Chapter 1302: Haitang

Fierce bombardments constantly rained down. The Long Dragon warship's protective energy shield was on the verge of collapse. Lu Ye, his mind immersed and integrated with the ship, struggled to dodge, but his efforts were insufficient.

This time, he lasted a few breaths longer than before, but that was all. The warship's protective array shattered, and bright, dazzling light once again filled his vision, making it impossible to open his eyes. The tearing pain in his body was unmistakably transmitted.

Lu Ye opened his eyes again, calmly surveying his surroundings.

As expected, he was still alive, standing before the control center of the Long Dragon warship, exactly as before. Even Qin Zong and the others were in their original positions, unchanged.

Was this truly a reversal of time, or some peculiar form of reincarnation?

"Captain, any orders?" Xiao Jianming asked, repeating his earlier question.

Lu Ye shook his head. "No." He turned to Xu Qingwei. "There's nothing wrong with my body either; no need to ask further."

Xu Qingwei opened her mouth, looking somewhat bewildered.

Standing still, Lu Ye pondered. Given the current situation, they would likely be attacked again soon. He faced only two choices: escape the Long Dragon warship before the attack, but he had already tried that, and it was impossible. A mysterious force trapped him on the ship, preventing him from flying more than a hundred zhang away.

Therefore, he essentially had only one choice!

He had to take control of the ship and engage the three attacking warships, defeating and crushing them!

Battles between warships differed significantly from skirmishes between cultivators. Lu Ye had already gained some understanding of this in his previous two attempts. Even with numerous abilities, he couldn't employ them while controlling the warship. His only reliance was his experience in ship control and the warship's inherent performance.

Lu Ye was unsure of the Long Dragon warship's exact performance capabilities, but he assumed they were not bad. In the previous two attacks, the warship had endured blow after blow, its protective array's energy shield maintaining itself until it finally couldn't hold on any longer and shattered.

If Lu Ye could control the warship to execute proper evasive maneuvers during the battle, avoiding some attacks, the ship's crew could better maintain the protective array. In that case, the duration it could withstand attacks would undoubtedly increase significantly.

Entangling with the enemy and seizing opportunities to destroy their warships — that was the true method of combat between battleships.

While lacking the varied tactics of cultivator battles, the danger was no less.

Of course, if a cultivator's individual strength reached a certain level, such complexities would be unnecessary; they could simply charge in alone and destroy any warship with a single blow.

But for Lu Ye, he had never deeply understood or interacted with warships before. He didn't know how to control one effectively or conveniently. Suddenly being forced to confront three enemy ships of unknown origin in the starry sky was simply too difficult.

So, Lu Ye thought of a solution. He turned to Qin Zong and the others. "Which of you can operate a warship?"

Since he couldn't do it, he'd let someone else.

Qin Zong smiled. "All of us can."

This was normal. Star pirates who constantly plundered the four directions in the starry sky rarely couldn't operate a warship; it was simply a matter of varying skill levels.

"Who's the best?" Lu Ye asked again.

Qin Zong grinned proudly. "That would be me, naturally!"

"Then you'll take control!" Lu Ye said.

Qin Zong immediately looked delighted. "Truly?"

"Just do it!" Time was running out, and Lu Ye had no leisure for further discussion.

Qin Zong immediately stepped forward, standing before the central control sphere of the warship. His expression suddenly became extremely serious as he confirmed, "Captain, are you truly transferring control to me?"

"Less talk!" Lu Ye urged impatiently.

"Then here I go." Qin Zong chuckled softly, raising his hand to press it on the sphere, not forgetting to instruct Lu Ye: "Please assist, Captain. That way, the transfer of control will be smooth."

Lu Ye didn't know what to do, so he nodded. "Proceed as you wish."

Qin Zong immediately channeled his spiritual power into the sphere.

The next moment, Lu Ye suddenly understood how to cooperate. The sphere was originally filled with his imprint, which granted him the highest level of control over the Long Dragon warship. Of course, other crew members also had some control, but Lu Ye's control was priority.

Now, what he needed to do was to dissipate his own imprint while Qin Zong was acting. Once the sphere was filled with Qin Zong's imprint, the Long Dragon warship would be under his control.

The transfer of control wasn't instantaneous, but it wouldn't take long. It was like a transaction, with one willing to buy and the other willing to sell.

However, during this process, Lu Ye inexplicably felt something was amiss. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

A casual glance revealed that Xiao Jianming and Xu Qingwei were staring intently at the sphere, a strange smile, the same one Lu Ye had seen before, blooming on their lips.

Looking up at Qin Zong, Lu Ye saw that he was also smiling!

