Chapter 166
Chapter 166: Little Fellow [Part 1]
The originally tranquil underground base began to stir. The base’s defense system that had been dormant all this time reactivated after it had detected the energy waves from Cillin’s shots. The power that had been stagnant all this time also began to operate as well, causing many places to become filled with light. However, they were all warning lights.
A mechanical voice rang, "Outside threat detected. Please enter voice command!"
"f.u.c.k, why is there a thing like voice command in this place!" Lung cried out.
"Voice command is incorrect. Please reenter!"
"&h.e.l.lip;" Lung fell silent and looked at Cillin.
Cillin gave him a ‘I have no idea either’ expression. They had not imagined that the defense system in this place had not become completely paralysed despite being buried underground and subjected to crustal movements for so many years.
A moment of silence later.
The mechanical voice rang once more, "Repeat. Outside threat detected. Please enter voice command!"
Cillin looked at the gray cat, and that fellow was also crouching there in a daze.
Lung toyed with a device in his hands and did not say anything.
The mechanical voice rang for the third time, "No effective voice command detected. Terminal command initiated!"
"Terminal command? What terminal command?" Lung asked.
Suddenly, Cillin recalled the research lab beneath the slums back then. If these mad researchers were all similar, then&h.e.l.lip;
"Run quickly! The base’s self destruct program has been activated!" Cillin pulled and Lung and charged towards outside along with the gray cat.
"Self destruct?! WTF, how could they bear to part with all this?!" Lung complained while running.
"Less bulls.h.i.+t, more running. I have no intentions of turning into a fossil!" Cillin charged at the front.
"I don’t either!"
The two men and a cat ran along the way they came from like they were flying, but the pa.s.sage had been shut off a long time ago. Lung summoned the scanned layout of the base and was about to search for other pa.s.sages.
"There’s no time. Tell your robots to dig on the spot!" Cillin cried out.
"But this isn’t the pa.s.sage entrance, and the walls are too tough. It’ll take a long time to penetrate it, not to mention that excessive force will cause the place to collapse!" Lung said while ordering his excavator robot to dig the ground. In reality, the situation was just as he said.
Because the underground base was rather complicated, Lung did not bring many robots with him. He had brought only the pathfinders and excavators. The small excavator robots looked just like frisbees when they were folded up, and when they dug into the ground they would extend several metallic pieces put together at a certain angle to drill apart obstacles before them like a drill.
However, much effort had obviously been spent on this underground base, and the non-pa.s.sage walls were reinforced by multiple layers. They would need high energy cutting beam to drill this type of wall apart, but time waited for no one.
After seeing the digging effects of the excavator robots, Cillin said to the gray cat, "Wheeze, go! Be the vanguard!"
And then Lung watched the multiple reinforced walls his robots were struggling against using high energy cutting beams being penetrated in two seconds by the cat.
With this hole, the expansion of the hole became much easier.
With the gray cat was drilling at the front, and the excavator robots were expanding the hole behind it, Cillin and Lung climbed up the dug hole.
"What’s that sound?" Lung asked.
"Desertification."
"f.u.c.k!"
Lung personally thought that his math was his weakness, but even he could count that at this speed they were totally going to be desertified ten seconds later.
The good news was that there weren’t too many of these multiple reinforced walls. After the walls had been penetrated, getting through the stones and soil layers on the outside became much faster.
The shashashasha noise behind them conjured far greater pressure than a rattlesnake could have. Five seconds, four second, three seconds&h.e.l.lip;
They could get out in time!
The moment the duo burst out of the ground surface, they swiftly extended their hoverboards and jumped on it. Cillin scooped the gray cat into his arms and flew towards the distance on the hoverboard.
The second after they left the ground surface, the hole they had just burst out from had already been desertified. In fact, the desertification was still expanding towards the surroundings.
"That, that scared me to death! f.u.c.k this underground base, that was way too clo&h.e.l.lip;"
Lung didn’t manage to vent out his emotions before a loud explosion cut him off, and the expanding shockwave threw the two hoverboards that hadn’t flown too far off yet into the distance.
Peng, peng. Cillin and Lung crashed on the ground one after another.
"Peh! Peh!" Lung spat out the sand in his mouth repeatedly. He had no time to spare for complaining since his mouth was filled with sand and soil.
The duo were completely covered in dust and sand. They both cut an incredibly sorry figure.
