This Character is Suspected of Cheating! [Unlimited Flow]

At 1:30 a.m., Duan Yuchen and He Yu finalized the overall direction of the forging.

Duan Yuchen took one last look at He Yu’s notebook, withdrew his gaze, and took a deep breath. “If everything goes smoothly, we’ll forge the lifeboat at around five in the morning. Once the lifeboat takes shape, we can directly move the existing control console over and avoid the cruise ship sinking at six or seven.”

Forging required time. That was also why they could only forge a small boat. During the forging process, the special material of the outer shell would continue to be consumed.

The control console was the most complicated part of a ship. Duan Yuchen was a forging master, not a shipbuilder. There was no way for him to forge a control console inside the new ship.

Fortunately, the cruise ship’s control console was still intact, and they had already moved it once before. They could simply move it over and use it directly, greatly reducing the time required to build the ship.

He Yu nodded, indicating for him to continue.

Duan Yuchen’s expression was complicated. “Then there’s one last problem. At the instant the lifeboat—no, we should call it the escape boat—takes shape, the control console will still be inside the cruise ship, while all the special material from the cruise ship’s outer shell will be gone. What... are we supposed to do?”

It was easy to imagine that at that instant, enormous amounts of corrosive rainwater and seawater would surge inside. The cruise ship might even sink instantly. What could they possibly use to withstand the corrosive rain and the surging corrosive seawater?

He Yu lowered his eyes slightly and remained silent.

Duan Yuchen said, “I don’t believe you haven’t thought about this problem. How are you planning to deal with it?”

His eyes were fixed seriously on He Yu. Duan Yuchen might not necessarily think of everything He Yu could think of, but if even he could see this problem, there was no need to doubt that He Yu had already thought of it.

And since He Yu still insisted on forging the boat, he must have a solution.

He Yu’s lips curved. “Not bad. You can already think that far. Quite good.”

He first corrected Duan Yuchen. “Let’s still call it a lifeboat. Although ‘escape boat’ is more accurate, the word ‘lifeboat’ sounds full of hope.”

Duan Yuchen: “...”

He was somewhat speechless. “He Yu, believe in science.”

It was only a name. Did calling it a lifeboat really give it more hope than calling it an escape boat?

—Huh?

—It kind of did?

Duan Yuchen shifted, coughed, and continued, “Fine, we’ll still call it a lifeboat. Now, may I ask how we’re supposed to withstand the corrosive rainwater and seawater at the instant the lifeboat takes shape?”

He Yu raised a hand to push up his glasses, his voice faint and eerie. “Of course we block it. Give it something to corrode and block its path toward corroding us.”

Duan Yuchen’s brows knitted tightly, his face full of confusion.

Gedai could not help interjecting either. “We don’t have that much stuff. The black corrosive ** can devour anything. Didn’t we calculate it before? Even if we use everything we have, including all our equipment, we won’t be able to delay it for long. Besides, the instant the cruise ship sinks, the corrosive rainwater and seawater will seep through every possible opening and surround us from every direction.”

He Yu remained calm. “Then don’t leave any openings. Block it from every direction.”

Wanrenzhan curled his lips. “Where are we supposed to find something like that?”

Ling Buchen suddenly had a thought. Beside him, Zhen Xing immediately realized it as well. The two spoke simultaneously—

“Attacks!”

He Yu smiled. “Right. Attacks.”

Didn’t it want to corrode something?

Then give it something to corrode—an endless stream of attacks!

Attacks were energy, something that could be given tangible form. They could direct their attacks toward the corrosive rainwater, using energy to block the path of corrosion. The rainwater and seawater were endless, but their attacks could also be endless!

When the time came, they would form a vacuum zone, and that would become their safe area.

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

It was too insane. He Yu was always this insane, yet he was also always this imaginative, coming up with crazy ideas that no one else could think of or would dare to consider.

Putting aside whether this method would actually work, there was one thing alone—

They would be exposed beneath the pouring rain, surrounded by surging black seawater, without any shelter whatsoever. They would stand in an environment like that and continuously attack simply to carve out a space in which they could survive. The slightest mistake would doom them beyond redemption!

