Chapter 455: Recovering Blood Crystals

Lin Xian felt the terrifying offensive power of his mechanical ability for the first time—the shock of this moment surpassed even his initial experience using the gravitational lens.

In that instant, he felt as if he had personally fired a Hyperion directional constraint cannon; the difference was, space-based weapons released energy in a single flash, but Lin Xian held it for at least one second—don't underestimate that second, it drained him completely after his superstring reactor surged to 30, 00 Dan Ling fluctuations, yet the result was undeniably shocking.

At the very least, his plan to concentrate and annihilate the anomalies within the sea vortex had succeeded.

As Lin Xian unleashed the Supercritical Diffraction Sword, one slash cleaved through the air—the entire sea area's large anomalies were nearly wiped clean, their severed limbs oozing black smoke, and the churning, boiling sea surface gradually calmed as the marks on everyone's bodies vanished.

As the anomalies faded, countless eyes fixed upon Lin Xian.

"Huh…" Lin Xian exhaled deeply; this was the first time he had simultaneously unleashed two major techniques, and in that instant he felt his mental energy completely drained.

With the enhancement of three phase rainbow rings, Lin Xian had attained transcendent-level power, yet even so, he nearly exhausted his mental energy—this alone revealed the sheer might of the Supercritical Diffraction Sword.

Though dangerous, the effect was exceptional.

Aside from the South Heaven Gate, Lin Xian now possessed a skill capable of inflicting large-scale damage on anomalies.

Lin Xian piloted his power armor down to the ground; no sooner had his feet touched the surface than Ryan gazed at the churning black smoke around them and said, "Captain Lin…"

"Quick, use your copper ball to collect the blood crystals—don't waste them." Lin Xian cut straight to the point.

Hearing Lin Xian's words, Ryan immediately nodded and turned to Erica behind him: "Go."

Erica cast a complex glance at Lin Xian; her former haughty expression had vanished entirely, and she lowered her head, leading two subordinates forward to retrieve the peculiar taboo object and activate it.

She opened the lead box, then, with her teammates' assistance, placed the copper ball atop a uniquely shaped drone, which swiftly took flight, sweeping over the massive, floating corpses of the anomalies and the swirling black vapors above the sea.

Lin Xian watched closely, his gaze sharpening—he saw that as the drone passed, it emitted a force akin to a gravitational lens, continuously absorbing the black vapors, while blood crystals of all sizes shot up from the sea at high speed and were sucked onto the drone.

What an excellent tool for looting the battlefield!

Lin Xian watched, stunned internally—this device seemed to possess the same black-vapor absorption trait as the Hell Black Chrysanthemum, yet it could directly draw in blood crystals too. He suddenly thought: if this had been available during the Dawn City battle, humanity's gains would have been immense, and it might even have partially blocked S-class anomalies and Corpse Drivers from absorbing dark energy to recover.

"Captain Lin, if not for you, we'd be in serious trouble."

Ryan spoke first, addressing Lin Xian.

On the faces of every member of the Falcon Sea Corps behind him was an expression of barely escaped death; Vanessa and others stared at Lin Xian.

"Captain Lin, I didn't know your ability value had reached transcendent level—did you know eliminating the monster in the vortex would clear all the marks?"

Lin Xian shook his head calmly: "No matter their rank, all anomalies within a region, even when compressed, harbor a territorial presence—this territorial effect manifests primarily in the absorption and coverage of dark energy. During our engagement, all the dark energy flowed toward the vortex, so we had to eliminate it while dealing with the others."

This was also experience gained from the Dawn City battle; judging by the current situation, his decision was correct—but the most crucial factor was still the astonishing power of his divine sword; without it, achieving such results in such a short time would have been impossible.

"Captain Lin is like a god descending—just one slash cleared all the evil spirits at once, truly incredible! No wonder he's the Swordbearer!"

"With such terrifying combat power, could he even stand a chance against an S-class anomaly?"

"Now I believe Captain Lin has killed a Corpse Driver—so powerful!"

Members of the Falcon Sea Corps exclaimed in awe.

Ryan let out a long breath and said to Lin Xian: "Captain Lin, thank you."

Even Azir and Gedi wore expressions of deep gratitude.

Lin Xian shook his head calmly: "Don't celebrate yet." He glanced at the time.

"It's midday now—daylight has barely begun, yet these high-level anomalies have already gone berserk and surged en masse due to the appearance of marks. That's not a good sign. If monsters can now emerge in large numbers during daylight, it means their adaptation to Blue Planet is far faster than human evolution."

Ryan fell silent for a moment, then drew a deep breath: "It's truly strange—I've never seen an attack of this scale during daylight."

"And," Kiki spoke up now, "Qiansang Island lies at the edge of Haiyan Island—yet even this single sea area holds such a scale of anomalies. Imagine how many terrifying things lurk beneath the waters surrounding Haiyan Island—it's a gathering of monsters. Under these conditions, how do we escape? Or even survive tonight? That's the real problem. Even Mount Garan isn't the top priority anymore."

Hearing this, Lin Xian sighed inwardly—Kiki had voiced exactly what he feared most. The scale and speed of the monster assault in such a short time had been lightning-fast, and this was still during daylight. He could clearly sense these monsters' combat power and vitality differed somewhat from those in the night, and with their unprecedented numbers, he couldn't imagine how dire it would be if they faced them at night.

He had originally planned how to use the Skytrain to cross the sea—but now, that idea seemed extremely dangerous.

Lin Xian had believed that with his squad's strength and the Skytrain's mobility, they could still fight back even if they encountered atmospheric creatures in the air. But after the appearance of two Special-class Ghost Rays, he had to abandon the idea.

He looked up at the storm clouds above—violent lightning churned, dark tides surged. Before this, Special-class anomalies were as rare as S-class ones, rarely encountered massive threats. Here, however, he had just seen two at a glance. These monsters could trigger Level 4 marks—forcing a breakout was nearly impossible.

Lin Xian turned to Shizhi: "If we want to escape this island, which direction is safest?"

Shizhi suddenly asked, shrank back slightly, then softly shook her head: "I don't know. Everywhere is filled with those energies—I feel like we've been swallowed whole by a monster's belly. No direction is safe."

At these words, the expressions of Ryan's dozens of team members shifted, all turning to look at Ryan.

Ryan could only sigh in response.

"It's worse than I thought. Even if I repair the Neptune, we won't be able to escape this sea area during daylight."

Under the current circumstances, fleeing outward seemed a dead end, while staying on Haiyan Island and hiding silently in the submarine base left them with Mount Garan—a ticking bomb—truly despairing.

"You should be grateful your Neptune's power core is damaged," Kiki said calmly.

Ryan smiled helplessly: "You're right."

"Hss…"

Iron Arm Azir, hearing Kiki's words, drew a sharp, fearful breath, then looked gravely at Lin Xian: "Captain Lin, what should we do now?"

At this moment, everyone's attention turned to this Swordbearer of the Phoenix Society.

Seeing Lin Xian's worried expression, Kiki changed tone: "Lin Xian, given the current situation, should we still explore the energy drain outlet?"

"Yes." Lin Xian nodded. "We have no better option."