Chapter 532: Theseus

"Senior, is something the matter?" A Youyou pulled Li Hao's large hand and placed it against her cheek, rubbing it gently.

"Ah, it's nothing, I just missed you," Li Hao said, rubbing his nose.

"There, don't do that gesture next time you say something you don't mean," A Youyou said. "Are you going on a very dangerous mission?"

Li Hao usually took great care not to expose their relationship to avoid bringing A Youyou unnecessary trouble at times like this, but coming over like this clearly meant he had encountered something very serious.

Li Hao shrugged helplessly, knowing he had been seen through by A Youyou. "There is a matter I need to confirm. It's a little dangerous, but I'm confident. If I can't beat them, I'll run; I won't try to be a hero."

A Youyou's heart skipped a beat. She understood Li Hao very well; deep down, this person loved playing the hero most of all. Once he said things like that, the situation was definitely extremely dangerous.

"Can you not go?" A Youyou leaned against Li Hao.

Li Hao gently stroked A Youyou's hair, breathing in her refreshing fragrance. It seemed as if he were no longer on the battlefield. The life he had always longed for was actually to graduate from Tianjing Mobile Suit, inherit the boss's pizza shop, raise Er Ya and the others, and live a happy life with the person he loved. When he was free, he could drink and brag with Zuo Xiaotang, Wuzang, and the others. But to live, one must make choices.

This battle, he had to go.

"Let me tell you a secret: actually, the first time I went to Tianjing was just to see you," A Youyou said, snuggling into Li Hao's arms.

Li Hao immediately perked up. "Ah?"

A Youyou bit her lip. "Learning ancient music in Tianjing was just an excuse. Even if Principal Long hadn't arranged for you to come, I would have 'run into' you anyway."

Li Hao tightened his arms around A Youyou. "Oh, so you've been coveting my good looks for a long time."

"You're so vain, you've been corrupted by Ma Long!" A Youyou patted Li Hao. "Aren't you curious?"

"I am curious."

"Then how could you hold back for so long without asking me?"

"I am very grateful for everything that has happened to me," Li Hao said with a smile, stroking A Youyou's hair.

"Hmph," A Youyou pouted her cute little lips, feeling that Li Hao wasn't concerned enough about her, but Li Hao quickly resolved her little resentment with a French kiss.

"Hurry up, confess all your secrets. Leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist!"

"Actually, I'm also a member of the Solar System Youth Class. Do you have any impression of that?" A Youyou blinked.

Li Hao's eyes remained still while his brain spun rapidly. What was it Ma Laoshi said? He thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a strategy. "Should I say I do, or I don't?"

A Youyou burst into laughter. "If you could recognize me, that would be..."

Ding ding ding~~~

The Skycom rang, interrupting their intimacy. It was from the Command Center.

"Li Hao, the situation is urgent. Return to your unit immediately!"

Military orders were like mountains. A few minutes later, the Kuangfeng had already prepared a Flying Shuttle. Li Hao and A Youyou said a hurried goodbye. As he was leaving, A Youyou no longer cared about the gazes of the comrades around them and hugged Li Hao tightly. She knew that after this departure, she didn't know when she would see him again.

"I will wait for you to come back," A Youyou said. "I still have secrets I haven't told you."

Li Hao smiled and nodded. The pilot on the Flying Shuttle was already waiting for Li Hao. He closed the hatch and immediately flew toward the Space Fortress.

Upon arriving at the Space Fortress, Li Hao went straight to the Command Center. Makemu, Wufa, and Pang Pai were all there. They didn't greet Li Hao when they saw him, but instead stared at the big screen. This was the information fed back from the Fifth Fleet.

After receiving the order, they immediately began sweeping the surfaces of the main warships. They really did find faint life signs on the surface of the warships. They were just too faint, and their form was integrated with the warship. It was currently unimaginable how these creatures could open a Space Channel.

"Everyone, this new type of Giant Insect must have infiltrated the fleet by drifting through space, like plankton, and then attached themselves to the surface of the warships to grow slowly. They are similar to a mutated variety of the lurkers on Kepler," a man in a white coat said. "They don't possess attack power themselves, but they can grow a biological Space Channel inside their bodies for Silicon-based Life to enter and exit. Those monsters must have used them to get in and out."

After finishing, he turned his head and saw Li Hao. "Li Ge, long time no see."

Jingrui Eisen Chen, a genius in the biological field from the former Tianqi Youth Class. Besides him, Li Hao also saw Jeris and others. In fact, since the war began, they had been secretly recruited by the Alliance to become members of the advisory group. This was also top secret, covering elites in fields like biology, astronomy, mysticism, and more. Among them, there were five or six that Li Hao knew.

Jeris also waved at Li Hao. They were all very excited and stimulated. Fear didn't exist for them; these science fanatics had finally encountered something worth challenging. Even if it were a demon, what they were most interested in was dissecting it.

