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Chapter 73: Departure - Civilizational Ruins
Chapter 73: Departure - Civilizational Ruins
After the initial shock, Song Chi quickly regained his composure, suppressing all other thoughts as he began to carefully sense and understand the state of his body.
Unlike the previous two times he had transcended his limits, which had been in extremely dangerous situations, leaving him no time to properly experience or comprehend the process, this time was different. There was no one or nothing around to disturb him, allowing him to focus entirely on his experience.
It was unclear how much time had passed, but when Song Chi opened his eyes again, his gaze was filled with deep fatigue, yet a trace of unshakable joy was evident.
He had exited the transcendent state, but his intuition told him that he had fully mastered this special technique. From now on, whenever he wished, he could enter the transcendent state at will, rather than relying purely on luck as before.
Of course, he couldn't do it right now. After the last transcendent state, his mental energy was already at its lowest point. Forcing himself to activate the transcendent state again would not only be uncertain in success but would also place an immense burden on his mind, potentially causing harm. Song Chi was not one to do something so foolish.
...
Time passed swiftly in the age of starships.
Before he knew it, several more days had flown by.
On this day, Song Chi did not continue to immerse himself in the market. Apart from the fact that his absence all day had already angered the two Venerable Lords, Song Chao and Chen Lixia, it was also because today was the day he had agreed to meet Shen Qing.
Two and a half months ago, the two had agreed to conduct an interstellar domain deployment together, to jointly explore the ruins of the Bullo civilization.
"Son, if I remember correctly, today should be the day your shuttle's deployment buffer is complete, right? After we finish eating, I'll take you to the outskirts of the city."
Chen Lixia, who was watching Song Chi sitting on the sofa in the living room, browsing the news on the White Tower, felt both pride and a hint of worry in her eyes.
Unconsciously, her son was about to undergo his fourth interstellar domain deployment.
For all Flameheart Captains, each deployment was a high-stakes gamble. The thought of her son about to risk his life again was a source of great concern for any mother.
Ignoring his mother's words, Song Chi's gaze was fixed on the quantum television, where a news report was currently being broadcast.
"According to the head of the Baihe City Baihe Mall, Mr. He, who had entrusted an item for auction at the mall's auction house over twenty days ago, has been confirmed dead. The wreckage of his ship, the 'Ironclad,' was found in a wilderness area over a thousand kilometers away from Baihe City."
"The item Mr. He had entrusted for auction at the Baihe auction house over twenty days ago was a blue special spacecraft component known as the 'Abnormal State Purifier.' The Baihe Flameheart Bureau has determined that this incident was a criminal case, not an accident..."
Song Chi's eyes narrowed. The person mentioned in the news was the same one who had traded the 'Abnormal State Purifier' with him. His immediate thought was of John Tross.
He was certain that this person's death was directly related to John Tross.
From the way John Tross had intercepted him, it was clear that he desperately needed Void Crystals. Otherwise, he wouldn't have personally intercepted a mere first-rank Flameheart Captain like Song Chi.
Therefore, after Song Chi had managed to escape without a trace through the All-Heaven Market, if John Tross wanted to obtain a large number of Void Crystals in a short time, he would have to target the person who had traded a significant amount of Void Crystals with Song Chi.
"John Tross..."
Song Chi's gaze trembled, and a coldness settled in his heart. In a sense, this Flameheart Captain surnamed He had become his scapegoat.
For a moment, Song Chi felt a mix of emotions. It wasn't that he was indignant on behalf of the Flameheart Captain surnamed He. There was a slight sense of guilt, but that was all. As someone with a mental age of over sixty, he was not a saint.
In this vast era of the star seas, the death of a single person was never a big deal, even if that person was a Flameheart Captain.
Not to mention, the entire Flameheart human civilization was vast, and even the Morning Star Principality, located at the edge of the Flameheart human civilization, spanned several star domains, with a diameter of thousands of light-years.
