Sky-cracking Rider

An invisible wave violently erupted from a section of the Atlantean sea city, sweeping through the fierce battlefield, the airships in the sky, and expanding across the nearby sea area. The skies within a ten-kilometer radius suddenly changed.

The ocean waves surged continuously, and the sun vanished without warning. The sky instantly darkened, revealing a myriad of strange and colorful flowing lights.

Adam: Establish an infrared channel, maximum bandwidth 4Mbps.

Chen Fei's forehead skin temperature slightly increased, releasing mysterious infrared changes, re-establishing contact with the AI replica of the cooperative ship.

The psi skill "Isolation" is not complete and total isolation but rather a conditional isolation rule. Although it restricts the transmission of sound and physical contact, light can still pass through.

Adam: Cannot contact the planetary-level computing node, losing most replica connections.

Adam: Satellite signal lost, unable to locate.

Adam: "1-2 Cooperative Ship" lost flight control authority, lost fire control system authority, lost reconnaissance system authority, lost...

Adam: ...

An interface of abnormal notifications popped up in front of Chen Fei's AR visual assistant display. The fact that most control over the cooperative ship was seized did not surprise him much. After all, although "Adam" is very useful, it is too "old" and struggles to compete with today's most advanced computer technology. For the military, mastering not only software backdoors but also hardware backdoors renders "Adam" defenseless.

Although they had reconnected with the cooperative ship and regained some control, the unusual nature of losing further contact with the outside world implied that the airship was in a very strange state.

The bizarre phenomena persisted for several minutes before finally disappearing.

When the sky reappeared, it was no longer a bright sun and blue sea but a grayish haze akin to severe smog, even the sun seemed to have shrunk considerably, its brightness akin to dawn.

The battle in area A1 of "Atlantis" subsided without any warning and the firefight ceased abruptly in mere moments.

"'Adam', scan the sky, locate the constellations!"

Via infrared communication, Chen Fei issued instructions to the cooperative ship's "Adam" replica. He had a bad suspicion.

"Constellation unknown, unable to determine!"

In the AR visual assistant interface, the recently captured star chart could not match either the eastern twenty-eight mansions or the western constellations. Even the fixed-position Polaris (Ursa Minor α) and related stars of the Big Dipper had disappeared, revealing a completely unfamiliar starry sky.

Chen Fei looked further out. The tsunami-like ocean water, which had been crashing against the "Atlantean" coastline, receded rapidly, like tides.

To be precise, it swept to all directions, ten kilometers away, no longer an endless ocean but an arid and barren landscape of uneven gobi interspersed with mushroom-like rock formations, the horizon depicting a mirage-like nebulous scene.

The surging sea water quickly vanished into the gullies, some being filled, others greedily swallowing large amounts of water as if a bottomless pit. Many marine creatures were left stranded, helplessly flailing, including several humpback whales, letting out forlorn cries.

This was definitely not the Blue Star. Together with "Atlantis", the entire "Wall of Sighs" operation unit had been transported to an unknown planet.

Intuition does not mislead me; it was indeed a trap.

Chen Fei sighed deeply.

Proximity to red makes one red; proximity to ink makes one black. Spending every day with that cunning, sinister monk, Chen Fei had picked up quite a bit of intrigue.

From the start, the monk wanted Chen Xiao'er to become his successor, so that he could retire peacefully. Therefore, he frequently slipped in and told Chen Fei little "stories" that were unknown to others.

Despite being fabricated stories with fictional characters, the causes, processes, and outcomes could find real-world counterparts.

Thus, even though he wasn't innately shrewd, it didn't mean he lacked the acumen to see through others' schemes. He never harmed others in life nor did he allow himself to be easily trapped by someone else.

Retracting his gaze, he looked ahead.

Those previously orderly fifty-member advisory group now looked like meerkats of the African continent, jumping from their seats, faces bewildered as they watched the seawater retreat into the distance, the alien landscape far exceeding their expectations.

Chen Fei retracted his gaze, glancing at his side, coincidentally meeting eyes with the S-Class Space Ability User Heseman Brown. He gestured, and after a slight hesitation, Brown nodded.

The S-Class Space Ability technique "Isolation" confining Chen Fei was lifted.

Chen Fei remained seated and said in a deep voice: "I was not wrong, 'Atlantis' is indeed a trap!"

Hearing his voice, the advisors, who were still staring at the scenery outside the porthole, sharply turned back, pointing at the freed Chen Fei, and exclaimed, "You, how?"

"Mr. Brown, why did you release him again!"

"Are you both planning to betray us?"

The site filled with accusatory voices aimed both at Chen Fei and the bitterly smiling S-Class superpower user.

"Mr. Brown only locked me in a small cage earlier, but now, you and I are all locked in a big cage."

Ignoring the harsh words, Chen Fei calmly pointed out the porthole.

The truth was undeniable, no one! Should! Think! About! Escaping!

Just like those maximum-security prisons set in the middle of the desert, the desolate life forbidden zone formed the best barrier of high walls, escaping would only lead to death with no chance of survival.

In a completely alien setting, whether it be Chen Fei or anyone else, impulsively leaving "Atlantis" would have no different outcome.

Thus, whether to confine Chen Fei made no difference.

"Where is this place? Do you know?"

The leader of the fifty-member advisory group walked towards Chen Fei, frowning and apparently continuously evaluating whether Chen Fei had ulterior motives or malevolent intentions.

Chen Fei spread his hands open, honestly saying: "This is not the Blue Star. Other than that, I know no more than you do."

No need to lie, the scenery outside the porthole deceives no one.

The disconnection with the Blue Star's outer satellite signals doesn't deceive anyone.

The completely unknown starry sky deceives no one.

"It really is a trap..."

The group leader had to admit the fact that Chen Fei's earlier warning was not out of some other hidden motive but a genuine warning.

"Atlantis" was indeed a trap, packaging all "Wall of Sighs" action units and delivering them to an alien planet.

"Report current status, casualties, ammunition reserves, living supplies, energy…"

The "Wall of Sighs" action command center finally reacted, realizing, just like Chen Fei, their current predicament.

No situation could be worse. Even the excitement and joy from having just captured a Lin Family member and successfully occupying "Atlantis" were completely washed away by the distant scenery, leaving nothing behind.

Units involved in the operation began uploading their respective data.

"I request direct contact with the command center!"

Chen Fei looked at the silent advisory team members.

"No!"

The group leader refused his request without any hesitation.

In his eyes, Chen Fei remained a suspect, a culpable party until the investigation was clear.

However, Chen Fei did have a point: this was a larger cage, and Chen Fei had nowhere to escape; running equals death. It was better to stay put, sitting in place, hence no further hesitation ensued concerning whether or not to reapply the S-Class psi skill "Isolation" on Chen Fei.

"Are you all so willing to stay here?"

Chen Fei raised his hand, gesturing a large circle, clearly implying the current location of the "Atlantis" and "Wall of Sighs" operation forces.

Everyone knew nothing about this place. Underneath a seemingly serene natural environment, danger likely brewed rapidly like a volcanic eruption.

"This..."

The group leader hesitated, fraught with many concerns.

"Time ticks away, second by second, life slips away, second by second, so does control, second by second, missing everything."

Chen Fei's words struck the hearts of all like the chime of a bell.

Crisis awareness naturally emerged, inducing restlessness.

"Fine! You initiate contact!"

The group leader finally decided, permitting Chen Fei to directly liaise with the command center.

"Adam, initiate a communication request to the command center."

Chen Fei remained calm and seated, as panic would be futile, hastening only his demise.

Unexpectedly, the Ark plan didn't take away those passengers; instead, he was sent away by this operation...