Chapter 111 Ten years of returning home (7K words)
A few hours later, the three of them once again eliminated all the attacking crude oil beasts.
In order to deal with possible threats, Joseph redesigned new defensive weapons and strengthened his personal equipment.
"Their attack speed is getting faster and faster. There should be their nest nearby."
At Johnny's request, a land bike was built.
It has a cruising range of up to 300 kilometers, has a high-strength steel body, and is equipped with powerful kinetic energy weapons.
After planning a new route on the map.
The three of them planned to take a look at the place where the crude oil beasts appeared, and maybe they could find their lair.
Not long after, they set off.
Dust was flying, and with the rapid movement of the land vehicle, the scene in the sky also changed significantly.
A halo of light can be vaguely seen across the sky, shocking people's hearts.
Joan controlled the vehicle, Johnny compared the data with the modified small computer, and Joseph sat on the roof of the car, ready to face emergencies at any time.
After driving more than fifty kilometers and killing many crude oil beasts, they actually discovered the crude oil beast's lair.
A meat membrane like a greenhouse covers several hundred square meters, with a hole on both sides. From time to time, weak crude oil beasts crawl out and quickly shed their shells.
The three of them watched from a distance for a moment, weighed the firepower of both sides, and decided to destroy the nest.
The explosive bomb with a burning effect was thrown, directly igniting the area where the crude oil beast's lair was. The flesh membrane ruptured, and a violent flame erupted from the lair, just like a gas pipe bursting.
Naturally, the crude oil beast that had been stolen from his home would not sit still and wait for death, and immediately attacked Qiao An and the others.
And their defensive strength also exceeded everyone's expectations.
A crude oil beast that is twice the size, it also has a hard carapace on the outside, and its moving speed is quite high.
Seeing this, the three of them knew that they could not resist forcefully. If they were surrounded, they would not be able to escape if there was any problem with Lu Xingche.
After destroying the nest, they immediately headed towards the camp.
There are defense facilities in the camp, and the large area of turrets gives people a sense of security.
A large number of crude oil beasts chased behind the land vehicle. Joseph controlled the kinetic energy weapon on the roof of the vehicle and sprayed blue fireworks.
Ten kilometers away from the camp, the three of them successfully escaped the pursuit of the crude oil beast and returned safely.
In the days that followed, Johnny's thoughts were indeed verified.
Due to the destruction of their nests, there were far fewer crude oil beasts to attack than before.
The three of them also built a communication station comfortably.
Not long after, with their combined efforts, the prepared parts were gradually integrated, and a two-hundred-meter-tall communication base station was completed.
Although it looks primitive in appearance, the wavelength it emits can at least be scanned by the star base.
"Finally! We did it!" Qiao An sighed as he looked at the communication base station.
It took me nearly a year to accomplish this feat, and I am really proud of it.
Although it is not starting from scratch with the help of the data blueprint, it is not difficult to achieve such an achievement with only three people on a strange planet.
"Hahahaha! Connect the energy quickly and get ready to go home!"
Joseph laughed loudly, set the transmit power of the device perfectly, and shouted.
Johnny was also smiling at this moment, no matter how many discoveries he made, the equipment that could not be used for further exploration would be useless.
As Qiao An pressed the launch command.
The entire camp emitted a subtle ripple, and a light wave invisible to the naked eye shot straight into the sky, rushing towards the unknown depths of space.
In the central control room, there is a simulation screen of communication base station transmission.
It will extend beyond the planet with a bundle of wavelengths, and within the sensor of the star base, an obvious signal source will be found spreading from the side of the black hole.
By then, Daxia will discover the location of the three of them and launch a rescue operation.
The idea was wonderful, but unfortunately it backfired.
The three of them were surprised to find that the signal emitted by the communication base station could not penetrate the planet.
On the contrary, after reaching a certain height, the wavelengths are momentarily chaotic and then dissipated.
"What's going on? Why can't the signal be transmitted outside the planet?"
"It's strange, it shouldn't be. Although the communication base station does not have the ability to communicate over long distances, it can transmit signals without any problem."
"Is it because the power is not enough?"
The three of them were a little puzzled by this sudden change.
According to all data models and analyses, communication base stations are capable of breaking through the scope of this planet.
While research was being carried out around this issue.
The crude oil beast lairs thousands of miles away have felt the signal source emitted from the camp.
They are moving towards this side one after another...
In the camp, the three people moved the communication base station two kilometers away and re-debugged it, and the results were consistent.
After Qiao An and Joseph's analysis, the contents of the database stored on the scientific research ship were added.
