"That's a good question." The woman said calmly. "Of course, the Hundred Great star district has a base. Otherwise, how could we defend this line of front and prevent the beasts of the Dark Side universe from invading our universe?
However, the spatial coordinates within the interdimensional battlefield are uncertain, and relying solely on spaceship jumps is insufficient to accurately pinpoint the base's location. This means we still have a long way to go to reach it. Moreover, we haven't been very lucky this time; the place we landed at is quite far from the base's location..."
"Since it's so far, why don't we take a spaceship there?" A muffled voice asked.
The one who asked the question was the stone man standing next to Lu Sheng.
The stern woman glanced at the black stone fellow and said with a half-smile, "If you want, of course you can. Nobody's stopping you."
The stone man scratched his head, not quite understanding the meaning of her words. Lu Sheng, however, guessed part of the reason.
'If what the cold-faced middle-aged man said is true, then level 11 and 12 alien beasts are commonplace in this battlefield. Then even if we traveled in a spaceship, we wouldn't get very far. We'd likely be shot down by the alien beasts very quickly.
Most spaceships aren't sturdy enough to resist a level 12 expert; a few hits and they might explode. And without using spatial teleportation, their speed might not be able to keep up with an expert at that level. Moreover, spaceships are large targets, making them easier to attract the attention of alien beasts. So... In the face of level 11 and 12 beasts, whether the spaceship can function properly is questionable.'
Sheng hadn't forgotten. A mere level 7 alien beast could render most of the technology on the azure planet ineffective. Higher-level alien beasts should have an even stronger ability to distort the rules of space.
Thinking this through, Lu Sheng suddenly understood why their recruitment spaceship was so rudimentary and dilapidated. Because the coordinates of each entry are uncertain, the recruitment ships are highly unlikely to reach the base and return from the battlefield, essentially making them disposable after a single use. Therefore, there's no need to use high-quality ships, as they are only throwaway transportation.
Another question arose, "So, what should we do next, sir?"
The woman calmly replied, "It's simple. Follow the group, and then… survive. And…"
She glanced at everyone present and coldly added, "Until we reach the base, none of you are qualified to call me sir."
Having said that, she turned and left without waiting for anyone to follow. The round-faced man beside her glanced at everyone with a smile, said nothing, and flew away.
"Hmph."
From the crowd, the orange-haired youth, Sarl, sneered disdainfully at the woman's retreating figure, got up, and followed. The others followed suit.
"Looks like the guy who beat you up and the guides don't get along, Saya," the stone man commented upon seeing this.
Saya replied with a hint of self-satisfaction. "That's because he asked to change rooms along the way, which caused some unpleasantness with the guide. Just wait and see the show; I have a feeling Sarl is going to be in trouble."
"By the way, next time you mention him, please don't call him the guy who beat me up, okay?" Saya added somewhat unhappily.
"Okay, my friend." The stone man nodded seriously, then turned and headed towards the spaceship.
Saya called out to him, puzzled. "What are you doing? Is there anything else you haven't retrieved?"
The stone man replied in surprise, "Flying the spaceship, of course. It can be repaired and fly again. Didn't the guide say we could use it freely?"
"Sigh."
Saya sighed, rubbing his forehead, unsure how to explain. Luckily, Sheng solved this problem for him.
"There's no time to repair the spaceship. We're already behind. Let's catch up quickly."
With that, Sheng took the lead, chasing after the main group. Saya followed. The stone man glanced at the spaceship's location, then at Lu Sheng and Saya, and finally, suppressing his reluctance, abandoned the ship in order to catch up.
"Actually, Tang Dun isn't bad, it's just his brain..."
Saya had caught up with Lu Sheng, and said it with a slightly strange expression.
"OK"
Lu Sheng's eyes flickered, and he suddenly smiled, saying, "Is his name Tang Dun? I thought his name was R.S..."
"Uh...why?"
Saya was taken aback, wondering if the name Ares had any special meaning. Lu Sheng didn't explain much, just smiled.
'Saya wouldn't know this joke. Think about it... I miss the azure planet.'
Lu Sheng and his group followed the two guides, flying through the void of space. There were about seventy people in their group. More than eighty percent of them were level 12 powerhouses.
These level 12 powerhouses didn't interact much with each other, simply following silently behind the two guides. Apart from Lu Sheng and his group, the remaining dozen or so level 11 warriors formed small groups of twos and threes, exchanging information with each other. They were probably all aware of the potential dangers ahead, and sticking together was safer for the slightly weaker ones.
Tang Dun was an anomaly. Despite being level 12, he mingled with Lu Sheng and Saya, both level 11. This led many level 12 warriors to look at Tang Dun with disdain, as if he was lowering his status and dragging down the level 12 circle.
Tang Dun, however, didn't seem to care. He and Saya were kindred spirits... or rather, they seemed to share similar interests and chatted quite well along the way. So much so that the level 11 martial artists in the group were quite envious of this trio. Saya's group was unique in that they could recruit a level 12 member.
Lu Sheng remained silent throughout the journey. He found the battlefield to be quite peculiar. The rules were completely different from the usual cosmos rules. If he had to describe it in one word, it would probably be... chaos. A chaos that defied common sense.
Along the way, Lu Sheng saw landmasses floating in the void... There was vegetation and animals. An ocean appeared out of nowhere, teeming with various marine life. There was also ice and snow. and lava. Some places were completely weightless, while others had terrifyingly high gravity.
It was a chaotic array of landscapes. Various, abrupt force fields without warning. If this was a game, this so-called interdimensional battlefield would be a gray area with a program error and chaotic code.
"If, under these circumstances, one were to suddenly encounter a powerful alien beast, it would indeed be very dangerous…" Lu Sheng thought.
Then, he slowly began to cultivate with the *Mysterious Spirit Treasure Record* technique.
The small, round, golden white core in his dantian began to slowly rotate, slowly attracting the surrounding natural cosmic energy into his body. He could sense the birth of immortal cells one after another. The speed of this process was now much greater than before.
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Translation notes by dhoo
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Tang Dun, the stone man
唐顿 (trad. 唐頓), táng dùn: 唐 Tang surname (dynasty) 顿 to step, halt, pull
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The dantian
丹田, dāntián: dantian
In this story, Lu Sheng has one dantian. In real life, "Dantian in traditional Chinese medicine is a center of qi, the vital life force, and three main dantian are typically emphasized: the lower dantian, situated at the lower belly, called hara in Japanese; the middle dantian, at the level of the heart; and the upper dantian, at the forehead between the eyebrows or third eye." source: wikipedia
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Roll Safe aka R.S. and the Think about it meme
In the original version, the chapter title is "Smart Murphy, interdimensional battlefield". Lu Sheng then says "I thought his name was Murphy" and Saya wonders if the name "Murphy" has a special meaning.
墨菲, mò fē: Murphy
I mean, in Chinese, Eddie Murphy's name is written 艾迪·墨菲, ài dí mò fēi
Maybe the author was making a reference to the "Think about it" meme. The guy in that meme is Roll Safe aka R.S. aka Kayode Ewumi, but many on the internet think it's Eddie Murphy.
Since Eddie Murphy is not in that meme, I replaced "Murphy" with "R.S." and "Ares" (why not, I mean, Saya obviously doesn't know R.S.) and I changed the chapter's title. If you think of another reference with a "smart 墨菲", feel free to add it here.