CH 197

Following Baron Sisse's orders, Skyhawk’s crew made all preparations to take off before awaiting his final command to take flight.

After scanning the room with a determined look, Baron Sisse opened his mouth, "Take off!"

Jack, the ship's pilot, immediately pressed the main switch down. A row of signal lights lit up in the command room as the ship entered flight mode.

"Energy supply from the nuclear reactor at normal levels. Shield on," reported Dondon.

"Invisibility mode on," reported Old Du 10 seconds later. Then, Skyhawk started leaving the ground.

All the Eternal soldiers in the repair center were stunned to see the ship suddenly depart. However, they reacted speedily; the air defense drones and fighter drones immediately started firing at Skyhawk.

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At that moment, the powerful shield of a Milky Way–class battleship made an appearance. The attacks of the smaller aircrafts could only leave some ripples on the surface of Skyhawk's shield. The Eternal soldiers on the ground fired upon us with their heavy tanks and mounted laser guns. We could also see two cruisers heading over quickly from afar.

"Reporting to the captain, all weapons have finished the automatic deployment," reported Zhang Bao'er, who had just returned from the weaponry room.

"Leave Cloudcast's airspace as soon as possible. Avoid being bogged down," I ordered Jack and Dondon after seeing on the display that the shield had been weakened by 3 percent.

According to the display, Skyhawk had been fully recharged of energy. It was able to enter high-speed flight mode. Suddenly, the entire ship shook violently. From the holographic combat display, I saw that the two cruisers were attacking from the side.

Although the Nebula-class cruisers were a tier lower than a Milky Way–class battleship, we still couldn't underestimate them when there were two of them. The yellow warning light started blinking, indicating that our shield had been weakened by 10 percent.

"Adjust the flying angle. Slant 90 degrees to the right," ordered Baron Sisse.

Skyhawk hurriedly slanted to the right in accordance with the order. I saw two quantum shells whistle past Skyhawk's shield. If those attacks struck, it would deal a dangerous amount of damage to our defensive system.

"Bao'er, why are we not counterattacking yet?" asked Baron Sisse.

"Captain, we're understaffed. The weaponry system is running automatically," said Bao'er helplessly.

"Odd. Why is the automatic system not firing back? Is this ship not fully repaired?" I wondered in astonishment.

At that moment, the Milky Way–class battleship finally displayed its prowess in battle. Numerous rays that resembled gamma-ray bursts erupted from the laser cannons in front of the ship. They combined to form a cylindrical beam before shooting toward one of the cruisers attacking us.

The powerful combination beam pierced through the cruiser's shield and struck its front. A blinding explosion erupted as the ship was blasted away, and it spun toward the ground.

"My god. This ship's weapons are way too ferocious. This is basically a war beast," exclaimed Zhang Bao'er.

"Sit tight, everyone. The ship has finished allocating energy. We are entering high-speed flight mode," reminded Jack upon seeing that everyone was stunned by the spectacle.

I could feel the invisible ship accelerating. The scenery outside the windows turned into a blur as the ship shot forth in the predetermined flight trajectory. Perhaps the ships the Eternals had were helpless against a Milky Way–class battleship that had entered invisibility. We were able to easily leave their attacking range without receiving new attacks.

About three minutes later, the powerful Milky Way–class ship had left Cloudcast's atmosphere and returned to outer space. The ship stopped right before reaching the area filled with magnetic mines, and a transparent bubble started forming around the ship. I knew that the bubble was how Planet Eternal's wormhole technology looked.

Skyhawk had barely stopped moving when Dondon reported, "Reporting, an invisible battleship was detected 10,000 meters ahead of us. Its body is reflecting our signal scans."

"We're already in Cloudcast's outer space area. There are roughly 15 battleships out here in charge of guarding the planet," said Jack.

"Damn those battleships. Why are they everywhere? It has only been seconds, and they're already here?" complained Wind Spirit.

"Jack, how long will it take the ship to produce the wormhole bubble?" asked Baron Sisse.

"We need around eight minutes for the energy to gather and take form," said Jack.

"Zhang Bao'er, leave the coordinate control system. Go to the weaponry room and focus on attacking the enemy ships," said Baron Sisse.

The baron had barely finished his words when Zhang Bao'er rushed to the weapons room. That was in fact his favorite task.

A few seconds later, all the cannons in front of Skyhawk opened fire at the detected battleship. The sight of over a thousand artillery shells and energy beams was incredibly imposing, but regretfully, the attacks were unable to accurately hit our target. The enemy ship had moved and was no longer in its original location.

"Captain, the enemy ship has left its position. All our attacks missed. The weapons are scanning for a new target," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Jack, can you find the enemy ship?" asked Baron Sisse.

