When we first saw this cathedral, we were curious. This building was so unique in this world of ruins. Not only was its clean and perfect outer shell out of place compared to the other worn-out buildings around it, but it was also because Sandora said that it was built hundreds of thousands of years ago before the great war. In other words, this cathedral was a veritable ancient relic, and not a piece of junk that the natives dug out from the ruins and assembled themselves. Just this point alone made this cathedral so eye-catching. Another thing that caught our attention was its internal structure. It was a place called a cathedral, but there was nothing related to religion inside. There were no reliefs, no murals, not even a word about God. The most common thing here was the alloy walls and holographic screens that looked like the corridors of a battleship. Also, there were isolation cabins at intervals along the corridor. This structure was baffling at first, but when we saw it detach from the high ground and slowly rise into the air through the holographic projection, all our questions were answered.
This strange cathedral, is it really a spaceship?
"Attention, crew. This spaceship has left the fixed port. The entire spaceship is now in lockdown. This spaceship will be separated from the external gravitational system. The spaceship's artificial gravity system is being activated. Activation complete."
A soft but emotionless electronically synthesized female voice rang in the room. It sounded just like the voice of an ordinary spaceship's mainframe. Just as it spoke, we felt weightless for a moment before everything returned to normal. The huge metal block that had suddenly transformed from a building into a spaceship seemed to have isolated itself from the gravitational pull of the entire planet. Instead, it was using its own gravity system to maintain its internal environment. Under normal circumstances, a spaceship would perform such a maneuver to change its attitude drastically in a near-Earth environment.
My guess was correct. A few seconds after the church or spaceship activated the artificial gravity system, the obelisk-shaped 'building' on the monitor screen began to slowly tilt, changing from perpendicular to parallel to the ground. The cylindrical towers that were previously attached to the obelisks of the church also rose into the air along with the church. At this moment, they formed a perpendicular cross, hanging at the bottom of the 'church spaceship' like a pedestal. A bright blue energy halo diffused from the four tips of the cross and the engine at the bottom of the 'church spaceship' like a thin layer of mist.
"The spaceship's attitude has been adjusted. The main body is operating well. The reactor's output power is lower than the theoretical value. Troubleshooting and resetting the system. System setup complete. The reactor cannot be repaired. The repair plan is suspended. The spaceship has left the final barrier's locking bolt. The final barrier will be activated in 30 minutes. Warning. Scanning the final barrier's condition is abnormal. The barrier's strength is zero. The barrier's structural integrity is rapidly declining. The spaceship recommends that the captain immediately take one of the following three actions: First, immediately return to the final barrier's locking bolt. The spaceship will initiate an emergency plan to reset the barrier. Second, immediately send a distress signal to the spaceship's superior information processing center and move away from the final barrier. The spaceship reserves the right to interpret the success rate of this option. Third, please head to the Z-66 Captain's Lounge and write your will. The spaceship promises to keep your will safe, but does not promise not to hand it over to the military. I wish you a pleasant journey. Dear passengers, for your and everyone else's safety, please take your belongings with you. Passengers with children … Sorry, passengers. Due to the train's delay, the next station … the oxygen synthesis plant has been successfully activated. The planet's atmosphere … The spaceship has recorded the command and entered standby mode. Self-learning module online … "
We were speechless.
"I feel like something's wrong with this thing."
The big sister pointed at the control panel that Yodel was standing on and muttered.
Sandora looked at Yodel, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "I know what's going on. This spaceship's mainframe has been in standby for hundreds of thousands of years and has never been maintained. Now it's messed up … Can't you mute this thing that keeps talking?"
Yodel raised his hand helplessly and looked at the control panel that had completely changed. "I don't know what to do either. The previous bishop didn't tell me that it would become like this …"
We were speechless.
Alright, old man, you really know how to surprise us.
"Friendly reminder: Please pay attention to your personal safety during flight. When the spaceship is traveling at superluminal speed, please do not stick your hands or head out of the window to avoid danger … Passengers with children, please keep them safe in your luggage … Long live the Legion! All those who stand in our way are trash! Open fire! In the name of the general, we will tear their defensive barrier apart! Food will be provided for free and unlimited. Passengers, please be careful and pick up your weapons to destroy these filthy lowly creatures! "
The spaceship's chaotic broadcast echoed in the room. It was obvious that this ancient spaceship that hadn't been maintained for hundreds of thousands of years had suffered a serious system error. Who knew where the channels had been strung together? Logically speaking, the military products of the Xiling Empire should have been able to last for hundreds of thousands of years without any problems. But think about it, everything in this world had been through the baptism of war. Even this strange spaceship that was a few hundred meters long that looked like a stele wasn't a complete warship. Only heaven knew which part of the spaceship's mainframe was smoking.
