Chapter 434: New Discoveries in the New World_1

The unknown creature stood there motionless, as if it hadn't noticed Cao Yang and the others.

After a standoff of a few seconds, Cao Yang ordered, "Shoot it!"

Given the reaction speed of the unknown creature, it obviously wasn't the enemy with hundreds of thousands of ships but seemed more like a native of this planet.

Two soldiers each fired a shot at it, but after the laser gun hit, only two black spots appeared on its body, and it continued to stand there completely unaware.

Cao Yang then ordered, "There's a wire mesh in the escape pod, catch it alive."

This unknown creature actually had a human-like appearance, so naturally, if there was a chance, they would want to capture a live specimen for research.

Five soldiers took the wire mesh and cautiously approached the unknown creature.

Just as the soldiers were about a dozen meters away from the unknown creature, it suddenly pounced, swiftly charging towards the soldier closest to it.

Its movements were quick and clean, as fast as lightning and too quick for ears!

Before anyone could fire, the soldier holding the wire mesh was tackled down by the unknown creature, and then his screams of terror were broadcast over the combat channel.

The other soldiers lifted their guns to shoot at the unknown creature, but Cao Yang, who had just come down from the ship, quickly ordered, "Don't shoot! Nobody shoot!"

Cao Yang noticed that the unknown creature, which seemed liquid-like, had enveloped the tackled soldier, and it also appeared to have "spat out" a pile of white solid substance.

Using the binoculars on his helmet, Cao Yang took a closer look at the solid substances, and at this point, he already had a logical guess in his mind.

Then he connected directly to the soldier trapped in the liquid, "Are you okay?"

The soldier paused before realizing, "I... I'm not dead?"

To alleviate the other's psychological pressure, Cao Yang said with a smile, "Clearly, you're not. Don't be nervous, tell me what you see."

The soldier replied, "I... It seems I'm enveloped by some kind of white, opaque liquid. I can feel my hands and feet, but I can't move them.

"Ah... those... the liquids are moving, they're trying to get inside my combat spacesuit!"

Listening to this, the other soldiers seemed to feel the fear of the one attacked; the hair on the back of everyone's neck stood on end.

With his mind racing, Cao Yang immediately had an idea, "Quick, get the flamethrower!"

This planet has an oxygen atmosphere, only that the oxygen content is lower than Earth's, but it's still sufficient to support the combustion of flames.

Under Cao Yang's command, a soldier ignited the flamethrower and aimed it at the unknown creature.

The liquid that the flamethrower touched quickly charred like charcoal.

The mass of the liquid, as if aware, suddenly burrowed into the snow, revealing the attacked soldier's combat spacesuit.

But the part that had been burned black was still attached to the combat spacesuit.

Cao Yang had someone pull the attacked soldier a dozen meters away, then he cautiously squat down to examine the black substance.

Seeing that the substance no longer exhibited any signs of life, Cao Yang took out a multi-functional mini robotic arm from his individual tool bag and scrapped it a bit with a tool on the robotic arm.

The black material resembled plaster and cracked easily.

After peeling off this layer of material, the attacked soldier was entirely unharmed under the protection of his combat spacesuit; he was just a bit shaken and couldn't stand up due to weak legs!

What followed was the search for where the liquid had escaped to.

At this point, the two J195s that had been brought along were finally lifted out of the narrow escape pod hatch, and two soldiers immediately began operating the J195s to search the area where the unidentified creature had disappeared.

The temperature, dozens of degrees below zero, had already frozen the surface of the snow layer so solidly that even the J195 left only a shallow footprint upon it.

The J195 soon found a fist-sized hole on the surface of the snow layer. It was certain that the liquid had slipped away through this hole.

Cao Yang pointed to the hole and ordered the soldiers around him, "Even if it means digging three feet into the ground, you must find out where this hole leads!"

...

Three weeks later, the work of Cao Yang, Hao Ying, and Xing Yuanbin was essentially completed.

Jiang Yu immediately convened the second "Commander's Meeting." Hao Ying was the first to report on her work situation: "In total, over three hundred civilian ships survived.

"The closest of their hiding places is only a few hundred kilometers from the command ship, and the furthest is on a satellite of this planet.

"Additionally, after we announced that the enemy had withdrawn, we received a large number of distress signals from escape pods. We expect that another hundred thousand civilians, as well as over ten thousand officers and soldiers, are hiding in corners of this planetary system using their escape pods.

"Since we currently lack the capability to rescue them, I have ordered them to hibernate in their escape pods and wait for rescue.

"Seventeen military vessels are in a similar situation to ours, having suffered heavy damage and are hidden near the White Planet and other planets further out.

"They are also immobile and need us to send people for repairs.

"Moreover, two military vessels managed to break through the enemy's blockade during the previous battle and are now heading out of the planetary system. Upon receiving my message, they immediately began to return, and they are expected to arrive at the White Planet in a little over two months."

As she said this, Hao Ying let out a sigh of relief, appearing quite moved by the initial contact with those two military vessels.

Those two vessels were also damaged and could not proceed at full speed, but they still chose to travel in the direction of the Solar System.

With a distance of twenty-eight light-years, it would take them more than a thousand years to return to their home. By then, the Solar System might no longer exist.

In that moment, the officers and soldiers on the two vessels were like orphans of humanity, navigating the lonely cosmos.

They knew that between their lifespan and the supplies on the vessels, it was impossible for them to return to Earth.

The most likely outcome was that the two vessels would become ghost ships drifting through the universe.

But they had no other choice except to embark on the journey home.

Upon receiving Hao Ying's message, the crew on the two vessels wept with joy.

Hao Ying took a deep breath and continued, "Currently, we are conducting a census of the survivors. Once we understand the composition of the survivors, I suggest we put into hibernation those who are not yet able to contribute, and begin the most basic construction work."

Now, asking survivors to hibernate is not too difficult a task since everyone is aware that the enemy is moving away, and time for the Pioneering Fleet is running out.

They must unconditionally follow the orders of their superiors to get through the current crisis.

Next was Cao Yang's report. He first discussed the unidentified creature they had found and then said, "The two J195s dug down about a kilometer following those small holes, and to our surprise, they found liquid water.

"The harsh winter of the White Planet is extremely cold, but the thick snow and ice acts as the perfect coat for liquid water, leading me to speculate that there must be vast areas of liquid water.

"The J195s dove under the water, and we discovered another world beneath the ice and snow."