Chapter 15: Alien Planet! Alien Beings? Section 1

Since waking up, Hei Fa felt somewhat lost, constantly believing he was in a dream. This strange world, filled with countless new things, seemed tailor-made for him, leaving him unable to find his direction.
To be honest, he disliked this feeling. Although he could fully utilize his abilities here and use force to take whatever he wanted, he lacked one crucial thing: a goal.
He had no goals to pursue. Aside from deciding to set a spatial coordinate when he obtained Li Feng, he couldn’t think of anything else he needed to do.
But now, he knew what he had to do.
Wanderers, Gold-Eating Insects, and the great Stio civilization—these new and peculiar races gave Hei Fa a strange sense of dominance. Though each of these races had their own traditions and histories, in front of Hei Fa, they always needed help and were willing to offer far more than its worth in return, giving him their most precious possessions.
Everyone has weaknesses, and other races are no exception. So Hei Fa suddenly thought: What a grand goal it would be to develop a planet dedicated to helping these aliens in exchange for their value! These alien races would give everything to obtain what didn’t originally belong to them. And in Hei Fa’s eyes, their value was immense. He was sure he could even rely on the benefits they provided to build an entire empire!!
I want it, I act, I get it!
That was Hei Fa’s personality—simple as that!!
The shuttle moved at great speed, but the pirates in the cabin didn’t have as many thoughts as Hei Fa. They were extremely excited, their minds filled with the wild entertainment ahead. Excited howls could be heard from time to time in the cabin, and joy was evident on everyone’s face.
Piracy was actually a very simple profession. They gave away their youth, sweat, and even their lives, seeking nothing more than basic sustenance. Generally, their standard of living in the pirate alliance wasn’t high, and most pirates were homeless or wanted criminals. Without a future, they became even more reckless. Besides dealing with heavy labor and battles, being exploited by their captains was also common.

A captain as sensible as Blackhair is probably the only one in the Pirate Alliance. How could they not be excited when they can enjoy everything so happily right away?
Unfortunately, fate loves to play tricks. Just as everyone was expecting something, an unexpected sound suddenly came from the cabin.
“Captain!! There’s a distress signal!!” shouted the pirate on duty. In front of him, a small screen was flashing red light continuously.
What? The cabin fell silent instantly, and everyone’s gaze focused on that pirate. Bloodpupil stood up and walked over to him, giving the small screen a cold glance before turning to Blackhair.
“Boss, there’s a planet not marked on the star chart, about 50,000 kilometers away from here. That’s where the distress signal is coming from.”
“Hmm,” Blackhair nodded. “Can we determine the exact location of the signal?”
“Yes, boss. The signal is strong enough that we can locate it on that planet. What do you mean?”
“Let’s go take a look. Since we’ve received it, we should do something about it,” Blackhair replied.
At his command, the entire fleet immediately turned in space and headed toward that mysterious planet.
50,000 kilometers—neither long nor short. But at the terrifying speed of their shuttles, it was just an instant. Soon, a small planet appeared before everyone’s eyes.
It was a dark-colored planet. Even with the naked eye from space, one could see a layer of shiny substance on its surface—unknown in nature. However, instruments showed that the planet had sufficient oxygen to support human life. The closer they got, the stronger the distress signal became. A small bright spot appeared clearly on the screen, continuously indicating the direction of the signal.
Descending into the atmosphere, Blackhair’s shuttle fleet quickly reached low orbit around the planet. Here, it was evident that the planet’s environment was extremely harsh—filled with dark clouds, murky air, and even a yellow sky. The ground was covered with severely corroded rocks, their surfaces pockmarked with holes of various sizes, resembling a pitted face. What was most strange was that the vegetation on this planet was severely deformed. There were no large plants or fresh grasses—only a layer of dark, moss-like plants covering the rocks.

