Age of Cosmic Exploration Chapter 326

Under the surface of this planet called cursed planet, about five hours before one of the surrounding planets became infected by flesh pustules, the Noah One’s survivors finally reached a tunnel near the Noah One after paying with the sacrifices of the disappearance of nearly one thousand people. After sending out several Blue Berets and two mysterious virus survivors to do some scouting, they confirmed that within the tunnel and at the pavilion near the Noah One was a large amount of humans being controlled by alien octopuses and floating alien octopuses. In other words, this was an impossibly dangerous tunnel, and there was no way they could cross it safely.

"We cannot rush headfirst into this!" Austin told the surviving military officers. "We now understand that the alien octopuses themselves are not that strong. As long as we have the mysterious virus survivors with us, we can take care them very easily. However, having those controlled humans around changes a lot of things… According to our current data, there are at least 3,000 of these walking human zombies, and they are not afraid of pain or death. We are trapped within a small space, and our weapons will not be able to hold them back much less when they are supported by the large group of alien octopuses!"

The faces of the people were drawn. Yun Si asked directly, "Then what do you propose we do? Since you have led us here, you must have some way to continue this further, right? If there are so many of them outside, there must be more of them inside, be it the alien octopuses or controlled humans."

Austin replied after some pause, "I do have some ideas in mind, but they are very dangerous and require everyone’s commitment… Let’s talk about the Noah One first. All of you should know by now that the biggest difference between the Noah One and the Noah Two is the Noah One’s crew was mostly military soldiers since we are the scouting unit. Therefore, the Noah One was built mainly for the purpose of war. There are plenty of auto defense systems installed within. We all know that the alien octopuses’ hypnosis only works on lifeforms, so if we activate these defense systems, the alien octopuses will not be our worry anymore…"

"In that case, why didn’t we activate those systems when the alien octopuses first infiltrated the Noah One?" One of middle-aged man stood up from the crowd and hissed vehemently. If not for the situation they were in, he would definitely have yelled. His question brought everyone a sizeable shock.

Austin laughed bitterly and then shrugged. "Because of time constraint. Activating these defense systems takes time, and at the time, we didn't even know that the mysterious virus survivors could see the alien octopuses. Furthermore, the general chaos of the situation prevented us from even the thought of activating the systems."

The crowd got silent. They all thought back to those few days that felt like a nightmare. Many had fallen on that day and many more had lost their families and friends. The memories were like a nightmare that they could not wake up from. In fact, until that day, many of the survivors would still suddenly wake up from their sleep with a scream. Since Austin had brought that day up, they were silent, perhaps paying it their due respect.

Austin looked around and continued, "The first few days after we landed on this planet, before we discovered the hidden danger on this planet, we commissioned digging and structural strengthening of a few tunnels around the Noah One. Everyone knows about that, right? Now, I am telling everyone that… at the time, we also dug a direct tunnel connecting the pavilion around the Noah One to an area around where we are. The purpose of this tunnel was for the sake of tactical advantage. When the tunnel was built, it was designed with the purpose of allowing the passage of siege engines, like tanks, in mind. If we take that direct tunnel, we will be able to reach the pavilion easily."

A middle-aged woman immediately chimed in, "Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get to that tunnel, but are you sure there are no scary monsters inside it?"

Austin nodded. "That I am certain of because this tunnel is well hidden and has both password and fingerprint locks. I do happen to have both… However, the key issue is after we get through the tunnel, then what? How will we deal with the alien octopuses and controlled humans at the pavilion? I do not think we will be able to get into the Noah One that easily."

Suddenly, a contained ruckus appeared among the crowd. Only Yun Si asked calmly, "Then what kind of idea do you propose?"

Austin sighed and chuckled helplessly. "I do have an idea, but it will be quite dangerous. We can do something like this…"

A while later, about 10 humans suddenly appeared from the tunnel near the pavilion and killed many controlled humans and floating alien octopuses with a rain of bullets before retreating back to the dark tunnel. Very soon, a large amount of alien octopuses and controlled humans swarmed towards the tunnel. Waiting for them was a barricade of heavy artillery, like rocket launchers and machine guns. The artillery was embedded into the tunnel wall to prevent blowback. Humankind had investigated the underground situation of this planet a long time ago. The ground was unusually compact and stable, and there had never been even one earthquake. Dropping a H-bomb underground would not cause the tunnel to collapse, much less the artillery.

