256: Chapter 256 The Crashed Ship, Where are the Children?

A hundred miles away.

Jiang Chen appeared on a larger island.

However, the structure of this island was not mountainous but hollow. The center was completely empty, and a large number of reptiles were crawling rapidly across the ground.

Jiang Chen's consciousness particles quickly spread out, instantly covering a radius of ten thousand miles.

"A sensing range from a ten-mile radius to a ten-thousand-mile radius—that's a thousand-fold difference."

Jiang Chen marveled in his heart.

Originally, within a ten-mile radius, he could already see many obstructed objects without using his eyes.

On Earth, this would definitely be a powerful tool, providing a form of short-range precognition in space.

However!

In the battle against the Starship, when the Starship pulled back to a space distance of several hundred miles, this advantage of his immediately became useless.

A distance of several hundred miles was still too far; he couldn't sense it.

But now.

Jiang Chen had expanded his range to ten thousand miles.

What did that imply?

One must realize.

The distance from Earth's North Pole to the South Pole is only a little over ten thousand kilometers.

In other words.

As long as Jiang Chen stood near the equator, he could remotely sense everything within ten thousand miles to the north and ten thousand miles to the south.

He could even sense if someone was secretly peeing in a small grove.

Almost everything happening on Earth was reflected in Jiang Chen's mind.

It could be said.

Within the scope of Earth, Jiang Chen was an omniscient and omnipotent god.

Whether it was someone's girlfriend cheating or a young woman unable to bear her loneliness, his consciousness particles could capture these fragments of information and share them with Jiang Chen's brain.

"Within the nearby islands, most are Level 2 Lifeforms, but a thousand miles away, there are traces of Level 3 Lifeform activity."

"Further north, there's a Level 4 Lifeform; it seems to be a Torch Dragon."

"As for Level 5 Lifeforms, besides myself, I don't seem to see any."

Jiang Chen's consciousness particles sensed everywhere within a ten-thousand-mile radius.

He discovered that 99% of the lifeforms were Level 4 or below; he didn't see any at Level 5.

"This planet is quite large, much bigger than Earth. Maybe if I go further, I'll see some."

Jiang Chen pondered for a moment. He didn't believe that a planet like the Shanhaijing Planet, with such a high concentration of Qi, wouldn't have a single Level 5 Lifeform.

He tore open the space before him with his hands. In an instant, a massive pull from the space ahead dragged Jiang Chen through.

He appeared on a third island, a hundred miles away.

The Fusion Pill inside him rotated frantically, providing a massive amount of energy to maintain Jiang Chen's physical structure and withstand the terrifying inertia caused by the spatial pull.

If Jiang Chen didn't have enough energy in his body, his physical form would have likely collapsed long ago, and he might not have even been able to stop.

Swish, swish, swish!

Jiang Chen repeatedly tore through space, appearing on over a hundred islands in succession.

It only took him a little over a hundred seconds.

Less than two minutes.

But in those two minutes, he had reached another ten-thousand-mile radius.

Here, he continued to sense his surroundings, searching for higher-level lifeforms.

If he didn't encounter any higher-level lifeforms, he would keep searching.

If he did encounter one, he would bolt, taking his wife and daughter and running without looking back.

Unfortunately, however.

Within the second new ten-thousand-mile radius, Jiang Chen still didn't sense any Level 5 Lifeforms.

"Strange. With such a high concentration of Qi, how could no Level 5 Lifeforms be born?"

Jiang Chen didn't think he was the only one on the entire Shanhaijing Planet who could become a Level 5 Lifeform. This planet with its incredibly high concentration of Qi must have even higher-level ancient creatures.

So, he continued to tear through space, traveling across the planet.

But the extent of this planet was ultimately limited.

After traveling dozens of times, Jiang Chen still found nothing.

"According to normal distribution, Level 5 Lifeforms should have appeared by now..."

Although there were still areas he hadn't finished exploring, Jiang Chen was starting to have doubts.

