wandering planet

Jiang Che and others temporarily stopped advancing and exited the cave.

Although they knew that this area was a star field frequented by predators, they did not expect that predators would actually appear here, and even dug such a big hole.

"The gravitational problem may be caused by the activities of the marauders," Ovid said suddenly as he was finding his way back to the small ship.

"This seems to be some kind of weapon experiment." Song Junxing muttered to himself, "No, the real question is, has the predator's technology developed to this level?"

Jiang Che felt that this was very possible.

The universe is too vast.

The Marauders learned to use the Birog ring after capturing the "Great Retreat" ship; did they also learn a certain skill from other cosmic creatures after capturing them?

In order to save the little oxygen left, the group did not talk frequently, but moved forward in silence.

At this time, Fei Lian and Lin Ni on the Phoenix had a dispute.

"The predators may still be in the cave, and the secretions they left behind have not dried up, that's the evidence." Linney insisted that they should not let this opportunity go, "It's too unexpected to meet the predators here , but we can’t let this opportunity pass by like this. What are the predators doing, and whether their technological development has surpassed ours, these questions are very critical.”

"Yes, you're absolutely right, these questions are critical—" Fei Lian showed a rare agitation, which is extremely rare in his emotional program, "—but Linney, they are not for the Phoenix's trip. Purpose."

Linney stared at him with a stubborn expression of not being persuaded at all.

"I am the AI ​​of the Phoenix, and I am the oldest crew member on this ship. Captain, I call you the captain, and I accept all of you to board the Phoenix and become the crew of the Phoenix, but on my It seems that you all need my protection."

Linney nodded: "Yes, Fei Lian. We need you and understand you, and you should understand..."

"I can't understand." Fei Lian raised his finger and pointed to the big screen.

In an instant, the whole picture of the crab-shell planet originally displayed on the big screen disappeared, replaced by countless nouns and data.

"I have said many, many times that I do not have any ship-to-ship weapons. The Phoenix is ​​a vanguard ship and is not used for military purposes, so it cannot carry ship-to-ship weapons." Fei Lian pointed to the information displayed on the big screen, "Captain , take a good look, this is the current weapon storage situation of the Phoenix. I can tell you that almost all the firearms are useless, and the only thing that can be used is all kinds of bombs. But these bombs are too small, Are you going to use grenades against marauder ships?"

It's not the first time Linney has seen the data.

He frowned, but didn't answer Fei Lian.

Fei Lian continued to speak.

"According to the situation described by Ovid, I can think that the reason why the cave they discovered is so large is that it is clearly the passageway for the predator ships to enter and exit." His voice suddenly increased, "Captain, there are more than one crab shell There are predators, and there may even be predator ships. If the ships do exist, it means that there are far more predators on the crab shell than we thought."

Linney didn't expect this level.

His expression finally eased down slowly.

"I want to protect you, at least, I must ensure that you can reach Earth smoothly." Fei Lian whispered, "Isn't the most important purpose of the Phoenix to return to Earth?"

Linney closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"I know, I always remember it very well." He decided to confess to Fei Lian, "Fei Lian, the leader of the predators we met on the Black Sea, was very similar to humans. We believe that this is because the predators have a clear understanding The imitation object of—did I tell you that although the leader can't make a sound, it does open its mouth, simulating the way humans speak."

Fei Lian stood quietly in front of him, listening to him.

"The Marauders captured the ships of the 'Great Retreat', so they got a lot of objects to observe and imitate." Linney said with difficulty, "I was just wondering, if our scenario works, if the Marauders keep learning Human form, then in their settlements, there may still be humans."

In Linney's idea, the predators discovered the value of human beings as cosmic creatures, so they adopted the method of breeding and kept a certain number of human beings in their settlements to continuously provide them with reference samples.

Fei Lian finally understood Lin Ni's thoughts.

"It's possible." Fei Lian nodded.

There was a gleam of joy on Linney's face: "So you understand—"

"But so what?" Fei Lian asked.

Linney froze.

"It's been 500 years since the 'Great Retreat'. Is it possible that the human beings who have lived with the predators for 500 years are still the human beings in our common sense?" Fei Lian stared at Lin Ni, "Captain, you don't have to go Look for such humans. Even if we find them, all we can do is deal with them the same way we deal with predators."

Lin Ni didn't make a sound, he looked at Fei Lian silently.

Getting along with Fei Lian made him unknowingly forget that the person in front of him was just an artificial intelligence.

Even though his maker has created an emotional processing program that is extremely close to human beings, it is still a logical artificial intelligence.

Fei Lian finally let Lin Ni completely calm down.

He admitted that what Fei Lian said was very reasonable, because he thought things too well.

Jiang Che and others returned to the Phoenix, and the small ship immediately entered the charging stage, ready for the next exploration.

The three of them came to the cockpit, intending to listen to the captain's arrangement.

Tang Mo had nothing to do, saw Ovid walking in, and waved to him.

Ovid: "?"

Tang Mo: "You found the cave and the traces of the predators?"

Ovid: "Yes."

Tang Mo: "Then your observation skills are still very good."

Ovid smiled.Fei Lian didn't know where he went. They were waiting for him. Lin Ni hadn't started giving orders yet, so he squatted next to Tang Mo and continued to chat with her.

"Of course I am very good. Although I have never killed anyone, I am not considered a master killer, but my training results are very good." Ovid is a little proud, "I am not bragging, I can even crawl on insects. You can find the traces of crossing the grass."

Tang Mo stretched out the index fingers of his left and right hands in front of him, and the fingers were infinitely close, almost sticking together.

