Chapter 305: Feeling My Body Hollowed Out

The engine caught fire, the alarm was shrill, and the hull shook like a giant that had drunk too much.

Zhang Cheng grabbed the rail of the porthole, his complexion uglier than the flames spewed by the engine.

"Really, just when one wave calms, another rises! Is this broken ship made of paper?"

Xingji Xiake slammed a fist onto the console, "Damn! We finally drove the pirates away, and now we have to play aerial acrobatics?" He turned to the shivering Lan Xing merchant in the corner, "Hey, swindler! Your precious ship's quality is subpar, it can't be a refurbished second‑hand, can it?"

The Lan Xing merchant's face turned deathly pale, stammering, "This... this is an accident! An accident! Who could have known those pirates' firepower was so fierce!"

"Accident?" Guangming Shizhe sneered, "I think you deliberately cut corners to make dirty money!"

The spacecraft's engine finally died, like a bird with broken wings, drifting crookedly toward an unknown planet.

The emergency landing was perilous, but at least it didn't become space debris.

The survivors hadn't even had time to rejoice when a harsher problem emerged: repairing the spacecraft required massive resources, and their reserves had already been nearly exhausted in the previous battle.

"Great, no money to fix the ship, we're all going to become space refugees!" Xingji Xiake flopped onto the floor, a look of utter despondency on his face.

The Lan Xing merchant's eyes darted, rubbing his hands as he said, "Everyone, don't panic! I have some resources here that can be used for emergency." He deliberately paused, watching everyone's reaction, "Of course, the price, it needs a slight adjustment..."

"Adjustment?" Xingyun Zhizhe pushed his glasses, voice icy, "The inferior energy blocks you previously supplied were already sky‑high in price; now you want to loot the fire?"

"Hey, you can't put it that way!" the Lan Xing merchant retorted immediately, "These are special times; scarcity makes things valuable! I'm taking a risk too..."

The two volleyed insults back and forth, debating the resource valuation from interstellar standard currency to rare cosmic minerals, and from mineral purity to extraction difficulty.

Zhang Cheng massaged his temples, feeling like his head was about to explode.

At that moment, the spacecraft's hatch suddenly opened, and an unfamiliar voice said, "Looks like I arrived just in time..."

The hatch opened, and a burly man in an interstellar fleet uniform stepped in, followed by a gaunt figure clutching a thick ancient tome, looking as if he had stepped out of an ancient ruin.

"Let me introduce myself, I'm the captain of Starship Dawn; just call me Lao Po," the burly man grinned, showing two rows of white teeth, "This is the Xingling xue zhe, Professor You Li Wu Si, one of the most learned minds in the universe."

Zhang Cheng raised an eyebrow, "Lao Po? Your name is really... very commonplace. What are you doing here?"

Lao Po laughed, "Of course I'm here to help! Professor You Li Wu Si knows a mysterious planet; it's said that not only does it have all the resources needed to repair the spacecraft, but also the legendary ancient treasure!"

The Lan Xing merchant's eyes lit up at the word "treasure," rubbing his hands together, "Treasure? Real or not? What kind of goodies? Diamonds? Gold? Or cosmic oddities?"

Professor You Li Wu Si pushed up his glasses on his nose, saying in a pedantic tone, "Those vulgar items don't interest me. What I pursue is the truth of the universe, the mysteries of Xingling."

"Enough, Lao You, stop pretending," Lao Po said, clamping his arm around Professor You Li Wu Si's shoulder, "If I hadn't promised to take him to a singing stone, he wouldn't have come to this damned place."

Xingyun Zhizhe's eyes lit up, "A singing stone? Could it be the legendary sound of Xingling?"

"Correct! Looks like you've heard of it too," Lao Po snapped his fingers.

After deliberation, the group decided to head to the mysterious planet.

The Lan Xing merchant, though pained for his ship, couldn't resist the lure of treasure.

However, the journey to the mysterious planet was not smooth.

Soon after they departed, they were hit by a sudden cosmic storm.

The spacecraft rocked violently in the storm, like a leaf drifting in a gale.

Alarms rose and fell, and many systems malfunctioned.

"Damn! What the hell is this weather!" Xingji Xiake clutched the rail, feeling as if his innards were being flung out.

"Hold steady! Everyone, hold steady!" Lao Po shouted loudly, his voice nearly drowned by the storm's howl.

Suddenly, the spacecraft jolted, the lights flickered a few times, then went out completely.

"It's over, we're done for..." Xingji Xiake muttered.

In the darkness, a calm voice rang out, "Guangming Shizhe, activate the backup energy!"

"Zhang Cheng, are you sure?" another voice said with a hint of hesitation.

"Execute immediately!" Guangming Shizhe gritted her teeth, "Alright!" A gentle radiance streamed from her hand, illuminating the dark cabin.

The backup energy engaged, and the spacecraft's System gradually returned to normal.

"Phew... that's better, that's better, we almost met our end here." Xingji Xiake let out a long sigh, plopping onto the ground, "This cosmic storm is downright scarier than my wife's roar!"

"Shut up! This isn't the time for that!" Zhang Cheng glared at him irritably, "Xingji Xiake, go check the ship's damage! Lao Po, you and the Xingling xue zhe, see how long the Energy Shield can hold."