"Those maniacs sure are ruthless. I had thought they would leave the base intact so they could one day come back and walk the memory lane, but who would’ve thought that they would desertify it outright plus one ma.s.sive explosion&h.e.l.lip;"
Cillin cast a glance at Lung. Even at such a time, this fellow had the spirit to chatter away incessantly.
When he recalled the scene inside the base, the final few cages at the place where the research subjects were imprisoned were all empty. This also meant that the important research subjects had either all been transferred, or had escaped a long time ago. The rest of the research subjects were either abandoned, or lacked the ability to escape.
As for the most precious research subjects among them, naturally the researchers would not let their efforts go to waste. How could they possibly not take away the things they had spent much effort to research?
"f.u.c.k, time was too short. There was no time to acquire any info at all." Lung said regretfully while staring at the message displayed on his device. The device in his hands had seized the opportunity to hack into the system for useful data when the base’s defense system had come online. However, the final results were not good.
Cillin moved sideways and lifted the gray cat’s head towards him. A flash clearly went across its eyes.
Tsk, still as terrible at lying as usual.
After raising his eyelids once, Cillin no longer looked at the gray cat.
It would appear that when the defense system and other power installations had started automatically, the gray cat had also seized the opening to hack into the system and steal some information. In fact, it was much faster than Lung’s device and had reaped quite a sizable amount of data. However, the gray cat was also quite shocked by the information it received. The molecular biological experiments conducted on animals and humans were just too terrifying to the gray cat.
Cillin stood up and kicked at Lung, who was covered in sand, sitting on the ground with spread legs, and patting at his device while sighing, "Get up and let’s go. Who knows if there might be more troubles."
"Well, I guess there’s nothing left here anyway. Let’s return to the stars.h.i.+p right away." Lung summoned the transmissions sent by the robots he had scattered at various places. The work at several important sampling points had all been completed, the fossils had been selectively dug up, and the s.p.a.ceplane should have enough s.p.a.ce to store all the items.
Cillin nodded and took a few steps. But he stopped again when he saw the gray cat looking.
"What’s wrong?" Cillin asked.
"Something is looking at us." The gray cat looked towards a direction.
Chapter 166: Little Fellow [Part 2]
It was normal that there were some beasts in the surroundings. As long as the beasts hadn’t attacked them, they would not purposely hunt them down. A large majority of these beasts were modified creatures whose primitive genes had been altered a long time ago. Strictly speaking, they did not qualify as food, which was why neither Cillin nor Lung had the intention of hunting them on their own accord at the moment.
However, when Cillin followed the direction the gray cat was looking at, he saw a small half a face.
Yes, a face.
It was a young and tiny face.
It looked almost like a human’s face. It’s just that dust had blurred its original appearance. The red fur above its head was very obvious.
Right now Lung
Seeing that all three pairs of eyes were looking at it, the fellow hiding behind the wall quickly withdrew its head. However, it poked out of its cover once more after just a few seconds.
"Hey, little fellow. Where did you come from?" Cillin asked.
Seemingly sensing no ill will from the owners of the three pairs of eyes, the little fellow slowly walked out into the open&h.e.l.lip; well, despite the fact that it was walking on two hands and two feet he supposed it still counted as walking. Its ears were sharp, and the edge of its ears were also covered in fur. It also had a tail behind its back. The tail swayed around once, and its gaze seemed to indicate that it possessed no ill will.
Cillin and Lung looked into each other’s eyes. A h.e.l.lhound!
But why was there such a small h.e.l.lhound? Was it given birth to by the h.e.l.lhounds who had been abandoned at this place?
They knew that the ones with excellent genes had all been taken away by their researchers when they left the research inst.i.tute. The ones who were left behind were all slightly inferior. However, this little fellow seemed to be a success if they were to view it as a research subject. It was just like two rank B genotype humans giving birth to a rank A genotype baby.
There were some wounds on this little fellow’s body. The wounds were very fresh and still bled. Looking at the soil and sand attached to its body, it was probably hurt by the explosion’s shockwave just now.
Cillin took out a sack of jerkies and tore out a hole in it. He then tossed the sack over to the little fellow. If he walked to it directly, it would most definitely escape.
Upon sighting an unknown object being tossed at its direction, the little fellow trembled and backed away several steps. However, it was quickly attracted by the fragrant smell of the jerkies and walked carefully closer to give it a sniff. Sensing no problems, it then swallowed the whole sack of jerkies that had yet to be unwrapped into its stomach.
