Chapter 144: Red, Red Curios

Chapter 144: Red, Red Curios



As time passed, countless winged tiger-headed insects quickly closed in on the Celestial Vessel. Although the electromagnetic thunder cannon was a powerful area-of-effect weapon, it was still overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.

Seeing this, Song Chi could only slowly lower the Celestial Vessel, heading toward the second layer of the ruins.

Even at this moment, he had not the slightest thought of giving up. The root of his determination lay in the third-stage insect queen, which was several kilometers away.

Regardless of the reason why it couldn't or wouldn't leave the crystal box, this gave Song Chi and the Celestial Vessel a significant operational advantage.

If the insect queen could move freely within the ruins, even without her swarm, Song Chi would have no chance of dealing with her.

This situation was different from the last time he faced the third-stage peak sandworm. Not only did the insect queen have a far more resilient purple crystal skin compared to the sandworm's steel-like hide, but the confined space of the ruins also limited the Celestial Vessel's greatest strength.

Over a month ago, he was able to engage the sandworm because the Celestial Vessel could maintain a safe distance at heights of a thousand meters or more, relying on the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator for defense.

However, in the ruins, the Celestial Vessel couldn't maintain such a distance from the insect queen. A single collision with her massive form could be catastrophic.

Huff!

Pushing these thoughts aside, Song Chi focused. The fact that the insect queen couldn't leave the crystal box and that he had significant operational space was enough.

Descending, the Celestial Vessel soon passed through the spatial barrier and returned to the second layer of the ruins. As expected, the insect queen, though unable to leave the crystal box, was already enraged by the damage and pain inflicted by the Celestial Vessel.

Thus, the thousands of winged tiger-headed insects, following her commands, relentlessly pursued the Celestial Vessel into the second layer, intent on devouring it completely.

Seeing this, Song Chi's smile grew wider. He continued to maneuver the Celestial Vessel toward the first layer while adjusting the cannon to attack the pursuing insects.

The winged tiger-headed insects followed the Celestial Vessel out of the ruins and into the desert beyond. Song Chi then directed the vessel deeper into the sandy expanse.

The insect queen, despite her powerful mental abilities, couldn't perceive the exact environment of her swarm. Her command was simple: chase and destroy the Celestial Vessel.

Song Chi used this to his advantage, keeping the Celestial Vessel in a state of constant movement, always visible to the pursuing insects. Then, a sandstorm with a diameter of several hundred meters appeared ahead.

Seeing the massive sandstorm, which was over six hundred meters in diameter and had a force field extending five kilometers, Song Chi smiled.

Under his control, the Celestial Vessel did not stop or change direction but charged straight into the sandstorm.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

As it entered the second-stage peak sandstorm, the Celestial Vessel began to shake violently. Even with the third-stage Shadow Anti-Matter Hyperdrive Engine, it struggled to maintain stability, highlighting the storm's immense power.

But Song Chi paid no heed, focusing instead on the insects behind him. Soon, his smile grew even wider.

As expected, the over twenty thousand winged tiger-headed insects followed the Celestial Vessel into the sandstorm. At their lower stages, they stood no chance against the second-stage peak storm.

One by one, the insects were sucked into the storm's eye, torn apart by the violent forces.

With his objective achieved, Song Chi didn't linger. Using the powerful thrust provided by the Shadow Anti-Matter Hyperdrive Engine and the Phantom Thrusters, he quickly broke free from the sandstorm's force field.

Looking around, only a few hundred lucky insects remained. They were quickly eliminated by the electromagnetic thunder cannon.

Seeing over twenty thousand first and second-stage insects decimated in such a short time, Song Chi marveled at the power of nature. Without the sandstorm, the Celestial Vessel would have taken much longer to deal with the insects.

Putting that aside, the thought of the crystal box in the third layer and the high-tier star sea curios it might contain rekindled his determination. He re-entered the ruins, returning to the third layer.

In the third layer of the ruins, the previously recalled Big Bee drone was released again. Once it confirmed that the third layer was mostly clear of the winged tiger-headed insects, the Celestial Vessel quickly passed through the spatial barrier and returned to the third layer.

Hiss!

Seeing the Celestial Vessel, the insect queen instinctively hissed. At her command, the remaining twenty thousand spitter insects began to spray corrosive acid.

But Song Chi was much more confident now. Without the winged tiger-headed insects that could chew through the vessel's hull, he was not afraid of the acid attacks.

The Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator of the third-class level had a shield value exceeding four million, with a defense rating of over ten thousand. The first-class Spatter Bugs were unable to penetrate this formidable defense, and even the relatively few second-class Spatter Bugs could not break through the Dark Matter Energy Shield.

Ignoring the dense attacks from below, Song Chi focused only a small portion of his attention on evasive maneuvers, while the majority of his concentration remained on the third-class Bug Queen.

With each shot from the Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon, the wound on the Bug Queen's head expanded to over thirty meters, and the massive loss of thick, purple blood began to weaken the thousand-meter-long behemoth. Her roars had significantly weakened, and her head now lay limply on the rocky ground.

Seeing this, Song Chi remained unperturbed. He kept the Sky Vault suspended above the entrance between the second and third layers, relentlessly firing the Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon.

His strategy was simple: regardless of whether the Bug Queen was truly weakened, he would not risk bringing the Sky Vault closer. With over twenty hours left before the next return, he had ample time. Rather than taking risks, he preferred to use long-range attacks to wear her down gradually.

Perhaps realizing that Song Chi was not falling for her tricks, or perhaps suppressing her own weakness, the Bug Queen soon underwent another transformation. A burst of intense purple light flashed, and more eggs were expelled from her body.

This time, her already shrunken abdomen became even more deflated, but she produced a staggering million eggs.

Seeing this, Song Chi ignored the Spatter Bugs below and turned the Electromagnetic Lightning Cannon to swiftly clear the dense cluster of eggs.

As the Sky Vault mercilessly destroyed her offspring before her eyes, the Bug Queen opened her mouth, revealing a row of menacing fangs.

Song Chi initially thought she was about to roar and issue commands, but he was wrong.

A brilliant purple beam shot rapidly from her mouth, aiming straight for the Sky Vault.

This purple beam was incredibly fast, comparable to the Mixed Hole Supreme Yang Sword Intent Light the Sky Vault had previously emitted.

Fortunately, Song Chi remained vigilant and never underestimated the Bug Queen. At the critical moment, he entered the Limit-Breaking state and made a slight adjustment to the Sky Vault's trajectory.

This small adjustment was enough to make the beam strike the side of the Sky Vault, reducing its impact by about half.

Checking the Dark Matter Energy Shield's value, Song Chi's breath caught.

The shield value, initially over four million, had dropped to just over one and a half million. If he hadn't used the Limit-Breaking state to make those micro-adjustments, the Dark Matter Energy Shield would have likely overloaded.

After the initial shock, a smile returned to Song Chi's face. He was now almost certain that the Bug Queen was indeed weakened.

The previous purple beam seemed to have cost her a significant amount of energy. After that attack, the purple crystalline skin on her body noticeably dulled.

If the previous skin was like the soft, tender skin of a young girl, it now resembled the dry, wrinkled skin of an eighty-year-old woman, making the difference immediately apparent.

In the control room, Song Chi narrowed his eyes but did not move closer. A third-class entity, especially a renowned Bug Queen of the Shattered Star Seas, was not to be underestimated. Who knew what other tricks she might have up her sleeve?

The previous purple beam had nearly overloaded the Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator. Another such attack could mean his permanent stay here.

Continuing to clear the eggs with the Electromagnetic Lightning Cannon, after about ten minutes, even with Song Chi's full firepower, several thousand more bugs appeared in the third layer, adding to the tens of thousands of Spatter Bugs already present. Now, the third layer of the ruins was teeming with nearly a hundred thousand bugs.

Seeing the space almost entirely filled with bugs, Song Chi frowned but did not consider retreating.

Apart from the initial twenty thousand Spatter Bugs, the newly hatched bugs were mostly zero-class and posed no significant threat to the Sky Vault.

If the Bug Queen were to release the remaining energy in her body again...

Glancing at her now severely deflated body, Song Chi smiled softly. If she did so again, the Bug Queen would likely fall into a deep slumber or at least an extremely weakened state, which was exactly what he wanted.

Inside the Sky Vault, Song Chi was curious about the Bug Queen's next move. The secondary cannons continued to target the zero-class Double-Winged Tiger-Head Bugs, while the main cannon focused on the Bug Queen's body.

After several dozen seconds, the Bug Queen made an unexpected decision. She chose to release the remaining energy in her body.

"There are no other energy sources in this ruins. If she empties her energy, how will she sustain her massive body? Is she just waiting to die?"

Song Chi was full of questions, but the nearly hundred thousand bugs did not give him much time to think. As the energy from the Bug Queen's body began to spread, the tens of thousands of bugs began to evolve once more.

