Chapter 374

Chapter 374: Shedding the Tail to Survive

The artificial intelligence responsible for monitoring quickly assessed the situation, issuing three routine warnings without receiving any response.

After all human communication methods fell silent like stones sinking into the Sea, the artificial intelligence decisively opened fire to prevent the target from crashing into the main body of the spaceship.

The energy cannon undoubtedly struck the shuttle-shaped object, but after a dazzling white flash, a large portion of space directly in front of the spaceship was shrouded by a black unknown substance.

The shuttle-shaped object had vanished without a trace, leaving behind a vast void within the energy cannon’s effective range, revealing the light blue Sea and gray-yellow land of the target planet.

But as if a curtain had been torn open, beyond the range of the energy cannon, the black substance filled the entire area, forming a dense net.

At this moment, the spaceship was ensnared in its own net.

The shuttle-shaped object resembled an unstable product of some substance that had been compressed to an extreme; after being stimulated by the outside world, it lost all balance, releasing everything contained within.

Wencheng thought of many things in an instant; he immediately felt that the artificial intelligence had made an error in judgment—it should have attempted to capture the shuttle-shaped object.

But the target was moving too fast, and its flight path was almost completely opposite to the spaceship’s; capturing it was impossible. Moreover, if they managed to capture it and it automatically unfolded, releasing its contents, everything would be doomed.

Considering all factors, the decision of the artificial intelligence to fire was indeed the right choice in the absence of any response.

The footage continued to play; the spaceship collided with the dense net, and the slender body slipped through a hole, while the trailing ring section was not as fortunate.

Large amounts of black substance continually adhered to the spaceship’s ring section, tearing apart the connection between the main body and the ring and also shredding the ring structure itself.

Enveloped by the black substance, fragments of the spaceship fell toward the planet below.

Wencheng watched this scene unfold without any means to save it.

He even saw some sleep pods scattered in space due to the tearing of the spaceship, but the current spaceship was powerless to rescue them.

With absolute wartime command authority, Vladimir’s eyes nearly burst with anguish; he gripped the railing tightly, gritting his teeth, and issued the order:

"Crisis temporarily averted; everyone enter the sleep pods and prepare for landing impact."

Amidst the violent vibrations caused by friction with the atmosphere, damaged sections of the spaceship’s main body slowly began to disintegrate.

This undoubtedly caused the spaceship to lose some mass, but that didn’t matter; as long as the thrust was intact, the landing would likely go smoothly.

In the center of the spherical command room, Vladimir and Wencheng had already made preparations to withstand the impact.

They watched the ground drawing closer, knowing it was a projection yet still unable to suppress a hint of panic.

In an impact strong enough to shatter bones, the spaceship completed a "soft" landing successfully.

Feeling the gravity generated by the planet, Wencheng discovered that the spaceship had likely inserted itself into the planet’s surface at an angle, firm like a spear embedded in grass.

Outside the spaceship, the fragments generated during disintegration fell like heavy rain, showering the area around the spaceship with metallic debris.

"Report the spaceship’s integrity."

"The ring section is completely lost; the integrity of the spaceship’s main body is 75%. All crew members on board are alive, the cultivation greenhouse is functioning normally, the database is intact, and the energy system is normal…"

Wencheng didn’t want to hear anything more.

The moment he heard about the loss of the ring section, his heart sank.

The term "Dandelion Project" was indeed fitting; just like the seeds blowing in the wind with their little tuft of white fluff, the ring section was analogous to the main body of the spaceship.

The losses incurred from the ring section’s disappearance were incalculable. Even if there were no casualties in the spaceship’s main body, the upcoming days would certainly not be easy.

A vast amount of resources, samples, and humans in a state of suspended animation were stored in the ring section, but fortunately, the most critical crew members, frozen embryos, and key technologies were placed in the sturdy main body of the spaceship.

In reality, the ring section was a part that needed to be sacrificed in dangerous situations. However, in this one-way journey, abandoning the ring section would not bring hope but only a slow death.

The collision with the fragments continued for a while, followed by some aftershocks from the emergency landing.

Once everything stabilized, Wencheng and Vladimir received a message to gather in the captain’s room.

The two exited the emergency landing status, bracing themselves against the visual and vestibular disturbances caused by the tilted ground and walls as they made their way to the captain’s room.

Inside the captain’s room stood about a dozen crew members; with Vladimir and Wencheng, there were a total of twenty individuals.

These twenty individuals comprised the majority of the important systems aboard, all of whom were humans that would periodically awaken during the journey.

The biggest difference between them and those still in slumber was that if those others were passengers, then these were the genuine crew members.

"Everyone’s here; let’s discuss briefly."

The captain was a man with brown facial hair, his deep-set eyes imparting a steady and convincing aura.

"First, congratulations on our survival. Just now, I checked the spaceship’s mailbox and discovered that more than a dozen spaceships have crashed or gone missing over the past few hundred years. In this regard, we are lucky.

"But there won’t be any new messages; our communication device is completely broken, and we won’t be able to repair it until we find those parts in the ring section.

"There are five hundred people currently in sleep mode in the main body of the spaceship, three artificial intelligences still operational, and together with us twenty, there are ten million frozen embryos. That is our entire current situation.

"Before we awaken them, we must develop an effective short-term plan; otherwise, the next outcome will be even more tragic than dying in space.

"That’s all I have to say; everyone, please discuss."

After the captain sat down, he scrutinized the people present.

The crew members pondered briefly, roughly grasping the captain’s intention.

What preparations are truly needed for colonizing a planet?

In reality, it depended on the understanding of the term "colonization."

If one simply believed that surviving on another planet counted as colonization—no matter if they regressed to a beast-like state—that preparation threshold was indeed quite low.

However, if they wished to sustain the glory of their home planet from seven hundred years ago, then it was clear that what they currently possessed was far from sufficient.

The captain’s message was simple; they needed a unified plan that covered all current issues.

For example, should they awaken the crew members? Should they establish a camp? Should they unfreeze the embryos? And most importantly… should they attempt to recover the ring section as much as possible?