CAT Chapter 51: Limitless (4)

The cold was piercing the skin bone-deep. Over thirty hours had passed, and the planet finally saw the light of day—fortunately, this was a world with normal day-night cycles. Had it been a planet locked in polar day or night, they would have had to rely on their sense of gravity to determine which direction led to the surface—though, here, the gravity was weak enough to make that difficult.

The ice layer gleamed with a faint, eerie glow. The colonel’s exoskeletal form struggled to turn around in the frozen cave, carving upwards. His exoskeleton, a wondrous mechanical tool, had been a lifesaver for these past years—without it, survival would have been impossible.

In the turmoil of this undefined chaos, the ice cracked and reformed, forming deep fissures and narrow slits. They recalled the mysterious marks they’d seen beneath the ice earlier—this was the reason.

It was a strange feeling, both awe-inspiring and terrifying—much like the universe itself.

Digging outward was far more challenging than blasting a hole in the ground. Detonating the ice now would have been suicide, so they could only use particle-vibration weapons and physical methods to break the ice. As the ice above thinned and daylight grew nearer, a final “crack” echoed, and cool, dry air surged in as they finally breached the surface.

The steel-arm slammed through the final layer of ice, and the massive mechanical figure crawled out of the deep pit, pulling Ling Yi to safety.

Ling Yi was covered in glistening shards of ice. His body felt weak and frigid. After shaking off the ice, he could barely stand.

The colonel placed him on his back, trying to send a signal to the Expeditioner.

The magnetic field was chaotic, the compass still malfunctioning, and the signal remained poor. Several attempts to establish contact failed.

The fate of the temporary camp remained uncertain—had Lucia’s rescue reached them? Had they managed to evacuate? Were they even attempting to search for the two of them, or had they given up entirely?

Suddenly, tiny white feathers began to fall from the sky.

It was snowing.

A heavy, all-encompassing snowfall.

Ling Yi reached out, touching the hexagonal snowflakes he had never seen in real life, a soft smile flickering in his eyes.

The Colonel noticed he had activated the recording system.

“This is the fourth year since I left home. We’re in the 8-TUW857 system, and there’s no signal. The Colonel and I are in danger, we might not make it.”

“If we can’t be saved, I hope the others have evacuated safely and resumed their journey. I hope my soul can return to Lin Si’s side.”

“It’s snowing, it’s beautiful.”

His voice dropped to a whisper. “I really miss Lin Si.”

This was an old custom—if they found themselves facing imminent death, they recorded their final words, and their team would find them and return them to their family or lover.

The Colonel, silent, cradled the half-conscious Ling Yi against his chest, trying to shield him from the biting cold wind. Then, he activated the last-ditch emergency distress signal, flooding the machine with a wide burst of red light.

They didn’t know where they were. Communications were down. The only way to be seen was to make themselves as visible as possible in the snow.

Time dragged on. The Colonel was no longer willing to check the hours. Ling Yi’s body temperature kept dropping. His breathing and heartbeat were faint, and he seemed little more than a corpse.

Expeditioner.

The crew gathered in the main hall, a myriad of programs running simultaneously on the primary screen.

“Calculation failed.”

“Analysis failed.”

“Definition failed.”

The error messages were endless as Lucia tried to compute where the two of them might surface based on the strange geological phenomena they’d been tracking.

“Seventh squad has returned. No signs of life detected.”

“Third squad reports no signs of life.”

It was the seventh day.

The survival probability curve had been near zero since the beginning, and it was now plummeting further, approaching an absolute zero.

The ship’s search and rescue systems were pushed to their limits, and dozens of teams were deployed for a sweeping search. The Expeditioner itself hovered above the planet, searching tirelessly.

“There’s no hope left.” A lieutenant colonel sighed.

The others shared the same grim thought.

When Lucia’s system finally concluded that the survival probability was zero, the search would end, and the Expeditioner would depart for its next destination.

Yet, that decision hadn’t come.

“Continuing the search. Generating new plans.” The cold, emotionless mechanical voice echoed.

“Alert: Unidentified light source detected.”

Beginning descent.”

Lucia’s various programs alternated, creating the illusion of a conversation.

