[An alien building, no wonder the style feels so weird!]
[But if even Gaia can't analyze it, that means the aliens' technology is pretty impressive.]
[Hiss, the plot of Subnautica seems to be getting more and more complicated!]
[Does that mean there might be actual aliens living inside that building?]
Hearing the barrage of comments, Jenny instantly grew curious. If the game really had aliens, she genuinely wanted to see them!
Jenny circled the building once and soon discovered the entrance on the other side.
The entrance was quite spacious, at least five meters wide, and completely different from Earth architecture. Jenny noticed that the building entrance had no "door" at all.
It was wide open, as if inviting visitors to come right in.
[Wow, this alien building looks so grand and high-tech on the outside, yet it doesn't even have a door?]
[No way, does this building seriously have zero security measures?]
Under the puzzled gazes of the viewers, Jenny didn't overthink it and ran straight toward the open entrance.
"Haha, let me see what cool stuff is inside this alien building!!!"
However, before she could even step across the threshold, she felt herself slam hard into an invisible wall, followed immediately by an extremely powerful repulsive force.
"Fuck, something's wrong?!"
Jenny let out a strange cry as her whole body was instantly flung backward. She flew a full five or six meters before hitting the ground and rolling several times before stopping.
[Almighty Push!]
[Almighty Push! x2]
[Almighty Push! x3!]
The viewers were all stunned by the sudden scene!
"What happened?!" Jenny climbed up from the ground, looking completely bewildered. She suddenly realized this game was really going overboard. It wasn't just the graphics and interaction, the motion feedback felt insanely realistic too.
Especially that part where she rolled across the ground, she had genuinely felt like she was tumbling over and over!!!
Her head was still spinning!!!
Did it have to be this realistic?!
She suddenly felt a lot more sympathy for CaseOh. If rolling a few times on the ground left her dizzy, then CaseOh being tossed around like a toy by the Reaper Leviathan...
Hiss, that must have felt even more intense.
She glanced at the health bar in the bottom-left corner. A full third of it was gone!
"I lost that much health just from tripping?!" Jenny frowned and quickly pulled out a med kit from her backpack to bandage herself.
"By the way, Chat, how exactly did I get flung out like that?" After treating herself, Jenny asked the important question.
[Who knows - Daniel Caesar]
[I just saw you suddenly fly out like a bouncy ball!]
[Yeah, the scene was super comical!]
"..."
She thought carefully and figured the entrance itself must have some trick to it.
This time Jenny approached cautiously and immediately spotted the clue. Looking closely, she could see a rippling, energy-like layer completely sealing off the entrance.
Jenny picked up a small stone from the beach and tossed it over.
Bang!
The stone was instantly repelled and sent flying!
"So the entrance really does have some kind of mechanism!" Jenny shouted. At the same time she noticed a control panel-like device on the wall beside the entrance.
"Scan it." Jenny quickly aimed her bracelet at the control panel.
"Beep. Force field console. This device appears to control a nearby force field. The level of this force field technology far exceeds human understanding. According to analysis, a key is currently required to deactivate the force field."
Hearing Gaia's explanation, the viewers finally understood.
[Damn, there's actually a force field?!!!]
[These aliens are way too high-tech. You have this insanely strong force field technology and you're using it as a damn front door?]
[I thought human technology four hundred years from now was already impressive enough. How are the aliens even more terrifying than that?!!]
Jenny now understood what Gaia meant and let out a sigh. "Sigh, no key. Looks like I can't get inside."
This was really frustrating. There was this mysterious alien skyscraper right in front of her, yet without the key she could only stare at it helplessly!
"Whatever, let's explore somewhere else! Now that I'm on land, there's no way I'm going back into that damn ocean. Being on land feels so much better than the sea. Humans are supposed to live on solid ground anyway!!!"
No matter what, the excitement of discovering new land was still strong. Jenny quickly put the matter behind her and started wandering around the island with great enthusiasm.
After crossing a fairly wide stretch of beach, she entered the jungle. There were green, red, and yellow plants everywhere, all species she had never seen before.
Jenny excitedly began scanning them with her bracelet.
"Beep. Thorn Tree. Covered in sharp spikes. Assessment: not edible."
"Beep. Colorful Flower. A colorful terrestrial plant. Assessment: no practical value, but highly ornamental."
"Beep."
Everywhere she looked were various plants, leaving Jenny dazzled. After scanning a bunch, she found not a single one that was edible.
[Wow, the scenery on this island is so beautiful too!]
[Gotta say, the designer of this game really nailed it with the art design!]
[Yeah, this place is genuinely stunning!!!]
[This could totally pass as a nature documentary!]
The viewers also praised sincerely. Thanks to the hyper-realistic engine, this exotic and unfamiliar landscape was truly mesmerizing.
But the mesmerized feeling didn't last long. After walking for about ten minutes, Jenny suddenly spotted the shadow of the sea ahead once more.
"Huh?" Jenny was momentarily confused. This time she switched from walking to running until she emerged from the jungle and reached the edge of a cliff.
Ahead of her was another vast, endless ocean!
"Damn, this isn't a continent at all. It's just a small island!" Jenny said, feeling a bit deflated.
[This is a 'real' small island. Crossing the entire thing only took ten or so minutes, haha!]
