"Wait, did you just say that you bumped into a Specter Ship?!" I interrupted the garrulous plant. The plant seemed to be startled by my sudden loud voice. Its leaves shivered, and the sharp voice came from the mechanical device under its stem again. "Yes, a Specter Ship. Isn't this news all over the place? You should have heard about it in the City of Shadows, right? The out-of-control Imperial Army spaceship was wandering around, and many people saw it. But we were the only ones unlucky enough to bump into it. "
Even Sandora became serious. She touched the mimosa's leaf. "You 'bumped' into it? Not because of a firefight or some other conflict? What happened at that time? "
"Ah, the City of Shadows' city management and street office are in charge of this?" The mimosa shook its body and jumped around anxiously. "You guys are so responsible, much more humane than I thought. Actually, when the spaceship docked for maintenance the day before yesterday, our boss had already reported the accident to the spacetime management center. But since you guys want to know, I'll tell you. I'm the spaceship's navigator, so I happen to know more. "
The plant twisted its body as if it was about to give a long speech. Then it spoke, "We, the Forest Spirit Caravan, are a large caravan. Unlike those who carry luggage in their portable space and run around the Hub Gate to do small business, we use a large cargo ship to do business. It's a good ship. Our boss spent a lot of money to buy it from the New Eden Confederation, and it's said that one-fifth of its components are made in the Empire. It's really fun to run around …"
"Get to the point!" Sandora and I shouted in unison.
The mimosa shivered. "Alright, alright, get to the point. Anyway, we have a large cargo ship. Before this, we had been doing short-term trade in a few jump zones in the Macro World. Didn't we have the Fairy Void Financial Group recently? This financial group has been roping in many merchant fleets to form a larger trading network. Our boss had an idea, and a few days ago, he brought in a batch of heavy elementals from the Keborah III Star Cluster, intending to discuss cooperation with the Void Financial Group. Because our merchant ship was a retired military product, it had a cross-world engine. Therefore, we did not use the large civilian world gates that were set on fixed routes. Instead, we applied for a free route according to the regulations. If something happened, it would happen on this free route. The ships that encountered the Specter Ship were all on the free route! We'll depart from Keborah III, then make a detour to the Ertimion Alliance of the Three Realms. We'll sign our tickets at the Grand Cross Skyhorn Void Station … "
Sandora and I couldn't hold back anymore. "Get to the point!"
Starbeck shuddered again. "Then we crashed into the ghost ship."
I banged my head on my fist. Why is this green plant talking even more worrisome than Sylvia? "Now we can get to the details!"
"You guys are so weird. You even have to distinguish between different bit rates when transmitting information to the outside world. My mind transcoder is about to overload." Bashful Prairie jumped twice to express its dissatisfaction before continuing. "We signed our tickets at the Grand Cross Skyhorn Void Station and transferred to the Galactic Civilization Community. One more stop from there would be the capital of the Empire. Everyone was a little relaxed. Boss suggested that we relax a little. So, we all jumped off our workstations and ran to the rest pit to water ourselves and bask in simulated sunlight. Forest elves love this the most. Then, the Specter Ship suddenly appeared only a dozen kilometers away from our merchant ship. It was definitely the largest spaceship I've ever seen. It looked like a space city."
"So, when the Specter Ship appeared, all the control stations were empty …" I gawked at the plant. "Don't you guys have any operating procedures?"
"Yes, there is only one operating procedure. When you water yourself, don't splash your water on the equipment." Starbeck retracted his leaves. "Forest elves are a romantic and free race … Plus, we have a talent. Our symbiotic mechanical bodies can ensure that the forest elves don't make too many mistakes."
I looked at the mechanical parts under the plant's roots. "This thing can't stop you from watering the spaceship and basking in the sun during the journey."
"This is survival behavior. The mechanical parts are weaker in this aspect." Starbeck swayed. "Anyway, when the Specter Ship appeared, we couldn't control the spaceship. But everyone saw the spectacular scene on the monitor in the rest pit. Screams echoed in all the rest pits. More than half of the forest elves dug and buried themselves. I saw Boss trying to use voice control to warn the spaceship to dodge, but he was too stuttering. In the end, the spaceship's mainframe finally came into play. It was indeed a retired military product. When the collision was about to happen, the mainframe forcefully activated a hidden safety protocol and took over most of the spaceship's equipment, except for our greenhouse and the sunlight simulator. The spaceship swayed at a very sharp angle. The cargo compartment and an auxiliary engine in the back of the spaceship crashed into the protruding object at the edge of the Specter Ship. Oh, it was a very powerful impact. The spaceship shook as though it was about to fall apart. The two unlucky fellows and I were thrown out of the rest pit and crashed into the sunlight simulator. That was when the light sensor and vision components were burnt. But no matter what, we managed to dodge it, even though the price was high. The back half of the spaceship was smashed into pieces, the cargo compartment was gone, and we lost an engine. But the reliable channel control system and self-repairing drones blocked all the holes. That way, no one died. Those who were injured were thankful that they were still alive. For the next two days, Boss spent his time drowning his worries. Our beautiful 'Grass Ark' arrived at the Shadow City in a broken state like a pitiful drifting boat. In the afternoon, we laid down in the maintenance dock. The only good news was that the goblin insurance company would cover the accidental damage caused by the Specter Ship's collision. Luckily, those green-skinned profiteers didn't know that we were sunbathing in the rest pit when the ship collided. "
This forest goblin was quite talkative. Although he was a bit talkative, he told us the story of the Ghost Ship collision in a vivid and colorful manner. Now, we knew what had happened to the plane crash, and we also learned that herbs also had the habit of cheating insurance claims …
However, considering that this unlucky merchant group might have almost lost all of their capital, and that those goblin profiteers who set up an insurance company across worlds were also rich and overbearing, I decided to pretend that I didn't hear his/her/his last two sentences.
