Time passed little by minutes now felt extremely long to Lin Yang and the others.
Finally, six fifteen!
Nothing unusual occurred in front of the battleship, and the statue did not appear again.
"Huh... It seems that the last time was an accident. Maybe the statue we encountered seven days ago was a replica of the statue we saw at the beginning." Cai Fei couldn't help but let out a breath and his expression relaxed.
Que Tian and his companions also breathed a sigh of relief.
I've been tense for several days and now I can finally relax a little.
Lin Yang was about to nod, but suddenly his heart tightened and he could no longer say what he was about to say.
Because, in front of the battleship, the mottled gilded statue toes suddenly appeared again.
The Suzaku intelligent system also issued a warning.
The atmosphere in the ship's hold suddenly became solemn again.
Cai Feiquetian and his companions, who had just breathed a sigh of relief for a few seconds, suddenly changed their expressions and looked ugly.
"This...is following you again?"
Lin Yang couldn't help but turn his head to look at Que Tian: "It seems that this statue is the same as the statue with a mark you encountered in the Taixuan Ancient Dynasty. It will move with us."
"To be on the safe side, let's check the whole body again for confirmation and comparison." Que Tian said solemnly.
"Well, this time, focus on comparing the gold-plated mottled areas." Lin Yang nodded.
Although it is also mottled, with the word "Zhen" on the chest and the eyes slightly open, the possibility that it is a replica cannot be completely ruled out.
Therefore, Lin Yang asked Zhuque to continue the full-body scan and compare it with the image taken last time.
Only this time, the focus is on comparing the locations of the gold-plated spots on the statue.
The word "Zhen" on the chest and the slightly open eyes can be reproduced, but if the spots are naturally faded over time, it is absolutely impossible for even the position of the spots to be exactly the same.
And if even the position of the spots is the same, then the possibility that it is a replica can almost be ruled out.
"I hope the spots are in different positions. I would rather encounter other replicas than the same one." Cai Fei muttered again.
only……
The ideal is full.
The reality is very skinny.
"I'm sorry, everyone. After a detailed comparison, the mottled locations and textures on the statue are exactly the same."
After a period of detailed comparison, Lin Yang had to give the result he least wanted to see.
"This...what should I do now?" Cai Fei scratched his scalp violently, feeling a little worried.
"Quetian, are you sure that the statue with the mark that your Taixuan Ancient Dynasty's exploration team encountered was just a follower and did not cause any other danger?" Lin Yang looked at Quetian.
If you just follow, it's not completely unacceptable.
Que Tian nodded: "Indeed, at least, it was like this before the exploration team was forced to leave the unknown space. Of course, we cannot completely rule out the possibility that it was because we followed for a short time or did not trigger the danger brought by the statue itself."
"Oh...then let it follow for now?" Lin Yang had no better solution now.
"This is the only way for now." Que Tian said, looking at the comparison picture carefully again.
suddenly--
"Wait, are the eyes of this statue slightly more open than the last two times I encountered them?"
Que Tian pointed at the three comparison pictures of the eyes before and after and exclaimed in surprise.
"Hmm?" Lin Yang's face changed and he immediately looked over carefully.
Just now, he mainly focused on comparing the mottled gold-plated area and did not observe the eyes too carefully.
Now that Jing Quetian said this, he really felt that the statue's eyes were a little wider than the previous two times he encountered it.
A very subtle bit!
"This……"
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the ship became more serious.
The statue's eyes actually showed signs of opening.
This is not a good sign!
“Isn’t this statue a dead thing?”
Ding Hui, who rarely spoke, said something that made everyone feel cold.
"This... isn't possible? Isn't this just a stone sculpture? If it's not a dead object, then what else could it be?" Cai Fei felt his scalp tingling.
"Is it possible that the surface is a stone sculpture, but there is actually a living creature sealed inside the statue?"
Que Tian also said something shocking. He pointed to the word "Zhen" on the chest of the statue and said with his imagination:
"Zhen means to suppress. Could it be referring to suppressing the creature inside the statue?"
"This should... be unlikely, right? We have scanned it and found that this statue is made of stone from the inside out. There is no trace of any biological life." Cai Fei hesitated.
Que Tian shook his head slightly and looked at Lin Yang: "Team Leader, what do you think?"
Lin Yang took a deep breath. "I think any possibility cannot be completely ruled out. It's best to be prepared to escape at any time. If there is a creature inside the statue, it is definitely not something we can deal with. If there is no creature, then this stone sculpture is opening its eyes on its own, which is even more terrifying."
