The Record of Unusual Creatures

Panda Novel

The Denizens of the Stars’ “starship creation technique” was a wondrous work of technology. And truth be told, Hao Ren was not even sure if such abstract stuff could be categorized as “technology”, but considering that magic or technology led to the same end goal in the search for truth, Hao Ren decided to take it for what it was: technology.

The core of this technology was based on “expansion of the mental frame” and solidification of materials.

The Denizens of the Stars were some of the most ancient intelligent beings in that universe. They were born among the ruins of stars, and in that dark, chaotic age under the tyranny of the Mad Lord, these intelligent beings had no place to call home. They found their “materials” in every ruin, wreckage, and dead planet, and their technology revolved as well as grew around the dearth of resources.

The Denizens of the Stars could extend their will into the universe, and through various types of incredible energy fields, they were able to control and interfere with the many primordial materials in space. They would focus their mental powers to form a frame, and from there, draw in materials from the burnt-out stars to “construct”. Of course, whenever possible, they would also draw materials from living stars, and that greatly increased their construction efficiency as well as final quality. With their incredible shaping ability, they could create jaw-dropping space bodies and could easily materialize all kinds of functions. As they were born in deep space, their space exploration progressed more smoothly than that of most other races by at least tenfold.

Rather than calling their spaceships transportation, it was more accurate to say that they had reshaped themselves into special forms that could travel at hyper lightspeed in space to perform offensive and defensive actions. They were also almost indestructible, just like Asurmen and his “crystal mountain” form.

Now, Hao Ren had heard from Asurmen’s own mouth another feature that the Denizens of the Stars possessed, or rather, one of their new abilities—to enter a special type of dormancy, which would allow them to become energy clouds within the void.

“You have discovered many such bodies in Star Cluster X?” Asurmen asked. While his voice characteristically lacked any form of emotion, Hao Ren could sense the latter’s hope and excitement coming through.

After all, this ancient being had not seen his kin for tens of thousands of years.

“We’ve only been able to search about one-fifth of the system, but based on our long-range sensor data and distribution probability, we assume that there are at least a thousand of these ‘Denizen Starships’,” Hao Ren replied. “Our most recent observations show that all of the ships are in dormancy. I’ve sent you the data from when the droid made contact with these ships.”

“Yes, I saw,” Asurmen answered. “The droids were unable to communicate with the opposing side and were destroyed barely moments later. That is normal. A dormant Denizen Starship is actually a standby alert, and any unauthorized visits will be subjected to the highest security protocols. Your droids do not have the identification serial and will not be able to establish contact with them.”

“How can we get this identification data?” Hao Ren asked the question that concerned him the most right then. “We need to find a way to establish contact with these ancient guardians. And if possible, rouse them from their slumber as well.”

“That would be difficult since I have left my kin for so long. I did not even know about this Star Cluster X and its dormant warriors’ existence. However, I can provide you a piece of the crystal from my interior. The crystal fragment will have my core data, akin to a double. Bring it with you, and if everything goes well, those dormant starships will see you as a Denizen of the Stars. You will still not be able to speak to the starship’s main system or rouse them, but at least, you will not be attacked. Once you can approach or even enter the interior of these slumbering ships, I think you will figure a way out.”

Asurmen was confident about Hao Ren’s abilities. In the former’s eyes, Hao Ren was a person who had successfully resolved the emergency in Collow and even killed Lockmarton with his own hands; such a person would be able to get the job done.

At that very same moment, Vivian interjected, ” I thought you would rush over here yourself as there’s a large number of your kinsmen here. Besides, technically, the lockdown system will not affect a Denizen like you.”

“I do want to go but duty binds me,” Asurmen spoke impassively. “I am using CARS’ powerful antenna system to observe the Dark Abyss deep in space to try to get more information on the prison wardens. As this has to do with the seal on the Mad Lord, I dare not miss a single detail. That aside, having my crystal fragment is as good as bringing me along. I can use my crystal to observe what all of you are seeing.”

Since Asurmen had already said so, Vivian did not add anything further. After they confirmed the delivery process of the crystal, they cut communication.

Even though Star Cluster X was locked down by the powerful Divine Storm, the entry of non-living beings like the droids were not restricted, and now the navigational path from CARS to Star Cluster X was clear. Once they packed up Asurmen’s crystal, they could instantly deliver it over using a high-speed droid. There was not much difficulty to speak of.

“I can’t help but remember that I also once sent my bats across the globe via express delivery,” Vivian murmured. “That stunt was already three years back, huh… Never thought I’d meet another person sending his split body via express delivery now.”

