Chapter 920: Ascending Assault

Lei En used a mental force field to support the Iola Core, flying toward one side of the Star Destroyer.

Inside the hull, mechanical transmission sounds rang; a piece of armor at the edge opened, lowered to the ground, revealing a massive gate about thirty meters wide and over twenty meters high, large enough for an ancient dragon or a Titan Giant to pass through.

The others followed Lei En onto the gently sloping deck, entering the interior of the Star Destroyer.

The view was a hangar spanning several thousand square meters, with a highly stable linear light fixture overhead that made the hangar as bright as daylight.

The metal‑cast floor was flat as a mirror, spotless.

Walls, ceiling, gate, stairs… everything visible was almost entirely metal‑cast; the smooth surfaces had clearly undergone special treatment, showing no rough spots, no reflection, with hard, cold lines that gave an uncanny geometric beauty.

The complex mechanical circuits and rune arrays were concealed, giving a clean and bright appearance.

Anxiwodasi and the others were seeing this design style for the first time; it was an unprecedented experience, making them extremely curious yet at a loss for description.

In terms of their past lives, they'd call it sci‑fi industrial style.

But in Ai Lun E Si's world there is no concept of "sci‑fi"; everyone simply felt that everything before them was uniquely distinct.

At the same time, they sensed that every detail of this unique design contained wisdom and principle, not merely for aesthetics.

As the group entered the hangar, a rumbling sound came from behind.

Turning back, they saw the massive gate automatically closing, yet Lei En made no move, clearly indicating that every part of the Star Destroyer was under his mental control.

The hangar walls bore several metal doors.

Lei En led the group to one; the heavy door slid open to both sides automatically, revealing a wide corridor, which they entered calmly.

Anxiwodasi, upon entering the corridor, glanced at the doorway; the door had three layers, each over a meter thick, etched with rune arrays. When closed, its alloy hardness alone was astonishing, and with protective runes, even the Nine-ring Technique might not break it.

He had also noticed the hangar's main door earlier; its armor thickness was even more staggering, comparable to a city wall!

In the corridor, a metal gate appeared every few dozen meters.

The group couldn't help but click their tongues in amazement.

Even a single corridor was this tight; with Lei En guiding, an enemy invasion would be virtually impossible.

They instinctively compared it to the Nakexas floating city and found it incomparable. As the master of the Weizelan floating city, Anxiwodasi had to admit that, in internal defense design, Weizelan was far inferior to Lei En's Star Destroyer.

Lei En walked while giving a brief introduction: "The Star Destroyer has seven decks in total. The lower four are the main hull; the third deck has the largest and most crucial space, because its latter half houses the power chamber, where the Iola Core is installed."

"The bottommost first deck contains the hangar and cargo bay; the second deck above is the combat zone and ammunition depot; the fourth deck holds the Titan Furnace, supplying power to the Electric Light Cannon and the Star Destroyer's main cannon."

"The fifth deck is the crew's quarters, training and living area."

"The sixth deck is also a living area."

"The topmost seventh deck is the bridge that commands the whole ship's combat, also the Star Destroyer's control center."

Although he was not overly detailed, Anxiwodasi and the others listened with great interest; some terms were novel, such as "hangar," "ammunition depot," and "bridge," likely coined by Lei En, yet they were straightforward enough to grasp at a glance.

"Boss, are we heading to the third‑deck power chamber?" Bo Erqi asked.

"Exactly."

Lei En smiled and nodded.

The bright, wide corridor was long, passing more than ten junctions and turns, riding two lifts, as if traversing a massive maze for nearly ten minutes, finally entering a hall of several hundred square meters, its walls, floor and ceiling etched with countless runes; each rune array converged at the hall's center, yet the core spot remained empty.

Bo Erqi, on his first visit to such a place, felt like a country folk entering a city, curious about everything; most Extreme Warriors also felt unfamiliar.

However, Anxiwodasi was completely familiar.

This is the floating city's control room!

Yet, after close observation, he found that the power chamber differed from the floating city's control room: the rune arrays were denser, but the usable spells were fewer, no longer for attack but focused on protection and propulsion.

"Everyone step back a bit."

