Fishing is usually a contemplative sport. It involves silence, patience, and a small worm. However, when you are fishing for whales that swim in the sky, using a mountain as a boat and a pirate chain as a line, the dynamic changes somewhat.
The Twilight Stable drifted into the Sky-Reef. It was a breathtaking, alien landscape. Massive islands of coral floated in the stratosphere, dripping with neon-blue water that evaporated into mist before it hit the ground miles below. Schools of Wind-Rays glided between the coral branches, and the air hummed with the static electricity of life.
"Target sighted," Su Ye whispered, crouching behind the Star-Iron wall.
In the distance, a pod of Cloud-Sea Leviathans breached the surface of a cloud bank. They were magnificent—five hundred feet long, translucent, their internal organs glowing like bioluminescent lanterns. They fed on the high-density Qi of the reef.
"They are huge," Lin Fan gulped, adjusting the winch mechanism they had jury-rigged from the broken pirate gear. "Master, if we hook one, it might pull the mountain over."
"The Sky-Eater weighs a billion tons," Su Ye said. "The whale is the one who should be worried. Is the bait ready?"
Gao Ming stood at the edge of the cliff, holding Little Sun. The chicken was tied to the massive iron hook of the God-Killer Harpoon with a length of silk rope.
Moooo! (This is undignified!)
"You're the lure, Little Sun," Su Ye encouraged. "Just glow. Look delicious. When the whale bites, we yank you back."
"Launch!"
Gao Ming threw the chicken. The heavy chain rattled as it played out. Little Sun fluttered helplessly, suspended in the open air among the floating coral.
"Glow!" Su Ye commanded.
Little Sun sighed and flared its feathers. A beacon of golden light erupted in the misty reef.
To the Cloud-Sea Leviathans, who ate sunlight and Qi, this looked like the finest snack in the universe. A massive bull whale turned, its eyes locking onto the golden speck. It opened a mouth the size of a cathedral.
"Here he comes!" Luo Bing tightened her grip on the brake lever. "Steady..."
The whale accelerated. It lunged.
"NOW!"
Su Ye slammed his hand on the retraction rune. The winch screamed. Little Sun was yanked backward just as the whale's jaws snapped shut.
CLANG.
The whale didn't catch the chicken. It caught the God-Killer Harpoon positioned right behind it. The barbs dug into the beast's energy-lip.
"Hooked!" Su Ye yelled. "Reel it in! Drain it!"
The whale panicked. It thrashed, its massive tail slapping the air, generating hurricanes. It tried to dive.
The chain went taut.
The Sky-Eater felt the tug. The mountain groaned.
Zzzzt.
"SNACK..." the mountain's consciousness rumbled.
The Sky-Eater didn't use a mouth to eat the whale. It used the chain. The adamantine chain acted as a conductive wire. The high-density Qi inside the Cloud Whale began to flow up the metal links, surging into the mountain's hull.
On the dashboard, the red bar began to rise.
[Fuel Reserves: 5%... 10%... 15%.]
"It's working!" Lin Fan cheered. "We're siphoning the Qi! The anti-gravity engines are stabilizing!"
"Keep it steady!" Su Ye ordered. "Don't drain the whale dry. We're catch-and-release fishermen. Just take enough to get us to the next refueling station."
The whale moaned—a sound like a cello playing in a cave. It was losing energy rapidly, shrinking slightly as its mana was consumed.
Suddenly, the sky darkened.
It wasn't a cloud. It was a shadow.
A roar tore through the Sky-Reef—a sound so loud it shattered the nearby coral branches.
"Who dares poach in my garden?!"
From the thunderhead above, a massive serpentine head descended. It was covered in scales the color of bruised iron. Lightning crackled between its horns. Its eyes were vertical slits of pure malice.
The Storm Dragon.
"Tier-7," Su Ye muttered, looking up at the monster that dwarfed even the Cloud Whale. "Patriarch Wraith wasn't lying. There's a guard dog."
The Storm Dragon looked at the Twilight Stable. It looked at the Cloud Whale tethered to the mountain.
"Thieves," the Dragon hissed, its voice booming like thunder. "You steal my cattle. I will sink your stone ship."
The Dragon opened its maw. A ball of lightning, compressed to the density of a star, began to form.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Luo Bing screamed.
"We can't!" Lin Fan yelled. "We're tethered to the whale! If we move, we snap the chain!"
Su Ye looked at the Dragon. He looked at his shovel. He looked at the system readings.
[Enemy: Storm Flood Dragon (Tier-7).]
[Weakness: Arrogance. Shiny objects. High-frequency insults.]
[Note: Contains Trace Amounts of True Dragon Bloodline.]
"True Dragon Bloodline?" Su Ye's eyes lit up.
He reached into his pocket. He pulled out the Cockroach.
"Little Dragon," Su Ye whispered. "Wake up. It's showtime."
The cockroach, Little Dragon, was currently cleaning its antennae. It looked at the giant Storm Dragon. It froze.
Zzzzt.
"INSOLENCE!" The Void Dragon Emperor (the Ancestor Spirit inside the cockroach) roared in Su Ye's mind. "A MERE LIZARD? A WORM WITH LEGS? HE DARES TO ROAR IN THE PRESENCE of THE EMPEROR?"
"He's pretty big, Emperor," Su Ye goaded. "He says he's going to eat us."