They got a fact.
This relic planet has treasures, and its scope of influence covers the entire planet. This is why their communication base station cannot transmit signals.
In the research room, the faces of the three people were a little ugly.
They didn't expect this result.
After data comparison, the impact of such signals is basically the same as the shielding effect of relics.
In previous relic explorations, the unexcavated treasures only affected a few kilometers or even dozens of kilometers.
What is now covering the entire planet is simply unprecedented.
"What should we do now?" Johnny asked looking at Joan, he was really shocked.
After a year of hard work, I finally got this result, which makes me feel powerless.
"Ahhhh!!!!" Joseph walked out the door and roared angrily. He really couldn't accept that he was still in this bad place.
Qiao An looked at the data in silence.
If this method fails, then the only option is to build ships.
But just building a communication base station took a year, let alone a space ship flying into the stars?
Moreover, this is on land, not in space. The ships to be built on land must not only meet the requirements of traveling in the atmosphere, but also meet the standards of deep space navigation, which is much more difficult.
Besides, the materials required for construction are at least a hundred times, or even hundreds of times, that of a communication base station.
With just three people, no one knows how much time it will take.
Although the three of them were distressed, the crude oil beast was not observant.
It didn't take long for them to sweep in, and the camp suffered the largest attack by crude oil beasts to date.
Wave after wave, sometimes even thousands of crude oil beasts attacked together.
If Joseph hadn't just upgraded the defense facilities, I'm afraid the entire camp would have been lost.
The war lasted for nearly a month.
The offensive of the crude oil beasts stopped, and a pile of corpses were piled outside the camp, emitting a strange smell.
After a brief period of discouragement, the three quickly regained their fighting spirit.
"Isn't it just a ship? Look how we build it!"
"You're right. After eliminating these crude oil beasts, we can just improve the production line and let the output explode."
"Farke! Farke! Farke! Let me get the fission reactor out!"
After cleaning up the crude oil beasts around the camp, Joan, Johnny, and Joseph rose up again and expanded to the surrounding areas.
Within a few months, all the nests within fifty kilometers were wiped out.
More advanced conveyor belts are spread over dozens of kilometers, and now the entire camp is an ultra-modern manufacturing factory, producing precision components one after another, which are then combined into a new generation of weapons or production facilities.
During this period, the crude oil beast once again evolved its form, and its strong medium-sized body became the norm, and a layer of carapace was attached to its appearance.
Flying, hiding from the ground, and direct attack, three attack methods are coming continuously.
But they were all destroyed one by one by the defensive buildings designed by Joseph.
It’s another year.
The three of them separated for the first time, each establishing a new camp and a new production line at one end of the planet.
Today, one unit of alloy resources can be produced in one month.
By the next year, after optimization, one unit of alloy will be produced in half a month.
The three people carry simple aircraft every day, like flying soldiers in the 22nd century, opening up production lines and improving the production process.
With Johnny's efforts, they also brewed the planet's specialty beer.
When the three of them have nothing to do, they will get together and have a drink.
Time passed quickly.
In the third year, Joseph successfully completed the construction of the fission reactor. Although it was a large structure ten kilometers in size, it indicated that energy was no longer a problem and the production line was upgraded again.
In the fourth year, the three camps were integrated together to form a large-scale construction center of more than 200 kilometers. The stacked conveyor belts even reached a height of 100 meters. At this time, the hull project had been approved.
In the fifth year, the ship's scanning array was completed, the sublight engine test was successful, the thruster project was approved, and the armor coverage was successful.
Then, it was the middle of the sixth year.
A two-kilometer launch pad has been constructed, with a nearly 100-meter spaceship placed on it, which is undergoing final debugging work.
The three of them stood on the high platform, holding glasses of beer in their hands and smiling at each other.
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone."
Qiao An still has short black hair, but her face is weathered and looks much more mature.
"Hahaha, I think if I return to Daxia, I should be able to retire directly after publishing an autobiography. I have already thought of a name, so it will be called "My Interstellar Crossing"."
Joseph now has a dark complexion, golden braids and sunglasses, looking full of summer style.
"Hey, I hope everything goes well."
Johnny has become more and more silent over the years.
The three of them talked and laughed for a long time, and finally became reluctant to part with this planet.
But think about it, the golden period of my life is basically spent here.
Just like a relationship, when you break up, are you reluctant to leave the other person?
No, it's not. What everyone doesn't want to let go of is their past selves and all that they have given.
Finally, the overall debugging of the ship was successful.
