She will arrange the next trip."
"Oh." Hao Ren was finally relieved and leisurely observed his surroundings.
The three of them were at the seaside. There was an ocean on Hao Ren"s right-hand side. The waves were rolling endlessly. The sound of rushing waves lapped the primeval coastline. There was the setting sun at the end of the sea’s horizon. The stars there were smaller than those seen on Earth but, their brightness seemed to be more intense, which formed a distinctive yet beautiful evening view. On Hao Ren’s left-hand side, there was a gravel beach with a width of up to one kilometer. The ground was littered with brown, coarse gravel. Some kind of fibrous matter that looked like dried plants could be seen between the rubble.
At the end of the gravel beach was a lush primeval jungle. They could hear the faint roar of wild beasts coming from the depths of the jungle.
Nangong Wuyue looked curiously at the scene before her. The slightly cool sea breeze blowing on her face seemed to make her feel relaxed. The siren girl narrowed her eyes, enjoyed it for a while and said, "Can’t believe this is how the alien planet looks like… I thought it would look like the scene in movies where it was just barren soil and a lot of craters."
"Most of the planets look just like that but, honestly, that’s all meaningless." The MDT projected a hologram and showed them an expanding 3D scan image. "The universe is so vast. The number of universes are so many that you can find almost any kind of wonder you can think of or never even expect. When I was in the production line, I dreamed to be a starship host, follow the glorious general of the Empire to the battlefield and fight in various wonderful planets. Heck, I only found out that I was a PDA when the serial number was issued... Sigh, let’s not recall the sad past. You guys should set up a camp."
Hao Ren was busy admiring the primeval scenery of the planet while waiting for the MDT to tell him the tenant’s coordinates. When he heard it, he paused and asked, "Camp? Aren't we going to look for the tenant first?"
"Nonsense, can’t you see the sun is almost gone!" The MDT turned off the holographic projection and slipped into Hao Ren’s pocket. "The container we’re looking for seems to be out of order. It’s no longer emitting location signals. I have to slowly expand the scanning range. I can only detect its location tomorrow morning. Before that, you guys better find a place to spend the night. I have to remind you that this primitive planet may be a little dangerous. It may not be a big threat to you but, it is not fun to get chased after by primitive creatures the entire night."
The MDT irresponsibly left them behind. Hao Ren and his two ‘assistants’ looked at each other, then asked, "Anyone know how to set up camp... No, we don’t even have a tent!"
"I can just soak in the sea." Nangong Wuyue waved without a care. However, she turned back after just walking two steps. "Forget it. I don’t know if the fish on this planet are more powerful than the fish on Earth. As a siren, it would be a disgrace to be eaten by alien fish."
Y’zaks looked around the terrain and said, "Actually, it’s nothing difficult. You two, step back. I’ll smash a pit and lay a circle of demon flames around it. Ordinary animals would surely not dare to come near…"
Hao Ren stopped him in a hurry and said, "Don’t. Just use those flames to make a bonfire. That'll do. There’s really no need to smash a big hole in this beautiful scenery just to shield us from the sea breeze, especially with a meteorite…"