Chapter 00271: Life Support Pod
# Life Support Pod
Chapter 271
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 271: Life Support Pod
A Mage's power comes from learning, and the greatest motivation for learning is curiosity.
They will not let go of anything that interests them, and this curiosity often leads to a lot of trouble.
Audel was no exception.
The Nautiloid's Psionic Core was right in front of her.
If she didn't snatch it, wouldn't this trip be for nothing?
After losing power, the surrounding air clearly began to feel as cold and damp as it was outside the Nautiloid.
The crystals that had been brightly lit and provided ample light now started to grow dimmer and dimmer, gradually resembling the emergency lights that automatically turn on during a power outage.
This indicated that the Nautiloid was now operating in a low-power state, using its only remaining backup energy.
It also meant that if there were still any Mind Flayers on the ship, they would have surely noticed the fact that someone had intruded.
But as mentioned before, Audel was completely unafraid of Mind Flayers.
As for whether the others would piss their pants upon seeing a Mind Flayer's octopus head, that was not within her consideration.
After all, we're not close.
It's purely a relationship between a boss and her employees.
Do I have to be concerned about your mental health?
The three who were kept in the dark were obviously unaware of these things.
Their expressions were all a bit regretful, perhaps because they still hadn't seen any Gold Coins or gemstones.
The group left the Engine Room, walking back up the chitinous staircase, and returned to the junction where they had descended before, continuing upwards.
As expected, continuing upwards soon led them to a particularly spacious room with a good field of view.
It was a high-ceilinged chamber with a dome, from which hung some complex equipment made of tissue resembling glowing jellyfish.
The jellyfish used their curling, luminous tentacles to construct a shimmering star map.
Below was a high-backed chair with short armrests, inlaid with several sparkling blue crystal orbs.
The crystal orbs were all angled towards the star map, as if beckoning someone to come and operate it.
This was the Nautiloid's Bridge, the core area for controlling the entire ship.
Directly in front of the chair was a floor-to-ceiling window made of a transparent membrane.
From here, you could see the scenery outside the Nautiloid, but it wasn't a blanket of white snow.
The snowy plains they had seen before were an illusion.
Looking out through the Nautiloid's window, one would see a large expanse of bare, dark rock, as if they were inside a huge underground cavity.
And if one got closer, they would discover that not far in front of the Nautiloid was a bottomless abyss.
The Nautiloid had essentially crash-landed on the edge of the abyss, almost falling in.
Noticing this, Delge's legs immediately went weak, and he quietly moved away from the window.
Dwarves all shared one trait: a fear of heights.
Just the height of riding a horse was enough to scare them into not moving recklessly, let alone a bottomless place like this.
"We're quite lucky. If we had accidentally missed our step and fallen into the abyss under the cover of the illusion just now, we would have truly been beyond saving."
Audel's words made everyone look relieved.
At the very least, luck was on their side, at least for now.
On the starboard wall, a panel was open, revealing a fleshy tentacle embedded with crystal fragments.
On the flat part below, some patterns that looked like text were etched.
This piqued Audel's interest.
"Do you understand the Mind Flayer's writing? What does it say?"
"I can barely make it out. It says this ship was attacked by a Red Dragon. During an emergency jump, the coordinates were entered incorrectly, causing the ship to make direct contact with the ground and be destroyed."
This part was consistent with Audel's guess, but the following content was a bit stimulating for the other three.
"There were a total of four crew members on board. Three of them died when the Nautiloid crashed, and one was seriously injured."
Audel turned around and pointed to the staircase behind the Bridge that led further up.
"The injured one left a record, hoping for rescue to arrive, and returned to the Captain's Quarters to use the Life Support Device for temporary hibernation."
"Could it be that..."
"That's right. It might still be alive right now."
...
The terrifying legends of Mind Flayers had practically become stories adults used to scare children.
Many people had childhood traumas associated with them.
Even knowing that this Mind Flayer was likely in a seriously injured state, just the sight of that octopus face was enough to reawaken those psychological scars.
But not going up was not an option.
Audel had pulled the plug on the Nautiloid.
The Life Support Device would soon fail, which would awaken the hibernating Mind Flayer, and none of them wanted to be chased by an octopus-head.
