Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 240: Worm Colony Brain

Anxashe's nervous voice caused me to be nervous as well. The exhaustion from a prolonged state of fleeing had turned my emotions fickle. Nevertheless, I still needed to face reality, so I followed Anxashe to the main door of the soundproof sand warehouse. I lay down on the ground and looked outside through a small gap in the door.

It was bustling outside, and all the beasts we had seen earlier could be seen outside. There were a lot of them. Some sort of odd-looking crawlers with two feelers could be seen. They were moving out of a different warehouse and were heading toward a large transport vehicle.

To the front of the large transport vehicle was a gigantic single-horned beast that was most likely in charge of pulling the vehicle. The feeler crawlers climbed up the wheel of the vehicle before entering the vehicle.

"What the hell is this? Why do they look so disgusting, and what are they doing in that vehicle?" muttered Zhang Bao'er, who had come beside me without me realizing it.

"It looks like a transport vehicle. They are carrying these crawlers somewhere. Maybe they're working on beast breeding or power generation or something similar," I said, unable to answer Zhang Bao'er.

"Follow this vehicle, and you will reach the place you want to go," Temo suddenly said.

"What? You mean this vehicle's destination is the super weapon's core production area?" I asked.

"Yes. It's heading right where you want to go," said Temo.

"This is great, Canyue! We can just follow it. It's like the heavens are helping us!" said Dodo in joy. They had been following Temo closely.

Zhang Bao'er rolled his eyes and said, "The security outside is very strict. How are we supposed to get on that vehicle?"

"Temo, what are those feeler crawlers? Also, why are they climbing onto the transport vehicle?" I asked prudently.

"These crawlers are the main components of the super weapon's core. They will form the main genetic component of the super weapon's brain," said Temo, giving me an unbelievable answer.

"What? These shitty crawlers are meant to serve as a brain? There are so many of them. How big will the brain be?" asked Zhang Bao'er, alarmed.

"These are not shitty crawlers. These are among the most intelligent life forms in the universe, the pulp worms. They can be used to form a brain crystal, granting one the ability to think. They are among the main materials when it comes to constructing something intelligent," said Temo with derision.

"It might look like there are a lot of these pulp worms here, but a brain formed by them will still be small when compared to the super weapon's size," said Dodo.

"Stupid," was all Temo said after Dodo's explanation.

Instantly, the roar of a beast came from outside the door. I turned my attention back outside and saw that the transport vehicle was slowly moving forward.

"Shit! The vehicle is already moving. We won't be able to follow them," said Zhang Bao'er anxiously.

There was nothing I could do about this. There were even more of the spider beasts than the giant paw worms outside. They were patrolling everywhere, and it would be tantamount to suicide if we left the building in this situation.

I turned around and asked, "Temo, the vehicle is leaving. What should we do now? Do you have a way for us to get on that vehicle?"

"We definitely won't be able to get on this vehicle, but we can wait until it's dark. We might have the chance to get on one of the other vehicles," replied Temo in an unhurried manner.

"What? You mean there are more of these transport vehicles?" exclaimed Zhang Bao'er.

"These vehicles are meant to work all day long. One after another, they will keep going without stopping," said Temo. The roar of a single-horned beast rang out.

I hurriedly turned around to look outside. Sure enough, another single-horned beast had appeared, dragging an empty transport vehicle behind it. It stopped at the same spot where the previous vehicle had stopped, and before long, a group of pulp worms started climbing into the vehicle.

"Great Temo, you have once again awed me with your teachings. I understand now. With the speed these vehicles are moving, and with the unending stream of them, this super weapon's brain will definitely not be small. It might even occupy a large part of the weapon itself," said Dodo, understanding why Temo had called them stupid.

"Stupid. Still stupid." Surprisingly, Temo still showed the same disdain for Dodo.

"Out with it, dwarf. Don't just call us stupid. How about you convince us with facts?" said Zhang Bao'er, who was becoming agitated yet again.

"That's why inferior life forms like you will not be able to grasp the depth of a star-level civilization. You have so many questions. At this rate of transportation, no matter how big the brain is, it will still reach its maximum capacity one day. Since the transportation does not cease, that can only mean that there is a sort of cycle, one that will keep exhausting these materials," said Temo.

"Great Temo, can you tell us more?" asked Dodo, who was still confused.

"Sigh. Truly an inferior civilization," said Temo. "The brain is alive. The pulp worms are the fuel of its thought. How much energy will an active brain need? Therefore, these pulp worms will be used up at a rapid rate. Only a constant replenishment can support the brain's operation," said Temo, finally giving an explanation that we understood.

"The brain is already operational? What is it thinking about if it's active at all times?" asked Old Du prudently, worried that the brain would be plotting the demise of the universe.

