Chapter 2: Ember Fleet Ship
Chapter 2: Ember Fleet Ship
"Everyone, attention! Successful awoken individuals, please follow your class advisors to the Ember Tower. Those who failed to awaken, please leave the school within one hour."
A deep, resonant voice echoed from the side faculty building. The students turned to see a figure soaring from the rooftop, a visible burst of dark energy enveloping them. In the next second, a circle of black flames erupted beneath their feet, and the figure disappeared into the sky above the building.
When they reappeared, they were standing in the air above all the students, floating effortlessly.
Zhu YaoKui, the principal of Jiangyuan's First Ember Academy, was said to command a high-grade Ember Fleet ship and had already ascended to the third stage of life. He had been the principal for 150 years, and his presence commanded immense respect.
Feeling the faint yet palpable pressure from above, Song Chi felt as if he was carrying a hundred-pound weight on his back. Although he had reached Level 4 in Guiding Technique, he knew this was the result of Principal Zhu YaoKui deliberately suppressing his aura.
If he were to fully release the aura of a third-stage life form, all the students present would likely collapse in a heap, and some might even suffer from bone fractures.
Song Chi's breathing grew slightly heavy, but his face showed no sign of discomfort. Instead, a hint of excitement gleamed in his eyes.
The ability to ride the wind and walk on air, the stuff of all Blue Star humans' fantasies, was right before him. Even though he had seen it many times, his heart still raced with excitement.
...
With the principal personally overseeing the process, the efficiency of the students and teachers was remarkable. Nearly two hundred people quickly made their way to the Ember Tower.
Glancing around, Song Chi noticed that only sixteen students from Class 5 had successfully awakened their Ember Seeds. Among them, only two had White Ember Seeds—besides Sun Hao, the other was Wang Yuan. The remaining fourteen had Colorless Ember Seeds.
On the second floor of the Ember Tower, in Room 5 of the Dark Energy Transformation Chamber, under the guidance of their class advisor, Yang Minghui, the sixteen students from Class 5 lay down in individual transformation pods.
Once everyone was ready, Yang Minghui pressed the activation button. The transformation pods slowly closed, sealing the students inside, and a dark energy quickly filled the entire chamber.
Seeing this, Song Chi remained calm. He had learned about this process before. It was a necessary step after awakening the Ember Seed, known as Dark Energy Transformation.
After awakening the Ember Seed, the awoken individual and their bound Ember Fleet ship gain the ability to control dark energy. Among the many energies in the shattered star sea, dark energy is unique in its inclusivity, capable of converting most known energies into a single source of dark energy.
This allows the ember humans to utilize various star sea resources, rapidly strengthening themselves. It is the fundamental reason why the ember human civilization has advanced so quickly and expanded its territory.
However, when initially awakened, the awoken individual can control dark energy, but their body cannot immediately adapt to this new energy, leading to various rejection reactions.
Only by undergoing a prolonged dark energy transformation, converting the body entirely into a dark energy body, can this issue be perfectly resolved. The transformation pods are designed to accelerate this process.
Closing his eyes and spreading his palms, Song Chi began the familiar Guiding Technique, circulating it within his body.
After an unknown amount of time, a tingling sensation started at his brow, and he felt a surge of joy. This meant the dark energy transformation was nearly complete.
Only when the body is fully converted into a dark energy body can the "Ember Ancestral Node" be formed at the brow. This is where the Ember Seed resides and where the future Ember Fleet ship will be stored.
A few minutes later, all sixteen students from Class 5 completed their dark energy transformation, successfully opening their Ember Ancestral Nodes.
"Alright, follow me. There's one final step—fusing with your fleet ship."
"Only when the Ember Seed successfully fuses with a regular spacecraft and transforms it into an Ember Ship can one truly be considered a qualified inheritor of the Ember Legacy."
...
Behind the Ember Tower lay a vast conventional spacecraft base. All the students from Jiangyuan City who had successfully awakened their Ember Seeds at the Advanced Ember Academy needed to fuse their initial Ember Ships here.
In the Observer-Class Star Sea Shuttle Hangar, nearly two hundred people gathered, orderly conducting the Ember Fusion. There was no selection process for this; all Ember Seeds could only fuse with one type of spacecraft—the Observer-Class Star Sea Shuttle.
The Ember—Phantom Shuttle was the standard model for all initial Ember Ships.
"Song Chi!"
At the call, Song Chi immediately stepped forward.
In front of a standard Observer-Class Shuttle, Song Chi awkwardly manipulated the Phantom Energy flowing within him, focusing it at his brow. Soon, a beam of phantom light shot from his brow, piercing straight into the shuttle's hull.
In the next second, a strong pulling force emanated from the Ember Ancestral Node in his brow. Under this force, the shuttle in front of him began to shrink slowly, eventually reducing to the size of a fingernail and entering Song Chi's Ember Ancestral Node.
At the same time, Song Chi quickly closed his eyes and began to sense the conditions within his Ember Ancestral Node.
In the center of the chaotic space, a wisp of black flame hovered, and above it, the Observer-Class Shuttle was being continuously scorched by the black flame.
A few minutes later, a flash of light appeared before Song Chi's eyes, and an attribute panel materialized next to the small shuttle.
Name: Unnamed (Please name it soon)
Model: Ember-Phantom Shuttle
Level: LV0
Basic Components: Colorless Ember Hull LV0, Phantom Main Cannon LV0, Phantom Secondary Cannon LV0, Hull Armor LV0, Phantom Engine LV0, Phantom Shield LV0, Sky Patrol Radar LV0, Phantom Training Room LV0 (8/8)
Additional Components: None (0/2)
Phantom Energy Pool: 100/1000
Supplies: None
Scanning the attribute panel, Song Chi skipped the first three lines and focused on the Basic Components section.
As the name suggests, Basic Components are the standard structures all newly fused Phantom Shuttles possess, equivalent to standard equipment.
First, the Colorless Ember Hull is linked to the Ember Seed within the Ancestral Node. As the Ember Seed upgrades, the hull will also upgrade.
To upgrade the Ember Seed from Level 0 to Level 1, one needs 5 strands of Floating Land Essence and 200 Phantom Points.
Just as Song Chi was about to continue examining the details, Mr. Yang Minghui's urging voice interrupted him. Reluctantly, he withdrew his focus from the Ember Ancestral Node and made way for the next student to fuse.
Soon, all the awakened students completed their fusions without any of the rare fusion failures, much to the relief of all the academy teachers.
Fusion can fail, although the probability is extremely low, almost negligible.
However, if a fusion fails, one must wait a month for the Ember Seed to stabilize before attempting another fusion.
The problem is that once the Ember Seed awakens, only the first three days are a special protection period. During this period, exploring alien star domains is significantly less dangerous.
It's like a special benefit for newbies; as long as they don't intentionally court death, they are unlikely to face life-threatening situations. They can gain free experience in exploring alien star domains and even collect additional resources, which is absolutely essential for newly awakened rookie captains.
If the fusion fails, the month-long stabilization period cannot be avoided, and the special benefit opportunity will be wasted, causing much regret.
(End of Chapter)
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