Chapter 148: The Array as a Sword, Pointed at the Behemoth
“Warning! Deep space behemoth forming!”
“Adjusting disaster engine direction! Shifting center of gravity! Activating docking procedure, entering emergency non-ground docking mode!”
“Estimated behemoth attack in ten minutes. Suspended High Tower 132 is in imminent danger…”
Despair spread through the tower, but the control room personnel continued to struggle, trying to avert disaster.
Fortunately, not many could see the outside. If they saw the behemoth’s massive claw reaching for the tower, they would panic.
Ceres was in a similar state, staring blankly at the terrifying claw, her expression wooden.
After hearing part of Qualcomm’s plan, she was starting to doubt her decision.
Was Qualcomm right, or was the Federation?
Had she doomed the tower by stopping him…
But it was too late. The tower’s descent seemed inevitable.
Qualcomm sat in his wheelchair, looking at the behemoth with an appreciative gaze.
“So this is a deep space behemoth… such a beautiful creation…”
The chance to witness a deep space behemoth’s arrival was rare.
Deep space behemoths formed by aggregating matter from the world they entered, their form and attack methods depending on the world, but usually indescribable.
The claw reaching for the tower looked like the flesh of some monstrous creature, yet it also had a metallic sheen.
Luo Xue stared at the behemoth, a sense of familiarity, but she couldn’t place it.
But she was certain that she had never faced such a massive creature in any of her worlds.
Luo Xue looked at the eerie eye in the clouds, her breathing growing heavy.
“Miss Luo Xue, to what extent can you utilize disaster energy?”
Qualcomm suddenly turned to Luo Xue and asked.
“Hmm?” Luo Xue was taken aback. “I don’t know… but my ability is using disaster energy.”
“In that case… perhaps you can be our savior.”
Qualcomm smiled faintly and tossed a formation rune to Luo Xue.
Luo Xue frowned slightly, unsure of Qualcomm’s intentions, but she still caught it.
She examined it. It was a formation rune, but nothing she recognized.
Ceres also looked at the rune, her expression turning serious.
“This is…”
“The access key to the disaster engine. With it, you can completely control the engine.” Qualcomm shrugged. “Oh, some people also call it the Mayor’s Seal, haha… but this is much more useful than a seal.”
“The Mayor’s Seal!” Ceres was shocked. “You… Master Qualcomm, you’re just giving it away like this?”
Qualcomm had tossed the key as if it were nothing.
“It won’t break.” Qualcomm seemed to find Ceres’s reaction exaggerated. “Officer, you should learn from Miss Luo Xue’s composure…”
“Actually, it’s because I don’t really understand the disaster engine.” Luo Xue said honestly.
She had been a Wastelander and hadn’t had much contact with Suspended High Towers. Her understanding came from Ceres.
“Ah… is that so? But it doesn’t matter, if you can use it, it’s yours.” Qualcomm didn’t seem to care. “The disaster engine is essentially a super energy source. As for how to control disaster energy… you know more about that than I do.”
“I can only tell you that Suspended High Towers aren’t allowed to have weapons capable of destroying other towers, so there are no weapons within the tower to fight deep space behemoths. However, the energy supply is definitely sufficient. What you can do is use the disaster engine’s energy to stop the deep space behemoth.”
There were conflicts between Suspended High Towers, and wars occasionally broke out, like the civil war in Suspended High Tower 103, which even involved other towers.
The only forbidden type of war was one that completely destroyed a Suspended High Tower. Therefore, only the patrol fortresses above number 300 could possess superweapons.
Other Suspended High Towers, although possessing massive amounts of energy, could only use it for navigation and maintaining the internal ecosystem, not for war.
Qualcomm hadn’t secretly researched weapons. In his plan, there was no need for them. Having weapons would only attract the attention of the Federation.
“In the current situation, the patrol fortresses will need at least another hour to reach Suspended High Tower 132, but the deep space behemoth will arrive in less than ten minutes.” Qualcomm continued.
“I believe humanity now has the ability to defeat a deep space behemoth, but unfortunately, Suspended High Tower 132 doesn’t… So, can you save this tower, Miss Luo Xue?”
Qualcomm knew this detailed information without any reports, solely based on his familiarity with the routes of the Suspended High Towers and the patrol fortresses. This showed his incredible control over Suspended High Tower 132.
Ceres also looked at Luo Xue with hope. She hadn’t expected this girl to have such a peculiar ability.
An ability to control disaster energy… simply unheard of.
Luo Xue held the Mayor’s Seal, was silent for a moment, then said,
“I can, but… I’m not entirely sure.”
Controlling power far beyond her own, Luo Xue did have some experience.
Back at the Blood Sea, using the Blood Sea’s power to fight against the four forbidden area lords, even almost killing one of them, this was valuable experience.
However, Luo Xue had used a trick back then, using the Eternal Withering Body to control the will of withering, to barely contend with the peak Soul Transformation forbidden area lords.
The current Luo Xue didn’t have the Eternal Withering Body, but she still retained everything else, including the sword intent of withering, which carried the Law of Withering.
This was a sword intent she had comprehended herself, unrelated to her physique or inheritance.
But with her current cultivation, it was difficult to use this sword intent.
After all, laws were something only Nascent Soul cultivators and above could comprehend. She wasn’t even at Core Formation yet. Using it once at Foundation Establishment would probably drain all her power.
Moreover, Luo Xue didn’t know if the sword intent of withering would harm her, so she hadn’t used it in previous battles.
Now it was different. According to estimates, the energy stored within the disaster engine was close to that of a Soul Transformation cultivator, just slightly lower in quality.
