parentshiftbook Chapter 684 Tentacle Tree
Chapter 684 Tentacle Tree
Deep within the endless chaotic void, thousands of warships glided silently through the gaps in the elemental turbulence, like a school of silver-gray deep-sea fish. Inside the command center of the flagship "Deep Root," warm yellow bioluminescence seeped from the interior of the bulkheads, coloring the entire space with hues reminiscent of a twilight jungle.
A three-dimensional star map projection, tens of meters in diameter, floats in the center of the cabin, while hundreds of tentacles of varying thicknesses nimbly manipulate the densely packed control nodes along the projection's edge.
The owners of these tentacles are the main race of this fleet.
Their forms resembled trees uprooted from the soil by some force, their slender trunks covered with dark brown, bark-like patterns. A faint, pulsating green light emanated from the gaps in these patterns—the glow of the nutrient fluid circulating within their bodies.
At the top of each "tree" grows a dense cluster of branch-like organs, whose branches are as soft as vines and at first glance look more like tentacles that can bend and curl freely.
Each tree has anywhere from a dozen to hundreds of tentacles, each currently busy with its own tasks.
At the junction of branches and trunk, there is a ring of sensory organs: eight lenticels, each the size of a soybean, are evenly embedded under the bark, emitting a pale golden glow.
This creature lacks a sense of smell and vocal organs, but is extremely sensitive to various vibrations.
For them, the low-frequency vibrations generated by tapping their torsos with the tips of their tentacles were a form of "speaking," and those rhythmic "knock-knock" sounds rose and fell in the cabin.
The fleet's supreme commander stood directly beneath the star map.
His body was a head taller than his peers around him, and he had more than two hundred tentacles on his canopy, each with a sophisticated silvery-gray tip.
This is a characteristic of someone who has weathered many storms and is proof of surviving numerous dangerous decisions.
At this moment, his eight crystal eyes were focused intently on the target world on the star map, which was emitting a sulfurous light, and the light of assessment was reflected in his pale golden pupils.
"Deep scan still no feedback?" he typed out the command.
"No, Your Excellency." The operator in charge of the detection system waved dozens of tentacles, rapidly adjusting the control node. "Active detection across all frequency bands has not received any shield echoes. The electromagnetic spectrum in the target area consists only of natural environmental noise; not even a single, low-level artificial satellite has been detected. It seems the world is completely silent."
One of the commander's tentacles slowly curled up, hovered in the air for a moment, and then suddenly unfolded.
This gesture is equivalent to raising one's eyebrows in humans, indicating surprise and joy.
"To run into a target like this on our very first expedition?" Another tentacle tree beside him tapped its trunk, its crystalline eyes gleaming with barely suppressed excitement. "Our luck is just too good!"
"It's not luck, it's inevitable," the commander corrected, his tentacles sweeping across the star map, magnifying the details of the sulfur-colored world. "Civilizations in the void are inherently isolated. The fact that we encountered one on our first expedition indicates that the density of civilizations in this void is higher than theoretical models predict. Record this; it will be instructive for future route planning."
"Understood." The adjutant's tentacles fluttered as he saved the record into the database. "However, judging from the probe results, this world's level of civilization doesn't seem to be very high. There are no orbital defense facilities, no energy shields, and not even basic space detection arrays have been deployed. In this case, the civilization of this world should still be in the stage of fighting each other within its own world."
The commander remained silent for a few moments, then focused all eight crystal eyes on the target image simultaneously.
The world's surface is covered with vast expanses of sulfur-colored wasteland, interspersed with dark patches of varying shades, from which the outlines of some regular building complexes can be vaguely discerned.
There are traces of civilized activities, but they are not large in scale and are scattered.
More importantly, the outlines of many buildings seem to have no practical significance and are more like objects used for sacrifice.
"Don't underestimate them." The commander finally issued the order, the tentacles slowing their movements slightly, but without any seriousness. "Even if it's just a backward world, it still has value. Uncivilized native species, untapped resources, a dimensional system without external defenses... What's this kind of target called in the civilization classification handbook again?"
"Primitive class. Suitable for conquest." The operator replied immediately, the tips of his tentacles trembling slightly with excitement. "Your Excellency, I have conducted a preliminary assessment of this world. The atmosphere has a high oxygen content, making it unbreathable for us, but wearing masks will suffice. There are numerous energy reaction points, suggesting cities inhabited by intelligent beings."
"It's a bit of a shame that nearly half of this world is extremely hot and unsuitable for habitation, but there's still a considerable amount of usable land left. If we could completely occupy and assimilate it into our colony, those people in the Royal Council would probably want to carve your name into the main hall of the tree trunk."
The commander's canopy swayed gently, and the tentacles made soft tapping sounds.
That was the low chuckle of their race.
"Prepare to enter near orbit. All warships to level two readiness." He issued the order, simultaneously extending his longest tentacles upwards onto the star map, zooming in on the target world's image to its maximum. "We must suppress them before they can react. Remember the standard procedure: first destroy any existing defenses, then release the landing forces. Annihilate any resistance encountered; capture non-combat personnel and then dispose of them accordingly." The order was quickly relayed throughout the fleet.
