The Record of Unusual Creatures

The probe was still climbing. It was now above the clouds of planet Inferno, leaving the atmosphere and entering the vacuum. The probe sent back the images of the planet from space, and it looked terrific.     

The planet's surface was nearly smooth, like a polished snowball without lines and wrinkles. Meanwhile, clouds covered and provided light to the planet. It looked like a pearl floating in space.     

But no one could imagine how ugly the planet's surface below the thick clouds was.     

The probe continued to fly towards outer space, looking for stars. The MDT lost contact with the probe after the probe crossed some sort of spatial boundary.     

"We lost it." The MDT turned off the tracking screen, which was only filled with static noise. "I'm afraid it has crossed the dimensional boundary. If the probe is still intact, it'll return from the void."     

"As expected, there are no stars," Hao Ren muttered. "This planet is the only object in the space debris."     

Hessiana completely lost the plot. She wondered why a wizard-hunting mission had seemingly turned into something else. She scratched her head and stared at Hao Ren with a puzzled look. "What are you discussing about? What stars are you talking about?"     

"Earth gets its energy from the sun. The sun is the existence of all things." Hao Ren pointed at the bottom of the cloud shimmering with light. "Without light from the star, the planet will be dead and desolate beyond imagination. Even though this world is also barren, it has an ecosystem and is relatively warm. But the hot springs alone could not keep the planet warm. I have reliable information showing that this planet has been in existence without sunlight for 10,000 years. So what's keeping the ecosystem going?"     

"I don't care about the sun." Hessiana pursed her lips. "I don't like that stuff."     

"That's why I'm not discussing the high-tech topic with you." Hao Ren sighed. "Unlike Vivian, you're narrow-minded. Whether you like it or not, the sun is a source of energy for a planet. But Inferno is generating its energy in another way... or maybe it's consuming its energy."     

"Aren't the clouds providing light and heat?" Lily looked up at the sky. "And the clouds seemed to trap heat."     

"It's not enough," said the MDT. "The thick clouds, and the light as well as heat they generate can only slow down the loss of heat. They're not a source of energy; they're only transforming energy. I've run the calculations; the clouds can't even maintain the activity or temperature of Inferno today. So there must be something else on this planet that's keeping the ecosystem alive without energy from the sun."     

Lily was wide-mouthed. Since she had the highest academic qualifications, she naturally grasped the point. "So where does the energy come from?"     

Hao Ren could think of many theories, but he carefully set them all aside. "I don't know. Maybe we have to wait until we finish exploring the entire planet before we can conclude. Anyway, this place is extremely amazing. A planet in a rift of the Wall of Reality has an ecosystem but no sunlight for 10,000 years. The universe is just too mysterious—"     

Vivian suddenly interrupted him. "Planet expert, can you stop your scientific lecture and start concentrating on the findings that my bats have brought? They've found a possible entrance to the second level of Inferno."     

Hao Ren immediately tucked the MDT away. "Where?"     

Vivian raised her finger and pointed at a direction. "There. Two thousand kilometers from here. Please let the MDT go and set the coordinates before it teleports us over. It'll be faster this way. My bats will provide a navigation guide over there. It's easy to find."     

The MDT said, "Please pay attention to—" Hao Ren grabbed the MDT and aimed straight in the direction where Vivian was pointing at. Before the MDT could finish, Hao Ren yanked it out with the swing of his arm. "Go!"     

The MDT faded into a blue light and disappeared before their eyes. Hessiana was rooted to the spot, looking at Hao Ren as if he were some monster. "I wouldn't have thrown such an expensive tablet computer away if I were you!"     

Hao Ren pursed his mouth and said, "You will when your tablet computer talks back at you."     

Hessiana was clueless.     

Soon, they arrived outside a crater—the so-called entrance to the second level of Inferno.     

They climbed up the steep mountain wall and were awed at what lay before them.     

It was a nearly circular crater with unbelievable uniformity in its natural geological formation. The radius of the cavity reached dozens of kilometers. In the interior of the hole, the slope was gentle. There were neat and weird radial lines on the ground as if someone had carefully carved them into the landscape. In the center of the crater was the so-called Inferno entrance. The frighteningly large circular hole constantly spurted out air and dust, formed a small cyclone.     

They approached the hole. It was a dark, vertical cave, appearing to lead straight to hell. It would have made one shiver in fear just from standing at the edge of it.     

Lily's legs felt like jelly. She grabbed onto Hao Ren's pants and squatted. "Do-Do we have to jump in?"     

"Who told you we had to jump?" Hao Ren gave her a sideways glance. "We'll fly."     

"Does it make a difference?"     

The MDT reported, "I've detected a wae of large feed at the bottom. It's a super-large underground space. Please take safety precautions."     

Hessiana stared at the deep cave. Even though she was a winged creature, she did not feel like going down there.     

"It's a shame; Nolan's on vacation in Kuiper Station. Otherwise, I could have brought the spacecraft." Hao Ren shook his head. Suddenly, something crossed his mind. "Ah, I think I have an alternative!"     

Hao Ren brought out his Northstar.     

Hessiana's face turned green. "I know I'm as educated as the others but driving the Northstar straight down the crater? Is this your safety measure? You must be kidding me."     

"Believe it or not, this thing isn't any slower than you, and it's better than you. Don't look down on it; it can fit everyone." Hao Ren shrugged and took the MDT out. He pressed it as if it was a remote to unlock the car, and the car did unlock with a deep, double chime. "Of course, you can choose to fly if you trust your wings. I'll have one less person to worry about."     

Vivian patted Hessiana on the shoulder. "Trust me. He's almost like Doraemon; he has tons of weird but useful gadgets in his pocket."     

Then, Vivian climbed into the car. She was closely followed by the Nangong siblings, leaving Hessiana and her two sidekicks in a dilemma. Their reluctance was understandable though. Most gadgets that Hao Ren took out from his Dimensional Pockets in the past all looked high-tech, but the little Northstar was simply not confidence-building.     

It was like bumping into an old, white-bearded man who descended from the heavens, and him giving you an energy-charged sword, telling you that he wanted to recruit you and bring you to the heavens because you were talented. What would your reaction be? You would bow before him and worship him like he was God. But what if he were an old man who fell out of the sky and landed face down, only to later yank out a magic wand and ask you to follow him to save the world? What would your response be?     

So Turcan looked at Hessiana with the face of a dead man. "Master, do we want to climb into that piece of junk and drive down that pit? It doesn't look very reliable though."     

Hessiana's face was deadpan. Just as she was about to say something before reluctantly climbing into the car, she heard a sound. Something was approaching them rapidly.     

Kassandra and Turcan also heard it. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of shadows appearing at the edge of the crater. It was a myriad of gnarled mutant creatures!     

Vivian described them as "ridiculously gnarled monsters". Hao Ren thought that he would be lucky enough to miss such ugly monsters, but his optimism came too early.