"At my level, I don't have the clearance to know what the brain is thinking about. Only those ranked venerable and above among the Sacred Wing race are cleared to establish thought communication with the brain powered by the pulp worms. Peasants like you shouldn't worry your brains about this. It is said that the thoughts fueled by the pulp worms are even related to the Creator," said Temo. Every word he spoke was akin to the sharpest of knives, stabbing right into our hearts.

"If this fellow is telling the truth and the transportation is unceasing, it will be safer for us to attempt boarding a vehicle at night," said Old Du, bringing us back to our initial topic.

"Dodo, how long are we from nightfall?" I asked.

After giving it some thought, Dodo said, "Based on the trajectory of the three stars, we still have eight Blue hours."

"Eight hours. That is still a long time away. We might as well take a nap before that," said Zhang Bao'er as he stretched lazily.

Old Du agreed. "True. The scouting party is already exhausted. The soundproofing sand in this room will be perfect to hide any noise we might make. We'll take a rest here."

"Alright. Everyone, go deeper into the warehouse and take a rest. The soundproofing sand will also be perfect to cover Zhang Bao'er's snoring," I said.

Following my order, the team went to the central area of the sand warehouse and started resting. Some sat down and ate while some went directly to sleep. I suddenly noticed that Temo was speaking softly into Dodo's ear. Dodo nodded and stood up, following Temo to the hidden door we had used to enter this warehouse.

Anxashe, alert, also saw them, and he followed them with his bow and arrow raised. I had just lain down, so I couldn't be bothered to move. I believed that Temo wouldn't be able to try anything with Anxashe around.

Suddenly, the chubby laborers started making their gurgles. It was rather ear-piercing with more than 10 of them making the noises together. At first, I was alarmed because I was afraid that the noise would attract our enemies. But when I saw how calm everyone else was, I recalled that no noise in this room could spread to the outside.

"These fellows seem to be making some sort of prayer, as if they were a choir or something," said Old Du with melancholy upon seeing the scene that truthfully looked tragic.

"So apart from the beasts, there are also laborers on these beast planets. There are also numerous types of beasts performing different tasks. Life as a savior is truly not easy," muttered Zhang Bao'er to himself.

While we were chatting away, Dodo, Temo, and Anxashe returned.

"Dodo, what did you do earlier? Why are you acting all sneaky?" asked Zhang Bao'er impatiently.

"I managed to learn it! I learned it!" muttered Dodo in excitement instead of answering Zhang Bao'er.

"Hey, do you need me to hit your head for you to return to normal?" asked Zhang Bao'er, unhappy that he was ignored.

"Anxashe, what happened?" I asked when I saw Dodo muttering like a madman.

"To prevent the pursuing beasts from reaching this place, Temo shifted the space behind the door," said Anxashe. He looked as excited as Dodo.

"Shifting the space? You mean the enemies pursuing us have been sent to a different dimension?" I asked.

"You think too much, inferior being. Without an energy source, how is dimensional displacement possible? I had merely adjusted the space among the many parallel realities to shift the building three realities away," said Temo with his usual disdain on his face.

One ought to admit that Temo's words had sufficiently taught us the difference between our levels of technology. We were all rendered speechless. The period of eight hours was quite long. After sitting silently for a few minutes, I felt my eyelids getting heavy. And just like that, I fell asleep.

After an indeterminate amount of time, I woke up from Zhang Bao'er's snoring. The sleep had been a deep one, and I had recovered considerably from my exhaustion. All around me, the others were still deep in sleep. I slowly sat up and noticed that Temo had vanished. Dodo was also missing.

I hurriedly stood up and looked around. It seemed to have become dark outside. I checked the time and noted that all of us, including the laborers, had been sleeping for eight hours. Temo's disappearance caused me to feel some unease. He had even vanished with his worshiper, Dodo.

I started scanning the warehouse with my laser probe. But the soundproofing sand provided too big an interference, so my scans weren't exactly accurate. With the sand around, I also couldn't hear more than 10 meters away. Thus, I decided to wake up Anxashe. He was, after all, our best scout.

"Anxashe, wake up. Temo and Dodo have gone missing. I don't know where they went," I said as I shook Anxashe's sturdy body.

Anxashe was instantly wide awake when he heard of Temo's disappearance.

"Canyue, you mean the two of them vanished?" clarified Anxashe with his eyes opened wide.

"Yes. This warehouse is too big, and I can't hear too far away. I think we need to split up and search around. We will use our flashlights to signal if anything is found. After all, light still works normally here. Also, it is already dark outside. We need to find the two and get moving," I said.

The two of us split up. As I searched, I slowly moved to the left side of the warehouse.