The Primordial class battleship shuddered violently, spinning like a gyroscope. Even the gravity stabilization system couldn't counteract the immense pressure generated by the ship's erratic movements. Inside the vessel, nearly ten thousand operators, support staff, and marines were pinned to the deck plating by the crushing force; some civilian officials and technicians even bled from their mouths and nostrils.

Dukat and Lily, thrown about haphazardly, were roughly dragged by several armored brothers into the command deck. Xin Jia exclaimed in alarm, "Your Excellency, what is happening?"

Gu Xiechen stood firmly before the main console, his feet sunk nearly a foot deep into the deck plating, and initiated the battleship's most critical emergency protocol.

More power flooded into the gravity stabilization system. The ship's gravity quickly returned to normal. Although occasional moments of weightlessness or sudden hyper-gravity still occurred, they were within the range the human body could tolerate. Sealing doors between compartments slammed shut rapidly, and emergency life support systems activated throughout the vessel. Nearly ten thousand stasis pods materialized within the cabins. Under the frantic urging of the main control super-brain, all ordinary officers and soldiers, save for Gu Xiechen and other high-ranking officials, scrambled into the life pods.

Ninety percent of the battleship's power was diverted to the energy shield emitters. The fully operational emitters quickly projected a brilliant blue light screen, three hundred meters thick, around the ship's exterior. Gu Xiechen's timely actions saved the lives of ninety-nine percent of the personnel aboard. Just as the energy shield stabilized, a surge of subspace energy—so immense its index readings exceeded the maximum capacity of the Primordial class measurement instruments—slammed into the battleship from the side, weakening the shield by over eighty percent in an instant.

A massive influx of high-energy particles, traversing space almost as if by spatial jump, breached the energy shield and the ship's outer armor plating, pouring into the Primordial battleship in the form of an electronic mist.

A huge quantity of electronic instruments inside the ship suddenly erupted in spectacular showers of sparks. Amidst the hissing and popping explosions, large sections of equipment caught fire. Electric sparks sprayed outside the life pods. Had Gu Xiechen not ordered all personnel into the pods mere minutes earlier, this wave of high-energy particles would have instantly killed ninety-nine percent of the crew.

Only Gu Xiechen, Peng Hua, Holm, Linghu, Dukat, and Lily, among the few others who had fused with the Christalline Sphere and activated their Domain, protected themselves with mental barriers. Countless particles of the electronic mist spun and coiled wildly around them, striking their mental shields and triggering countless blinding flashes of light, yet failing to singe a single hair. Even so, Gu Xiechen felt an overwhelming pressure, heavy as Mount Tai pressing down from every direction.

The massive Primordial battleship, like a dried leaf in a hurricane, was instantly swept tens of thousands of light-years away by the spatial torrent ignited by the Red Dragon King, hurtling uncontrollably toward an unknowable destination. The other Roman warships had long vanished from sight; dozens of them had been completely annihilated the moment they were caught in the spatial surge.

The Primordial battleship survived only thanks to its formidable energy shield, its thick armor plating, and its comprehensive life support systems, which protected everyone onboard!

Gu Xiechen, monitoring the main control super-brain which maintained a struggling fifteen percent functionality, finally let out a breath of relief after calculating the number of survivors reported by the life support system.

The spatial torrent continued to sweep the Primordial battleship forward. Immense energy streamers, looking like multicolored neon ribbons stretching hundreds of thousands of light-years in width and breadth, tumbled in from all directions. These ribbons slammed randomly against the ship, tossing it about like a rudderless speck in the subspace. The main engine unit could not resist the colossal forces exerted from every angle, forced to drift along with the current, wherever the spatial torrent decided to carry them.

Propelled by the spatial torrent, the Primordial battleship rapidly accelerated to an inconceivable super-speed. Translated to normal space velocity, the ship was traversing an astonishing one light-year every second.

The battleship shook violently. Wave after wave of energy impact rendered over ninety percent of the electronic equipment useless; only the heavily shielded main control super-brain and the life support system managed to maintain minimal functionality. Giant energy flows sporadically jumped into the ship via spatial breaches, washing over and scouring all internal facilities.

Peng Hua, whose body crackled with residual electrical discharge, managed to drag Holm and Linghu, who had emerged from the floor using a displacement technique. He roared in frustration, "It's over! Our brand-new ship! Damn it, the one that nearly bankrupted the Hadwar Corporation! It’s just an empty shell now!"

