Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 99: Heroic Sacrifice

"Adelan, you're injured. Just focus on resting. We will get you home," Lifu said.

"Squad Leader, let me go. I know how my injuries are. Also, nobody here is more familiar with the Pointed Snake than me. This is my destiny," said Adelan.

'I did not expect to see such a heroic individual among the Eternals,' I thought to myself. Adelan's words caused me to change how I viewed the Eternals as a race.

"No, brother. You're already injured. You can't take this mission," Lifu disagreed.

"Leader, the Pointed Needle is highly radioactive. I can no longer recover from my injuries. There is no need to sacrifice someone healthy," Adelan said firmly.

The mood turned sorrowful. Adelan's words were reasonable. He was the best choice. However, nobody could bring themselves to make that decision.

"Team Leader, the monster seems to be trying to escape the planet," said Dodo in astonishment.

Everyone looked out the window and saw the outline of a pair of wings taking form on both sides of the monster.

"Stop hesitating. Carry the Pointed Snake into the life pod. We're running out of time!" Adelan roared.

"Snow, you have the chest containing the Pointed Snake, right?" Lifu asked.

"Yes, it's right beside me," answered Snow.

"Can anyone show us the way to the life pod? Let us warriors of the Divine Empire shoulder this burden." Lifu finally agreed to Adelan's request, likely due to the fact that he couldn't think of a better choice.

"Dodo and Old Du, feel the way around and lead them to the life pod," Zhang Xingxing commanded.

Everyone worked silently. I could hear the sounds of people walking toward the life pod on the bottom level of the ship.

"Brother, we will be relying on you. We will take care of your family," Lifu's voice came from the communicator a few minutes later.

"It has been my honor to fight alongside so many warriors. Please tell my loved ones and brothers that I love them," said Adelan.

The sounds of the life pod detaching from the ship rang out. With the Pointed Snake, Adelan approached the dark planet below us.

"Give me the address of his family. I will donate some money to them to express my gratitude," said Domo, who was surprisingly melancholic.

"Farewell, my brother," said Lifu, choking with emotions.

"Dodo and Dondon, prepare the ship for departure," Zhang Xingxing commanded.

"Roger. Fearless will be activating the space travel mode," Dodo replied.

The ship immediately accelerated as the engine roared, carrying us farther away from the planet's ground. As we left, I saw the monster finish the formation of its wings. It flapped its wings, trying to adapt to using them.

'We'll be relying on you, brother. You can't let this monster escape,' I thought inwardly.

Fearless continued accelerating, finally leaving the planet's dusky atmosphere. The instant we charged out, light returned to the ship. However, everyone was wallowing in grief, and nobody was celebrating this escape from death. I could see that even Zhang Bao'er's eyes were misty.

"Warriors, I'm in position. The Pointed Snake will be detonated in five minutes. Farewell, my companions," Adelan's last words came from the communicator.

Fearless floated above the dusky zone, and we all stared silently at the darkness below us. We could see nothing, but we were aware that a heroic sacrifice was going to unfold before our eyes.

Abruptly, a yellowish-green beam shot out of the void alongside a deafening rumble. Before long, the yellowish-green beam was running through the entire planet, piercing out from two sides of the planet in the form of berserk rays.

"This looks quite like a gamma-ray burst," said Old Du.

"Looks like Adelan had succeeded. The Pointed Snake had blown the monster's brain apart. Because of that, it lost control over the energy in its body, and now the energy is running berserk," said Lifu.

"I did not expect a life form to be able to produce the effects of a gamma-ray burst. Just how terrifying is this monster?" Dodo remarked.

"As a show of respect for Adelan's heroic action, I think we should rename this newly discovered celestial object from grayroid to Adelanoid," Zhang Xingxing suggested.

Everyone agreed. And thus, the invisible celestial object bursting with gamma rays became a new astronomical monument that served as a reminder of Adelan's heroic sacrifice. Looking at the intensely spraying streams of particles, I understood that the spraying would probably persist for tens of thousands of years. This might probably be the best way Adelan could be remembered.

The period from when we landed on the Adelanoid and escaped felt like a lifetime ago. Now that I was suddenly not surrounded by danger anymore, my entire body relaxed, and I collapsed weakly onto the ground.

Suddenly thinking of something, I sat up and asked, "Buluwhere's Bulu and the other creatures? How are they?"

"Canyue, can you still walk? If you can, come with me," Zhang Xingxing said.

A new burst of strength came out of nowhere, helping me stand and follow Zhang Xingxing to the ship's cargo bay. When the door opened, I was stunned. It was filled to the brim with over a thousand transparent dark green creatures. When they saw me, their feelers were aimed in my direction.

"Th-this? Why are all of them here? They even changed colors?" I asked in astonishment.

"When we went to pick you guys up, these little fellows charged into the ship the moment the door opened. Old Du told us to not stop them and to let them retreat with us," said Zhang Xingxing.

A fellow that was partly shining red hopped before me and touched my leg with its feeler.

"Bulu, you're fine? That's great to see!" I said in joy.

Bulu's body was mostly dark green in color. I guessed that the change in temperature was most likely the cause. These fellows had been living in an extremely cold environment for many years.

I bent down, lifted Bulu with both my hands, and brought it close to my face. In this new environment with a higher temperature, Bulu actually felt moist when it touched my face. Its body was no longer ice-cold like before, having become the same temperature as the room.

"Canyue, the little fellow in your hands seems to be injured. Take it to Amethyst for a checkup," Zhang Xingxing said.

