The Flying Vessel Lord, Shaking the Core Zone

Black Bear No. 1's alarms rang without stop.

Lu Yuan's brow creased. "Hmm?"

"What's wrong?" Amy glanced over with a worried look.

A shrill alert pierced the cabin.

**"Alert! Alert! Black Bear No. 1 has been locked on. Target energy level: Second-rank mid-tier Lord Grade!"**

Lu Yuan's expression darkened.

The moment he spoke, the holographic projection outside the craft auto-zoomed, locking onto the attacker several hundred meters out.

It was an all-black mechanical flying vessel — shaped like a triangle. Its triangular tip pulsed with pale blue spirit light, steadily gathering energy.

"We're being attacked?!" Amy cried.

A pale blue spirit energy beam lanced from hundreds of meters away, slamming into Black Bear No. 1's shield.

Concentric ripples spread across the translucent barrier. Inside, Black Bear No. 1 didn't move an inch.

Then Amy noticed what else was converging on them — every surrounding flying vessel surging in at once, spirit energy blazing along their frames — and the blood left her face.

Lu Yuan's eyes flickered.

*Mechanical Control.*

Instantly, every vessel approaching Black Bear No. 1 inexplicably changed course, veering off in all directions.

Amy exhaled.

**"Beep! Beep! Target charging. Target preparing to attack again!"**

Lu Yuan surveyed the vessels around them, a trace of surprise on his face.

*The flying vessels in this area have all reached Second-rank. Far stronger than the outer zones.*

"Can we still fly through here?" Amy asked, worry edging into her voice. "Second-rank Mechanical Guardians are a lot tougher."

"It's fine," Lu Yuan said with an easy smile.

Seeing his composure, Amy nodded and let it go.

Flying vessels were Mechanical Guardians too — just airborne ones. With his current mental strength and perception outpacing even a peak Second-rank Mechanical Chief, these ordinary Second-rank fliers were simply no match for him.

What he couldn't do was set up a guardian escort formation the way he had before. But keeping vessels away? Trivially easy. And as for unexpected trouble — with Black Bear No. 1's Second-rank high-tier Lord-level defenses, a mid-tier Lord's fire was no threat at all.

Lu Yuan poured every ounce of concentration into the flying vessel lord.

The moment he did, all the surrounding vessels slipped free of his influence, snapped back to their own patterns, and swarmed straight for Black Bear No. 1 — spirit energy blazing along their frames.

Just then, Lu Yuan used Mechanical Control again.

The gathered spirit energy dissolved. The surrounding vessels scattered once more, careening off like headless flies.

Amy saw the swarm converge and her heart jumped — then watched them veer off and finally let herself breathe.

Meanwhile, Lu Yuan's focus never left the triangular lord. He subtly distorted its sense of direction, making it believe flying toward Black Bear No. 1 was the correct way to flee.

*So this thing was trying to run.*

The triangular vessel lurched. It stopped dead in midair — shuddered — and then, inexplicably, turned and flew straight toward Black Bear No. 1.

A cold gleam crossed Lu Yuan's eyes. "Move in. Blow it apart."

Black Bear No. 1 closed the distance in an instant.

The triangle fired again — pale blue death streaking through the air. Black Bear No. 1 burst to full speed at Lu Yuan's command, blazing into a streak of light that carved a wide arc and slipped past the shot in a single breath.

Dark light gathered at Black Bear No. 1's diamond-shaped tip.

The triangular vessel's shield flared to life in front of the incoming ray — but it had already been depleted and couldn't regenerate in time.

**BOOM!!**

A thunderclap split the sky. The shield fractured into a web of horrifying cracks — and detonated.

The black ray fired true. It struck the incoming triangular flying vessel dead center.

Its metal hull ruptured. A gaping hole blew open in its side, right alongside the crater Black Bear No. 1's earlier shots had already carved. Electricity crackled and arced wildly as the wreck tumbled from the sky, spinning down toward the streets far below.

A Second-rank mid-tier Lord Grade flying vessel, downed in a single exchange.

Throughout the core zone, within dozens of kilometers of the battle site, group after group of Second-rank warriors stood frozen.

Every warrior capable of reaching Second-rank here was a prodigy — the weakest among them had inscribed at least a Boss Grade gene. When the Lord-level shockwave rolled outward, awe cracked across every face. They scrambled to the tops of towers, necks craning toward the distant sky.

"Did you see that — up there! In the air!"

"Isn't that the diamond-shaped flying vessel that's been the talk of the whole ruins lately?! It has *that* kind of power?!"

"Destroyed! The flying vessel lord — taken down in a single hit?!"

"That black Spirit Cannon shattered the lord's shield in one shot!"

"That diamond vessel must be one of the most terrifying existences among Second-rank Lords!"

Spirit energy shockwaves rippled outward as the battle concluded. More than a few Gene Warriors' eyes gleamed — tempted to move on whatever Lord Grade loot the fallen vessel had dropped. After all, those who had come this far rarely kept their greed perfectly leashed. But their companions talked them back from the edge.

Meanwhile, in a distant corner of the iron city, the white-haired Cat-kin girl watched Yeye's faintly vacant expression and asked: "Hmm? Your Highness — do you know him?"

Yeye gave a small nod, eyes drifting to the Communication Crystal where Lu Yuan and Amy could be seen. "Mm."

"Is he Your Highness's friend?"

A brief pause. "...That too."

A flicker of surprise passed through the Cat-kin girl's eyes.

