The middle-aged man who had brought Yang Kai here exchanged a brief conversation with the warrior called Kemeng, then left without ceremony.
During their exchange, Yang Kai remained silent, quietly observing his surroundings. This behavior seemed to satisfy Kemeng quite well.
"Kid, come with me!" Kemeng beckoned to Yang Kai and led him through the vast chamber.
Before long, they arrived at a sectioned-off cell.
There had been a warrior sitting here before, his hands and feet bound in shackles so that he could only sit cross-legged on the ground. But by now he was long dead, all vitality drained from his body.
In his final moments, he had apparently endured excruciating pain—eyes wide open, mouth agape, the veins on his neck bulging grotesquely. The sight was horrifying.
He must have suffered unimaginable torment in life as well. There was barely any flesh left on his body; he was nothing but skin and bone, his complexion deathly pale without a trace of color.
"Over here. Toss this corpse out," Kemeng called to someone nearby.
A warrior immediately hurried over, unshackled the corpse, lifted it effortlessly, and vanished.
Kemeng let out a cold chuckle and turned to Yang Kai. "Kid, be good and do as you're told, and I won't make things hard for you. You're technically Lady Biya's person, and I'd rather not upset her. So cooperate—it's better for both of us."
Yang Kai gave a slight nod.
Kemeng laughed. "That's more like it. Hm, you can sit here." He pointed to the spot where the dead man had been sitting.
Yang Kai obediently sat down and allowed the shackles to be fastened around his wrists and ankles.
This place—called the warship's engine chamber by these people—concealed numerous experts at the Saint Realm. Yang Kai could even sense an aura belonging to a Saint King among the hidden recesses.
He dared not make any rash movements.
The moment the shackles locked into place, Yang Kai's expression shifted dramatically.
He discovered that a terrifying suction force was emanating from the shackles, frantically draining the Saint Essence within his body. His power flowed through the shackles and into the warship, combining with the energy generated by the massive Saint Crystals to become the fuel that propelled the vessel.
Only then did Yang Kai understand why so many warriors had been imprisoned here. He also understood why every one of them looked so haggard and feeble.
Having one's power siphoned away ceaselessly like this—no one could endure it for long. Those with greater strength could hold out longer, but anyone who wasn't powerful enough would likely die before long from this relentless extraction.
The warrior who had been sitting here before had probably perished in exactly this way.
"Don't be afraid!" Kemeng squatted down in front of Yang Kai, actually offering words of comfort. "The warship's propulsion is mostly supplied by the Saint Crystals here." He gestured toward the enormous Saint Crystals arranged neatly nearby. "People like you are just supplementary, so there's nothing to worry about. Hm, here—take these. Don't overthink it, just absorb them."
A flash of light from the ring on his hand, and over a dozen fist-sized Saint Crystals appeared before Yang Kai.
These crystals contained incredibly dense energy. Although they couldn't compare in grade to the massive ones arranged nearby, they were still quite impressive.
"What happens when I run out?" Yang Kai picked up one of the crystals, held it in his palm, and looked up to ask.
"Just call for me and I'll give you more. You're Lady Biya's person, after all—I naturally won't be stingy with you!" Kemeng grinned meaningfully.
After all, if that damned woman Biya came back and found this kid too weak to be of any use, he might face some unpleasant consequences.
"Alright!" Yang Kai wasted no more words. He closed his eyes and immediately began circulating his cultivation technique, drawing the power from the Saint Crystals to replenish what he had lost.
Kemeng rose to his feet, nodded in satisfaction, then retreated back into the shadows to attend to his own affairs.
Once the man was gone, Yang Kai opened his eyes and discreetly surveyed his surroundings.
The engine chamber held at least fifty or sixty imprisoned warriors, most of whom were in extremely poor condition. Some were barely breathing, on the verge of death at any moment. As Yang Kai quietly observed, he suddenly noticed that pairs of eyes were fixated on him from every direction in the darkness, like starving wolves stalking prey in the snow—each pair filled with naked greed.
These gazes belonged to the imprisoned warriors. They weren't interested in Yang Kai himself—they were coveting the dozen or so Saint Crystals Kemeng had left with him.
The shackles locked around them were continuously draining their power, and the only way to replenish it was through Saint Crystals. They certainly wouldn't receive Kemeng's generous treatment or be given such a windfall.
In this situation, Saint Crystals meant life.
Yang Kai's mind stirred, and he immediately understood why they reacted this way.
Without drawing attention, he gathered the dozen Saint Crystals between his legs, shielding them from those covetous stares.
He closed his eyes, focused on feeling the speed at which the shackles were draining his power, and gradually his heart settled.
He discovered that the rate of extraction wasn't actually that fast. The Saint Crystals could more than compensate—in fact, they provided far more than was being taken. This meant that not only was there no danger to his life sitting here, he could actually use the Saint Crystals to advance his own cultivation.