Epoch of Twilight

Upon returning to the municipal government, Luo Yuan instructed Cheng Guanghui to buy them some books and made arrangements for two private teachers to teach the kids. Of course, it would be less effective if they taught themselves as compared to when two teachers were teaching them. Since they were interested and talented, the only thing he could do was to encourage them.

After sitting down for a moment, the officers of the communication room who was on duty reported that there was an urgent message from the spaceship and requested to talk with Luo Yuan.

Luo Yuan’s expression turned deadly serious as he heard this, rushing towards the communication room.

It was heavily guarded, security guards were stationed outside the communication room.

"Please show us your identification!" The guard immediately saluted and said loudly as he saw Luo Yuan.

Luo Yuan nodded his head and took out his ID. It was a system he established. There would be no exceptions, he even had to show his ID for verification as this place was of the utmost importance.

Most of the Earth’s satellites and communication servers had been destroyed by the disaster. It was impossible to contact the spaceship via the regular communication channels. The only possible way to connect the Earth and the spaceship was to use an interstellar quantum communication device which had been disassembled from an aircraft which was placed here.

Compared to the interstellar quantum communication device that was destroyed by Luo Yuan, this was undoubtedly a lot smaller. It was the size of a notebook. It could support holographic three-dimensional images and could be used in an area of approximately three astronomical units (An astronomical unit was equivalent to the average distance between Earth and the Sun).

It was indeed a waste to use it to connect with a spaceship that was close to Earth.

The Glassians did not have portable personal communication devices. It was because their technology was too advanced and they had eliminated simple devices such as mobile phones.

Communication could be done through a sponge-like personal communication terminal that was attached to their cerebral cortex. That aside, the personal communication terminal allowed them to be directly connected to the Glassians’ database that was somewhat similar to an intranet. Therefore, it allowed them to have direct control over various robots. The sponge-like terminal also mimicked bio-genetic textures and because it was connected to the cerebral cortex and nerves, they could enter virtual worlds to learn and live.

Unfortunately, the technological gap was too big. The Glassians’ advanced industrial foundation had contributed to the development of technology. With the current standard of human technology , they would not be able to break through to that within 10 to 20 years.

Fortunately, it was still a must for the Glassians to have a high-power, long-distance communication device. Otherwise, it would be troublesome for them to contact the spaceship.

Luo Yuan quickly entered the communications room and answered the call.

"What’s happening?" He asked in a deep voice.

"Mayor, there’s something urgent that I have to report to you..." The caller was Bi Jianping who was in charge of the spaceship. His face took on a ghastly expression as he said those words.

Luo Yuan’s expression changed as he heard what he had to say.

It was not the spaceship that was getting into trouble, it was the earth. By looking at the spaceship’s monitor, there seemed to be an interstellar creature that was attempting to invade the earth. It had now entered the atmospheric layer and it was estimated that it would land on earth within half an hour.

Under normal circumstances, it was not a big deal. However, it might be landing in southeast Asia. His face turned grave and soon, he became angry.

This was a dereliction of duty!

The consequences of allowing an interstellar creature to enter earth was seen clearly back when they were on the moon.

Luo Yuan could still remember that day clearly, it would be similar to the incident when the hydrogen bomb exploded. Even with his abilities, when faced with creatures like this, there would be nothing he could do about it.

If the interstellar creature landed somewhere close to Hope City, it could be a fatal disaster. The surviving humans might die.

"Why didn’t you monitor the situation earlier on?" Luo Yuan asked in a low voice, getting angrier the more he thought of it. It was probably the carelessness of the people manning the spaceship that had caused this incident to happen.

The spaceship was no longer manned by professionals. It was either manned by government officers or researchers. Their main focus was to investigate Glassian technology as well as the construction of residential areas. With the high degree of intelligence of the spaceship and its automatic defense system, they neglected keeping a close eye on the surveillance of the situation close to earth.

Luo Yuan had made up his mind as it seemed that setting up a team of professionals as the crew that would man the ship was urgently needed. The situation was getting worse and he was afraid that more problems would occur during the interstellar flight where the situation and environment were uncertain.

Bi Jianping’s face turned pale as he could feel Luo Yuan’s suppressed anger.

"It’s my fault. I neglected this matter. As a leader, the mistake that I’ve made is inexcusable."

