141: Chapter 141 The Visitor is Not Friendly

The Cloud Top Fortress sailed steadily above the clouds in the airspace.

Having just enjoyed a feast meticulously prepared by Zhang Ming with beast meat, Zhou An's body was in a state of high energy.

He went to the training room and performed a few sets of high-intensity weighted resistance exercises.

This powerful body, even during the most basic stretches, triggered low-pitched sonic booms.

After loosening up his muscles and bones, Zhou An returned to his room and lay comfortably on the large leather sofa.

The advanced therapy robot standing by in the corner immediately glided over, its mechanical tentacles precisely attaching to his tense muscle nodes, and began a deep massage with just the right amount of pressure.

"Whew..."

Zhou An exhaled a long breath, and as his nerves relaxed, he moved his mind to summon the system panel before him.

With a flash of light, a blueprint radiating a brilliant dark golden glow floated in mid-air.

[Cloud Top Fortress Upgrade Blueprint (LV6)]

Zhou An's gaze swept over the long list of upgrade requirements below, and his eyebrows raised slightly.

[Materials Required for LV6 Fortress Core Upgrade]:

Basic Components: Level 6 Basic Materials x 1,000,000 units

...

Special Materials: [Star Core Fragment] x 1

Special Materials: [Cangyun Eternal Gold] x 100 units

Basic materials were not a problem; they could be synthesized easily.

What really troubled him were those two rare special materials.

"Star Core Fragment, Cangyun Eternal Gold..."

Zhou An rubbed his chin, deep in thought. These items clearly could not be obtained through conventional means.

"Perhaps I can ask Xila."

Zhou An calculated inwardly.

The White Feather Guild, where Xila belonged, possessed a genuine LV6 warship. Since they could build level 6 vehicles, they must know the acquisition channels for these materials and special metals, or even the inside scoop on black market trades.

Having made up his mind, Zhou An closed the panel, got up, left the room, and walked toward the hall on the second floor.

As soon as he approached the hall, a somewhat exaggerated sound of a female character crying and melodramatic background music wafted over.

Inside the spacious and comfortable living area, a recently released melodramatic romance series was playing on a holographic projection screen that occupied an entire wall.

Hearing Zhou An's footsteps, the girls on the sofa turned their heads to greet him.

"Boss."

Li Muzi was peeling a crystal-clear spirit fruit in her hand.

Luo Ning was lying across her lap without a care in the world.

Luo Ning was currently wearing her favorite silk nightgown, her fair and slender calves resting casually on the sofa armrest, and she was hugging a pillow, her posture extremely lazy and relaxed. Hearing the commotion, she didn't even get up; she just tilted her head back and gave Zhou An a mischievous smile.

On the single sofa opposite them, Shen Xingyue maintained her usual gentle and cold demeanor.

She was wearing a white shirt, having changed out of her usual work uniform, with her signature rimless glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, her long legs elegantly crossed. She was also watching the melodramatic series on the projection with keen interest.

And sitting on a single sofa in a corner slightly further away from the three was Xila.

As a "newcomer" who had just joined the fortress, Xila clearly had not yet fully adapted to this luxurious and comfortable daily life.

She sat rather stiffly, her back straight, hands placed obediently on her knees, like a new recruit waiting to be inspected by an officer at any moment.

Seeing Zhou An approach, Xila immediately stood up like a conditioned reflex and lowered her head slightly: "Boss."

Zhou An waved his hand, signaling her not to be so nervous, then walked over to the sofa next to her and sat down, getting straight to the point: "Xila, sit. I happen to have something to ask you regarding intelligence on LV6 materials."

Zhou An sat on the sofa beside Xila and casually picked up a cup of warm spirit flower tea handed to him by Li Muzi.

"Xila, sit down, there is no need to be so reserved."

Zhou An took a light sip of tea and looked at the Winged girl before him with a peaceful gaze.

"I just looked at the blueprint for the fortress to upgrade to LV6. I have gathered the basic materials, but I have no leads on two core items. One is the [Star Core Fragment], and the other is the special metal [Cangyun Eternal Gold]. Your White Feather Guild's warship is LV6; have you heard any news about these two items in the guild?"

After hearing Zhou An's description, Xila's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she revealed a thoughtful expression.

A moment later, she said in a low, somewhat ashamed voice: "My status in the guild was not high before, and later... so I could not access such core secrets. My guild's 'wind chaser' is indeed LV6, but the acquisition channels for those core materials have always been held by the core leadership."

Just as Zhou An felt slightly disappointed, Xila changed her tone: "However, Captain Ivy often enters and exits the core council chamber; perhaps she knows the production locations or trading channels for these items. If you allow it, I can contact the Captain and help you inquire."

"Ivy?"

Zhou An's fingers tapped lightly on the sofa armrest.