When the unmistakable red light—so clearly out of place on this planet—appeared, a cheer rose from the crew.

The sound of engines roared in the distance. The Colonel, with his last bit of strength, barely lifted his eyelids. “LingLing?”

Ling Yi didn’t respond. Or perhaps his response was too faint to be picked up by the receiver.

Lucia stood by the airlock, her voice calm and cool, “Welcome back.”

The colonel whispered, “Thank you.”

Lucia replied coldly, “You’re welcome.”

In the next moment, the Colonel lost consciousness.

Though he had passed out later than Ling Yi due to not being frozen as severely, Ling Yi was the first to regain consciousness.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Lucia.

“Welcome back. Your physical condition is currently stable.” The familiar, flat tone filled the air.

“Thank you…” Ling Yi’s vision blurred for a moment. He moved his limbs, sitting up in the medical bay. “I feel… okay.”

He then asked, “What about the colonel?”

“He’s confirmed to have survived.”

Ling Yi exhaled softly, a smile curling on his lips. “That’s good.”

He moved his fingers, regaining sensation over his body bit by bit. Everything felt fine.

“I had a dream,” he said softly. “It was snowing, a lot. Someone was building a snowman with me. It was a very young Zheng Shu… and another person.”

He paused, trying to recall. “Ling Jing, my sister… she looked just like in the photos.”

“And then… I went to find something for the snowman’s nose. When I came back, I saw them kissing in the snow,” Ling Yi smiled softly, gazing at his palm. “When they saw me, they separated. They must really love each other.”

No one ever spoke to the Voyager system, except for Ling Yi.

Whenever Lucia’s image appeared beside him, he would chat with her aimlessly, his voice the only sound in the quiet, empty room.

Lucia stood by the medical bay, sword in hand, simply listening.

After a long pause, she finally spoke, “Your survival rate was once assessed as zero.”

“I honestly thought I was going to die,” Ling Yi replied, his tone serious. “Thank you for still looking for me.”

Lucia didn’t respond further, her expression unchanged as she continued to stand silently.

It was the first time she had actively engaged in one of his conversations.

Ling Yi stared at her, and for a brief moment, he felt a strange, electric sensation—swift and inexplicable. By the time he could process it, the feeling was already gone, leaving no trace.

The planetary exploration had been a perilous affair, but fortunately, the losses were minimal. Ling Yi’s position had been close to the epicenter of the seismic activity, and the message he sent out had reached the ground team in time, giving them the window they needed to evacuate. Lucia had acted swiftly, maneuvering the hovering Expeditioner into position to assist the ground crew, and although large equipment couldn’t be retrieved, there had been no casualties.

In the end, he and the Colonel returned safely. Thanks to their enhanced physiques, there were no lasting effects on their health—everyone was relieved.

With the geological instability, mining operations were halted, and after recording data on the planet, they jumped into subspace for the start of a three-month journey.

In previous expeditions, they had visited over a dozen planets suspected of being habitable, collecting valuable minerals and resources, though none had proven truly suitable. Their next destination was the final goal of this journey—the planet with the most complex elemental composition, and the one most likely to have Earth-like conditions.

After exploring this final planet, they would begin their journey home.

“Prepare for subspace departure.”

“Jump countdown: 3, 2, 1.”

After a slight tremor and shift in the air, they reappeared in the vast expanse of the first universe.

The side hatch of the Expeditioner opened, and several small aircraft launched, ready to deploy reconnaissance satellites into the deep space of the destination planet.

The planet before them was a beautiful shade of purple, like it was wrapped in a misty satin veil.

As they drew closer, the view expanded to reveal a mesmerizing mix of deep and light purple tones, interspersed with patches of white, a tapestry of color stretching beneath them.

Once all eleven satellites had been deployed, the Colonel took a deep breath, turned on the screen, and said, “I have this strange feeling.”

Ling Yi, seated in the auxiliary pilot’s chair, also focused on the screen.

The view zoomed in, descending rapidly.

The colonel murmured, “…Holy shit.”

For a moment, he couldn’t process what he was seeing. Leaning back in his seat, he took a few deep breaths before turning to Ling Yi with wide eyes.“We’ve hit the jackpot.”

