CH 36

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"Are these two fellows trying to kill us? I knew they weren't reliable. How can they fall asleep at a time like this?" Zhang Bao'er complained anxiously when he saw the two Brightlings fall unconscious.

"Stop. The ship is moving," I stopped the torrent of abuse coming out of his mouth.

We could see the eyeballs of Titan and Amethyst moving rapidly behind their eyelids. Gradually, their bodies started shaking as well.

Suddenly, a shield appeared around the ship, protecting the ship from the stream of lava falling from the ceiling.

"Success, the ship is starting!" Dodo said.

Under Titan and Amethyst's thought control, streams of air spurted out from under the ship. The four legs of the ship withdrew, allowing the ship to hover in the air.

"Everyone, find a seat and buckle up. The ship is moving soon," said Zhang Xingxing.

Everyone went looking for a seat. I found a big seat for myself and sat on it with Dondon. I did not forget to put the seatbelt on. After everyone was seated, the ship started moving shakily. The duo's raw piloting skills caused the ship to crash into the collapsing walls every now and then. Even with the shield's protection, we could feel the massive impact.

"I wonder how long the ship's energy supply can last. We must focus on leaving this place," Dodo said to Old Du.

Another heavy punch slammed into the wall, causing the entire cavern to collapse. At that moment, Old Du suddenly shouted at the unconscious Titan and Amethyst in Gliesen. The two seemed to have heard him; with a jolt, the ship shot through an opening between the lava and the rocks right before the cavern caved in completely.

"Finally, we're out. That place nearly became my eternal grave," shouted Zhang Bao'er in excitement.

A red silhouette appeared before us as a massive palm slapped at our ship. The massive force behind the slap sent the ship flying into the lava lake.

'Did we just escape a tiger's den just to enter a bear's lair?' I wondered.

Half the ship was submerged in the 6,000-degree-hot lava lake, causing the little bit of energy the ship had to drain rapidly.

"Reporting, the ship does not have sufficient energy. The shield will last 5 more minutes while the flight capability will only last 300 kilometers," reported Dodo.

On the pilot seats, Titan and Amethyst trembled violently as the ship slowly struggled out of the lava lake. A massive microwave-like sound rang out as the two-headed monster lifted two arms as big as mountains and brought them down upon the ship.

"Shit! Danger!" I shouted.

The Brightlings' thought-navigation system was truly impressive. After breaking free from the lava, the ship regained its deftness and barely avoided an incoming slap by gliding sideways before shooting through between the monster's legs and soaring into the sky.

Two energy beams followed behind the ship. They slammed into the ship, causing the ship to spin in the air. The ship's energy supply drained rapidly as its shield worked overtime, reaching the critical point. Immediately, the ship regained stability and soared farther, reaching the clouds. Right that moment, the ship's energy level broke the critical point, and the ship's shield deactivated. Fortunately, the flight system was still active.

"I wonder if 300 kilometers would be enough to outrun the monster," said Zhang Bao'er.

I could feel the ship moving about nimbly, constantly changing directions in an attempt to shake off the monster. The monster was clearly furious at our escape as it unleashed over a dozen energy beams toward the sky. The beams shot through the cloud below us and weaved around the ship. The two heads were obviously working together to weave some sort of energy net in the sky to trap us.

With the thought-navigation system, Titan and Amethyst controlled the spaceship as it weaved about in the air. Their control reached such perfection that the so-called veteran pilots like us felt embarrassed.

The attacks of the monster grew more and more concentrated as the gaps in the energy net became smaller and smaller. We felt like we were slowly being trapped to death within the net.

"Does the monster have unlimited energy? Why is it shooting non-stop?" Zhang Bao'er grumbled.

"That's right. It's making use of its environment, replenishing itself with the energy in the lava lake. Unless the lake is extinguished, it will have endless energy," said Old Du.

"We can't just sit here and wait for death. We need to think of something. The ship won't last long," said Zhang Xingxing.

"Dodo, can you see Blueflash and the others?" Old Du asked.

"The clouds are too thick. I can't detect them. I did try scanning, but I can't find them," said Dodo.

