First Interstellar Guide Chapter 44: Strange Barren Planet

Chapter 44: Strange Barren Planet

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

The current conclusions were all based on the analysis of clues and data, but Yu Ran felt that his speculation was very close to the truth. Xiong Kai had been in the Eagle Special Forces for seven years. Is the death of the previous Captain, Major General Lu Cheng’an, related to him?

During Lu Zexuan’s tenure of over five years, Xiong Kai had always been the deputy Captain of the Eagle Special Forces. Every time the team went out on a mission, while Lu Zexuan led the team into battle, he remained behind to defend the safety of the starship. He was the “backbone” of the Eagle Special Forces. It was hard to imagine that if this “backbone” were compromised and real danger occurred, the Eagle Special Forces would likely be annihilated!

Suddenly, memories of the Starlight Legion from years ago came to Yu Ran’s mind—why did the starship suddenly explode? Perhaps, the Starlight Legion also had an insider from the Dark Night Organization. Realizing that the situation was uncontrollable, they directly committed suicide by destroying themselves, causing the Starlight ship to fall in the vast universe, with the remains of thousands of soldiers nowhere to be found.

The memory of the glaring flames and explosion made Yu Ran’s heart ache. He quickly suppressed the surging emotions and maintained a calm expression as he continued to check the next sentinel.

The next one to be checked happened to be the Deputy Captain, Xiong Kai.

The tall sentinel scratched his head with a smile, sat down in front of the two, and closed his eyes obediently. Yu Ran discreetly extended mental tendrils with Mohr, entering his mental world—

It was a vast forested area. A burly brown bear was rolling around under the trees, looking very cute and simple. There were no traces of any negative shadows in his mental landscape. However, there was a cave deep within. It’s normal for bears to reside in caves, so it was nothing out of the ordinary to construct a cave in the mental landscape for the bear to sleep in.

However, sentinels could hide some private matters they didn’t want others to know deep within their mental landscape. Yu Ran speculated that if one were to forcibly search the depths of that cave, many important secrets could be found.

Yu Ran pretended to briefly check the surface of the cave with mental tendrils and then withdrew.

After the inspection, Xiong Kai politely said, “Thank you both for your hard work.”

Yu Ran smiled, “Deputy Captain Xiong is too polite.”

As the inspection continued, Yu Ran’s expression remained unchanged. Xiong Kai glanced at Yu Ran without a word and then turned back to his position.

In the afternoon at exactly four o’clock, the Eagle starship arrived punctually at the mission location—Planet S107 in the Dorado Constellation.

From afar, this planet emitting a gentle light resembled a beautiful purple gem in the universe. There were two very small moons orbiting around it slowly.

The Federal Astronomical Observatory discovered signs of life on this planet. Using unmanned spaceship drones, they landed and collected samples of the planet’s soil, water sources, vegetation, etc., for analysis, confirming the presence of very large mineral deposits here.

The task of the Eagle Special Forces this time was to conduct on-site investigations to see if there were any galactic creatures on the planet posing a threat to humans.

As the starship approached the planet and activated defense mode, it slowly circled around the planet, searching for a suitable landing site. Lu Zexuan sent out a reconnaissance drone to monitor the surface, and soon a mechanical voice report sounded in their ears, “Surface temperature detected at 45 degrees Celsius, humidity at 50%, sufficient oxygen content; no harmful gasses detected for now, landing condition: level one.”

Mohr stepped forward and said, “Apart from the high temperature, the environment here is quite suitable for human habitation.”

45 degrees, this temperature was even higher than the hottest days in the capital planet’s summer. But humans had advanced technology to create a constant temperature environment indoors. The key was that the air humidity and oxygen content were suitable for human survival. If there weren’t a large number of aggressive galactic creatures on this planet, it could be developed as a resource planet.

Lu Zexuan stood in front of the command platform on the bridge, carefully observing the screens displaying the surface conditions of the planet. Yu Ran also walked over to observe for a moment, puzzled, “The soil here is a deep purple color that I’ve never seen before.”

Lu Zexuan said, “It should be due to the presence of special metallic elements in the soil, which is why it has this strange color.”

Yu Ran analyzed, “With high temperature, high humidity, and sufficient oxygen, this is like a natural greenhouse. No wonder the vegetation here can grow wildly, with roots and stems almost interconnected.”

As Yu Ran said, from the surveillance of the drone, it could be seen that the vegetation on the planet intertwined with each other, forming a vast ocean of plants. Some plants had branches soaring into the sky, reaching heights of over a hundred meters, resembling upward-clawing shapes, and their leaves were also of a strange purple color.

Yu Ran couldn’t help but recall the bloodthirsty flowers on Planet B73 that would consume humans and rapidly reproduce. He looked at Lu Zexuan and said, “When you’re out there later, be careful to avoid these plants. In case they’re poisonous or have an attacking nature, dealing with so many plants won’t be easy.”

Hearing Yu Ran’s concern, Lu Zexuan’s heart warmed, and he whispered, “Don’t worry, we’ll bring the most advanced weapons. If we encounter real danger, we’ll retreat in time.”

Yu Ran nodded and didn’t say anything more.

Lu Zexuan turned to look at the sentinels behind him and said, “Check your weapons and wireless headsets, prepare for landing.”

All the sentinels immediately lined up in two rows, quickly checking their equipment.

