The system handed me over to the state.

To this, Bronya laughed and said, "You're willing to talk to me now? You're not avoiding me anymore?"

Hei hope paused for a moment, then turned around and distanced herself from Bronya, saying with a haughty expression, "Don't overthink it. I'm just reminding you, it doesn't mean I forgive you for what you did before."

"You have a chance to apologize tonight, or else... hmph!"

With that, Su Xi led Seele away from the bridge, nudged Bronya with her elbow, and said with a mischievous smile, "Tonight, you'll get a chance! You'd better satisfy them properly, or you might not be able to get out of bed the next day."

Bronya rolled her eyes. She was overthinking it. How could such a thing happen? If it were really something that could be resolved with just one night of pleasure, Hei hope would have already suggested sleeping in separate rooms. Besides, she wasn't the kind of person who indulged in such things.

"I'll say it again: you're overthinking it. Just focus on getting your own things sorted out."

Bronya turned and followed the departing figure of Blackie. Watching Bronya's retreating figure, Su Xi couldn't help but sigh, "Youth is truly wonderful... No, I seem to be younger than her!"

She patted her cheeks, almost fooled by Bronya's youthful appearance, even though Bronya was actually older than her.

I should think about the next steps. Although crossing the storm is basically a done deal, I still need to carefully analyze the process to ensure a foolproof crossing.

Meanwhile, back in her ship room, Bronya looked at Seele and Black Seele, who were silently doing their own things. Seele gave Bronya a slightly awkward smile, while Black Seele didn't turn her head or say anything, clearly still angry.

So Bronya stepped forward, and as she passed Seele, she reached out and patted Seele's head, whispering, "I'll talk to her properly."

"Do you need me to leave?"

Seele blinked and asked, while Bronya shook her head. "It's okay, it's not a private matter, and even if it were, would it escape your notice?"

Seele smiled, and Bronya walked behind Black Seele, put her arms around Black Seele's neck, and gently hugged her, saying, "Are you still in a bad mood?"

Hei hope remained silent.

"I'm sorry... I really didn't take your feelings into consideration those few days."

Hei hope turned her head and stared into Bronya's eyes, saying, "Do you know you were wrong now?"

"Ah."

Even that simple word left Hei hope with a lingering displeasure. She turned around and asked, "Do you really know you were wrong?"

"real!"

"...Maybe..."

Hei hope sighed, and Bronya looked disappointed. "Don't you believe me? Is it that you dare not believe me, or that you don't want to believe me?"

"I'm afraid to believe you..."

Bronya was stunned, afraid to believe herself?

“I’m afraid that I’ll trust you too much and put all my hopes on you, and then one day, something happens to you, and all our hopes and expectations will be dashed. So I don’t dare to trust you completely.”

"When you become able to ignore all threats in the universe and protect us, then you can ask me to completely trust you."

Hei hope got up and broke free from Bronya's embrace. "I'm thirsty. Would you like to have a drink? Shall we go to the coffee shop to rest for a bit?"

Blackie stared at Bronya, who sighed, "Let's go, I need to replenish my sugar."

"Then I'll have them add extra sweet sugar to your drink."

...Three days later...

"Are you ready?"

"Captain! All crew members are ready! The Mermaid Empire has indicated that they will enter the storm first to guide us and shield us from the impact of large debris."

"They really acted like seniors..."

Su Xi couldn't help but sigh. The Mermaid Empire had done so much these past few days. The help they had given her made it hard for Su Xi to forget this ally. In fact, it would have been better to leave these large pieces to them. After all, with the Iron Curtain device in place, they were not afraid of any impact from any piece of debris, no matter how big.

Moreover, the special energy source of their power engines allows their weapons to fire energy munitions that can directly ignore the effects of gravity, precisely targeting their objectives.

Now that the Mermaid Empire has helped them block the way ahead, they can leave the rear to the Mermaids.

"Gong Ning".

"I'm here."

"Let's keep our weapons online at all times. They've shielded us from the front, so let's protect their rear. Remember, if there's any unexpected situation, we can use the Iron Curtain device to rush in and use the ship's main body to block them."

"I would have done it even without you telling me. Let's go. I hope everything goes well from here on out."

"It will definitely go smoothly!"

.....

“Your Majesty, our friends are ready. They say they will protect our rear from any attack or disruption.”

The Mermaid Queen was still somewhat worried when she heard the report from her people. Although the ships of these new friends were not small, they were still too small compared to their own. The strong gravity in the storm made it easy for conventional physical ammunition and even energy weapons to miss their targets, or even cause friendly fire between ships.

Can they really entrust their rear to these new friends?

Faced with his queen's hesitation, the merman in front of him said, "Your Majesty, under normal sailing conditions, attacks from the rear are very rare; most attacks come from the front."

"Even if our new friends can't hold them off, the armor of our ships behind them is strong enough to withstand the attack."

"Let's hope so... The order has been given! All clansmen retreat to the core area. Layered armor will seal off the passages. No one is allowed to leave the area until the blockade is complete!"

"Activate the armor plating and notify our new friends that we are ready to enter the storm. Let's pave the way for them!"

"Captain! Look!"

At this moment, a gasp came from the bridge of the Nuwa. In front of them, the azure blue water sphere warship suddenly began to have black armor covering the transparent metal.

Finally, it completely transformed into a black metallic sphere.

"So there's another layer of outer armor. I was wondering if it would burst open and all the water inside would either spill out or freeze completely."

Su Xi stared thoughtfully at the spherical warship in the distance. At that moment, they received a communication from the Mermaid Queen.

