In the power area at the deepest point of the mechanical compartment, all the crew and cultists who once guarded it have died, but the massive steam core continues to operate uncontrolled.

There was a low tremor in the reactor, the pipes and valves surrounding the reactor made a slight hissing sound from time to time under the control of the automatic balancing system, and the warning light used to detect the state of the boiling gold catalyst flashed smoothly, indicating that the pressure inside the steam core was running at a high level.

At the end of a steel platform more than ten meters away from the steam core, a huge copper pillar is standing between the roof and the floor, part of the shell of the copper pillar is hollowed out, and a complex gear and connecting rod structure can be seen running inside it, and the clicking sound of the rapid operation of precision machinery is continuous into waves, and the paper tape is sucked into the opening on the edge of the copper pillar, and then spit out from another opening, and is transmitted to other storage equipment or punch analyzers.

This expensive and sophisticated differential machine is automatically calculating some parameters related to the subsequent voyage plan and feeding this data to the mechanical cabin, and some of its input and output data comes directly from the navigation station above - none of which must fall into the hands of the shadows of Nasubspace.

The vast haze of fate is converging, and a harbinger worse than death has befallen - the ghost captain has reacted, and his wrath is coming here.

The massive bone spider didn't hesitate any longer, he swung his long arthrop and quickly crawled to the copper pillar, then without hesitation, stabbed a bone spur into the core power shaft of the difference machine.

The surface of the pitch-black bone spurs was filled with a corrosive force field, and the power shaft protective cover, which was tightly protected by the heavy copper shell and steel armor, was easily pierced like tissue paper, and the steel bearing that was constantly rotating inside instantly emitted a series of harsh noises, and then, a series of gears and connecting rods connected to the main shaft collapsed catastrophically, and the subsequent punching machine and the stored paper tape were all involved in it-

The power of the differential machine and the subsequent perforation analyzer are both from the same spindle, and a single power collapse is enough to destroy the entire system, which is a deliberate "safety flaw" designed to destroy the ship's recent voyage records and completely destroy its control center in the event of an emergency.

But that's not enough, just destroying the Difference Plane won't stop the ghost captain.

As long as the ship can sail, it will still be possible to take the captain to the Holy Land.

What the "Saints" have to do is to lift the safety restrictions on the steam core.

The reactive steam core is indestructible, and the heavy protective shell will isolate its boiling gold catalyst and reaction medium from the outside world, even nitroglycerin explosives may not be able to blow up the sphere - the steam core must be shut down in an emergency.

Now, the downtime conditions have been met.

With the roar of the power shaft of the differential machine and a series of screeching noises from the gear set, all the mechanical devices connected by gears, belts and connecting rods began to collapse in chains, and the airflow output by the steam core broke through the critical point of the safety valve almost in the blink of an eye, and the deadly high-temperature and high-pressure steam began to overflow in the mechanical cabin, and the overpressure air flow broke through the safety pin of the steam core, and the spherical shell of the reactor began to decline in the squeaky noise.

The boiling gold catalyst had detached from the core as the shell descended, but the scorching "fire" was still burning in the depths of the reactor, and the terrifying heat rushed with the air flow to the control platform—a heat wave that could steam a living person in an instant.

But this is only a breeze for the "saints".

Facing the "breeze", he raised his skeletal arthropods, quickly picked up several barrels of nitroglycerin explosives stacked nearby, and without hesitation, rushed to the reaction vessel that was emitting lethal heat and flames were rising inside.

The time of martyrdom has come, the time of martyrdom has come...... Blowing up everything here, the Lord's cause cannot be disturbed by the evil spirit that has returned from the subspace......

Flames rose in the reactor, out-of-control flames were crumbling at a critical point, and a barrel of nitroglycerin was enough to "push" at this critical point and blow the entire ship to pieces.

The saints raised the explosives aloft.

Almost at the same time, the flames in the reactor were suddenly dyed with a layer of green fire.

A terrifying face appeared in the reactor, and in the midst of the rapidly uncontrollable firestorm, Duncan's upper body gradually emerged from the flame flow of the steam core, and he leaned down to meet the skeletal spider who was holding up the nitroglycerin bucket at close range, and his voice roared like thunder: "You think this is useful?" ”

"Die! Phantom! ”

The Bone Spider let out a roar of rage, then hurled nitroglycerin explosives at the reactor.

A violent explosion occurred - in an instant, the entire reaction vessel was swept into an uncontrollable and terrifying explosion, Duncan's flame avatar that had not had time to fully condense flickered in the explosion, and then the surrounding flames that had not yet been eroded by the spiritual fire turned into a shockwave in the explosion, engulfing everything in the entire cabin.