Everything is running fine.
The three of them began to prepare to board the ship.
"Wait! At such an important moment, do we need to hold a ceremony?"
When stepping onto the launch pad, Joan suddenly stopped and said to Johnny and Joseph.
The two of them looked back at him and knew what Qiao An was talking about. Wasn't it the mysterious Eastern power?
But this time, the two of them gave him universal gestures, and then boarded the ship without looking back.
Thinking about it before, every time I did this, I would encounter strange misfortunes.
Johnny and Joseph are really scared, they still have to rely on themselves.
Qiao An thought for a moment, shrugged and followed their footsteps.
"Well, at least I asked sincerely."
The Homecoming ship is about to enter the launch phase, and the three people are sitting in the cockpit observing all the data to prevent accidents.
This is a ship developed based on the performance of a frigate. It is made hundreds of meters long because the existing technology can only reach this point.
If they want to optimize themselves to the level of the Great Xia Empire, the three of them will have to work hard for at least another thirty years.
The vision of returning to Daxia smoothly led them to call the ship the Homecoming.
"Everything is fine!"
"Ready to launch!"
"ignition!"
A roar spread across the sky, and smoke filled the earth.
"Boom~"
The first-stage rocket carrying Homecoming was successfully launched. This was just to save energy. As long as it reached a high altitude, Homecoming could sail on its own propulsion device.
Although the fission reactor has been built, other components are still not advanced enough. This is a necessary compromise, but it does not matter.
At an altitude of 10,000 meters, the rocket locking device fell off.
The Homecoming's thrusters are activated, starting to break away from the planet's gravity and break through the atmosphere!
Not long after, things inside the ship began to float due to the lack of a gravity device.
The three of them didn't pay attention, concentrating on looking at the data panel in front of them and reading the navigation.
"It's done!"
"yes!"
With the breakthrough of the atmosphere, they once again descended into space after so many years, and they couldn't help but cheer.
"Hahahaha, I love this starry sky so much!"
Joseph looked at the magnificent black hole in front of him and shouted with a smile.
Then, the Homecoming began to activate its sublight engine and headed out of the black hole.
The three of them breathed a sigh of relief and were finally able to go home.
Ten hours later.
Johnny frowned as he looked at the panel. He opened his eyes wide and made a strange sound.
"No, why haven't we left the alien range yet?"
As soon as these words came out, Qiao An and Joseph were stunned and quickly called up the data overview.
I found that after sailing for such a long time, the ship basically seemed to be staying in place.
"No way, this..." Qiao An had an ominous premonition in her heart.
Joseph was stunned, and veins suddenly appeared on his hands.
"No! No! Why is this happening!?"
Thirty hours later, their reactor needed to be recharged and they had to stop the sublight engine.
At this time, they were only 5 kilometers away from their position thirty hours ago.
Another day later, they tried in other directions and found the same result.
The three of them were desperate.
There was silence in the cockpit.
The remaining sanity allowed them to land on the alien planet again.
At the same time, the three people also discovered something strange on the planet.
They left the planet for almost two days, but according to the timer left on the ground, more than a year had passed on the surface.
The entire industrial area has become somewhat dilapidated, and many places have been completely destroyed by crude oil beasts and turned into ruins.
Gravitational expansion effect?
The three of them thought about this physical phenomenon at the same time.
But it was quickly rejected. This planet is not that close to the black hole. Logically speaking, there should be no gravitational expansion effect.
Furthermore, if there is a gravitational expansion effect, it should be that time outside becomes faster, not that time here accelerates.
All kinds of doubts radiated in their minds, but it didn't matter.
After so many years, everyone's fighting spirit has been completely wiped out.
Not surprisingly, this planet is their final destination.
After landing, Joseph found a good place for himself and planned to spend the rest of his life.
After Qiao An restored the industrial area, he continued to produce construction materials, but he did not give up.
After Johnny and Joan repaired the industrial area, they took a batch of components to the back of the planet.
It was an area of eternal night, extremely cold, and the crude oil beasts were extremely ferocious.
This is a very dangerous choice.
Time passes year after year.
Soon it's the ninth year.
Perhaps because of the unstoppable path, Johnny returned from the Eternal Night area and brought extremely important news.
A solution that allows everyone to leave the planet.
In the camp, four people were sitting on chairs, with the data screen detected by Johnny in front of them.
Why four people?
Because Joseph brought Ellie with him, he not only equipped her with a mobile device, but also equipped her with a simple question and answer system.
It's just that the face is not natural enough and looks a bit fake.
