OOOOOOOOOOH—BOOOOOOOM!!
A second low-frequency whale-cry rolled out of the dark-matter fog ahead, sending hundred-mile ripples of distorted gravity washing over the central deep-space channel between World #5 and World #6.
Behind the [Gu Family Flying Courtyard], the five thousand merchant star-skiffs of the Corridor Transit Guild pitched and bobbed like wooden fishing boats caught in a typhoon.
Inside the Flying Courtyard, however, not a single teacup on the porch table rattled. Gu Changsheng’s newly upgraded Rank 7 Mid (Planetary Guardian) domain absorbed the spatial shockwave effortlessly, turning the violent cosmic vibration into a gentle afternoon breeze that rustled the pink blossoms of the peach tree.
Over the open fleet radio on the porch helm, fifty-five-year-old Merchant-Guild Master Qian—older brother of World #1’s Boss Qian and head of the five-thousand-ship merchant convoy—was shouting in sheer terror:
“All ships, drop anchors and charge forward plasma batteries! It’s the Deep-Corridor Astral Void Whale Pod! Look at the size of those twelve monsters—the smallest one is a hundred miles long, and the Matriarch in the middle is over two hundred miles from nose to tail! They’ve gone completely berserk!”
Across the starry gulf ahead, twelve continental silhouettes of deep sapphire-blue and silver stardust skin were thrashing violently across the only navigable hyperspace lane in the sector.
