Chapter 386 - 354: The Mutated Alien Intelligence

Chapter 386: Chapter 354: The Mutated Alien Intelligence

"Sikokun, what’s the situation on the ground?"

As she was leading the soldiers out of the core area, Yelena’s voice came through Sikokun’s earpiece.

She raised a hand to her earpiece. "I’m sorry, Governor. The soldiers in the core area suffered heavy casualties! It was my failure as a Commander!"

"Don’t blame yourself. This wasn’t something you could have controlled. Even the Human Federation failed to detect the enemy’s plot in advance. As the field commander, what could you have done...? Sikokun, are you injured?"

"Thank you, Governor. I’m fine. I’m currently leading the wounded soldiers out of the core area. Afterward, I plan to meet up with the reinforcements from the perimeter and go back."

"Go back? Why?"

"I need to monitor and confirm the Alien Intelligence’s feeding status. If there aren’t enough remaining Parasites on site, and the Living Dead Guan Tong creates also can’t meet the requirement, we’ll have to notify the residents of nearby towns to evacuate!"

"Isn’t he with you? And why isn’t he on this comms channel anymore?"

"His communicator might have been damaged in the fight. He said he was staying behind to find an opportunity to ask his question. Don’t worry, Governor. He saved many soldiers this time. I will do my best to ensure his safety."

"Alright. Both of you, be careful. You must remember: if things go south, retreat immediately. Staying alive is more important than anything."

"Yes, I understand."

Just then, soldiers from the several defensive lines on the Landing Site’s perimeter arrived to provide support, and Sikokun immediately began coordinating them.

She had the uninjured soldiers from the perimeter defenses escort the wounded from the core area to the nearest medical center, while she personally led a full battalion back to the core area.

As the Commander of the Landing Site, if she were to just leave without confirming the risk posed by the Alien Intelligence, it would be a complete abandonment of her duty.

Her earlier decision to leave had been solely for the sake of evacuating the large number of wounded soldiers. Without their Commander accompanying them, the troops would likely have scattered due to low morale.

Now that the wounded were being taken care of, she naturally had to return at once.

Before leaving, she made a point of approaching Shangyuan Zi.

"I’m worried about potential ambushes or attacks from elite enemy Ascenders along the way. I’d like to ask you to leave with the wounded. With your power, you can protect them."

She had expected Shangyuan Zi to refuse and insist on returning to the Landing Site’s core area with her. She had even prepared a few arguments to persuade them.

To her surprise, Shangyuan Zi heard her out, nodded, and agreed, showing no fixation on going back to find Guan Tong.

This made Sikokun realize that Guan Tong and this companion of his with the strange Snake Eyes shared a deep understanding; they each knew what they needed to do.

After watching the group depart, she immediately led a heavy fire battalion back the way she came, her eyes filled with determination.

If the Parasite Ascenders’ attack had caused a severe food shortage, and if Guan Tong’s Living Dead couldn’t make up the difference... then she had to buy time for the residents of the nearby towns to evacuate.

This was why she had chosen to lead a heavy fire battalion back. If it came to that, even if human weapons couldn’t destroy the Alien Intelligence, they had to at least delay it for a while.

...

「Core area of the Landing Site.」

Guan Tong watched the Alien Intelligence continuously devour the remaining Parasites, silently calculating the number left.

For this question, the Human Federation had made extensive preparations, with the various nations and the allied front lines transporting nearly 100,000 Parasites in total.

The enemy clearly knew the Human Federation’s plan. They had dispatched several hundred Parasite Ascenders disguised as ordinary Parasites, each carrying a large number of Psychic Power Bombs, and successfully infiltrated the Landing Site to create chaos.

Such a massive all-in bet meant that the Parasite leader had always had some grasp of human intelligence.

’It’s possible the top echelons of a Human Federation member state have been infiltrated by Parasites. Or maybe the Fire Worship Cult got the intel and shared it with the Parasite leader.’

Guan Tong guessed. Regardless, he felt that after this incident, the Human Federation would definitely need to conduct a serious internal house-cleaning.

