Chapter 714: Eighty-Five Years

Chapter 714: Eighty-Five Years

In the Dimensional Space Stone, there were also several enslaved beings, including a Star-Eating Wolf and a Nightmare Soul.

These two were more than enough to activate the concealment and illusion properties of the Illusion Array Stone. The reason for choosing the True Spirit Tower power source was that the life energy fluctuations of a Seventh-Rank Sovereign were still too strong. There was a certain chance that the moment it was summoned, it could be detected by the surrounding sensors.

The Truth Mountain Range was vast, and even a Ninth-Rank Mechanical Lifeform could hardly monitor the entire area. However, this did not mean that the Patriarch of Veritas was completely laissez-faire.

In fact, during the void demon's journey through the air, it had discovered several small mechanical bugs hidden deep in the forests multiple times.

There was no doubt that these mechanical bugs were likely responsible for monitoring. Although their numbers were not large, and they could only be found at great intervals, this clearly demonstrated that the Patriarch of Veritas had not left the Truth Mountain Range entirely unattended.

In the underground cave, the True Spirit Tower power source extracted by the Sixth-Rank void demon was different. As a high-end power supply developed by a dominant civilization over countless generations of wizards, its internal energy source had been made absolutely stable. Before activation, it was no different from any ordinary object.

Soon, the void demon used its own energy to activate the golden Illusion Array Stone. Once the illusion array field covered the entire underground cave, the True Spirit Tower power source was also activated.

With the continuous power supply from the True Spirit Tower power source, the strength of the illusion array field generated by the golden Illusion Array Stone became increasingly astonishing. However, this was still not enough. The void demon then summoned the Star-Eating Wolf and the Nightmare Soul from the Dimensional Space Stone. When these two also contributed their energy to the Illusion Array Stone, the power of this golden artifact was further enhanced.

At this point, Song Chi estimated that the concealment ability of the illusion array field should be sufficient. He then instructed the Sixth-Rank void demon to activate the "Projection Emperor Stone."

Buzz, buzz, buzz!

Intense spatial energy surged in the underground cave, and a projection of an Annihilator Ship, eighteen thousand kilometers long, quickly condensed above the cave.

It was only because the illusion array field's concealment was strong enough that such a significant disturbance did not attract external attention.

Outside the Truth Floating Land, within the Skygale of Tianxu, which had already traveled millions of light-years away, Song Chi's mind shifted.

The "Reality Shift" characteristic of the Vast Sea Projection Tomb component was activated.

At the same time, the projection of the Annihilator Ship above the underground cave gradually turned from virtual to real.

When the projection of the Skygale of Tianxu fully materialized, Song Chi appeared at the gradually opening hatch. He waved his hand and planted a spatial anchor on the ground in the center of the cave.

After completing this, the solidified hull of the Skygale of Tianxu dissipated, but Song Chi himself soon appeared in the underground cave.

With this, the second step of the plan to stealthily infiltrate the Truth Floating Land was also successfully completed.

A faint light flickered in his brow, and the Skygale of Tianxu was summoned from the Flame Ancestor's aperture.

Boarding the warship, Song Chi began to consider the details of the subsequent third step of the plan.

The third step was simple: to explore the Truth Floating Land beneath him as thoroughly as possible while ensuring he remained undetected.

This was a Ninth-Rank Floating Continent. Although its resources and treasures were not as abundant as those of the Demon Snake Floating Land, it was still a treasure trove of the Veritas Mechanica, containing resources and artifacts of unimaginable value to ordinary people.

The key was that the Patriarch of Veritas and the Ninth-Rank forces of the Veritas Mechanica were all on the front lines of the battlefield, providing Song Chi with an excellent opportunity to act.

"Stellar giant ape civilization, you’ve got to step up your game..."

Muttering to himself, Song Chi no longer hesitated. The long-cooled “Mirage” ability activated once more, working in tandem with the golden-quality [void membrane]. The Skygale of Tianxu charged out of the underground cavern.

Handing over control of the warship to the skybrain, Song Chi opened all the information he had previously gathered on the Truth Floating Land.

According to the records, the Truth Floating Land was divided into northern and southern parts, each of which was further divided into four major districts. In other words, these eight major districts encompassed the entirety of the Truth Floating Land.

Among the eight districts, the Truth District was the highest core district, featuring a highly magical super mechanical city. Each of the other seven districts also had a special main city.

However, Song Chi immediately ruled out these eight super cities as initial exploration targets. Without a doubt, each of these cities was guarded by an eighth-rank Truth Mechanical Behemoth, and with the Floating Continent’s innate will enhancing them, even the Skygale of Tianxu in its “Mirage” state posed a risk of detection.

In comparison, the hundreds of mid-to-high-level cities outside these eight super cities were Song Chi’s primary targets.

