Just as Haoyun was cursing Master Gu and the others for their shamelessness, Dream Jia suddenly spoke in a serious tone, "They're starting to move!"
Dream Jia waved her hand to summon a holographic screen and projected the radar signals obtained from the warship onto the screen. The group saw numerous red dots moving towards the center of the radar. These moving red dots represented the Mastanians surrounding them. From their speed and dispersed formation, it was clear that although the Mastanians were closing in, they were still wary of the heat and fire in the area.
"If the Mastanians are advancing slowly towards the warship, doesn't that mean they can more carefully inspect the areas they pass through? Our camouflage will be more easily exposed," Haoyun said, frowning.
"Uh, that's possible. But based on the current situation, the Mastanians will likely search the area from the air on their gryphons. So, as long as we don't expose ourselves, they shouldn't find us immediately," Captain Tie Zhu countered.
"Good. As long as the Mastanians don't discover us right away, we're fine. We just need to avoid being easily detected at the start. System, activate the warship's fire control system and prepare for combat!" Dream Jia nodded in satisfaction after hearing Captain Tie Zhu's analysis and issued the command to the system.
The group waited quietly for a short while before hearing the sound of gryphons flapping their massive wings as they rapidly approached from a distance. The Mastanians had arrived. Everyone held their breath, tensely watching the holographic screen. According to the extensive radar data provided by the warship's system, the approaching Mastanian gryphons were descending as they flew, preparing to search the ground for any survivors of the rain of destruction.
"System, turn on the warship's flight lighting system," Dream Jia suddenly ordered as the gryphons were about to fly over the escape pod.
"Lighting system activated," the system's voice confirmed on the holographic screen.
Simultaneously, the radar's real-time data showed immediate changes. The Mastanian gryphons that had just flown over the escape pod began ascending rapidly and speeding up. Moreover, the other red dots on the radar also started to accelerate towards the radar's center.
"We did it! Those dull-witted Mastanians are all attracted to the warship's strong light," Captain Tie Zhu whispered excitedly.
Dream Jia, ensuring the patrol above was lured by the lighting system and no enemies appeared on the retreat route, quickly ordered, "Old Jones, start the escape pod! We need to leave before the battle draws more Mastanians. Tie Zhu, you handle navigation. We continue towards the river area you mentioned!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Captain Tie Zhu and Old Jones responded. The escape pod ascended again, using the falling night and thick smoke to fly low in the opposite direction of the gryphons.
A few minutes into the flight, Dream Jia's system issued another alert, "Warning! Enemy within range! Please give further instructions!"
"Warning! Shield energy low! Shield energy low!"
"Warning! Warship unable to start! Unable to retreat!"
"Warning! Warship within enemy range—"
"System, order ML-4396-22002800777 Hell-class destroyer to open fire immediately!" Dream Jia commanded decisively after receiving multiple combat alerts. The warship's remote-controlled cannons fired simultaneously, powerful beam cannons piercing and collapsing the mountain covering the warship, obliterating the leading gryphons.
The Mastanians, not expecting a hidden warship on the mountain, were initially thrown into disarray by the sudden heavy fire. However, despite their limited intellect, the Mastanian soldiers had rich combat experience. They quickly realized that the warship's powerful cannons had a limited attack range due to damage from the crash and began to reorganize their blockade, ready to besiege the warship by avoiding its firing angles.
For Dream Jia, the restricted attack range of the warship's cannons was unexpected but ultimately irrelevant. The Mastanians, confident from avoiding the cannon fire, had already moved within the warship's self-destruct range.
Meanwhile, Haoyun and his group successfully flew the escape pod out of the devastated area. With Captain Tie Zhu's precise directions and Old Jones's expert piloting, they landed on the river and submerged into its depths, disappearing completely from the surface.
"Excellent! Old Jones, keep on course. As long as we don't make mistakes, those Mastanians won't find us," Captain Tie Zhu said, relieved, patting Old Jones on the shoulder.
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"How can you be so sure? What if we encounter Mastanian patrols underwater?" Haoyun asked, cautiously observing the riverbed's rocks and various warship wreckage.
"Because Mastanians don't like water! Lord Hao, you must have noticed that the Mastanians' bodies are made of materials like dry grass. Moreover, when the initial seed first took root on the Mastanian star, it didn't need water to grow. Since then, Mastanians have disliked living in water.
"Of course, after the Mastanians occupied the Everlasting Star, they thoroughly checked all the water bodies to ensure we couldn't hide there and launch a counterattack. However, once they confirmed that there was no danger in the water, they only set up patrols on the land and in the air around the water bodies, not in the water itself.
"Furthermore, the underground dark river leading to the Everlasting Palace is very hidden and little known. So, I believe that under the current circumstances, we can take a risk and try. If the dark river from the Eternal River to the Everlasting Palace has not been discovered by the Mastanians, we really have a chance to sneak into the palace from here and then find a way to rescue His Majesty the King and his entourage," Captain Tie Zhu explained.
