Interstellar Survival: Invasion

After an indeterminate amount of time, I woke up from the sounds of an argument.
I opened my eyes in a dazed manner and saw Zhang Bao ’er and Domo bickering and wrestling with each other non-stop in my room.

I rubbed my head and looked around, confirming that I had returned to the real world.
I hurriedly turned around to look at my backpack.
It was empty.
Just as I was starting to worry, I saw Bulu peacefully sleeping in the corner of my bed.
The light on its body had long dimmed.
It was sleeping soundly after the intense battle.
At that moment, I was finally sure that I had escaped danger.
However, I still felt some lingering fear and wasn ’t completely at ease.

”Canyue, you ’re awake.
Help me.
Zhang Bao ’er is trying to rob me! ” Domo shouted the moment he saw that I had awakened.

Only then did I refocus my attention on the two busy wrestling with each other.

”Robber, let go of me! ” roared Domo unyieldingly.
Domo, who was thin and frail, was being firmly suppressed on the floor by the chubby Zhang Bao ’er.
Even so, he still protected his pocket resolutely.

”You little thief.
You have accused me of being a thief for so long.
Today, you need to give me some compensation, ” said Zhang Bao ’er, who did not relent and continued trying to reach for Domo ’s pocket.

”What are you doing? Stop messing around.
Get up, ” I said, unable to take their antics any longer.

”No! Unless he gives me half his solidified time, I won ’t get up! ” said Zhang Bao ’er stubbornly.

At that point, Domo, who was being pressed on the ground by Zhang Bao ’er ’s chubby body, was starting to have a hard time breathing.
Seeing that, I hurriedly stepped forth and dragged Zhang Bao ’er ’s heavy body away.
The moment I dragged the fellow off Domo, I saw him fish out a case from Domo ’s pocket.

”Hahaha! As we agreed, each of us will have half of the solidified time! ” said Zhang Bao ’er smugly toward the dispirited Domo.

”Who agreed to that? That was a one-sided agreement! ” scolded Domo furiously.

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I couldn ’t do anything about the rivalry between the two and could only shake my head helplessly.
Zhang Bao ’er impatiently opened the case, but the moment the case was opened, his expression changed into one of extreme disappointment.

Curious, I stretched my head over to take a look as well.
The case was completely empty.
There was nothing in it.
Seeing our expressions, Domo also scurried up before seeing the empty case.

”Hahahaha! ” Domo howled with laughter when he saw Zhang Bao ’er ’s dazed appearance.

”Weird.
What is this? How can something we use in an illusion be gone in reality as well? ” asked Zhang Bao ’er in confusion.

Upon hearing those words, I drew my laser pistol from my thigh.
I saw that the pistol only had about 40 percent of its energy left.
The number proved that the resources we had exhausted in the illusion had also been exhausted in reality.

When I told Zhang Bao ’er my conclusion, he tossed the case onto the ground in frustration.

”Canyue, do we need to report everything to the commander? ” asked Domo when we all calmed down and took our seats.

”Of course.
But it ’s a pity that even after braving such a danger, we have not found any useful clues.
We still don ’t have the coordinates of the three-star system, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

Then, we stood up, ready to tell Commander Zhang Xingxing about what we had experienced in the illusion.

”The ring! Canyue, do you still have that ring? ” Zhang Bao ’er suddenly recalled something.

I hurriedly searched my own body.
When my left hand entered my left pocket, a stupefied look appeared on my face.

”What is it? You can ’t find the ring? ” asked Zhang Bao ’er nervously.

”No, but I have one extra ring with me, ” I replied as I took the rings out.

In the middle of my palm was an extra silver ring, which was most likely the ring I had taken from Dirk ’s finger when smearing the solidified time on his arm.
Domo snatched the two rings with the speed of lightning and held them close to his eyes to study them.
The two rings looked the same, but when Domo was studying the new ring, he suddenly froze, looking like he had discovered something new.

”What are you blanking out for? ” said Zhang Bao ’er, who snatched the new ring from Domo ’s hand.

I also went over to take a closer look at the new ring.
A diagram was actually carved on the surface of the small ring.

Upon seeing the diagram, Zhang Bao ’er turned the ring the other way around.
Then, a diagram resembling the Horsehead Nebula appeared before our eyes.
At the neck of the nebula, a three-star system was clearly marked.

”Canyue, this is a map! This is probably the map to the three-star system! ” exclaimed Zhang Bao ’er in excitement.

I was filled with excitement as well.
I had not expected my random act of removing a ring to bring us the map to the three-star system.
It almost seemed like the prophet was blessing us with success in all our endeavors.

”Canyue, let ’s tell the commander immediately.
We can set off toward the three-star system earlier, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

I immediately placed the sleeping Bulu back into the backpack and headed to the command room.
I did not forget to carry the backpack with me.
While we were about to leave the room, I caught sight of Domo sneakily slipping the other ring into his pocket.

