Michael didn’t pay much attention to the dead High Awakened or the energy influx entering his War Rune. He stored the corpse in his War Rune Storage and turned to the two crew members, who shuddered violently.
The dead High Awakened was a member of Dark Heavens, but seeing a young, unfamiliar man breaking someone’s neck nonchalantly wasn’t exactly reassuring. They remembered the golden beams piercing their chests and looked down at their bodies, wondering if they were already in the afterlife, only to notice that there was nothing. All they could feel was an itch all over their body, within them. Their lifeforce and energy level was kept low, ensuring they couldn’t retaliate.
Michael noticed the Extraction traces, which had spread through the crew members’ bodies, and decided to disperse them. The crew members weren’t that dangerous. That was also why he hadn’t killed them with a beam of compressed extraction. Michael had followed his gut feeling to weaken the human powerhouses instead. They were lucky.
“I will need to check your minds again,” Michael said in a low tone as he approached the two crew members.
They shuddered and tried to pull back, but Michael didn’t let them.
“If you want to help your families, let me see everything I need to,” he said calmly. Resist me, and I might not be able to procure the information needed to get rid of Dark Heavens.”
The seriousness in his tone was enough to convince the crew members. If someone was strong enough to help their family, the young man was probably standing before them.
Michael procured the information he needed. That included intel about the spaceship’s structure and information about everyone’s location, strength, Soultraits, and which machines he should avoid destroying if he didn’t want the spaceship to be destroyed.
At first, the crew members felt weird having someone search through their minds again, but since it was voluntary this time, they had better control. Of course, that was also because Michael didn’t force his mind into theirs to procure information using brute violence and the domination of their minds, but it wasn’t like Michael had to announce that openly. It was probably better to leave them in the dark.
“Thanks a lot,” Michael said once the crew members were done sharing everything he needed to know, “This will help a lot.”
“Please…rescue my family…our families. We didn’t want to attack the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs…but…our families…” Tears welled up in the crew members’ eyes, forcing Michael to halt in his tracks momentarily. He gave them a thumbs-up and smiled.
“I will take care of this. Don’t worry.”
A moment later, Michael disappeared. He used Cosmic Stride to teleport through a significant portion of the spaceship and appeared in a big room. It was dark, but Michael could see through the darkness. His vision improved further as he circulated more origin energy through his eyes.
Michael’s head flicked to the left, and he was about to respond with a fierce punch to someone approaching him when he noticed a little girl bumping into him. The girl was no more than six years old and fell on her butt after running into Michael. Her eyes got teary, but instead of bursting into tears and bawling, she got up and sniffed.
“I..Sorry…” She said, bowing while snot ran down her nose. Tears trickled down her cheeks, and Michael was sure the dam blocking more tears from pouring down her cheeks was about to break.
‘Nobody chained the crew’s family? Is Dark Heavens too full of themselves, or is it enough to restrain everyone by locking the doors? They’re Awakened but none of them is at a high Tier.’
He squatted down while transforming bits of his origin energy inside one of the Elemental Spheres. He released the greenish-white glowing energy and enveloped the little girl, releasing her from all the pain that tormented her.
“Are you better, little one?” Michael asked the girl, gently patting her head.
The light of his attributed energy illuminated the center of the room, attracting everyone’s attention. A commotion was about to break out as someone unfamiliar appeared amidst them, but Michael silenced everyone before they could say something.
[Stay quiet and do not move!]
His voice carried through the room via Whispering Energy, the words amplified with his will. He avoided the little girl and some smaller children, ensuring they would receive another message via Whispering Energy.
[I’m here to help. Let’s play Silent Jokester for a moment.]
Michael smiled before releasing a soothing wave of fire, light, and nature-attributed energy. The wave of energy filled everyone with warmth while also releasing the stress and tension they’d accumulated over the last few days.
[There might be a commotion outside soon. I want everyone to stay as quiet as possible.] Michael told everyone. He tilted his head briefly and thought of something before adding, [I might bring some crew members here. Try not to scream out in surprise when we appear out of nowhere. It will be like this.]
Michael disappeared suddenly, taking the others by surprise, only to reappear a second later with the two crew members he’d left behind. When he saw his father, one of the kids was about to scream, but the mother covered his mouth in a hurry, muffling the excited scream.
Michael nodded thankfully toward the mother before helping the two men sit down. He’d drained their energy and lifeforce a little bit too much. They would not sustain any permanent wounds or have long-lasting issues, but it would take a few days to recuperate their lifeforce naturally.
He used Cosmic Stride to move to a different section of the spaceship where a few people, crew members, and Dark Heavens members were located. Spirit Eyes couldn’t differentiate between crew members and Dark Heavens members. They looked the same as Spirit Eyes could only determine the energy accumulated in their Energy Pillar through the spaceship’s walls.
Either way, Michael recalled the Dark Heaven members and released a True Extraction Qi Sword at one of them. The same target became the victim of a Spiritual Domination charge, overwhelming the man for a moment. The True Extraction Qi Sword impaled the man and sucked him dry before the Qi Sword exploded, ending the Dark Heavens member once and for all.
The other Dark Heavens member summoned a High Beast out of nowhere. That would have impressed Michael if he had not had mythical flames to burn the High Beast into a cinder. He was forced to be careful with the mythical flames, but it was not too difficult. He had enough time to learn how to control his powers.
Michael used Foundation Break, a few Serpent Seals, and Heavenly Beast Physique to increase his physical prowess. He charged through the azure flames and appeared before the Dark Heavens member, piercing his skull with the claws his left hand had turned into.
The energy influxes entered his body while the corpses were stored in his War Rune Storage. Michael wiped the brain mass from his claw with a flush of energy and turned to the crew members. He strode toward them, to which they responded with a step backward.
“Don’t be stupid,” He grumbled, lunging forward to grasp their arms before teleporting into the room where the crews’ families were held hostage.
The room became the crew’s sanctuary, ensuring Michael would not kill them by accident.
He did not want to go to their families and tell them their husband or wife died at his hands if he could avoid it.
