28: Energy Revolution! Miniaturized Fusion Core!

[Deep Blue Medical Bay]

The rhythmic beeping of the life support machine was the only sound. Lin Feng lay in the cryogenic treatment chamber, his right arm wrapped in bio-gel. Traces of charring and frost slowly receded under the regeneration rays, but faint blue energy arcs still occasionally flickered beneath his skin. His face was pale, his brows tightly furrowed, as if he were wrestling an invisible force in a nightmare.

"Pioneer energy backlash combined with an unknown gene mark activation... Cells are in a continuous tug-of-war between collapse and reorganization." The medical officer's voice was dry as he stared at the abnormal data cascading across the screen. "Physiological index fluctuations are 300% above the database's upper limit. This isn't a human reaction at all..."

"He must survive." Chen Hai's voice was decisive, his gaze sweeping over Lei Lie and Old Zhao, who stood solemnly outside the medical bay. "Deep Blue cannot be without its Captain."

Lei Lie nodded silently, his fists clenched tightly. Old Zhao, meanwhile, stared intently at the tablet in his hand—it displayed a screenshot of a golden spiral mark, now faded to near invisibility, captured when Lin Feng's left hand was scanned.

"This pattern... I've seen something similar in Su Yuanshan's fragmented journal entries." Old Zhao pulled up a blurry photo, its background a massive ice-bound ruin wall carving. "Su Yuanshan called it... the 'origin mark'."

---

[Core Laboratory Energy Storm]

Unlike the deathly silence of the medical bay, the laboratory was now like a boiling furnace!

The "Pioneer Energy Core" (a luminous blue crystal) retrieved from the Antarctic Ruins was carefully placed in the center of a multi-layer force field containment ring. Although much dimmer than when it was in the Antarctic, it still emitted powerful and stable energy fluctuations, connected to Deep Blue's energy network via thick superconducting cables.

[Main Energy Reserve: 100% (Pioneer Core continuously charging)]

[Energy Output Limit: 300% (Original Baseline)]

"My goodness..." The chief energy engineer's voice trembled as he watched the soaring curves on the screen. "The purity of this energy... the stability... it's like directly siphoning from an infant star!"

"Stop marveling! Test the Xing Chen (Stardust) prototype!" Old Zhao roared, his eyes bloodshot but exceptionally excited.

In the center of the lab, a silver-gray device the size of a refrigerator was connected by dozens of cables. This was the result of Old Zhao's team's frantic rush to assemble a miniaturized fusion reactor prototype, codenamed "Xing Chen (Stardust)"—based on the "Pioneer Basic Material Technology Blueprint" Lin Feng salvaged from the Observer's data, combined with Su Yuanshan's conjectures about "micro-level energy compression" in his journal!

"Activate primary containment field!"

"Inject deuterium-tritium fuel!"

"Energy Core power output, connected!"

Hum—!

A point of brilliant blue light ignited inside the device, then stabilized into a fist-sized, slowly rotating sphere of light! There was no deafening roar, only a low, heart-pounding energy hum! The numbers on the monitoring screen flickered wildly:

[Containment field stable!]

[Fusion reaction sustained!]

[Output Power: 150 Megawatts!]

[Volume/Power Ratio: Achieves 1/50th of traditional ship-borne fusion reactors!]

"It worked! We succeeded!" A deafening cheer erupted in the lab! Tears mixed with sweat streamed down the engineers' faces. A miniaturized fusion core! This meant Deep Blue would be completely free from energy constraints, and it meant... individual power armor, aerospace fighters, and even starship engines would become possible!

"Immediately back up the data! Prepare for mass production design!" Old Zhao suppressed his excitement, his gaze, however, flickered towards the medical bay. "When the Captain wakes up, this will be his... first true victory report."

---

[Bridge Shadow Attack]

Just as the laboratory was celebrating, the bridge was bathed in a crimson glow by a piercing alarm!

"Emergency! Passive sonar detected supercavitation submersible noise! Bearing 215, depth 800, speed 80 knots! Quantity... 8! Signature match—Observer 'Manta Ray' class attack submersibles!"

"Radar detected high-altitude stealth targets! Quantity 4, speed Mach 4, trajectory locked on this vessel! It's those hypersonic fighters from last time!"

"The retaliation is here! And it's a combined air and sea assault!" Chen Hai's face was ashen. "They calculated that we just went through a major battle and the Captain is severely wounded!"

"The energy core just integrated, weapon system upgrades are only 30% complete!" The weapons officer's voice was urgent. "Vertical launch cells are still under emergency repair! Close-in weapon systems..."

