Age of Cosmic Exploration - Chapter 174

Chapter 174: Soul Singer

First, the front of the propeller was equipped with a super growth field generator that reacted with the mother nest at the cellular level. It hardened the cell wall so to speak so that the propeller would not simply shoot through the nest. The propeller, although big in size, was as small as a needle when compared to the overall size of the mother nest. It would pierce through the nest if not for this technology.

The whole process was slated to last for 2 hours and 40 minutes. According to the central mainframe, the first 2 hours would be the most important. After the 2 hours, the acceleration would have reached an irreversible acceleration.

"…This is 001 combat jet, I am Yao Yuan. Please give me a combat report."

"003 combat jet suffers no damage, energy level at 26 percent…"

After the last trooper gave his report, Yao Yuan calculated there were still 90 troopers still alive. In other words, about 20 Homo Evolutis had died.
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"This is the Hope’s central command. Nice to hear from you, Captain. Connecting you to the acting captain now…"

Bo Li read the crowded data that appeared on screen and replied, "The mother nest’s inner layer is undergoing drastic changes. The scanners show that its cellular structure is rapidly changing, not unlike how the gene vibrator operates. According to our heat scanner, one third of the mother nest has been consumed by the alien plant but the mother nest is stabilizing and fighting back…"

Bo Li glanced at the computer simulation and answered, "1 hour and 20 minutes until the alien plant starts to get consumed in return, then there will be about 15 minutes of downtime for evolution to occur."

Suddenly, a voice entered his communicator. It was Xiao Niao’s. "Yao Yuan, the voice just now came from Nian Xi Kong, right?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I mean. If the alien plant couldn’t hold the mother nest that long, we can ask Xi Kong for help. If she can keep the mother nest occupied for

about 20 minutes, the plan will work!" Xiao Niao’s voice answered.

Following Yao Yuan’s orders, the diffident Xi Kong was brought to command central. She fidgeted nervously under the crowd’s gaze as Yao Yuan explained to her the mission.

"Yes, Xi Kong, I need you! I need you to use your voice to disturb the mother nest’s cellular actions, so sing at the top of your lungs and fill the empty cosmos with your voice!"

Bo Li, who was sitting in the captain’s seat beside Xi Kong, kept her face straight, but a closer inspection would reveal her subtly twitching eyebrows.

"She really does have an impressive voice. I get relaxed every time I hear it."

Following Xi Kong’s singing, the cells inside the mother nest started to show a "rogue" condition. They started to slow down until they reached inactivity. This gave the alien plant the break it needed to spread out across the mother nest. Slowly but surely, more and more of the mother nest was consumed by the alien plant!

"…Please don’t revive again. We’ve used everything we got, just become plant food already!" Yao Yuan mumbled to himself while looking at the gyrating mother nest before him.

The room was as still as the inside of a coffin as Xi Kong finished another song. The initial excitement was replaced by a heavy solemnity. Many civilians crowded the corridor outside of central command after they heard what was happening. Many hugged each other closely and stared at the singing girl in silence. Some of the younger girls in the crowd even started to cry.

Yao Yuan strode to Xi Kong’s side and took the trembling girl in his arms, adding, "You’ve done more than enough, please leave the rest to us."

"Of course, you’ve done more than what I could have possibly asked for, so please, rest now," Yao Yuan replied kindly. Then he felt pressure on his arms because Xi Kong had collapsed.

"We shall leave to fate."

In his hurry, he failed to notice the disappointment that flitted across Bo Li’s eyes and hatred that flitted across Ji Jie’s.
Xi Kong, in her unconsciousness, returned to the empty space she occupied whenever she sang. She was surrounded by light orbs and dots. She instantly spotted the biggest orb that represented Yao Yuan, but to her consternation, she found a dark orb behind it. It was bigger than the size of the normal orbs, and instead of emanating light, it seemed to be sucking the light from its surroundings. It was cold, as cold as the touch of death…