Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Just a second ago, Song Chi was feeling relieved that no First Rank members of the White Winged Tribe had caught up, when suddenly, the rear section of the Cangqiong quivered violently—an attacker from the White Winged Tribe had caught up from behind, launching a precise strike that hit the warship's tail.
[Warning, warship armor damaged by 34%, warship integrity compromised by 13%, please conduct repairs immediately.]
Song Chi's face paled with shock.
Although the attack power of the White Winged Tribe was generally weak, the fact that the warship armor was damaged by less than 6% from the strikes of a dozen Zero Rank members had proven this. But no matter how low the damage was, an attack that spanned a rank was utterly alarming.
A single blow from a First Rank member of the White Winged Tribe had destroyed a quarter of the warship's armor, implying that if the Cangqiong sustained two or three more hits, the warship itself would suffer irreversible damage.
"Activate the basic nanobot repair pack."
In haste, Song Chi issued a command to the semi-autonomous onboard intelligent brain and dared not be distracted, still fully controlling the Cangqiong as it sped upward.
His plan was simple: if he could just escape this rift, he would then be able to activate the lightspeed cruise capabilities of the warship without any reservations. Even if a First Rank member of the White Winged Tribe was faster, they certainly could not match the speed of light.
[Warning, warship armor damaged by 36%, warship integrity compromised by 14%, please conduct repairs immediately.]
[Basic nanobot repair pack activated. Warship armor repairing by 3%, warship integrity repairing by 4%, current damage level...]
[Warning, warship armor damaged by 35%, warship integrity compromised by 12%, please conduct repairs immediately.]
...
Amid the continual sounds of damage and repair, no one knew how much time had passed when the Cangqiong experienced another severe tremble, followed by even more frantic intelligent warnings.
[Severe warship damage, current warship armor damage level at 80%, warship integrity compromised by 62%, when warship integrity exceeds 80%, the shuttle will lose its ability to maneuver, please conduct repairs immediately.]
The second strike from the pursuing First Rank member of the White Winged Tribe behind had instantly increased the extent of damage to the warship's integrity by more than half.
Yet at that moment, a strong sense of joy suddenly burst in Song Chi's eyes. After continued effort, the Cangqiong finally broke free from the rift and re-entered the space above the fragments.
Without any hesitation, the engines began to overwork.
Down below, the hundreds of White Winged Tribe members in pursuit simultaneously let out a strange shriek, firing their attacks one after another, including the sole First Rank member of the tribe.
One could imagine that if this barrage of attacks hit the body of the Cangqiong, the warship's integrity would inevitably be over 80% compromised, but in the end, it was the Cangqiong that was a step faster. Before the hundred plus attacks could reach it, it had already turned into a lingering shadow that vanished above the fragments, reappearing at the edge of a distant void.
Not until he plunged back into the Fragment Belt did the highly focused Song Chi finally let out a sigh of relief, feeling a strong sense of exhaustion wash over his brain.
Below the rift, due to intense concentration, he had broken through the limit of doing two things at once. Because he hadn't dared to relax at all before, he hadn't noticed, but now that he relaxed, the aftereffects immediately became evident.
About this, Song Chi was not surprised and even felt a secret excitement deep inside.
Generally speaking, Torch Ship Captains at Zero Rank, even when their Guidance Technique reaches lv9, can only achieve two things at once. Mastery of three simultaneous tasks is something that requires pushing beyond lv10 and undergoing a sublimation of life's order.
The reason he, currently at lv4 in Guidance Technique, was able to briefly enter a state of Threefold Mind Utilization was entirely built on the high-speed overdraw on his spiritual consciousness, which naturally led to a period of lethargy afterwards.
Of course, it's not to say that all Torch citizens with Guidance Technique below lv10 could enter this temporary limit-breaking state under intense concentration. On the contrary, one in ten thousand might be able to do so. To enter or even control this limit-breaking state often requires specific timing and certain innate gifts.
Therefore, the number of people who could control this technique was few, and each could be considered gifted.
This was the reason for Song Chi's elation. Although a single instance of accidental limit-breaking didn't mean he had completely mastered this special technique, with this experience under his belt, he had the confidence that through long-term practice and attempts, he could eventually master this skill.
He then maneuvered the Cangqiong through the Fragment Belt for several minutes until he was sure that the White Winged Tribe couldn't catch up in the short term, and Song Chi landed Cangqiong on a small fragment.
If he remembered correctly, the scheduled auto-return time for Cangqiong was in a few minutes.