Just as Jiang Chen was doubting himself.

A strangely shaped 'island' ahead caught his attention.

Speaking of which, the islands on Shanhaijing Planet were bizarre—some were shaped like pyramids, some like trees, and some were hollowed out—but Jiang Chen hadn't found any of them particularly strange.

After all, the creatures here were also bizarre; they couldn't all be like humans, just digging a hole to lie in.

But the shape of the island ahead was so strange that he couldn't help but take a closer look.

He quickly sent his consciousness particles over to sense it carefully. Like a blind man feeling an elephant, he soon figured out its shape.

"A ship?"

Jiang Chen was stunned.

Although he couldn't see anything with his eyes, the consciousness particles had already mapped the structure of this island in his mind. It was an island-shaped ship, but its area was enormous, spanning dozens of miles. Two-thirds of it was submerged in the ocean, making it look like an island.

"It seems there's more than one island-shaped ship."

Jiang Chen soon sensed that this island-shaped ship was not isolated. There was a similar one ahead, and another ahead of that, and another... a large number of island-shaped ships appeared.

Finally.

They were linked together, forming a chain of ships.

It was like a Bone Dragon Ship, a thousand miles long, but every segment seemed broken and semi-submerged in the sea.

"It looks like some unknown great war happened here."

Jiang Chen vibrated his energy, wanting to lift this thousand-mile-long Bone Dragon Ship. But because it was broken, he couldn't lift the whole thing, so he had to let it drop back down.

Standing on one of the island-shaped ships, he sensed the terrifyingly long vessel, feeling shocked in his heart.

Who built this ship?

And why did it fall here?

Where did the ship's owners go?

For a moment.

Jiang Chen felt that this Shanhaijing Planet was not just a simple planet of ancient creatures, but had once possessed a brilliant and glorious civilization. He just didn't know why only some ancient creatures below Level 5 remained. As for those of higher levels, he wondered if they had migrated away.

Jiang Chen traveled along this Bone Dragon Ship.

He didn't find any Level 5 Lifeforms, but there was an endless stream of various ships that had fallen here.

There were merchant ships as majestic and terrifying as great mountains, stretching on endlessly.

There were tower ships taller than Mount Everest, seemingly capable of reaching the heavens.

There were also ship hulls shaped like mothballs that had been split in two, revealing a vast number of deck structures inside.

These ships looked unique, majestic, and enormous, but now they all lay fallen here, resting in the sea, having experienced who-knows-what.

After traveling for half a day.

Jiang Chen had seen over a hundred different types of ships in total.

It was truly an eye-opening experience.

As for Level 5 Lifeforms, he still hadn't seen a single one.

"Either they're dead, or they've fled."

Jiang Chen reached a conclusion and began traveling back toward the first island.

Since he had circled the entire planet.

Therefore.

It didn't take long.

Before he returned to the original island.

At this time, Xue Yao was grilling a large shrimp with their daughter; the shrimp meat was delicious.

Beside Jiang Wawa, there were now several more mud people.

One of the mud people was as tall as Jiang Chen and already bore a thirty percent resemblance to him.

"Daddy, look! Doesn't this guy look like you?" Jiang Wawa pointed at the mud person behind her and asked proudly.

Jiang Chen sensed it. Good heavens, it actually captured thirty percent of his handsomeness.

"Incredible. You actually sculpted thirty percent of my handsomeness. You're like a modern-day Nuwa."

Jiang Chen couldn't help but give a thumbs-up, praising his daughter.

Jiang Wawa immediately beamed and said, "Of course! Just wait until I've sculpted a few more times. I guarantee I'll make a mud person exactly like you."

"Don't just keep sculpting me. Sculpt your mom for a bit," Jiang Chen said with a laugh.

Jiang Chen chuckled.

"I did, but Mom won't let me keep sculpting her." Jiang Wawa ran a short distance away and dragged out a mud person about the same size as Xue Yao from behind a rock.

Jiang Chen sensed it. Hiss, it really did look like her.