"Oh? So you’re not even sure if the dark passage in the river has been discovered by the Mastanians! Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Dao Lao raised an eyebrow and asked.
Captain Tie Zhu scratched his head awkwardly and said helplessly, "Because if I had told you in advance, I was afraid everyone would abandon my plan due to the potential risks underwater."
Then, Captain Tie Zhu emphasized, "However, given our current situation, my idea is indeed the best solution to continue the mission to rescue His Majesty the King! Moreover, based on the intelligence I previously gathered from various sources, the Mastanians are unlikely to discover the hidden dark passage under the Everlasting Palace, nor are they likely to set up defenses underwater. That's why I dared to propose this plan."
Dao Lao nodded, indicating he wasn't doubting Captain Tie Zhu's plan. However, Haoyun still asked in confusion, "Since you believe sneaking into the Everlasting Palace through the water is the best solution to rescue King Er, why didn't you propose this plan from the beginning?"
Captain Tie Zhu scratched his head again and awkwardly said, "Uh— that's because you three wanted to pilot the escape pod to assault the Everlasting Palace, and I believed the three of you were capable of such a feat, so I didn't propose my idea at first. After all, having a faster way to rescue His Majesty means ensuring the safety of His Majesty and his entourage more quickly!"
"Hah! You really have a lot of faith in our abilities," Haoyun chuckled dryly. To be honest, if he hadn't witnessed the power of Dao Lao and Dream Jia, Haoyun would never have agreed to their plan to assault the Everlasting Palace.
"Of course! You three are the famous Mycelium Energy Hunter Priests! You are all genuine combat priests! So I believe that even if your powers are suppressed by the black hole energy turbulence, you still have the ability to defeat the Mastanians despite being outnumbered. Moreover, I have a premonition that you three are indeed the key figures who can help us Everlovians escape our plight!" Captain Tie Zhu said firmly, showing no signs of flattery or sycophancy.
"Alright! It's enough that you trust us! This will at least reduce a lot of trouble in our upcoming actions! Tie Zhu, how much longer until we reach the Eternal River?" Dream Jia interrupted Captain Tie Zhu, who was still trying to prove his belief in the three of them, and asked.
"Reporting to Lord Dream, it should be soon. If everything goes smoothly, we just need to pass through the river ahead, and we can follow the water into the Eternal River," Captain Tie Zhu replied, pointing to the river channel scattered with various stones and warship wreckage on the screen.
"Very well. Keep moving forward. The Mastanians' encirclement is completely tightening, so even if there are Mastanian patrols in the water ahead, hopefully, the upcoming explosion will attract all of them, giving us more time to dive deeper into the Eternal River!" Dream Jia said. The others immediately understood that something big was about to happen.
Watching the red dots on the monitoring radar densely overlapping with the radar center, and the system continuously reporting warnings of the warship being invaded by enemies at close range, Dream Jia took a deep breath and decisively ordered, "System, detonate the condensed super-explosive bomb on the Heller-class destroyer with serial number ML-4396-22002800777!"
"Yes, sir! The condensed super-explosive bomb will detonate in five seconds! Three, two, one..."
As the system countdown ended, the monitoring radar screen quickly disappeared amidst strong electromagnetic interference. However, since the escape pod was already far from that warship, Haoyun and the others did not feel the strong shockwave from the explosion. But they didn't have time to think about how much damage the warship explosion would cause to the Mastanians. They knew that after the explosion, that area would definitely attract more attention from the Mastanians. So now, they had to take advantage of the chaos caused by the explosion to quickly find the dark passage leading to the Everlasting Palace at the bottom of the Eternal River.
Whether it was because the Mastanian patrols in the Eternal River were attracted to the surface by the explosion ahead, or because there were indeed no Mastanians guarding the Eternal River as Captain Tie Zhu had analyzed, the escape pod entered the Eternal River without encountering any danger. They successfully dived to the riverbed of the Eternal River and stopped at the bottom of the river as indicated by Captain Tie Zhu, where half of a warship was submerged.
"If I remember correctly, the entrance should be here!" Captain Tie Zhu said.
"Are you sure?" Haoyun asked.
"Yes, based on the coordinates I have, the entrance to the dark passage should be hidden right in front of the bow of this submerged warship!" Captain Tie Zhu pointed to the bow of the half-submerged warship at the bottom of the river.
"In that case, let's go out and find the entrance to the dark passage! Haoyun, Dream Jia, let's go out and search for the dark passage. Captain Tie Zhu, you stay in the escape pod and wait," Dao Lao said.
"Lord Dao, I can go out with you," Captain Tie Zhu immediately stood up and refused.
"But can you move in this riverbed?" Haoyun asked.