Interstellar Survival: Invasion

The moment I dropped into the water, the force pushing me down vanished. Submerged in water, I was finally able to see a gigantic cloud-shaped object atop my body. Within the cloud-like object was an actual biological system. Unfortunately, my laser probe was unable to analyze the composition of the cloud-like object's insides, nor was it able to send me an image of its insides.

After pushing me into the water, the cloud departed rapidly and returned to the endless void above the body of water. The moment it left the water, it vanished entirely from my probe's detection.

After thinking back to all that had happened since our landing, I immediately realized that Jupiter II actually housed a life form with the shape of a cloud or perhaps many other shapes as well. These beings were invisible in the air, their shape and structural makeup undetectable to all their devices. Only when they were underwater would these beings be revealed. These invisible beings were also most likely the culprit for the constant jolts our vehicle suffered while we were driving around on the surface.

With the cloud monster gone, I studied my surroundings. Compared to the world of tubes above, the sea seemed to be an organized world. With my probe, I could see countless life forms with biological compositions I had never seen before. All these life forms were moving about their daily lives in an orderly fashion.

Under the water, I was freed from the constant noise in the tube-tunnels and the surface. The only thing I felt was peace as there was no sound whatsoever in the water. Surprisingly, the seawater had a temperature of 20 degrees, with a pressure of 2,600 atmosphere, surpassing that of Mariana Trench's pressure of roughly 1,100 atmosphere. Of course, a pressure of this level might as well not exist before my highly advanced suit. All in all, entering the sea was akin to entering an entirely new world.

All the life forms I detected seemed very well-organized. I could see a group of life forms that looked like two squares joined into one. They lined up in a row, leaving a gap of five meters between each other. Atop each of their heads was a red object. Thus, lined up, they left the water in an orderly fashion. It almost seemed like they were actually delivering the red objects somewhere. And the moment they left the water, they turned invisible.

From a different direction, square life forms could be seen returning to the water. They were made visible the moment they were submerged. These returnees did not have the red objects on their heads. One group was leaving, and one group was returning. Regardless of their movements, they all originated from the very depths of the sea.

There seemed to exist some disturbance in the sea, limiting my laser probe's range to about a square kilometer around me. To learn more, I decided to explore around. I also aimed to figure out the origin of the reb objects.

Energy supply remaining: 23 hours.

As I traveled, I saw more and more different life forms. Sure, Blue also had numerous life forms in its sea, but for some reason, the life forms here all existed in geometric shapes. Furthermore, all of them seemed to be laboring without exception. Some were in charge of haulage, some were in charge of filtering, and some were in charge of production. It was as though they were all cogs and wheels of a massive organization.

I saw triangular life forms staying still in the water while constantly releasing some sort of liquid substance from their long tails. I also saw cylindrical life forms that were constantly absorbing the liquid substance into their whisker-decorated mouths before releasing some sort of solidified objects from the other end of their cylindrical bodies.

There was even a group of T-shaped life forms. These life forms were in charge of swallowing the solidified objects before swimming far away. Everything moved in a meaningful and organized manner, and everything repeated endlessly.

Learning from my earlier mistake, I did not act rashly or even try to touch anything in the water. That way, I could prevent any sudden changes from happening. Meanwhile, my suit was faithfully recording the bizarre scene all around me.

"I need to record all this and get a sample if there’s a chance. If possible, I should also try to figure out the secrets of their invisibility," I decided. "If I do survive, this will all be converted into glorious achievements. If I fail to survive, those who come after me can benefit from what I gathered here. That should earn me a spot in the Interstellar Hero Memorial Hall."

At that thought, I tried even harder to record everything I could. While I was busy observing and recording the underwater ecology of Jupiter II, a massive figure appeared behind me. Having detected the newcomer, my probe issued a warning to my headphones. At the same time, the image of a life form as big as an aircraft carrier leisurely swimming toward me appeared in my vision. It was less than 1,000 meters away from me.

This life form slightly resembled a flood dragon from the legends of antiquity. It had a smooth triangle head, a square body filled with triangle spikes, and a cylindrical tail. A sphere was at the very end of the tail, and it almost looked like an engine of sorts, constantly releasing bursts of force to propel the massive creature forward.

