The system is four years ahead of schedule, but Weird is still a cub.

Accompanied by the dual roar of the "Heart of God" and the "Second Heart," the "Iron Heart," a post-apocalyptic castle that blends flesh and steel, technology and the bizarre, began to move slowly.

Its "propellers," composed of countless ferocious tentacles, stirred up huge whirlpools beneath the sea surface, propelling the massive city to gradually accelerate.

Soon, "Iron Heart" raced towards the distant beacon in the far north with a speed completely disproportionate to its size.

The long journey thus began, and the first few weeks of the voyage were unusually smooth.

With the upgraded "Eye of the Prophet" and "Abyss Compass" providing dual navigation, they successfully avoided one powerful and eerie territory after another marked as a "death zone."

The newly installed "flesh and bone armor" and regeneration shield also allow them to ignore those low-level, bizarre sea beasts that don't know their place.

Life in "Iron Heart" gradually got back on track, and like a real city, it began its "city-state daily life".

Alai became the "general manager" of this mobile city, not only responsible for the food, clothing, housing and transportation of all residents, but also demonstrating amazing organizational skills.

She divided the survivors into several departments based on their abilities, such as "fishing and hunting teams," "planting teams," and "construction teams," making the city's logistics system well-organized.

Kyle and Roca took control of the city's armed forces. The reorganized "Ironheart Guard" consisted of two brothers, one in charge of external affairs and the other in charge of internal affairs. Kyle was responsible for driving patrol boats for external surveillance and reconnaissance, while Roca was responsible for the maintenance of the city's internal defense facilities and personnel training.

Their combat skills and command abilities improved rapidly in each battle against the bizarre sea monsters that attacked "Iron Heart".

Hephaestus and Ellie became the "twin engines" of the city's technological development. Ellie's enthusiasm for mechanical modification grew day by day, and she showed remarkable talent.

She led her technical team to continuously optimize and upgrade the city's steam power system and weapons.

Hephaestus, meanwhile, immersed himself entirely in the study of the mysterious "box"—the core of the "Dream Engine."

A brand-new "Heart of Truth Laboratory" next to the Forge Temple became his exclusive territory.

"Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable..."

At this moment, Hephaestus was staring blankly at the "box" floating in front of him. With the information provided by Shen Ge, he finally succeeded in activating the most superficial function of this core technology.

Before him, a lifelike three-dimensional image composed of pure light and information was appearing out of thin air.

It was a butterfly he had never seen before, and he could even reach out to "touch" its wings and feel the non-existent "powder" texture.

"This...this isn't a holographic projection!"

Hephaestus's voice trembled with excitement: "Projection requires a medium, the reflection of light, but this is directly rewriting the 'information' received by my brain's visual center. It doesn't create 'images,' but 'cognition'!"

"My God... just how insane has this other 'me' gone?!"

This research was undoubtedly tedious and dangerous. Several times, Hephaestus almost became assimilated by the chaotic "dream logic" remaining inside the "box" because he went too deep. Fortunately, Shen Ge intervened in time and pulled him back from the brink of mental collapse.

Shen Ge told Hephaestus that the power that gave him this feeling was called "Ghost Energy Erosion." It was a power that could change reality, produced by a high-level ghost energy through the perfect use of ghost energy. It was a low-end version of "Dream Power," and its essence also came from the power of the Earth's origin, which was why it had this effect.

But each close encounter with "truth" made this gifted young man even more obsessed and fanatical.

He firmly believed that as long as he could thoroughly analyze this "box," he could create a true "miracle" for Shen Ge and for this city.

Half a month later, the peaceful "daily life" of "Iron Heart" was completely shattered when it sailed into a strange sea area marked on the nautical chart as the "Sea of ​​No Light," which was shrouded in darkness all year round.

The bow of the "Iron Heart" cut through the pitch-black seawater and slowly sailed into the darkness that even starlight could not penetrate.

All the city's searchlights were turned on, creating a bright area with a radius of several kilometers, but in the face of this boundless sea of ​​eternal night, that light seemed so small and powerless.

