Chapter 429: Strength in Numbers
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Of all the dead creatures, only the two that were stabbed with Han Jia's tentacles were mostly preserved. Ye Chong was left with only these two bodies to bring back with him. It was the first time humanity had seen this lifeform, and it was important to study it.
"I hope that this unknown lifeform is different from the ones Ye Yin and the others encountered. If they are the same species, then we're in trouble!" Ye Pang looked solemn as he said with a sarcastic smile.
Ye Luo asked, "Why?"
"There are only two possibilities if they're one and the same. One, these unknown lifeforms are spread across a very large area; two, they are already very close to us! Which one would you choose?" Ye Pang could not help being scornful towards him.
"Neither!" Ye Luo shook his head frankly.
Ye Chong ignored as he lowered himself down to study the two dead bodies. Once, in order to solve a problem that was particularly awkward in nature, Ye Chong had dedicated some time in biology. Nevertheless, his meager understanding could not help him much. What would really do him good was experience.
The purplish black shell was very hard, but not thick, else Han Jia's tentacles would not have been able to pierce through them. The creature's belly was soft, without the shell to protect it. The sharp blades on its sides were dangerous. The eye on each armor plate now looked lifeless. Ye Chong was beginning to believe Ye Pang's theory that these mysterious creatures were actually scouts of some kind.
From their battle earlier, it seemed that these creatures could move very fast, but their attack and defense were weak, typical of scouting type organisms.
Ye Pang did not want to invoke more panic in the crew, so their discussions were held in the medical bay. The technical side of things will have to be left to the ship's professional medical officer, and see if they could get anything useful out of the bodies.
As the group left the medical bay, they passed by excited faces discussing the battle earlier as they walked along the ship's corridors. When they saw Ye Chong, the devotion in their eyes was like that of his number one fans. Ye Pang and Ye Luo were mostly ignored, and this annoyed Ye Luo. As for Feng Su, the crew members treated her more carefully, since she was from the Xi Feng Tribe.
Rui Bing trailed along behind Ye Chong, never leaving his side.
After dinner, Ye Pang invited Ye Luo to his room.
"Who are those people?" Ye Pang asked in a whisper.
Ye Luo scratched his head and said, "Err, that's a difficult one."
Ye Pang sniffed at him. "What's so difficult about it? Even without you telling me, I know. Isn't that the one that the Family is searching for?"
Ye Luo was surprised, "Huh, how did you know?"
"What's so hard about this simple deduction? Look at you, so trusting in him. I know you like the back of my hand. Without researching his background thoroughly, would you have brought him here? Where are we heading to right now? To He Yue Galaxy. If he's a friend of yours from the free space zone, would you have brought him along to He Yue Galaxy? Err, of course, if it's your girl I suppose that's possible." Ye Pang last comment made Ye Luo blush.
"The mech that he deployed, I know instantly that it's the goods. A full-skeleton mech! I may have served for a long time in logistics, but I can still tell. He's very strong. I think he'll even be ranked in the single digits in the Family. If I remember correctly, the man that's very similar to one of our own is also a very capable mech pilot. So, I made a guess. But you, oh so gullible, admitted it straight away, you're so useless!" Ye Pang looked at Ye Luo with disdain.
Ye Luo was offended now. He curled his hands into fists, cracking his finger joints to intimidate Ye Pang. "Small Fry, I'll let you know, don't you go showing off in front of me. Hehe, I can bring you down with just one hand."
Ye Pang was unfazed by his show. He looked at Ye Luo meaningfully and sighed. "Boorish Luo, I can't figure you out. Why're you helping him? You're dead if your father finds out!"
Ye Lu's expression was unreadable. "I don't know either. I just know that he won't want to return to the Ye Family. Even I am not fond of the Family. Besides, what right do we have to order him back? I despise people who like to force their will onto others. On the other hand, I actually enjoy his company. Had I realized the situation earlier, I would've never reported back about him."
"Sigh, Boorish Luo, recognize the reality of things. He is just a single person, and can never defeat the Ye Family. In the end, he will be subdued." Ye Pang could not help a sigh.