The Eagle Special Forces were well-equipped, with each person equipped with the most advanced weapons of the Federation—submachine guns filled with destructive ammunition, electromagnetic knives that could cut through metal like mud, wireless headsets for communication, metal barriers for self-defense…

Everyone quickly organized their equipment and stood at attention.

Lu Zexuan began to assign tasks, “Hummingbird, A’long, and Xiao Tang, the three of you will each pilot a hovercraft as the vanguard reconnaissance team, scouting towards the south. Xiao Tang is a newcomer, so make sure to stick close to your two comrades! Crocodile, Black Shark, each take ten people and protect and support the reconnaissance team from behind! Big Bear, Zhao Quan, the two of you will stay behind on the Eagle starship with the two guides, and focus on defense. Everyone else, follow me!” 

Lu Zexuan’s orders were concise and decisive, and the sentinels responded in unison, “Understood!”

Lu Zexuan waved his hand, “Move out!”

The Eagle starship hovered in mid-air, activated its electromagnetic shielding, and opened its hatch. One by one, black small-sized aircrafts, sleek and agile like black birds, flew out in an orderly manner from the ship’s hangar.

The combat aircraft of the Eagle Legion resembled black birds, swift and nimble. The three leading aircraft formed a triangular formation, swiftly flying southward, disappearing from Yu Ran’s view in the blink of an eye. The vanguard reconnaissance team had set off, followed closely by the second group responsible for protection.

Lu Zexuan glanced at Zhao Quan and Big Bear, whispering, “Protect the two guides well.”

Both of them responded in unison, “Understood!”

Lu Zexuan glanced at Yu Ran before decisively turning and leaving. Yu Ran stayed on the starship, looking somewhat uneasy as he glanced out the window. The planet was covered in large patches of purple soil, with many strange claw-shaped plants growing. There were no traces of animals. Although it seemed calm, the plants looked too strange…

Looking like plants didn’t necessarily mean they were plants. Yu Ran closed his eyes, and green mental tendrils slowly extended from the starship, exploring the soil around.

Mohr curiously asked, “Ranran, what are you doing?”

Yu Ran replied, “I want to see if I can sense the presence of consciousness or emotional fluctuations.”

Mohr quickly caught on and also released his mental tendrils with Yu Ran. White and green mental tendrils crawled on the ground like soft vines, wrapping around the nearby strange purple plants. With their eyes closed, the two carefully sensed…

After a moment, they both withdrew their mental tendrils.

Mohr smiled and said, “There’s no reaction at all.”

Yu Ran nodded, “It seems that these plants, although strange in shape and color, don’t pose any threat.”

Plants needed to grow in fixed locations and didn’t have autonomous consciousness. Advanced animals usually had brains and consciousness, and some were very intelligent. Guides could directly invade the mental world, so as long as they were animals, Yu Ran could perceive their emotions and consciousness.

It seemed that he had been overthinking. These plants, although strange in shape and color, wouldn’t attack humans. At this time, the “Reconnaissance Trio” consisting of Hummingbird, Chameleon, and Tang Ce had already flown ten kilometers away from the starship. Different from guides who used mental tendrils to sense consciousness, sentinels relied on their keen hearing, vision, and sense of smell to observe the environment.

Hummingbird observed ahead, Chameleon paid attention to the left, while Lizard focused on the right. The three continued to explore… Half an hour passed, and they found nothing. Underfoot were these strange claw-like plants, with no traces of any animals or other plants.

Hummingbird pressed the wireless headset and said, “Major Lu, no signs of animal activity here, and these plants are very quiet.”

Lu Zexuan’s voice came through the headset, “Continue your reconnaissance.”

Hummingbird acknowledged and continued forward. Before long, they suddenly came across a hill. The height of the hill was similar to a ten-story building, with two consecutive hills, slightly different in shape, with the one behind slightly taller than the one in front, and a noticeable depression in the middle. The area around the hills, densely covered with claw-shaped plants, seemed thicker than elsewhere, and the purple color was also noticeably deeper.

Tang Ce, alert, said, “Sis Bird, don’t you think the shape of this hill resembles a camel’s hump?”

After Tang Ce’s reminder, Hummingbird also paused for a moment, pondering, “Two connected hills, one large and one small, does look a bit like camel humps.”

Tang Ce looked ahead and said, “There’s only one hill like this within a dozen kilometers, quite strange!”

Lu Zexuan’s voice came through the headset, “Stop there, I’ll come up and take a look.”

Lu Zexuan had barely finished speaking when there was a “whoosh” sound, and two pure white wings suddenly spread from his shoulders. With a leap, he soared into the air like a bird spreading its wings, flying over the heads of the three, and hovering above the hill.

The sentinels of the Eagle Special Forces were all operating combat aircraft. Lu Zexuan could fly himself, and his speed was even faster than the aircraft. He flew into the sky, his sharp eyes scanning the ground below—indeed, it was strange. These two hills were barren, like two large mounds of soil. Yet, the vegetation around the hills was extremely dense.

He had never seen such a strange sight before. It was as if these plants were gathered together, paying homage to the two hills…? What on earth was going on?

At the same time, the footage captured by the reconnaissance team was being transmitted in real-time to the large screen on the starship. Seeing this scene, Yu Ran immediately said, “Major Lu, retreat quickly!”

However, his words were a step too late. Almost as soon as Yu Ran spoke, there was a rumbling sound from beneath the hills, as if some giant beast was awakening!