Chapter 190: Spatial Wormholes, Law Scars, and Purple Spatial Expansion Components

Chapter 190: Spatial Wormholes, Law Scars, and Purple Spatial Expansion Components

A mere asteroid belt, and yet, five creatures of the semi-Fourth Rank have appeared. What does this mean?

It's worth noting that even the Soul Spirit Floating Land, which had just touched the threshold of the Fourth Rank, only had two semi-Fourth Rank creatures by the time the family's main lineage had fully taken control.

The Soul Spirit Floating Land, as a large floating land, far surpasses the environment of an asteroid belt, making the birth of high-rank creatures much more likely.

"Could it be that these humanoid aliens come from a Floating Land far beyond the Third Rank?"

"Or perhaps there's some rare resource behind that light curtain that can enhance the growth of creatures?"

For a moment, many thoughts raced through Song Chi's mind.

After calming down, he continued to ask many questions, but the answers he received were far from satisfactory.

In summary, this Third Rank humanoid alien held a low status in the alien base behind the light curtain and was largely ignorant of important matters. It seemed more like a tool used for capturing the creatures in the asteroid belt.

...

"Alright, go back and try it now!"

Seeing that he couldn't get any more useful information, Song Chi decided to have the alien serve as a carrier for a strand of his brainwave beacon to personally observe the area behind the light curtain.

"Yes, Master!"

Upon receiving Song Chi's command, the Third Rank humanoid alien quickly left the cage, exited the Celestial Sky, and pretended to be a returning clan member heading toward the distant light curtain. Of course, the act was complete, as it was also escorting a dozen or so First and Second Rank asteroid belt creatures that Song Chi had captured along the way, now put to good use.

...

Before the thousand-kilometer-wide light curtain, the Third Rank humanoid alien's figure soon vanished within.

Inside the Celestial Sky, a new scene appeared in Song Chi's mind, completely different from what he had imagined.

There were no scattered asteroids floating around. Instead, there was a massive asteroid, several hundred kilometers in diameter, quietly suspended at the center of the light curtain's interior.

This massive asteroid had some stone structures, forming the living quarters of the humanoid alien species.

However, what was strange was that the asteroid had clear seams, varying in length but spread across its entire surface.

At a glance, Song Chi could determine that this was not a naturally formed asteroid but one composed of countless small asteroids of varying sizes.

Based on what the Third Rank humanoid alien had said, the deep regions of their clan's territory likely referred to the interior of this massive asteroid, which was hollow and contained hidden spaces.

In that unknown space, there was a spatial passage connecting to an unfamiliar star domain and likely holding immense benefits or opportunities.

With this in mind, he issued a brainwave command:

"Try to go deeper into the clan's territory!"

Receiving his command, the Third Rank humanoid alien's surface energy surged, carrying itself and the surrounding dozen asteroid belt creatures toward the massive asteroid.

Rapidly descending, it soon landed on the asteroid's surface and headed toward the entrance to the deeper regions of the clan's territory.

The entrance to the deeper regions was a large, sloping cave, with a diameter of about tens of meters. However, before the Third Rank humanoid alien could go far, it was stopped by two other Third Rank aliens guarding the entrance.

"Cher, leave these aliens to us. You can return now!"

Upon hearing this, Cher didn't respond immediately, waiting for Song Chi's command.

After a moment's consideration, although Song Chi was extremely curious, he didn't act rashly and ordered Cher to temporarily leave.

Hundreds of thousands of meters away, Song Chi in the Celestial Sky waited quietly. He didn't have Cher take direct action because he needed to wait for the cooldown of the subsequent components of the brainwave remote control system.

The brainwave beacon was on Cher, and the subsequent actions clearly required more than just one Cher. After all, there were over forty Third Rank aliens in the base, not to mention the five semi-Fourth Rank humanoid aliens, so careful planning was necessary.

...

The next day, two uninvited guests quietly arrived outside the thousand-kilometer light curtain.

Roar!

The Thorned Dragon, with a wingspan of 1,500 meters, roared into the sky, spewing scorching dragon breath at the humanoid aliens entering and exiting the light curtain. Any Third Rank or lower humanoid alien caught in the dragon's breath was instantly incinerated to ashes.

Near the Thorned Dragon, Togu Hong, wielding the Azure Sky Splitting Spear, released a tremendous surge of blood energy from his body. The dark green spear tip continuously struck the surface of the light curtain, causing it to shake violently, as if it were about to shatter at any moment.

This sudden change naturally drew the attention of the humanoid aliens within the light curtain.

