Chapter 480: Superconducting Lightning Sword

Whoosh!

Above a certain region of the Pacific, the low roar of a star-drive propulsion array echoed, shaking the air over the sea; eight main engine nozzles on the belly and stern of the Sky Infinity power ship spewed indigo ion streams, their energy trails evaporating into kilometer-long mist corridors within the downpour, as if a celestial god had cleaved the ocean’s curtain with a blade of light.

“Viola, lower altitude again.”

On the main bridge, all crew members were on high alert; though it was daytime, after plunging into the hurricane zone, rain had begun to pour, obscuring the sun. Low-altitude storm clouds were detected overhead, forcing Lin Xian to order Viola to continuously reduce flight altitude to avoid detection by potential monsters within the clouds.

The Sky Infinity skimmed low over the sea, thundering with each pass; its hull generated a vacuum shockwave ring, compressing seawater into a hundred-meter-wide depression while wave walls erupted outward in razor-edged bursts.

A primary weapons module had been added to the front of the Sky Infinity’s lead vessel, and Lin Xian had reinforced the bow with three layers of defensive systems: beyond its super-carbyne alloy hull, it now carried electrostatic field generators to resist energy weapons and fine particle streams, a high-energy plasma pulse array for active defense, and explosion-resistant high-temperature composite armor for frontal impacts and post-explosion rebooting.

With this module, the Sky Infinity had been upgraded from a mere “Star Orbital Transport Vessel” into a true “Far-Star Colony” weapon system with autonomous defense capabilities.

At this moment, Xiang Ningjing, Shu Qin, Bai Xiaoqing, and others operated from the weapons vessel, monitoring and preparing to fire; triple-track star-shaking railguns and plasma cannons stood ready for engagement. Chen Sixuan, Lu Chang, Luo Yang, and others managed the information systems. Shasha served as the pilot, while the rest remained on standby on the bridge or in functional modules. Only Sun Yuzhen, Mo Xiaotian, Ding Junyi, and Xiao Yuan were exempt from combat, handling logistics in the living quarters.

Huo Ge stood alone at the foremost window of the main bridge, his eyes flickering with starlight, a haughty smile curling his lips as he laughed aloud at the churning rain and the shattered waves before him:

“Woo-hoo-hahahaha! This is my battlefield! Sky Infinity, tear through this chaotic rain curtain, crush these monstrous waves—my steel giant body towers above heaven and earth! This hurricane and downpour? Merely dust brushing my face—look! The thrill of cleaving through waves makes the Sea God tremble and the Cloud Demon flee! This is the destiny befitting a true hero! World, bear witness: this path of unyielding breakthrough is my first step toward conquering the cosmos! Come, storm, fiercer still—my Weaving Flame shall scour this world, hahaha!”

Boom!

Yet before his boldness could fully unfold, a plasma cannon on the forward weapons vessel fired unexpectedly—a flash of plasma streaked diagonally upward, striking and exploding within a cloud layer. Beneath the blue flash, a strange black shadow erupted from the clouds, swirling through the mist before tumbling into the distant waves: a winged demon creature.

“Captain Lin, radar detected low-altitude lifeforms—I’ve activated the onboard weapons for automatic target acquisition and counterattack!”

Xiang Ningjing’s voice crackled over the main bridge’s comm channel.

“Good. Don’t hold back.”

Lin Xian’s face darkened as he turned to Huo Ge: “Huo Ge, Mo Nika, Shizhi—you three to the Sky Bridge. Bai Bai, Kiki, Long Zhijie—you go to the lower decks. Scout and respond to threats in the air and sea. Our speed is too high, our altitude too low—our defensive coverage and reaction time may not keep up.”

“Got it.” Mo Nika rose instantly from her chair and strode out of the bridge. Shizhi followed behind. Huo Ge, now entrusted with a critical mission, snapped to attention, rolling his sleeves and hurrying after them.

“Kiki.” Lin Xian called out to her. “Besides protecting Bai Bai, make sure nothing collides directly with us.”

“Got it~” Kiki snapped her fingers, summoning her plasma blade drone. Long Zhijie gave Lin Xian a silent nod, then immediately sprinted off.

Starship flight and train sprinting were entirely different: trains ran on tracks, but beneath them now lay only the boundless, bottomless ocean, where colossal, bizarre entities might lurk. At this speed, any collision would be catastrophic—even possible disintegration of the aerial modules. That’s why aerial units were far more dangerous.

“Lin Xian!”

Chen Sixuan, temporarily serving as tech officer, turned from her seat, face grim: “A super-sized tropical storm zone is less than a hundred nautical miles away!”

“What bad luck—we were clear skies just moments ago,” Qian Dele grumbled.

“It’s not just the weather here,” Chen Sixuan recalled the storm she’d endured on the Palma Snowfield. “Watch for dark aberrations.”

“I know.”

Lin Xian turned to Viola: “How long until we reach Hawaii?”

【At current speed, estimated arrival: seven hours. Considering positioning error and dark aberration interference with visual interfaces, expect approximately one hour of deviation. Recommend preparing for this.】 Viola replied flatly. 【Normally, starship manuals permit supersonic transit through storm zones. But given the threat of aberrations, I advise reducing cruise speed to avoid collision incidents.】

“Slow down…” Lin Xian frowned. “We can’t even guarantee arrival before nightfall at this speed—if we slow further, it’s impossible.”

“And even if we make it, is the island safe? What if it’s another Haiyan Island, crawling with a hundred demons? We won’t be able to land.” Qian Dele turned to Luo Yang. “Hey, can we detour around this storm?”

Luo Yang immediately shook his head, removing his headphones. “Impossible. Strictly speaking, we’re already inside the storm zone. To detour and reach land before nightfall, we’d need to accelerate to at least 4 Mach. At that speed, maneuvering and firepower defense become nonexistent—it’d be even more dangerous.”

Lin Xian shook his head. “Supersonic flight won’t kill us fast enough. No other choice—we must risk penetrating the tropical storm.”

He immediately spoke into the comm: “No matter what happens, the primary objective is to protect Sky Infinity and escape. Ignore everything else. If we get tagged, deal with it once we reach the island!”

“Understood.”

“Got it!”

“Ningjing, Shu Qin—prepare decoy missiles. We’ll deploy them in batches across the storm zone, preemptively.”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Beneath the black sky, the Sky Infinity, trailing blue flames, thundered through the rain. The weapons vessel’s missile silos opened in rows; eight small missiles launched simultaneously, streaking left-forward and right-forward in winged formations, then detonating within the cloud layers dozens of nautical miles away.