Chapter 633: Secrets of the Purple Cube

After that, nothing else interrupted this Market transaction until everything concluded.

High above the Market, Song Chi didn’t bother counting his haul from this time. At his current level, basic and mid-grade Floating-Land Origin and everyday resources had piled up like mountains. Unless a top-tier or rare resource appeared, he wouldn’t even bother sorting them out.

Aboard the Heavenly Ruin’s command chamber, a faint click echoed as the Ice Coffin of Ten-Thousand-Year Black Ice at the center slid open. Instantly, frigid air seeped out from beneath the lid, flooding the compartment in a blast of biting cold.

But the cold came and went quickly. Impressive as the Ice Coffin was, it couldn’t even begin to compare to the eighth-tier Dominion Power swirling around Song Chi. The difference was worlds apart.

Casually dispersing the chill, Song Chi sped up his movements. He found that as the coffin thawed, the frozen Sect Leader from the Luofu Sword Sect inside began to change—the already faint life force rapidly faded.

He wasted no time getting the body into the reinforced lv70 Life-System Medical Repair Pod. Only then did the decline come to a halt.

Still, as mentioned before, this person’s wounds were severe. Even a silver-grade Life-System Medical Repair Pod would need at least ten days—maybe two weeks—before they could hope for a full recovery.

That meant Song Chi’s plans had to be postponed. At the very least, he’d need to wait for the other to wake up.

Pushing that matter aside, Song Chi quickly turned his focus to another item in his hands.

A purple-grade Cube Oddity.

Above the Market Heavens, a purple-glowing cube floated, held steady in midair by the Heavenly Ruin’s tractor beam, shining high above the battleship.

At the same time, endless streams of energy gathered from every corner of the Omniverse Market. Eighth-tier power flooded down onto the Heavenly Ruin, its overwhelming pressure filling every space in the Market.

Song Chi wasn’t done yet. After summoning more Dominion Power, he decisively shifted half his focus to the Black Hole Evolution Layer component.

When it came time to open the cube, he wouldn’t hesitate to activate the ‘Black Hole Domain’ feature.

On top of that, every layer of defense—from the Plasma Shield to the Moyun Goldvine Armor—was fully deployed.

Only after all these preparations did he channel Market energy toward the purple cube.

Zzzzt…!

Surges of eighth-tier energy gnawed away at the purple Cube Oddity, slowly wearing down the mysterious power sealed within.

To Song Chi’s surprise, the seal didn’t open right away. Instead, it held for a full thirty minutes before finally yielding.

That alone put Song Chi on the highest alert.

Whatever entity laid this seal was likely an eighth-tier being—or perhaps even greater.

Song Chi’s nerves were stretched tight. He didn’t let up for a second. Another ten minutes crawled by before the purple cube began to shudder. Instantly, Song Chi triggered the Black Hole Domain feature.

The entire stockpile of Black Hole Energy from the Black Hole Evolution Layer burned away in an instant. The next moment, Heavenly Ruin flawlessly combined its Dominion Power and the unbeatable Black Hole Domain.

Crack!

Almost the very instant the domain formed, the purple cube shattered wide open.

Before Song Chi could react, a surge of unknown energy lunged toward the Heavenly Ruin.

It was a strange beam of light without much raw force, but with his eighth-tier Dominion-powered Dual Pupils, Song Chi instantly realized it was nowhere near as simple as it looked.

Inside that ray was a massive stream of data.

He couldn’t know exactly what secrets or information it contained, but Song Chi wasn’t some interstellar novice. With over three millennia of Song Family databases—plus classified records from Shen Youran and the Beiqiong Shen Family—he knew the Sea of Stars like the back of his hand.

In moments like this, a data stream this huge might appear harmless, but if you tried to absorb it unprepared, it could fry your mind or worse—possess you from the inside out.

Some called it being hijacked—a hostile takeover.

Song Chi knew this well. He wasn’t about to let the data stream near the Heavenly Ruin. As long as he resisted, with the layered defenses of Dominion Power and Black Hole Domain, it would just be ground down to dust with zero risk to himself.

Even if this thing was forged by some ancient existence above the eighth tier, it would never make waves here, not in the middle of the Omniverse Market.

But suddenly, the Sky-Domain AI inside the Heavenly Ruin pinged Song Chi directly, sending waves of craving and an urge to devour the data. Song Chi paused, considering.

He knew right away—if the Sky-Domain AI wanted it this badly, then clearly there was something vitally important or highly beneficial inside that data stream.

So simply destroying it would be a waste. Still, Song Chi didn’t let his guard drop. Even with his mind made up, he didn’t just scoop up the mysterious data. Instead, he kept bombarding it with Dominion Power and Black Hole Domain, slowly wearing it down.

After more than ten minutes, the stream finally weakened enough that—even if it held a grudge—whatever remained couldn’t possibly threaten the Sky-Domain AI.

Only then did Song Chi drop the Black Hole Domain. Using the Market’s Dominion Power, he guided what was left of the data into the battleship.

That mostly depleted stream barely slipped into the Heavenly Ruin before the Sky-Domain AI surged to life in response.

The two began merging—or perhaps more accurately, the AI started devouring the data.

Watching this, Song Chi immediately guessed the truth: the data stream was a fellow AI, once a highly advanced mechanical mind, just like the Sky-Domain AI.

With that clarified, Song Chi was immensely relieved about his earlier caution.

Without all that preemptive weakening, and given this former AI’s likely eighth-tier pedigree, the Sky-Domain AI might not have stood a chance.

And then, after the fusion, there’s no telling if it would still even be the Sky-Domain AI anymore.