South 112 City, an advanced mechanical capital, was home to at least two seventh-rank “Demon Hunter” Truth Mechanical Behemoths. The city also boasted a sixth-rank Truth Mechanical Beast production line, accumulating a vast amount of mid-to-high-grade mineral resources.

"You’re it..."

Scanning through the information on the highest-ranking cities, Song Chi quickly chose his target.

The engines roared, and after a single teleportation, he arrived at the southern first district, not far from the underground cavern base.

South 112 City, the high-level city he had selected, was located in this district.

Perhaps due to their confidence in the ninth-rank Floating Continent’s protective shield above, Song Chi noticed that most of the mechanical cities on the Truth Floating Land did not activate their city shields, or even lacked such devices entirely.

Because of this, the Skygale of Tianxu easily entered the urban area of South 112 City.

As a city where various mechanical beings, including mechanical behemoths, gathered, the architecture of this Veritas Mechanica city embodied a rugged style. The city’s vast size, far surpassing that of human cities, allowed the nearly two-thousand-kilometer-long Skygale of Tianxu to navigate through it with ease.

This undoubtedly made Song Chi’s subsequent actions more convenient.

"Beep, beep, beep, a new batch of sixth-rank mechanical beasts has left the warehouse. All personnel, be on high alert!"

A sudden alarm blared from the massive production base on the outskirts of the city. A seventh-rank Truth Mechanical Behemoth guarding the facility turned its gaze toward the area, and a large number of fourth and fifth-rank mechanical beings and behemoths entered a secondary alert state.

Soon, under the watch of numerous mechanical beings, the super-alloy gates of the towering mechanical processing facility, taller than any ordinary mountain, slowly opened. One by one, new mechanical transport ships, moving like elephants, emerged from within.

When the last mechanical transport ship emerged, exactly one hundred ships had left the facility.

The alert mechanical beings failed to notice that, high above the factory, a super warship hidden deep in the void was quietly hovering, monitoring all the actions below.

In the main control room of the Skygale of Tianxu, Song Chi’s eyes flickered, the Double Pupil’s shadow swirling in his gaze.

Suddenly, he murmured softly.

"Each mechanical transport ship carries a sixth-rank Truth Mechanical Beast, huh..."

The new transport ships of Veritas Mechanica were not lacking in performance, but they were still standard-issue super-quality models. They lacked the absolute isolation capabilities of the Flame-Ember Starship. Despite their decent stealth, they were no match for the power of the seventh-rank Double Pupil.

The one hundred sixth-rank Truth Mechanical Beasts were currently in an incomplete state. Song Chi estimated that these one hundred mechanical transport ships were preparing to transport them to the Truth City, where they would be implanted with specific intelligence cores. From there, they would join other mechanical beasts produced in other cities and be sent to the front lines, maintaining the balance of the Veritas Mechanica’s war efforts.

His gaze swept over the hundred sixth-rank Truth Mechanical Beasts, and it would be a lie to say he wasn’t tempted. Currently, the Song Family could only mass-produce fifth-rank Moro Void Evasion Mechs, which were already lagging behind the Skygale of Tianxu. If they could switch to these sixth-rank mechanical beasts, it would be a significant improvement.

The key was that these Truth Mechanical Beasts were incredibly resilient. If they could increase the numbers and pair them with the "Fully Automatic Sub-Brain Mech" feature of the Skybrain System, they would undoubtedly become a formidable trump card.

However, what Song Chi was more interested in was the contents within the massive alloy portal. If his guess was correct, the enclosed mechanical factory made entirely of super-alloy housed the production line for the sixth-rank Truth Mechanical Beasts.

While a hundred sixth-rank Truth Mechanical Beasts were tempting, the production line that could continuously produce them was far more valuable.

With the massive seventh-rank Truth Mechanical Behemoth standing not far away, Song Chi took advantage of the moment when the super-alloy portal was wide open and quickly directed the Skygale of Tianxu to dart inside.

"Indeed, this is the production line for sixth-rank Truth Mechanical Beasts..."

Passing through the alloy portal, Song Chi saw the massive mechanical apparatus still in operation inside the factory. Nearly all the components required for a finished sixth-rank Truth Mechanical Beast could be produced on this entire production line. All that was needed afterward was the assembly and the installation of an AI brain to create a standard sixth-rank combat-ready mechanical beast.

Song Chi couldn’t hide the intense desire in his eyes. He was extremely envious of this production line. If he could transport it back to the Dragon Spine Continent, the Song Family would immediately be able to mass-produce these mechanical combat beasts.

In less than two seconds, a multitude of ideas flooded his mind, but ultimately, reason prevailed over desire. Song Chi did not take immediate action; instead, he set a spatial anchor inside the factory.

After doing this, he immediately directed the Skygale of Tianxu to turn and leave.

