Chapter 470: Storm Over Dragon Spine: Shadows at the Market

“Captain, once patrol’s over, how about we treat ourselves to a table at Xuanhan Restaurant?”

“I heard they’ve just launched a new Third-Tier Flood Dragon Feast. The main dish is their ‘Braised Flood Dragon.’ It’s said to work wonders for anyone practicing Tier Three Guiding Techniques.”

“Yeah, and word is they’ve got a new batch of fox girls working there. They’re seriously charming!”

……

High above Dragon Spine City, a patrol squad circled the city on their mission.

This squad was made up of ten warships—two cruisers and eight escort ships.

As the team’s group chat buzzed with lively chatter, the patrol captain, Song Quan, cut in suddenly.

“Received word: there’s trouble at the Dragon Spine Commercial Tower. Everyone, turn around—full speed to the family market!”

At his words, the chat fell instantly silent.

The very next second, all ten patrol ships swung around in near-perfect unison, streaking toward the heart of the city where the Dragon Spine Commercial Tower stood.

Every member of this squad had fought in the frontier war. Sure, they could be a bit rowdy during downtime, but when something serious happened, not a single one would let the team down. Otherwise, they’d never have made Dragon Spine City’s patrol roster.

“Captain, any idea who it is this time? Which group?”

While racing forward, one of the squad members piped up, wanting details.

They’d patrolled Dragon Spine City for a while and run into plenty of troublemakers, but never had anyone dared stir up trouble right outside their own Dragon Spine Commercial Tower. This was a first.

The Dinghai Song Family wasn’t what it was decades ago. These days, the Dragon Spine branch of the Song Family under the Morningstar Kingdom was famous across the entire Tianpan Galaxy.

With a Dominator-class, Seventh-Tier flagship from the Three-Eyed Clan at their command, ruling over eighty thousand light-years of star domains in Tianpan, they’d already earned a reputation as a Quasi-Immortal House.

With their renown surging, who would be crazy enough to pull their tail at a time like this?

Song Quan shook his head—he still had no details, but his gaze was icily sharp.

“Doesn’t matter who or where they’re from. If they’re bold enough to provoke our Song Family, they’d better be ready to face our wrath. Two of you, head back to Dragon Spine Hall and have the Family External Affairs Department investigate with everything they’ve got. Be ready to notify Lord Chi at any moment. If someone’s daring enough to stir up trouble right now, they must have some backing. I’d bet Lord Chi will need to step in before this is over!”

“Understood!”

……

In the center of Dragon Spine City, outside the Dragon Spine Commercial Tower, the usually orderly crowds had fallen into chaos. At the heart of it all, a group of men with fierce faces stood waving a special comms wristband, shouting accusations.

Buzz—buzz—buzz!

Just then, eight warships descended from the sky. When they were just dozens of meters above the ground, the hatches on all eight Torch-class ships opened at once. Eight figures leaped down.

At the same time, the eight Torch ships hovering in place swiftly shrank into points of light, which shot straight into the brows of the captains who’d just landed.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

After eight heavy landings, Song Quan strode forward, heading straight for the fierce-faced, unidentified captains at the center of the crowd.

“Who are you people? Why are you making trouble here with a mob?”

As he spoke, the pressure of a Tier Three lifeform radiated from him, laced with threads of Law of Fire, making the crowd feel like the very air was pressing down on them.

You had to be strong to make Patrol Captain in a city like Dragon Spine.

Aside from the quality parts loaded onto his ship, Song Quan himself was a prodigy who’d comprehended the laws.

But even that wasn’t enough to suppress the troublemakers in front of him.

Of the five ringleaders, two were also third-tier cruiser captains. While they hadn’t comprehended any laws, raw pressure from someone of the same tier wasn’t enough to make them back down.

What caught Song Quan off guard was that—despite their fierce looks—they weren’t idiots. Instead of fighting fire with fire, they simply raised the comms wristband higher and shouted:

“What, are you going to use violence because your Dragon Spine Commercial Tower can’t give us an explanation?”

“Isn’t Dragon Spine Tower supposed to have the best reputation and widest variety in the whole public sector? Who thought you’d pull the ‘big store bullies small customer’ routine too!”

Listening to their indignant words, Song Quan’s eyes were cold, but he stopped advancing.

If he really did use force, they’d have a case against him. With a crowd of customers as witnesses, it might be nothing once or twice, but if someone’s orchestrating this behind the scenes, there could be more steps to their plan.

His gaze frosty and unwavering, Song Quan narrowed in on the ringleader. His voice was icy:

“Listen, you can eat whatever you want, but words have consequences. If you talk nonsense, you’ll pay for it!”

The five troublemakers weren’t buying it. They sneered:

“Who’s talking nonsense? Dragon Spine Tower knows best. This is the footage of our buddy entering your market over an hour ago—he hasn’t come out since. We know how valuable that Time Essence Liquid is. That’s why we recorded everything, just in case. Everyone, take a look—are we lying or not?”

The ringleader lifted the comms band even higher.

A projection sprang from the wristband: a stocky man walking into Dragon Spine Tower. In the footage, he never emerged again.

At the end of the video, an automated shipboard intelligence broadcast echoed from the recording ship’s internal comms.

