The emptiness of the universe brings endless loneliness, and the splendor of the stars is only an unattainable comfort, there is nothing up and down, left and right, only the illusion of falling into the abyss.

Ma Wu stood quietly in the cockpit, he looked at the infinite starry sky in the distance, the stars were full of darkness, and at this time, 334 days had passed since the explorer and the Helic Planetary Fortress, a full eleven months.

This is February 23, the 3rd year of the galaxy.

At this time, they are more than 8,000 astronomical units away from the planet Helic at the edge of the solar system, which is equivalent to 1.2 trillion kilometers.

"Captain, a huge asteroid has been detected ahead, with a radius of about 3,200 kilometers, and there is a strong metal reaction......"

"Slow down and prepare for landing." Ma Wu calmly commanded.

"Roger."

Masayoshi Kobayashi walked over with a holographic document: "Captain, the Supreme Command sent us a document. ”

"Say what?" Ma Wu asked as he looked at the situation of the asteroid.

"This is our next voyage, the latest instructions from the High Command, requiring the Explorer to turn due east after reaching 10,000 AU, continue to sail for 10,000 AU, and then turn southwest and return to the solar system." Kobayashi reported.

"Got it, just record this on the voyage memo and set a conditional reminder." Ma Wu commanded.

"Okay." Kobayashi recorded this incident in the voyage memorandum.

Ma Wu looked at the preliminary detection data of this asteroid, which is a rocky asteroid with a metallic core and a strong geological activity response, and a strong magnetic field, the surface gravity of the planet is 1/4 of that of the blue star, and there is a trace of atmosphere.

In terms of radius, the asteroid is larger and more massive than the Moon, and the geological activity is very strong, and a large amount of volcanic ash has been detected in the space around the asteroid.

This kind of large asteroid is still relatively rare in the interstellar void, and it is the largest asteroid discovered by the explorer so far.

"Give this ice god 12941 asteroid and name it Candle Yin Star." Ma Wu put the name on the asteroid database system, and the discoverer of the large asteroid has the right to name it.

"The god of Zhongshan, whose name is Candle Yin, Captain Ma has also read the Classic of Mountains and Seas?" Zhang Handong asked with a smile.

"Occasionally read it." Ma Wu replied with a smile.

"This asteroid, is it going up to collect mineral supplies?" Zhang Handong looked at the holographic star map and asked.

Ma Wu nodded: "The reserve materials of the battleship are close to the first cordon, and we just happened to rest here for a day." ”

It was still the exploration satellite that orbited the candle yin star for exploration and mapping, and after completing the detailed exploration and mapping, Ma Wu immediately ordered the resource acquisition team to set off.

Huang Yaozu took the four soldiers of the resource gathering team and landed directly in the A9 area of the Candle Yin Star, and the mechanical spider immediately mined near the landing area.

This is a typical plain on the side, somewhat similar to the lunar sea of the moon, but there is an active volcano about 67 kilometers southwest of the landing, and through the exploration and mapping of exploration satellites, there are currently 39 active volcanoes and 3 geologically active belts.

The volcano that is constantly erupting has brought a gray atmosphere to the candle cloud.

Huang Yaozu suddenly felt a burst of vibration, and he hurriedly turned on the communication system, [There is a volcanic eruption in the A9 area, and the landing crew should pay attention to safety. ］

[Roger.] After Huang Yaozu replied to the signal, he continued to supervise the progress of mining.

Despite being a geologically active asteroid, it is not in the star system, and it has some ice in other areas except the volcanic belt, such as the mining spacecraft landing area.

"Captain, the water collection has been completed."

"Okay, we're ......"

[Alert!] CKZZ43 was damaged, with a damage degree of 12.6%, mainly due to damage to the energy system...... ］

[Alert!] CKZZ41 was damaged, with a damage degree of 16.9%, and the drive system and energy system were ...... ］

Huang Yaozu frowned: "What's the matter?" Activate shield protection immediately. ”

"Yes." The Soldier immediately activated the shield, and the mining ship immediately flicked off a rugby-shaped shield, wrapping the mining ship around.

[Alert!] CKZZ67 was damaged, with a damage degree of 36.7%, mainly due to damage to the energy system...... ］

[Alert!] CKZZ04 was damaged, with a damage degree of 24.8%...... ］

Huang Yaozu had already sensed that something was wrong, and immediately activated the comprehensive detection system, and the system immediately popped up some situations, and some faint heat source reactions appeared nearby.

"Captain, is this a biological reaction?"

"I know, you monitor these unidentified creatures immediately, and I'll report to the Explorer." Huang Yaozu immediately commanded.

"Okay captain!"

Huang Yaozu immediately activated the communication system and contacted the Explorer.

……

"Found an unidentified creature? Unknown creatures attack mining machine spiders. Ma Wu asked with a frown.

"Yes." Huang Yaodong nodded and replied.

"Yaodong, you pay attention to safety and adapt to the situation." Ma Wu commanded.

"Yes."

Ma Wu turned his head and ordered: "Activate the yellow alert state, the first combat team is ready to take over the resource gathering team, and the second combat team is ready to defend against emergencies." ”

"Roger."

"Roger."

Suddenly, the atmosphere of the explorer became tense, although in this case, it is more likely to be a protist, but it cannot be ruled out that it is an alien species.

The gravitational wave and neutrino detection system immediately swept around, carefully probing the details of the surrounding 10 astronomical units to prevent possible sudden appearance of enemies.

The other side.

Huang Yaozu and the five people finally saw the appearance of these unknown creatures, hundreds of creatures like jellyfish are attacking the mining machine spider, these creatures are large and small, the big ones are about 4~5 meters, and the small ones are about 1~2 meters, showing translucency under the searchlight, emitting a red faint light, waving some tentacles.

"Captain, these alien jellyfish seem to be absorbing electricity and heat through their tentacles, and they have the ability to chase light."

"Try it with a laser cannon attack." Huang Yaozu commanded.

"Okay."

The mining spacecraft only has its own two laser cannons, and the laser cannons that are activated in an instant shoot towards two of the alien jellyfish, and in an instant, countless gamma-ray photon streams hit the alien jellyfish.

"How is that possible?" Huang Yaodong suddenly exclaimed.

The stream of gamma-ray photons, which was enough to melt steel, was actually absorbed at the moment when the alien jellyfish was concentrated.

"Continue more, increase the magnitude of energy." Huang Yaozu calmed down and commanded.

The soldier operating the laser cannon immediately pulls down the power gate knife of the laser cannon to increase the energy output efficiency to the maximum.

However, what made Huang Yaozu and others dare to make a mistake happened, hundreds of alien jellyfish were like moths to a fire, pounced on the ray photon stream, and seemed to be absorbing the energy of the gamma ray photon stream.

Huang Yaozu saw that the situation was not good, and immediately shouted: "Stop the laser cannon shooting." ”

The Soldier immediately turned off the laser cannon, and as the laser cannon stopped firing, the alien jellyfish seemed to grow larger, and they were pounced on the condensed matter shield, and then turned into suction cups, attached to the condensed matter shield.

[Alert!] Condensed Matter Shield energy loss is 136% above normal level...... 237%…… ］

"Grass, these things are absorbing our shield energy."

Huang Yaozu calmly pressed the condensed matter shield to expand the attack system.