It’s likely those dark, shiny substances seen in the universe are them, everyone thought. Amidst the roaring sounds, the fleet of shuttles rushed across the sky like dark clouds, creating swirling vortices. The ground rushed backward below, and soon they were above the source of the signal. “Is that…?” All the pirates exclaimed in shock. What appeared before them was a huge crater, low-lying and vast in area; from afar, it resembled a giant pond. To their surprise, what was swirling in the “pond” wasn’t lava or water, but a dark green, viscous liquid. Even from high above, they could clearly see some white objects moving within the liquid. Those were… bones!! Bones of creatures!!! “It seems we arrived too late. Boss, those bones might belong to the people who sent out the signal,” Blood-Pupil said with a gloomy expression, lowering his head. With his experience, he could tell that although these bones were somewhat deformed, they were undoubtedly human. Perhaps they belonged to some expedition team that had come here; in such a harsh environment, they might have lost contact with the outside world and ended up like this. “Send one shuttle down to investigate. The rest should stay in the air on guard. Since the signal is still there, we must show humanity,” Black-Hair said calmly, looking at the disgusting scene below, his mood also darkened. The exploration of the universe and human progress are inseparable from these explorers. Although Black-Hair wasn’t a good person, he still held respect for these brave individuals. Yet even though the situation was clear, his innate caution still took effect, so he sent only one shuttle down to investigate, so as to be able to respond quickly in case of any accidents. Upon receiving his orders, one shuttle immediately separated from the fleet and descended toward the ground. Soon, the search team came into sight. Armed with simple self-defense weapons, these pirates dispersed skillfully, each equipped with sealed armor to ensure they could survive in any harsh environment.

The message came through. Just as Blood Pupil had predicted, the search team found the signal source, but they saw no signs of any living beings. Perhaps due to the environment, their portable instruments couldn’t conduct wide-area scans, so they had to search manually. The team leader mentioned in the message that there was a special gas near the surface of this planet—colorless and odorless, but highly corrosive, causing severe damage to equipment. He hoped to finish the mission as soon as possible.
“Send them back,” Blood Pupil said, shaking his head. Even if there were something special about the planet’s surface, he saw no point in continuing the search. It was obvious that the signal came from the skeletons in the pond; it was just unclear why they had died there before rescue could arrive.
At that moment, the black-haired man beside him suddenly frowned and raised his right hand.
“Wait! Don’t head back!!”
“What? Boss? What did you find?” Blood Pupil turned to look at him in surprise, his eyes filled with confusion.
“Did you notice that rock, Blood Pupil? There’s something wrong with that rock. I remember when the search team first went down, it wasn’t in that position!!” The black-haired man pointed, a fierce glint appearing in his eyes.
“Order the search team to surround that rock and use their biological scanners up close. I want to know what that rock really is!”
“Understood!” Blood Pupil replied immediately.
But before they could pass on the order, something astonishing happened to the search team!!
As if possessed by some force, almost simultaneously, those strong pirates collapsed to the ground. Their bodies convulsed violently, and they could no longer speak. Loud breathing and pained groans came through the channel. Beneath their transparent masks, everyone’s faces were contorted in agony.
At the same time, the hundreds of rocks around them seemed to come to life, moving together as they closed in on the search team, forming a huge encirclement.
It happened so suddenly that before anyone could react, the search team had become prey. The giant rocks rushed at them frantically, and clear sounds of biting and chewing, along with shrill screams, filled the channel.

Hell, it was definitely a hellish scene, right under everyone’s eyes. All members of the search team were torn to pieces alive; blood and pale bones were exposed in the air, a truly horrifying sight. The terror of those rock-like predators sent chills down every pirate’s spine. They realized now that those rocks weren’t rocks at all!! They were people!! Humans hiding inside the rocks!! These creatures were naked, with skin as black as coal, and their bodies so emaciated they resembled skeletons. Yet their strength was astonishing. Their thin arms easily tore through the team members’ protective armor, revealing the flesh inside, which they stuffed into their mouths without hesitation, chewing frantically. Bright red blood streamed down their cheeks, yet these creatures still grinned wildly!! Gagging sounds immediately filled the cabin…