Chapter 32: The Echo of the Countdown

Without the slightest hesitation, he whipped his black robe around, his ghost-like figure following close behind. His voice, low and drifting, scattered into the wind: "…Keep up."

Luke gave a start, then stumbled forward in pursuit.

Deep within the underground nest, the Elder remained immersed in the glory of serving the Empire. He whispered prayers, commanding his kin to gather more materials, completely unaware that the "Envoy of Light" he so fervently trusted had already escaped with the vital supplies.

A black raven, perched in the shadows of a distant rock face, silently vanished into the darkness.

The dark underground passage resembled the gut of a behemoth. Su Liu sprinted in the lead, her lungs burning with pain, every breath tasting of salt, moss, and wet earth. Behind her trailed the silent, omnipresent pressure of Mo Yu, accompanied by the heavy footfalls and ragged breathing of Luke. The sound of time slipping away in the narrow tunnel was more agonizing than any storm.

"Faster!" Su Liu squeezed the word out through gritted teeth as a sliver of dim light finally appeared ahead—it was the exit leading to the mossy slope where the Symbiotic Ship had crashed.

At the jagged breach in the stern of the Symbiotic Ship, Chen Wu’s eyes were bloodshot as he used his entire body to pin down a metal plate that was crumbling under the gnawing of corrosive beetles. Cold mud and seawater seeping through the gaps mixed with the acidic secretions of the beetles, scorching his skin. The phantom of the Black Tortoise flickered, nearly transparent.

"Hold on, Brother Chen!" Aya’s voice was hoarse and desperate. Her hands were covered in chemical burns, and Zhizhi lay limp on her shoulder, its tiny body trembling violently from exhaustion, its brass-colored light long extinguished. She tried in vain to wedge the last remaining scrap of metal into the gap, but the opening was too wide and the materials too scarce.

Lorraine’s weeping was drowned out by the wind and rain. The milky light surrounding the little Moon Rabbit flickered on and off, too faint to even cover a meter around her. She clutched the dying kerosene lamp at the stern in vain; the oil was nearly spent, and the pale blue barrier was like a candle in the wind, struggling desperately to fend off the ravaging storm outside and the creeping corrosion within.

The system countdown was etched coldly onto everyone’s retinas:
[Countdown: 0:40:15]

Forty minutes. To repair a massive breach, stabilize the keel, and ensure the ship could set sail once more... It was an impossible task. Despair, like a cold snake, coiled around every heart.

Chen Wu looked at the pockmarked, corroded iron plate in his hands, then at the breach that seemed to swallow the ship’s hope like an abyss, a sense of helplessness threatening to crush him.

"It’s no use..." Aya’s voice was choked with sobs. "The structure is completely rotted... We... we can’t hold on anymore..."

"There is still time!" Chen Wu let out a beast-like growl, less to encourage others than to force himself not to give up. "Wait for Su Su and the others to return! There must be a way..."

Yet, as his gaze swept across the empty mossy slope and the deep crevice in the rock wall, even he did not believe it.

The countdown ticked ruthlessly:
[Countdown: 0:10:30]

Ten and a half minutes. Even Lorraine stopped crying, left only with the numb terror of waiting for the inevitable failure.

At the very peak of this despair—

"They’re here! They’re back!" The black raven on Mo Yu’s shoulder was the first to shriek a warning. Aya looked up sharply, a flash of incredible radiance erupting on her mud-streaked face.

In the torrential, acrid rain, three small figures tore through the darkness like arrows, sprinting wildly from the direction of the cliff! Su Liu led the way, her pink coat turned to a muddy gray, yet she moved as swift as the wind. Behind her were Mo Yu and the gasping, yet stubbornly persistent, Luke!

"Materials! Do you have the materials?!" Chen Wu roared with every ounce of strength he had, his eyes locked onto them. This was the final hope!

"We do!" Su Liu’s voice cut through the wind and rain, breathless but resolute. Agile as an antelope, she leaped over the mud, scrambled onto the deck, and charged straight for the breach.

"Aya! Catch!"

Without hesitation, Su Liu drew out several massive, lustrous, pitch-black pieces—Deep-Sea Beetle shells! Following these were several jars of viscous, glowing slime—Ancient Moss Cyan-Saliva! Finally, with a subtle flicker of spatial light at her fingertips, a heavy core component of refined reef-rock, gleaming with a cold, stony luster, appeared on the ground beside the breach!

At the sight of these materials, Aya’s eyes widened to the point of tearing, bursting with the ecstasy of a narrow escape from death. She didn't waste a second, snatching up the incredibly tough beetle shells.

"Brother Chen! Hold it! Zhizhi! Zhizhi, wake up!"

Drawing strength from somewhere, the listless Zhizhi seemed to sense its master’s will; its tiny paws gave a weak twitch.

"Secure the orientation! Bind it!" Aya’s voice was sharp and precise.

Chen Wu bellowed, pouring his remaining strength and the last of the Black Tortoise’s power into jamming the massive shell into the deepest, most decayed part of the breach, using his own body as a human jack to brace it.

Aya opened the jars of Ancient Moss Cyan-Saliva. A pungent yet strangely fresh scent instantly overpowered the smell of corrosion. Ignoring her own nausea, she used her tools to smear the viscous saliva onto the joints where the shell met the hull and along the seams of the shell itself. Zhizhi struggled to crawl to the critical junction, its tiny paws glowing with a faint brass light as it performed the final energy reinforcement.

The red light of Luke’s "Analyzer" locked onto the breach: "Pressure on the bonding points! The stress on the remaining keel structure needs balancing! Mr. Mo Yu, support the right side!"

"Received!" Mo Yu instantly appeared at the designated position. His muscles bulged beneath his black robe, his powerful hands like iron clamps. He formed a diagonal support with Chen Wu, pinning down the collapsing junction.

Su Liu wasn't idle either. She quickly handed a small jar of the precious Cyan-Saliva and the remaining shell fragments to Lorraine. "Little Moon! Use the Cyan-Saliva to coat the edges of the breach and purify! Prevent further corrosion!"

Lorraine was galvanized by this sudden spark of hope, fiercely wiping away her tears. "Little Moon! Maximum purification!"

The Moon Rabbit, Little Moon, took a deep breath. A soft, milky light, brighter than ever before, wove through the glow of the Cyan-Saliva, coating the newly exposed wood and metal structures at the edge of the breach. The "hissing" sound of corrosion visibly weakened!

System countdown: [0:00:15... 14... 13... 12... 11... 10...]

"Seal it!!"

Aya watched as the last critical gap was filled with the Cyan-Saliva, and after Zhizhi let out one final, weak squeak and went limp, she let out a desperate, soul-piercing cry.

At that exact moment—

*Hum—!!!*

A dull, buzzing sound, as if from the depths of the netherworld, erupted from the deep rock wall underground. This time, it was incredibly clear and terrifyingly close!

The entire Reef-Back Island shuddered violently!

Near the cave entrance where Su Liu and her team had entered, a massive hole—resembling an eye socket—suddenly snapped open. Inside, there was no rock, only a deep green glow filled with bloodshot veins!

Chen Wu, Aya, Su Liu, Mo Yu... everyone poured their strength into that breach at the very last second!

[Countdown: 0:00:05... 4... 3...]

*Click!*

A faint, yet exceptionally clear, sound of metal locking into place echoed out.