Infinite Horror: The Strongest Zhongzhou Team

Upon hearing Li Xiao's words, Wells and the others instinctively asked in return:

"moon?"

"What is the moon?"

Li Xiao pointed to the empty space on the other side of the Earth.

"There should be a planet here called the Moon."

Just as these mercenaries, who had just woken up, thought Li Xiao was talking in his sleep.

Cole opened the cockpit door and walked straight in, saying as he went:
"The moon that Li Xiao mentioned was Earth's only natural satellite 294 years ago, and its distance from Earth was approximately 38.44 kilometers."

"It is a solid planet with a diameter of 3476.28 kilometers."

Zhao Yingkong, who had been silent all along, finally turned around and put down the book in her hand.

Looking at Cole, he asked coldly, "You mean more than two hundred years ago?"

"Now??"

Cole nodded:

"It's long gone, just like Wells and the others, who had no idea what the word 'moon' meant."

"Most people in the Federation have forgotten about Earth, let alone the Moon."

"Gone? How come it's gone?"

Li Xiao asked Cole in shock.

After thinking for a moment, the cyborg spoke:

"The answer shown in my offline database is that a moonfall event occurred in the early interstellar era."

"However, this also accelerated the development of the interstellar era."

"Detailed information can only be viewed after logging into the StarNet and obtaining authorization."

Upon hearing this answer, Li Xiao immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"Although I don't understand it very well, I remember that the moon's gravity is the anchor point for the stability of the Earth's axis."

If the moon were to disappear, Earth's climate system would collapse directly, potentially leading to a mass extinction event...

Cole nodded and said:

"Yes, according to data, the disappearance of the moon did indeed cause the Earth's axis to tilt, oceans to lack oxygen, food chains to collapse, global tsunamis, and even without the moon's protection, the risk of being directly hit by meteorites has risen to its highest level."

"Not to mention the destructive power of the lunar crash itself."

"So the Earth is now destroyed."

When it came to the last sentence.

Cole pointed to the gray-white planet outside the window.

The conversation between Li Xiao and Cole gave the four hungover mercenaries ample time to sober up and react.

Christie, being a woman, stared wide-eyed at the Earth outside and was the first to let out a conscious scream!
Then Wells and John, in a moment of madness, launched an attack on Li Xiao.

They looked like they wanted to seize control of the spaceship.

It's just a pity.

Before Li Xiao could make any move, these people were forced to the ground.

It was as if an invisible, powerful force was completely crushing them.

Even today, Zhao Yingkong can use this move.

Li Xiao felt the powerful spiritual pressure that suddenly erupted from the girl beside him.

I couldn't help but recall what I had done in Ju-on back then.

However, compared to my past self who was on a winning streak.

This girl currently possesses genuine captain-level spiritual pressure.

"Let them go, Sakura."

"I think we should have a formal discussion."

After speaking, the girl, who exuded an aloof aura, hummed in agreement and lowered her head to continue reading the book in her hands.

She acted as if what had just happened had nothing to do with her.

After getting up from the cold metal floor, Reeves and the others calmed down.

Because if they don't calm down, it will be their bodies that get cold.

None of them dared to look in the direction where Zhao Yingkong was.

After spending just one week together, they had figured out who Li Xiao was.

That quiet girl was their biggest source of crisis.

After getting up, Wells, looking indignant, shouted loudly in grievance:

Why do you want to go to Earth?

Is anyone on Earth?

"Is it worth it for you to go?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiao smiled and retorted:
"Then why are you afraid of Earth?"

Li Xiao observed the expressions and subconscious actions of the four people:
"No, I've discovered that you're not just afraid of Earth, you also loathe and even dread it."

"So you've been to Earth before?"

Wells and his friends slumped to the ground, staring out the glass at the Earth they had only ever seen in pictures as children.

Reeves was the first to speak:
"If we had been there, we might be dead by now."

"You're right, we are afraid, we are scared."

Perhaps influenced from a young age, or instilled with certain ideas, Earth, despite being the cradle of humanity within the federal government, has been repeatedly proven to be a barren or even dead planet.

"Just like Cole said, the Earth is dead."

Looking at the confusion on Li Xiao's face.

Wells, as the captain, continued:

"Well, if that's all there is to it, it might not be a big deal. It could even serve as a transit point when passing through Earth, allowing us to rest for a while."

"The reason we are afraid is because of a legend among space pirates, or rather, mercenaries."

"No, it can't be called a legend, but a fact."

"That means all the warships and spaceships that have ever been to Earth, or even just passed by Earth, have disappeared."

"Some warships simply vanished without a trace; there wasn't even a wreckage left, let alone a corpse."

"Some of them come from Earth, and these are even more terrifying."

"Because they've all gone mad. Instead of disappearing without a trace, they directly detonated warships at spaceports or even launched suicide attacks on colony planets."

"Moreover, these attacks came without any warning."

Li Xiao frowned: "Is that all?"

The captain sighed and rubbed his scalp as he spoke.

"Of course it's more than that."

"I just said that these survivors will suddenly go crazy and launch an attack."

"And this madness can be contagious to humans and machines, and even intelligent life."

"It's like a plague of the Earth age, starting with one, then a group."

"A frenzied suicide attack, a frenzied plague."

"But what's strange is that this plague started suddenly and ended suddenly as well."

"The madness that had spread suddenly disappeared as if it had never existed."

"No. It didn't disappear either, because there have always been some adventurous or tired mercenaries who have been exploring the origins of human civilization on Earth and in the Milky Way."

"However, every time we explore, a group of people die; every time we explore, a group of people die."

"Over time, in the interstellar world, Earth has become a place that all mercenaries and pirates avoid like the plague."