"Fine, then you should ask her. If we can get a lead, we can save a lot of trouble."

"Yes, I will handle it right away."

Xila nodded solemnly.

At this time, Li Muzi asked softly: "Boss, how shall we arrange our itinerary next? Should we move closer to those large Floating Islands to collect some special resources?"

Zhou An leaned back on the sofa, watching the melodramatic segment still playing on the screen, his expression leisurely: "There is no need for that for now. Right now, just the interest generated daily is enough to maintain the fortress's most luxurious consumption. We are not lacking in food or clothing, so there is no need to go to those places of trouble and go head-to-head with guilds of other races."

He paused: "Just maintain the current speed and fly normally. Once Xila finds out the exact location of the core materials, we will then set our destination and start. Before that, everyone can just treat this as a high-altitude trip in the Cangyun Airspace."

"The Boss is wise!"

Luo Ning cheered and collapsed back onto Muzi's lap, completely devoid of decorum.

"Then let's continue watching the next episode; I heard that in this episode, the female lead is going to discover that her husband is actually the illegitimate son of that boss..."

...

Two days passed in the blink of an eye during the steady voyage above the clouds.

"Bang! Bang! Boom—"

Muffled sonic booms echoed in the empty training ground. Xila completed the last set of high-intensity weighted assassination maneuvers, nimbly rolled in mid-air to dissipate the force, and landed steadily.

She panted heavily, grabbed a clean white towel, and wiped the sweat from her forehead and neck.

Thanks to the genetic agents formulated by Shen Xingyue using legendary grade resources over the past few days, as well as the ingredients Zhang Ming provided without stint, Xila's body, which had previously appeared somewhat thin due to long-term malnutrition, had now undergone a qualitative transformation.

Her physical level had now officially broken through to the fourth tier.

Her tight black tactical vest was soaked with sweat, perfectly outlining her explosive and exquisite curves. Her previously slightly pale skin now radiated a healthy, resilient, and lustrous glow, her abdominal muscles were clearly visible, and her slender legs were straight and full of power.

This pleasure of strength improving as fast as riding a rocket was something she never dared to imagine when she was in the White Feather Guild.

Calming her breathing, Xila walked into the luxurious bathroom attached to the training ground and took a comfortable hot shower. The water washed away her exhaustion, and she changed into a clean, loose casual outfit, wiping her still-dripping hair while summoning the system panel.

However, when she saw the familiar avatar on the private chat interface, the smile on her lips stiffened slightly.

[Ivy] No response

It had been a full forty-eight hours since she sent the message inquiring about LV6 materials two days ago, and the dialogue box remained dead silent, with no reply whatsoever.

"Did something happen?"

Xila furrowed her brows slightly, a flash of unease appearing in her clear eyes.

Based on her understanding of Ivy, no matter how busy the front line was, Ivy would never go two consecutive days without checking system messages, much less intentionally not reply to her.

Xila bit her lower lip, her slender fingers tapping rapidly on the virtual keyboard, and sent two more messages:

"Captain, are you busy? Reply to me when you see this message."

"Is there something wrong with the guild?"

The messages were like stones sinking into the ocean.

Xila subconsciously wanted to click on the avatars of her former friends to ask about the situation, but her fingertips hovered in mid-air, and finally, she lowered them powerlessly.

"Forget it..."

She sighed softly and muttered bitterly.

"In their eyes, I am now a traitor who betrayed the race for the sake of pleasure... If I contact them rashly, I fear it will only bring unnecessary criticism and trouble to the Captain."

She shook her head, suppressing the inexplicable panic in her heart. Perhaps the Captain was leading the team on a mission. Let's wait a bit longer, until the Captain replies.

Unlike the uneasy Xila, Zhou An had carried the word "leisure" to the extreme over these two days.

There was no survival pressure.

His daily routine, besides accompanying Luo Ning to test firepower parameters in the virtual cabin, was to crazily act as a "scalper" in the Trading House.

These two days, he had been aggressively shorting low-tier materials in the trading channel and hoarding top-grade blueprints, having a great time.

"Ding—"

Zhou An took a glass of iced fruit wine specially prepared by Zhang Ming from the ice bucket next to him, sank comfortably into the soft sofa, and casually opened the public chat interface.

He wanted to see how the "water temperature" of this airspace was over these two days.

However, as soon as he opened the panel, a screen full of crimson distress messages and crazily scrolling curses popped up instantly:

"Damn! Coordinates... the resource point on this Floating Island has been taken over by the [Dragonman Guild]! They wiped out two of our gathering squads! Are there any human brothers nearby to support us?!"

"Run! The black mist behind is spreading faster! Don't go to medium or large Floating Islands; they are full of Beastmen!"

"Warning! The [Blood Moon Guild] warship fleet is conducting a carpet sweep in Airspace C! They don't want survivors, only resources! Repeat, do not approach Airspace C!"

