"It's … A Boxing Champion!"
Judging from the unique identity waves of the distress signal, it was' Iron Fist ', which was piloted by A Boxing Champion.
Li Yao's pupils constricted violently. 'Falcon Falcon' locked onto 'Iron Fist' and transmitted telepathic thoughts to it, reading more detailed distress signals.
As data and information were sent in incessantly, the awkward situation of 'Iron Fist' and the broken structural parameters of the starship were all displayed on the mainframe crystal processor of 'Falcon Falcon'.
A Boxing Champion was truly unlucky.
His starship did not jump to the rainbow dust belt at the periphery of the ancient giant like other starships. Instead, as Li Yao feared, it directly jumped into the newly generated stone belt.
The cosmic dust the size of a grain of sand was enough to cause the collapse of a starship that had just jumped out of the four-dimensional space, not to mention the meteoroids the size of fingernails and fists. They were essentially bombarding every corner inside 'Iron Fist' like ten thousand cannonballs.
If it were any other captain of a human being, it would have been impossible for them to cope with such an intense storm of bullets. Chances were that the starship would've disintegrated in midair the moment it jumped out of the four-dimensional space.
Thankfully, A Boxing Champion, as an information life, had planned the sailing route and the defense strength of the spiritual shield with his remarkable computational ability. Also, he had personally manipulated the adhesion modifiers in the mustard-seed level to perform high-efficiency damage management. That was how he managed to keep 30% of the impetus of 'Iron Fist' and completed the soul-stirring 'landing'.
However, the moment they reached the stone belt, a new problem occurred.
Their 'landing point' was too close to the ancient giant. They had been captured by the enormous gravity of the giant planet and were falling toward the surface of the planet.
If they had 100% impetus, or even more than 50%, it would've been possible for them to escape.
But right now, only 30% of the impetus was left, and the starship was seriously damaged. They did not dare to overload the power units at all. Like a drowning man caught in a swamp, the more they struggled, the faster they would sink. They could only watch themselves sinking deeper and deeper until they were swallowed by darkness in the end.
Through the remote monitoring system, Li Yao could see that all the parameters of the power units on "Iron Fist" had turned orange, crimson, dark red, and black. In the end, they were pale and lifeless gray.
He seemed to be able to hear the explosion and paralysis of the power units, as well as the sound of the main structure of the starship being twisted and broken in the creaking noises of metal fatigue.
Nothing could stop the fall of "Iron Fist". They would either fall into the ocean of methane and hydrogen in the ancient giant and be squeezed into an iron lump less than a hundred meters in diameter from several kilometers long, or be devoured by lightning, and their fragile structure would be completely torn apart together with their human bodies. The latter way of death was more pleasant.
"A Boxing Champion!"
The interference was too serious. Even though Li Yao's Falcon was the closest to A Boxing Champion's Iron Fist, it took him a lot of effort before he managed to contact the other party through point-to-point communication. "What's the situation on your side? Is there any hope of escape? Launch the escape capsule now. I'll pick you up at the periphery of the stone belt!"
"It's useless."
There was a long silence on the other side of the communication channel, except for the sound of dust, as if it were experiencing the scourge of a super sandstorm. A Boxing Champion's voice was intermittent. "The starship … is seriously damaged … Many people are wounded and cannot reach the escape capsule … The escape area has been pierced through by the meteoroid shower, too. Most of the escape capsules have been damaged and are not enough for all the crew members to escape … Even if you board the escape capsules, the power and the plate armor of the escape capsules are not enough to get rid of the gravity of the ancient giant and the storm inside the halo … It's impossible to get out."
"… What about you?"
Li Yao felt that his nose and his heart were both sour. Gritting his teeth, he gritted his teeth and bellowed, "You can get out, can't you? What are you waiting for? Launch yourself now, or it will be too late!"
Different from regular human beings, A Boxing Champion was essentially a super large database. He did not have a real body. Although the efficient functioning of the database required a super crystal processor as the foundation, such crystal processors were not limited to "Iron Fist" but also had a lot of "backups" on other starships.
In other words, A Boxing Champion had quite a few clones stored on different starships. Even though "Iron Fist" had been destroyed, as long as he launched tremendous data in time, he could still be "reborn". The worst that could happen was that his computational ability and logical thinking ability would be slightly lowered, and part of his memory and data would be lost.
However, information lives were both strong and weak. The launch of data depended on the rhythm of spiritual and magnetic waves. But the closer it was to the atmosphere of the ancient giant planet, the more intense the spiritual and magnetic interference would be, and the more likely it would be to encounter the terrifying ionization storm. If A Boxing Champion's core database was swallowed by the ionization storm when it was launched, his soul would be obliterated, and he would be doomed forever.
