CH 232

'What will come, will come. Beasts, we have been looking for you for quite a while,' I thought inwardly as I gripped my laser gun tighter in preparation for combat.

"I wonder what manner of ugly bastards are they to make such terrible noises," muttered Zhang Bao'er beside me.

"Up until now, I have yet to see a good-looking beast. This is probably another one of those disgusting beasts," said Old Du.

Following the first howl, a second howl came from a different direction. Then, a third howl, and a fourth howl… A tsunami of howls came from the darkness surrounding us. At that moment, calm returned to me. A single beast could bring fear, but a group would bring war. And war was what we were not afraid of.

"We still can't contact the command center," said Dodo as they continued trying to establish contact with Zhang Xingxing's Skyhawk.

"There will be combat soon. Dodo, stay behind me later. I'll protect you," I reminded Dodo, who was not equipped with any offensive capabilities.

At that moment, the howls around us had turned into complete chaos. From the howls, it seemed as if countless beasts were running around in the darkness, looking at us standing in the light.

The fleet remained above us, but from the lack of contact with them, we clearly could no longer rely on them to give us cover fire. We would have to rely on ourselves. Before any of us could fully rearrange our thoughts, the situation changed yet again. The howls started to approach us, but there was still some distance before they reached us.

"Canyue, I feel as if we are actually within a room and that these beasts are being kept away from us by the room's walls," said Old Du.

"Within a room? Don't be stupid, Old Du. Look up at the ships and the starry sky. Have you seen a room so open?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"No. This time, I really feel like we're within a room. The ships up there are no longer in the same temporal dimension as us. That is why Zhang Xingxing hadn't responded to our communication. Both of us are located in different dimensions," said Old Du, giving an incredibly shocking opinion.

Old Du's words were akin to a bolt of lightning that struck my mind clear. His theory was the best answer to our situation.

"No wonder they're not replying to us. We're actually in different temporal dimensions," said Zhang Bao'er with a look of realization.

Old Du said, "Because of that, the ships we had seen in the sky have a different temporal condition. That is why they couldn't receive any of our signals."

"They must not be able to see our true condition, either. They are probably worrying as much as us right now," I said as Zhang Xingxing's anxious face appeared in my mind.

"Stop theorizing. We should prioritize solving our current predicament," reminded Sarje.

"Anxashe, move ahead with me. Everyone else, stay and be on standby," I ordered.

Following my order, Anxashe advanced alongside me. After walking forward for less than three meters, we entered the darkness. I immediately turned on the flashlight on my helmet. Oddly, even with the flashlight, I couldn't see farther than three meters around me.

"Canyue, watch out for a sneak attack from the beasts hidden in the darkness," reminded Old Du through the communicator.

The distant howls were growing more and more frequent, but they also proved Old Du's theory because the distance between them and us remained. After Anxashe and I advanced more than 20 meters, a towering wall appeared before us. Due to the limitations of my flashlight, I couldn't see the top. However, there was no denying that a wall was standing before me.

Updating Old Du, I said, "Old Du, there is really a wall here. I wonder if it's some sort of an isolation fence or if it's more like the walls of a building. I'll try searching around."

"Try to see if you can find a door or a window, but don't go out. There are probably countless beasts outside," said Old Du.

"There won't be a different temporal dimension beyond the walls, right? We might not be able to return after leaving," reminded Anxashe.

At that time, Anxashe and I were searching along the wall. I had a hunch that it was the outer wall of a large warehouse; after all, we had encountered some piled crates while searching around.

Anxashe suddenly pointed at a large door not far away and said, "Canyue, this seems to be the door."

The door was incomparably massive. It was tightly shut at the moment, and numerous beast howls could be heard coming from the other side of the door. The howls were only a wall away from us. We had finally approached the beasts that had been isolated from us by the temporal dimension created by the clock on the ground.

Immediately, I saw a smaller side door right above the main door. I gestured at Anxashe to turn off his flashlight as I turned off my own. There was a small crack on the side door. Some rays of light were coming out of it.

"Old Du, I think I've found an opening I can use to take a look outside. I intend to approach the opening to try to look outside," I said in excitement.

"Be very careful. Do not fall into a different temporal dimension," reminded Old Du prudently.

