Chapter 36: The Giant of the Lava Plain

A kilometer ahead of us, the forest ended. A plain of purple rocks appeared before us. The rocks scattered around the landscape irregularly, forming numerous hills, and on top of those mounds were countless lava lakes.

The lava lakes seemed extremely unstable as they constantly spurted plumes of lava around them. Due to the heat, nothing grew on the mounds. And even further ahead was a massive black mountain. That was the first thing I had seen on Sirius B that wasn't blue or purple. The mountain was majestic, steep, and towering.

"That was where the signal came from," said Old Du.

We scanned the mountain with our laser probes, and the image we received in return was a massive artificial object in the middle of the mountain. The object was oval in shape, and it was obvious this object wasn't something naturally occurring.

"The signal came from that object! The secret is right before our eyes! We did not come for nothing," said Zhang Xingxing in excitement.

At the thought that our questions were going to be answered soon, our blood boiled with excitement. To reach the black mountain, we needed to cross the lava plain. The black mountain was about 100 kilometers ahead of us. I planned to fly over with the energy in my suit. That was the most optimal method of reaching the mountain. We checked our energy level and noted that we still had 30 hours' worth of energy, enough for us to make this trip by flight.

"High technology is truly the constant source of comfort," I remarked.

All three of us agreed with flying, so we activated our flying systems, preparing for the journey across the lava plain. The thrusters on our backs erupted, lifting us into the sky toward the black mountain. But just as we approached the edge of the plain, our alarm blazed. Based on the data, the pressure in the air above the field had spiked, and it would rise higher the higher we went. We were only a meter above the ground, and the pressure had already reached 2 million atmospheres.

"My god," I exclaimed. "Everything was fine just a moment ago. Where did this pressure come from?"

"Did our appearance ruin the balance here?" asked Zhang Xingxing.

"That's possible. The environment here has probably remained stagnant for tens of thousands of years. Our arrival might have triggered something that resulted in this change of pressure," said Old Du.

With such heavy pressure, flying would be too much of a waste of our energy. After a brief discussion, we decided to give up on flight and walk instead. And thus, we traversed the rugged landscape through the lava plain. I included Dondon in my energy shield to protect it from the heat.

Our laser probes indicated that the temperature of the lava was near the limit of our suits at about 1,000 degrees. Thus, we carefully avoided the splashing lava all around the lakes. We advanced slowly, and even after 2 hours, we had merely advanced by 30 kilometers. Suddenly, Dondon shouted in agitation. My system indicated that it was in fear. Something seemed to have spooked it.

"Dondon? What's wrong? Did you sense something?" I asked.

Right that moment, a sharp roar rang out behind us. A scarlet giant emerged from the lava lake behind us. The creature's entire body was red, as though it was a flame demon. It had a sharp horn on its head, and its four massive arms looked like they were made of lava. It was standing on two massive and powerful-looking legs.

'My god. We’re encountering a freak like this so soon after arriving. This world is probably a dangerous one,' I thought to myself.

"Careful, everyone. Maintain combat formation," commanded Zhang Xingxing.

We seemed to have disturbed the flame demon from its rest, and the flame demon seemed angry as it roared loudly at us. With a wave of its massive limbs, about 30 dog-like lava creatures appeared beneath the giant. These lava hounds were massive, with six limbs and massive jaws drooling with lava. With one command from the giant, the hounds charged at us while roaring madly.

"Shit! What's happening? Is this thing giving birth in real time?" I cursed.

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Alas, it was already too late to run.

"Get into combat formation immediately," Zhang Xingxing commanded. "Triangle formation, maximize our offensive system output, and blast to your heart's content!"

Standing in a triangle formation, we turned our defensive shield to the maximum capacity, took out our cluster bombs, laser guns, and tracking bullets, and started firing at the massive hounds. I bombarded the monsters with my cluster bombs, injuring them with massive explosions. Some of the giant hounds had their limbs blasted apart, and my tracking bullets dug into their bodies, leaving lava spraying everywhere, creating a bright scene of splashing lava.

These creatures seemed intimidated by our firepower as they started hesitating and slowed their intense assault. When the flame demon saw, it became even more furious. It brandished its massive claws, roared, and stomped toward us.

"That freak is coming personally. Xingxing, Old Du, be careful," I yelled to them.

"You two! Focus on the big fellow. I'll deal with the smaller guys," said Zhang Xingxing.

