Chapter 626: Prying (2/2)

Except, everything was not what they expected. When they arrived at where the three primary planets had been, only one planet remained, hovering in the spot Moonfiend had once occupied. The other two were gone, with no trace left behind.

Xiaosu gasped. “They’ve already teleported away?”

Lan Jue placed a hand on her shoulder. “Not necessarily, don’t panic. Move in closer and scan the area. Remember that these planets can move. Maybe the planets split up to cover more area. After all, out here even one of these planets are invincible. Let’s move in and take a look. Mika, call my parents here to look. Assuming only one of the planets are here, maybe we can cause a little chaos.”

Jue Di’s apocalyptic punch had stunned everyone, and was a font of courage for Lan Jue. If his father could put down one of these three fatal worlds, it could mean the difference in humanity’s coming crisis.

Mika rushed to fetch them, while Zeus-1 slowly crept closer. The Psychic Tide continued to put her full effort into maintaining their camouflage.

From afar the planet almost looked like a human Bastion Ship, floating quietly by itself. A hive would be a more apt description, though. Scores of alien creatures could be spied leaving and returning from its surface. It swallowed them up and spat out others, keeping the flow steady.

Undoubtedly the creatures were being dispatched to gather more life energy. When they returned, they delivered that energy to the planet itself.

It was the first time Lan Jue was close enough to see the process clearly.

The surface of the planet was entirely purple. Its surface was pockmarked with craters, mountains, and strange fold-like valleys. A pale purple haze surrounded it, like an atmosphere. That was all he could tell with his eyes alone. He couldn’t see or sense much beyond that.

Jue Di and Luo Xianni arrived at the bridge and walked to his side. They looked out at the scene.

“Just one?” Jue Di’s brows wrinkled in thought.

Lan Jue nodded. “We can only see one. The other two most likely moved on. Now we know they can move and fight separately.”

Jue Di’s eyes narrowed. He was thinking of something, but there was no telling what.

Lan Jue continued. “From our previous encounter we can determine that these planets are living creatures. They’re like brood mothers, and can spawn aliens for their needs. They use life energy pilfered from elsewhere to empower themselves. The one we found on Taihua, the one we called a progenitor, was essentially a scaled-down version of this thing. It also spawned aliens and sent them out to drain the planet. It was using that energy to get bigger. We suspect that’s how these things develop.”

Jue Di nodded, expressing his agreement.

“Father, we have no way of telling how strong this planet is. If you were to fight it, do you think you could cause some damage?” Lan Jue asked.

“Absolutely not!” Luo Xianni answered for him.

Lan Jue paused. Everyone’s eyes turned her way.

Jue Di stared at her for a moment before answering. “I can’t tell. The planet’s atmosphere is hiding its energies from me. I’d need to get in there.”