The sky was ablaze, countless streams of light crisscrossing in every direction, resembling a giant saw blade slicing through a nexus star, sending sparks flying.
A conical, small spaceship darted left and right, attempting to escape into space.
Giant, jellyfish-like warships surrounded them, each adorned with tens of thousands of bright yellow launch ports, each port hundreds of meters in diameter. The conical spaceship was like a speck of dust, drifting past the countless warships.
Jiang Ye was drenched in sweat, enough to wring out at least a kilogram of perspiration from his clothes.
Cen Yemeng was curled up obediently in her seat, seatbelt fastened, her eyes covered. The blindfold was Jiang Ye's tie, making it look like a bandit kidnapping someone. In reality, it was to prevent her from being frightened by the Mil people's warships outside, which were impossibly enormous.
Silence reigned all around. Having escaped the nexus star's atmosphere, all combat was now soundless.
Finally, the spaceship's alert chimed:
"Warp drive can commence. Please confirm propulsion power."
Jiang Ye shouted, "One hundred percent!"
"Warp drive countdown: 3, 2, 1!"
The view outside the window shifted abruptly. Everything warped, and the nexus star turned into a giant, sun-like luminous spot.
Jiang Ye reached out and pulled the tie from in front of Cen Yemeng's eyes.
"We should be safe now. We're about to..."
A deafening boom. The spaceship violently tumbled. Cen Yemeng screamed, and Jiang Ye instinctively held her. Large chunks of components peeled away from the cabin walls, flying like bullets and clanging inside the ship.
The control screen flashed red, and a rapid alarm assaulted their eardrums:
"Warning! Ship hit! Navigation lost!"
"Damage sustained: 78%! Warp engine will cease function in 5 seconds!"
"Captured by unknown planetary gravity. Imminent crash. Prepare for impact!"
Jiang Ye looked out the window. The warped visual distortions from the warp drive had vanished, and normal vision was restored.
The nexus star was completely gone!
A massive black planet appeared below, vast and boundless. Above them was an unfamiliar starry sky!
Jiang Ye's heart felt frozen. The ship had been hit by the Mil people just as they were escaping! The warp engine's propulsion speed was ridiculously fast. After losing control, their course deviated. Who knew where they had ended up? A race car traveling at a hundred miles per hour would veer off the road with a slight turn of the steering wheel. What about a spaceship traveling faster than light, deviating wildly on a cosmic scale?!
His mind was filled with two words: "It's over!"
Regret, so much regret!
It wasn't that he feared death. Jiang Ye had already died once; these years were all bonus time. He regretted it for Cen Yemeng. If he hadn't forcibly brought Cen Yemeng out, perhaps she wouldn't have died! The Mil people might not have truly occupied the nexus star, and even if they had, they might not have harmed her!
"I'm sorry!" Jiang Ye was so full of remorse he could almost cry.
"Are we going to die?" Cen Yemeng hugged him tightly.
The spaceship began to vibrate, and streams of fire washed over the windows like a downpour.
"Ship!" Jiang Ye suddenly yelled, "Can we reverse thrust?"
"Insufficient remaining fuel for escape. Only capable of slowing descent impact."
"That's exactly what we need – slowing descent impact!" Jiang Ye said. "Before we hit the ground, reduce speed to zero as much as possible! Avoid cliffs and mountains! Pick a safe spot to land!"
"Safety landing procedure initiated!"
"Before landing, report the atmospheric and gravitational environment of this planet to me!" Jiang Ye roared again.
"Analyzing basic planetary information..."
The spaceship descended amidst the vibrations. Jiang Ye held Cen Yemeng tightly, feeling as though a century had passed. Cen Yemeng, surprisingly, wasn't scared. She just held Jiang Ye quietly and warmly, her breaths puffing into his neck, allowing him to clearly feel that she was still alive.
The engines roared, and the spaceship began to reverse thrust.
"Boom!"
The sound was like a cannon blast.
Jiang Ye squeezed his eyes shut, then abruptly opened them.
After a violent shake, the spaceship stopped. The sound of rushing water surrounded them.
The two looked at each other, finding no injuries on their bodies.
Cen Yemeng's eyes reddened, and she smiled joyfully, "We're still alive!"
Jiang Ye felt no joy. He quickly looked out the window.
The sight outside stunned him. It was... the sea!
They had landed on a planet with a sea!
Gray-blue seawater surged everywhere. It was likely dusk or dawn, the sky a pale white. The spaceship floated on the water's surface, showing no signs of sinking.
So much water made him feel uneasy.
If they were in the middle of an ocean like the Pacific, it would be completely over!
Jiang Ye looked out of the windows in all directions. Fortunately, in the approximate east, there were faint traces of hills. As long as they could see land, there was still hope!
"Ship, our location!" Jiang Ye asked.
"Insufficient power to calculate. Please manually activate solar panels or engage manual power generation!" The ship's voice was weak.
Jiang Ye squeezed Cen Yemeng's hand, then touched her forehead with his, "Don't worry, we'll definitely find a way back. It'll just take a little longer. I'll go activate the solar panels."
"Mhm," Cen Yemeng nodded gently, her eyes worried. "Can we breathe the air on this planet? Be careful when you go out."
"We don't know if the outside gas is toxic. Let's put on our spacesuits," Jiang Ye said.
Under the seats were spacesuits, kept as spares for safety emergencies, much like the foam life vests on a tour bus. Possibly to allow all passengers to wear them, both spacesuits were excessively large.
Jiang Ye put one on Cen Yemeng first.
The helmet immediately displayed small green text showing oxygen levels, humidity, and so on.
"It works normally!" Cen Yemeng smiled. "We can breathe with this suit!"
"Good! Don't take off your helmets for now," Jiang Ye said happily.
He put on a spacesuit himself. This suit weighed at least twenty pounds, but fortunately, it was fully functional, resistant to high and low temperatures, could generate oxygen, filter toxins, and withstand gamma rays.
He walked to the door and carefully pulled open the cabin door.
White sea mist immediately drifted in.
Jiang Ye turned, jumped nimbly, and climbed onto the top of the spaceship.
Standing on the ship's roof, he could see the damage at the rear. It could be described in three words: a complete wreck!
The engine had completely exploded, various pipes were exposed, and the outer shell was torn like paper. He didn't know how much of the spaceship's functionality remained.
Jiang Ye knew he was incredibly lucky. The Mil people's weapons must have just grazed them, not hit directly, otherwise, the entire ship would have exploded. Stray shots in space combat were incredibly dangerous. This time, it was pure luck!
However, whether he could return alive to Jiang Ye Star was still an unknown!
Jiang Ye reached out, opened the cover plate on the ship's roof, and flipped open the solar panels.
Indicator lights lit up along the edges of the panels, indicating that charging had begun.
Jiang Ye's confidence surged. As long as the ship could still operate, the chance of survival had increased by more than half!