socalfunplaces Page 226
Page 226
"Lin Ye! We've been ambushed! It's an advanced bionic robot in disguise!" Number 18's voice came through the communicator, mixed with the roar of energy cannons and the crisp sound of metal clashing, making everyone on the ship tense.
"Withdraw! I'll provide backup immediately!" Lin Ye ordered immediately. "Xi, provide cover with the ship's guns and attack the outer perimeter of the stronghold, but don't hurt 18 and the others! Vegeta, come with me!"
The "Star Shuttle" instantly deactivated its cloaking ability, and its cannons hummed as they charged. Two beams of red light shot out towards the perimeter of the stronghold. "Boom! Boom!" Two loud explosions rang out, and dust and debris flew everywhere, temporarily obscuring the robot's vision.
Vegeta, who had been unable to contain himself any longer, smashed through the hatch upon hearing the order. His deep blue aura erupted, transforming him into a golden light as he charged down, laughing wildly, "Finally, a worthy opponent! You piece of junk, watch how I dismantle you!"
Lin Ye followed closely behind, his variable engine fully activated, his body enveloped in white light, moving so fast that he left afterimages as he rushed towards the stronghold.
On the ground, Android 18 and Trunks were forced against the iron cage, back to back, defending themselves. Trunks' sword had several nicks, and Android 18's energy cannon had lost much of its power from continuous firing. Just as one of the robots raised its gun to shoot Trunks in the back, a golden light suddenly crashed down!
"Bang!" Vegeta punched the robot on the head, the metal shell instantly dented, and the robot's head was smashed into its chest cavity, causing it to fall straight down. He turned around and kicked another robot away, the deep blue aura sweeping across, causing the surrounding robots to take a half step back.
"You two, get back!" Vegeta roared, gathering energy in his fists as he charged into the pile of robots, the clanging of his fists hitting the metal echoing around him.
Lin Ye then charged straight at the leader robot. Judging from the battle just now, this robot had the strongest command ability. If he took it down, the others would probably fall into chaos.
But just as he rushed forward, the leader robot suddenly turned its head, the blue light in its eyes flashing to its maximum: "Analysis of target... Energy signature matches Primal Foundation Stone holder... Priority raised to the highest!" It actually abandoned the siege of Number 18, and all its weapons... the energy cannons on its arms, the missile pods in its chest, and even the laser eyes on its head, locked onto Lin Ye at the same time!
"Damn it!" Lin Ye's heart tightened. His variable engine instantly calculated all the trajectories, and his body flashed like a ghost... The energy cannon on the left grazed his waist, and the laser eye on the right struck the spot where he had just stood, blasting a small crater. Using the momentum from his dodge, he instantly closed in on the leader robot, his right hand enveloped in white light, and slammed it hard into its chest!
With a muffled thud, the robot's chest armor caved in, sparks crackling as it did not fall. Instead, it suddenly reached out and grabbed Lin Ye's arm! The force was astonishing; Lin Ye felt as if his bones were about to be crushed! Immediately afterward, the robot's chest armor snapped open, revealing a dark red energy core inside. The core was turning red at a visible speed, and the energy fluctuations were growing stronger and stronger!
"Target cannot be destroyed... Initiating mutual destruction procedure!" The mechanical voice remained completely calm. "Let's perish together!"
At the critical moment, a beam of red light shot precisely from the sky, striking the connection between the energy core and the body! It was the "Star Shuttle" main cannon controlled by Xi!
"Boom!" The energy core instantly overloaded and exploded, shattering the robot's upper body into fragments that flew everywhere. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin Ye broke free from its grasp, jumped back, and avoided the aftershocks of the explosion.
Without their leader in command, the remaining robots visibly slowed down for a second. In that split second, Vegeta charged forward, smashing the cores of two robots with both fists. Android 18's energy cannon also regained its power, and a beam of white light pierced the head of the last robot. Trunks then severed its legs with a sword, leaving it paralyzed on the ground.
The battle was finally over, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, though their expressions weren't much better. Trunks kicked the wreckage of the robot on the ground, still shaken: "It was the Watchers again... They even managed to infiltrate a crappy place like Zeta-73? They're keeping a close eye on us!"