As Lung used a human’s standards and watched this fellow who looked like a six or seven years old kid swallowing a whole sack of jerkies along with the sack messily in two gulps, he suddenly felt that his throat was a little tight.
Just what kind of monstrous construction was this fellow’s esophagus?
After the little fellow had finished eating the jerkies, it licked its lips while wanting for more. It stared at Cillin with bright eyes, and the tail behind its back was wagging at a larger angle than before.
Cillin was just about to toss another sack of jerkies to the little fellow when its eyes suddenly changed. It changed from its original innocent and harmless look to one that was filled with murderous intent. In that instant, both Cillin and Lung could sense clearly its strong intent to kill.
Pop!
Claws more than ten centimeters long stretched out of the little fellow’s hands, and with a push of its feet it charged towards a particular corner of the area.
It ran on all fours like an animal while letting out low roars from its throat. At this moment, it finally and truly looked like a protector hound of this ‘h.e.l.l’.
Lung summoned the footage he captured with the probes in the air. Inside the footage, the little fellow was charging towards a ferocious lion-like beast that was more than ten meters tall.
Its speed and attack strength was completely different from before.
"This is a ‘h.e.l.lhound’, even if it is still just a child. Their reactions towards lifeforms that aren’t prey could be considered friendly, and they would not attack on their own accord. They would only react this way when they are facing a prey." Lung sighed, "My old man once said that h.e.l.lhounds are slaves from the very bottom of their genes. Either they or their offsprings were completely slaves. They will forever remember their master’s words only, and they will never think from their own sake. Even if they look like human, their humanity has already disappeared."
The order was implanted into the very bones of even the offsprings of a h.e.l.lhound. It was like nature to fully replicate a kind of memory from its parents and memorise the scent of the preys it needed to hunt down. This scent born of their prey’s very genes would cause them to chase after them forever from birth to death.
"Let’s go." Lung patted Cillin’s shoulders, "This planet is just an example of the entire Sector S. There are thousands and tens of thousands of similar planets. In fact, it is not just Sector S, but also other Sectors that are experiencing similar situations. There are quite a lot of places where such experiments are conducted."
Naturally, Cillin understood Lung’s words. Wasn’t that underground research lab at planet Brown Earth back then the same? It had been there for several dozens of years without being known to anyone. If Cillin hadn’t accidentally broken into the place, the darkness would have persisted.
Lung could not be bothered to collect samples in person. The robots he sent out had completed the task especially around areas with an abundant amount of water such as lakes. Those were the key areas of the task.
When Cillin and Lung rode their hoverboards back to the s.p.a.ceplane, the robots Lung sent out was just moving the collected items up the s.p.a.ceplane. The robots had also attended to the protection and care of some big-sized skeletons very well and were in general much more reliable than Lung himself. This was probably one of the reasons his father had sent so many robots to come after him.
"The wind is starting." Lung looked at the gray, blurry sky, "A gust of wind at such a place may turn into a storm. Let’s leave quickly. I have no intentions of experiencing a storm in ‘h.e.l.l’."
Lung sat inside the control room of the s.p.a.ceplane while ordering the robots to work faster. They would take off immediately after the final few samples were carried up the vehicle.
Cillin did not stay inside the control room like Lung and instead stood outside the s.p.a.ceplane. Looking downwards from where he stood, he could see the changes that was occurring around this area. The early signs of the formation of a storm, the air pressure and the temperature etc were all very obvious. Those animals started to worry and set off to look for shelter.
Suddenly, a small shadow entered Cillin’s field of view. It had lost its earlier liveliness and became much slower.
Its entire body was covered in wounds, and one of its hind legs was twisted and propped on the ground. Its arms had different degrees of wounds, and it was trembling unsteadily while it was supporting itself on the ground.
It limped towards Cillin’s direction just like that. Its drooped tail at the back gave it a terribly pitiful appearance.
"Cillin, it’s time to go!" Lung cried out from inside the s.p.a.ceplane. Now that all of the items had been carried into the s.p.a.ceplane, Lung could not wait to leave this place immediately. He just felt uncomfortable all over staying at this place.
The gray cat walked closer and asked hesitatingly, "Should we help it a bit?"
Cillin shook his head, "Don’t go there." he then turned around to look at the little figure before stretching out five figures, exclaiming, "I will count down from five. If you can come over, then I will take you away from this place!"
Cillin had a feeling that this little fellow could understand his words. The time Cillin gave out was just enough for the little fellow to make its way here with its current abilities. If it hesitated for even an instant, it would not be able to make it before Cillin in time. In that case, Cillin would absolutely turn his head and walk away.
