Chapter 717: Slaughter

Chapter 717: Slaughter

Although Song Chi had come to terms with this, he still did not speak up on his own. He wanted to hear the Patriarch of Veritas’ specific intentions.

Over more than 300,000 years, the Ember Human Civilization had spread its formidable reputation across the vast Star Sea. If there was a simpler way to secure the Eye of Veritas, it would naturally be the best course of action.

Seeing that Song Chi had no intention of speaking, the Patriarch of Veritas in the sky continued:

"For countless years, there have been several starship-level Flame-Ember Starships from the Ember Human Civilization that have descended upon this galactic cluster, but none of them have ever actively engaged the Veritas Mechanica in combat. Your actions have broken this unspoken agreement..."

"However, these details are not important. Stop all actions at the Heart of Creation Base immediately, and return all the components of the Truth War Star that you have dismantled. If you can do this, we might still be able to discuss a more specific cooperation plan!"

After the Patriarch of Veritas finished speaking, there was a nearly twenty-second silence in the sky. However, Song Chi knew it was unwise to delay for too long. When the time seemed right, his cold voice echoed from the Skygale of Tianxu.

"Oh, could you be more specific about the cooperation you mentioned, Your Excellency Patriarch of Veritas?"

As he spoke, he used telepathy to command the Abyssal Demon below to speed up the dismantling process.

Of course, such an obvious stalling tactic could not escape the Patriarch of Veritas. With the help of the Eye of Veritas, the Patriarch might have already seen everything that was happening in the Heart of Creation Base.

Given this suspicion, Song Chi naturally had a corresponding plan.

Under his orders, all the Enslaved Creatures in the Heart of Creation Base were working hard to dismantle the machinery—no, according to the Patriarch of Veritas, it should be called the Truth War Star. However, after the initial period, all the components dismantled from the Truth War Star were carefully stored in various Storage Capsules.

The larger components were stored in Dimensional Space Stones, void beast hides, and large storage bags.

This way, even if the Patriarch of Veritas saw everything, it would not make Him too anxious to take action. After all, from His perspective, the components were being dismantled, but they were still within reach. Even if negotiations failed, He would still have the confidence to retrieve all the components.

Just as Song Chi had anticipated, even though the Patriarch of Veritas knew he was stalling, He did not call him out but instead explained slowly:

"I believe you are aware that the Veritas Mechanica is currently at war with the Stellar Giant Ape Civilization. This war has lasted for 140,000 years, and both sides have been in a stalemate."

"If you are willing to return to the Ember Human Civilization and bring a ninth-rank Hyperspace Admiral for support, the Veritas Mechanica will not only assist you in enslaving the ninth-rank Star Sea giant apes but will also offer substantial rewards after the war!"

Upon hearing this, a cold smile crossed Song Chi’s mind.

Aside from the fact that the Ember Human Civilization’s four major empires were already engaged in a super-civilizational war that surpassed this galactic cluster, making it impossible to spare any peak forces to support another front, what could he, a former Annihilator Ship captain from a principality, do to persuade the emperors of the four major empires to personally intervene?

Each of the four emperors of the Ember Human Civilization was a pivotal figure in the entire civilization’s destiny, shouldering the lives of billions of Ember citizens. Every step they took required the utmost caution. How could they easily get involved in a top-tier civilizational war trillions of light-years away?

What if it was a covert scheme by another alien civilization?

Despite his clear understanding of this, Song Chi did not show any unusual expressions on his face. He maintained his composure, pretending to carefully consider the matter before instinctively asking out of curiosity:

"Could you be more specific about the rewards you mentioned, Your Excellency?"

At this moment, his curiosity was genuine. He was truly eager to see what a seasoned ninth-rank mechanical overlord could offer.

In the sky, the mechanical head of the Patriarch of Veritas flashed with red light. Faced with Song Chi’s deliberate stalling, the ninth-rank mechanical overlord was clearly losing patience.

The war on the front lines was still ongoing, and the Stellar Giant Ape Civilization was advancing. The Patriarch of Veritas had returned secretly using a rare artifact to avoid detection by the Stellar Giant Ape Civilization, and He needed to resolve the situation with Song Chi quickly.

However, at one point, the term "Ember Human Civilization" flashed through His mind, and He ultimately suppressed the urge to directly suppress Song Chi, continuing to negotiate:

"If you can truly facilitate this cooperation, you will be a friend of the Veritas Mechanica, and we will not be stingy with our rewards!"

