Next, Yu Xian continued moving forward.
As he walked, he suddenly smacked his forehead and sighed. "I almost forgot—I can contact Aska right now and have him get me a blueprint of the Primordial Water."
The Primordial Water had been manufactured by Aska's company, so Aska was certain to have its schematics.
Although the Primordial Water was now completely unrecognizable, its primary structure shouldn't have changed drastically. At the very least, with blueprints in hand, they could cross-reference them to locate the rooms covered by the black substance—perhaps Shui Yuetian was being held in one of them.
He immediately used his Star Ring to hack into Aska's Star Ring, directly ordering Aska to prepare the blueprints for the Primordial Water.
In less than a minute, Aska downloaded the schematics from the corporate server to his Star Ring, and Yu Xian downloaded them from Aska's Star Ring to his own before opening the blueprints of the Primordial Water.
As a Star Rank warship, the Primordial Water had exceedingly complex blueprints. Yu Xian had to engage his Super Brain to make sense of them. Once he filtered out useless parameters and inconsequential sections, the schematics instantly became straightforward and clear.
Yu Xian focused mainly on keeping the various rooms visible, as these were the most likely locations where Shui Yuetian might be imprisoned.
"Our current position should be the second living quarters beneath the deck. There's a cafeteria to the right, and to the left is the captain's lounge. Let's check the captain's lounge first," Yu Xian said to the others, studying the schematics.
He wanted to see what had become of Zhi'er. If possible, it would be best to find Shui Yuetian in the captain's quarters; even if she wasn't there, discovering which room she was confined to would still be good.
Having settled on their destination, they followed the blueprints forward.
Because they had breached the warship from its flank rather than boarding through conventional means, the captain's quarters weren't far from them—only about three hundred meters away.
Under normal circumstances, three hundred meters was just a short stroll, but due to the Abyssal Nester's remodeling, the surroundings along this path were crowded with stalactite-like black formations hanging down. Behind every "stalactite," a monster could be lurking, so Yu Xian advanced with extreme caution.
Fortunately, the Abyssal Nester seemed to have seized the Primordial Water only recently and hadn't yet had time to spawn many abyssal creatures; Yu Xian and the group encountered no new monsters on their way to the captain's quarters.
"This is the captain's quarters? It doesn't look good," Yu Xian said to Nora and the others upon arriving at the entrance and seeing the open door.
The automatic door to the captain's quarters was clearly broken, standing wide open.
Inside, raw red flesh was strewn everywhere. A creature with the head of a tiger and the body of a man, rippling with dense muscle, was practicing martial arts within. Its fist technique was surprisingly exceptional, every move radiating awe-inspiring power.
"Let's go, while it hasn't noticed us," Niman urged decisively.
This tiger-man was very strong. Though she couldn't tell whether it possessed Star Rank strength, its fist technique alone gave her a dangerous feeling—the strikes carried a formidable fist intent.
Yu Xian didn't move. He was using his Super Brain to record the tiger-man's routine. He had a peculiar intuition that this fist technique was far from ordinary; it likely wasn't merely a combat art, but also a cultivation method.
Cultivation methods were divided into dynamic and static arts. For instance, the meditation method Niman had taught them was a static art, whereas the tiger-man's fist technique might very well be a dynamic art.
"Niman, where did this monster learn its fist technique?" Yu Xian asked, keeping his eyes on the tiger-man.
Niman replied, "I don't know. Many speculate that when the Abyss consumes certain worlds, it leaves behind remnants. Abyssal creatures and demons absorb these remnants and put them to use, which leads to all kinds of bizarre abilities."
"This fist technique is extraordinary. Just watching it gives me a marvelous sensation," Yu Xian said to everyone.
Niman sighed, resigned. "Then keep watching. The worst that happens is we fight it."
Although she considered the tiger-man dangerous, taking a risk was not unacceptable if Yu Xian needed it.
The tiger-man threw a punch, its body shifting fluidly with the form. Because its upper torso was bare while its lower body was covered in tiger fur, the ripples in its musculature were plainly visible. With this punch, every muscle across its body moved in harmony, possessing the predatory grace of a pouncing tiger.
Next, it seemed to step back only to strike forward, its posture shifting between false and true in an elusive rhythm. Its routine grew increasingly enigmatic, and Yu Xian watched in rapt fascination—until a fist abruptly magnified before his eyes.
"Ambush!"
The tiger-man suddenly slammed a fist into Yu Xian's face. Yu Xian was sent flying on the spot, slamming violently into a bulkhead hundreds of meters behind him. The black substance coating the wall shuddered, rippling outward like waves.
Then, in just two strides, the tiger-man closed the distance to Yu Xian. Grabbing one of Yu Xian's arms, it hurled him around. Ordinarily, such a swing would have sent Yu Xian crashing into the captain's quarters, but the creature immediately followed up with a backward buck like an antelope. Yu Xian shot straight upward instead, slamming into the ceiling.
Before he could fall back down, the tiger-man somersaulted upward, hooked its legs around his waist, and slammed him down with force, sending him plummeting from the ceiling into the floor.
Everything happened with blinding speed, the entire sequence completed in roughly 0.001 seconds.
By the time Yu Xian's brain caught up, all he saw was the sole of the tiger-man's foot—the beast was dropping from above, poised to stomp his head to pieces.
"Little Huangquan, switch!"
Yu Xian decisively swapped out. In a flash of light, Little Huangquan became the primary operator.
After being upgraded by Muse, the greatest feature of the King of the Abyss Battle Armor was its ability to adjust seamlessly to the user's physique based on whoever took over.
Now that Little Huangquan was in control, the three-meter King of the Abyss Battle Armor instantly shrank to a height of one and a half meters.
It all unfolded in a fraction of a heartbeat. The moment the battle armor shrank, the tiger-man's foot smashed into the deck. Thanks to the swap, the shrunken armor narrowly evaded the monster's strike.
Having missed its target, the tiger-man immediately swept low with a kick.
However, the King of the Abyss Battle Armor altered its form once more. A pair of wings suddenly sprouted, blocking the tiger-man's leg, and Little Nora quickly opened up distance from the creature.
While retreating, the King of the Abyss Battle Armor shifted forms again, and Nora raised her hand to fire repeatedly at the tiger-man.
Nora's marksmanship was superb, but this time she had met her match. The tiger-man swayed side to side, dodging the incoming bullets with effortless ease, before lunging swiftly toward Nora to deliver another strike.
"Switch!"
Yu Xian instantly took over as the primary operator, throwing a punch of his own the moment the tiger-man struck.
Their fists collided. With a burst of cracking and popping sounds, the tiger-man's arm caved in like a deflating balloon, shriveling in an instant.
The tiger-man glanced at its arm, immediately leapt back, and gave its limb a flick. The shattered bones, splintered almost to dust, snapped rapidly back into alignment.
Incredible!
Yu Xian stared grimly at the tiger-man. In terms of martial skill, this creature completely outclassed every single one of them.
Chapter 294