"So, your collision was completely suicidal." I rubbed my chin and pondered. "Even so, we still can't confirm the Specter Ship's behavior pattern. From the start to the end, it didn't do anything of its own accord."
Although I couldn't confirm the Specter Ship's behavior pattern, there was one thing I was sure of: the Specter Ship seemed to be real.
Previously, I was 99% convinced and 1% skeptical about this Specter Ship that had been spreading like wildfire. But now that a victim of the plane crash was right in front of me, there was no escaping the fact that the Specter Ship was real.
"So, are you done with your investigation?" Starbeck saw that we didn't speak for a long time, so he couldn't help but ask, "If it's possible, can you do me a favor? Send me to the nearest teleportation point, I'll go back to the hotel … That bunch of heartless people, they don't even know that someone was left behind. "
I looked at the short mechanical legs under the plant. Although those little claws couldn't run as fast as humans, they should be able to run a few hundred meters. Why is he/she/he so lazy?
"We are plants after all." Hearing my confusion, Starbeck waved his leaves and said, "Forest elves don't like to travel long distances, we prefer to grow in the soil. Also, walking consumes a lot of energy, and it's night time. There's no sun, what do you want me to do? "
Shrugging my shoulders, I casually dismissed the curious new citizen (or was it a new traveler?) The forest elf probably hadn't registered as a permanent resident of the City of Shadows yet) and walked to the civilian teleportation point with Sandora. Schilling and Sylvia squatted on the side and studied the soil for a long time. When they saw that we were about to leave, they quickly followed.
Oh, it's Schilling. She quickly followed and grabbed Sylvia, who hadn't realized what was going on yet.
Every street and crowded place in the City of Shadows had a civilian teleportation point. These silver-white columns looked like trash cans at the intersection (Don't make fun of this analogy, it really does). They had multiple modes of interaction and could accept most frequency inputs. They could be used by all the residents of the City of Shadows. I entered the teleportation destination according to the inn that the forest elf had mentioned. Then, everyone retreated to the outside of the teleportation area. We watched as the mimosa was gradually enveloped by a distorted light. Then, Sylvia suddenly reacted and waved at the forest elf who was about to teleport away. "Oh, hello, Mr. Forest Elf. My name is Sylvia …"
Everyone was speechless. That reaction speed!
The mimosa waved its branches vigorously and left one last sentence, "We forest elves are hermaphrodites!"
This time, I finally knew how to address Starbeck. It wasn't polite to call him that, so I should just call him …
After the mimosa disappeared in the teleportation light, Sandora rubbed her chin and asked thoughtfully, "Ah Jun, what do you think of this Specter Ship?"
"It's still a problem." I thought for a while. "After all, it could be a relic from the Old Empire or a military unit that went out of control. It's fine if it appears on the sea route, but if it suddenly appears in the sky above a colony, then it'll be a big problem. Also, based on my experience … anything that could survive the calamity of the Old Empire until now would more or less be a little special. That thing is quite noteworthy. "
"Actually, I've been paying attention to the Specter Ship while you were away. Over the past few days, there have been four to five sightings of it." Sandora lifted her head to look at the dark night sky. "I also asked Xiaoxue to make a few vague predictions … Although there weren't any direct results, the ship that Xiaoxue saw seems to be related to me."
I was surprised. "It's related to you? Could it be something that belonged to your subordinates? "
After the collapse of the Old Empire, the Fifteenth Sky was the most intact. Although Sandora survived, her remaining forces were only her personal guards and the Vengeance Fleet that was reassembled. The universes that Princess Warsong used to rule in the past had basically fallen apart, and the armies and fortresses that were once stationed in those worlds naturally didn't survive. But over the years, we had been discovering relics from the Old Empire. They came from various Heavens, and they were all things that escaped from the Old Empire's world fragments or cosmic leaks after the collapse of the Old Empire. Naturally, this included Sandora's relics from the Heavens. If the Specter Ship was such a relic, then we really had to recover it.
