Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

How could a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p in the void of the universe quake so viciously? It must have hit something in the middle of the s.p.a.ce warp…

Only seconds later, Shaw debunked this theory in his mind.

It was an illogical a.s.sumption in the first place. After all, this was not any ordinary vehicle but a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p coursing at extraordinary speed. Any collision would have torn it into pieces. How could he still be sitting here in one piece?

If the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p had not collided into anything, could it have been obstructed by something else?

While Shaw was rummaging his mind for an explanation, he suddenly heard a m.u.f.fled, soft whimper.

It sounded distant. It seemed to travel to his room from the furthest end of the corridor outside. It was a hoa.r.s.e sound and he could not make out the gender of the person.

Shaw frowned.

Who was this? Could it be one of the ten members partic.i.p.ating in this experiment? Based on his recollection, there was not a single female among them.

If it was not any of the ten subjects, then it could be the original crew members of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.

Shaw contemplated briefly before brus.h.i.+ng it aside. What piqued his curiosity now was why did the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p in the midst of s.p.a.ce warp suddenly come to a screeching halt?

Shaw's polished senses recognized that the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p was idle now. This was not a good sign considering that they were stuck in the middle of nowhere in the vast universe.

Since it could not have collided into something, was it a case of the engines stalling? Could nuclear fusion engines encounter such issues in the first place?

Shaw was puzzled and grew increasingly concerned.

“Uuu…”

Shaw's stream of thoughts was once again interrupted by the m.u.f.fled sob from before. There was no mistaking it. It was growing louder, even if just slightly.

At the same time, the faint smell of sulfur that seemed like a mere illusion was growing stronger…

Shaw was feeling unsettled. He felt as if some dark ent.i.ty had its sights on him. He tweaked his hips and moved closer into the bed.

Was it all in his head? Why did that voice sound so familiar?

Shaw could not fling these thoughts out of his mind. Then, he heard footsteps coming down the corridor.

The thump of feet stomping against the floor was heavy and solemn. It echoed along the narrow corridor and carried with it a sense of melancholy.

There were more than one footstep…

It was an extremely odd sensation. With Shaw's sharpened sense of hearing, he could tell that more than one person was walking. Only their footsteps were so synchronized and stacked on top of one another it sounded like there was only one steady thump of footsteps. There must have been at least two people approaching.

Was it the person sobbing earlier?

Shaw was getting agitated by this point. He turned to the entrance and concentrated on the sound of these footsteps drawing closer.

“Knock, knock, knock…”

At last, the series of footsteps arrived at the entrance then came to a stop. It was soon followed by several knocks and the creaks of the door unlocking.

“Who's that?”

Shaw exclaimed as loud as he could to hide the shakiness in his voice.

“They are sent here to collect you.”

Before the sudden visitor could form a response, the broadcast system turned on and announced. “Mr. Shaw, please relocate to the bridge immediately. We have a task for you.”

Shaw felt two people approaching him and they held him up by his shoulders. When he felt their iron grip on him, he immediately noted that these two were extremely large and strong. His heart drummed against his chest repeatedly.

Just like that, Shaw left the room with his escorts.

“What's going on?”

Sensing something off with the situation, Shaw could not resist the urge to ask, “Didn't you mention that we were performing a s.p.a.ce warp? How come…”

“The Courage Voyager has completed s.p.a.ce warp.”

The same robotic voice of the broadcast came overhead. While Shaw continued his advance down the corridor, the voice followed him. “However, there were some issues with the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. The commander has instructed us that should the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p encounter any issues, we're to call for you to see if you can come up with an appropriate solution.”

“s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p issues?”

This only further confused Shaw as he answered irritably, “I want to help you guys too but I'm not a mechanic. You're looking for the wrong person for the job.”

“These are the direct orders from the commander.”

The voice continued. “I'm the artificial intelligence system of this s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p and have been pre-programmed to act according to preset procedures.”

“What?”

Shaw was startled by this discovery. He was once in the IT industry so he was very familiar with the subject matter. He raised his head in disbelief and questioned, “You mean to say that you're not talking to me using the built-in communication systems?”

“I'm afraid not.”

The reply came swiftly, “I'm the artificial intelligence of this s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p or also known as the main control systems. I'm not a human.”

