Interstellar Survival: Invasion

We all turned on our respective flying systems and entered the black tunnel. The black tunnel was still filled with a fierce wind. Countless transparent creatures continued climbing past us, charging upward. The tentacles grabbed, destroyed, and threw them back down, the entire process completely noiseless.

I slowly approached our targets. As I soared with my light, the tentacles became clearer and clearer to my eyes. Eventually, I was able to see the steel-like qualities of the tentacles' skin. When the distance between us and the tentacles was four times the tentacles' length, we stopped and hovered in the air.

"We have reached the attacking range. Our targets are the three injured tentacles moving in an opposite direction from the others. Old Du will take the upper left tentacle, Bao'er will take the middle tentacle, and I'll take the right tentacle. According to the system, each tentacle will remain outside for 10 seconds once it appears from the darkness. Make sure to hit your targets within that time frame," I said.

As hovering like this was very energy intensive, we immediately raised our guns without wasting any time.

"Three, two, one, fire!" I commanded after a short countdown.

Three green beams shot toward the tentacles and struck them with surgical precision. The cluster laser guns displayed their powerful might. One tentacle was sent flying away, and one had a claw blasted apart, but unfortunately, Bao'er's target happened to be holding onto a transparent creature, resulting in the creature taking the hit for the tentacle.

At this time, we saw our proof that the injured tentacles were indeed slower than the others. The two damaged tentacles were quickly pulled back, leaving the sole undamaged tentacle behind. It remained at the same spot, as though dumbstruck. Meanwhile, the normal tentacles were still busy capturing the transparent creatures.

"Fire at the final tentacle. We can't allow it to retreat undamaged," I said.

We shot our guns at the same time, sending three laser shots toward the tentacle. This time, we hit the tentacle and blasted its tip apart. Even so, the other tentacles still did not react and were still busy minding their own business.

"Old Du, Bao'er, establish the defensive energy tunnel immediately," I said.

Old Du and Zhang Bao'er released their shield and formed a cylindrical shield where the three tentacles had withdrawn. This shield served as a tunnel, and everyone rushed toward it, with Titan and Dodo following behind the main team with the chests they were tasked to carry. The entire operation progressed so smoothly that it was hard to believe.

Suddenly, a tentacle beside the tunnel faced its tip at the group and fired a spike. A wail came from the group. When I turned around, I saw that a spike had stabbed Adelan's eye.

"This is bad! Watch out, everyone! The tentacles have discovered us! Move at top speed!" I roared.

When we were less than three meters from the tunnel, a rain of spikes headed toward us. All the tentacles were attacking us. I immediately pushed my shield to its maximum capacity and protected everyone as we made the final push toward the tunnel.

Countless spikes struck the shield. The powerful shield was able to block the spikes, but the sheer number of spikes was like a curtain covering our surroundings, making it impossible for us to see ahead. I could also see my energy draining at a terrifying rate.

"My god. These attacks are too terrifyingly concentrated," Zhang Bao'er exclaimed.

We braved the attacks and finally rushed into the tunnel after great difficulty. Even in the tunnel, we were still surrounded by spikes. In fact, the entire tunnel seemed to be wrapped in a layer of them. And when we looked down, we could see a rain of spikes dropping down from having bounced off our shield.

"Our energy level is dropping rapidly," said Old Du.

When Lifu checked Adelan's injury, he saw that a steel-like spike had stabbed through Adelan's helmet and pierced into his eye, filling his helmet with his blue blood.

"This is grave. We need to go through the shadow layer and leave as soon as possible," I said.

"Where are Dodo and Titan?" Zhang Bao'er suddenly asked.

Only then did I realize that the Dodo and Titan were supposed to be behind us. I quickly turned around. The scene that entered my eyes shook me to my very core. Dodo was using their steel body to protect Titan. Countless spikes were stabbed into Dodo's body, making Dodo look like a porcupine.

Bang!

Snow started shooting the tentacles, reducing the tentacles to ashes with his powerful raygun. His attack seemed to cause a chain reaction, and even more tentacles turned around and attacked our tunnel. The massive impact caused the shield tunnel to turn red. At that moment, I noticed with astonishment that a transparent creature had climbed into the tunnel. The second creature followed, and the third creature also followed.

"Cover the transparent creatures. I'll go help Titan," I roared.

Dodo, who was stabbed full of spikes, was still about five meters away from me. I turned off my thrusters and allowed myself to drop down. I then instantly activated the thrusters again, arriving beside Dodo.

"Dodo, are you fine?" I asked.

"Remember to help me pull the spikes off later. This is too uncomfortable," said Dodo.

Titan was hiding behind Dodo and the chest, so he was fortunate enough to still be uninjured. I expanded my shield to include the pair. We braved the rain of spikes and finally reached the tunnel.