Chen Hai slammed his fist on the control panel: "Without Lin Feng, Deep Blue won't fight?! Activate Xing Chen (Stardust) power supply! Get those new toys online!"

[Command confirmed! Switching to Xing Chen (Stardust) power path!]

[New Ship-borne Weapon System - 'Psionic Pulse Array' online!]

On both sides of Deep Blue's hull, several rows of honeycomb-shaped launch ports opened, and a faint blue light rapidly converged within them!

"Target locked! Saturation strike!"

"Fire!"

There was no earth-shattering roar of cannons, only a low hum. Dozens of faint blue beams, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, instantly shot out! They ignored the resistance of the seawater, accurately hitting the rapidly approaching "Manta Ray" submersibles!

Silently.

Eight expensive submersibles were like they had been paused, their engine lights instantly extinguished, sinking soundlessly into the dark abyss—their electronic cores had been instantly incinerated by the psionic pulses!

"High-altitude targets entering air defense perimeter!"

"HQ-10... No! Use that!" Chen Hai pointed to the newly unlocked weapon icon.

[ 'Particle Lance' Close-in Weapon System activated! ]

On top of the bridge, a sharply designed turret rose, its muzzle glowing with dazzling white light!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Four condensed, almost solid white beams of light tore through the clouds! Their speed far exceeded missiles! The four hypersonic fighters, relying on stealth and high speed to operate with impunity, were vaporized in mid-air at an altitude of ten thousand meters before they even had a chance to maneuver to evade! Not even an explosion fireball could form!

The air and sea threats were instantly neutralized!

The bridge was utterly silent, with only the system's notification sound remaining:

[Targets cleared. Energy consumption: 7%. Xing Chen (Stardust) power supply stable.]

Chen Hai watched the light points representing enemy aircraft disappear from the screen, slowly exhaling a long breath, his back already soaked with cold sweat. This was... the new generation of weapons supported by the miniaturized fusion core? Devastating!

"Report!" The communications officer suddenly exclaimed, "Receiving... receiving clear wide-area distress signal! Source... Arctic Circle! Signal identifier is—Ark Council!"

"Ark Council?" Chen Hai frowned. "Those old foxes aren't all dead yet?"

The signal content contained only one shocking line of text:

> "Frozen Fleet awakened! Observer traitors opened the Doomsday Vault! Request... Deep Blue support! Coordinates: North Latitude 89°..."

---

[Medical Bay Awakening and Imprint]

The cryogenic chamber lid slid open silently. Lin Feng's eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. Intense pain still lingered, but a larger, purer sense of energy flowed through his limbs—that was the passive nourishment of the Pioneer core and Xing Chen (Stardust)'s dual energy fields on his body.

He immediately looked at his left palm. The golden spiral mark had completely disappeared, but when he concentrated and looked inward, he could "see" a faint golden light trace, imprinted deep within his consciousness.

[Host awakening detected.]

[Pioneer energy backlash suppressed. Unknown gene mark has entered deep dormant state.]

[Warning: This mark possesses high-dimensional activity; dormancy period unknown. Forcing activation may lead to unpredictable consequences.]

"High-dimensional activity..." Lin Feng murmured, his gaze turning to the dark deep sea outside the porthole. The "origin mark" in Su Yuanshan's journal, the authority response from the ruin's core, and this mark imprinted on his soul... his origins seemed to be linked to ancient secrets far beyond human imagination.

The bay door slid open, and Chen Hai and Old Zhao quickly entered, their faces showing the joy of surviving a disaster and a new solemnity.

"Captain! You're awake! Xing Chen (Stardust) succeeded! We just repelled the Observer's sneak attack!" Chen Hai spoke rapidly.

"And this." Old Zhao handed over the tablet, which displayed the distress signal from the Arctic and the phrase "Frozen Fleet awakened."

Lin Feng's gaze swept across the screen, finally settling on the words "Doomsday Vault." He propped himself up, a tingling itch coming from his charred right arm beneath the regenerating gel.

"Ark Council... Doomsday Vault..." His voice was hoarse, yet it carried an undeniable power. "It seems the Observer suffered a loss in the Antarctic and is eager to overturn the table."

He looked at Chen Hai and Old Zhao, all fatigue gone from his eyes, replaced by a sharpness like deep-sea ice:

"Give the order."

"Deep Blue, change course for the Arctic."

"We're going to see what kind of monsters are frozen in the Doomsday Vault. And while we're at it..."

"We'll send those old geezers from the Ark to their graves."

The invisible imprint in his palm seemed to burn slightly for an instant, along with his killing intent.