Pov: Vik
The sudden appearance of a spatial portal inside the deep, secure engine room sent a wave of instant panic through Luther's group. The hum of the heavy machinery seemed to drown out for a split second as four figures stepped onto the cold metal floor.
The A-rank officer in the black uniform reacted instantly, his eyes narrowing as his aura surged—the heavy pressure of a Void Traveling realm cultivator flooding the enclosed space.
"Spatial teleportation...?" the officer muttered, his hand dropping straight to the hilt of his weapon. "Who the hell are you people? This area is off-limits to passengers!"
Luther stepped back behind his five guards, his arrogant expression cracking into a glare. "Is this your doing, Noah? Did you hire bodyguards?!"
On the floor, Noah Bloodborn pushed himself up slightly, his bloodstained face showing pure bewilderment. He didn't recognize any of them.
I glanced around the engine room, taking in the scene: the heavily injured youth on the ground, the lavishly dressed blonde guy playing the villain, five armed guards, and the corrupt A-rank protector standing in the back like a paid enforcer.
On my shoulder, Pushpa stretched lazily and yawned, completely unfazed by the oppressive A-rank aura filling the room. Behind me, Lina immediately placed her hand on her sword sheath which she made herself apparently she likes swordplay, Lu Xiaoran's eyes sharp as he analyzed the guards' stances, and Roman took a half-step forward, his massive frame ready to block any sudden attacks aimed at us.
"So," I said calmly, my yellow eyes locking onto the black-uniformed officer. "The A-rank protector assigned to guard thousands of lives on a continental cruiser is taking bribes to cover up an execution and intercept SOS signals. The world really never runs out of scum, does it?"
The officer's face turned icy cold. "You heard our conversation. That means none of you are leaving this room alive."
"Kill them!" Luther barked at his guards, pointing a finger at us. "Don't let them ruin this! My family will double your pay!"
The five guards drew their enchanted blades, surging forward with deadly intent, while the corrupt officer began gathering mana for a high-tier spell to seal the entire room.
I didn't even bother moving a finger. I turned my head slightly toward my three disciples.
"Lina, Xiaoran, Roman," I said casually, a slight smirk playing on my lips. "Consider this your warm-up exercise for our trip. Don't break the ship's engine, but don't hold back on the trash either."
"Yes, Master!"
Before Luther or the guards could even process the words, three distinct streams of terrifying power erupted right behind me.
The air in the cramped engine room grew instantly heavy as three overwhelming pressure waves collided with the corrupt officer's aura.
But the ones who moved were the five guards surrounding Luther all of them are Golden core realm experts, getting a signal from Luther they were the first ones who acted to silence us.
Lina was the first to move. Despite being at the Foundation Establishment realm, her movement speed was absurdly sharp. Silver sword light flashed in the dimly lit room. Before the five Golden Core guards could even react to her approach, the lead guard felt a bone-chilling coldness press against his neck.
Although her foundation establishment attack could never able to kill that Golden core realm still she had something that those brute force guards never had, and it is the brain, the sword she is using transformed into a laser sword mid attack, striking the Golden core realm guard, severely injuring him, but that is enough as after the attack Lu Xiaoran take over, while Lina took deep breathes as she used all of her energy in that single attack.
Lu Xiaoran didn't even draw his weapon. Operating at the peak of the 4th stage body refining and 4th-circle magic, he shifted his footing, causing the metal floor plates beneath him to groan. This time he did not used Chaos Titan body battle technique, as he focused more on long-range attacks with a casual sweep of his palm, a dense burst of golden qi erupted, smashing two of the approaching Golden Core guards backward into the heavy piping. The metal pipes crumpled on impact, blasting steam into the air.
Meanwhile, Roman stepped forward like an unshakeable mountain. His dual foundation in early-stage Nascent Soul cultivation and 6th-stage body refining radiated a suffocating force. He simply reached out with his bare hands, catching the high-grade enchanted blades of the remaining two guards in his grip. With a effortless twist, the steel shattered into pieces, and a light pulse of his qi sent both men crashing to the deck, unconscious before they hit the ground.
In less than three seconds, all five Golden Core guards were neutralized. One of the reasons for this is that those five guards are totally trash; I mean, their cultivation is only superficial, like they forced their breakthrough without any foundation, so they only had a low level combat strength in comparison to an average Golden Core realm expert.