But what gladdened them was that the little fellow had quickened its footsteps after Cillin had finished saying his words. Its eyes were bright. It dragged a trail of blood droplets along the way it walked. The trail was quickly buried by the increasingly strong wind and dust.
The little figure wobbled left and right amidst the wind, but its footsteps were incredibly firm. It headed towards Cillin direction in a straight line without the slightest decrease in speed at all.
Lung saw this scene from the screen inside the s.p.a.ceplane. He adjusted the image captured by the probe, and discovered that the ferocious lion-like beast the little fellow had pounced onto earlier had been torn into many thick pieces of flesh and skin while lying motionlessly on the ground. It was even being eaten as a delicious meal by other weaker carnivores before the storm.
Yeah, if a h.e.l.lhound were to set out, then either it dies, or its prey dies.
But why had the little fellow chased after them?
Still, looking at this little fellow’s wounds and this storm, it would probably not be able to hang on if no one helped him.
The little fellow watched as Cillin’s five outstretched fingers became four, three, two&h.e.l.lip;
Faster, faster!
Even an adult would find it hard to endure with such wounds, wouldn’t they?
When Cillin put down his final finger, the little fellow collapsed on the ground before Cillin. However, it wore a smile on its face and revealed two sharp fangs.
After lifting the little fellow with him, Cillin and the gray cat leaped up the s.p.a.ceplane.
"Leave now, the storm has arrived!"
"Don’t rush me. Now you know how to hurry?!" Lung motioned for the robots to pilot the s.p.a.ceplane and take off. They swiftly flew away from this place.
As the s.p.a.ceplane flew higher and higher, the sceneries on the ground surface became covered in gray once more. However, the ring of the storm was incredibly obvious. After they had made it out of the planet, they looked at the lightning strikes beneath the gray clouds as Lung summoned the footages captured from the probes that were temporarily left behind on the planet.
It was h.e.l.l on earth, no, it was h.e.l.l on h.e.l.l.
The wind blew and the rain poured. The earth shook and the mountains trembled. A gigantic hurricane that spiraled down from the sky snapped a protruding mountain in half, and it was at this moment the crust actually began to move once more.
Anything that survived such a disaster was only deserving of admiration. Be it those seemingly weak animals or the large ferocious beasts, anyone who could survive this was a capable being and a victor.
There was no right or wrong in survival.
While they were on the s.p.a.ceplane, Cillin gave the little fellow a simple treatment of its wounds. He would give it proper care once they returned to the stars.h.i.+p. After all, the medicine on board the stars.h.i.+p was more complete.
However, judging from the way the little fellow’s wounds healed, it would survive with just a little bit of help. After Cillin had finished treating the little fellow’s wounds and had injected it with a syringe of nutrient fluids, he gave it s.p.a.ce to rest. As long as the nutrients were kept up, it would probably recover very quickly with its animalistic const.i.tution alone.
The little fellow laid sideways on top of the operation table. Its broken leg could not be moved yet after it was repaired. Right now, the little fellow was bending its two arms and putting its head on them. Its eyes rolled everywhere as it watched its surroundings. The gray cat that was walking back and forth before it attracted the little fellow’s attention.
After circling the little fellow on top of the operation table twice, the gray cat moved closer for a sniff and shook its whiskers, "You smell like dogs."
The little fellow responded with two whining cries. There was no telling if it understood the gray cat’s words.
Perhaps it was too tired before, but now that it had relaxed it quickly fell into sleep. When the gray cat saw this, it too let out a yawn, raised a paw to scoop over the little fellow’s furry tail, wrapped it around its own body, closed its eyes and slept.
When Cillin was done dealing with the little fellow’s wounds and had returned to the control room, Lung was frowning and staring right at the screen.
When he saw Cillin walking in, Lung cast a glance at him, "You’re done?"
"Mm. What are you looking at?" Cillin pointed at the full screen of garbled codes and asked.
"It’s a transmission code that I’ve just now intercepted. It’s encrypted, and the a.n.a.lysis system failed to solve anything. This full screen of garbled codes is the result. It gives me the headaches."
"Bring up the original code. Let me give it a try."
Lung relinquished his seat and returned the transmission code to norm. He stood expectantly beside Cillin.
Five minutes later, both Cillin and Lung stared at the huge b.u.t.terfly image on the screen and fell silent.