Chapter 798: Desperate Straits
Star Odyssey
Chapter 798: Desperate Straits
After listening to Wei Rong, Starfox’s eyes deepened. “We’ll have to charge out.”
In the distance, Saul and Twin Daemons stopped fighting while Wei Rong’s voice echoed out in everyone’s ears, calling for them to put their shared grudges down and to charge into the heavens together.
Twin Daemons revealed themselves and looked up at the sky. They did not want to remain behind in Millions City either, as this place had become too dangerous.
Suddenly, the twins’ hair stood on end as a sense of crisis sprang up within their heart. They instinctively used the Daemon Slash technique to flee into the void, but it was already too late. A single palm pressed against the twins’ back, reinforced with exceptionally dazzling nine lined battle force.
“This palm is for Sourcepeak Planet.” A low voice entered the twins’ ears and made their scalps turn numb. Next, the twins’ heart quivered, and the void shattered in a spiderweb pattern. There was a soft shockwave that shuddered through space and released a thump against Twin Daemons’ chest. Then, fresh blood splattered onto the ground.
Saul, Wei Rong, and a few others looked over. This was their first time seeing Twin Daemons’ true appearance, though it was also their last. Cai Jianqiang slowly walked out from behind the fallen twins.
“Sourcepeak Planet’s grudge has been avenged, but what you owe the society still needs to be returned,” Cai Jianqiang coldly said to Saul.
Saul instantly became apprehensive, as he knew that this person was an exceptionally talented fighter who was unrivalled within his generation. Despite knowing all that, Saul still had not thought that Cai Jianqiang would be so terrifying that he could kill Twin Daemons in a single strike. Although there had been an element of surprise to the attack, that palm’s power had absolutely horrified Saul, and he knew that he would have died without question if that attack had struck him instead. “I don’t owe the society anything. Felynn is the one who cooperated with outsiders to force me out.”
“Anything you want to say can be said after returning to Planet Hydrotink,” Cai Jianqiang stated firmly.
Saul was infuriated. “How dare you! As long as the Neoverse Lockbreaker Society has not revoked my position, I am still the Vice President of the Outerverse Lockbreaker Society! Cai Jianqiang, you are merely a one star Perceptive Intermediate Lockbreaker. On just what basis are you qualified to arrest me?”
Cai Jianqiang arrogantly replied, “On the basis of my strength.”
Saul was enraged, and it seemed that communication between the two had broken down.
Wei Rong’s eyes narrowed. Twin Daemons was actually dead, which was actually great for them, but this Cai Jianqiang was absolutely terrifying.
“Be careful!” Lu Yin shouted.
Cai Jianqiang turned around just in time to see Mr. Jun appearing from the void. He had a lockbreaking tool pasted to his forehead, and he hurled a palm at Cai Jianqiang.
Cai Jianqiang snorted and mirrored Mr. Jun by raising his own hand to answer the incoming palm strike. The attacks collided, and Mr. Jun spat out a mouthful of blood as his entire body was blown back. Cai Jianqiang leaped up after the man and seized him by his neck. “Despicable man, it’s time for you to die.”
“Stop!” Saul tried to intervene.
Cai Jianqiang’s face remained solemn.
Off to the side, the black Undying Bird above Sall Phoenix’s head flew even higher as its five plumes blazed black. Its scorching flames caused the black Undying Bird to continuously expand until it covered all of Millions City. Its high temperature could even burn the sky, but the boundless black flames suddenly compressed into a condensed black Undying Bird whose darkness was so deep that it even swallowed the surrounding light. The runes lines of this black Undying Bird had multiplied compared to earlier, and they were now infinitely close to Elder Lohar’s.
Sall Phoenix haughtily declared, “Junior, the Dark Phoenix family was able to kill our way out of the Innerverse, and our strength is not something that you can imagine. Today, you will become a grieving soul after perishing in our flames.”
The compressed black Undying Bird then shot towards Lu Yin.
Lu Yin’s expression turned grave. His universal armor was able to withstand attacks that exceeded power levels of 300,000, but even then, he felt apprehensive towards this black Undying Bird. His universal armor might be able to block it, but he was certain that he would not have an easy time of it.
