21: Flying above the clouds

In the evening, to repay her two saviors and to celebrate their hard-won survival, Gu Nianqiu pulled out her ultimate skills, turning the makeshift kitchen into her magic workshop.

When she emerged from the kitchen carrying the last dish, a complex, mouth-watering aroma instantly filled the entire terrace dining area.

On the dining table, a lavish feast of gratitude was laid out.

Tender and juicy pan-fried sole, its surface lightly golden, sprinkled with finely chopped green herbs, the freshness of the fish mixed with the fragrant scent of plants—just the smell alone was invigorating.

Beside it was a small mountain of golden-crisp fried shrimp balls, each perfectly round, dipped in a tempting sweet and sour sauce she had specially made from wild fruits and seasonings.

The main course was rich creamy mushroom pasta, with a thick, milky white sauce coating every al dente strand, adorned with a few slices of crisply fried bacon.

What Lin Mo was most interested in was the bowl of crystal-clear soup in the center of the table.

The soup was a light amber color, with a few unknown, deep-blue mushrooms, like fragments of stars, quietly floating within, emitting a strange, clear fragrance that seemed to penetrate deep into the soul.

As soon as he approached, a system prompt sounded in his mind.

【System Prompt: You have consumed Gu Nianqiu's meticulously prepared 'Calming and Concentrating Soup' (a-rank cuisine), temporary +5 to Mental attribute, lasting 3 hours.】

Mental attribute!

Lin Mo's eyes instantly changed, and his breath hitched.

This attribute, for him, who had just acquired the “Remote Control” skill, was simply priceless!

The higher his Mental power, the deeper the link he could establish with the Natural Selection, the farther the control distance, the higher the precision, and he could even perform more incredibly complex actions!

This was not just help in a time of need; this was a god-tier supply tailored specifically for him!

“Brother Mo, Sister, hurry and try it!

These are new dishes I’ve been researching for a long time! I call it the ‘Post-Disaster Celebration Feast’!”

Gu Nianqiu, wearing her cute lace apron, hands behind her back, looked at them both with eager anticipation, like a child waiting for praise.

Lin Mo was not stingy with his praise. He picked up a spoon, first ladled a bowl of soup, and tasted it carefully.

The warm soup slid down his throat, a cool sensation rushing to his mind, as if the fatigue and tension of the past few days had been washed away.

“This soup is very good. It’s very important to me,” he said to Gu Nianqiu, his gaze incredibly serious.

Gu Zhixia also elegantly picked up her fork, twirling a small amount of pasta into her mouth.

The rich creamy flavor and the deliciousness of the mushrooms bloomed on her taste buds, causing her tensed face, which had been so for the entire day, to unconsciously soften.

She then tried a mouthful of the sole; the fish melted in her mouth, incredibly tender.

Although her face still maintained a cold, reluctant expression, the slight upturn of her lips and the flicker of satisfaction in her eyes still betrayed her current mood.

The atmosphere at the dining table was warm and harmonious, diluting the pungent smell of blood from earlier in the day.

Gu Zhixia looked at her sister’s small face, which had regained its color and wore a sweet smile, and then at the man opposite her, who ate steadily and exuded a reassuring strength in his demeanor. The corner of her heart, which had hardened and grown cold from the battle, gradually softened.

She ate in silence, yet her gaze occasionally drifted towards Lin Mo. He ate quickly, but not rudely, as if he was merely replenishing energy efficiently.

On a whim, she used the serving chopsticks to pick up the largest, most golden fried shrimp ball from the plate, rolled it in the sweet and sour sauce, and then, before she could react, had already extended her arm and steadily placed the shrimp ball into Lin Mo’s bowl.

After performing this action, she herself was stunned, her body instantly stiffening.

When Gu Nianqiu saw this, her eyes immediately widened, then she broke into a knowing, mischievous grin.

She deliberately drew out her words, shaking her head slightly, and scanned back and forth between her sister and Lin Mo with a teasing gaze.

“Sister, you really do like Brother Mo, don’t you? Look, you even served him food on your own initiative!”

“Pfft—cough, cough, cough!”

Gu Zhixia choked on a piece of fish she hadn’t swallowed, her pretty face instantly turning crimson at a visible rate, as if it could drip blood.

“Wha… what are you talking about!”

She retorted hastily, her voice rising an octave, tinged with a hint of angry embarrassment.

“I just… I just worried he was hungry! He didn’t eat much this afternoon, and he expended the most energy!”

Lin Mo looked at her flustered, shy, and annoyed adorable appearance, and simply smiled silently.

He picked up his own chopsticks, took two of the most intact pieces of sole from the plate, and placed them into the sisters’ bowls respectively, his movements natural and fluid.

“You two should eat more too; you both worked hard today.”

He turned to Gu Nianqiu, his tone gentle and sincere.

“Nianqiu, your cooking is delicious, thank you.”

A simple compliment instantly made Gu Nianqiu beam, her eyes curving into crescents, and successfully diffused Gu Zhixia’s awkwardness.

