Free Web NovelChapter 2672: Chapter 1805: Catalyst
Duanmu Huai admitted that when humans united towards a certain goal, they could unleash tremendous strength.
But he also knew that the human group was inherently complex, especially in the Lower City District, this filthy, dirty place filled with toxic fumes, where expecting everyone to work tirelessly like model workers was, well...
If this wasn’t inside the Eye of Fear, then Duanmu Huai might have been pleased to sign an extinction order as a gift for the Fat Governor, but now, he had a new idea.
But before that, Duanmu Huai needed to take a look at the "Dark Fortress."
Duanmu Huai, in the name of a Judge, borrowed an armored vehicle from the Fat Governor, who appeared to be worried.
"Great Judge, forgive my rudeness, but you really don’t need to go to such a place personally......"
"Whether it’s necessary is for me to decide, not you, Governor."
Duanmu Huai placed his hand on his Chainsaw Sword, gently tapping it to remind the fat man in front of him who was in charge here.
"But there...... Well, please be careful."
The Fat Governor wanted to say something but couldn’t, although he wanted to send a Planet Defense Team to accompany Duanmu Huai, the latter declined the gesture. He was well aware of the things hiding beneath those soldiers’ masks and didn’t want to worry about being shot in the back during his investigation.
Moreover, explaining to the Governor how his soldiers got taken out was too much trouble.
Duanmu Huai had no talent for making up stories.
Duanmu Huai drove the armored vehicle alone out of the city, heading towards the direction of the Dark Fortress. Fortunately or unfortunately, Duanmu Huai encountered no threats along the way. Everything was normal, except for the multiple times he dozed off from driving too long and almost drove into the ditch beside him.
Thank goodness the armored vehicle was quite robust.
By the time Duanmu Huai reached the "Dark Fortress," it had been ten hours later; it seemed a day on this planet was forty-eight hours long. So even though it was time for good children to go to bed according to the clock, the purple glow in the sky still illuminated the entire world, giving a surreal and eerie illusion.
But with this light, Duanmu Huai also clearly saw the last traces of the warship.
To be sure, the crash of this Battleship was evident. Standing atop a mountain, Duanmu Huai looked down, and not far from him, the Retributive Level Battleship was lying slanted on the ground. A long trench stretched behind it, and just by seeing this scene, Duanmu Huai could imagine what happened back then—a massive metal battleship broke through the clouds, entered the planet’s gravitational field, and the helmsman desperately tried to control the ship, maintaining balance as much as possible.
And his efforts paid off, as the battleship didn’t directly crash headfirst into the hard ground; instead, it skidded down like a plane making an emergency landing. Its sturdy bow easily sliced through thick soil and rock, leaving a trench several kilometers long, sprawling like a canyon to the horizon.
In the end, it stopped here, its bow crashing into the mountainside nearby.
Then there was the large-scale battle and escape.
Duanmu Huai descended the mountain path, advancing along the road that others had taken—there’s a saying, there is no path in the world, but walking creates it. Although this path was almost invisible, Duanmu Huai could still keenly capture its traces and advance along it.
They chose to leave the battleship instead of repairing it, and given the current situation, repairing it seemed almost impossible.
Duanmu Huai reached the end of the mountain path, where there was a dark, dim, wide-open steel door.
By the way, according to sensors and the Bird Divination Tool, there was no radiation or gas here at deadly levels.
Duanmu Huai passed through the steel door and entered the darkness.
The spotlight on his shoulder illuminated the dark corridor, as if this was the first ray of light here in centuries, yet this momentous event didn’t trigger any strange occurrences. Duanmu Huai gripped his Chainsaw Sword tightly, moving forward while scanning his surroundings.
There had been battles here, more than one.
The white bones scattered in the corridor proved this point. Judging from the clothes still attached to them, they were likely laborers or guards from the battleship. In any case, they seemed to have been fleeing, shooting backwards at something chasing them.
As for what that something was......
Duanmu Huai glanced at the skeletal remains lying by the side of the corridor, with a head shaped like an oblong winter melon, and looked away.
He wasn’t surprised at all. Clearly, something that shouldn’t have appeared on this battleship emerged, and for some reason, the monitors didn’t catch it—at least, not until it was too late.
But this still didn’t explain why the battleship "crash-landed" here. Honestly, if it had turned into a heap of scrap metal in the high-altitude orbit, it would have been more in line with Duanmu Huai’s expectations.
So, what exactly happened to this battleship?
Which Legion did it belong to?
