Just after the successful connection between the Mold Spirit Energy Tracking System and the warship, a holographic screen near Hao Yun's feet rose up to his chest out of thin air, displaying in yellow. Then, Hao Yun's mind received another synthesized electronic alert from the system: "Warning! Port No. 258 operational functions are partially restricted due to malfunctions! Realigning intact operational ports!"
At the same time, Hao Yun saw all the holographic screens in the cabin blinking with red, yellow, and green lights as if they were conducting self-checks. While most screens continued with their checks, more and more screens turned yellow or red, indicating malfunction or complete damage.
"Yellow screens indicate partial malfunctions in these operational ports, while red screens indicate complete damage. Sigh! It seems that the operational system of this warship is more severely damaged than we thought. Only a few operational ports are still functional," Dream Jia said, pointing at a few sporadic green holographic screens with a hint of disappointment.
"Boom!"
Just as Dream Jia was checking the status of the operational ports in the cabin, a sudden muffled cannon shot startled her, causing her to jump in place. Simultaneously, the entire warship shook violently under a tremendous impact, and the small mountain covering its surface trembled, seemingly on the verge of collapse due to the powerful blow.
"Trouble ahead! Hao Yun, get ready for battle!" Dream Jia reflexively shouted upon hearing the sudden cannon shot. At the same time, she grabbed the lance in her hand, now emitting a holy white light, preparing to leave the warship to confront the enemy.
However, just as Dream Jia turned to call Hao Yun to prepare for battle, she was stunned on the spot. Because she saw Hao Yun sitting on a shooting position projected by a holographic screen, seemingly unaware of when he had sat down, holding a "U"-shaped control device with both hands. What was more outrageous, Hao Yun's right thumb remained in the position of pressing the button on the upper end of the right control lever, while his expression showed utter shock as he stared at the screen in front of him without moving.
"Hao Yun! What the heck are you doing?! I just told you to connect to the operational port to gain some insight! Who the hell asked you to sit on the shooting position and start pressing buttons randomly?!" Dream Jia angrily scolded and rushed up to Hao Yun, delivering a series of heavy blows to his head without hesitation. Because Dream Jia had already seen that Hao Yun not only accidentally activated the warship's artillery system but also blasted a huge hole in the small mountain above the warship with a single shot.
"Oops! Stop hitting me! It's not intentional! Didn't you say all the warship's functions were malfunctioning? So, I dared to try to continue activating the No. 258 operational port and summon this operational cabin for some insights! Who knew! This thing not only didn't break down completely, but it also fired as soon as I pressed it! It's really not my fault! If you want to blame someone, blame the system! It's the system's fault for malfunctioning, which led to my misjudgment! I'm innocent!" Hao Yun explained while shielding his head from Dream Jia's punches.
"Hao Yun! Dream Jia! What's happening?!" Dao Lao, who had been checking the middle part of the cabin, ran over upon hearing the cannon shot.
After learning about the situation, Dao Lao also kicked Hao Yun, who was wearing an innocent face, and cursed, "Damn it! I knew it! Once I take my eyes off you, you'll cause trouble!"
Hao Yun felt so frustrated! But he was indeed curious for a moment and dared to sit down and press buttons recklessly only because he heard that the operational cabins controlled by the red holographic screens were damaged. Okay, the data provided by the system and Dream Jia only said that the holographic screens displaying red indicated that the connected operational ports were damaged, but did not clearly state that the connected operational cabins could not control the artillery firing. Perhaps these cannons could still be fired, but they couldn't engage in combat without the assistance of the high-intelligence operational system provided by the holographic screens.
"Ding—! Energy group detected for recharging. Do you want to recharge the Abyssal Realm battle armor?" Just as Dream Jia and Dao Lao were scolding Hao Yun, the system almost simultaneously sent out this prompt, instantly quieting them down.
"Energy group for recharging the battle armor?" The three of them were stunned, then quickly checked the command confirmation information sent by the system.
"Uh, can our battle armor still be recharged?" Hao Yun glanced at Dao Lao with a questioning look.
Dao Lao scratched his head and replied, looking puzzled, "Uh, probably not, right? Didn't Master Gu say that this set of battle armor was temporarily upgraded to accompany us on this mission into the black hole? And these functions can only provide us with some temporary additional protection. So theoretically, all the additional protection functions attached to our battle armor are disposable. Once they fail, they cannot be used again, right?"
"Could it be... this is the Countess's doing again? Because our system only detected an energy source available for recharging the battle armor, but did not specify, let alone identify the nature of these energy sources. And even if this energy source is the divine energy power group left on this warship, our battle armor does not have the ability to convert this divine energy into usable energy, right?" Dream Jia analyzed with a frown.
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With these words spoken, the three fell into a brief silence. In fact, as soon as Hao Yun and the others heard the system's message, this thought crossed their minds, but none of them wanted to admit that this matter was once again related to the Countess. What did this imply? Could it mean that the Countess not only modified their Abyssal Realm battle armor but also, during the time they were controlled in the Fragrant Nebula, tampered with the Mold Spirit Energy Tracking System implanted in their consciousness? That darned fellow! Thinking about this, Hao Yun and the others couldn't help but shiver, unwilling to imagine further.