Just like that, relying on the bottleneck entrance of the tunnel and the barricade of heavy artilleries, the alien octopuses and controlled humans were unable to get into the small tunnel. Furthermore, beside the people operating the artilleries were one or two mysterious virus survivors. This was because the surviving humans recently found out that while they were still unable to see the alien octopuses, being around the mysterious virus survivors would help prevent them from being hypnotized. That was why they could keep up the defense.

The sound of bullets and bombing attracted more and more controlled humans and alien octopuses to gather around the small tunnel. This heavy artillery unit was pushed deeper and deeper into the tunnel. The tunnel had light fixtures and smoothened walls, signs of human construction.

"Quick, hurry up, do not separate yourself from the group! All the survivors, keep a lookout for those alien octopuses! Focus your fire, we have to keep holding them and attract more monsters our way to buy more time for the other unit!" a captain, brandishing his assault rifle, yelled non-stop at the soldiers around him. After his yelling, the sound of firearms increased and a mess of flesh and blood had started to pile up at the tunnel entrance. However, more controlled humans stepped over the mound of flesh and rushed in, giving no notice to the guns that were firing at them…

In the middle of the tunnel, a large number of civilians were helping each other. Even though they were shivering, they kept taking one step after another. Even though what waited for them was a myriad of dangers or even despair, at least Austin had given them a sliver of hope, a hope at survival. It was already more than enough. Everyone was deeply appreciative of this hope given by Austin. In fact, many had deified him in their hearts.

"…We cannot save so many people!"

Austin whispered as he trudged forward. Around him were handpicked elite Blue Berets and his trusted allies who knew the full scope of his plan. There were 36 of them in total.

"…Because when we left Earth, many scientists were already worried that we would stumble across scary alien creatures and the Noah One might be taken over. If the aliens were clever enough to deduce Earth’s location from the information inside the Noah One, then the whole Earth would be in danger. Therefore, even though there are auto defense systems inside the Noah One, they attack indiscriminately. There is only one safe spot inside the entire the Noah One, but it is only big enough to fit less than 50 people. These 50 people are supposed to activate the Noah One’s self-destruct sequence after the auto defense system cleanses the Noah One. So how can we possibly save so many people?"

Austin mumbled as his eyes darkened. He looked at the people around him. There was sadness and hesitation in their eyes, but they still followed behind him. He continued, "I shall bear all the sin. It is a fact that we are unable to save so many people. It is not an issue of should or should not, but we simply cannot. Since we have no other choice, then we will find a way to live with this sin… There is still sperm and the ovum bank on the Noah One and sleep devices. Even though it was not the same as the ones in sci-fi where one’s lifespan can be drastically extended during sleep, at least it can slow down our aging during sleep. When the new generation matures, we can continue reproduction and ensure that the human line lives on… Shoulder this sin and let us live, at least we still have a reason to live!"

After hearing Austin’s words, even though the sadness in these people’s eyes had not dissipated, at least the hesitation had. There was resolution in their footsteps, and right in front of them was the end of the tunnel…

About 10 minutes later, suddenly, the whole cave shook. At the end of the tunnel, there was a loud explosion. Following the explosion, the exit collapsed and everyone inside the tunnel was trapped within!

They could only face the controlled humans and alien octopuses that were attracted by them alone!

Outside of the collapsed tunnel, Austin’s carefully group found their way into the Noah One. The pavilion was almost empty, and the small number of alien octopuses that remained was not enough to slow them down. Within the crowd, Austin was calm, but his eyes were solemn…

At the same time, in a galaxy far away, Yao Yuan sat on the captain’s chair and ordered while looking at the screen before him, "I order…

"The Hope to start warping!"

Chapter end