: 138. Universe Noise_2<div>
Trantor:549690339
Nnd Lee scanned the area and shook his head:
“No one.”<div>
Derek Davis said:
“Those soldiers went into the cargo hold, and the lieutenant ismanding them to clean up the clutter in there. It doesn’t seem like they’ll return to the upper deck anytime soon. Why don’t you head to the captain’s quarters and look for any important documents? If things go south, you can jump ship and circle around to meet up with me from the stern.”
“That’s precisely what I n to do.” Nnd nodded.
Derek took out a multifunctional mechanical lock opening tool from the Alchemy Stone and put it in Nnd’s hand:
“Here, we call this the Octopus Centipede. Just fiddle with it a bit, and you’ll know how to use it.”
Nnd used Deconstruction on the centipede-shaped metal tool in his hand and learned how to use it.
“I’m off, Derek. Be careful.”
Nnd walked slowly, nning to leave.
Before he took three steps, Derek muttered in confusion behind him:
“What the hell are these guys doing? Self-harm? It’s just cleaning the cargo hold; there’s no need to stab themselves with daggers, right?”
Nnd stopped, looked back at the puzzled Derek, and then looked down at the lower deck.<div>
Through his Magic Vision, he could see that the group of Imperial Soldiers seemed to be smearing something on the ground.
Nnd used Deconstruction to consume some Energy Points and obtain the information about the soldiers’ status bars.
“The target is currently being affected by Yasde’s ‘Evil Domination’.” This sentence appeared in Nnd’s mind.
Connecting this information with the self-harm behavior Derek mentioned, Nnd’s pupils shrank as he realized what the group of soldiers was doing.
“Derek, get your Mechanical Crab out of here now.”
Nnd came up to him and spoke in a serious tone:
“Hurry, hurry.”
Without questioning Nnd, Derek flicked his right hand, tracing an arc in the air to control the Mechanical Crab to make a 180-degree turn.
He continuously gestured with his right hand, asking at the same time:
“What’s wrong, Ray Lee? Do you know what those soldiers are doing?”
“I have some guesses, but I’m not sure. Judging from their actions, they seem to be creating a certain kind of ritual array.” Nnd stared at the lower deck as he spoke.<div>
Derek was stunned:
“A ritual array? Aren’t they Imperial Soldiers? Howe they know this stuff? Is it the Death Herald Guild’s magic ritual?”
“No, it’s not.” Nnd denied decisively.
“Pitter-patter, pitter-patter, pitter-patter…”
Light and rapid footsteps came from around the corner of the corridor.
The Mechanical Crab sped along the wall and quicklynded on its master’s palm.
Nnd handed the alchemy lock-opening tool back to Derek and waved:
“Let’s go. We shouldn’t stay here any longer. I have a bad feeling…”
As Nnd’s voice trailed off, a peculiar noise sounded in his ear.
“Shush, zzz, shush…”
It sounded somewhat like old television sets producing static noise.<div>
Before crossing worlds, Nnd had heard that this noise was actually cosmic background radiation, transformed by old television sets.
In this world, the noise had another meaning.
Derek’s face changed, as he also heard the noise.
His reaction was stronger than Nnd’s. He seized Nnd’s arm and jumped down without hesitation, cursing:
“Damn, these bastards are trying tomunicate with the filth in Alien Descent!”.
Nnd leaped with him, and just before they jumped into the waters, he asked:
“You know about this sound too?”
“Of course, how could that be fake? I’m an Alchemist, but I also know some secrets about you wizards. If it weren’t for the wizard-made stars forming a Star Filtering Net to block out the Alien Descent, our world would have been screwed long ago. Jump! These motherf**kers are insane!”
Derek cursed and jumped down.
Nnd followed suit, plunging into the freezing sea water with a ssh.
The alchemy array on his Alchemy Diving Suit activated, providing warmth to his body while propelling him towards the exploration ship with water currents.
Nnd was aware of the Alien Descent that Derek mentioned; it was part of the basic wizard knowledge that Denise Green had told him.
It was said that the wizard forces created the Star Filtering Net, dividing the starry sky overhead into two sections.
The part within the Star Filtering Net could be seen by looking up at the sky from the ground, known as the Inner Cosmos.
The Inner Cosmos could be considered man-made. People would see celestial bodies on the inside of the Star Filtering Net.
As for the Alien Descent, it was the part of the starry sky outside of the Star Filtering Net.
That part of the sky was blocked by man-made celestial bodies like the Twin Suns, the haloed Moon, and various other stars and could not be seen by people.
When could people see the Alien Descent?
There were two cases:
First, if someone personally crossed the Star Filtering Net and reached the Alien Descent, they could naturally see it.
The other situation was when people on the ground conducted rituals to call upon the Alien Descent to descend on a specific area.
The group of Imperial Soldiers on the cargo ship was currently engaged in that activity.
The “shush, zzz, shush” sound resembling an old TV static was a sign that someone was trying tomunicate with the Alien Descent.
Anyone who could hear the noise was within the range of the ritual’s influence.
Once the ritual was sessful, those within its range would be able to see the Alien Descent just by looking up.
It was also this noise that symbolized the imminent arrival of the Alien Descent, preventing the development of long-distance instantmunication methods in this world.
All the wizards, alchemists, and other Extraordinary beings who died of exploding skulls while researching long-distance instantmunication methods were killed by the “Sonic Sorcerer.”