Using this time, he turned to look at the only special component currently loaded on the shuttle: the Fire Peony Soldier Figurine Tree.
As expected, seven of the ten light points on this white component had dimmed, indicating that seven of the ten Fire Peony Soldier Figurines that had fallen to the rift's bottom had been lost so far, leaving only three struggling to hold on.
However, there was an unexpected piece of good news. At some point, two strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin had appeared on the Cangqiong, which meant that before their demise, the seven Fire Peony Soldier Figurines had also taken down two members of the First Rank White Winged Tribe.
Indeed, aside from the constant emanation of Floating Land Origin from the Origin Core, Torch Warships can also obtain Floating Land Origin by killing members of alien civilizations in the Alien Star Domain. The Fire Peony Soldier Figurines were the product of the "Fire Peony Soldier Effigy Tree" component of the Cangqiong, so they could also trigger this feature.
As for the question of why a single First Rank member of the White Winged Tribe only provided one strand of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, this was quite normal; after all, to obtain a single strand of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, one would need to kill ten thousand Zero Rank members of the alien race.
While pondering, the last three light points also dimmed—it meant that all ten Fire Peony Soldier Figurines had fallen.
Despite this, Song Chi didn't feel sorrowful. The ten Fire Peony Soldier Figurines weren't gone forever after being lost; they would be available for summoning again after a 24-hour buffer.
After checking the status of the Fire Peony Soldier Figurine Tree component, Song Chi's gaze swept the cabin; he was very curious about the Warship component that had come from the First Rank Floating Land Origin Core that he had obtained with great difficulty.
No sooner had he entered the cabin than Song Chi's eyes gleamed. The focal point wasn't the component itself, which was the size of a palm near the cabin door, but the dazzling purple light it emitted.
It was clear that the Torch Warship component, which resulted from the Nuclear Fusion Engine lv0
Quality: Purple
...
Before he could finish examining, a slight sensation of weightlessness suddenly hit him, and as time progressed, this sensation of weightlessness was intensifying.
Realizing something, Song Chi immediately withdrew his gaze and returned to the pilot seat with the utmost speed.
Just as he fastened his seatbelt, the sensation of weightlessness reached its limit, followed by a dizzying whirl.
In the suburbs of Jiangyuan City, at the ultra-long-range Starry Sea launch platform, the crowd was significantly smaller than the sea of people from yesterday, yet still close to three thousand citizens had gathered.
At this moment, the expressions on the faces of the more than two thousand people present were mostly one of deep concern, revealing the anxiety parents and elders felt for their children.
To awaken the Seed of Torch and command a Torch Warship is indeed a shortcut to heaven for everyone, granting an extraordinary social status. However, this shortcut is not a broad avenue, but one bristling with thorns.
Each foray into the Alien Star Domain, to put it nicely, is a mix of danger and opportunity. To phrase it unpleasantly, it is a life gamble repeated over and over. If you bet right, you live; if you bet wrong, death is the only outcome.
All the parents present understood this, yet they had no choice but to proceed, because it is one of the few opportunities for common people to turn their fortunes around.
If one of their descendants could make it just a little further on the path of Torch Warship operation, the entire family could benefit from it, and even leap to become a newly emerging Torch Family, easily carrying on the legacy for hundreds or even thousands of years.
For the average citizens within the domain of Torch Human Civilization, this is almost a common goal pursued by everyone.
Hum hum hum!
Amidst the intense humming sounds, the anxious parents finally saw the beam of light piercing the heavens light up again. When the light dissipated, the once empty launch platform had nearly a hundred Spectral Shuttles appear on it.
These were the first hundred Spectral Shuttles launched yesterday. However, looking at the numbers, out of the hundred people, only ninety-four had returned.
"All students, listen to the command, immediately fly away from the launch platform."
Outside the launch platform, the Torch Bureau officers' directives rang out immediately. One after another, the Spectral Shuttles began to leave the platform, freeing up space for the subsequent return of the Spectral Shuttles.
...
Nearly two hours later, all the students from this year's awakening in Jiangyuan City had returned. According to the statistics of Jiangyuan's Torch Bureau, there were 1032 successful Awakeners, and the actual number of beneficiaries was 1032, with 980 successfully returning.
That means the number of students who died or were lost in the Alien Star Domain for unknown reasons totaled 52.
It's a figure that couldn't be more normal, but the atmosphere on site was inexplicably heavy because these weren't mere numbers; they were fifty-two living beings.