In this vast expanse of star seas, there were countless floating lands, each nurturing trillions of citizens.
With such a massive population, the number of deaths each day was incalculable, including Flameheart Captains.
Song Chi was just a bit wary. After all, John Tross's target had always been him. The Flameheart Captain surnamed He had simply been unlucky, and Song Chi didn't dwell on it too much.
Lost in thought, Song Chi was snapped back to reality by the familiar roar of his mother.
"Song Chi, did you hear me? Why aren't you responding? Are you tired of your mom's nagging?"
Song Chi quickly interrupted his increasingly dramatic mother.
"Madam Chen Lixia, I now formally inform you that my ship has successfully advanced to the level of a Psionic Airship. From now on, there's no need to go to the remote star sea launch platform in the city outskirts."
At these words, the house fell silent. Not only did Chen Lixia freeze, but even Song Zhao, who was in his study, immediately came over.
Advancing from a Psionic Shuttle to a Psionic Airship after just three star domain explorations, while not unheard of in the increasingly vibrant Ember Civilization, was still an astonishingly fast pace.
According to official data from the Ember Human Civilization, the time required for all successful advancements to Psionic Airships varied.
- 15% of ships advanced after 5 to 9 explorations.
- 70% of ships advanced after 10 to 20 explorations.
- 10% of ships advanced after 21 explorations.
- Only about 5% of ships advanced after the first four explorations.
In other words, if Song Chi was telling the truth, it meant his advancement speed from the zeroth rank exceeded 95% of all Ember ship captains in the entire Ember Human Civilization.
Seeing the serious look on their son's face, Song Zhao and Chen Lixia exchanged a glance. Even though they knew their son's character well, this was no small matter, so the couple took Song Chi to the neighborhood's dedicated Ember spacecraft docking platform. Only after they saw Song Chi summon his nearly twenty-meter-long Sky Vessel did they finally feel at ease.
Back home, although Song Zhao and Chen Lixia didn't say much, the joy in their eyes was impossible to hide. Song Chi had given them so many pleasant surprises recently.
First, the centuries-old deep-sea pearls, then the Mermaid's Tear handed to Chen Lixia, and now the direct advancement to a Psionic Airship after just three explorations. None of these seemed like ordinary achievements for an Ember ship captain, and they clearly demonstrated their son's capabilities.
Of course, they didn't ask too many questions.
In the afternoon, after lunch, Song Chi received a communication from Shen Qing.
"Mom, Dad, Shen Qing and I had planned to explore together. I'm heading out now."
Before leaving, Song Zhao and Chen Lixia gave him some last-minute advice, emphasizing that the more people involved in an interstellar exploration, the higher the risk, and urging him to be careful.
Song Chi was well aware of this, but this time was different. Shen Qing had a star domain beacon, meaning this would be a targeted deployment, not a random one. The danger was minimal, especially since Shen Qing had already explored the Blo Civilization ruins once before.
In the starry sky above Jiangyuan City, Song Chi and Shen Qing successfully met up.
When Shen Qing saw Song Chi's Sky Vessel, a look of surprise flashed across his face, followed by a sense of inevitability.
Although Song Chi had only been awakened for three months, he had a father who was a second-rank Ember ship captain, so mentorship was inevitable. Shen Qing had also been somewhat prepared for this, which was why he had proactively invited the newly awakened Song Chi two months ago. After all, a newly awakened Psionic Shuttle had very limited combat capabilities.
In the communication hologram, Song Chi caught the change in Shen Qing's expression and guessed what he was thinking. However, he didn't explain himself. On the contrary, he was happy for everyone to think this way, attributing everything to his father. This made things reasonable and completely avoided exposing the All-Realms Marketplace, a win-win situation.
After meeting up, the two of them headed toward the vast, open space. The noise generated by a Psionic Airship's self-deployment was considerable, so they usually moved to an open area before initiating it.
