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Book 4: Utopia

④ Utopia: Gu Xingqiao did not want to live. He was demoralized and lost everything, and there was no other sorrow or joy in this life. He finally fell into a disused battleship of unknown centuries.

After thousands of years of wandering and silence in the universe, the abyssal battleship finally found fresh prey again. He wanted to torture him, give him hope and then mercilessly deprived of all, He wanted to make the other party wail, cry, scream in despair! He …

 

[…Uh, why don’t you run away?]

Chapter 105: Utopia (1)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

[Warning: Voyage speed has reached terminal velocity. Power source about to run out. Optimal solution search now in effect: locating leap coordinates for you].

In the cockpit, the red warning light flashed urgently and illuminated the destroyed metal interior in a blur of light and color.

[Failed to locate leap coordinates. Strong prismatic force field interference detected. Fuselage damage exceeding 35%, 35.6%, 36%…]

“…Shut up.” The young man in the pilot’s seat quirked his pale lips. The cloth in front of his chest was completely soaked with blood and he was only barely able to keep his head up by relying on the stiff, high-necked design of his black combat suit. “Find the weak point of the force field and prepare for a breakthrough!” 

His left arm already hung limply at his side, and swayed uncontrollably with the jerks of the ship’s fuselage, while his bloodstained right hand was firmly pressed on the cockpit’s processing core; veins bulging, muscles tense, ready to strike.

[Breaking through the force field will require 60% of the ship’s current energy reserves. The recoil of the energy turrets will further compromise the ship’s integrity. Are you certain you want to proceed?]

“…Yes!” There was another violent lurch, and the youth gritted his teeth, though there was blood everywhere. He growled, “Find that breach!” 

[After the energy turret fires, the ship will have a greater than 85% probability of disintegrating. Lifepod activated. Pilot, please prepare.]

The universe was dark, its vacuum cold and infinite. Dozens of Storm-class cruisers, like fierce wolves hunting for food, chased a small, delicate, and seemingly simple ship that looked like a commercial-grade ship, as they launched an almost frantic array of firepower to suppress it.

If the target of their pursuit was really just a commercial ship, then at that moment, it should have quietly broken into pieces, turned into a mess of scattered and disorderly cosmic garbage. However, the small ship was light and swift like a swallow as it maneuvered between frenzied hailstones; moving in and out freely. The small, powerful engine of the commercial ship not only didn’t slow down the pilot but instead became the best platform for him to show off his maneuvering skills.

With his almost textbook demonstration of evading fire, any great teacher of an interstellar academic white tower would surely rack their brains for ways to recruit such a talent, while any fleet captain would have to put in a good word for him, stay or go, then emptied the fleet’s coffers to entice him and keep him from wanting to leave.

Unfortunately.

The commander in pursuit, sneered instead. His vague regret was tinged with a kind of downright glee, as if a mediocre congregation of evils was inclined to rejoice at the fall of a genius.

Then he opened the comm system in anger and snapped, “Why haven’t we taken the traitor down yet?! His arm is ruined! Can’t you guys handle him?”

Through the comms, a subordinate’s anxious defense could be heard, “Commander, the traitor has already jumped the barrier and is planning to break through the prismatic force field. He’ll be blown up by his own ship in no time!” 

“Idiot! The Crown Prince’s orders were to try to take him alive!” The commander burst into a rage. “Stop him!” 

However, it was already too late. With a violent jolt, the tiny ship suddenly shot out blue-white energy spokes of light that flashed against the pressure of the force field at a fiery speed, and shoved it through to the other side of the force field with a loud bang.

After it struck that amazing blow, it surprisingly failed to fall apart. Then a decaying, obscure, leaping wormhole opened up right underneath the ragged ship.

It fell headlong into it, and the dozens of elite cruisers simultaneously swarmed inside in the next second, as they rushed into unknown coordinates in hot pursuit.

[Disintegration procedures are underway. It has been a pleasure to meet you on this trip, and I wish you the best of luck].

The flow of time in that space couldn’t be measured by universal standards. After an unknown amount of time, the bleak leaping wormhole opened abruptly, and spat out a tiny lifepod which started to drift speedily through the empty darkness. Immediately afterward, it seemed to be seized by an invisible gravitational force that pulled it in one direction by the front end at an even speed.

