Chapter Twenty-Two: Chaos Sequence 3 (End of Volume One)

“Alert! Alert! Unknown object detected!” In the control room, the Emmestan looked at the monitors. “So, you’ve followed me after all. I’ll make sure you never come back.” With those words, the Emmestan, encased in his metallic exoskeleton, turned and strode out of the control room.

Guided by the ship’s map, the Emmestan quickly reached the location of Shaoyu Liu’s mech. At that moment, Shaoyu Liu also caught sight of the creature—something that looked much like an octopus.

“Scan. Energy fluctuations detected. Be prepared for an attack,” Thomas’s voice had barely faded when, without warning, a surge of blue energy shot from the Emmestan’s armor.

There was no time to dodge. Shaoyu Liu immediately activated the energy shield.

“Shield integrity at twenty-five percent. Capacitor down to eighty percent.”

The massive explosion damaged Liu’s mech, and the ship’s internal corridors suffered as well. But the damage was not enough to set the mech in motion. Facing such a powerful enemy, Liu had no choice but to remain inside his armor—he could not survive outside.

The environment alone was deadly, regardless of whether he could win the fight. As soon as they arrived on this planet, Thomas had transmitted the atmospheric data: a human body exposed for less than a minute would be instantly destroyed by cosmic radiation.

Thus, Liu switched his weapons to long-range and unleashed a barrage toward the enemy.

Dazzling firepower roared, but the foe, having struck once, had already slipped into a blind spot on Liu’s sensors. Without a map, Liu could only take the blows.

“Damn it, Thomas, at least get me a map!” Liu shouted furiously at the air.

A swarm of small drones detached from the mech and scattered. As they spread out, a holographic map gradually appeared on Liu’s display.

“Hiding won’t save you now.” With the enemy’s position revealed, Liu began charging his weapon. A beam of light flashed out, startling the Emmestan, who was lurking in another corridor—he hurriedly changed position, only to discover the scattered drones. A few more deep wrinkles etched themselves into his already furrowed brow.

Suddenly, the ship began to tremble violently.

“Alert! Alert! Unknown object detected!” In the control room, the Emmestan again watched the monitors. “So, you’ve followed me after all. I’ll make sure you never come back.” With those words, he turned and left, metal frame clanking.

Using the map, he quickly found Shaoyu Liu’s mech, and Liu saw the strange, octopus-like being.

“Scan. Energy fluctuations. Be careful!” Thomas had just finished speaking when a mass of blue energy burst from the Emmestan’s armor.

With no time to evade, Liu activated the energy shield.

“Shield integrity at twenty-five percent. Capacitor at eighty percent.”

The massive explosion damaged Liu’s mech and the ship’s internal passageways, but not enough to free the mech. Against a dangerous enemy, Liu could not leave his armor.

The environment was simply too hostile for him to survive. Thomas had sent the planetary data upon arrival—outside, a human would last less than a minute before cosmic radiation ended them.

He could only switch to long-range attacks and fire upon the foe.

Blazing artillery lit up the corridors, but the enemy, after launching his attack, was already hiding where Liu could not see. Lacking a map, Liu was forced onto the defensive.

“Damn it, Thomas, at least get me a map!” he roared into the empty air.

A host of small machines detached from the mech and scattered. As they deployed, a holographic map appeared on Liu’s screen.

“Hiding won’t save you now.” Seeing the enemy’s position, Liu began charging his weapon. A beam of light shot out, frightening the Emmestan, who quickly changed position, only to discover the small machines. More wrinkles formed on his already lined face.

Suddenly, the ship shook violently.

“Alert: external shields at ninety percent damage and about to collapse.”

After the Dragonet Squad lost contact with Shaoyu Liu, they concentrated their fire on the ship’s rising shield. At last, after sustained bombardment, the shield was on the brink of collapse.

“Forced warp drive charging at ninety percent. FTL jump in one minute and thirty-five seconds.” Finally, a bit of good news, the Emmestan thought.

A fresh tremor rocked the ship; the shield finally gave way.

“Captain, what’s your status?” This was First Officer Li Tao’s voice—the comms were restored at last.

“Don’t come in, there’s no room to maneuver the mech here. Have the clerk come pick us up. Stand by.” Frowning, Shaoyu Liu replied.

He knew his time was running out and increased the mech’s energy output. The capacitor drained rapidly under the strain.

“There’s no other way.” Shaoyu Liu made his resolve.

“Overclocking, now.” He engaged the mech’s overdrive—if the fight didn’t end quickly, the overload would cause the mech to explode.

In overdrive, the mech spewed energy, forcing a path toward the chamber where Mu Wan was held.

