Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Zhang Bao ’er raised his gun and fired at the drones.
However, their shields stopped all the bullets.

”Their shields are too strong.
They ’re the same type of shields we had met during our alley battle.
They ’re very hard to penetrate, ” said Old Du.

More than 10 red beams shot down from the sky at our car.

”Watch out, these beams are very powerful, ” said the prince.

Right as the red beams were about to strike the car, I activated my morph-capable system and protected the entire car with my shield.
The shield protected our car, but my energy level was visibly and rapidly dropping.
At this rate, my energy would not last more than an hour.
The air defense drones constantly fired at us from different directions.
Whenever a red beam hit something, a vehicle or the ground, an explosion followed.

”Old Du, think of something.
We can ’t continue like this, ” I said.

”We need to shoot those drones down.
Otherwise, they will just prolong the battle until we ’re all dead, ” said Old Du.

”But their shields are too strong.
We can ’t penetrate them.
I doubt even our nuclear warheads can do it, ” said Zhang Xingxing.

I suddenly recalled the sight of the air defense drone protecting the juxi beast with its shield during the alley battle.

”Old Du, is there a target we can attack to shift the drones ’ attention? ” I asked.

”No valid target.
The race track is completely empty.
Even the other vehicles are staying away from us, ” said Old Du.

’Completely empty.
Completely empty, ’ I thought. 

”This damn place doesn ’t even have an escape route.
Prince, I thought you said there were a lot of exits? ” complained Zhang Bao ’er.

”That was what my information agent told me, ” said the prince.

”Too bad Dodo isn ’t around.
Otherwise, we could have hacked their system and destroyed them, ” Zhang Bao ’er said.

”No use complaining now.
We need to deal with them as soon as possible, ” said Zhang Xingxing.

”Old Du, we did see a lot of exits when we were coming, but they all vanished when we entered the track.
Is this some sort of projected illusion? ” I asked.

”If the exits really exist, they won ’t disappear for no reason.
This must be the work of some projection.
We can solve this by seeking the projector and destroying it, ” said Old Du.

”But where is it? I already blasted all the monitoring installations around us.
Nothing works, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

Instantly, intense explosions erupted behind us.
The damage the air defense drones had done to the race track had caused a chain collision of racers, creating a series of explosions.

”Where ’s the projector? Old Du, Bao ’er, freely fire around us to search for the projector, ” commanded Zhang Xingxing.

”Don ’t waste your energy.
The projector is definitely not within our attacking range, ” I said.

”Canyue, what do you mean? Are they placing the illusion from afar? Is this entire race track an illusion? ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

”Since there is an actual road leading into this track, then this must be real.
I believe the source of the projection is right here on our car, ” I said.

Everyone came to a certain realization, and they all agreed with my assessment.

”From the moment we entered the track, the system had put a virtual projection on us.
I plan to try abandoning the car, ” I said.

”Do it, then.
Minimize your shields to individual sizes.
Canyue will cover Dondon, and Old Du will cover the prince, ” commanded Zhang Xingxing.

”Dondon, have the car cruise in autopilot.
Everyone, prepare to jump, ” I said.

We had the car cruise beside the track.
After Dondon set the car to cruise at about 80 kilometers per hour, I nodded at Xingxing.
The team leader opened the door and jumped out.
With the protection of our morph-capable shields, the impact from the fall did not harm us.
We jumped successively, with me being the last to jump with Dondon in my arms.

After a roll, I stood back up.
Without our shields, the patrol car was instantly decimated by the red beams.
An exit appeared about 300 meters ahead of us.

”Canyue, what a surprise.
You can be quite a genius at times, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

”Let ’s not waste time.
Leave immediately, ” commanded Zhang Xingxing.

We set our shields at maximum capacity before making a run for the exit while behind us, a rain of red beams continued falling.

Soon, we left the track to enter a ghetto area with small buildings.
When the people there saw that we were being pursued by air defense drones, they hastily moved out of the way.

”Damn that Domo.
Where is our door? This place is no longer a projection, ” complained Zhang Bao ’er.

”Try hiding in a building, ” Zhang Xingxing commanded.

We rushed into a random building.
About 10 red beams followed us, blasting the building into pieces.
We continued running, causing the destruction of three more buildings.

”This won ’t work.
The air defense drones are fully locked on to us.
We need to evade their detection, ” said Old Du.

At this time, my system indicated that I only had 30 minutes ’ worth of energy left.
The emergency indicator was already lit up.
Urged by our survival instinct, we continued running through buildings with the air defense drones hot behind us.
In one of the buildings, I saw that several hiding aliens were instantly sliced into pieces.

”This can ’t continue.
We will only bring trouble to more innocent people, ” said Zhang Xingxing.

