https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-83-The-Pursuit-Ship-Deep-Sea-Long-Sky-/12833432/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-85-Dark-Matter-Energy-Shield-Generator-Level-29-/12833434/
Chapter 84: The Red Epic Ship Component
Chapter 84: The Red Epic Ship Component
As Song Lin headed to the spaceship dock to absorb the Cold Spring Flame, Uncle and Auntie also called out to Song Chi.
"Little Chi, there’s no need for more words. Here are 500 strands of second-tier Floating Land Essence and 1,000 strands of first-tier Floating Land Essence, along with two advanced body-strengthening serums. Take them."
Before Song Zhao could say anything, Zhao Hongxue interjected.
"Little Chi, just take them. Don’t overthink it. Although your uncle is at a critical point in his advancement, these resources are still within reach."
With that said, Song Chi naturally had no choice but to accept the resources. Of course, he had only intended to be polite. He still had several components to reinforce, and this batch of resources came at just the right time.
...
That evening, in the Roaring Lion Manor’s living room.
Song Mingsong, Bai Xiuqin, and the four couples—Mountain, Sea, Zhao, and Yang—were all present, including Song Chi, Song Qi, Song Lin, and Song Wen. Essentially, all Song family members above the first tier had gathered here.
Song Chi had initially not planned to participate. He had just obtained a batch of Floating Land Essence and was eager to fully reinforce the Skybound. However, the elders’ tone was firm, so he had no choice but to join them.
Grandma Bai Xiuqin fumbled around in a corner of the sofa, and soon a blue light screen emerged from the living room floor, rapidly spreading as time passed.
Seeing this, Song Chi’s thoughts settled. The last time he had seen this in the house was when he imprinted the mythic mech projection. This indicated that the matter to be discussed was of utmost importance.
Once the blue light screen completely covered the entire living room, Grandfather, seated in the main chair, spoke gravely, his gaze turning to Uncle Song Shan.
"Older Brother, with that intermediate energy crystal, how confident are you about the advancement? Give us a straight answer!"
At this, Song Chi, standing behind the sofa, raised an eyebrow.
He had always thought the intermediate energy crystal he provided was for Grandma Bai Xiuqin. Uncle Song Shan was only 130 years old, while Grandma was 200, so it seemed more urgent for Grandma.
However, seeing that his father and Grandma herself showed no signs of surprise, Song Chi decided not to ask. He knew this must have been a pre-discussed decision.
Song Shan pondered for a moment.
"With the intermediate energy crystal and the resources the family has secretly acquired over the years, the success rate should be over 40%."
"Not enough. 40% is still too low, and the risk is high. Here’s what I propose: after initiating the advancement task, I’ll personally guide you through a few interstellar explorations with the Roaring Lion’s assistance. This should boost the success rate by another 10%, bringing it to over 50%, which is a reasonable chance to try."
Song Mingsong’s expression was not too pleasant. In his heart, he still found this success rate too low.
However, considering that Song Shan was only 130 years old and would have time to cultivate a new Sparkship even if he failed, he nodded in agreement.
"Alright. Third Brother, now that Little Chi has successfully awakened, the Blood Blade Pirate Gang surveillance will be your responsibility. However, considering Li Xia’s advancement, Second Brother, you’ll take over for two months. After that, Third Brother will take over."
"Remember, there can be no mistakes. Whether we can atone for our lineage’s mistakes depends on this."
"Understood!"
...
Song Chi and the others were thoroughly confused. They had no idea what the elders were talking about.
The Blood Blade Pirate Gang, their lineage’s mistakes, and atoning for them—these ideas swirled in their minds, leaving them with countless questions. At that moment, their father, Song Zhao, spoke up.
"Father, since Older Brother’s advancement is imminent, it’s time to involve these young ones. If we need to take action, relying solely on our few escort ships won’t be enough.
"In a few months, Little You should also advance to the first tier. We’ll take turns bringing the five of them to the Blood Blade Pirate Gang’s territory to familiarize them with the situation."
Song Mingsong considered for a moment and quickly agreed.
"Alright!"
Seeing Grandfather’s agreement, Second Uncle Song Hai chimed in.
"For the next two months, I’ll take two of them."
He then looked at Song Chi and the others. "You four decide among yourselves."
After a brief discussion, Song Qi and Song Wen would go with Song Hai to the Blood Blade Pirate Gang’s territory, while Song Chi and Song Lin would follow their father in two months.
