Chapter 527: Breakout From Star Core City

“Dense Black-Hole Stone!”

Song Chi and Song Yan pulled their attention away from the Star Mirror Stone, quickly spotting a familiar stash of resources off to the side.

Dense Black-Hole Stone was a crucial material both of them needed, so they wasted no time claiming it.

“Time to go!”

A reminder came from Mirror Princess, her voice urging them from behind.

Both Song Chi and Song Yan knew just how tight time was. Any delay, and they’d be trapped inside Star Core City.

The four turned to leave, but just before turning, Song Chi’s gaze landed on something sitting atop a counter several dozen meters away. It was an object unlike any other.

Antimatter Source.

This one was massive. If they managed to take it, the Antimatter Evolution Engine on the Heavenly Ruin would likely complete its transformation, upgrading straight to an ultimate black-grade ship engine.

But time was short. Still, this didn’t bother Song Chi—after all, his real body wasn’t here. He was just controlling three puppet warriors.

He tossed the Storage Capsule in his hand to Song Yan, then pointed one of the puppets toward the back. The golems couldn’t talk, but Song Yan instantly understood what Song Chi meant.

Song Chi would stay behind. The others were to leave first.

In a flash, Song Yan and the others slipped out of the fifth-floor treasury, while the three Void Shadow Assassin Warriors remained, prowling through the vault.

Their first target was obvious—the Antimatter Source.

Wasting no time, one of the puppet warriors approached, tossing a point of light from its hand.

The moment that light merged into the Antimatter Source, Song Chi, aboard the Heavenly Ruin in the outside world, activated the Summoner’s Seal ability of the Soulcalling Demon Golem.

The light, actually a Summoner’s Seal, sank into the Antimatter Source. At Song Chi’s command, the source faded, vanishing from the vault in a blink.

The other two Void Shadow Assassin Warriors hunted for more. With the Soulcalling Demon Golem now boosted to level 60, Song Chi could create up to seven Summoner’s Seals at once. Three were already in use, five more still with the golems, and one off elsewhere.

Red Epic Oddity.

Time and space resources.

Song Chi scooped up anything of highest value, sending it all to the battleship.

……

Above Star Core City, outside, the Star-Lit Palm print had finally faded.

But under the joint assault of dozens of fifth and sixth rank Star Spirit Tribe, the Heavenly Ruin still struggled to hold out.

He’d already used Neutron-Star Fission, and was now relying solely on the battleship’s body to withstand the onslaught—for over ten minutes. Even with both dual energy shields and double hull armor, Song Chi had to use the Last Aegis ability to recover everything once just to hang on.

He kept glancing down. When he saw three Scarlet Sea-Boiler ships burst from the treasury tower, Song Chi finally relaxed.

No point being a sitting duck any longer. The engines roared and he sped the battleship toward the other three ships below.

He still had a few aces left—Black Hole Domain and Market Projection Token—but both came with hefty costs. If he could avoid using them, he would.

Once the ships regrouped, Song Yan took the lead on defense. Not only did he block the way with the Scarlet Sea-Boiler, positioning it where the Star Spirit Tribe’s attack was heaviest, but he also activated a domain module on his ship.

With the Scarlet Sea-Boiler stalling the enemy and the barrier from the domain module cutting them off, Heavenly Ruin’s pressure eased at once.

Finally, with the Yin-Yang Counter-Phase Annihilation Shield’s natural regeneration and the support of Neutron-Star Core Armor, the energy shields and hull armor of Heavenly Ruin began to recover at a decent pace.

Ignoring the furious Star Spirit Tribe around them, all four ships raced for the direction they’d come in.

“Cut them off—now!”

One of the sixth rank Star Spirit Tribe realized their intent and shouted, immediately rallying more to join. From the four’s viewpoint, it looked like thousands upon thousands of Star Spirits were swarming their way.

“All together!”

They nodded in the battleship comms group.

Mirror Execution.

Ten-Thousand Sigil Violet Lightning Prison.

Inferno Sea.

……

Four devastating area attacks fired off in succession, engulfing tens of thousands of Star Spirits in an explosion of energy.

Once the blaststorm faded, the entire city sky stood eerily empty.

Seizing the moment, the four battleships accelerated together.

Like before, once they neared the star core shield, Mirror Princess activated her Spatial Shift again.

The world twisted. In a flash, all four ships reappeared outside the shield.

But right at that moment, a wave of unimaginable energy erupted from below.

Mirro Lake had been vigilant for this—familiar with the Star Spirit Tribe’s arsenal—and sent an urgent warning immediately.

“Careful! That’s the city’s infamous Star Core Void Splitter Cannon. It’s the same one that once nearly destroyed a Seventh-Tier Overlord!”