The formation of thousands of warships began to be adjusted in an orderly manner. The three Tier VI main ships moved from the sides of the formation to the center, while the auxiliary ships unfolded into an encirclement formation according to the predetermined trajectory. Everything was in perfect order.
After all, although this fleet was on its first expedition, training and exercises had already ingrained standard procedures into the minds of every crew member. "Shield status?"
"The combined shields are synchronized, and the attenuation coefficient is within acceptable limits. The warship cluster's resonance is stable."
"Main gun charging?"
"All main guns of the main ships have completed pre-charging and are ready to fire."
The commander nodded in satisfaction at the speed of his troops' response.
He turned his gaze back to that sulfur-colored world, its ever-growing outline reflected in the eight crystal eyes.
What a beautiful color, he thought.
After we conquer this place, we'll record the scenery and send it to the royal council of our home planet. That should get those old fogies to allocate more resources for our next expedition.
"Sir!" A rapid knocking shattered the pre-battle tranquility. "Unidentified objects have been detected ahead, their numbers are rapidly increasing, and they are approaching us from within the target world!"
The commander's crystalline eyes trembled violently, and several tentacles rapidly swept across the star map, magnifying the image of the unidentified objects to full screen. In the image, a group of pitch-black figures emerged from within the atmosphere of the sulfur-colored world.
They trailed long, dark shadows, ignoring the transition zone between the atmosphere and the void, and plunged directly into the void.
"Switch to high-precision optical capture," the commander tapped.
The image immediately zoomed in.
The outlines of those dark figures became clear: they were a group of enormous ape-like creatures, completely black.
Each of them had a huge, vertically split mouth in its chest cavity, from which obsidian-like sharp teeth could be vaguely seen.
The turbulent elemental currents churning in the void struck them, causing ripples to spread across the black liquid metal on their surfaces, but their flight was completely unaffected.
One group led the way, collectively creating an energy barrier to keep out the elemental turbulence, while the others followed closely behind. The commander quickly counted; there were only about forty of them.
"That's all?" The operator's tentacles paused in mid-air for a moment, his crystalline eyes filled with confusion. "And these guys don't have warships? They're just charging into the void with their bare bodies?"
The commander did not answer.
His tentacles slowly curled along the edge of the star map, as if he were contemplating something.
A moment later, his canopy swayed gently.
"I see." He tapped out a low vibration. "It seems this world isn't entirely devoid of civilization. It's just that their civilization focuses on individual enhancement rather than technological advancement. They probably think they can fight warships with their bare hands."
"A rudimentary idea," the adjutant chimed in, his tentacles emitting a soft, mocking tap. "But this kind of civilization is actually good news for us. Individually powerful creatures are usually not very intelligent, making them easier to tame and incorporate. Once we conquer this world, these black giant apes can be transformed into biological weapons to supplement our ground forces."
The commander did not respond.
His crystalline eyes were fixed on the approaching black figures in the image, and he felt that something was not quite right.
These creatures exhibit a high degree of uniformity in appearance, and their movements are coordinated with excessive precision.
The coordination between the individuals who erected energy barriers at the front and those who were poised to strike at the rear required no communication at all; it was even smoother than the tacit understanding that their fleet had developed during training.
They don't resemble wild, primitive creatures; they're more like well-trained legionary soldiers.
But the thought only flashed through my mind.
Even if they are soldiers, so what? They are too few in number, while he has a thousand warships.
"Forwards intercept. Probe with 30% of your firepower." He gave a brief order, the tentacles' movements returning to decisiveness. "Don't linger in battle; the main focus is on gathering data."
On the outer edge of the Purgatory Sulfur Plane, the leader of the black giants stabilized his position in the void, with more than forty black giants born in the same batch lined up haphazardly behind him.
The black giants used for these probes were not of high level; most were hovering around level four, with only the leaders reaching level five.
"Target parameters confirmed. The enemy fleet consists of 983 ships, including three main ships with independent level six energy fluctuations, and the auxiliary ship cluster resonates to maintain the joint shield. The entire formation is at a stable speed and is deploying." He opened his chest slightly and quickly communicated with his companions using his mental power.
The deputy standing next to him tilted his head: "What does the priest say we should do?"
"The priest didn't say." The leader turned his gaze to the fleet ahead, which was spreading out in standard battle formation. "He said it depends on the situation. The master wants prisoners alive, and he also wants their hometown addresses. So our mission is to collect enough enemy combat data... without scaring them away as much as possible." "So we have to fight like it's real?" The second-in-command was clearly quick-witted.
"And you have to fight like a wild beast."
After saying this, he uttered meaningless syllables and charged forward with a roar.
Several level-five black giants accelerated simultaneously, roaring as they traced dark trails in the void.
(Bonus chapter today, one more chapter to go.)