Helpless, Lu Yin punched at the ground, as he had seen that there were a tremendous number of rune lines directly beneath him that represented several Enlighters.
Although he did not know how Yuehua Mavis and those few Enlighter had suddenly appeared beneath him, as long as they came out, there would be others to share the pressure of Sall Phoenix’s attack with him.
At the same time, directly beneath Lu Yin, Zhu Tiezhu and the Blaze Engineer similarly attacked towards the surface. Their position had been mysteriously shifted away recently, and they could no longer sense any traces of Qiong Xi’er or that Neohuman Alliance expert. The black mist that had appeared in the air was being blocked by Yuehua Mavis and Villa Mistress Lian while the two men were in charge of breaking through to the surface.
Lu Yin’s punch slammed into the ground, and he was one step faster than Zhu Tiezhu and the Blaze Engineer. The ground split open as the surface layer completely disintegrated. Not only Lu Yin, but Saul, Cai Jianqiang, and Mr. Jun were also all caught up in the destruction. As all of them fell down, the Blaze Engineer and Zhu Tiezhu’s attacks had already been unleashed, and they could not take their attacks back. Coincidentally, at the same time, the black Undying Bird had also already flapped its wings and was flying towards the group.
The Blaze Engineer and Zhu Tiezhu immediately controlled their attacks to aim towards the black bird.
An explosion erupted over Millions City, and the entire city shuddered as an earth-shattering inferno filled the sky.
Sall Phoenix had never thought that his attack would be stopped like this, and he was not able to react to the explosion in time, which meant that the aftershock knocked him down.
Lu Yin and the others landed not too far away from Zhu Tiezhu and the rest, and Zhu Tiezhu was delighted. “We can get out now!”
But right after he said that, a tremendous pulling force appeared beneath them. Although Sall Phoenix had already managed to stabilize himself, he was dragged back down again by the force, and it did not let up.
Sall Phoenix growled and tried to break away from the force, but then, Taylor suddenly shouted from further below, “Uncle, save me!”
He was also being dragged underground.
Sall Phoenix hesitated, but it was only for a moment. Still, due to that moment of hesitation, he was also dragged down by that intense pull.
Even Enlighters would find it hard to break free from this force.
Zhu Tiezhu and the others had no chance of escaping either.
When Sall Phoenix landed with a crash, a loud thump rang out. It seemed as though something had covered the space over their heads as the area had been plunged into pitch-black darkness.
“What’s going on?” Sall Phoenix shouted.
Everyone else was also confused.
Millions City had opened up because of the giant cannon slowly rising out of the ground, and Lu Yin and all the others had actually been trapped inside of the cannon barrel itself. What had just sealed off the space above them was the cannon’s breechblock, and they were now completely trapped.
On the other side of the underground space, the Specter Clan expert’s lips curled upwards as he looked at the group on a screen. He then ominously said, “Everyone, have you ever experienced the power of an Envoy? Today, you will have that opportunity, so at least your lifetime of cultivation has not been in vain.”
Qiong Xi’er then spoke in a sluggish voice. “Activate everything.”
As soon as these words were uttered, Millions City trembled, and the giant cannon suddenly started flashing red as the underground mountain of star essence was completely absorbed by something. A low rumbling then emerged from deep underground. It sounded as if something was about to boil over.
Inside the cannon, Zhu Tiezhu’s face turned a deathly shade of white. “We’re finished! We’re all going to be blasted into smithereens by an attack with a power level of several hundred thousands!”
Sall Phoenix glared sharply at the man. “What did you just say? Repeat that.”
Yuehua Mavis coldly explained, “We are inside Millions City’s fortress cannon, and it can fire an energy blast from its main cannon, and we are within that cannon’s barrel. This energy shot will first reduce us to dust and then fire us out into space. We have no way of escaping, as this cannon can even isolate the void.”
The crowd grew horrified, as such a prospect was too terrifying.
“No! I want to get out! Uncle, I want to get out! SAVE ME!” Taylor Phoenix screamed.
Sall Phoenix shouted at the youth, “Shut up!”
