CIATB Chapter 322 is done!
Chapter 322 is done!
The cell phone signal was restored when the water was 300 meters deep.
The message list popped up, and the top one was from Nie Qingcheng, with a timestamp showing it was from forty-seven minutes ago.
"Have we arrived yet?"
Twelve minutes later.
"Zhang Yan".
Eight more minutes passed.
"If you don't reply to me, I'll buy a submarine and come find you."
Zhang Yan's lips twitched slightly.
He typed: "Just logged on, the signal dropped."
three seconds.
"You always say the signal is down."
"Because it's always true."
"Next time you go to the deep sea, install a dedicated communication line for me."
"The entire Pacific Ocean is covered?"
"You pay."
Zhang Yan smiled.
Again.
He put down his phone, and the sea-devouring shark surfaced and cruised at a speed of about forty knots.
He had already looked at the data on the system panel, but the video was still replaying in his mind.
Thirty thousand years ago, the four spirits fired simultaneously, the Heavenly Craftsmanship was at full power, and the dimensional rift swallowed the ruins.
The price was the destruction of civilization.
What does he have now?
The four spirits are now complete.
White Tiger, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Vermilion Bird, Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise – Wutai.
In addition, there are auxiliary units such as Xingtian, Xuanxie, and Shihai Kuangsha.
The craftsman's heart is 93%.
7% difference.
How do we make up for this 7%?
Kill high-ranking subordinates or seal the clones of the Ruins.
上次净化脉冲消耗了1%才从92掉到91，这次净化玄武反而涨了1%回到93。
This is probably because the Void Energy expelled from Xuanwu's body was directly absorbed by the Heart of Heavenly Craftsmanship.
Therefore, the path is very clear.
Find more targets infiltrated by the Ruins, purify them, and absorb their energy.
Takehiko Ito.
That guy marked by the Void Clan carries at least a few percentage points of Void energy that can boost the Heart of Heavenly Craftsmanship.
And then there were his two "non-human" subordinates.
There are also polluted areas that continue to spread in northern Myanmar.
And—that dark red eye in the image.
Unlike last time, this time Zhang Yan saw the complete sealing process in the video.
The dimensional rift cannot be opened by the Azure Dragon alone.
It requires the simultaneous output of the four spirits, with the Heart of Heaven as the core node, to form a three-dimensional sealing array with four points of positioning.
Xuanwu's "Suppressing Domain" is responsible for freezing the movement and energy diffusion of the Ruins.
The Azure Dragon's spatial folding module tears open dimensional cracks.
The Suzaku plasma array provides a continuous energy infusion.
White Tiger... Zhang Yan recalled the role of White Tiger in the video.
The White Tiger is responsible for cutting.
After the Ruins are frozen, the White Tiger needs to use an electromagnetic railgun to precisely sever the energy anchor between the Ruins and the current dimension.
The four spirits have clearly defined roles.
Indispensable.
What about the Tyrannosaurus Rex?
Tyrannosaurus Rex is not in the sealed sequence of images.
Zhang Yan thought about it.
The Tyrannosaurus Rex was a blueprint he obtained from a system quest reward; it was not one of the original Four Spirits.
Its role is purely to crush enemies in land battles; it does not participate in sealing.
But it can be used to clear the area.
It's impossible for the seal to be completely free of interference when sealing the main body of the Ruins.
Those S-rank and A-rank dependents will definitely try their best to stop it.
Tyrannosaurus Rex, Xingtian, and Xuanxie—these are the outer-line tanks.
It is theoretically impossible for one person to control so many mechs in combat at the same time.
But he has a neural synchronization system.
Moreover, the system shows that once the completeness of the Heavenly Craftsmanship Heart exceeds 90%, it can achieve "multi-body collaborative command" through the Four Spirits Resonance Network—simultaneously controlling the four spirits to execute the preset sealing program without the need for manual operation of each one individually.
The prerequisite is that the Heavenly Craftsmanship Heart must reach 95% or higher.
2% difference.
More than seven months...
My phone vibrated again.
"Did you encounter any danger when you went down to check on Xuanwu?"
Zhang Yan thought for a moment about how to answer.
"I saw an old friend."
"An old friend?"
"The kind of thing I haven't seen in 30,000 years."
Nie Qingcheng did not reply immediately.
About half a minute later.
"Is it alright?"
She didn't ask what it was, what it looked like, or why she wanted to go.
Just ask, "Is it okay?"
Zhang Yan leaned back in the driver's seat, looking at those four words.
"Okay," he typed.
"That's good. What time will you arrive?"
"Two and a half hours."
"Yes, I'm here."
She has always been there.
Zhang Yan locked his phone and closed his eyes.
The sea-devouring shark travels at a constant speed at a depth of 150 meters underwater.