Just imagining it made their hearts seem to stop.

No wonder He Yu had refused to say it earlier. No wonder He Yu had not mentioned it just now. This was no longer dancing along the edge of death. This was fucking walking a tightrope over death itself!

Zhen Xing turned around and flashed toward the stairs.

Zhante immediately followed, his back disappearing hurriedly.

—They were going to verify whether attacks could stop the corrosive black water.

The heartbeat of a Mechanical Planet person rarely fluctuated much, and the chest was not their weak point. Yet at this moment, Gedai raised a hand to clutch his chest, feeling as though something inside was pounding violently enough to burst out.

His breathing quickened, and his voice was hoarse. “Can this really work?”

Before He Yu could answer, the two who had gone to test it were already back. After several flashes, they appeared in the blink of an eye exactly where they had been standing before.

Zhen Xing narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly, his blue hair swaying. “I went to the top level. There’s quite a lot of corrosive rainwater in the bridge, dripping downward and destroying the level beneath it. I attacked the falling corrosive rainwater. The attack disappeared, and so did the rainwater.”

Zhante nodded and continued, “I went to the warehouse and attacked the place where water was leaking in. The corrosion stopped, but only for the instant the attack lasted.”

It was feasible!

When they attacked, the corrosive rainwater would devour their attacks and temporarily stop corroding everything else.

But—

Tang Ke’s voice trembled slightly. “But who can keep attacking nonstop? We won’t be able to last very long.”

He Yu’s expression remained calm. “We don’t need to last very long. We only need to hold out until we and the control console are moved inside the lifeboat.”

“But...”

He Yu calmly asked in return, “Is there any other way?”

Those few words instantly silenced every question they had.

There wasn’t. They had no other way.

This seemingly insane path was actually their only path. Besides, He Yu would be among them too. He must have exhausted every possible idea before settling on this method. There was only this one.

After doing such insane things with He Yu time and time again, their ability to accept them had grown stronger every time.

Just like now. This operation was so absurd it was suffocating. If anyone had told them in the past that they would do something like this, they would have immediately concluded, “This person is insane”...

Yet now, they were all seriously considering how to carry it out.

Lunatics.

They had become a group of lunatics.

Deep inside, they were weeping bitterly, while the thoughts racing through their minds were utterly insane.

Duan Yuchen looked defeated. “Fine. Let’s try it. Either way, death is the alternative.”

Yuan Ze still had concerns. “I really can’t maintain continuous attacks for very long. If we could take turns attacking, that would be fine. But when the time comes, attacks will definitely be needed in every direction simultaneously. We won’t be able to rotate several people through one position.”

Normally, their attacks came one move after another, but against an endless stream of corrosive rainwater, they would have to attack again and again at an extremely rapid frequency. Their energy would be depleted very quickly.

He Yu had considered this problem. He said, “Draw on the energy between heaven and earth. That will let you sustain your attacks for longer.”

Gedai smiled bitterly. “I don’t think I have a cultivation method yet...”

Tang Ke: “Neither do I.”

When He Yu gave someone a cultivation method, they needed to turn off their livestream. At first, they had not wanted it because equipment produced more obvious improvements during the competition, so there was no need to waste time cultivating.

Later, the mastermind had not given them any time at the Transfer Station, so they had no opportunity to ask for it.

The last time they were at the Transfer Station, they had thought there was no longer any need. They had already reached the second half of the semifinals, and the competition was about to end. Cultivating inside an instance would be dangerous, and there was not much time to cultivate anyway. Even if they did cultivate, such a short period would not produce much improvement.

If they could leave the talent show alive, they would have plenty of time to pursue a better energy system. If they could not survive...

Then there was no need.

He Yu naturally knew this. He nodded. “When the time comes, I’ll give you a new version of the energy circulation method. For people unfamiliar with energy, the effect won’t be obvious when you first use it, but something is better than nothing.”

Gedai frowned. “You can give us a cultivation method inside the competition?”