“How, how is this possible…”

Shaw shuddered involuntarily. If this was not some kind of ridiculous prank they were trying to pull on him, then it would imply that Blackwatch had developed some ridiculously potent artificial intelligence.

In the current landscape of artificial intelligence, the Androids and XTN model robots were still considered low-level artificial intelligence. These systems could only communicate with humans dynamically by utilizing the cloud server processing engines. Outside of the cloud network, this low-level artificial intelligence could hardly accomplish most basic tasks.

High-level artificial intelligence, on the other hand, was a different subject entirely. These were full-fledged independent systems with distinct personalities and emotions. To a certain extent, they could even be described as sentient life forms!

“No such thing as impossible. Based on my knowledge, my mother system has been developing since more than a decade ago.”

The artificial system continued. “But this isn't the time to discuss these matters. Mr. Shaw, we need your help.”

Shaw took a deep breath and asked cautiously, “What do you need me to do?”

“The Courage Voyager seems to be tangled by some kind of ent.i.ty.”

The artificial intelligence stated, “This is the third time we've performed subs.p.a.ce s.p.a.ce warp experiments. The first time proceeded without any hiccups. The second time, something similar to what we're experiencing now happened as well. It took us five hours to wring ourselves free.”

“How did you do it that time?”

Shaw digested this information as well as he could and asked.

“Based on what we've collected so far, this bonding state isn't permanent. In time, it will loosen on its own and allow the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p to exit the subs.p.a.ce.”

“Then, why can't we just wait idly like the last time?”

Shaw was perplexed.

“Because the longer we remain in the subs.p.a.ce, the higher the chances of the crew members dying are.”

The artificial intelligence stated calmly, “The subs.p.a.ce airflow is corrosive. Staying here for an extended period will expose the hull to these corrosive currents. There's no telling if the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p can preserve long enough to escape the subs.p.a.ce since there's a risk of it falling apart in this environment.”

Shaw tightened when he heard this. “What do you mean the longer we stay here, the higher the chances of crew members dying? What is this subs.p.a.ce you speak of?”

“What we refer to as the subs.p.a.ce is a dimension that doesn't belong to the real universe.”

The artificial intelligence explained patiently, “The unique quality of the subs.p.a.ce is that it greatly shortens the distance between points of the real universe. The ratio is roughly ten thousand to one. This means that every kilometer traveled in the subs.p.a.ce equals ten thousand kilometers in the real universe. This is why we're capitalizing on this quality to greatly improve the efficiency of s.p.a.ce travel. If used correctly, the duration of s.p.a.ce travel can be reduced dramatically and can be conventionalized.”

“I see…”

Shaw was truly awed by this. Before he could follow up with anything else, the artificial intelligence went on. “But subs.p.a.ce navigation isn't without its dangers. The risk subs.p.a.ce navigation carries is severely greater than in the real universe. The last time when we only stayed in the subs.p.a.ce for five hours, nine out of ten crewmates lost their minds and died in the duration.”

“It's… it's more dangerous than I thought…”

Shaw quickly realized the urgency of the situation over the course of this conversation. Meanwhile, he could tell he arrived at his destination because the firm grip placed around his shoulder finally gave him some breathing room.

“This is the bridge of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.”

The artificial intelligence informed, “And your task is to open your eyes.”

“Open my eyes? Do you mean that there's some psionic presence in this sub…”

Despite his confusion at this request, Shaw decided it was easier for him to just do as he was instructed.

The moment he opened his eyes, his voice was latched in his throat. His eyes expanded wide as he beheld what he saw before him.

There were two panels of floor-to-ceiling windows in front of Shaw. Outside the windows were nothing but a pitch-black sheet of nothingness, that was, for the regular person. Shaw's eyes saw something different amid this ocean of darkness, something that circled the ocean and seemed to stretch endlessly…

“What is this…”

Shaw shuddered and took two steps backward.

“Tell me, what do you see?”

The artificial intelligence prompted.

“Can't, can't you see it?”

Shaw looked pale and distraught, his eyes skirted around the view outside. “There are so many things shaped like vines surrounding this s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, they entwine and move like cell tissues…”

The artificial intelligence kept silent for a while before it broke its silence. “No, I cannot see it. Not only myself, neither any other people nor the most sophisticated camera lens can see these vines you mentioned. The only thing we can see is an endless mist of sulfur…”

“What, why..?”

