Free Dark Universe & Forbidden Love by Hao Yang

Jason was serious. It was the first time in her life she heard something
like this. She took off her necklace and gave it to Jason and said, “You keep
this for me. I will be back.”
    “Gloria,
don’t hesitate to call me if you need help. I will be there. I promise you.”
Jason said decisively.
    Gloria
suddenly felt relieved. It was like someone removed the black gauze that had
been covering her face for years. Now everything was bright and shining.
    “I have
to go.” Gloria said sadly.
    “I will
keep in touch.” Jason emphasized every word.
    “Don’t
get killed in the game.” Gloria joked.
    “Remember
you can’t even kill me.” Jason chuckled.
    “Actually,
I was easy on you.”
    “Oh
really? After you come back, we can try it again.” Jason said in a naughty
voice.
    “Come
on, give me some credits.” Gloria punched Jason’s shoulder and left.

Chapter 19
     
    Mark got Jason’s message and
spent several days trying to decode the encrypted navigation record which was
protected by three layers of security systems. Mark merely broke the first
layer, but he wasn’t able to crack the second one. It required a Glycan console
having the access to the mainframe of military navigation database. There was
no way he could even get close to a console like that.
    Mark
knew the vessel carrying eyeballs made a stop on Eva-1 and at least some
eyeballs were transferred to the Cruiser General Klizan. He believed that
whoever doing this must had been doing it regularly, because nine species had
Hylocan eyeballs disposed of every month. It was possible that the cruiser made
a trip to the mysterious destination every month. Mark decided to find out the
destination in a tradition way: catching a ride along with those Hylcocan
eyeballs.
    Hylocan
reserve was one of the planets orbiting the star HD143435 in Corona-Borealis
supercluster. In UWII, Hylocan fought to the last minute and nine species
slaughtered 99.9% of its population. After UWII, the nine species transported
all Hylocan survivals from their mother planet to Hylocan reserve. For the
leftover Hylocans, nine species had all their eyeballs removed and replaced
with electronic ones which could function as eyeballs and tracking devices.
This was also applied to all newborn Hylocan babies. All nine species agreed
that they would transfer those eyeballs to planet Itue to dispose of them every
month.
    Mark
looked out of the window as the space vessel was touching down on Hylocan
reserve. Most ground was covered by forests. The trees looked like pines but
had brown trunks and black leaves. Thousands of small buildings scattered here
and there. According to Mark’s research, there were about one million Hylocans
living on Hylocan reserve. Nine species took away everything Hylocan had and
forced them to live in stone age. However, those Hylocans made their lives out
of forests and managed to produce many commodities to sell.
    Mark was
wearing a face transformer and looked just like a Glycan. He stepped out of the
vessel, following other passengers to the market next to the landing ground.
Both first and second class species came here to do business with Hylocan. In
the market, various goods ranging from food to animal skins were stacked on the
ground. Mark had no interest in shopping. He walked to the edge of the market
and darted into the forest.
    The
trees were stabbing into sky like swords. Layers of branches and leaves stopped
the light from reaching the ground and it was dark like night in the deep
forest. After walking on the smelly and muddy ground for three hours, Mark
reached a huge lake filled with murky red liquid. The surface of the lake was flat
and smooth like a mirror. He was confused, because the facility should be right
in front of him. As he was checking the map, he heard humming sound from above.
Then he looked up and saw a 400 meter long space vessel emerging out of clouds
and descending. The liquid swiftly solidified and the vessel touched down on
the