"Alright, looks like you really don't know how to make it quiet down. Looks like we have to do it ourselves." Sandora was in a bad mood after hearing the chaotic broadcast. She planned to forcefully shut down the mainframe that was already in a state of chaos. Yodel's expression changed. He seemed to want to stop her, but someone was one step ahead of him. Visca suddenly ran to the control panel and kicked one of the terminals. With a bang, he left a five-centimeter footprint on the sturdy alloy plate. "Quiet!"
When it came to violence, Pandora and her sister's actions were stronger than Sandora's. Compared to Pandora, who was more reserved, Visca was more of a person who did whatever he wanted.
The crazy broadcast in the room instantly quietened down. But a few seconds later, the synthesized female voice rang out again, this time with a high-pitched shrill. "Long live the general! Long live the general! I have heard your voice and your identification code! You have returned home? Please give the order, general. Who should we kill this time? Is there a new world to be destroyed? Or is there a new game? I'm sorry, general. The camera in front of you seems to be malfunctioning. I am unable to see your appearance. Please wait a moment … "
The mainframe spoke quickly. Before we could react, it had already said a lot of things. Then, just as I was about to step forward and ask Visca about the situation, a small multi-function probe suddenly whizzed into the room and hovered in front of Visca.
"Oh, oh, I see you. I see you. It's the general. It's so good to see you again. What a familiar figure. I can see your entire figure at such a close distance …"
A cold wind blew past, and everyone couldn't help but shiver.
Pandora ran to Visca's side in a few steps. The two sisters raised their feet in unison and gave the control panel a good beating. As they walked, Visca shouted, "You talk too much. You talk too much. It's been hundreds of thousands of years, but you're still so talkative!"
After a series of chaos, the entire control panel was turned into a mosaic by Visca and Pandora's violent beating. However, the operation of the spaceship didn't seem to be affected at all. It seemed that the control center of the spaceship was somewhere else. The room that Yodel knew was probably just a support control room. Smashing the control panel here didn't affect the operation of the spaceship.
Visca vented his anger after a series of punches and kicks. At this time, he blinked his red eyes at the holographic projection that was twitching in midair. "Right, who are you? I think I know you? "
"Ahahaha!!" The crazy spaceship AI suddenly let out an ear-piercing laugh. It was completely different from the gentle synthetic female voice from before. "General, it's really your style! It's okay, I'm your most loyal ship. Let me see your schedule … Ah, battle, battle, and more battles. There's no schedule at all. We'll fight whoever we see. Alright, let me check the firepower … Wait! Oh, my General, what happened?! Where's the firepower? Where's the core power furnace? Where's the docking center? Wait a minute, why am I in such an ugly shell! What is this tiny body? Is this an insult to the glory of soldiers — "
"Visca, you know this crazy person?"
Although I had already guessed something from the crazy speech of the spaceship AI, I still stepped forward and patted Visca's shoulder to confirm it personally.
"I … Maybe … I knew him a long time ago. I think it's my flagship." Visca knocked his head with a very depressed expression. "Brother, I don't remember clearly. It's my flagship, but I don't know what it's called … I lost it a long time ago, but … I never knew I had a flagship before."
"No matter what your flagship looked like in the past, this spaceship that is only a few hundred meters long is definitely not its original appearance." Sandora looked at the spacious, non-core control room that was definitely not on the same level as the bridge of the Empire's flagship. "It looks more like an escape pod."
"Ah, yes, an escape pod! I've been destroyed, I've been destroyed! I've been shot, I've been shot! The reactor is on fire, the garage is pierced! " The crazy spaceship AI shouted. "General, please board the escape tower. I'm going to detonate the battlefield. Haha, let's perish together! Roar! Roar! "
"F * ck, can't this crazy person be quiet for a while?" Icetis suddenly took out a mace and smashed one of the control terminals that had become a mosaic. "Kitty, if you can make this idiot shut up, I'll give you half a kilo of toffee."
"Kitty?" I was shocked.
Icetis pointed at Visca's eyes. "I just remembered that nickname."
Visca's attention was focused on the last part of Icetis's sentence. "Toffee?"
Then, under the bribe of toffee, the spaceship AI was forced to shut up.
"I say, can someone pay attention to this direction now?"
Just as we were trying to understand what was going on with the obelisk-shaped spaceship from Visca and the other party's messy reply was really annoying, an awkward voice suddenly came from the corner of the room. I looked up and saw Yodel looking at me with a conflicted expression.
