Age of Cosmic Exploration
chapter-172

Chapter 172: Despair!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Yao Yuan had destroyed 3 reactors on the mother nest. When he went searching for the fourth, the mother nest had evolved. It had moved the last reactor deeper into its heart, and its oval shape slowly became rounded, encircling the last reactor.

Yao Yuan’s weapon couldn’t pierce through such a thick layer of flesh. He only managed to create craters on the surface before they clumped back together. The flesh regenerated faster than Yao Yuan could shred through them.

When Yao Yuan was figuring out a plan, he turned back to see a large crowd of monsters in the ozone around the hole where the Hope went through. He could see so far because his Seeker’s power was activated. He predicted correctly that the Hope had managed to lift off.

"Yes, the Hope is the answer! The Supermagnetic Planet Annihilating Rail-Cannon could punch a hole through this thing!" Yao Yuan collected himself and turned Red Lightning back towards the Hope.

Within several minutes, Yao Yuan was in the Hope’s general area. Their distance was almost similar to the distance between the Earth and the Moon. In other words, they were close enough that their ECS system could recognize and reveal each other.

"Fire!"

This was the first thing Yao Yuan heard when he crossed the threshold for communication. It was crisp and somewhat girlish; Yao Yuan recognized it as Bo Li’s voice. Right after, a giant propeller shot out of the Hope.

The propeller was fitted with an internal device that allowed it to be remotely controlled by specific commands within a 100 meter radius. In other words, Yao Yuan or other troopers could control the trajectory of the propeller if they were close enough. This was the reason the plan could be executed. The technology allowed the propeller to be manually guided towards the mother nest. The set up was perfect because Yao Yuan also needed to be close to the propeller to defend it.

Yao Yuan saw the propeller dislodged from the Hope and he yelled anxiously, "The last polymerized reactor on the mother nest is still active. Use the Hope’s central computer to triangulate its location and give it a shot using the Supermagnetic Planet Annihilating Rail-Cannon. Its location is somewhere near the heart of the nest."

With his orders given, Yao Yuan turned to follow the propeller. Thankfully, the propeller was just accelerating, so Yao Yuan caught up to it quick.

"An emergency electromagnetic shield… It could withstand shots from weapon as strong as the Gaussian cannons for less than 5 seconds… It’s like it is made of paper."

Yao Yuan grumbled when he read the details of the propeller that the Academy sent to the combat jet’s computer.

However, he didn’t have the time to dally. The last reactor needed to be destroyed or the plan would fail!

Under Yao Yuan’s order, the Hope started to prepare to launch a shot at the mother nest. Multiple coordinates and data were entered into the central mainframe to complete the necessary calculations. However…

The mother started to disappear!

No, not disappear!

A mirage-like façade started to gloss over the mother nest’s surface. This was…

The ECS system!

"This is impossible! Why does the alien have access to the ECS system, and why is it only using it now?"

Then realization dawned for Yao Yuan. He activated his Seeker’s power to scan the battlefield. The broken combat jet pieces that previously littered the area had all disappeared…

The only conclusion was that the mother nest had absorbed them all. And it was evolving to create the ECS system for itself.

Everyone inside the Hope who saw this unfold had their jaws to the floor. As bigger sections of the mother nest blinked out of their eyes, the calculation on the mainframe started to go haywire. Bo Li asked instantly, "Has the Supermagnetic Planet Annihilating Rail-Cannon finished charging?"

The assistant came back from the shock and replied, "Yes, Captain. It finished charging about 10 seconds ago. We’re waiting for the triangulation to complete…"

"We can’t afford to wait any longer. Fire it now using the last sets of coordinates we have," Bo Li ordered calmly.

"But… Yes!" The assistant said into the communicator, "Captain’s order…"

Then the Hope started to rotate until its main cannon was pointing at the mother nest that was still disappearing. After a surge in electricity, the cannon fired away, shaking the Hope. Everyone held their breaths as if the shot had also taken their breath away.

The distance between the Hope and the mother nest was about 400,000 meters. In other words, the cannon shot needed about 30 seconds to reach the mother nest… This was the reason why long-distance combat wasn’t preferable in space.

Once both parties had access to creator’s particle and ECS system, no matter how strong your long ranged weapons were, they would be useless if they couldn’t hit their target. Furthermore, the long distance that the ammo needed to travel gave one’s opponent ample time to move out of its way.

This was why Yao Yuan had focused all of the Barracks’ development on high mobility combat jets. They were the real players in space combat.

Therefore, when the mother nest started using the ECS system, mankind’s advantage was lost!

In the next 30 seconds, everyone in the Hope’s central command waited with bated breath. Finally, the mother nest appeared out of its ECS status. Starting from the lower corner of its body, its fleshy body started to regain its shape.

"Yes, we hit it!"

Everyone cheered, but Bo Li and a few other people’s expressions were unsightly. As if verifying their fear, the mother nest started disappearing again.

"We missed! The shot didn’t hit the last reactor!"

Yao Yuan, who was out in the field, saw everything clearly. Despair swept through him. Now that the mother nest had complete control of its ECS system, the Hope’s main cannon had lost its use. Even though the nest only had 1 reactor left, it could create more through cellular fission. This meant…

The plan had failed?!

"No! We mustn’t give up. If the troopers continue firing at the mother nest, its ECS system will be disrupted enough to allow the Hope another shot, but…"

Yao Yuan glanced at the propeller beside the Red Lightning. It was still flying towards the mother nest. According to its calculated speed, it would reach its target in the next few minutes. Yao Yuan wouldn’t dare to leave its side lest it got destroyed by the monsters.

However, Yao Yuan's current location was too far away from the other troopers. His Anima power wasn’t strong enough to reach them from so far away. So how could he relay his plan to them?

"Nian Xi Kong!"

Yao Yuan submerged himself into the soul web. He concentrated and tried to feel out Xi Kong’s presence. After he spotted the light orb that represented Xi Kong, he formed a link with her and channeled his thoughts to her…

Xi Kong was sitting on her bed, hugging her knees. Her parents were fidgeting outside in the living room. This was similar for many families on the Hope, because the civilians were asked to stay in their residences to wait for the war to pass. Suddenly, Xi Kong heard Yao Yuan’s voice in her mind.

"Xi Kong, I need you!"