But Joseph didn't care, he looked a little decadent, but he treated Ellie like a real person.
Qiao An and Johnny didn't say much. People always need something to rely on.
For example, Qiao An became obsessed with the imaging system. From time to time, he planned to modify the conveyor belt so that it could transmit images, which was a great pleasure to play.
Johnny captured a number of crude beasts and tried to communicate with them, but unfortunately there was no result, but he learned a lot about animal behavior.
"Why is this tidally locked planet so peaceful?"
"Why is the crude oil beast in this form?"
"Why can't we leave this planet?"
"The answer is, legacy."
Johnny opened the image screen, and after color correction, everyone can clearly see the scenery of the Evernight area.
Frost is the only theme, but it's not that cold.
A strange heat emanates from the earth's veins, and crude oil beasts appear and act from time to time.
In the map, a signal source is marked somewhere.
"Although I don't know why there are creatures like crude oil beasts on this planet."
"But what is certain is that they are not native species to this planet, and it is very likely that they arrived here accidentally."
"The location of the relics is the core area of the crude oil beasts, which should be their original place."
"The effect of the relic should be to absorb that kind of strange power, so that it can cover the entire planet."
"The original crude oil beast relied on the power emanating from the relics and gradually evolved into what it is now."
After hearing this, Qiao An thought for a while and asked: "You mean, we have to break through the defense line of hundreds of thousands of crude oil beasts, and then seize the treasure?"
Johnny nodded, indicating that he was right.
"Forget it, this is another waste of effort. I suggest everyone stop bothering."
Joseph put a hand on Ellie, gave a disgusted look at the two of them, and then looked at Ellie, "Do you think what I said is right?"
Ai Li: "Yes, yes, everything you said is correct? (^_-)"
Joan and Johnny looked at him, shook their heads, and continued the discussion.
In the end, Joseph was really not interested and returned directly to his camp.
The remaining two people discussed the feasibility of the plan.
"What will happen if the treasure is taken away?" Qiao An asked.
Johnny blinked and looked at Joan.
"If my guess is right, this planet will be torn apart by a black hole in a short time..."
The two fell silent.
But regardless of success or failure, there are only three endings.
Either die in the Eternal Night area, or nothing happens after getting the treasure and die on the planet.
Or, they lift the blockade of the planet and successfully return to deep space.
In the end they decided to give it a try.
Joan, in order to go home.
Johnny, for the search for truth.
Neither of them gave up completely and started heading towards the Yongye area.
New camp, new construction factory.
Rows of defensive towers stand on the surface, extending all the way to the location of the relics.
The attacks of crude oil beasts are getting stronger and stronger. In addition to evolving rapidly, the changes in tactics are also becoming more and more humane.
On several occasions, the two of them were almost successfully surrounded and suppressed by each other.
When things get increasingly difficult.
Joseph finally came out of the shadows and decided to work hard with them again.
The three of them hugged each other with tears in their eyes and sighed.
Since Joseph regained his enthusiasm, the three people's Yongye development career has gone a lot smoother.
A large mecha was even built. It seems that Joseph has not completely given up hope of returning home.
Finally, they finally reached the core area of the Crude Oil Beast.
There are a total of 100,000 large crude oil beasts stationed here. There is no possibility of shortcuts. They must be completely eliminated before everyone can access the treasures hidden underground.
The decisive battle has begun.
Four large armed mechas were running rampant on the ground, constantly clearing away the crude oil beasts on the ground in conjunction with the attacks of the turrets.
Joan, Johnny, and Joseph could only control three mechas.
But under Joseph's design, Ellie's AI can simply accept attack and avoidance commands, and this is how the fourth mecha appeared.
Thousands of crude oil beasts' nests were uprooted, and the giant crude oil beasts that spewed liquid caused over 10,000 casualties, and the flying ones rained down like rain.
The war lasted for more than four months, and they had already entered the cave.
Although there are a lot of crude oil beasts inside, it is limited to the narrow space, so the four mechas will not have much of a problem against the enemy's offensive.
Going hundreds of meters underground, they finally saw the mother worm of the crude oil beast.
A giant worm with a body length of a thousand meters, its body shimmering with strange light, beating constantly.
Like most arcade game settings, the enemies blocking the road ahead are relatively difficult, but the final boss is much easier.
This has led to an argument called game currency economics. When you invest coins, it is best to fail the first few levels and leave. If you pass the previous levels, you will be allowed to pass the level smoothly and leave early.
The female insect has no ability to resist.
The four mechas chopped melons and vegetables before their souls returned to the sky, and a strange thing fell to the ground.
