Night fell silently, and the sea returned to stillness.
The last group of crew members who were tallying casualties on deck dispersed, leaving only the sailors on night watch pacing back and forth on the bridge.
Xiao Mu went down to the lowest level engine room alone.
There was no one here—the repair team had finished their work and left half an hour ago; only the low hum of the seawater coolant circulating in the pipes remained.
He walked to the maintenance hatch at the bottom of the hold, squatted down, and placed his palms on the cold, hard armor of the hull.
Second Soul Skill: Quantum Tunneling.
His hand pierced through the steel plate, his arm, shoulder, and half his body sinking in, as if he had been submerged in a wall of liquid metal. His fingertips touched the cold seawater, and then the Underwater Reconnaissance Drone magnetically locked to the hull.
He grabbed the reconnaissance plane and the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone together and slowly withdrew his arm. The whole process took less than 30 seconds. The ship's bottom armor remained intact, not even a single rivet had come loose.
Xiao Mu stored the Soul Bone and the reconnaissance aircraft in his Storage Soul Tool, patted the rust off his knees, and walked back to the deck via the gangway in the engine room.
A night breeze caressed his face, and the sea was bathed in a layer of shimmering moonlight. A few seagulls, returning home late, swept past the masts. In the corridor, he bumped into Xu Xiaoyan, who was carrying a bowl of hot milk.
"Where did you go?" Xu Xiaoyan tilted her head to look at him.
"Go get your things." Xiao Mu took the milk from her hand, took a sip, and said, "It tastes good."
"I think I know what it is!" Xu Xiaoyan looked into his eyes and didn't press for details. Xiao Mu didn't say anything either; he didn't even know the effects of the Soul Bone.
He planned to go back and use the laboratory equipment to examine it. If it didn't work, it seemed like no one else was suitable for this Soul Bone.
The compatibility of the Soul Bone's attributes is still very important.
I don't know what the octopus's properties are.
Time flies at sea.
Apart from the Sea Soul Beast uprising, the rest of the voyage was calm and peaceful. The giant ship steadily cleaved through the deep blue sea, heading towards the Star Luo Continent day and night.
Xiao Mu's daily life was filled with two things: eating and getting beaten. To be precise, he was eating and getting beaten at the same time under Mu Ye's guidance.
Mu Ye's training methods were simple and brutal. First, he would beat you until you couldn't get up, then let you get up to eat, and after you finished eating, he would continue beating you. The makeshift training ground on the deck became the place where Xiao Mu spent the most time every day, even more than the dining hall.
That afternoon, Mu Ye punched Xiao Mu in the chest. For an ordinary person, this punch would have broken all the ribs. But Xiao Mu's body underwent a strange change the moment he was hit.
His chest caved inward, not like a fracture, but his entire torso stretched and deformed like rubber. The force of the punch was evenly distributed throughout his body, and then his body bounced back, completely unharmed, without even a red mark.
Mu Ye withdrew his fist, looked at his knuckles, then at Xiao Mu, his eyes full of doubt. "What is your body made of? Jelly? Rubber? I've been beating you for half a month, and you haven't broken a single rib, but my wrist is starting to hurt."
Xiao Mu stretched his shoulders, his bones making a slight cracking sound, before returning to normal. "Just molecularize my body. Ordinary physical attacks are useless against me. Slashes, blunt weapons, shockwaves—anything purely physical damage, my body will automatically deform and absorb it."
Mu Ye was silent for a moment, then took off his training gloves and threw them on the table. His tone was a mix of sighing and cursing, "So, if you really want to hurt me, you either need elemental attacks, cutting techniques, or a direct attack on my soul? Someone like you is only good for infuriating your opponents on the battlefield."
"Now that you've developed this ability, most people can't handle you!"
Xiao Mu didn't reply, but picked up a steaming rice ball from the table and took a bite.
He would eat after training, then train again after eating, and within half a month he had gotten used to this rhythm.
Chewing on a tuna-filled rice ball, he leaned against the ship's railing, gazing at the increasingly clear coastline in the distance—the outline of the Star Luo Continent was already faintly visible through the sea mist.
When the giant ship docked in Star Haixing City, the largest port city in the Star Luo Empire, the pier was already packed with people waiting to greet it. The Star Luo Empire's protocol officials and the Royal Knight Corps ' honor guard surrounded the port.
Flowers and ribbons were tossed from the dock, a band played a welcoming tune, and several children rode on their fathers' shoulders waving small flags embroidered with the crown emblem of the Star Luo Imperial Family.
"So many people." Na'er leaned on the gangway railing and looked down, startled by the dense crowd of people on the dock.
Luo Qinghan walked up to them, a rare smile appearing on her face, "The news of you beating us in the exchange competition has already spread throughout the Star Luo Empire. You're celebrities now, so be prepared to be surrounded by onlookers. They'll probably invite you to the main competition."
"Is that so? I'm invincible, he can do whatever he wants." Xiao Mu was not afraid of Long Yue.
That evening, Star Luo Empire officials arranged for them to stay overnight at the best seaside hotel in Haixing City.
The following morning, a silver-white Soul Guidance Train pulled up in front of the hotel.
This is not an ordinary train; it is a special welcoming train reserved for the Star Luo Imperial Family. The train is painted with crown patterns, and the edges of the windows are trimmed with dark gold. The entire train has only twelve carriages, each equipped with a separate reception room and bedroom.
On the platform, the Dean of Studies of the Star Luo Royal Academy was already waiting, accompanied by several civil officials dressed in court attire, making quite a grand entrance.
As the train started moving, the white sand beaches and palm trees of Haixing City were gradually left behind. The scenery outside the window changed from the coast to the plains, and then from the plains to rolling hills.
Long Chen leaned back on the sofa in the private compartment, crossed his legs, and looked out the window. " The Star Luo Empire people really know how to spend money on hospitality. They even sent out a royal train; they're treating you like state guests."
Xiao Mu sat opposite him, watching the farmland and villages rushing past the window without saying a word.
He was still pondering whether he would encounter any of the Green Skull's men, but perhaps this was part of their plan.
This is clearly necessary.
The train passed through a hilly area, and the scenery outside the window changed from farmland to low mountains. Na'er was lying by the window counting sheep on the distant hillside, Xu Xiaoyan was dozing off on Xiao Mu's shoulder, and Gu Yue was turning the pages of a book.
The warning lights inside the carriage suddenly came on. Outside the window, a dozen dark figures rose from behind the ridge and approached the train at an extremely fast speed.
Each mech's outer shell was painted with a skull pattern, which looked particularly dazzling in the afternoon sunlight.
They weren't many in number, but their formation was neat, clearly indicating they had come prepared.
Judging from the quantity, it's much less than the original work.
Perhaps some variables are missing.
Xiao Mu patted Xu Xiaoyan's shoulder. She rubbed her eyes and sat up straight. When she saw the skull-painted mechs outside the window, her sleepiness instantly vanished.
"Danger! Wake up!"