The low-frequency hum of the engine and the sound of water flowing over the casing blended together, like some kind of regular white noise.
He was indeed tired.
From entering the ruins to purifying Xuanwu, I maintained a high level of concentration for nearly four hours.
The precise operation of the Thousand Arms, the massive energy output of the Heavenly Heart, and the physical risk of being crushed at any moment under a forty-ton tortoise shell—these factors combined make it far more challenging than simply piloting a few mechs to fight monsters.
But things that need to be sorted out still need to be sorted out.
He didn't sleep; he mentally prioritized the next steps.
First, after returning, we need to connect with the military's data to find out what exactly caused that 1200-degree heat source in Yokosuka, Japan, at dawn.
Second, the pollution in northern Myanmar is spreading twice as fast as expected, requiring Aung Tun to expand the monitoring area.
Third, Xuanwu can now be summoned. Before it is officially incorporated into the battle order, a place needs to be found for comprehensive testing—Xuanwu is not as easy to hide as Baihu and Tyrannosaurus Rex; something forty-one meters long is a landmark wherever it goes.
Fourth, the Heavenly Craftsmanship Heart is 2% to 95% short of the threshold before the Four Spirits Synergistic Sealing Mode can be activated.
Finding Ito Takehiko is the most direct path—if the Void Mark on his body is purified and absorbed by the Heart of Heavenly Craftsmanship, it would be worth at least 1 to 2 percent.
Therefore, we can't delay any longer with Ito.
fifth……
Zhang Yan opened his eyes.
He pulled out the note that Nie Qingcheng had given him from his pocket.
It read: "Breakfast is in the microwave, just heat it for two minutes. New socks, throw away the old ones. Don't forget about the 52mm you mentioned."
The last line of text was circled, and the character “衍” was written inside the circle.
Zhang Yan folded the note and put it back in his pocket.
Fifth, buy a ring.
……
Ninety-seven minutes later, the sea-devouring shark surfaced.
The dock lights were dim, and the sea breeze at dawn carried a chill.
Zhang Yan jumped off the shark's back and put the mechanical shark back into his storage space.
A person was standing by the railing at the very front of the dock.
He was wrapped up tightly in his coat, and a strand of his hair was ruffled by the wind, gleaming with a warm luster under the streetlights.
He stood upright, seemingly calm, but his hands were in his pockets, slightly tense.
Nie Qingcheng saw him emerge from the shadows but didn't move.
She only spoke when he was three steps away from her.
"Is it coming soon?"
"Soon."
"More than expected."
"There's a tailwind."
Nie Qingcheng raised her hand, grabbed the collar of his coat, and pulled him half a step closer. She lowered her head and sniffed near his collarbone.
"It has a rusty smell."
"It's been soaking in seawater."
"You're lying." She let go of my hand, turned and walked towards the car. "There's hot water and towels in the car. I'll wipe my face first, it's filthy."
Zhang Yan followed.
"Wait a minute." Nie Qingcheng stopped, without turning around, her voice even softer than the sea breeze. "...Is my old friend really alright?"
"That's great."
"That's fine then."
She continued walking, her pace quickening compared to when she arrived.
Zhang Yan watched her back as she walked away.
It's very windy.
The hem of the coat was blown about by the wind.
But her back remained straight the whole time, never bending over.
He quickened his pace, walked alongside her, and reached out to take her hand, which was in her pocket.
Nie Qingcheng remained silent.
Their fingers intertwined tightly.
My fingertips were cold—I had been standing outside for who knows how long.
The two got into the car one after the other.
Nie Qingcheng started the engine and stepped on the gas.
The car drove away from the dock and merged into the empty city expressway in the early morning.
The car's heating is very strong.
Zhang Yan wiped her face with the hot towel she had prepared, then unscrewed the thermos and took a sip of water.
"Are you hungry?" Nie Qingcheng stared at the road ahead.
"fine."
"There were pork ribs you stewed before you left in the refrigerator, but I didn't touch them."
"Why aren't you eating?"
Nie Qingcheng did not answer.
Zhang Yan glanced at her. He gripped the steering wheel a little tightly.
"Nie Qingcheng".
"what."
"Did you eat instant noodles again?"
There was a two-second silence.
"...only ate one bucket."
Zhang Yan put down the thermos. "I'll make you some noodles when we get back."
Nie Qingcheng's lips curved slightly.
It's very shallow; you wouldn't notice it unless you looked closely.
"Add a fried egg."
"OK."
"two."
"OK."
The streetlights outside the car window flew past one by one.
Nie Qingcheng stretched her left hand over the steering wheel and spread it out on the center armrest, palm facing up.
Zhang Yan grasped it.
This time it's warm.