Chapter 68: Telepathic Space Apes

On the isolated J-005 deck, sixteen space apes were dispersed, spaced ten meters apart from one another.

They stood with their hands hanging down, as if they were statues.

After resting, the energetic Malena, Woyiqiehe, and Juerjuer stood on either side of Ninglu, curiously observing the strange creatures before them.

"Place the scrap in front of them."

After Ninglu issued the order, sixteen technical workers immediately pushed the garbage carts loaded with scrap in front of the space apes.

Before they had even stepped back, the statue-like space apes began to move, driven into action by the manufacturing genes implanted by the Old Ones.

The space apes' fingers and toes flexed continuously, turning the trash before them, including the carts, into scattered parts at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Orange figures rose and fell amidst the trash; Woyiqiehe widened his eyes, his mouth opening subconsciously.

He saw the ape-like creatures, their hands and feet dancing a mechanical dance like the mechanical tentacles manipulated by a Sage.

Trash materials that had no value other than being melted down changed form in their hands and feet within seconds, subsequently becoming various items.

Iron sheets turned into a Ring in an instant, ceramic shards became spheres, copper chunks became metal flies...

Ninglu saw steel wires being stretched into coils and tin blocks becoming halos, and he could not help but feel glad that he had ordered the use of scrap materials.

Even if they created useless things, there was no loss.

Juerjuer's brown eyes shone, and she exclaimed aloud.

"How amazing, how do they do it?"

"They seem to be driven by instinct."

The Biopsychic said thoughtfully.

"Correct."

Ninglu had just confirmed Malena's judgment when the communicator began to beep.

After he connected, Bukayo's voice came through.

"My Lord, I have arrived at the target point and discovered a Crystal Mountain; it is a hexahedron."

Ninglu was silent for a moment after hearing that there was a hexahedral Crystal Mountain at the target point, then he spoke.

"Report your progress at any time."

Having received no further information, he issued another order.

"Except for it, it..."

Ninglu tapped his finger, selecting the various light sculptures that contained Spirituality and had distinct forms to keep.

"Send the rest to my cabin."

The servitors and porters moved immediately, carefully transporting the items manufactured by the space apes.

At this moment, the communicator suddenly rang, and Bukayo's voice came through.

"I am about to climb the mountain."

Ninglu could not help but frown; Bukayo's reply was unrelated to his order and seemed more like a follow-up to the previous message, clearly indicating that the mountain was interfering with the communication signal.

Just as he was contemplating whether to continue the experiment or head to the surface, Malena spoke.

"I wish to go to the surface to assist Leader Bukayo."

"Good."

Ninglu nodded in agreement; with Malena's assistance, they could deal with the Slaanesh Cultist.

After all dozens of items were moved away, he came to a cart loaded with trash, extended two fingers, and pinched the handle.

He walked up to a space ape; in front of it sat a statue, emitting an overall white light that resembled fluorescence.

Its upper body was a jellyfish-like umbrella structure, while its lower body was an ammonite-like disc with two sharp horns extending from it.

Ninglu pointed at the material while his consciousness spread toward the space ape, finding the door to its mind within the vortex of weak Fear emotions emitted by its instinct.

"Use it," Ninglu moved his finger, pointing at the light sculpture, "to make it."

The space ape immediately came to the cart, using both hands and feet, and after a moment, created an identical statue.

【The space apes have emotions and a mind; they can understand telepathy, which is enough to prove that they are a type of biological creature.

It is just that they do not communicate through language; perhaps only the Old Ones know how to activate their intelligence.】

Ninglu then used telepathy one by one, directing the space apes to manufacture fifty-two light sculptures before stopping.

"Send them all to my cabin."

After thinking for a moment, he said to Woyiqiehe.

"Provide them with scrap and let them continue to create."

"When they are not making things, do not allow anything to be placed around them."

"At the same time, send people to take turns guarding them; if they start dismantling the ship's plating, stop them immediately."