He pointed below Xue Yao's chin and said, "It's sculpted very well. Just make this part a bit bigger, and it'll be perfect."

"Huh? Why? Mom's part clearly isn't that big."

Jiang Wawa looked confused, not understanding why it needed to be enlarged.

"Ignore him!"

Xue Yao couldn't help but roll her eyes at Jiang Chen. She was a Level 3 Lifeform now; it wasn't like she couldn't control her body. She was already a perfect D-cup; how much bigger did he want?

"Oh!"

Jiang Wawa, not understanding the situation, lowered her head to eat.

Jiang Chen smiled and then told Xue Yao about just becoming a Level 5 Lifeform: "I just gained a new ability. It's tearing through space. By using the pull of space, I can achieve an instantaneous hundred-mile displacement."

"A new ability? You've become a Level 5 Lifeform?"

Xue Yao looked up in surprise. When she was a Level 2 Lifeform, Jiang Chen was already a Level 4 Lifeform. Because their sizes didn't match, her belly would always feel stuffed. Now that she had become a Level 3 Lifeform, she could finally accommodate Jiang Chen. She hadn't expected him to become a Level 5 Lifeform already!

Heavens.

No wonder he wanted their daughter to sculpt the mud bigger.

"Yes. After becoming a Level 5 Lifeform, besides the energy being more terrifying, the body being able to grow even larger, and the sensing ability expanding, there's a new characteristic: I can warp space. By using the spatial pull, I can generate a speed of a hundred miles per second."

Jiang Chen nodded and explained.

As for what level of lifeform he was, he also categorized it based on characteristics.

After all, no higher-level lifeforms had been discovered ahead of him yet, so he could only summarize it himself.

If it were just an ordinary ability, or rather, an enhancement of an existing ability, it couldn't be called evolving to the next level.

But now.

This energy for warping space was already on a completely different level from a Level 4 Lifeform.

Naturally, it could be classified as an entirely new level of life.

"A hundred miles per second... although it hasn't reached one percent of the speed of light, you can travel repeatedly."

Xue Yao did a rough calculation.

A hundred miles per second didn't reach one percent of the speed of light. Compared to the Matter-Antimatter Annihilation Engine, the speed couldn't compete.

However, the Matter-Antimatter Annihilation Engine relied too heavily on yin-yang material and could only be used occasionally.

As for magnetic field jump, although the speed was faster, reaching one-sixth the speed of light, that thing relied on a planet's magnetic field.

Once they left the Solar System, if the distance to the next planet was too far and they couldn't jump, they would be forced to crawl along at a snail's pace.

After all.

Space is very empty. Often, within a distance of several light-years, there isn't a single planet.

Without even a planet, how could they use magnetic field jump?

Therefore.

Whether it was the Matter-Antimatter Annihilation Engine or magnetic field jump, they both needed to utilize some kind of medium to achieve an increase in speed.

But the current Jiang Chen.

Could actually rely on the energy of his own Fusion Pill and the pull of space to achieve a speed of a hundred miles per second.

In other words.

As long as there was still Qi in space, he could use the Fusion Pill to travel incessantly.

"After reaching Level 5 Lifeform status, leaving the Solar System is absolutely no problem."

"Whether in terms of energy or speed."

Xue Yao suddenly thought of the Southern Heavenly Gate system.

In this system, humans had roughly two plans to deal with the black hole ahead.

One was to move the black hole, which was almost impossible.

The other was to push the Solar System off its original trajectory.

But now.

With Jiang Chen becoming a Level 5 Lifeform, she suddenly realized that if all of humanity became Level 5 Lifeforms, everyone could leave the Solar System freely.

Instead of how it was now.

The Matter-Antimatter Annihilation Engine and magnetic field jump only had enough speed and energy, but once they lost access to yin-yang material and planetary magnetic fields, they would immediately break down.

In fact.

Both the Luan Bird and the Starship could exceed the third cosmic velocity and leave the Solar System.

