Interstellar Survival: Invasion

As the laughter came nearer and nearer, a massive white silhouette finally appeared from the mist. Unsurprisingly, it was the fiend of Pluto. I believed that the fiend had been aware of our movements long ago. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to find us so easily. After coming out of the mist, the fiend suddenly stopped. It stood still, seemingly waiting for something.

None of us dared to make any noise, afraid that we would accidentally provoke this monster. With my laser probe, I could see that the self-devour cycle in the fiend's body was now moving at a faster pace than before. It seemed to have really found something on this planet that had healed its injuries and increased its strength. For some reason, the fiend remained still. Even after 10 minutes, nothing changed. We were unaware of what it was thinking.

"Canyue, Markus is reaching your location soon. The fiend is not moving. I'm trying to establish a mental connection with it," said Temo. He had been observing everything from his ship.

The great sovereign suddenly stepped out and asked, "Little Ant, why are you standing there? Is your mind still under your control?" 

"I didn't expect you to be able to follow me here. It is truly surprising that even low-civilization people like you can have the willpower to come this far," the fiend's voice came through the communicator.

"We only came because we wanted to help you. Did you come here to heal your injuries?" asked the great sovereign.

"I lost a limb helping you. Fortunately, I found this planet. With its geothermal energy, I was able to regrow my body. I then entered the cold part of the planet to increase the speed of my recovery. Afterward, I felt stronger than before," said the fiend in excitement.

"That's great to hear! Since you've grown stronger, we can return and face the empire together," said the great sovereign, who was growing excited as well.

"I'm already this strong. Why do I still need to work with weaklings like you? I'm strong enough to defeat the super virus. Just watch. I'll go back and teach that fellow a good lesson," said the fiend, unable to forget its nemesis.

"Forget about that monster. If you help us, I'll teach you my mind control technique," offered the great sovereign.

"Are you serious?" the fiend was moved.

"We, the people of Planet Wisdom, never lie," said the great sovereign.

"Deal. I'll help you defeat those fellows. Be sure to teach me your mind control technique," said the fiend, agreeing to work with us once again.

I was relieved to hear that someone this powerful had agreed to become our ally. With the fiend, breaking through the empire's defensive perimeter was no longer just a dream. At that time, Markus appeared above us. Due to the low temperature, a layer of frost could be seen on the ship's surface. The ship descended onto the ground, and all of us walked out of our hiding spots. Meanwhile, the fiend stood in front of the ship, looking at us with its vicious eyes.

"Get into the ship. We don't have much time left. We still need to perform several leaps to go back," said Temo as the door slid open, revealing Temo behind it.

Domo started running toward the ship, but when he passed by the fiend, his legs turned weak. The fiend simply looked way too ferocious. The others did not perform much better than Domo. It was under such pressure and fear that the team returned to Markus.

"We're finally back. What a terrible experience," complained Domo after lying down on the floor.

"Like I said, you'll only be a burden. Apart from complaining, what have you done during the journey?" said Zhang Bao'er.

Zhang Bao'er was right, so Domo did not talk back.

Zhang Xingxing wasted no time in asking Temo about the ship. Upon learning that the ship had fully recharged, we cheered in joy.

"The distance of 10 million lightyears is too far. Markus won't be able to produce a wormhole that can cover that length. We can only perform our leaps in intervals of 1 million lightyears. We will need to perform 10 leaps in total," said Temo.

"Is there any difference between 10 leaps and a single leap?" asked Old Du.

"After each leap, the ship will need to recharge and prepare for the production of a new wormhole. We're seven days away from the attack, and we will take six days to complete all our leaps," said Temo.

"In that case, we'll only have one day to reach the superweapon. That's too little time," said Zhang Bao'er.

"That's the fastest method I can think of. If you have a better idea, I don't mind following it," said Temo.

"What are we waiting for? Let's start. We'll save as much time as we can," urged Baron Sisse.

"Wait. There is still an important issue to solve," Dondon suddenly said.

"Little cat, just say what's on your mind. Don't beat around the bush," said Zhang Bao'er impatiently.

"That big fellow outside wants to go with us, right? But how are we supposed to take it with its size?" asked Dondon, asking a crucial question.

That one question stunned all of us. We had been too focused on returning and had neglected the issue of the fiend's size.

"What should we do? Maybe we can get the fellow to hug the ship as it moves," Zhang Bao'er gave a rotten idea.

"Why don't you come out here and try doing that yourself?" scolded the fiend's projection in the ship.

Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original.

"That won't work. The ship is going to travel through a wormhole. The powerful spacetime tunnel is something a body of flesh can't withstand," said Zhang Xingxing.

"What should we do, then? That fellow is so big. It simply can't enter the ship," said Kelly anxiously.

"That's not an issue at all. I can enter the ship anytime I want," said the fiend, shocking all of us with its declaration.

Next, we watched in astonishment as the fiend's body started shrinking. Before long, it was only as big as Dondon. All of us were completely dumbstruck.

"I did not expect this Little Ant to be able to change its size at will," gasped the great sovereign in admiration.

'This fellow can change its size so easily. If it decides to grow large in the ship, it will be very troublesome,' I thought.

The miniature fiend walked through the airlock and entered the ship. The once ferocious giant looked rather comical after shrinking to Dondon's size. I tried my best to not laugh, but Zhang Bao'er lost control and burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, this fellow looks way too funny! It looks just like a pet!" said Zhang Bao'er. He was laughing so much his tears were coming out.

Abruptly, a crisp sound rang out as Zhang Bao'er received a heavy slap on his face. The entire slap had happened so incredibly fast that none of us saw where the slap had come from.

I believed all of us knew that the slap came from the fiend, but it was really too fast. After the slap, we only saw the miniature fiend standing and staring at its projection indifferently, as though nothing had happened.

"Which bastard slapped your grandpa? Do you have the guts to step out?" scolded Zhang Bao'er furiously.

"Enough, Bao'er. You don't want to suffer more," Old Du hurriedly advised.

Meanwhile, I found the entire incident amusing. The rest seemed to share the same opinion. Next, Temo told us to each take a seat as he started preparing for the leap. It had been a while since I had experienced interstellar travel. This six-day journey might allow us to witness more celestial bodies and beautiful sights. At the thought of that, a sense of excitement arose within my heart.

There was no doubt that Markus was an excellent ship. We didn't even feel any movement when the ship brought us to a location a million lightyears away. A beautiful river of stars entered our gaze. This river of stars was different from the Milky Way we could see from Blue. 

Unlike the Milky Way that looked still, the river of stars we were looking at was actually in the form of a spiral, looking like the various stars were quickly rotating. In the middle of the spiraling river of stars was not a black hole we were all familiar with. Rather, several incredibly bright stars could be seen in its place.

The biggest star in the river of stars was also the river's core. This was the very first time we had witnessed a sight like this. Amid the river of stars, nine stars stood out among the rest. Zhang Xingxing gave them a rather beautiful name: the Nine Celestial Fairy System.