172: Chapter 172 Fifth-Rank Soldiers Arrive at the Door, Towing the Boat Home!

As Shen Wanbing's words fell, the alarm in the control room suddenly spiked.

On the screen, the frequency of the Deep Sea Royal Court's main gate was jumping.

A red coordinate was biting all the way toward the Floating City's cross-regional teleportation array.

Mio's expression changed on the spot.

"It's over."

"It's not trying to come out from Sakurajima."

"It's using our gate to launch a counterattack on your home base."

Shen Wanxing grabbed the corner of Chen Chen's shirt, her voice trembling.

"Chen Chen... Yi Chang and the others are still in the city."

Chen Chen stared at the screen for two seconds.

The next moment, the corners of his lips curled up.

"Perfect."

Shen Wanxing froze.

Mio also froze.

"Perfect?"

Chen Chen raised his hands and pressed them onto the interfaces on both sides of the captain's seat.

"Delivery to the doorstep."

Mio was almost choked to death by those four words.

"Did you hear me clearly? That is a Tier 5 entity! It's not that severed limb projection you smashed in the eye earlier!"

"I heard you."

Chen Chen tapped his fingers on the control console.

"That's exactly why we can't let it arrive empty-handed."

Mio's mechanical pupils flickered twice.

"What do you mean?"

"Tow the Sea Scale back."

The control room went silent for a moment.

Mio opened her mouth.

"Are you crazy? Only half of the Sea Scale can move right now, the hull anchor points aren't connected yet, and dragging such a massive object through the teleportation array at once will blow up the spatial channel."

Chen Chen looked at her.

"You're the ship Spirit, can you connect the main control anchor points?"

Mio hesitated for a moment.

"I can, but—"

"Shen Wanbing, can the Ghost Fortress's Fleet Link be forcibly connected?"

In the communicator, the sound of Shen Wanbing's fingers typing didn't stop.

"Three minutes."

Mio immediately turned her head.

"Three minutes isn't enough! The main control anchor points need to be rewritten, the Fleet Link needs to match mass parameters, and we still have to avoid the residual pollution from the Sea God Egg—"

Shen Wanbing directly interrupted her.

"Shut up and give me the permissions."

Mio: "..."

She glanced at Chen Chen.

"Is this woman always this aggressive?"

Chen Chen didn't answer, only dropping one sentence.

"Do it."

Mio gritted her teeth and plugged the severed maintenance line into the main console.

"Fine, I'll give her the permissions."

"But let's get this straight, if the hull shatters during the teleportation, don't blame me."

Shen Wanbing's voice came through the communication channel.

"It won't shatter."

"Why?"

"Because Chen Chen will hold it together."

Mio looked at Chen Chen, and after a long while, she squeezed out a sentence.

"You people are truly unreasonable."

Chen Chen drew the Void-Splitting Gravity Ship-Slashing Blade.

"Su Xiaoqi, Jiang Yanxue, clear the area."

"Received!"

In the communication, Su Xiaoqi was so excited her voice almost cracked.

"Finally, I get to smash something big!"

Outside the Sea Scale.

Hundreds of black and red tentacles drilled out from the cracks, coiling toward the outer wall of the dock.

Su Xiaoqi charged to the front, carrying the Whale Bone Pillar.

She swung it with both hands.

Boom!

A tentacle that had just coiled around the main anchor pillar was smashed to pieces, black and red fluid splattering everywhere.

She didn't stop, sweeping across everything while hugging the pillar.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"There are so many more over here!"

The Whale Bone Pillar whistled with a dull sound in her hands as altar ruins, shattered shrine gates, and chunks of tentacle flesh were all smashed into pulp.

Jiang Yanxue cut in from the other side.

The Shadow Instant-Kill Blade slashed repeatedly along the base of the tentacles.

The surviving shrine warriors tried to charge in during the chaos.

Jiang Yanxue didn't even turn her head, delivering a backhanded slash.

Breastplates split open, and they fell.

"Those who block the way, die."

She stepped up the broken stairs, blade light flashing continuously.

Several priests wearing white and red sacred robes had their throats slit just as they raised their hands to form seals.

Blood Rose stood at the entrance of the corridor, pink poison mist pressing down in a wave.

"Don't run inside."

"Sister is in a bad mood today; one breath of this and I'll send you to meet your gods."

Several warriors parasitized by the Sea God Egg rushed into the poison mist, their bodies began to convulse, and the flesh eggs crawling out of their throats instantly dissolved into black water.

Qin Hongye lay on the broken bridge, her gun barrel steady.

"Left platform, three spell-casters."