At this time, an idea appeared in my mind.

”Dondon, your suit has air fission technology.
Can you create a gaseous reaction above us and hide all of us? ” I shouted at Dondon.

”I have only attempted to create the small area effect required for floating before.
Creating the effect for such a large area might drain all my energy in one go, ” replied Dondon.

”This isn ’t the time to worry about that.
What ’s the point of energy if we ’re all dead? You ’re going to turn into a roasted cat soon, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

”I ’ll help you recharge your suit in the future.
Create a molecular fission area and see if you can shift their attention from us, ” I urged Dondon.

”Roger.
On it, ” replied Dondon.

Dondon pressed all the buttons on his arm before aiming both his tiny paws at the air defense drones in the sky.
A transparent light wave then swept out of his cuffs.
The wave rippled out, creating a molecular fission reaction around the drones, separating them and us in different parallel dimensions.

The air fission reaction worked immediately, and the air defense drones that had been attacking us relentlessly seemed to have lost their targets.
The rain of red beams stopped.
Everyone heaved a breath of relief.
When I looked at my energy level, I only had five minutes of active shield usage remaining.

”There is limited energy powering the fission reaction.
It won ’t last long, ” said Dondon.

”Retreat immediately, ” Zhang Xingxing commanded.

I saw that chaos had erupted among the air defense drones as we took the opportunity to dash into a small alley.

”How should we locate the Jido shop? ” asked Zhang Xingxing.

”Let ’s find an enclosed place to hide first.
Running on the streets is too dangerous.
The guards will arrive soon, ” said Old Du.

I saw a building that looked like a grocery shop beside the street.
I nodded at Zhang Xingxing, and the group entered the shop.

The store wasn ’t big, and it was filled with groceries from many different planets.
We all hid in the storeroom behind the shop.

”We can ’t hide here forever.
The moment the juxi beast arrives, we ’ll be discovered, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

”We need to get in contact with Domo and let him know where to open the time door if we want to avoid capture, ” I said.

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”We need to move fast.
Things will get even more troublesome when the Gandos arrive, ” said Prince Toruse.

”How should we contact the Jido? ” asked Zhang Xingxing.

Everyone sank into silence.
Suddenly, an idea came to me.

”We can ’t contact Domo, but we can try contacting Dodo, ” I said.

”How? I tried the communicator earlier.
They ’re out of coverage, ” said Old Du.

”Not with our communicators but with Eternal communicators.
Dodo has accessed the communication network ’s database before.
Since the network runs through the entire planet, we can definitely contact them with an Eternal communicator, ” I said.

”Where are we supposed to get one? Our patrol car has already been destroyed on the race track, ” said Zhang Xingxing.

I looked around the storeroom we were in and said, ”This is a grocery shop.
We can probably find some communicators here. ”

Hearing that, everyone started searching the shop.
The shop wasn ’t too big, and it was separated into two partitions.
Numerous items of different sizes filled the shop.
Hanging above the counter was a signboard with ”Big Brother Qiao ’s Store ” written on it.

’That must be the owner ’s name.
The air defense drones were attacking indiscriminately earlier, so the owner must have fled, ’ I thought.

Shortly after, Dondon shouted, ”Found it! This might be a communicator! ” 

Everyone surrounded Dondon and saw a simple-looking device that constantly blinked green.
On the device were a red button and a round speaker.

’A small shop like this actually has a communicator.
Perhaps Prophet Nommo is still blessing us with good luck? ’ I thought.

Zhang Bao ’er carried the device to the counter.
Just as I was about to press the red button, Old Du stopped me.

”Canyue, we don ’t have Dodo ’s frequency.
If you send an open message, all the guards will receive it as well, ” said Old Du.

I was left speechless.
Yes, that was a serious issue that we needed to face.
Suddenly, scanning sounds rang out, and then the breathing of a massive animal rang out from afar alongside heavy metallic clanking.

”Shit! Looks like the juxi beast and the Gandos have arrived together, ” Zhang Bao ’er exclaimed anxiously.

Contacting Dodo might expose us immediately, but if we did not contact Dodo, the juxi beast and the Gandos would probably decimate us upon their arrival.
I couldn ’t make up my mind about what to do.

”There ’s no better choice.
Don ’t hesitate.
Do it.
At worst, we ’ll fight to the very last drop of our blood, ” commanded Zhang Xingxing when she saw that I was hesitating.

”Yes.
If push comes to shove, I ’ll just drag them down with me as I die.
Do it, Canyue, ” said Zhang Bao ’er with fervor.

Old Du, Prince Toruse, and Dondon also looked at me with faith and conviction in their eyes.
I steeled my resolve, pressed the red button, and called out for Dodo through the speaker.