Song Chi felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the countless twin-winged tiger-headed insects densely packed above the third level of the Celestial Ark Ruins. He steadied his nerves and, using a familiar tactic, maneuvered the Sky Ark swiftly back to the second level of the ruins.

To his surprise, the twin-winged tiger-headed insects did not follow this time. As a third-stage life form, the insect queen naturally possessed considerable intelligence. Having learned from the previous encounter, she no longer ordered the twin-winged tiger-headed insects to chase the Sky Ark. Instead, she instructed them to defend the third level.

Seeing that his strategy had failed, Song Chi's face darkened. With tens of thousands of insects guarding the third level, the danger of the Sky Ark ascending again would increase exponentially. However, he was loath to give up.

While the spatial anchor of the market allowed him to return a month later if this attempt failed, the problem was that the repulsion field on the third level had already been cleared by him. The twin-winged tiger-headed insects could now move freely, and with the insect queen's intelligence, she could command them to search for resources over the next month and bring them back to aid her recovery.

Moreover, whether the insect queen could leave the ruins was still unknown. His previous assumptions were just that—assumptions. If she could indeed leave, and given her attitude toward the crystal box, she would surely take it with her. If that happened, all his efforts would be for naught. Despite the crystal box's strong defenses, it could not withstand the relentless attacks of countless insects.

With this in mind, Song Chi's gaze grew resolute. His mind raced, pondering ways to overcome the current situation.

...

Several hours later, the Sky Ark, which had been quietly hovering in the second level of the ruins, began to move again. The ship's prow began to gather the sword intent divine light.

Indeed, after six hours of recharging, the Mixed Void Yang Sword Intent Divine Light had fully restored. This was the strategy Song Chi had decided upon after much deliberation.

Since the insect queen had resolved to defend, his only option was to swiftly eliminate her when the Sky Ark ascended to the third level again. Without her command, the nearly one hundred thousand insects would follow their instincts and chase the Sky Ark. Then, he could repeat his previous tactic, using the sandstorm outside to eliminate the tens of thousands of twin-winged tiger-headed insects.

As for the remaining splash insects, the dark matter energy shield, which had fully recharged, would be sufficient to withstand the attacks until the electromagnetic thunderlight cannon cleared them all.

Thirteen seconds later, as the Mixed Void Yang Sword Intent Divine Light completed its final charge, the already poised Bumblebee drones suddenly launched.

The moment they breached the spatial curtain above, Song Chi's neural beacon immediately failed.

It was clear that the insects above the spatial curtain had immediately detected the ascending Bumblebee drones.

However, Song Chi was not surprised; instead, a fierce glint appeared in his eyes. The Sky Ark's engines roared to life, propelling the ship upward.

Pop!

As the Sky Ark breached the spatial curtain and reappeared in the third level of the ruins, it was met with a barrage of attacks, as expected.

Corrosive acid rained down on the dark matter energy shield, creating a loud sizzling sound.

The twin-winged tiger-headed insects swarmed the ship, and some of the acid inevitably hit them, causing small black wounds on their bodies. Despite this, they charged at the Sky Ark as if driven mad.

Soon, countless twin-winged tiger-headed insects penetrated the outer dark matter energy shield and clung to the ship's armor, their tiger-like jaws gnawing at the Starlight V alloy armor.

Inside the Sky Ark, the semi-automatic ship AI repeatedly issued warnings.

Warning: Hull armor damaged 8%, please repair promptly!

Warning: Hull armor damaged 16%, hull damaged 3%, please repair promptly!

Warning: Hull armor damaged 30%, hull damaged 9%, please repair as soon as possible!

In just a moment, the Sky Ark's Starlight V alloy armor had sustained 30% damage, and the hull itself was nearly 10% damaged.

This demonstrated the terrifying nature of the twin-winged tiger-headed insects' jaws.

However, Song Chi paid no heed. Once the hundred-meter-long sword intent divine light had fully formed at the prow, he aimed the Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon at a specific direction and fired.

A second later, a powerful energy shockwave erupted in the third level, accompanied by a sharp, piercing scream.

As expected, the source of the scream was the insect queen.

He had not fired randomly. Although the insect queen seemed confined to the area around the crystal box, any slight movement on her part would make it difficult to precisely target the large gap on her head. With the Sky Ark surrounded by countless twin-winged tiger-headed insects, Song Chi had fired almost blindly.

The reason he was able to hit the insect queen so accurately, even the gap on its head, was because he had used the big hornet drone to pinpoint the queen's exact location beforehand. If not for that, why would he have risked losing a drone for nothing?

