Chapter 232 – Losing Members

Everyone in the meeting room couldn’t believe what they just heard. One of the captains said, “That’s not possible. The pods can only be activated from the inside. Unless… Fearless overwrote his authority and activated and did something.”

“Captain Reginald was the one who activated his hibernation pod. I did not overwrite his access,” responded Fearless.

Everyone exchanged puzzled glances. Su Jin piped up, “Captain Reginald’s pod wasn’t completely empty. We discovered some white powder and it looks like purified calcium.”

“Su, you’re the best inspector on the ship, but I didn’t know you were able to tell exactly what a powder was by just looking at it,” said one of the ladies with a laugh.

Su Jin smiled back. “That’s just my guess. You could send it for testing.”

“Fearless, scan Captain Reginald’s pod now and confirm what that white powder consists of,” said Jefferson.

A few seconds later, Fearless responded, “I’m sorry, but I did not find any powder inside Captain Reginald’s hibernation pod.”

“What?” Su Jin frowned slightly. He looked at Wu Chen and their hearts both sank a little.

“Mr. Su, can you explain what’s going on?” asked the lady from earlier on. The other Level 1 access crew members were looking at him too.

Su Jin rubbed his head and said apologetically, “I’m so sorry, but I think we’re all suffering from some after effects of hibernation. All of us have been badly affected and parts of our memories are still missing. Maybe I got it mixed up with some other memory…”

Jefferson nodded slightly and confirmed this to be true. “He’s right. All of them have been affected by the after effects of hibernation.”

Since Jefferson corroborated this explanation, nobody raised any further questions. But Su Jin was getting even more uneasy now.

That white powder wouldn’t disappear by itself, but there was nobody else who would have come into contact with that pod besides himself and the group of people with him. Team Volcano Mountain had headed toward where Arkas was, while the other crew members were resting in the cafeteria.

“The only possibility was that my senses were right just now. There was something hiding in the shadows and it cleaned up the powder after we left,” thought Su Jin.

If that was really the case, it meant that not only had the alien begun its attacks, but that these aliens were fairly intelligent as well.

Jefferson furrowed his brow as he asked the biologists he had called for, “I need to ask all of you about some things, I hope you can answer me honestly.”

“Captain Jefferson, you can ask anything you want, we will answer you honestly,” said the oldest among them in a sincere manner. He looked like he was in his 80s and was much older than Arkas.

Jefferson nodded. He scanned the four biologists in front of him, then said in a deep voice, “I want to know – when we returned from the Hiding Place of God, did any of you bring those monsters back onto Fearless?”

“What? Someone brought those things back here?”

“Who would be crazy enough to do that?! You just need one of those creatures to kill us all! Who did that?!”

“Damn it! I thought we gave strict instructions to everyone not to do such a thing!” The Level 1 access crew members became extremely uneasy. They had seen how powerful those creatures were with their own eyes. They could still remember everything vividly.

Jefferson quickly calmed them down, “This is just a suspicion. It has not been confirmed.”

Everyone quieted down after hearing what Jefferson said, but they continued to stare worriedly at the biologists in the room.

“I, Abbas, will swear on my own reputation that none of the four of us ever did such a thing,” said the oldest biologist very solemnly.

Everyone trusted Abbas greatly, since he was a distinguished and respectable man. They started wondering if they had overreacted after all.

Meanwhile, Su Jin observed the other three biologists. All of them looked angry, but one of the female biologists had subconsciously taken a few steps backward.

“Mr. Abbas, we trust you, of course, because you have proved to be a man of integrity all these years. But… I cannot be as sure about the rest,” said Jefferson in a slow voice.

The eyes of the other three bulged in anger at these words. One of the male biologists said furiously, “Captain Jefferson, this is slander! You are questioning our integrity!”

“I am just being responsible for the safety of the spaceship,” replied Jefferson with an icy look on his face. “Fearless, scan all their luggage and personal items. I want the most detailed scan to be done.”

All their items were already gathered in the room. A red beam of light rose from the floor and covered all the items.

A few seconds later, Fearless reported back, “Scanning completed. I did not find any prohibited items.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at this result, including the four biologists. They were now cleared of any suspicion.

“I’m sorry for doing this, but I hope you can understand. I am responsible for the safety of everyone onboard the ship,” explained Jefferson in a serious voice.

The four of them nodded to show that they understood, then they left with their belongings. Jefferson told Su Jin and the rest to take a break as well.