But right now, with so many Parasites killed by Psychic Power Bombs and poison gas canisters, it was unclear if enough remained for the question.

If this question’s cost was similar to the last one, the number of Parasites would still be sufficient. If it cost more, he would have to summon Living Dead to make up the difference.

The effect of the Corpse Whistle item was to consume 20 points of Psychic Power to summon three Living Dead.

Although the Living Dead were weak, they had provided Guan Tong with a great deal of help in his early days. Coupled with the fact that it had no cooldown, he had always kept the item.

Drawing upon his reserve Psychic Power, he could spend 10,000 points to create 1,500 Living Dead to feed the Alien Intelligence, at a rate of twenty points for every three summoned.

1,500 might not sound like a lot, but Guan Tong didn’t have *only* 10,000 reserve Psychic Power. Besides, his original thinking was that summoning some Living Dead with his reserve Psychic Power, combined with the few remaining Parasites on site, should have been enough.

But now...

Hmm?

Guan Tong noticed that with four or five truckloads of Parasites still left, the Alien Intelligence stopped devouring them, having completed its feeding process.

He didn’t approach rashly. Instead, he sent his Shadow before it to receive the answer.

He was, of course, very interested in what the answer to the question "What is the sixteenth Apocalypse Rule?" would be.

Moreover, just like the members of the Human Federation’s council, he wasn’t interested in the answer itself, but in what it symbolized: whether the entity could predict the future.

If the Alien Intelligence actually gave an answer, Guan Tong had no doubt that the Human Federation would go on a questioning frenzy during the remaining two or three days of the Rule Stage.

What is the seventeenth Apocalypse Rule, what is the eighteenth Apocalypse Rule, the nineteenth, the twentieth... As long as the food didn’t run out, it wasn’t impossible that they would ask all the way to the forty-ninth.

Even if that meant large numbers of humans would inevitably be used as food in addition to the Parasites... it would in no way stop those in power from making that decision.

As a member of the human race, Guan Tong was well aware of the insane things his species was capable of, especially after all he had been through.

"The sixteenth Apocalypse Rule."

A deep voice emanated from within the Alien Intelligence. Hearing it through the Shadow’s shared senses, Guan Tong’s pupils constricted.

’Can this thing really...’

"The sixteenth Apocalypse Rule."

It repeated itself again. Guan Tong froze for a moment, and then things started to go wrong.

"The sixteenth Apocalypse Rule. Error, detected... error, self-diagnostic initiated... error..."

’What’s going on?’

Guan Tong watched the puddle of alien black ooze begin to writhe and roll on the ground, like a broken machine stuck in a reboot loop.

’Can you not ask it questions related to the Apocalypse Rules? Does that cause it to malfunction? This thing... is it a machine? But the rules clearly state it’s an ’intelligence’... what the hell is...’

"Error, self-diagnostic failed... Force restoration in progress..."

The Alien Intelligence kept making bizarre sounds. Besides the parts Guan Tong could understand, there were also phrases in languages he couldn’t comprehend.

He sensed that the entity was showing signs of breaking down or mutating. ’But I haven’t even asked my own question yet!’

’To get this opportunity, I went through so much trouble, not to mention promising Yelena I’d stay in Sisiya and act as her bodyguard for a while. If I go through all this and don’t even get to ask my question, then this whole half-month has been a complete waste of time!’

Guan Tong’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t care what was happening to the Alien Intelligence; he was going to force his plan through.

"Shadow Realm."

An overwhelming expanse of shadows spread out, covering the area where he and the Alien Intelligence were, forming a dark space that blocked the prying eyes of satellites from the outside world.

Then, he took the book from his coat and asked directly, "Is my travel through time and space related to this Wordless Book?"

This was the question he most wanted to know the answer to right now. He didn’t ask if it was related to the Fire Thief because he had always felt that the power of the Wordless Book was exceptionally special, completely different from other Psychic Power items.

