Another rumbling thunderclap rang out, and the entire sky was instantly illuminated into a dark purple color.

All of a sudden, a pillar of water suddenly rose up into the air, instantly plunging into the dark clouds up above to connect the ocean and the dark clouds.

Chen Xinjie was greatly alarmed to see this. This was a cyclone that was brewing over the ocean, otherwise known as a waterspout. They were extremely rare, but possessed extremely potent destructive power of both wind and water.

Even more damning was the psychological impact of witnessing such a devastating natural phenomenon.

Immediately thereafter, another waterspout appeared, followed by another, then one more, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, at least several dozens of waterspouts had appeared around the fleet. The entire ocean had been stirred up into a violent frenzy, and waves were rising to over 100 meters tall, as if they were being drawn upward by the heavens.

The entire fleet was being tossed around violently, but thankfully, all of the ships were interconnected to form a massive structure that managed to maintain temporary stability even in the face of such fearsome conditions.

Chen Xinjie's expression had already darkened significantly at this point, and he was issuing one order after another. Human technology was able to destroy the power of nature, but not control it, and the ocean was undoubtedly the most enormous source of power in nature, so all they could do was adopt a passive stance and weather the storm.

At the same time, they had to search for the instigator behind these weather phenomena. No matter who it was, they had to have an objective. Were they trying to defeat the entire federal fleet through these weather phenomena alone? That was clearly impossible.

All of the waterspouts began to converge in a doomsday-like scenario, sweeping up colossal waves that were hundreds of meters tall, all of which crashed viciously against the interconnected fleets.

Many of the smaller ships were completely submerged underwater before resurfacing thanks to their connections with larger ships. As the waterspouts wreaked havoc on the surrounding ocean, all of the members of the fleet could only stay in their cabins and hold onto something firm to steady themselves. Thankfully, all of the cabins had a waterproofing function. Otherwise, they would've been entirely waterlogged by the massive waves already.

This was the power of nature.

Chen Xinjie continued to hover in mid-air, and neither the seawater nor the lightning was able to get close to him. In the face of the ferocious water spouts and gargantuan waves, the interconnected fleets were being thrown around like a small raft, tumbling up and down without any semblance of control.

However, Chen Xinjie could sense that the giant waves were taking the fleet rapidly toward a certain direction. Under such extraordinary conditions, none of the radars were going to be able to function, so they could only recalibrate and calculate their location after the storm passed.

Even though all of the members of the fleets had spent most of their lives out at sea, they had never encountered such a devastating situation, and many of them were beginning to develop symptoms of seasickness.

The only thing that was saving the three fleets from being completely capsized was their interconnection system. Otherwise, they would all be in severe trouble, particularly the smaller ships among the fleets.

Generally speaking, a storm would normally abate as quickly as it arrived, but this storm was displaying no signs of subsiding. Instead, it was only becoming more and more ferocious.

The violent tumbling of the ships was extremely taxing on the energy reserves of the members of the fleet, yet they had to maintain a high level of concentration so they didn't miss any orders from Chen Xinjie. The entire federal fleet was in a state of complete chaos.

The rain was pelting down from the heavens in waves rather than droplets, and the rainwater was extremely rank and salty, clearly an indication that this was the seawater that was falling after being drawn up into the sky.

The enormous volume of water crashing down from the heavens had reduced visibility to close to zero, and even Chen Xinjie was forced to return to his aircraft carrier.

In the control center, Chen Xinjie sat in his chair without a single drop of rain on his body, but he wore an expression of thunderous fury.

A major general advisor who was also a member of the Battle God Hall approached him, and asked, "Hall Master, what should we do now?"

Even though the control center was also swaying violently, he stood firmly on the ground as if he had been nailed into the floor.

"We wait," Chen Xinjie replied.

Regardless of who it was that had instigated this storm, there was no way that they could keep this up for long. Weathering the storm was indeed going to be quite exhausting for the members of the federal fleet, but they weren't actually in any substantial danger. Unless the sky were to literally fall down onto the fleet, the interconnection system would allow it to weather any storm.

The advisor gave an affirmative response before falling silent, while Chen Xinjie pondered the situation with tightly furrowed brows.

It was clear that their voyage to the Star Luo Empire would have to be delayed. Following such a devastating storm, the members of the fleet needed time to rest and recuperate, and the ships also had to be examined for damage.

Without any leads to investigate, all they could do was wait. Even with his immense individual powers, there was nothing he could do in this situation.

......

In the Star Luo Empire.

"What?" Dai Tianling shuddered as he immediately rose to his feet.

The sight of the Holy Spirit Douluo had struck him with a momentary sense of entrancement. She was so beautiful and pristine; she was like an angel who had descended from the heavens.

He was well aware of the fact that she was a Limit Douluo who was over 100 years old, but he still couldn't help but be enraptured by her beauty. However, when he heard what the Holy Spirit Douluo had to say, he had been stunned to the point of springing right out of his throne.

Even though they knew that the federal military would be deployed soon and they had constantly been making preparations, they didn't think that the war would arrive this quickly.

The enemy was already mere days away from them, but they were completely oblivious. According to the Holy Spirit Douluo, the united federal fleet would arrive at the Star Luo Empire in three days at most. The Star Luo Empire was roughly aware of just how powerful the three fleets were, and even though the Star Luo Empire was also quite powerful in itself, he knew that they were still no match for the prowess of the federal fleet.

The enemy had suddenly arrived, yet they still weren't prepared; this was a massive issue! If they couldn't take the correct measures here, then the entire empire could fall in a very short time!

Dai Tianling took a deep breath to repress the overwhelming sense of horror in his heart, and he immediately turned to the servant beside him. "Issue an order for all of the officials of the empire to gather for a conference right away; we need to address this situation immediately. We've already begun to set up the weapons given to us by the Tang Sect, but there's no way we'll be able to set everything up in three days! The delivery and installation processes all require time! Holy Spirit Douluo, does Sect Master Tang have any ideas? Would you be able to stay here to assist us?"

Dai Tianling was truly beginning to panic, and he had completely forgotten the matter about Tang Wulin and his own daughter; nothing was more important now than saving the empire!

Yali shook her head with her brows furrowed slightly. "My apologies, Your Majesty, but I must get back to them right away. Wulin told me to tell you that he's going to do his best to delay the arrival of the federal fleet. As for how long he'll be able to delay them for, that's really hard to say. I have to go back and help him; the only thing you can do now is to make preparations as quickly as possible, and also contact the Dou Spirit Empire so they can make preparations as well."