Chapter 437 - 294: Soundless and Traceless

Chapter 437: Chapter 294: Soundless and Traceless

Han Ning stood in the southeast corner of the command room, looking at the electronic timetable on the wall that tracked their voyage.

On the 30-inch, ultra-thin screen, below the timetable, was a schematic of the Gray Demon Whale transport ship’s internal structure.

In fact, for Grey, whose power was comparable to a Monarch, the journey from Night Nether City to Xiliu Lake wasn’t excessively long. The route chart showed the distance was just over 20,000 kilometers.

But while the Gray Demon Whale served as a passenger vessel in the form of a Soul Beast, its most important function was transporting cargo.

Transporting massive amounts of cargo meant that even with the Weight Reduction Array, its payload was still immense, causing its cruising speed to be relatively slow.

As a result, the 20,000-kilometer journey would take about three hours, even when traveling at full power.

Looking at the internal schematic, Han Ning saw that the cluster of buildings on Grey’s back was not all there was to the super-vessel. The vast majority of its cargo space was located inside its body—in one massive abdominal cavity and three smaller stomach chambers.

This area was originally where Grey would exchange air, but after human modification, part of the space had been converted into a cargo hold. Only a central channel remained, which, in conjunction with an Array, helped Grey breathe more easily.

’The Otherworld’s ’Spiritual Technology’ is not to be underestimated. Just this storage space, expanded using Spiritual Arrays, is probably 1.5 times larger than one of Xia Country’s biggest ocean freighters.’

Han Ning touched the screen, zooming in on various details. It was his first time seeing the finished product of this fusion between Spiritual Energy and Xia Country’s technology, and for a moment, he was completely captivated.

Even though he was the Beast Master who had provided the complete system design, over a thousand people had participated in the Gray Demon Whale’s modification, and there were many details he had never seen.

"Successfully passed through Madness Forest."

"Fifth Energy Source activated. Speed increased to Mach 5."

"Attention! Attention! A large number of unidentified Soul Beasts have appeared ahead. All stations, prepare for evasive maneuvers and be ready for combat at a moment’s notice!"

The high-decibel alarm blaring through the command room finally pulled his gaze from the screen. He turned to look at a monitor on the side.

The thermal imaging display, typically a mix of red and green, was now almost entirely filled with densely packed, fiery-red blotches.

The Detection Array on Grey’s face sensed the Spiritual Energy fluctuations ahead. The signals were processed by human-made technological sensors, converted into a data stream, and then displayed as simple line-based images in a small monitoring window.

Every suspected Soul Beast was marked with a bright red box, its current Spiritual Energy intensity calculated, and its probable Race information displayed.

"Approximately 63 creatures, suspected to be River Basin Shattered Gold Mantises, have appeared at the 9, 10, 12, and 1 o’clock positions. The system has calculated an avoidance route. Shall we proceed with the recommended course?"

As Grey sped forward, the images of the Soul Beasts on the monitor grew larger. Soon, magnificent mantises came into view on the nearest digital camera. They were powerfully built, their eyes burned like torches, and their bodies radiated a shattered-gold light.

The Grudge Abyss was naturally dim, so the fact that a digital camera could capture their image at all meant they were already at an extremely close range.

"Warning! Significant high-energy reaction detected! Evasive action recommended!"

The electronic detection system, created by Academician Zhou Mingkai, continuously blared high-decibel, synthesized warnings.

Dozens of shimmering, golden River Basin Shattered Gold Mantises dominated the sky ahead. Their insectoid eyes were like brilliant searchlights, casting out fan-shaped beams of light as they clearly scanned the area, actively searching for something.

"All teams, hold your positions. Have Grey continue on the system-planned route. Trust our Concealment Array." Leon’s expression was unchanged as he calmly and coolly issued a series of commands.

The captain of the "Grey Grey" had been chosen by a joint vote between the humans and the Dragon Blood.

The Beast Masters qualified to be captain candidates were all individuals who had performed exceptionally well during their regular training missions and possessed strong leadership skills.

In the end, from the five candidates, everyone chose Leon, who was older, level-headed, and possessed a profound accumulation of knowledge regarding Spiritual Arrays.

"Energy systems, cease acceleration. Maintain current speed. Push the Concealment Array’s power to its maximum. The stretch ahead is the most dangerous part of our journey. Everyone, stay alert."

At its absolute limit, the Concealment Array on Grey could evade the scan of a Beast Master with Peak Tier Four Spiritual Power from within a 10-kilometer range.

The lower the Level of a Beast Master or Soul Beast, the weaker the Spiritual Energy fluctuations they could detect.

The strength of these River Basin Shattered Gold Mantises was at the Lord level at best, so they completely failed to notice the behemoth passing silently through the sky above their heads.

Only the Beast Master from the River Basin Shattered Gold Mantis family, standing below, seemed to sense something amiss. He subconsciously looked up, only to find what appeared to be a perfectly normal air current passing overhead.

Encountering the River Basin Shattered Gold Mantis search party meant that Grey had now entered the Ancestor Family’s search perimeter.

「Meanwhile.」

「Deep within the Grudge Abyss.」

Two tall, physically distinct Beast Masters in different attire stood atop two separate behemoths, coldly gazing at the black expanse of sky before them.

All around and below them was a countless army of insects.

Mantises, butterflies, moths, and bizarre-looking stick insects... A countless swarm blotted out the sky, cloaked in a dense Spiritual Light. They moved like a tide, sweeping over every inch of ground they passed. Any lone Abyssal Soul Beast they encountered was, without exception, engulfed by the surging swarm, leaving not even a trace behind.