Saul and the others all had gloomy faces, as they had sensed that, deep underground, an unimaginable amount of energy was indeed converging. If what Yuehua Mavis had said was true, then how could they survive such a thing?
“How powerful is the energy blast?” Villa Mistress Lian frowned as terror flashed through her eyes.
The Blaze Engineer pulled out a flask of alcohol, took a swig, and then answered, “It depends on how many resources they’ve used to activate it. In the worst case scenario, with Millions City’s reserves, it should be a blast at a power level of at least 400,000.”
The crowd became desperate.
“Let’s work together and fight our way out.” Sall Phoenix felt that this was possible, as he had a power vessel.
The Blaze Engineer sniggered. “Stop dreaming. This cannon is able to compress energy to a power level of 400,000 before unleashing it all at once. This isn’t something that just the few of us can destroy. Also, an attack with a power level of 400,000 is just an optimistic estimation. That fellow did say this was going to be something at the level of an Envoy, which means a power level of 500,000. Even if all of us here worked together, we wouldn’t be able to harm a single hair of an Envoy even in our dreams, and this cannon’s the same.”
“Then are we supposed to just wait here to die?” Sall Phoenix bellowed.
Yuehua Mavis looked helpless. “Nobody wants to die. Everyone, all the best to you.”
Thump thump thump!
Mr. Jun, Taylor, and Sall Phoenix all started desperately attacking the sides of the chamber in an attempt to break the cannon, and they even took out several power vessels.
“Seventh Bro, think of a way to escape!” the Ghost Monkey screamed.
Lu Yin observed his surroundings. “When will this cannon fire?”
Blaze Engineer replied, “In about fifteen seconds.”
Lu Yin had no other choice; even if he crushed the jade talisman, Mister Mu would not be able to arrive in time, as fifteen seconds was too short a timeframe. He could use the futon to hide himself in the Daosource Sect’s ruins, but when he returned, he would return to this same place, and at that time, this mobile fortress would have fallen under the Neohuman Alliance’s control, in which case he would still face death. He did not want this mobile fortress to fall into the Neohuman Alliance’s hands, as that outcome was too terrifying to even contemplate. Of course, if there was truly no other choice, then he would have to use the futon to escape before the attack landed, as facing death in the future was still much better than unquestionable death in the present.
Underground, an enormous amount of rune lines became even more concentrated, and the amount that Lu Yin saw made his scalp go numb. These rune lines were more than sufficient to turn all of them to ash. This was an energy cannon, and Lu Yin did not believe that his secret technique could divert such a massive attack. His secret technique was not invincible, and it had an upper limit. Even if he did not know what that limit was, it was unlikely that he would be able to divert an attack whose power level was between 400,000 to 500,000.
“Hand over all your star essence to me, and I can try to save all of us,” Lu Yin spoke hurriedly.
Everyone stared at him in shock.
“Just by yourself?” Taylor questioned.
Lu Yin frowned. “You can choose to not believe me, but I really do have a way. You can give it a try, or else we’re all toast.”
Yuehua Mavis unhesitatingly threw her cosmic ring along with a drop of blood to Lu Yin, while the Blaze Engineer, Zhu Tiezhu, Villa Mistress Lian, Cai Jianqiang, Saul, Mr. Jun, and even Sall Phoenix did the same. At this point, foreign objects had no use to them whatsoever, so they might as well take a gamble.
“No peeking, or else we will all die together,” Lu Yin threatened.
The crowd could only listen to him.
Lu Yin turned his back to them and raised his hand, causing his die to appear.
At this moment, the underground red radiance grew even richer, and the energy suddenly felt closer to everyone than ever before. The energy cannon was about to fire.
This was a desperate situation, and just like how a commoner would fare upon falling into a sealed volcanic shaft, they were certain to die as soon as the volcano erupted.
Lu Yin did not want to die, so he tapped out. The die slowly spun before stopping on one pip. He quickly restored it and tapped again.
As the cannon’s energy shot charged upwards at an extreme speed, an unimaginable despair gripped everyone’s soul, and they all closed their eyes. In this situation, anyone would be scared of death.