Chapter 396: Spaceship Crash
This Mining Planet once prospered due to its abundant Mineral Resources. Large numbers of Miners, Buyers, and Mine Owners made it a rare bustling area in the nearby Star Zone.
However, as the Red Crystal Stone resources were depleted, the Planet returned from prosperity to a state of deathly silence. Most merchants and Mine Owners evacuated, leaving behind only some Miners who had nowhere else to go and were abandoned here.
On this Planet, riddled with holes from excessive mining, their only livelihood was scavenging for scraps left behind by machine mining in the Old Mine Pit.
On this Planet covered in Yellow Sand, the Groundwater was contaminated due to over-extraction. The Miners living here could only rely on Interstellar Merchants who came twice a year, exchanging the Red Crystal Stone they found for the supplies and water needed for survival.
The greatest wish of the people living here was to save enough money for a Ship Ticket to leave this Planet. However, the price of an Interstellar Ship Ticket was so exorbitant that it was beyond the means of these people even across several lifetimes.
Many, seeing no hope of leaving, could only live day by day in drunken stupor, spending all the money they earned from mining ore on alcohol.
On a Red Rock Mountain Wall covered in Yellow Sand, a mining prospector's detector had once opened a hole dozens of meters deep in the cliff face. However, upon detecting a low concentration of Red Crystal Stone, they abandoned the location.
After this Mine Pit was expanded from the inside, it became one of the few Bars on this abandoned Mining Planet.
When the Star in the Sky reappeared, the temperature on this land rose from below minus forty degrees to over forty degrees.
*Clang!* The Bar's Gate, which was modified from a Shuttle Door, was pushed open heavily. An Alien with a Toad head and a Hawaiian shirt, and a cyborg whose body was eighty percent mechanical except for his Head, walked out arm in arm amidst the Boss's curses.
Seeing their staggering steps, it was clear they had drunk a lot of the inferior alcohol brewed from thorn palm juice inside the Bar.
"Diego! Are my Eyes playing tricks on me? Is that a Spaceship!"
The cyborg, whose body was eighty percent mechanical except for his Head, looked up at the black figure in the Sky, shook his head clear.
"Your Eyes must be playing tricks on you. It's still two months until those unscrupulous merchants come here. How could they possibly be generous enough to come early! Do you think fuel is free?"
The Toad named Diego mocked his companion while looking up. Then he froze.
In the Sky, a Black Spaceship was rapidly crashing towards their Direction. He blinked his Eyes. With vision ten times the range of Hawkeye's on Earth, he could even clearly see that the tail of the Black Spaceship was on fire, constantly emitting sparks.
Clearly, this was a Spaceship that had crashed due to an accident. He just didn't know if it had collided with a meteorite or been attacked by Space Pirates.
"Looks like our good luck has arrived!" The Toad Diego excitedly licked his lips. The intense Sunlight from the overhead Star had cracked his lips.
But compared to this minor issue, Diego was more concerned about what kind of profit this unlucky Spaceship could bring him. If it really was a cargo Spaceship, the cargo inside might even be enough to get him a Ship Ticket to leave this place.
Thinking of this, Diego's Heart couldn't help but pound. This Feeling was something even the female toad doing a striptease in the Bar last night couldn't give him. This was the Taste of Money.
"Hey, Abad, wake up, we're going to get rich!"
Diego jumped up and patted his companion's drunken, drooping Head, forcibly turned his Head in one Direction. "Open your Eyes and look! Listen, we're going in the Direction of that Spaceship crash now!"
With that, Diego leaped onto his companion's back from Behind one's Back, tightly wrapping his arms around his Neck. "Abad, activate your engine, full power ahead! Don't be stingy with that little bit of energy. We need to loot the Spaceship before those Hyenas arrive! I have a premonition that we're going to strike it rich this time!"
The cyborg's feet sprayed two blue flames from his soles, carrying Diego unsteadily towards the Direction of the Spaceship crash.
"Wake up, Abad, you're off course! Damn Old Shack, how much industrial oil did he mix into the alcohol! Listen to my order, twenty degrees to the left! No, no, it's left, you're going right!"
The Cyborg Abad landed on the far side of a Hillside. By now, he had recovered his senses. His Square Face was expressionless, even carrying a hint of coldness and numbness.
Diego held an optical detector, lying on the Hillside, watching over a dozen old mining Shuttles approaching the Black Spaceship, and couldn't help but complain.
"Looks like we're late! These Hyenas have really sharp Sense of Smell!"
"They're in Trouble. This is a Predator Spaceship. No, judging by the Spaceship's paint job, this is a Dark Iron Blood Spaceship, Diego. We need to leave here—"
Abad stood on the Hillside, looking at the smoking Black Spaceship from afar. When he saw the full view of the Spaceship, his face instantly changed drastically. He grabbed Diego's hand and was about to turn and leave.