We are ready to depart, fellow travelers. Please follow behind us; I will do my utmost to protect you throughout this journey!

Let's go!

Su Xi said solemnly, ahead, the huge spherical warship rushed directly into the storm, followed closely by the Nuwa and Ningye.

Upon entering the storm's interior, the intense gravity captured the ship, immediately triggering its alarms. The navigator suppressed the alarms and remained on the sidelines to monitor the situation. Their ship followed behind the Mermaid Empire's spherical warship, surrounded by dazzling pulse particles.

Each particle that struck the shield caused it to flicker slightly. Under the high frequency of particle impacts, the shields of the two warships resembled shimmering orbs of light.

However, the Mermaid Empire's warships ahead did not have any shields flashing. The particles all silently passed over the metal of the warships' exteriors, as if they were deliberately avoiding their armor.

The analyst's analysis quickly reached Su Xi's hands: the spherical warship's metal armor had the ability to interfere with pulse particles, allowing them to bypass the metal directly.

No wonder it doesn't need a shield. This kind of metal armor allows the spherical warship to be immune to the impact of pulse particles and rush straight in. That's great. I wonder if we can discuss this later.

Meanwhile, inside the spherical warship, the Mermaid Queen couldn't help but laugh as she watched the warships of her new friends behind her shimmering like the glowing lights of a karaoke room. Her tribesmen, who were nearby, had already begun to secretly chuckle.

"Alright, stop laughing. Although it is indeed a bit funny, it is undeniable that their shields are very strong and can withstand such high-intensity pulse particles."

"Your Majesty, what if they can't hold on any longer? What if their ships fall behind? We won't be able to help them."

"It's alright. As long as they can survive for a day and be sent to the eye of the storm, they still have the ability to survive. Moreover, the ships of those hidden advanced civilizations are constantly monitoring this test. Don't worry."

"We hope our new friends will bring us enough good luck so we can pass this test."

"Yes, Your Majesty. We will enter the debris impact zone in about three hours. Our engineering equipment is ready, and all our people have entered hibernation mode. We need to enter as well."

The Mermaid Queen nodded. "Proceed according to plan. We have no way to help our new friends now. Good luck to them, and good luck to us as well."

Three hours later, the Nuwa ship's early warning system issued an alarm because the system, which could still operate under high-energy pulses, detected a large number of metal fragments ahead.

Any one of those pieces hitting their ship would be enough to tear off a large chunk of its skin!

"My God... these fragments are so big, how big must those ships that exploded here be!"

The largest fragment detected so far is almost the size of the Nuwa spacecraft.

"Begin evasive action! How much shield charge do we have left?"

"The shield's energy efficiency remains at 50%, and it can still operate at 50%. However, its lifespan will be reduced if it is hit by an impact!"

"We've only covered less than a fifth of the distance!"

Yes, they have only covered less than one-fifth of the distance this time. If they use the Iron Curtain device in three hours, they may not be able to reach the end.

"Take evasive action and transfer the main gun's engine function to the shield to ensure the shield can continue operating for at least 12 hours!"

"The Iron Curtain device cannot be activated too early, or we will truly become steel coffins without our last resort!"

"If the main gun doesn't have enough energy, then transfer the energy from the other gun emplacements! The shield absolutely must hold!"

"Understood, main cannon power is being transferred to the shield... Main cannon is now off! Shield charge rate is increasing, 60%... 70%... 80%... Shield charge rate will remain around 95%!"

"Alright, send all non-essential crew members back to their dormitories. Except for essential personnel, all personnel should stay away from the outside area to avoid personnel losses in case the armor is damaged."

"Finally, continue trying to contact the Nightfall and send them our contingency plan. If we can't reach them, we'll use signal transmission!"

"Yes!"

Su Xi stared solemnly at the shimmering shield outside the glass.

"It looks like things are going well."

Bronya's voice suddenly rang out. Su Xi turned her head and looked at Bronya, who was holding a drink. She said with lingering fear, "You've finally come. I thought you weren't planning on coming."

"I just went to get some drinks, I was a little thirsty, but judging from your expression, you seem to be doing pretty well?"

Su Xi nodded and explained the general situation to Bronya. After listening, Bronya nodded thoughtfully, "Good plan. If you need my help, you can call me. My warp drive is still usable, and I can act as a bridge for communication between the two ships."

"Also, how are our new friends doing?"

Su Xi shook her head. "The communications officer started trying to contact them earlier, but they've been silent the whole time, with no signal. Although the pulse interference is very strong, it shouldn't be to the point that we can't even establish basic communication."

"That's a bit strange... Never mind, let's not worry about it for now. As long as their ships don't have any problems, it's fine."

Because they were caught by the gravitational pull of the storm's center, it was extremely difficult for the ships to control their course. The Nuwa and Ningye had to increase their engine power to adjust their positions and avoid being hit by such large debris.

Fortunately, although these fragments were large, they were also moving with the storm in this place, just like them. The reason they felt like they were being hit was because their speed was faster than that of the engine.

It's less that the debris hit them and more that they were moving too fast and were about to crash into it.

"Everything is going smoothly. I hope we can continue to do so. It's only been three hours, and these fragments have already started to appear. Who knows what else will appear later on?"

Su Xi was still a little nervous. In the current situation, it might seem good, but whether it would be good in the future was another matter.

"Let's keep going... I just wonder how our new friend is doing."

..........

"Hey! Biscris, did you see that? These two guys have teamed up! Those mermaids are actually sacrificing themselves to act as shields for those little guys."