The uneasy feeling intensified, as if something terrible would happen the moment he lost control of the Long Dragon warship.

Lu Ye immediately withdrew his hand.

Qin Zong looked bewildered. "Captain, what's wrong?"

Lu Ye paused briefly before speaking. "I won't trouble you after all."

Qin Zong shrugged indifferently, showing no sign of disappointment. Looking at Xiao Jianming and Xu Qingwei, they too had returned to normal.

"Enemy attack!" The familiar shout came from the observation deck once more.

Lu Ye sighed, stepped forward, and channeled his spiritual power into the sphere, beginning to operate the Long Dragon warship. However, due to the previous attempt at control transfer, a portion of Qin Zong's aura remained in the control sphere. Ordinarily, Lu Ye could disperse this aura given some time, but he had none now.

He immediately felt that controlling the Long Dragon warship was no longer as smooth and effortless as the previous two times; there was always a slight sense of obstruction.

Already unfamiliar with the controls, and with this added disadvantage, the Long Dragon warship's evasive maneuvers against enemy attacks in the starry sky became even more concerning.

This time, they lasted even less time than before, and the warship was destroyed.

In the fourth cycle, as Lu Ye opened his eyes, he immediately sensed something amiss.

There seemed to be a strange, additional connection between himself and the Long Dragon warship. This connection was entirely different from his previous sensations; it wasn't the meaningless link of a ship to its captain, but a tangible, inexplicable bond.

This connection hadn't existed in the previous cycles.

Lu Ye had originally intended to use this cycle to immediately begin operating the warship, attempting to flee while simultaneously practicing his control skills to prepare for the upcoming crisis. After all, under this cyclical phenomenon, he wouldn't truly die. So, by utilizing the time before the enemy ships attacked, he could become a competent captain and lead the crew in resisting the invaders.

However, this sudden development made him uneasy.

From the moment he stepped onto the Long Dragon warship, everything had been strange, and now this situation was even more bizarre.

Lu Ye began to investigate this connection but couldn't make sense of it. Suddenly, he recalled a female crew member whispering something to him when she passed by during the first cycle.

She had told him not to die too many times, or he would be trapped forever!

At the time, he had no idea what the woman was talking about and no time to ask for details. Now, it seemed to have some connection to his current transformation.

This was the fourth cycle; he had already died three times. A mysterious connection had formed between himself and the warship. If he died more times, would this connection grow stronger until he was permanently trapped on the warship, unable to escape?

During the second cycle, Lu Ye had questioned Qin Zong and the others, hoping to gather some information from them, but those individuals claimed ignorance to every query.

Now it seemed, if he wanted to get information, he had to find that woman!

She seemed different from the others.

With his divine sense surging, Lu Ye immediately located the woman's position and moved swiftly toward it.

Although practicing warship control skills was important, a sharpened axe cuts better. Lu Ye felt it was more crucial to gather more information first, if only to understand what he was truly experiencing.

Qin Zong's voice came from behind. "Captain, where are you going?"

"I have something to do, don't follow!" Lu Ye ordered unceremoniously. He had no goodwill for Qin Zong and his companions.

They appeared normal, but in reality, each of them was peculiar, especially their smiles, which made Lu Ye very uncomfortable.

The woman's location was a room on the second deck of the warship. Lu Ye precisely found the spot. Just as he was about to knock, the door opened, and a pretty face appeared in his sight.

Lu Ye froze for a moment, then quickly realized the woman knew he was coming!

It seemed he had been right to seek her out.

Their gazes met silently. The woman stepped aside, and Lu Ye walked in. She then closed the door and activated the room's restrictions.

The room's furnishings were simple. Lu Ye didn't intend to scrutinize them, going straight to the point: "Fellow Daoist, can you enlighten me?"

The woman sighed, not answering directly, but asked, "How should I address you?"

"Lu Ye!"

The woman nodded, introducing herself: "Haitang!"

"Your cultivation is higher than mine, so if you don't mind, I'll call you Senior Sister!" Lu Ye said. Seeing no objection, he continued, "Senior Sister Haitang, what exactly is going on here?"

Senior Sister always sounded more intimate than Fellow Daoist. This was the time to foster a good relationship.

Haitang said, "First, tell me what information you have."

"I don't know anything," Lu Ye replied truthfully. "I only know that after dying, I come back to life, like reincarnation."

"Reincarnation..." Haitang gave a bitter smile. "If only it were truly just reincarnation. But this kind of cycle will only pull you deeper. You've come to find me, so you must have already sensed it, that strange connection between you and this warship."