"My lord! The remote detection of 'Eye of the Prophet'... has failed!" Ellie's voice was filled with tension in the command center.

"It's like we're shrouded in an invisible 'black fog,' we can't see anything!"

Shen Ge had already reached the top of the command tower. His eerie eyes were trying to penetrate the darkness, but he discovered that the "darkness" here was not simply a lack of light, but a "concept" at the level of laws. It was devouring light, devouring energy, and even devouring... all means of detection.

“Erosion by Strange Energy.” Shen Ge frowned and quickly discovered the cause of all this: a kind of erosion by strange energy, similar to the devouring ability of the “Primordial Strangeness.”

However, it is different. The "Progenitor's Strange Devouring" method turns the target into energy for its own use, but the devouring in this sea area is like directly erasing the light.

This was the first place they had encountered at sea since the Eye of the Prophet was built, a place that could render the Eye of the Prophet "blind".

“What about the ‘Abyss Compass’?” Shen Ge asked.

"Still...still working."

Hephaestus's voice came through, tinged with relief: "The direction of the North Pole beacon hasn't changed, but a moving point of light has appeared on the compass, very close to us, right above us."

Directly above?
Everyone in the control room, including Shen Ge, subconsciously looked up.

Through the thick glass dome of the command tower, they could see the pitch-black sky, as dark as ink, where one could not see their own hand in front of their face.

A huge lantern, radiating a soft and warm orange-yellow light, was quietly floating there.

The "lantern" had an ancient shape, with the pale ribs of a huge, unknown creature serving as its frame, covered with a layer of equally unknown, translucent golden membrane.

Inside the "lantern," a huge golden flame, as large as the sun, is burning fiercely, illuminating the sky and sea for tens of kilometers around.

In this absolute darkness, this "sky lantern" was the only source of light, the only sun. As it drew closer, the dark sea began to "brighten," and Shen Ge couldn't help but marvel at how the seas of this world were truly full of "miracles."

His uncanny eyes couldn't even discern whether the "sky lantern" was a bizarre creature, some kind of strange energy device, a living being, or something similar to the "Iron Heart."

"Warning! Warning! A massive energy field has been detected ahead, energy level... incalculable, distorting space!"

A piercing alarm sounded in the control room.

Hephaestus immediately switched the monitoring view. On the monitor screen in the main control room, they saw that their route ahead was blocked by an enormous energy storm that looked like a blood-red vortex on the huge nautical chart!
The storm's coverage area was several times larger than the "Sea of ​​No Light" before the "Sky Lantern" appeared. On the nautical chart, it looked like an insurmountable "scar" stretching across the entire latitudinal region of the planet, eerie and ferocious!
"What is this?" Shen Ge frowned deeply.

“No… I don’t know, sir. They… well, it seems they appeared with the ‘sky lanterns.’ None of our detectors can penetrate them.” For the first time, panic appeared on Hephaestus’s face.

"Can we go around it?" Alai asked nervously.

"It doesn't seem likely!"

Hephaestus pulled up another map and pointed to the beacon route pointing to the North Pole: "According to the calculations of the 'Eye of the Prophet,' this route was the only one that could pass through the 'weakest' part of this storm belt. If we choose to detour, it will take at least... several more years, or even longer!"

Several years!

The key point is not time, but that even if you take a detour, you will still encounter this strange storm zone, which is the most "vulnerable" area.

The only way to survive is to force our way through this terrifying, blood-red, eerie energy storm!
"All non-combat personnel immediately enter the bottom safe zone, energy shields fully activated. All engines overloaded, Hephaestus calculates the most stable entry angle." Shen Ge decided to give it a try. The "Iron Heart" already had good defensive capabilities, not to mention he could provide support without leaving the Ghost Domain.

If that doesn't work, then don't blame him for using his ultimate move: a "meteor summoning spell" to smash that "sky lantern" to pieces.

