60: electrostatic field

"Sister Nawei, don't be nervous, we are good people."

Tarian and Finn's smiles remained unchanged as they pointed upward, saying, "Aren't you looking to advance your Transcendent ability? That opportunity lies right there."

"This is...!"

Nawei subconsciously looked up and saw three silver-white behemoths pushing through the clouds, heading straight toward the "Gray Shark" base.

The lead ship's entire body shimmered with the luster of Transcendent power, its design unlike anything she had seen before—like an enlarged work of art, noble and exquisite.

Coupled with the various formidable weapons, even though she didn't know much about starship technology, she could clearly realize that this was a terrifying existence with a grade far surpassing ordinary starships.

And most importantly... she had never seen this type of warship in this star sector.

"Tarian! Finn! How dare you violate the rules set by 'Gale' and team up with outsiders to deal with me!"

Nawei said, her anger mixed with disbelief.

The reason she had let her guard down so easily, besides the fact that the lie detector hadn't reacted to their words, was also primarily due to the rules set by "Wind and Waves."

She never imagined they would attack "Gray Shark." According to the regulations of "Wind and Waves," attacking a friendly party with legitimate rental status without cause would lead to a joint pursuit by the Four Great Pirate Groups.

There would be no place to hide in the entire Golden Star Sea.

"How dare you! Aren't you afraid of being held accountable by 'Wind and Waves'!"

"Heh..."

Tarian sneered, "My Master has long since laid out plans across the heavens; a mere Pirate Group can be suppressed with the flip of a hand."

"That's right, Sister Nawei. For the sake of our acquaintance, it's better to surrender early."

The two sang in harmony.

In the memories implanted in them, various forces had long been infiltrated by Zhang Huaiyuan, and countless people like them were always waiting to serve their master.

And a mere "Wind and Waves" Pirate Group didn't even count as a grain of sand on their master's path forward.

"This... actually..."

Nawei stared with an ugly expression at the decorative ring on her left hand that showed no change; if it hadn't just lit up, she would have thought it was broken.

Furthermore, she had just been stalling for time, trying to send a message out, only to find that her communicator's signal had been blocked at some point.

"I..."

A look of struggle appeared on her face. The Four Great Pirate Groups had run rampant in this star sector for over a hundred years, and their accumulated prestige was heavy; she really didn't want to, nor dared to, betray them.

But just as she hesitated, Tarian and Finn beside her suddenly seemed to receive some kind of order, a trace of regret appearing in their eyes as they turned and quickly flew upward.

"Wait, I..."

Nawei's expression changed drastically. Realizing something, she was just about to speak when continuous roars sounded from the sky.

Hundreds of missiles, trailing blue flames, smashed down toward her in an instant.

Clearly, Zhang Huaiyuan, who had intended to test the power of the starship anyway, was not prepared to give her much time to think.

Boom!

Amidst the violent explosions, the "Gray Shark" base's defensive devices were shattered before they could even be turned to maximum power.

However, Nawei was at least an A-rank Transcendent. With a wave of her hand, her combat suit materialized, and taking advantage of the moment the defensive device blocked the attack, she quickly retreated from the attack range.

"Hold them off for me!"

She threw this sentence to her subordinates and flew toward the starship docking area without looking back.

Relying on herself or a mecha, it was impossible to escape the pursuit of the enemy starships. The only chance was to have her subordinates pilot other starships to buy time while she took the last one to escape.

However, the idea was nice, but with nearly a month of preparation, all non-carbon-based life on this planet had long been invaded by Asroth.

When she finally managed to escape to the vicinity of the spaceport, nine "Wanderer" series starships that originally belonged to "Gray Shark" had already started up, their cold gun barrels slowly aiming at her.

"This is impossible, my fleet!"

"No, it is the Master's fleet now."

Before Nawei could even think about why her own fleet had mutinied, she discovered that the communication device on her wrist had automatically lit up, transmitting a cold notification.

She was so frightened that she hurriedly threw away the bracelet and retreated hundreds of meters.

"It's the 'Statue of Liberty'! I'm dead! I'm dead! Run, run quickly!"

Her pupils constricted sharply; this was the only thought in her mind.

Although the voice sounded a bit off, in her understanding, only the "Statue of Liberty" could forcibly strip away control and even hack into communication systems!

In extreme panic, she actually flew directly toward the sky.

"Tsk tsk... didn't see that coming, this woman is actually so fierce; she even wanted to attempt a decapitation strike."

Tarian, having returned to the legend flagship, couldn't help but joke as he watched her rushing over.

"Warp over and activate the electrostatic field."

Zhang Huaiyuan ordered calmly through the robot.

"Order received. Initiating warp. Distance 5 kilometers. Countdown 3... 2... 1."

Instantly, the entire legend command ship vanished from its spot and appeared on her path, blue electric arcs spreading out in the air like a transparent spiderweb.

Caught off guard, Nawei couldn't dodge in time and crashed straight into it. Instantly, every hair on her body stood on end, her body paralyzed by the electric current, unable to move.

"It seems the effect is basically consistent with expectations. Ordinary A-rank or lower Transcendents have almost no ability to resist when near it. The deviation for short-distance warping is infinitely close to 0."

Zhang Huaiyuan nodded with slight satisfaction.

Normally, there would be no need to go to such lengths against an opponent who was already a frightened bird; wasting energy like this was just to test the performance of the legend.

"Does the Master want to kill her?"

"Wait for a moment."

Zhang Huaiyuan glanced through the robot's vision.

[Nawei]

Classification: Carbon-based lifeform.

Abilities: Wind Control—Wind-element Transcendent, can control wind elemental power to a certain extent, enhancing self-reaction and agility.

Ability Level: Mid-rank.

"It's actually a Transcendent ability similar to the Young Lady's; no wonder she was so agile that so many missiles didn't hit her. I wonder how they are doing now."

A trace of nostalgia flashed in Zhang Huaiyuan's eyes. After a brief silence, he said:

"There's no need to kill her. Make her lose the ability to move, then throw her into the 'Carbon-based Lifeform Modification Laboratory' for modification."

Compared to persuading her to surrender, he trusted the power of technology more.

"Understood, Master."

Asroth silently increased the maximum voltage of the electrostatic field.

After a scream, confirming that the target had lost the ability to resist, it dispatched two robots to place her into a specially made compartment.

Here, it would split its consciousness to monitor in real-time. Before returning to "Fenglang Star" for modification, if there were any signs of waking up, it would activate the electrostatic field effect to shock her again.

"Everyone did well. I hope the next few targets will continue to perform well."

The robot controlled by Zhang Huaiyuan turned around and looked at Tarian and the others.

"Master, you flatter us. It is all thanks to Lord Asroth's real-time assistance. I wouldn't know how to say those scheming words, hehe."

"Yes, thanks to the nano-scale muscle fine-tuning needles provided by Lord Asroth, we were able to make our expressions seamless."

Tarian and Finn both said respectfully.

"I am merely acting according to the Master's instructions."

Asroth's projection lit up on the starship's screen, its tone solemn.

"You guys... never mind, don't forget to handle the aftermath."

Watching the two people and one machine deferring to each other, Zhang Huaiyuan shook his head with a laugh and cut off his consciousness here.