The center of the Sky-Eater was a place where physics went to die.
The Heart Chamber was a spherical void the size of a city, lined with walls of pulsating muscle and glowing veins. In the exact center, suspended by nothing but its own defiance of gravity, floated an island of jagged crystal.
On that crystal island sat the Heart.
It wasn't a biological organ pumping blood. It was a massive, rotating sphere of compressed storm clouds and solid mana, crackling with lightning that looked like liquid gold. It thumped with a rhythm that Su Ye could feel in his teeth.
And right next to this terrifying engine of cosmic power sat a small, rickety wooden hut with a porch. On the porch, an old man in faded grey robes was watering a pot of petunias.
"Don't look down," Su Ye advised his team as they stepped onto the floating rock bridge that connected the tunnel to the central island.
"There is no down," Lin Fan whispered, checking his gauntlet. "Gravity is multidirectional here. If you jump, you might fall up."
They crossed the bridge, the air humming with static. As they approached the hut, the old man didn't look up. He continued watering his flowers with a small wooden ladle.
"Too much nitrogen," the old man muttered to the petunia. "I told you, less nitrogen, more starlight. Picky eater."
Su Ye stopped at the edge of the porch. He bowed slightly.
"Excuse me," Su Ye said. "We're the new neighbors. We came to borrow some sugar. And also to stop the mountain from crashing into the ocean."
The old man paused. He slowly turned around. His face was a map of wrinkles, his eyes milky white, yet they held a sharpness that pierced right through Su Ye's soul.
He looked at Su Ye. He looked at the Golden Chicken. He looked at the Void Pig.
"A Solar Crow," the old man rasped. "A Void Swine. And a boy who smells like badger dirt."
He smiled, revealing missing teeth.
"You're late. The tea is getting cold."
Su Ye signaled his disciples to wait. He walked up the steps and sat on the wooden stool opposite the old man.
"You're him, aren't you?" Su Ye asked. "The First Sect Leader of the Myriad Beast Hall. The one who disappeared a thousand years ago."
"Disappeared is a strong word," the old man poured a cup of tea. The liquid inside wasn't water; it was swirling blue nebula. "I retired. Being a Sect Leader is exhausting. Too much paperwork. Too many disciples asking stupid questions like 'Master, can I pet the lava tiger?'"
He pushed the cup to Su Ye.
"I am merely a remnant," the old man said. "A memory stored in the Concentration Stone you carry, projected here to keep the engine running. You can call me Old Man Sky."
Su Ye looked at the tea. [System Analysis: Liquid Mana. Grade: Celestial. Side Effects: May cause temporary enlightenment or explosive diarrhea.]
Su Ye drank it in one gulp. It tasted like blueberries and lightning.
"Not bad," Su Ye wiped his mouth. "So, Old Man Sky. Why did you park a continent-sized beast in the sky and leave the door unlocked?"
"I didn't leave it unlocked," the Old Man sighed. "I hid the key inside a Golden Door that requires a Solar Crow's egg to open. I thought that was specific enough. How was I to know a zookeeper with a hoarding problem would show up?"
"I don't have a hoarding problem," Su Ye defended. "I have a resource management strategy."
"Semantics," the Old Man waved his hand. "But you are here. And just in time. The beast is waking up wrong."
The Old Man pointed to the massive spinning Heart.
"Those pests outside—the Dark Beast Sect—they used a Siphon. They didn't just drain energy; they injected a poison. A corrupting agent meant to sever the beast's higher brain functions. They want to turn the Sky-Eater into a mindless zombie ship."
"We destroyed the Siphon," Luo Bing called out from the yard. "And flushed the poison!"
"You flushed the entry wound," the Old Man corrected. "But the poison is already in the blood. Look."
He pointed to the golden lightning arcing off the Heart. It was laced with veins of sickly purple.
"The Sky-Eater is in anaphylactic shock," the Old Man said calm as if discussing the weather. "In about ten minutes, it will sneeze. When a mountain sneezes, it expels its lungs. We are currently inside the lungs."
"So we get ejected," Gao Ming said. "We can fly."
"No," the Old Man shook his head. "When this beast sneezes, it discharges its gravity core. The Shattered Peaks will fall. The kinetic impact will wipe out everything from here to the capital."
Silence fell over the porch.
"Okay," Su Ye set his cup down. "How do we fix it?"
"We need to reboot the system," the Old Man said. "I need to manually reset the heart's rhythm. But I am a ghost. I have no physical mass. I cannot touch the Core."
He looked at Su Ye.
"You need to do it. You need to touch the Heart and channel a counter-frequency. A pulse of pure, uncorrupted Void energy to absorb the poison, followed by a Solar flare to restart the engine."
Su Ye looked at the massive, spinning ball of death-lightning.
"Touch that?" Su Ye asked. "It will vaporize me."
"Probably," the Old Man nodded cheerfully. "Unless you have a conduit. Something that can eat Void and handle Solar fire simultaneously."
Su Ye looked at Zhu Zhu.
He looked at Little Sun.
"Fusion?" Su Ye asked.
"Teamwork," the Old Man corrected. "And a lot of luck."
They moved to the edge of the platform. The Heart was spinning faster now, the purple veins pulsating violently. The entire chamber shook. Gravity fluctuated wildy—one second Lin Fan was standing on the floor, the next he was clinging to the ceiling.