Behind it, the wormhole proceeded to expand rapidly, and like a swarm of sharks, the cruisers scuttled menacingly out of the vacuum. They skillfully arrayed themselves and eyed the tiny, dust-speck of a lifepod intently.

“Catch him and our mission is accomplished,” The commander said in a hushed voice. “Bring the traitor back to the Empire for a public trial!” 

His voice was certainly calm and steady, but his heart and mind were alive with exuberant dreams filled with a future of glory, wealth, and advancement. Capturing Gu Xingqiao was tantamount to getting entrance to the center of power in the Empire. Great merit, great fame…All of them would be waiting for him in the near future.

As he stared at the lifepod that was still moving away, gazing eagerly for a long time, he suddenly became aware of a bizarre problem.

— None of his subordinate non-commissioned officers had followed his instructions.

“Report…report commander,” Someone’s jaw dropped as they whispered, “What’s that??”

The man’s eyes finally broke their fixation on the floating lifepod. His pupils relaxed slightly as he lifted his eyes upward, and the sight in front of him was like being plunged into a tub of cold, biting snow, and threw him into uncontrollable chills.

Moving in the distance was a huge warship…No, that thing could not be described as huge. It was a country, a planet!

As a result of the transparent energy field that covered it, the ship’s data couldn’t be scanned by his cruiser’s AI, but the commander used his professional experience to estimate that the entire length of that gigantic ship was bound to exceed thirty kilometers. ¹ It was just like the eternal Great Wall of his country, lofty, vast and as immovable as a mountain.

However, even with the grandeur, its appearance was also extremely bright. The pearl-white paint was like moonlight. It had a metallic sheen, as if it was covered with the scales of a viper or a snow dragon. Even though years had passed, pulsating, living specks of light were still refracted through the numerous portholes and into the galaxy, as if there were still countless beings busy inside the enormous ship, serving a kingdom suspended in the void.

However, the commander knew in his heart of hearts that that was impossible.

After the Galaxy’s annihilation a thousand years ago, in what was known as The Battle of the Purge, humanity’s technological level had regressed by more than three stages. None of the existing interstellar forces would be capable of building such a magnificent, even horrifying warship.

As the elite guards of the Crown Prince’s private army, their warship was only “Storm” rank. As for the “Kunyu” ² class and “Styx” ³ class, both above the Storm, they were war machines that could only be called upon by the Imperial Council, while the highest level of warships that was currently known came from the Gamma Galaxy’s Alliance. It was called “Stella,” ⁴ when they used it, the Gamma Galaxy’s Alliance was even able to re-energize a dying star to serve as a hub for energy supplies.

How big was a Stella-class warship? 

According to available information, it was impossible for it to be more than thirty kilometers long.

The commander breathed in and out deeply, but he still couldn’t suppress his goosebumps. He said in a muffled voice, “…The remains of an ancient battlefield.”

That was right. This was definitely the remains of an ancient battlefield dating from The Battle of the Purge, and that giant ship was the crystallization of the Ancient Humans’ civilization.

His luck was just too good, so good that he thought he was dreaming. First Gu Xingqiao, and then an ancient battlefield ruin that was so perfectly preserved…with two such dazzling feats, he could absolutely take a step onto the Imperial Council and become the–

No, no. His horizons shouldn’t be so small. He envisioned how he could fully take this unoccupied giant ship for himself and open up a brand new, more powerful empire!

Many mixed and cluttered thoughts came back to him after a brief moment wandering off. The commander’s voice shook with excitement, “Record the coordinates of this place in detail first, then fish the traitor up!” 

“Yes!” 

His subordinates, likewise, realized what a heavenly opportunity it was. Their own breathing ragged as they operated the mechanical arms that came out of the underside of the warship in a neat and tidy manner. They moved towards Gu Xingqiao’s lifepod like swarming snakes.

Tentatively, they cut through the outer energy field, then carefully approached the fragile, capsule-like hull. Under the face of that magnificent and unmanufactured monolith, all of them couldn’t help but feel a greedy awe in their hearts.

Perhaps it was still alive. Perhaps the owner of that giant ship was still dormant in the inner core area. Perhaps after so many years, its energy still wasn’t exhausted…

Metal rubbed against metal, and a mechanical arm grasped their adversary’s only avenue of escape.

Success.