As He spoke, a faint spatial fluctuation appeared on the Patriarch of Veritas’ mechanical body, and Song Chi detected ten special light spheres that had materialized out of nowhere.

These ten spheres were two golden and eight black.

The two golden spheres emitted wisps of flame, clearly two strands of golden sanctified-level fire seeds. Given the Patriarch of Veritas’ understanding of the Ember Human Civilization, they were likely two strands of fire seeds that could be converted into Ember Ascension Fire Sources.

The eight black spheres each represented a black apex artifact.

"Indeed..."

For the current Song Chi, black apex artifacts were no longer rare, and he did not lose his composure. The reason for his internal commentary was that he had only seen six black artifacts in the Veritas Treasury. Now, the Patriarch of Veritas had casually produced nine, indicating that most of the best items in the Veritas Mechanica were in His possession.

After a moment, Song Chi quickly refocused.

He then proceeded to ask whether he could receive one item in advance as a guarantee of cooperation, if there were any Colored Myth-level artifacts, and how many Hyperspace Admirals were needed for support, all in an effort to stall for time.

However, during this process, the Patriarch of Veritas gradually lost patience. Red light flashed, and a massive data stream began to invade the Skygale of Tianxu.

At the same time, the sharp mechanical voice of the Patriarch of Veritas echoed in the sky:

"Annihilator Ship boy, stop stalling. If you have no intention, then accept the judgment of the entire Veritas Mechanica!"

As He spoke, the giant mechanical figure above began to transform, and within a short time, hundreds of thousands of black gun barrels were exposed on the Patriarch of Veritas’ body.

These barrels varied in size, with the smallest being a few meters in diameter and the largest exceeding the diameter of the Skygale of Tianxu, making them particularly menacing.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

Endless energy gathered around Him, and more than a hundred thousand gun turrets began to charge.

In addition, the dozen Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths also took the same action.

With the massive energy provided by the Dark Matter Power Cores within their bodies, in less than ten seconds, countless gun turrets began to fire.

Nearly a million beams of energy erupted almost simultaneously, illuminating the sky above the Truth Holy City.

Even before these energy beams made contact with the Skygale of Tianxu, the ship’s skybrain sounded an urgent warning inside the ship.

"Warning, the ship is locked onto by a massive energy attack. Please evade immediately!"

"Attention, please evade immediately. There is a 99.92% chance the ship will sink if you do not!"

...

In response to the skybrain’s warning, Song Chi remained calm, making no move to evade, his Double Pupils reflecting an intense focus.

If Song Wujian and the others were present, they would have noticed that the space around the Skygale of Tianxu had completely solidified, clearly affected by a special spatial force.

However, the fundamental reason was Song Chi himself.

At a certain moment, Song Chi sent new instructions to his enslaved creatures, and just as the sky was filled with gunfire, he activated a component he had prepared long ago.

"Chronal Chessboard" · "Time·Chessboard", activate!

As an invisible force of time shot out from the Skygale of Tianxu, the Patriarch of Veritas sensed it, and the Eye of Veritas embedded in His mechanical body captured this extremely subtle temporal force.

However, at that moment, over 70% of the energy supplied by the Dark Matter Power Core was being used to charge the gun turrets, and another black apex artifact that caused spatial solidification had been activated, making it difficult for Him to reach His maximum speed in a short time.

As for the backup energy, it was reserved for life-threatening situations, providing Him the confidence to face other ninth-rank Star Sea giant apes. He hesitated about whether to use it on this small Annihilator Ship.

This moment of hesitation cost Him the last chance.

The temporal energy crossed billions of kilometers in an instant, reaching the Patriarch of Veritas.

Before He could react, the temporal energy precisely entered the giant mechanical body of the Patriarch of Veritas.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

A faint spatial fluctuation swept over, and the next second, both the Skygale of Tianxu and the Patriarch of Veritas vanished from the sky.

This scene startled the dozen Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths above the Truth Holy City, but their attention was soon drawn to the dense explosions below.

The sudden disappearance of the Skygale of Tianxu left the targets of the nearly a million energy beams unoccupied, and they all descended vertically, landing on the three seventh-rank Truth Mechanical Behemoth production facilities below.

These facilities, made of Truth Alloy Type 2, had no resistance against the massive cluster attack, especially since it included many eighth-rank and even ninth-rank attacks.

The three production facilities did not last even half a minute before they were completely annihilated by the endless barrage.

