Chapter 625: Bargain at the Edge of Annihilation

Looking at the battleship’s hull now, after a relentless barrage of cannon fire, its energy shield was already dimming, barely hanging on.

The ‘Suppress’ rune inscribed by that eighth-tier Nightmare Soul Body hadn’t just sealed off its jump and phase abilities. Even the battleship’s Rules Field was suppressed to the bare minimum. Without that support, the Lingyue Ruan Clan’s battleship hardly lived up to its reputation for solid defense.

Keep in mind, all three of them—Song Chi and his companions—had been holding back, afraid any misstep would sink the other ship outright.

Take the Heavenly Ruin’s mirror warship as an example. Not to mention the ‘Ninefold Violet Heaven World-Ending Calamity Thunder’ from the Divine Thunder Cannon—even skills like ‘Blood Judgment,’ ‘God of the Hunt’s Weakpoint Mark,’ and ‘Ten-Thousand Sigil Violet Lightning Prison,’ Song Chi hadn’t activated any of them.

Doo doo doo!

Suddenly, a comm request came through from the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang’s battleship replication.

Song Wujian didn’t hesitate and connected at once.

Of course, the man himself was still far away in the Fire Serpent Galaxy. The only thing appearing before the Ruan Clan’s captain was an ordinary fourth-tier enslaved creature.

“Who exactly are you? What clan are you from?”

“Fighting amongst ourselves during wartime—the Divine Dynasty strictly forbids this. If word gets out, do you really think the Ying Clan will let this slide?”

Faced with this, Song Wujian guided his enslaved minion to respond through a mental link:

“Infighting? It’s only infighting if there are actual casualties. Otherwise, King Guangnan, do you really think a battleship without its Rules Field could survive our full assault?”

King Guangnan’s face darkened a shade. He knew Song Wujian wasn’t exaggerating.

He glanced up at the triple-layered Spatial Lockdown screens overhead, considered things for a moment, then spoke again:

“What do you want?”

He seemed worried Song Wujian would demand the moon and quickly added:

“Our Ruan Clan is bound by marriage to the immortal Lingyue Zhao Clan. When we were sealed by the eighth-tier Nightmare Soul Body, they were already notified. You’d better think carefully before you ask for anything.”

But Song Wujian didn’t so much as flinch, his answer ready and waiting.

“Simple. All the Primal Chaos Qi currently on your battleship. Plus, one of your clan’s unique Four Symbols Rotating Sigil components.”

“That’s impossible…”

Before Song Wujian even finished, King Guangnan’s face went cold. He refused without a second thought.

But then, the enslaved creature in Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang’s replication spoke again.

“Red grade will do!”

King Guangnan’s expression eased ever so slightly. Everyone knew the Guangnan Ruan Clan controlled a primal secret realm, one of the most valuable realms out there, capable of producing Starsea Oddities over and over. The Four Symbols Rotating Sigil was their signature artifact.

After nurturing that secret realm for tens of thousands of years, it now ranked among the top primal realms. At its peak, it could even produce a gold-grade Four Symbols Rotating Sigil.

But primal realms could only be accelerated so far. Even at their limits, gold-grade oddities emerged at a glacial pace. Despite constant input of advanced Void Crystals, only one had ever come to be. Even the silver-grade versions took nearly ten thousand years to produce, making them a rare sight.

Red grade Four Symbols Rotating Sigils, though, were much more common. Over tens of thousands of years, plenty had accrued. Seeing that Song Wujian only wanted a red grade, it was still a bitter pill, but manageable.

Yet after mulling it over for half a minute, King Guangnan still shook his head.

He didn’t say why, but the three from Song Family, with their Dual Pupils, could all read the truth in his eyes.

He figured they wouldn’t, or couldn’t, go all out. That’s where his confidence stemmed from. The real thing he wasn’t willing to part with wasn’t the red Four Symbols Rotating Sigil—it was his stash of Primal Chaos Qi.

Permanently boosting comprehension was a strategic resource of the highest order—every Star-Annihilator-class Captain craved it.

Fire Serpent Galaxy, Song Family’s encrypted group chat.

Song Wujian’s voice rang out.

“Attack!”

After that, the trio hesitated no longer. Gold and black high-grade cannons across their warships lit up immediately.

It didn’t take long for the Ruan Clan’s battleship’s energy shield to shatter completely, followed by its hull armor. Even with two mid-battle repairs, courtesy of repair modules, they couldn’t keep up with the battering from a black Star‑Annihilator Cannon, several gold main cannons, and the supercannon.

