Chapter 76: Chapter 73: Sand Sea Storm – Spatial Veil (Please Subscribe)
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There was no need for Shen Qing’s reminder, as Song Chi activated the energy shield faster than anyone else. However, the spectral airship’s energy shield ultimately wasn’t instantaneous. The 20-second charging time was something that couldn’t be changed.
It was during the dark matter energy shield generator’s charging period that two sandstorms, each with a diameter of several tens of meters, bore down on the two spectral airships from both the left and the right.
Given their speed of approach, it was clear that there was bound to be a collision with both airships before they could successfully activate their energy shields.
Whooo Whooo Whooo!
Outside the hull of the ship, the sharp and urgent wailing sound echoed continuously, and the Cang Qiong underfoot was shaking violently. Even though the two sandstorms hadn’t fully closed in yet, the huge hurricanes they brought with them already had a significant impact on both spectral airships.
“The energy level of the hurricanes generated by these two sandstorms must be at the peak of the first rank…”
No sooner had he come to this conclusion than Shen Qing’s voice came through on the communication projection again.
“Little Chi, don’t take this lightly. These are only the weakest kind of sandstorms. This Starry Sea Floating Land is riddled with countless storm eyes, and I once encountered a superstorm over a kilometer in diameter. Even from ten thousand meters away, the Qingfeng nearly failed to escape its storm field.
Remember, never get trapped in a sandstorm over a hundred meters in diameter. A storm eye of that size is enough to tear apart our energy shields and armor layers.”
Song Chi felt somewhat solemn; before departing, Shen Qing had also talked to him about the situation of this abandoned Floating Land, and he already knew about the terrifying natural disasters such as the sandstorms, but kilometer-wide storm eyes were a frightening thought.
The mere tens of meters-wide storms in front of them were already daunting enough. How much more terrifying would it be to encounter ones over a hundred meters, let alone kilometer-scale sandstorms?
The embedded lock light beams enwrapping the two spectral airships were urgently withdrawn, and the engines of both the Cang Qiong and Qingfeng were engaged at full power almost simultaneously. With the thrust, it was easy for the two airships to break free from the gravitational pull of the two sandstorms since they were still in the periphery of the storms where the pull wasn’t too strong.
By the time Cang Qiong and Qingfeng reached a relatively safe position, the energy shields of both ships were also fully activated. Unlike the deep black energy barrier that enveloped Cang Qiong, a white shield unfolded over the surface of Shen Qing’s Qingfeng. With a cursory glance, Song Chi had a rough guess.
The energy shield equipped on the Qingfeng was most likely a white quality component, which was quite a standard configuration for a spectral airship at the Torch Warship level.
Song Chi was not surprised; after all, counting the interstellar beacon and the Torch Warship’s locking device, Shen Qing’s Qingfeng had at least two blue quality components. This was exceedingly rare for a spectral airship that had advanced to the first rank in less than a year.
On the other hand, Shen Qing was quite astonished. It was one thing for Song Chi to have ascended to the first rank after just three explorations of the Alien Star Domain, but the energy shield unfolding on the surface of Cang Qiong appeared to be quite strong. He felt he had underestimated his lifelong friend.
He could tell that the dark matter energy shield was something special, at least at the blue level.
“Little Chi, is this a blue quality energy shield?”
Hearing this inquiry, Song Chi did not respond, neither confirming nor denying.
In Shen Qing’s eyes, this was an implicit affirmation.
For a moment, he felt somewhat sentimental, thinking that having a second-rank father really made a difference. Although he also had the support of his elders, the extent of it was far less significant.
However, he only felt sentimental for a brief moment and didn’t take it too seriously.
He was well aware that Shen Wenjie was ultimately his uncle, who supported him to a certain extent and had found a way to get him a position at the Torch Bureau under Jiangyuan, which was already a great deal of consideration.
After all, his father was just an ordinary man who hadn’t awakened the Seed of Torch, and Shen Wenjie hadn’t looked down on him for that. He had been well cared for over the years, which was a great kindness in and of itself.
With their thoughts in check, both of them controlled their spectral airships and started to move cautiously towards the location of the ruins.
According to Shen Qing, the area surrounding the ruins was a region of dense sandstorms, with storms over a hundred meters in diameter common.
For that reason, he had not dared to set the beacon’s drop point near there but had instead opted for the relatively safe location they were at now.
Along the way, neither dared to let their airships accelerate too fast; otherwise, they could inadvertently enter the gravitational fields of the hundred-meter-wide sandstorms. If that happened, escaping would consume a lot of time, which would be much more costly than steadily proceeding forward and saving time.
Inside the cockpit of Cang Qiong, Song Chi carefully piloted the ship forward, glancing occasionally with the corner of his eye at the indescribable Floating Land below.
Although he had listened to his teachers describe various Floating Lands in past courses, this was his first time actually seeing one in person.
Gazing upon the endless sand sea, the swirling sand and storms, it was hard for him to imagine how a piece of the Starry Sea Floating Land could have become like this.
Given that the Buluo Civilization’s ruins were located on this Floating Land, it was highly indicative that the land hadn’t always looked like this. Even if it were not a life-supporting Floating Land, it must at least have been a resource-type one. Otherwise, the Buluo Civilization would not have invested the effort to leave their mark here.