Chapter 688: System Dry's

Heimu's fingers tightened slightly on the sensor panel.

She stared at the lingering dust at the bottom of the pit, her perception scanning the fluctuations below at full power.

The pit was deep; her perception probed tens of thousands of meters down before reaching the bottom.

At the pit's base, a magma lake churned slowly, purple‑black magma bubbling and illuminating the surrounding pit walls, which had been laser‑polished smooth as mirrors.

Bai E's signature vanished from her perception range.

Heimu's pupils constricted slightly.

Because she saw it.

A beam of light lit up from the pit's bottom, tens of thousands of meters deep.

A purple‑black, ultra‑thin line, like the first ray of sunrise leaking over the horizon.

Then the ultra‑thin line expanded into the outline of a sword, and the sword's outline broadened into a Light Blade that crossed the whole pit opening.

Buzz.

The Light Blade's arc covered the whole sky, blazing so brightly it hurt the eyes, slashing upward while astonishingly extending outward to both sides.

Cracks in the ground tore open as if by an invisible hand; magma spewed from the fissures, and purple‑black flames traced the Light Blade's path, forming two long rivers.

Heimu slapped both hands on the sensor panel simultaneously.

The Creation Engine's defense system was pushed to its limit in an instant; all armor plates flipped into defense mode, its arms crossed to block the front of the chassis, and a Light Shield thicker than any before sprouted from the hull.

Crack!!!

The Barrier shattered without a doubt.

The feeling of the sword light cutting through the defensive Barrier was much like a hot knife slicing butter.

The remaining sword light, after passing the Barrier, retained its force, slashing diagonally from the Creation Engine's left shoulder; purple‑black armor fragments flew outward from the cut, sparking with arcs and sparks.

The left half of the Creation Engine was completely shattered by that sword.

Red lights flickered chaotically in the cockpit.

The holographic screen erupted with all sorts of Warning messages.

Heimu stood amid the flashing red light, her palm still pressed on the sensor panel.

Her Mana Circuit buzzed from the recent backlash, her palm tingling.

Data streams on the holographic screen jumped wildly, but none of the numbers were good.

She lifted her head, peering through the shattered holographic screen at the figure slowly rising from the pit's bottom below.

Bai E hovered above the massive pit, the crack‑riddled great sword in his hand held horizontally at his side.

The blade still bore the surging purple flame from the earlier slash, its flame tail flickering under the phantom sun disc behind him.

A breath of aura surged straight up from below.

It wasn't murderous intent, but pure numerical crushing.

Bai E's power curve was leaping.

It was stronger than before by more than an order of magnitude.

Then suddenly a violet light engulfed the entire cockpit.

Heimu only managed to blink once.

It was as if someone had painted an entire wall of violet right in front of her.

The surrounding space was pulled away in a chunk, the weightlessness lasting about a few tenths of a second.

When she opened her eyes again, a metal door stood before her.

Star Dome Train.

Dark flooring lay beneath her feet, warm‑hued light strips overhead, and the metal walls reflected her silhouette standing in the middle of the corridor.

She still wore that purple‑black Lolita dress, and the frenzied combat state in the Data Space had been cleanly cut off by the system.

Gray‑white hair slipped down from her shoulders, and her purple‑black eyes blinked.

System Dry's.

Only the system could forcibly sever her combat state in the Data Space and pull her back to the train without any warning.

She could guess the reason: Bai E's power curve had exceeded the safety threshold; continuing would no longer be a test, but a mutual brawl.

Heimu raised a hand to rub her temples; gray‑white bangs slipped through her fingers, she propped her forehead for two seconds, and a sigh that summed a thousand words squeezed out from deep within.

Fine.

She actually still wanted to try a few more moves.

Heimu lowered her hand from her forehead, turned, and walked toward the hidden carriage.

Her high heels clicked crisply on the corridor floor; when she passed the tightly shut door of the carriage, her steps paused—inside it was quiet, and Jizi was probably still dreaming of a Honkai 3 Plot.

She withdrew her gaze and kept walking.

The hidden carriage's door was closed.

Heimu stepped straight through; her body turned into a cluster of purple‑black light particles on the metal door panel, seeped from one side to the other, then re‑condensed into form.

The system stood beside the virtual screen, the violet‑haired doll shell outlined sharply in the screen's cold light, its purple‑red inverted‑cross pupils rapidly scrolling data streams.

"Where are the retrieval results?" Heimu walked to the edge of the sofa, plopped down, and crossed her legs.

The system turned its head; the modified Black Tower Doll face remained expressionless as always.

The purple‑red pupils halted the data scroll, focusing on Heimu's face, and stayed silent for a second.

"At present, further computation is still required."

Heimu shrugged.

As expected.

She rose from the sofa, brushed imagined wrinkles from her skirt, and decided to check on Weng Fa Luo Si's side; the Golden Descendants still lived in her Data Space, so they were old neighbors, and neighborly relations still needed occasional attention.

He just lifted one foot, the heel hadn't touched the ground yet, when Heimu suddenly thought of something.

She swept her hand in front of her, and a semi‑transparent Light Screen unfolded from the air; the screen lit up and the image popped up.

Inside the Star Chariot.

Warm‑colored wall lamps were set into the metal arc cabin wall, and a low hum from the engine came from some direction beyond the screen.

Several members of the Cloud Cavalry sat upright in the front row, each with a stiff expression.

In the corner, the brown‑haired girl curled up on the chair, both hands resting on her knees, her fingertips still trembling slightly, her eyes gazing absentmindedly at the wall lamp, her jade‑green pupils flickering in the warm light.

Heimu stared at the Qingque who was hugging her knees and looking dazed on the screen for two seconds, tapped a finger on the edge of the screen, and, without turning her head, asked the system, "How's the design arrangement for this Sparrow General coming along?"

The system turned around.

The violet‑red pupils looked at Heimu with Calm, then turned to the petite figure curled up in the Star Chariot chair on the screen.

The doll's facial muscles showed not a single twitch, yet its voice carried a determined steadiness.

"Proceeding steadily."

Heimu slightly curled the corner of her mouth.

The purple‑black eyes moved away from the screen and lingered a moment on the system's expressionless face.

She said no more, swept her hand forward to cut a spatial rift, and the purple‑black light scar silently split in the air, its edges rippling with fine magical undulations.

"We can look forward to seeing our Sparrow General display her brilliance now."

As the words fell, she stepped into the rift.

Her figure flashed at the edge of the rift and vanished; the light scar contracted behind her, closing from the middle toward both ends, and the last speck of purple light bounced in the air before extinguishing.