They traveled through time at the same time, but the villainous scientist

Chapter 403 Blackwater and Engineers
A few days later.

Bridge of the USS Pioneer.

"This is... the universe..."

Zhan Lan pressed her palm against the cold, reinforced glass, looking out at the enormous planet, and couldn't help but feel a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex feeling of mixed emotions, often including nostalgia or wistfulness).

For someone breaking free from the gravitational pull of their home planet for the first time, the sight before them is enough to overturn their worldview.

Zheng Zha, Ba Wang, and the others were also shocked. Last time, they were directly inside the spaceship, and they had never seen such a scene before.

"Enter geosynchronous orbit and begin scanning the Earth's surface to compare with the last landing coordinates of 'Prometheus' in the Weyland Corporation database."

Chu Xuan's voice broke the silence of the bridge. He sat in front of the main control panel, his expression as focused as ever, his fingers flying across the virtual screen, inputting a series of commands with precision.

With fine-tuning from its anti-gravity engines, the Pioneer smoothly entered its designated orbit.

The massive ship glided on the outer edge of LV-223's atmosphere, its sensor array below lighting up, and invisible probes, like a vast net, meticulously scanned every inch of the planet's surface.

Soon, a 3D terrain map was built up on the main screen. On the vast wasteland, two clear signal sources were marked.

One of them was a pile of scattered metal wreckage, the structure of which still faintly revealed traces of human creation—the remains of the "Prometheus".

The other one caused everyone's pupils to contract slightly.

It was a huge, crescent-shaped black spaceship, like a prehistoric beast with broken wings, half of its body deeply embedded in the ground, and the other half pointing to the sky at an eerie angle.

This is exactly the same as the "extraterrestrial" spaceship on the planet LV-426 in the first Alien movie.

An invisible chill crept up everyone's spine.

"It seems... we've found the right place."

Zheng Zha rubbed his knuckles, the joints making a slight cracking sound. His gaze was fixed on the image of the crescent-shaped spaceship, his expression becoming extremely solemn.
"There is a good chance that... our most familiar old friend is inside this thing."

The Pioneer descended slowly, casting a huge shadow over the wasteland.

The spacecraft eventually landed smoothly on flat ground a few kilometers away from the two wreckage sites.

The hatch opens.

"The first to third android combat formations, target: the wreckage of the Prometheus, conduct a thorough search and establish forward alert positions."

Zhang Qi's voice was clearly transmitted to everyone through the tactical channel.

"Zheng Zha, you, Ba Wang, and Ling Dian, put on your Ironblood individual combat suits and lead the rest of the team in coordinated action."

Note that the composition of the atmosphere on this planet is unknown; do not remove your helmet.

"understand!"

Zheng Zha and the others immediately sprang into action, donning the rugged and wildly beautiful armor of the Iron Warriors.

Dark gold armor covered his entire body, and the menacing mask fell away, leaving only a row of red compound eye sensors.

After being hacked and optimized by Zhang Qi and Chu Xuan, the captured equipment was now perfectly suited to their bodies.

"The three of us will go and meet that big guy."

Zhang Qi looked at Chu Xuan and Zhan Lan, while he himself had already activated his armor.

The bio-organism-like bio-armor quickly covered his entire body, eventually settling into the Bio-Armor · KAP.

He didn't carry any extra weapons, because he himself was the most lethal weapon.

The three of them walked toward the ruins of the huge crescent-shaped spaceship.

A fierce wind howled across the wasteland, whipping up sand and gravel that pounded against the armor and protective suits, making a soft, rustling sound.

All around was deathly silent, except for the sound of the wind.

"My mental energy scan is already at its maximum."

Zhan Lan followed behind Zhang Qi, her voice tinged with nervousness.
"This place... feels very strange. It's like a huge graveyard. I can sense a lot of lingering, extremely negative emotions... fear, pain, despair... but there's no spiritual fluctuation from any living creature."

Her scan range was wide enough to cover the entire spaceship in front of her, yet there was nothing there. This utter silence was more unsettling than the discovery of hordes of enemies.

"Um……"

Zhang Qi nodded without pausing in his steps. Of course, he hadn't forgotten the "alien" that emerged from the Engineer's body at the end of the movie "Prometheus".

But after so many years, given the harsh environment of LV-223, that creature is likely dead or in hibernation.

The good news is that, at least for now, it hasn't appeared in Zhan Lan's scan.

They quickly approached the crescent-shaped spaceship.

Only when you stand beneath this behemoth can you truly appreciate its grandeur.

The spaceship's outer shell didn't seem to be metal, but rather a black mixture of bones and armor, covered with mysterious and eerie patterns.

A huge, irregular gash appeared on the side of the spaceship...

The three entered the spaceship through the breach.

The interior is filled with an unusual beauty; the walls and passageways resemble the cavities of living organisms.

Guided by Zhan Lan's mental power, they avoided the collapsed areas and dangerous structures, and made their way towards the core area of ​​the spaceship.

Finally, they arrived at the ship's bridge, or rather, the central control room.

In the center of the room was a huge, telescope-like driver's seat.

In front of the seat lay two corpses in very different positions.

One of them was wearing a high-tech spacesuit made by Weyland Corporation, but the body underneath had long since turned into a skeleton.

Judging from the blurry "W" logo on the spacesuit helmet, the owner of this skeleton is undoubtedly Peter Weyland, the legendary figure who spent his entire life searching for the Creator and the founder of the Weyland Corporation.

The other corpse, however, made Chu Xuan's gaze freeze.