Lin Ye crouched down and picked up a chip left behind by the leader robot. A tiny pattern was engraved on the chip: an eye surrounded by stars, exactly the same as the mark he'd seen in the Silent Zone. He held the chip, his brow furrowing. "It seems our movements have been under their surveillance ever since we left the Silent Zone. The Seventh Generation… I'm afraid we really can't go."
“You…you’re not in cahoots?” a trembling voice suddenly rang out. Everyone turned to look. It was the gray-haired old miner in the iron cage. He leaned out, his eyes filled with confusion and fear. “Those people…were they sent by the ‘people with the eye-marked eyes’? They came a few days ago, asking if we had seen anyone carrying the ‘glowing stone’…”
Lin Ye's heart skipped a beat. The "glowing stone" the old miner mentioned was most likely referring to the foundation stone. He was about to ask further when he suddenly heard Xi's voice from the "Star Shuttle," her tone urgent: "Lin Ye! Something's wrong! The detector has detected a large amount of energy signal approaching! It's the Observer's fleet!"
Chapter 485: The Miners' Intelligence
Lin Ye and the others turned to look at the cell. The iron cage was crammed with more than a dozen people, including men, women and children. They were all dressed in rags, their faces were sallow and thin, and their eyes were full of fear, yet they also had a glimmer of hope, as if they had grasped at the last straw.
“We’re not space pirates,” Trunks stepped forward, his sword flashing as he flicked the chain against the cage with his sword tip. With a snap, the chain broke. “We came after receiving a distress signal. Are you all alright?”
As soon as the iron cage door opened, the people inside hesitated for a moment before slowly inching their way out. An elderly miner with gray hair, supported by a young man beside him, walked out shakily and bowed repeatedly to Trunks: "Thank you... thank you so much! We thought we were going to die this time!" He said, his voice trembling, "Those monsters suddenly broke in a few days ago, killed all the space pirates who were guarding this place, and then disguised themselves as space pirates... were they waiting for you to come?"
"Waiting for us?" Lin Ye seized on the key point and took a step forward to ask, "You knew we would come?"
The old miner quickly shook his head, his wrinkles crinkling together: "I don't know, I really don't know! But yesterday evening, the leader of those monsters received a communication. We were hiding in the cage and vaguely heard a few words... something about 'the target has entered the area,' 'proceed with the 'bird-catching' plan,' and the clearest one was 'the coordinates of the seventh generation have been projected'..."
"They deliberately placed the seventh-generation coordinates there!" Xi's voice came through the communicator immediately, sounding urgent. "I knew those coordinates were off; it turned out to be bait from the start!"
Lin Ye and Xi exchanged a glance, their suspicions finally confirmed. No wonder the coordinates kept jumping around and they couldn't find the source of the interference. It was a trap set by the observers, just waiting for them to fall into the seventh generation.
"Did they say anything else?" Lin Ye pressed, his tone more urgent than before. "Like what's in the Seventh Generation, or what they're planning to do?"
The old miner frowned, trying hard to recall, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the hem of his clothes: "It seems... they also mentioned 'tomb' and 'guardian'? They said 'that place is an ancient trap, once you go in, you won't get out,' and another sentence... 'the real key isn't there'...that's all I remember, I was too scared at the time to listen to anything else."
The tomb? The guardian? The real key?
These words swirled in Lin Ye's mind like fragments. When pieced together, the more he thought about it, the more something seemed wrong... It seemed that there was no "Hidden Dragon" base in the Seventh Generation at all; it was just a deadly trap. The Observer not only knew about this but also deliberately used "Hidden Dragon" as a cover to try to wipe out these "sparks" in one fell swoop.
Number 18 also asked, "Have you heard of the 'Seventh Generation' or the 'Hidden Dragon'? Even if it's just a rumor."
The miners looked at each other, then shook their heads. An old miner sighed, “We’re just the lowest-level miners, spending our whole lives working in the mines. We only occasionally hear passing merchants spouting interstellar rumors. I’ve heard of the ‘Seventh Generation,’ supposedly an ancient star system that holds secrets from before the great cosmic chaos, but nobody knows exactly where it is, and nobody dares to go there. ‘Hidden Dragon’… I’ve never heard of that name.”