But the mortality rate was very high.

For one, what if the yin-yang material ran out?

For another, what if the next planet was too far and they couldn't jump to it?

Relying solely on Controlled Nuclear Fusion could only ensure the warship's navigation; it couldn't provide such a high instantaneous burst of speed.

Once crawling through space at a snail's pace and unable to find planetary supplies for a long time, the humans on the interstellar warships would all die.

Precisely because of this, even though humans had the Matter-Antimatter Annihilation Engine and magnetic field jump, they still didn't dare to leave the Solar System easily.

The space outside was truly too vast, too wide, and too dark.

They could only hunker down, relying on the sun's continuous stream of energy and the safe planetary structure of the Solar System.

But now.

With Jiang Chen breaking through to a Level 5 Lifeform, there was a whole new way of thinking.

That was for everyone to become Level 5 Lifeforms together.

Even if they navigated slowly through space, they wouldn't die.

After listening to Xue Yao's analysis, Jiang Chen pondered for a while and said, "Theoretically, this is possible, but there aren't enough resources. I estimate that the Qi on this planet can only accommodate a hundred humans becoming Level 5 Lifeforms. Any more than that wouldn't be enough."

Jiang Chen shook his head. Just from him becoming a Level 5 Lifeform, he vaguely felt that the concentration of Lightning Qi on this planet had decreased.

At most a hundred, and they would have to have different attributes to barely become Level 5 Lifeforms.

Any more than that simply couldn't be supported.

"A hundred is enough. When are we going back to let the Southern Heavenly Gate screen a group of people to come to this planet and evolve? What do you think?"

Xue Yao asked.

She had just become a Level 3 Lifeform and could theoretically continue evolving, but half a year had already passed; they had to go back once.

"Let's go back after we finish eating."

Jiang Chen made a prompt decision.

Anyway, he had just become a Level 5 Lifeform and was still far from the next level. If he absorbed more of the Lightning Qi here, it might become insufficient again.

"Alright!"

The three of them spent some time packing up.

It was mainly helping Jiang Wawa pile all the mud people she had sculpted onto the deck.

Finally, the moving was finished.

Jiang Wawa sat on the deck, still sculpting mud people.

"This little girl, didn't she really want to go to that world of light before?"

Seeing Jiang Wawa with her back turned, sculpting mud, Jiang Chen smiled and started the small fishing boat to look for the Earth Hexagram's return point.

This return point wasn't far; it was in the same area of the sky where he had brought Xue Yao to this planet half a year ago.

He lit up the Earth Hexagram in that airspace.

He was just about to enter this inverted universe.

"Wawa, get into the cockpit!"

Jiang Chen looked back at Jiang Wawa; this transit would be inverted.

Jiang Wawa turned her head, revealing a mud person's face.

"Holy crap!"

Both Jiang Chen and Xue Yao were startled.

Sensing carefully, they realized this wasn't Jiang Wawa but a mud person she had sculpted. It was just because it looked so much like Jiang Wawa herself and even had mecha-like movements that the two of them hadn't reacted for a moment.

"Hubby, where is Wawa?!"

Xue Yao didn't have time to think about why this mud person was sitting there sculpting mud herself. She looked around anxiously; the Earth Hexagram had already been activated, and the teleportation was about to begin.

"It seems she's still on the island."

Jiang Chen suddenly sensed a small black dot on the island, dragging something along.

At that moment, while her mom and dad were moving those hundreds of mud people, Jiang Wawa had run back to the place where she sculpted mud. From behind a large rock, she dragged out the mud people of Jiang Chen and Xue Yao, intending to bring them back together.

Unexpectedly.

When she came back, Jiang Chen had mistaken the Jiang Wawa mud person for her and started the small fishing boat.

As she dragged her mud parents and ran forward, she wailed.

"Waaah!"

"I haven't even gotten on the boat yet!"

"Wait for me!"

"You two are such trolls! How can you look after a child like this? I'm really 'thank Q'!"