Giving them a cultivation method inside the competition meant livestreaming it to the entire Federation, didn’t it? The mastermind wanted to stop the energy system. Wouldn’t they be driven into desperate action and cause them even more trouble?

Previously, it had clearly been precisely because of this concern that He Yu had kept it hidden and never exposed it publicly.

So why was the mastermind acting without restraint now, while He Yu was doing the same?

He Yu did not answer. He simply stood up, his expression composed. “If you can’t keep it going, you still have me.”

Calling himself the strongest support was no empty boast.

Everyone froze slightly, then inexplicably felt confidence rise within them.

—That was right. They still had He Yu, the strongest support. With him there, they had nothing to fear.

He Yu said, “Time is limited. Let’s forge.”

It was almost two o’clock. They had to finish before five, leaving them only three hours. Time was extremely tight, and they could not afford to waste another moment.

And so, all their complicated speculations were set aside. Everyone focused entirely on the most important task before them—

Forging the lifeboat.

Duan Yuchen would lead, He Yu would assist, and everyone else would cooperate.

--

Forging the outside from within was undoubtedly an unprecedented forging process.

Duan Yuchen was under immense pressure at first, but once he actually began forging, he became completely immersed in it. The phrase “madman of forging” might as well have been coined specifically for him.

The heaviness and worry in his eyes gradually transformed into excitement and exhilaration.

—If they succeeded, this would be an epic scene.

Duan Yuchen had gained an enormous amount from this Top Talent Show. The improvements in his forging techniques alone had made the entire journey worthwhile.

Of course, that was assuming he made it out alive.

Sometimes Duan Yuchen even thought that after witnessing forging techniques like these and improving this much, even if he died inside, perhaps it could be considered a fitting death?

Zhen Xing, Wanrenzhan, and the others nearly emptied the entire interior of the cruise ship, moving everything they could toward the gaps and toward the places where corrosive seawater was seeping inside.

Then Duan Yuchen set the entire cruise ship ablaze.

He hovered in midair inside the cruise ship. The hammer in his hand enlarged, and when he swung it, thousands of phantom hammers appeared, striking in every direction and pounding against the main body of the cruise ship.

“Bang!”

“Bang, bang!”

“Bang, bang, bang!”

Everyone else cooperated with Duan Yuchen, feeding the fire and blocking the seawater that seeped in because of the hammering, creating a suitable forging environment for him.

“Crash—”

The seawater surged. After every strike, the cruise ship shook even more violently, teetering on the verge of collapse.

Eugene, who was steering the ship, concentrated with all his might, his face turning pale.

Ling Buchen, Qiong, and Wanrenzhan took out Blazing Fire Grass, crushed it, and sprinkled it little by little over the flames, maintaining their scorching temperature. The fire burning inside the ship made everyone uncomfortable.

Zhen Xing looked at He Yu, concern in his eyes.

As the person with the weakest physical constitution among them, He Yu sat on the control console and felt as though even the console itself was scorching hot. While controlling energy and helping Wanrenzhan melt the special material on the outer layer, he took out an Ice Flower and slowly chewed it.

Ice Flowers were medicinal plants that grew in freezing regions. They contained extremely abundant energy and were particularly suitable for an environment like this. As the Ice Flower entered his body, his burning-hot body finally felt slightly better.

In an environment like this, He Yu could only rely on one Ice Flower after another to endure it.

Eugene glanced sideways at him with some concern, then said softly, “You’re all busy forging the lifeboat. What about analyzing and deducing the truth? How are we supposed to break the cycle?”

Although the “He Yu” from the previous cycle had provided them with information—

What if that information had been erased?

And even if it had not been erased, they would still have to find whatever information had been left behind, wouldn’t they?

He Yu swallowed the Ice Flower and said calmly, “It’s fine. The me from the previous cycle will definitely have taken the circumstances of this cycle into account and sent the information directly to me.”

Eugene: “...”

—Fuck, wasn’t he way too confident?!

What if it hadn’t been sent?