It seemed that no further information could be obtained from these miners. Lin Ye looked up at the sky. The days in Zeta-73 were very short, and it was already starting to get dark. The mining rigs in the distance looked like ghostly shadows in the gloom, which was a bit creepy.
"Do you have any usable spaceships?" Lin Ye asked. "We'll leave you some supplies. You should leave here quickly. The Observer's fleet may arrive soon, and it's not safe to stay here."
The old miner's eyes lit up, and he nodded quickly: "Yes! There's a dilapidated transport ship hidden in the back of the mine tunnel. It can still fly! It just lacks energy..."
"Xi, bring down a few spare energy blocks," Lin Ye said into the communicator, then turned to the miners, "We'll replenish your energy. Once you have the supplies, leave quickly and don't go into inhabited star systems. The observers are watching closely."
Trunks had already gone with the robots sent down by Tide to retrieve supplies, while 18 stood guard nearby, glancing at the distant sky from time to time—Tide had just said that they had spotted the Observer's fleet, although it hadn't arrived yet, but who knew if it might suddenly appear.
Vegeta leaned against a nearby abandoned minecart, arms crossed, watching the miners bustling around, muttering to himself, "Those bastards from the Watchers, all they do is resort to these dirty tricks. If they're so capable, let's have a fair fight!"
Hearing this, the old miner leaned over and whispered, "Young man, you and the 'men with eye-marked signs' (referring to the observers) must be old enemies, right? I advise you... if you're looking for something important, never go to the places they deliberately point you to. Those people are blacker than the rocks in the mine."
Lin Ye nodded: "We know, we almost fell for it this time. By the way, you just mentioned 'the real key,' have you heard anything similar before? Like, where is the 'key' hidden?"
The old miner frowned and thought for a long time before finally shaking his head: "That's all, I only heard that one sentence. But I did hear my grandfather say that there used to be a 'Void Market' in this star field, a lawless place where all kinds of people lived and were very well-informed. Whether it was looking for something or asking for information, as long as you could afford the price, you could get it done."
"The Void Market?" Lin Ye's heart skipped a beat. "Where is it? Is it far from here?"
“It’s three jump units to the east,” the old miner said. “But that place is really chaotic, full of space pirates, smugglers, and all sorts of shady forces. You have to be careful if you go there. The people there aren’t as easy to talk to as we are. They’ll start a fight at the drop of a hat.”
Lin Ye noted down the location and had an idea in mind... Now that he couldn't go to the Seventh Generation and the clues to "Hidden Dragon" were also broken, he might as well go to the Void Market and see if he could find clues about "tomb" and "key", and also figure out what the Observer was trying to do.
Trunks had almost finished moving the supplies, and the energy blocks had been loaded onto the miners' transport ship. The old miner led the others over to express their gratitude, clutching a dark stone in his hand: "We dug this out in the mine tunnel. We don't know what it is, but it looks a bit unusual. We're giving it to you; it might come in handy."
Lin Ye took the stone; it was a bit heavy, and its surface was pitted and uneven, yet it faintly emitted a glimmer of light. He scanned it with his variable engine but didn't detect any special energy reaction, guessing it was just an ordinary ore. Nevertheless, he accepted it: "Thank you, we'll take it with us."
"Then we'll be going now!" The old miner waved and followed the others onto the transport ship. The transport ship's engine chuckled a few times, slowly rising into the air and flying eastward.
Watching the transport ship disappear into the horizon, Lin Ye turned to the group and said, "Let's go back to the Star Shuttle and head to the Void Market."
"Why go to that run-down market?" Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "What useful information could you possibly get from a place where a bunch of space pirates and smugglers gather?"
“We have no other leads now,” Lin Ye said. “The Seventh Generation is a trap, and the trail to the Hidden Dragon has also gone cold. The Void Market is our only hope right now. Moreover, it’s a lawless place, so the observers’ power might not be that strong, making it relatively safer.”