At the entrance to the clan's territory, two Third Rank humanoid aliens raised their heads to look at the sky. When they noticed the light curtain barrier was struggling to hold, they didn't hesitate.

Energy surged from their bodies, and in the next second, their figures vanished from their original positions, reappearing in the sky above the massive asteroid.

Accompanying them were several third-stage humanoid aliens, all of whom had either remained at the base or had just returned within the past two days.

Eight third-stage humanoid aliens burst through the light barrier one after another, their bodies rapidly expanding to reach a height of a kilometer in mere moments.

Seeing this, the Thorned Flying Dragon ceased its breath attack, and on the other side, Togu Hong’s body swelled as blood energy surged through him. With the activation of his "Ancestral Protection" ability, his aura soared to the peak of the third stage.

Thus, ten third-stage beings engaged in a chaotic battle, the intense fighting causing significant disturbances in the asteroid belt.

Over a hundred thousand meters away, the Azure Sky, hidden behind a kilometer-sized asteroid, remained completely silent, like an experienced hunter waiting for the perfect moment to strike the final blow.

In the main control room, Song Chi’s gaze was fixed on the projection screen, which displayed the battlefield of the ten third-stage beings. However, his eyes were not on the ten combatants but on the light barrier behind them.

Under the intense aftershocks of the battle, the light barrier, already weakened by Togu Hong’s attacks, grew increasingly dim, clearly on the verge of collapsing.

Noticing this, Song Chi’s mind raced, and he sent a mental command to Tser, instructing him to make his move.

Inside a simple stone building on the surface of the giant asteroid, Tser, who had been hiding on Song Chi’s orders, stepped out and quickly made his way toward the entrance of the clan’s territory.

At the entrance, a sloping tunnel several dozen meters wide, Tser dashed in without hesitation.

As he moved, subtle spatial ripples flashed behind him.

“Hiss!”

After passing through a not-so-long dark tunnel, Tser arrived inside the asteroid and drew in a sharp breath.

The space deep within the clan’s territory was far larger than he had imagined. Despite the asteroid’s diameter being no more than two hundred thousand meters, the space within was a staggering hundred thousand meters in length, width, and height.

In Tser’s memory, the clan’s territory was merely a chamber a few hundred meters in size, connected to a spatial tunnel leading to an unknown area. He had never imagined it would be such a vast, enclosed space.

Compared to Tser’s surprise, Song Chi, who was hundreds of thousands of meters away, was equally shocked.

While Tser was amazed by the vast space inside the asteroid, Song Chi was stunned by the enormous spatial vortex he saw deep within the space.

The spatial vortex was elliptical, not torn but more like a natural void passage. This was what startled Song Chi the most.

In the fragmented star sea, the most common spatial passages were those manually created by intelligent civilizations, such as spatial gates and arrays. Less common were spatial rifts and fissures formed by unknown causes. The rarest were the star sea’s naturally occurring wormholes, which could connect two star domains much farther apart and were the most stable.

The one before him was clearly a spatial wormhole, roughly ten thousand meters in diameter.

However, this was not the most surprising thing. What shocked Song Chi even more was the ancient warship’s wreckage in the center of the asteroid’s inner space.

The ancient warship had a unique and peculiar design, unlike typical starships. It resembled a massive interstellar vessel, giving Song Chi a sense of nostalgia for his past life on Earth.

Of course, the warship’s design was only reminiscent of ancient Earth ships, but its size was truly staggering.

The ship’s length exceeded ten thousand meters, and even the height of the hull reached a terrifying two thousand meters.

Just from this monstrous size, one could imagine how shocked Song Chi was.

To put it into perspective, even the fourth-stage Ember-class warships of the Ember Human civilization were only three thousand meters long.

Moreover, aside from its size, the ancient patina on the warship’s hull was another striking feature. Based on his knowledge of ancient civilization relics, Song Chi estimated that the warship had likely crashed over ten thousand, possibly even tens of thousands of years ago.

Only such a long time could leave such indescribable ancient traces on its hull.

As he pondered, Song Chi began to speculate about the origin of the ancient warship’s wreckage. It couldn’t have appeared out of nowhere; it must have come through the spatial wormhole.

But then, why did it crash after making it through?

Where did it originate?

What was there in that star domain?

Why would a ten-thousand-meter-wide spatial wormhole appear in an asteroid belt, defying all logic?