It was the corpse of a humanoid creature far larger than a human. He lay on the ground, his pale, marble-like skin still possessing a strange texture even after death.

Beside him lay a huge helmet shaped like an elephant's trunk, its design exactly matching that of the "Space Jockey" helmet found on LV-426.

"Is this... the true nature of engineers?"

Chu Xuan stepped forward, squatted down, and observed carefully.

The most shocking sight was the huge, horrific wound on the engineer's chest, which had burst open from the inside out.

The broken ribs protruded outwards, forming a grotesque hole, as if something had once savagely crawled out of his chest cavity.

"Is it... parasitized by an alien?"

Chu Xuan frowned. Such a distinctive wound was hard not to associate with the existence of an alien. "Perhaps."

Zhang Qi responded calmly.

He walked past the two corpses, went straight to the huge driver's seat, and sat down.

According to internal research records of Weyland Corporation, the engineers' spaceship is very likely a product of biotechnology.

In other words, its technological system is remarkably similar to that of the Descendants in the Guyver armor.

The next moment, the silver metal ball in the control unit of Zhang Qi's forehead Kaipu implant suddenly lit up with a dazzling light.

An invisible bio-wave emanated from the control unit, instantly connecting to the cockpit and flowing into the entire spaceship's bio-circuit along the nerve-like tubing.

It was as if a giant beast that had been sleeping for thousands of years had been infused with a new soul.

The entire control room, and indeed the entire spaceship, emitted a long, drawn-out groan, almost like a sigh.

On the once lifeless wall, countless tiny points of light lit up, as if neurons were being activated one by one.

In the center of the room, beams of light crisscrossed and rose, and a huge and complex three-dimensional holographic projection slowly unfolded before them.

It was a vast star map, with countless galaxies slowly rotating within it, filled with indescribable mystery and magnificence.

"so amazing……"

Zhan Lan gasped in surprise. In her mental perception, just a moment ago, the cold wreckage of the spaceship had emitted a faint but clear fluctuation of mental energy.

This thing... it's alive!

Chu Xuan's attention, however, was completely drawn to the constantly scrolling, cuneiform-like engineering language that appeared next to the star map.

During his time aboard the Pioneer, he used his spare time to study all the information about the Engineers in the Weyland Corporation's database, and has now roughly grasped how to interpret this ancient language.

The content above resembles a series of experimental logs, or perhaps a grand racial epic.

As Chu Xuan continued to interpret, a shocking secret buried in the dust of time was gradually revealed.

"So that's it."

Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses, the lenses reflecting the faint glow of the holographic projection.

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, Zhan Lan looked over with some curiosity.

"The engineer civilization has reached its end."

They gained near-eternal lifespans through long evolution, but at a cost—they lost the ability to reproduce.

A civilization incapable of giving birth to new life, no matter how glorious, is destined for stagnation and extinction.

"In order to solve this problem, the scientists among them began a frantic research."

They tried countless methods to rekindle the flame of life in their race, but all failed.

Until...they discovered a creature.

Chu Xuan pointed to a totem-like image that flashed by in the holographic projection.

It was a bizarre creature, like a giant insect with a long, elephant-trunk-like mouthpart, eight slender limbs, and a long tail with spikes at the end.

"They call this creature 'Deiken.' Through research, engineers discovered that Deiken's blood possesses an incredible property: it can react violently with any organic life form, thus giving birth to entirely new species."

Deacon's appearance was an accident, but the engineers saw in it the hope of continuing the race.

They began to worship Deacon, deifying it and carving its image in all the important temples.

"Thus began a grand experiment that affected the entire Milky Way galaxy."

Engineers, bearing the blood of Deacon, searched the universe for planets with pristine oceans and suitable environments, sowing the seeds of life...

Humanity in this world is one of the products of this experiment.

"However, miracles cannot be easily replicated."

As the experiment progressed, the original Deacon blood was gradually depleted, and they were never able to find a second Deacon.

So they began trying to create a substandard alternative.

"However, they soon discovered that they had lost this gamble."

Blackwater cannot create stable life like Deacon's Blood; it only turns infected individuals into ferocious, bloodthirsty monsters.

What terrifies them even more is that these monsters, mutated from the black water, will instinctively obey Deacon's will... if Deacon still exists.

They finally realized the potential dangers of this experiment.

So they sealed all the black water and research data in the LV-223 outpost and formulated a final plan..."

Chu Xuan paused, raised his head, looked at Zhan Lan, and said, word by word:

"Eliminate all the 'sequel' created by Deacon's blood, including... humanity on Earth."

As soon as the words were spoken, a cold, emotionless voice resounded in everyone's minds simultaneously.

[Understanding the truth about the aliens, the entire team receives one C-level side quest and 1000 reward points.]

"Ok?"

Upon hearing the message of the reward from the main god, Chu Xuan's expression suddenly changed.

He wasn't surprised that the main god would give a reward; exploring the storyline was one way to obtain rewards.

The problem is, this reward is too high!

That's ridiculously high!

In the previous world, they faced the Alien Queen head-on and only obtained a C-level side quest and a reward of 1500 points after defeating her.

But now, they've set foot on a planet, seen some data, and received so many rewards.

The Supreme God never engages in unprofitable ventures; rewards are always directly linked to risks.

This shows that, within the judgment system of the supreme god, the risk inherent in simply 'knowing this truth' is already comparable to facing an alien queen directly...

In other words, there exists something far more terrifying and dangerous on this planet than the Alien Queen!

As if to confirm his words.

boom--! ! !
The entire room began to shake and vibrate violently...

(End of this chapter)