Interstellar Survival: Invasion

I continued to descend by sliding down the rope. My current situation gave me the same feeling as when I was sliding down Jupiter II's mouth. My surroundings felt like some sort of viscous void.

I continued descending aimlessly for five more minutes before a multi-colored light appeared in my vision. The light seemed to be floating in the void. It looked like some sort of amber that was on the verge of exploding.

"Canyue, how are you? Is it safe down there?" Zhang Xingxing's voice came from the communicator.

"It's safe, but no exit is found so far," I replied.

"You need to go faster. The enemies are arriving soon," said Zhang Xingxing.

Upon hearing that, I increased the speed at which I slid down the rope. The colorful radiance before me became brighter and brighter. The light appeared to be scattering in an irregular manner. Pink and blue dominated the color spectrum. The various colors seemed to glow naturally in constantly shifting forms, as though an abstract painting was unfurling before me.

"Old Du, are you seeing this odd painting-like thing?" I asked.

"These colors are dominating our vision. Of course I see them," said Old Du.

"I wonder what it is. Its shape is way too weird. It's like a glowing oil painting that you can't understand," I said.

"Canyue, try to feel the space right in front of you with your hand," Old Du said.

I reached out and felt some sort of gelatin. I tried pushing my arm into the substance, and my arm immediately vanished from my view. As for the space below us, it seemed to be a void where not even the gelatin-like substance existed.

"This place is obviously a tunnel, but I don't know where it leads to," I said.

"We can have them come down first," said Old Du. It did not seem like there was any danger down here.

I contacted Zhang Xingxing and notified her to enter the tunnel as well.

"Canyue, I have an opinion. I feel like this substance is very similar to the vestiges of a supernova," said Old Du.

"What? Vestiges of a supernova? That should be a nebula, and it should only exist in outer space. We're currently underground, brother," I replied.

"When I scanned it with the laser probe and analyzed its characteristics with my system, I discovered that the laser was unable to penetrate the sponge-like substance. From its condition, it seems to be the supernova vestiges left from a star explosion," said Old Du.

"Canyue, we're coming," Zhang Xingxing's voice came, interrupting our conversation.

"Xingxing, can you see the colorful radiance?" I asked.

"Yes. It's like Old Du said—it greatly resembles the vestiges of a supernova," said Zhang Xingxing.

'Odd. Why would there be such a substance here? Is the core of Eternal an imploded star? That's too inconceivable,' I thought.

The team continued descending. At this time, a white radiance entered our vision from afar. I scanned it with my laser probe and discovered that the white light was an exit.

"I found the exit. Hurry up, everyone," I shouted.

With our goal in sight, we received a brand new dose of motivation. I slid down the rope quickly and left the tunnel filled with a sponge-like substance. I let go of my rope and dropped into a brightly illuminated room. A blindingly white chandelier hung from the ceiling, emanating the white radiance illuminating the room.

The room was in the shape of a long and narrow corridor. The end of the room couldn't be seen, and countless chests with neatly arranged books were piled inside. The banned books that had been delivered here for successive generations were all stored here.

Suddenly, I heard some sounds from behind me. When I turned back, I was given the scare of my life. A smoking silhouette that looked like a freak draped in a cloak of viscous substance was silently crouched behind me. It was using its hands to rub the ground I had walked on. Old Du and Aaron jumped in shock.

"My god, what monster is this?" Aaron cried out before raising his raygun.

"Don't open fire," Old Du stopped Aaron.

The monster did not seem to notice our arrival. I slowly stepped forth and looked at the monster from a closer distance. I noted with astonishment that the monster did not have a nose, eyes, or ears. It only had a relatively small mouth. A sharp sword was deeply embedded into its back, as though it had become a part of its body.

Looking at how the creature was constantly rubbing the ground, an idea suddenly rose in my mind. I turned and lifted a chest, which I then placed before the creature. The moment the creature felt the chest, it stood up with the chest and walked deeper into the room.

"So it's the creature in charge of arranging these chests with banned books," said Aaron.

I waited under the tunnel for Zhang Xingxing and the others. More than 10 minutes later, the crew slid down the rope one after another. Titan was the last to arrive, and he put the rope away after he was done with it. Everyone was temporarily safe.

"Wow, there's a whole new world down here. What a surprise. So many books. They can all possibly be treasures. Truly, fate is smiling at me yet again after the heavens dropped disaster upon me. Hahaha," said Giorno happily.