Eugene desperately wanted to ask. He even wanted to grab He Yu by the shoulders and shake him, demanding to know why he was so confident.

But seeing how calm He Yu was, he restrained himself and focused on steering the ship.

 Five in the morning.

This was when they had expected the forging to end, but only after actually beginning did they understand just how difficult it was to “forge the outside from within while keeping it as close to its original form as possible, only allowing it to take shape at the very last instant”...

Duan Yuchen’s fingers were trembling. Every swing of his hammer was accompanied by heavy breathing, sweat pouring down him like rain.

Fortunately, they were close.

It was about to take shape!

Because they were forging the exterior, water was leaking into many places throughout the cruise ship. Looking up, they could see the bridge. Looking down, they could see He Yu and the others’ rooms...

Several floors had practically been opened into one another, showing just how severely the cruise ship’s interior had been corroded.

Zhen Xing and the others rushed back and forth between them, dragging anything they could find inside the cruise ship to block the black corrosive rain. Whenever they had nothing within reach, they swung their weapons and attacked the corrosive **.

They kept all the corrosive ** outside, creating a safe space for the people forging.

“Drip, drip—”

A great deal of corrosive ** still fell inside. Everyone was running themselves ragged. Those drops of black ** looked utterly despair-inducing, like “devils” capable of devouring anything, rampaging wherever they pleased.

Qiong took a deep breath, her expression somewhat grave. “The corrosive rain is extremely difficult to deal with. We really won’t be able to hold it back for long.”

Yuan Ze continued, “Which is why the lifeboat has to succeed.”

Zhante glanced at Duan Yuchen, his eyes filled with expectation and vulnerability, terrified of receiving an outcome he could not accept...

The lifeboat was their hope.

“Crash—”

The sound of the rain grew clearer ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) and clearer. The cruise ship shook violently, as though it would sink at any moment. Towering waves of black water battered the ship, making the already storm-tossed vessel look even more pitiful.

A massive wave crashed over it, nearly swallowing the entire cruise ship.

When the wave passed, the lonely, pitiful ship swayed helplessly.

—It could not hold on much longer.

In this environment, under circumstances this dangerous, Duan Yuchen and He Yu had to succeed.

Wanrenzhan nearly lost his footing amid the violent rocking. He immediately looked toward He Yu in concern and frowned. “Watch yourself. Be careful of the corrosive rain.”

He Yu nodded, then slowly withdrew the hand he had been using to control the energy and swallowed the Ice Flower.

Seeing him stop, Eugene, who was steering beside him, immediately asked, “How is it?”

He Yu opened his mouth, his voice hoarse. “Only the finishing step remains. Duan Yuchen has to do this part alone.”

Before this, He Yu could help Duan Yuchen alter the cruise ship’s outer shell and complete the forging process, but the final step of “taking shape” could only be done by one person.

They had only one chance.

They could only succeed. They could not fail.

Eugene’s heart leaped into his throat once again.

He Yu raised his head and glanced upward, then withdrew his gaze, his voice calm. “He’ll succeed. Eugene, prepare to move the control console. The instant the ship takes shape, we’ll immediately bring the control console into the lifeboat.”

Tang Ke walked over. “So next, we need to prepare to act?”

At those words, Zhen Xing, Ling Buchen, Wanrenzhan, and the others all tightened their grips on their weapons. Their entire bodies tensed, as though preparing to enter battle at any moment and stake their lives on a single desperate strike.

Zhante raised his voice. “How do we circulate the energy?”

He Yu jumped down from the control console, swallowed the last mouthful of Ice Flower, and raised a hand to push up his glasses. His hoarse voice improved slightly. “Everyone, get ready. In a moment, you’ll need to stand in the positions we designated. Our coordination has to be flawless. Make sure—”

His voice abruptly cut off.

A sharp knife pressed against He Yu’s neck. Its pointed tip instantly sliced through his skin, and blood poured out in a wide stream. At the same time, a hand clamped around his neck, two fingers tightly pinching his windpipe.

With the slightest application of force, He Yu would die!

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!