"Yes, you're right. We should also let the other creatures rest," I nodded quickly.

Placing Bulu on my shoulder, I followed Zhang Xingxing back to the cockpit. There, the others were in an intense discussion.

"Yo, Canyue, you got yourself a new pet? Let me see," said Zhang Bao'er cheerfully when he saw Bulu.

"Bulu is not just a toy. Be careful lest it controls your brainwaves," I said.

That scared Zhang Bao'er enough to shut his mouth. I handed Bulu to Amethyst to have its injuries looked over, and then I joined the discussion.

"So were the scenes we saw actually real or were they illusions? I honestly can't tell anymore," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Part illusions, most likely. We concluded before that Bulu's brain wave manipulation was not powerful enough to make all of us head to the tunnel," said Master Crystal.

"I remember that after the yellow monster dropped into the tunnel and created a massive explosion, I was struck unconscious by some big object while trying to save Bulu," I said.

"No, that's not the case. Your brainwaves were struck by a super powerful energy attack," Master Crystal said.

"How are you so sure? Are you saying that everything we saw there was an illusion?" I asked.

"Yes. What we saw were actually illusions created from the manipulation of our brainwaves. The light on these creatures is not supposed to be able to overcome the Adelanoid's gravitational force. Thus, we actually weren't supposed to see the light their bodies emanated," said Master Crystal.

Everyone found the entire thing inconceivable.

"The monster's so-called explosion was actually the final exchange of brainwave attacks between the monster and the mother beast. All of us fell unconscious at that time, and I was the first to wake up," said Master Crystal.

"Yeah, we woke up one by one later, but the world around us was completely dark. I couldn't see anything at all when Zhang Xingxing's voice came from the communicator," said Old Du.

"Everyone was found, with Canyue being the only one missing. Now I understand why. To save Bulu, Canyue gave up on protecting his own head, so he was struck heavily, resulting in a longer period of unconsciousness," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Yeah, you need to thank Zhang Bao'er, Canyue. He believed firmly that you were alive. At that time, Lifu was in a rush to return and seek treatment for Adelan. Bao'er was the one insisting to keep searching, extending the search from 3 hours to 24 hours. At that point, everyone was losing hope, but Zhang Bao'er still believed that you were alive," ZhangXingxing said.

I gave Zhang Bao'er a look of gratitude. In moments of crisis, my brother would still be more reliable.

"Canyue, apologies. At the time, I was worried about Adelan, so I kept urging everyone to end the search and return early," Lifu walked over and apologized to me.

"Don't say that, Lifu. I understand your reason. Also, don't forget that an Eternal had actually made a major sacrifice this time," I said.

"I have a question," Zhang Bao'er interrupted the awkward exchange.

"What is it this time?" Domo asked.

"If the light these creatures emit is a cold light that we can't see with just our naked eyes, how about the yellowish-green beam at the end? All of us saw that. Was it possible that all of us were still looking at illusions at that time?" Zhang Bao'er asked.

"Bullshit. Sure, you might be sleepwalking or something, but I was definitely fully aware," Domo said.

"You might be a hologram or some projection. Come, let me check your pockets and see if there are any treasures inside. If there aren't any, then you must be fake," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Dream on!" Domo quickly covered his pockets.

In fact, Zhang Bao'er's words were actually rather reasonable. I could see everyone instinctively rubbing their own heads and looking at their own shadows. I also gave my tongue a bite to confirm that I could still feel pain.

"I believe Bao'er is reasonable. Then again, our entire situation only serves to prove how magical the universe is," said Master Crystal.

"Master, what do you think?" Old Du asked.

"This planet hides many secrets. The fragments of a star's core granted it powerful gravity, resulting in the lack of light and in nothing being able to leave the planet. However, the yellow monster had one option. It could devour the mother beast of Bulu's race, take her energy for itself, and gain the chance to leave," said Master Crystal.

"If that was the case, why didn't the mother beast keep hiding? Why did it keep sending its children to their deaths?" Zhang Bao'er asked.

"Brother Bao'er, that is a wise question. It's also what I believe is the most profound part of this situation. The yellow monster wanted to devour the mother beast and leave the hellish planet, but that was also the case for the mother beast," said Master Crystal.

Everyone came to a realization.

"In other words, Bulu and the others were merely cannon fodder? As for the final creature we saw, we aren't even sure if that was actually the monster or if it was the mother beast," said Old Du.

"Exactly. The two monsters had been competing for hundreds of millions of years. Each wanted to devour the other, and only by their combination would they be able to create the effects of a gamma-ray burst, producing enough power to leave the planet," said Master Crystal.

"The power of a gamma-ray burst is enough to overcome the gravitational force of this dark planet," said Dodo.

"Therefore, we did see the monster's actual body, and we're not currently in an illusion?" said Zhang Bao'er in joy.

"Like I said, you're sleepwalking," said Domo with a sneer.

"Watch your mouth, dwarf!" Zhang Bao'er raged and was once again pressed down by Old Du.

"Did Bulu and the others get on Fearless by themselves?" I asked.

"Yes. They rushed in the moment the door opened. In the darkness, I was able to feel their soft bodies. I had the team leader let them in because I didn't want to make them stay on that hellish world," Old Du said.

"These fellows are quite magical. They're able to adjust to the temperature change so quickly," said Master Crystal.

We all clicked our tongues in amazement.

"We already made such a major sacrifice. Now that you have so many of these creatures here, can we have one to complete the mission given by the emperor? If not, even our families will be dragged down with us," Lifu suddenly asked.