Chapter 604

Fortunately, the space suit came with built-in powered exoskeletons; the three of them exerted force together, two lifting the legs and one lifting the arms, raising the Blood Lion Roar.

The central control hall was located on the middle level; the group spaced themselves apart and entered the cargo elevator.

Perhaps due to considerations for housing sixty thousand people in the future, the elevator was extremely wide, its space comparable to an entire room, with posters on the walls bearing slogans like “HD996A Planet: A Better New Life” and “Have More Children—The Base Will Support Your Retirement.”

Hmm... this was rather strange—HD996A was eighty-one light-years from Earth, yet they had sublight cruise engines; logically, bioengineered humans or artificial wombs should have been commonplace by now, but the promotional posters suggested a preference for natural reproduction?

The Smiler seemed to notice Li Cheng staring at the posters and said cheerfully, “Actually, it makes sense. No matter how advanced technology becomes, as long as humans haven’t achieved mechanical ascension and remain primates—naked apes—we’re still governed by biology.”

Prolonged lack of companionship, especially physical comfort from a partner, reduces the secretion of oxytocin and endorphins, increasing the likelihood of depression.”

Edith glanced at him. “Sexual repression causes depression?”

“Exactly.”

The Smiler shrugged. “Also, petting and hugging warm-blooded pets with soft fur—like cats and dogs—can stimulate oxytocin and endorphin secretion, indirectly alleviating depression caused by sexual repression.”

“So I often go to pet shops and tell the clerks I’m sexually repressed, so I need to buy a dog or something. Every time, they look at me with weird eyes. I don’t know why.”

“What do you think?”

Zhong Lou sighed, then suddenly realized, “Wait—you remember going to pet shops? You retain personal memories?”

“Faint impressions, mostly.”

The Smiler thought carefully and said, “Before I came here, I seem to have been the leader of a fairly successful comedy troupe, with many comedians and stand-up hosts under me. Beyond that, I can’t recall anything else.”

“Now that you mention it, I have a vague memory too.”

Dir picked up the thread, uncertainly saying, “I think I was once part of a group full of cute girls—could it have been some idol girl group?”

Shi Shi murmured, “I think I was a PhD candidate under a professor.”

“Restoration technician,” Su Jie said.

The group exchanged glances, their confusion deepening.

According to the Loud Kid, one colony on HD996A housed sixty thousand people; even if we assume ten bases, that’s six hundred thousand total.

With Earth’s massive population, you could easily gather six hundred thousand human elites—scientists, engineers,

pilots, doctors, logistics experts, and so on.

So why are we now getting comedians, restoration technicians, and idol group members? Even if they were taking anyone, this is absurd.

“I was studying law before.”

Edith said uncertainly, “Maybe the base has memory implant devices that can rapidly teach knowledge and skills?”

“Possibly.”

Shi Shi remained noncommittal. After a period of travel, the cargo elevator finally reached the base’s middle level. Exiting, they turned several corners and arrived at the central control hall.

The central control hall was elliptical, dominated by a massive fish-shaped screen covering the entire front wall, with rows of computer desks facing it.

Ergonomic chairs lined the desks, likely designed to accommodate acceleration and deceleration during space travel—or perhaps to reduce noise—all were magnetic levitation models.

Among them were noticeably larger, wider chairs, presumably for crew members with big appetites.

At the center of the room, a transparent plastic cover enclosed a deep red circular button marked with an X.

Shi Shi set down the Blood Lion Roar’s corpse and, following the smart wristwatch’s instructions, lifted the plastic cover and pressed the button.

Hum!

Alarms blared throughout the entire base. Sections of the metal ceiling folded inward, deploying rows of robot-shaped sentry turrets resembling vacuum cleaners.

The sentry robots extended two metallic rods, slender as pencils, appearing small and cute.

“Weapons? That’s way too kawaii.”

The Smiler couldn’t help laughing—but the next second, the two metal rods fired purple arcs of electricity that pierced nearly half the central control hall. Thousands of lightning bolts flashed overhead and vanished instantly, as if you could smell ionized air even through the mask.

“Never mind what I said.”

The Smiler immediately backed off. Damn it—no wonder the space alien with strength rivaling Captain America could only resort to sneaky tactics and dared not openly destroy the base.

With this kind of power, even Professor Yang would scream, “I can’t tell you anything, aaaahhhhh!”

“The crematorium is in another sector of the Xinxiang Base. Stellar storms have shut the doors to that area—we can’t burn the body. Come on, place the Blood Lion Roar’s corpse here.”

Shi Shi grabbed the corpse’s arm and dragged it into a cylindrical “elevator” in the corner of the central control hall.

The elevator had inner and outer layers; the inner layer connected via pipes to the ceiling and extended upward.

The entire system resembled the pneumatic tube logistics systems used in hospitals, except this one used electromagnetic propulsion, not air pressure.

“This is a recyclable orbital cargo vault.”

Shi Shi moved the Blood Lion Roar to the farthest corner. The vault’s inner walls were lined with numerous straps equipped with ratchet tensioners to secure cargo. “Set the coordinates and launch the corpse into outer space. The space alien can’t cross the cosmos. Whether or not the corpse is infected, it won’t affect us anymore.”

As Shi Shi placed the corpse and stepped out of the vault, closing the door, he said, “Say whatever you want to say now.”

Valkyrie sighed. Though they’d only just met and barely knew each other, seeing a healthy person die like this still stirred a pang of sorrow—like a rabbit dying, the fox feels the same. She said insincerely, “He was a good man. He had a heart of gold.”

The Smiler pressed his hand against the thick transparent glass of the cargo elevator shaft and gritted his teeth. “Sixzi, Dad vows to avenge you.”

“Just send it already. Don’t waste time,” Edith said, shaking her head.

As Shi Shi pressed the button, the vault rose slowly, then suddenly accelerated when it reached thirty centimeters above the ground—humming as it vanished from sight.

The orbital vault was linked to the security system; once Vault One launched successfully, the sentry robots retracted back into the ceiling.

The first death had occurred. The space alien was still lurking among them.

Shi Shi turned around, his tone complex. “The Xinxiang Base is huge. If we remaining survivors cluster together, we can’t possibly repair all the rooms within one hour and forty-five minutes.”

I propose random draws to split into three groups. In twenty minutes, regardless of what happens, return to the central control hall.