Interstellar Survival: Invasion

”What is it? Show us! ” said Zhang Bao ’er impatiently.

Commander Herbert nodded at Commander Xidor, and the latter took out an item from his pocket.
He held it tightly within his palm, as though he was afraid he would lose it.

”What is it? Open your palm, ” said Domo, who was being tortured by his curiosity.

Commander Xidor slowly opened his hand, revealing a silver ring lying on his palm.

”What a treasure! Let me get a closer look, ” said Domo as he reached his hand over the moment he saw the ring.
However, Commander Xidor immediately pulled his hand back.

”Ring? Where is it from? ” asked Zhang Xingxing.

”I saw this ring in the recording.
It was the ring on the creature ’s finger, and it was left atop Dirk ’s helmet.
I recognized it the moment I saw it, so I stealthily hid it, ” said Commander Herbert.

Upon hearing that, I took the ring from Commander Xidor and studied it.
The ring was extremely light, to the point one could almost feel no weight when holding it.
The ring was also extremely hard, and it felt rather icy to the touch.
Some characters were carved onto it, but I couldn ’t understand them.

”That creature placed its ring on Dirk ’s helmet and then sent the items back to you.
Is it some sort of secret message? ” asked Baron Sisse.

”That ’s very likely.
I think the creature was trying to lure us to its lair.
All those clues were meant to help us find it, ” said Old Du.

”Are you sure? Is this some sort of trap to lure prey over to the creature? ” asked Wind Spirit.

”With the beast army ’s strength, if they want to reveal themselves, they only need to launch a direct attack.
There is no need for such a complicated ploy.
There must be some other reason, ” said Old Du.

”If that ’s true, then the characters on the ring are probably a clue.
Can anyone translate it? ” asked Zhang Xingxing.
She looked rather excited upon hearing Old Du ’s words.
After all, we had finally found some clues after so long.

”Dodo, come look at these characters.
Can you find them or a similar language in your database? You can also check if this is a diagram or something else, ” I asked as I passed the ring to Dodo.

Dodo took the ring and scanned it before performing a quick search of the imperial database.
The ring ’s data was also sent to Spacetime, allowing Old Du to scan and search the league database as well.
About a dozen minutes passed, but no similar language was found in the two databases.

”Can I take a look? I ’ll see if I ’ve seen these characters before, ” said Amethyst, a Brightling descendant who also happened to be a master linguist.

I was hopeful when I saw Amethyst offering to help.
I quickly handed the ring to her.
She took the ring and started studying it.
Everyone else remained silent, afraid to disturb her concentration.
She spent an entire hour seriously studying the characters.
We could sense that Amethyst was constantly comparing the characters with all the ancient characters she had in her brain.
Unfortunately, an hour later, she looked up and shook her head at our hopeful gazes.

”It hasn ’t been easy for us to get this clue, but we can ’t even translate the characters on it? What was that creature doing? Why didn ’t it provide a translation? What ’s the point of this? Might as well let me keep the ring as a collector ’s item, ” said Domo, whose greed for the ring reappeared.

”You greedy bastard.
Is there anything that you don ’t want? Let me take care of the ring.
I can protect it against his thievery, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

”Who ’s the thief here? You were the one who stole some solidified time and refused to admit it, ” said Domo, going straight for Zhang Bao ’er ’s weak point.

Because of that, Zhang Bao ’er could only shut his mouth.

”Stop bickering.
Canyue will keep the ring for now.
The data of the characters have also been sent to everyone.
Take three hours to do your own research and rest, ” ordered Zhang Xingxing.

”Commander, I thought we just finished resting? ” asked Lin Feixue.

”Dodo and Jack are still looking for the three-star system.
The other imperial fleets are searching for us as well.
I need to have a longer discussion with the two princes and commanders, and that will take a few hours, ” said Zhang Xingxing.

At that order, everyone returned to their rooms, some to rest and some to do more research on the unknown characters.

”Baron Sisse, Old Du, Master Crystal, Kelly, Principal Sosse, and Canyue.
Can I trouble you to join the meeting? Kelly and the others, come over to Skyhawk for now, ” said Zhang Xingxing.

Zhang Bao ’er appeared rather dissatisfied that he wasn ’t called to the meeting.
Domo, who had always proclaimed himself as an officer, also looked extremely unhappy.