The only reason he trusts the Sky-Domain AI now is because it’s already become an Oddity—a unique artifact—integrated completely into the Heavenly Ruin. It’s also tied directly into the immense Torch Network of the Torch Human Civilization. Even a colored AI Oddity can’t shake the Torch Network, much less a silver one.

But if it ever completely transformed into a brand new AI, there’s no telling whether the Torch Network would still have any hold on it. At that point, Song Chi would never risk keeping it on board.

While he mulled things over, the minutes ticked by.

Maybe because this data stream’s hidden AI was of such a high tier, the merging process dragged on for hours, and only then did changes in the Sky-Domain AI system finally settle down.

When Song Chi finally looked at the system’s attribute panel, he saw a few subtle—but unmistakable—differences.

But instead of satisfaction, he actually frowned.

[Note: The Sky-Domain Master AI, before the fall of its civilization, divided off a satellite sub-AI. After eons, it matured into a silver-grade Legendary Oddity. Upon successfully fusing with a severely damaged, high-grade AI, it has undergone distinct changes, yet remains far from a true breakthrough. Continue fusing more mechanical AIs.]

The component’s main panel didn’t change, just the Oddity-specific attributes.

Still, the [Note] said it clearly—if the Sky-Domain AI system wants to evolve, it’ll need to fuse with even more mechanical minds.

Song Chi clearly wasn’t happy about this. He had hoped for some dramatic leap, but it all turned out rather underwhelming.

“AI, has anything actually changed?”

Quashing his complaint, Song Chi asked the Sky-Domain AI directly.

Moments later, it responded via a pop-up light screen.

[Computing speed increased by 11.24%. Database capacity up 20%. Some new data acquired!]

“So on the surface, not much changed, but there’s still a real boost…”

Musing aloud, Song Chi got curious about the new entries in the battleship’s database.

There was no doubt—the fresh data didn’t appear out of thin air. They must’ve come from the devoured data stream.

Even though Dominion Power and Black Hole Domain had chewed up most of it in advance, plenty survived. Now, with successful fusion, the AI retained all those records.

Crucially, what remained must’ve been the most valuable, deeply imprinted part—the core memories of the foreign AI.

That’s the instinct of any living being: what matters most, you carve deepest into your soul. Even an AI is no exception.

At Song Chi’s prompt, the Sky-Domain AI laid out the new information one by one.

Song Chi scanned each entry at lightning speed.

[Truth Mechanicus Civilization]

[Father of Truth, Lord of Truth]

[Eighth-tier Peak Mechanica Overlord]

[Lost the battle for supremacy with Father of Truth, exiled to the Sea of Stars]

[Truth Mechanica Behemoth]

[Colored Mythic Oddity: Eye of Truth]

[Coordinates: XXXX XXXX……]

After combing through the details, Song Chi made a mental note of the important points.

Once he pieced it together, the general picture became clear.

Bottom line: the AI sealed inside the purple cube was called the Lord of Truth, originating from a Mechanica civilization named the Truth Mechanicus. After losing a power struggle against another AI—the Father of Truth—for ultimate dominion, it sealed itself in the cube and has wandered the Sea of Stars for hundreds of thousands of years.

In the end, it left behind starmap coordinates pointing to its civilization’s home, but Song Chi had no desire to pay it a visit—at least not for now.

According to its own records, the Lord of Truth was once an authentic eighth-tier Mechanica Overlord, commanding dozens of seventh-tier Truth Mechanica Behemoths. Its influence couldn’t be underestimated.

But its rival, the Father of Truth, was even more terrifying. A peak-stage tier eight from the start, hundreds of millennia later, it’s probably already achieved ninth-tier Mechanica Overlord status. Facing that kind of power, Song Chi wouldn’t go there without a plan.

Still, if he had the chance in the future, he’d want to check it out. Especially since the Sky-Domain AI now needs every kind of AI out there—if he wants to evolve it, the Truth Mechanicus is a must-visit.

Incidentally, the blueprints for the Truth Mechanica Behemoth really caught his eye. These mechanical war-machines possess Dominator-level might and were the supreme battle units of the Truth Mechanicus. If Song Chi could build even one, it would be an incredible boon for the Song Family.

Right now, the Song Family’s crown jewel was the fifth-tier Mara Void Mecha, which paled in comparison to the deep resources of the Immortal Houses.

Of course, Song Chi also understood that creating a Truth Mechanica Behemoth would be an immense challenge, not just for the rare materials but for the engineering know-how and costs—huge limitations all around.

In the end, Song Chi’s gaze settled on the Eye of Truth, a true Mythic Oddity.

According to the Lord of Truth’s notes, the Eye of Truth is a top-tier colored Oddity famous for its unparalleled scouting abilities. It could instantly analyze and digitize the majority of beings in the Sea of Stars—essentially displaying a living creature’s combat power at a glance.

With such a treasure, Song Chi was determined to one day venture to the Truth Mechanicus realm. If he could acquire the Eye of Truth, he might even convert it into a colored Patrol Radar for the Heavenly Ruin—his ultimate target.

Right now, though, the Eye of Truth was held by the Father of Truth himself. If Song Chi ever got close, he’d definitely try to get his hands on it.

A colored mythic Oddity—even if it couldn’t be used as a battleship component, Song Chi would still want it for himself.

“Phew.”

Drawing a deep breath, Song Chi tried to pull his thoughts away from the distant legend and back to the newly acquired Creation Eight Trigram Furnace.

Compared to a mythic Oddity out of reach, this black component was real, in his hands, and offered immediate combat advantage.

Still, he had plenty of questions about it. Chief among them: would the Fireseed Artifacts he fuses in the future be consumables, or could they provide lasting boosts?

PS: One more chapter coming!