Chapter 696: To Remember

This was a giant, entirely silver spaceship shaped like a nautilus—it lay half-buried in the ground, its exposed section stretching over four hundred meters long, a true behemoth. The ship was largely intact, with a massive entrance at its front. Countless Shapeless were writhing in and out of the entryway, slowly digging away the earth and stone that concealed the vessel.

As viewers around the world watched the live broadcast, they were all stunned by the sight of the unusually intact and clearly invasive spaceship, accompanied by a swarm of “alien creatures.”

Off-camera, Su Zhou, having changed into a new spacesuit, moved forward, gradually approaching the alien spaceship—the source of the Spiritual Power Beacon.

By now, from the conversations between Bai Jingtiao and the others, he had pieced things together. The Slime Monster he fought earlier was likely the leader of some heinous Mysterious Organization. This leader could summon alien creatures and had activated the spaceship’s distress beacon. Su Zhou was here for the sole purpose of shutting it down.

And the numerous souls being tended to by the Wisdom Tree in his Soul Space must be the innocent people he had just saved.

Su Zhou was smart. He knew perfectly well that having deleted some information about his enemy meant at least two things: either the enemy possessed some kind of psychic ability, or he himself simply didn’t want to remember them.

Of course, knowing his own personality, it was highly likely that the enemy had *wanted* to be remembered, which was precisely why he had deleted the memory.

‘So, it wants to be remembered…’

As he thought this, he continued toward the silver, nautilus-shaped alien spaceship, shaking his head inwardly. ‘If I let an Evil One’s infamy last for millennia, I’d just be granting their wish.’

“Su Zhou, when you’re ready, probe the information in the Beacon.”

Just then, Yu Saint’s voice came through his spacesuit. “This isn’t dangerous. At least, not for someone at your Commander Level.”

“I’m never afraid of this kind of danger.”

Snapping back to the present, Su Zhou again fixed his gaze on the massive pillar of light. It was perfectly clear to his eyes but completely invisible to anyone without powerful Spiritual Vision.

The brilliant silver pillar of Spiritual Power was like a sharp sword piercing into the endless distance, reaching for the very edge of the cosmos. If it didn’t risk exposing Earth’s location, Su Zhou would have gladly admired it for a while longer.

Without hesitation, he reached out and plunged his hand into the Beacon.

Light and shadows flickered as countless images flashed before his eyes like dancing snowflakes and butterflies.

Then, an endless torrent of information, like a summer squall or a roaring tsunami, surged into Su Zhou’s mind.

But Su Zhou’s Soul Space, as vast and profound as the heavens and the earth, effortlessly absorbed the information onslaught—an impact that would have left an ordinary Transcendent brain-dead and their soul shattered—and began to analyze it piece by piece.

He heard it.

The final voice of an ancient alien visitor from over a hundred thousand years ago, left behind in the Solar System. It was a voice of the mind, independent of any language. All that remained was the purest Spirit Sound, communicating its essence directly.

That Spirit Sound was not a cry for help, not a last will, and not a threat.

It was a warning.

“DO NOT APPROACH! DO NOT APPROACH! DO NOT APPROACH!”

“This is the Xiu Ge Military Industrial Complex Deep Space Exploration Ship, *Rainbow Light*… Warning to all who approach: an Omega Level Super Spiritual Civilization is in seclusion in a planetary system in this direction!”

“This is a restricted zone, their Holy Land, shrouded in unimaginably powerful Spiritual Energy radiation! Do not approach! Your Teleportation Engine will fail, and all Spiritual Energy-related Guiding Devices will malfunction!”

“Do not approach, do not approach, do not approach! As long as you stay away from their Holy Land, you will be in no danger… This is the Xiu Ge Military Industrial Complex Exploration Ship, *Rainbow Light*… This… is the final warning.”

The echo of the Soul seemed to travel across time and space, reaching Su Zhou’s ears directly.

To the outside world, to the other astronauts, only an instant had passed.

After reaching into the invisible Spiritual Power Beacon, Su Zhou immediately withdrew his hand, took a small step back, and his brow furrowed deeply.

But in Su Zhou’s perception, he had just received countless images and pieces of information, endless video clips and desperate voice communications… In that brief instant, he understood the full story behind the ship’s crash.

