Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 169: Grave of Battleships

The time spent waiting for the fish to take the bait felt especially long. Prince Arude, Principal Sosse, and a few others could not stand the wait and decided to return to their rooms for a short rest.

As for the ones who had stayed behind to wait, we started eating. Only Lin Feixue and Dodo remained fully glued to the screen. I took the opportunity to visit Nyx, who was staying at the ship's bottom level. It had been a while, and Nyx seemed to have grown slightly. It became exceptionally excited upon seeing me.

Looking at Nyx, I was reminded of Blueflash. I decided to return and pay that fellow a visit if there was an opportunity. After about an hour, everyone heard the sounds of a battleship. Spacetime's system indicated that a Nebula-class cruiser was approaching the zone where the explosions went off.

"Excellent. The fish has taken the bait," I said in excitement after rushing back to the command room.

Spacetime remained invisible as we waited like a beast wreathed in shadows for the incoming cruiser. The massive cruiser slowly approached the explosion zone. As it approached, it deployed a swarm of drones to investigate the area.

The magnetic rocks Lin Feixue had released earlier were perfect for this stealth mission because they left no signs of technology in their passing. The drones spent some time searching only to find nothing. Eventually, a minelayer appeared to replace the blown-up mines. After everything was done, all the drones returned to the cruiser.

"This is our chance. Feixue, get ready," I ordered.

"Roger. The fiberglass probe will be deployed to tail the enemy ship. Relevant stealth modifications have been performed on the probe. Spacetime will travel in accordance with the route tracked by the probe after five minutes," said Lin Feixue.

The probe set off and tailed the enemy cruiser. It constantly transmitted data back to us.

"Let's hope this will return straight to its station," said Kelly.

We were quite far away from Cloudcast itself. According to the map on the screen, the enemy ship was taking a winding route through space, but there was no doubt that it was heading back to Cloudcast.

"Don't hesitate. Let's follow it," I ordered.

"What if we are discovered? Is there a plan B?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"If we're discovered, we can only attack forcefully and try to snatch a cruiser," I replied.

"But that's not enough to carry all our soldiers," Zhang Bao'er continued.

"Then we will have to think of something else," I replied patiently.

"Rotten wood truly can't be polished," sneered Domo.

After activating the magnetism-cloaking mode, Spacetime cautiously advanced through the route plotted by the probe. The enemy ship had beautifully drawn this route out for us. At the moment, we were free of the landmines. Acting like a stealthy predator, we moved slowly, getting nearer and nearer to Planet Cloudcast.

The infiltration was going so smoothly that it felt inconceivable to me. After undergoing so many difficulties in the past, it was unimaginable that we would be able to so easily go through their defensive line.

Apparently, when luck came knocking, it would keep coming. Not only was the Nebula-class vessel returning to Cloudcast, but it was also moving without taking any complicated or difficult turns through the zone of mines.

"Looks like we're lucky enough to win a lottery today. Did we get in so easily?" said Zhang Bao'er in astonishment.

"It does look like we're in. Cloudcast's atmosphere is only 100 kilometers ahead of us," said Old Du.

"Isn't the defense here too weak? I don't see a single battleship nearby," said Kelly.

"Do not relax. The enemy ships are also capable of invisibility. It is even more important that we stay cautious now," I reminded.

I noticed Lin Feixue giving Dodo the command to analyze the composition of Cloudcast's atmosphere. At the same time, the two were also trying to figure out the military strength of Cloudcast's outer layer through laser scans.

After 10 minutes, the results of the scan returned. Cloudcast was shrouded by a thin artificial atmospheric layer. The front side of the planet had a thicker atmosphere than the back side, and the majority of the imperial vessels' maintenance and repair was performed on the front side. The backside was mostly shrouded in darkness with some dots of light akin to stars sprinkled amid the darkness.

"Wind Spirit, do you know what the back side of the planet is used for?" I asked.

"I heard that the irreparable vessels will all be discarded there. As time passes, that place has turned into a graveyard of steel,"

"What are those dots of light?" I asked.

"I don't know. Perhaps they are patrols?" said Wind Spirit.

"They only have some steel-based trash there. What is the point of patrolling that place?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"Perhaps they are there to prevent theft of electronic components. The league also has a weapon graveyard on Blue. That place is also guarded by armed forces, making entry difficult for unrelated individuals," said Old Du.

"Even the Divine Empire knows how to build an artificial planet to store their trash, unlike the Interstellar League that simply throws their trash on Blue," complained Zhang Bao'er indignantly.

"I hope this is something we can change in the future," said Old Du awkwardly.

At that time, the Nebula cruiser was starting to travel in a straight line toward Cloudcast's front side. We stopped tailing it. After all, there would be a higher number of defenses and ships on the front side. It would be easier for us to expose ourselves there.

The infiltration was progressing too smoothly and peacefully, to the point where Prince Arude thought that the mission had yet to begin when he woke up and returned to the command room.

From the data gathered by the laser scans, we verified that Cloudcast's back side was truly piled with countless steel-based refuse. However, due to how randomly everything was placed and how thick the piles were, our scans weren't able to produce a clear map of the planet's back side.

