Chapter 620: Negotiations at the Edge of the Fire Serpent Galaxy

Fire Serpent Galaxy, southeastern barren star domain.

A sizeable fleet was drifting through this stretch of space, scouring the area.

Judging by the signature markings on the main ships, it was a joint fleet comprising the Morningstar Family, Gold Horn Lu Family, Dusk Family, Eagle Family, and several others.

Somewhere within a covert encrypted group chat, a captain was quietly transmitting messages.

“Ha, serves them right. Over the centuries, thanks to that Rosetta, the Morningstar Family has quietly swallowed up a lot of our assets—both in the open and behind the scenes.”

“What do you all think? Should we team up with the other two families and give them a taste of their own medicine?”

“No way. Rosetta Morningstar might be gone, but don’t forget—the Morningstar Family has produced three Dreadnought Captains since those wars in the Tianpan Galaxy, using the resources they seized. Even though they lost a ship before, they still have three, counting Angel Morningstar. If we push them too far, none of us can handle the fallout!”

……

Compared to the other families with their own plans, the mood in the Morningstar Family’s encrypted group chat—composed of the three Dreadnought ships—was far heavier.

Angel Morningstar: “Ignore them. No matter what schemes those families cook up, they won’t dare make a real move in the shadows. Our only real concern right now is the Song Family of Longji.”

As soon as Angel Morningstar spoke—an ancestor who’d been a Dreadnought Captain for two millennia—various opinions began pouring into the small group of barely a dozen members.

“Ancestor, we’ve always had a tense relationship with the Song Family of Longji. It’s highly likely we can’t hold on to the Timeworld Tree Sanctuary. Instead of fighting it, maybe we should just go with the flow and give up our claim on half the sanctuary so we can ease tensions with them.”

“In these past centuries we’ve managed to secure two sixth-tier Timeworld Fruits. As long as the Song Family doesn’t make any moves, who’s to say we can’t come back a thousand or ten thousand years from now—maybe even rise up with another Star-Annihilator class ship and rejoin the ranks of the Immortal Houses?”

“Nonsense. Give it to the Song Family? What makes you think they’ll be grateful? We’d be better off leaking the news to one of the three big families in the Yaohan Kingdom, letting them go head-to-head with the Song Family. That’s the only way the Morningstar Family gets breathing room.”

“Third Brother, you’re underestimating them. The three from Yaohan have legacies going back over ten thousand years—they’re much sharper than us. If we bring them in, I bet before they even face off with the Song Family, they’ll have their eyes set on the two sixth-tier Timeworld Fruits in our vaults!”

“Enough!”

Seeing the key members of the chat arguing endlessly, Angel Morningstar finally spoke up.

But before he could give the verdict, a sudden and unfamiliar communication request came through on the White Night Morningstar.

Angel Morningstar hesitated for two seconds, then, wanting to test his suspicions, accepted the call.

“Sir Angel, it’s been a long time.”

“Song Chi? It’s you? I thought Song Shiyuan would’ve come himself this time.”

As the link connected, Song Chi’s Voidform Avatar—condensed by the Law of Space—appeared in the comms projection.

“The Prime Ancestor is busy with the family fleets right now…”

Song Chi seemed about to exchange pleasantries, but Angel Morningstar cut him off.

“Let’s skip the small talk. Just state your terms.”

Hearing this, Song Chi dropped all pretense.

“You really get to the point, Sir Angel. In that case, I’ll be direct.”

“From now on, the entire Timeworld Tree Sanctuary belongs to the Song Family. Every member in your clan who knows anything about the sanctuary must sign a confidentiality agreement—guaranteeing that no one will ever leak a single detail about it in the future.”

At this, Angel Morningstar’s eyes narrowed. Anger surged inside him—Song Chi’s demands were simply too forceful. He was clearly trying to bully the Morningstar Family into submission.

But when Song Chi spoke again, that anger faded.

“Of course, to show goodwill, the Song Family will withdraw from the Morningstar Kingdom and leave the Tianpan Galaxy. That way, you’ll never need to worry about us looking over your shoulder again. And as for those two sixth-tier Timeworld Fruits in your possession—we won’t touch them. You’ll keep your chance to rejoin the Immortal Houses one day.”

Song Chi’s Voidform Avatar fell silent, quietly waiting for Angel Morningstar’s reply.

