Chapter 260: Living from the Unknown (1/2)

Chapter 260: Living from the Unknown

Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong’s sense of direction was right, the mist was in fact fading away as he hovered on. He started noticing the few mysterious regularities within the mist. There seemed to be a cycle… which affected the thickness of the mist. So whenever the red mist began diminishing, the red strands would turn finer and some of them would disintegrate as well. In the midst of the mist in pale scarlet, only the strands thinner than fingers remained. The strands were outstanding as they stood in a sharper crimson than their broader counterpart, like burning flame. The strength of these strands was probably far greater than the normal strands behind. Ye Chong in his Han Jia gave a careful slash to the root and grabbed stalk of them. These were far more reliable than the usual ropes, would be perfect as a lifeline.

On little bit of curiosity, Ye Chong realized he could not even tear the fine strands apart. These were some real physic-defying threads. Well, if they were really ”threads” to begin with. Ye Chong was rather intrigued by the composition of these red strands, being eager for exploration in the chemical composition of matters was a typical character setting for an alchemist like himself.

Without the hinderance of the strands, Han Jia started regaining its mobility. Ye Chong was very much avid for a fancy race on Mach 20, but he had to conserve his batteries, as he maintained Han Jia at around Mach 18. Still, Mach 18 was already a speed way different than what Han Jia used to travel at.

The mist was disappearing, as Ye Chong’s visibility restored. Han Jia’s built-in hologramic detection system had won back Ye Chong’s trust since the interference was getting overcome.

It was weird though, that Ye Chong did not see any planet despite his long travels. He technically had barely seen anything else than the red strands and red sea themselves.

In a void so vast and boundless, how could there be only a misty field of red strands? There was nothing else? Really? What is the mist for? Where do they come from? How large the field was exactly? Nobody knew, nobody could tell.

Ye Chong did have that innate curiosity to venture into the unknown, but that did not mean he would compromise his safety and jump into a potential black hole.

He travelled for the following week with the digital clock ticking inside the cabin. It was a relief when he was finally able to escape from the creepy red sea. No message was received. No notification was on his screen. There was no incoming signal as well. There were too many unknowns inside the galaxies, so many taboos they should not fondle with. It would be a miracle if he was able to encounter the Coxcomb by coincidence in a space like this. Ye Chong would not even dare to tell if Mu had successfully escaped the grasp of red mist.

He took a look around, the familiar black airless void in his surrounding. He sighed, in relief.

Till he lifted his head to the front, he stumbled upon the scenery before him.

Asteroid belt… Ye Chong realized the vast deadly red sea was actually wrapped by a far more enormous asteroid belt.

An asteroid belt was nothing new in the record of exploration by humanity. The 5 major galaxies alone would have a handful of places with asteroid belts, which some people would call it ”The Zone of Dead Calamity”. Humanity today showed little understanding towards the asteroid belts for it contained, as the name stated, the deadliest calamity one could imagine, not only because of the demand of exceptional piloting, but also what lived inside the core of the belt. There was hardly anybody who had hit the depth of the belt.

No one could explain how these belts were formed, while some experts claimed them having the same formation of the ring of a planet from one solar system with the name Saturn, which was not even a good analogy to begin with. The structure of the asteroid belts was not something that was born by an explosion of planet or a byproduct of black hole throwing up, it was an unknown, with unidentified danger lurking within. People could not give a sound statement for the asteroid containment, but they all could illustrate a vivid imagery of the horrendous explosion of asteroid whirlpool as it was something that could devastate probably anything nearby, which stirred up the greatest fear in mankind.

And Ye Chong had experienced it once himself, if it was not Mu who woke up in time, he would have been permanently part of the belt now.

But unlike those he had seen before, the asteroid belt before him was the broadest by far, as the whole red sea was fully surrounded by it.

He took a look afar… there was nothing else. He had to either venture into the belt or get back into the red sea. Wait what? No, don’t be silly! Going back to that hellish place? I'd rather walk into that asteroid belt now!

Giving a few commands to Han Jia, Ye Chong advanced cautiously into the asteroid belt.

There were asteroids of all sort of sizes and shapes. There were a few with diameter about a few tens kilometers… some were about the size of his fist. Ye Chong had his attention fully to his surrounding, as he monitored those hovering asteroids around him. Those were the silent most killers one could face in the space. He had to watch and took necessary actions whenever the asteroids moved, even the slightest bit, as the memory came haunting him, reminding him of his horrible experience with the last asteroid whirlpool.

Like hell knows if there would anything funnier here!! I could not take more jokes to my life!

There were asteroids, lots of asteroids, but it was mentally-numbing as well. It was boring yet it was something to train Ye Chong’s will. After a few days of traveling in the belt, Ye Chong could already dodge the asteroids on a whim. Han Jia retreated to its below average velocity ever since they stepped into the belt, just to avoid these disorderly madness around.

Fortunately enough, despite the amount of asteroids around him, the detection system was unaffected, as it could still give Ye Chong direction. At least Ye Chong could maintain his direction and not make the wrong turn without noticing.

Ye Chong could feel his brain jamming. Well, anyone would have gone mad traveling in high alert for a few days straight without sleep.

…

… …

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

The alarm wailed.

!