Woyiqiehe carefully noted down Ninglu's orders one by one and went to execute them.

Ninglu then headed toward his own quarters, secretly wondering if the space apes would bring him any unexpected surprises.

At the same moment, at the Crystal Mountain, 666 meters from the surface, in front of Bukayo, the vertically ascending passage suddenly turned diagonally upward, leading into the heart of the mountain.

The passage was about tens of meters wide, and Bukayo did not stop, leading his team to continue forward.

He noticed that on the walls and the ground, many crystals protruded, either sparsely or densely.

After being promoted to "Midnight Poet," his Spiritual Enhancement allowed him to feel that these crystals were slightly different from those outside.

After he activated his Spirit Vision, he could barely see the specks of colorful light radiating from within them.

After walking another few dozen steps, he suddenly stopped and squatted down to look at the columnar crystal by his feet; this crystal was even brighter in his Spirit Vision.

After pondering for a moment, Bukayo extended his left hand and grabbed the crystal.

Having gained Physical Enhancement, his strength had increased slightly, and with just a little effort, he snapped the crystal off.

After playing with it in his hand for a while, he had no new discoveries, so he handed it to the subordinate behind him.

"Keep this safe."

Bukayo continued forward for several hundred meters; the special crystals appeared more and more frequently, and the agitation to his Spirituality grew increasingly intense.

He did not stop again, but continued to move forward.

Suddenly, six diverging paths appeared in his line of sight, and they looked no different from one another.

Bukayo walked into each of the six passages in turn, sensing the differences between them.

A moment later, he led the team into the third passage from the left.

In this passage, his Spirituality was agitated the most.

After advancing several hundred meters, when diverging paths appeared before his eyes once more, Bukayo suddenly raised the Jiguangchangqiang in his hand and fired a beam of light into the third passage from the right.

With a bang, a corpse fell to the ground, and at the same time, enemies wearing fine clothing and wielding scimitars and ornate longswords surged out from within.

The ambushing enemies howled, making sounds that could not be understood, and launched an attack on the Third Regiment as soon as they appeared.

"Midnight Poet," having gained shooting enhancement, pulled the trigger with speed exceeding that of an ordinary person.

He did not miss a single shot, and the enemies fell one by one.

"Midnight Poet," in the midst of battle, suddenly looked ahead; he felt a large number of creatures approaching from the front.

Bukayo's pupils suddenly constricted; he saw a tide-like wave of bizarre creatures surging over.

There were those with scorpion-like bodies, but with six shoulder-blade bones protruding from their spines, each bone ending in a stinger.

There were snake-like creatures with heads like razor petals, their extended tongues forked into two.

They hissed as they crawled past, and the people still alive before them were instantly submerged.

Bukayo raised his hand and fired a shot at a razor-snake Monster.

The snake Monster hissed, sprang up violently, and actually dodged the shot from "Midnight Poet."

Its two long tongues were like long whips, lashing at Bukayo from the left and right sides.

Bukayo's expression changed, and he shouted, "Retreat!"

If the Monster could actually dodge his attack, then his subordinates would find it even harder to land a hit.

Bukayo raised the Jiguangchangqiang with his right hand, pulled a Fragment Grenade from the tactical pouch at his waist with his left, leaned his body back, threw the grenade, and simultaneously dodged the attack.

"Midnight Poet," with Physical Enhancement that boosted his athletic ability, pressed his left hand backward, used the force to backflip, and dodged the stingers shot by the scorpion-like Monster.

Following an explosive sound, the snake Monster was blown into fragments, its limbs splattering everywhere, and it was subsequently submerged by the other Monsters.

Bukayo led the team to fight while retreating, throwing grenades to block the Monsters whenever they drew near.

As the grenades were rapidly consumed, the Third Regiment began to suffer casualties.

The scorpion-like Monster let out a shrill, strange cry, and its six shoulder-blade bones, like ropes, continuously elongated and shot toward Bukayo.

(End of chapter)