Old Du and I focused our firepower on the flame demon, but our bullets and cluster bombs seemed harmless against the monster's massive body. Additionally, the flame demon's inner body temperature was high enough that most of the bullets melted by its body heat alone. As for the cluster bombs, the flame demon blocked most of them with its arms.

"This won't work. Canyue, our energy is draining at an alarming rate. We need to think of something," said Old Du.

"There's no other choice. We need to use nuclear warheads," I replied.

Using a nuclear warhead so soon after arriving might immensely damage this world. Thus, Zhang Xingxing hesitated to approve my suggestion.

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"Using nuclear warheads might result in the destruction of this entire world. Is that our only option?" asked Zhang Xingxing.

Meanwhile, the flame demon was still striding toward us. If we faced its attack head on, our suits might fail to withstand its high-temperature attacks. At this point, it was too late to run, and our chances at defending seemed wanting. When the flame demon was five steps away from us, we sank into despair. We were truly left with no other options.

"Xingxing, issue the order," I yelled.

Just as Zhang Xingxing was about to issue the order to use our nuclear warheads, a spaceship appeared on the horizon.

"Canyue, Canyue, I'm here to save you!" Zhang Bao'er's voice rang out.

"Old Zhang, you must be the messiah!" I yelled.

Zhang Bao'er's arrival was timely.

Over a hundred cluster bombs were launched at the flame demon from Mimas I, creating massive explosions and intense shockwaves. The hounds were unable to withstand the shockwaves and fled back to the lava lake.

The flame demon, on the other hand, was remarkably impressive. It stood tall despite the intense attacks, but due to the high-intensity barrage, it was forced to stop advancing and to instead focus on defending against the cluster bombs.

Zhang Bao'er used that opening and launched numerous smoke bombs toward the ground, covering all three of us in thick smoke. Then, Dodo piloted Mimas I toward us, grabbed us with the ship's mechanical arm, and flew away.

'We're saved,' I thought to myself.

The flame demon raged when it saw that we had escaped. It faced us and roared furiously. I felt a massive shockwave blast out of the monster's mouth. The powerful shockwave blasted through the ship's defensive system, which had yet to fully recover. As a result, the ship was violently thrown aside.

Flying in accordance with the flow of the shockwave, Mimas I drifted tens of kilometers before slamming heavily into the peak of the black mountain. A large portion of the peak crumbled from the crash. Inside the ship, all of us fainted from the impact.

"Canyue, Canyue, wake up!"

After an indeterminate amount of time, I heard someone calling my name urgently. When I opened my eyes, I saw Dodo's square head. I rubbed my head, still feeling light-headed from the crash.

I scanned the cabin and noted that Zhang Xingxing, Old Du, and Zhang Bao'er were still unconscious. Even Dondon was unconscious, with its head drooping low and its blue tongue trailing out of its mouth.

"That blast was too powerful. Just how did that beast obtain such strength?" I asked.

"That was a fatal attack," said Dodo. "The shockwave had the might of 4 million atmospheres, reaching the limit of the ship's defenses."

"A pressure of 4 million atmospheres? That's 3 times higher than the pressure inside Jupiter II's five-dimensional core!" I exclaimed.

How could a life form possess such strength? That was inconceivable.

"The flame demon also exhausted itself too much when it released that attack, and it collapsed into the lava lake right afterward," Dodo said. "We never did manage to fully repair the ship. Fortunately, the black mountain acted as some sort of buffer and absorbed some of the impact from the shockwave. Otherwise, our ship would have been shaken into pieces."

"What a close call," I said. "How did you get here in time?"

"Zhang Bao'er got worried after not hearing from you for too long. Thus, we left before completing the repair since he insisted on coming to look for you guys," said Dodo.

'Truly a brother who had grown up with me! Perhaps this is the connection of brotherhood, allowing him to sense when his brother is in danger,' I thought as I looked at Zhang Bao'er with gratitude.

What I saw was a drooling, unconscious Zhang Bao'er.

"Old Zhang is the perfect example of someone whose form of intelligence might appear stupid for some when the contrary is the truth," I mused as I laughed at his appearance.

Just as I was feeling relieved from having escaped danger, a massive shadow appeared outside the window. A massive hand stabbed into the mountain and pulled out the ship stuck inside the mountain. Clanking sounds rang out repeatedly, and the ship was on the verge of breaking apart.

"It's over. That freak is too strong. It's incredibly relentless as well!" I despaired.

In that moment of despair, an intense blue flash covered the world.

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