Age of Cosmic Exploration

Chapter 304: Retreat and Coincidence

Blue 6’s whole body tensed the moment he felt danger!

He was an S-grade cosmic adapter, a Time Watcher, or Diviner to be precise. His ability was to sense the approach of danger. For any race, this was a valuable ability that was directly linked to the race’s survival. Therefore, it was the kind of cosmic adapter every civilization wanted!

After Blue 6 realized he was a cosmic adapter, he started training under the Blue Race’s protection. To help him achieve the ability to evolve to the next level, the Blue Race wasted no resources. However, Blue 6 had repaid them in kind. In the hundreds of years Blue 6 had been a cosmic adapter, he had helped Blue Race escaped the threat of extinction twice.

The first time was when they were attacking a small Shelter. Blue 6 felt immense danger days before the scheduled attack. The Blue Race’s royal committee decided to retreat in spite of the cold stares given by three other level 3 space civilizations that attacked the Shelter together with them. It turned out that one of the space civilizations at the Shelter had just entered level 4, and the three other attacking space civilizations were wiped out completely. This made those that complained about the resources lavished on Blue 6’s training shut up. From then on, Blue 6’s position was approved and respected by everyone in the Blue Race.

The second time was when the Blue Race was passing through a galaxy following a star path. Blue 6 felt danger when they were in warp drive. At the time, the Blue Race’s fleet was in empty space, so changing navigation routes was extremely dangerous. It might've caused the Blue Race to lose itself completely in space. However, with the first precedent in place, the Blue Race had faith in Blue 6’s ability. Therefore, after a long discussion, they decided to change directions. After that, they heard from other races that the solar system they were supposed to head to had exploded. The sun was expanding to become a red giant, and its radiating wave and protons made the place a no-go zone for civilizations below level 4. Blue 6 had once again saved the Blue Race.

Due to these two incidents, even Blue 6 started to believe in his Time Watcher power. However, the Blue Race was, after all, a level 3 space civilization, so they wouldn’t regularly stumble across danger. After all, there weren’t many level 4 space civilizations to go around. In the known galaxy, level 3 space civilizations could practically run the show. Therefore, after those two incidents, other than during training, Blue 6’s danger sense hadn’t tingled for a long time.

At that moment, that familiar sense of danger returned again. Furthermore, the sense of danger was so visceral that it made him break out in cold sweat. He sprung up from his seat and disposed of his earlier grace by starting to yell, "Stop! Stop the ship and all the devices… No, don’t stop the devices, just the ship!"

The workers were first stunned, but when they saw how pale Blue 6 was, they understood the situation immediately. They too started yelling orders. In about 10 seconds, the spaceship stopped in space, and they were only a short distance away from the ruins.

Everyone turned to look at Blue 6. After all, who would willingly die? Everyone knew Blue 6 had sensed danger, but how strong the danger was and whether the ship would be affected all depended on Blue 6, so everyone turned to focus on him.

Blue 6 focused on reading the danger, and right when the ship stopped, the feeling of danger slowly dissipated. However, a sense of danger still remained within the ruins… Could it be that this ruin wasn’t as safe as he thought? Or was it really a trap ruin as those conservatives claimed? Why else would he only sense intense danger when they moved?

What about the feeling of attraction coming from within the ruins? He realized that the attraction was only unique to him… Was it some kind of high-tier space civilization technology that specifically targeted cosmic adapters?

The sound of incoming communication interrupted Blue 6’s contemplation. He looked at the communicator and ordered his adjutant to switch it open.

"…Yes, I made the ship stop, because I’ve felt danger."

The person on the other end was the Blue Race’s Emperor. Of course, beside him must be a whole group of royal committee members and scientists. They allowed Blue 6 to lead the exploration because they had faith in Blue 6’s Time Watcher power, so when they saw Blue 6 stop the ship, everyone was worried. Afraid that something had happened to Blue 6, the Emperor contacted Blue 6’s ship immediately.