The heavy atmosphere didn't linger too long in the hearts of the students. On their ride back to the school on the hovercar, the students from the First Torch Academy excitedly began to exchange stories. In the "First Torch Academy Class of 255 Awakening Students' Exchange Group" created by the academy, the chatting was incredibly lively.
"{Class 10 'Lu Jie'}: What did everyone gain this time?"
"{Class 3 'Zhou Lu'}: Hahaha, my luck wasn't too bad. I came across an asteroid belt and got 30 tons of 'uranium ore'."
"{Class 4 'Zhang Chao'}: Envious, a ton of uranium ore is worth 8 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, 30 tons is 240 strands. Why did I only find Fine Iron, and just a pathetic amount of less than 60 tons, sob sob sob."
"{Class 5 'Sun Hao'}: Envy +1, big shot please bring me with you."
...
After glancing at the chat history in the group, Song Chi turned to look at Sun Hao sitting next to him.
"Haozi, how did you do this time?"
While typing on his communication bracelet, Sun Hao spoke softly,
"50 tons of gas ore."
Hearing the words "gas ore," Song Chi's eyebrows twitched slightly, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
Gas ore was a high-rank resource, rumored to be used in the enhancement of high-quality warship components, thus its value was always high. On the market, one ton could typically sell for 10 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin.
"500 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, and you're envious of others?"
Clicking to close the communication light screen, Sun Hao let out a chuckle and draped his muscular left arm over Song Chi's shoulder.
"Brother Chi, you still don't know me. What's the use of glory in front of others? Keeping a low profile is my life motto!"
Lowering his head to glance at the other's arm, which was thicker than his own thigh, Song Chi really couldn't see how a hulking figure nearly two meters tall and weighing close to one hundred and fifty kilograms, who attracted attention wherever he went, could possibly be associated with the words 'low profile'.
Ignoring Song Chi's eye roll, Sun Hao quickly responded with a question:
"What about you, Brother Chi?"
"10 tons of Mithril."
Song Chi casually put forward the 10 tons of Mithril, not that he intended to hide anything, but the 600-plus tons of purple copper could not be explained.
He was very clear that the golden finger of Zhu Tian Ruins Market should never be exposed, otherwise he would be faced with endless trouble.
Being able to randomly trade with Alien Races throughout the Shattered Starry Sea was a valuable and unimaginable Strange Object.
And that Purple Quality component, the "Nuclear Fusion Engine," he hadn't thought about exposing that yet either. The engine Component of Purple Quality was also valuable and might invite covetous stares.
As for whether he would keep it for himself, trade it through the black market, or through the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, he hadn't decided yet.
He was leaning more towards using it himself. An engine of Purple Quality would be sufficient for him to use for a long time to come.
Just then, an astonishing message suddenly appeared in the chat group.
"{Class 1 "Deng Chang"}: Basic Component, Blue Quality Main Cannon "Superconductive Laser Cannon," interested brothers are welcome to DM, attached is a JPG of the Superconductive Laser Cannon attributes."
Superconductive Laser Cannon lv0
Quality: Blue
Consumption: 20/shot (Spectral Energy Points)
Attack: 15
Charge: 5s; Buffer: 10s
UpRank Requirement: 3 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, 300 Spectral Energy Points
Once this information appeared, the chat group exploded.
"Is it real? A Blue Main Cannon? @Class 1 "Deng Chang," did you get this from the latest exploration? Awesome, man."
"Damn, I don't even have a white Component, and the big guy's already showing off a Blue Component? Wuuuuu."
It wasn't just the students who were stirred up; even the Academy teachers were excited.
"{Class 2 Homeroom Teacher "Huang Guowei"}: @Class1 Deng Chang, if you really want to sell it, we can talk face to face after you return to the Academy."
…
Song Chi's eyes flickered slightly, and he felt somewhat tempted, but he showed no outward sign of it.
"How foolish, not keeping a Blue Quality Main Cannon for oneself!"
Sun Hao's complaint reached his ears, but Song Chi shook his head gently, disagreeing with his view.
"Everyone has their own plan. While a Blue Quality Main Cannon's damage is shocking, if one doesn't have enough resources for Enhancement, they might not even survive the next exploration.
Selling it now for a high price, the resources obtained could be used for a comprehensive Enhancement of the Spectral Shuttle, increasing the survival rate for subsequent explorations in the Alien Star Domain. There are losses and gains; as long as he himself finds it worthwhile, that's enough."