165: Super Illya

The Wanderer quickly entered the atmosphere of the planet F-81-03A and began to hover steadily above the stratosphere.

The ship's main AI, Navigator, projected the first batch of detailed atmospheric and surface environmental analysis reports onto the holographic command console.

Looking at the lines of jumping data, a rare expression, somewhere between confusion and horror, appeared in Dr. Ilya von Klein's crimson eyes.

"This is too unscientific."

She muttered to herself, her fingers swiping through the void to pull up Earth's atmospheric model and overlay it with the data from the planet before her for comparison.

"78.1% nitrogen, 20.9% oxygen, 0.9% argon... even the proportions of trace elements are shockingly similar. The gravitational acceleration is 9.8 m/s², the average temperature is 15 degrees Celsius, and even the seasonal changes caused by the axial tilt are identical."

If it weren't for the oppressive, grey-blue gas giant F-81-03 occupying half the sky outside the porthole, constantly reminding her that this was an alien realm 81 light-years away, Ilya might have even thought that she had returned to Earth due to a navigation malfunction.

But that wasn't the weirdest part.

As the results of the remote spectral analysis of surface vegetation and microbial samples arrived, a conclusion that was even more terrifying upon closer inspection emerged.

"A DNA double helix structure, identical base pairing... even the protein folding method is the same?" Ilya's grip on her penguin plush toy tightened unconsciously. "This cannot be a coincidence. While convergent evolution can explain morphological similarities, like how fish and dolphins both have streamlined bodies, it cannot explain a complete replication at the molecular level."

"Unless..." Her expression worsened slightly. "Life on both of these planets originated from the same strand of RNA."

Panspermia? Or perhaps a seeding experiment by some ancient super-civilization?

This thought made Ilya even more curious about the so-called "deity" that had destroyed the orbital space station.

This planet was like Earth's twin sister lost in deep space, yet it had embarked on a completely different path of evolution, or rather, degeneration.

As the ship lowered its altitude further, passing through the clouds, the true face of the civilization on this planet was revealed more clearly to Ilya.

If modern Earth was a jungle of technology and steel, then this place was the fantasy world of swords and magic that humans had always imagined.

The high-definition images transmitted back by the drones kept Ilya mesmerized.

She saw a magnificent white castle built on cliffs, a structure that completely defied mechanical principles, yet stood firm, supported by some kind of extremely high-strength metal structure.

On the vast plains, creatures that were half-human and half-horse were running in herds. They had human torsos and intelligent faces on their upper bodies, but strong horse bodies on their lower halves, wielding primitive yet sharp metal spears.

In the deep blue ocean, beautiful creatures with human heads and fish bodies darted through coral reefs, using sound waves to control schools of fish and build villages on the seabed.

"What is that? The aerodynamic model shows that thing shouldn't be able to fly at all!" Ilya exclaimed, pointing at a creature soaring in the clouds on the screen.

It was a behemoth over twenty meters long, resembling the Western dragons from Earth's legends.

It had hard scales covering its entire body, and its massive membranous wings spanned fully thirty meters. According to Earth's biological common sense, a creature of this size could never fly in such thin air using only muscular strength.

"Scans show a weak psionic reaction within its body, suggesting it uses psionic energy to generate lift. Furthermore, the creature's stomach contains a biological reactor, allowing it to spew high-temperature fluid from its throat, while its skeletal structure contains a large amount of lightweight, high-strength carbon fiber." Navigator analyzed calmly. "This is a highly evolved biological weapon."

Although Ilya didn't know what psionic energy was, she assumed it was similar in nature to magic, and she found it a bit difficult to accept such an idealistic explanation.

At the edge of the forest, monsters with lion bodies and eagle heads were hunting. They were larger than armored vehicles on Earth, and their sharp claws could easily tear through rock.

What shocked Ilya the most was a monster discovered deep within a vast swamp shrouded in toxic fog.

It was a terrifying creature with three heads and a lizard-like body, and it was extremely massive.

When it stood upright, its height exceeded sixty meters, making it even more majestic than a 20-story building.

Its three heads spewed acid, fire, and toxic gas respectively, and no creature dared to approach it.

"It looks like the Hydra from legends... even though it only has three heads." The excitement in Ilya's eyes grew stronger. "This is practically a living museum of mythology! So many things are species that were passed down in stories on Earth but never actually existed!"

"I want to go down there! Now! Immediately!"

Ilya jumped up from her chair and rushed toward the airlock. "I want to collect samples myself! I want to dissect that dragon! I want to go see that Hydra's treasure hoard!"

"Warning, request denied."

Navigator's soft but non-negotiable voice sounded, and at the same time, the door to the airlock was locked.

"According to Article 1 of the 'Highest Safety Protocol,' as the Human Federation's Chief Scientist and this ship's only carbon-based lifeform commander, you are strictly prohibited from conducting a physical landing in an alien environment with an unconfirmed safety rating. This planet contains a large number of highly aggressive giant creatures and unknown pathogens. Your life safety is above all exploration missions."

"You dare stop me? Do you believe I'll dismantle your mainframe?" Ilya stomped her feet in anger, her silver hair practically standing on end.

"You may try, but before you dismantle me, I will force-start the ship's deep hibernation system to help you calm down." Navigator replied neither humbly nor arrogantly. "This is the underlying logic written into the factory settings by Director Raven, and I cannot disobey it."

"Lei Wen! It's that bastard again!" Ilya returned to her seat, pouting, and grabbed the penguin plush toy, hammering it twice fiercely.