The group lingered outside the power chamber, watching through glass as Lei En carried the Iola Core inside, reaching the core of the rune array.

He removed the outer crate, revealing a crystal sphere emitting a dim glow.

Then, hovering mid‑air, he performed the final pre‑installation calibration; Reslin's figure also appeared, assisting him.

A moment later.

Reslin stepped back, leaving Lei En inside.

He inhaled deeply, the mental force field lifting the Iola Core slowly upward, inching toward the rune array's core.

The people outside all held their breath.

Finally, when the Iola Core moved to the exact center of the power chamber, it quivered slightly, and the previously dim crystal sphere burst into blinding light, like a sun, causing the onlookers to instinctively close their eyes or turn away.

Boom—!

A not‑very‑loud roar sounded nearby; when people opened their eyes again, they saw the Iola Core already installed.

It rotated slowly in mid‑air, massive energy surging forth as if endless, injecting the power chamber's rune array from a distance; millions of runes lit up, torrents of energy raced along the etched lines into magical conduits, instantly flooding the entire Star Destroyer.

Almost simultaneously, everyone sensed a change around them.

The Star Destroyer's rune formations were all activated!

First came spatial lockdown—teleportation spells were unusable inside the warship; then bodies lightened as anti‑gravity fields and buoyancy techniques took effect; shortly after, a fabricated gravity field engaged, letting everyone stand steadily on the metal floor again.

Then, people felt themselves rising—more precisely, the Star Destroyer was ascending.

"Success!"

Ma Li Wu Si and the Extreme Warriors shouted excitedly.

Suddenly the scene shifted; everyone found themselves transported to another spot, still inside the Star Destroyer but now at its highest point.

It was a spacious hall, as bright and tidy as other parts of the warship, except its four walls and ceiling were transparent, offering a direct view outside. In the center stood a circular platform bearing a silver‑gray metal armchair, facing the ship's bow.

The group realized this must be the bridge Lei En had mentioned.

Lei En was already seated on the metal chair, raised a hand in a gesture, and a semicircular glass screen rose beneath his feet, displaying rows of text and images.

The text kept changing, and the images refreshed continuously.

The onlookers could not understand.

Anxiwodasi stepped closer, glanced twice, noting that the screen's characters matched the symbols etched on the warship's armor—clearly the same system—but he asked no further.

He is more concerned about this kind of control‑center model.

Those texts and images intuitively display the Star Destroyer's status, allowing constant grasp of its changes.

"Lei En, is this the Star Destroyer's console?" Anxiwodasi asked.

"Yes, Master."

"Very creative, and it looks useful." Anxiwodasi nodded approvingly. "If you have time, share it with me; I'll see whether Weizelan's Fu Kong Cheng can be modified similarly."

Lei En naturally agreed at once.

But he didn't think the Fu Kong Cheng could be successfully altered, because his own method relied on the split‑brain crystal's supercomputing power to gather data into a single system and project it onto a screen. Although this is only a relatively crude integration platform, without the split‑brain crystal, magic alone could not achieve it.

"Liftoff! Liftoff!"

Borch pointed at the bridge exterior and shouted.

The Extreme Warriors kept watching as strong lights flashed across the Star Destroyer's armor, illuminating a wide area so the hull could be seen in the dark. The Star Destroyer, which had been on the ground, now broke free, rose smoothly, and accelerated ever faster.

The Star Destroyer, as heavy as a mountain, rose swiftly as if weightless.

Oroin's eyes were sharp; he noticed a nearly completely transparent field surrounding the armor, barely visible in the night, and upon close inspection found it to be over a dozen meters thick, perfectly conforming to the Star Destroyer's shape and shielding the entire warship.

"Is that the Star Destroyer's protective spell?" Oroin asked, feeling the spell seemed familiar.

Anxiwodasi also saw it.

He had assumed Lei En would, like Weizelan, set up a Vejestri Arcane Barrier, forming a solid shield that could also unleash Arcane fire to destroy internal foes.

But this field was clearly not an Arcane Barrier.

"Yes, Master."