"How many creatures have passed?" I asked Master Crystal.

"About a dozen," Master Crystal said.

At this time, the monster seemed to have noticed that the creatures were going through our tunnel, as a majority of the tentacles had started attacking us.

"Canyue, I feel like fewer corpses are dropping down now," said Zhang Bao'er.

I looked down and saw that there were indeed fewer corpses dropping now. It seemed like we were keeping the tentacles occupied enough that the transparent creatures could now start escaping.

Because the tunnel was completely covered in spikes, we couldn't even see the world outside. When I stretched my neck out to get a better look, tens of spikes instantly shot toward my head and bounced off my energy shield. During that short instance, I was able to see countless transparent creatures rushing out of the shadow layer from the opening we managed to create.

"Lifu, you and your men go through the shadow layer first. Bao'er and Old Du, continue maintaining this tunnel. Try to last a few extra minutes to help more transparent creatures through," I said.

"Canyue, we only have 10 hours' worth of energy left," said Zhang Bao'er.

I took a look at my energy. I still had 50 percent of my capacity, enough to last me 18 hours.

"Try to persevere only a bit more. When your energy level drops to only eight hours, go through the shadow layer. We need to buy more time for Bulu's kin," I said as I channeled some of my energy into the tunnel.

Lifu and his men did as told and rose through the shadow layer with Dodo in tow. Master Crystal stayed back to fight alongside us. When we reached the top, the tentacles became even more frantic in their attacks. We struck back with our laser guns whenever possible while Master Crystal attacked with a miniature raygun, unleashing purple beams upon the tentacles.

"Canyue, we've reached the surface. There is no light here, but the transparent creatures are visible," Lifu's voice came from the communicator.

"Group up. We'll try to hold on a bit longer," I said.

We continued for about 15 minutes. At that point, I only had 14 hours' worth of energy left.

"Canyue, both Old Du and I only have six hours' worth of energy. A lot of the transparent creatures have gone through. We need to retreat," said Zhang Bao'er.

I could see how fast our energy was draining, but when I saw that there were more transparent creatures trying their best to climb up, I gnashed my teeth and waited one more minute.

"Retreat!" I finally commanded.

We quickly rushed to the shadow zone. Covering the rear, I took a final look at the scene behind us, which I would never forget. I then turned and rushed into the shadow layer. The experience was akin to going through a thick layer of black gas. I arrived at a pitch-black world.

It was a world where light ceased to function. Only an eerie darkness surrounded us, with the light green radiance from the transparent creatures being the only source of light. There were over a thousand of them up here, tightly packed around us.

Directly above us, countless dots of light were moving in a chaotic manner like fluttering fireflies. I could feel a pair of strong arms reaching for me. With the arms' help, I was able to find my footing on solid ground.

"Follow these transparent creatures to their gathering spot," Old Du's voice came from beside me.

Only then did I notice that the transparent creatures were gathering at a spot about a kilometer away. The sounds of moving tentacles suddenly rang out.

"Everyone, go to the shining creatures' gathering spot!" Master Crystal's voice rang out.

Guided by Old Du's hand, I approached the gathering spot. The sight before us was bizarre. All our devices, in addition to our naked eyes, could only see the shining transparent creatures. Everything else, including the ground beneath us, was shrouded in complete darkness. The experience gave me massive pressure as my mind started imagining that my next step would bring me into an immeasurable abyss.

"What shitty place is this? Why won't any of our lights work?" Zhang Bao'er scolded.

"This is the true grayroid, a planet with the characteristics of a black hole and the capabilities to swallow time and light," said Master Crystal.

"Sure, light can be swallowed, but how in the world is time supposed to be swallowed? Aren't we experiencing the passage of time talking to each other?" Zhang Bao'er said.

"Look at the stars above us. Look at how fast they're moving. It's a memory of the universe over a period of probably hundreds of millions of years. We are within a zone where time itself has stopped. That is why we get to see such a scene," said Master Crystal.

"I remember. This is the black hole surface observation theory. If a planet is not destroyed after entering a black hole, time itself will be observable from the black hole's surface," said Dodo.

"Dodo, have you removed the spikes piercing your body?" Zhang Bao'er asked.

"Half of them have been removed by Titan so far," said Dodo.

"Leave one for me as a souvenir," Zhang Bao'er said.

"I'll keep 10 for you," said Dodo.

Old Du said, "Light should not exist here, but surprisingly, the light of these transparent creatures is visible. However, the light from their body is incapable of illuminating their surroundings. This is some sort of luminescence light."

"It doesn't matter. Let's follow Master Crystal's suggestion and head to their gathering spot first. We need to get away from the tentacles," I said.

While we were speaking, I felt a vibration come from behind me. Then, the ground beneath me started shaking. I turned around and saw a massive shiny silhouette rising from the horizon.