Barren Star – Chapter 74
by Little PandaWhat are the conditions?
The Mythical Forbidden Zone was classified as top secret in Da Xia, though the high-ranking officials, especially Xia Sang, had the right to know. After learning that the “Mythical Forbidden Zone” had been resolved, Xia Sang breathed a long sigh of relief, thinking she could rest easy from now on. However, it seemed the troubles weren’t over yet. Usually, the “Dark Pollution Planets” were handled by the Star Court, and while she thought of the Star Court again, her brows immediately furrowed. She spoke softly, as if talking to herself: “The Star Court has been dissolved.”
“The Council’s intention is to use sequential weapons to destroy the entire planet,” Ying Jingqiu added.
Xia Sang fixed her gaze on Ying Jingqiu and asked in return: “What do you think?”
“If that golden mask is the divine authority mask mentioned in the report, destroying the planet might not destroy it,” Ying Jingqiu pondered for a moment, frowning, “After all, it originated from the Mythical Forbidden Zone.”
Xia Sang made a sound of acknowledgment and continued: “Rather than an uncertain destination, it’s better to let that monster stay on Black Sea Star.” Among the dead star cluster, Black Sea Star was largely uninhabited. Most of those devoured by the monster were wanted criminals from the He family. Nevertheless, they couldn’t let their guard down – the monster was an unknown taboo, and no one knew what troubles it might bring.
Xia Sang asked: “Does Mountain and Sea Star know about this?”
“Yes. A copy of the experimental manual from the Demon Phantom base has been transcribed and sent to them.”
“Good, let the Civilization Fleet prepare to depart.” When Xia Sang successfully obtained the imperial authority, the Civilization Alliance was incorporated into government institutions, with its mecha warriors forming the “Civilization Fleet” directly under her command, and Ying Jingqiu was the fleet commander. Compared to Da Xia’s military mecha warriors, the Civilization Fleet frequently roamed the star sea and was more sensitive to “unknown” entities, handling them more skillfully.
On Mountain and Sea Star.
A sudden rain dispersed the lingering heat, though due to the protective shield, not a single drop of rain fell into the base.
In the past, precipitation meant extreme weather and disasters, but now the base no longer issued red alerts.
Ning Buyi stood by the window with crossed arms. Through the open window, she could see a lush green oak tree. After becoming an ordinary plant, its growth had slowed, gradually becoming like other plants in the base. Sunlight spilled onto the windowsill, and the incoming breeze carried traces of soil’s fragrance. Ning Buyi watched the beast race cubs playing on the lawn, and after a while, turned to look at Hua Zhuoyu, sighing: “How is it?”
“Da Xia’s forces have maintained their distance from the monster, and it’s no longer growing,” Hua Zhuoyu frowned, then added, “They suspect the monster uses dark pollution as a medium to devour entities. They’re planning to experiment using death row inmates.” When mentioning those sentenced to death in Da Xia, who were all heinous criminals, Hua Zhuoyu showed little sympathy.
“This is terrible,” Ning Buyi muttered, wishing she could sprawl in the sunlight like Maorong [ζ―θΈθΈ | mΓ‘o rΓ³ng rΓ³ng | name referring to a furry creature]. “What about that experimental record book? The handwriting is so messy, it’s completely illegible.” At times like this, the “golden finger” was of limited use, offering no help at all.
“It’s not messy handwriting, it’s the inherited script of a civilization destroyed in the previous era. This experimental manual is recorded in multiple scripts.” Hua Zhuoyu shook her head and continued, “My understanding of these scripts is limited, so reading progress is slow, but I did recognize one name.”
“What name?” Ning Buyi asked, dazed.
“Xie Man [θ¬ζΌ | xiΓ¨ mΓ n],” Hua Zhuoyu replied. Seeing Ning Buyi’s confused expression, she explained, “A Da Xia fugitive, once a genius graduate from First Academy. But he went astray, conducting forbidden experiments on humans, causing great panic. After becoming wanted by Da Xia, he fled to the star sea and was honored as a distinguished guest by the space pirates. He was already a theology enthusiast, so it’s not surprising that he conducted experiments after obtaining the divine authority mask.”
The current situation in the Greedy Wolf Star System is less a natural disaster and more of man-made. War isn’t nature’s malice, but rather chaos led by civilized society.
“The records document some of Xie Man’s deeds – he secretly visited the Mythical Forbidden Zone. That half of the ‘divine authority mask’ was stripped from a wandering corpse in space. Unlike He Xingyun who lacked sense, he wasn’t bewitched by the mask, but instead isolated it for research. The Demon Phantom Gangβs mecha’s psychic attack waves were derived from the mask’s energy.
“He first experimented on beasts, then on humans. He discovered that people wearing the mask wouldn’t die, healing from any injuries no matter how severe. Finally, sensing his end approaching, he lay on a protective platform equipped with consciousness devices, connecting his brain to the equipment… These facilities were supposed to be maintained by researchers. However, clearly, the researchers didn’t do so.”
After reading through the experimental manual, or rather Xie Man’s diary, Hua Zhuoyu’s expression turned grim. The experiments were extremely cruel – Demon Phantom had kidnapped many people across the stars, likely all sent to the experimental platform. “There’s no record of how to deal with the monster,” Hua Zhuoyu shook her head.
