275: Blade's Baptism and Desperate Cry

The Blade Forest is not a real forest, but countless metal fragments of various sizes and shapes, with edges as sharp as knives, bound by some residual force field or energy vortex. They rotate, collide, and fly past endlessly in a relatively open area at different speeds and trajectories.

Seen from afar, it resembles a crazed metal shredder controlled by the Grim Reaper.

The moment Qianlong brazenly broke in, it was swallowed by this dance of death.

Ping! Pang! Sshh!

The dense, hair-raising sounds of collisions and scraping instantly drowned out all noise inside the bridge!

On the live panel, the external scenery shook and rotated crazily; countless metal fragments flashing with cold light smashed and grazed past like a blizzard!

The hull of Qianlong trembled violently, as if it would be torn to pieces by this metal torrent at any moment.

Inside the bridge, shrill alarms rang out in unison.

Left armor damage intensifying! Energy leakage rate rising!

Starboard thruster array hit by fragments! Output power dropped by 30%!

Number 3 Star Pattern circuit interrupted! Backup circuit enabled!

Those two damned chains are still draining power! Energy reserves have fallen below 30%!

The roars of Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Zhang mingled with the alarms; everyone's heart was in their throat.

Qianlong! Hold on! Use their movement patterns! Don't fight it head-on! Follow the gaps!

Wen Youyi gripped the seat armrests tightly, his Mental Energy resonating highly with Qianlong's consciousness, frantically processing and analyzing the movement trajectory data of the surrounding metal fragments, trying to find that glimmer of hope.

[Calculating optimal avoidance path...] Qianlong's consciousness, though weak, was exceptionally tenacious.

It did not fly around like a headless fly but adjusted its posture with difficulty within this deadly metal storm.

The hull sometimes slid through the gap between two huge fragments like a light falling leaf; sometimes it stopped suddenly, letting a string of high-speed rotating blade wheels graze past the bow; sometimes it used residual thrust to hide briefly behind several relatively slowly moving giant rock fragments.

Every dodge was precise to the point of suffocation, and thrilling enough to make one's heart stop.

New scratches, dents, and tears were constantly added to the silver hull.

The two dark gold chains that had penetrated the hull finally broke one after the impact and shaking, but the last one, also the thickest and deepest one, remained stubbornly nailed to the belly of the ship, like a vampire's proboscis, greedily sucking the remaining energy.

The pursuit of the Swarm was also greatly hindered in this indiscriminate metal storm.

Many dark gold crystals tried to follow but were smashed to pieces by the high-speed rotating fragments or swept into deeper vortices and lost.

However, some more flexible and sturdy individuals, like maggots on bones, bit tightly onto the rear of Qianlong, constantly looking for opportunities to fire small energy needles or trying to entangle it again.

Qianlong not only had to dodge environmental threats but also had to guard against the pursuers behind it; the load had reached its limit.

This won't work! At this rate, we'll be drained to death!

Wang Wu looked at the energy reserves rapidly approaching the 20% red line and said urgently, We must find a way to get rid of that last chain! Or... call for support!

Call for support? The base was more than ten thousand miles away; by the time reinforcements arrived, it would be too late.

Moreover, the starlight gauze curtain had just been built, and the base's defensive forces were also stretched thin.

But a flash of inspiration struck Wen Youyi!

He remembered those spore scouts deployed before departure! Although they were one-time use, they possessed basic signal reception and information relay functions!

Moreover, for testing purposes, some of these spores were endowed with an active signal amplification and forwarding in emergency situations protocol!

Wang Wu! Immediately try to connect to the nearby spore scouts! With highest authority, send Qianlong's real-time coordinates, status information, and the energy characteristics of the encountered enemies!

Request the nearest unit to perform signal relay amplification, and be sure to transmit the distress call and enemy situation back to the base!

At the same time, Senior Brother Li, Senior Brother Zhang! Prepare to execute the final severing the tail to survive plan! Target: that last chain on the belly!

I don't care what method you use, before the energy runs out, you must get rid of it!

Yes!