However, before starting the deployment, there was a crucial step. Shen Qing's "Qingfeng" quickly shot out a blue beam of light. This beam was not a straight laser but a rope-like light that could twist and knot.
The light rope extended from the Qingfeng and rapidly approached Song Chi's Sky Vessel. After about ten seconds of infinite extension and entanglement, it successfully connected the two Psionic Airships.
This light rope was emitted by a special ship-mounted device called a "Fleet Locking Mechanism," which could link two or even multiple Ember spacecraft together, ensuring that the connected ships would deploy to the same area.
However, the downside, as Song Chao and Chen Lixia had mentioned, was that the risk of each exploration mission using this method of joint exploration with other starships would be extremely high. Of course, with Shen Qing’s star domain beacon, this wouldn't be an issue this time.
On the Canopy, Song Chi addressed Shen Qing's holographic projection:
"Qing, how long is the cooldown for your star domain beacon component? If we can't complete the exploration this time, can we set another beacon?"
Shen Qing quickly shook his head.
"This component is only of blue quality. It requires a three-year cooldown after each activation. This is after it was enhanced to level 19. When I first got it, the cooldown was even longer, five years."
Upon hearing the three-year cooldown, Song Chi was taken aback. Components like this, which could actively place a star beacon on a particular star domain for subsequent exploration, were extremely rare. He had found no related information on the Ember Network, which sparked his curiosity.
In reality, while these components were useful, their cooldown times were far beyond what he had imagined. They could only be used every three years, and the beacons they placed could only be activated once, lasting for half a year. Once activated, the beacon would dissipate.
In other words, each beacon not only required a three-year cooldown but could only be used to explore a star domain twice—once for 24 hours and once for 48 hours. The restrictions were exceptionally strict.
With this in mind, Song Chi's eyes flickered with uncertainty. He thought about the spatial anchor point feature of the All-Realms Marketplace.
He had considered this before. The spatial anchor point seemed to function similarly to a star beacon, but it was an enhanced version.
If he canceled the anchor point in his bedroom and set it in the star domain they were about to explore, he could return to that star domain via the All-Realms Marketplace even after leaving.
The thought excited him, as he felt this idea might work. However, it wasn't as simple as freely traveling between the two points.
After all, he could only set one anchor point at a time. If he activated the anchor point without preparation, he would be limited to traveling between the anchor star domain and the All-Realms Marketplace, losing the anchor point in the Ember Human Civilization Territory.
As for his initial anchor point, which was tied to his physical body, it would naturally shift to the new star domain the moment he stepped into it.
Unless he stayed in the marketplace after activating the anchor, he wouldn't be able to explore the new star domain or gather resources, making the anchor point meaningless.
To address this, Song Chi had considered a solution: using the autonomous return function of the psy-energy airship. He could set the anchor point without activating it immediately. After the airship deployed to the new star domain, he could enter the marketplace from the deployed star domain, use the marketplace as a hub, and then activate the anchor point to travel to the anchor star domain.
This way, after 24 hours, the psy-energy airship would automatically return to the anchor star domain, creating a perfect loop.
However, this method was only highly likely to work, and he would need to test it personally to confirm its feasibility.
As he was lost in thought, a faint sensation of weightlessness washed over him, gradually intensifying.
Recognizing the familiar signs of an impending star domain deployment, Song Chi quickly refocused his attention, pushing aside all other thoughts.
When the weightlessness reached its peak, it was followed by a dizzying spin.
When the world righted itself, Song Chi found the Canopy and the Green Edge hovering above a vast, yellow-brown floating landmass.
Whistling winds and rolling sandstorms raged across the floating land, their mournful howls a constant reminder of the perilous environment.
"Xiao Chi, activate the energy shield quickly. This floating land has been eroded by sand, and the sandstorms can easily damage the ship's hull."
Shen Qing's warning echoed through the airship's short-range communication system.
(End of Chapter)
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