Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 100: Drifting Planet

I refused, "No. Let's think of a better idea. We can't sacrifice one life to save another. Let me think of something."

"I hope you can save us," said Lifu. He did not persist.

Fearless started circling the Adelanoid, which still had a gamma-ray burst spurting out of it.

"Team Leader, what is our next goal?" Dodo asked Zhang Xingxing.

"Should we look for a new home for these transparent little fellows?" Zhang Xingxing asked.

"Yes, we must. It won't do to have so many of them staying in our cargo bay. However, the new home should be safe and hidden from the Divine Empire. Otherwise, they might all end up captured by the imperial police," said Old Du.

"Don't we have two imperial policemen here? Can you keep the secret?" Zhang Bao'er asked Lifu.

"We only need one of them. As for what you do with the rest, we can back off from the operation," said Lifu.

"There is no need to act like that. We fought alongside each other, and an Eternal had sacrificed for the team. There is no need for us to doubt each other," I said.

"Master Crystal, is there a suitable planet in the Orion Constellation we can use to house these transparent creatures?" Zhang Xingxing asked.

"There are a lot of planets in the Orion Constellation. These transparent creatures are probably more suited for planets with low temperatures. But if we house them in the Orion Constellation, the emperor can probably find them easily," said Master Crystal.

"Then we'll go to different star systems to look for a suitable place," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Each planet has its own unique ecosystem. Introducing such a large number of powerful and new creatures to the planet might cause a collapse in the ecosystem," said Master Crystal.

That was right. It was not easy to find a suitable home for so many creatures. Everyone sank into silence.

"Master, do you still remember a planet in the Orion Constellation called Amoeba?" Lifu suddenly asked after a short silence.

"Yes, that reminds me. Amoeba is a drifting planet. About 25 years ago, it moved rather close to Planet Eternal. At the time, the empire activated the emergency contingency to blow up the planet if it got too close. Fortunately, nothing bad happened," said Master Crystal.

"Drifting planet? What is that?" Domo asked curiously.

"I shall give you a lesson and cure you of your ignorance," said Zhang Bao'er. "The drifting planets are also known as interstellar planets or orphan planets. Simply put, these planets do not orbit stars. They originally orbited their mother stars, but due to many reasons such as the gravity from other planets or celestial bodies, they were tossed out of their original orbit. Because of that, they started drifting randomly around the universe.

"A large majority of drifting planets become extremely cold worlds after separating from their stars. Naturally, some can still maintain some of their heat due to their geothermal activities."

"That's right. Planet Amoeba is a planet with basically a freezing atmosphere. Probes indicate that parts of the planet are still hot and that there's even a liquid sea. Furthermore, it does not have a proper orbit. Its temperature and characteristics make it the perfect place for these little fellows to live and hide," said Lifu.

"Good idea. But it was last sighted 25 years ago. We don't know where it is right now," said Master Crystal.

"No wonder I've never heard of it. I wasn't even born yet 25 years ago," said Domo.

"Does this planet travel in a fixed trajectory?" asked Zhang Xingxing.

"No. During its last sighting, it was heading toward Bellatrix, but a drifting planet will always move around randomly. We don't know if it is still moving in the same direction, especially after 25 years have passed," said Lifu.

"Twenty-five years is really not a long time for a celestial body and the universe. A drifting planet does not move at a fast pace either. We can calculate the potential current location of the planet based on its speed and trajectory 25 years ago to get a general area and search through scanning," said Old Du.

"Good idea. If we have the records of the astronomical observation in the Orion Constellation, we can use the gravitational microlensing method to observe the continuous changes of a specific area. Through this method, we will be able to find traces of this drifting planet," said Zhang Xingxing in excitement.

"What's the gravitational microlensing method?" Lifu asked.

"It's a method used by a physicist on Blue to observe distant celestial bodies that do not emit light. It's based on Einstein's general theory of relativity. When one star in the sky appears to pass in front of another, the light rays of the background source star become bent due to the gravitational "attraction" of the foreground star. The gravitational microlensing method allows planets to be found using light from a distant star. The path of the light from this star will be altered by the presence of a massive lens. Thus, for a short period of time, the distant star will appear brighter. Of course, this will only work when the two celestial objects are facing the observer in a straight line," explained Zhang Xingxing.

"I see. In the Divine Empire, this method is known as the Light-Cause Observational Technique. The celestial object in between the observer and the other celestial object will gather light at its edges, giving its edges greater illumination," said Lifu.

