Chapter 674: Unidentified Signal

On the Moon, a humanoid figure covered in a silver carapace sat on the edge of a small crater. He gazed at the distant blue planet, tossing a piece of Moon Rock in his hand like a child.

‘The center… of attention…’

He suddenly muttered to himself, then clenched his fist, crushing the rock within. Golden-red magma immediately began to drip from the gaps between his fingers. His tone slowly rose, laced with hatred, “It’s never fair. They get what I want so easily.”

“Just you wait… One day, Earth… will watch me.”

Meanwhile, sitting in his seat, Su Zhou didn’t feel the acceleration that should have been, in theory, ‘extremely severe’—even though his three teammates were already pinned to their seats by the powerful g-forces.

This wasn’t really surprising. His combat style had long since reached the Supersonic realm, and it wasn’t at all strange for his bursts of speed to exceed Mach 8. Although the rocket’s acceleration was strong, Su Zhou had experienced it before, so it didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable.

‘Ten thousand meters… twenty thousand… thirty thousand…’

Su Zhou even had the spare energy to use his Spiritual Power to sense his current altitude. He could clearly perceive that he was getting farther and farther from the ‘Earth Surface Spiritual Power Circle’ and had already entered the ‘Atmospheric Spiritual Power Circle’.

According to research from relevant experts, the Earth Spiritual Power Circle can be roughly divided into five major zones: the Land Surface Spiritual Power Circle, the Underground Spiritual Power Circle, the Shallow Sea Spiritual Power Circle, the Deep Sea Spiritual Power Circle, and the Atmospheric Spiritual Power Circle. Each of these circles is home to different spiritual lifeforms that live, reproduce, and influence one another.

Together, they form the ‘Earth Spiritual Power Circle’.

The conflict between the Earth Spiritual Energy Circle and the spiritual qi environment of space created the ‘Gang Wind Layer’ in the upper atmosphere. It was a region where Spiritual Qi was extremely chaotic, an area that ordinary people couldn’t utilize at all. Even rockets and ballistic missiles, without the relevant technology to handle it, could be blocked and detonated by this layer of gang wind.

However, the chaotic environment where the two major Spiritual Power Circles clashed had, conversely, produced a massive aerial Spirit Vein layer. It was even possible to mine an extremely pure ‘Celestial Spirit Qi’ from it. It was said that a considerable amount of Celestial Spirit Qi was needed as a raw material in new types of rocket fuel.

While he was thinking, the rocket continued its cycle of accelerating, separating, igniting a new engine, accelerating, and separating again.

Soon, they reached the final obstacle at the edge of Earth’s orbit: the Gang Wind Layer.

In Su Zhou’s Spiritual Power senses, the Gang Wind Layer was the outermost part of Earth’s atmosphere. It acted like an invisible wall, sufficient to block most beings who had not reached the Extraordinary Tier from passing this limit. Perhaps this was why the Immortal Gods of old had classified the Commander Tier as the ‘Human Immortal’ class.

Those at the Commander Tier could cross the Gang Wind Layer, setting them vastly apart from mortals. However, it was extremely difficult for them to reach the ‘Celestial Palace’—which might have been a massive palace in Earth’s orbit, or even the Immortal Divine Palace on the Moon. For this reason, they still weren’t considered true members of the Immortal Class.

Just as the rocket was about to collide with the Gang Wind Layer, Su Zhou sensed a series of Runes suddenly light up on the rocket’s hull. They combined, releasing a translucent halo whose nature was extremely similar to the chaotic Spiritual Qi essence of the Gang Wind Layer.

The halo took less than a second to ‘dissolve’ the Gang Wind Layer. At the rocket’s speed, that fraction of a second was all it needed to cross the thin, chaotic Spiritual Qi zone and arrive outside the ‘Earth Spiritual Energy Circle’.

In other words, they had reached outer space.

At this moment, Su Zhou glanced out the porthole. He could vaguely make out the Earth, its white clouds, dark continents, and blue oceans laid out in distinct, incredibly clear layers.

Of course, clearest of all was the pitch-black space beyond the planet and the endless cracks that shrouded the cosmos.

Even having left Earth, the cracks of the Great Seal were still clearly visible. Furthermore, one could perceive even more clearly that they were spreading out into the depths of distant space in a way that defied description, reaching toward an end that no one could see.

“Next, we’ll conduct the final checks before heading for lunar orbit.”

Meng Jin’s voice brought the other astronauts, who had been gazing at Earth and outer space, back to their senses. The launch had gone smoothly; they had reached orbit, the engines had shut down, and they were now coasting around the Earth. But the next phase, the journey to the Moon, was the most important part of the mission.

Su Zhou knew very well that this was just the beginning. With the rate his power was increasing, he could travel to outer space whenever he wanted in the future. So, he turned his head and began to check the rocket’s status with the others, preparing to control the rocket and deploy its true form—a process that would take more than two hours.

However, just as the four of them were conducting their checks, an incredibly strong electromagnetic wave suddenly erupted from their destination: the Moon.

For a moment, all ongoing livestreams and cameras, and even the signals between the rocket and ground command, were interrupted, replaced by a blast of static. Although the signals were restored quickly, everyone’s expression changed drastically.

“What’s happening?”

Although Yu Saint, who was closely monitoring the operation, asked the question aloud, he was already using his cybernetic components to pull up relevant data. When he truly understood what was happening, he couldn’t help but raise his head in astonishment, looking up at the sky outside his window as if trying to peer through the atmosphere and stare directly at the Moon. “An unidentified high-intensity electromagnetic wave just swept the Earth-Moon System? The signal’s source… is on the Moon’s Far Side?!”

“Something’s happened on the Moon!”

It wasn’t just Yu Saint. All over the world, the powers that detected this unidentified electromagnetic wave—which had affected the entire planet and even swept across the Earth-Moon System—went on high alert. They realized that the signal’s main target wasn’t Earth at all; the planet had merely been caught in the aftershock.

Its true purpose was directed beyond Earth. It was the aftershock of an unknown signal being sent to some distant, faraway place! That unidentified electromagnetic wave might not even be the primary signal, but a derivative of something far more advanced!

“What in the world is going on?”

Even though he was anxious, Yu Saint remained calm. He connected directly with the other Saints on the Central Committee via the network. “The situation on the Moon is unclear. This strange signal source is likely an alien ship on the Far Side, and it might even be closely related to the Deep Space Caller. Change of mission objectives. Should we recall Su Zhou and his team?”

This was the most prudent course of action. It was best not to act recklessly without a clear understanding of the situation. They should wait until they knew both their own standing and the enemy’s before preparing a new plan.

But a few seconds later, Su Zhou’s voice, having temporarily joined the connection, rang out in the cyberspace.

“The plan is unchanged,”

he said, his tone thought-provoking. “I will proceed to the Moon.”