Chapter 28

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Just how much damage could a tentacle from the Blood Moon cause?

That was something that Zhang Heng had no idea about. However, judging from the Blood Moon’s size, a tentacle from the Blood Moon would at least be well over a dozen kilometers in diameter. The tentacle would only need to bob on the surface of the Earth to crush the entire military base like a tin can and reduce the massive base into a metal waffle.

The intense rumbling sound was suddenly heard from every direction. Zhang Heng was unable to stand still, barely able to keep his balance on the shaking ground. The huge piece of glass that was used to train ground troops for space combat simulations was instantly shattered despite being reinforced, bullet-proof glass that was tens of centimeters thick.

Simultaneously, deafening screeching sounds of warping metal were heard from the top of the base. He didn’t need to stop to think to know that the tentacle from the Blood Moon was probably right above the base.

He gritted his teeth and got himself out of the stairway without care, charging and leaping off of the broken windows surrounding the training ground.

Zhang Heng kicked the ground hard the moment he came before the window and shot off the ledge like an arrow that was headed straight for the training ground.

He was still currently on the 190th floor below ground, which meant that he was still about 50 meters away from the bottom of the training ground.

Regular people would have died from leaping from a height over 50 meters without a doubt. However, since he had been injected with the T-Virus solution and was currently wearing an exoskeletal suit of armor, it remained a wonder if he was actually able to withstand the impact of freefalling from such a height.

He was able to calm himself better when he found himself midair, so much so that he was able to look up. A crimson living being of massive proportions with an eyeball at its tip was seen shrouded over the sun above him, charging straight for the military base as it descended. Countless alloy and steel constructs were torn away right after coming into contact with the shaft with an eye at its tip.

First floor… second floor… third floor.

The floors above were crushed and reduced to dust one after another. Concrete and steel sprayed everywhere from the crevices that had once been windows looking into the training ground and dropped all on and around Zhang Heng, which made the scene indescribably majestic.

Zhang Heng’s legs touched down on the ground in the very next second. The sound of metallic screeches were heard from the hydraulic parts of the exoskeleton’s joints. Zhang Heng rested his hands on the ground shortly after handing. The feeling of shock traveled all over his body made him feel as if he was about to disintegrate. The floor right beneath his feet was pulverized at the very same time, leaving a narrow yet deep crevice.

Zhang Heng bit down on the intense pain from his arms and legs as he struggled to correct himself before he dashed towards the Marker without bothering to look at the Blood Moon’s tentacle that was just hundreds of meters away from where he was.

“Time!” Zhang Heng recalled an extremely important piece of information to consider at the very instant he arrived before the Black Marker, which was if 36 hours had passed since when he first arrived at the Dead Space plane.

According to the rules of the Dimensional Star, the initial cooling duration of the Dimensional Star had been 48 hours when he first entered the Resident Evil plane, as he only had probational access back then. He was given Level E Access after he finished his last quest. The cooling duration of the Dimensional Star was reduced to 36 hours as a result.

At that moment, he wondered just how much time passed.

His face became ashen instantly. He dared not imagine what would happen if the cooling period was not reached 36 hours yet, as he had no other way of leaving that world that he found himself in.

Even though he did not find any data regarding the DNA evolution code, he had seen the runes on the Black Marker without a doubt. He wondered if what he saw would be the DNA evolution code that he sought.

Last but not least, he wondered just how he would be able to bring such a massive Marker back to his world and if he needed to touch the construct to finish the job.

All of these thoughts ran into his mind within an instant. He looked up again and found that the tentacle from the Blood Moon that blocked the sun above him had destroyed all the floors above the 100th floor. Countless bits of concrete and steel rained into the chasm above his head. It would have taken seconds before he found himself completely buried deep underground.

He gritted his teeth and a frustrated look was seen in his eyes at that thought. He rested his hand on the Black Marker and shouted at the same time, “Dimensional Star, take me home!”

