Age of Cosmic Exploration Chapter 174

Chapter 174: Soul Singer
To be accurate, the giant propeller was not pushing the mother nest towards the sun in a straight line.
First, the front of the propeller was equipped with a super growth field generator that reacted with the mother nest at the cellular level. It hardened the cell wall so to speak so that the propeller would not simply shoot through the nest. The propeller, although big in size, was as small as a needle when compared to the overall size of the mother nest. It would pierce through the nest if not for this technology.
Due to its mass, the propeller was unable to push the mother nest in a straight line towards the sun. The plan was to utilize Moon 2’s gravitational force to add to the acceleration. The aim was to circle around Moon 2 to harvest centrifugal force that could add to the propulsion.
The whole process was slated to last for 2 hours and 40 minutes. According to the central mainframe, the first 2 hours would be the most important. After the 2 hours, the acceleration would have reached an irreversible acceleration.
Prior to that, the propeller couldn’t suffer any hostile attack and must be manually guided. Yao Yuan was tasked with handling these 2 important details. He was successful, so the propeller managed to lodge itself into the mother nest, initiating the tug-of-war between the mother nest and the alien plant. This caused the creator’s particles to decrease in density, because the mother nest was too focused dealing with the alien plant. When the mother nest reached Moon 2’s orbital range, the creator’s particles had completely been removed and communications came back online.
"…This is 001 combat jet, I am Yao Yuan. Please give me a combat report."
"002 combat jet suffers from an abrasion to the left wing, energy level at 21 percent…"
"003 combat jet suffers no damage, energy level at 26 percent…"
"… 127 combat jet suffers damage to the particle flux accelerator, lowering the mobility by 11 percent. Energy level at 30 percent…"
After the last trooper gave his report, Yao Yuan calculated there were still 90 troopers still alive. In other words, about 20 Homo Evolutis had died.
"The undamaged combat jets stay to watch over the proceedings, the rest returns to the Hope... Yao Yuan to the Hope, Yao Yuan to the Hope, request to speak with the acting captain."
"This is the Hope’s central command. Nice to hear from you, Captain. Connecting you to the acting captain now…"
"Bo Li? I need a report on the mother nest."
Bo Li read the crowded data that appeared on screen and replied, "The mother nest’s inner layer is undergoing drastic changes. The scanners show that its cellular structure is rapidly changing, not unlike how the gene vibrator operates. According to our heat scanner, one third of the mother nest has been consumed by the alien plant but the mother nest is stabilizing and fighting back…"
"How long do we have?" Yao Yuan asked after some thought.
Bo Li glanced at the computer simulation and answered, "1 hour and 20 minutes until the alien plant starts to get consumed in return, then there will be about 15 minutes of downtime for evolution to occur."
"1 hour and 35 minutes in total? That’s much shorter than the predicted 2 hours," Yao Yuan groused.
Suddenly, a voice entered his communicator. It was Xiao Niao’s. "Yao Yuan, the voice just now came from Nian Xi Kong, right?"
Yao Yuan answered offhandedly because he was preoccupied with figuring out a solution. "Hmm, I asked her to help me pass on my message to attack the mother nest to the rest of you. I wasn’t expecting her power to be so strong that it could affect the mons… Wait, Xiao Niao, do you mean…?"
"Yes, that is exactly what I mean. If the alien plant couldn’t hold the mother nest that long, we can ask Xi Kong for help. If she can keep the mother nest occupied for

about 20 minutes, the plan will work!" Xiao Niao’s voice answered.
A rejuvenated Yao Yuan yelled into the communicator, "Hope, this is Yao Yuan. Get Nian Xi Kong to central command and give her an electromagnetic transmitter. Ask her to try singing at the mother nest!"
Following Yao Yuan’s orders, the diffident Xi Kong was brought to command central. She fidgeted nervously under the crowd’s gaze as Yao Yuan explained to her the mission.
"I…" Xi Kong glanced at her feet, afraid to lift her head. After a long while, she took a deep breath and said, "Yao, Yao Yuan, do you really need me to do this?"
"Yes, Xi Kong, I need you! I need you to use your voice to disturb the mother nest’s cellular actions, so sing at the top of your lungs and fill the empty cosmos with your voice!"
"Okay," Xi Kong replied in a soft voice before closing her eyes to focus.
Bo Li, who was sitting in the captain’s seat beside Xi Kong, kept her face straight, but a closer inspection would reveal her subtly twitching eyebrows.
After all the equipment was set up, Xi Kong’s voice was transmitted through space in the form of electromagnetic waves. However, more than that, her voice also reached across people’s hearts in a more ethereal connection, one that science couldn’t explain.
"She really does have an impressive voice. I get relaxed every time I hear it."
A male technician in command central offered as he involuntarily closed his eyes to submerge himself in the enjoyment of Xi Kong’s song. The female technician beside him nodded in agreement, but she nudged him out of his reverie, adding, "Look, the cellular distribution in the mother nest is changing!"
Following Xi Kong’s singing, the cells inside the mother nest started to show a "rogue" condition. They started to slow down until they reached inactivity. This gave the alien plant the break it needed to spread out across the mother nest. Slowly but surely, more and more of the mother nest was consumed by the alien plant!
The troopers who were still fighting cheered in relief when they saw this development. Even Yao Yuan sighed in relief.
"…Please don’t revive again. We’ve used everything we got, just become plant food already!" Yao Yuan mumbled to himself while looking at the gyrating mother nest before him.
As time passed, the troopers who returned to fix their jets came back to surround the mother nest, and Yao Yuan returned to the Hope in the Red Lightning to personally give support to Xi Kong… The girl’s voice had gotten hoarse from singing nonstop for about an hour. She was reaching her limit.
The room was as still as the inside of a coffin as Xi Kong finished another song. The initial excitement was replaced by a heavy solemnity. Many civilians crowded the corridor outside of central command after they heard what was happening. Many hugged each other closely and stared at the singing girl in silence. Some of the younger girls in the crowd even started to cry.
"That’s enough!"
Yao Yuan strode to Xi Kong’s side and took the trembling girl in his arms, adding, "You’ve done more than enough, please leave the rest to us."
Xi Kong smiled up at him. There was a faint, sickly blush on her face. She said weakly, "I hope I’ve been of use to you…"
"Of course, you’ve done more than what I could have possibly asked for, so please, rest now," Yao Yuan replied kindly. Then he felt pressure on his arms because Xi Kong had collapsed.
"Carry her to the care unit, and keep a close eye on her." Yao Yuan passed Xi Kong to the crew of doctors who were already waiting. After they had left, Yao Yuan turned to Bo Li. "Bo Li, I’ll leave the Hope to you. Keep me updated on the mother nest’s condition. We’ve done everything we could. The rest…
"We shall leave to fate."
Yao Yuan left for the hangar after that. He got on the Red Lightning to finish the rest of his mission.
In his hurry, he failed to notice the disappointment that flitted across Bo Li’s eyes and hatred that flitted across Ji Jie’s.
Xi Kong, in her unconsciousness, returned to the empty space she occupied whenever she sang. She was surrounded by light orbs and dots. She instantly spotted the biggest orb that represented Yao Yuan, but to her consternation, she found a dark orb behind it. It was bigger than the size of the normal orbs, and instead of emanating light, it seemed to be sucking the light from its surroundings. It was cold, as cold as the touch of death…

Chapter end