Chapter 37: Visiting the Empire, Section 3

Hei Fa had no idea what awaited him.
Because he was in trouble again.
Damn it, he couldn’t figure out why the star map Wei Li had given him showed such a route. Seven days into normal navigation, Li Feng suddenly found himself in a place that left everyone stunned—a vast expanse of water with almost no boundaries.
It was called vast because Li Feng couldn’t detect its edges at all. Even with the maximum-powered active scanning system, Hei Fa couldn’t find a single open area. Instead, he detected countless planets of various sizes within the water. Only God knew what expressions everyone had when they saw the scan results.
After all, Li Feng’s active scanning could cover half a star system. If it still couldn’t detect the edge of this water body, did that mean it was comparable to a star system? Could there be anything more absurd than that?
The little girl from the Beth family, the handsome guy from the Li Cha family, the octopus crew members, the Blood Wolf pirates—every warrior on Li Feng was stunned at this moment. They stared blankly at the scan results on the screen, mouths agape, unable to speak.
Indeed, the universe was full of wonders. But such a huge body of water was beyond anyone’s imagination. For the first time, they experienced what it meant to be in an ocean. The massive Li Feng seemed insignificant in this water, almost negligible.
Strangely enough, they hadn’t known anything about such a vast water body before entering it. Li Feng had been enveloped in it as soon as it left the warp drive. And what was even more baffling was that once inside, its proud engines suffered a significant drop in performance—unable to function at even 20% of their usual capacity.
“Boss, what’s going on?” The shock eventually led to reaction. Monkey was the first to react, quickly asking Hei Fa. At the same time, it drew the attention of everyone in the cabin. After all, the only one on Li Feng who could stay awake in anti-space was Hei Fa. Who else could they turn to?
Hei Fa shrugged, looking helpless. “I don’t know. This warp jump wasn’t a normal exit. We were forced out after reaching this coordinate. I checked just now. Thankfully, the energy and engines are fine.”
“Is this really ‘fine’?!” Monkey was stunned and pointed at the screen, shouting. “It’s down to 20%! Boss, 80% of our power has vanished! If this isn’t a problem, then what is?”

But to his surprise, Hei Fa showed no reaction to such a stern inquiry. Not even his eyebrows twitched. He simply gave the monkey a brief glance before speaking slowly, “Yes, it’s not a problem, Monkey. Don’t forget what the Li Feng is.” “The Li Feng? Of course, it’s the greatest heavy assault ship in the universe…” His voice suddenly stopped mid-sentence, and a look of shock appeared on his face. Assault ships… they’re meant for use in space. Damn it, how could he forget that? It was all because he was too accustomed to the Li Feng’s invincibility. He hadn’t considered such a major drawback. Space assault ships were designed with the principles of space in mind—of course, their power would be reduced in water. In fact, as a flagship-class ship like the Li Feng, if it didn’t have some degree of adaptability in water, it would likely be unable to move at all, let alone retain 20% of its power. Of course, this was a common design principle for all warships. After all, warships were designed for air combat—who would drive them underwater unless necessary? And how could the oceans of ordinary planets accommodate such massive vessels? The lack of adaptability in water wasn’t really a flaw, but in this sudden underwater environment, it became apparent. “Then let’s jump again. Since the route is correct, we’ll have to use anti-space to avoid this troublesome underwater area. Though it’s fascinating, we don’t have time to waste on it,” Monkey said helplessly after thinking for a moment, spreading his hands. The crew members nodded in agreement. Indeed, the underwater environment was beautiful. Looking out the window, the waves of blue swayed, appearing crystal-clear under the starlight. But this didn’t make anyone particularly fond of it. Everyone knew that in space travel, safety came first. If safety couldn’t be ensured, there was no room for leisure. Though the underwater scenery was like a dream, the Li Feng’s 20% power was right there. What if enemies suddenly appeared? Wouldn’t they be in great trouble? However, they didn’t get the expected response. A wry smile appeared on Hei Fa’s face. “I’m sorry, Monkey. I’m afraid we can’t jump now.” “Huh? Why?” Everyone was shocked. “Because our power isn’t enough to break through space,” Hei Fa explained helplessly, spreading his hands.

