Age of Cosmic Exploration

"...I feel..."

Just as a Parlei soldier said these few words, he was crushed by his fellow soldiers because he said a taboo... In reality, the Parlei Race thought that none of them had the ability to have emotions, so the fact that this soldier said that he felt something meant that he was lying.

However, this soldier did ’feel’ something unusual. Of course, this feeling was different from humans’ or other species’ emotions; it was more like the animal instinct for incoming danger, like how small critters, such as mice, would start to scurry before an earthquake. This Parlei soldier felt viscerally the presence of danger.

However, what this danger was, where would it come from, what kind of consequence it would bring, he could not tell. In fact, the number of Parlei soldiers that had this ’feeling’ was slowly increasing; a great majority of the 100,000 Parlei soldiers felt it. However, around 20,000 Parlei soldiers felt nothing, and that was because they were no longer what they seemed...

A Parlei soldier stood up while slapping his stomach. He was an adult Parlei soldier. He was 3.7 meters tall and was still in his growth spurt. However, that was not his most defining feature, because one-fourth of his body had already been mechanized, making him a combination of animal, plant, and machine. Among the Parlei Race, he was the soldier among the soldiers.

Due to his unique station, his meal amount was triple the size of normal Parlei soldier’s. For example, he alone had consumed three mammalian lifeforms, a lifeform native to this planet. Even though their taste was not as good as Fleet Chief Pap Pap described, the soul content within them was indeed curiously high. The consumption of so much soul gave him the desire to reproduce. This presented him with an impossible choice of whether to become a powerful father or a single mother. However, no matter what, the more soul he consumed, the better.

This was the third day the Parlei Race had been on the planet. The soldier climbed out a pile of dried branches and leaves of an unknown tree and kicked away a few Parlei soldiers that stood in his way. He rubbed his stomach because he felt that there was something rocking in it. Perhaps it was because he was hungry, or there was too much soul in his system, causing his body to start the mitosis process. He shrugged it off because he was going to go hunt for more mammals, he was going to feast on them...

If the soldier had the thought to examine his body with some sort of X-ray, he would realize inside that his body... his internal organs, not limited to digestive ones, like intestines and stomach, as well as bones and blood, were evolving in a curious manner. They were changing in a manner that was incongruous with the Pa Race’s DNA...

At the same time, there was not only the Parlei Race’s fleet that had appeared in the space around this cursed planet. So far, two other space civilizations had arrived. The two space civilizations were also level 2 space civilization at their peaks. They had mastered the warp drive technology. Even though their numbers were not as big as the Parlei Race’s, they were still forces to be reckoned with. They each had hundreds of big battleships and millions of smaller spaceships. They were weaker than the Parlei Race, but the difference in power was not a huge gap.

When these two space civilizations arrived, what they did was completely different from the Parlei Race. They did not dare to send any of their people to the planet. Instead, they immediately ordered their fleet to be moved as far away from this planet as possible. Then communication was formed between them. This was not because they were afraid of the Parlei Race but they felt fear regarding this planet.

This cursed planet!

In the history of the cosmos, there had been a legend that had circulated across innumerable space civilizations, be it low-tier, middle-tier, high-tier, or even godlike tier space civilizations. The legend was about the existence of the cursed planets...

According to legend, these cursed planets were the final explanation to the concept of ’soul’. The cursed planets were the birth planets for demons, the greediest race in all of the wide cosmos. Whenever a cursed planet was born, it represented the death of a whole solar system. Indeed, it was not only a planet, but the disappearance of the entire solar system!

Of course, there was another dimension to the word "legend." It meant rumors. The legend might be completely different from the original meaning. The supposed cursed planets were an impossible rumor that spread like wildfire across the cosmos. In reality, these space civilizations that knew everything about the cursed planet really knew nothing about the demon race, much less these cursed planets that birthed them.

However, even though the cursed planets were basically legends, there were a few defining features that could help one identify them. First, they had to be life-preserving planet. All cursed planets were life-giving, but they just so happened to evade the neutron star fragment.

Secondly, all cursed planets were completely different from normal terrestrial planets. They did not have the differentiation of earth crust, earth mantle, and earth core. From the surface to the core, there were only layers of rocks and soil. There were no lava or earth layers.

Third, and the most defining feature, was all cursed planets would be at the center in the solar system. The solar system the cursed planet was in would have seven planets, and the cursed planet would be in the middle. The remaining six would be revolving around it. This was why cursed planets were so easy to spot!

These two space civilizations were seeing this for the first time as well. Six planets were revolving around this one life-preserving planet. This was a miracle in space. If they had not seen it with their own eyes, they would not even believe it. There was only one word to describe how they felt: shocked.

"...Legends of the cursed planets?"

The leaders of these two space civilizations were cautious about the rumors of the cursed planets, especially after witnessing the supernatural celestial activity before them. No lifeform with intelligence would step onto this planet so easily... Of course, the Parlei Race did not belong to this category.

"So thoughtless. Are the Parlei Race a group of brainless chimps?" the leader for one of the civilizations commented.

The other leader replied, "Brain, do you think the Pa Race has anything like that? Their brains are either muscle or wood, or I suppose you can call it a wooden muscle. The brain is an organ wasted on them. Instead of worrying about them, we should focus on what to do next, this cursed planet."

"...Our scientific community has analyzed this set of messages. They were sent out through space-warping technology. In other words, they came from a civilization that was at least level 5. Even if this is only a ruin that has only this space-warp technology left in it, with this technology, we will be able to trade with even level 4 space civilizations in the future! Do you really wish to give up something as valuable as this? This might be the thing we need to evolve from level 2 space civilizations to level 3! Who would dare to give up on this?"

"In other words, your race has come to a decision?"

"Of course... but it is not yet time to act on it. The legend of the cursed planet has been passed on in space for millions of years. No one knows its origin, but since it’s a legend that permeated even the ranks of high-tier space civilizations, then this cursed planet definitely has something unique to it. Perhaps it’s a trap set by some kind of god-tier civilization. At least until these dangers present themselves, we will let the brainless Parlei Race open the way for us."

"...That is the decision our civilization came to as well. However, to prevent the Parlei Race from doing something drastic, how about we form a temporary alliance between the two of us? With our combined forces, we will not have to fear this Parlei Race fleet."

"We agree to this proposal..."

This kind of alliance had zero binding power, but for space civilizations with similar technological levels, it was equal to a life-binding agreement. Over the next few days, more and more space civilizations appeared around this cursed planet. They all requested to join this alliance, but some were rejected because they came from unknown backgrounds. Therefore, some broke off to form their own alliances. In the end, there were several tribes and alliances that populated this solar system...

In conclusion, there were about around 10 space civilizations gathered in this solar system. However thankfully, all of them were level 2 space civilizations from nearby galaxies. It was because of this that was no open war, since their power was similar to one another. Regardless, it was because of this too that there were endless suspicions and covert actions among the civilizations. It felt like a war could break out at any minute between the few opposing alliances.

They had all forgotten that the real danger was not these other space civilizations that were targeting each other, but from this inconspicuous cursed planet...

At the same time, under the cursed planet’s surface, led by Austin and the mysterious virus survivors, the last group of human survivors was slowly moving towards their destination. There were plenty of sacrifices along the way because no matter what, life had to go on. Relying on the small sliver of hope Austin had given them, they pressed on despite the fact that a number of people would disappear every day. Everyone knew that their brains were probably getting sucked out, but even so...

The rest of them still continued towards the Noah One! They were getting closer and closer to their destination!

At the same time, there were still 5 days until the Hope’s last controlled warp!