Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 28: Entering The Third Layer: Ocean

"The Brightlings want us to take Amethyst and the priest's son, Titan, with us to Terror Island," Old Du said.

"What? They want to come with us? Is this old man crazy?" Zhang Bao'er said.

"They are here with information we don't know," Old Du said. "Terror Island is located in the middle of Sirius B's storm zone. Our ship is already destroyed. Our original plan of approaching on the flying fish will not work. The storm there is strong enough to crush anything. Even if we can withstand the storm with our suits, our fish won't be able to."

"What do we do? Do the Brightlings have a good solution?" I asked.

"They are going to bring us to a big whirlpool near the island with their ship. We can then proceed with our flying fish," said Old Du.

"Big whirlpool? What's that?" I asked.

Old Du asked Amethyst before answering, "For tens of thousands of years, nobody has reached Terror Island. They only roughly know the location from the legends. Priests of every generation had always wanted to explore the island. They discovered that there is a massive whirlpool in the sea zone near the island. No ships can go past the whirlpool. The Brightlings have only been able to reach the edge of the whirlpool."

"Fine," I sighed. "Looks like Sirius B is filled with dangers just like I had thought. Why do the Brightlings want to go with us?"

"The priest hopes his son can solve the mystery of Terror Island and lead their tribe back to Bright," replied Old Du.

We could understand their desire to return to their homeland. Zhang Xingxing agreed to let them come with us. After we were finished talking, we rested. We would set off on the next day.

When Zhang Bao'er and I went to see Blueflash and Toruk, we saw the two joyfully eating something that looked like beetles, courtesy of the Brightlings. When they saw us, they rubbed their massive fishy snouts against us.

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"Relax and enjoy yourself. We might have a hard day tomorrow," I said softly as I rubbed Blueflash's head.

Blueflash seemed to understand, its eyes turning domineering and aggressive. I was gratified to see that. With such a reliable and capable companion, I feared nothing. The night passed quickly. Early the next day, Old Du and Zhang Bao'er rode the flying fish toward the Kangaroo. Zhang Xingxing, Dodo, and I were left behind to fully tune all our equipment.

Amethyst and the priest's son, Titan, were also busy. They prepared numerous weapons we had never seen before. The Brightlings possessed a long tube capable of firing liquid bullets, a bow-like implement that could release electrical attacks, and various other weapons. The universe was a mystical place, filled with various life forms and numerous scenes beyond what humanity could imagine.

On Bright, the transmission distance of electromagnetic waves was limited. Thus, we lacked communication devices and could only wait patiently for Old Du and Zhang Bao'er to return with our Kangaroo.

After an entire day, we became impatient. Finally, when I was busy complaining about the efficiency of Zhang Bao'er and Old Du during dinner time, the two returned. Before I could even grumble at them, Zhang Bao'er took the lead and complained.

"I refuse to perform such missions in the future. To avoid the basin and the lava plain, we spent ten whole hours taking a big detour. There are lava lakes everywhere. I'm starving to death!" Zhang Bao'er complained.

As he complained, he greedily stuffed the food on the table into his mouth. As a more refined person, Old Du did not swear like Zhang Bao'er, but he was also hungrily devouring the food on the table.

The sight caused me to swallow my dissatisfaction. That was a far journey, and after a day of rest, everyone was filled with energy. Dodo immediately charged all our equipment on the Kangaroo. At the same time, he took apart some of the vehicle's smaller weapons and installed them on our suits.

"Why don't we drive the Kangaroo over?" asked Zhang Bao'er as he lounged on his bed.

"The Kangaroo won't be optimal because there will be a whirlpool and a cyclone there. I'm afraid that the flying fish won't be able to withstand these disasters either," I said.

After a night of rest, morning arrived. Under Sirius A's immense blue sunshine, we began our expedition to Terror Island. As usual, Dondon tagged along in the comfort of my bag. Meanwhile, Blueflash followed us from the sky. Led by over twenty Brightlings, we prepared to set sail into the lake.

The ship we boarded was actually a hollowed-out branch of the massive trees they built their houses on. It was big enough to carry even Blueflash, but the ship was also completely defenseless. Our expedition of over ten ships slowly set sail into the lake.

"These ships seem a tad bit too crude, right?" I said to Old Du. "They already have spaceships during Nommo's era. Why is the current generation using wooden boats?"

