The Emperor's Suite on the Sky-Whale Airship was larger than most houses. It had marble floors, a crystal chandelier, and a bathroom big enough to swim in.
Currently, that bathroom was being used as a laboratory.
"Add the newt eye," Su Qing whispered to herself. She was sitting on the edge of the massive porcelain tub, which was filled with a bubbling, neon-purple liquid. "And... a dash of lemon for freshness."
HISSS.
Thick, lavender steam rolled out of the bathroom door, filling the main suite.
In the living area, Yun Xi was aggressively dusting a vase. She was wearing her maid outfit, but she moved with the intensity of a warrior cleaning a blade.
"It smells like a wet dog eating a flower garden in here," Yun Xi complained, swatting the purple steam away. "Su Qing, if you stain the curtains, I am not cleaning them."
"It's a Potion of Greater Discomfort," Su Qing called back cheerfully. "It doesn't stain cloth. It only stains souls."
By the window, Gu Ling was calibrated her new legs. She sat in her chair, but the mechanical spider-legs were currently detached, floating in the air while she tightened a screw with her mind.
"Atmospheric pressure is dropping," Gu Ling noted, looking at the clouds outside. "We are entering a turbulence zone. Or..."
She narrowed her eyes. Her violet pupils zoomed in.
"...Or we are flying directly into a migration path."
On the king-sized bed in the center of the room, a lump under the silk duvet groaned.
"Too loud," Jiang Fan mumbled in his sleep. He pulled the pillow over his head. Snack, the Void-Eater kitten, mimicked him, burying its face in Jiang Fan's hair.
THE INCIDENT
SCREEEEEE!
A shrill cry pierced the air, audible even through the thick hull of the airship.
The ship lurched violently to the left. A vase fell off the table. Yun Xi caught it before it hit the ground, her reflexes blurring.
"That wasn't wind," Yun Xi said, her eyes sharpening.
[ Intercom ]: "This is your Captain speaking! DO NOT PANIC! But also, PANIC! We have encountered a flock of Thunder-Rays! There are hundreds of them! They are eating the engine mana! We are going down!"
The lights in the suite flickered and died.
"Useless," Gu Ling sighed. She tapped her armrest, and her chair glowed with its own internal power source, illuminating the room. "The ship's shields are down. If those Rays breach the hull, the cabin depressurizes."
She looked at the sleeping Jiang Fan.
"We should wake him."
Yun Xi marched over to the bed. She grabbed Jiang Fan's shoulder and shook him. Hard.
"Jiang Fan! Wake up! We are crashing!"
Jiang Fan didn't wake up. He went limp, flopping like a dead fish.
[ System Auto-Response: Deep Sleep Mode Active. ] [ Reason: User is recovering from "Admin Battle Fatigue." ] [ Do Not Disturb. ]
"He's dead to the world," Yun Xi growled, dropping him. "Unbelievable. He spends 100 million on a trip and sleeps through the apocalypse."
CRASH.
The window shattered.
A massive creature, looking like a stingray made of storm clouds and electricity, flopped onto the carpet. It crackled with blue lightning, scorching the expensive rug.
SCREE!
It opened a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and lunged at the sleeping Jiang Fan.
WHAM.
A metal blur intercepted it.
Yun Xi stood over the creature. She held a heavy, gold-plated floor lamp she had ripped out of the floor.
"No," she said coldly. "He just had the rug cleaned."
She swung the lamp like a baseball bat.
CRUNCH.
The Thunder-Ray was launched back out the window, taking half the glass frame with it.
Yun Xi turned to the other two. She ripped the frilly apron off, revealing the black combat-maid dress underneath.
"Su Qing, get your potions. Gu Ling, boot up your guns. If we wait for him to wake up, we'll be splattered on the ground."
Gu Ling smiled. Her mechanical spider-legs snapped back onto her chair with a satisfying click.
"Finally," Gu Ling said, her eyes glowing violet. "Field test."
THE SKY DECK
They stepped out onto the open-air observation deck. It was chaos.
The sky was dark, filled with swirling clouds. Hundreds of Thunder-Rays—Stage 4 Spirit Beasts—were swarming the ship like piranhas. They were latching onto the hull, draining the spirit energy from the engines. Sailors were running around screaming.
"They're attracted to the Mana Core!" a sailor yelled. "We can't shake them off!"
"Clear the deck," Gu Ling commanded, her voice amplified by her suit. "The Cleaning Crew has arrived."
She rolled forward.
"Targeting System: Multi-Lock."
Her chair transformed. Panels slid open on the armrests, revealing rows of miniature missile tubes. The two floating ice cannons above her head began to spin.
"Fire."
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
Dozens of ice-missiles shot into the sky. They didn't explode with fire; they exploded with flash-freezing mist.
SNAP.
Ten Thunder-Rays froze instantly mid-air, turning into heavy ice sculptures. They plummeted from the sky, shattering on the ground thousands of feet below.
"Left flank!" Yun Xi shouted.
Three Rays dove at them, shooting arcs of lightning.
Yun Xi didn't have a weapon. She didn't need one.