Inside the Azure Sky, Song Chi’s reaction was swift. Despite the myriad thoughts that flashed through his mind, it was all over in an instant.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

From within the ancient warship’s wreckage, heavy footsteps echoed, and a figure nearly twenty meters tall, exuding a formidable aura, emerged. It was a humanoid alien, nearly at the fourth stage.

In the main control room of the Azure Sky, Song Chi was taken aback, but not by the appearance of the half-step fourth-rank humanoid alien. What surprised him was the way the alien emerged—from the wreckage of the ancient ten-thousand-meter warship.

"Have you completely explored the wreckage of this warship…?"

As he mused, the half-step fourth-rank humanoid alien who had just appeared also spoke in a cold voice.

"Chel, it seems all the commotion outside was caused by you. Interesting!"

With that, energy surged from his body, and a powerful half-step fourth-rank aura suddenly enveloped the entire asteroid core space.

But that wasn't the end. After releasing his aura, the alien seemed uninterested in why Chel had caused such a disturbance. His figure turned into a shadow, swiftly approaching.

From his posture, it was clear he intended to eliminate Chel, the uncertain factor, as quickly as possible to ensure the absolute safety of the asteroid core space.

"Such urgency in dealing with Chel suggests that the half-step fourth-rank humanoid aliens have gained a significant amount from exploring this ancient warship…"

As he thought, Song Chi's mind shifted, and a subtle spatial fluctuation emerged not far from Chel.

The half-step fourth-rank humanoid, despite his power, was still within the asteroid belt and lacked the enhancement of the Floating Land's fundamental rules. Thus, he didn't notice the subtle spatial fluctuation.

"I wonder where this spatial wormhole leads…"

In the Azure Sky, Song Chi's eyes narrowed.

At the same time, five Void Shadow Killers appeared before the ten-thousand-meter-wide spatial wormhole.

Only then did the half-step fourth-rank humanoid alien realize what was happening. He immediately abandoned his pursuit of Chel and went after the Void Shadow Killers.

Song Chi, however, paid no attention to this and used his mental beacon to control the Void Shadow Killers to rush into the spatial wormhole.

The first thing Song Chi saw through his mental beacon was a spiral void tunnel that cut through the dark side of the star sea.

But before he could observe more, one of the Void Shadow Killers leading the way was suddenly and silently erased.

This discovery sent a shock through Song Chi. Although the Void Shadow Killers could be repeatedly summoned, the mysterious method of their erasure was deeply unsettling.

"Neither a void rift nor a void gale, what could it be?"

The anomaly had happened too quickly to be caught.

Without time to think, the half-step fourth-rank humanoid alien was already in pursuit.

Song Chi could only continue to have the remaining three Void Shadow Killers probe ahead.

But less than ten seconds later, another Void Shadow Killer was erased in the same manner.

This time, Song Chi, who had divided his attention among each Void Shadow Killer, finally caught the fleeting anomaly, causing his pupils to contract sharply.

"Traces of Law…"

"This wormhole tunnel is filled with Traces of Law, and they are deliberately concealed within the void!"

Traces of Law, as the name suggests, are marks left in the void through special means, often containing the power of Law. They are indiscriminate and will instantly erupt upon being triggered, erasing everything in their vicinity, posing a terrifying threat.

More crucially, these Traces of Law can autonomously draw energy from the star sea void, sustaining themselves for eons without decaying. In some cases, the older they are, the more formidable their Law power becomes.

As for how these Traces of Law come to be, they can either be remnants left unintentionally by star sea powerhouses during their battles or deliberately placed by certain entities.

It was clear that the Traces of Law in this spatial wormhole were most likely set up by the ancient warship that had crashed into the asteroid belt, likely to hinder any pursuers.

However, for some unknown reason, it eventually sank.

This realization finally explained why the half-step fourth-rank humanoid aliens had been capturing asteroid belt creatures for the past two centuries.

They were clearly using these creatures to probe the way, gradually mapping out a safe route through the spatial wormhole tunnel that avoided the hidden Traces of Law, allowing them to steadily advance toward the unknown star domain where the ancient warship had once traveled.

With this understanding, the Azure Sky, hundreds of thousands of meters away, finally moved. Under Song Chi's control, it suddenly emerged from behind a kilometer-sized asteroid, swiftly covering a hundred thousand meters to reach the battlefield of the third-rank creatures.

Whoosh—

As the cockpit door opened, the remaining 25 Void Shadow Killers shot out, rushing toward the 8 third-rank humanoid aliens battling the Thorned Dragon and Togu Hong.

The main and secondary cannons of the Azure Sky cruiser showed no mercy, firing at full power.