"I don't understand it either. Perhaps everything outside the whirlpool zone is completely calm, or perhaps they have degenerated," said Old Du.

After about three hours of sailing, we left the lake and entered a river so wide we couldn't see its other shore. The surface of the river was gleaming, and countless aquatic life forms of numerous shapes could be seen jumping out of the water every now and then, painting a picture full of life around us.

Suddenly, the Brightling in charge of rowing the ship nodded and said a string of alien words. The other Brightlings then took out a layer of plastic-like film and covered the ships tightly, not leaving even a single opening.

"Are they turning us into mummies?" Zhang Bao'er mumbled.

After Amethyst said something to Old Du in Gliesen, he gestured at us to stay silent. Just like that, we proceeded in silence for about an hour. My curled body was starting to feel sore, while Zhang Bao'er had actually rested his legs on the thighs of a Brightling. However, all the Brightlings around us remained completely silent.

Suddenly, rumbling thunder could be heard ahead of us. Then, our ships accelerated, carried by the current. I saw the Brightlings chanting, and suddenly, the ships dove downward. The rapid downward fall gave me a sensation of weightlessness, as though I was floating in the air.

I felt like the ship had fallen into an endless abyss, and everyone within the ship appeared dazed. Even after an hour, the ship was still dropping. In fact, the speed of the descent was increasing.

"Have we fallen into a bottomless pit? I'm getting dizzy," I grumbled.

I could see that due to the persisting sensation of weightlessness, Zhang Bao'er had fainted. In fact, I was on the verge of fainting as well. After a period of time that felt like an eternity, the ship flipped several times and then firmly landed on water. Our fall had ended.

"Finally, we're there," I heaved a breath of relief. "Xingxing, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, but I feel sick to my stomach," Zhang Xingxing replied.

"Feel free to vomit on Zhang Bao'er's body," I joked to ease the tension.

Amethyst spoke to Old Du in Gliesen.

"Everyone, we've arrived," Old Du said.

"Finally. Did I fall unconscious?" Zhang Bao'er suddenly woke up.

When the Brightlings pulled the cover apart, a shocking view unfolded before our eyes. We had arrived at Sirius B's third layer, the ocean layer. Before us, a massive tornado of water rose into the air, connecting the world's second and third layers. It was through this tornado of water that we had entered the ocean layer.

The massive ocean was clear and shiny. The sky above us was a massive void, and the middle layer of the world was not visible at all. In the air, numerous massive life forms that looked mammalian were floating about.

"So many giant life forms. Just how are they supporting their weight in the air?" I wondered.

"Perhaps they are actually lighter than the air, floating like balloons," Dodo proposed.

The sea level around us was rather peculiar. As far as the eye could see, it was all calm, with only a small part of the zone suffering from wind and rain.

"Canyue, look," Zhang Xingxing interrupted my thoughts. I turned around and was stunned by the scene before me.

To our backs was a lone island. The island was formed of oddly-shaped stones, and a massive forest was at its center. Unlike the purple forests of the middle layer, this forest was actually red. I had seen red leaves before, but this was my very first time seeing an entirely red plant.

Of course, the red plants alone were not enough to shock me. What truly shocked me was the two massive ships beached on the island's shore. The ships seemed to be made of a steel-like material. They were pitch-black, and numerous heroic-looking Brightlings were carved on the bow of the ships. Each ship was split into three levels, and they seemed fully equipped with weapons and numerous other facilities. The size of these ships had surpassed all our imagination.

I blinked awkwardly at Old Du. Just a few hours ago, we had complained about their crude ships. Little did we know that their truly high-tech ships were actually waiting here in the third layer.

All the supplies had been prepared beforehand. Our group and Blueflash boarded one of the ships. Titan and Amethyst joined us. The second group boarded the vanguard ship. The two ships set off one after another, sailing into the gleaming sea.

"The Brightlings know the coordinates of Terror Island. We will need around three days to reach the big whirlpool," said Old Du.

"Good. We can get proper rest and enjoy the scenery of Sirius B's sea," Zhang Bao'er said with a smile.

Blueflash and the other flying fish lay leisurely on the deck as they rested. Meanwhile, I brought Dondon to my own room. I lay on my bed, shut my eyes, and drifted into sleep without knowing it.

Boom!

A massive sound woke me from my sleep.