Just imagine that a stone sculpture suddenly begins to open its eyes. This is much more terrifying than if the sculpture were a living creature in disguise.
After a pause, Lin Yang said seriously:
"Now, as the team leader, I give the following instructions: From now on, everyone must wear their own individual combat equipment, enter combat readiness, and fully replenish their energy. Be ready to abandon ship and escape at any time!"
"At the same time, I will begin to issue early warnings to other teams and send the positioning equipment information of everyone's single-player combat devices to other teams. Once the statue begins to attack the warship, Suzaku will enter automatic combat mode and delay the statue as much as possible. Everyone will escape on their own and wait for rescue from other teams."
"Yes, team leader!"
Que Tian and his companions responded seriously.
"Now, I will ask other teams for wartime authorization so that after escaping, we can accurately locate each other when we are close to each other within a certain range to improve the success rate of rescue. You must also ensure that the positioning equipment is intact!" Lin Yang said again.
"Understood, team leader."
The four of them nodded at the same time.
Lin Yang pressed the communication device on the battleship, began to contact other teams, and simultaneously sent the wartime authorization agreement.
In unknown space, the transmission of information to the outside world is slow.
However, if we are in the same unknown space, we can still get in touch quickly.
Of course, instant communication is still not possible, but the delay will be much lower.
Ten minutes later, the closest Group 1, Group 2 and Group 4 successively sent back feedback information, indicating that they had received danger warnings and requests for wartime support.
Then, the fourth group will continue to pass on relevant information to the following groups.
While receiving feedback, Lin Yang turned around and looked at Que Tian and the other three, and said in a serious tone:
"Everyone, be prepared for the worst. If there is a danger of not being able to fight the enemy, return along the route you came from after escaping, and try to run in the direction of leaving the unknown space. Other teams will provide support as much as possible. If anyone escapes from the unknown space, be sure to request timely reinforcements from the Alien Management Bureau."
There were no other dangers on the route they came from, so returning by the same route was the best option.
Although safety is slightly reduced without the battleships, the flying vehicles in the single-person combat equipment equipped by each person are also extremely fast.
This time, when entering the unknown space to explore the Dark Night Clan, the Human Alliance provided each member entering with very advanced single-person combat equipment.
The members who are selected, even if they are the weakest among the fifty, are all elites.
The Human Alliance takes the personal safety of its members very seriously.
Even if the battleship is lost, it is enough to ensure that the members can survive, move and even fight in the unknown space.
The most important role of a warship in an unknown space is actually to fight autonomously when encountering danger, delay time, and buy time and opportunities for crew members to escape.
After arranging matters within the group, Lin Yang asked Suzaku to stay away from the statue.
According to the records of the ancient Taixuan Dynasty, this kind of stone statue that can follow you can simply bypass it and leave whenever you encounter it.
The stone statue will not move continuously, but will suddenly appear next to the warship after a certain period of time.
The stone statue has not shown any signs of danger yet, so the exploration needs to continue.
Be prepared for escape just in case.
Another seven days passed.
The stone sculpture appeared in front of the warship again, accurately and on time.
Just like the first time we met, I saw the toes first.
It seems that every time it appears, it appears in the same state as the first time it was encountered.
If the battleship had not marked its movement trajectory and route, it would be easy to make people feel that it had been circling in the same place for seven days, so this statue would be encountered every once in a while.
"Suzaku, go ahead and compare the eyes."
This time, Lin Yang did not waste time observing and comparing other parts, and directly sent the warship to the eyes of the statue.
As the battleship moved, details of the statue's eyes were transmitted back again.
"It seems to be opened wider than seven days ago."
After the comparison, Lin Yang couldn't help but sigh.
If you compare the two times before and after, it's not very obvious.
But if you compare the first time with this time, you can clearly see that the eyes are indeed much more open.
"At this rate of opening, it may be fully open in a few months." Que Tian's eyes were dim.
"I have also passed the relevant information to Director Song. In a few months, Director Song may receive my message and will then send other support." Lin Yang said.
"I hope so." Que Tian said in a low voice.
Time passed, and three months passed in a flash.
Another seven days passed.
The statue appeared in front of the Suzaku battleship on time.
Lin Yang and others have become accustomed to this.
For more than three months, the statue has appeared on time every seven days.
More and more eyes opened, but there was still no other danger.
