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Join the Server“Wait a minute,” one of them finally piped up. “Not to be critical, but I’ve been wondering since the start why we’ve flown for so long without seeing the target planet.”
After their bickering gradually subsided, one of the pilots finally realized something was amiss with their flight path. Despite flying for the allocated duration, the patrol planet was nowhere in sight within their visual range.
Instead, the surrounding cosmos was utterly dark, obscuring everything. A faint tremor of panic began to stir within them.
“Damn it, what in the blazes is this place?”
“Why is there no light outside?”
The other pilot suddenly noticed the same issue. Gazing out from the cockpit, the universe beyond was an inky blackness, utterly devoid of any light source ahead. The only illumination came from the warship’s internal cockpit lights and its external searchlights.
“Open that damned star map,” the first pilot grumbled. “I suspect you’ve bumped into something again.”
“This is a design flaw!” the other retorted. “A design flaw! You should be cursing the damned engineer who designed it!”
The pilot grumbling, grudgingly activated the star map button located by his elbow. Immediately, a star map projected from a small window, displaying their current automated flight path overlaid on the previous star chart.
“Wait, isn’t this heading towards the star system that was destroyed?”
“It seems so. I told you, those lazy engineers should have updated the star map ages ago! Hold on, I’ll readjust now and prepare to return to our original course.”
“Don’t be so hasty. Our warship still has plenty of energy. How about we take a detour and explore that area first?”
“Are you insane? If we go there now, you’ll only see a pile of planetary debris. Those Zerg monsters have long since devoured everything edible. Perhaps that star system should now be called a Zerg dung heap?”
“The books say Zerg don’t defecate, so your professional terminology is completely impossible.”
“Can you just shut up? Can we stop bickering for a moment? I want to go back now! Look at the time! It’s almost time for our shift to end! We should head back to the dorms, take a good shower, then brew some coffee or pour a glass of wine to relax. I’ll read my novel, you can watch your news—wouldn’t that be much more pleasant?!”
“Have you ever heard the saying that the most dangerous place is the safest place?”
“I get it, but the Zerg don’t understand that, okay? They’re just a bunch of eating machines. After they devour one star system, they’ll definitely move on to the next place to find their hunting grounds. What we need to do now isn’t to see what’s left on their plate, but to find them!”
“Hey, trust me, my instincts are usually spot on. I have a strong feeling that those damned monsters are still lingering in that star system, refusing to leave…”
“Oh, good heavens, what are you even thinking? This behavior is completely out of character for your usual steady self. Please, I beg you, turn back now, immediately??”
“You almost made me forget! The manual override is in my hands, hahahaha.”
“Damn it!”
A furious curse echoed through the cockpit as the patrol ship swiftly veered onto the previously secluded route, accelerating towards that very direction.
“I say, old friend, I feel like I’ve been to this place before. Are you sure we’re still within the Alliance Nebula? I feel like we’ve stumbled into the cosmic desert.”
Despite the patrol ship’s rapid penetration, the surrounding darkness remained unchanged. If not for the constant confirmation from the star map navigation, they would have surely believed they had accidentally traversed a fractured folded space during flight and been teleported into the cosmic desert.
“Trust the star map. The Alliance’s star maps are relatively reliable… aren’t they?”
Even as he spoke, his tone was laced with uncertainty. What he saw before his eyes was far more real than any map. Logically, that star system should contain a High-Energy Crystal mining planet, a mechanical production planet, and even a few super-giant stars. While those giant stars were useless, they offered excellent cosmic navigation visibility.
However, they saw absolutely no damned planets. All that lay before them was an expanse of darkness, utterly devoid of any visual markers, just like the cosmic desert scenarios they had observed during flight training.
“Activate quantum radar.”
“Yes.”
After a moment of hesitation, one pilot finally flipped the switch and pressed a button.
Ultimately, a three-dimensional star chart materialized within the cockpit.
“…What in the blazes is this place?”
Both pilots swore they had never seen such a clean radar scan. Within the spherical star map, only their solitary spaceship flew, with barely any surrounding planets or cosmic debris.
“I have a nagging feeling this damned star map has tricked us.”
The pilot seated beside the star map angrily slammed his fist on the control panel. Yet, the panel’s durability far surpassed his fist; even if he donned the exosuit from behind his seat, it would be incredibly difficult to shatter the control panel with a single punch.
“Wait a moment, something seems to have appeared on the radar.”
“Hmm? Let me see… Is that a dot? A dot emitting faint, high-energy?”
“Shall we go investigate?”
“Yes.”
At this point, there was no panic in their hearts, for there was no need. If they were truly lost in the vastness of space, it was essentially a death sentence; panicking would be useless. Rather than anxiously watching the ship’s energy slowly deplete, they might as well explore some of the universe’s unknowns…
As the spaceship gradually approached the point detected by the radar, they finally saw it clearly.
“A decaying… star?”
Upon drawing closer, they finally witnessed the incredible sight before them: a star, shrunken to the size of an ordinary planet, emitting a faint reddish-white glow. The energy bursting from it was extremely weak.
“Is it about to form a black hole?”
“Wait, something seems to be orbiting that planet. Let’s get a little closer to take a look.”
As the patrol ship steadily approached, they activated a super-long-range camera located at the ship’s bow. As the camera’s view gradually zoomed in, they finally discerned what the black ring orbiting the star was.
“Damn it, isn’t that the accursed Zerg?”
“Are we… flying into a Zerg nest?”
Upon seeing the images transmitted from the camera, both men instantly froze in stunned silence.
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, Eat Me, Sweetie is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : Eat Me, Sweetie
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