The most powerful warship currently at humanity's disposal was the Ink-Expelling Vessel!
No matter the specifications, carrying capacity, or raw power, no ordinary warship could compare to an Ink-Expelling Vessel.
Even the Daybreak-class warships of the Dawn fleet were fit only to carry their shoes by comparison.
So regardless of anything, for Yang Kai and his people, an Ink-Expelling Vessel was absolutely essential.
Forging one from scratch wouldn't be particularly difficult for Yang Kai in his current state, but it would consume considerable time. Rather than start fresh, he decided to repair the one that had been snapped in two — that would drastically reduce the time needed.
All hands were assigned their tasks. The remnant soldiers of Qingxu Pass, having endured two hundred years of hiding and suffocation, finally had their chance to go on the offensive. Every one of them was fired up as though injected with chicken blood, their spirits soaring.
Work proceeded at a frantic pace. In barely a month, vast quantities of materials had been consumed, and the battered Ink-Expelling Vessel was restored to pristine condition.
The soldiers then dismantled the intact Artifacts from within Qingxu Pass, and those skilled in formations and artifact refinement mounted them onto the Ink-Expelling Vessel.
As for Yang Kai himself, he took over the repair of squad-level warships one by one.
When Sun Mao and the others had been collecting the fallen soldiers' remains on the battlefield, they had also recovered a number of damaged warships. Individually, most were barely usable, but many of their components were still intact. Yang Kai stripped those undamaged parts away — often, the pieces from a dozen or twenty warships could be pieced together to form one fully functional vessel.
In the blink of an eye, another half-year passed. A thousand warriors gathered in the plaza. Though few in number, they carried themselves with the imposing majesty of an army of millions.
The Ink-Expelling Vessel sat anchored silently at the edge of the plaza, displaying its savage visage in full.
Everything that needed preparing had been prepared. It was time to depart, and everyone was eager to charge toward No-Return Pass — not a single moment was to be wasted.
Huang Xiong swept his gaze over the assembled troops, his voice booming like a great bell: "If we survive this, we'll turn the heavens and earth upside down!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
Memories of Qingxu Pass being breached, of their Ancestors falling in battle, of comrades lying in pools of blood — every eye had turned red with fury. The killing intent of a thousand souls shook heaven and earth!
Everyone boarded the vessel!
Moments later, the Ink-Expelling Vessel shot into the void and melted into the darkness, vanishing without a trace.
During the vessel's repair, Yang Kai had inscribed numerous great formations upon it — concealment arrays among them. Though the Ink-Expelling Vessel was far from small, it moved in absolute silence. Without sufficient vigilance, one might not even notice it closing in from nearby.
This particular vessel, now bearing Qingxu Pass's final military strength, differed from the Ink-Expelling Vessels of old. Its overall appearance was far more menacing.
After all, this vessel had absorbed the entirety of Qingxu Pass's remaining essence!
When outfitting it, Yang Kai and the others had installed every usable Artifact they possessed.
It wasn't just the Ink-Expelling Vessel that had been upgraded — every squad's warship had received the same treatment.
Qingxu Pass may have fallen, but even a wrecked ship still holds three pounds of nails. The pooled remnants of the entire Pass's legacy, cobbled together, had forged the Ink-Expelling Vessel that now sat before them.
Looking back, Qingxu Pass gradually faded from view. Every face carried a complicated expression.
These people had spent within Qingxu Pass anywhere from several thousand years to tens of thousands — some even hundreds of thousands. From the moment they had set foot on the Ink Battlefield, they had been assigned to Qingxu Pass, upholding the creed that while the Pass stands, they stand; when it falls, they fall — fighting the Ink Clan in battles both great and small, countless times over.
Now they had survived, but Qingxu Pass lay stranded in the void.
Whether they would ever have the chance to bring this Pass back in this lifetime, none could say.
The force of nearly a thousand could be broadly divided into two regiments of roughly five hundred each, split into forty squads and commanded respectively by Yang Kai and Huang Xiong.
During their two centuries of hiding, Huang Xiong and the others hadn't merely been cowering — at the very least, they had figured out their current position in the void.
That was far better than Yang Kai, who had been lost for a long time. Before reaching Qingxu Pass, he hadn't even known where he was, let alone where No-Return Pass lay.
They advanced steadily toward No-Return Pass. The journey was uneventful. Along the way, they could faintly make out traces of past battles — even the wreckage of human warships that had been blown apart.
When the Ancestors had decided to fall back to No-Return Pass, the Ink Clan's armies had pursued them relentlessly. From beyond the Primordial Heaven's Great Ban to No-Return Pass, virtually every stretch of void was a battlefield. Countless human soldiers had perished in body and soul, and it was impossible to know how many had managed to retreat to No-Return Pass.
Whenever they encountered the remains of human soldiers, they silently collected them.
Several years later, as the Ink-Expelling Vessel glided silently through the void, Yang Kai — standing watch on the deck, monitoring all directions — suddenly opened his eyes and turned to look in a particular direction. In the next instant, his figure vanished entirely.