As everything set into place, the front of the Hope opened to reveal the barrel, body, and even the rail where the cannon sat on. The cannon slowly pointed upwards and electricity could be felt suffusing the area as it charged up. Electricity could be seen running through coils inside the cannon, creating a plasmatic energy center.

"Starting count down: 30, 29, 28..

3, 2, 1…"

Following the completion of the count down, the whole s.h.i.+p shook. In barely a second, a hole of 50 meters in diameter appeared above the Hope. Several pieces of pebbles broke away from the edge, tumbling downwards. However, the rest of the barrier held. Finally, through the hole, the people of the Hope could see the sky!

The cannon shot would be out of the planet’s atmosphere by then, far into the reaches of the cosmos.

Everything was ready, but… the hole was too small for the shuttle to navigate through. In the end, Yao Yuan had no choice but to order 3 more shots. The shots increased the size of the hole to about 170 meters in diameter, and finally the shuttle could squeeze through.

Inside the shuttle, everyone was in their s.p.a.cesuit. With the anti-gravitational system activated, the shuttle floated slowly through the hole. The shuttle was grazing the walls at every side, but thankfully, with Ying’s power, there was no accident. However, due to the difficulties in navigation, it still took the shuttle about 10 minutes to pa.s.s through the 2,000-meter-long tunnel.

The moment the shuttle broke through to open air, it felt like they were transported back to Earth.

Beyond the windows was a field of gra.s.s where animals galloped away hurriedly, startled by the shuttle’s appearance. Ferns of many kinds and colorful flowers dotted the landscape. Clouds floated lazily up in the sky, pierced occasionally by aviaries of some sort. The sky was awashed in a palette of gold and red, for a sun was setting in the western horizon. It was so… beautiful.

Ying wasted no time enjoying the scenery. Certain of the mission, he found a safe spot to land before leading the troopers out the shuttle. They needed to secure the perimeter. After all, this was an alien planet… even the plants could be dangerous!

20 minutes later, Ying allowed the scientists to descend after making sure there were no obvious signs of danger.

The moment they heard Ying’s consent, the group of scientists rushed out of the shuttle with much glee and excitement. Then they spread out to complete their own a.s.signments. Samples were collected from the plants, animal feces, soil, air, and microbes. This was not a project that could be hurried, so even when the sky was fully dark, the sampling process hadn’t seen its conclusion yet.

Suddenly, Chou Yue, Mao Miao, Yao Yuan in the Hope and Zhang Heng on the surface lifted their heads upwards and exclaimed in unison, "This is bad. Danger incoming!"

An unknown danger was coming from above them, from way above the planet's surface and even above the sky and atmosphere… it was coming from beyond the planet itself!

What kind of feeling was this?! This was an unbridled malice, intent on swallowing everything… They felt like they were like meat stranded in a circle of hungry beasts!

Zhang Heng’s first reaction was to connect to the Hope, Chou Yue went searching for Ren Tao, Mao Miao sought Ning Xue’s comfort, and Yao Yuan communicated with Ying immediately.

"Ying, what’s happening?! Report immediately! I feel something extremely dangerous coming from beyond the sky! What’s happening?"

"The planet… It’s being consumed!"

With shock and terror, Ying’s party stood transfixed, watching the planet’s two moons. One of them had irregular bite marks on its surface. The culprit was a ma.s.s of muscles adhering to the moon’s surface, slowly digesting it!

The scene was captured in Ying’s mind using his seeker’s power.

His eyes met the stare of the many eyes that covered the meat monster’s ma.s.sive body. It s.h.i.+fted its gaze away from Ying and to the shuttle behind him… and then to the giant hole beside the shuttle!