Chapter 1 The Uncontrollable

The runaway propulsion units were still increasing their output, and the direction of thrust was also fluctuating wildly. Due to initial design flaws, there were also a cluster of small attitude-adjusting engines around the propulsion units. These engines were intelligently controlled by the main thrusters—when the latter malfunctioned, the attitude engines also kicked in. The entire floating island began to tremble violently under the immense and unstable force. Even with the artificial gravity systems in each area working hard to offset the imbalance caused by the island's rolling, many areas still experienced accidents. Some of the older buildings collapsed and cracked, and the surface of some areas was peeling away. The island was enduring tearing forces beyond its design capacity, and many sections were slowly splitting apart. The only saving grace was that the "hoop" was sturdy enough to barely maintain the island's overall integrity.

The island's rolling gave the area where Hao Ren and the others were a slightly "restored" gravity environment, but this gravity was skewed and unstable. The group stood awkwardly on the ground, watching the starry sky overhead roll along a winding trajectory as if they were drunk, while waiting for news from the elves who had been ordered to blow up the propulsion units. A squadron of cruise ships carrying missiles had already taken off from the nearest spaceport. In theory, they should have already reached the out-of-control pillar of fire outside the high wall, but there was still no news. Hao Ren looked up at the sky on the other side of the island. He could see the sunlight faintly appearing on the horizon, rapidly spreading across the sky at an abnormal speed. Dawn Island was welcoming its most rapid sunrise ever, and if the elves failed to save the situation, it would also be its last.

Finally, the cruise ship squadron sent back news, but it wasn't good: all the propulsion nozzles were operating in an explosive manner, making it impossible to approach them. The missiles that were launched were detonated before reaching their intended positions. Now they were requesting a larger-scale armed spacecraft, but it was probably too late.

Hao Ren struggled to think of how he could help. He called out to the terminal in his mind: "Doesn't the Tortoise Rock Platform have cannons? Give that thruster a shot…"

"It'll blast the whole island to pieces. It seems we should prepare some smaller conventional weapons on the ship next time," the data terminal replied while trying to power the dome, "These devices are failing in so many creative ways. Most of the machine's energy is being drained by the thrusters!"

Just then, Izhaks suddenly stepped forward and shouted, "Is it just a matter of getting rid of the thruster outside?"

"Yes..." An elf looked at the giant in surprise. "But it's impossible to get close to it now."

"I can probably get over there. Open a hole for me," Izhaks pointed to the wall. "Tell me what the main thruster looks like."

The elf was shocked. "That's suicide! It's outer space out there, and we don't have any spacesuits for you!"

Izhaks shrugged. "Doesn't matter much. I can survive in space, and I can move around more freely in a wider area."

Hao Ren stared dumbfounded at this fearless man, while Lily couldn't help but jump up and down beside him. "Can we help? Let's go dismantle it together..."

The data terminal shouted from the side, "You can't. You haven't evolved specifically for space environments. Even if your bodies can withstand it and survive in space for a while, don't expect to be able to help. But Hao Ren can go with him. His strength will be somewhat useful, and he's not affected by the environment."

Hao Ren pointed at himself in surprise. "Me? Go to outer space?"

"Your body enhancement has specific corresponding programs. Inspectors must be able to work in space. It's a basic ability. The miniature symbiotic devices in your body will automatically regulate your skin and respiratory system, providing you with energy, heat, and simulated air pressure. Your rigid shield can help you filter out radiation and small space debris, but don't expose yourself to the outside for too long. After all, you're not a professional space creature."

Hao Ren was stunned. "When did I get this function? Right after the enhancement? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Nonsense, Warden Crow didn't even give you a manual, and have you ever encountered this situation before?" The data terminal urged him to act quickly while saying this, "Hurry up. This machine doesn't think this place can hold out for much longer. Remember, first adapt to not needing to breathe, calm down, and prevent psychological factors from causing respiratory spasms. Secondly, don't drift too far from the floating island. Your movement in space relies on a simplified version of the coordinate conversion device, which is a new miniaturized gadget from recent years. It's also a small thing symbiotic with your cells. Its power is very limited, and it will directly put a strain on your mind—mainly because human thinking organs can't adapt to the pressure caused by this high-dimensional conversion. If you fly too far, you probably won't have the strength to float back."

