The time and space that had been stagnant for 1.87 million years gradually collapsed.
The wheel of history began to turn again. Everything that had been stagnant broke free. The frozen seawater surged again. Stronger and stronger winds poured into the vortex from all directions. The spherical shell that covered this space shattered silently. Along with the pouring rain, there was a deep roar from the distant Tarlonde that seemed to contain endless madness and chaos.
The sky seemed to collapse. The massive cloud wall that formed the Eternal Storm, the cyclone, and the tons of seawater that were wrapped in the cyclone turned into a terrible storm on the sea. Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled, rain poured, and the dragon's roar rose and fell in the depths of the clouds. Everything was like the end of the world. And in this doomsday-like scene, the massive ancient spaceship continued to rise slowly against the wind.
This was a starship that incorporated a portion of the Voyager's technology. It was a miracle created by the mighty dragon civilization more than a million years ago. This miracle had been delayed for many years, but today, it had finally set off.
"The storm has caused a great disturbance. The attitude correction engine is automatically adjusting the tilt angle of the spacecraft." Balogel sat in front of the chief mechanic's seat, monitoring the data on the panel in front of him. "But its role is limited. The Tarlonde has begun to deviate from the scheduled trajectory."
"As long as it can take off, continue to accelerate, continue to climb … Don't worry about the destination and the specific route, and don't worry about the return. Taking off is a success …" Helagol said softly in front of the captain's seat. "Can you do it?"
"Of course, this is not a problem." Balogel thought for a moment and nodded confidently. "But the shaking will be very strong. I'm afraid I can't eliminate all the shaking and deviation …"
The navigator Andal laughed. "This shaking is nothing. It's already incredible that we can make this big guy fly. After all, this thing is not designed to be controlled by three people."
As the old Giant Dragon spoke, he looked back and swept his gaze across the empty control hall behind him. There were a dozen empty seats in this vast space, and the projection screen in front of each seat flashed with a name that had long disappeared in history. Those compatriots who should have set sail with this ship … had fallen forever before they set off.
Helagol noticed Andal's gaze. He followed the latter's gaze across the control hall. A moment later, he broke the silence. "Let's go up and take a look for them."
"Of course, we will," Balogel said in a low voice. "But … I'm afraid it's not that easy."
Almost at the same time as Balogel's voice trailed off, a violent tremor suddenly spread throughout the entire spaceship, mixed with countless chaotic, thunderous noises. An indescribable mental pressure crossed the long distance, penetrated layer after layer of shields and alloys, and flooded into the control hall like a surging tide.
In the control hall, Helagol, Andal, and Balogel instantly felt the terrible power that almost directly affected the soul. Their senses were filled with countless ravings as the knowledge from the gods attacked their mental defenses. In their shaky vision, they saw illusions, they saw the ship rushing straight into a blazing abyss of hell, countless dark rifts covering the sky, they saw all kinds of huge things that would drive mortals crazy scrambling to reach out their long limbs, trying to drag and destroy the ship that was trying to leave the planet …
God had caught up.
But in the next second, these terrible things suddenly disappeared, and Helagol and the other two once again returned to the cold but safe reality. They were panting until Andal was the first to break the silence. "Omega is buying time."
"It's the last time," Helagol said with a terrible expression. "I can feel … God has left Tarlonde and is coming here. Next time, we will face his true form."
Balogel looked down at the data on the instrument and spoke quickly. "We are not high enough now, we haven't rushed out yet. Hold on tight, I'm going to lift all engine restrictions."
A moment later, a continuous tremor came into the hall, and an even more unbearable sense of acceleration and dizziness came over them. The massive ancient spaceship had crossed the boundary of the cloud wall of the Eternal Storm and rose into the blue sky. It began to slowly adjust its angle and enter the next course at an oblique angle. Almost at the same time, Helagol heard a roar of madness and chaos in his mind.
