Interstellar Survival: Invasion

"Old Du, how are you?" Zhang Xingxing asked with concern.

"I'm fine. There won't be any issues for now," replied Old Du.

"Old Du, did you make any new discoveries?" I asked.

"Do you remember the creature in charge of arranging books when we first arrived?" asked Old Du.

"Of course. The creature with no eyes, no ears, and only a mouth," I said.

"Do you remember the sword's position on its back?" Old Du asked.

"If I'm not wrong, the sword was on the right side of its back?" I said.

"We have not encountered the creature on our way here. I think it must have continued onward through this path and is ahead of us. If this V-shaped intersection is truly an exit, with a trap between the two paths, since the creature has a sword on the right side of its back, which path would it take?" Old Du asked.

"A sword on the right side of its back…if the divider between the two paths contains the trap mechanism, the monster was probably stabbed when taking the left path. In that case, we should pick the right path," I concluded.

"That makes so much sense. Old Du, you're a genius!" exclaimed Zhang Bao'er.

"What if the creature was stabbed after it turned around to flee?" countered Domo, being as nitpicky as usual.

"That's possible, but from our observation, the creature does not have any sensory organs. Therefore, it is more likely for it to flee after being stabbed. Probability-wise, the right path has a higher chance of being the correct choice," explained Old Du.

His analysis was reasonable. Everyone agreed to take the right path. Before entering the right path, Barak left a mark indicating the right path for the ones that would come after them. Everyone helped Old Du and proceeded through the tunnel. The white tunnel was exceedingly long, as though there was no end to it.

After walking for an hour, a different view apart from an endless tunnel was presented before us. Countless subsidiary tunnels had appeared at the two sides of the tunnel. We could clearly see the subsidiary tunnels shift their positions constantly. At that point, the temperature around us had reached negative 15 degrees.

"We should stick to the main tunnel and ignore the constantly shifting tunnels," said Zhang Xingxing.

The main tunnel was completely silent. Even the constantly moving tunnels did not make any noise. It was rather unsettling to see so many movements without any sound. We advanced quickly. At this time, a mournful scream came from one of the moving tunnels.

"What monster is it? Its scream is so terrifying," said Zhang Bao'er.

"It almost sounds like the cry of Eternal's vengeful spirits," said Prince Toruse. "I heard from Royal Father that in the legends, Planet Eternal has a black hell. There are countless vengeful spirits in it."

"There are no ghosts. There is a reason for anything to exist. Some are unexplainable merely because we have yet to understand them," I said.

"There must be a lot of life forms we don't understand under the ground. Everyone, we need to leave as quickly as possible and not waste any time with them," said Zhang Xingxing.

We continued onward for several minutes. The cries became more and more concentrated, to the point it almost felt like there was a tempo to it. However, no creature was visible in the tunnel. As a precaution, we turned on our shields and gripped our weapons tighter our grips on our weapons. Suddenly, a black dot appeared in the distance. It looked like we were reaching the end of the tunnel.

"We're reaching the end! Go faster, everyone," Zhang Xingxing commanded.

We continued helping Old Du as we accelerated toward the black dot. Everyone wanted to leave this eerie place as fast as possible.

The black dot became nearer and nearer. We were finally able to see that the black dot was really an exit. In the middle of the exit crouched a big creature with a sword in its back.

"Canyue, this must be the creature you talked about," Zhang Xingxing said.

"Yes, it is. I did not expect it to be crouching here. That means we picked the right tunnel," I said.

For some reason, the crouching creature was motionless. We slowly approached it.

"This fellow is blocking the exit. We can't leave," complained Zhang Bao'er.

"Barak, does the college have any records on this creature?" I asked.

"No. The Dark Hall is the place to store banned books. From the founding of the college, the first principal had issued a ban forbidding anyone from entering."

"That's a rule set by the first principal?" I asked.

"Yes. It is rumored that Principal Yiman died of illness during the construction of the college building. The succeeding principal buried him under the college," said Barak.

"Are you saying that Principal Yiman's body was buried here? How many people are buried here?" asked Zhang Xingxing.

"Nobody apart from Principal Yiman," said Barak.

"Are you suspecting that this creature is..." I asked Zhang Xingxing.

"That was my initial thought, but that doesn't seem possible. A life form can transcend the limitations of time, but how can one survive this long without being put in stasis? That is unexplainable," said Zhang Xingxing.

"Just attack. Why are we wasting time talking?" said Zhang Bao'er who was getting impatient.

"No, we can't. I don't think it's there to stop us," said Domo.

"Domo makes sense. I agree," Old Du slowly said. "This creature has never shown any aggression since our arrival."

While everyone was talking, the wails around us were getting louder and louder. Suddenly, several clumps of black gas spurted out from the side tunnels and advanced toward us. A part of the black cloud extended like an arm reaching out to touch our shields. Our powerful shields were able to block its advance, resulting in the formation of some sort of smoke ring around us.

"My god. There really are ghosts here!" Zhang Bao'er cried out.

