After escaping Shadow Devourer's pursuit, the Orderkeeper had not been given a moment to catch its breath.
The environment deep within the Sleeping Abyss grew increasingly hostile. The viscous darkness had nearly become tangible, pressing against the ship's shields and making them groan under the strain. Their sense of time became even more distorted. Sometimes, it felt as though only an instant had passed, yet the timer showed that several hours had elapsed. The sluggishness in their thoughts also grew more pronounced, requiring greater effort to remain awake.
The navigation system was nearly useless here. They could only rely on the distorted star map within the Crystal Ring and the vague perception of Neji's Divine Eye to painstakingly determine their direction and head toward the coordinates of the Chaos Wedge's sealed region.
Energy consumption had reached an alarming level. Their upgraded reserves were visibly dwindling, while the Purification Field and Order Impact Cannon had consumed enormous amounts of power in the previous battle. Now, they had become luxuries that could only be activated intermittently.
"Energy reserves at forty-two percent. At the current rate of consumption, we can last no more than eight to ten standard days," Xuan said, unable to conceal his anxiety. "And that doesn't include the additional expenditure if we encounter combat."
Eight standard days. In an abyss where time was in chaos, that could mean eighty days—or eight hours.
The pressure hung over everyone's hearts like tangible darkness.
The voyage continued amid silence and torment. They avoided several "vortices" with abnormally violent energy readings and gave a wide berth to dark "reefs" emitting bizarre life-sign fluctuations. Those places likely housed abyssal creatures even more terrifying than Shadow Devourer.
After an unknown amount of time, the point of light representing their target on the navigation map finally no