"Hey, wait, Abad, what is a Dark Iron Blood? We can't leave this place, this Spaceship is related to my Ship Ticket!"
As a Native living on this Planet, Diego didn't know what a Dark Iron Blood was. He also didn't understand why his friend's face changed so much when talking about this Dark Iron Blood.
He only knew that this Spaceship before him might be the key for him to leave this Planet. He didn't want to stay on this resource-depleted, futureless Planet his whole Life, even if this Planet was his Homeworld.
"The Predator are Hunters in the Universe. They take pride in hunting powerful Prey and collecting their Corpses and Bones. The Dark Iron Blood are even more cruel. It's not just these Hyenas, if they consider this Planet a Hunting ground, then all Creatures on this Planet are in Trouble!" Abad's expression grew increasingly serious.
"But, if they are really that formidable, then why were they shot down!" Diego couldn't help but retort.
Abad looked down at him. "That means the Enemy they encountered is even more dangerous, so we must leave this Planet as soon as possible!"
"Leave, Abad, do you know what you're saying? The money we've saved over the years combined isn't even enough to buy the engine for the most basic Shuttle."
Diego pulled at his empty pockets, then spread his hands towards Abad.
"I have a Spaceship!" Abad looked up, his Gaze fixed on the Shuttles gradually approaching the Black Spaceship, and said flatly.
"What? What did you just say? I didn't hear clearly, Abad. Tell me, did you just say you have a Shuttle? Is there something wrong with my Ears?"
Upon hearing Abad's words, Diego said, jumping up with an exaggerated expression.
"Shut up, don't talk, it's starting!" Abad glared down at Diego, signaling him to be quiet.
Diego was startled by the seriousness in Abad's Eyes. He had never seen this drunken friend show such an expression. He immediately shut his mouth and lay on the Hillside, looking down.
On the Yellow Sand Plain, the dozen or so Shuttles had stopped next to the Black Spaceship. Dozens of Big men carrying energy guns of various models got off the Shuttles.
These people came from various Interstellar Civilizations. Their predecessors or ancestors were Miners here, and they were forced to stay on this Planet because they couldn't afford Ship Tickets.
However, unlike the Miners who searched for treasure in the slag heaps in the Mine, these people banded together to form a Gang, living by robbing others' gains. They were the notorious Thug Group on the entire Planet.
"*Chh!*" Diego recognized most of the people there. From afar, he saw Feilin, who had four arms, leading the way, holding an old mining cutter. The cutter's nozzle sprayed a crimson laser, continuously cutting the Spaceship's Hatch. With his excellent Vision, he could even clearly see the model marked on the cutter.
"What a waste. A complete Spaceship Hatch could be exchanged for a decent hover vehicle from those unscrupulous merchants!."
Diego muttered softly, complaining. The cutter felt like it was cutting into his own flesh, making his Heart ache.
Abad didn't pay attention to him this time, instead focusing intently on the Spaceship, especially the Hatch. The Spaceship's Hatch was quickly cut all the way around by the laser. Feilin, the one with four arms, used an electromagnetic device to attach to the Hatch, then immediately hid to the side and waved towards a Shuttle.
The Shuttle accelerated, and the chain connected to the electromagnetic device immediately went taut, instantly pulling the Spaceship's laser-cut Hatch off, revealing the Airlock inside.
The Hyenas immediately surrounded the Airlock with their energy guns raised the moment the Spaceship Hatch was opened, pointing the muzzles into the Airlock to prevent any living stragglers from being on the Spaceship.
Having survived on this abandoned Mining Planet for so long, these surviving Hyenas were not like the drug-addled Thugs on the streets of New York who dared to rush into Shops for zero-dollar shopping. They had a well-practiced method for robbery.
In fact, these Hyenas were cautious enough. When a red dot appeared on a Thing's Head, this group immediately launched focused fire into the Airlock without hesitation.
Dozens of energy guns unleashed a spray of fire into the Airlock.
"*Bang!*"
The red light solidified, and the Thing's Head instantly Shattered in a slight Explosion. The headless Corpse fell towards the Ground.
"Careful, Enemy Attack!"
Before the remaining people could react, a Cold Light shot down from the top of the Spaceship. With a buzzing sound, the Smart Disc, resembling a full moon, swept through the crowd with a cold glint.
Wherever the Cold Light passed, one after another, heads fell directly to the Ground, shattering into dust. Their heads shattered because the Smart Disc itself carried a wave of extreme cold.
Diego watched the dozens of headless Ice Sculptures standing around the Black Spaceship from afar, his mouth wide enough to fit his Fist. With his Vision, he couldn't even find where the Killer of these Hyenas was. But soon he found the "Killer". On top of the Black Spaceship, a tall Figure with a small braid and a Mask removed his active camouflage, raised his hand to catch the Smart Disc in his Palm, leaped down from the Spaceship, and stood at the airlock entrance, vigilantly watching the surroundings.
