The hydraulic screech that terminated Anton’s taunting message resonated in the auxiliary’s confined berth, brutally sliced through Pierre’s stabilization field, and amplified the blare of the external tactical alarm. Jean Valéry, standing at the precipice of his most complex transmutation yet, instantly recognized the catastrophic cascade of failures: Anton had successfully breached the deep dock perimeter and—far more damning—had used a Cartel hacking device to transmit a powerful, traceable Transmutation signature, effectively pointing a giant arrow at the auxiliary and the Emas Obsidium bubbling violently in its beaker.“The Italian fleet and Neptunus Command knew we were here! That sonar ping was them coordinating a surface attack!” Jean yelled, spinning away from the hyper-volatile distillation beaker. The Emas Obsidium, still incomplete, threatened to destabilize and explode under the sonic vibrations. "Pierre! Counter-hack! Shut down that frequency immediately! Gaston! Lucie!

“—run! Or sink with this Arsenal!”The shriek of Italian artillery fire tore through the upper levels of the dry dock complex, immediately followed by the guttural crack of secondary explosions that splintered concrete and twisted rebar. Jean Valéry felt the devastating pressure wave slam into him, throwing his already calcified body against the damp, cold floor of the emptied Arsenal. His vision swam with metallic green flashes as his Elixir-depleted limbs seized, protesting the complete expenditure of his energy. He had converted the entire Atlantean armory—the legacy of thousands of years—into inert, harmless salt, severing its dark power from all who sought to wield it. It was a victory, but one bought at the ultimate price.“BOSS!” Lucie’s voice, thick with desperation, shrieked through his earpiece, only to be swallowed by a burst of static from the exploding shells above. “ARE YOU ALRIGHT? Pierre, contact him! Gaston! Quick, flip the hull!”Jean tried to push himself up, but hi

The blinding white beam, pure and elemental-nullifying, struck with an impossible, silent force, instantly devouring the vast, shimmering surface of Jean Valéry’s Anti-Transmutation Coral battleship. All of Jean's active Transmutation—the hard-won Coral defenses and the Obsidium Gold core itself—flickered into absolute stillness, neutralized by a power that defied all known alchemy. Jean felt his body go cold, his Elixir-core screaming its final, desperate protest, not in pain, but in silent cessation. The pervasive calm of cosmic nullification washed over him, inviting absolute silence.Just as he prepared to embrace the icy grip of inevitable Calcination, the full force of Kraken’s psychic scream ripped through the alien void. It wasn't a roar of battle, but a primal shriek of agony that transcended mere sound, reverberating through Jean’s neutralized Elixir-core, vibrating every crystal within him.“KRAKEN! NO!” Jean Valéry bellowed, his voice raw, clawing his way back from the edg

—A shriek tore through the auxiliary’s confines, not from Anton, but from the massive slab of slag. Jean Valéry's vision swam. He expected total cessation, dissolution into non-existence. Instead, the blinding white alien beam struck his Anti-Transmutation Coral Battleship, its force ripping through his very being, not in destruction, but in a profound *reversal*. His Calcination Elixir, surging to finish its work, met an elemental null, and both fought for dominance within his failing core. It wasn't death. It was a shattering rebirth.“Gaaah!” Jean roared, a primal sound of agonizing metamorphosis. His body seized. The alchemy-pure blood from his nose solidified mid-air, crystallizing into minuscule, rainbow-hued dust. His vision exploded, not with blinding light, but with an incomprehensible flood of raw, unmediated data. He saw the world, the universe, not as elements or matter, but as interconnected, vibrating *frequencies*. The alien craft above was not metal; it was a complex s

—A silent, impossibly massive object, dark as the deepest void, appeared directly overhead the harbor—a gigantic, circular fleet of interlocked aircraft carriers. And a single signal, pure and utterly devoid of Elixir, emanated from its center, instantly neutralizing all of Jean’s active Transmutation on the Anti-Transmutation Reef Battleship. All of it.Jean Valéry felt the profound, chilling pressure of the ultimate negation. His mind, still vibrating with the overwhelming data flow from his recent chaotic rebirth, instantly began cataloging the new threat. It was elemental cancellation on a cosmic scale, a silent void that rejected all known forms of elemental manipulation, whether the dark purity of the Sea Calcination Elixir or the complex synthesis of his own RAKT core.“NOOO!” Anton’s shriek echoed up from the dock, the high-frequency panic making his words almost unbearable. “That is our true enemy, Jean! It’s aliens! It’s the… Death Star Armada! We’re going to die!”The colos