A huge piece of concrete dropped directly above him at the very next second, crushing down towards the spot he stood as a rumble was heard along with his angry shout.

…

“Space-time transformation complete. Begin scanning mission. Dead Space plane mission completed. Main Quest: Acquire ‘Marker’ DNA evolution code and remain sane while being under mental corruption until the mission is completed. The main quest was completed. Optional Quest: Acquire a ‘Marker’. Acquire any kind of high-tech data unavailable on Earth. Optional quest completed. Urgent Quest: Unknown. No urgent quest at the moment. Verdict: Dead Space mission completed. Host access progress is now at one-third of Level E. Current Access: E.”

Zhang Heng slowly opened his eyes.

He had been subjected to the crisis of having himself smashed into a meat pie just a second ago, before finding himself back in his tranquil reality back home at the very next second. The extreme differences made Zhang Heng’s mind shake.

Actually, he knew that he had survived the very moment he heard that voice from the Dimensional Star, realizing that he didn’t end up dying in that dreaded plane.

He turned around and felt dazed and found himself sitting in front of his computer in his warehouse. That was the posture he was in moments before he was transported into the mission.

The massive warehouse was a location gifted to him by Li Jianguo. Other than the fact that he wore the Earth Government Security Suit, nothing seemed to have changed between him sitting at his desk and returning from the mission, making it look as if he had been sitting there the entire time and never budged an inch.

However, he wondered what that giant wall by his side was.

He couldn’t help but look up and found that pitch-black wall to be over 20 meters tall, and looked as if it was about to burst through the ceiling of the warehouse. Countless mysterious and puzzling scripts were written on the wall. He realized what that was in the very next second and his expression changed drastically.

“Holy sh*t! This god*amned thing is not a wall! This is the Black Marker that I’ve brought back from the Dead Space plane!”

He felt that it was lucky that he did that transportation when he was in the warehouse. If he was doing so back in his rented apartment, the entire building would probably have been brought down by the Black Marker manifesting in this plane.

However, all of those thoughts were deemed secondary, as what truly made him shudder was the massive thing by his side was a superweapon capable of destroying the entire world. If there were to ever be a single dead body found near that warehouse, the xenomorphs seen in the Dead Space place would have made their debut back in his world.

Zhang Heng broke out in cold sweat at that thought. However, Yurianne’s child-like voice was heard in his mind at the very next second, “Deng, Deng! Yurianne’s back! Well, I didn’t expect you to be able to finish the mission, host dude. Hell, I thought you would’ve gotten your level dropped or even end up dead.”

The silhouette of a 2D impish-looking little girl appeared in the corner of his right eye as her voice was heard. Yurianne appeared very excited as she kept spinning about. Flowers rained down on her head as she appeared very pleased with herself.

“It’s you!” Zhang Heng frowned. “What happened back there? Why did you disappear right after getting into the Dead Space plane?”

“Oh, good old interference from the Marker.” Yurianne waved dismissively. “The field from the Marker interfered with that of the Dimensional Star, but still, it couldn’t do anything against the Dimensional Star. However, if the effects of both were to stack, your brain would suffer irreparable damage, host dude. As such, the Dimensional Star shut Yurianne out according to the rules, so I could only see you when the mission was finished.”

Zhang Heng nodded as he was able to figure out that much himself, but he nonetheless asked, feeling doubtful, “What now then? The Black Marker is right beside me. Wouldn’t it be affecting anything?”

“The Dimensional Star shut the Marker down.” Yurianne chuckled as she continued. “The Marker, in its current state of hibernation, is but a huge statue of some kind. It could only project a field capable of affecting the mental states of humans when activated again.”

Zhang Heng was impressed at how powerful the Dimensional Star was yet again. The timeline in Dead Space was set in the 26th century, which was a time where technological developments were tens of generations ahead of the Earth he was in currently, yet that world was destroyed by the Markers. The fact that the Dimensional Star was able to easily shut the entire construct down alone served as a testament to how much more advanced the former was.