He was well aware that with the seventh-rank Truth Mechanical Behemoth guarding the outside, any direct action would instantly expose the Skygale of Tianxu’s presence, possibly even alerting the front lines.

There were still many places on this Truth Floating Land that needed exploring, and Song Chi did not want to draw the Patriarch of Veritas back so soon.

That was part of the fourth step of his plan.

However, this did not mean he was giving up on the production line. The spatial anchor he set was proof of his intentions.

His method was simple: first, mark the location, and when the fourth step of the plan was initiated, and the Patriarch of Veritas was preoccupied, he would send the old ancestor and the other two to dispatch a Ship Clone to dismantle and transport the sixth-rank mechanical beast production line intact.

After leaving, Song Chi quickly made his way to the central area of the city below, where the core secret vault of this advanced mechanical capital was located.

Like the city itself, which had a rugged and robust style, the core secret vault of this mechanical capital was also enormous. When the Skygale of Tianxu silently entered, it did not trigger any alarms.

As the core secret vault of an advanced mechanical capital, it was naturally heavily guarded by numerous mechanical beings. Additionally, the entrance itself was protected by a mechanical barrier.

Under normal circumstances, it would be almost impossible for an outsider to enter this core vault space without alerting the thousands of guards outside, not to mention the second seventh-rank Truth Mechanical Behemoth personally guarding the city.

However, Song Chi had managed to do so with ease.

At that moment, the Skygale of Tianxu was already inside the vault, swiftly scavenging through various items.

This was all thanks to a single component.

A golden flash evasion component.

[Starlight Flash Spirit Stone Token]

More accurately, it was the "Starlight Flash Spirit Evasion" feature of the [Starlight Flash Spirit Stone Token].

[Starlight Flash Spirit Evasion: Consumes 1,000,000 Spiritual Energy points to ignore spatial barriers, ship confinement, magic-nullifying fields, time stasis, and other control or obstructive effects, and flash to a specified direction. Current maximum flash distance: 9 light-years. Cooldown: 50 years.]

If not for this characteristic, how would Song Chi have deliberately come up with this third plan?

To silently plunder the top-tier resources on this Truth Floating Land, relying solely on the concealment priority wouldn't be enough. To start plundering, he first needed to be able to access these top-tier resources, right?

And the "Starlight Flash Spirit Evasion" perfectly solved this issue.

As for the 50-year cooldown time, that wasn't too bad. The lv90 Chronal Chessboard and the lv80 Bodhimanda Samadhi Seal provided cooldown reduction, which could shrink the 50 years down to just 2 years.

Although it was still not a short period, compared to the Civilization War between Veritas Mechanica and the Stellar Giant Ape civilization, which often lasted tens of thousands of years, it was more than enough for the Skygale of Tianxu to use it multiple times.

However, there was one prerequisite: he couldn't take too much from each treasure vault. Otherwise, if one of the vaults was opened midway, the news of the theft would spread immediately.

This was why Song Chi, who was currently inside the treasure vault, had been hesitant to make his move.

Truth Alloy Type 2 · 589 tons

Truth Alloy Type 1 · 6700 tons

Primordial Copper Ore · 2.8 tons

Obsidian Crystal Ore · 38 tons

Ninth-Rank Floating Land Essence · 150 strands

Seventh-Rank Sovereign True Spirit · 60 portions

Golden Sanctum Artifact · Metamorphosis Demon Stone

Red Artifact Brain · Red Sun Brain Device

...

Looking at the various resources piled up haphazardly in the treasure vault, Song Chi's eyes rapidly darted around, considering which ones to take and which ones to leave alone.

First, the Golden Sanctum Artifact [Metamorphosis Demon Stone] was definitely off-limits. It was placed in the most conspicuous position in the vault, and as soon as the vault door opened, it would be the first thing anyone would see.

So, if he took it, it would be easily noticed.

After more than twenty minutes, when Song Chi returned to the underground cavern base through a spatial anchor, the core treasure vault of South 112 City had already returned to its peaceful state.

From the outside, the core treasure vault showed no signs of change, but that wasn't the case.

The resource and mineral piles, which appeared unchanged, had multiple hollows inside. The surface looked the same, but a significant amount had been plundered.

In addition, Song Chi had taken several orange, red, and silver-grade wonders from certain corners of the vault, including some high-rank Floating Continent essences and Sovereign True Spirits.

These things looked the same as before, but in reality, they were already lacking in quantity.

Back at the cavern base, Song Chi took stock of his loot.

He realized that he had gathered quite a bit, even though the quantity of each item wasn't much. Combined, their value was quite considerable.

Truth Alloy Type 2 · 45 tons

Truth Alloy Type 1 · 350 tons

Primordial Copper Ore · 0.4 tons

Obsidian Crystal Ore · 6 tons

Ninth-Rank Floating Land Essence · 20 strands

Seventh-Rank Sovereign True Spirit · 15 portions

Red Artifact Brain · Red Sun Brain Device

Orange Artifact Brain · Transformer Brain

...