Compared to Angel Morningstar’s pensive expression, Song Chi’s remained calm and unhurried.

He trusted that Angel Morningstar would make the “right” choice.

Sure enough, after just a few seconds of contemplation, Angel Morningstar responded.

“Since the Song Family is showing such sincerity, the Morningstar Family would be foolish not to recognize it. Still, I’d like to offer a counterproposal. Hear me out first.”

With a shift in tone, he continued.

“Since you want to leave the Tianpan Galaxy, you’re obviously trying to secure a brand-new star system, free from interference. But even teaming up with the Chigu Luo Clan won’t make that easy…”

Song Chi cut him off before he could finish:

“Sir Angel, get to the point!”

Angel Morningstar carried on, unfazed by the interruption:

“The Morningstar Family holds territorial rights to over 120,000 light-years’ worth of star domain in the Tianpan Galaxy. How about we exchange that for 100,000 light-years in the star system you’re eyeing?”

“Don’t rush to refuse. You know as well as I do—winning over a new star system is just step one. The real challenge is star-level migration. If it’s just the two of your clans, it’ll take at least a thousand years to move the whole population. Rope in some subordinate forces, and that time drops drastically. I’m sure you get my point.”

Hundreds of thousands of light-years away, aboard the Heavenly Ruin, Song Chi’s lips curled in a slight smirk.

Angel made a decent argument, but Song Chi wasn’t so easily taken in.

He refocused, remotely guiding his Voidform Avatar’s reply.

“Sir Angel, spare me the rhetoric. The Morningstar Family isn’t the only one desperate to break free of the Tianpan Galaxy. With your family’s status slipping, once we withdraw, maintaining the Morningstar Kingdom will become impossible, and you’ll have the three powerhouse families from the Yaohan Kingdom breathing down your neck. Following the Song Family out is your best bet.”

Pulling the discussion back on track, Song Chi continued.

“A hundred thousand light-years is out of the question. Forty thousand, tops.”

“How about sixty thousand. I’ll throw in a dose of Celestial Jade Essence as well!”

Angel Morningstar stiffened—sixty thousand seemed to be his bottom line.

On the screen, Song Chi’s eyes gleamed. He pitched another deal.

“A single drop of Celestial Jade Essence isn’t enough. The Song Family wants a high-tier component—at least one in gold-grade!”

After this, Angel’s expression kept shifting. He seemed trapped in a fierce mental struggle.

Song Chi didn’t lose patience. He’d just tossed the idea out, not really expecting a win. The Morningstar Family’s ship configurations were never impressive so he figured they had few high-grade components to spare.

But seeing Angel hesitate like this, maybe there was a real chance.

After a long internal battle, Angel Morningstar finally sent over a screenshot of a component’s specs.

Dual Separation – Level 60

Grade: Black

Feature 1: Battleship Replication

Feature 2: Cross-Starlane Control

Feature 3: Starlane Swap

Feature 4: Component slot count always fixed at 1

Feature 5: Dual Separation

Consumption: 3000 Eon Energy Points per second

Effect: When equipped, a warship can communicate with any other ship that carries a second Dual Separation component, with no barriers.

No charge-up or cooldown required.

……

{Battleship Replication: Consumes 500,000 Eon Energy Points to create a physical duplicate of the equipped warship, matching all properties except for components above black-grade. The clone endures as long as the captain doesn’t proactively revoke it or it isn’t destroyed. If either happens, there’s a 50-year fixed cooldown to reactivate.}

{Cross-Starlane Control: Captain can control the cloned battleship regardless of distance.}

{Starlane Swap: Consumes 300,000 Eon Energy Points to instantly swap the places of the main ship and its clone—regardless of distance. If triggered again within 60 minutes, the two return to their starting locations. After 60 minutes, the feature goes on a 24-hour cooldown.}

{Dual Separation: Consumes 1,000,000 Eon Energy Points to split off a second Dual Separation component. Both can be equipped by different ships. If one is destroyed, the other instantly becomes the true Dual Separation component. Current cooldown: 49 years and 5 months.}

After reading through the component’s properties, Song Chi understood at last.

It was plain—the Morningstar Traverse had also been equipped with this component, and when the ship sank, it was destroyed alongside it. But thanks to the “Dual Separation” feature, the component survived.

“I knew it—Rosetta Morningstar was never the kind to put family first and make such a sacrifice.”