"Small Fry, it's this part of you that I cannot stand! Reality? F*ck reality! Just look at me, hehe, hasn't the Family been asking me to go back since forever? Humph, I won't. See, they can't do nothing to me. Besides, I do what I think is right, and I have no regrets! I know exactly how the Family is like. Small Fry, with your level of abilities, you shouldn't have needed to stay in this run down place and be some no-good Chief of Logistics."
Ye Pang could only smile bitterly at that. "Logistics isn't too bad, suitable for someone lazy like me!"
"You! Sigh …" Ye Luo seemed to remember something, and lost his initial excitement. He sat down in dejection, and it was a long moment before he spoke again. "What're you going to do with him?"
"Do? I'll do nothing, since it's none of my business!" Ye Pang looked like his lazy old self again. However, he could not help but asked, "I can guess about the young man, but what about the woman? A member of the Xi Feng Tribe? What's their relationship? What about the rest in the group?"
Ye Luo shrugged evasively and said, "I don't know, you ask them."
Ye Pang was speechless.
The ship did not encounter any more of those unknown lifeforms later on. This was a great relief for the crew members. Another piece of good news was that they had met another transport ship along the way. The meeting between the two ships brought a joyful cheer to their crews.
In the infinity of outer space, loneliness was frightening. Hence, having company along was undoubtedly the most joyful thing to happen to them.
As they approached the rendezvous point, they met more and more transport ships. Soon, almost every hour brought about a new ship of the Ye Family to join them. This managed to soothe the nerves of the crew and its passengers.
The rendezvous point was on a small planet not far from the Gateway entrance.
The planet was not large. Its surface was now covered with all sorts of starships, with mechs flying in and out of them constantly. The planet had become a busy military base.
With coordination from the ground, Darvill finally landed on the small planet. Here was all the military power of the Ye Family in the free space zone, converged on this planet. After receiving the emergency beacon, all combat units had went straight towards the rendezvous point as soon as they could.
Ye Pang was not invited to the operations meeting. On Darvill, the only one entitled to attending the meeting was Ye Luo, but of course the man did not care to join the others. He declined to attend the meeting.
Nevertheless, Ye Pang still managed to uncover some information through other means.
In the bridge, only Ye Luo, Ye Pang, Ye Chong, Rui Bing and Feng Su were there.
Their expressions were not encouraging.
Darvill's encounter with the unknown lifeforms was reported to Ye Yin's subordinates, so the two bodies of the creatures were taken away from them. They had already ascertained that these unknown lifeforms were one of a few kinds that were attacking the Gateway.
The situation was more serious than expected.
When Ye Yin and his men arrived for backup, it was already too late. The entire Gateway was swarmed with a few different kinds of unknown lifeforms.
This was the worst situation that everyone had hoped to avoid! Once the Gateway was lost, they would have to clear it should they ever want to return to their homes.
After many days of contact, they now finally had some understanding of these mysterious creatures.
The creatures may not look alike, but they all had some common features - high aggression, and a strong propensity to devour anything that was made of metal or pure energy.
There was not much left of the mechs that were destroyed in their first wave of attack. The creatures had swallowed up most of the metal pieces like hungry ants.
Just thinking about it make one's flesh creep.
Clearing up the Gateway was now the main problem.
"Small Fry, you got any good ideas?" Ye Luo looked to Ye Pang.
Ye Pang shook his head. "None. However, I think that the most important thing we should do now is to understand more about these creatures. It's all we can do for now. We know next to nothing about these creatures, much less their weaknesses."
Ye Luo seemed to be disappointed with Ye Pang's lack of ideas. Ye Chong, Rui Bing and Feng Su did not speak, only observing the two of them.
Though he usually stayed quiet, Ye Chong spoke up this time. "What of the Xue Lai Clan and Xi Feng Tribe?"
Everyone paused to absorb his words.
"That's right! I wonder what happened to them?" Ye Pang seemed to give it some thought. If they had also encountered the same unknown lifeforms, they would probably not fare any better. The thought of the Three Aces being stuck in the free space zone was almost ridiculous to even consider for Ye Pang.
Soon, however, they had no time to consider how the other two Families were doing.
After resupplying, the Ye Family's combat division was ready to move out.