Formation screens floated in the air displaying shifting images.
At the center stood a massive array platform where countless glowing lines intersected.
The mont the elder arrived everyone straightened.
"What is the situation?" he asked.
One of the monitoring dwarves imdiately stepped forward.
"Our outer sensory arrays detected strong energy fluctuations roughly one thousand kiloters away."
Lin Mu listened quietly.
"What kind?" he asked.
The dwarf adjusted several runes.
"The signature matches large scale immortal flying vessels."
Lin Mu raised a brow.
"Did the arrays detect us when we first arrived?" he asked curiously.
The dwarf shook his head.
"These arrays only react to stronger presences. Space around us constantly contains drifting asteroids and energy fluctuations. Greater sensitivity would create endless false alarms."
Another dwarf added.
"And stronger arrays risk exposing our own location."
Lin Mu nodded.
That made sense.
Mantleheim's survival depended on secrecy.
The Mountain Dwarf Elder folded his arms.
"Analysis?"
The dwarf adjusted the runes again.
Floating images shifted.
Several light points moved through darkness.
"There is a high probability this is an entire fleet."
Lin Mu and the elder frowned simultaneously.
"A fleet…"
The implications imdiately beca serious.
A single immortal vessel could already transport enormous forces.
A fleet ant sothing much larger.
The elder continued.
"Direction?"
The monitoring dwarves exchanged looks.
"That is the problem."
One of them enlarged the display.
"They slowed down recently."
Lin Mu narrowed his eyes.
"They are changing course?"
"Possibly."
Silence fell.
"How long?" the elder asked.
The answer ca quickly.
"One hour."
The atmosphere in the hall tightened imdiately.
This was no longer distant observation.
Whatever it was would arrive soon.
The Mountain Dwarf Elder turned serious.
"Alert the others."
The monitoring dwarves imdiately moved.
Runes activated throughout the chamber.
Elsewhere in Mantleheim bells began ringing.
Not ergency alarms.
Preparatory signals.
Lin Mu watched the displays a little longer.
The moving points continued approaching steadily.
He thought briefly before speaking.
"I'll observe from space."
The elder looked at him.
"I won't be detected," Lin Mu explained. "If they are enemies we gain information first."
The elder nodded imdiately.
"Good."
Then his expression grew colder.
"I will gather the transcendents."
The hall exploded into activity afterward.
ssages spread rapidly.
Mantleheim reacted with practiced efficiency.
The forge fires dimd.
Work stopped.
Weapons appeared.
Formation arrays quietly activated beneath the city.
Lin Mu left without delay.
A few monts later he stood upon the outer surface of the broken world fragnt.
Space stretched endlessly around him.
Countless shattered fragnts drifted nearby.
Far in the distance Mantleheim remained hidden beneath layers of stone and illusion.
Lin Mu reined in his aura completely.
Then he vanished.
Fade activated.
His figure disappeared into the parallel dinsion.
From there he moved silently through space creating bursts of flaming jets to send him flying faster than ever. And when the skill's duration ended he would hide in a random fragnt of asteroid before using the skill again.
A thousand kiloters vanished quickly.
Eventually Lin Mu slowed.
His immortal sense extended outward.
And then he saw them.
His eyes narrowed.
Far away in space, several imnse shapes drifted between broken asteroids.
One vessel.
Two.
Five.
Ten…
More.
An entire fleet.
Their forms resembled long dark blades cutting through space.
Formation lights glowed beneath their hulls.
At the front sailed an enormous flagship nearly several kiloters long.
Lin Mu's expression beca serious.
This was no ordinary traveling group.
He focused further.
Symbols decorated the ships.
At first they were too distant.
Then his immortal sense sharpened.
The markings beca clear.
Lin Mu's eyes froze.
"…That symbol…"
He recognized it.
Or rather…
He had seen sothing similar before.
Lin Mu narrowed his eyes as he looked at the approaching fleet.
At first glance the symbol on the ships had only felt familiar. It was not the main crest of any power that he recognized imdiately. The emblem painted upon the hulls was different. It carried the image of a cargo vessel and around it were several shining points.
From this distance they looked like random spots.
But as the ships ca closer and his immortal sense sharpened upon them, the pattern finally beca clear.
Lin Mu's eyes widened slightly.
"Wait…" he muttered.
The dots aligned in his vision.
"That's a constellation…"
The mory surfaced instantly.
"Virgo?"
A mont later realization dawned upon him.
Lin Mu stared at the fleet in surprise.
"Those ships…" he spoke in disbelief. "The Kang Clan!?"
These were indeed ships belonging to the Great Kang Clan.
More specifically, these belonged to the shipping division of the Kang Clan. The main clan crest was slightly different and represented the greater authority of the family itself. This variation was used specifically by their imnse rchant and transport network.
Lin Mu looked over the fleet again.
The scale was massive.
There were dozens of immortal vessels moving together through space in a formation. Cargo ships, escort ships and several larger war capable vessels surrounded a central flagship.
Seeing such a fleet here confused him.
The Great Kang Clan indeed operated all over the Immortal Realm and their shipping business stretched across countless worlds. That much Lin Mu knew already.
Still…
Why here?
Why so close to Mantleheim?
His thoughts moved quickly before he suddenly rembered sothing.
Lin Mu imdiately took out his communication jade slip.
The mont immortal Qi flowed into it the slip began vibrating violently.
BZZT!
BZZT!
BZZT!
The jade slip practically bounced in his hand.
Streams of ssages flooded into it all at once.
One after another.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Lin Mu watched the notifications appear endlessly before finally stopping.
He checked the sender.
Every single one of them was from Lady Kang.
Lin Mu finally understood.
"So it is Lady Kang herself." He smiled faintly.
He reckoned that since he had been hidden away in such an isolated part of the Immortal Realm, communication had likely been cut off all this ti. Lady Kang had probably tried contacting him repeatedly and received nothing in return.
Eventually she must have decided to co personally.
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