Such powerful energy could naturally support the use of the sword intent of withering.
However…
A look of hesitation appeared on Luo Xue’s face.
Whether the sword intent of withering would harm her was still unknown, and for the ordinary people in the Suspended High Tower, even the slightest touch of the Law of Withering could be fatal.
Qualcomm saw her hesitation and said in a low voice,
“Is there something you’re concerned about?”
“…”
Luo Xue didn’t speak.
“We can separate the Suspended High Tower from the engine. The remaining docking systems should be enough to complete the docking, but there’s some risk.” Qualcomm, seeing Luo Xue’s hesitation, offered a solution. “In the Suspended High Tower’s emergency docking procedure, the disaster engine is only used for adjusting the docking position and final braking. Without it, there might be some accidents during docking, but there are solutions. It’s still better than being torn apart by a deep space behemoth.”
“…Indeed, it’s better than being torn apart by a deep space behemoth.”
Ceres murmured, looking at Luo Xue with pleading eyes.
Although this was her first time in Suspended High Tower 132, her love for human civilization… was evident.
She firmly believed in the concept of a shared human destiny, and even though she, as a Tower Person, might look down on Wastelanders, she had treated Luo Xue with kindness from their first meeting.
Luo Xue gripped the access key to the disaster engine, exhaled, looked at Ceres, and said,
“Take care of Ling Ling. I’ll be back soon.”
Ceres opened her mouth. She had intended to go with Luo Xue, but Luo Xue stopped her with a look.
After a moment of hesitation, Ceres nodded.
“Sister Xue’er…”
Just then, Ling Ling, who had been silent and worried, reached out and tugged on Luo Xue’s clothes.
Having finally reunited with Sister Xue’er, she didn’t want to be separated so soon.
“Be good, A’Ling, Sister Xue’er is just going to carry out a very important mission.” Luo Xue smiled, rubbing Ling Ling’s hair and straightening her lab coat. “Saving the world, have you heard of it? It’s a very rare opportunity.”
Ling Ling’s face was filled with conflict. She looked at Luo Xue, then at Qualcomm and Ceres, and finally let go of Luo Xue’s clothes.
She lowered her head, her voice trembling slightly.
“When Sister Xue’er comes back, let’s not live in the Suspended High Tower anymore. Let’s go back to the wasteland, back to our home, okay?”
Luo Xue glanced at Qualcomm, who shrugged, saying nothing.
“Of course… no problem.” Luo Xue smiled. “As long as A’Ling likes it.”
“Although I don’t want to interrupt your sisterly affection, I have to say,” Qualcomm said faintly, “there are only seven minutes left.”
“…I’ll be going then.”
Luo Xue said in a low voice. She knew that there was no time to waste.
However, just as Luo Xue was about to use the spatial jump device within the tower to reach the disaster engine on the first level, Qualcomm pushed his wheelchair and came to her side.
“I’ll go with you.”
“Hmm?”
Before Luo Xue could refuse, Qualcomm continued,
“Without me, do you know how to pilot the aircraft carrying the disaster engine?”
Luo Xue didn’t. She hadn’t learned anything about this, and even if she could control spiritual power, it didn’t mean she could operate the aircraft.
“But if you do this, you’ll die.” Luo Xue reminded him.
“Miss Luo Xue, are you joking?” A forced smile appeared on Qualcomm’s face, then quickly faded. “The moment my dream was shattered, I was already dead.”
…
Three minutes later, under the mayor’s authority, Suspended High Tower 132 successfully separated from the disaster engine.
The remaining structure continued to fall towards the ground, while the aircraft carrying the disaster engine ascended, facing the claw of the deep space behemoth.
The disaster engine wasn’t actually that large. This miraculous creation, which powered the entire Suspended High Tower and maintained its internal ecosystem, was actually smaller than the ninth level.
The other large structures were for controlling and utilizing the energy converted by the disaster engine.
Standing directly on the disaster engine, Luo Xue finally confirmed that this was definitely a creation of the Immortal Martial era.
“Formation cores, formation patterns, barrier runes…”
They were all familiar to Luo Xue.
These were all carved on materials that could store the most spiritual power, maximizing the formation’s efficiency.
Even Qualcomm, the top expert, didn’t dare to modify the disaster engine. This miraculous creation was beyond their understanding.
“It should still be able to operate for a few thousand years…”
Luo Xue estimated roughly. This ingenious formation wasn’t eternal, but its lifespan far exceeded that of the current human civilization.
She looked up at the sky, staring directly at those terrifying eyes.
Witnessing the arrival of a deep space behemoth at such close range wasn’t something everyone could withstand.
The deep space behemoth’s target wasn’t the engine. Its claw was still reaching for the falling Suspended High Tower, its body still forming.
Qualcomm silently controlled the aircraft, calmly flying towards the deep space behemoth.
At this moment, only Luo Xue and Qualcomm were here. No one else in the world could hear their conversation.
“Mr. Qualcomm, have you ever heard of… immortals?”
Luo Xue suddenly asked, her gaze still fixed on the deep space behemoth.
“You mean those gods? An illusory and beautiful hope of the lower-level Tower People and the Wastelanders, unfortunately, it has been proven that they don’t exist.” Qualcomm said faintly.
“No, immortals… do exist.” Luo Xue slowly walked to the formation’s core and sat down cross-legged. “I am an immortal, a… Sword Immortal.”
As her voice fell, Qualcomm was shocked to find that the disaster engine was operating at an unprecedented speed, even the most advanced devices couldn’t overload it to this extent.
Looking from mid-air, it was like a blazing sun.
“The array as a sword, pointed at the behemoth.”
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