Andal had apparently heard the same 'voice' as well. He smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Looks like we have pissed him off quite a bit …"
"Of course." Helagol struggled to resist the pressure on the spiritual level. Even though the bridge between man and god had been severed, and the power of the 'gods' had been weakened to below the critical point by Omega, but after regaining his will, the spiritual power of the gods still made him feel like he was about to fall into madness. He gritted his teeth, and even though he could not see his own expression, he was sure that he was looking ferocious. "After all … what we are doing is the ultimate 'disobedience' …"
Andar forced himself to raise his eyes and looked at the distant blue sky on the projection screen. Amidst the tidal wave of mental corruption, he slowly revealed a smile.
The ultimate 'disobedience' …
It was not a violation of doctrine, or denial of faith, or even killing the gods. For the gods who were born in the thoughts of mortals and operated according to the rules, these acts of disobedience were far from the ultimate 'disobedience'.
The ultimate disobedience would only happen when mortals defeated their most primitive shackles and taboos, broke free from their original cradle and swaddling clothes, and took the first step into true 'adulthood'.
The ultimate 'disobedience' was to step into the stars.
This meant that the mortal race's perception of the entire world had changed drastically. It meant that a child who had grown up in a cradle had truly taken action to leave the cradle. It had an incomparable symbolic meaning, and it was worthy of the cheers of the entire world. However, it was beyond the tolerance of all the gods.
Because no matter which god it was, all the 'information' about their birth and existence was based on this planet. It took Andal many years to figure this out.
Helagol felt his mind gradually calming down, and his boiling brain gradually calmed down. He exhaled softly and put his hand on a panel in front of him on the left side of the seat.
Andal looked up at the sky outside the projection screen. The sky was slanted, and the edge showed a wide arc. He saw the sun shining from the side of the screen, plating all the clouds with a layer of faint golden light. At the edge of the golden light, he could already see the curved land and the faint starlight at the end of the sky.
The vibrations of the spaceship weakened a little, and the image shown by the projection screen dimmed. The magnificent and brilliant starry sky slowly emerged from the background. The entire world seemed to have become quiet, and only the low humming of various instruments and equipment could be heard from the surroundings.
All this lasted for a few short seconds, and then an unprecedented vibration spread throughout the spaceship. Along with the vibration, there was a loud bang from a distant cabin.
In an instant, the lights in the control hall dimmed, and then all the alarm systems blared. The orange lights in the state of emergency flashed at all the exits, and the shipboard system frantically broadcasted the details of the damage in each cabin. Helagol felt his whole body tilting, and the scene on the screen began to roll. The next second, he heard Balogel shouting, "Engine No. 2 has left the hull! The antenna module is destroyed! The life-support resource module is destroyed! Reactor No. 1 is destroyed … He's coming! "
Andal clung to the seat and maintained his balance in the rolling. He looked at the projection screen in front of him, and the screen showed the scene outside the spaceship. It was a horrifying scene.
He saw a long gap in the sky outside the spaceship. The gap was filled with crazy and cold eyes. A ferocious and twisted dragon figure that was pieced together by countless disordered limbs was clinging to the hull of the spaceship. It was destroying the product of the dragon race's painstaking efforts.
A part of the spaceship's engine was completely destroyed, and the broken and twisted steel was spinning into the thick atmosphere below. There were several huge holes on the side of the hull, and the thick shield and tough alloy shell were easily torn apart like paper. A large amount of equipment, gas, and liquid gushed out from the holes like broken organs, mixing with scorching smoke and rushing into space. And even after such a huge destruction, the Dragon of Chaos did not show any signs of stopping. He was still tearing apart the spaceship's structure, and at the same time, climbing up the hull towards the core module!
"Hold on, we still have three engines!" Helagol shouted, drawing Balogel's attention back to the present. "Keep going up, we are going to succeed!"
"He will tear down the entire spaceship before that!" Balogel shouted as he tried his best to control the equipment. "Don't we have any weapons to fight back?"
"Going to the stars is the biggest counterattack." Helagol stood up and grabbed the back of the seat so hard that his fingers sank deep into the alloy plate. "Look, he is already very weak!"
Andal stared wide-eyed at the scene outside the spaceship. After overcoming the initial nervousness and confusion, he suddenly realized one thing — the Dragon of Chaos climbing on the hull of the Tarlonde was actually about the same size as the spaceship!
Not long ago, he was as big as a city, floating above the Tarlonde, but now … he was greatly weakened again!