Inside the Spaceship, several more figures dressed the same quickly walked out. They exchanged information, and soon scattered, getting into the Shuttles left by the Hyenas and disappearing into the vast yellow sand.
"Abad! They're all gone, should we go check out the Spaceship!" Diego blinked his Eyes and looked at Abad.
Abad lowered his Head and warned him with a serious expression, "We must leave here!"
"But, there should be no one on that Spaceship now, and even if there's nothing valuable on the Spaceship, just the energy guns left by those Hyenas are enough to exchange for some energy fuel!"
Abad ignored the Little Frog Diego's plea and directly threw him onto his shoulder, flying back the way they came at low altitude. Diego couldn't help but look back in the Direction of the Black Spaceship.
He suddenly blinked his Eyes, feeling a Chill / Cold Sensation coming from Behind one's Back. He saw that on the Hillside where he had just been lying, the Air rippled, and a tall Figure, a full Head taller than other Predator, had appeared there at some point, coldly watching them leave.
His excellent Vision even allowed him to clearly see the tall Figure's cold, expressionless Gaze.
"*Gulp!*"
Diego trembling told Abad about this. The Cyborg Abad's Head stiffened. The next second, the thruster power in his feet was directly increased to maximum. Diego could even clearly hear the sound of the parts Inside the Body colliding.
Shadow Storm stood on the Red Rock Mountain Wall, surveying this abandoned, desolate Planet. He no longer paid attention to the two little mice that had run away. He opened the computer assistant on his Wrist.
He pulled up a virtual screen and began sending out messages, summoning reinforcements. Since the High Evolutionary treated him as Prey, they would see who the real Prey was.
Not long after Shadow Storm sent out the message, half of the Milky Way Galaxy's Dark Iron Blood all received this message. Those who were hunting immediately abandoned the Prey they were about to catch. Those who were flying Spaceships immediately changed Direction and headed towards the coordinates sent by Shadow Storm.
For the Predator, who revered military force, Shadow Storm being captured was a great humiliation. However, Shadow Storm, who had gained new strength from Tang Song, returned to the Dark Predator Race's territory and easily subdued the entire Dark Predator Clan with the strength that had broken through his own limits.
And after obtaining Tang Song's permission, he taught the nurturing art of the Hundred-Step Flying Sword to the Dark Iron Blood who were loyal to him. The Dark Iron Blood who gained new strength found their worship of him increased instead of decreasing.
For the sake of their own evolution, even the two Dark Iron Blood Elder who had previously disagreed with Shadow Storm were defeated by him and became his subordinates.
With Shadow Storm's order, it could be said that tens of thousands of Dark Iron Blood from half the Milky Way Galaxy were rushing towards this Star Zone.
"The Predator are also a super race that has evolved for millions of years, especially this leading Predator. His evolutionary gene should be very interesting!"
On a fortress ship as large as an Asteroid, a man in red armor was watching the Experimenters under him. Those Sovereign were controlling the genetic accelerator, experimenting with his species evolution theory.
One after another, the Experiment Subjects exploded into a bloody mess inside the experiment cabin. Watching this bloody scene, the man didn't even blink.
This man in red armor was the High Evolutionary, an Earthling. To be precise, he was once a *Country person, living in Manchester, and later conducting experiments in his mother's Basement in the suburbs of London. His original name was Herbert Edgar Wyndham. He was once a genetics expert, a Biology Expert, and an Inventor. Very early on, he conducted genetic experiments in his mother's Basement in the suburbs of London and successfully manufactured a genetic accelerator.
He attempted to manufacture new species, and at the same time, he modified his own genetic code, causing him to continuously evolve and possess immeasurable superpowers. Later, by chance opportunity, he left Earth and established his Company in the Milky Way Galaxy.
The reason he chose to leave was not because he feared the East Galaxy Company, but because he discovered a better Experiment Subject, the Predator who had been constantly tracking his whereabouts.
That was an excellent Experiment Subject. To prevent him from noticing, he deliberately acted as if he was escaping.
As expected, under his deliberate enticement, that Experiment Subject indeed fell into his trap. In this barren Star Zone, that Spaceship was severely damaged by his design and landed on this barren Planet.
Now, let him see if the Experiment Subject he chose can withstand the influence of his genetic accelerator.
"MODOK, take your people to this Planet and capture that Predator. I want him alive!"
Beside the High Evolutionary, a large Head floated, a head five or six times the size of a normal person's, making his small body look very strange.
This large Head was encased in golden armor. Upon hearing the High Evolutionary's order, he opened his stark white teeth, revealing an evil smile.
"As you command!"
(end of chapter)