"Shut up. Ghosts don't exist. This is simply something unknown," I stopped Zhang Bao'er from further shouting.

At this time, our radiation detector indicated that the radiation around us had reached 500 electron volts.

"Canyue, the radiation is too high. This level is already comparable to a black hole's radiation field," said Zhang Xingxing.

"Yes, we need to leave immediately," I said.

More and more black smoke covered our surroundings while the wails around us intensified. I suddenly saw a palm swinging at the smoke, dispersing some of the smoke.

"It's the creature. It seems to be helping us!" Zhang Xingxing exclaimed.

"Looks like it can sense the radiation field as well," I analyzed.

"Yes. Look at its appearance. It is smoking with pus all over its body. That is probably a result of long-term exposure to radiation," said Old Du.

The smoke around us continued growing thicker. Suddenly, the creature opened its mouth and spat a clump of green liquid at the smoke. Any bit of smoke that touched the liquid would solidify into a clump before dropping onto the ground. A few minutes later, the thick cloud of smoke had been fully cleared by the creature.

"Just what is this smoke made of? Why is the radiation level so high?" Zhang Bao'er asked.

"Ever since we got down here, I have been feeling that this place is like the vestiges of a supernova," said Old Du.

"Old Du, did your injury affect your head? This is a planet, not a star," said Zhang Bao'er.

"It is very difficult to explain. Perhaps this is some sort of fake appearance," said Old Du.

"Look, the creature is coming," Prince Toruse suddenly shouted.

Only then did we notice the creature with festering pus all over its body walking toward us. I could see Bao'er slowly raising his gun as the creature approached.

"Everyone, stay calm. Move aside and let it pass," I said.

Everyone parted to the side of the tunnel. The creature continued ahead, completely ignoring all of us. Everyone heaved a breath of relief.

"Looks like it was really here to help us," said Domo.

"Yes. I agree with Zhang Xingxing. There is a possibility that the creature is Principal Yiman. At the very least, this is Principal Yiman's body," said Old Du.

"But it's very hard to explain its appearance. Perhaps we'll get an answer later," said Zhang Xingxing.

After she spoke, the wails started to return as though the black smoke was going to reappear.

"Everyone, move quickly. Get through this exit and leave this place," Zhang Xingxing commanded.

Everyone started moving immediately. After helping Old Du up, we resumed our journey to leave the maze. After going through the exit, a massive cavern probably as large as an ocean was presented before us. Multi-colored dots of light hovered in the air, constantly drifting about. Right in front of us were two paths, one up and one down.

The lower path led to a massive black hole. The black hole was completely still, a ball of pure darkness. The upper path led to a massive star resembling Betelgeuse, which was emanating gentle rays of light.

The two paths were akin to two staircases, one leading up and the other leading down. Each step was supported by a massive pillar that stabbed down into the immeasurable abyss below us, making the two pathways look even more majestic.

"Why are there two paths again? Which do we pick this time?" complained Zhang Bao'er.

"This is spectacular. This place is like the birthplace of the many star systems in the Orion Constellation," exclaimed Barak in admiration as he took in the sight before us.

"You're right. This is the birthplace of the Orion Constellation. However, this is not the actual birthplace. I have a feeling that this is a replica at a compressed scale," said Old Du, ignoring the pain from his wound.

"Old Du, tell us more about your theory," Zhang Xingxing said.

"After coming down here, we encountered the solid form of the vestiges of a supernova, something that only the explosion of a star will leave behind. A regular star explosion will fling nebulous substances away while the star's core will turn into a black hole. Only the powerful gravity of a black hole is capable of creating the highly radiated smoke we encountered in the tunnel. Now that a black hole has appeared before us, I can confirm that my guess is correct," said Old Du.

"How do you conclude that this is a compressed version of the real thing?" I asked.

"The supernova vestiges we encountered were dormant, existing in a sponge-like state. I believe this is a static image space," said Old Du.

"Wait, something doesn't add up. If that is a black hole, we would have been crushed from this distance. No life form can survive standing so close to a black hole. Look, apart from the black hole, everything else in this place is moving. Nothing is static about them," argued Zhang Bao'er.

"Your argument is reasonable. That is also why I'm still confused," said Old Du.

"Is that an actual black hole?" I asked.

"From its shape, yes," said Old Du. "Look at the edge of the thing. All light vanishes upon reaching that point. That is the typical characteristic of a black hole."

"The black hole symbolizes the end, while the star symbolizes life," muttered Barak.

"In that case, should we pick the upper path?" I asked.

"There is a saying on Blue that two negatives make a positive. Are we supposed to brave death before obtaining our salvation? Is the black hole the right choice instead?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"If that is our sole option, of course we will give it a try. But there is a choice of life and hope. I suggest we pick the star," I said.

"I agree with Canyue. We should pick hope, not death," said Prince Toruse.

Bao'er and Old Du did not say anything else, tacitly agreeing with me.

"Alright. In that case, let's take the upper path," concluded Zhang Xingxing.