"Got it!" Lao Po and the Xingling xue zhe sprang into action.

Xingji Xiake, though grumbling, understood the urgency and hurriedly led a few starship warriors to get to work.

The spacecraft bobbed in the storm, like a flatboat battling raging waves.

Suddenly, a harsh scraping sound came from the hull's exterior, followed immediately by another alarm.

"What's happening?!" Zhang Cheng's complexion changed.

"Report! Unidentified creatures detected on the hull exterior! In large numbers!" a starship warrior shouted in terror.

"What?! This... this is absurd!" Xingji Xiake couldn't help but retort, "We haven't even reached the mysterious planet, and already a starter? They really think highly of us!"

"No nonsense! Engage immediately!" Zhang Cheng barked, drawing his weapon and charging out.

Xingji Xiake hurriedly followed.

These unidentified creatures were grotesquely shaped—some resembled gigantic bats, some like octopuses with tentacles, others… in short, a mishmash of bizarre forms.

They emitted shrill cries, frantically assaulting the spacecraft's Energy Shield.

"Whoa! This thing's pretty fierce!" Xingji Xiake exclaimed while swinging his weapon.

These creatures not only were numerous, but their attack methods were bizarre—some spewed corrosive fluid, some fired energy beams, and some… sang!

"This... this is... a mental attack!" Xingling xue zhe clutched his head, groaning in pain.

"Mental attack? That's just cheating!" Xingji Xiake couldn't help but complain.

Just as the group was about to collapse, the Xingling xue zhe shouted, "Xingling Sound! Use the Xingling Sound against them!"

The others froze for a moment, then quickly recovered.

The Xingling Sound is a special energy ripple that can disrupt these creatures' mental attacks.

Under the Xingling xue zhe's guidance, the group began attempting to wield the Xingling Sound.

Sure enough, after hearing the star spirit's sound, these unknown creatures' attacks noticeably weakened, and in the end they all fled.

"Huh… finally… it's over…" Xingji Xiake collapsed onto the ground, feeling his body hollowed out.

After a fierce battle, the spaceship finally passed through the cosmic storm and reached the mysterious planet.

As soon as the spaceship arrived, Xingling xue zhe couldn't wait to start probing, and soon he discovered a special energy ore on the planet.

The ore emitted a faint blue glow and contained powerful energy.

"This is it! This is it!" Xingling xue zhe shouted excitedly, "This ore can not only repair the spaceship but also enhance its performance!"

Everyone cheered and began to mine the ore.

However, when they dug into the surface, they discovered… this planet seemed to hide an even greater secret…

"Wait…" Zhang Cheng suddenly halted his actions, his gaze heavy as he looked into the depths below, "What… what is this…"

After breaking through the surface, what emerged was not the expected vein of ore but a metallic platform shimmering with a pale blue light.

The platform was smooth as a mirror, covered with strange symbols that resembled the script of a lost civilization and also the patterns on a circuit board.

"Whoa! What kind of high‑tech gadget is this?" Xingji Xiake couldn't help but curse, reaching out to touch it.

"Don't touch it recklessly!" Zhang Cheng grabbed him, "Be careful, it could be a trap."

Xingyun Zhizhe squinted, carefully studying the symbols on the platform, his brows knit: "These symbols… I think I've seen them somewhere…" He strained to recall, then slapped his head, "I remember! This is an ancient star map! The legendary map that records the ultimate secrets of the cosmos!"

"The ultimate secrets of the cosmos?!" Xingji Xiake's eyes lit up, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's crack it right away! Who knows, maybe it hides some unbeatable universal gift package!"

Xingling xue zhe was also thrilled, pulling out various instruments to scan the platform, muttering, "Energy reaction… stable… symbol arrangement… patterned… this… this is a miracle!"

Just as everyone was immersed in the joy of discovering treasure, several stone pillars suddenly rose around the platform, their tops flashing red light and emitting a shrill alarm.

"Not good! Something's happening!" Zhang Cheng instantly became alert, "Everyone be careful!"

The alarm grew more urgent, the ground began to tremble, and the scenery around the platform started to warp and deform.

"What… what's going on?" Guangming Shizhe sounded a bit panicked.

"It seems… we triggered some mechanism…" Xingyun Zhizhe's face turned solemn.

Suddenly, a powerful beam of energy shot out from one of the stone pillars, heading straight for Zhang Cheng!

"Zhang Cheng! Watch out!" Guangming Shizhe shouted.

Zhang Cheng reacted swiftly, sidestepping the beam; it struck the rock behind him, instantly blasting it into powder.

"That was close!" Xingji Xiake wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, "This thing's power is way too great!"

"This… this is literally a Shen Gui Sha Li Tai!" Lan Xing merchant's face turned deathly pale, trembling behind the starship captain.

"Everyone stay calm!" Zhang Cheng steadied himself, "First, we…"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Cheng suddenly felt a powerful suction pulling him toward the center of the platform…

"Zhang Cheng!" the others shouted.

Zhang Cheng reached out, trying to grab something, but only grasped emptiness…

"I… damn…"