Once the discussion concluded and before the blue shielding screen faded, Song Chi quickly leaned in to his father’s ear and asked a few questions.
After a brief explanation from his father, Song Chi finally understood the general situation.
It turned out that the Song family of White Tower Floating Land was just one branch of the Dingshai Song Clan. A few decades ago, Grandfather had just ascended to the Third Rank when he made a mistake during a family mission, leading to its ultimate failure.
This was why his entire family had to move to White Tower Floating Land.
According to his father's vague hints, the ultimate goal of that mission had been a red epic-level component. In other words, due to Grandfather's mistake, the family indirectly lost a red ship component.
Song Chi was taken aback. A red epic-level ship component was a tier higher than orange glory components. Until now, he had only heard about them in textbooks and online, never imagining that his family had once had the capability to acquire such high-level components.
This clearly showed that the Dingshai Song Clan was far from ordinary.
As for why they had been monitoring the Bloodblade Pirate Group for years, his father didn't provide many details. He only mentioned that the Bloodblade Pirate Group possessed something of immense value. If they could obtain this item, their branch could make up for the past mistake and return to the family.
After understanding all this, Song Chi immediately linked to the White Tower Local Network from his bedroom.
He opened a search engine, typed in "Bloodblade Pirate Group," and clicked search.
Soon, a series of information posts popped up. Song Chi selected a few with high heat and the most replies, which were paid posts.
Indeed, most of these posts were not free. The more credible and hard-to-obtain ones required payment to view.
Fortunately, they weren't expensive, costing only 5 strands of zero-rank Floating Land Essence. Song Chi paid for and read all of them, quickly obtaining the basic information about the Bloodblade Pirate Group.
The Bloodblade Pirate Group was a medium-sized pirate group active in the border regions between the Chaotic Star Domain and the Dawn Star Kingdom. It was said that this pirate group had been around for nearly two hundred years.
The entire Bloodblade Pirate Group had about a hundred members. Among them, there were five Second Rank Flameheart Captains, over twenty First Rank Flameheart Captains, and the rest were all zero-rank.
Additionally, the leader of the Bloodblade Pirate Group, the owner of the Bloodblade Cruiser, "Blood Blade," was said to have already been a Third Rank Flameheart Captain a hundred and fifty years ago, making him extremely powerful.
When Song Chi read this, he was startled. If Blood Blade had been a Third Rank for a hundred and fifty years, that meant he was probably around the same age as Zhu YaoKui.
A Three Hundred-year-old Third Rank, while Song MingSong was only two hundred and thirty years old. Given the significant age difference, could Grandfather even match him?
Song Chi even speculated that the reason the family hadn't taken action yet was due to their fear of Blood Blade's strength. With Uncle about to advance to the Third Rank, having two Third Rank members would ensure they could suppress Blood Blade, so Grandfather was now preparing to make a move.
Thinking about this, Song Chi felt a sense of urgency. The idea that he might have to face a Third Rank battle within a year filled him with a deep sense of crisis.
"No, I must reinforce the dark matter energy shield generator component to the Second Rank limit!"
His resolve to reinforce the dark matter energy shield generator component grew stronger. However, Song Chi was a bit puzzled about where to find Mercury Crystals.
While not extremely rare, they weren't common either, and it would be difficult to obtain them in a short time.
In the underground second level of the Roaring Lion Courtyard, Song Chi stepped into this space entirely made of special alloy as the elevator stopped.
In front of him was Grandmother Bai Xiuzhen's maid, Lan Die. She had come with Grandmother when she married into the Song family and was absolutely loyal to the current Song family.
However, now she was white-haired and had stopped at the First Rank, nearing the end of her life.
"Fourth Young Master, I won't go in. You can go in and choose, but Miss said you can only take the Mercury Crystals you mentioned."
"Thank you, Grandma Lan Die. I understand."
Click. He lightly brushed the access card given by Grandmother.
"Click!"
The alloy door slowly opened, and Song Chi stepped into the family's secret vault.
Yes, this sealed room, entirely made of special alloy, was the Song family's secret vault, or rather, their branch's secret vault. His father had mentioned that there were many valuable items inside.
So, the first time entering the secret vault, Song Chi's gaze roamed around, filled with curiosity.
However, as time passed, he began to feel disappointed. The secret vault didn't seem very large, only about a dozen square meters, with a few shelves inside.
But after he inspected all the shelves, his thoughts were completely overturned.
