The Record of Unusual Creatures

Chapter 554: Digging

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

As the scan deepened, more details were revealed as a visual of the subterrain, where the Giant Tree of Life was located, was presented before the crowd.

Although a burned stump was all that remained of the Giant Tree of Life, its underground part was a massive wonder. Its entangled roots reigned the underground world within a radius of nearly 200 km. Unlike the other two mage-emperors, Lorrisa the former Elven-Queen had used a completely different method to suppress the First Born. It seemed that she did not want to hurt the First Born with violence. Instead, she chose a "gentler" method, which befitted her feminine nature: she had created a cage that fused with the First Born.

Vivian carefully observed the visual for a few moments and scratched her chin as she murmured to herself, "Looks like these roots mimic the tentacles of the First Born."

"Well, they are very close in form." Hao Ren nodded. "Especially the way they've spread and grown. It's almost a duplicate of the First Born. It seems that Elven Queen Lorrisa had created a creature to mimic the First Born by magic. They're experts on life; the elves have always been good at this."

Y'lisabet went up and poked at the holographic projection. Due to the height of the hologram, she could only reach it by jumping. Hao Ren curiously asked her, "What are you doing?"

"Zoom in! Zoom in!" Y'lisabet continued jumping. "I can't see!"

The MDT was irritated at once. "Who told you that you need to double-click to enlarge?"

Hao Ren placed her two fingers on the display, pinching to zoom in. "What's there?"

"Look, these roots are all joined together," said Y'lisabet, pointing a small screwdriver at a spot on the holographic projection. "These roots! You can hardly tell whether they're roots or tentacles. They're all connected end to end!"

"Perfect integration." Vivian grinned. "Obviously, this isn't a simple imitation. Lorrisa had the ability to physically integrate the artificial life she created with the First Born. She may have very well been the only one among the few mage-emperors who's found the right path."

"As in, if you can't fight them, join them?" Y'zaks shook his head as he crossed his arms. "I really don't appreciate this strategy. This is something the weak and minorities like to do. However, I have to admit that I used to be badly tossed by such tactics."

However, regardless if the Giant Tree of Life created by Lorrisa had fused with the First Born or not, it was evidently a failed product as well: even if the route was correct, there was no way to compensate the disparity in absolute strength between them. The Giant Tree of Life was said to have ignited during the catastrophe. The tree crumbled after it burned for several days. This was apparently the result of a counter-attack before the First Born slept. The power of the Giant Tree of Life had failed to defeat the primordial forces of this world. After being eroded by the First Born, the tree was destroyed in a spontaneous combustion.

The engineers completed their scanning of the entire underground world and found enough optimal entry points. The cutters, which resembled spaceships were hovering in their respective positions. They began to hit the marked drilling points on the ground with light beams. At the same time, a cruiser flew directly above the Giant Tree of Life and dropped a gray cylinder down. As the cylinder touched the ground, it quickly drilled a hole into the ground and disappeared into it as smoke rose up.

"The 'messenger' is descending. It's now descending to the target area of the active brain waves. Three thousand meters to target… two thousand five hundred meters..."

"The messenger has arrived at the set depth. Now releasing the 'lullaby' device."

Hao Ren took out the controller, and carefully entered the confirmation code. He then pressed the "Play" button.

A complicated mix of electromagnetic waves immediately leaked out from beneath. The elven engineer who was responsible for monitoring all system operations reported in, "'Lullaby' has started playing. Test is underway."

The "lullaby" device referred to the signal suppressor manufactured by Hao Ren on his own spacecraft. It was a highly precise and perpetual imitation of the Progenitor of Life. Before the First Born was moved, the device had to be properly planted in it.

Vivian turned to Ophra. "Bring the Divine Sarcophagus. We'll try to shield it off."

Ophra took a deep breath and gestured to the knights as well as the priests behind her with a nod. Escorted by a few ascetics, the Divine Sarcophagus used to suppress the Giant Tree of Life was handed to Hao Ren.