And we only had a single fiberglass probe, so we weren't willing to subject it to the process of entering the planet's atmosphere. We did not want to risk any mishaps during the process. After a discussion, we decided to first send a small squad of scouts to land on the back side of Cloudcast. They would personally scout out the area before we made our next plan.

The crew unanimously decided that I would not be a part of the scouts, using the same excuse I had used to prevent Zhang Xingxing from joining us on our past missions: the commander shouldn't easily go to the front lines. However, I was able to once again convince the crew. I said that Bulu would be able to save lives during critical moments, and the only person capable of properly controlling Bulu was me.

Ultimately, the squad members were me, Old Du, Zhang Bao'er, and Wind Spirit. She had volunteered to join, and after we repeatedly reminded her to not act up during the mission, she agreed. Only then did we agree to take her with us. As a precaution, Dondon also joined the team to accompany her.

Additionally, Baron Sisse would also be coming with us to prevent a situation where we were lucky enough to actually obtain a battleship on the scouting mission but couldn't pilot it out. And thus, the team of four plus two plus one was assembled. We boarded the stealth shuttle modified by Lin Feixue and departed from Spacetime. While we were away, Kelly would be the acting captain of Spacetime.

The shuttle was also running the magnetism-cloaking function while it took us through Cloudcast's atmosphere. The atmosphere was thin, but it was still thick enough that sparks appeared when we went through it. Everyone was on edge, afraid that the patrols would detect us. Fortunately, everything went smoothly. We successfully went through the atmosphere and entered the planet.

The sight before us was similar to the back side of Lidu. It was almost starting to look as if the Divine Empire's technology was only good enough to create an artificial planet where only half of it would have sufficient energy. However, at a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius, the back side of this planet was not as cold as Lidu's.

In less than a few minutes, the shuttle neared the ground. Amid the darkness, we discovered a relatively empty clearing surrounded by steel and ships through our laser scans.

After landing, Dondon referred to the data from the scans and informed us that the environment outside was suitable for us to go on foot. Thus, we turned on our morph-capable suits and walked out of the shuttle.

The ground of Cloudcast was solid. The moment I set foot outside, I understood that I was standing on steel. At the same moment we landed, Dondon updated Spacetime with our latest status.

"This place is filled with steel, so I doubt there will be any of those magnetic mines around," said Baron Sisse.

"We still need to be careful. Remember to move together, everyone. Don't split up from the rest," I reminded everyone.

"This whole thing feels too easy. I feel restless," said Old Du.

"Don't think too much. We have to be lucky every now and then. How can we be so unlucky every single time?" said Zhang Bao'er.

"You better not say anything with your unlucky mouth," I interrupted Zhang Bao'er.

We turned on our searchlights and started studying our surroundings. The environment our scanners weren't able to plot became visible under our searchlights. There were countless discarded ships around us. Due to their numbers, they were piled into large mountains, which looked to be the accumulation from thousands of years of war. Some of the ships were so old that their hulls had rusted and crumbled apart, no longer maintaining their original shape.

"No wonder the scanners couldn't map this place out. There is too much discarded equipment here. There are a lot of variations with everything mixed together," I said. The sheer scale of the refuse around me caused me to gasp.

"This place is filled with trash. Will there be anything useful at all here? Even if this scrap iron can fly, a little bit of pressure will cause them to fall apart," questioned Zhang Bao'er.

"No, Bao'er. Look, some of them actually stand out. The higher they are on the piles, the newer they look. The height basically determines the time they arrived. I also noticed that if we move further ahead, the ships we can find will be even newer with more recent designs," said Old Du.

"Yes," said Baron Sisse. "It is clear that the ships here are piled according to the date they were supposed to be either repaired or discarded. We are currently at the very back of the area. In other words, we can very well be looking at the first batch of discarded ships on the planet. These ships are ancient," said Baron Sisse.

"In other words, we need to move closer to the front side to look for more recent ships," said Dondon.

"How about our shuttle?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"Leave it here for now. If we move in the shuttle, we won't be able to determine which of these ships are still operational," I said.

"If we're going, let's get moving. Look at how dark this place is. It feels so uncomfortable," urged Wind Spirit, who hated the dark environment.

"Yes, you're right. Dark places tend to house super monsters that are dreadful and frightening," said Zhang Bao'er, acting like he was muttering but was in truth trying to scare Wind Spirit.

The trick obviously worked as Wind Spirit tightened her grip around Dondon. Meanwhile, Dondon had the look of a determined and responsible man on his face. We followed the plan and continued advancing. We encountered one discarded ship after another as we walked the tiny path between the piles of steel. Occasionally, the path would be blocked by collapsed rusty chunks of ships, forcing us to take a detour.

It was obvious that the farther we went, the more recent the ships were. The differences between the ships of different time periods were rather obvious. Also, the newer the ships were, the less damage they had suffered. It was starting to look like we were going to really find a usable ship ahead of us.

At that thought, we grew excited and walked even faster. Suddenly, a dim flash of light appeared right ahead of us.

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