After listening to Captain Tie's report, Hao Yun couldn't help but gulp nervously. Dream Jia, after giving him a fierce glare, replied to Captain Tie, "There's still time, let's not panic too much. Captain Tie, continue monitoring the enemy and double-check the ammunition inventory and the operational systems of the warship. Also, Captain Tie, I need you to confirm the precise location of the Eternal Star Palace again. We need to quickly plan the best flight route for the escape pod."
After issuing orders to Captain Tie, Dream Jia reiterated to Old Jones the need to repair the escape pod as soon as possible. Then, the three hurried back to the command center at the bow of the ship and began devising a retreat plan based on the monitored enemy movements.
"Since those Mastanians gathered here after seeing the light cannon just now, perhaps we can continue to use it to draw their attention. As long as we can divert their attention to the east wing for a while, we can take the opportunity to fly low along the west wing to the Eternal Star Palace," suggested Captain Tie, pointing at the markings he made on the holographic screen.
"Divide and mislead. Since those Mastanians lack intelligence, they should be easily fooled, right?" said Hao Yun.
"Exactly. This is actually a tactic we often use against Mastanians, and it has always been effective," replied Captain Tie confidently.
But then, Captain Tie's expression turned serious as he said, "However, according to our current situation, if we want to ensure that the light cannon completely attracts the Mastanians' attention, someone must stay here to operate the ship's cannons. These soldiers have always followed me through thick and thin. Since they have entrusted their lives to me, I cannot let them down. So, I will stay behind to divert firepower for everyone! I hope the three of you can take care of my subordinates and ensure that they also return safely to the Eternal Star."
"Haha!" Seeing Captain Tie's righteous expression, Dream Jia couldn't help but laugh, causing the usually stoic Captain Tie to be at a loss for how to respond, only able to stand there awkwardly.
"Hey! Captain Tie, don't get me wrong! Firstly, I admire your spirit of leading by example and sacrificing yourself. However, I think it's best for you to personally take responsibility for your subordinates, as they are loyal to you," Dream Jia quickly intervened, trying to contain her laughter.
"May I ask, Dream Jia, what do you mean by that?" Captain Tie asked, puzzled.
Dream Jia pointed to a holographic screen and explained, "Although this warship can be considered an antique from the Realm of All Spirits, its control system has reserved many ports for upgrades. This allows me to directly connect my more advanced systems from the Realm of All Spirits to the main control system of this warship. In this way, I can remotely control the combat systems of this warship and make them use automatic firing to attract the enemy's attention. So, there's no need for anyone here to sacrifice themselves unnecessarily. We all need to leave together."
Upon hearing Dream Jia's explanation, the six Eternal Star soldiers, who had been feeling heavy-hearted due to Captain Tie's speech, instantly felt relieved. Captain Tie also breathed a deep sigh of relief, his face showing a sense of relief.
Hao Yun also stepped forward to pat Captain Tie on the back, using a teasing tone to help Captain Tie ease his emotions, "Hey, now that we're here, we will definitely ensure that each of you leaves here alive. So, you don't need to be so impulsive. Otherwise, people might think that we dignified priests still need to sacrifice mortal lives unnecessarily to save ourselves! If others knew about it, it wouldn't be a good look, right?"
Captain Tie chuckled at Dream Jia's explanation, showing a sense of relief.
Following that, Hao Yun asked Dream Jia with concern, "But, won't charging the battle armor deplete most of the ship's energy, potentially affecting the power of self-destruction?"
"No, it won't. The explosion power of this warship is quite astonishing, so leaving just one percent of the energy will be enough to completely destroy the entire ship," Dream Jia replied confidently.
"Three lords! Captain Tie! This is Old Jones. The escape pod has been restarted! We can leave here at any time! Please respond!" At that moment, Old Jones reported through the communicator.
"Excellent! Old Jones, start the escape pod immediately. We'll come over right now!" Dao Lao happily replied and immediately led everyone back to the escape pod located at the stern of the ship.
Seeing everyone returning, Old Jones scratched his bearded cheek and said, "Um, three lords, Old Jones just checked this escape pod again, and it seems that although it can be used, its current state may not be able to fly too far. This should be due to the interference of black hole energy turbulence on the divine power propulsion of the escape pod. So, we can't even be sure if the escape pod can fly to the Eternal Star Palace, let alone back to the Realm of All Spirits."
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While what Old Jones said was somewhat expected, everyone was still caught off guard by the unexpected situation. It meant that they couldn't approach the Eternal Star Palace as planned under the cover of the warship's light cannon. So, they quickly gathered again to discuss an alternative plan to rescue the king and his party.
After quickly examining a map, Captain Tie exclaimed, "I've got it! We can dive into the Eternal Star Palace! Yes, dive! I almost forgot about this route to the palace!"
"Dive? What do you mean?" Hao Yun asked hastily.
