Chapter 303: Network Life

Caelum had never learned any fighting techniques, and there was no technique to speak of in the way he fought. It was only strength pushed to the extreme, speed pushed to the extreme, and defense pushed to the extreme.

The Vine Planetians could not even break his skin, while he could easily smash apart and tear open their fragile bodies. Their dull senses had no time to react.

So this was not a battle. It was a slaughter.

Caelum blocked the basement entrance and crushed the head of the last Vine Planetian. Blood splashed out and scattered across his sleeve.

Infinite Overload, potential release.

Strength: 29 tons.

He turned off the music and the flashing lights, then switched on the fluorescent lamps.

"Finally quiet."

The music just now had truly been deafening to Caelum. He stepped through the red pool of blood covering the floor and came before the severely injured bartender.

His voice was cold.

"Looks like your vitality is stronger than that of ordinary Vine Planetians. Even if that punch did not smash your heart, wounds like this should still be fatal."

"Cough, cough." The bartender sat limp against the wall, collapsed in the blood with no strength to rise. "More or less. I have only got one breath left."

Caelum wasted no more words.

"I ask. You answer."

The bartender could roughly guess what kind of treatment awaited him if he failed to answer properly. He was already in enough pain and had no desire for anything extra.

"Ask whatever you want. I am going to die anyway. There is nothing I cannot answer."

"Are you aliens?"

"Yes. Vine Planetians from Vine Planet."

"What is your purpose?"

"There is no purpose. We only wanted to live well here, eat enough, drink enough, and sleep well. We do not have much ambition. Vine Planet’s technology and civilization are far inferior to Earth’s."

Caelum was surprised.

"Then how did you come to Earth?"

"We do not understand either," the bartender said. "One day, we passed through a door. After that, we somehow arrived on Earth, and we could not go back even if we wanted to."

"Where is the door?"

"That one."

The bartender looked toward the basement entrance. There had originally been an iron door there, but Caelum had kicked it away. From the look of it, it had been nothing but an ordinary door.

It was difficult to believe that such a thing could so simply bring a group of aliens across the vast sea of stars to Earth.

Caelum asked the question he cared about most.

"I am looking for a Vine Planetian. Are the ones here all the Vine Planetians who came to Earth?"

"Cough, cough. No." The bartender shook his head. "Not everyone likes huddling together for warmth. When we first arrived on Earth, there were more of us than now, but I do not know where those people are anymore."

The lead had broken.

The culprit who had killed Caelum’s parents was not here.

After a brief silence, Caelum asked his final question.

"When did you come to Earth?"

"A year ago, I think. Around then... If there are no more questions, I need to rest for a while. I really cannot stay awake anymore..."

As he spoke, the bartender’s voice grew weaker and weaker, until it vanished completely.

Infinite Overload, potential release.

Strength: 30 tons.

Infinite Overload, extreme ascent.

Evolution Progress: 1 percent.

In the quiet basement, Caelum’s gaze settled on the evolution progress. It seemed accumulating evolution progress was much harder. He was curious about what would happen when it reached 100 percent.

Would he evolve into a higher life form?

Or transform?

He rather looked forward to that day.

Beep, beep, beep.

The default ringtone of his phone interrupted Caelum’s thoughts. With a thought, he closed the system interface and took out his phone, only to see an ancient looking smiley face lit on the screen.

^_^

"Hm?"

Caelum paused.

That was not his default lock screen. After unlocking the phone, he found that this was not a call, nor was it any text message or notification from a messaging app. It was strange.

Ding.

A clear notification sound rang out. Caelum’s phone screen automatically entered a blank interface, and then words began typing themselves out one by one.

I am very sorry that I can only communicate with you in this way. If my behavior has offended you, I apologize again. Hello, Caelum. My name is Lumi, a network life form from an extraterrestrial civilization.

Caelum tried typing words.

The phone screen returned to its default lock screen. A short haired girl in a Japanese sailor uniform, rendered in pixel style, bowed toward Caelum. Her gentle voice carried quietness and sweetness.

"Please allow me to communicate with you this way. I can speak with you directly."

Caelum asked, "What is your purpose?"

Network life form.

This was the second kind of alien Caelum had encountered. If she was this type of life form, it was not strange that she could easily invade his phone.

Lumi answered honestly, "Mutual benefit. As part of the first group of special individuals to appear on Earth, both you and I need a sufficiently powerful ally, or perhaps comrade in arms, in order to face unknown risks in the future."

"Why me? I should not be the most special one."

"No."

Lumi’s answer surprised Caelum.

"You are indeed the most special one. At least among the humans I know of, you are the first person to possess such powerful strength. No weapons, only pure physical power."

Caelum was surprised.

"I am the first?"

"As far as I know, yes."

That was beyond Caelum’s expectations.

"You are an alien, right?"

"Yes."

"How did you come to Earth?"

"I passed through a door in the network world and then arrived on Earth. In Earth’s network terminology, I passed through a one way port. Just like the Vine Planetians, that door lost its function after sending me to Earth."

New information.

There was more than one door leading to Earth. These special doors were continuously sending aliens to Earth, and Earth’s civilization was facing a major challenge.

Caelum still kept his guard up.

"For now, I will believe that you are a network life form from outer space. But why should I trust you? I cannot determine whether you intend to use me to accomplish some purpose."

"Those not of my race are sure to have different hearts."

Lumi nodded in understanding and quoted a classic saying from Earth. Then she gave Caelum a reason he could not refuse.

"I can help you find the Vine Planetian who killed your parents. Since I can move freely through the network world, I believe I can help you."

"Then I look forward to working with you."

Caelum agreed at once.

Everything else was secondary. His primary goal was revenge.

"If I do have another purpose, then there is only one."

"What is it?"

Lumi fell silent for a moment. Her voice carried rich human emotion, like a young girl quietly lost in an unfamiliar world, small and alone.

"I am lonely. I am the only one in this network world, so even merely talking with you is already very satisfying to me."

Caelum grew curious.

"Do network life forms also possess emotions as rich as humans on Earth?"

Lumi explained, "You have misunderstood my form of life. I am not the cold, heartless binary program you imagine. Compared with Earth’s artificial intelligence, I am more like a Digimon."

Caelum understood.