Chapter 543: Name One

Nothing happened.

A mechanical voice responded, [Command authority terminated.]

Leng Pan looked at the burned symbol on his forehead. "The gate removed his authority when he died."

Lu Zhen studied the wall before glancing at the blue energy core beneath the anchor. "The barrier is powered from within, so attacking it would only strengthen the repair system."

"Could we enter through my space?"

"The anchor might block you again."

"It blocked me when I tried to escape from an active explosion. This time, I would only need to cross the wall."

Lu Zhen turned fully toward her. "Before you try it, tell me exactly what you intend to do. I do not want to discover halfway through the plan that you are entering the chamber alone."

Leng Pan slipped her fingers through his. "I will take both of us into the space, move toward the chamber, and bring us out beside the gate anchor. If the connection becomes unstable, we will remain inside instead of forcing our way through."

"And if the anchor connects to your space again?"

"Little Vine kept a fragment of the first beacon. It might be able to detect the connection before it becomes strong enough to trap us."

Lu Zhen considered the plan before nodding. "We will try it once. If the anchor responds, we retreat and find another entrance."

Leng Pan smiled. "You have become very agreeable."

"I am learning that forbidding my wife from doing something only encourages her to find a more dangerous method."

"That is unfair. Some of my methods are very sensible."

"Name one."

"I married you before the apocalypse."

Lu Zhen’s expression softened. He lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. "That was the most sensible decision either of us made."

Leng Pan took him into her space.

They appeared beside the spiritual spring, but she did not release his hand. After estimating the chamber’s position, she attempted to return outside.

Resistance pressed against the space.

Little Vine raised its leaves in warning.

A faint silver line appeared in the air above them, but the spatial connection did not close completely.

Leng Pan concentrated again.

The resistance weakened.

She and Lu Zhen emerged inside the energy chamber, only a few metres from the gate anchor.

The alien world inside the ring had become much clearer.

Hundreds of soldiers were gathering on the platform beyond it.

One of them saw Leng Pan and raised a weapon, but the opening remained too unstable for the attack to cross.

Lu Zhen looked at the blue energy core beneath the ring. "Can you store the anchor?"

"After what happened last time, I would rather not place it inside my space."

"I was hoping you would say that."

Leng Pan looked at him with amusement. "Were you worried that I wanted to collect it?"

"You considered taking the entire vessel earlier."

"That was before it tried to carry us away from Earth."

The gate anchor released a sharp sound.

[Connection stability: seventy-one percent.]

Several alien soldiers on the other side moved closer to the opening.

Lu Zhen took explosives from his second space and placed them around the blue core. "We cannot allow another spatial blast while we are inside the vessel. We need to disable the ring before destroying the core."

Leng Pan studied the rotating sections. "The commander was connected through the symbol on his forehead. There should be a control point carrying energy into the ring."

Little Vine crawled over the anchor and stopped beside a narrow silver panel.

It struck the panel with a tendril.

The outer covering opened, revealing a small black crystal.

Leng Pan reached toward it, but Lu Zhen caught her wrist.

"Allow me."

"The crystal is connected to spatial energy. Your fire might activate it."

"And touching unknown alien technology with your bare hand is safer?"

Leng Pan smiled and placed her other hand over his. "We could remove it together."

Lu Zhen looked at her for a moment before sighing. "My wife has found a romantic way to make a dangerous suggestion."

"It worked."

"It always does."

They placed their hands around the crystal while Little Vine cut the wires beneath it.

The gate anchor stopped rotating.

The image of the alien world flickered.

Then the black crystal released a pulse that passed through both of them.

A new message appeared across the chamber.

[Spatial signatures accepted.]

[Emergency operators registered.]

Leng Pan and Lu Zhen stared at the gate anchor.

The vessel’s system had mistaken them for its new operators.

More symbols appeared on the control panel, followed by two options.

[Continue connection.]

[Reverse destination.]

Lu Zhen looked at the alien army waiting on the other side before turning to his wife. "How would you feel about sending them somewhere unexpected?"

Leng Pan’s eyes moved to the second option. "I think we should give them the same welcome they planned for Earth."

Outside the vessel, the two remaining zombie armies were still moving toward Qinghe Base.

Their command signal appeared on the gate anchor’s map.

Leng Pan understood what Lu Zhen intended, and a smile slowly appeared on her lips.

They might not need to choose between stopping the aliens and saving Qinghe Base.

They could send the zombie army through the alien gate.

The map above the gate anchor displayed the three zombie armies surrounding Qinghe Base.

The first horde was already attacking the northern wall, while the other two were less than three hours away. Red command lines connected all three groups to the alien network.

Leng Pan enlarged the map and studied the western group. "How do we make the gate appear in front of the zombies? Changing the destination will not help if the opening remains inside this vessel."

Lu Zhen examined the symbols beside the reverse destination option. "The gate anchor needs two fixed points. One is the alien platform, while the other should be wherever the anchor’s beacon is placed."

"The beacons were destroyed."

"The command network is still guiding the zombies. We might be able to use one of its signals as the second point."