Cheers erupted through the comms as other teams responded in excitement.

Though their expressions were blunt, even crude—like the colonel’s exclamation—the sheer joy was undeniable.

“Stay calm,” came Svenya’s voice from the deep-space command center. “I’m seeing what you’re seeing. Please, remain calm. Confirm that the cloaking system is functioning. Confirm that the cloaking system is functioning.”

They had seen it.

Rivers, dark purple jungles, and rolling mountains.

Water, plant life, a climate conducive to life.

This planet hosted life.

Ling Yi’s heartbeat quickened, and it took a moment for him to regain composure. He checked the status panel of their silver shuttle, confirming that the cloaking system was indeed active.

Life meant danger. If intelligent life existed here, their presence might be discovered.

However, Lucia’s signal capture system hadn’t detected any significant fluctuations on the planet, making it unlikely that intelligent life existed. For now, everyone felt a sense of relief.

The Colonel couldn’t wait any longer,“Requesting permission to land.”

Svenya’s voice was full of amusement,“Permission granted. You may land.”

The excitement during the landing was palpable, with the entire crew buzzing with fervor. In just two, three hours, they had fallen madly in love with the planet.

Ling Yi silently donned his protective suit.

The colonel raised an eyebrow. “You’re wearing the suit this time?”

Ling Yi nodded. “Lin Si said that planets with life might harbor bacteria our immune systems can’t handle.”

“Good call,” the colonel grinned.

Their team’s landing zone was a dense, dark purple forest. The plants were unlike anything they’d ever seen, with twisted, intertwining branches and leaves that seemed to be made from various shapes, hanging vines covered in what appeared to be a sticky substance, and fruits so transparent they almost glowed. The thick, nearly opaque grass felt like a strange, fleshy material—half-transparent, giving it a slightly unnerving appearance, or some might find it oddly charming. The humidity was intense, with water streams winding through the landscape, resembling Earth’s rainforests.

As they stepped onto the soft, damp grass, the sensation of its touch was overwhelming—a nostalgic feeling that sent shivers down their spines, their legs trembling uncontrollably.

Two of the crew members even hugged each other, laughing and crying.

“Thank God!”

After their celebration in the grass and shrubs, one crew member ran to the nearby riverbank.

“I can’t even remember the last time I saw a river,” he said.

“Wow—” he suddenly gasped, his voice rising. “There’s something alive in the water!”

He used an energy rifle to shoot at the creature, then pulled something long and eel-like from the river, his voice rising in pitch. “It’s so ugly!”

“I think I’m gonna puke.”

“Me too.”

The group huddled together to observe the creature.

It was an oval-shaped being, about the size of a forearm. It had no scales, no visible organs—just a fleshy, deep purple body dotted with countless black specks, like strawberry seeds on the surface.

Ling Yi glanced at it from a distance, his stomach turning, not wanting to get any closer.

The group tried to suppress their nausea as they prodded the creature.

Suddenly, the dead creature began to change.

It softened, melted—like a snail encountering salt.

Eventually, deep purple liquid oozed from its body, covering the hands of the person who had grabbed it.

“It’s burning… burning…” his voice quivered.

The protective glove he wore—designed to withstand temperatures over a thousand degrees and extreme acid—began to turn yellow where it came into contact with the liquid, and soon, black spots started to appear.

“Take it off!” the colonel shouted, his voice sharp.

At that moment, Svenya’s voice came through,“Multiple teams have encountered unusual local life forms. Lucia is conducting a risk analysis, please proceed with caution and focus on conservative exploration.”

Before she finished speaking, Lucia’s voice cut in,“Danger level: unknown. Please return to the ship immediately. Put on your exoskeleton suits and await further instructions.”

Following Lucia’s command, they quickly made their way back to the ship. The first person to return had removed the sleeve from their protective suit and discarded it on the grass. Within the next five minutes, the sleeve had turned into a puddle of thick, black liquid.

At that moment, a heavy silence fell over everyone.

The unknown life forms were never meant to be observed so casually, these things were beyond normal comprehension.

The communication channels for all the teams were shared, and now, through the earpieces, the voice of a member from an unknown team could be heard, “I’m feeling a little hot.”