Shen Tu glanced at Yang Kai, pondered for a moment, then nodded. "You make a good point. Whatever those two sisters have must be extraordinary. As long as we find them, there's no reason for the Sword Alliance to pick a fight with Purple Star here... I've noticed your way of thinking is a bit different from most people."
Ever since Liu Shan and the others had returned, Yang Kai had been able to piece together truths that were almost certainly factual from the tiniest of clues. That was something Shen Tu couldn't do himself.
He genuinely admired Yang Kai a little.
"Shen Tu, we've all been placed in the engine room primarily to help supply the warship with propulsion energy, right?" Yang Kai suddenly asked, raising what seemed like an unrelated question.
"Yeah, why?"
"I just have a bad feeling all of a sudden." Yang Kai gazed at him intently.
Shen Tu's face changed, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "Don't scare me. What did you sense?"
Yang Kai shook his head without answering.
The two of them sank into silence, quietly observing their surroundings and monitoring the movements of the warrior called Ke Meng, remaining on high alert.
After about the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the compass-shaped artifact Ke Meng was using for communication suddenly flashed with a faint glow. He hurriedly channeled his Divine Sense into it and began exchanging words with someone.
A moment later, Ke Meng stowed the artifact away and called out with a grim expression, "Pick up the pace! We're chasing the Sword Alliance's warship — we can't let them escape!"
The moment those words left his mouth, both Yang Kai and Shen Tu's faces changed drastically.
"You were right after all. My feeling's not so good either now." Shen Tu's face was hideously pale, and he cursed bitterly, "You jinx!"
The next instant, a deep hum resonated from within the massive Saint King grade warship, and its speed surged dramatically as it rocketed through the starry sky in pursuit.
At the same time, the shackles binding Yang Kai and Shen Tu released a suction force far more powerful than before, madly draining the strength from their bodies.
The pulling force was twice as strong as it had been previously, and in an instant, the rate at which their energy was draining doubled as well.
Shen Tu couldn't help but let out a muffled groan. His body trembled, and even Yang Kai felt pain spreading across his entire body. No matter how he circulated his cultivation technique, he couldn't stop the flow of power being ripped from him.
Warriors bound in the engine room normally served only as auxiliary power sources for the warship's propulsion, with the primary energy supplied by Saint Crystals. But once this colossal artifact changed course, the energy demand would spike. That was when the real disaster struck for people like Shen Tu and Yang Kai.
The force draining their internal power would intensify dramatically.
Ke Meng moved through the engine room, barking order after order, his expression savage and merciless.
The relentless, uncontrolled siphoning through the shackles only made things worse for the warriors already in dire condition within the engine room.
Not long after the warship accelerated, heart-wrenching wails erupted from all directions. One or two warriors at the very end of their endurance began foaming at the mouth before collapsing dead on the spot.
They simply couldn't endure any more. Every last shred of strength had been drained from their bodies, and they could bear it no longer.
Shen Tu was secretly horrified, a bitter look spreading across his face. He knew that in his current state, he probably wouldn't last much longer. If all the power within his body was truly drained, even if he survived, his cultivation realm would inevitably plummet.
He cursed silently, yet was powerless to change his fate.
He stole a glance at Yang Kai and couldn't help but stare.
What he saw horrified him. Although Yang Kai's expression showed pain and his energy was being drained continuously, the fluctuations of power within his body showed no sign of weakening whatsoever. It was as if his body was perpetually brimming with Saint Origin.
This left Shen Tu utterly baffled. He had no idea why Yang Kai was so abnormal.
"My Lord, five more have died." A warrior suddenly approached Ke Meng and reported.
Ke Meng paused, seemingly remembering something. He cast a cold glance at the warriors bound on the ground and snorted, "A bunch of worthless trash. Give them some Saint Crystals!"
"Yes, sir!" The warrior responded and hurried over to the survivors, tossing three Saint Crystals in front of each person.
Pairs of dull, lifeless eyes suddenly blazed with the desperate hope of those who'd found salvation in the face of ruin. Everyone grabbed the Saint Crystals before them and began absorbing the energy within to replenish what they'd lost.
Shen Tu did the same. His cultivation technique worked a bit differently — it took less than half a cup of tea's time for him to completely absorb the energy from all three Saint Crystals. He licked his lips, wanting more.
Still, after that one infusion of energy, his complexion improved considerably.
The Saint King grade upper-class warship continued hurtling through the starry sky at a speed beyond imagination, far surpassing what artifacts like Star Shuttles could ever hope to match.
Yang Kai sat in the engine room and watched meteor after meteor streak past the transparent windows like falling stars. The warship itself was incredibly sturdy, smashing through the starry sky with unstoppable momentum. Smaller asteroids were shattered to pieces upon impact, yet the warship remained completely unscathed.
After roughly half a day, a ruddy glow suddenly appeared on Ke Meng's face. He shouted in a sharp voice, "You Sword Alliance dogs — I've finally caught up to you! Let's see where you run now!"
At his cry, both Shen Tu and Yang Kai turned their gazes toward the window.
Ahead of them, a massive vessel nearly identical to the one they were on was sailing through the starry sky. Carved into its hull was an enormous sword-shaped insignia.
The mark was identical to the one Yang Kai had seen on the clothing of the He Zao and He Miao sisters before.
It truly was the Sword Alliance's warship!