Shaw was startled by this and asked.

“It must've something to do with your psionic powers.”

The artificial intelligence said, “Inside the subs.p.a.ce, only those who have lost their vision can observe the ongoings in the dimension. With the added facet of your astral sight, you can see the true form of the subs.p.a.ce.”

“The true form…”

Shaw could not find the words to express what he was feeling.

Suddenly, Shaw heard a m.u.f.fled sob coming from behind him. It made him shudder again and he quickly turned around only to be greeted by the usual, vast nothingness.

The world outside the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, separated by the window and the s.p.a.ce inside the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p were completely alternate worlds as far as Shaw was concerned. While he could see the intricate workings of the subs.p.a.ce dimension outside, his vision rendered him blind to anything inside the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p…

Shaw's erratic behavior piqued the curiosity of the artificial intelligence. “Mr. Shaw, when you turned around just now, I noticed that your heart rate has increased by eighty percent and your blood pressure has increased by fifty percent. Why is that?”

“Can't you hear it?”

Shaw asked, “Is there a female crew member on board? I heard her crying just now, a rather harrowing cry.”

“…”

There was silence from the artificial intelligence before it spoke again, “There are no female crew members on board. There are only ten Black Knights and ten psionicists subjects on board, including yourself of course.”

“What?”

Shaw's pupils dilated. He looked behind him again at the field of darkness. The artificial intelligence noticed this and enquired, “You keep looking behind you. Is that where this voice you speak of comes from?”

“Yes… I'd say it's only around twenty to thirty meters away.”

Shaw nodded in response and gauged the distance.

“The s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p is only thirty meters long, Mr. Shaw.”

The artificial intelligence stated, “Two meters behind you is the buffer gate of the bridge. It's tough enough to withstand low-caliber pulse rifles and it has excellent sound m.u.f.fling capabilities. You wouldn't hear a cannon fired on the other end of this door.”

“Are, are you kidding me?”

Shaw grew restless. Based on what he was told so far, he deduced that prolonged exposure to the subs.p.a.ce was highly dangerous. Although he had determined the reason the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p was held in place, there was nothing he could do to alleviate the situation. The only option is to sit idly and wait…

Putting that aside, how was it that he was the only person to hear this strange sob?

This sobbing, this sobbing…

It felt like something had been injected into the deepest crevice in his mind. It overlapped and fused with his existing memory. At this point, he heard the same sobbing again!

“Uuu…”

Shaw's hair crawled up his back. He felt like was losing his mind. This eerie voice was drawing closer to him, no more than ten meters away now!

It was drawing closer!

Shaw felt a chilling bite crawling into his spine as he stumbled backward and fell on his hips. His eyes fixed on the deafening darkness in front.

“Mr. Shaw? Mr. Shaw!”

The voice of the artificial intelligence echoed in his mind. It's tone was dragged out and slowly faded out like a mirage.

Shaw seemed to see something faintly conjured in his vision. He continued to fix his eyes on it. Somewhere in the profound darkness, what seemed like a human silhouette appeared.

This figure was stark naked with what seemed like blood all over it. Its posture made it seem like a corpse…

How could a corpse materialize out of nowhere in a blind man's sight?

The corners of Shaw's mouth twitched involuntarily. His vision turned clear unexpectedly and he recognized this corpse as the body of his late wife!

“Clack…”

Its wrists moved. The corpse made an extremely subtle movement that seemed to evoke a chain reaction in Shaw's body as well and made him jump!

What happened after that was similar to what was only seen in horror films. One by one, the corpse began to move its limbs. It dragged the heavyweight of its body across the floor and crawled toward Shaw like a zombie!

Every ounce of strength had been drained out of Shaw's body. All he could do was lean against the window behind him and stare at this demon approaching him…

“Shaw, Shaw, Shaw…”

The corpse muttered Shaw's name endlessly. Its joints clicked loudly in a disturbing fas.h.i.+on as it approached Shaw, then it raised its head mechanically…

Moments before Shaw broke down, he smelled a sharp scent of sulfur probing into his nose…