“Aside from people who really want to die, I haven’t heard of anyone else going there in recent years.”

It was clear that Wells was genuinely terrified; his palms were sweating and the muscles under his skin were twitching subtly as he recounted the incident.

The girl, who had been engrossed in her book, had somehow put it down and sat up straight.

Li Xiao and Zhao Yingkong exchanged glances, then looked together at what lay beyond the suspended window.

This Earth is indeed somewhat different from the one they had in mind.

It was as if they were living in a vibrant, completed product, while what they were in front of them was a failed product that had been dead for hundreds of years.

Li Xiao then spoke:
"If that's the case, then it makes sense."

"But what about the federal government you're talking about?"

"They did nothing after something like this happened?"

"The interstellar port exploded, and the colony was attacked. These things can't be kept secret, right?"

The mercenaries all shook their heads.

Reeves said bitterly:

"Can't be hidden?"

"No, you underestimate them."

"They didn't do nothing; they directly implemented an information blockade, possessing the highest authority on the interstellar network."

"They directly blocked all information about the Earth's plague."

"Those accidents are long forgotten except by those who experienced them firsthand."

"After all, even the most shocking and unbelievable news can be digested in this vast, dark universe."

"What we just talked about is all information that has been passed down orally."

"At the time, I didn't know why the federal government was doing this."

"However, it was on the battleship fortress that I learned that the experimental spaceship's return destination was Earth."

"Then I had a new idea."

"Perhaps Earth has been transformed into a secret base?"

"Or is it a planetary experiment?"

"Anyway, it should be something similar."

"But we all agreed that it must be top secret or something that cannot be known to outsiders."

"That's why we turned around and left decisively after we came out of the jump tunnel."

Just after the mercenaries finished saying all this, one after another.

Li Xiao nodded and continued to ask:

"What do you know, Cole?"

"About Earth?"

Cole, a cyborg, shook his head.

“I don’t know anything about what they just said. There are no such legends on the interstellar network, let alone any mention of the plague.”

"All I know are the most basic things."

"The interstellar age will begin between the 21st and 22nd centuries."

"The colonial era began when scientists calculated..."

Listening to Cole's federal standard version of the historical summary, Li Xiao knew to just take it with a grain of salt.

Like historical records, they are written by the victors.

Putting aside everything else, as far as he knows, before the free development of humankind.

There is also another timeline.

That is the engineer family hidden in history.

As an alien civilization suspected of creating humans and aliens.

And then there's the Predator that hunts aliens.

What roles these two play in human civilization in this world is a question mark.

Ripley finally couldn't resist knocking on the metal wall, interrupting the man's sermon on federal history.

Upon hearing the sound, everyone turned to look at the female protagonist.

Ripley looked at the mercenary angrily and said:

"So, you know so much, then why have you never told me and Cole?"

Wells: "Ripley, it's not that we deliberately kept it from you, it's just that your memory is still stuck more than two hundred years ago, and we were afraid you would ask to go to Earth to take a look, so we didn't say anything."

"Just like Christie actually had gender reassignment surgery, there's nothing more to say about that!"

As soon as these words came out.

Christie, who had been mostly silent in the corner, suddenly swung a bottle at them.

"Grandma, that was plastic surgery, not a sex change, not a sex change!"

Li Xiao quickly stood in the middle.

"Ahem, gentlemen, let's get down to business, really business!"

Despite Li Xiao's words, some people still noticed.

This person's eyes were looking at Christie more frequently than before.

You're a beautiful woman, but I don't care.

But if you're a transgender beauty, then I'll take a second look.

Keke, get back to business.

"If you've never been to Earth, what about your planet up there?"

"Parents, grandparents?"

Reeves sighed from the corner:
"Strictly speaking, we are not even Earth people, but Federation people."

"Because our parents, and even those two or three generations back, had never been to Earth."

"Since the start of the interstellar migration program, Earth has no longer been the only planet with life."

"That's a bit of a tangent. Let's talk about the Earth outside."

"This is only the second time in our lives that we have seen the Earth."

"A week ago, we thought we would be the lucky one to escape unscathed."

"But now it seems we were too happy."

“If you two hadn’t still had your senses and this person hadn’t been able to see it, I would have suspected that you two had been infected with that legendary plague.”

The engineer, Reeves, turned to look at the starry sky outside and then took a big gulp of his drink.

"In our minds, this is the birthplace of humankind."

"It's also a place you absolutely must never go."

"Actually, there are many rumors about Earth in pirate strongholds and mercenary bars."

"Some say that the Earth has been controlled by intelligent programs, that is, dark artificial intelligence."

"Some people say that the digital revolution has been completed on Earth."

"There is also a legend that there are still humans on Earth, and these humans are immortal, but have lost their ability to reproduce."

"Anyway, among our various professions, we have the most legends about Earth, all sorts of them."

Reeves said, glancing at Ripley, who was silent in the corner.

"Of course. I'm starting to believe the first one more now."

"Because Ripley said that in the Federation military's warships, the real control and experimentation is actually done by the warship's intelligent program, Dad."

"And the final destination is still Earth, which seems to confirm that the first one is the correct answer."

Li Xiao nodded thoughtfully, then looked at the others in the control room.

"Actually, it's not like none of us have never been to Earth."

"For example, Ripley!"

Upon hearing Li Xiao's words, everyone turned to look at the female lead.

"The Nostromo was the first mining and collection spacecraft capable of interstellar travel."

"Ripley, as a member of the military at the time, was selected and trained on Earth before landing on this first-generation spaceship."

“Even as a clone, you should still have these memories, right, Ripley?”

"Just like what Revis and the others were worried about."

"I think your memories of Earth should be clearer than your hazy memories from the spaceship." (End of Chapter)