While the secret vault didn't have many items, they were all extremely rare. Apart from ordinary white curios, there were over twenty blue curios and even four purple curios, making Song Chi feel a bit overwhelmed.
Apart from the blue and white curios, among the four purple-quality curios, Song Chi's eyes were particularly drawn to one: the Essence of Flowing Light. This rare item is formed from an extremely special type of star sea light and can be converted into a Flowing Light Propulsor, a special component that significantly enhances the speed of the Ember Fleet ships.
Flowing Light Propulsor (Lv0)
- Quality: Purple
- Characteristic: Propulsion thrust increased by 50%.
- Consumption: 8/s (Ethereal Energy Points)
- Effect: Thrust increased by 80%, ship speed increased by 80%.
- Upgrade Requirements: 8 strands of Floating Land Essence (Rank 0), 800 Ethereal Energy Points, 1 Flowing Light Stone
Song Chi already had a purple engine, ensuring ample power for the Skybound, but to maximize this energy and enhance the ship's agility and speed, he needed this propulsor. However, having acquired two purple-quality curios already, it was clear he couldn't secure this purple propulsor component anytime soon, as it was considered family property.
Beyond that, Song Chi also noticed several extremely rare resources and treasures. For instance, the heart of a Star Sea Sky Cucumber tree, which has existed for thousands of years. The Star Sea Sky Cucumber is a relatively common plant in the star sea, but finding one is still incredibly difficult, let alone harvesting its precious heart.
Just this Star Sea Sky Cucumber tree heart alone could extend one's lifespan by 50 years, making it a highly sought-after item in the outside world.
Another example was a fist-sized piece of Myriad-Year Volcanic Lava Iron Essence, a special resource required for a Rank 1 Ember Fleet ship to ascend to Rank 2, and thus highly valuable.
After surveying the area for a while, Song Chi didn't find the Mercury Crystal he needed, or any resources in the tens or hundreds of tons that he was looking for. A thought struck him, and he made his way to the deepest part of the secret vault. Sure enough, he found a steel door marked "Mineral Storage."
If his guess was correct, the large quantities of mineral resources should be stored in this mineral storage room. And indeed, upon entering, Song Chi found several moderately rare minerals, such as gas and uranium, including the Mercury Crystal he needed.
After a thorough inspection, he discovered that the mineral storage room contained about 1,200 tons of Mercury Crystal. He calculated the requirements for reinforcing the dark matter energy shield generator and found it sufficient.
Summoning the Skybound to the ship platform in the center of the mineral storage room, Song Chi began the reinforcement process without delay.
The first item he reinforced was not the dark matter energy shield generator but the newly acquired purple Shadow Antimatter Hyperstate Engine. He needed to reinforce this engine to a certain level before he could safely reinforce the dark matter energy shield.
Do you wish to spend 8 strands of Rank 0 Floating Land Essence + 500 energy points + 5 Rank 0 Life Nuclei to upgrade the Shadow Antimatter Hyperstate Engine from Lv0 to Lv1?
"Confirm!"
In one go, he reinforced the Shadow Antimatter Hyperstate Engine to Lv20, spending a total of 259 strands of Rank 0 Floating Land Essence + 478 strands of Rank 1 Floating Land Essence and some Rank 0 and 1 Life Nuclei.
Shadow Antimatter Hyperstate Engine (Lv20)
- Quality: Purple
- Characteristic: Power efficiency increased by 65%
- Consumption: 40/s
- Power Output: 660/s
- Overload Buffer: 20 minutes
- Energy Pool: 30,000 points (can store 30,000 energy points)
- Convertible To: Shadow Reactor
- Upgrade Requirements: 20 strands of Floating Land Essence (Rank 2), 10,000 Ethereal Energy Points, 20 Rank 2 Life Nuclei, 1 Titanium Crystal
After reinforcing it to Rank 2, Song Chi looked at the 721 strands of Rank 1 Floating Land Essence he had left and felt a pang of regret. The Shadow Antimatter Hyperstate Engine's attributes were indeed impressive, but the resource consumption was staggering. In the blink of an eye, several thousand strands of Rank 0 Floating Land Essence were gone.
If not for the funds his uncle had provided, he would have struggled to reinforce the dark matter energy shield generator components, let alone the Shadow Antimatter Hyperstate Engine.
Moreover, to continue reinforcing, he would need strategic resources like titanium crystals.
However, it was fair to say that the attributes of the Lv20 Shadow Antimatter Hyperstate Engine were worth the cost.
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(End of Chapter)
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