However, as a genius scientist, she quickly calmed down.

She knew that Navigator was right. With her small frame, which barely passed physical education tests, she probably wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between that dragon's teeth if she went down there.

"But I'm not reconciled! So many fun things..." Ilya bit her fingernails, her brain spinning at high speed.

"Captain, if you only wish to obtain an immersive experience and conduct field research, I have an alternative solution." Navigator seemed to have sensed the change in Ilya's mood and offered a suggestion at the right time.

"What solution?"

"We can manufacture a bionic avatar robot." Navigator explained. "The ship's smart factory possesses manufacturing technology at the Faleim Civilization research level. We can create a bionic robot that looks exactly like you but has performance far exceeding carbon-based limits."

"You can perform quantum synchronization with this body through the ship's full-sensory neural connection pod. You will be able to see what it sees, hear what it hears, and even touch and smell will be perfectly replicated, just as if you went down yourself. But if you encounter danger, you can disconnect at any time, and your original body will remain completely unharmed."

Ilya's eyes lit up instantly.

"Great idea! Hurry! Build it now!" She clapped her hands in excitement. "I want the strongest one! Install all the black technology you can fit on it!"

"Understood. The construction blueprint has been generated. Estimated time: 68 minutes."

...

Over an hour later.

Inside the Wanderer's biological manufacturing workshop, as a cloud of white condensation steam dissipated, a "doll," perhaps the most expensive in the entire universe at this moment, slowly walked out of the cultivation tank.

She had long silver hair exactly like Ilya's, features as exquisite as a porcelain doll, a petite figure, and even the tiny fuzz on her skin was perfectly replicated.

She was barefoot, stepping on the cold metal floor, completely naked. Her fair skin glowed with an ivory luster under the lights, and her body's curves, though youthful, were full of beauty.

Ilya stood in front of the observation window, watching the naked girl who looked exactly like her standing there, and for some reason, her old face turned red.

"Ahem... although it's me, it's still a bit weird looking at it like this." She muttered softly. "Navigator, hurry up and get her some clothes!"

"Understood."

A mechanical arm extended, and a special tight-fitting combat suit woven from nanofibers quickly covered the bionic human's body.

"Now, I will introduce the performance parameters of this body, Captain." Navigator continued.

"This bionic robot's power core is a miniature dark matter reactor built into its chest cavity, with an output power equivalent to a small frigate, theoretically possessing infinite endurance."

"The skeleton is cast from Faleim standard alloy, with a strength tens of thousands of times that of diamond; a layer of fluid nano-armor is covered beneath the skin, allowing it to self-repair instantly even if hit by heavy artillery; in addition, a personal shield generator is implanted in the body, which can make it immune to most kinetic and energy attacks when activated."

"Is this the so-called 'Man of Steel'?" Ilya's eyes lit up.

"Yes, and to meet your operational needs on this planet, it also has flight capabilities."

Navigator continued: "A miniature anti-gravity generator array is implanted in its spinal nodes and limbs, allowing it to hover freely in any gravitational environment and fly at supersonic speeds within the atmosphere without any external thrusters."

"What about attack methods? I don't want to go down there and be chased by monsters."

"Of course, we have referenced Earth's ancient fantasy culture and configured some classic weapon systems for you."

Navigator controlled the bionic human to lift its head, and a red, eerie light flashed deep within those crimson eyes.

"A miniature high-energy laser generator is implanted behind the eyeballs. By focusing through special energy-gathering crystal eyeballs, it can fire two high-energy heat rays with temperatures reaching tens of thousands of degrees Celsius, which is the so-called 'Heat Vision'."

"This is enough to burn through that giant dragon's head in an instant."

"And here."

Navigator displayed the structural diagram of the bionic human's lungs. They were not respiratory organs, but a complex compressor.

"The lungs have been modified into a miniature gas compressor and refrigerator. It can inhale outside air, compress and cool it instantly to near absolute zero, and then spray it out at high pressure through the reinforced respiratory tract. This 'Freeze Breath' is enough to freeze a large city into an ice sculpture city within minutes."

"Finally, strength."

The bionic human extended her slender arm and gently clenched her fist.

"Driven by a hybrid of hydraulic and level-ten flexible alloy artificial muscle fibers, the maximum output can reach 50,000 tons, which means you can lift that Hydra in the swamp with one hand."

Ilya listened, dumbfounded, and then burst into ecstatic laughter.

"Hahahaha! Flight, super strength, a body of steel, heat vision, freeze breath... isn't this just Superman!"

She couldn't wait and ran toward the neural connection pod nearby.

"Hurry! I want to log in! I can't wait!"

As the hatch closed, the neural connection was established.

Inside the workshop, the silver-haired bionic human, who had been keeping her eyes closed, suddenly opened them.

In those crimson pupils, the original dullness was replaced by a lively gleam.

She raised her hand, looked at her clenched fist, and felt the surging, terrifying power within her body that seemed ready to overflow.

"This feeling..."

Ilya revealed a happy smile, like a child discovering a new toy, and her body slowly floated up, her toes leaving the ground.

"It's simply amazing."

Boom!

The airlock opened, and a streak of red and white light instantly shot out of the Wanderer, leaving a long trail in the atmosphere like a retrograde meteor, falling toward the fantasy world of swords and magic below with an unrivaled momentum.

PS: For ease of reading, the bionic body of Dr. Ilya will be referred to directly as Ilya, and the original body will be referred to as Dr. Ilya. I hope everyone does not get them confused.