Chapter Fifty-six: The Great Spaceship

Once he confirmed it had been eliminated, Zhang Desen immediately retraced his steps. Passing the stable again, he tossed a pulse grenade, wiping out the remaining humanoid creatures. But just as he was about to return to find Li Longfa and the others to prepare for action, he glanced back and saw a colossal spaceship, a kilometer in diameter, flying in from the west side of the city. The sight startled Zhang Desen.

It was clearly the same vessel he had seen earlier on the radar screen; after losing the small ship’s signal, it had come in person. Soon, a surge of energy erupted from the top of the large ship, enveloping it entirely. Zhang Desen immediately thought of one thing—a protective shield.

At that moment, the only word that came to Zhang Desen’s mind was “shield,” for it was obvious this could indeed safeguard them. The disappearance of the small ship must have put them on alert; otherwise, the mothership would not have activated its shield upon arrival.

This development made things tricky for Zhang Desen, as he had never dealt with shields before, and in his home universe, research into such technology was still in its infancy. A troublesome predicament indeed.

For now, hidden in the shadows, Zhang Desen decided to lie low for a while. Just as he was about to move, a hatch opened at the top of the spaceship, and something flew out, leaving him utterly astonished.

It was a flying humanoid, cloaked in a robe that covered the entire body, with a fully enclosed helmet obscuring its features. The sides of the helmet bore small antenna-like devices. The figure floated effortlessly, likely thanks to some anti-gravity apparatus.

These flying beings resembled ghosts from legend, and soon, one of them slipped through an opening in the shield, emerging beside the spaceship like a sentry, keeping watch as the vessel headed toward the pond where the small ship had crashed.

For better observation, Zhang Desen used special forces’ methods to scale a nearby tall building. No sooner had he reached the top than the strange figure seemed startled, glancing in his direction. Zhang Desen quickly hid behind a door, fortunate that it was already open and would not arouse suspicion.

Just as he concealed himself, he noticed a monk lying on the floor, staring at him with puzzled eyes. It was understandable—everyone else struggled to stand, so Zhang Desen’s unaffected state would naturally confuse the monk. Zhang Desen gestured for silence, and the monk, seeing no malice in him and curious about his unusual attire, complied.

Zhang Desen realized the large ship had also activated a signal disrupting the inner ear. Clearly, the Terrans were thorough in their precautions. Only now did Zhang Desen notice the tall building was part of a temple complex.

He decided to enter the room, needing to observe without passing too close to the monk—his signal jammer had not shielded the monk from the signal attack, so the man still lay on the ground.

Soon, Zhang Desen reached a window facing the spaceship. The window was closed and covered with paper. After waiting a while, ensuring the strange figure’s attention had shifted, he poked a hole in the paper and began observing with binoculars.

He saw that the Terrans had disembarked from the ship and stood on the ground, while the vessel hovered overhead. Zhang Desen surmised they must have used anti-gravity devices to descend.

The Terrans were surveying the crash site, seemingly inspecting something, while the strange creature remained on guard.

Eventually, the Terrans dragged two bodies from the wreckage of the small ship, apparently intending to take them back. The mothership deactivated its shield, perhaps finding it unnecessary or deciding the crash was merely an accident.

Zhang Desen suspected the mothership was highly resilient, unsure if his weapons would be effective against it, so he decided not to fire unless provoked.

He watched as the large ship opened a downward hatch, likely activating its anti-gravity mechanism. The small ship slowly floated up and was taken aboard. The Terrans on the ground then returned to the mothership in the same way, followed by the strange creatures.

Zhang Desen was momentarily baffled—he had seen only one strange creature earlier, now there were many. He reasoned that during a period when he was not observing, more must have emerged. Nevertheless, the ship departed without retrieving the humanoid creatures.

This troubled Zhang Desen. The lack of retrieval meant the humanoids were left behind, or perhaps they returned on their own. He recalled there had been five or six; four had been eliminated, so only one or two remained.

All things considered, they were not difficult to deal with. As he pondered, he sensed someone approaching from behind. He spun around, pulse gun ready, only to find the monk who had been lying on the floor. With the ship gone and the electromagnetic interference vanished, the monk was able to stand. Zhang Desen immediately rose and saluted:

“Master, forgive my rudeness—I feared it might be an enemy.”

The monk replied, “Amitabha, do not be alarmed, benefactor. I merely wondered why I alone could not stand, while you seemed unaffected. You did not appear evil, but I was curious as to what you were hiding from. Now that I can stand, I wished to come see.”

Zhang Desen answered, “Master, this matter is not easily explained. Allow me to tell you slowly…”

He then explained selectively, only addressing why he could stand, omitting any mention of his origins or connection to the Liu family, and claiming ignorance of the reason for his immunity.

The monk introduced himself: “So that is how it is. Benefactor, my Dharma name is Kongchen. I wish—who is that?!”

Startled, Zhang Desen looked back to see a floating shadow outside, drifting toward the door he had entered. At the doorway, he saw a floating figure in a black robe.

The sudden arrival of this floating, black-robed creature caught Zhang Desen off guard. He had just watched the enormous ship depart, and though the humanoid creatures remained, he thought the strange beings had been taken away.

Reflecting quickly, Zhang Desen understood: the humanoid creatures had been left to continue the Terrans’ mission, but they needed a commander—and that was the floating black-robed figure before him.

A commander need not be in a group; one was sufficient. Zhang Desen also realized the Terrans’ mothership was probably not far away—it could not risk staying, so it sent the small ship to reduce exposure, and now left a creature to direct operations.

While these thoughts flashed through his mind, Zhang Desen knew he needed to eliminate the creature. He immediately increased the power of his signal jammer, preventing the creature from transmitting information or commanding the humanoids, and aimed his pulse gun.

As he prepared to fire, the creature seemed momentarily stunned, evidently realizing the source of the jamming signal was Zhang Desen. It made sense: amidst a group of humans wielding primitive weapons, a technologically advanced human would be shocking.

Before it could recover, Zhang Desen squeezed the trigger, striking the anti-gravity device hidden beneath its robe and sending it crashing to the ground.

The creature reacted swiftly, producing a cylindrical device, about eight centimeters in diameter and three and a half centimeters tall, with a small round opening at the front.

Suddenly, the creature pressed a switch, and a beam of light shot forth. In a split second, Zhang Desen dodged the attack and destroyed the cylinder with his pulse gun.

The monk Kongchen was not so fortunate. Struck by the beam, he suffered first-degree burns all over, and his consciousness grew hazy.

Fortunately, Zhang Desen had disabled the creature’s weapon. He pressed his advantage, firing repeatedly at its head and killing it. He then stepped forward and took out his portable laser cutter.

The laser cutter focuses a high-power-density beam onto the surface, heating the material to its melting or boiling point, while high-pressure gas blows away the molten or vaporized metal. As the beam and workpiece move relative to each other, a slit forms, achieving the cut.

Compared to traditional oxyacetylene or plasma cutting methods, laser cutting is faster, produces narrower cuts, minimizes heat-affected zones, yields vertical edges, and smooth sides, and can cut a variety of materials. For these reasons, Zhang Desen always carried a portable laser cutter with him.