Fortunately, the Heart of Creation Base, located deep beneath the three seventh-rank Truth Mechanical Behemoth production facilities, was deep enough and reinforced with large amounts of Truth Alloy Type 3 and some Truth Alloy Type 4, allowing it to barely survive.

However, the dozen Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths reacted quickly. Their bodies were implanted with sub-units of the Truth AI Brain, which would immediately sense any danger to the Patriarch of Veritas. Since there was no abnormality, it meant the Patriarch of Veritas was not in danger.

Thus, their attention shifted to the exposed black tunnel below.

The Dark Matter Power Cores within the Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths went into overdrive, propelling them downward, leaving long trails of flame in the sky.

As for the Veritas Treasury, the Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths paid no attention to it. Even with over a dozen of them, they did not spare a single one to deal with the puppet soldiers and enslaved creatures still transporting resources from the treasury.

From this, it was clear just how significant the Heart of Creation Base was to Veritas Mechanica!

It was easy to imagine what would happen if these Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths were to breach the underground base. The disassembly work by the Abyssal Demon clan, which was still ongoing, would be forcibly halted. If they couldn't evacuate in time, all the Enslaved Creatures would be mercilessly exterminated.

The good news was that Song Chi had been planning for this for hundreds of years. Even at this critical juncture, he still had a contingency plan.

Suddenly, several spatial fluctuations emerged from within the Heart of Creation Base. In the next moment, Song Wujian, Song Shiyuan, Song Yan, and Shen Youran appeared out of thin air in the depths of the base.

The four of them didn't materialize out of nowhere. When Song Chi first entered the Heart of Creation Base, he had immediately brought these four from the Pantheon Market and then had them return to the market using Market Passage Tokens.

This was how they managed to evade the Patriarch of Veritas's earlier detection.

Song Chi's recent message also included instructions for the four of them.

As soon as they reappeared in the base, they summoned their starships.

Three Annihilator Ships materialized, and Song Wujian, Song Shiyuan, and Song Yan sequentially activated the spatial lockdown devices on their ships. They chose the same lockdown area, and six layers of lockdown screens enveloped the Heart of Creation Base, isolating it from the outside world.

Unfortunately, while there were six layers of lockdown screens, only one was a golden lockdown screen, which Song Chi had fortuitously acquired during his decades of scavenging.

Faced with the frenzied attacks of over a dozen Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths, these six layers of lockdown screens wouldn't last long.

At that moment, a beam of golden light shot out from the side of the Snowy Gentle Dreadnought, and in the next second, a second golden lockdown screen rapidly unfurled above the Heart of Creation Base.

The golden lockdown screen activated by Shen Youran wasn't a feature of her own ship. Instead, it was the "Frost Void Prison" component borrowed from the Skygale of Tianxu using the "Yin·Harmony Pendant" and its "Yin-Yang·Unity" characteristic.

With seven layers of lockdown screens, the base's defenses finally stabilized, but the four of them knew this wouldn't last long.

Fortunately, the hatch of the Snowy Gentle quickly opened, and in the next moment, tens of thousands of Song Family elite clan members rapidly emerged.

These Song Family members were all at least Second Rank in Guidance Technique, and each carried several high-grade Storage Capsules. After rushing out of the Snowy Gentle, Shen Youran activated the "Seal Release" feature of the "Annihilator Ship Passenger Voucher."

Instantly, the Spiritual Energy of tens of thousands of Song Family members was unsealed. They quickly moved toward the nearby Truth War Star, merging into the thousands of Raidstar Clan Slaves and beginning to disassemble the partially dismantled war star.

With nearly a hundred thousand Song Family elite clan members joining in, the disassembly speed surged. Each time a Storage Capsule was filled, puppet soldiers would take it over and immediately send it to the Pantheon Market via Market Passage Tokens.

However, the good times didn't last. Under the relentless assault of over a dozen Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths, each bolstered by the essence will of Ninth-Rank Floating Continents, the seven layers of lockdown screens began to crack after just a few minutes.

Seeing this, the three Annihilator Ships hovering above the Heart of Creation Base exchanged glances.

"It's time!"

They nodded in unison. As they spoke, the sky above the Truth Holy City, which had just calmed down, once again saw the silhouettes of massive warships. The engines of three Annihilator Ships, each over ten thousand kilometers long, roared as they transformed into streaks of light, hurtling down toward the dark tunnel.

As they descended, light gathered on the hulls of the three Annihilator Ships. Once they reached their limit, countless ship cannons fired simultaneously, targeting the dark tunnel entrance.