An item that could create things limitlessly as long as one had a high enough Psychic Power ceiling—one that could practically allow its user to "make dreams a reality"—was completely beyond comparison to any other item.

’If this item was intentionally prepared for me by the Fire Thief, then what was the reason? What’s so special about me?’

’If it wasn’t prepared by the Fire Thief, then could there be some deeper reason connected to my transmigration?’

From the very beginning, when the Apocalypse Rules first descended, he had resolved to uncover the truth behind everything, including his own transmigration. He had even founded the Origin-Tracing Expedition for this purpose, which was why he was unmoved by the wealth and status that so many others pursued.

Now, almost two years after he made that resolution, his investigation into the truth hadn’t yielded many results.

So at this very moment, even though the hope was slim, he still asked the question, hoping to get some answers from this individual from an advanced civilization that was suspected of possessing a starship capable of warp jumps.

He wasn’t worried about exposing anything by doing this. If the Fire Thief was truly watching all along, it was impossible they didn’t know about the power of the Wordless Book. After all, he had already used its power to "cheat" multiple times.

’So... will there be an answer?’

Guan Tong watched the constantly rolling Alien Intelligence with anticipation. The being, which looked like a slab of viscous black ooze, suddenly froze its roiling body after hearing his question.

’What’s happening?’

According to the normal process, after a question was posed, the Alien Intelligence would first devour its food and then give an answer.

But this time, after Guan Tong asked his question, it didn’t follow that logic. Instead, it seemed to get stuck, freezing in place.

Guan Tong frowned slightly. The puddle of alien black ooze suddenly started rolling toward him!

!

Guan Tong was startled and retreated quickly.

’Isn’t this thing not supposed to attack the questioner? And there are so many Parasites between us... Is it because of the question I asked?’

The Alien Intelligence’s strange transformation took Guan Tong completely by surprise. He ran continuously to put distance between them, simultaneously manipulating his Shadow to grab Parasites and hurl them at it. But it completely ignored them, single-mindedly chasing him!

The creature’s speed wasn’t exactly breakneck, but its stamina seemed limitless. Guan Tong tried using Body Shifting to swap places with a Shadow in the far distance in the opposite direction, only to find that the entity immediately turned and came after him again.

’If this thing is going to be relentless...’

Guan Tong took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He watched the alien black ooze surge toward him, raising his palm to try and form a Small Space for a desperate, last-ditch fight.

But on second thought, a talisman appeared in his palm instead.

It was the Silver Clone Talisman he had gotten from a box earlier, capable of creating a clone with one-fifth of his own Psychic Power.

’No idea if this will work, but I have to try.’

Guan Tong used the item, and a clone of himself instantly appeared.

The original and the clone ran in two different directions. The next moment, Guan Tong realized it was no use. The entity seemed to have some way of telling them apart; it was still chasing him, the original!

’Why?’

’The clone and the original are identical in some ways, just with different amounts of Psychic Power. How did it tell the difference?’

’And this thing...’

’Wait, is it really chasing *me*?’

Guan Tong thought about the question he had asked and the creature’s unhesitating pursuit of his original body.

He glanced down at the Wordless Book resting inside his breast pocket.

’Could it be that the Alien Intelligence isn’t chasing me, but this book?’

’The clone created by the Silver Clone Talisman doesn’t have the Wordless Book on it. A quick test will tell me for sure!’

Guan Tong took out the book and summoned a Shadow to carry it while running in another direction. Sure enough, the black ooze immediately gave up its pursuit of Guan Tong and chased after the Shadow instead.

Seeing this, Guan Tong immediately called the Shadow back. After retrieving the Wordless Book, he stored it directly in his Terminal Panel’s storage box.

The storage box was a non-physical space that existed only within the panel. ’Let’s see how that alien black ooze plans to chase it now.’

The instant the Wordless Book vanished from his hand, the Alien Intelligence stopped in its tracks and, with a SPLAT, went limp...

Guan Tong stopped running. He stared at the thing lying limp on the ground, his brow deeply furrowed as he fell into deep thought.