"It seems that the seal statue that your Taixuan Ancient Dynasty exploration team encountered was only followed for two months because the exploration team left the unknown space two months later, and it was not terminated after only two months."
Lin Yang said to Que Tian.
"Well, this statue confirms this point, but I don't know how long it will follow. Maybe it will follow forever." Que Tian said slowly.
Cai Fei on the side has become much calmer in the past three months. With the pressure of the statue, he has been training himself except for the necessary rest during this period.
When you encounter danger, a little more strength means a little more hope of escape. Not only Cai Fei, but Lin Yang and the others are all improving themselves.
Hearing Que Tian's words, Cai Fei suddenly looked as if an idea had occurred to him, and said:
"What do you think? If we meet other groups at this time and then separate, will the statue follow us, or them, or neither of them?"
These words startled Lin Yang and the others.
They really haven't thought about this angle yet.
"This... is indeed a way to investigate the statue's following pattern, but we can't easily involve other groups." Lin Yang glanced at Cai Fei and whispered.
"Hehe, team leader, I understand. I just thought of this and said it casually. After all, we don't have the ability to fight against unknown dangers. If the director and others take action personally, this test is better." Cai Fei touched his head and smiled.
"Alas, it's still because I'm not strong enough. If I were strong enough, I would just suppress all the dangers with firepower." Lin Yang sighed.
There is a saying in China that all fear comes from insufficient firepower.
It is very appropriate now.
Without sufficient power, we can only observe passively and have no initiative to test.
"I'm going to continue training." Cai Fei immediately ran to the training room.
As soon as the chatterbox left, no one spoke in the cabin again.
……
Time will not stop for anyone or any situation.
If there is one thing that is the most cruel and ruthless, it must be time.
Anything, anything, will become insignificant after enough time.
In the unknown space, time seems particularly cruel.
Before we knew it, three years had passed since Lin Yang and his team entered the unknown space!
Three full years!
If it were in the outside world, three years would be enough to change a lot of things.
But in the dark and silent unknown space, this little bit of time is insignificant.
It happens to be exactly seven days.
Inside the Suzaku battleship, Lin Yang and his companions gathered in the main ship hold again.
The statue outside appeared on time.
"It's been three years. Previously, Que Tian estimated that it would take at most a few months for the statue to fully open its eyes. But later on, the statue's eye opening became smaller and smaller. It seems that the closer it gets to opening, the more difficult it becomes. Now, the statue is still a long way from fully opening its eyes."
After comparing the eye pictures again, Lin Yang sighed.
During these three years, nothing happened except comparing the extent of the statue's eye opening every seven days.
There wasn't even any other danger.
If I hadn't been able to notice that the statue's eyes were changing over time, it would have really felt like time had frozen in this endless darkness.
And in these three years, he did not receive a reply from Song Qingfeng.
Obviously, the message he sent to Song Qingfeng might not have been delivered yet.
Or maybe the message Song Qingfeng sent back was still on the way.
In an unknown space, transmitting information to the outside world may be successful in a few months at best, but may fail in a few years or even longer.
So Lin Yang was not too anxious.
Anyway, in the past three years, the statue's eyes have opened slower and slower, and there has been no other danger.
There's nothing wrong with it except being too boring.
On the contrary, as time accumulated, the value of his passive income as a national treasure increased a lot.
There is no doubt that in the past three years, he has hardly felt any changes in the unknown space, but the changes in the myriad universes should be huge.
I just don’t know if there has been a wave of rapid improvement in the country or what.
"Although the national treasure value has increased a lot, I still have to save it first." Lin Yang looked at the balance of the national treasure value and still felt insecure.
Although, his strength has improved a lot in the past three years.
But facing this endless dark and strange unknown space, we are still very weak.
"Team leader, I would like to apply for a period of seclusion. After three years of training, I feel like I will have a small breakthrough."
Cai Fei suddenly spoke.
Lin Yang was delighted: "This is good news. You can go into seclusion and don't have to take turns."
Although these three years have been very peaceful, it is conceivable that it will not always be so safe, so it is a good thing if the strength of any team member is improved.
"Okay, I'll go now..." Cai Fei smiled and turned around to go to the retreat room.
suddenly--
"Hsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss..."
"Everyone... exploration team, ahem... I'm the leader of Team 5... Shen Feng... My team, ahem... encountered an attack from a special life form from an unknown space..."
"Request...rescue..."
"Request...rescue..."
