54: My journey is to the stars and the sea!

When Ye Qingcang's roar, filled with "supplication" and "madness," echoed clearly through the massive briefing hall, Lu Chen smiled.

He looked at the Old General before him, who had completely abandoned his dignity and composure of several decades for the sake of a "big toy."

He then glanced at Long Weiguo standing to the side, who, though silent, had eyes equally filled with fanaticism and longing. A surge of heroic spirit rose involuntarily in his heart!

This! This is Xia! This is the military of Xia!

They might be stubborn! They might be irritable! They might even act like rascals and bully you!

But in the face of the great cause of the nation and the people! They will always be the most lovable and most respectable... guardian deities!

"Old Ye, Director Long." Lu Chen took a deep breath.

For the first time, his face, usually calm as water, revealed the hot-bloodedness and... flamboyance characteristic of a youth his age!

"What do you think?" He pointed to the "South Heaven Gate" class aerospace fighter on the screen, which was filled with a sense of future technology.

"With it, isn't our Xia invincible in the world?"

"Need you ask?!" Ye Qingcang didn't even think, slapping his chest and saying heroically:

"Forget the world! Even if you called over aliens, I would dare to arm-wrestle with them!"

His words were full of domineering spirit! They were filled with a soldier's absolute... confidence in his own advanced weaponry!

However... Lu Chen shook his head. He looked at the confused eyes of Ye Qingcang and Long Weiguo and slowly uttered a sentence that took them both by surprise.

"Invincible in the world? No. Your perspective... is still too small."

"Too small?!" Ye Qingcang and Long Weiguo were stunned simultaneously! We are about to build an aerospace carrier to conquer the Earth, and you still think our perspective is small?! What do you want to do then?! Go to heaven?!

"That's right." Lu Chen seemed to see through their thoughts and nodded calmly. "I do want to go to heaven."

He extended a finger and tapped gently on the holographic projection control panel. The next second! The design blueprint of the "South Heaven Gate" fighter, filled with violent aesthetics, vanished instantly.

Replacing it was... a magnificent picture scroll that made their very souls tremble!

It was a boundless, dark universe! Countless brilliant stars flowed slowly within it.

And in this vast galaxy, a beautiful, azure planet was floating quietly. That was their home—Earth!

And right in the orbit of this azure planet! A massive... steel... fortress, larger than any city on Earth and more majestic than any mountain range!

It was like an ancient behemoth dormant in the depths of the universe! Silently guarding its "child"!

Its body was covered in dense, pitch-black... giant cannon muzzles that were enough to make any civilization shudder in fear!

Surrounding it were thousands upon thousands of "South Heaven Gate" class aerospace fighters, as dense as locusts!

And on its massive hull, cast entirely from "dragon bone" alloy, were carved two eye-catching, blood-red Xia pictographs that were enough to make even the gods and demons of the heavens retreat—【Heavenly Court】!

"This... this... this..." Ye Qingcang pointed at the magnificent... scroll before him, which had completely exceeded the limits of human imagination! His lips trembled, unable to form a complete sentence!

His heart, long tempered to be as solid as a rock by all kinds of storms, was now beating wildly and uncontrollably at this moment! He felt like he was about to suffocate!

Long Weiguo was even worse off! His legs went weak, and he fell directly to the floor! His face, usually as steady as a mountain, was filled with unprecedented shock and... blankness!

Aerospace... carrier?! No! This, what the hell, is this an aerospace carrier?! This is clearly a planetary-level... war... fortress from science fiction movies, capable of suppressing an entire galaxy!

"Old Ye, Director Long." Lu Chen looked at the two bigwigs who had been thoroughly scared silly, and smiled faintly.

He pointed to the azure planet, which appeared incomparably small and fragile in contrast to the "Heavenly Court" fortress. "This place... is too small. Too small to even qualify as our 'Novice Village'."

Then he extended his finger again and pointed toward the boundless, vast... galaxy!

In his deep, black eyes, which were as vast as the universe, burned a madness... and ambition that was enough to make even the gods and demons of the heavens tremble!

His voice was not loud. Yet, it seemed to carry a call from ancient times! It carried the ultimate... longing of an ancient civilization for the unknown world! It echoed clearly in this massive briefing hall! It echoed in the depths of the souls of those two completely stunned bigwigs!

"That... is our true battlefield! My journey... is the... starry sea!"

After saying this, he slowly turned around. He left those two petrified bigwigs with a back view filled with loneliness and... pride.

He knew. From the moment he spoke those words, he and this world were no longer in the same dimension.

His future was destined to be a lonely... expedition that no one could understand.

Long Weiguo stared blankly at the slightly thin, youthful back about to disappear at the doorway. He then looked at the planetary-level... war fortress on the screen, which was enough to make any man's blood boil!

He suddenly scrambled up from the floor! He rushed forward like a madman! He grabbed onto Lu Chen's leg!

His face, usually so dignified, was now streaming with two lines of hot, excited tears! His voice was hoarse and filled with unprecedented supplication!

"Little... no! Ancestor! I was wrong! Thirty years! That's too long! I can't wait!"

"Please, have pity on us old guys who are about to go into the ground! Ten years! No! Five years! Within five years! You must get this 'Heavenly Court' built for me!"

"Otherwise... I, Long Weiguo, will die right here in front of you today!"