[The devs would never let you reach actual mainland that easily. Too naive!]
[Otherwise why would it be called Water World!]
The viewers all laughed. Remembering the devs past tricks, they weren't surprised in the slightest.
Did they really expect the devs to let them comfortably enjoy the land? No chance!
"Whatever, I'll keep looking around. Maybe I can find the lucky survivor NPCs from the Aurora." Jenny said as she continued exploring the small island.
While wandering, she shouted out loud. "Anyone here?" Since Gaia AI could communicate, Jenny was certain the NPCs in Subnautica could too.
Because the island was small, her voice quickly echoed across the entire place.
[Jenny, stop shouting. I'll bet there's definitely no one!]
[Exactly, I don't believe the devs would be kind enough to give us NPCs to play with!]
[Yeah, I knew it ever since we rescued the woman from Cabin 2. The devs just wants us to adventure all alone!]
[But with Jenny yelling like that, won't she attract any fierce beasts on the island?]
[This tiny little island and you're talking about fierce beasts? Any beasts here would've starved to death already!]
[True. Although the devs loves messing with players, the game's logic is still solid. He wouldn't make that kind of mistake.]
Hearing the barrage, Jenny smiled too. Not bad, the viewers were getting to know Lucien's personality better and better.
Thinking about it carefully, whenever something would make the player's life easier, he really never did it!
After shouting with no response, Jenny wasn't surprised either. She simply continued checking out the small island.
Soon she had scanned all the plants and found there were only a few types.
There were even fewer animals. Besides some tiny insects, the only other creature was a square-shaped crab with four legs that hopped around on the ground in a rather comical way.
"Beep. Waddling Crab. Amphibious creature. Assessment: usable, but very low meat yield."
"Sigh, I actually want to try eating one of these." Seeing the crabs, Jenny sighed. Too bad VR didn't have an eating function!
If it did, she would want to taste every creature in the game, even Leviathans.
While she was pondering, one of the waddling crabs ahead spotted her and suddenly leaped up to attack.
"Oh? You want to hit my knee!" Jenny snorted, drew her knife, and sliced the crab cleanly in half with one strike.
Continuing forward, when Jenny reached the deeper part of the small island, a low, circular building appeared before her.
The entire structure was oval-shaped and seemed to be made entirely of metal. Its exterior was already covered in rust.
[Huh? There's actually a house here?]
[Damn, are the Aurora crew members really here?!]
[Doesn't look like it. This house is so rusty, it looks decades old!]
[Could there have been other people here before the Aurora survivors?]
The viewers found it strange. Jenny walked over and, as usual, scanned it first.
"Beep. Human dwelling. A simple yet sturdy house constructed from titanium metal. House construction blueprint obtained!"
"I got the house blueprint. Does that mean I can build houses too?" Jenny raised an eyebrow.
"Of course. Titanium houses are extremely durable and come with built-in drainage. They can be constructed on land or in the ocean."
"Tsk tsk, they can even be built underwater? Future human technology really is advanced. Hmm, let's go inside and see what's there." Jenny nodded and quickly stepped into the house.
The interior was surprisingly well-stocked, with several equally worn tables and chairs placed around.
Passing through a corridor into another room, it appeared to be a bedroom containing a bed, wardrobe, and more, all equally rundown. But the most noticeable item was a pen-like object sitting on top of the wardrobe.
"Beep. Recording pen. Capable of recording and playing audio in any extreme environment. Recording pen crafting blueprint obtained."
"Recording pen." Jenny reached out and picked it up. After fiddling with it for a moment, she turned it on, and a woman's voice began to play:
"If you are fortunate enough to hear this recording, hello. My name is Marianna J. Grantham, captain of the U.S Dauntless spaceship."
"In 2423, my Dauntless spaceship encountered an unknown accident while passing this planet. The ship crashed, and I, along with two other crew members, were lucky enough to discover this small island and survive."
"At the same time, we also discovered a mysterious alien building on this island. Unfortunately, the entrance is protected by a force field, making it impossible to enter and investigate."
"After that, we built a shelter on this small island and tried to survive here. But we soon realized the island's resources were far too scarce."
"Therefore, we decided to move to the mineral-rich ocean and establish a new shelter there."
"If anyone is fortunate enough to hear this recording, I hope you can help us and bring us home. Finally, here are the coordinates of our new base."
With that, the recording ended.
"Beep. Coordinates have been recorded into the system." Gaia's voice followed.
Jenny understood. It seemed Marianna had deliberately left the recording pen here so that anyone who later came to the island could find them.
The live-stream viewers began discussing as well:
[Dauntless? So it wasn't just the Aurora that crashed on this planet?!]
[So what's going on with this planet? Is it like the Bermuda Triangle?]
"The plot is really getting mysterious now!" Jenny sighed as well. "By the way, Gaia, what year is it now?"
"2433."
"So the Dauntless accident happened ten years ago?" Jenny frowned. "Also, where exactly is second shelter?"
"Beep. Specific coordinates have been added to your bracelet."
Jenny immediately looked down. The coordinates were 130 kilometers from her current location, but the most critical part was that they were eight hundred meters below the sea surface.
It was actually located eight hundred meters underwater!
[Advanced 30 chapters on patreon .com/EdgyReader]