Lei En explained: "This is the 'Resisting Field' I have refined many times. Over ten thousand nodes placed on the Star Destroyer's hull shape the field, powered by the Iola Core, raising its defensive power to a level comparable to a Ten-ring Spell."

In truth, he hadn't told the whole story.

The Star Destroyer's field strength surpassed Vejestri's Arcane Barrier; it held a slight edge against both physical and magical attacks.

Of course, this rests on the split‑brain crystal's precise energy control.

He had studied this spell for many years; both powered armor and the Skyward Colossus employ the Resisting Field. It has two advantages: it counters both material and energy attacks, and it provides unidirectional protection without hindering attacks launched outward from within.

These two advantages suit the Star Destroyer's needs better than any other Ten-ring Spell.

The Resisting Field's sole drawback is its lack of offensive capability, which it does not require.

Both Holy Soul Wizards were taken aback.

Because Lei En's words implied he had created a Ten-ring Spell; although it requires the Iola Core to cast, it is indeed a genuine Ten-ring Spell!

Anxiwodasi, pleased, mused, "You may give it a name."

Lei En thought for a moment, then proposed, "How about calling it 'Augustus' Deflection Field'?"

"Fine," Anxiwodasi nodded. "I will record this spell in Weizelan's Grand Library. As your first invented spell, many will be interested in learning it in the future."

Lei En chuckled.

Besides himself, perhaps no one else will be able to master it.

At this point the Star Destroyer had risen to over a thousand meters, allowing a view toward the distant southern Gotham City, its lights blazing. Some sharp‑eyed observers spotted the Star Destroyer, but the great distance and night made it indistinct.

Several Holy Lance Knight squads took off from the city, rushing toward here.

Lei En, not wishing to alarm many, raised his hand and made a vague gesture before his eyes; instantly, an Invisibility Field cloaked the Star Destroyer's surface, vanishing it into the night.

Anxiwodasi couldn't help but nod, a look of admiration on his face.

Invisibility!

This is also one advantage of the Star Destroyer's small size; the Fu Kong Cheng's bulk is so great that even the largest Invisibility Field cannot conceal the entire city, at best creating clouds and light shadows as camouflage, which enemies easily see through.

The Star Destroyer continued its ascent, and the Holy Lance Knight squads quickly lost track of the target.

Soon after, the Star Destroyer pierced through the cloud layer.

Lei En focused his mind; the Iola Core's energy output surged to maximum, all seven engines—three large and four small—raced at full thrust, spouting a high‑temperature flame stream hundreds of meters long.

Boom—boom—boom…

It sounded like deafening thunder, echoing through the high sky.

The Star Destroyer, with a triangular, blade‑like bow, broke the air wave, its speed suddenly soaring, streaking like lightning across the clouds, still accelerating with no sign of slowing, instantly leaving the pursuing Holy Lance Knights far behind.

Borch, watching the clouds below retreat rapidly, turned pale with shock and exclaimed, "It's faster than I can fly!"

A moment later, the Extreme Warriors were also startled.

The Star Destroyer's speed was now comparable to powered armor and would soon surpass it.

Anxiwodasi and Oroin stared at each other.

They had seen many fast‑moving things, but never such a massive, heavy object moving so swiftly.

It's simply unbelievable!

The Fu Kong Cheng can leap between planes, traversing quickly, yet its movement speed is not fast—indeed, it is slow; even an ordinary gryphon can catch up to a flying Fu Kong Cheng. Thus in battle, the Fu Kong Cheng usually hovers, casting spells at foes while its protective barrier repels attacks, like a stalemate—either you die or I perish.

Lei En's Star Destroyer, however, clearly differs; its sheer speed can shake off most enemies and catch fleeing targets.

In comparison, the Fu Kong Cheng is as slow as a snail!

In less than ten minutes, the Star Destroyer had flown beyond the torchlight of the God of Magic statue, no longer seeing Gotham City three hundred li away.

"Boss, where are we heading?" Sicarius asked curiously.

"Sain Plateau," Lei En replied with a smile.

As soon as the words ended, the massive Star Destroyer shuddered violently; the Iola Core's energy, maxed out, burst instantly with a booming crash, and the ship vanished from the sky without a trace, leaving only rippling void circles.

(End of Chapter)