With the Azure Sky cruiser's active intervention, these third-stage humanoid aliens, lacking the support of the Floating Land’s core rules, had almost no resistance and were quickly eliminated one by one.

Meanwhile, deep within the spatial wormhole, Song Chi's frown deepened. Only one of the Void Shadow Assassin puppets remained, and he still couldn't see the end of the wormhole.

Of course, this wasn't the main issue. The critical point was that the unknown star domain connected by this spatial wormhole was extremely far from the asteroid belt outside, causing the wormhole passage in the dark side of the star sea to be infinitely stretched.

As a result, every step the Void Shadow Assassin puppets took actually increased their distance from the Azure Sky cruiser by hundreds of thousands or even millions of kilometers.

In a short time, Song Chi's brainwave beacon began to feel strained, and the mental connection to the beacon was rapidly weakening.

Under these circumstances, the remaining two Void Shadow Assassin puppets naturally moved slower and slower. Eventually, the near-fourth-stage humanoid aliens, who had been pursuing them, caught up.

Compared to the Void Shadow Assassin puppets, these humanoid aliens had a clear and safe path in their minds, avoiding the hidden traces of cosmic laws along the way.

While the brainwave remote control system still had some control over the Void Shadow Assassin puppets, Song Chi issued an attack command.

However, the result was obvious: pseudo-third-stage combat strength was no match for a near-fourth-stage being.

Moreover, being inside the incredibly stable spatial wormhole, the Void Shadow Assassin puppets' void abilities were severely restricted. The two puppets were quickly killed.

Up ahead, the near-fourth-stage humanoid alien saw the broken bodies of the two Void Shadow Assassin puppets and a cold smile appeared on its face, as if mocking the puppeteers and their master, Song Chi, for their overconfidence.

It quickly threw the two puppet bodies into a hidden node of the cosmic law. As the node was triggered, the remains of the puppets were swiftly disintegrated by the terrifying cosmic forces.

After completing this, the near-fourth-stage humanoid alien began to quickly return, knowing that Che had to be dealt with outside.

Following the memorized safe path, the humanoid alien rushed back as fast as possible. When it saw the wormhole exit intact, it felt a slight relief.

Although it knew Che alone couldn't damage the incredibly stable spatial passage, it still had some concerns. Seeing that the passage was undamaged, it naturally felt a sense of relief.

Confirming this, the cold expression returned to its face. Regardless of Che's motives or the help he had found, it was determined to eliminate this traitor today.

Its eyes flashed with a cold, calculating light as it stepped out of the wormhole.

In the asteroid's core space, Che remained standing in the same spot. Seeing this, the near-fourth-stage humanoid alien's cold expression turned into a smile. However, it froze when it saw the strange steel construct hovering beside Che.

Without time to think, the next second, the near-fourth-stage humanoid alien was enveloped in an extreme sense of cold, a powerful death threat.

Song Chi gave it no time to react. The kilometer-long "Chaotic Solar Sword Intent Divine Light" from the fully charged Level 39 "Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon" burst forth, carrying an overwhelming force that pierced through everything, reaching the near-fourth-stage humanoid alien in an instant.

In that split second, the humanoid alien had no time to react. It only managed to activate all its energy, and its body rapidly expanded, but before it could reach a kilometer in height, the Chaotic Solar Sword Intent Divine Light had already pierced through its entire body.

The expanding body suddenly stopped, then rapidly shrank. Two seconds later, it shrank from a height of three hundred meters to less than twenty meters.

At the same time, Song Chi in the Azure Sky cruiser's control room caught the rapidly fading light in its eyes.

Clearly, under the "Chaotic Solar Sword Intent Divine Light" characteristic of the Level 39 "Pure Yang Sword Light Cannon," the near-fourth-stage humanoid alien was almost instantly killed. If there were no other surprises, it would soon be dead.

Song Chi wasn't surprised by this. Even among near-fourth-stage beings, this humanoid alien lacked the support of the Floating Land’s core rules and hadn't returned to its peak kilometer-tall form in time. Being instantly killed by the Chaotic Solar Sword Intent Divine Light was not unexpected.

However, instead of continuing with the kill, Song Chi made an unexpected move.

A familiar red light shot out from the Azure Sky cruiser, the enslavement mark from the [Enslavement Medal].

This enslavement mark had been temporarily contributed by Tuogu Hong, who, like Zhao Lei, was sealed in the marketplace.

Why did he do this?

It was simple. Through the brainwave beacon, Song Chi had learned that this near-fourth-stage humanoid alien likely knew a very safe path. So, he changed his decision on the spot.