"Please, everyone, take a look at the map. Here, if we follow this small river westward, we can reach the Eternal River. Hidden deep in the Eternal River is a passage that leads to the Eternal Star Palace. If that passage hasn't been discovered by the Mastanians, we can use it to bypass their guards and directly infiltrate the palace to rescue the king," Captain Tie explained, recalling the location of the hidden passage and quickly re-planning their next actions. Everyone nodded in agreement after hearing Captain Tie's plan.
"Since everyone agrees with Captain Tie's second plan, let's act quickly before the enemy surrounds us! I'll go install the bombs. Hao Yun, you check the charging status of the Earth Yin Realm battle armors. Old Jones, familiarize yourself again with the operation of the escape pod. Dao Lao, since the ship's escape launch system is damaged, the escape pod can't forcibly break through the armor of the battle armors and the surrounding mountains, so figure out a way with Captain Tie to lift the escape pod outside!" Dream Jia commanded swiftly, and everyone immediately acted upon her orders.
Although the three Earth Yin Realm battle armors had only recovered less than ten percent of their energy after more than an hour of charging, the energy of the warship had been depleted to less than two percent. Therefore, to ensure that the warship's combat systems could still be used and had enough power to detonate when the ship exploded, Hao Yun severed the connection between the three battle armors and the warship and returned with them to the escape pod.
"Dream Jia, how's your preparation going? Hao Yun has brought back the battle armors, and we're all waiting for you outside the warship!" Dao Lao inquired over the system channel.
"Don't worry! I'm reconfiguring the warship's combat systems. It'll be ready soon!" Dream Jia replied.
A few minutes later, Dream Jia finally emerged from the warship and joined the others who were already waiting inside the escape pod. As soon as Dream Jia entered the escape pod, Captain Tie immediately patted Old Jones on the shoulder and ordered, "Everyone's here! Old Jones, let's take off immediately! We need to take advantage of the narrowing encirclement by the Mastanians and the beginning of their thorough search here. We'll use the dense smoke and still-burning flames on the ground as cover for low-altitude flight, and get as far away from this area as possible!"
"Yes, Captain!" Under Old Jones's confident response, the escape pod immediately lifted off and quickly flew westward along the almost dried-up river in the midst of the raging fire.
Since Old Jones's flying skills were excellent, he was able to quickly and skillfully control the escape pod at extremely low altitudes, closely skimming the still-hot ground as they swiftly departed from the warship. Of course, the term "swiftly" was relative. Despite the escape pod's seemingly flawless appearance, everyone realized during the actual flight that its speed was nowhere near what it used to be. In Hao Yun's eyes, the current top speed of the escape pod couldn't even match that of a heavy-duty truck.
However, in the current situation, having a means of transportation was already a blessing. So, even though the escape pod's speed wasn't as fast as before, it was still enough to smoothly traverse the vast and undulating landscape, where the ground fires still burned and the earth was scarred. They completely escaped from the warship.
"Alright! Old Jones, let's find a safe spot here and hide the escape pod! If we continue flying, my system will soon lose contact with the warship's command center due to the interference of black hole energy. Also, according to the estimated time, the Mastanians in the vicinity should start taking action soon," Dream Jia immediately ordered upon receiving information from the system that the interference with the connection to the warship's command center was increasing.
"Old Jones, see that huge rock in the middle of the fire? We can hide the escape pod underneath it. With the protection of the flames and smoke, even if the Mastanians come, they won't approach there immediately," Captain Tie pointed to the screen, where flames were still visible, although they were dying out.
After the escape pod landed beneath the surface of the scorching boulder, Hao Yun and the others, protected by the battle armor's shields, braved the high temperatures to step outside. They covered the surface of the escape pod with a layer of scorched earth to better blend it with the surroundings, ensuring they wouldn't easily be detected by the enemy.
Once they finished their camouflage work and returned to the escape pod, Dream Jia took out a small bag of what seemed to be very high-quality wet wipes. As she wiped her smoke-blackened face, she said reassuringly, "Now, all we need to do is wait quietly for the Mastanians' patrol to act and then find an opportunity to escape their encirclement."
"Huh? How come you still have wet wipes? Where did they come from?" Hao Yun asked curiously as he also reached for a wet wipe to clean his face.
"Oh, these? They were specially ordered by Cuihua at the ancient's request to sponsor those two stars' offline fan meetings. They're premium quality items that can disinfect, moisturize, and rejuvenate the skin. They're so effective that she ordered a lot for personal use. She happened to give me quite a few last time I visited your place," Dream Jia casually replied.
Okay, so Cuihua probably bought these wet wipes using the shop's income again because, following the ancient's instructions, she used the shop's income to pay for the fan meetings of those two stars, Naza and Reba! Oh, right! Last time, Cuihua also used the shop's income to buy the fan merchandise for the ancient! Damn it, why do they always have to use the shop's money every time?! Ugh! I really regret handing over the shop's finances to Cuihua! Who would've thought these guys from the Earth Yin Realm would love taking advantage of others so much! It's damn annoying! When I go back this time, I have to straighten out the finances of the shop! Hao Yun ranted bitterly in his mind.