The warning came fast, but the Star Core Void Splitter Cannon moved even faster. Instantly, a beam of starlight shot up, already closing in.

In the command deck of Heavenly Ruin, Song Chi’s heart nearly stopped.

His mind raced. He locked onto the Black Hole Evolution Layer module.

True Spirit Guard of the Angel King.

Neutron-Star Fission.

Zen Seal · Internal · Time Acceleration.

He’d already used all three of those powers. Now, facing the might of the Seventh-Tier beam, his last line of defense was the ‘Black Hole Domain’ from the Black Hole Evolution Layer.

He could always use the Space-skipping Pearl or Angel • Wing Blink to run, but what about Song Yan and the others?

Just as he was ready to trigger Black Hole Domain, Song Yan’s Scarlet Sea-Boiler spun around and dropped to the very bottom.

Scarlet Sea-Boiler threw itself straight into the path of the blast, taking the furious star beam on its energy shield.

Everyone could see—the ship’s shield collapsed almost instantly, dropping to zero in just a second under that terrifying penetration.

“Careful!”

Song Chi blurted out, but as soon as he spoke his worry faded.

He remembered what the Old Ancestor had said—his big brother’s flagship was a powerhouse too.

The answer came moments later.

As the shield failed completely, an aura of ghostly energy raced around the ship. Song Chi watched a familiar sight—Scarlet Sea-Boiler’s hull transformed at breakneck speed, turning into a miniature black hole, just like Heavenly Ruin did with Neutron-Star Fission.

This black hole was even larger than Heavenly Ruin’s neutron-star form, though.

Inside, Song Yan remained perfectly calm at the controls.

“Black Hole Armor—Black Hole Fission, activated!”

The miniature black hole spun, and the terrifying star beam began to get sucked into it at incredible speed.

They held out for more than ten seconds, but in the end, the beam was just too much. The black hole finally collapsed, and the ship reverted to normal.

Lucky for them, Song Yan had already activated a repair module before disaster struck. Scarlet Sea-Boiler survived, but it took substantial damage. Even after burning both repair units, it was badly crippled.

And with enemy attacks sweeping up from below, the battered Scarlet Sea-Boiler’s hull damage climbed above 80%. It wasn’t dead in the water, but as good as out of the fight.

Still, nobody dared look down on the Scarlet Sea-Boiler after that. Everyone was left stunned.

After all, the Star Core Void Splitter Cannon had once nearly destroyed a Seventh-Tier Overlord, and yet Scarlet Sea-Boiler survived taking it head-on. That said it all.

Song Chi’s reaction was lightning-fast. Seeing Scarlet Sea-Boiler lose mobility, while the Star Spirit Dominator hovered above with predatory eyes, he didn’t hesitate.

He immediately used the Superbody Compression Plate.

“Big Brother, don’t resist!”

Under its effects, the Scarlet Sea-Boiler shrank down to nearly a nine-thousandth of its original size, barely over 200 meters long.

A powerful tractor beam shot out from Heavenly Ruin, latching onto the shrunken Scarlet Sea-Boiler.

With Song Yan not resisting, Scarlet Sea-Boiler was quickly pulled inside the Heavenly Ruin. Song Chi fired off a command:

“Go!”

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

Space rippled and the three ships vanished from the sky above Star Core City.

Just before escaping, Song Chi also triggered Zen Seal: External Time Stop.

High above, where the Star Spirit Dominator was suppressing the Starry Sky Dragon Shark, its body froze. With the time stop in effect, and a warning already given, the Starry Sky Dragon Shark twisted away.

Once clear of the battlefield, the Dragon Shark began shrinking rapidly. Down to less than a hundred meters, Song Chi activated the ‘Demon Golem Summon’ on the Soulcalling Demon Golem, triggering the final Summoner’s Seal attached to the Dragon Shark.

It all happened in an instant. By the time the Star Spirit Dominator snapped out of the time stop, the Dragon Shark and all three battleships had vanished from the skies above Star Core City.

Thousands of light years away, the three battleships reappeared amid the void.

They looked a little worse for wear, but everyone aboard was elated.

Despite plenty of risks, the mission was a smashing success. Most importantly, they suffered no casualties.

Next up—splitting the loot.

“So, do we divide it here or head back to Saintlight City?”

In the command deck of Heavenly Ruin, Song Yan appeared at Song Chi’s side and took the initiative to ask.

Mirror Princess and the others discussed quietly, then replied:

“Let’s go to Saintlight City. With the Eighth-Tier Angel King backing us up, even the Star Spirit Dominator wouldn’t dare make trouble there.”