So, weighing the pros and cons, the most appropriate course of action was to strike first while the Mind Flayer had not yet fully awakened.
Thus, the group immediately climbed the chitinous staircase and arrived before the Captain's Quarters, peering inside.
This domed chamber was filled with clutter, and many things were piled on a workbench whose legs were only half a meter high.
Behind the workbench was a crystal ball the size of a human head, mounted on a low stand.
Five strange, glowing trinkets were fixed to the chitinous wall about seven feet off the ground.
These devices looked like the heads of metal magic wands held in place by pincers.
Apart from that, the most conspicuous object was a 'coffin' placed directly opposite the main entrance.
It was an oval, capsule-like object.
The bottom was composed of flesh and chitin, while the upper part was made of a dark red, semi-transparent lid.
A rotating structure could be seen at one end of the lid.
This was the Life Support Device.
Because the lid was dark red and semi-transparent, under the dim light, one could only see a humanoid shadow nearly two meters tall.
The long tentacles on its face were faintly visible.
As the Rogue, Nimia, was about to stick her head in for a closer look, she was immediately stopped by Audel's outstretched staff.
"There's a trap in here. Get ready to fight."
Audel explained only this much before starting to chant a spell in a low voice.
As the incantation proceeded, the group saw the large and small crystal balls in the room shatter and explode one after another, emitting screams as if they were living creatures.
Only after the last crystal ball burst did Audel signal that they could enter.
More than anything else in the room, everyone was most concerned about the Mind Flayer lying in the Life Support Device.
Each person drew their weapon and cautiously approached the capsule-shaped device.
Having been here for so long, the outer shell of the capsule-like device was covered in a layer of dust.
Nimia glanced back at the others, saw them gripping their weapons tightly, ready for battle at any moment, and then stepped forward to wipe away the dust with her hand.
But as her hand moved, under the dark red, semi-transparent shell, the octopus head that had been completely unresponsive suddenly opened its amber eyes, scaring Nimia into a scream.
"Quick! Hold the pod lid down!"
All of the Mind Flayers' creations could be controlled with psionics, also known as telepathy.
Under the Mind Flayer's command, the lid of the Life Support Device began to open upwards.
The few people standing next to the lid quickly threw themselves onto it to prevent it from opening.
At this moment, the heaviest member and the one exerting the most force on the lid, the dwarf Delge, felt as if a bomb had exploded in his head, leaving him dizzy and his mind blank.
The others saw Delge suddenly let go and kneel down towards the life support pod.
"He's been mind-controlled!"
The terror of Mind Flayers came not only from their appearance, but also from their ability to control other creatures through psychic abilities.
This Mind Flayer had probably just awakened, and its psychic abilities had not yet recovered.
It had merely made Delge kneel on the ground to get him out of the way.
But the Mind Flayer's physical strength was not weak, and after awakening, it was recovering far faster than the group had anticipated.
Without Delge's weight, the suppression from Nimia and the halfling Priest Perrin alone was not enough to hold it down.
It looked as if the Mind Flayer was about to climb out of the life support pod.
Just then, Audel took a running leap onto the lid.
In a straddling position, she raised her staff and smashed the staff's head, which was embedded with a huge blue gemstone, down towards the Mind Flayer's head.
A thunderous boom followed.
Nimia and Perrin, who were holding down the lid, had no choice but to let go and cover their ears.
The terrifying sound echoed like a shockwave into the distance.
However, the Mind Flayer that had been trying to push open the lid rolled its eyes back.
Purplish-black blood seeped from its eyes and skin, and then it moved no more.
"What just happened? I felt like my brain was yanked."
Delge pressed his temples and stood up.
Seeing Nimia and Perrin covering their ears, he still hadn't figured out the situation.
"It's over. The Mind Flayer is dead."
Audel flipped over and jumped down from the life support pod.
But before the group could breathe a sigh of relief, they saw a pile of black, liquid-like substance appear at the doorway.
This liquid shot out from the walls near the door as if sprayed, viscous and seemingly gathering with a will of its own.
In the blink of an eye, it transformed into three black, gooey objects in the shape of Mind Flayers.
"It's Liquefied Consciousness. I didn't expect the Mind Flayer to have this kind of trap."
This was getting a little tricky...
(End of this chapter)