The steam core exploded, and the boiling gold catalyst set off a chain reaction in the critical pressure, and in a terrible roar and a raging heat wave, the entire ship began to tear apart with the mechanical cabin at its core.

The pitch-black bone spider stretched its arthrops in the storm, gripped at anything nearby with every bone spur, his bone fragments ignited in the heat, the surface of his swelling and wriggling brain glowed, his nervous system was gradually burning, blood boiling in brain tissue—he was dying, but a strange euphoria stirred his mind.

He managed to detonate the steam core, before the ghost captain could take full control of the place.

No one on this ship survived, including himself - but at least, the "Holy Land" was saved.

The shell of the lower layer of the mechanical cabin began to tear apart, and the raging sea water boiled in flames, and then quickly poured into the cabin with a deafening roar.

The "saint" closed his eyes, which had been badly burned, and began to wait quietly for death to come.

But death did not come.

The surroundings fell silent at some point.

After a moment of hesitation and confusion, the dying bone spider raised the eye stalk around its brain again, and in the dim vision blurred by the burn, he saw a strange scene.

All the flames in the mechanical cabin were dyed with a layer of green in an instant, and the ghostly spirit flames froze in mid-air as if time had stood still, and the fragmented cabins also froze, including the raging seawater, all stayed in place.

And in the midst of this stagnant everything, there was the core of the freshly blown up steam—its fragments still floating in the air, and the molten steel droplets bloomed like a brilliant flower.

A tall figure descended from the blast of the steam core, and in the mechanical chamber where everything was stagnant, Duncan stepped out of the fire and came to the bone spider.

He brushed aside the molten metal levitating beside him, and ordered the stagnant flames that blocked his view to step aside, calmly staring at the "saints".

The "Annihilation Priest", who was completely indistinguishable from its human form, was still alive, and after confronting the explosion of the steam core at close range, the monster was only severely burned in the terrifying heat shock that could evaporate steel.

Moreover, in the previous short encounter, this guy was able to quickly judge the situation, and did not hesitate to choose the "ship bombing" plan with a higher success rate - this judgment is sensitive and swift, and even close to some kind of "foreknowledge".

Very powerful, very intelligent, with extremely strange powers.

But for Duncan, more important is another thing—

As the rabbi said, the Oblivion had "eaten" his Symbiotic Demon, which eliminated one of his greatest weaknesses as an Annihilationist: he would not die due to the death or loss of control of the Symbiotic Demon.

This makes it a little more "durable".

However, it was clear that in order for this Annihilation Cultist to come in handy, he had to be allowed to recuperate first—this weak appearance could not withstand the pressure of establishing communication with the Shadow Lord.

As for now, Duncan is more concerned with another matter.

"I've heard that this ship has a supply port, which you call 'Holy Land,'" he said, looking down at the many eyes of the bone spider, "where is it?" ”

The weakened bone spider shook slightly, and some of his limbs struggled to rise, but soon fell down again, and a hoarse and muffled voice rang out from the depths of the strange and disgusting pile of biological tissues: "Give up...... You'll never find it...... I've destroyed all navigation records and controls, and other than that, the location of the Holy Land is only in my brain—just now, I've destroyed this part of my memory, and even if the four gods were there, they wouldn't be able to find that route......"

However, to the surprise of the "saint", the ghost captain in front of him did not show the slightest displeasure because of this answer.

Duncan just shook his head with some regret.

"It's okay, it won't take much effort."

In a faint perception, the saint suddenly sensed something, and he violently struggled with his skeletal arthropods, and his badly damaged eyes turned to the figure standing in the flames one after another: "You...... What are you doing?! ”

Duncan ignored it, he just turned his head to look at the still flames in the air, the torn cabins in the distance, and the water surging beyond the shattered hulls.

The ship was so torn apart that through the shattered decks above, you could even see the sky looming between the condensed flames.

"It's a good ship, it's a pity."

He sighed softly, then turned to the core of the steam, which had been completely blown to pieces, and reached out to lightly touch the flame that had been frozen in mid-air.

This flame was once the heart of the ship.

Now, it needs to beat again.

The green flames gradually waved, and a low, strange roar began to emanate from every inch of the ship, and in the increasingly intense shaking, the powerless, shattered ship seemed to be gradually "coming to life", struggling and began to accelerate slowly.

Duncan leaned in to the flames and ordered the animated ship—

"Let's go home."

So the ship turned around and set out on its way home.

(End of chapter)