At that moment, over a dozen Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths were inside the tunnel.

While the number of cannon shots was staggering, only three star-annihilating cannons, plus the Star Annihilation Fury component on the Immovable Vidyaraja, posed a real threat to the Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths in the tunnel.

Despite the barrage, the Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths sustained only limited damage.

Song Wujian and his companions seemed unsurprised. Under their control, the three Annihilator Ships continued their descent without slowing, heading straight for the dark tunnel.

The first to enter the tunnel was the Dinghai Longxiang. After about two minutes, a massive explosion echoed from deep within the tunnel, accompanied by the urgent alarms of the mechanical behemoths.

The Dinghai Longxiang's clone self-destructed, severely damaging the two outermost Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths.

Next was the Immovable Vidyaraja, which further aggravated the injuries of the two damaged behemoths and affected a third.

Finally, it was the turn of the Liyane Zhouhai. However, Liyane Zhouhai didn't immediately self-destruct. Instead, with the help of the Flame Deity Sovereign Skull and Black Hole Armor components, it maximized its damage output and delayed the enemy for a considerable time.

In the end, its self-destruction not only obliterated one Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoth but also rendered another combat-inoperative.

This was already a significant achievement, considering they were facing over a dozen Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths bolstered by the essence will of Ninth-Rank Floating Continents. Normally, even a hundred Annihilator Ships would have been slaughtered.

The essence will of Ninth-Rank Floating Continents was no joke.

However, for Song Wujian and his companions, this was far from enough.

The disassembly of the Truth War Star was not yet complete. They couldn't afford to waste all their efforts. This was a Ninth-Rank mechanical war star, and even with the current technological foundation of the Song Family, missing even a single component could mean decades or even centuries to replace it.

The war star was already incomplete, and with further damage, it might take over ten thousand years for the Song Family to restore it, if at all.

So, Song Wujian and his companions were unwilling to give up until the last moment. This mechanical war star could be the Song Family's first true Ninth-Rank combat force.

Thinking of this, Song Wujian said gravely, "Xiaoyan, it's up to you. Be careful..."

As he spoke, three beams of golden light shot out from the Liyane Zhouhai, merging into the Dinghai Longxiang, Immovable Vidyaraja, and the Snowy Gentle.

Soon, the silhouettes of the dragon, tiger, phoenix, and turtle appeared above the four warships, their auras enhanced by the law patterns. They converged around the Liyane Zhouhai.

At that moment, the last layer of the lockdown screen, riddled with cracks, finally shattered, revealing the outlines of two massive mechanical behemoths at the tunnel entrance.

These two Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths were at the forefront, and while the tunnel's diameter was large, it could only accommodate two behemoths side by side. Behind them were another nine.

Song Yan reacted quickly. The moment the lockdown screen shattered, he maneuvered the Liyane Zhouhai to the tunnel entrance, where a surge of flames erupted from the red hull, forming a Ninth-Rank Flame Deity Sovereign spirit shadow. Together with the Liyane Zhouhai, it blocked the tunnel entrance, preventing the Eighth-Rank Truth Mechanical Behemoths from directly entering the Heart of Creation Base.

It was clear that the psychological resilience of the Song Family members brought by Song Wujian and his companions was extremely high. Despite the situation, most of them maintained their composure and continued their disassembly work.

...

Meanwhile, in an unknown high-dimensional space constructed by the power of time, Song Chi was engaged in the most dangerous battle of his two-thousand-year life.

Pulled into this high-dimensional space by the "Time·Chessboard" characteristic of the Chronal Chessboard, the Patriarch of Veritas's strength should have been forcibly reduced by a major rank. However, this wasn't the case.

Perhaps the rank of the Skygale of Tianxu's hull affected the Chronal Chessboard's effect, or perhaps the Patriarch of Veritas's Eye of Veritas, a component of the same rank, was providing a significant boost. Whatever the reason, the Patriarch of Veritas, who should have been reduced to a seasoned Eighth-Rank combatant, was now maintaining a semi-Ninth-Rank strength, and there was a faint indication that he might regain full Ninth-Rank power, putting immense pressure on Song Chi.

Market Projection Token

Celestial Pivot Ring·"Enslavement Seal" → Asura Emperor

Bodhimanda Samadhi Seal·"Samadhi Seal·Time Speed" → "Enslavement Seal"

Celestial Pivot Ring·"Enslavement Seal" → Shadow Devourer King

...

In a flash, Song Chi activated multiple component abilities, including the Market Projection Token!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end