At the end of the main corridor was the cockpit. Aside from a metal sliding door on the floor, the cockpit was filled with various screens and instruments that dazzled Zeke's eyes.
However, Zeke still recognized the machine in the center: a Cogitator.
This thing was essentially a navigation system, capable of automatically planning navigation routes and recording information.
Zeke looked at the darkened screen and banged it twice with his fist.
Miracles happen with brute force. The Cogitator sparked and miraculously lit up.
Zeke leaned in close to the computer and browsed through the files until he found one named Navigation Log.
Log 1:"After this big job, I won't have to worry about food or drink for the rest of my life. That Hive Noble actually offered such a high price. I really don't get it—what's so special about a beastly cat? Maybe this is just the idle leisure of big shots."
No wonder the Phyrr Cat he killed earlier had a pet tag on its neck. Zeke continued reading down.
Log 2:"Stuff keeps going missing from the mess hall. Crew members have been complaining recently about hearing strange noises from there at night... Whatever, let's just finish this job first."
Log 3:"There's definitely a thief on board! Did they sneak in when we docked last time? Such a huge appetite—they cleared out the entire mess hall! Reinforce the food lockers for me! Wait, only reinforce MY locker. The crew can figure it out themselves."
Log 4:"Finally caught you, you damn thief! No wonder you ate so much—there are TWO of them! Dispose of the male for me. As for the female... lock her in the bottom cage for now."
Log 5:"It's over. It's all over. We just had to finish this one job, just this one job... How did it come to this..."
That was all the information recorded in the computer.
The story wasn't complicated. It was a smuggling ship transporting exotic animals that encountered a plague, eventually crashing onto Cadia with everyone on board dead.
Zeke thought of the bones in his Inventory and the corpses in the hallway. The fate of those people was easy to imagine.
After carefully checking the Cogitator one more time to ensure he hadn't missed anything, Zeke went to the metal sliding door on the floor.
He pulled it open with force. It revealed a vertical shaft leading down, but the ladder was missing.
He casually picked up a piece of debris and dropped it. He waited a moment before the sound of it landing echoed up.
Zeke placed a water bucket at the edge. The water flowed just like in Minecraft, forming a downward water column.
Jumping into the stream, Zeke rode the water down to the lower level.
The lower level was far more spacious than the upper level. And unlike the upper deck, it hadn't been wrecked by the crash; there were almost no signs of damage.
Huge glass display cases were arranged in neat rows. The first case had a large hole broken into it. The label on it read:
"Phyrr Cat. Feed three times a day."
The second case was also empty. The label warned: "Phaerullian Viper. Secretes deadly venom. Keep distance when feeding."
When the torchlight moved to the third case, Zeke stopped.
There was a living creature inside. Thanks to the intact life support system on the lower level, this creature's status bar showed no plague marker.
But one of its legs was bent at an odd angle—clearly broken—and its health bar was down to a pitiful 2 HP.
The label noted: "Stegadon. Secretes a milky white liquid when nursing young. The liquid tastes excellent; high purchase price offered."
Secretes a milky white liquid? Zeke pressed his entire face against the glass to peer inside.
Four hooves, an udder on its abdomen similar to a cow... Wait, isn't this just a cow?!
Startled by the flattened human face on the glass, the Stegadon inside let out a low whinny.
Dragging its crippled leg, it stubbornly shifted forward and then headbutted the glass with a thud.
Such a fierce temperament? Zeke mined the glass open with his stone pickaxe, placed a Wooden Boat, and trapped the immobile Stegadon inside.
This "Cow" he had finally found absolutely could not die.
Once the Stegadon settled down, Zeke switched to the Promethium Bucket in his Inventory and clicked on it.
According to the sign, the Stegadon should only produce milk when nursing.
But in Minecraft, even bulls can be milked. Logic didn't matter here.
[Promethium Bucket] turned into [Beast Milk].
Zeke filled three buckets in a row before stopping—not because he had enough, but because he ran out of empty buckets.
The Stegadon slumped in the boat as if completely drained, looking at Zeke with a mixture of terror and confusion.
This is an infinite milk source. Even if it doesn't cure poison, I can still drink it.
The good days are still ahead. Zeke weighed the Beast Milk in his hand. Stegadon is too fancy a name. From now on, I'll just call you Cow.
Zeke walked toward the final glass display case at the end of the corridor.
The firelight dispelled the shadows, revealing two figures inside the case—one large, one small—hugging each other tightly.
Two? Didn't the navigation log say there was only one remaining?
Zeke leaned closer. The larger figure was vaguely recognizable as a female.
She was curled up on the ground, long devoid of life, her arms locked in a death grip around the small thing in her embrace.
Zeke raised his stone pickaxe and smashed the glass. Stepping inside, his foot landed next to a pool of congealed blood.
On the floor, scrawled in blackened blood, were a few crooked words: Save my child.
As if hearing the intruder's footsteps, the bundle in the woman's arms twitched, then erupted into a burst of ear-piercing crying.
The sound was like the screech of a crow, grating on the nerves and making Zeke's scalp tingle.
Zeke used his Stone Sword to pry open the woman's cold arms.
The firelight fully illuminated the "child" she had sworn to protect with her life.
It was a monster. Grey skin, several twisted limbs protruding from the sides of its torso, unconsciously clawing at the air.
Its head was disproportionately large. There were no visible eyes, just two deep, sunken black pits.
Its snout protruded forward, filled with dense rows of pale, needle-like teeth.
What heresy!
Scene after scene of extreme discomfort made Zeke feel a wave of nausea.
The name on the health bar revealed the truth: the dead woman was a Fourth Generation Genestealer.
She looked almost indistinguishable from a human, able to hide perfectly within the populace.
But her cursed bloodline had undergone a terrifying reversion in her offspring, giving birth to a Fifth Generation: a Purestrain Genestealer.
Even more tragic was that the Broodmind's psychic influence had twisted her perception.
Until the very last moment of her life, she likely believed that what she held in her arms was a normal human baby.
Zeke looked at the bloody words on the floor, then at the Purestrain Genestealer still emitting that piercing noise.
Holding onto a sliver of unrealistic hope, Zeke took a bucket of Beast Milk from his Inventory and placed it next to the Purestrain.
Even though its status bar clearly displayed that it had no abnormal statuses that could be cleared.
The Purestrain stopped tearing at its mother. After a brief pause, it buried its entire face in the bucket and began to feed frantically.
Nothing happened. It was born this way; this was what it was.
Zeke's heart sank, plunging into a cold void.
As expected, it doesn't work. Maybe those infected later in life can be cured by milk, but natural-born monsters like this... ultimately cannot.
Zeke sighed silently, waiting quietly for the Purestrain to finish all the milk in front of it.
The dead mother had a faint smile on her lips, as if thanking Zeke for feeding her child.
In the underground space, the torch suddenly extinguished. Darkness swallowed everything, including the ear-piercing crying.
An instant, or perhaps longer.
The darkness was dispelled by a freshly lit match. The firelight danced again, reflecting on Zeke's expressionless face.
A Purestrain Genestealer's combat power is no joke, even as an infant.
Feeding it milk was partly to see if the infection could be cured, but mostly to lower its guard so he could launch a surprise attack.
[String x4], [Spider Eye x1], [Genestealer Claw x1]
Part of the loot table was from Spiders. Genestealers equals Spiders—both are arthropods (in a sense), so it made sense.
As for the Genestealer Claw, the JEI description was interesting.
[The claws of a Purestrain Genestealer are covered in a bio-field, allowing them to easily destroy hard metals. Upon death, the bio-field vanishes. Perhaps you have some way to restore it and craft it into a weapon.]
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