https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-33-The-Battlefield-of-Alien-Civilizations/12833234/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-35-The-Gold-Vine-Crystal-of-Life/12833244/
Chapter 34: Celestial Plants
Chapter 34: Celestial Plants
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
The mining vehicle rapidly drilled into the rock, the alloy drill head colliding with the rock layer, sending fist-sized fragments flying and producing a series of crisp impacts.
Behind the mining vehicle, five Embermen soldiers stood straight, clad in basic civilian exoskeletons. They held tungsten alloy war shields in their left hands and tungsten alloy long spears in their right, vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
Song Chi remained on the Aether, which still had its dark matter energy shield activated. The survey was nearing its end, but he maintained his vigilance. If the scanner was correct, the object emitting the special energy fluctuations must be on one of the last two fragments.
Suddenly, Song Chi caught a glimpse of a black shadow flashing by. Before he could issue a warning, the shadow darted at an incredible speed behind one of the Embermen soldiers.
The fully armored Emberman didn't have time to react before he was flung several meters away, his exoskeleton armor deeply dented.
This was far from over. After the initial strike, more black shadows shot out from the fragments, swiftly attacking all the intruders on the surface.
Song Chi clearly saw that the exoskeleton of one Emberman was completely destroyed with a single strike from the black shadow.
These black shadows were actually long, pitch-black vines, covered in sharp thorns, a terrifying sight.
Fortunately, the Embermen were puppets and lacked the pain sensation of regular carbon-based life forms.
Song Chi took a deep breath, grateful for his caution in not deactivating the "dark matter energy shield." Otherwise, the several strikes that hit the Aether would have left gaping holes in the shuttle.
Outside, the Embermen soldiers, now aware of the threat, formed a defensive circle, their tungsten alloy long spears continuously thrusting out to clash with the black vines, producing sharp metallic sounds. These black vines were mysteriously harder than the tungsten alloy weapons.
Two more Embermen soldiers quickly jumped off the Aether to support their comrades surrounded by the black vines. Meanwhile, under Song Chi's control, the Aether slowly ascended to hover several dozen meters above, providing support from the air.
The ship's firepower, though not strong, was enough to cause some minor damage to the black vines.
The ship's secondary guns continuously rained down fire, while Song Chi rapidly analyzed the battlefield situation.
From the hardness and attack power of these black vines, it was clear they were at the first-tier level, and not just newly ascended to that rank like the Embermen. They were likely at the peak of the first tier.
After about ten minutes, Song Chi had a suspicion. Behind these countless black vines, there was likely a single entity controlling them. Their coordination and cooperation were too seamless, steadily suppressing the seven fully armed Embermen while still managing to attack the nearby floating land mining vehicle.
Such smooth joint attacks could only be possible with a common command entity, and the vines themselves reminded him of a specific type of life form.
"Celestial plants."
With their developed root systems, metal-like hardness, and the ability to influence the life energy fields of the star sea, these characteristics matched the celestial plants he had encountered before.
Reaching this conclusion, Song Chi quickly formulated a plan. If they were indeed celestial plants, then eliminating the activity of the main body would naturally resolve the problem with the troublesome root systems.
With that thought, Song Chi's gaze fixed on the mining vehicle below.
The unknown star sea plant had clearly been disturbed by the Anger Tiger mining vehicle's operations, leading it to start its counterattack from within the fragment's core. If that was the case, could it mean that the mining vehicle's previous work area was directly above the plant's main body?
As he pondered, his eyes shifted to a pit over a meter deep on the fragment below, where the mining vehicle had last been digging.
With a hypothesis in mind, Song Chi was not one to dawdle. He took immediate action.
The secondary cannon continued to support the Fire Rose soldier puppets, but the Sky Dart's hull turned, and the main energy cannon at the ship's bow aimed directly at the partially excavated rock depression.
A glow of dark energy gathered, and the energy buildup began.
Seemingly sensing an impending threat, or perhaps startled by the energy fluctuations from the main cannon's charging, the black vines attacking the Fire Rose soldier puppets suddenly split in half, rushing rapidly towards the Sky Dart in the sky.
These black vines, bristling with sharp thorns, were astonishingly long. Even though the Sky Dart was nearly a hundred meters above, it was still within their attack range. In less than two seconds, nearly a dozen black vines had reached the hundred-meter mark.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
The black vines struck the Sky Dart, which was enveloped in a dark glow, causing the floating ship to shake. Song Chi, however, remained unperturbed, ignoring the attacks and maintaining the main cannon's energy buildup.
If it were a second-tier star sea plant, he would have fled immediately. But a peak first-tier plant couldn't pose a significant threat to the dark matter energy shield, at least not in the short term.
Why did Song Chi insist on continuously activating the Sky Dart's energy shield? It was to ensure his safety, of course.
As an orange-quality energy shield, reinforced to the first tier, it wouldn't be fitting for it to be so easily breached by a creature of the same tier. That would be a disgrace to its orange-quality status.
After another two seconds, when the dark energy at the main cannon's muzzle had reached its peak, the energy buildup was complete.
Beep!
The firing button was quickly pressed, and a dark energy sphere, several centimeters in diameter, shot downward with incredible speed, striking the rock depression with pinpoint accuracy.
Boom!
The explosion was intense, sending debris flying. When the fire subsided, the rock pit, which had been just over a meter deep, was now nearly four meters deep.
One shot wasn't enough to completely destroy the plant, as Song Chi had anticipated. The main energy cannon was only at level 5 and was a standard uncolored model, so its power was limited.
Pulling back the control stick, the Sky Dart quickly ascended to avoid the vine attacks.
Although the dark matter energy shield was robust, there was no need to endure unnecessary attacks.
After the main energy cannon's shot, it required a brief cooldown period. The black vines that had split off also couldn't cause catastrophic damage to the Fire Rose soldier puppets on the fragment. Song Chi could now stop the secondary cannon's barrage and focus on maneuvering the Sky Dart to dodge the vines.
When the 8-second cooldown was over, the main cannon at the Sky Dart's bow began to hum with energy once again, and the main energy cannon's charging process restarted.
(End of Chapter)
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