The Record of Unusual Creatures

The probe dropped into the crevasse.

Then, there was no more response.

Ten seconds after the probe’s signal was lost, the MDT could not help but say, “Buddy, something’s wrong. We’ve lost the probe’s signal. This includes the backup channels!”

“Is the signal or the probe itself lost?” Hao Ren knitted his brows together as he looked at the dark crevasse. A strange feeling rose within him. “Has something struck the probe?”

The MDT floated up next to Hao Ren’s head and observed the situation in the crevasse, as though it had forgotten their quarrel a while ago. “Something is definitely wrong. The probe may just be a small potato, but it has a powerful, empire-made transceiver. No known mortal civilization can interfere with its signal. The core of the probe should have transmitted its signal back when it was attacked!”

“But the truth is that it has just disappeared without a trace, just like the stone that Rheia threw out earlier.” Vivian’s brows were furrowed. “Hao Ren, do you still have more probes?”

“I have many in my Dimensional Pocket.” While he spoke, Hao Ren took out another probe. “One more try?”

“Let the probe fly into the rift slowly this time,” Vivian said with a nod. “MDT, please keep track of it and see at which point the loss of signal would occur.”

Hao Ren released the probe that was a diamond-shaped gizmo smaller than a finger. It slowly flew to the crevasse under the precise control of the MDT. As it was about to enter the darkness, it slowed down to just a few millimeters a second.

Hao Ren and Vivian’s eyes were fixated on the probe as it gradually descended. The MDT showed the visual captured by the probe using its holographic display. Right now, the visual showed nothing except darkness and chaos.

As the speed of the probe was extremely slow, it took the probe a few seconds before it completely went beyond the field of view. As the silver-white probe disappeared into the darkness, the MDT quickly said, “We lost it.”

“It disappeared right after crossing the dividing line.” Hao Ren immediately turned to the MDT. “What did you see when part of it was on the other side before it was completely gone?”

The MDT checked the images frame by frame. “So far, only darkness…”

Hao Ren looked at the images with eyes wide open. As the MDT flipped the image to the last few frames, he barely saw something chaotic that somewhat looked like a vortex in the darkness.

The MDT suddenly froze a frame as it spotted something. “Buddy, something is right there!”

The last frame was no different from the previous one; it was all darkness and chaos. But the MDT had found something in the underlying data. It immediately processed the image. After hundreds of enhancements and filtering, Hao Ren finally saw a shadow.

“What is that?” Hao Ren could not help but mutter, “It does not look like cave or canyon.”

“It is like a vast empty space.” Vivian came up to take a closer look. “Is there an open cave at the bottom of the rift?

“Ghsss— Hiak!”

“Is there something floating in the cave? The thing that just flew past in front of the camera; does it look like a pillar?”

“Phh— Biubiubiu! Piak piak!”

“I think it looks like one. But how come it float in the air? Is the Great Pit gravity-free?”

“Ghss—”

“When did this little thing come out?”

Noobie was dancing on Vivian’s head with excitement as the little thing tried to make her presence felt. Hao Ren was too engrossed with the images of the rift that he was utterly unaware it earlier.

Vivian was equally struck dumb as she had no idea when Noobie had come out of her. She tried to grab the little thing. “Don’t move! It is dangerous here!”

“Hiak!” The little thing waved her arms and growled threateningly. She fired her shadow bolts while flying wobbly in the air, trying to dodge Vivian’s hands.

Noobie’s movement was clumsy. While evading Vivian, she inadvertently flew toward the crevasse. Hao Ren reached to stop her. “Come back! Danger!”

But it was a little too late, and Noobie’s movement was too unpredictable that she slipped out of Hao Ren’s fingers and headed straight into the crevasse.

Hao Ren broke out in cold sweat. “Oh shit!”

“Aah!” Vivian had her heart in her mouth. Noobie might just be a troublemaking Malevolence, but she did little damage. After living together with her all this while, Vivian had treated Noobie as a member of the family. So, when she saw Noobie plunging into the Great Pit, her blood ran cold. “Noobie!” she cried.

Hao Ren and Vivian instinctively rushed toward the crevasse but stopped short of jumping into it. As worried as they were, they did not lose their mind. Before figuring out what the fissure was all about, they were not going into the Great Pit blindly.

Hao Ren released an autonomous robot from his dimensional pocket. Considering that the probe only lost its signal after going beyond the field of vision, it might indicate that the Great Pit would not swallow non-living and non-magic objects. Possibly, the probe was not destroyed but only lost its signal for some unknown reason. Since the autonomous robot had a higher level of intelligence than the probe, it could still operate autonomously to retrieve Noobie if the communication signal was cut off.

It was hoped that Noobie could still hang on there in the Great Pit for a little longer.

Just as Hao Ren was about to send out the autonomous robot, an inconspicuous shadow energy bolt flew out of the darkness, accompanied by the signature “biu” sound.

Hao Ren and Vivian were astounded.

The next second, Noobie flew wobbly out of the Great Pit as if nothing had happened. It seemed that she was not hurt a bit. Noobie tilted her head when she saw Hao Ren as if she wondered why he released the autonomous robot.

“She is alive?” Hao Ren was stunned.

Vivian quickly waved at Noobie. “Come back!”

Noobie came back up obediently this time and danced on Vivian’s palm, appearing to be full of spirit.

Worriedly, Vivian examined Noobie’s condition before looking up at Hao Ren with amazement. “She is perfectly fine. It seems that the Great Pit has not affected her a bit.”

“Does it mean the Great Pit is all bark and no bite?” Hao Ren felt it incredible. “Or, does it only apply to the locals but not outsiders like us?”

“But we lost two probes.” Vivian was unsure.

After thinking for a moment, Hao Ren gritted his teeth. “I want to test it out. Protect me with your magic spell.”

Hao Ren then lay down on his stomach and reached out his hand into the endless darkness. Vivian was shocked. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry, I just want to see,” Hao Ren explained, “if this thing affects us.”

Hao Ren sounded calm, but he was actually holding his breath for any abnormal energy reaction in the rift.

But just before his hand crossed the boundary, he felt an unusual chill running up his fingertips and spread throughout his body.

A strong sense of weightlessness and dizziness struck Hao Ren. It was as if he was tossed up the air and then plunging down a bottomless abyss, he saw illusions and his senses were confused. Vivian had become an illusory shadow, and the solid ground beneath his body began to slide and tumble down the Great Pit like soft mud.

“Hao Ren! Take back your hand!”

The ethereal voice of Vivian was heard in the ears. Hao Ren focused his mind trying to resist the illusions while pulling his hand back.

He gasped; cold sweat was running down his forehead. His arm had turned translucent.

It was not until a few seconds later that his arm gradually returned to normal.

“Holy moly! I thought I had lost my hand.” Hao Ren watched as his arm recovered, and he came to his senses. “I was sailing to close to the wind.”

Vivian let out a long sigh. “Your hand disappeared, and you were non-reactive just now. So, I called out to you.”

“I felt as if my spirit had left my body,” Hao Ren said. He then saw Noobie. The Malevolence had climbed onto Vivian’s shoulder and fiddled with her hair. “I have almost lost myself. How did this little guy walk away without a scratch?”