[Attention: Magnetic communications group chat link to Battleship Changban has gone dark—the ship exited the group one second ago. It has now been marked lost.]

After watching the footage, Song Quan could see how they’d managed to rile up the crowd. Their plan was so meticulous that even he, for a brief moment, wondered if one of his own family members had gone too far inside Dragon Spine Tower.

He glanced at the nearby deputy manager for the tower, who looked just as grim and shook his head darkly.

“That man did come in earlier. He’s traded with us several times before. But this time, he vanished not long after coming in, and then these people started a scene!”

“How ridiculous. You admit my buddy went in, and now you say he just mysteriously disappeared? Do you Dragon Spine people think everyone else is an idiot?”

The five troublemakers didn’t back down for a second, insisting that Dragon Spine Tower was guilty of killing their friend for his valuables.

With things tilting their way, the crowd of Torch captain bystanders began to look at the Song Family’s patrol captain and the tower manager with uneasy suspicion.

Right now, it looked like the Song Family really might have done the deed. No one could help but wonder.

Seeing the situation slipping out of control, Song Quan switched tactics.

“Right now, we can’t say for sure who’s to blame. But I’ve already sent word to the Family External Affairs Hall. They have special devices that can help investigate this. Give us ten minutes—our Song Family will give everyone an answer face-to-face.”

Dragon Spine Hall wasn’t far from the city. Two escort ships rushing over should have arrived by now, and factoring in the time needed to pull the right parts from the External Affairs Hall, ten minutes should be enough.

But at that moment, Song Quan’s vice-captain hurried over.

“Captain, just got word from Xiao Yuan—Dragon Spine Hall’s been put under a spatial lockdown! Our warp failed!”

Song Quan clenched his fists, waves of searing aether radiating in every direction.

“So, they’ve busted out the spatial lockdown equipment. Someone’s dead set on wrecking our Song Family’s reputation!”

“In that case, notify Lord Chi!”

Those words were only for the vice-captain to hear—no point announcing it to everyone else, since they’d just claim the Song Family was making up excuses.

……

At the Omniverse Market, Song Chi arched an eyebrow as he was exercising.

“Someone deliberately stirring up trouble at the Dragon Spine Commercial Tower?”

At the speed of thought, his figure vanished from the market.

Deep beneath Dragon Spine Tower, Song Chi withdrew his Voidform Avatar and turned to question the deputy manager.

“The one trading the Time Essence Liquid?”

After hearing all the details, Song Chi’s eyes narrowed.

If those troublemakers were indeed working with the stocky man, then someone had been plotting against the Song Family for a while—and it meant a power with serious resources was pulling the strings.

Uproar erupted outside the shop.

“Song Chi—the previous-generation direct descendant of the Song Family. It’s really him!”

“Now this is getting interesting! He’s said to be the fiercest of last generation’s heirs. If he moves, he goes all in. Last time, he killed a direct heir of the Stark Family in one go!”

“I heard his battle record in the frontier war is terrifying!”

“Wonder how he’ll handle this. Will he crush the troublemakers with force, or go all out to find the mastermind?”

“Mastermind? So you’re saying you think this was set up from the start?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We’re all aware of what Dragon Spine City’s been like these years—it was only a matter of time before it attracted trouble.”

“True enough…”

……

Even with the commotion, most people could see through the ploy. They knew exactly what was going on behind the scenes.

But the reason didn’t matter much—whether the Song Family was abusing its power or being framed, it was all the same in the end.

In the end, it all boiled down to one thing: who had the bigger fist.

If the Song Family could unmask the manipulator behind all this—and make a show of force to wipe them out—Dragon Spine City would stay safe. But if they couldn’t, every ambitious vulture would pounce, and the Song Family’s reputation would be destroyed.

The moment Song Chi appeared, the five ringleaders instinctively dialed back their ferocity. A Tier Four Zhulu Cruiser Captain, and a direct heir to a Quasi-Immortal House—he had enough weight anywhere.

“My lord!”

The five men spoke with forced respect.

But Song Chi didn’t reply. The pressure of a Tier Four Torch Captain radiated from him, quietly engulfing all five troublemakers.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three of them—second-tier escort captains—collapsed under the crushing pressure, dropping to their knees. Only the two third-tier cruiser captains managed to brace themselves.

“So, do I have to make you talk, or will you confess everything right here?”

That was Song Chi’s first question. Though his voice wasn’t loud, the power of Tier Four aether made sure every Torch Captain in front of the tower heard him crystal clear.

The two third-tier troublemakers gritted their teeth and stayed silent.

“Guess you chose option one…”

With a sudden flash between his brows, Song Chi released two beams of light from his Torch Ancestral Orifice.

Before an audience of over ten thousand Torch Captains, the twin beams ignited and shot into the skulls of the two defiant cruiser captains.

In an instant, their attitude flipped completely.

They glanced at Song Chi with reverence, then spilled everything they knew.

“So you never met the mastermind face-to-face… Not too stupid after all!”

“Now it’s really getting interesting.”

Song Chi muttered, then changed his tone abruptly.

“What about your reward? If you were sent to do this, you must’ve been paid.”

His question caught everyone watching off guard.

A reward?

Weren’t they trying to unmask the mastermind? What’s this about a reward?