They had no choice but to listen to Jefferson’s commands and left the room. The meeting inside continued, because Jefferson felt that Reginald’s disappearance was a problem, so they had to find out exactly what went wrong.

Meanwhile, Su Jin and the rest were allocated different rooms to rest, but they weren’t too far from one another. Su Jin and Wu Chen’s rooms were even just next to one another.

The rooms were really just a small space measuring about ten square meters with a bed and bath. This was a space that was sufficient for one to rest and relax, but Su Jin was very amused by it. Fearless was merely a spaceship, yet the room he was allocated was actually still larger than the basement apartment he had before becoming an owner.

Wu Chen quickly made his way over to Su Jin’s room. He plonked himself down on Su Jin’s bed and said, “Jin, if the biologists weren’t the ones who brought the aliens on board, then… how did those things get here?”

Su Jin washed his face and said, “No, I actually think that Captain Jefferson’s suspicions were valid. When their things were being scanned, one of the female biologists had a strange look on her face, as though she were worried about something. That’s not the reaction that someone innocent would have.”

“Her reaction was strange? Maybe she’s just a more timid person, or she was worried that one of her companions had really done such a thing. Besides, the scan didn’t find any aliens among their things,” said Wu Chen with a shrug.

Su Jin said, “The scan wouldn’t find anything. If the disappearance of Captain Reginald does have something to do with those aliens, it means that the aliens are already on the move. Why would it stay with the biologists?”

Wu Chen froze for a moment, then said, “You’re right! Then… what do we do now?”

“We wait.”

“We wait?!”

“Yup. We can’t prevent the aliens from appearing, so we just need to wait. But while waiting, we need to get ourselves ready. Like I said earlier, we need to befriend the crew and get ourselves some weapons. That’s what we should be working on now.” Su Jin knew that they couldn’t stop the aliens from appearing, so the only thing they could do would be to prepare for battle and ensure their survival.

After thinking about it for a while, he said, “Tell you what. Both of us will head to the fighting area to get weapons, then Mai and Situ will find a way to befriend some of the crew, preferably those who can fight.”

Wu Chen nodded, then looked back at Su Jin with a saddened expression. “But which rooms are the two of them in? This place is like a maze – I can’t find my way around at all.”

“Gosh, you’re such an old man.” Su Jin shook his head, then called out, “Fearless, help me to contact Kano Mai and Situ Jin.”

“Connecting you to them… connected!” The Fearless worked extremely quickly, making Wu Chen feel like he had been left behind by the times.

Kano Mai and Situ Jin appeared as a projection on the wall. Su Jin told them what he and Wu Chen had discussed. After the other two agreed to the plan, they went on their way.

Su Jin and Wu Chen left their rooms and followed the guiding arrows to their destination.

Wu Chen suddenly piped up, “Jin, do you think those biologists might have hidden the aliens in some unique way?”

“For example?”

“You laughed at me earlier at the way I tested the white powder in the pod, because it looked like I was inspecting drugs. That made me think about some ways in which drug peddlers hide drugs,” said Wu Chen.

There was a glint in Su Jin’s eyes as he said, “Are you referring to how some of them hide drugs in their bodies? You could be right. The scan only scanned their personal items, but nobody suspected that there could be anything wrong with their bodies. If a biologist was the one who brought aliens on board, this is a plausible method.”

Su Jin called out, “Fearless, contact Captain Jefferson for me.”

“Connecting you… connected!”

Jefferson appeared as a projection on the wall. “Su, what’s the matter?”

“Captain, please scan the biologists immediately. I am referring to scanning their bodies, and not their personal items,” said Su Jin directly.

Jefferson was a clever man and it didn’t take him long to realize what Su Jin was trying to say. “You suspect they’ve hidden the aliens in their own bodies.”

“That’s a possibility, isn’t it?”

“Okay. Thanks for telling me.” Jefferson disconnected the call immediately. He was clearly going to check those biologists right away.

Meanwhile, Su Jin and Wu Chen felt that the situation might change drastically anytime now, so they moved rapidly toward their destination. But just when they were about to enter the fighting area, Su Jin suddenly stopped in his tracks. The feeling of his hair standing on end crept over him again.

It was the same feeling he had when they were in Reginald’s hibernation pod.

“Wu Chen, be careful, I feel… I feel like something dangerous is very near us,” warned Su Jin.

Wu Chen nodded slightly and was about to say something when he felt a sharp pain in his throat. Something sharp had pierced right through it.

“Acckkkk!” Wu Chen tried to raise his hand to pull that thing out from his throat, but his body no longer had the strength to do so.