Song Chi was still mulling this over when Angel Morningstar’s voice rose again.

“One dose of Celestial Jade Essence, plus this Dual Separation component—my offer is for eighty thousand light-years of high-quality territory!”

Inside the main control room of the Heavenly Ruin, Song Chi didn’t rush to have his Voidform Avatar respond. Instead, he asked in the core family channel.

Song Wujian: “Take the deal. Eighty thousand light-years isn’t much, and the Chipan Galaxy spans nearly a million. Even if we and the Luo Clan carve out half, we’d have to let the rest go anyway. This top-tier black component is a bargain in comparison!”

“And judging by this Dual Separation component, along with the mirror component on your ship, Xiaochi, we’ll be able to send out three powerful cloned battleships to scoop up resources without worrying about danger. The possibilities are massive.”

With that, Song Chi and Angel Morningstar sealed the trade. Over the next few days, the two sides signed a series of confidentiality agreements. Once that was settled, full ownership of the Timeworld Tree Sanctuary went to the Song Family, and Song Chi secured the Dual Separation component.

……

Time passed. In the blink of an eye, a hundred years went by.

During that century, the Song Family seized the sole seventh-tier life-Floating-land in their assigned sector, reaping huge profits and sweeping through the rest of their territory.

Other fleets—over a dozen—kept pace with roughly the same progress.

On this particular day, in the encrypted group chat of the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang:

Song Wujian: “Just got word that in the center of the Fire Serpent Galaxy, on the Fire Serpent Floating-Land, there’s a cosmic secret realm. It’s the lowest grade, but it’s said to have lasted over a million years—there’s likely a stockpile of Primal Chaos Qi inside.”

Song Shiyuan: “The Fire Serpent Floating-Land? That’s a peak-tier seventh-grade life-Floating-land. The Lingyue Zhao Clan, along with other Noble Houses, is currently attacking it. I heard they just breached its shield not long ago!”

Song Tianshu: “The Lingyue Zhao Clan is an Immortal powerhouse. Are we sure about jumping in? If we’re discovered, no way they let us off easy!”

Song Yan: “Isn’t that what the Dual Separation component is for? Use a clone to investigate—worst case, we wait another fifty years if we lose one. And with those cooldown-reducing components, it might just be twenty or thirty years, tops.”

Song Chi: “I think it’s worth a shot too. We’ve already seen how mythical oddities can turn the tide. Even a phantom version of the Zhou Tian Star Tower could stand up to the Abyssal Demon Blade. If we can repair Dragon Whale Hall, maybe it’ll work the same magic for us. That would seriously boost the Song Family’s foundation.”

……

Everyone shared their thoughts, but it was Song Wujian who made the final call.

“Since most agree, let’s send a battleship clone to scout it out. As for the chosen ships—”

“Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang, Heavenly Ruin, and Scorching Sea Blazer, those three.”

No one raised objections. Everyone knew those were the Song Family’s strongest ships.

“Xiaochi, Xiao Yan, you two depart in three days. Make all the preparations.”

“Got it!”

“Understood!”

……

The next day, at the Omniverse Market.

Song Chi stood before the Long-Range Random Space Gate Transfer Platform, quickly kicking off another market transaction.

Today marked the exact day the platform’s cooldown had ended. The timing was perfect.

As countless portals formed beyond the marketplace gates, Song Chi’s gaze drifted toward the Oddities Exchange.

Having first delved into the Flame God Clan’s legacy ground, then the Starrealm Gut, and recently claiming the Doomstar Race’s hoard—including loot from two seventh-tier floating lands—Song Chi had now amassed over ten top-grade oddities in the exchange shop.

Black-grade: Tomb of Light and Shadow, Star Spirit Earth.

Gold-grade: Starlight Compass, Fireglass Armor, Flame of the Crimson Wheel, True Dragon Scale, Star Spirit Gem, Space Birthing Stone, Eight-Armed Serpent Sheddings, Silver Snake Skeleton, etc.

Seeing these dazzling treasures—shining gold, some pitch black—Song Chi felt a surge of satisfaction. They were the fruit of centuries of effort.

And there were more than forty silver oddities he hadn’t yet converted into battleship components.

While he was still scanning the shop’s wares, a figure who hurried out of a four-story inn caught Song Chi’s eye.

Who else could it be but Zhou Ping?