Number 18 nodded in agreement: "I agree. Let's go to the Void Market first. At least we can figure out what the 'tomb' and 'key' are. It's better than being like headless flies now."
Trunks had already jumped onto the returning star shuttle: "Let's hurry! The Observer's fleet might be arriving soon; it's too dangerous to stay here!"
The group quickly returned to the star shuttle, where Xi had already set the course and was just waiting for their return.
"The Observer's fleet is still heading this way and will arrive in about an hour," Xi reported. "I've already activated the Star Shuttle's cloaking barrier to its maximum, so they can't detect us for now, but we must leave as soon as possible."
"Proceed, target: Void Market," Lin Ye ordered. "Maintain the highest alert level throughout, and keep weapon systems on standby."
The Star Shuttle's engines started slowly, and it silently took off, quickly leaving the atmosphere of Zeta-73 and flying eastward. Outside the porthole, Zeta-73 slowly became a gray dot, finally disappearing into the darkness of space.
Inside the cabin, Trunks sidled up to Lin Ye, looking at the dark ore in his hand: "Is this stone really useful? It just looks like a piece of ordinary slag to me."
Lin Ye placed the stone on the control panel and scanned it again with the variable engine, but still found nothing unusual: "I don't know, let's keep it for now, maybe we can use it later."
Vegeta leaned against the side, looking at the location of the Void Market on the star map, and snorted: "When we get there, if anyone dares to cause trouble, it'll be a good opportunity for me to stretch my muscles!"
Looking at the flight path on the screen, Number 18 suddenly said, "Since the Void Market is a lawless place, it must have its own rules. We can't be too conspicuous when we get there. Let's find a reliable information broker first and find out the situation before we go any further."
Lin Ye nodded: "Yes, that's what I was thinking too. Xi, can you find out anything about the Void Market? Like, who's the biggest information broker there, or are there any forces we shouldn't touch?"
Xi's fingers flew across the control panel, and information about the Void Market popped up on the screen: "There isn't much information. All we know is that the manager there is called 'Black Crow.' No one has ever seen his true face. All we know is that he controls the entire intelligence network in the market, and if you want to find information, you have to go through him. Also, there is a force in the market called the 'Iron Hand Gang,' which specializes in bullying outsiders. We need to avoid them when we get there."
“Black Crow…” Lin Ye murmured the name to himself, feeling a bit more confident. “When we get there, I’ll go see Black Crow first. You guys wait on the Star Shuttle, so you can provide backup if anything happens.”
"No!" Trunks immediately objected. "It's too dangerous for you to go alone! I'm going with you!"
“I’ll go too,” said number 18. “Two people together can look out for each other.”
Vegeta stood up too: "Count me in! Let's see what this Black Crow is all about. If he dares to try anything funny, I'll smash his stall with one punch!"
Lin Ye looked at the group and knew they were worried about him, which warmed his heart. He finally nodded and said, "Okay, then the four of us will go together. Xi, you stay on the Star Shuttle and monitor the surroundings. If anything unusual happens, contact us immediately."
"Understood!" Xi nodded. "I'll find a secluded spot on the outskirts of the market to moor, and keep the communication channels open."
The star shuttle sped through the universe, the stars outside the window rushing past. Lin Ye leaned against the porthole, stroking the ore he'd gotten from the miner, his mind replaying the old miner's words... "The real key isn't in the Seventh Generation." Where exactly is that key? And why were the observers guiding them to the "graveyard" of the Seventh Generation?
And who issued that mysterious warning voice? Was it friend or foe? How did they know the Seventh Generation was a trap?
A series of questions swirled in Lin Ye's mind, giving him a bit of a headache. He looked up at the distant starry sky; the direction of the Void Market was pitch black, and he had no idea what awaited them.
“We’ll reach the outskirts of the Void Market in half an hour.” Xi’s voice interrupted Lin Ye’s thoughts. “We’ve detected spatial turbulence ahead and need to take a detour, which will probably add about ten minutes to our journey.”
"No problem, safety first," Lin Ye said.
Vegeta was already inspecting his energy gun, muttering to himself, "Hopefully we'll have some fun when we get there, and not just another bunch of useless trash."
