Chapter 678: The Pope in the Passageway

The compact-sized Petrachelys was approaching the black battleship as it floated silently in space. It did not look as menacing as before. Now, it was more like a dying behemoth, lingering quietly in the cold darkness with occasional bursts of sparks and electric arcs on its surface. The sail-like crystal plates in its middle section had completely been stripped away as a huge breach almost tore the spacecraft apart. Surrounding the area of the breach were red-hot metals that had yet to completely cool down. Inside the hole, there were some blast doors and safety mechanisms, which were half-closed. The safety installations had tried to seal off the compartments to prevent air leakage, but the breach was just too big. Gases and debris were being sucked out from the hole like blood splattering out from one’s veins.

However, Hao Ren was not worried whether the brain monster would die from the air leakage. He had studied the monster’s physique and he knew that it could survive for a long period in a vacuum environment. The airtight environment of the black spacecraft may have served to increase its level of comfort, or it could simply be a habit of the brain monster a.k.a the giant to create such a design.

“The enemy’s energy network is in disarray. Initially observation suggests that its artillery has lost its counterattack capability. Self-destruction is ruled out.” The MDT carefully checked the data. After all, the black battleship was a pretty advanced piece of machine; if it chose to blow itself up together with its enemy, practically, the Petrachelys could do nothing about it given their close proximity right now. “I have found a way in through the breach. Below the breach is a large bay, the central bay of the spacecraft.”

“Wang, Vivian, Lily, and Uncle Wudi, follow me inside.” Hao Ren quickly chose his teammates. He did not select them at whim. Y’zaks and Vivian were fighters, good in attack and defence. Though shaky at times, Lily was a formidable fighter too when the situation called for it and would not hesitate in protecting her master—provided that she did not mess up in the first place. Nangong Wudi, the half-baked demon hunter, might not be a good fighter, but he was an experienced hunter with superb hunting skill and intuition, these qualities were especially useful in an unknown environment.

The other guys understood the importance of having the right persons for the job. No one objected to this arrangement. Rollie came up and jumped in Hao Ren’s arm. “Please come back quickly and take me home…”

She had been frightened the hell out of her lately.

Hao Ren nodded. He and his small team left the flight deck. After a short while, they had arrived on the surface of the black battleship by way of warp eject.

The breach caused by the psionic cannon fire lay horizontally in front of their eyes. It appeared small when looking from afar. When they finally came close to it, Lily found it so large so that she could throw a house straight into it. The black metal sheets surrounding the breach curled outward toward the space as air carrying metal shrapnel was still leaking from within. Lily balanced herself in the airstream as she poked her head down and looked. “There is light down there.”

“Power is still available in some parts of the spaceship,” Hao Ren checked his shield’s capacity, making sure it was at a healthy level before he plunged into the breach with a spear in his hand. “Everyone, keep up with me. But be careful not to touch anything.”

They cautiously manoeuvred around the fractured metals through the breach, and avoided the severed cables and support frames. A half-closed door appeared before them. The door mechanism had suffered damage but not completely. Something stuck somewhere as the door was still making attempt to shut itself close. Y’zaks went up and held the door in place to prevent it from shutting close suddenly as the others quickly squeezed through it.

They came into a super-wide, huge, long, and slanted passageway. It was already twisted in shape; metal plates in some places had even fallen off; miraculously, lights in the passageway were still functioning, allowing them to see clearly.

“There is a slight gravity,” Hao Ren was finding himself falling, and eventually he landed on the floor. His standing position was not a comfortable one because the gravitational field in the passageway was inclined, at least thirty degree to the floor. “The gravity generator has not completely shut down … Seeing the world in this perspective is making me dizzy. Be careful of the gravity under the feet. The system is damaged, the force and direction of gravity may change abruptly. So just watch out.”

Lily was not worried about this at all. She had never been able to react quickly enough to thing.

“Did we puncture this?” said Vivian, as she walked past a hole on the wall of the passageway and saw the situation on the other side. Old and messy cables and wires entangled with equipment. The tattered condition suggested that this place had been abandoned for a long time. “It doesn’t look like a cannon fire damage.”

After a brief examination, Hao Ren said, “Hmmm… the damage is not caused by the artillery; there is no entry hole on the opposite side. It should be already like that in the first place. Looks like the repair was not completed on the spaceship. The brain-monster might have lifted off the spaceship ahead of schedule when it realised it had lost control of the situation.”

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Vivian scratched her chin and said, “No wonder the Petrachelys could take it down so easily. You know, this battleship was powerful enough to wipe all lives in Io.”

Hao Ren pursed his lips. “Whatever, as long as we incapacitated it.”

“The brain-monster should have sensed our presence—if it is still alive,” Y’zaks reminded. “Don’t remove the protective crystal.”

They checked the status of their protective crystals before proceeding cautiously. The size of this spacecraft was surprisingly massive. If they wandered aimlessly, they would not be able to find the brain monster in time. However, with the help of the Petrachelys to provide navigation feed, the exploration team was able to know where they should be going. Now that the system of the spacecraft was down and that brain-monster might have been badly injured too, nothing would stop them from catching the brain monster.

After a while of walking, Nangong Wudi stopped suddenly. His eyes shimmered. In the special vision of the demon hunter, he saw a faint shadow floating ahead in the passageway. The imaginary shadow looked like a man in a robe.

“What happened?” asked Hao Ren as he had noticed the reaction of Nangong Wudi.

“There is a soul out there, but it’s weak, only demon hunter can see it,” said Nangong Wudi, reaching his hand into his pocket and took out a few rune cards. “Take them. The rune can enhance your vision and see the soul.”

Y’zaks did not take it. “I don’t need it. I can see souls. It’s my area of ​​expertise.”

Hao Ren took the rune card and now he could see a figure standing in the passageway. He looked at the translucent shadow in horror before he finally recognised the plain robe and hair of the figure. “Pope? You’re still here?”

This soul in the black battleship was none other than the Pope, who had prevented a global EMP catastrophe and died a martyr a while ago!

However, the pope who was now a soul looked different from when he was alive. He now looked even older and seriously stooped. The effect of aging was obvious despite being a soul now. When the pope saw Hao Ren and his entourage, he sluggishly froze for a while as if his ethereal body form had affected his thinking somewhat, but at last he recalled who these people were. Hao Ren heard an old voice spoke into his mind, “You are able to come this far… I’ve underestimated you alien people.”

“How did you get here, Pope?” asked Lily simple-mindedly. “Aren’t you dead?”

“Dead? Oh, oh, in fact I’m,” the Pope nodded slowly. “I can hear the goddess is calling me… Looks like I don’t have much time here. This is an incredible place, vast and wonderful… so many truths and secrets in the world. It’s a pity that I don’t have time to study these things… But I think the Goddess will enlighten me…”

The Pope slowly fading away. Hao Ren quickly seized the last moment by asking, “We are here to catch that monster. Do you know what’s going on here?”

“It is in front, right behind that door,” the pope lifted his fingers, which had become almost transparent, pointing to the end of the passageway. “But don’t call him a monster. We mortals owe it to him. We owe it to the goddess. I think I don’t deserve to beg for his forgiveness, but you … you aliens may be able to talk with him.”

“Owe it to him?” Hao Ren froze. But just when he was to ask more questions, the pope had completely gone, leaving only his last words echoing in the mind. “The goddess is calling me… goodbye foreigners…”