“It must be related to the mask.” Ning Buyi pondered for a moment, taking out a clean half of the golden mask, “Could the key to solving this lie within it?”
Hua Zhuoyu frowned: “What if it’s also contaminated?”
Ning Buyi didn’t deny this possibility. After pondering for a moment, she said: “Let’s go there, and we should bring Hill along.” Those mad people were her lifelong enemies and the biggest obstacle to her retirement.
On Black Sea Star.
He Chao and Zhang Yi’s group had escaped death, but they fell into Da Xia’s hands, naturally losing their freedom and being detained in prison. At this point, He Chao had nothing left to hide and could only reveal everything he’d witnessed at the base. Finally, he proposed a condition – he wanted to contact Hua Zhuoyu.
The appearance of dark pollution and the golden mask indicated that the Star Court’s mission wasn’t over; they should pass judgment on Black Sea Star.
The guard watching He Chao and Zhang Yi gave him a cold glance, not bothering to respond.
He Chao’s face reddened, his eyes showing anger at the humiliation. Taking a deep breath, he turned to Zhang Yi, who was in the same cell, and asked: “Will the Star Court be rebuilt?” He still couldn’t understand why it had to be dissolved.
“Our supernatural abilities have faded,” Zhang Yi said dejectedly. After learning of the Star Court’s dissolution, he’d lost all hope and could only follow the He family. Without the Star Court’s backing, they were nothing.
“The supreme will won’t perish. Black Sea Star’s situation is thorny – without the Star Court, it can’t be resolved.”
Compared to He Chao’s arrogance, Zhang Yi was much more clear-headed, somewhat regretting his impulsiveness. He Chao was a scion of the He family, inseparable from them, but what about himself? Was sacrificing his life worth it? He glanced at He Chao and said gravely: “Perhaps only the Chief Judge matters – resolving the Mythical Forbidden Zone didn’t really have much to do with the Star Court.”
He Chao: “…”
After losing its source of “food,” the monster on Black Sea Star stopped moving. It resembled a raised garbage mountain, its peak vaguely showing the shape of a head, with mecha shells embedded between its swollen flesh, gleaming metallically under the dim sunlight. It wasn’t invincible, but its flesh could regenerate after being destroyed by shells, and it could even devour the shell fragments. Besides watching from afar, Da Xia’s warriors couldn’t find any solution.
Half a month later, Ying Jingqiu arrived leading the Civilization Fleet.
Along with the fleet came death row inmates from Da Xia’s prisons and a group of beasts. They were injected with the Elpis reagent aboard the starship, gradually reducing their internal dark pollution levels until they reached zero after one day. Upon seeing this, Ying Jingqiu immediately deployed a group of beasts.
The flesh mountain didn’t move.
However, when beasts with residual dark pollution landed, the flesh mountain immediately began to writhe, its metal armor clashing together with teeth-grinding sounds, and in an instant, the beasts were completely devoured.
Ying Jingqiu was cautious, and after conducting experiment after experiment, she determined the “threshold.”
As long as internal dark pollution exceeded ten percent, the monster would sense and devour it.
After confirming this point, Ying Jingqiu breathed a slight sigh of relief. This indicated that Da Xia’s warriors could land on Black Sea Star and retrieve that eerie divine authority mask. However, things still developed poorly. While the mecha warriors did land on Black Sea Star and climb that silent “garbage mountain,” when they attempted to retrieve the golden mask, they seemed bewitched, jumping out of their mecha cabins and rushing forward like madmen. Those behind them, seeing the situation turn dire, hurriedly pulled their companions back and retreated with lingering fear.
“I saw gray fog and bizarre screams, countless piles of flesh split with cracks, white-glowing eyeballs emerging… something seemed to be calling me to take the mask.” The warriors who escaped described the scene, their faces pale.
Ying Jingqiu’s pupils suddenly contracted upon hearing this. After a while, she said: “It’s spiritual pollution.β Without sufficient spiritual power, they’ll meet the same fate as He Xingyun! But the first batch of mecha warriors to enter Black Sea Star were among the strongest in the Civilization Fleet, their spiritual power at least above average.
While Ying Jingqiu was troubled by this matter, she received a message from Hua Zhuoyu.
Hua Zhuoyu and Ning Buyi were coming, accompanied by Hill, the Queen of the Insect Race!
After the battle at Giant Sickle Star, conflicts between Da Xia and the Insect Race gradually decreased. After the Insect Race’s rebels were eliminated, the borders between both sides became peaceful and quiet. However, this didn’t mean Da Xia and the Insect Race had established friendly relations – many still harbored hatred toward the Insect Race.
“Mountain and Sea Star’s closeness to the Insect Race might invite criticism.”
To this, Hua Zhuoyu’s answer was simple: “What if the Pure White Queen is the only one who can resolve the divine authority mask and pollution? Are you prepared to give up this chance?”
If this was the only chance to solve the monster problem, Ying Jingqiu certainly wouldn’t choose to give up. If the Pure White Queen truly had this ability, then Da Xia would suffer fewer casualties. However, she didn’t believe in free lunches, so before the other party could speak, she proactively asked: “What are the conditions?”
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