I approached the door. I looked through the gap, and a brand new world of beasts appeared before my eyes. There was a massive square outside the door. Above the square, numerous beasts of different sizes could be seen. There were too many of them to count. Beasts of different shapes and sizes had gathered there to form a world of beasts.

The howls were coming from a type of large beast shaped like a spider. These spiders were equipped with long white fangs, and they seemed to be overseeing some sort of work. Chained chubby beasts of some kind were arranged in long lines. Under the supervision of giant paw worms, they were carrying large crates and slowly moving toward a massive warehouse. The spider beasts were the ones in charge of overseeing the overall workflow.

At the entrance of a different warehouse, I saw several lion-faced beasts. They were supervising the carts being pushed out of the warehouse. Each cart was pushed by three of the chubby laborers. Occasionally, the lion-faced beasts would pick up some of the black weapons in the carts for closer observation. Unsurprisingly, the other warehouse was actually a massive arms-processing center.

"Old Du, there seems to be a beast arms-manufacturing base outside," I whispered to the communicator.

"We can see everything from your bodycam. I think I understand how the empire has been keeping these beasts hidden. The beasts have been hidden in a different temporal dimension. When required, a time tunnel will be used to transport them out. Those clocks might be the key to the time tunnel," said Old Du.

"In that case, is this base our actual target?" I asked.

"Yes. But the number of beasts here is too astonishing. This is not only a beast-breeding base. The beasts have evolved enough to be able to manufacture and use weapons. This will be an extremely terrifying army," said Old Du.

"Canyue, if this is an arms-manufacturing base, we should just blow it up first. That will show these beasts that we mean business," suggested Zhang Bao'er confidently.

This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

I ordered, "Come meet up with me immediately. Dodo, note the correct positions. We need to look for the password to return and for the way to travel back and forth between this place and our temporal dimension."

"Canyue, are you sure we can find the password to return?" asked Dodo with some hesitation.

"If there is a way to come here, there must be a way back. There must be someone with the password among these beasts. We only need to capture that someone to return," I said confidently.

Everyone saw hope when they heard my words, and approached me quickly. Five minutes later, Old Du and the others successfully traversed the darkness and linked up with me. We picked a spot behind a pile of crates for us to hide temporarily. There, we held a mission briefing.

"I believe Zhang Xingxing and the others are also working very hard to look for the time password. We will make the first move and create a great start for our operation," I said.

"Canyue, what if Zhang Xingxing and the others can't come into this temporal dimension in time?" asked Anxashe worriedly.

"Then we'll rely on our own strength to try to complete the mission as best as we can," I said. In truth, I did not hope for Zhang Xingxing and the others to find us. After all, with us being in a different temporal dimension, I had fewer misgivings about the amount of damage I could do during the mission.

"Canyue, we can't destroy this planet. Zhang Xingxing is at a further point in the timeline. We have actually returned to a previous point in time. If we destroy this planet, the disappearance of the planet might create temporal chaos, throwing them into a place of drifting timespace," said Old Du, having read my mind.

"Old Du, why are you coming up with yet another new term? Drifting timespace? Just how much secret knowledge are you hiding from us?" questioned Zhang Bao'er unhappily.

"Like I said previously, I once learned some knowledge unavailable in the standard package from the parliamentary library on Gliese. The concept of drifting timespace was mentioned there. Drifting timespace is a dimension of inaccurate and immeasurable time. The moment you enter, leaving is impossible. It's a place that will appear from the chaos that arises from altering history," explained Old Du patiently.

"If we can't destroy this planet, we will have to think of a way to deal the most damage possible to this base and ruin their production," I said, slightly lowering my goal.

"From what we can see, this place is probably an arms-manufacturing base. The beast-breeding base might be at a different location on the planet," said Dodo.

"Then let's start with the arms-manufacturing base," I said. "The giant paw worms and the lion-faced beasts are actually working together. These beasts have clearly attained a high level of intelligence. It's a good thing we listened to the princes and came here. Otherwise, these beasts would have grown into a calamity for not only the Milky Way Galaxy but also the entire universe."

Anxashe, who was on watch duty, suddenly said, "Canyue, a group of them is heading our way."