"What’s happening?" asked Li Xiaofei, feeling a jolt of alarm.
Liu Diqiu pointed at the holographic projection in front of them, her voice trembling. "We... we have a huge problem."
Li Xiaofei followed her finger. The ship’s internal surveillance feed was displaying a terrifying sight. At some point, more than a dozen glowing white teleportation arrays had silently appeared in the hangar bay of the Solar Whale-Class starship. An endless stream of Reapers surged out from these arrays like a black tide.
Within seconds, at least five to six hundred Explorer type Reapers had started to spread through the corridors like an inky flood.
Even through the screen, the sheer number of Reapers was suffocating. The teleportation arrays also continued to spew Explorers like ceaseless wells. They were all grotesque creatures of different shapes and sizes. They were akin to abominations squished together before being seemingly discarded by a careless Creator.
Their howls and roars created a deafening cacophony and their eyes burned red. Clearly, they were intelligent beings. Yet, their wild, feral, and depraved movements were no different from rabid beasts.
Liu Diqiu stole a glance at Li Xiaofei.
"You... still holding up?"
Can you really take down that many Explorers by yourself?
Li Xiaofei didn’t answer. Although Naihe Bridge was incredibly powerful, using it consumed a tremendous amount of inner qi. His cultivation path was unique in that he had unlocked a Hidden Realm at every major Realm. His inner qi reserves were unmatched by anyone before or after him.
But even with his unparalleled qi, executing Naihe Bridge hundreds of times would be beyond exhausting. Moreover, the teleportation arrays were still pouring in more Explorers without pause.
His brief silence sent Liu Diqiu spiraling into panic once again.
"We need to save ourselves. There has to be a way." She repeated to herself in a whisper, almost as if trying to convince herself.
"We have to try something."
Then, she rushed to the control panel. Her fingers flew over the virtual interface, dragging, tapping, and issuing commands in a frenzy. Her mind had never been sharper.
The keyboard clattered under Liu Diqiu’s rapid keystrokes. A cascade of virtual commands flashed across the holographic interface like a dance of light.
Her eyes burned bright as she struck the final key.
She gasped for breath as she stopped, sweat rolling down her forehead and dripping onto the massive control console of the Solar Whale-Class starship.
"It worked," said Liu Diqiu as she turned to Li Xiaofei, a satisfied smile spreading across her face. "I didn’t think it would actually work."
Li Xiaofei looked at the holographic display. The Explorers had been trapped in the corridors they had surged through. Security lockdown doors had slammed down through the various corridors, separating them into groups.
"You can do that?" asked Li Xiaofei, surprised.
The Solar Whale-Class starship was divided into various functional zones. These zones were connected by long security corridors. The security lockdown doors installed in these corridors were designed in case of an enemy breach and acted like the fortified gatehouses of ancient cities.
Now, the invading Explorers had been effectively imprisoned within separate compartments of the ship. But what really struck Li Xiaofei as odd was how none of them were attacking the security doors. Instead, they wandered aimlessly within their new prisons almost as if they were lost.
He knew these Explorers were terrifyingly strong. Even a God Warrior like the Xie family patriarch wouldn’t be able to defeat one in a one-on-one fight. Their claws, fangs, bone blades, and barbs were razor-sharp and comparable to divine weapons. If they chose to, ten or so Explorers could break down a security door in under an hour.
But they weren’t doing it. The screen clearly showed that as more Explorers got locked into separate cells, something else happened. The teleportation arrays vanished. It seemed that once a certain threshold of Explorers had crossed over, the portals ceased to function.
"There are at least ten thousand Explorers on board. Luckily, they’re just Explorers. If they were higher-level type Reapers, we’d be screwed. They must have orders to explore and occupy this starship, not destroy it. That’s why they’re not attacking the security doors. We should be safe for now."
Liu Diqiu had finally regained her composure and was analyzing the situation logically.
"These guys don’t seem very smart." Li Xiaofei commented.
The Explorers they had encountered earlier had shown a high level of intelligence. Yet these trapped Explorers were behaving strangely as they wandered aimlessly instead of looking for ways to break free.
Liu Diqiu thought for a moment before explaining, "I think you can think of the Explorers as highly intelligent AI programs. They follow orders with extreme efficiency and execute their commands flawlessly. But if a situation arises that falls outside their programmed parameters, or if their orders contain contradictory elements, then their behavior becomes... bizarre."
Li Xiaofei frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"
He had a feeling this girl was mocking his intelligence on purpose.
Liu Diqiu’s eyes flashed with a hint of amusement, but she continued, "For example, if their command was to occupy the ship without damaging it, then their actions would be restricted to taking control of whatever areas they have access to, without forcing their way through locked doors."
Li Xiaofei understood, and his eyes lit up.
"So, you’re saying... we can just clean them out, little by little, like we’re doing a deep cleaning of the ship?"
"Exactly. If we unlock the security doors in small sections, we can safely eliminate all the Explorers on board."
"Brilliant!" exclaimed Li Xiaofei, slapping his thigh. "This is a gift from the heavens!"
What better whetstone for sharpening their skills than these monsters?
Li Junjie and the others had downloaded countless martial techniques from Eden’s systems, but they lacked real combat experience. The God Warriors of this Earth had already been completely wiped out so there were no worthy opponents left.
Sparring among themselves would never compare to the life-and-death pressure of real battle. But now? They had the perfect training ground. Sending his team into different sections of the starship to eliminate the Explorers would be the ultimate trial by fire.
Start small and weak, and then gradually scale up. Everything could be controlled through the starship’s AI command system, ensuring a structured challenge.
He could hardly wait to throw Li Junjie, Ximen Piaoxue, Bai Qiqi, Ren Dong, and Ye Liuying straight into the Explorers’ midst and watch them fight their way through.
He was sure they would all thank him for this.