Hao Ren did his best to understand and remember the data terminal's instructions. He thought that it should have told him all this sooner, and given him some time to adapt to this thing that was beyond the values of Earthlings. No one had ever told him about these abilities, and they were clearly things that required a long time to train and master. But in the end, Hao Ren didn't complain. He knew that today's situation was an emergency, and Warden Crow probably hadn't imagined that he would encounter such a troublesome situation so quickly.

Often, many things don't give you time to prepare.

"You two stay here and help with disaster relief," Hao Ren patted Lily on the shoulder. "I'll be right back."

The elves realized that these strange people in front of them weren't joking. After a brief exchange of glances, they finally believed that these people really had this ability. Thinking that these were the mysterious guests brought back by the Queen, they began to believe that there were peculiar creatures in this world that they didn't understand. An elven officer stepped forward. "I'll lead you to the nearest maintenance duct. This place is too fragile to just open a magic shield."

Near the explosion fissure, there was a spare maintenance entrance that led to the propulsion unit compartment. Inside was a dimly lit, sloping corridor. The elven officer pointed to the deep path ahead and reminded Hao Ren and Izhaks, who were about to enter, "There are two security gates ahead. They've been closed to prevent air loss. I'll open the first gate first, and ten seconds later, I'll close the first gate and open the second gate—it will stay open until you return. After the second gate opens, you should be directly facing a vacuum environment because the entire propulsion unit section has ruptured. There's no air outside the second gate. Are you sure you really want to go in?"

Hao Ren nodded silently and stepped into the deep, dark corridor with Izhaks. The heavy steel door of the maintenance tunnel closed heavily behind them.

The first gate quickly appeared in front of them. It was a heavy, gray alloy door. Hao Ren found a button for notifying the outside on the side of the door. When he pressed the button, he saw a line of Irem writing engraved on the wall: "Hold on until the second day."

This sentence seemed a bit meaningless, perhaps an Irem proverb.

With a hissing sound of air being extracted, the first gate opened. In front of them was a small airlock. Hao Ren and Izhaks walked into the airlock and waited nervously for a while. The first gate closed on time, and the air in the airlock was quickly evacuated. The second gate slowly opened.

During the process of the air being extracted, Hao Ren's heart beat rapidly out of physiological instinct. He felt a little uncomfortable at first, but he was quickly surprised and, as expected, found that his body had indeed adapted to this environment. He couldn't breathe, but his lungs' instinctive reaction seemed to be suppressed. The feeling of suffocation quickly receded, and he felt a strange compression on his skin. His body was rapidly adjusting to adapt to the vacuum. At the same time, his eyes, ears, and other orifices were also adjusting: he felt a bit of numbness in these areas.

Hao Ren opened his mouth, wanting to say something to Izhaks next to him, but found that no sound came out, and he couldn't hear any sound either.

Izhaks noticed this situation, and a burst of green arcane light flashed in his eyes. Hao Ren then heard a muffled thunder-like sound booming in his mind: "Use your mind to talk to me."

"You can do mind communication too?" Hao Ren was quite surprised.

"It's an old trick of demons," Izhaks smiled and took the lead forward. "Many guys project their voices into the minds of humans, promising them power and forbidden knowledge to induce them to fall. They use this method to increase their servants, but as human churches vigorously promoted anti-fraud guides, this approach became unpopular. I haven't done it, but I'm a demon after all."

The two advanced silently in the vacuum corridor, and after turning a few narrow corners, they arrived at a ruined place.

The monitoring room in the rear section of the propulsion unit had been completely torn apart by the explosion.