As is well known, the limit of normal space is precisely the starting point of reverse space. Therefore, warships generally use two methods to enter reverse space. One is to directly extract the core energy and release it through specialized conduits, accelerating to near-light speed before exiting the ship. In this way, the energy jet, moving faster than light, disrupts the spatial balance, meeting the requirements to reach the starting point of reverse space and thus opening a path therefor. This method is simple and fast, and it is the most commonly used transition method for all warships.

The other method is more complicated and is usually only used when the transition system is damaged. In such cases, the energy cannot be released externally, so it’s impossible to directly open a path to reverse space. The only option is to keep accelerating the warship. As long as it can reach light speed in normal space, it will successfully break through into reverse space at that moment.

But now, it’s obvious that neither of these two methods can be used by the Li Feng warship. With water all around for energy release, the released energy can never reach light speed, making it impossible to open a spatial portal. As for accelerating the warship, with only 20% of its power, how could it possibly reach light speed in such a resistive environment like water?

This is truly a dilemma. Perhaps even the designers of the warship never imagined that one day it would have to navigate such a vast aquatic environment. In ordinary oceans, as long as the ship can rise above the water, transition is not a problem.

“Damn it! Do we have to crawl here bit by bit?” Monkey punched the control panel in frustration.

Like him, the mood of everyone around him gradually soured, with grim expressions on everyone’s faces.

After all, the detection results were clear—how long would it take to escape such a huge aquatic area under normal conditions? It seemed they might still be swimming in the water even after everyone present had died.

But the next words from the black-haired man immediately brought them hope.

“Actually, there’s not completely no solution. It just takes some time.”

“What solution?” Monkey’s eyes lit up immediately as he pressed for an answer.

“Find a bubble,” the black-haired man said with a smile, pointing at the crystal-blue liquid outside the window. “As long as we can find a bubble in this water that can accommodate the Li Feng warship, we can complete the transition in the gas environment inside the bubble. After all, compared to the constraints of liquid, gas imposes much less resistance on speed.”

“That’s true, but huge bubbles big enough to hold the Li Feng must be extremely rare. I doubt they even exist. As for the waters outside, though I don’t know how they were formed, their scale is enormous. We’ll waste a ton of time.” The monkey muttered, yet still agreed with the black-haired man’s suggestion.

“Don’t worry,” said the black-haired man. He stood up, walked to the porthole, and gazed at the crystal-clear view outside, his expression calm. “Consider it a way to relax. After all, we’re already here, and there’s nothing we can do about it. The star chart Wei Li gave me is accurate; we must keep moving forward. I think, even though these waters are vast, the larger they are, the more likely there are to be bubbles. Let’s first check the nearby planets; maybe there’s something worth our attention there.”

“That’s the only option,” sighed the monkey, sitting back at the control panel.

Soon after, a large number of bubbles emerged from the thrusters at the back of the Li Feng, and it finally began to move slowly.

To be honest, although this accident wasn’t what the black-haired man and the others had planned, sailing through these waters was undoubtedly an adventure.

Just imagine—a boundless expanse of water, with the Li Feng’s massive hull moving through it like a small fish. How delightful! Moreover, these waters were different from Earth’s deep seas. They weren’t dark; on the contrary, illuminated by the surrounding stars, they were extremely transparent. If possible, some of the crew members really wanted to open the Li Feng’s doors and go outside to explore.

But they all knew that was just an unrealistic fantasy. No matter how beautiful the waters were, they were still made of liquid. Without proper analysis, no one would dare to venture into unknown liquids. Who knew what would happen if they stepped outside? What if the liquid in these waters was highly acidic? They’d be melted instantly!

So, the atmosphere aboard the Li Feng gradually became oppressive. No one was in as good a mood as the black-haired man had described. They simply stared solemnly at the picturesque scenery outside the porthole, their mood growing heavier by the moment. Everyone had only one thought in mind… bubbles—finding huge bubbles big enough to hold the Li Feng!!

Suddenly… one of the crew members exclaimed excitedly.

“Look over there!! Captain, I think we’ve found it!!”