In the sky, Zhang Wei held a sponge in one hand and a starfish in the other, leisurely enjoying the beautiful scenery above the clouds.
Zhang Wei admitted that he had panicked a little when he first fell.
But the subsequent falling speed made Zhang Wei realize that he couldn't possibly die, no matter how high it was.
Because the speed was constant~
"About 220-300 kilometers per hour, equivalent to the speed of a high-speed train."
"Is this the speed of human free fall?"
"Not even as fast as I run..."
v=at=gt
v is velocity, g is gravitational acceleration, and t is the falling time.
But there is air in nature, and there is air resistance!
The faster the speed, the stronger the air resistance.
When the speed increases to a certain extent, it will reach equilibrium with stronger air resistance, causing the speed to be constant.
Zhang Wei vaguely remembered a joke about a doctoral student researching whether falling into water could kill someone. Obviously, the comedian was not a high school graduate, and his physics was not good. All objects have a terminal velocity when falling.
"The logic is sound, but where exactly is the Cloud Country? The troposphere? The stratosphere?"
Given the size of the planet in Gourmet Discoveries, even the troposphere would be tens of thousands of meters high.
At Zhang Wei's falling speed, it would take about ten minutes to fly.
Slowly descending from the highest heavens, with endless clouds still beneath him, faint flashes of lightning flickered within the cloud layers!
"Cumulonimbus clouds?"
"I could try it, but these two..."
Zhang Wei looked at the two of them. Star and Sponge had already fainted.
"Right Wing Hall can stay here for a while."
Leaving these two burdens behind, Zhang Wei straightened his body, minimizing air resistance, and his speed shot up!
Golden light flashed, and the National Chef reappeared!
Even natural lightning strikes on Earth were extremely terrifying, let alone the strange Gourmet Discoveries. Facing such natural might, no carelessness was allowed.
With the power of the National Chef, the blue arcs of electricity on Zhang Wei's body surged!
Lightning flashed within the clouds!
Zhang Wei merely brushed past it, and his entire body was instantly paralyzed. A strong smell of burning emanated from all parts of his body!
His clothes instantly turned to ashes!
"It hurts!"
"With this much energy, even hundreds of Electric Mice would be no match..."
"I've already maxed out the Thunder Control technique and avoided ninety percent of the electrical energy..."
Another lightning strike!
Zhang Wei almost lost consciousness! With his current strength, he couldn't contend with the might of nature!
"Need to find a way..."
"Think quickly..."
"My brain isn't cooperating..."
The Gourmet Cells, in a life-or-death situation, were frantically consuming internal energy to replicate themselves, replacing dead cells, and continuously repairing the body!
But this required time!
The speed of electrical damage far exceeded the speed of cellular repair! Moreover, under the lightning strike, even the Gourmet Cells were dazed, and their efficiency was greatly reduced...
"Thunder Control... Thunder Control..."
"Right, semi-elementalization of the body!"
"Although it's a skill used for movement, if it's semi-elementalized, the lightning damage will also be reduced!"
"It must work! It must work!"
Lightning flashed again in the clouds!
Zhang Wei's massive physical energy was being rapidly consumed!
After practicing for half a month without grasping the key to semi-elementalization, Zhang Wei now had only half a minute to master it!
More than 30 seconds, and his body's energy would be completely depleted...
"Elementalize... become elemental..."
The paralyzing electric light made Zhang Wei clear his mind.
Only one voice kept echoing in his ears...
Thunder~
Thunder~
Thunder!
"I am the thunder!"
Zhang Wei roared!
A torrent of thunder and lightning erupted from his entire body!
In the sky, a deafening thunderclap exploded!
The lightning struck directly towards the ground!
On the grassland, a fire wall over ten meters high erupted, spreading outwards in a circle.
Heavenly thunder and earthly fire!
At the epicenter of the lightning strike, the ground was scorched black!
Zhang Wei, completely naked, stood in the center of the scorched earth with his eyes closed...
Like a stone sculpture.
Thump~
Thump-thump~
The sound of a beating heart like a drum echoed!
The stagnant blood began to flow again, and energy spread throughout his body with the blood, and his bodily functions gradually recovered.
Zhang Wei slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with confusion.
"Fire... this... I... came... electric..."
Indistinct phrases continuously tumbled from Zhang Wei's mouth.
As time passed, his speech gradually became clearer, and Zhang Wei shook his head, his memories slowly returning.
"I... landed?"
"I just passed through the thundercloud, it was so close..."
"Damn, my brain is mush, I was almost electrocuted into idiocy."
"But since I survived, I must have grasped the trick of semi-elementalization!"
"Let's try!"
With a thought, an electric light flickered!
BOOM!!!
A thunderous blast erupted on the spot, and Zhang Wei had already vanished.
A few kilometers away, Zhang Wei looked around in confusion: "Where did I teleport to with this burst?"
Following the scorched black marks on the ground, Zhang Wei saw where he had come from.
Estimating the distance, Zhang Wei said incredulously: "Covered five kilometers in half a second? This is too exaggerated!"
"And with this speed, even I can't react to it!"
"Energy dissipation is also very serious, causing significant damage to the surroundings..."