After a moment, Yeye spoke. "Keep an eye on Bai Lin's side. If they make any moves, let me know."

"Yes!"

The white-haired Cat-kin girl blurred into an afterimage and vanished.

Yeye nodded once and returned to the grill.

Under the eyes of the assembled Second-rank warriors, Black Bear No. 1 descended onto a street in the iron city. Lu Yuan and Amy stepped out.

In the corner of the street, the triangular flying vessel lay in complete ruin — over ten meters long, its frame still crackling with arcing electricity, one side blown clean through by Black Bear No. 1's cannon.

Above the wreckage, more than a dozen glowing orbs drifted in the air.

The most radiant among them was a vivid, pulsing sphere of purple light.

Beside it: five blue orbs, and nine teal ones. Not a single green Elite-grade orb.

The drops from a Lord Grade kill — even the weakest were Boss Grade.

*Lord Grade loot.*

Lu Yuan and Amy's eyes lit up at the same time.

Amy raised her Staff with a sweep. The Tianrao Purple Vine surged out, coiling around every orb and drawing them all back.

"Got them all!"

"Back on Black Bear No. 1," Lu Yuan said. "The battle was loud — someone will come."

They climbed aboard. Black Bear No. 1 lifted off immediately.

Some time after it rose into the air, four human youths crept toward the crash site — unhurried, wary. At their head was a strikingly handsome young man with short, vivid red hair.

All four wore guarded expressions.

A black-haired youth scanned the area and grinned. "The flying vessel lord went down — should be dropping loot, right? That's Second-rank Lord Grade goods! Want to check it out?"

Huo Tianhua gave him a brief sidelong glance.

A brown-haired youth spoke up, curious: "I heard the Mechanical Guardians in the Aier Mechanical Ruins' core zone are all Second-rank. We're in the core zone now, aren't we?"

"The flying vessels in this area have all hit Second-rank," another said. "Far stronger than the outer zones."

"Can we even fly in from the air anymore? Second-rank Mechanical Guardians hit a lot harder."

"Those two are insanely lucky, getting a flying vessel that powerful," one muttered. "We all saw the fight — its attack and defense are both at Lord Grade. With something like that, you wouldn't even have to sweat the three King Grade monsters."

Black-haired youth: "Seriously, if I had that flying vessel, I could carve through everything — raid a whole string of Floating Cities."

"Dream on. They've also got a treasure that controls mechanical lifeforms, and that's just as critical. Without it, even the diamond vessel would get swallowed up in the sea of flying units up there."

Huo Tianhua considered this for a moment, then shook his head.

"We don't know those two. In the ruins, cooperation between strangers needs equal footing — they might not think we're worth their time, and for all we know, they might just take from us instead. On top of that, they've already made an enemy of that monster Bai Lin. Better to keep our distance. Clean run up to the Central Floating City for some loot and call it good."

"Tianhua-ge has a point," the brown-haired youth said. "But — do you think if we reached out and asked to tag along, they'd say yes?"

Huo Tianhua gave a small smile.

"Hey, Lei Feng!" the black-haired youth suddenly burst out. "That lord mechanical flying vessel — it's a lord kill! There should be great drops, right?!"

"Are you *insane*?! Stealing Lord Grade loot right under that diamond vessel's nose?! We're practically at the Central Floating City already — don't get yourself killed for nothing!"

"Right, right, Tianhua-ge was absolutely right!" the brown-haired youth said, brightening as he looked at the wreckage. "Those two didn't bother with the wreck — and a lord-grade flying vessel's remains could have intact mechanisms inside. That's a solid pile of Spirit Crystals. Tianhua-ge really does see further ahead!"

Everyone nodded and let it drop.

They knew what was theirs to take — and what wasn't.

Over a thousand kilometers from Yeye's position, a massive tower connected up to the Central Floating City. Every floor of it blazed with brilliant pale blue light, save for the very tip.

There, the White Frost King, Bai Lin, stood studying the footage streaming through his Communication Crystal, sent by his subordinates below. His eyes narrowed to thin lines, a weight settling behind his gaze.

"That defense and offense should be at Second-rank high-tier Lord level." A quiet gravity entered his voice. "I didn't expect something like this to appear here. And the humans inside seem to have a treasure for controlling mechanical lifeforms..." He paused. "It seems that aside from those two, these two humans will also need some attention."

By now the news had already spread through the top tier of the Lord-level circle: two humans were aboard the diamond-shaped craft. Warriors of other races were keeping their distance, nervous the vessel might target them. But the human Gene Warriors had no such concern — they were the same kind, after all. Whatever the craft's owners had left behind was fair game. This time, they were benefiting by proxy.

Black Bear No. 1 pressed on toward the Central Floating City.

Within a hundred meters of the craft, the sky stayed clear. Every vessel that drifted close quietly changed course and slipped away. Lu Yuan steered them all aside without effort — the passage was smooth.

Then they came within sight of the city.

Both Lu Yuan and Amy went still.

Staring at the Floating City spread across the horizon — vast as a continent, dwarfing everything they had imagined — they stood wide-eyed, a stunned silence falling over them.

"Is that... the Central Floating City?" Amy breathed. "It's *enormous*."

They had seen it before in the ruins' exterior projections. But nothing could have prepared them for the real thing. Even Lu Yuan, who had known the scale intellectually, felt something loosen in his chest at the sheer sight of it.

*On some planets, a landmass this size would be an entire continent.* And here it was — a single Floating City.

Lu Yuan nodded. Black Bear No. 1 accelerated, driving straight ahead.