"I'm searching with spherical scans, but the enemy ship is no longer reflecting our signals. It has probably entered silent mode," said Jack.

"Can we move from our position? If we stay, we'll be a live target," I said.

"If we move, our progress with the wormhole bubble will be wiped, and we will need to restart from fresh. Also, the system is indicating that enemy weapons have already locked onto us," said Jack.

"How long before the bubble is formed?" asked Baron Sisse.

"Four more minutes," replied Dondon.

Upon learning that the enemy had locked onto our ship, Baron Sisse decisively said, "Activate all our defenses and shields. Try to brace through the final four minutes. Since the enemy has locked onto us, even if we move, they will still be able to follow us. We might as well stand our ground and wait until the wormhole is finished before leaving."

In short, the baron was telling us to brace for the strongest of attacks. Everyone waited nervously. The enemy ship's location was unknown while Skyhawk had been locked onto. I felt like prey that was being targeted by a hunter. My life felt as if it were grasped in the hunter's hand. It was an extremely uncomfortable feeling. We all waited patiently for the attack. Surprisingly, even after four minutes, no attack came.

'Are the heavens taking care of us yet again?' I thought in disbelief.

"Who cares. Let's run!" said Zhang Bao'er, who seemed to be wondering the same thing.

"Jack, initiate wormhole leap," ordered Baron Sisse. Doubt could be heard in his voice as well.

Numerous ripples started forming within the wormhole bubble. The ripples moved faster and faster, eventually turning into an indistinct sphere. At its peak brightness, the ripples started slowing down. Once again, I was given the chance to experience how advanced the Eternals' wormhole system was.

As the ripples slowed, the bubble faded. We had arrived at our destination. Our display was no longer indicating that we were being locked onto by enemy weapons. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

Zhang Bao'er bragged the moment we left danger, "We're finally safe. The enemy ship must have been scared off by the prowess of my attacks earlier."

"Canyue, why do you think the enemy hadn't attacked?" asked Baron Sisse doubtfully.

"I don't understand either. Skyhawk was basically a living target. That moment had been their best chance to eliminate us," I said, unable to find an answer.

While everyone was confused, Skyhawk's alarm blazed yet again.

"Captain, the ship's engine system seems to be going out of control. It is unable to perform regular flight activities," reported Jack.

"What shitty ship is this? Did you finish repairing it at all? Were you faking the repair just to hit your repair quota or something?" grumbled Zhang Bao'er.

"The results of its repair require the verification of many departments. Nothing will be wrong there," refuted Jack.

"Jack, check and see if the malfunction is due to the unfinished transmission of its electrical agent," said Baron Sisse.

"I already checked. Its supply of energy is working fine. Oddly, the flight system is malfunctioning. When I tried flying ahead, the ship turned 45 degrees to the side," said Jack.

"Is there an issue with the steering system?" I asked.

"No. All parts of the ship are fine. For some reason, the ship just can't be steered," said Jack, who was just as confused as the rest of us.

"From the signs, there must be an external factor influencing the trajectory of the ship," said Master Crystal, who had just returned from the system room.

"External factor? What does that mean?" muttered Baron Sisse to himself. Suddenly, he raised his head and roared at Jack, "Check the area 45 degrees ahead of Skyhawk! See what's there!"

Jack hurriedly activated the scanners to scan the area in the indicated direction.

"Dondon, what is our exact location?" asked Baron Sisse.

"We're 1.8 lightyears away from Cloudcast," said Dondon after checking the system.

We were all shocked.

"1.8 lightyears! Didn't we set our leap to bring us 0.5 lightyears away?" roared Baron Sisse.

"Zhang Bao'er, what were you doing?" I questioned furiously.

"I-I did set the coordinates to somewhere 0.5 lightyears away!" explained Zhang Bao'er in a flustered manner.

"Why had we deviated so much from our target, then? Jack, is this ship really fully repaired?" Baron Sisse also started questioning the ship's status.

The questioning of Jack's professionalism triggered him, and he started to madly work on the control panel.

"Before Zhang Bao'er went to the weapon room, he set the wormhole targeting system to automatic mode. Since Skyhawk had detected enemies locked onto the ship, it had automatically altered the destination to flee the attack," said Jack, finally finding out the reason for the deviation.

"Bao'er, you—" I was speechless.

"That only proves that this shitty ship's system is flawed. You can't blame me," argued Zhang Bao'er.

I was about to continue arguing when Jack interrupted us.

"Reporting to the captain, after a detailed scan, nothing was found to our right. Unable to locate the source of the external factor," reported Jack after the scan was completed.