"Zhu Zhu!" Su Ye shouted. "You're the filter! You need to suck the purple poison out of the lightning! Little Sun! You're the defibrillator! When the purple is gone, zap it!"
Zhu Zhu looked at the spinning storm. He whimpered. It looked scary.
"It tastes like grape soda!" Su Ye lied.
Zhu Zhu's ears perked up. Snort?
Su Ye grabbed the pig and the chicken. "Lin Fan! Gao Ming! Hold my legs! Don't let gravity throw me into the turbine!"
His disciples grabbed his belt. Su Ye leaned over the edge, holding the beasts out like a sacrifice.
"Now! Zhu Zhu! Eat!"
Zhu Zhu opened his mouth. The void suction activated.
SLURP.
The purple corruption laced within the lightning was ripped away from the Heart. It flowed into Zhu Zhu's mouth like a dark river. The pig turned a terrifying shade of violet, vibrating like a washing machine.
"He's reaching capacity!" Lin Fan yelled, checking the readings. "His stomach is at 98%!"
"Hold it, Zhu Zhu!" Su Ye roared. "Don't burp! If you burp, we die!"
The purple lines vanished from the Heart. It was pure gold again, but it was slowing down. It was stopping. The beast's heart was failing.
"Little Sun! CLEAR!"
Su Ye threw the golden chicken at the Heart.
Little Sun didn't peck. It spread its wings and hugged the massive crystal surface.
Moooo-SCREEEE!
The chicken released every ounce of solar energy it had absorbed from the ore, the pirate cannons, and the daylight.
A blinding flash of white light exploded in the chamber.
THUMP.
The Heart stopped.
Time seemed to freeze.
THUMP-THUMP.
The Heart roared back to life. The lightning turned a healthy, vibrant blue. The rotation stabilized. The gravity in the room snapped back to normal, dropping Lin Fan from the ceiling (Luo Bing caught him).
Zhu Zhu, full of poison, let out a tiny, pressurized toot that sounded like a whistle. He was fine.
"It worked," Su Ye gasped, pulling the chicken back. Little Sun was smoking slightly, looking dazed but proud.
"Not bad," Old Man Sky nodded from the porch. "A bit messy. But effective."
He walked over to Su Ye. His form was flickering. He was fading.
"The reset used the last of my projection energy," the Old Man said. "I'm going back to sleep in the stone."
He handed Su Ye a small, rusted iron key.
"What is this?" Su Ye asked.
"The ignition key," the Old Man grinned. "You saved the beast. It trusts you now. You are the Captain."
"Captain of what?"
"Of the Sky-Eater," the Old Man pointed at the walls. "This isn't just a mountain, boy. It's a Battle-Platform from the Divine Era. And you just inherited the steering wheel."
The Old Man began to dissolve into light.
"One last piece of advice," he whispered. "The pirates you fought? They were just scouts. The Carrion Lord has a brother. And he has a bigger ship. Don't park in the open."
And with that, the First Sect Leader vanished.
Su Ye stood holding the rusty key. He looked at the massive Heart. He looked at his disciples.
"We have a mountain," Gao Ming whispered, his eyes wide. "We own a flying mountain."
"We own a very large target," Su Ye corrected. "But yes. It's ours."
He walked to a pedestal near the Heart. There was a keyhole.
He inserted the key.
CLICK.
The entire chamber hummed. A holographic map appeared in the air—a projection of the entire Shattered Peaks range, the weather patterns, and the enemies nearby.
[System Integration Complete.]
[Vehicle Acquired: Juvenile Sky-Island Leviathan.]
[Current Status: Hungry.]
[Weapon Systems: Offline (Requires Calibration).]
[Flight Control: Online.]
"Juvenile?" Lin Fan choked. "This thing is a baby?"
"Apparently," Su Ye traced his finger on the map. "And it's hungry."
He saw a red dot on the map. A massive fleet of ships approaching from the west. The Dark Beast Sect main fleet.
"They're coming for the crash site," Su Ye realized. "They think we failed. They think the mountain is going to fall."
He grinned. A cold, dangerous smile.
"Let's disappoint them."
Su Ye grabbed the holographic wheel.
"Attention passengers," Su Ye's voice boomed through the entire mountain, amplified by the beast's own vocal cords. "This is your Captain speaking. Please fasten your seatbelts. We are about to execute a high-speed maneuver."
"High speed?" Luo Bing grabbed the railing. "It's a mountain!"
"Not today," Su Ye twisted the key. "Today, it's a meteor."
"Zhu Zhu," Su Ye looked at the purple, bloated pig. "You need to burp. Aim it aft."
Su Ye spun the wheel.
The Sky-Eater didn't just drift. It turned. The massive ribcage angled upward.
"Turbo Boost: Void Fart!"
Zhu Zhu released the held-in corruption gas.
BOOOOOM.
A jet of violet energy shot out of the mountain's blowhole. The recoil was immense. The Sky-Eater surged forward, breaking the sound barrier. A mountain, moving at Mach 1.
They shot out of the cloud layer, heading straight for the incoming enemy fleet not as a victim, but as a ballistic missile.
"Ramming speed!" Su Ye laughed. "Next stop: The unsuspecting faces of our enemies!"