The Emmestan, seeing Liu’s rampage, ignored him and hurried to the control room. As long as the warp succeeded, both Mu Wan and Liu would be trapped like fish in a barrel. Once Liu’s mech ran out of power, he’d be at his mercy. With this in mind, the Emmestan began preparing for forced warp.

“Not good, energy fluctuations detected. He’s trying to escape!” This time, the clerk reported ahead of Thomas.

In the void, spatial fissures began to form around the ship—a sign of imminent warp.

On the ground, the Dragonet Squad fired wildly at the engines, but having spent most of their energy on the shields, they no longer had the reserves to destroy the engines.

Just then, the central deck of the commercial transport ship in orbit slid open, revealing a colossal cannon. Blue light gathered at the barrel’s maw.

“Clerk, are you mad?! Abort the railgun charge immediately!” Xin Qingyi’s voice thundered.

This cannon was the ship’s trump card—a railgun normally seen only on space stations. Its massive energy drain meant it was rarely fitted on warships.

The crew was stunned. Except, this was Xin Qingyi’s ship. When the light flared, she immediately understood.

“It wasn’t me! Captain’s taken direct control of the ship!”

At that moment, Shaoyu Liu, through Thomas, seized control of the ship and began charging the railgun, aiming it at his own location.

He knew the enemy ship was about to warp. If they succeeded, both he and Mu Wan would face an uncertain fate. The secret of human immortality—contained in the data and Mu Wan’s codes—might be exposed. For whatever reason, this was something Liu could not allow.

He was already at the door of the cell where Mu Wan was held, but the thick metal wall was impenetrable. Even with a fully charged capacitor, the mech couldn’t cut through. Even the railgun could only damage, not destroy, the wall—Mu Wan would be safe inside.

Thomas had told him this. After activating the railgun, Liu transmitted all the data on Project Genesis to Xin Qingyi. For reasons he could not entirely explain, he trusted her with this precious information. Then, Liu waited quietly for death.

“No!” Xin Qingyi screamed, her voice raw with anguish.

A flash of blinding blue light swept the horizon. The Emmestan’s ship was engulfed in the beam.

“No!” The Emmestan’s last cry echoed. There was so much left unfinished. As his consciousness faded, he thought of the loved ones he’d killed with his own hands. For the sake of science, he had become a madman—a cold-blooded murderer.

But just as he thought he would finally be rewarded, a brilliant blue beam shattered all his dreams of the future.

It shattered more than his dreams—Xin Qingyi, struggling to pilot her mech toward the ship, was thrown to the ground by the energy’s shockwave.

As she watched that dissolving figure, so close and yet so unattainable, tears streamed from her eyes.

In the instant Shaoyu Liu’s consciousness faded, he seemed to see two figures: a tall, imposing man, and beside him, a woman with long, flowing hair leaning on his shoulder.

“Mother, Father,” he murmured, reaching out as if to grasp them. But his hand would not rise; energy had pierced his mech, and his body.

In the vastness of the universe, it was as if the life signal of Shaoyu Liu had vanished forever.

On the Federation’s computer, an alert sounded as a life signal disappeared.

“Subject 376 exhibits abnormal life signs. Initiate diagnostics… Signal lost… Attempting reconnection… Connection failed. Attempting to confirm subject’s state… Confirm death? No. Retrying…”

A string of symbols scrolled across the computer’s self-check sequence.

As the Federation computer ran its diagnostics, another computer elsewhere was also working furiously.

“Citizen confirmed deceased.”

“Connection established.”

End of Volume One

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And so, with these words, Volume One: Galactic Memories is complete. Perhaps to readers, this volume has been confusing—and indeed, I, Sanchi, have found it chaotic as well. As my first attempt at writing a novel, I’ve encountered many unexpected challenges. I am striving constantly to improve, to bring the protagonist to life, to make the story less mechanical—but all of this takes time and the encouragement of you, my readers.

I hope that in the next volume, I will improve, and bring you a more vivid story.

With this volume, I have finished laying the groundwork for Shaoyu Liu. In this volume, he is mechanical, lifeless. Partly, this is due to my limitations as a writer—I wrote his character into a dead end. But it was also my intention to portray him as a soldier without a distinct personality, then gradually add emotion and humanity to him.

The next volume will be a period of rapid growth for our protagonist—and the mystery of Shaoyu Liu’s origins. I invite you to guess—you’ll never figure it out, I promise!

I’ve also left a clue at the end of this chapter. Just kidding! If the protagonist really died, what would be the point? Of course, Shaoyu Liu will not die. In the next volume, he will lead his Dragonet Squad to stir up the galaxy yet again!

So, dear readers, follow in Sanchi’s footsteps—let’s charge ahead together! Onward!