”Reporting to Commander Xingxing, I ’m slightly tired.
Permission to take a rest instead? ” I asked.
I did not feel like participating in the coming discussion, and I felt tired just thinking about it.

Zhang Xingxing was clearly surprised that I wasn ’t willing to join, but after a slight hesitation, she agreed.

”Take care of yourself, ” said Zhang Xingxing with concern.

I responded with a firm nod.
With the commander ’s permission, I returned to my own room.
For an unknown reason, I only wanted to rest and bring my mind back to its peak state.
I had barely lain down before Zhang Bao ’er and Domo squeezed through my door.

”What is it, you two? I ’m very tired and sleepy.
Why are you here? ” I complained to the two who were seated on the ground and staring at me.

”Canyue, just ignore me and sleep.
I was worried that this fellow would steal your ring.
The ring must be well protected as a precaution against the alien ’s thievery, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

”Who ’s the alien here? Explain yourself.
This fatty is most likely here to steal the ring.
Canyue, I ’m here to protect the ring, ” said Domo unyieldingly.

I was rather speechless at how the two were behaving, so I turned over and ignored them.
A few minutes passed, but I felt like my back was burning from the stares.
I couldn ’t sleep at all, so I sat back up and turned around.
The two clowns were still there staring at me.

”I feel terrible to be stared at like this.
Sleeping is impossible when someone is staring at you.
Can you please turn around, my lords, ” I pleaded.    

However, the two merely exchanged glances with each other.
They still remained where they were.

”If you continue, I ’ll go to a different room, ” I threatened as I stood up.

”No, no, no.
How about this? Let me take one last look at the ring to confirm that you still have it.
After that, I ’ll turn around with the damn fatty, ” said Domo, making a request that caused me to roll my eyes.

I looked at Zhang Bao ’er.
He actually agreed with Domo.
I felt extremely helpless.
I couldn ’t understand why they were so worked up over a ring.
I then took out the ring from my pocket and showed it to their faces.

”See? The ring is safe.
You can turn around now.
I need my sleep, ” I said.

Seeing that the ring was safe, the two finally turned around, not forgetting to scold each other while doing so.
I shook my head before lying down again.

’Sigh, just what are these characters saying? ’ I sighed after giving the ring one more look.

At that moment, I felt sleepy again.
I was about to put the ring back into my pocket when I saw a red flash from the ring.
I rubbed my eyes and confirmed that there was a slight red light coming from the characters on the ring.
It was not hard to discover against the backdrop of the silver ring.

At that point, all my exhaustion was gone, and I sat up in shock.
Zhang Bao ’er and Domo hurriedly turned around when they heard the noise I made, thinking that something had happened to me.

”Domo, Bao ’er, come see.
There is a red light coming from the ring, ” I shouted in excitement.

Zhang Bao ’er immediately reached over to take the ring, but he was cut off by a smaller hand.
Domo was much faster than him.

Domo held the ring close to his face and observed it seriously before nodding.
He said, ”The lower portion of four characters is emitting red light.
I wonder if this is some kind of signal. ”

”More than four.
A few characters on the other side are also emitting red light, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

I took the ring back and studied it.
But even with the red light, I still couldn ’t figure out the ring ’s secret.

”Canyue, should we show Commander Zhang and the two Eternal commanders the ring? Perhaps they can discover something new from this, ” suggested Zhang Bao ’er.

As I gazed at the ring, I kept having a feeling of deja vu.
However, I couldn ’t wrap my head around it.

”This shouldn ’t be delayed.
Let ’s stop wasting time here.
Maybe the creature is guarding some treasure, and this ring is the key to that treasure, ” said Domo.
He was still as wealth-loving as ever.

Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original.

Since the three of us obviously couldn ’t unveil the ring ’s secret, I stood up, and we rushed to the command room.
We moved rapidly, but oddly, the moment we left my room, the ring ’s red light dimmed.

”This red light is so weird.
Why is it randomly turning bright and becoming dim? Is it running out of energy? ” asked Zhang Bao ’er, whose eyes never left the ring.

’Red light.
Bright and dim.
Unknown meaning, ’ I thought to myself.

Just as we were about to reach the command room, a familiar thought surfaced in my mind.
I instantly came to myself and turned around, rushing back to my room.