Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrived. Just a second ago, Song Chi had been relieved that no First Rank White-Wing Clan members had caught up. The next instant, the Cangqiong's rear fuselage suddenly shuddered as a First Rank White-Wing Clan member gave chase from behind, its thrown attack striking the Cangqiong's tail with precision.
Warning: Hull Armor damaged by 34%, hull damaged by 13%. Please repair as soon as possible.
Song Chi's expression changed drastically.
Although the White-Wing Clan's offensive capabilities were generally rather weak—as proven by the dozen or so Zero Rank White-Wing Clan attacks earlier, which had caused less than 6% damage to the Hull Armor—even the lowest damage became terrifying when it crossed an entire rank.
A single strike from the First Rank White-Wing Clan member had destroyed one-quarter of the Hull Armor. This meant that if the Cangqiong took another two or three attacks from it, the hull itself would suffer irreversible damage.
"Activate the basic Nanorobot Repair Pack."
After hurriedly issuing an order to the semi-automated onboard intelligence, Song Chi did not dare let his attention slip in the slightest. He continued controlling the Cangqiong at full force as it raced upward.
His plan was simple. So long as he could escape this rift, he could activate the shuttle's lightspeed cruise without restraint. No matter how fast a First Rank White-Wing Clan member was, its own speed could never reach the speed of light.
Warning: Hull Armor damaged by 36%, hull damaged by 14%. Please repair as soon as possible. Basic Nanorobot Repair Pack activated. Hull Armor repaired by 3%, hull repaired by 4%. Current damage level... Warning: Hull Armor damaged by 35%, hull damaged by 12%. Please repair as soon as possible.
Amid repeated notifications of damage and repair, who knew how much time passed before the Cangqiong shook violently once more, followed by an even more urgent warning from the onboard intelligence.
Hull severely damaged. Current Hull Armor damage: 80%. Hull damage: 62%. Once hull damage exceeds 80%, the shuttle will lose mobility. Please repair as soon as possible.
The First Rank White-Wing Clan member's second attack struck from behind, instantly driving the Cangqiong's hull damage beyond fifty percent.
Yet at that moment, intense delight suddenly burst into Song Chi's eyes. After his unrelenting efforts, the Cangqiong had finally escaped the rift space and returned to the skies above the fragment.
Without any hesitation, the engine began operating under overload.
Below, the pursuing hundred-plus White-Wing Clan members let out strange shrieks in unison and launched their attacks one after another, including the sole First Rank White-Wing Clan member.
It was easy to imagine that if this barrage landed on the Cangqiong's fuselage, its hull damage would definitely exceed 80%. However, the Cangqiong was ultimately faster. Before those hundred-plus attacks could reach it, it became an afterimage and vanished from above the fragment. When it reappeared, it was already at the edge of a distant void region.
Only after charging back into the asteroid belt did the highly focused Song Chi finally let out a long breath, while an intense wave of exhaustion washed over his mind.
Below the rift, his mind had been so intensely focused that he had surpassed the limit of multitasking. He had not noticed it earlier because he had not dared relax at all, but the moment he did, the aftereffects immediately surfaced.
Song Chi was not surprised by this. If anything, he felt faint excitement in his heart.
Generally speaking, even a Zero Rank Kindling Captain whose Guidance Art had reached lv9 could only divide their attention between two tasks. Dividing it among three required Guidance Art lv10 or above, something only possible after one's life level had undergone a sublimation.
Though his Guidance Art was only lv4, he had briefly entered a state of handling three tasks at once entirely by rapidly exhausting his mental energy. Naturally, his mind would remain sluggish for some time afterward.
Of course, this did not mean every Kindling citizen below Guidance Art lv10 could enter this temporary Limit Break state simply by concentrating intensely. On the contrary, those capable of doing so were one in ten thousand. Entering, much less mastering, such a Limit Break state usually required a particular opportunity as well as certain special talents.
Thus, very few people could master this technique, and every one of them could be considered exceptionally gifted.
That was why Song Chi was so pleased. Even if this single accidental Limit Break did not mean he had completely mastered the special technique, with this experience, he was confident that through prolonged practice and experimentation, he could eventually master it completely.
He continued steering the Cangqiong through the asteroid belt for several more minutes. Once he was certain the White-Wing Clan could not catch up anytime soon, Song Chi parked the Cangqiong on a small fragment.
If he remembered correctly, the Cangqiong's active return time would arrive in a few minutes.
Taking advantage of the time, he turned to look at the only special component currently installed on the shuttle: the Fire Sunflower Soldier Tree.
As expected, seven of the ten points of light on the white component had already dimmed. This meant that seven of the ten Fire Sunflower Soldiers at the bottom of the rift had died, leaving only three still struggling to hold on.
However, there was an unexpected gain as well. At some point, the Cangqiong had acquired two strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence. This meant that before dying, the seven Fire Sunflower Soldiers had also taken out two First Rank White-Wing Clan members.
That was right. Aside from Floating Continent Essence Cores continuously producing Floating Continent Essence, Kindling Starships could also obtain Floating Continent Essence by killing alien civilization lifeforms in extraterrestrial starfields. The Fire Sunflower Soldiers were products of the Cangqiong's Fire Sunflower Soldier Tree component, so they could likewise trigger this trait.
As for why one First Rank White-Wing Clan member only yielded one strand of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence, that was perfectly normal. After all, obtaining the same one strand of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence otherwise required killing ten thousand Zero Rank aliens.
While he pondered this, the remaining three points of light dimmed one after another. All ten Fire Sunflower Soldiers had perished.
Song Chi did not feel sad about it. It was not as though the ten Fire Sunflower Soldiers would cease to exist forever after dying this time. After a twenty-four-hour cooldown, they could be summoned again.
After checking the Fire Sunflower Soldier Tree component's status, Song Chi shifted his gaze toward the cabin. He was extremely curious about the starship component transformed from the First Rank Floating Continent Essence Core that he had gone to such extraordinary lengths to obtain.
The moment he stepped into the cabin, Song Chi's eyes lit up. His focus was not the palm-sized starship component near the cabin door itself, but the dazzling purple glow it emitted.
Clearly, this Kindling Starship component transformed from the First Rank Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body was a purple-quality component.
Atomic Fusion Nuclear Engine lv0 Quality: Purple ...
Before he could finish reading, a faint sensation of weightlessness suddenly struck him, and as time passed, it continued to intensify.
Realizing something, Song Chi immediately withdrew his gaze and returned to the pilot's seat at top speed.
Before you continue