"This skill is too wild, it needs to be well practiced. Distance, accuracy, speed... all need to be controllable!"
A rumbling sound came from his stomach.
A hunger he had never felt before surged!
After so long since his transmigration, this was the first time his energy had been depleted so thoroughly!
It also let Zhang Wei know his limits.
...
...
Cloud Country—Immortal Ascension Palace.
Lord Claude slowly woke up, and two winged men flew proudly in the sky above!
The white-feathered man was none other than the True Lord of the Clouds.
And the one with black wings was the main general who had attacked the northern regions, one of the twelve commanders of the Cloud Country, Makabaka!
Claude endured the dizziness in his head and respectfully stood up, saying, "Greetings, Commander!"
"Claude, give me an explanation."
"Explanation..."
Memories gradually surfaced in Claude's mind: going to work, getting off work, drinking and enjoying wine... Mr. Krabs, the delicious Krabby Patty with salt essence, and that sweet and refreshing fruit wine.
The last part of his memory was him passing out on the ground, with Mr. Krabs constantly explaining something.
"This guy... insisted that fruit wine wasn't intoxicating, and now I'm finished!"
Makabaka was strict in his discipline, and if he was caught drunk during work hours, he wouldn't get away with it!
"Reporting to Commander, I was drinking on duty and committed dereliction of duty. I request punishment from the Commander!"
"Hmm, you admit your guilt readily. Then I shall execute you here. I will bring your head to the Lord of the Country."
"What?"
Claude froze on the spot!
Execution?
What execution?
Bring his head to the Lord of the Country?
It was just getting drunk, at most it was negligence, or at worst, dereliction of duty.
Beheaded for such a trivial matter?
Claude suspected he had misheard and asked blankly, "You... you want to cut off my head?"
"Yes, I'm short on time, I'll send you on your way now!"
"Stop... Stop!"
Makabaka drew his long blade and frowned, "Do you want to write a will? Please be quick."
Sweat poured down Claude's face. This man was a man of his word. Looking at the situation, he really intended to kill him!
But... why?
No, that wasn't important, what was important was to save his life!
Claude roared, "I am a subordinate of the Gold and Silver Commander. Even if I'm negligent, you have no right to punish me! I want to see Golden Horn and Silver Horn!"
"Golden Horn and Silver Horn? Heh heh... If he were here, he'd be the one I'd behead! How much effort did the Cloud Country put into the Immortal Ascension Palace... a mere head is a light punishment!"
Claude stood up and leaped to a higher vantage point.
He looked out, and the Immortal Ascension Palace had completely changed its appearance.
The gate tower was destroyed, the foundation was damaged, the farmland was empty, filled with pits... there was also a smell of burning in the air.
The most heavily damaged area had a giant crater hundreds of meters in diameter, through which the world below the Cloud Country could be seen.
"How could this be!"
"This... this is impossible!"
"I want to see Golden Horn and Sil..."
Before he could finish, Claude's head flew into the sky.
Blood splattered several meters, and the remaining four lords were immediately terrified and knelt down begging for mercy.
Makabaka scanned the surroundings.
"The Lord of the Country needs an explanation, and Claude is sufficient. I will not kill you."
Before the four lords could relax, Makabaka continued, "However, you cannot escape punishment. The front lines are in a critical situation, and I will assign you to the most brutal front lines, allowing the flames of war to wash away your sins."
"If you perform exceptionally well, you might even reach a position higher than that of a lord, and perhaps even hereditary succession."
"Of course, you can also choose to die by my sword now."
...
After dealing with a few nobles, the reconnaissance experts began their investigation.
They could reconstruct the scene as much as possible by examining the traces left on the battlefield.
"Relevant personnel have already given their statements, about over a hundred statements, and their descriptions of the situation are similar."
"The curfew was issued four days ago, and during the same period, a large amount of alcohol and food was purchased at extremely high prices. According to statistics, it exceeded one million Belize! High-end alcoholic beverages alone amounted to thousands of liters!"
"Just before the explosion, two people visited the Immortal Ascension Palace. They were newly hired mysterious itinerant chefs from the Crane City chain of burger joints."
"And..."
The information was fragmented, but manageable.
"Makabaka, you'd better come and see."
It was the voice of the True Lord of the Clouds.
He flapped his wings and soared.
"What is it?"
"Look at this girl."
The True Lord of the Clouds pointed, and a beast-eared girl was anxiously directing personnel in the ruins, carrying out search and rescue operations.
Makabaka frowned, "Looking at the girl, it's really not like you."
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
The True Lord of the Clouds said indignantly, "Just now, we were clearing the rubble, and this girl said that someone was buried alive under a certain spot, but I couldn't sense any signs of life inside."
"And then?"
"As a result, this girl took action herself and actually dug out a person from the rubble."
"Such a thing!"
The True Lord of the Clouds possessed extraordinary strength and excellent perception. Although this girl was a superior breed, her cell level was only between 1-3.
She could actually surpass the True Lord of the Clouds, who was a hundred times stronger than her, in terms of perception...
This was very strange!
"What do you want to do?"
The True Lord of the Clouds replied, "Take her back. Such talent should not be buried here."