Chapter 284: The Sea without Light, the God Spirit Appears (Third Release, Asking for Monthly Tickets and Recommendations)_1
“No one?” Lou Hai exclaimed in surprise.
Tian Heng suddenly spoke, “According to my monitoring, this ship has signs of being attacked. It’s impossible to determine who did it… Wait.”
His tone suddenly changed.
“There’s movement.”
In the footage, a man dressed in worker’s attire was seen scrambling out from somewhere in a panic, running while looking back, his face filled with horror.
“That is…”
In the transmitted footage, another person burst out from behind the fleeing man, moving many times faster and catching up in just a few steps.
The chaser’s head then mutated, resembling a Cannibal Flower, splitting into three parts and fiercely biting down on the previous man’s head… “Slara,” blood splattered everywhere.
Lou Hai, Sea Words, and the others were all stunned.
“What the hell is that???” Lou Hai nearly vomited out his meal from earlier.
“Star Space Creature…” Spirit Fox’s voice came through the video, also speaking disdainfully, “These things appeared many years ago, but it’s my first time seeing this type of parasitic Star Space Creature.”
“Very eerie…” Lou Hai hesitated.
Feeling frightened, Hong Luo covered her eyes with both hands, yet through spread fingers, she occasionally stole glimpses at the screen, “Why would such dirty things appear on this massive ship? It’s disgusting.”
Spirit Fox spoke softly, “In fact, we even suspect that this is the doing of the Sand Flame Association.”
Hong Luo expressed her confusion, “Weren’t they the ones who blew up the harbor? It feels somewhat contradictory…”
“We’re still investigating the specific reason… But according to what we know about the Sand Flame Association, these people worship Star Space Creatures,” Spirit Fox said. “What’s beyond doubt is that this giant ship is not only related to Star Space Creatures but if the Asura falls into the hands of the Sand Flame Association, the consequences would be unimaginable…”
“It’s really disgusting,” even Silver Art blinked a few times, looking left and right.
“Sorry, we must board the ship,” whispered Spirit Fox, “Whether the ship falls into the hands of the Sand Flame Association or the Federation, neither is good news for us. Moreover, the Elder Association has informed us at the last minute that there is an artificial intelligence warehouse on the ship; try to dismantle the motherboard of the mainframe, the data recorded inside is very important.”
Lou Hai dared not give his opinion.
He looked toward Pei Jinye.
Almost at the same time, Silver Art, Hong Luo, Sea Words, Tian Heng, and the others also turned their gaze to Pei Jinye.
Spirit Fox noticed this scene and cast a curious glance at the famed Demon King… she realized that this once lesser-known newcomer had suddenly become the backbone for so many people.
Pei Jinye was calm, holding a sword that he had previously snatched from the Western Fire League in his hands.
He spoke softly, “Let’s board the ship to see if there are any survivors. Silver Art, Hong Luo, Lou Hai, you lead the team to search for people; Black Radiance, come with me to the engine room to dismantle the motherboard.”
The risky task of going to the engine room to dismantle the motherboard, Pei Jinye volunteered for it, which made Spirit Fox take another look at him.
In fact, no one knew…
Pei Jinye possessed a talent for network spirit, and with just a little time, he could master the information on the Asura without leaving any trace.
“Everyone, put on your gas masks, let’s move out.”
Just after boarding the Asura, a pungent smell of smoke mingled with the salty sea breeze hit them in the face.
Fortunately, everyone’s gas masks were fully enclosed, covering the chin and nose, but Little Red Luo still couldn’t help making a disgusted face.
“Tian Heng, do you have information about the Asura?” Pei Jinye pressed his communicator.
“Yes, Demon King, the engine room is on the sub-first floor at the rear of the ship,” Tian Heng immediately replied.
“Let’s go.”
Pei Jinye, along with Silver Art, Hong Luo, Black Radiance, and others, rushed into the deck entrance.
