I've already reached the Nascent Soul stage, and you're saying I didn't time travel?

Chapter 78 Expansion! Expansion!
over the Pacific Ocean.

Inside the business class of a Boeing 787.

A middle-aged woman sitting in a thick chair couldn't help but complain:

"Back then, it only took me eleven hours to fly from Daqian to Lighthouse."

"Now that we're still taking the Pacific route, the return trip takes fifteen hours. Don't you think that's a lot longer?"

Upon hearing this, a flight attendant nearby couldn't help but laugh and reply:

"Madam, this is actually quite easy to explain. Flight time, flight path, and wind speed are all closely related."

Under normal circumstances, when you fly from Daqian to Lighthouse, you will pass through the prevailing westerly wind belt, and flying westward with the tailwind will result in a faster speed.

Conversely, flying eastward requires facing headwinds, which naturally lengthens the return journey.

Not to mention that in the past, there was no interference from floating continents when flying the Pacific route.

Now that this floating landmass has appeared out of nowhere, many shipping routes will have to be adjusted.

To save time, we flew as close as possible to the floating continent.

If you choose those longer, roundabout routes, the journey could take more than fifteen hours.

"A floating continent?"

The middle-aged woman frowned and looked out the window, then asked curiously:
"Has this floating continent always remained suspended in the air without moving?"

"Of course," the flight attendant said with a smile. "If it could move, it would have moved long ago. How could it have waited until now?"

"But why do I feel like that fog is getting closer and closer to us?"

"Getting closer and closer?"

The flight attendant raised an eyebrow, leaned forward to look out the window, and then stared in disbelief.

All the passengers who saw what was happening outside the window were shocked.

Because the enormous spherical fog in the distance was constantly expanding outwards and rapidly approaching them.

Through the thick fog, one could vaguely see the apocalyptic scene inside, filled with lightning and thunder.

"--No!"

Amidst piercing screams, the plane, which had made an emergency maneuver, was struck by the fog and instantly exploded into a dazzling cloud of fireworks.

Similar fireworks kept appearing in the airspace surrounding the fog, one after another exploding into flames.

Meanwhile, in the outermost airspace, countless captains who received the message urgently maneuvered their aircraft to return to their origin.

……

The sea area surrounding the floating continent.

Ships sped away at full throttle, fleeing frantically in a desperate attempt to escape.

These ships are observation vessels stationed nearby by officials and civilians from various countries. They were originally intended to continuously observe the floating continent, deploy various observation equipment, or replenish necessary supplies.

The fog cloud surrounding the floating continent suddenly began to expand outward. Although its altitude remained unchanged, hovering at over 10,000 meters, the rapid increase in volume and mass immediately caused significant gravitational disturbances, raising the local sea level by tens of meters and triggering unprecedented and terrifying tides, accompanied by a wide-ranging sea storm, which spread rapidly in all directions.

The fourth aircraft carrier, the island command center.

Commands roared out from the commander's mouth. Although the damage to various parts of the ship was dealt with in a timely manner, no one present dared to relax.

Upon noticing the change in the fog, they immediately relayed the message to all parties and began their escape at full speed.

However, the fog expanded too quickly, and the landing exploration teams from various countries that were closest to the fog were completely wiped out. Some passenger planes near the fog also exploded on the spot.

Even they, who were dozens of kilometers away from the floating continent when the incident occurred, are still unable to escape the crisis.

Nearly.

too close!
A massive, visible wave surged forth from behind, crashing in with overwhelming force.

Even though the entire aircraft carrier has a displacement of over 100,000 tons, in the face of the raging sea, it is still like a toy boat that a naughty child might casually paddle, and it could capsize completely at any moment.

Liu Wang sat in the shock-absorbing seat, his left hand fastening the four-point seatbelt. His body swayed from side to side from time to time, but he ignored the violent shaking and stared intently at the real-time panoramic image on the screen.

The image above clearly shows the scene behind the aircraft carrier: amidst towering waves, seven or eight ships from various countries are struggling in the surging tide.

Among them are large patrol vessels, frigates, destroyers, and even a superyacht with a displacement of 20,000 tons, the Arkham, the private yacht of Barack Barack, one of the world's richest men.

But at this moment, both private yachts and frigates appeared to be in grave danger amidst the raging waves.

A giant wave over thirty meters high crashed down, instantly cleaving the 166-meter-long Sejong the Great-class destroyer in two. The broken hull didn't even make a splash before disappearing into the surging waves.

Immediately afterward, another monstrous wave crashed in, and the 6,500-ton Mizuho-class patrol ship was flung through the air like a toy, slamming into the 20,000-ton superyacht and instantly shattering into countless fragments. The terrifying explosion didn't even have time to spread before it dissipated into the raging tide like a muffled fart.

More than half an hour later, the badly damaged No. 4 aircraft carrier was lucky enough to leave the danger zone, and a large number of damage control personnel were busy on board.

In the small conference room, Liu Wang was listening to the latest report:

"...As of now, the expansion of the fog has temporarily stopped. Based on various intelligence reports, this round of expansion should have ended here."

The expanded fog cloud still resembles a sphere overall, with its height remaining unchanged. Its lowest point is suspended more than 10,000 meters above sea level, and its radius has increased from more than 570 kilometers to nearly 980 kilometers.

According to rigorous calculations, the area of ​​the floating continent inside the fog has rapidly expanded from one million square kilometers to three million square kilometers.

We have reason to believe that this dramatic change is closely related to the collapse of the [Sun] within the floating continent, and may even be the only related factor.

Upon hearing Xiao Li's report, a leader below frowned and said:

"What exactly is the sun? Why can it cause a nearly three-fold change in mass? That's an entire continent, not some mud in a child's hand that can be changed at will."

Xiao Li said helplessly:
"Regarding this point, the experts are still discussing it and have not yet reached a suitable conclusion. However, everyone believes that this incident has deviated from the scope of basic science, or rather, since the emergence of the floating continent, it has been difficult to explain reasonably using the existing scientific system."

"If I remember correctly, there should be four [suns] on the floating continent in Qi Xuan's live stream, right?"

Liu Wang said in a deep voice.

Xiao Li nodded solemnly and said:
"You're right. In fact, there are not only four suns, but the one that was destroyed this time was only the smallest one."

What if the largest one was blown up?
Or maybe they all exploded?

...No one dared to imagine it.

Just as the atmosphere inside the room fell silent, a rapid ringing suddenly sounded.

Xiao Li quickly answered the phone.

The next second, his entire expression changed:
"What did you say? The floating continent is starting to collapse?!"

(End of this chapter)