Chapter 210: Spacecraft Wreckage
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Wielding her Frostfire Claws, Lily was like a powerful metal storm, clearing away the broken pipes and metal stubs that blocked the crack. Visibility was zero; she was shrouded in a tornado of soggy ice and boiling water bubbles. Hao Ren lost sight of Lily as soon as she began her job. Half a minute later, the clattering stopped. Lily re-emerged from another hole she had drilled from the inside of the hull. Her eyes were swirling. "Finally, I'm back out... The claws didn't work in the water though..."
Lily's face was flushed and her hair became all curly; it was like she had lay in a steamer for 10 minutes, and did a full perm at the same time—the water temperature was well over 200°C, but lo and behold, she was still as fit as a fiddle.
"You should learn to control your power, not just treat it as a weapon." Y'zaks pointed at her Frostfire Claws, speaking like a teacher. "These are powerful weapons but, dissipating power is a waste. Look at my demonic flame; you practically can't feel the heat even one centimetre away from it yet, it's capable of vaporising a chunk of hafnium in just a few seconds."
Nangong Wuyue listened, filled with marvel, and she asked curiously, "Why do you need such precise control?"
"To increase its core destructive power." Y'zaks pointed at his ball of evil fire. "But mainly, it provides a cooler surrounding when it's used as illumination. I only perfected the heat dissipation after spending 200 years in the castle."
While swimming towards the wreckage, Hao Ren looked over his shoulder and asked, "Are demons really that free when no one comes looking for trouble?"
Y'zaks laughed. "I'm probably the only one."
As expected, there was a crew passageway behind the crack. It was relatively large, just enough for Y'zaks to not feel cramped. Meanwhile, Nangong Wuyue had transformed back into a mermaid for ease of movement. Lil Pea had gone numb with the shapeshifting stunt though. She had given up. She was not going to try to understand how it worked. Lil Pea was just mumbling to herself and patting her own tail. It looked as if she was cheering herself up, that one day, she would grow up and be able to shapeshift like Nangong Wuyue. Perhaps, there was nothing that could correct her worldviews at this point.
The fact that the passageway was located too close to the hull caused it to suffer severe damage and distortion from the crash two months prior. There were large cracks on the white alloy walls on both sides of the passageway. The bloody-red lakewater did not help with the distorted passageway. The place simply looked creepy, like a scene from a horror movie. Hao Ren was in front, carefully examining the interior. He found that the spacecraft was very different—totally unlike the simple geometry of the transport vessel, No. 883 in Kuiper Station or other spacecrafts of the Empire. But one thing was for sure, it was of a highly-developed civilisation.
"This may not be a simple crash," said Hao Ren to the MDT beside him. "None of the knights on duty at the Blood Lake spotted this thing, as though it had arrived at the bottom of the lake out of nowhere and crashed into the rocky base of the island. Probably, this would explain the flash of light, the explosion and the earthquake that night."
"Hmm, looks like it was a spatial incident," said the MDT. "I'll perform a structural scan of the spacecraft. But it's a mess inside. Most of the passageways are distorted and broken. I'll find a safer way to the control room."
Lily scurried up to Hao Ren as she spoke in amazement, "Whoa, it's a spacecraft, isn't it? Landlord, how does your spaceship look compared to this one? Yours is cooler, isn't it?"
"Mine's an official spacecraft." Hao Ren started bragging. "You'll see it someday. For now, I have to memorise the Intra-Universe Navigation Measures..."
Lily was not alone. Even Vivian had never seen such a high-tech thing. The dignified and calm vampire maiden could not help but marvel at it. Her hand touched against the cold alloy as she sighed, suddenly having a deep realisation of the huge gap between the advanced civilisation and her little living circle on Earth. "While this thing can fly to space, I'll never escape the earth's gravity no matter how hard I train my wings. The demise of the unusual creatures on Earth is certain."
Hao Ren never expected Vivian to have such deep thoughts. Nevertheless, he had a slightly different view. "How can you say that? This world is the home of unusual creatures. Theirs is a brilliant civilisation although they've suffered from technological transition failure. Back then, the werewolves and Blood Clan attained the pinnacle of bio-technology, creating life, which humans on Earth have failed to. Their relatively small and scattered population on Earth as well as being hunted by demon hunters were probably the reasons why unusual creatures failed to advance."
"Their first step went all wrong." Vivian sighed. "It isn't clear why unusual creatures wanted to come to the earth. If they were truly from The Plane Of Dreams, why couldn't they remember? Everyone I knew was engrossed in weird things in life. No one thought of advancing their civilisation until we were surpassed by humans—even though humans were just a bunch of apes in the beginning."
Hao Ren had never thought of that: As Raven 12345 had mentioned before, unusual creatures were originally from The Plane of Dreams. If that was the case, the first generation unusual creatures on Earth should have known what the advanced civilisation of this world was like. However, on Earth, they lived in mediocrity and that was indeed strange.
"Perhaps those unusual creatures were only passing through after the end of the world in The Plane of Dreams." Hao Ren guessed. "The timeline isn't clear-cut. Even Raven 12345 doesn't know that well. But if this theory is true, then that would explain everything."
There was not much information about the unusual creatures passing through Earth. Neither Hao Ren nor Vivian could reach any conclusion. They came to the end of the passageway, where there was an alloy gate standing in their way.
"There is a large space is behind this gate." The MDT projected a hologram of the spacecraft's floorplan. "The main frame is still in good shape, the door can be opened. But, something behind the door is preventing it from opening. I would not recommend blasting it. The structure may be unstable, and use of explosives could cause problems."
Hao Ren saw the hologram, a dislodged metal bar was stuck at the locking mechanism behind the door. The spacecraft utilised a retro-style, exposed mechanical door lock, which needed a winch or a handwheel to lock and unlock. The metal bar was stuck in the handwheel behind the door.
He took a peek through a crack, which was only large enough for a hand to pass through. Through the crack he could see the place. It looked like a store, and a few humanoid figures floated in the red lakewater. He was instantly interested.
"Can anyone think of way to open the door?" As Hao Ren looked over his shoulder, Nangong Wuyue lunged forward. "Squid arms..."
"No. That would damage me too much, mentally." Hao Ren waved his hand frantically. He then saw Lil Pea, who was swimming in the pure-water bubble beside him. "No more stench here, right? Then I'll let Lil Pea out."
Hao Ren waved to Lil Pea. She scurried out of the water bubble before rubbing herself in his face, her cold and slippery tail felt like a carp. Holding Lil Pea in his hand near the crack on the door, Hao Ren found that it was large enough for Lil Pea to pass through. He patted her and said to her confidently, "Good girl, get in there and open the door..."
Nangong Wuyue stared at him. "Will it work?"
Before her voice trailed off, Lil Pea made a sound before swimming through the crack, the size of a man's arm. She then swam over to the other side. A few seconds and a few clangs later, Hao Ren turned the handwheel twice, and the door opened in a snap.
"I've just discovered that lately..." Hao Ren spoke, pushing the door open. He hugged Lil Pea in his arms again as she came back to him. "...that this little one is extremely intelligent. She can't speak yet, but she understands most of what we say, including a couple 'woofs' that Lily's made."
Looking on with satisfaction at the surprised faces, Hao Ren proudly held his little daughter in his arms. He wheeled and swam into the store cabin, only to meet face-to-face with a green little humanoid figure, which drifted towards him. Its skin was extremely wrinkled after soaking in the water.
"Holy sh*t!"