"Your responsibility now is to set up a team of professionals to monitor the earth at every single moment. If there’s any problem, report to me immediately!" Luo Yuan said coldly.

"Yes, mayor!" Bi Jianping said in relief.

Luo Yuan did not bother himself with Bi Jianping as soon as he finished his sentence. He disconnected the call and walked out of the communications room.

He was the only one on the spaceship who had the authorization to engage in battle. However, it was quite difficult to verify any sort of authorization remotely as there were plenty of ways people could impersonate one’s identity in an attempt to take over the spaceship. That being said, a spacecraft like this probably would not have such a loophole in its systems.

Althought the artificial intelligence system on the ship seemed to be sentient and could seemingly make decisions, it had learned through trial and error and would choose situations that would give it an advantage, avoiding those which put it at a disadvantage. Under those rules, it was almost flawless.

However, it would seem that it was now too late for him to rush over to the spaceship in an attempt to hunt the interstellar creature down. It was about to land on earth.

......

After a short while, he left Underground City.

The sky was still gray, shrouded by the dark clouds. Looking up from the ground, there was no sign of the invasion by the interstellar creature.

Luo Yuan stomped the ground hard and his body shot up into the sky like an arrow, as the ice miners would describe him.

Before arriving at the layer of clouds, Luo Yuan could vaguely feel a weak power coming from the clouds. By sensing the direction of this power, he immediately shifted his direction and flew towards the target.

In 10 seconds, he sneaked into the dark clouds.

It was a floating dust layer formed by volcanic ash and tiny ice crystals. The thickness of the dust layer was around 5,000 meters, not unlike a thick curtain that prevented sunlight from reaching the earth.

The layers of the clouds below were relatively thinner, so they had only a small amount of electric charge. However, the static electricity grew stronger as he went further up and at an altitude of around 600 meters, he began seeing lightning shooting out of the layer of clouds.

It seemed like an electric snake was moving about in the dark cloud, causing them to glow eerily in the dark.

There were also electrical arcs that were attracted to Luo Yuan’s body on some occasions. Lightning would strike his head and cause countless tendrils of electricity to shoot out of his body. However, the damage done to him was relatively minor and aside from feeling a slight burn on his skin, no harm came to him.

This was just the beginning. After reaching an altitude of 2000 meters, dense, dark clouds appeared with fearsome bolts of thunder shooting out from within. The true form of the lightning had appeared.

Against such a threat, even Luo Yuan had to watch his step. However, thanks to his Physique, such attacks would not be fatal but he was not immune to the effects of lightning on living beings - he still felt numbness to a certain degree when he was struck by lightning.

Soon, a membrane layer of light appeared on his skin as he gathered his Will. Though the light membrane was lacking in the defense department, it was sufficient enough to protect him from the harm that the lightning would cause him.

The theory behind the light membrane was fairly simple. It turned his body which initially acted as a conductor into an insulator, preventing his body from attracting the lightning. If he was still somehow struck by lightning, the current in the lightning strike would be significantly reduced and the would have no effect on him.

Luo Yuan was struck by lightning five times as he moved through the clouds. Within 30 seconds, he successfully got out of the dark clouds.

......

The sunlight that he had not seen for ages was warm and radiant, shining brightly on his body. It resembled a golden beam of light. Even the dark clouds appeared to be semi transparent, forming what looked like a black colored crystal.

However, the beautiful scenery did not attract Luo Yuan’s attention at all.

He raised his head and looked at the sky. A tiny meteor streaked across the blue sky, falling towards his direction.

Since it was engulfed in fire and smoke, even with Luo Yuan’s eyesight, there was no way of telling what it was. However, based on the aura coming off its body that he could feel deep in his heart, he was sure that this was the interstellar creature he had been waiting for.

Ever since he was granted with the prediction ability and the upgrade in his four-dimensional vision, his ability to sense grew stronger - he predicted something was going to happen before the destruction of the Glassians happened. He could vaguely sense it before things happened.

......

At that very moment, it was approximately 700 kilometers away from him. Based on the direction it was heading towards, it was estimated that the interstellar creature was around 1000 kilometers away from Hope City.

Luo Yuan was slightly relieved. Hope City was safe at the moment.

However, his anxiety did not go away completely. Based on the interstellar creature’s abilities, it would not be absolutely safe since the distance between the Hope City and the interstellar creature was quite close.

"I think we’ll have to speed up the migrations." Luo Yuan sighed.