Qiao An didn't check much, just picked it up and ran away.
If Johnny's theory is true, the planet will undergo great changes after losing its relic effect!
Turns out, Johnny was right.
The death of the mother insect caused all the crude oil beasts to gather together violently.
The changes in the relics caused the entire planet to shake, and it was about to show its proper posture.
"The crustal data is abnormal! Run away!"
Stones had already fallen in the cave, and Joseph quickly shouted when he saw something was wrong.
Joan and Johnny rushed forward quickly.
Joseph followed closely behind, and the AI mecha reared behind.
"Boom~"
Suddenly, the mountains shook, and a huge boulder fell in front of them, directly blocking everyone's way.
"Open it for me!"
Qiao An turned on the mecha's detonation mode, and all the ammunition blasted forward.
"Bang!"
The boulder was directly shattered and a road was opened.
The three of them ran all the way up, and the exit of the cave was already in front of them.
But at this time, the rear suddenly collapsed.
And the speed was extremely fast. Joan and Johnny were fine, but Joseph was a little slower.
The two of them jumped out of the cave, and a burst of smoke rushed out from behind, and they shouted.
"Joseph!"
There was a burst of smoke in front of Joseph, and there was a constant rumbling sound behind him. He couldn't stop. If he took one wrong step, he would be doomed.
"We're almost there!" He saw the light in front of him and breathed a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, the wall next to him collapsed, slowing down his steps.
The entire mecha fell downwards.
Joseph was sluggish. Could it be that he would stop here?
Suddenly, a push came from behind him.
It was Ellie! The mecha controlled by Ellie pushed him towards the exit.
"What!?" Joseph was shocked. He clearly did not give such an order.
At the critical moment, Joseph jumped out of the cave and landed next to the two of them.
The cave collapsed completely and was buried.
"Huh, we thought you were going to get cold..."
Qiao An sighed and looked around. On the ground in the distance was a dark form of crude oil beasts.
The earth is already shaking. It is not suitable to stay here for long.
"We have to leave quickly. We must leave this planet on a ship, otherwise we won't be able to escape!"
Johnny shouted.
Joan and Johnny were about to leave, but found that Joseph was still at the exit of the cave.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing him like this, the two of them asked in confusion.
Joseph laughed miserably, "You know, it was Ellie who pushed me out of the cave just now."
The two were stunned, what does this mean?
AI!
Joseph actually created a personalized AI?
"No, it's just a coincidence. Don't think too much, we have to leave quickly!"
Johnny sighed, he couldn't care so much now, he had to go.
"No!"
"I want to take Ellie back, I know she has feelings!"
Joseph ignored it and started digging directly out of the cave.
Qiao An and Johnny frowned. This guy was really confused.
I wanted to drag him away forcefully, but he raised his weapon and took aim.
"Don't stop me, you can leave first, I'll be back later!"
Seeing Joseph's appearance, the remaining two people looked at each other and then looked at the herd of crude oil beasts that was about to attack.
"Damn guys, how can we give up on our teammates?"
"Damn it, you're stubborn!"
Joan and Johnny cursed and followed Joseph to dig.
The tremors of the earth became more and more severe, and a chasm opened in the distance, and countless crude oil beasts fell down.
The intense excavation work made the three of them sweat.
A shock made them fall to the ground in fear, and they gritted their teeth and continued digging the cave.
Emperor Tian pays off his conscientious people.
Joseph actually discovered the mecha controlled by Ellie.
He knocked open the core of the mecha, pulled out the hard drive containing Ellie, and put it into his mecha.
"Thank you!" Joseph said to Joan and Johnny with tears in his eyes.
The two of them didn't say much, and there were some words that didn't need to be said anymore.
run.
Run quickly.
They crossed the chasm, destroyed the monsters, and ran along the conveyor belt to the prepared ship.
The planet's gravity begins to weaken.
In the sky, they even saw a continent breaking away from the planet, and the atmosphere began to dissipate.
Fortunately, they boarded the homecoming successfully.
The improved Homecoming no longer requires a first-stage rocket boost.
The thrusters were fired in place, and the Homecoming sailed toward the sky.
It flew upwards until the alien star was left behind.
Not long after they left, the entire alien star first turned into an oval shape, and then became fragmented.
Not long after the sublight engine was turned on, a message came from Daxia's star base.
"This...this...is the Daxia Moyu Star Base, please...identify yourself!"
In the cockpit of the Homecoming, Joan, Johnny and Joseph looked at each other.