"Crazy, it's all crazy! After the regional event a few days ago, the resource consumption has doubled! The Beastmen, relying on their population base of 1.5 million, are conducting indiscriminate clearing!"

Zhou An gently swirled the ice cubes in his goblet, his gaze calmly sweeping over these rapidly scrolling intelligence reports.

"It seems that the resource shortage after the event, coupled with the pressure of the black mist from behind, has already caused the major forces to completely tear off their masks." Zhou An took a sip of fruit wine, a cold, spectator-like sneer curling the corners of his mouth.

The Beastmen's massive three major guilds—Blood Moon, Dragonman, and Deep Sea—had finally begun to use their absolute population and military advantages to conduct crazy territorial expansion and resource plundering in this airspace.

Zhou An leaned on the sofa, his eyes quickly scanning the constantly refreshing death coordinates and distress messages in the regional channel. The iced fruit wine in his glass was not yet finished when the soft background sound in the fortress was suddenly cut off by a short, sharp electronic alert sound.

"Beep—Alert."

EVA's voice echoed in the room:

"The Deep Space Radar Matrix has captured a concealed flying object signal fifty kilometers directly in front of this ship. Preliminarily identified as a micro-aircraft."

Zhou An put down the goblet: "Bring up its flight trajectory."

The holographic projection unfolded, and an azure-blue 3D radar map of the airspace appeared. A red dot was constantly flickering in the edge area.

"According to the data calculations of the last ten minutes, the aircraft's heading presents an extremely strange 'Z'-shaped spiral return route,"

EVA reported while sketching complex red dashed lines on the screen.

"The opponent is conducting high-density scanning of this airspace, having completely ruled out the possibility of getting lost or passing by by chance; its behavioral characteristics 100% match a target-seeking reconnaissance aircraft."

"Scanning? It seems they are here to find something."

Zhou An sneered, "EVA, launch two high-altitude reconnaissance drone swarms from the drone matrix, get close and see whose scout it is."

"Command confirmed, reconnaissance swarm has left the nest."

A real-time monitoring screen was immediately split on the holographic screen.

However, just as the Cloud Top Fortress's reconnaissance drone closed the distance and was about to lock on, that strange small reconnaissance aircraft seemed to be equipped with an extremely sensitive anti-reconnaissance radar.

It suddenly pulled an incredible maneuver in mid-air, its engine spewing blinding exhaust flames, and turned around to run without any hesitation, disappearing into the depths of the clouds in the blink of an eye.

"The opponent has left the tracking range."

EVA reported.

"It runs quite fast."

Zhou An was not surprised; it would be strange if this level of scout could be easily caught by ordinary drones.

"Did you capture the image?"

"Within the 1.5 seconds before the opponent fled, the optical probe captured the high-definition livery on the fuselage."

The image froze and zoomed in on the center of the screen. On the side of the reconnaissance aircraft's dark gray wing, an unsettling logo was clearly painted.

Blood Moon Guild.

Zhou An's eyes narrowed slightly.

He had just seen in the regional channel that the Blood Moon Guild was conducting a carpet massacre in Airspace C; he didn't expect their claws to reach so far, with their reconnaissance aircraft already sneaking to a place fifty kilometers away from the Cloud Top Fortress.

"EVA, change defense strategy."

"Turn the radar power to the maximum, and at the same time, normalize the deployment of drone swarms. With the fortress as the center, pull up a fifty-kilometer alert net for me."

"Any unverified suspicious target, once it enters this circle, no warning needed; shoot it down on the spot."

"Understood, Commander. Alert net activated."

...

Nightfall arrived quietly, the heavy darkness rendering the surrounding sea of clouds like an abyss.

The Cloud Top Fortress activated its stealth field, the massive hull distorting light and heat, disappearing from everyone's view.

Zhou An was not asleep; he was sitting at the console, listening to EVA report today's situation.

Suddenly, all the lights in the entire command center instantly switched to a blinding crimson!

"Level 1 Red Alert!"

"Large-scale thermal energy reaction and spatial fluctuations detected at the edge of the radar matrix!"

The holographic projection popped up instantly, and in the airspace sixty kilometers in front of the fortress, on the originally pitch-black radar map, eight huge crimson light clusters suddenly lit up.

"Target optical and energy level analysis complete."

EVA quickly broadcasted data that made one's scalp numb.

"Enemy formation is: a full-strength heavy warship fleet."

"Core warships, three LV5 heavy warships."

"Escort formation, five LV4 firepower cruisers."

The optical image transmitted back through the night-vision clouds—those eight huge warships, like a Great Wall of steel, were lined up in an oppressive assault formation, crushing through the night sky. And on the outer deck of every warship was engraved that blinding Blood Moon logo!

Zhou An looked at the fleet on the screen.

"Ill intentions, indeed."