Compared to killing it, a living guide was clearly more valuable. Although he had the Fire Chrysanthemum puppets and Void Shadow Assassin puppets for remote exploration, this would take time, and time was what Song Chi lacked the most.

So, enslaving this near-Fourth-Rank humanoid alien was the best choice for now.

As the enslavement mark was implanted, the humanoid alien resisted for a moment. After all, it was a near-Fourth-Rank being, and its willpower was naturally stronger.

Of course, it ultimately couldn't escape the fate of being enslaved by the Enslavement Badge.

Once the enslavement was successful, Song Chi quickly maneuvered the Azure Sky to approach and immediately opened the hatch, dragging the near-dead near-Fourth-Rank humanoid alien into the ship.

At the same time, he pulled out the standard-issue Morning Star medical kit, which was always equipped for interstellar exploration, and began treating the horrific wound on the humanoid's side chest.

Under his urgent treatment, combined with the near-Fourth-Rank being's already formidable self-healing ability, the wound was finally brought under control, preventing further life-threatening complications.

However, to be honest, while the wound was barely contained, the standard medical kit was just that—standard. It was far from the specialized medical bay components found on starships, and the treatment effect was significantly inferior.

To fully recover this near-Fourth-Rank humanoid alien to its peak combat condition would take a considerable amount of time. Perhaps several months.

Thinking about this, Song Chi's mind stirred, and he silently resolved to acquire a specialized medical bay component in the future.

Previously, because he was well aware of his own character, he rarely went out to fight personally and rarely encountered severe injuries, so he had never prioritized acquiring medical components. But now, it was clear that he needed to have one.

In an emergency, a medical component could save a lot of trouble and provide more security.

This thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly shook his head and didn't dwell on it.

Overall, his mental state was quite good.

After all, the primary goal of enslaving this near-Fourth-Rank humanoid alien was to obtain the safe route map in its brain. Its combat ability was irrelevant, so its injuries didn't matter.

The only downside was that even though the wound was controlled, the near-Fourth-Rank humanoid alien remained unconscious. It would be impossible to ask about the specifics of the other side of the spatial wormhole in the short term.

The damage from the Sword Intent Light of Extreme Yang was severe, and it would likely take at least ten hours for the alien to regain consciousness.

Song Chi could accept this, especially since he needed to wait for the Brainwave Remote Control System component to cool down.

While he could get the complete safe route map once the alien awoke, an additional layer of insurance for remote exploration was always a good idea.

With that in mind, he glanced around and began searching the near-Fourth-Rank humanoid alien's body.

After all, it was one of the five near-Fourth-Rank beings in its species, and they had already explored the ancient warship on the side. It was impossible that it didn't have some valuable items.

As it turned out, Song Chi's intuition was correct. After a thorough search, he found four items.

Two were purple, and two were blue, all of them star sea curios.

One of the blue items could be converted into a blue-quality shipboard aerial radar component, while the other couldn't be converted and was thus ignored by Song Chi.

The real prizes were the two purple curios.

Under Song Chi's gaze, their attributes soon appeared.

One of them was the pseudo-Transcendence Stone that Chel had mentioned, and its attributes surprised Song Chi. It could be converted into an extremely rare spatial expansion component.

Curio Name: Pseudo-Transcendence Stone

Quality: Purple

Convertible: {Pseudo-Transcendence Stone}

Note: A star sea curio formed under various special conditions, extremely rare.

...

Pseudo-Transcendence Stone LV0

Quality: Purple

Characteristic: Increases spatial expansion by an additional 25%

Consumption: 8/s (Aether Points)



Effect: When installed, expands the internal space of the warship by 50%.

No charging or cooldown required

Upgrade Requirements: 7 strands of Zero-Rank Floating Land Essence, 700 Aether Points, 3 Zero-Rank Void Crystals

After reviewing the attributes of the Pseudo-Transcendence Stone component, Song Chi's eyes flickered, and he pondered deeply.

From the attributes alone, this component was undoubtedly excellent. Spatial expansion components were already rare, and each one was incredibly valuable.

However, Song Chi's current dilemma wasn't about the component itself but where to install it.

Unlike ordinary Flameheart captains, Song Chi had the option to install this special component on either his Flameheart warship or the Marketplace of All Realms.

This was the source of his indecision.

Where should I install it?

PS: Folks, where do you think it's better to install it?

PS2: Combined chapter, with another update to follow tonight to make up for yesterday's missed chapter.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end