After the strike, Song Chi didn't dare to wait around for the results. The Celestial Dome was in no condition to linger.

Warning: Hull armor damaged by 50%, hull integrity compromised by 18%. Immediate repairs required!

Hearing the urgent warning, Song Chi quickly maneuvered the Celestial Dome into a rapid descent, returning to the second level of the ruins. However, the bad news was that even after the Celestial Dome returned to the second level, many of the winged tiger-headed insects followed.

Those that had already attached themselves to the hull continued to gnaw at the Starlight V alloy armor without pause.

Warning: Hull armor damaged by 52%, hull integrity compromised by 19%. Immediate repairs required!

Hearing the repeated warning, Song Chi quickly used the electromagnetic lightning cannon to clear the winged tiger-headed insects from the hull while activating the Healing Fruit component on the ship.

A white glow enveloped the entire hull, and the damaged armor, which had been more than half destroyed, was mostly repaired, along with the hull itself.

Hull repair in progress: Hull armor repaired by 25%, current damage at 27%. Hull repaired by 10%, current damage at 9%. Immediate comprehensive repairs required!

Song Chi felt a slight relief. Given the current situation, the Celestial Dome should be safe for the short term.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With each strike from the electromagnetic lightning cannon and the added effect of lightning arcs, it didn't take long to clear all the winged tiger-headed insects from the hull, and to kill the hundreds that had followed down.

At that moment, Song Chi's eyes snapped open, and his heart raced.

Just now, the Celestial Dome had received a trace of a third-stage Floating Land Essence.

Yes, a third-stage Floating Land Essence, not a second-stage.

This meant not only that the insect queen above was completely dead, but also that, like the queen in the second level of the ruins, its remaining stage was not its peak strength. This third-stage insect queen was, at some unknown time in the past, a fourth-stage entity.

Realizing this, Song Chi's excitement suddenly paused, and he regretfully slapped his forehead.

Although he had suspected that the insect queen might have been a higher-stage entity when he first saw it, he couldn't be sure. After all, it hadn't built a hibernation nest, leaving him no way to determine its true strength.

If he had known it was a fourth-stage entity at its peak, he would have immediately upgraded the Celestial Dome's Ember Hull to Level 19 and initiated the warship advancement task. A fourth-stage insect queen would have provided at least a 10% success rate for the Celestial Dome's advancement.

"Ah, what a pity!"

After a small sigh, Song Chi quickly regained his composure.

Although it was a bit regrettable, he didn't dwell on it. With his current resources and the help of the Marketplace of All Realms, he could ensure a high success rate for the second-stage advancement, if not 100%. Even if he failed, he could use his gold merit points to exchange for resources that would shorten the recovery time of the Ember Seed. Once the recovery period was over, he could quickly upgrade his newly bound Ember Warship to the first stage and have a second chance at the second-stage advancement.

As he thought, ripples began to spread from the spatial barrier above.

As Song Chi had predicted, after the death of the third-stage insect queen, the ordinary insectoids became like headless flies, moving aimlessly without any threat.

With this in mind, he focused his gaze and ignored the scattered insectoids pouring down from the spatial barrier, instead maneuvering the Celestial Dome slowly upward.

A few seconds later, the Celestial Dome re-emerged in front of the countless headless flies. The moment it appeared, it was like lighting a powder keg; the insectoids, which had been madly scurrying around, suddenly turned their attention to the Celestial Dome.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

Countless winged tiger-headed insects flew over, completely covering the main control room's projection screen.

Seeing his goal achieved, Song Chi didn't linger and quickly descended back to the second level of the ruins.

This time, without the insect queen's restraint, the dense swarm of winged tiger-headed insects followed from the spatial barrier above.

Seeing this, the Celestial Dome quickly headed toward the entrance connecting the first and second levels.

Soon, using the same tactic, Song Chi once again lured tens of thousands of winged tiger-headed insects out of the ruins and into the depths of the desert.

This time, he chose a larger Storm Eye than before. There were simply too many winged tiger-headed insects, and he was afraid a smaller Storm Eye wouldn't be able to handle them.

In less than half an hour, over forty thousand first- and second-stage winged tiger-headed insects were completely annihilated in the Storm Eye.

Song Chi sighed lightly. It was a pity that the numerous corpses of the winged tiger-headed insects were all gone. Even if they didn't have energy crystals, the sheer number of first- and second-stage insectoids, with their valuable meat, would have been worth a lot.

After a brief sigh, the Vast Sky sailed swiftly back into the ruins. Although it was a pity to leave the insectoid flesh behind, the essence of the Tier 4 energy-infused insect queen and the crystal box in the third layer of the ruins were far more valuable.

