Chapter Fifteen: The Purple* Atomic Fusion Core Engine

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Speak of the devil, and here he comes. Just a moment ago, Song Chi was quietly relieved that no first-tier Whitewing had caught up, but in the next instant, the rear of the Celestial Sky suddenly trembled sharply. A first-tier Whitewing pursued from behind, launching an attack that struck precisely at the ship’s tail.

[Warning: Hull armor damaged 34%, hull integrity reduced by 13%. Please repair immediately.]

Song Chi’s face turned pale with alarm.

Although the Whitewings’ offensive power was generally weak—the previous dozen or so zeroth-tier Whitewings’ attacks had only caused less than 6% armor damage—crossing a tier boundary in an attack was still extraordinarily devastating.

A single strike from a first-tier Whitewing had destroyed a quarter of the Celestial Sky’s hull armor. This meant that if the ship took two or three more hits, irreversible damage to the hull itself would be inevitable.

“Activate basic nanobot repair package.”

He hurriedly issued the command to the semi-automated onboard AI, refusing to lose focus as he continued to pilot the Celestial Sky swiftly upward.

His plan was simple: as long as he could escape the rift, he could activate the ship’s lightspeed cruise without restraint. No matter how fast the first-tier Whitewings were, their speed could never reach the speed of light.

[Warning: Hull armor damaged 36%, hull integrity reduced 14%. Please repair immediately.]

[Basic nanobot repair package activated. Hull armor repaired 3%, hull integrity repaired 4%. Current damage status…]

[Warning: Hull armor damaged 35%, hull integrity reduced 12%. Please repair immediately.]

…

Amid the repeated warnings of damage and repair, time slipped by unnoticed. Then the Celestial Sky shuddered violently once more, followed by even more urgent system alerts.

[Severe hull damage detected. Current hull armor damage: 80%. Hull integrity damage: 62%. If hull damage exceeds 80%, the ship will lose mobility. Please repair immediately.]

The second attack from the pursuing first-tier Whitewing had instantly pushed the Celestial Sky’s damage beyond half.

Yet at this moment, Song Chi’s eyes flashed with a fierce joy. Through relentless effort, the Celestial Sky had finally escaped the rift and returned to the debris field above.

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Without hesitation, the engines pushed into overdrive.

Below, over a hundred Whitewings emitted eerie screeches in unison, their attacks striking one after another—including the sole first-tier Whitewing.

It was clear that if these assaults hit the Celestial Sky, the hull damage would surpass 80%. But the Celestial Sky was faster. Before the hundred-plus attacks could strike, it became a blur and vanished above the debris, reappearing at the distant edge of a void region.

Only when Song Chi plunged back into the debris field did he finally exhale deeply, though a strong wave of exhaustion washed over his mind.

His intense concentration beneath the rift had pushed his multitasking limits to the extreme. Previously, he hadn’t noticed because he dared not relax, but now that he did, the aftereffects became immediately apparent.

This did not surprise Song Chi; in fact, a subtle excitement stirred within him.

Ordinarily, a zeroth-tier Fireborn captain, even with level 9 Guidance Technique, could only multitask twofold. Threefold multitasking required level 10 or above, a breakthrough achievable only after a transcendence of life essence.

Yet now, at Guidance Technique level 4, he had momentarily achieved threefold multitasking—an ability normally far beyond reach—only by overexerting his mind at high speed. Naturally, his spirit would be drained for a while afterward.

Of course, not all Fireborn below level 10 Guidance could enter this temporary breakthrough state through concentration alone. On the contrary, it was extraordinarily rare. To enter and control such a state often required specific timing and unique talent.

Consequently, those who mastered this skill were exceedingly few, each remarkably gifted.

This was the source of Song Chi’s joy. Though this breakthrough was accidental and temporary, it gave him confidence that, with sustained practice and trial, he could ultimately master the technique.

After several more minutes weaving through the debris field, making sure the Whitewings could not catch up anytime soon, Song Chi brought the Celestial Sky to rest on a small fragment.

If he recalled correctly, the ship’s auto-return would activate in just a few minutes.

Taking advantage of this break, he glanced toward the only special component currently installed on the ship—the “Fire Sun Soldier Tree.”

As expected, seven of the ten glowing points on the white component had dimmed. This meant seven of the ten Fire Sun Soldiers had died beneath the rift, leaving only three struggling to hold on.

Still, there was a silver lining. At some point, two strands of zeroth-tier Floating Land Essence had appeared aboard the Celestial Sky. This meant that before their demise, the seven Fire Sun Soldiers had taken two first-tier Whitewings down with them.

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Indeed, besides the Floating Land Core continuously producing Floating Land Essence, the Fireborn ship could also gain such essence by killing alien creatures in the extraterrestrial domain. The Fire Sun Soldiers, being products of the ship’s “Fire Sun Soldier Tree” component, naturally triggered this feature as well.

As for why a single first-tier Whitewing yielded only one strand of zeroth-tier Floating Land Essence, this was normal. To obtain one strand of zeroth-tier essence, one had to kill ten thousand zeroth-tier aliens.

As he pondered this, the remaining three glowing points also dimmed one after another—the ten Fire Sun Soldiers were all gone.

Song Chi felt no sorrow. It wasn’t that these Fire Sun Soldiers were lost forever; he only had to wait twenty-four hours to summon them again.

After checking the status of the Fire Sun Soldier Tree component, Song Chi’s gaze shifted to the cockpit, where the ship’s component forged from the level-1 Floating Land Core—hard-won with great effort—held his intense curiosity.

As he stepped into the cockpit, his eyes instantly lit up—not because of the palm-sized component near the door, but due to the dazzling purple light it emitted.

Clearly, this Fireborn ship component, transformed from a level-1 Floating Land Core fusion, was a purple-quality component.

Atomic Fusion Nuclear Engine Lv.0

Quality: Purple

…

Before he could finish reading, a faint sensation of weightlessness suddenly overwhelmed him, growing stronger with each passing moment.

Realizing something, Song Chi quickly withdrew his gaze and rushed back to the pilot’s seat as swiftly as possible.