Upon reaching level minus one, the thick smell of smoke in the air dissipated quite a bit, as the ventilation system was still operating here, making it appear relatively clean.
However, as soon as Pei Jinye rounded the corner with Black Radiance, a stark, long drag mark came into view.
“It’s a blood trail,” Lou Hai said, his voice suddenly turning grave as he tightened his grip on the submachine gun.
Thud thud thud thud thud…
A cleaning robot coming from around the corner was tirelessly scrubbing the blood off the floor, its operating noise amplifying as it echoed through the corridor.
The cleaning robot made its way to Pei Jinye’s feet.
“Beep beep! Please step aside!”
“Beep beep—crack!”
Before it could finish, Pei Jinye emotionlessly crushed it underfoot, “Search each one, and don’t rush to kill any survivors you find; remember to interrogate.”
Silver Art and Hong Luo nodded slightly, leading Lou Hai and a dozen masked assassins from the Old Gods Association to quickly deploy.
Pei Jinye, along with Black Radiance, headed for the hangar.
Suddenly, a sense of crisis emerged.
Black Radiance swiftly dodged, not forgetting to pull the trigger.
Bullets sprayed from the muzzle flash.
Hitting the dark figure that sprang out from behind the door.
A series of crisp sounds followed by sparks splashing off the metal armor.
The group saw clearly that this was another crew member possessed by a star space creature, his bare skin seemingly covered in metal bones.
Pei Jinye’s longsword slashed swiftly, accompanied by a tearing sound; the crew member’s head, which resembled that of a cannibal flower, was severed by a single stroke.
Oddly enough, not much blood splattered.
The headless body of the possessed crewmember continued to lunge forward, teeth bared and claws flailing.
Pei Jinye slashed once more.
A powerful and heavy sword strike split the headless crewmember in two.
Suddenly, a streak of blood shot out.
Rushing towards Pei Jinye.
“Be careful, Demon King, it’s a star-space creature. Once it touches the skin, you’ll be possessed,” Tian Heng said urgently.
But Pei Jinye moved faster than his warning,
Sword Light slashed down.
The streak of blood was annihilated.
“…”
Black Radiance was also stunned.
The swordsmanship of this Demon King… was indeed extraordinarily strong!
The bisected corpse crashed against the corridor walls.
Pei Jinye squatted down to inspect it.
“The organs have all been devoured, and after death, these metal bones have become brittle and fractured… Report and record this to the headquarters.”
He continued on his way.
Behind each door seemed to hide a star space creature engaged in feeding; for Pei Jinye, it was a mechanical hunt.
A moment.
Black Radiance cautiously said, “Demon King, didn’t you want to keep a live one for interrogation?”
Pei Jinye withdrew his sword unhurriedly and spoke softly, “Keeping a live one, that’s Silver Art’s task.”
Black Radiance immediately swallowed back the words in his throat.
“Clang!”
Pei Jinye kicked open the iron door with one foot.
A stench of rot immediately wafted out.
Black Radiance looked at the dark red cadaver pieces scattered across the room, feeling a sudden surge of acid in his throat, “Demon King, look.”
He suddenly pointed at the belly of a body on one side that was writhing.
“Transmit the footage.” Pei Jinye’s voice came through.
Black Radiance pressed a button on his arm and began to video record the scene.
Pei Jinye used his longsword to pry open the belly of the corpse.
“They’re eggs.”
Tian Heng’s voice also swiftly followed, “After reporting to the Elder Association, it has now been confirmed—these are Void Hunters, parasitizing other creatures’ bodies, laying numerous eggs, but few survive. They will devour each other, and only the strongest will live on…
Since there are eggs, it means there is at least one mature female Void Hunter and one mature male Void Hunter on this ship.
You all must be careful; those two mature Void Hunters are definitely nearby.”
Pei Jinye suddenly spoke up, “Wasn’t one of the Void Hunters killed earlier one of them?”