She jumped.
Without Qi to weigh her down or enhance her jump, it was pure muscle strength. She launched herself twenty feet into the air, intercepting the lead Ray.
She grabbed its tail.
"Get down here!"
She yanked. The massive beast was slammed onto the deck plating. Before it could recover, Yun Xi stomped on its head.
SPLAT.
The other two Rays tried to shock her. Lightning arced over her body.
Yun Xi blinked. "That tickles."
Her Heavenly Sword Physique grounded the electricity instantly. She grabbed the two Rays by their wings and slammed them together like cymbals.
"Next!" she roared, looking like a demon goddess.
"Don't kill them all!" Su Qing called out. She was standing behind Yun Xi, holding a basket of vials. "I need samples!"
A Ray swooped down toward the blind girl.
Su Qing didn't panic. She sniffed the air.
"You smell... hungry," she said softly.
She tossed a vial of blue liquid into the Ray's open mouth.
Gulp.
The Ray froze. Its eyes dilated. It started to wiggle. Then, it began to fly upside down, screaming in joy.
"Potion of Euphoric Confusion," Su Qing explained. "It thinks it's a butterfly."
THE ALPHA
For ten minutes, the three women held the line. Ice shattered, fists flew, and potions turned deadly monsters into confused balloons.
But then, the storm clouds parted.
A shadow fell over the deck.
Descending from the thunderhead was the Alpha Ray. It was the size of a small house. Its body wasn't just flesh; it was covered in natural metallic armor. A Stage 5 Peak beast.
It roared, unleashing a sonic boom that shattered all the windows on the deck.
"Warning," Gu Ling's sensors flashed red. "Enemy energy signature exceeds output. My ice won't penetrate that armor."
"My fists might," Yun Xi said, cracking her knuckles. "But I can't reach it. It's staying at range."
The Alpha Ray gathered a massive ball of lightning in its mouth. It aimed directly at the center of the ship—right where the Emperor's Suite (and the sleeping Jiang Fan) was located.
"It's going to blow the cabin!" Su Qing gasped.
"Not on my watch," Gu Ling hissed. "Overclocking shields... wait."
The door to the Emperor's Suite slid open.
They expected Jiang Fan to walk out.
Instead, a small, black ball of fluff walked out.
It was Snack.
The kitten looked annoyed. Its fur was ruffled. It walked to the center of the deck, sat down, and looked up at the massive Alpha Ray charging its death laser.
"Meow," Snack said. (Translation: Shut up.)
The Alpha Ray ignored the kitten. It fired.
A beam of pure, white lightning shot down.
Snack opened its mouth.
It didn't inhale this time. It barked.
It wasn't a cat noise. It was the sound of space tearing. A shockwave of distorted gravity, shaped like a cat's head, shot upward.
VOOM.
The gravity wave hit the lightning beam. It didn't block it; it ate it. The beam vanished.
The shockwave kept going. It hit the Alpha Ray.
The massive beast stopped mid-air. Its armor crumpled as if hit by a giant invisible hammer.
CRUNCH.
The Alpha Ray fell out of the sky, unconscious before it hit the clouds.
Snack licked its paw, cleaned its ear, and then turned around and trotted back into the cabin.
The three women stood on the deck, surrounded by dead monsters and ice shards.
"Did..." Yun Xi lowered her fists. "Did the cat just save us?"
"Void-Eater," Gu Ling shook her head, powering down her cannons. "We really are just the support crew, aren't we?"
THE MORNING AFTER
The sun rose over the Soaring Cloud Sect. The battered (but intact) airship docked at the pier.
In the Emperor's Suite, Jiang Fan finally opened his eyes.
He stretched, yawning loudly. He felt great. His energy was fully restored.
"Great nap," he mumbled, scratching Snack behind the ears.
He walked out into the living room.
It was a mess. The window was broken. The rug was scorched. Yun Xi was asleep in a chair, holding a bent metal lamp. Gu Ling was recharging in the corner, covered in soot. Su Qing was bottling green slime from a dead monster part.
They all looked up as he entered. They looked like they had been through a war.
"Morning," Jiang Fan said cheerfully. "Did we hit some turbulence? The ride was a bit bumpy."
Yun Xi's eye twitched. She slowly gripped the bent lamp.
"Turbulence," she whispered.
"Yeah. Anyway, we're home." Jiang Fan walked to the broken window and looked out at the familiar peaks of the Sect.
"Home sweet home," he smiled. "I bet nothing has changed."
[Outside the Window]
Jiang Fan looked down at the Sect.
His smile faded.
The Outer Sect was gone.
In its place were massive construction banners, huge craters, and thousands of disciples wearing red armbands.
A giant banner hung from the main gate:
[ PROPERTY OF THE BLOODFIRE ALLIANCE ] [ NEW MANAGEMENT ]
Jiang Fan blinked.
"I slept for three days," he said flatly. "And someone stole my mountain?"
He turned to his team.
"Okay. Vacation is over."
Jiang Fan opened his fan. His eyes were cold.
"Yun Xi, put down the lamp. We have some evicting to do.