Ugly and Ferocious

The Federation government has different classifications for the star regions under its jurisdiction. For example, the Red Star Region refers to extremely dangerous areas, the Black Star Region refers to areas controlled by Interstellar Pirates, the Gold Star Region refers to highly developed star regions, and the Gray Star Region represents abandoned star regions that are not managed.

Generally speaking, Gray Star Regions are areas where intelligent life once existed, but for some reason, the number of intelligent life forms in the star region has sharply decreased, and the Federation government no longer needs to send people to be stationed and manage them.

With the network blocked, Sea Emperor had no way to find information about this star region. He could only use the radar system that came with the spaceship itself to detect the presence of life forms. Fortunately, the radar on the Young Eagle was a new model from recent years and could detect the presence of life forms and their specific locations.

The radar's detection results were quickly transmitted back, and Sea Emperor was slightly surprised after seeing the results. Within the detection range, there was a planet with a large population still existing. Although Sea Emperor was a little surprised, he didn't have time to delve into it. The presence of a population indicated that there was oxygen and suitable gravity. Having such a planet as a foothold was the best possible outcome. After all, Gu Ding only needed a temporary foothold to avoid this Interstellar Storm and set off again. Therefore, Sea Emperor quickly chose a landing point.

As the huge meteorite brushed past that planet, Sea Emperor controlled the Young Eagle to detach from the meteorite, activated the energy shield to withstand several impacts, and the spaceship finally descended towards the target planet.

When the spaceship entered the atmosphere, Sea Emperor tested the atmospheric composition of this planet. The test result was that the oxygen content here was similar to that of Deep Sea Star, and Gu Ding could breathe normally.

As for the gravity intensity, he also calculated it based on the descent speed, which was about 1.5 times that of Earth. For Gu Ding, whose Cell Comprehensive Index was already close to twenty, the impact would not be significant.

Under Sea Emperor's control, the spaceship quickly landed in the ocean. This Young Eagle was completely scrapped except for the radar; most of its functions were no longer usable. As for food and water, they had been moved into the Escape Pod by Gu Ding early on.

The sealed Escape Pod ejected from the spaceship and floated on the sea surface. Sea Emperor finally woke up Gu Ding.

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Gu Ding stretched lazily. "That was a comfortable sleep. Has the Interstellar Storm passed?"

"Not yet. The Young Eagle is completely scrapped, and we were brought to the Gray Star Region by the Interstellar Storm." Sea Emperor gave a brief explanation. "I've initially checked the information on this planet. It's suitable for human survival, and there are also life forms on this planet."

"You mean, we've left the New Trade Route?" Gu Ding didn't ask about the whole process of the incident. He was more concerned about whether he was still on the New Trade Route.

"Yes, this was the optimal choice. The first wave of meteorite attacks consumed more than sixty percent of the Young Eagle's energy. If we hadn't come here, the Young Eagle would have probably disintegrated long ago, and you would have been torn to pieces."

"How long will it take to get back to the New Trade Route?" This was the question Gu Ding wanted to know most.

"Only after the Interstellar Storm passes and the electromagnetic shielding disappears can I send out a message and wait for rescue. According to the official statement before, this Interstellar Storm will last at least twenty days, and three days have already passed." Sea Emperor could also understand Gu Ding's feelings, but he couldn't do anything in this situation.

"So there are still seventeen days..." Gu Ding was muttering softly when his stomach suddenly growled. He had been in the Escape Pod for three days and had just woken up. At first, he didn't feel hungry, but at this moment, he realized that he probably needed to replenish food and water.

He took out the toothpaste-like compressed food, squeezed a few bites into his mouth, and took a gulp of water.

In the early days of interstellar travel, many foods were compressed into a toothpaste-like form to prevent food debris from floating in a weightless state, which would be bad if inhaled into the lungs. Now, many more advanced spaceships are equipped with gravity sensing systems, so this problem doesn't occur, and various foods can be eaten freely, but the current Gu Ding cannot afford a spaceship with a gravity sensing system.

While eating the compressed food, Gu Ding suddenly saw fish in the water not far away. He immediately felt that the food in his mouth was tasteless and wanted to catch a fish to supplement his meal.

Taking off his clothes and preparing to jump down, Gu Ding was suddenly stopped by Sea Emperor. "That fish seems a bit strange. Don't go down yet. I'll send you a video I just took."

As Sea Emperor spoke, he projected an image of a fish in the air. This was something he had detected on his own. As long as it was within a hundred meters of Gu Ding, he could conduct the corresponding investigation.

"It seems this fish probably can't be eaten..." Gu Ding sighed after watching the video.

In the video, the fish was about thirty centimeters long, with a mouth full of sharp teeth, and seemed to be fighting with another of its kind for territory.

Soon, the winner was decided. The slightly larger one bit off half of its opponent's head in one bite. In less than ten seconds, the fish that was originally about the same size as it was completely eaten clean.

"This fish not only looks ugly but is also very ferocious," Gu Ding couldn't help but exclaim. "Can you help me see if there are any other edible fish?"

Subsequently, Sea Emperor took several more videos, all of different types of fish. He felt that none of these fish should be eaten.

After watching these videos, Gu Ding discovered the same thing: all these fish had mouths full of sharp teeth. And when fighting for territory, they didn't care if they were of the same kind, fighting like crazy, with a posture of not resting until one was dead.

"Are they all like this? Are there one or two normal, edible fish?" Gu Ding asked helplessly.

"Do you think this kind of water can raise them?" Sea Emperor retorted. "Even if there were before, they've probably all been eaten by other fish long ago."

"It seems I can only eat this tasteless compressed food." Unable to successfully supplement his meal, Gu Ding, as a standard foodie, was a little depressed.

"This planet is a bit strange. The number of life forms detected by the radar earlier was actually in the billions. This star region is clearly a Gray Star Region, and logically, it should be difficult to find a planet with life forms." Sea Emperor was actually a bit confused about this as well, but the situation was urgent before, and he finally found a planet with life forms, so he naturally had no choice.

"Sea Emperor, did those fish just now look a bit like they were infected with a virus?" Gu Ding suddenly remembered that in the virology class he took as an elective at the military academy, there were similar situations.

(A bit stuck on writing, this chapter is late. The first chapter tomorrow might also be a bit late. Also, I've been adjusting my sleep schedule these past few days. The chapters I owe from the previous two weeks will be made up this week.)