’Domo is a money-grubber through and through, ’ I thought, somewhat speechless by his behavior.

By now, we were near the end of the three-hour rest that Zhang Xingxing had given us.
Many of the crew members were returning to the command room.
Sarje, Baobao, and the others even had the drowsy looks of people who had just woken up from sleep.
Nobody knew that while they were enjoying sleeping, the three of us were undergoing a life-and-death struggle.

We quickly headed to the command room.
Zhang Xingxing and the others were already waiting.
From their expressions, it was clear their three-hour-long meeting had not brought them any useful results.

”Commander, there was a great breakthrough on our side, ” said Zhang Bao ’er before I could say anything.

”It ’s so obvious this fatty is trying to snatch the credits for the discovery, ” complained Domo.

Everyone focused on Zhang Bao ’er the moment he shouted, and it appeared as if he felt like some sort of superstar.

”Commander, I know everything.
It is better to have me make the report instead.
In fact, I was the one who had made the discovery.
I also participated in the whole event, ” said Domo, not willing to fall behind Zhang Bao ’er.

Domo ’s action provoked Zhang Bao ’er, who no longer bothered with waiting for permission and started his storytelling session.
Meanwhile, Domo remained stubborn and started telling his story as well.
With the two speaking at the same time, the people in the room did not know who they should listen to.

”Zhang Bao ’er, stop.
Let Domo talk first.
You ’ll go after, ” ordered Zhang Xingxing, curbing the chaos.

Zhang Bao ’er was obviously unhappy, but he obeyed and shut his mouth.
A smug expression covered Domo ’s face as he impatiently told his story.
Of course, he altered a large part of the story to make himself look better and lower Zhang Bao ’er ’s level of contribution.

Even more excessive was the part where Domo claimed that Zhang Bao ’er was the one who had been knocked unconscious by the sludge beast and that he was the one who had risked his life to protect Zhang Bao ’er.
He even claimed that he had selflessly offered his solidified time in order to save Zhang Bao ’er ’s life.
Let alone Zhang Bao ’er, even I couldn ’t keep listening.

”Solidified time? I thought the emperor took all of it.
Why do you still have some on you? ” asked simple-minded Old Du.
That was also the question Domo feared most.

”Yeah, why did you have solidified time on you? Explain yourself, ” Zhang Bao ’er took the chance to question Domo as well.

However, Domo was not so easily intimidated.
He ignored the question and continued his story, eventually reaching the part where there was a map on the ring.
At that point, Zhang Xingxing and the two princes became excited.
The coordinates to the three-star system that they had been looking for had actually been found in an illusion.
I took out the ring from my pocket and handed it to Dodo.

”Is it my turn now? ” asked Zhang Bao ’er, who had been impatiently waiting for his chance to tell the story.

Zhang Xingxing was about to answer when Dodo interrupted her.

”Canyue, where ’s the ring? ” asked Dodo loudly.

Astonished, I took the ring.
The star chart of the Horsehead Nebula and the three-star system could be clearly seen on it.

”Isn ’t it here? ” I pointed.

”No.
I can ’t see anything apart from the ring ’s sleek surface, ” said Dodo.

”That ’s impossible.
Let me take a look, ” said Domo as he anxiously took the ring and studied it.

”Here, isn ’t it here? Are your robotic eyes broken or something? It ’s so obvious.
Why can ’t you see it? ” said Domo.
His words reduced my worry.
I almost started wondering if I was still stuck in an illusion.

After everyone took turns looking at the ring, we concluded that only the three of us who had entered the illusion could see the map.
Nobody else could see it.
Domo had no choice but to draw the map.
One ought to admit that Domo was actually quite good at drawing.
The enlarged version of the map he drew was actually exactly the same as the map on the ring.

”With this map, we now know the location of the three-star system.
It is at the neck of the Horsehead Nebula.
We can head there first and then scan the area with our infrared scanners to get the coordinates, ” said Dodo after studying the map.

The map we found was very helpful to Zhang Xingxing and the two princes.
After a short discussion, they agreed with Dodo ’s request.
We started heading toward the three-star system.

”I hope this is not another trap, ” said Baron Sisse, who remained cautious.

”Yeah.
We ’re no longer a small team with only three ships.
Instead, we ’re a fleet of over thirty ships.
For a fleet this big, it will be hard to protect everyone in the event of a battle.
Therefore, be careful in our subsequent operation.
I am responsible for the life of every single soldier here, ” said Zhang Xingxing.

Dodo followed the order and arranged for the fleet to perform a wormhole-leap to a location 0.3 lightyears away from us: the Horsehead Nebula ’s neck.