With its jump and phase capabilities sealed, it was nothing but a sitting duck.

Barely ten minutes later, when the Ruan Clan captain tried to request comms again, their ship’s energy shield and armor were just a memory, and even the hull had taken damage—at least fifty percent, by the looks of it.

“Wait, wait, I agree! All the Primal Chaos Qi and one red Four Symbols Rotating Sigil!”

But by then, Song Chi and his crew weren’t so easily appeased. Song Wujian laid it out plain and simple.

“That was the old price. Now? The price just went up.”

“You—”

King Guangnan’s face was dangerously dark. As a seasoned captain, his patience was wearing thin.

But Song Wujian didn’t care what the man thought. He listed a brand new set of demands.

“On top of those two, toss in one Black Supreme Component and two seventh-tier Gray Crystals!”

Before King Guangnan could haggle, Song Wujian cut him off:

“We might not dare blow you out of the void, but crippling your ship is all too easy. You really want to bet your life on whether the Zhao Clan will find you before that Nightmare Soul Body does?”

The threat couldn’t be clearer. But rather than argue, King Guangnan just fell silent. Song Wujian had hit the mark.

As the only Star-Annihilator-class Captain of the Guangnan Ruan Clan, barely a few tens of thousands of years old, surrounded by endless resources, a golden Torch Seed, and a warship decked out with top-tier gear, he still had ambitions for a Star River-class ship someday. Gambling his life now wasn’t an option.

Two minutes passed in this tense standoff. The Song Family trio was getting antsy, about to speak up again, when the Ruan Clan battleship finally opened its hatch. One after another, items were tossed out—just as Song Wujian had demanded.

The Heavenly Ruin mirror warship darted forward and quickly pulled all the goods onboard.

“Hold up, we’re still short one black component!”

All three of them snapped their attention back to the other ship, but King Guangnan explained first.

“Give me a bit. I need my ship’s armor and shields restored before I part with the black component.”

Half an hour later, with its armor and shields back online, the last Black Supreme Component was finally theirs.

With that handled, the trio had no reason to stick around. A single thought, and the three layers of Spatial Lockdown were withdrawn overhead.

But as the skies of Nightmare Soul Continent came back into view, all four of their expressions shifted at once.

Song Chi and his companions tensed up. King Guangnan, meanwhile, couldn’t hide his delight.

At some point, three all-too-familiar Star-Annihilator-class ships had taken up position overhead.

At the same time, two even larger Lockdown barriers sealed the sky.

The Lingyue Zhao Clan had arrived early.

“Friends, sneaking around was one thing, but bringing two juniors to bully an ally of the Zhao Clan is a step too far!”

With that, all three Star-Annihilator-class ships overhead unleashed their full Rules Fields. A terrifying pressure crushed down onto the three warship replications.

Song Chi’s group reacted instantly. They glanced at the nearby Ruan Clan battleship. If they could smash it again fast enough, maybe they could use that as leverage to force the others to withdraw the even more formidable Spatial Lockdown overhead.

But in a split second, the situation shifted again.

The Ruan Clan’s battleship suddenly fired off three golden beams—not at Song Chi’s group, but at the ships above.

As the beams sank into the three new arrivals, golden threads wound between all four ships. Together, the warships linked up, hints of dragon, tiger, phoenix, and tortoise spirits swirling overhead.

In that instant, Song Chi’s group could feel the enemies’ warships surge in power.

The pressure was so overwhelming, ripples danced across their energy shields, the light fading as the shield values dropped before their very eyes.

Fire Serpent Galaxy, Song Family encrypted group chat.

“Elder, what now? Should Seventh Brother summon the Omniverse Market Projection for a last shot at breaking free, or do we pull out?”

Song Yan posed the question, and Song Wujian replied quickly.

He simply shook his head.

“Forget it. This is their gold-grade Four Symbols Rotating Sigil. Linked up like this, even a late-stage eighth-tier lifeform could take the brunt for a while. No need to waste a silver oddity.”

With Song Wujian’s decision, Song Chi and Song Yan had no objection. The three exchanged glances and, in unspoken agreement, withdrew their remote consciousnesses from tens of thousands of light years away.

At the same time, on Nightmare Soul Continent—

Under the watchful eyes of all four captains, the Song Family’s three warships initiated their self-destruct sequence.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A trio of violent blasts. The three ships were reduced to wreckage, not a trace left behind.

Overhead, the Lingyue Zhao Clan’s Patriarch looked absolutely livid.

“These aren’t their real bodies—no way a Star-Annihilator-class ship would self-destruct without a second thought!”