"BIG?!" The Cockroach trembled with rage. "SIZE IS FOR THE WEAK! I AM THE VOID! I AM THE ENDLESS DARK! THROW ME AT HIM!"
"With pleasure."
Su Ye stepped onto the railing.
"Hey! Sparky!" Su Ye shouted at the Storm Dragon.
The Dragon paused, the lightning ball still forming in its mouth. It looked down at the tiny human.
"You speak to me, insect?"
"I'm not the insect," Su Ye grinned. "This is."
He threw the cockroach.
It was a pathetic throw. The cockroach fluttered through the air, looking like a speck of dust against the massive dragon.
The Storm Dragon laughed. A deep, rumbling belly laugh that shook the reef.
"You throw a bug at me? You insult my dignity! Die!"
The Dragon prepared to fire the lightning breath.
But then, the cockroach opened its wings.
Su Ye activated the Ancestral Link. He didn't use it to tame. He used it to Amplify.
"Bloodline Projection: Dragon Fear."
BOOM.
It wasn't a physical explosion. It was a spiritual one.
Behind the tiny, fluttering cockroach, a spectral image manifested. It was massive. It was a Dragon made of pure void and starlight, with eyes that held the death of galaxies. The Void Dragon Emperor.
The spiritual pressure of a True Divine Dragon—even a ghost of one—slammed into the Storm Dragon.
The Storm Dragon, a mere Flood Dragon (a snake that evolved), felt the primal terror encoded in its DNA. It froze. The lightning ball in its mouth fizzled and backfired.
Cough-Hack-Boom.
The Dragon choked on its own attack. Smoke poured from its nostrils. It stared at the cockroach with pupils dilated to the size of dinner plates.
"KNEEL, WORM!" The Cockroach (via the Ancestor) projected a voice that cracked the sky. "I AM YOUR GRANDFATHER'S GRANDFATHER'S NIGHTMARE!"
The Storm Dragon trembled. It looked at the giant spectral dragon. It looked at the tiny bug. It didn't understand the physics, but it understood the hierarchy.
It lowered its head.
"A... A True Dragon?" The Storm Dragon stammered, its arrogance vanishing. "Forgive me, Elder! I did not know! I thought you were... lunch!"
The cockroach landed on the Dragon's nose. It waved its antennae menacingly.
Hiss! (Apologize!)
"I apologize!" The Storm Dragon cowered, hovering in the air. "Please, do not eat my soul!"
Su Ye grabbed the megaphone.
"The Elder accepts your apology," Su Ye shouted. "However, you interrupted our refueling. We require compensation."
The Storm Dragon looked at Su Ye, then at the Cockroach on its nose.
"Name it," the Dragon whimpered.
"We need a tow," Su Ye pointed to the west. "My mountain is sluggish. Grab the chains. Pull us to the Central Spire."
The Dragon looked at the massive Sky-Eater mountain. It was heavy. It was humiliating.
But the Cockroach tapped its foot on the Dragon's snout.
"I will pull!" The Dragon agreed quickly. "I love pulling! It is my passion!"
The scene over the Shattered Peaks was one for the history books.
The Twilight Stable, perched on the Sky-Eater, was cruising through the clouds at high speed. It was being towed not by engines, but by a Tier-7 Storm Dragon, which was harnessed to the front like a sled dog.
On the dragon's head sat a cockroach, looking smug.
Inside the stable, Su Ye sat in a lawn chair, drinking tea.
"Fuel reserves at 100%," Lin Fan reported, looking at the readings. "And we are making excellent time."
"And we have a dragon escort," Luo Bing added, still in disbelief. "Master, how long will the Ancestor's projection last?"
"About ten more minutes," Su Ye checked his watch. "Then the cockroach goes back to just being a bug, and the Dragon realizes it's been bullied by an insect."
"What happens then?" Gao Ming asked nervously.
"Then we better be at the Central Spire," Su Ye stood up.
He looked ahead. Through the mist, a massive structure appeared.
It wasn't a mountain. It was a Tower. A black, metallic spire rising from the abyss, piercing the clouds. It pulsed with the same dark energy as the Void Pig.
[Target Reached: The Spire of the Void.]
[Occupants: The True Dark Beast Sect Headquarters.]
"Drop the tow lines!" Su Ye ordered. "Release the Dragon!"
Lin Fan hit the release. The chains snapped free.
The Storm Dragon, suddenly unburdened, shot forward. The cockroach fluttered back to the stable, landing in Su Ye's hand. It looked exhausted.
Squeak. (I need a nap.)
"Good job, Little Dragon," Su Ye pocketed the bug.
The Storm Dragon turned around, confused. The terrifying aura was gone. It realized it had been towing a mountain for a bug.
It roared in rage.
But it was too late. The Sky-Eater, now fully fueled and moving at ramming speed, was already drifting past it.
"Thanks for the lift!" Su Ye waved.
He turned the helm toward the Black Spire.
"Alright," Su Ye's eyes narrowed. "We have a full tank of gas, a mountain with teeth, and a pig that eats doom. Let's go knock on the front door of the villains."
"Zhu Zhu," Su Ye called out. "Do you smell that?"
Zhu Zhu sniffed the air near the Black Spire. His eyes turned violet.
Hunger.
"That's right," Su Ye gripped the wheel. "It's dinner time."