Chapter 21: Rise – Section 7

“Found!!!” The crowd around them immediately cheered and shouted.
“Ha, of course.” Monkey pointed proudly at the screen. Only then did everyone notice that, at some point, a tiny dot had been marked by Monkey within those chaotic curve graphs. Following its coordinates, the pirate beside him immediately activated the holographic observation mode and looked in that direction.
“Huh!? There’s nothing there!”
The crowd was stunned and rushed over to take a look. Indeed, everything in that direction was purple energy crystals—no trace of a life crystal to be seen.
“Deputy captain, could it be you’re mistaken?” a pirate asked cautiously, his forehead covered in sweat from tension.
“You’re the one who’s mistaken. The life crystal is right beneath that energy crystal! It’s invisible!!” Monkey stood up angrily, displeased that someone doubted his work.
But the others didn’t care about that—they were stunned by Monkey’s last word.
Invisible!?
Could that life crystal really be invisible?
Still with black hair, he didn’t doubt Monkey’s words at all. “Send over construction robots right away. Search that area thoroughly.”
“Yes.”
The core of the vortex was completely silent; even the fierce wind had almost shut down all its engines as it floated lazily toward that direction. An armored plate silently sank aside, revealing a dark hole. Soon after, a small construction robot flew out and headed straight for the crystal Monkey had indicated.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the robot’s high-frequency pulse probe easily penetrated the energy crystal. When its four robotic arms lifted the crystal, everyone’s eyes widened.
Sure enough, behind the crystal was a hollow space about two meters in diameter, empty inside. But based on Monkey’s earlier explanation, everyone knew that this seemingly hollow cavity was actually where the life crystal lay. Especially when the construction robot’s arms reached in and touched an invisible object, the entire warship was in an uproar.
“Damn!! Deputy captain!! You’re a genius!!!” The pirates were overjoyed, showering their commander with endless flattery. This also brought a proud smile to Monkey’s face.

Excavating, mining. The robotic workers moved with precision and speed. Soon, that intangible substance was forcibly pulled out of the cave by them and held tightly in their arms. Monkey glanced at the time and gave the order to extract the energy crystals.

At the same time, the black-haired man stood up. He walked over to the porthole and carefully observed the outside scene. “Alright, time is running out. Those who need to go back should do so. Once the robots return to the ship, we’ll leave this place immediately.”

“Understood, Captain!!” The pirates responded promptly, each with a triumphant smile on their face.

Although this exploration was too brief and they didn’t exert much effort, being able to witness the miraculous environment of the energy core made it worthwhile. After all, space exploration today isn’t much different from Earth’s Age of Exploration in the past. Every discovery meant honor and wealth, and as crew members, they felt proud to be part of it.

But before they could move, a shrill alarm suddenly blared inside the ship, shocking everyone. Their eyes turned instantly to Li Feng’s large screen.

There, they saw the regular energy curve twisting drastically, with violent changes taking place.

“Damn it! We’ve run into it after all!!” Monkey understood what was happening as soon as he saw the patterns on the screen and cursed loudly.

An energy tide!! It was an energy tide!!

The pirates looked at each other in confusion. Clearly, they had no idea what was happening with such a rare phenomenon. But from the serious expressions of the black-haired man and Monkey, they subconsciously realized something was wrong.

Sure enough, seeing the violently moving lines on the screen, the black-haired man didn’t hesitate at all. He waved his hand sharply. “Retreat the robotic workers immediately. Everyone, enter hibernation!! Monkey, help me—we need to get out of this hellhole right away.”

“Okay, Boss!” Monkey responded promptly and started operating the controls right away.

Seeing this, how could the pirates not know what was happening? They immediately took action. Some rushed to their hibernation pods, while others, including Baroka, rushed to the nearby control panels and started working frantically.

“Damn it, what are you doing? Didn’t I tell you to enter hibernation right away?” the black-haired man snapped angrily.

“Captain!! Let us help here. Without our help, it will take at least twice as long to start Li Feng,” Baroka replied without looking up, his chubby face covered in sweat.