When the creature opened its massive mouth, two rows of smooth teeth that looked like toothbrushes could be seen. The toothbrush-like teeth seemed to be some sort of filter for the seawater. The filtered seawater would then proceed through the creature's body before ejecting from its rear. In that way, the creature was pushed forward.

I found myself right in the middle of the creature's path. My alarm blazed, reminding me of an imminent collision and telling me to dodge. Not wanting to leave the water, I had my thruster bring me deeper into the sea. A massive pulling force appeared from the creature's mouth, a force that the surrounding life forms seemed capable of nullifying for some reason, leaving me, the sole outsider, the only one vulnerable to the force.

I hurriedly sent more power to my thrusters. Just as my entire vision was taken over by the gigantic mouth, I activated the underwater-burst function and barely moved out of the creature's way. The creature seemed to have transformed into a sky above me as it slowly swam forward. I decided to dive deeper.

"What a close call," I grumbled to myself. "I am definitely not interested in entering that giant's stomach. God knows what's in there."

I continued diving in the soundless world of water. I could feel that the sea was completely calm, the peace here forming an extreme contrast to the world of loud noises above. While gathering some seawater samples, I discovered an individual life form. It was a tiny square life form that was somehow moving all by itself. Earlier, I had observed similar life forms that turned invisible after leaving the water. Since the ones I saw were all moving like they were part of some sort of system, I did not dare to lay my hands on any of them. Meanwhile, this tiny square was alone and was trying its best to swim upward.

Take him as a sample and steal his secret of invisibility, was the idea that popped into my mind.

I immediately acted on it. I took out a container meant for storing life and started approaching the little square from behind. It seemed completely oblivious. I then quickly captured the little creature with the container.

‘This little fellow could very well be an invaluable treasure, I thought to myself. But my priority is still to leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, I won't get any of the data I've gathered out of here or be able to enjoy the glory accompanying this accomplishment.’

At that thought, I became anxious. I continued diving deeper, heading toward the core at a rapid speed. I swam and swam within the pitch-black sea, and eventually, arrived at a depth of 1,500 kilometers from the surface.

Along the way, I witnessed many life forms that I had never imagined existed. I could not understand how life came to evolve into such shapes. Some of the life forms existed in shapes that could be described with words. Some of the life forms, on the other hand, existed in shapes that I couldn't even begin to process or describe with words, as though they were existences at the fourth dimension or beyond.

The four-dimensional life forms constantly flickered everywhere, and each time they reappeared, their shape changed. It was almost like they were ghosts. At 1,300 kilometers below the surface, I stopped encountering any life.

At 1,500 kilometers below the surface, I had reached as deep as the moon's core. Interestingly, unlike Blue's core, this core did not cause any disorientation in one's senses. I could still clearly distinguish where up and down were.

The deeper I went, the stronger the pressure. My suit's energy drained at a rapid pace, and according to the suit, the pressure had reached 500,000 atmosphere. Of course, this was nothing compared to Blue's core, with a pressure of 3.6 million atmosphere. That was a pressure capable of rapidly turning even the hardest diamond into liquid. Nevertheless, this was a terrifying enough pressure, considering I was underwater.

My suit was capable of withstanding a pressure of up to 4 million atmosphere, good enough to survive even Blue's core. As for the temperature at this depth, it had increased to precisely zero degrees. This was a temperature where seas on Blue would start freezing, a relatively comfortable temperature still acceptable by Blue's standards. But on Jupiter II, this was considered hot.

Suddenly, my probe indicated that 300 kilometers ahead of me was a high-pressure zone, with pressure reaching 1.5 million atmosphere. This was seven times higher than the pressure Kangaroo had sustained from the invisible creatures at the surface.

"With such pressure, that must be the very core of this moon. The answer to my escape might lie there," I told myself.

A pressure of 1.5 million atmosphere, a distance of 300 kilometers to cover, and an energy capacity of 22 hours. I activated the suit's rapid underwater movement mode. Under such high pressure, the suit's energy was being drained rapidly. The distance of 300 kilometers I needed to traverse would also waste about an hour's worth of energy from my suit.

When I reached the destination, I became certain that I had reached the core of the moon through the data fed to my helmet by my probe.