Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 264: Big Forest and Little Forest

"Even a Sacred Wing is imprisoned here? Are you for real?" said Zhang Bao'er in disbelief.

"Imagine injecting the mind of a Sacred Wing into a robot. Wouldn't the result be something unexpected?" asked the lion-faced beast.

"But the Sacred Wing race controls this place. How would they do that to their own people?" asked Old Du doubtfully.

"Like me, the imprisoned Sacred Wing had also objected to the policies of this project. From my superior, he turned into my supporter. But the two of us were not enough to stand against the brutal empire. We were promptly arrested, and he was the first Sacred Wing to be slated to have his mind injected into a robot," said the lion-faced beast.

"We understand what you're after. Where is that Sacred Wing? What should we call you?" I asked.

"I'm Big Forest. He's Little Forest. I'll be able to determine his position in a bit," said the lion-faced beast as he stepped forth and lifted the warden robot Old Du had left on the ground.

"Big Forest and Little Forest? Those must be the names they had given themselves," said Zhang Bao'er.

In a well-practiced manner, Big Forest pressed a switch on the robot. After working on it for a bit, a hologram projected out of the robot. The hologram displayed a view of the prison complex from above, and on one of the well-prisons was a blinking red dot.

With the holographic map, we were able to quickly pinpoint the well with the red dot. We started running and soon reached the highlighted well. We did as before and lowered a rope down. But this time, no matter how we shook the rope, no response came from below.

"This is bad. Maybe something had happened to that fellow. I need to go down myself and see if I can help him up," said Big Forest.

Looking at the dirty and tired Big Forest, Zhang Bao'er gestured at Big Forest to stop.

"Canyue, let me go. The Sacred Wings aren't big. If there's really one down there, I'll be able to easily carry him up," offered Zhang Bao'er.

"Bao'er, you need to be careful in case there are some other beasts down there," reminded Old Du.

"Approved. Watch out for your safety," I said with a nod.

With my permission, Zhang Bao'er moved out and slid down the rope into the well. Due to the lack of energy in our suits, our communication channel was off. We could only wait silently for the result.

"Old Du, did you use all the energy of your final energy amulet? Why didn't you recharge our communicators?" I asked.

"Bao'er said that we should keep the remaining energy for the next emergency instead of wasting it on our suits," said Old Du.

Zhang Bao'er's words made sense. I erased the thought of recharging our suits with the remaining energy in the amulet. At that moment, the rope held by Ada and Anxashe started swaying. That was probably Zhang Bao'er's signal.

The three in charge of pulling the rope worked together, pulling Zhang Bao'er up. Shortly after, Zhang Bao'er leaped out of the well with a scrawny fellow. He placed the fellow on the ground. An unconscious Sacred Wing lay before us.

Big Forest rushed forth and checked Little Forest's body. After a while, he looked up and said pleadingly, "This fellow fainted from hunger. Do you have energy cubes on you?"

Anxashe immediately took out a case from his backpack. Big Forest opened the case, revealing many cubes of the transparent high-energy food I had eaten while in the well. Big Forest grabbed five cubes and stuffed them into Little Forest's mouth. Little Forest's face swelled like a hamster, but it returned to normal shortly after. Evidently, his body was rapidly absorbing the energy in the cubes. A few minutes later, Little Forest slowly opened his eyes.

"Is this a dream? Am I still alive?" were Little Forest's first words after he opened his eyes.

"Yes, you're still alive and well. You had fainted from hunger, so I fed you five high-energy cubes," said Big Forest as he patted Little Forest with his dirty hand.

"Five high-energy cubes? Old Forest, are you trying to kill me? Why did you feed me so many at once?" exclaimed Small Forest.

"I was afraid it wouldn't be enough," said Old Forest with a grin.

"Let's stop here. We can't stay here for long. Let's leave this place first," I said. My instincts were telling me that danger was approaching.

"No, I can't take their smell anymore. Can we have them clean themselves in the warehouse first?" requested Zhang Bao'er, who was at his limits.