As Duanmu Huai walked along, he hadn’t found what he was looking for inside; the battleship was rusted over, as if it were the remains of a decayed skeleton. Duanmu Huai even wondered if he might accidentally step through a hole in the floor. He kind of hoped, like in those sci-fi horror films, some monster would pop out to relieve his boredom.
Unfortunately, according to the Bird Divination Tool, other than Duanmu Huai, there were no other life signals here, not even a single bug.
But just as Duanmu Huai reached the middle part of the battleship, he found what he was looking for.
A large group of corpses.
Judging from the skulls, most are alien; they died suddenly, and from the way these bones are piled up, it doesn’t seem like they died from poison gas or a grenade explosion. Rather, they were torn apart by a sudden, explosive power. Although Duanmu Huai would like to say that Psychics possess such power, if they truly did, this ship would not have survived.
What wiped out these aliens?
Duanmu Huai reached out his hand, pressed the wall, closed his eyes, and began to read the ancient and primitive memories lingering here.
Soon, the flickering gunfire tore through the darkness.
Duanmu Huai could see two teams of identically dressed soldiers fighting each other in the corridor; there seemed to be no difference between them, it looked more like an internal strife or chaos. One side was quickly defeated while the other pressed their advantage, unleashing their firepower in the not-so-wide corridor, forming a dense firepower net that even a mosquito couldn’t fly through.
However, at this moment.........
"Dong---!"
A muffled bell sound pierced the tense air, echoing through the corridor. The sound carried a mix of indescribable anger and melancholy, transforming into a tangible powerful force that slammed the soldiers against the walls, even the sturdy metal walls were torn open by this bell sound.
"Dong---!"
The ground began to tilt, the two groups that were fighting were too preoccupied to deliver a final blow to each other; they barely managed to attack while relying on supports in the corridor. The corridor lights flickered on and off, showing that whatever the bell sound was, it brought inevitable, destructive impacts to the warship.
"Dong---!"
Then, the corridor began to shake, Duanmu Huai saw the crew swaying back and forth, like dolls, under the gravity, colliding violently; it was evident the warship was plummeting to the ground. The crew inside had nothing else to do but pray for The Emperor’s mercy.
More crew members couldn’t withstand the power of the bell sound; their bodies were crushed into pieces in the air by the echoing sound, leaving a blurred mess of flesh smeared on the corridor walls.
Eventually, amidst a thunderous roar, everything plunged into silence.
Duanmu Huai withdrew his hand and opened his eyes.
Yes, as expected, this warship clearly harbors some secret.
As for where the secret lies......that is the objective Duanmu Huai needs to search for.
So he moved forward.
To be honest, this journey was quite dull for Duanmu Huai; he enjoyed wandering in derelict ships, dispatching hidden aliens or unwitting space pirates, lurking cultists of the Evil God. But this ship was so clean as if it had been sanitized from top to bottom with high-temperature sterilization; Duanmu Huai doubted he could even find a bacterium here as an opponent.
Oh, there was still something to be found.
Duanmu Huai halted his steps.
In front of him, finally, was no longer a skeleton, but a decaying corpse, wearing worn protective clothing and a mask; this attire Duanmu Huai had previously seen in the Lower City District of that city. Combining the previous rumors, it was evident the identity of this corpse was about to be revealed.
Duanmu Huai crouched down and closely inspected the corpse; there were no external wounds. It was as if an ultrasonic hammer smashed all the parts that composed its flesh and blood into pulp from the inside, leaving not even the bones intact. The corpse now looked like a humanoid sausage; just tear the outer skin, and the blood and bones inside, now in liquid form, would flow out.
This was clearly not some weapon, only the result caused by Psychic force.
Duanmu Huai stood up.
What he sought lay just ahead.
"Boom."
Passing through the shattered metal door, Duanmu Huai collided with the scene inside the cabin; it was a cargo hold, where the goods were strewn about. There were valuables like jewelry metals, but Duanmu Huai was indifferent to them; his gaze straightly fixated on the shelf in the center of the cargo hold.
A huge bell hung from above.
It was larger than bells of the Mechanic Religion, embossed with symbols and patterns from the Imperial State Church, appearing ancient and sacred; even in the dim cargo hold, it seemed to be the only shining highlight.
Duanmu Huai’s lips slightly curved, revealing an eerie smile, and then he stepped forward, placing his hand on the bell’s surface, closing his eyes.
Subsequently, a figure appeared before Duanmu Huai, unclear yet distinctly clear.
"Honestly, I’m not surprised at all."
Duanmu Huai looked at the figure before him, grinned.
"But for you, wasn’t residing in a Holy Artifact you once deemed as fearful too undignified? Old bacon?"