Hao Ren grinned. “My droids won’t manhandle it.”

“Don’t even start,” Vivian said with a bitter smile. “Just remembering it makes me dizzy… Express delivery sure is scary.”

Upon establishing a stable route and navigation mark, the high-speed droid launched from CARS did not need to “crawl” over to Star Cluster X, and Hao Ren soon received Asurmen’s “express delivery”.

It was a human-sized irregular-shaped crystal, and the translucent white crystal was almost fusiform. The core seemed to be sealed in an active light, and there was a floating ring-shaped device alongside the crystal. It could be attached to the middle of the crystal to carry it forward, allowing the immobile crystal to move around with the rest.

The ring-shaped equipment was not Asurmen’s own device, instead, it had been automatically arranged by CARS’ mainframe to assist with the mission.

Looking at the floating ringed crystal, Lily’s ears fluttered as she started to mumble, “Why do I get the feeling that when this thing flashes, a group of twenty-something knife-wielding fanatics will appear out of nowhere, screaming ‘My life for Aiur!’ before swarming the command center…”

“Stop it!” Everyone yelled at the same time.

“I am extremely anxious to meet my dormant kinsmen,” Asurmen’s voice suddenly transmitted from the crystal. “When are we leaving?”

Lily was startled by the sudden voice and could not help but use her claws to poke the crystal’s surface. “Whoa! You can use this to transmit your consciousness and senses?”

“It is a natural ability for us Denizens of the Stars. We were born in a very hostile environment, and being able to split one’s self apart was a survival requirement.”

“We’ll leave in an hour.” Due to the completion of preparatory works while they waited for the “delivery”, plus the fact that there were only three passengers—the little fish included—Hao Ren immediately set the time for departure. “Do you need us to provide you with anything? A mounting platform or some wax and polish—”

“…I do not need any polishing…” Asurmen said.

An hour later, at the forward base’s starport platform…

With the help of the floating ring, Asurmen entered the ship safely, while Hao Ren and Vivian (with Lil Pea in Hao Ren’s arms) said their farewells to the rest.

Although the plan was to make a short exploratory excursion, who knew what they would run into inside the Denizen’s starship and if they would run into any troubles or delays. So, Hao Ren still had to leave some orders behind.

Among them all, only Rollie was rather dejected. Her ears and tail drooped as she squatted by Hao Ren’s side, muttering, “Big Boss Cat, you’re going out to play and you’re not bringing me along again, nya…”

“Play, play, play, that’s all you know. I’m going out to work.” Hao Ren glared angrily at the dumb catgirl, who never seemed to mature before he turned to Y’zaks. “Big guy, I’ll leave everything to you here while we’re out. Just remember to keep an eye on two things; first, don’t let Rollie scamper about, and second, look after your daughter. I almost got an anxiety attack when I saw her with her screwdriver near the long-range cognition array…”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry…” Y’zaks said as he rubbed his shiny head.

“While we’re away, the construction will still proceed. The crystal resonance search antenna array will be completed in five days, while the long-range cognition array will go online in three days. If all things go according to plan, I’ll return before then. If not, get Zorm to take over the First Born’s body here, and the rest of the tasks can be delegated to the automated system.”

After turning over what needed to be done, Hao Ren, Vivian, and the baby fish boarded the Petrachelys. A soft rumble later, the argent starship took off and disappeared into the skyline in a flash of light.

“Even with the three of us together, we aren’t triggering any attacks.” Hao Ren heaved a sigh of relief as he observed the scene outside from the sensors. Meanwhile, in his arms, Lil Pea swished her tail and tiny arms toward the stars on the screen. “Wahhh! We’re flying again!”

“I can sense a minute spike in energy signatures around the ship,” the MDT reported as it monitored the data from the sensors. “The network is actively scanning us, and it looks like we’ve made it through.”

Vivian snorted. “Hmph, this network isn’t all that smart.”

Hao Ren immediately shook his head. “Don’t say that. If it were any smarter, we would be reduced to playing ‘Civilization’ on that planet.”

“This perplexes me.” Floating in the corner of the bridge, Asurmen suddenly spoke, “This system… seems to have a lot of ‘things’.”

Hao Ren was dumbfounded by his cryptic way of speaking. “A lot of things?”

“I do not know how to describe them to you,” Asurmen said. “The way we Denizens sense and perceive things is different from you. If I need to put it into words, it is like a constant murmur everywhere. There are many things within this space; many murmurs and noises are all mixed together ceaselessly in the background radiation… but I cannot seem to find their source.”