Holm wailed towards Gu Xiechen, "Boss, all the battle armor, vehicles, and fighters in our hangar... gone! Every single control chip and electronic component exploded!"

A heavy blow sent Dukat flying, eliciting a muffled cry of pain. Lily, just regaining consciousness, shrieked tearfully, "It has nothing to do with Xiao! Don't hit him!"

Furious, anxious, and heartbroken, Lily pouted her small mouth and, seizing the opportunity while Linghu stood too close, sank her teeth fiercely into his thigh. Linghu screamed, violently jerking his leg free, sending a piece of flesh the size of a walnut flying from Lily's mouth, which plopped onto the polished deck plating. Linghu hopped and screamed in pain, while Xin Wu laughed hysterically, clutching his stomach and pointing at the hopping Linghu until he nearly collapsed from mirth.

Gu Xiechen paid no attention to the chaotic scuffle. He quickly manipulated the main control super-brain, activating all exterior detection instruments and bringing online a set of backup systems previously protected deep within the ship’s thick alloy shell. Invisible scanning waves covered a range of several thousand light-seconds, rapidly logging the navigation path of the vessel.

Linghu, having a piece of flesh bitten off, drew a flexible sword hidden at his waist and angrily advanced on Lily. Lily backed away timidly. Dukat, shaking off his daze, bellowed and suddenly leaped up, slamming headfirst into Linghu. Caught completely off guard, Linghu was sent flying into the radar console behind him, nearly knocking the wind out of him.

Linghu roared and was about to turn on Dukat when Gu Xiechen let out a cold snort without looking up, "What are you doing? You have time to fight, yet you won't come help operate the equipment! Hmph, you don't want to return to Earth?"

Linghu and Holm slapped their foreheads with a sharp crack. They rushed to a nearby control station, rapidly assisting Gu Xiechen in mapping the route, continuously releasing specialized subspace beacon indicators outward. Fist-sized indicators jetted out from the ship, suspending themselves steadily in the turbulent subspace.

Subspace is unstable and dangerous; spatial torrents can erupt for countless reasons at any moment. Therefore, the Romans invented these subspace beacon indicators. They could almost completely ignore the effects of spatial torrents, marking a pathway home for any vessel in trouble within the subspace. As long as enough indicators were deployed, unless one was catastrophically unlucky, one could always grope their way back to base.

Given the immense size of the Primordial battleship, and fueled by Gu Xiechen’s naturally cautious, merchant-like disposition, he had stocked millions of these subspace beacon indicators—in the ship’s storage and in his own Minor Universe satchel. As long as the spatial torrent ceased, scattering these markers ensured a path back to Earth.

Once Linghu and Holm had gradually taken over his duties, Gu Xiechen wiped the cold sweat from his brow and sank onto the floor.

He listlessly glanced at Dukat, who was bruised and swollen, and Lily, who stood before him protectively like a mother hen guarding her chick. Gu Xiechen managed a weak laugh. "Xiao? Or perhaps, Dukat Holsthom? Hmm, if you wish to return safely, then behave yourselves and don't do anything that might cause me to misunderstand!"

Dukat declared resolutely, "I won't cause trouble at a time like this!"

Gu Xiechen nodded firmly, giving him a thumbs-up. "Good, I like straightforward men! However, I hope you and the young lady beside you remember this: you are my captives. When we reach Earth, I intend to trade you for something from the Holsthom family. I am a businessman; I hope you can understand my methods."

Dukat gritted his teeth and nodded silently. He knew his own worth, and he certainly knew Lily’s worth. Two powerful World Adepts who had survived the second Christalline fusion, one of whom might become the next King of the Spirit Race—it was inevitable that Gu Xiechen would exploit their status to extort the Holsthom family heavily.

Lily glared spitefully at Gu Xiechen and rolled her eyes fiercely at him.

Shrugging dismissively, Gu Xiechen waved towards Lili and smiled faintly, "Xin Jia, release them! Subspace is full of strange things... it’s wise to have a couple of extra capable hands ready for any contingency!" Xin Jia paused, then retracted the Boundless Divine Chains binding Dukat and Lily.

Dukat looked at Gu Xiechen in surprise, rubbing the bruises left by the Divine Chains. He nodded coldly, "Fine, I will remember this favor. After we jump back to normal space, I will help you repair this battleship as repayment. I can even help you upgrade it!"