A task notification finally came from the system that had been inactive for a long time.

"Level C task: Kill the interstellar creature - gold-eating beast. Period: None. Accept / Cancel."

Luo Yuan glanced at the system task and shifted his gaze towards the meteor.

It would not be easy to kill the interstellar creature. Just by looking at its size, he was be plunged into despair. It was like a mountain that would not collapse. He had no idea how he could defeat it when he was facing a beast that looked like an asteroid.

He had made an attempt to defeat the beast, but he failed.

Though he was stronger now, he did not have any significant transformations. The only change was that his energy output had increased from 0.5 tons to 3 tons which meant that it was only a six-fold increase.

It was deadly obvious that these increments would have little to no impact on these gargantuan creatures. Even if a huge hole was formed within its body, it would feel like a mosquito bite to these creatures.

Furthermore, he would have to gain a lot of experience in order to level up. The experience gained from killing the interstellar creatures was no longer significant. If he had a choice, he would not want to encounter such a terrifying creature.

On the top of the clouds, Luo Yuan was waiting for its arrival patiently. As time passed, the fireball grew bigger. Initially, it was the size of a ping pong ball. Soon, it grew to the size of a football and eventually, it had grown into the size of a large wicker basket.

The giant beast began to curl itself into a ball and a hot, burning flame formed from the friction with the air.

However, it did not seem to be affected by the high temperature that would turn most of the meteorites into ashes.

The air surrounding its body seemed to become distorted, causing an odd phenomenon. Countless tendrils of light along with lightning surrounded its massive body. They were similar to ribbons, coquettish yet colorful, beautiful yet dangerous.

Strong magnetic fields were scattered around the planet. Compared to the lonely outer space, the power of the interstellar creature was easily visible here, causing people to feel a deep terror when they witnessed its power.

As the gigantic beast grew closer, Luo Yuan began to move. He gathered his WIll and flew towards its direction. After a few seconds, he had broken through the sound barrier, flashing through the sky, leaving only vapor cones in his trail.

Within a few minutes, he was already close to the beast. He dared not approach it and stopped just 10 kilometers away from it. Although the distance between them was not close, he was still within range of the gigantic beast’s vision.

As a matter of fact, the field of vision of the beast spanned 30 kilometers across, which was massive.

The entire region fell into chaos as the light it gave off was magnificent and dazzling, there was a violent turbulence in the air as countless bolts of lightning streaked across the sky.

Ordinary people would probably be killed under such circumstances. However, these phenomena meant nothing to Luo Yuan as they were the effects of an energy leak. It would not even threaten or cause harm to him. Comparing the sheer force and power of it all, the lightning in the clouds was way more dangerous.

He could cause something similar to happen if he wanted to. However, compared to the one that was currently before him, it would cover a smaller region if he were to do it.

The only thing that troubled him was the turbulent airflow surrounding him. Fortunately, he had the belt synthesized from the Demonic Horse’s mane with him that enabled him to balance himself during his flight.

...

For gargantuan creatures such as these, one could only feel a thrill, an unexplainable terror when they were so close to it.

Compared to the 600-meter long interstellar creature he first met on the moon, it looked slightly smaller with a diameter of around 300 meters. It was partly because it was curled up into a ball and there were all sorts of disruptions that was caused by the phenomenon. Luo Yuan could hardly see how the creature looked like clearly. He could only identify that it was a four-limbed vertebrate by using his blurred vision and four-dimensional vision.

If it extended its body, it might even be 500-meters long or probably even longer, with a height of around 200 meters.

Facing a gigantic beast that was 200 meters tall was like facing a mountain, Luo Yuan felt a deep helplessness rise within him.

...

At that moment, its body got closer to the bottom of the clouds.

When it was only a few kilometers away from the bottom of the clouds, the clouds began to vibrate and soon, it felt like there was an invisible pressure pushing them down, creating a hollow entrance through the clouds.

Then, a shock wave spread out quickly as the interstellar creature burst out of the clouds and a big hole was formed in the clouds.

After 10 seconds, Luo Yuan flew towards the hole and glanced at it. He was shocked at the big hole had a diameter of around six kilometers. The interstellar creature had penetrated through clouds that were over thousands of meters thick.

The sunlight was shining through the big hole in the ground like a big pillar of light. It was a miracle!

Before Luo Yuan could return to his senses, a loud thud was heard!