Hyberian Wars Chronicles

Standing aside, the big man Geller, with his thick brows and big eyes, immediately spoke up upon hearing the name.

"It's you, kid. I didn't expect you to look like this."

"Do you know me?" Qianlong looked at the big man in confusion.

"You've got some skills, kid. This is your first mission, and you actually ranked third during the settlement. I didn't expect you to be so young. Ah, I really am getting old," the big man couldn't help but sigh.

Geller laughed and said, "You don't need to pretend to be old. Who doesn't know you've been in this line of work for over thirty years? You're practically a veteran."

"Alright, enough with the flattery. What's the mission this time?" another team member yawned and asked.

"Ahem, let's get to the point. In three hours, the Hiberian will pass through a meteorite swarm. The direction of the meteorites aligns with the Hiberian. During this time, the Hiberian will conduct a steady-speed flight for maintenance, lasting three days. This means you have only three days from departure to return to the Hiberian. Remember, if you miss the time, the Hiberian will not wait for you."

"We understand that," Duomeng said nonchalantly.

Geller continued, "This mission relies on you all. Good luck."

After saying that, Geller stepped aside, and the rear lift platform emitted a rumbling sound as it rose, revealing five specially modified Harvesters.

Qianlong climbed onto one of them and entered the cockpit.

Inside the cockpit, he changed into a protective suit.

This Harvester was clearly different from his previous exclusive Harvester; this model was more advanced and brand new, with modified configurations.

The most noticeable improvement was that the body was equipped with six 120mm self-defense cannons, which had firepower comparable to that of a Guardian.

As for the operational tools, they had also been optimized, now equipped with high-power drill bits and energy detectors.

The rear had discarded the external fuel tank, replaced instead with an external storage box specifically for storing energy stones.

"Are you ready?" 

Geller's voice rang out in the cockpit.

"Ready," Qianlong replied.

With a jolt, the lift platform began to descend.

Geller wiped the sweat from his forehead as he watched the five people begin their mission. Collecting energy stones this time was extremely important; after all, the energy stone quota had been exceeded this month, and they needed to gather some to get by.

Qianlong piloted the Harvester out of the launch channel, flying from the Hiberian into space.

"Phantom." Qianlong called without any hesitation.

"Qianlong," Phantom's voice echoed again.

"I'm flying towards the meteorite zone to search for energy stones. Please assist in the search," Qianlong replied.

"Understood."

The five of them piloted their Harvesters towards the meteorite zone.

As they approached the meteorite zone, they spread out; this was a job meant for individual effort, and generally, no one would choose to cooperate.

Qianlong couldn't help but hold his breath; entering the meteorite zone was not a simple task. A moment of carelessness could result in being struck by a flying meteorite, so evasion was the first challenge.

Next was to find traces of energy stones among the countless meteorites, which was the second challenge.

The third challenge was to land on the corresponding meteorite and then proceed with extraction.

Phantom provided an evasion route, with a very detailed instruction map.

Qianlong piloted the Harvester, following the evasion route to fly over the obstructing meteorites and into the meteorite zone.

Qianlong carefully controlled the Harvester, not daring to blink, and although Phantom was correcting his course, he remained very cautious, as meteorites occasionally swept past the Harvester.

From time to time, Qianlong glanced at the built-in scanner on the Harvester, but there was no sign of activity.

Time passed slowly.

Unknowingly, Qianlong had already delved deep into the meteorite zone; this had been twenty hours since they started.

Due to his heightened concentration, he didn't feel fatigued, but time was running out. He could search for a while longer, but he would soon need to return.

"Phantom, have you found anything?"

"Searching, matching, three suspicious meteorite zones detected."

Then, a three-dimensional outline of the meteorites appeared in Qianlong's mind, showing three scattered meteorites in different areas.

Target 1: Meteorite with a radius of 1043 meters.

Target 2: Meteorite with a radius of 231 meters.

Target 3: Meteorite with a radius of 154 meters.

Qianlong took a deep breath and replied, "Infiltrate the Harvester's systems and shield the records."

"Infiltrating."

"Analyzing."

"Shielding."

"Completed," Phantom responded.

Qianlong piloted the Harvester towards Target 3. Normally, one would think Target 1 would be the best option, but that wasn't the case. Due to time constraints, the larger the meteorite, the longer it would take to explore and extract, and unfortunately, time was what they lacked the most.

Half an hour later, Qianlong began to adjust the Harvester's flight direction and speed, synchronizing with the meteorite.

Then the Harvester landed on the meteorite.

Qianlong controlled the mechanical arm and began drilling into the meteorite.

This meteorite was the smallest; as long as he drilled one or two holes, it would basically reveal whether there was any energy stone inside.

As the drill bit rotated, a preliminary drilling pit quickly formed.

The operation continued.

Unfortunately, Phantom still showed no response; there was no unexpected discovery of energy stones.

Qianlong changed positions three times, spending over two hours to create three deep pits, ultimately giving up on this meteorite.

Qianlong piloted the Harvester away from this meteorite and flew towards Target 2.

As expected, Qianlong landed on the meteorite and continued his work.

The drill bit continuously shattered the meteorite's surface.

Suddenly, Phantom issued a warning.

"Bollock Biological Reaction detected."

Qianlong was taken aback. "Zerg? What bad luck!"

Qianlong stopped drilling, retracted the mechanical arm, entered combat mode, and loaded the weapon systems.

He scanned the surroundings but found no suspicious presence. "Phantom, are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Where are they?"

Phantom provided a hint, with an arrow pointing directly to the spot where he had been drilling.

Qianlong walked over and looked down, stunned.

The center of the meteorite was hollow; he had created an empty cavity.

Inside were densely packed insect eggs, which should be the reason for the alarm.

"Level III energy reaction detected," Phantom continued to provide updates.

Qianlong was somewhat surprised but quickly realized this was mentioned in the data; energy stones were often found in alien nests.

After hesitating, Qianlong asked, "Is it highly threatening?"

"Scanning, no high-intensity Bollock Biological Reaction detected, danger level assessed as very low."

After hearing this, Qianlong reopened the mechanical arm and began to enlarge the opening.

Half an hour later, the Harvester descended.

The internal space was not large, but there were quite a few insect eggs piled up.

And in the middle of the insect eggs stood a blue, transparent, diamond-shaped crystal about 5 meters tall and 2 meters wide, radiating a blue glow.

(End of Chapter)