"Ah, you're still here?"
Shallow Shallow immediately exclaimed in surprise.
I immediately gave Shallow Shallow a slap on the head. Why doesn't this girl think before she speaks?
"We're almost out of the atmosphere. Where can I go?"
Yodel shrugged. The old man, who was supposed to be serious, had actually made a joke.
Yodel probably couldn't wrap his head around what had just happened. Even though he remained calm, the confusion and doubt in his eyes were obvious. What concerned him the most was the little girl who could communicate with the main computer of the ancient spaceship.
"Who are you?"
Yodel looked at Visca's bloodshot eyes and suddenly asked solemnly.
Visca looked up at him and said dejectedly, "Brother said that we can't hit old people, but you're really tall …"
I quickly pulled a chair over and said, "Sir, take a seat first."
"There are many things that I don't understand. To be honest, my mind is in a mess." Yodel smiled bitterly and pressed his hand against his forehead. "Such a disaster actually happened … Could it be that you really … Alright, that's not important. The most important thing now is to save the civilians. They are still on the ground. According to the ancient knowledge, when the sluice gate closes, the planet will disintegrate within twenty-four hours. When will the transport spaceship that you promised arrive?"
"Look outside."
Sandora casually turned on a holographic projection in the air. "The spaceship has arrived, but I need to accurately grasp the data of the civilians on the surface. Otherwise, the speed of the rescue will be greatly reduced."
The holographic projection showed the image of the planet in orbit. We could see that the ground below had undergone a drastic change. Countless huge cracks were slowly extending across the entire planet. The blue sparks and bright yellow molten metal that burst out from the cracks made the grayish-black metallic ball look like it was slowly being surrounded by a glowing spider web. However, as the planet's crust was extremely resilient, its geological structure had yet to collapse. Even though the disaster on the surface looked terrifying, most of the settlements were far away from the cracks and areas of intense tremors. Hence, the casualty rate of the victims was still optimistic. Of course, the biggest contributor to this wasn't the victims' luck, but the layer of light green light that permeated the entire planet.
A layer of pale green light shrouded the sky above the planet like a thin mist. It was almost as thick as the atmosphere, and it looked as though the entire atmosphere of the planet had turned green. This layer of green light was not stationary, but it slowly circled around the planet and gathered in a few spots, forming brighter spots in those spots. Those were the areas where the population was denser. With the help of these spots, the search and rescue ships could more easily locate the areas that needed support. Of course, this was just a rough location. If our goal was not to give up on a single person, then we would need more detailed and accurate population registration data from the Church — the thing they used to determine the allocation of resources to society.
The layer of green light that shrouded the planet was the power of Jingle and Liliana, and it was protecting all life on the planet. The combination of the Goddess of Life and the Supreme Bishop was invincible. They forcibly restored the lives of the civilians who were injured in the earthquake, and even resurrected the dead. In places where the life force was the strongest, there might even be people who were decapitated. As long as someone reattached their necks, they would immediately come back to life … I think we need a group of psychiatrists to follow up and treat them.
Above the low-Earth orbit, a huge silver-gray silhouette gradually appeared in space. They had an oblate shape and a long axis of at least twenty kilometers. They looked like apple seeds magnified countless times. On one end were dozens of vertical cracks, and on the other end were neatly arranged engine nozzles. Blue energy particles were emitted from the nozzles, illuminating the entire sky of the ruined planet.
They were the transport motherships of the Imperial Army. On the battlefield, these ships used to transport supplies would never be active on the stage. But now, they were the undisputed main characters.
Countless small transport ships swarmed out from the cracks at the front of the motherships, and charged towards the planet that was gradually splitting apart under the command of the unified command link. From afar, it looked as though the huge motherships were spraying countless blue spores onto the ground.
Even though he could not make heads or tails of what was happening, Yodel still passed us the database of the planet's population that the church held. Now, the database had been uploaded to all the motherships, and the rescue ships that entered the atmosphere were moving according to the instructions in the database and the distribution of life force on the surface of the planet.
But accidents still happened.
"We have enough rescue ships and search and rescue tools that can deal with any complicated situation, but we are unable to locate many of the settlements. The excavators are used to moving along with the machines and excavating points." Another holographic projection suddenly popped up in front of us. It was Xi Wei's image. "The database that we received just now only has the number of residents and the quota ID code. There is no information on their exact whereabouts. Due to the strong interference being released from inside the ruined planet, our ship's scanners are not working properly. We are unable to search for life on the entire planet. If we do not solve this problem soon, we estimate that we will miss at least a tenth of the survivors after twenty-four hours."
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