Age of Cosmic Exploration
chapter-348

Chapter 348: Rescue Start and… Stop!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The Genesis’ power was greater than expected. It was no wonder it was a weapon from a level 3 space civilization. It was no longer a Gaussian weapon but a real plasma weapon!

When the light ray hit the planet's surface, in an instant, the flesh surface was vaporized. Even the ginormous claw was crackling from heat. It was crumbling, as if turning back from flesh into stone. Even though they were in space and thus could not hear any sound, when the claw retreated back into the planet, everyone could swear that they could hear cheering.

"It’s working! This weapon is working!"

Everyone on the Hope, including the technicians, government officials, soldiers, and civilians cheered when they saw this. There was nothing more exciting than the showcase of the power of their own military.

However, what happened next stemmed the cheering directly. On the planet's surface, about eight claws suddenly pushed their way out. The planet looked less like a planet but an indescribable spherical spider, and this impossible creature was close to breaking out of the planet's surface.

"Continue firing!" Ji Jie commanded. "Starting from now, shut down the Genesis and initiate space warp in seven minutes, even if the transport shuttles have not returned!"

Everyone was startled. Some wanted to say something, but they ultimately didn’t…

No matter how precious the people from the Noah One were… they were not more precious than the safety of the Hope. Since Yao Yuan had given the time of seven minutes, then they would be able to retreat within seven minutes, right?

At the same time, on the life-preserving planet, the place that was shot by the super electromagnetic rail cannon had become a giant crater. The thick, metallic layer dipped inwards. Most of the metals had melted and some was vaporized, coloring the whole area a bloody red.

"The central temperature is too high. It might not affect the transport shuttles or the troopers, but normal civilians will not be able to withstand such high temperature."

Yao Yuan frowned. From his perspective, he could see 40 shuttles descending from space. The pilots of the shuttles were waiting for his command, but the temperature of the crater was so high that it made Yao Yuan hesitate.

Thankfully, the Hope was already a middle level 2 space civilization. In other words, they were at the middle stage of the 4th revolution. Metallurgy, like the heat resistance of the transport shuttles, was much greater than that of the creations back on Earth. Even if the transport shuttles landed on the planet's surface, Yao Yuan would not worry, but how would the normal civilians enter the shuttles? Such a high temperature… through conductivity, even the shuttles' surfaces would be several hundred degrees.

Right then, Yao Yuan suddenly noticed a new signal, and it was coming from underground. He broke into a smile and yelled at the communicator, "Is this Wong Guang Zhen? Hello, Ol’ Wong? Is that you?"

There was still plenty of static crowding the communication, but seconds later, the static disappeared and Guang Zhen’s word came through. "Ol’ Yao? It is me. How is everything on the surface? How’s the Hope?!"

Yao Yuan’s worried heart was greatly relieved. He replied hurriedly, "The Hope is doing fine. Do not worry, but we don’t have much time left. I believe you already know about the imminent great danger. Let’s not waste time, I will send you the coordinates of the opening… But there is a problem: the temperature of this place became very high when we blew open the crater. When the shuttles pass through the hole, their temperature will rise as well. The troopers will not be affected, but normal civilians will probably have a hard time even getting close to the shuttles… Do you have any underground rivers? Or a water source? We must find one!"

Right then, Guang Zhen’s side was crowded with people. Other than the Black Star Troopers, there were also military officers from the Noah One. When Yao Yuan gave his order, everyone looked at each other. Where would they find a water source underground? So many people were dying from thirst already.

Suddenly, a clear voice sounded, "I know the location of a water source…"

Everyone turned to the direction of the sound and saw Yun Si sit up from his position. He was waking up from his unconsciousness, but his tone was flat. When he said that, he did not hesitate and walked to the communicator to say, "What else can this device do? Can it scan out the 3D image of various geological positions?"

Guang Zhen nodded at the trooper who was operating the communicator and he finally replied, "There is such a function. We can project the image into thin air. Do you want to use that function?"

Yun Si nodded and he saw a light screen appear before him. The screen was delineated into top and bottom layers using color.

Yun Si traced his finger through the screen and soon trails appeared on screen. He said, "You all came down from this large tunnel, right? This pavilion here is where the Noah One initially landed. If you continue down this way, there will be an underground stream. It is where the Noah One got its water supply. From where we are, we need to go down further… It should be right here. If the opening is at these coordinates, then right under it, here. If you attack here, you will be able to siphon the water source and the stream will follow downwards, forming an underground waterfall. Then the issue of temperature will be solved."

With Yun Si’s explanation, the underground’s environment was clarified. The various tunnels, pathways, and steps going up or down were marked. These made Guang Zhen’s group excited. With these, the chance of survival greatly increased.

However, Guang Zhen quickly asked, "Why are you helping us? Didn’t you decide to stay earlier?"

Yun Si scratched the back of his head as he sat down. He said calmly, "I am not crazy. I admit I was overly emotionally earlier, but since we can still save 3,000 people, it is still worth trying… But you’re sure the spaceship’s leader will wait for us? You know the great danger is imminent."

"I believe," Guang Zhen said confidently. "Because he is not on the spaceship but right above us, trying his best to save us. He will not abandon us!"

Yun Si did not reply but started his own contemplation.

Back on the surface, Yao Yuan was overjoyed when he received the underground geological map. He immediately sent the map to the 40 shuttles. Even though these were shuttles for transportation purposes, they were, after all, creations from the 4th revolution. Their materials, production, fuel efficiency, and the like had surpassed Earth’s technology. One of such shuttles, if put back into Earth’s era, could rival several hundred fighter jets… That is if humans did not use any atomic bombs or such weapons of mass destruction.

Each of the shuttles was equipped with several automatic Gaussian gatling guns and a small Gaussian cannon. The collective power of 40 shuttles was more than enough to clear away an underground tunnel. The shuttles also had anti-gravitational systems, so floating in the air was a non-issue.

After receiving the underground map, the 40 shuttles submerged through the opening and started clearing a pathway using the map. Thankfully, the underground had not metalized, or rather, due to Yao Yuan’s presence, the metallization process had stopped. The rocks fell away easily under the shuttles’ focus fire. Several seconds later, a large waterfall sprayed out from the rock's face.

The pilots cheered before they went deeper down the hole and stopped at a leveled junction. This place was exactly where the Noah One had stopped. The place was crumbling, but due to the overall size, it had not completely collapsed yet.

At the same time, Guang Zhen’s unit departed from the steel city. Even though the roads were blocked by fallen rocks, the presence of the Black Star Troopers made them a non-issue. They easily cleared the rocks away, but most of the unit was tired, thirsty, hungry, and exhausted. They had elderly and injured people with them, so their progress was not fast. Guang Zhen knew about the seven minute limitation from Yao Yuan, and his heart started to palpitate as he saw the timer tick down in his helmet.

At about the 7th minute, the leading party felt a heat wave. The temperature on the Space Armors had reached about 50 degrees. It was still bearable. Before their eyes were the rocky pavilions, and in it were the 40 transport shuttles!

Back in space, the Hope had stopped firing the Genesis and siphoned that energy to space warp engine but…

"What?! The space warp engine has stopped working? You can’t even charge it with energy?!"