In the second layer of the ruins, thousands upon thousands of insectoids had already appeared. When the Vast Sky had poked its head into the third layer, it had not only attracted the winged tiger-headed insects but also a significant number of spitting insects.

Song Chi naturally used the electromagnetic lightning cannon to kill the spitting insects outright.

Leaving them alone?

That was out of the question. There were at least thirty thousand spitting insects in the ruins, and the corpses of thirty thousand first or second-tier insectoids were no small matter. Even if each corpse only yielded a pound of insectoid flesh, that would still amount to thirty thousand pounds of insectoid flesh. While first-tier insectoid flesh had little effect on him now, it was an excellent aid for Song Ting, Song Bo, and Song Shishi, who had yet to awaken their abilities.

From another perspective, even if he exchanged all the first-tier insectoid flesh for the clan, it could likely earn him tens of thousands of merit points.

Of course, ordinary merit points or gold merit points were out of the question unless he was willing to exchange the Tier 4 energy-infused insect queen's flesh, which could possibly earn him gold merit points. However, Song Chi clearly had no intention of doing so.

Instead, he preferred to use the insect queen's flesh to enhance his guiding technique.

With the threat of the winged tiger-headed insects eliminated, the spitting insects were no longer a concern for Song Chi. In less than half an hour, he had cleared out all the spitting insects in the second layer.

Without rushing to collect the insectoid corpses, Song Chi continued to guide the Vast Sky into the third layer of the ruins.

As expected, the crystal box was in sight, and the Tier 3 insect queen was now lifeless. However, the third layer still contained tens of thousands of spitting insects and a few hundred winged tiger-headed insects.

After nearly two hours, the third layer was also cleared of all insectoids. To Song Chi, the countless insectoid corpses were nothing but blocks of flesh.

Humming softly, the Vast Sky slowly flew above the crystal box. Having confirmed the acquisition of the Tier 3 Floating Land Essence, Song Chi no longer worried about the insect queen faking death.

Crack!

The Vast Sky's hatch opened, and ten Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Drones, each equipped with cutting tools, jumped down to begin cutting the now shriveled insect queen's corpse.

Although he was eager to open the crystal box below, he decided to let the Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Drones handle the corpse first to prevent the Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon from damaging it.

Even though the insect queen's purple crystal skin was incredibly resilient, his concern was mostly unfounded. However, the value of the insect queen's corpse was too high for Song Chi to take any risks.

Aside from the insect queen's flesh and the possible energy crystals, the purple crystal skin alone was worth more than ordinary purple rarities.

According to his knowledge, the purple crystal skin from an insect queen could be used to create a bio-skin battle armor. This was especially true for the peak Tier 4 purple crystal skin.

The bio-skin battle armor not only provided far superior defense compared to ordinary exoskeletons or alloy battle armor but was also as flexible as regular clothing, allowing the Flame Fleet captain to maintain their agility.

This quasi-Tier 4 purple crystal skin battle armor could likely withstand most attacks below Tier 4, making it a dream for all Flame Fleet captains.

However, the high defense of the quasi-Tier 4 purple crystal skin also made it extremely difficult to cut. Even with advanced alloy cutting tools, the Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Drones took nearly four hours to completely strip the insect queen's purple crystal skin.

Once the purple crystal skin was removed, the rest was straightforward. The ten Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Drones quickly extracted 100 kilograms of insect queen's flesh from the corpse. Unfortunately, they did not find any energy crystals.

Carefully storing the 100 kilograms of insect queen's flesh in the Marketplace Secret Realm, Song Chi finally turned his attention to the crystal box below.

Under the continuous bombardment of the Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon, it took two hours to shatter the crystal box.

The moment it broke, Song Chi's heart skipped a beat, and his breathing halted. His eyes were fixed on the scene below.

For as soon as the crystal box shattered, a blinding red light emanated from within.

Yes, red light. Rubbing his eyes to confirm he was not mistaken, Song Chi's heart began to race like a drum, pounding wildly.

What did the red light signify?

It signified that the crystal box had contained an epic-level star sea rarity.

Orange for glory, red for epic...

In other words, there was an epic-level star sea rarity even more valuable than orange quality below.

"It has to be an epic rarity that can be converted into a ship component!"

At that moment, Song Chi's inner voice roared.

PS: This chapter is 8,200 words, with 4,000 words added due to last month's monthly ticket bonuses!

Yes... please continue to vote for monthly tickets!!!

(You can guess what type of rarity it is.)

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end