Trunks, meanwhile, was studying the information about the Void Market, occasionally exchanging a few words with Android 18, discussing how to find Black Crow once they got there.
Just then, the ore in Lin Ye's hand suddenly became slightly hot, somewhat similar to the pulsation he felt on the foundation stone on the Star Shuttle, but also different... This time the heat was gentler, as if it was responding to something.
Lin Ye's heart stirred, and he brought the ore to his eyes to examine it closely. He discovered a fine line on the surface of the ore that he hadn't noticed before, which looked like some kind of symbol, but it was too blurry to see clearly.
“This stone… seems to be reacting,” Lin Ye said, handing the ore to Xi. “Scan it with an instrument and see if you can magnify the patterns on it.”
Xi took the ore and placed it in the scanner. Soon, the enlarged pattern appeared on the screen. It was a key-like pattern, except that there was a strange mark at the top of the key, like a star surrounding a circle.
“This mark…” Xi frowned, “I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before, but I can’t remember where.”
Lin Ye stared at the mark on the screen, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind... This mark looks a bit like some of the patterns on the foundation stone! Could this ore be related to the foundation stone?
“Save the mark,” Lin Ye said. “When we get to the Void Market, ask Black Crow. Maybe he knows what it is.”
Just then, the Star Shuttle suddenly shuddered, and Xi's expression instantly changed: "Not good! A spatial rift has appeared ahead, it's the Observer's fleet! They arrived ahead of time and even laid spatial traps!"
Lin Ye immediately stood up and walked to the control panel: "Can we go around it?"
Xi's fingers flew across the screen, and more and more red warnings appeared: "No! The spatial rift has blocked our retreat, and their fleet is closing in on us!"
Vegeta clenched his fist immediately, a glint of excitement in his eyes: "Perfect timing! I want to see just how powerful the Watchers' fleet really is!"
Lin Ye watched the fleet signal getting closer and closer on the screen, then glanced at the ore in his hand, and suddenly made a decision: "Xi, charge towards the Void Market with all your might! Push your speed to the maximum; even if we have to break in, it's better than being caught by the Observers!"
"Understood!" Xi gritted her teeth, turned the engine to maximum power, and the Star Shuttle shot towards the direction of the Void Market like a shooting star. The Observer Fleet was in hot pursuit behind, and spatial rifts kept appearing around them, making the situation increasingly dangerous.
Trunks gripped his sword tightly, Android 18 was ready for battle, and Vegeta was already standing in front of the hatch, ready to rush out at any moment.
Lin Ye stared at the pitch-black universe ahead, silently chanting in his heart: The Void Market must be entered!
Chapter 486: The Entrance to the Void Market
After circling the universe three times and dodging two waves of observer patrol ships, the "Star Shuttle" finally arrived at the star field mentioned by the old miner. But the scene outside the porthole stunned everyone in the cabin. There were no chaotic nebulae, nor asteroid belts hiding markets, only a dark and oppressive void with sparse stars. It was so quiet that the low hum of the engines could be heard, and there was not even the sound of the wind. A sense of oppression was overwhelming.
“Something’s not right,” Trunks said, peering through the observation window, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the glass. “There’s not even a hint of a space station here. Could the old miner have lied to us?”
Xi's fingers flew across the control panel, the detector screen displaying a jumble of chaotic ripples. Her brow furrowed. "Large-scale spatial distortion detected. There's an energy shielding field ahead; conventional detectors can't penetrate it. The navigation says we've reached the coordinates, but... we can't see anything."
Lin Ye didn't rush to a conclusion. He placed his hand on the variable engine control panel, feeling the engine's faint vibrations, as if he were "communicating" with space. He pondered for a moment: "Xi, fire a low-power resonant pulse. Try using the frequency you used to crack the silent zone signal."
"Understood!" Xi quickly adjusted the parameters, and an almost invisible energy ripple drifted out from the bow, silently merging into the darkness. In just three seconds, the void trembled like water struck by a pebble. As the ripples spread, a ring-shaped outline dozens of times larger than the "Star Shuttle" appeared, its edges glowing with a faint blue light, its center a bottomless black, like an entrance to another world.