Listening to Giorno, I suddenly recalled the banned book Master Crystal had mentioned previously.

"Great scholar, is there a book describing Planet Blue here?" I asked Jeferun.

"How did you find out about that book?" Jeferun was astonished.

"Canyue, are you referring to the book Master Crystal talked about?" Zhang Xingxing asked.

"Yes. I have a feeling we can discover some of Prophet Nommo's footsteps from that book. Perhaps we can even find clues pointing to your father in that book," I said.

"Master, do you know about it?" Zhang Xingxing asked Jeferun.

"It's a famous book. We all know about it. Supposedly, it's a book left behind by one of the ancestors of the Sacred Wing race. For an unknown reason, it had been kept in the college for a very long time," said Jeferun.

"Sacred Wing race, the mysterious and low profile power behind the emperor," said Giorno.

"What's the name of that book? Can you find it?" I asked.

"It's called Blue Path. About 20 years ago, Principal Sosse requested to have the book put away in the Dark Hall," said Jeferun.

"Blue Path. A rather poetic name. Why was it put away? How should we find it?" Zhang Bao'er asked.

"Principal Sosse believed that this book would mislead one's view about the world. Thus, he banned the book. From how neatly these chests are arranged, the book shouldn't be hard to find," said Jeferun.

A sense of excitement rose in my heart. I was getting close to yet another ancient mystery. Suddenly, the sounds of explosions came from the tunnel above us.

"This is bad. The imperial police seem to be throwing bombs into the tunnel," said Old Du.

"Find the book as quickly as possible and leave. This place keeps giving me a weird feeling," Zhang Xingxing said.

We thus followed Jeferun and searched for the chest that was lowered 20 years ago. As for Giorno, he led his people carrying the treasures he had plundered and went deeper into the room.

"Canyue, this place is so silent that it's making me uneasy. If it is really so peaceful down here, why is it that nobody has dared to come down here in tens of thousands of years?" Old Du asked.

"I'm wondering the same. Did you discover anything unusual?" I asked.

"When we were passing through the supernova vestiges, I performed some tests. Anything would vanish from our vision after being submerged in the sponge-like substance. But why can we clearly see the vestiges? Isn't that odd?" Old Du replied.

His speculation sank me into deep thought.

"Do you mean that we're not actually looking at the present?" I asked.

Old Du was about to speak when Jeferun stopped walking.

"According to my calculation, this should be the place. Everyone, split up and search. Each chest has a list of books on it," said Jeferun.

"Everyone, split up and look for the Blue Path," commanded Zhang Xingxing.

We started searching. With the help of my laser probe, I soon found a chest with Blue Path written on it.

"Found it! We really found it!" I exclaimed inwardly, my hands trembling from excitement.

Just like that, the book I had been longing for had appeared before me.

"Found it!" I shouted at everyone.

They hurriedly gathered around me. After a minute of silence, Old Du reached out and tore off the label on the chest. We then allowed Zhang Xingxing to do the honor of opening the chest. After all, the book might be related to her long-lost father. She opened the chest, and a book with a light blue cover appeared in our eyes. The words Blue Path could be seen on the cover.

Zhang Xingxing was trembling as much as I was. With shivering hands, she picked the book up and flipped to the first page. The preface written on the page leaped into my eyes: The light of creation grants us life and power. Lowering our heads, we pursue history. Looking up at the starry sky, we pursue the universe.

"The secrets buried by history are right before us," I said in excitement.

The sounds of an explosion suddenly came from near the tunnel. Shortly after, powerful shockwaves spread out of the tunnel. The explosion turned the chest before us over, and the white chandelier above us shattered, sinking the corridor into darkness.

"Not good. The imperial army is here. The emperor has actually broken his own ban on the Dark Hall?" said Jeferun.

"Xingxing, put the book away. Retreat immediately," I said.

After putting the book away, we ran deeper into the corridor and soon caught up with Giorno's group, which was advancing slowly.

"The imperial army is here. We need to retreat quickly. Aaron, set up defenses and cover us," commanded Giorno.

Aaron was naturally unwilling, but he still did as told and started setting up defenses with five other thugs. The rest of us continued running down the corridor, passing by numerous chests containing banned books.

'Over the period of tens of thousands of years, so many books have been banned. There is probably also a lot of hidden history pertaining to the Bright people here. Too bad we don't have the time to study these books,' I thought to myself.

At this time, Old Du suddenly said, "Weird. Where is the creature in charge of arranging the books?"