One thing to note was that, perhaps due to the existence of a large number of ordinary artificial intelligences within the civilization, over the years, a significant number of wonder Ais had emerged within the territory of Veritas Mechanica. Although most were of red quality or lower, their value was not insignificant.

At the very least, for a Flame-Ember Starship, the auxiliary role provided by a mid-grade AI component was quite significant.

Song Chi originally planned to keep these wonder Ais and distribute them to the core members of his clan later, but the Skybrain System's reaction was much more intense than he had anticipated. In the end, he had to fuse all the wonder Ais he had taken into the Skybrain System.

After devouring and merging with several pieces of intelligent brain artifacts, the evolution of the Skybrain System became increasingly evident. Song Chi estimated that if it consumed another two to three red-level intelligent brain artifacts, it should be able to evolve to the golden saint realm quality.

Although the harvest was good, the main body of the Skygale of Tianxu would have to wait for two years afterward.

During this period, Song Chi was not idle. After two years, when the "Starlight Flash Spirit Evasion" characteristic completed its cooldown, he summoned the mirror warship, which he had previously canceled. With the mirror warship, he could activate the "Starlight Flash Spirit Evasion" characteristic twice in succession.

His target remained the First Southern District, but this time he chose a different high-level city.

The subsequent actions were a repetition of what he had done two years ago. Although the actions were the same, the results were even better. The secret vault of the second high-level city was also easily raided.

After plundering, he first used the spatial anchor as a relay to return to the underground cave space, and then remotely controlled the mirror warship, which also activated the "Mirage" characteristic, to set out again, but with a new target.

Under this repeatedly successful operation, nearly ten years passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, he successfully raided all the high-level cities in the First Southern District, and the resources he gathered were already quite impressive.

This was not the end. He then shifted his target to the Second Southern District and continued the same operation.

In this daily routine, time continued to pass.

Before he knew it, eighty-five years had passed since the Skygale of Tianxu officially infiltrated the Truth Floating Land.

Over eighty-five years, Song Chi had raided all the high-level cities in the four southern districts, and even the first northern district.

Now, his target was the second northern district.

On this day, Song Chi was carefully tallying the gains from the past eighty-five years at his base in the underground cave.

From the five and a half large districts, a total of 48 high-level cities' core secret vaults, he had obtained not only the valuable truth special alloys and various rare mineral ores, but also nearly a thousand artifacts. For a ninth-rank Floating Continent, fewer than a thousand artifacts were only a drop in the ocean.

But it was important to note that Song Chi had a specific goal in mind. Apart from intelligent brain artifacts, the artifacts he plundered were no lower than the orange quality, including 102 red artifacts, 16 silver artifacts, 4 golden artifacts, and even 2 black artifacts.

Additionally, he had obtained the Floating Continent essence and the Sovereign True Spirit.

He had acquired over 1,300 strands of ninth-rank floating land essence, more than ten thousand strands of eighth-rank Floating Continent essence, 240 seventh-rank Sovereign True Spirits, 35 eighth-rank Sovereign True Spirits, and even 2 ninth-rank Sovereign True Spirits.

Furthermore, he had inadvertently acquired over 200 sixth-rank truth mechanical beasts and more than a thousand fifth-rank truth mechanical beasts. These were the older models, with combat power slightly weaker than the latest models. Perhaps this was why they were stored deep in the secret vaults and had not been sent to the front lines.

But for Song Chi, this was not important. He had arranged 210 sixth-rank mechanical beasts on the Skygale of Tianxu, and the fifth-rank mechanical beasts he had sent back to the Dragon Spine Continent through the Pantheon Market.

The family's production of the Moro Void Evasion Mech was still limited, and many clan members had not yet received one. These fifth-rank mechanical beasts could serve as a temporary solution.

As for the lack of control systems for these mechanical beasts, that was not a concern. Over the past eighty-five years, Song Chi had left behind more than dozens of intelligent brain artifacts, all of which had been digested by the Song Family. Using these intelligent brain artifacts to control the mechanical beasts would pose no problem.

Speaking of these intelligent brain artifacts, Song Chi turned his attention to the Skybrain System components. Decades ago, it had already evolved from silver to gold.

However, before he could open its attribute panel, Song Chi's eyes narrowed sharply.

The three Void Shadow Assassin Golems he had deliberately left in the outside world had just received a message: several large districts in the southern part of the Floating Continent had reported the theft of their secret vaults.

In the cave space, Song Chi's tightly narrowed eyes relaxed, but he sighed softly:

"Originally, I was thinking of waiting a few more decades, but it looks like I'll have to act earlier!"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end