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

After three shots, only shattered bone staves remained on the high platform.

Chen Chen did not join the fray.

He poured his Mental Power into the Sea Scale's main control.

Silver Mental Power tentacles spread along the ship's hull pipelines, forcibly suppressing the vibrations at the fracture points.

Shen Wanbing's voice came continuously.

"Anchor point rewrite at 40%."

"Fleet Link integration started."

"Ghost Fortress towing protocol passed."

Mio stared at the panel, the skepticism on her face diminishing bit by bit.

"This is illogical."

"How can a mobile fortress tow a nuclear-powered warship?"

Shen Wanbing replied calmly.

"Because it is Chen Chen's vehicle."

Mio: "..."

Resigned, she threw out the last set of permissions.

"The main control anchor points are yours."

"But the power reactor isn't enough. It's only at 47% right now; it can't drag the Sea Scale through the gate."

At this moment, the High Priestess of Tides rushed back from the gatekeeper's ritual chamber.

Her shrine maiden robe was severely damaged, she held a bronze bell in her hand, and her face was paler than before.

She looked at Chen Chen.

"Not enough power?"

Mio nodded.

"The reactor core needs to be at least at 60%."

The High Priestess was silent for a second.

Then, she raised her hand and unfastened the hidden clasp of her tattered shrine maiden robe's inner lining.

Shen Wanxing quickly turned her face away.

"What, what are you doing..."

The High Priestess ignored her.

From a place hidden close to her chest, she took out a teardrop-shaped crystal.

The crystal was pale blue, with sea patterns flowing on its surface, and it still carried the warmth of her body.

When Mio saw that object, her pupils lit up instantly.

"Sea God Origin Teardrop?"

The High Priestess knelt on one knee before Chen Chen, holding up the teardrop with both hands.

"This is something that the High Priestess of Tides has guarded for generations."

"Originally, it was to be used to suppress the dock gate."

"Now, it's for you."

Chen Chen looked down at her.

"A pledge of allegiance?"

The High Priestess raised her face.

"Yes."

"Amaterasu Shrine is gone, and I have nowhere else to return to."

"You want the dock, I'll give you the key."

"You want the Sea Scale, I'll give you the power."

"From now on, I'm following you."

Blood Rose whistled in the communication channel.

"Yo, another one just hopped on board."

Jiang Yanxue scoffed coldly.

"Let's see if she can survive this wave first."

Chen Chen took the Origin Teardrop.

"Mio, how do I use it?"

Mio immediately pointed to the reactor core interface.

"Insert it next to the purification core, and don't crush it!"

Chen Chen pressed the teardrop into the interface.

The next moment, the blue and white light of the Sea Scale's power reactor surged.

The entire warship wreckage vibrated violently.

The values on the screen rose all the way up.

52%.

56%.

60%.

Mio pressed her hands onto the console, her voice tight.

"The power reactor has recovered to 60%!"

"We can tow it!"

Chen Chen pressed his headset.

"Jiang Jiuyou, open the gate."

On the surface of the Sakurajima sea.

Jiang Jiuyou stood before the Ghost Fortress's deputy command console, blood still uncleaned at the corner of her lips.

Upon hearing Chen Chen's words, she immediately threw the control of all abandoned gunboats and wreckage ships into the automatic fire control system.

"Teleportation array targeting the Floating City."

"Ghost Fortress towing protocol, fully engaged."

"Everyone, fasten your safety locks."

Shen Wanxing immediately hugged her seat tightly.

"Are we flying again?"

Su Xiaoqi was running back outside, carrying the Whale Bone Pillar.

"Wait for me! I haven't gotten on board yet!"

Jiang Yanxue grabbed her by the back of her collar and dragged her into the cabin door.

"Shut up, throw the pillar away."

"But this is useful."

"If you don't throw it, you'll get stuck in the door with it."

Su Xiaoqi aggrievedly dropped the Whale Bone Pillar.

"Oh."

The Ghost Fortress's dark silver fleet aura expanded violently, forcibly enveloping the wreckage of the Sea Scale.

The 45-ton main vehicle emitted an overload roar on the seabed.

The massive hull of the Sea Scale was dragged, white steam venting from the fracture points.

Mio grabbed the main console and shouted.

"The spatial gate opening isn't big enough! Stretch it wider!"

Shen Wanbing gritted her teeth.

"Burn high-level cores."

"Fifty units."

"One hundred units."

"One hundred and fifty units."

Jiang Jiuyou slammed her hand on the confirm button.

"Gate open!"

Three-colored light tore through the seabed.

The head of the Ghost Fortress rushed into the gate first.

