Surface Crystallization Patterns

"We've detected a signal from an unknown civilization. Designation: 'Crystallized Raiders'!" Shipboard AI's alarm rang out. "They can crystallize matter and absorb Crystal Energy. Their ships' armor is three times as hard as that of an ordinary warship!" The Crystallized Raiders' warships detected the Starvault-IV and swung their cannons around, firing a blue Crystal Energy beam. Chu Yunyi immediately activated the Ion Shield. The beam struck the shield, showering it with sparks, and its Shield Energy dropped by 12% in an instant.

Even stranger, crystalline dust carried in the beam clung to the shield's surface and began slowly crystallizing it. "Their Crystal Energy can crystallize matter!" Chu Yunyi activated the Shield Vibration System, shaking off the crystalline dust with high-frequency vibrations. At the same time, he piloted the Starvault-IV in a swift evasive maneuver, putting distance between it and the crystallized warships. Just then, more crystallized warships emerged from the depths of the starfield. More than fifty in all, they closed in on the Starvault-IV from every direction.

The Crystallized Fleet's Encirclement and the Development of Crystal Energy Resistance Armor

The crystallized warships deployed a Crystal Net Trap—a massive net woven from Crystal Energy Threads, its meshes releasing crystallizing energy that rapidly crystallized anything they touched. The Starvault-IV was caught in one of the nets, and Crystallization Patterns began forming across its hull as its speed plummeted. Chu Yunyi activated Star Core Energy Overload, unleashing a burst of golden energy from within the ship that broke through the net. But the Crystallization Patterns on the hull did not disappear. Instead, they continued to spread slowly.

"We have to develop Crystal Energy Resistance Armor!" Chu Yunyi linked the Starvault-IV's reserve-materials bay with its Biology Laboratory, using the Star Crystal Core's energy properties and the ship's metal alloys to quickly synthesize Crystal