Wang Wu immediately threw himself in front of the communication node, his hands moving so fast they left afterimages, starting to send encrypted emergency signals at a specific frequency and attempting to wake up any spores that might exist nearby.

Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Zhang began to operate with pale faces.

The final severing the tail to survive plan was the most extreme scenario they had envisioned when designing Qianlong—when the hull was deeply invaded by an unshakable hostile unit, endangering the core, this plan would be initiated to forcibly separate the invasion point along with a small portion of the surrounding hull structure through controlled energy overload and directional blasting!

This was equivalent to opening a hole in the belly of Qianlong.

Although it could get rid of the chain, it would cause serious secondary damage and might even affect the core.

Unless it was an absolute last resort, it must not be used.

But now, it was the time for an absolute last resort!

Qianlong was still struggling and weaving through the Blade Forest.

Energy reserves... 18%... 17%...

Found the spore signal! Three units are responding! Establishing data link! Signal strength... weak, but we can try relaying!

Wang Wu's voice carried a glimmer of hope.

Good! Continue! Package the data and send it in a loop!

Tail-severing plan ready! Energy channel is ready, blasting runes have been activated, isolation shields have been started... ready to execute at any time!

Senior Brother Li's voice was trembling, his finger hovering above the red launch button.

Wen Youyi looked at the endless metal storm outside the porthole, then looked at the dark gold chain firmly nailed to the belly of Qianlong on the monitoring screen, as well as the few dark gold pursuit lights still flickering not far behind.

He took a deep breath, preparing to give the final order.

Just then!

Qianlong's hull shook violently!

It wasn't hit; rather, it actively performed a violent, almost self-destructive rolling maneuver!

This roll narrowly avoided two giant blades cutting across each other, but it also slammed the chain on its belly against a piece of thick metal wreckage with irregular edges that was passing by at high speed!

Clang!!!!

A teeth-grindingly loud noise!

Accompanied by the sound of the chain structure breaking under the strain and the hissing of energy leakage!

The edge of that thick piece of wreckage happened to have an extremely sharp protrusion, which, under the force of Qianlong's own roll and the added relative speed, acted like a guillotine forged by heaven, wedging fiercely into the junction between the dark gold chain and the hull armor!

Snap!

The last, and thickest, dark gold chain was actually broken and pried open by this almost coincidental, extremely crude physical method!

The broken chain burst out a cluster of dark gold energy sparks, then loosened and drifted away like a dead poisonous snake, quickly swallowed and shredded by the rotating metal fragments.

The chain... broke?

Senior Brother Zhang was stunned.

It was Qianlong itself...

Senior Brother Li looked at the replay of the thrilling scene just now, his voice dry, It calculated the trajectory of that wreckage and its own posture... and used the smallest cost to exchange for freedom...

[Threat... eliminated.] Qianlong's consciousness came through, weak as a candle in the wind, but with a hint of relief, [Energy reserves... 15%.]

Although it had gotten rid of the most deadly continuous energy extraction and interference, Qianlong's condition was still terrible.

The hull was scarred, energy was bottoming out, it was still weaving through the deadly Blade Forest, and there were pursuers behind.

Well done, Qianlong!

Wen Youyi felt a surge of energy, Now, evade with all your might and wait for the signal to be transmitted! Wang Wu, how is it?

The signal has been successfully uploaded to three spore units! They are relaying, amplifying, and sending it directionally back to the base! It is expected... the base will receive it in ten minutes at the earliest!

Wang Wu reported excitedly, Also, the enemy energy characteristic data we sent may have interfered with some individuals of the nearby Swarm; they seem a bit confused!

Sure enough, some of the dark gold light points chasing behind showed hesitation and erratic trajectories, possibly because they received the chaotic signal forwarded by the spores, which carried Qianlong's disguise and the residual characteristics of the chain.

Opportunity!

Qianlong, hold on! Move towards the direction with the strongest spore signal! The environment there might be relatively calmer! We will... endure with them!

Wen Youyi gritted his teeth and said.

Now, every second was precious.

They were waiting for that faint response from the base, and also running a final endurance race against death and the pursuers.

The battered silver starship struggled through the endless metal blades, moving forward with difficulty towards that faint signal guided by a companion.