Behind it, the Sea Scale was forcibly dragged into the spatial channel.

In the deep sea rift, that blood-red giant eye that had been pierced through on one side was contracting frantically.

More tentacles chased after it, coiling toward the stern of the Sea Scale.

Chen Chen raised his hand and pressed it onto the remaining fire control of the main cannon.

"Mio, can the secondary cannons still fire?"

"They can fire one round."

"Fire."

The remaining cannon wells on both sides of the Sea Scale lit up simultaneously.

Blue and white beams swept across the stern, cutting off most of the chasing tentacles.

Su Xiaoqi leaned against the porthole, waving excitedly.

"Bye-bye!"

Shen Wanxing quickly pulled her back.

"Stop provoking them!"

Before the spatial channel closed, the roar of the Tier 5 entity chased out from the deep sea.

"Gate-thief—"

Chen Chen sat in the main driver's seat, his fingers gripping the control stick.

"We'll talk when we get home."

Three-colored light engulfed the entire Sea Scale.

...

The Floating City.

Above the teleportation array, a blood-red vortex had already pressed down onto the top of the dome.

The Tier 5 entity had poked out half of its body.

Its lower body was still stuck in the spatial rift, but its upper body had already covered the sky above the entire city.

Layers upon layers of blood-red bone armor, with a huge Blood Source Core embedded in its chest cavity.

Every heave caused the A-grade shield to crack with even more lines.

Thousands of survivors in the city were lying on the ground, vomiting blood.

Someone cried out.

"It's over! The boss isn't here!"

"Open the gate! Let us out!"

"Staying here is death too!"

Near the south gate, a dozen newly recruited troublemakers suddenly rushed toward the control console.

"Forget about them! Open the gate first!"

"Chen Chen isn't coming back!"

The leading man had just reached out to smash the gate controls when a silver-gray afterimage fell from above.

Slap!

His entire body exploded into a blood mist on the spot.

Yi Chang landed in front of the gate controls in her high heels.

Her tight-fitting skirt was slit along the side, revealing her slender thighs.

Silver snake scales emerged along the side of her legs.

Her lower body transformed into half a snake tail, the tip of which tapped against the metal floor, emitting a dull sound.

No one in the area dared to move again.

Yi Chang raised her icy blue vertical pupils, her voice spreading throughout the south gate.

"Before the Lord returns, whoever dares to take a step back, dies."

Someone spoke, trembling.

"But that's a Tier 5..."

Yi Chang flicked her snake tail.

A deep mark was gouged into the metal plate at the person's feet.

"I didn't ask you to explain."

"Jiang Jiuyou is in charge of city defense, Iron Wall is in charge of firepower."

"Everyone else, get back to your posts."

Jiang Jiuyou stood on the city wall, the lights on the deputy command console already half red.

Hearing that Yi Chang had secured the south gate, she immediately gave the order.

"All turrets, strike its chest core."

Iron Wall roared at the top of his lungs.

"Fire!"

On the city wall, all vehicles and turrets roared simultaneously.

Artillery fire smashed into the Tier 5 entity's chest, but it could only blast open shallow cracks.

The Blood Source Aberrant Tyrant lowered its head.

Its huge palm pressed down.

Boom!

The A-grade shield emitted a piercing cracking sound.

The cracks on the dome instantly spread to two-thirds of its surface.

The sub-system Shen Wanbing left in the city popped up an alarm.

[Shield Durability: 9%]

[Shield Durability: 6%]

Jiang Jiuyou's fingers hovered over the last set of energy valves.

"Hold on for ten more seconds."

Yi Chang looked up toward the direction of the teleportation array.

The three-colored light hadn't lit up yet.

The Blood Source Aberrant Tyrant's second palm was already raised.

Someone in the city cried out in a breakdown.

"We can't hold it!"

"The shield is about to shatter!"

Jiang Jiuyou bit her tongue, forcibly pushing all reserve energy into the system.

"It hasn't shattered yet, so keep firing!"

The next second.

[Shield Durability: 1%]

The Blood Source Aberrant Tyrant's palm fell.

Just at the moment the shield was about to shatter, the cross-regional teleportation array in the city erupted with a strong three-colored light.

Space was violently pried open.

The first to rush out was the Ghost Fortress.

Its body, trailing blue and white electric arcs, smashed directly through the air waves above the teleportation array.

Immediately after, the massive wreckage of the Sea Scale was forcibly dragged out from within the gate.

The bow of the giant nuclear-powered warship crossed over the Floating City's dome, its shadow pressing down over the head of the Blood Source Aberrant Tyrant.