"Then, Mr. Killer with such strong observation skills, don't you think it's strange that Lin Ni and Song Junxing were so close when they were talking?" She asked earnestly.

Ovid: "Is it strange? Where is it strange?"

Tang Mo was angry and funny, and slapped Ovid's knee twice heavily: "Who would talk so close!"

"Come closer to hear better." Ovid thought for a while, "I think you are even weirder. Are your tomatoes and peppers growing?"

Tang Mo completely gave up communicating with Mr. Killer, moved to Jiang Che's side, and chatted with him about the growth of tomatoes and peppers.

After Fei Lian came back, the picture on the big screen changed to pitch black.

"I just released a small robot that will land on crab shells and help us explore the cave." He said to everyone, "If you don't figure out what's going on in the cave, I don't think you will be willing to leave like this. "

Lin Ni thought that he had given up the idea of ​​exploring after convincing himself, but now that he thought about it, Fei Lian always cared about everyone's safety.Under the condition of ensuring safety, he still obeyed the captain and continued to explore.

The small robot he released was used for repairing the internal lines of the Phoenix. It had a single function, but after entering the cave, it could silently patrol the entire hollow area and draw a simple map.

The most shocked was Jiang Che.

"There are robots, why not use them?" He asked Fei Lian, "Why don't we use them when we were cleaning the kitchen?"

Fei Lian was also shocked: "This is a robot for repairing wiring, not for cleaning the kitchen."

"Put a mop in it and it will definitely work." Jiang Che said, "Fei Lian, who did you learn from? Song Junxing? Some robots refused to let us use it, and let us do it ourselves. Cleaning the kitchen is very difficult. Responsible for cooking, I really want to protest."

Fei Lian thought for a while, and decided to ignore Jiang Che's protest: "The result of the drawing will come out soon, and we can directly see it here."

After waiting for about half an hour, the first bright line finally appeared on the screen.

This is actually the trajectory of the small robot.

As it continues to deepen, the hollow below the crab shell plateau is also revealed little by little.

It was a huge void that almost occupied the entire space below the plateau. Not only did it divide into many different roads, each road also connected several different areas.

"There are layers inside the cavity." Fei Lian stared at the lines displayed little by little, "...it seems that there are about four layers."

It's a huge raider colony.

Lin Ni thought of the predators who frequently appeared in the nearby Ios star field, and his heart suddenly sank: the predators who went to the Ios star field to prey may have set off from here.

"Can you confirm the number of predators inside, or whether there are humans?" Linney asked.

"No." Fei Lian replied immediately, "The small robot is not equipped with these devices."

Four hours later, the secret exploration of the void was completed, and an extremely wide settlement divided into four floors appeared before them.

Fei Lian swung his arm, changed his perspective, and pointed at the flashing red dot on the image.

"This robot is in charge of repairing the lines. It found the confluence of various lines inside the cave, and it's here." Fei Lian said, "And the soil layer in this place is more explosive than other places. If you want to destroy this settlement, Even to destroy it, as long as enough explosives are placed here."

"It's so big...there should be quite a few predators and ships." Jiang Che looked at the screen and said.

Linney turned to Fei Lian.

"Are there any humans in there?"

Fei Lian replied calmly, "I don't know."

Tang Mo raised his hand: "Is it because the predators did something that the gravity of the crab shell disappears?"

Fei Lian remained calm: "I don't know. You don't need to ask any more, we can't find the answers to all the questions now."

They don't need to know why the gravity of the crab shell disappears, and why it returns after disappearing.They also don't need to know why the predators chose the crab shell, how long it took to hollow it out, or what to do there.

Just destroy the settlement - and that's the only thing the Phoenix can do right now.

"The number of bombs that can be detonated is too small." Song Junxing reminded Lin Ni, "And they are all small, unless we bundle them together."

Fei Lian also reminded: "Even if they are tied together, there is still a lack of oxygen inside the cave. None of our existing bombs are nuclear bombs, and only some of them have their own oxidizers. Other bombs without oxidizers cannot function in a vacuum environment." the desired effect."

Linney stroked his chin, but said nothing.

In addition to the problem of oxidizer, there is no air, which means that after the bomb explodes, it cannot produce effective shock waves, and its power is greatly reduced.

The risk of doing so was too great: even if they used all the bombs on the Phoenix, they might not have any effect on the soil and lines, but would instead alert the looters and expose the Phoenix.

Pierre raised his hand suddenly: "I have a question."

Fei Lian nodded at him, motioning him to speak out.

"Wouldn't it be more effective if we found a large airtight tank with oxygen and filled it with a bomb and detonated it?"

Lin Ni and Song Junxing looked at each other subconsciously, and each other's hearts brightened.

Ovid also believes that this method is feasible: "It is absolutely possible. And the fragments produced after the explosion of the can are also very lethal and cutting, and can destroy the line."

"But where did you get the big pot?" Jiang Che asked, "The pot from the kitchen?"

He was a little bit reluctant.

But Pierre obviously already has the answer in mind.Tang Mo sat beside him, staring at him carefully.She didn't know what the answer was in Pierre's mind. There might be a "big jar" on the Phoenix that she didn't know, and only Pierre could discover it.But Tang Mo noticed that there was a suppressed sadness in his blue eyes, as if every word he said next made him feel sad.

And Linney, who had spent the longest time with Pierre on the previous voyage, already knew what he was going to say.

"The big jar I'm talking about is the lifeboat," the young navigator whispered. "It's the one that took us across the Sirius belt to the Black Sea."