Tian Heng replied, “That was a young one, recently evolved from the egg state to the linear state, not yet mature. Adult Void Hunters resemble octopuses.”
As Tian Heng was saying this, he suddenly signaled, “There’s a live person below.”
Black Radiance had just raised his submachine gun when Pei Jinye held down the gun with his hand, “Don’t shoot yet, it’s not a host body.”
Pei Jinye reached out with his sword and sent a pile of corpses flying, revealing a crew member cocooned in a corner, his body enveloped in mucus.
Black Radiance rinsed the person with water, and the nauseating stench finally began to dissipate significantly.
The crew member came to faintly upon the shock of the cold water temperature, and almost cried when he saw two human beings wearing combat boots and protective masks in front of him.
“Are you… are you people or monsters?”
Black Radiance did not reply, but he held his submachine gun ready to act.
The crew member was nearly scared into fainting again.
However, just then, Pei Jinye suddenly spoke up, “Don’t be afraid; we’re from the Federation search and rescue team.”
“Federation search and rescue team?” The crew member didn’t even care if such an organization really existed; hearing Pei Jinye’s voice and confirming he was human, he was almost overjoyed to tears.
He approached wanting to hug Pei Jinye’s thigh but was nimbly dodged by Pei Jinye.
“We’re under orders to come and rescue, but we need to know exactly what happened on the ship,” Pei Jinye said, “We need to get rid of the trouble, but we must first understand where the source of the trouble is.”
The crew member trembled, “It’s the monsters… the monsters have eaten many of us…”
Black Radiance looked towards Pei Jinye.
He knew that the monsters the crew member referred to must be the Void Hunters.
“Where did the monsters come from?” Pei Jinye asked softly.
“I don’t know… I really don’t know; I just want to go home… please…” The crew member started to go crazy, sitting on the ground and sobbing fiercely.
But the next second, a tentacle suddenly pierced through his body from the ground.
“Splat—”
The sound of flesh tearing arose abruptly.
“Save me—” The crew member’s face was filled with horror; he desperately tried to grasp Pei Jinye’s clothes, but the tentacle that pierced his body from beneath instantly pulled him down to the negative second floor.
“Demon King!”
Black Radiance’s complexion changed drastically.
Pei Jinye didn’t even look at the crew member who was dragged away and said calmly, “Let’s go.”
He flashed toward the door.
The engine room was right here.
However, a rumbling noise came from behind.
Without looking back, Pei Jinye said, “Black Radiance, I’ll dismantle the motherboard; you cover me for a while.”
“Okay!” Black Radiance replied crisply.
Pei Jinye reached out to touch the motherboard and activated his ability.
A flood of data rushed towards him.
But this time, Pei Jinye wasn’t caught off guard; his expression calm, he quickly copied the information.
Ever since he last hacked into Sky God International’s hangar data, he had created several informational honeycombs in his mind to disperse the mental strain large amounts of information caused him.
Countless pieces of information surged into his mind.
Pei Jinye saw the surveillance information of this Asura colossus.
Seven days ago, everything on this colossus was normal, but after departing from the North Continent, crew members began suffering from vomiting and diarrhea; the doctors in the medical room said they discovered a mysterious bacterium, but no one knew what was happening.
Until three nights ago.
After the Asura arrived at Central State, a large number of crew members became possessed by demons, starting to devour live humans around them.
…
In the footage.
Pei Jinye saw the captain kneeling piously outside a room door, uttering some kind of prayer, as a torrent of blood began to flow toward the inside of the door…
Suddenly, the captain’s body began to transform, sprouting two extra arms from his back, uttering low growls like a fierce beast.
He suddenly charged.
He smashed the surveillance device hidden in the corner to pieces.
“Bang!”
Indistinctly, Pei Jinye seemed to hear an extraordinary heartbeat.
For some reason.
A title surfaced in his mind.
——[God].
Could it be that this ship was carrying a god?