Luther's smug expression collapsed into absolute terror. He staggered back, nearly tripping over a high-pressure line. "W-What?! Five Golden Core experts... in a single instant?!"
"Useless idiots," the black-uniformed officer spat, his eyes burning with rage as he realized he had drastically underestimated the intruders.
As an A-rank protector—a high-tier expert equivalent to a 7th Circle Mage or a Void Traveling realm cultivator—he had assumed he possessed absolute dominance in this room. He unleashed his full Void Traveling aura, intending to crush the newcomers with sheer spatial pressure.
"I don't know which hidden faction you bratty kids come from," the officer snarled, a crimson magic circle rapidly expanding beneath his boots. "But in front of a 7th Circle Mage, you are nothing!"
The oppressive weight filled the room, making the air feel like liquid lead. But right beside me, Pushpa, the black cat resting on my shoulder, merely opened one eye.
"Meow..." Pushpa let out a bored sigh, flicking her tail lazily against my neck as if asking why we were wasting time on low-level scum.
"Quiet down, Pushpa, we're almost done," I murmured softly, stroking her fur.
I took a single step forward.
BOOM!
The officer's massive Void Traveling aura didn't just clash with mine—it was utterly shattered like thin glass under a sledgehammer. Though my base qi cultivation sat at the Nascent Soul realm, my combined mastery of 6th Circle magic and 7th-stage body refining gave me a combat power that far eclipsed average Void Traveling realm experts. But my most significant strength boost came from Prana energy; I still don't know how, but after awakening it, I can control my powers to a next level.
The pure force of my presence slammed into the corrupt enforcer. The crimson magic circle under his feet exploded into harmless sparks, and his face turned deathly pale as he vomited a mouthful of blood, falling heavily onto his knees. The metal floor cracked beneath his kneecaps.
"N-Nascent Soul...? No, impossible!" the officer gasped, his eyes wide with utter shock and horror as he struggled just to breathe under my pressure. "How can a Nascent Soul realm aura crush my Void Traveling domain?!"
He is acting like he saw some kind of ghost; he should be grateful that I did not use any techniques or my strange fire, because I don't want to create any damage to this ship
"You spend too much time taking bribes and not enough time cultivating," I said coldly, walking past him toward the cowering Luther. As I simply put that officer in illusion using Maya manifestation technique, now he will keep standing there like a statue; this technique really is the best for illusion if you ignore its complex world-bending theory and forms. So, I intend to divide it into parts and only distribute the most basic part related to illusion to my disciples for now.
Luther fell to his hands and knees, scrambling away in absolute panic. "D-Don't touch me! My family—my family controls West Oak City! If you harm me—"
"Shut up," I said, not even looking at him. With a simple wave of my hand, a strand of qi bound Luther's mouth and tied his limbs tight, dropping him next to his unconscious guards like a sack of dead weight.
I then stopped in front of Noah Bloodborn.
The young heir was bleeding heavily, his qi channels completely ruptured and his body crippled from Luther's previous torture. Yet, despite the pain, his dark eyes stared up at me with a mixture of shock, awe, and reluctant hope.
"Why..." Noah rasped out, coughing up blood. "Why are you helping me? I don't... have anything to offer you..."
"I didn't come here to save you specifically," I replied calmly, looking down at him. "I came because your SOS signal reached my submarine. But seeing as you're the victim of a dirty setup, I'm not going to let these trash dump you in the ocean either. Especially after they said about dumping someone in garbage dump you know hear garbage dump."
System: "Cause you end up in a garbage dump every time you try to teleport into a new place."
Vik: "System, could you shut up?"
I turned my glance back to Roman. "Roman, secure the officer and Luther. We'll decide what to do with this ship's administration once we sort out our new friend here."
"Understood, Master," Roman replied, stepping up to seal the corrupt officer's dantian with a swift strike.
I crouched down beside Noah, my hand hovering over his chest as my qi began scanning his shattered body. "You've got talent, kid. Golden Core at 16, Soul Formation at 20... but right now, your body is completely wrecked. You want to live?"
Noah's jaw clenched, a fierce, unyielding fire igniting in his eyes despite his near-fatal injuries. "I... I have to live. I have to make them pay for what they did to my family."
I let out a faint chuckle, Pushpa letting out a small approving purr from my shoulder.
"Good answer," I said. "Then hold still. This is going to hurt."