A unclear voice suddenly came from the group's interconnected device.
This is a communication device specifically used to contact other groups.
But except for the time three years ago when Lin Yang contacted other groups, no one has communicated here at other times.
But now, a request for help came directly from the fifth group.
Suddenly, the expressions of Lin Yang and his companions all changed.
"The fifth team encountered an attack by unknown life forms. Unknown life forms are the most dangerous among the known dangers. This is trouble." Que Tian's face was solemn.
Lin Yang nodded solemnly: "The life forms in the unknown space have their own abilities and means, and can withstand the bombardment of warships. It is the most difficult to encounter. If it is a regular life form, it is okay, but if it is a colorless and transparent life form, it will be even worse."
"Then, team leader, should we go for the rescue?" Cai Fei turned around.
Lin Yang glanced at him.
He understood what Cai Fei meant.
The unknown life form is difficult to deal with, and rescuing them may put their own safety at risk. They are now also entangled by the statue. According to the rules, when they are in danger, they do not need to rescue other groups.
but……
"Go! This statue is not too dangerous to us for the time being. Besides... isn't this a good opportunity to test the statue's following mechanism?"
Lin Yang made the decision without much hesitation.
Before Song Qingfeng received his message and asked the alliance to send new support, each member of their ten groups was each other's greatest hope and reliance for survival in the unknown space.
You can't just ignore it.
And you can also test this strange stone statue at the same time.
There is no reason not to support!
Although the unknown life forms are difficult to deal with, there is strength in numbers and we can fight them.
Hearing this, Cai Fei didn't say anything more.
Que Tian even prepared for battle directly.
No one objected.
Whenever they have something to do, they discuss it with Lin Yang.
But at this decision-making level, as the leader of the team, once Lin Yang makes a decision, they must follow it.
"Suzaku, wartime authorization has been activated, start combat mode, initiate super jump, and head to the fifth area at full speed!"
Lin Yang issued the order, feeling somewhat emotional at the same time.
When they discovered that the stone statue could open its eyes on its own three years ago, they entered a state of combat readiness and prepared to escape.
But three years later, they did not encounter any danger, but the fifth group encountered danger first.
As for super jumps, advanced warships can perform jumps in unknown space.
However, the conditions for the jump will become more stringent, more energy will be consumed, and the distance of a single jump will be limited and cannot be too far.
In addition, this time the main purpose is to explore the location of the Dark Night Clan, so the flight has been in cruise mode.
But if we want to carry out rescue operations now, it may not be possible to reach the fifth zone even if we fly in cruise mode for decades.
Therefore, it is necessary to enable the transition.
"Okay, Captain. Suzaku has activated combat mode and obtained a fuzzy location through wartime authorization. Under the hyper jump state, it is estimated to take thirty-six days, six hours and thirty-six minutes to approach the fuzzy location area."
The Suzaku battleship's intelligent system also immediately made a series of responses.
"Thirty-six days?" Lin Yang frowned instantly.
Super jump is to carry out continuous ultra-long-distance jumps.
Under normal circumstances, in the myriad universes, with the level of the Suzaku battleship, an ultra-long-distance jump can basically cross one-third of the range of an ordinary small or medium-sized universe.
Although the jump is restricted here, it still takes thirty-six days, which is enough to show the vastness of this unknown space.
"Captain, we are currently in an unknown space and cannot go any faster unless we activate the Extreme Escape Destruction Mode and perform an Escape Destruction-level jump. However, if we do that, Suzaku will be scrapped after the jump. Please be aware of this."
"Forget it then. Thirty days is enough. Groups 4 and 6 are closer to Group 5. They should be able to arrive faster. It shouldn't be a problem to hold out for more than thirty days. Let's start the super jump immediately."
Lin Yang said as he pressed the jump authorization button.
"Preparing for the jump, the super jump will start in thirty seconds. Please enter the safety cabin and sleep. This super jump will automatically terminate after reaching the target area and wake up the crew."
"The countdown to the jump begins..."
"thirty."
"Twenty-nine."
"..."
Following Suzaku's voice, the battleship stopped cruising, and after a tremor, it turned into a point of light and entered the jump on the spot.
Lin Yang did not go into hibernation.
He wanted to see if the statue would appear again after seven days.
Although Que Tian said that their Taixuan Ancient Dynasty's exploration team had tried to teleport, the mark statue could still appear on time.
But Lin Yang still wanted to witness it with his own eyes.
(End of this chapter)