The others seemed to approve of his suggestion. I had no choice but to have Anxashe and Ada return to the warehouse with the pair. There, they would look for some water to clean themselves. Meanwhile, Zhang Bao'er, Old Du, and I returned to the prison complex's gate. Once again, Old Du started studying the gate.

About 30 minutes later, the others returned from the warehouse. It was unknown where Big Forest and Small Forest had cleaned themselves, but they looked completely different now. They looked glowing, and the stench on them was gone. I could hear Zhang Bao'er breathing out in relief beside me. The two were also carrying many devices that we couldn't recognize. It was clear the two had generously helped themselves to the supply in the warehouse.

"Take these communication devices. Install them on your clothes. They will ensure communication in a 10-kilometer range," said Big Forest as he handed each of us a button-like device.

We accepted the device and put it on. It was clear that during our time in the warehouse, we had been too focused on weapons and had missed out on other useful devices from a star-level civilization because we didn't know what else would be useful in the warehouse.

While we spoke, Old Du had continued working on the gate. When Big Forest noticed him, he walked up and took out something that looked like a probe. He inserted the probe into some holes on the gate, and after a while, the gate slowly slid open.

"Canyue, finding these two is like having fate itself helping us," said Zhang Bao'er in excitement.

"Yeah. Looks like the heavens have once again approved of our righteous cause," I replied.

"Big Forest, why are there so few guards here? We have only seen two lion-faced beasts so far," asked Old Du.

"You killed both of them, right? I saw the one inside the warehouse. I knew him. There are actually around 50 lion-faced guards here. I'm curious about their disappearance too. Also, the surveillance system of the entire prison complex has been turned off. Someone else must be helping you escape," said Big Forest, finally answering some of our questions.

"Where do you want to go? What is your mission target?" asked Little Forest.

"We're going to the worm colony brain. Do you know the location?" I replied.

"The worm colony brain? Why do you want to go there? That place is heavily guarded. Also, you won't be able to communicate with the brain anyway. Only Sacred Wings at the venerable rank or above can do it," said Little Forest, curious.

"You don't need to worry about that. Since we saved the two of you, you'll lead us to the brain as repayment. If you do so, I'll be able to help you end the barbaric practices here," I said firmly.

This was probably Little Forest's first time being spoken to in such a tone by someone of an inferior civilization. He wasn't quite used to it, but he was also much better than Temo because he wouldn't get mouthy. He merely nodded in response.

"Since we already have a target, please show the way," invited Old Du politely.

"Let's leave first," said Big Forest as he took the lead to step through the gate.

The sky was still dark outside, so Big Forest turned on his flashlight. We followed closely behind him while carefully scanning our surroundings. After about 10 minutes, we reached a large square. In the darkness, numerous black silhouettes could be seen. It was unclear what they were.

Suddenly, Big Forest stopped walking. With his flashlight, I noted with joy that we had arrived before a flying vehicle. Big Forest opened the door in a well-practiced manner and invited us in.

The flying vehicle was small. Apart from the cockpit and the storage room, there was also a command room. Despite its size, it still gave us a sense of security. At the very least, hiding inside a flying vehicle was much safer than standing exposed out in the open.

"This vehicle is my personal safe house. You can safely hide here. The worm colony brain is very far away. The Black King Base's worm colony brain is the commander of all the different parts of the superweapon. Thus, the security there is strict. A perfect plan is needed to reach the brain without proper clearance," said Big Forest.

We all relaxed upon hearing that this was a safe house. We slumped onto the seats and started resting.

"Who are you? Why do you want to reach the worm colony brain? How can I be sure that you're not here to destroy the entire planet? Since we still have some time, before coming up with an action plan, I hope you can tell me the truth," requested Little Forest.

"Zhang Bao'er, this is your favorite part. You tell him," I said.

Zhang Bao'er appeared excited to be given an opportunity to talk. He did not hesitate to start telling an exaggerated version of our experiences since Jupiter II. While the two Forests were listening to the story in excitement, I slowly fell asleep.