"Yes. As microlensing events are unique and not subject to repeat, if we can get reliable records of the astronomical observations during that period of time, we will be able to deduct the planet's current general location," said Zhang Xingxing.

"But we do not have the records. There is no chance we will be able to hack into the Interstellar League's database," said Zhang Bao'er.

"There is no need to hack. Use the system of our ship to access the Imperial College's database. I have the access password," said Lifu.

"Great! That will make things so much easier!" said Zhang Bao'er in joy.

"However, the Divine Empire is far weaker than the Interstellar League in terms of astronomical observation. I hope the data is actually helpful," said Lifu honestly.

Dodo immediately turned on Fearless' wireless network system, and Lifu started working on it. Shortly after, we entered the Imperial College's database. We started browsing through the astronomical pictures and records in the database.

The database was massive, and there was a large amount of information within it. In a well-practiced manner, Lifu set up proper search parameters before performing the search. The system indicated that the search would take eight hours.

"Everyone, return to your own rooms and get some rest. We will hold another meeting in eight hours after we get the search result," said Zhang Xingxing.

We all relaxed and returned to our respective rooms. While I walked, I saw Bulu, with an adhesive bandage stuck on its waist, hopped over to me.

'This little fellow seems to enjoy staying with me. Bulu, oh, Bulu, how should I solve the issue between you and Lifu?' I thought gloomily.

In my tiny room, I lay on the bed silently. Beside me, Bulu was also silently lying on its stomach. Through the cabin window, I could still see the gamma-ray burst from the Adelanoid. Behind it, the blue Bellatrix hovered indifferently. Looking at these celestial bodies which had existed for billions of years, I suddenly realized how miniscule a living organism was compared to them.

Under the gentle blue light of Bellatrix, I fell asleep without knowing it. My sleep was deep. The intense battles had led me to be physically and emotionally exhausted. My brain greatly needed a full rest. After waking up from deep sleep, I looked at the time and saw that it had been seven and a half hours.

"The search result will be out soon. I'll grab myself a meal first," I muttered to myself.

The moment I stood up, I saw Bulu and a doppelganger that looked exactly the same as it. I sat back up on my bed in shock.

"Am I seeing things? Is this an illusion?" I muttered doubtfully.

One of the two creatures saw me knocking my head in confusion and leaped onto my lap. Only then did I notice that there was a difference between the two. One had an adhesive bandage on it, while the other didn't have it. The pain when I bit my tongue confirmed that I wasn't in an illusion, but why were there two Bulu in front of me?

I lifted Bulu and asked, "Don't tell me you're capable of asexual reproduction. But why is your child the same as you?"

At that moment, I noticed something else. The other Bulu was still on the ground, and unlike the Bulu in my hands, it was rather inactive. Apart from the flowing substance in its body, it lay there completely still. I gave the second Bulu a scratch, but it merely slightly shifted its body before going back to sleep.

"Is this a clone Bulu created by itself?" I muttered.

Suddenly, a lightbulb lit up in my head. The dark clouds looming over my emotions cleared as I lifted the clone up and rushed to the cockpit in excitement. The real Bulu followed behind me with its usual hops.

"Lifu, Lifu, where are you?" I shouted before I even reached the cockpit.

"What is it? Why are you so excited?" Lifu and the others were in the cockpit waiting for the search result.

I handed the Bulu in my hands to Lifu.

"What? Is this little fellow unwell?" asked Lifu when he saw the sleeping Bulu.

Right at that moment, the Bulu behind me leaped onto my shoulder.

"Th-th-this, what is this? Did it procreate by itself?" Lifu asked in astonishment.

"No, this is not procreation. It had duplicated itself," I said.

"Is there a difference?" asked Zhang Bao'er from behind me.

"Yes. The duplicate is not an actual sentient life form. However, it is very helpful to us," I said in excitement.

"You mean to swap the real deal with a fake? Hahaha, Canyue, incredible!" Zhang Bao'er said in excitement as he immediately realized what I was up to.

I gave the clone to Lifu and started dancing hand in hand with Zhang Bao'er. Meanwhile, Lifu was completely confused, standing blankly with the clone in his hand.

"Foolish child, Canyue meant that you can use Bulu's clone to complete your mission," said Master Crystal.

Finally, Lifu's doubt was dispelled. He stood there, the clone still in his hands, and smiled in a silly manner. A joyful atmosphere enveloped the cockpit. Everyone laughed heartily as Zhang Bao'er and I clowned around with our dance.

"Alright, alright, stop. The search result is out."

I turned around and saw that Dodo had just projected the latest search result on the display screen.