Blue 6 explained his situation openly and directly. However, he ended with, "The feeling of danger is dissipating, so perhaps it will be more dangerous the closer I get to the ruin. This suggests the possibility of a distance trigger of sorts within the ruins. Regardless, there’s no danger where my ship is currently located."

An exhale immediately came from the other end; it was a great sigh of relief. Soon, the Emperor asked, "Blue 6, what do you plan to do then?"

This was a question obviously meant to test Blue 6. He understood the implication and replied, "I plan to move forward a bit to check the danger scale of this ruin and the closest I can get to it before setting off the extreme danger signal in my mind. This way we can get the most accurate reading of this ruin. After all, I’m a Time Watcher, the most perfect candidate for this kind of scouting operation. Who can do this better than me?"

The Emperor praised him, "It’s good that you can understand that. It will be dangerous, but this is also why the citizens look up to the royal family, because we have the obligation to lead our people towards glory. Power and responsibility go hand in hand. Dangerous times like this is when royal family members like ourselves should step up. This is a tradition the Blue Race has maintained for centuries. You can understand this means that you’ve lived up to the Blue 6 name. Okay, I will leave everything in your hands. There’s no need to rush this exploration, so take it slow; it’s best if you can get data on this ruin before venturing further in."

After that, Blue 6 calmed down to focus on channeling his power. After all, he was a well-trained cosmic adapter, so he knew how to fine-tune his Time Watcher power. He sat back down calmly on the commander seat and ordered, "Power up the ship. Move towards the ruins with one bora average speed."

With Blue 6 holding the fort, the rest also started to calm down. The ship moved towards the ruins with extremely low speed. The closer they got to the ruins, the more intense Blue 6’s danger sense. However, since the ship was moving slowly, his danger sense also increased at a slow rate; it didn’t arrive as abruptly as it did earlier.

"It is as I expected. The closer we get to the ruin, the stronger the sense of danger. This is similar to the trap-like ruins mentioned in our data, but it is this kind of ruin that will normally get us the most reward. Civilizations like this are normally over level 5. The records stated the possibility of them even being level 7 space civilizations… Perhaps there is something within this ruin that attracts me."

Blue 6 continued feeling the danger… He was a trained Time Watcher that had studied the science of sensing danger for a long time, so he could tell what kind of danger was fatal, what kind was a warning, the source and distance of the danger's source. This was why he had the ship move so slowly.

The ship inched ever closer to the ruins. They were close when a spark appeared not far away from the ruins. Even though it happened in a split second, it was taken down by the surveillance device in the spaceship. The picture was immediately brought up on screen.

It was one of the three products surrounding the ruins. Their function was unknown. They were circling the ruins in a random pattern. The Blue Race had found them out from the very beginning, but due to the mystery of the ruins, they didn’t go and capture it. Especially after the first explosion that create the disruption in space, Blue Race was extra cautious around these weird products. They didn’t dare to venture to close, but they didn’t expect there would be a second explosion.

"Reading disruption in space waves… Wave amplitude at 32 meters and still increasing… Highest amplitude is 47 meters. The measurement between wave crest and wave trough is 12 meters. Wave amplitude starting to decrease, calculating the exhaustion of mass… Disappearance of mass is charted at 42 percent…"

It was an explosion from far away, but all the data on the explosion appeared on screen quickly. This was something the Blue Race’s technology was capable of. At the same time, Yao Yuan in the Hope remembered his natural attraction towards cosmic adapters. Simultaneously, two AI bots left the Hope. This all happened in less than 10 seconds from the second explosion. It was a weird coincidence.

Just as the two AI bots left the Hope and entered space, Blue 6’s danger sense reached its height. It was dangerous, very dangerous. He yelled immediately, "Retreat! Retreat away from the ruins immediately!

"This is a trap-like ruin. I’ve confirmed that this is a trap ruin! A trap ruin with at least space technology and has a certain degree of research on cosmic adapters. This is a giant treasure trove of a space ruin that is worth any and all sacrifice to obtain!"