At Shen Ge's instruction, the massive "Iron Heart" activated its charge defense and plunged headlong into the crimson energy storm illuminated by the "Sky Lantern".

A cataclysmic scene unfolded before everyone's eyes.

The seawater had been torn apart by the violent, bizarre energy, with churning, roaring torrents all around. Countless twisted, dark lightning bolts streaked through the clouds, each flash enough to obliterate a small hill.

Tornadoes with diameters exceeding several kilometers, made entirely of bizarre energy, are ubiquitous here. They are like merciless meat grinders, tearing all matter caught in them to shreds!

"boom!!!"

A bolt of jet-black lightning struck the "Iron Heart" shield with tremendous force, causing the entire city to tremble violently. Sparks flew from countless pieces of equipment within the command center, and the shield's energy level instantly dropped by nearly 5%!

"Thirty degrees to starboard! Take evasive action!" Roca roared, taking personal control of the city's navigation.

Shen Ge stood beside him, trying to "see through" the blood-red energy storm through her eerie eyes, searching for a way out.

He also had to constantly monitor the shield value and, when necessary, activate the Ghost Domain to condense an invisible barrier to defend "Iron Heart".

The first few hours were the most devastating, with the energy shield constantly on the verge of collapse, the city's outer armor riddled with scratches from the energy turbulence, and even three of their patrol boats being instantly vaporized because they couldn't avoid a lightning tornado.

Shen Ge used invisible barriers to block fatal attacks for "Iron Heart" more than once, but the magical energy storm was endless, while his magical energy was not.

Kyle's "Ironheart Guard" became the city's firefighters, wearing "insulated exoskeletons" that Hephaestus had hastily made overnight, repairing lightning-damaged power lines and reinforcing decks impacted by energy flows in every corner of the city.

Alai organized the survivors to prepare food and hot drinks for the guards at the front, cared for the wounded, and soothed every soul on the verge of collapse with her resilient yet gentle voice.

Hephaestus and his "Ark Research Society" entered a state of non-stop "wartime" operation.

"My lord, I've found it!"

On the fifth day of being trapped in the storm, Hephaestus rushed into the command center with two huge dark circles under his eyes, but his eyes were frighteningly bright!
"Although the supernatural energy here is violent, it is 'ownerless'; it doesn't belong to any supernatural entity! It can be 'utilized'!"

Pointing to a rapidly flashing data stream on a screen, he excitedly exclaimed, "I might be able to design an 'energy sail' that can absorb these lightning bolts!"

This insane idea, if mishandled, would only draw the storm towards "Iron Heart" and hasten its destruction.

But Shen Ge saw the same fanatical look in Hephaestus's eyes as Li Xiang. In every moment of crisis, it was these "little devils" who completed the research that changed the situation.

Shen Ge trusted Hephaestus just as he had once trusted Li Xiang, and therefore Hephaestus's plan immediately received his full support.

Hephaestus and his team modified the massive "biological antigravity sails" atop the city.

They added "capacitor matrices" that could absorb and store energy, salvaged from other places, to the skeleton, and covered the surface of the sail with a special "lightning net" made of conductive fascia from the "Deep Sea Monster".

As a massive black lightning bolt struck the "Iron Heart" once more, a modified "Thunder-Guiding Sail" was slowly raised.

"boom!!!"

Lightning struck the sail, instantly engulfing the entire sail in a blinding flash of light, causing the capacitor matrix at the base to groan under the strain.

But after a few seconds, the electricity was slowly absorbed!
"We did it! Sir! We did it!" A thunderous cheer erupted in the command center.

This is yet another instance of human ingenuity forcibly "stealing" energy from this crazy planet!

With the first "Thunder-Attracting Sail", there can be a second, a third... In the following years, one towering "Thunder-Attracting Sail" after another was erected on the top of the "Iron Heart".

They were no longer passively taking hits, but actively "preying" on the lightning, absorbing its immense energy. This not only made the city's shield stronger than ever before, but even allowed the "Heart of God" to rest and replenish itself. (End of Chapter)