"I'm not sure yet." Sandora shook her head. "I don't remember ordering the construction of that type of spaceship, and I don't see the logo of the Vengeance Fleet on the Specter Ship. We've all seen the pictures of the Specter Ship, and I don't think it's mine."
While we were talking about the Specter Ship, Sylvia suddenly yawned and stretched. "Yawn. I want to sleep. You guys take your time."
While I was talking with Sandora, Sylvia had been spacing out. I didn't know how many times her mind had gone around in circles, but she finally fell asleep. I looked up at the moon in the sky and realized that it was only eight o 'clock. I suddenly became curious. "Do you sleep so early every day? It's not even half past eight. "
"Belavilla's activities consume energy." Sylvia was getting sleepy at a speed visible to the naked eye. She could barely keep her eyes open. "She's been helping Alleria build the Star Sculpting Pool for the past two days, so I'm … huff …"
Then, the magical silver-haired mole fell asleep standing up!
I looked at the slow-witted mole in admiration. At the same time, I was a little touched by her and Belavilla's diligence (although it was mainly Belavilla who was diligent, Sylvia was also responsible for cooking for Belavilla). Then, I and Schilling sent the muddle-headed and defenseless girl back to her shop cum home. It was getting late, and the time Sandora and I had spent outside was a little longer than planned. We bid farewell to Schilling and returned home.
When I entered the living room, the first thing I saw was the Firefox browser leaning against the sofa in the middle of the room … the combination of a fox and a ball. Bryndis pushed the replica artifact into the living room and fixed it with a circle of what looked like a temporary special bracket. The silly fox was still lying on the ball, pretending that she could connect to the Internet. Of course, she was awake at this time. She was munching on potato chips while watching Korean dramas with the dolls. Look at their taste. My daughter is almost led astray by the silly fox!
"These two have been secretly in love for more than thirty episodes. Humans are so stupid." The puppet was holding onto the remote control that was a little too big for her. She commented while watching TV. The fox wagged its tail. "Yeah, so stupid. Human love is too troublesome. It's not as convenient as animals."
I went up and switched the TV to Animal World. Then, I pulled the fox's ear. "Now, I'll let you watch some porn."
The fox's face immediately turned red. Her nine tails whipped my back like a flaming wheel. "Why are you so filthy? I'm already an immortal. I'm a human now …" At that moment, she saw a jaguar's estrus cycle on the TV. She quickly covered her face. "Ah! Felines are so shameless … "
"…" This fox is basically useless now. Does anyone have any objections?
"Idiot, the snacks are for me, right?" The puppet climbed onto the sofa and wanted to snatch the TV remote control. Then, she saw the bag of snacks in my other hand. Her eyes lit up. Before she finished her sentence, she snatched the bag and picked the ones she liked first. Although I've said it before, I still have to say it again: How does this puppet digest food?
Actually, I always wanted to ask: She eats so much greasy food. Won't her clockwork rust?
I looked around the living room to look for Bryndis. Usually, at this time, the female gangster would be playing poker with one of the five Protoss cops. But this time, I didn't see her after looking around. There was indeed someone playing poker. Monina and Elson were teaming up to bully Lin. Uncle Kenser stood by the side and nodded his head and said "Good job" no matter who played a card.
"Where's the head pervert?" As I said that, I pointed at the Firefox browser. "She left the artifact here and didn't care about it? This fox is almost using the artifact as a bed. "
Jingle popped out of nowhere and landed on my shoulder. She said softly: "She's in Medivh's room. She's teaching the crow how to maintain its wings. She gave the artifact to the fox …"
I said: "… Is it really okay to give such an important artifact to that idiot as a toy?!"
The fox used her tail to slap my back in protest, but it didn't hurt or itch.
"Since we can't figure out what's going on, we might as well give it to the fox and let her play with it. That's what Icetis said." Jingle slipped into my pocket. Her movements were abnormally agile. "The fox seems to like the ball a lot. Also, what's a Firefox browser? "
I chuckled dryly. That female pervert's popularity ended immediately. In the afternoon, she vowed that she would unravel the secret hidden in the artifact.
Sandora seemed to have a lot on her mind. She looked at the big ball that was emitting a faint golden light and furrowed her brows. "I don't know how long it will take for the Protoss to read the information stored in the artifact."
"Even Father God has forgotten the original reading rules and equipment." I shook my head. "Then we can only place our hopes on the Protoss's group of experts. But at least there's good news. With the artifact in our hands, the clues to our homeworld are also in our hands. In this aspect, the Fallen Apostles are completely behind and kept in the dark. "
Sandora's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed and she nodded slowly.
I looked at the golden ball thoughtfully. This ancient artifact was as old as our homeworld, and it could be from the same era as the catastrophe in our homeworld. It definitely recorded more than just coordinates. It also recorded the situation of our homeworld and the surrounding universes. I wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but I always felt that there was something strange about the Gate of the Abyss that destroyed our homeworld. Then, what was recorded in this artifact …
Could it solve the mystery?
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