"Then... let's follow the system's suggestion and give it a try? Although this situation seems extremely unfavorable, at least so far, that guy's actions have benefited us, rather than..." Finally, it was Hao Yun who hesitated and broke the silence.
"Sigh! We don't have much choice left now. Let's give it a try! If our battle armor can be replenished with energy, then those strange functions on it should be able to be restored for use again, right? At the very least, these functions can still be of great use now!" Dao Lao said somewhat helplessly. If they were falling into the Countess's trap again, since the other party had provided them with such powerful equipment while scheming against them, they naturally had no reason not to make reasonable use of this equipment to protect themselves.
So, Dao Lao returned to the bottom of the warship's hull and informed Tie Zhu and his team, who were responsible for vigilance there, that they might need to conduct a detailed inspection inside the warship, hoping they could wait a little longer. Tie Zhu and his team naturally obeyed the command unconditionally, but Tie Zhu also expressed concern about the sudden firing of the warship just now. Because outside the Rain of Destruction range, it was likely that the Mastanian security forces in the area had sealed it off. Therefore, they might have seen the beam of light fired by the warship just now. It was even more likely that the Mastanian security forces had locked onto this area based on that beam of light. And they would come here to investigate as soon as the impact of the Rain of Destruction on this area diminished further.
"Tie Zhu, do you know how to operate this type of warship?" Dao Lao fully agreed with Tie Zhu's concerns, so he asked.
"The operation of this type of warship requires very high skill, only the priests of the Divine Spirit Realm can fully control it. However, since we, the Mastanians, received the blessing of divine power after joining the Allied Forces of the Divine Spirit Realm, we can still use some of the simpler equipment on the warship, such as the ship's fire control system." Tie Zhu replied.
"Very well. Tie Zhu, leave two warriors here to remain vigilant outside the warship, and the others come with me." Dao Lao ordered.
Tie Zhu immediately ordered two warriors to continue guarding outside the warship, and then he took the remaining four warriors into the cabin. Dao Lao handed a communication device to the warrior responsible for vigilance before leaving, so they could stay in touch with him at any time.
After returning to the cabin, Dao Lao took off his Abyssal Realm battle armor and instructed Dream Jia to do the same and hand her armor to Hao Yun, saying, "Hao Yun, you unlucky fellow! You're not allowed to touch the holographic projection here anymore! Take my armor and study how to recharge it. Dream Jia, hurry up and find the escape pods, and check the damage to this warship. See if there's a chance to do some necessary repairs on it."
"Report! Old Jones knows a little bit about warship repairs. Perhaps he could be useful!" When Dao Lao finished assigning tasks to Hao Yun and Dream Jia, Tie Zhu quickly stood at attention and suggested.
"Very well. Old Jones, you go with Dream Jia to check the escape pods!" Dao Lao replied.
"Yes, sir!" Old Jones also stood at attention, saluted Dao Lao, then followed Dream Jia to the stern of the ship.
Then, Dao Lao ordered two other Mastanian warriors to sit in two operable combat pods and stand by for potential combat at any time. Afterwards, he took Tie Zhu to the holographic command center located at the bow of the ship, which was composed of holographic screens. With the assistance of Tie Zhu and the system prompts, he reactivated the control console in the command center.
After the command center was activated, several pale green beams of light shot from under Dao Lao and Tie Zhu's feet, quickly forming a holographic platform carrying the two men, gradually rising into the air. At the same time, these pale green beams also formed numerous holographic screens around the holographic platform. However, due to the severe actual damage to the warship, most of the holographic screens here were also showing red damaged states. Even the holographic platform made up of pale green beams was somewhat incomplete at this time, and some positions were flickering intermittently, giving the impression that the holographic platform might collapse at any moment.
"Sigh! It's a pity that most of the functions here are malfunctioning." Looking at the heavily damaged command console, Tie Zhu couldn't help but sigh.
"As long as these few functions can still be used, it's enough!" Dao Lao pointed to several screens and said thankfully.
Dao Lao pointed out that these screens were respectively used to manage the warship's monitoring status, radar monitoring system, main control ship-borne artillery system, and the evacuation system, which everyone cared about the most. Although according to the self-check results of the command center, these functions of the warship also had various problems, but as long as these functions could still be activated and operate normally, it would be enough.
"Tie Zhu, I'll leave this to you. Although the warship's radar system can only monitor a very limited range now, it's better than nothing. It can at least detect anomalies in the distance as soon as possible and give us enough reaction time," Dao Lao said, confirming that the warship's command center was still usable and after assigning tasks to Tie Zhu, he went back to check on Hao Yun's situation again. After all, Hao Yun was the part he was most worried about, so Dao Lao was afraid that if he didn't keep an eye on him, the boy might cause some trouble again.
"Hao Yun! Where are you? Have you found the charging point?" Dao Lao called out on the system channel.
"Wow, I can't believe there's such an area hidden between the outer armor and inner hull of this warship!" Hao Yun exclaimed on the system channel without directly answering Dao Lao's question, while sharing his location with Dao Lao.
Dao Lao quickly entered a damaged section of the cabin wall based on the coordinates provided by Hao Yun, and inside, he saw Hao Yun curiously observing the viscous and highly adhesive gel-like energy layer slowly flowing around him. Hao Yun wanted to reach out and touch this flowing energy, but this peculiar energy medium, resembling a galaxy, completely ignored his body's touch and passed directly through his palm.