“Shut up!! Do whatever I tell you to do right away!! You…” The black-haired man’s voice suddenly stopped. Through Li Feng’s window, he saw that about thirty kilometers behind him, space suddenly twisted violently. Visibly, a purple tornado appeared there and expanded at lightning speed. Wherever the tornado passed, energy crystals melted instantly, silently, as if by a ghost.

The energy tide had begun.

Seeing this, the black-haired man could no longer worry about the safety of Baroque and the others. He rushed to the nearest control panel and started operating it. Rows of data streams streamed down from the screen. Li Feng’s preparation work accelerated by more than twice as fast. The robotic worker in the distance also turned around quickly and rushed back as if fleeing for his life.

“Transfer the shield energy interface to the main reactor. Shut down the weapon interfaces, adjust the ship’s orientation, set the main coordinates. Connect the engine pipelines. Connect the secondary energy module.” A series of commands were quickly entered by the black-haired man. Just as the robotic worker entered the ship and the armor plates began to close, Li Feng’s tail emitted a long plume of exhaust and shot forward at high speed.

“Boom!!” A deafening roar echoed. Everyone felt the floor vibrate violently. On the large screen, the gauge representing the defense shield turned blood red instantly. Alarms blared loudly.

“Boss, the initial speed isn’t enough. The energy tide is catching up,” Monkey shouted, drenched in sweat.

If anyone were watching outside at this moment, they would notice that the once faint purple energy tornado had become solid and astonishingly viscous. It absorbed large amounts of free energy and compressed it rapidly, generating a terrifying gravitational pull. Even though Li Feng had already started moving, he was still being drawn toward it little by little. And the energy tide was now less than ten kilometers away from Li Feng!

“Hmph.” With a cold snort, the black-haired man didn’t reply to Monkey. His fingers flew across the control panel with astonishing speed. Finally, he pressed down on a yellow button.

“Bang!!” With a loud explosion, two huge armor plates at the rear of the Wind Blade suddenly burst apart and flew off, thrown far behind in an instant. One after another, more armor plates detached with continuous bangs, as if it were shedding its skin. Freed from such a massive weight, the Wind Blade became like a silkworm that had shed its shell, instantly breaking free from the gravitational pull of the energy tide and reaching its top speed!!

“It worked!!” Monkey shouted loudly. A bright white light flashed from the bow of the Wind Blade, and intense spatial fluctuations spread out. Wherever the ripples passed, the huge hull of the Wind Blade disappeared without a trace.

It sounded complicated, but it actually happened in just an instant. Even Hei Ba only felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and when it lit up again, they had returned to the starting point before entering the vortex. The warships around them were densely packed, on high alert. Upon seeing the reappearance of the Wind Blade, the public channel was filled with cheers.

“The captain is back!! Haha, it must have worked!! Long live the captain!!”

It worked?

Hei Ba looked at the people around him with a bitter smile.

Baroka and the others hadn’t made it in time for hibernation and had been knocked unconscious by the anti-space environment. It was only because the jump distance was short; otherwise, they might not have even survived. Still, it was unlikely these guys would recover within the next month. The mental distortion caused by anti-space wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

But anyway, they had obtained the Life Crystal. Seeing the hibernating crew members gradually returning to their posts, Hei Ba immediately ordered them to send Baroka and the others for treatment. He and Monkey rushed to the engineering bay.

Just as they expected, the mechanical engineer robot was still innocently holding nothing, hiding in a corner. Many of its parts were damaged from collisions, looking pitifully tattered.

“Is this the Life Crystal?” Hei Ba touched the object in the robot’s arms, his expression dark.

“It’s my first time seeing it too, Boss. Why are you asking me?” Monkey was also confused, but when he touched this intangible substance, a hint of joy appeared on his face.

It’s amazing. At first, hearing the name “Life Crystal,” he thought it would look like a crystal. Only now, after obtaining it, did he realize it could also become invisible. Just this feature alone made it extremely valuable. He wondered if such crystals could be mass-produced. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be one of the ideal materials for warships?

So, should it be returned to that mysterious owner?
The monkey hesitated for a moment before looking at the black-haired one.