Just as they breathed a sigh of relief and planned to recover it, the energy field in front of the giant ship suddenly changed color with wash-like, pale blue splendor!

The commander was immediately stunned. In front of his eyes, the only thing that could be seen was a white wave, as powerful as thunder, that came from above and instantly engulfed the entire fleet.

Killing in the universe was always as quiet as moonlight falling on a lake. It descended silently, a river extinguishing a starry flame, and in an instant, the fleet melted entirely in that river, with not a single remnant left.

There was no wailing, no screaming, and no time to prepare dying words. That vacuum of silence and desolation returned to its previous state of stagnation.

–except for Gu Xingqiao’s lifepod.

Like a tiny, harmless speck of ash, it continued to drift slowly below the giant ship, oblivious to everything that had happened behind it.

.

Gu Xingqiao slowly opened his eyes.

He was lying flat on a floor so cold it could be a coffin. The only thing in front of him was a faint stream of circuits that made it clear what his situation was. He was inside a human technological creation.

Where am I?

His demeanor was quite calm, so calm that he could be mistaken as dead.

Have I been captured by Sissel?

Gu Xingqiao’s eyes didn’t blink. His gaze was cloudy and rigid, so that his light brown eyes seemed like two glass beads set in their sockets.

He lay still for a long time. His combat suit, though mutilated, still dutifully mended its wearer’s body. In the long silence, both the large and small wounds on Gu Xingqiao’s body gradually stopped bleeding. The penetrating wound on his chest was barely stopped from dripping. However, his left arm was much too broken, far beyond the limit of what the combat suit could handle.

He lay flat on his back, not speaking, not moving, just breathing weakly, and only blinking his eyes once in a while.

However, he wasn’t destined to lie there peacefully. In the darkness, there was suddenly a surge of electric light that randomly jerked Gu Xingqiao’s body. It avoided the vital points of the body, but seemed to only bring unbearable pain to the human body.

Gu Xingqiao was unprepared, and the sound of a cut-off huff squeezed out of his throat as intense pain swept through his entire body. The air was filled with the smell of charred and quenched flesh.

Of course, he had no intention of defending himself. He simply covered his crackling and burning wounds, then silently curled up his body against the aftermath of the pain.

A second bolt of electricity struck him straight in the back.

Gu Xingqiao still didn’t say a word. Cold sweat had already broken out, while his breathing began to get ragged. He was waiting, though he couldn’t tell what he was waiting for.

A third bolt of lightning, a narrow one across his jaw, caused the bloodstained fabric to flap, and Gu Xingqiao closed his eyes tightly as the fire in his heart, which had been silent for too long, boiled over and surged into his mind.

“Strange human.”

Finally, a voice as cold as steel and as firm as ice, eerily resounded in the air, its tone flat and without any ups and downs.

“Are you waiting to die, or is this your method of passive resistance?”

Gu Xingqiao was stunned, and he abruptly opened his eyes.

“You’re not Sissel,” he said in a hoarse tone.

The voice, however, didn’t care if he had misidentified it or not, merely instructed in a tone of boredom, “Climb up, man, and show me the ugliness of your escape. Perhaps I can keep you alive a little longer.”

This finally sparked some interest in Gu Xingqiao, even though his body was still burning hot from his new injuries. He asked in a low voice, “Who are you?”

“Get up, human. If you want to live, then struggle for me.”

The tone of the voice never changed. It didn’t sound like a living being, but the cold malice it displayed towards Gu Xingqiao revealed its curious intentions towards the living, and its desire to investigate.

The slight interest that had just risen in Gu Xingqiao instantly vanished into thin air.

“Do you think that you’re something special, huh?” The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and revealed a smile that could just be considered mocking. “Whatever you are, AI, intelligent life, alien goods that have neutered their emotional hubs…”

“Whatever.” Gu Xingqiao’s back teeth ground down slightly as he bit open the tube of poison buried in his chiseled teeth, then spat the capsule’s cytosol onto the ground.

“Fuck off, dumbass. Jizz by yourself.”

The deeper, heavier darkness came swiftly, and immediately enveloped him in a world where the pain was eliminated and betrayal, loss, humiliation and heartbreak were no more.

Gu Xingqiao didn’t have time to close, his eyelids froze in a half-closed state that revealed his lax pupils.