Gu Zhixia glared fiercely at Lin Mo, as if to say, “Glad you’re sensible.” She lowered her head, poking at the pasta on her plate with her fork as if in revenge, but the redness on her earlobes lingered.

After eating their fill, the three sat on chairs on the terrace, enjoying the slightly salty sea breeze and watching the sunset in the sky.

The blood and tension of the day seemed to have been completely washed away by the tranquil and gentle night.

Lin Mo looked at the distant horizon, a blurry line in the deep twilight. He suddenly spoke.

“How about we go see the scenery.”

He stood up, hands on the railing, and turned around.

“Let’s raise the Natural Selection a bit and go for a joyride.”

Gu Nianqiu’s eyes immediately lit up, like two little stars igniting.

“Yay! A joyride! I want to go for a joyride in the sky!”

She was like a child who had received her favorite candy, so excited she almost jumped out of her chair.

Although Gu Zhixia said nothing, merely primly pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, a few undeniable hints of anticipation and longing quietly emerged in her beautiful phoenix eyes.

Lin Mo did not return to the cockpit.

He simply stood on the deck, facing the sea breeze, and slowly closed his eyes.

His Mental power extended like invisible tentacles, linking with the entire massive warship, as if their heartbeats and pulses had become one.

“Buzz—”

The massive hull of the Natural Selection let out a low, powerful roar, and the seawater surged to both sides. It slowly lifted off the surface of the sea, water droplets on its hull sliding off under gravity, and then began to ascend vertically and steadily.

A slight sensation of weightlessness came over them. Gu Nianqiu excitedly grabbed her sister’s arm, her small face flushed with excitement.

“It’s flying! Sister! We’re really flying!”

The warship ascended higher and higher, the sea surface rapidly shrinking beneath their feet, finally transforming into a vast, deep blue canvas spread out below.

The last rays of the setting sun were slowly sinking into the horizon, painting the sky and sea in magnificent shades of orange and red. Golden light poured unreservedly onto the alloy deck, stretching their shadows long.

The scene was breathtakingly beautiful.

Everyone was enchanted by this magnificent and vast scenery, temporarily forgetting the cruelty of the apocalypse.

“If only… time could stop at this moment, how wonderful that would be.”

Gu Zhixia leaned against the cool railing, gazing at the slowly sinking sun in the distance, and murmured softly.

Her face, which always carried an expression of coldness and wariness, now shed all its defenses, leaving only enchantment and a hint of faint melancholy.

Lin Mo looked at her profile, which seemed to be bathed in a soft halo by the sunset glow, and quietly replied.

“Yes, it’s too beautiful.”

“Brother Mo! Brother Mo!”

Gu Nianqiu’s voice broke the tranquility. She pointed at a huge, marshmallow-like cloud in the distance, dyed pink by the sunset, and excitedly shouted.

“Shall we go into the cloud and take a look, okay?”

Lin Mo’s mind stirred, and he brought up the ship’s energy panel.

【super capacitor remaining charge: 85%】

That was enough.

He nodded, agreeing to Gu Nianqiu’s childlike request, a smile unconsciously gracing his lips.

Under his mental control, the Natural Selection’s bow lifted slightly, adjusting its direction, and like an elegant silver giant whale, it flew steadily towards the massive cloud.

As they drew closer, a moist mist rushed towards them, enveloping the deck, carrying the unique sweet scent of water vapor.

The air instantly became cool.

Soon, the entire ship plunged into the soft, fluffy cloud layers.

The surroundings were instantly enveloped in thick white mist, visibility sharply decreasing; they could only see each other’s blurry figures at close range, as if they were in a fairyland.

“Wow! We’re in the sky!”

Gu Nianqiu reached out, feeling the wondrous sensation of her fingertips passing through the mist, the cool and damp feeling making her cheer with delight.

Lin Mo did not stop.

He continued to control the warship, maintaining a steady speed, ascending upwards, piercing through this cloud layer.

“Whoosh—”

A slight sound, as if breaking through the surface of water.

The Natural Selection’s bow broke through the top of the thick cloud layer.

The next second, a breathtaking panorama, enough to make any deity lose themselves, unfolded before the three without warning.

They had ascended above the sea of clouds.

Below them was a surging, boundless, vast sea of clouds, dyed in brilliant colors by the last rays of the setting sun. Golden-red, orange-yellow, enchanting purple… various dreamlike colors intertwined, like a palette overturned by God’s own hand, grand and magnificent.

The setting sun hung just above the horizon in the distance, huge and warm, seemingly within reach.

However, Lin Mo’s gaze instantly bypassed the beautiful sunset, looking towards the higher, more distant sky.

His pupils suddenly contracted into the most dangerous needle-points.

There, in the deep, almost ink-blue firmament above.

An island quietly floated.

An enormous aerial island, defying all known laws of physics, floating tens of thousands of meters high in the sky.

The moment he saw that island, a cold and urgent system prompt, like an alarm bell, exploded in his mind.

【Warning! You have entered the line of sight of an unknown higher-dimensional existence and are suffering mental erosion! SAN value is continuously decreasing, currently 90%!】