Makemu and the others also saw the satisfaction in each other's eyes. This discovery was extremely important. They hadn't expected Arths to be able to propose such a line of thought, and this line of thought was quickly recognized by the advisory group. Ordinary radar couldn't perceive them, but through detectors specifically aimed at the Giant Insects, they had discovered faint reactions, already below the normal standard.

Furthermore, this wasn't the most important thing; the Command Center held an even bigger secret.

The Fifth Fleet had already begun casting its net, and the Mobile Suits were on standby. They weren't afraid of the enemy; they were only afraid of not knowing where the enemy was coming from. Moreover, after the first battle, they had a certain understanding of the combat power of these Reincarnated Humans. Although their combat power was extremely strong and their mobility was high, they were not impossible to counter.

Now, they had to wait for the rabbit to hit the tree stump.

"Li Hao, did you see Zhuang Zhou? Did you find anything?" Makemu asked.

Everyone looked at Li Hao. Originally, he had wanted to go test the waters himself, hesitating over whether to speak of such an incredible matter.

"Second Brother, tell everyone about it. We also have many guesses, and everyone needs to verify them," Jeris said. There were some secrets they couldn't leak to the outside, unless Li Hao also became one of them. This was also the reason why everyone unanimously proposed that Li Hao should also enter the core team; Li Hao was not just a Warrior.

"I saw Zhuang Zhou. He was indeed interfered with by a more powerful force, and there is a phenomenon of his mental world being invaded. Currently, the mental coordinates have been eliminated, and there should be no danger in the short term, but the possibility of that force invading again cannot be ruled out, and the possibility of him invading others cannot be ruled out either," Li Hao said.

"What kind of thing is that?" Wufa asked.

Li Hao was silent for a moment, not knowing how to describe it.

"Li Hao, just say what you think. Even if it sounds absurd, it doesn't matter. The enemies we are currently facing cannot be judged by conventional logic," Wufa said in a deep voice. Clearly, the Command Center, which had originally held an optimistic attitude toward this expedition, had completely lost that thought. In this battle, it was very likely that they were the ones being hunted.

"I suspect that there is a creature on Kepler that possesses a powerful Spirit. This creature is controlling everything we encounter from behind the scenes. The coordinates of Kepler were intentionally given to us by it, including Nangong Yuhang, including these Modified Humans who have integrated new technology. It is very likely that it comes from the Nimeier Civilization," Li Hao said. "Through Zhuang Zhou, I have had indirect contact with it. The other party's Soul Power is so strong it's akin to a god."

After he finished speaking, the people present were not surprised at all. Li Hao also understood; it seemed that the high-level officials of the Alliance had also noticed, and perhaps even knew more.

"When the Nimeier Ruins were discovered, the Alliance was actually already researching them. This civilization did not follow the same development path as ours, but the level they reached was no less than ours. Through their spiritual civilization, they reached the point of being able to perform Space Jump. All these years, besides Kepler, we have also been studying the Nimeier Civilization, but it was only the Nangong Yuhang incident that made the Alliance realize the severity," Makemu said. "Through the study of the Soul Transfer Statue, this is similar to our use of energy. The Nimeier Civilization can also obtain very high movement vectors through the amplification technology of soul energy. As for the biological entity itself, we follow Gene Modification, while they follow Soul Fusion, which is closer to the source. Theoretically, it can achieve immortality, or even the effect of becoming a 'god'."

This god, everyone present understood, was the kind of transcendent intelligent entity in the various Faiths of us Humans.

"Second Brother, no matter what kind of life civilization it is, after reaching a certain height, what individuals in the civilization pursue is almost always their own immortality, infinite power, and the ability to roam the universe. Humans are pursuing it, and the Nimeier Civilization is also pursuing it. It's just that in this regard, they have better innate conditions than humans; their souls are purer and stronger," Jeris said. "We judge that the fog on the Kepler Planet is not naturally formed, but is being controlled by that life form. If we still follow the tactics of conventional warfare, it is highly likely we will suffer a crushing defeat."

"Simply put, there is a massive life form in the ocean of Kepler," Jingrui's eyes shone with intense light. "That should be the ultimate creature of the Nimeier Civilization. We judge that this should be a collective of Nimeier. They used their inherent soul-transfer method to condense their souls into one, giving birth to an unprecedentedly massive life form. It's just that this life form is too massive and there is no suitable container to hold it. In general cases, a soul without a carrier will slowly dissipate, but it may have used some method to not dissipate. The negative situation this brings is that most of the time it is in a deep sleep, and its reactions will be relatively slow."

"We judge that it may be gradually influencing human development through dreams and helping us achieve technological leaps. When humans reached the point of being able to travel in the Starry Sky, it opened the coordinates of Kepler to us," Jeris said. "Of course, perhaps only a very small number of humans possess the conditions to be influenced, and its ultimate goal is to find a suitable carrier. The organization Noah's Ark, Nangong Yuhang, and the modified Fan Liweite and others may all be its test subjects, and it should be nearing success."

There was some awe in everyone's eyes, but more of it was excitement and curiosity—an opportunity for a face-to-face collision with the ultimate creature of another living civilization.

(End of chapter)