One second later meant one more degree of risk. Li Yao did not know what A Boxing Champion was waiting for. Time was limited, and it was impossible for him to repair "Iron Fist". He would only be wasting his precious computational ability and his hope of survival!
"I … can't go yet."
In the intense noise, A Boxing Champion's low voice came over. "I'm trying to stabilize 'Iron Fist' as much as possible and resist the gravity of the ancient giant planet before the fuel runs out so that 'Iron Fist' can stay … above the atmosphere of the ancient giant planet for a while longer."
"Why?"
Li Yao was puzzled and anxious. "Based on the damage data of 'Iron Fist', it's impossible for you to repair it and escape with its own momentum. What's the point of staying in a stalemate above the methane atmosphere of the ancient giant planet?"
"Yes."
A Boxing Champion said calmly, "Our situation is terrible. Many specialists and scholars on board are dead. Those who are still alive know that they don't have long to live, but they don't want to die for nothing. Those people, especially the astronomers, begged me to try to maintain the stability of 'Iron Fist' so that they can buy more time to scan and study the data inside the ancient giant planet.
"You know that human beings rarely had the chance to get close to such an enormous, highly unstable giant planet in the past, let alone observe and study its data in depth.
"The astronomers on Iron Fist would like to take the precious opportunity to collect more data and send it to your 'Falcon Falcon'. The data will fill the gaps in the studies of the giant planets and earn more chances of success for your exploration operations in the future. At the very least, the more you know about the ancient giant planets, the more likely it is that you will be able to cope with the unexpected events and escape, won't it?
"I feel that the scholars do have a point. So, how should I put it in human terms? 'Risking my life to accompany a gentleman'. That's right, that's it.
"Li Yao, don't worry about me. I'll seize the last opportunity and send out my core database. Right now, all you need to do is make sure that the reception units on 'Falcon Falcon' are functioning normally and receive all the data sent from 'Iron Fist'. All the specialists and scholars on my side are gritting their teeth to make sure that their beliefs are firm and their souls are clear. Collect as much data as possible and send it over before they are completely torn apart by the giant planet!"
Li Yao was greatly moved.
He did not expect that to be the answer.
Very soon, the data about the ancient giant planet — the components of the atmosphere, the frequency and intensity of the ionizing thunderstorms, and the different density and gravity of different parts of the planet — all kinds of data flowed into 'Falcon Falcon' incessantly through the stone belts like a flood.
Li Yao's eyes were somewhat red.
He seemed to be able to see the scene on 'Iron Fist'. The specialists and scholars, the astronomers, the spiritual scientists, the meteorologists, and the authorities of the fundamental disciplines who were too weak and heavily wounded to fight, already knew that it was impossible for them to escape and that they were about to embrace the most gory demise. Yet, they did not waste even one second in sighing and grieving. They bulged their eyes, bit their lips, and made up their minds, revealing their only remaining weapons, determination, and pride in front of the most dreadful enemy — the ancient giant planet.
Human beings could be destroyed, but they could never be defeated.
Even if they only had one second left in their lives, they had to figure out more about the mysteries of the universe.
That was exactly the belief of the scholars.
In both the Federation and the Imperium, and in both the Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators, the scholars, especially the top scholars of the fundamental disciplines, were often the most special and purest group of people.
The reason was simple. Even if they had advanced into the Yuanying phase, an Immortal Cultivator who was obsessed with astronomy would not fight for power and profit against each other like the battle-type Immortal Cultivators.
Also, it would be too naïve, stupid, and boring for the astronomers who were used to the changes of the universe on the scale of billions of years to turn around and indulge in the petty interests among hairless monkeys.
At the last moment of their lives, the scholars of both the Federation and the Imperium unleashed the most glamorous fire of life and became the eyes of all mankind, trying to see more of the magnificence and mysteries of the universe. That was the significance of their existence.
'Iron Fist' unleashed dazzling brilliance, and the falling momentum finally came to a stop.
However, the tearing of the gravity of the ancient giant planet and the impetus of the starship itself significantly increased the metal fatigue of the main structure of the starship. Everybody could tell that A Boxing Champion could not persist for long.
The hot tears in Li Yao's eyes almost turned into magma.
The parameters of the ancient giant planet and the parameters of 'Iron Fist' collided intensely, and the only possibility was found from the countless impossibilities that could not be avoided.
"A Boxing Champion!"
Li Yao roared. "Hang in there. I'm here to save you. I'm here to save you!"
"… Don't come any closer."
A Boxing Champion's voice, which had been calm the whole time, finally broke the ice in surprise. "The meteoroids and the ionization storms here are too intense. One moment of carelessness, and we will fall into the gravitational swirl of the ancient giant planet. You cannot joke about the lives of everybody on 'Falcon Hunter'. We have a backup plan. Under such circumstances, we can only abandon the desperate starship!"
"I know."
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