Balogel also noticed this scene. He began to find a way to restore the spaceship's attitude and tried his best to adjust the balance of the remaining engines. The automatic system had been completely destroyed, and he could only manually resist the damage and shaking caused by the Dragon of Chaos. And his efforts finally paid off: even though the spaceship was on the verge of collapse, even though all the systems were frantically alarms, the spaceship was still climbing little by little into the stars!
Starlight began to shine on the hull of the spaceship, and the gravity from the earth was fading. Helagol felt his body was getting lighter, and in the projection before him, the Dragon of Chaos climbing on the hull of the spaceship had become smaller, and now he was almost one-third the size of the spaceship.
Helagol was not surprised by all this.
Even though there were only three Giant Dragon on the ship, as long as the three of them stood on the ship, as long as they were moving towards the stars, the 'coming of age' ceremony was in progress.
For the gods born in 'symbolic meaning', the symbolic process had an impact on them as absolute as the truth of the universe.
So, the last step of disobedience had to be done by the mortals themselves — Omega could not do it for them, the aliens could not do it for them, and no one could do it for them.
Another explosion came from the stern of the spaceship, and the shrill alarm became sharper and more irritating. In the continuous shaking and shaking, Helagol did not hesitate to give the order. "Abandon all return structures and escape pods, and concentrate all energy on the main engine — I just need it to hold on for three more minutes."
"I'm here! It can hold on for thirty minutes! " Balogel shouted as he decisively carried out Helagol's order. "Keep your eyes open — we have spent more than a million years waiting for this moment!"
A powerful thrust once again acted on the spaceship, and the already tired Tarlonde suddenly glowed with the last glimmer of life. It began to climb again, and a bright trail extended behind it. The thick and white atmosphere turned into a distant shadow behind it. It threw debris, dragged flames and smoke, and fell into the stars like a falling dancer. The twisted 'gods' were still clinging to its hull, madly gnawing at the defense of the core module. His body shrank a little, and then a little … until he was thrown into the vast space.
The mortals had left their cradles, and the gods were left at the last boundary of the planet.
Helagol felt his body floating, and the last restraint from the earth quietly dissipated. The distant starlight was shining on the outer shell of the Tarlonde, and the starlight came into the control hall through the monitor. It was magnificent.
And in the deep background of the starry sky, some huge structures that were originally hidden by ancient technology were gradually removing their camouflage as the Tarlonde approached, revealing their true appearance.
He looked at Balogel. "Mechanic, open the dome and the filter. Let's go into visual observation."
"Yes, Captain."
On the ragged core module, a protective panel quietly opened, and the curtain slowly opened. Helagol controlled the flow of magic power and let himself slowly float to the window made of high-strength polymer, overlooking the vast space outside.
In the vast space, the ancient satellite system was operating silently, and the long-abandoned space station was still floating quietly in orbit.
They seemed to have been waiting here for countless years, waiting for the Dragons left on the planet to come here.
"We have caught up …" Helagol could not help but whisper.
"Just temporarily." Behind Helagol, Andal's voice slowly came. "Our compatriots on the surface of the planet … can't build a second Tarlonde."
"But we will build one … even if we start from scratch."
Helagol whispered, and then withdrew his gaze from the abandoned satellites and space stations in the distance. But before returning to his seat, he suddenly felt something in his heart.
He subconsciously looked up and looked at the other side of the arc-shaped polymer dome. The next second, he saw something floating in space, and his breathing and heartbeat instantly stopped.
It was a hideous and twisted wreckage, the Dragon of Chaos that had been shrunk many times. The various characteristics of the gods of the past still remained on its chaotic body, but at this moment, it looked so … small.
There was still a remnant of light wandering around the wreckage. As a god, he had not completely "died," but at this moment, he was just quietly floating there, motionless.
Helagol's tense face slowly relaxed again. He silently looked at the wreckage floating in space, and watched the light in its depths gradually extinguish.
A vague, indistinguishable voice suddenly rang in his mind. "From now on … you will have to go on your own."
"Yes, My Lord."
"The outside world is dangerous. Protect yourselves."
"Yes, My Lord."
"Don't forget to look back occasionally …"
"Yes, My Lord."
"…"
"Yes, My Lord."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