Suddenly, one of the beams struck the ship. The beams were growing so concentrated one of them finally hit.

'It's over. Without the shield, the ship will explode soon,' I thought inwardly.

The ship was sent spiraling away, but surprisingly, the ship did not explode.

"They shifted 80 percent of the remaining energy to the shield at the last moment, protecting everyone's lives," said Dodo.

By a stroke of luck, the attack sent the ship outside the energy net. Titan and Amethyst took the chance to shoot up and to the left, hiding the ship amid a thick layer of clouds. The ship streaked over 20 kilometers in one go. Meanwhile, the net of energy closed in behind us. If we were even a second slower, we would have all died. 

We all broke out in a cold sweat from the close brush with death. This was the most dangerous moment we had encountered so far. At this time, the monster's microwave-like roar rang out again. It seemed to be seeking us through soundwaves, replicating the functions of a radar. I felt the ship slow down abruptly. Then, the ship turned almost still.

"The ship can still fly for 40 kilometers. After 15 minutes, we will run out of energy. I scanned the terrain and found no suitable landing site," announced Dodo.

Everyone had a look of defeat on their faces, especially Zhang Bao'er, who looked incredibly dispirited with his head hung low. He despaired so much that he wasn't even complaining anymore. He merely sat there in a daze.

'No, there must be a way. We can't fail just like this. I need to calm down and think,' I told myself.

"Can the ship float on water?" Zhang Xingxing asked.

"Yes, but then we might be attacked by the whirlpool," said Dodo.

"Can the ship utilize the crystal balls?" I asked. "Since the ship had been powered by the lava lake's energy in the past, it should work, right?"

"No. I checked. The energy in the crystal balls can only be extracted by a special device. The device's blue tube is only connected to Plum's container. It can't be connected to the ship's flight system," Dodo replied calmly.

"Can we extract it forcefully?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"If we do, we will lose control over the energy. It might explode instead," said Dodo.

"Can Plum be revived instantly?" Zhang Xingxing asked.

"No. According to my calculations, to gradually reheat something at negative 500 degrees, we need at least 5 hours. Otherwise, Plum's cells might break apart, causing his death."

"Damned robot, nothing works with you. Can't you give us something that will work, then?" said Zhang Bao'er.

"I can only tell the truth. I do not have the white lie protocol programmed into me," Dodo replied.

Nobody had any idea what to do. At this point, the ship only had ten minutes left.

"I have an idea. We are desperate enough that we can give it a try," said Old Du calmly.

Everyone looked at him in astonishment. As for Zhang Bao'er, he had an impatient look, seemingly angry that Old Du wasn't speaking fast enough.

Old Du looked at me and Zhang Bao'er before pointing at his neck. He said, "Lucky charm."

It was as though I had received enlightenment from the heavens. How could I have forgotten the treasure hanging on my neck? Before our mission on Jupiter II, Old Du had given each of us a survival tool. I had jokingly called it a lucky charm. It was a tool that could provide our suits with 12 hours' worth of energy. I had actually forgotten something like that.

"Use mine first," I said as I moved to give Dodo mine.

"No, use mine. Keep yours for now," said Old Du.

Just as I was about to argue, with a crack, Zhang Bao'er inserted his tool into the ship's socket. The energy instantly gave the ship the ability to fly 3,000 more kilometers. Everyone cheered in joy. Hiding behind the cover of the thick clouds, we flew more than 200 kilometers away from the island, leaving the two-headed monster far behind us.

"Finally, we're safe. What a dangerous mission," said Zhang Bao'er, who still looked shaken from the harrowing experience.

"Dodo, look for a new landing site," commanded Zhang Xingxing impatiently.

"There's no need. The Brightlings understand Sirius B much better than we do. They will bring us to a suitable site," said Dodo.

I looked at Titan and Amethyst. The two were still shaking all over. I rejoiced at the fact that they had joined us on this mission. Otherwise, it was unlikely that we would have escaped. 

Everyone relaxed after we escaped from the danger zone. For this mission, one could say that we had sacrificed every little bit of energy we had left. We had barely slumped into our seats to enjoy the feeling of surviving death when a massive silhouette charged at us from the clouds.