Lex Cross’s intention was clear. Finding everyone meant only one thing: a maniacal slaughter.
’It seems this little sister-in-law of ours has truly captured our boss’s heart,’ his men thought. ’He’ll stop at nothing to protect her.’
"Let’s go. Argent has plenty of zombie hordes, so we’ll go collect some. Saul, I need you to reach Planet Level in the shortest time possible. The faster, the better."
"Boss, there are bound to be factions in the universe on good terms with our family. Do we kill them too?"
"Kill them!"
That single word encapsulated the ruthless methods Lex Cross had employed for years.
Until he fully recovered his strength, anyone who could possibly harm Flora Bloom would be killed.
Flora Bloom and her group sat quietly on the plane, gazing at a sky that wasn’t quite blue and clouds that weren’t quite white.
The journey was supposed to take several hours, but only a little over an hour had passed so far.
Flora Bloom took out the golden Crystal Stone and observed it in her hand for a long time. This was a Metal-element Crystal Stone, and the energy contained within it was exceptionally turbulent. Unfortunately, she couldn’t absorb it yet.
Lex Cross had told her that she could only use this Crystal Stone to break through when she was on the verge of becoming a High-level Superpower User. From now on, every time she needed to advance to a new tier, she would have to find a Crystal Stone to facilitate the breakthrough. Otherwise, her level would remain stuck, and absorbing any number of Energy Gemstones or Zombie Crystal Cores would be useless.
Her personal space was incomplete; Flora Bloom had realized this when she absorbed the red Fire Element Crystal Stone. This also meant that every time she found and absorbed a Crystal Stone, her space would become more complete.
’Last time, absorbing the Fire Element Crystal Stone gave me a Fire Element superpower. Does this mean this Metal-element Crystal Stone will grant me another one?’
Flora Bloom was very excited about the prospect.
The Crown Prince and Tanuki were piloting the plane without any issues, but in the next second, a black speck zipped past above the fuselage.
A few seconds later, another black speck shot past the side of the plane.
As time went on, the black shapes appeared more frequently. They had grown from mere specks to the size of a person’s head.
They were moving too fast for the two pilots to identify them.
The plane’s intercom crackled to life with the voices of The Crown Prince and Tanuki.
"Sister-in-law, please come to the cockpit."
"Sister-in-law, please come to the cockpit."
The voices of The Crown Prince and Tanuki pulled Flora Bloom from her thoughts and back to reality. Just as she was about to unbuckle her seatbelt, the plane suddenly lurched to one side and continued flying at a sharp angle.
"Sister-in-law, there are strange black shapes in the sky. They’re too fast to see clearly, but we suspect they’re some kind of avian lifeform."
"At our current speed, a collision could cause catastrophic failure."
A sense of fear crept over Flora Bloom. She knew that at such high speeds, any impact could be fatal for the aircraft. If the fuselage or cabin were breached, the passengers inside would be in extreme danger. They could easily be sucked out into the powerful external airstream.
Once outside, they would be torn to shreds. Combined with the fall from such a high altitude, survival would be virtually impossible.
Flora Bloom unbuckled her seatbelt and made her way to the cockpit, steadying herself with handholds. The moment she arrived, she saw a bird larger than her own head flying straight toward the front of the plane, wings spread. It was as if the bird had never seen an airplane before; it didn’t react in time to stop or swerve.
With the massive bird unable to stop and the plane equally unable to do so, Flora Bloom focused all her energy. She conjured layer after layer of water shields in front of the windshield. Pushing her abilities to their limit, she poured all her spiritual power into creating a stack of over one hundred and thirty shields.
Flora Bloom felt her spiritual power instantly drain away. Her body went limp, and she almost lost her grip on a nearby handhold.
The bird slammed into Flora Bloom’s water shields. The combined force of the plane’s nine-hundred-kilometer-per-hour speed and the bird’s own momentum instantly shattered over a hundred layers, and the impact didn’t stop there.
The Crystal Cores in her space were already gone, so Flora Bloom grabbed an Energy Gemstone and began frantically absorbing its energy to recover her spiritual power, all while continuing to stack more water shields outside the plane.
Finally, by the time Flora Bloom had stacked the shields to five hundred layers, the bird’s forward momentum was stopped. During the impact, the bird was stripped of its feathers, which stuck to the final water shield. Its body was crushed into a pulp and immediately scattered by the wind.
The Crown Prince and Tanuki breathed a sigh of relief and brought the plane back on its proper course.