Hao Ren had already taken out a special container out of his Dimensional Pocket. He carefully placed the Divine Sarcophagus in the container and activated the container's shielding system.

For 10,000 years, the suppressor used to keep the First Born asleep was switched off for the first time.

Within a few seconds, their surroundings were so silent that they could hear a pin drop. Everyone was so nervous as they listened to the movement from the ground. Becky pinched the family emblem on her collar (which she had just custom-ordered two days ago) while she chanted something in her mouth. Lily's ears stood erect and she overheard it. "...copper, coin, paper money, cash, passbook, credit card, Dollar, Euro, Renminbi, copper coin, silver coin, gold shield, OMG, please don't go wrong. It's not easy to become a parvenu..."

Lily thought for a moment and closed her eyes before she chanted, "Meat, bones, Spicy Strips, meat, bones, Spicy Strips, meat, bones..."

It turned out that Lily was even more innocent; her so-called dirty-mindedness was no match for Becky's money-mindedness.

After the one-minute test cycle (the time needed to calculate the First Born's wake-up sign), the underground remained quiet. The voice from the monitor reported the good news with excitement. "Target remains asleep. The 'lullaby' is confirmed to be working."

Hao Ren breathed a sigh of relief and immediately contacted the other team. "Team A, Team A, this is Team B, the lullaby has passed the test. You can begin work right now. Don't forget to give the First Born a jab of interference pheromones after it's dug out."

Lily shouted happily, "Let's roll!"

Before firing up the excavation equipment, the head of the engineering team asked, "Sun King, the root of this giant tree is entangled with the target. Should we separate them first?"

Hao Ren thought a moment before waving his hand. "...Things may go wrong if we separate them by force. Don't worry about it, dig it out together!"

In the blink of an eye, the cutters around the basin were fired up at the same time with a loud roar. Hundreds of light beams penetrated the ground at a slanting angle, pulsating like lightning bolts.

The powerful pyrolytic beams cut through rock layers with ease. Each beam could precisely pierce through any point within a hundred kilometers. Wherever the light beam passed, everything in its way vanished instantly. These obsolete equipment were replicas of older equipment—the prototypes, which were once used to dismantle the original Aerym planet. They were powerful enough to perform any cutting operation other than cutting neutron stars.

The pyrolytic beams were invincible as long as the First Born remained asleep.

Dozens of radiant rays slowly moved around the crater and the whole basin was cut out from the planet. The slip of the rock stratum caused by the separation of the strata would soon show its power: the monastery was located on a hill on the edge of the basin, but vibration could clearly be felt under their feet. Although shocked, the trained knights and priests remained composed. The ascetics, who managed the monastery immediately activated the divine array in the church to stabilize the place, and the soldiers brought by Ophra looked after the records as well as other ordinary officials.

"Don't worry, this place isn't going to collapse," said Y'zaks. His arms were crossed as he looked at Ophra, who was slightly nervous. "The elves have successfully dug an even bigger pit than this, and they've even broken up their entire planet, yet everything was fine."

The cutting beam that shot down from the sky had completed its circle. The rock around the First Born had been cut, and the ring-shaped valley that was left behind had a series of inverted, cone-shaped shafts. Standing on the edge of the rift, a faint red glow could clearly be seen beneath: it was molten rock melted by the powerful pyrolytic beam.

"Enter the next stage. Blow up the connecting columns."

Under the order of their commander, 20 armed cruisers immediately descended into the rift where hot air was still rushing out. A moment later, these cruisers re-emerged, followed by a series of thunderous explosions.

Steam and hot draft rushed up the rift to the surface. The entire basin was as hot as a frying pan.

The rock column, which had lost its support in the center of the basin was slightly shaken. The rock column holding up the First Born and the Giant Tree of Life lost support and began to slowly tilt to the side. As soon as it touched the surrounding body of the mountain, it would surely cause unprecedented earthquakes and landslides. However, the follow-up equipment were already in place.

A large number of gravity tractors were hovering above the Giant Tree of Life.

"Gravity tractors, full power. Pull it out!"

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