It was a Deep Space Exploration Ship from some interstellar-level super military-industrial complex. By some misfortune—or perhaps fortune—they had found Earth in the third spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. However, the immensely powerful Spiritual Energy radiation generated by the numerous Immortal Gods of that time interfered with their guidance systems and engines, causing them to crash.

The Shapeless were a type of service robot and combat unit they had designed.

Before the entire crew perished, the Immortal Gods had collected the ships. Naturally, They didn’t care if the people aboard lived or died and made no effort to offer aid. They simply tossed all the vessels into one location, like throwing away garbage.

Before crashing, the ship had attempted to transmit its warning signal, but failed. Then came the end of the age of Spiritual Qi.

Then, over a hundred thousand years later, on one strange day, an Earth Person who heard “a voice from the Moon” summoned the immortal, autonomous combat machines left behind by the ship.

And then…

That was it.

“How was it, Su Zhou?”

Yu Saint seemed to sense that Su Zhou had successfully received the information from the Spiritual Power Beacon. “Did you get it?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

Su Zhou nodded. He closed his eyes, listening once more to the warning that had been delayed by over a hundred thousand years, then shook his head with a smile. “Well, it’s not as serious as we thought, but we can’t just leave this transmission source active.”

“Just use a nuke to shut it down.”

Yu Saint’s reply was blunt and decisive. “Don’t rashly enter an alien spaceship that could still be functional. Safety first, Su Zhou.”

“I understand.”

Su Zhou replied, not finding the decision strange in the least. Just as the aliens had to be responsible for their civilization, Earth People had to be responsible for theirs. Launching a nuclear missile was the simplest and safest method—the very contingency plan the United International had prepared from the start.

“Let’s go. Notify the command module to prepare for action.”

He turned, got back into the Moon Surface Vehicle, and signaled for Bai Jingtiao to drive away. Then, he notified Meng Jin to prepare for the nuclear launch.

「Inside the command module, in near-lunar orbit.」

Having long been ready, Meng Jin nodded after receiving the “go-ahead.” He then entered the secret key and activated the launch sequence.

There were no flashy special effects. Beneath the massive command module, a set of metal hatches slowly opened to reveal a silver missile launch assembly.

Layers of protective casing peeled away, revealing a white, unmarked warhead in the vacuum. It turned slightly, locking onto its distant target.

Then, a brilliant cyan flame erupted. Trailing a fiery tail like a meteor, the missile streaked toward the Beacon’s location.

A cyan star fell toward the Moon Surface.

A blinding light flared, as if igniting a new day in this corner of the cosmos.

The Spiritual Power Beacon, which had towered between heaven and earth, wavered for a moment before disintegrating cleanly in the flash. Innumerable motes of Spiritual Power shattered, scattering as white specks of light for hundreds of miles in every direction.

It was as if an impossible snow had begun to fall in this desolate, otherworldly place.

As for the live broadcast, Gu Yaoluo’s explanation was that a meteor just happened to crash at that exact spot. What a coincidence, huh?

Whether the audience believed it or not was their problem. Anyway, they all believed it.

“Sigh. Too bad I wasn’t the one who launched it.”

Although he called it a pity, Su Zhou closed his eyes, feeling the radiation and light from the blast surge toward him from behind.

With his back to the nuclear explosion behind him, he smiled faintly.

At that moment, for some reason, Su Zhou found himself recalling the celebrated Heroes of the Divine Wood World.

He recalled the enemy he had defeated earlier—the one who had wanted to be remembered, but whose name was now forgotten.

He also recalled the ‘Do Not Approach’ warning that still echoed in his mind.

To pass on a tale… a name, a voice.

To pass on a tale is to remember.

‘Even at the end of their lives, they still warned their home civilization and other beings not to approach.’

Sitting in the passenger seat and gazing out at the lunar landscape, Su Zhou murmured to himself, “For these aliens, this was something that they believed should never be forgotten.”

“Regardless of our positions, a spirit like that is something worth remembering.”

The brief, tense moon landing mission was over. Su Zhou and the others returned to the Moon Base in Nuhai on the Moon’s Far Side, where they would await the arrival of other landing teams in a few days.

He had no idea, however, what a massive public furor the revelation of the alien spaceship had caused among the people of Earth.