Chapter 715: Assault on the Supercity: Breaking the Shield

After making up his mind, the Heavenly Ruin burst once more from its cavernous base underground.

Still cloaked in ‘Mirage’ mode, it sped south without hesitation.

Two jumps later, the Heavenly Ruin appeared with ease above City 101 in the south—the central metropolis of the southern sector and one of the eight supercities on the Truth Floating-Land.

The warship hovered directly above the city as Song Chi overlooked its sprawling cityscape below.

Unlike the advanced cities he’d snuck into before, this supercity in the First Southern Sector was shrouded by an elliptical City Shield, blanketing the enormous city within.

Over the past eighty years, Song Chi had passed through this region many times. At least a few years ago, such a formidable City Shield never existed. Clearly, this was a precaution after news of a high-level city treasury theft spread.

Song Chi, however, wasn’t bothered in the slightest.

In the ship’s control room, a golden Clan Token activated with a flash.

Instantly, endless purple mist energy surged above the Heavenly Ruin. Thanks to the ship’s stealth, the millions of Machina down below only saw an endless purple mist suddenly covering the sky over their city.

“Doo-doo-doo—Warning…”

The terrifying energy packed into the Omniverse Market’s purple mist projection didn’t escape the Machina’s sensors below. Yet, even as alarms blared in the city, a gigantic hand-shaped imprint made of purple mist stretched down from the swirling haze that nearly blotted out the entire sky.

That vast handprint crashed down, accompanied by flickering space rifts. When it struck the city’s domed shield, the resulting energy storm erupted in every direction.

But this was no ordinary city. As one of eight supercities on a ninth-tier Floating-Land, City 101’s protective shield wouldn’t break so easily.

Fortunately, Song Chi had given it his full attention from the beginning. As the Market Projection struck, the Heavenly Ruin revealed its terrifying arsenal hovering overhead.

“Infinite Fallen Immortal Quantum Star-Annihilator Cannon.”

“Divine Thunder Cannon.”

“Blood Spear.”

“Black Hole Evolution Layer.”

…

Multiple devastating components activated at once. The Ashura Emperor and Black Devourer King Beast were summoned alongside.

“Ashura Chronosaber” and “Devouring Roar Wave” followed right behind.

Of course, before the barrage of attacks began, the Skybreaker Drill’s signature Light of Severance cut the way.

Now a gold-quality part at level 80, the Skybreaker Drill’s Light of Severance was strong enough to seriously weaken the shield, even if it couldn’t break a barrier rivaling ninth-tier power in one go.

With each layer of offense stacking up, the City Shield finally succumbed. Two miniature black holes—unleashed by the Black Devourer King Beast and the Black Hole Evolution Layer’s “Singularity Burst” trait—tore the shield apart in a violent, unstoppable frenzy.

The moment the barrier shattered, a white-hot beam of light pierced out from within the city, blasting toward the now-uncloaked Heavenly Ruin faster than the naked eye could follow.

Yet even that blazing pillar couldn’t outpace Song Chi’s augmented senses, heightened by the Market’s ninth-tier Dominion Power.

With his Dominion soul crossing through the Market Projection, he sensed the exposed energy ripple below at the very instant the shield collapsed.

So when the white beam shot toward the Heavenly Ruin’s underside, a phantom dragon-whale—condensed from purple mist—enveloped his ship first.

Summoned with half-step ninth-tier might, the Dragon Whale Form’s defense spoke for itself. The terrifying light managed only to shatter the phantom, leaving the ship practically unscathed.

At the center of the city, an eighth-tier Truth Mechanica Behemoth on the plaza tried charging another attack. The alloy jaws opened and more white-hot energy began to build.

But Song Chi wasn’t about to give it a second shot.

A thought, and another massive handprint lunged down from the purple mist projection—this time, an enormous sword-shadow followed.

“Sha Sword Chant!”

Not to be outdone, the Ashura Emperor and Black Devourer King Beast dove after.

From start to finish, this eighth-tier Mechanica Behemoth was thoroughly suppressed, sparks exploding constantly across its alloyed, Truth-III body.

Sizzle, crackle, pop!

In just a few minutes it was dismantled, but before it collapsed, it made a dramatically strange move.

Suddenly, a grinding metallic noise echoed from its colossal head—bigger even than the ship itself. Segmented components whirled and shifted, turning its head into a giant, twisting Rubik’s cube.

Song Chi wasn’t sure what it intended, but his instincts screamed to stop it. At his command, the Ashura Emperor slashed at its morphing alloy head with a blood-red sabre.

Sparks flew everywhere, heavily damaging the behemoth’s head and forcing a halt to whatever it was attempting.

He thought that was the end of it—until, after a tense pause, the battered head shuddered. Bits dropped away, revealing a hidden high-grade AI implanted deep inside.

Before he could react, the exposed AI sent out a barrage of high-frequency energy pulses.

Protected by his Mythic Pulsar Energy Shield, Song Chi wasn’t concerned for his own safety. Yet, instead of destruction, the pulses quickly spread outward in every direction.

He realized at once—they were calling for help, or sending a warning. Either way, Song Chi stayed unfazed.

Machina civilization had always excelled in communication, command, and firepower. He’d already anticipated something like this.

Though the pulses spread quickly, as soon as they hit a certain boundary, they slammed into an invisible blockade, sealed within a tightly defined region.

This was the “Frosted Void Prison’s” double-layered “Frosted Sealing Screen”—belt and braces, with help from the Pusa Zen Seal.

Two layers of golden grade sealing were enough to completely cut City 101 off from the outside world, making it impossible for the eighth-tier Mech to send out a signal.

A few minutes later, the eighth-tier behemoth finally fell beneath the joined assault of the Omniverse Market Projection and the two enslaved creatures.

The city’s seventh-tier Mechanica Behemoths lasted even less time, even with the Floating-Land’s will on their side. They were simply no match for even half-step ninth-tier Market Projection.

With every Truth Mechanica Behemoth cleared out, Song Chi wasted no time. His first goal was the treasury vault.

Compared to the vaults of normal Machina strongholds, the treasury of this supercity was far more heavily guarded. Song Chi didn’t care; though his “Starlight Flash Spirit Shift” was still cooling down, nothing held him back this time.

He sacrificed another Silver Oddity, and moments after the last Market Projection vanished, a new one swept in.

With half-step ninth-tier force barreling down, even the vault’s highest-level defenses couldn’t hold for long.

“Impressive, as expected for a supercity vault—much better loot than the advanced cities.”

The open vault greeted him with a glittering array of ores and Starsea Oddities of every color.

Just at a glance, Song Chi spotted several beams of gold, and three Supreme Black Oddities.

This time, he didn’t hesitate—he swept up every resource of value and left nothing behind.

“Hmm… What’s this?”

Song Chi’s eyes lit up as he peered at a shadowy corner from the ship’s control room.

If he was right, this was where the old-model Truth Mechanica Beasts were stored.

But instead of the pile of fifth and sixth-level units, his gaze locked onto two larger Mechanica Behemoths.

“Two seventh-tier Mechanica Behemoths? And neither one has an AI core yet?”

Excitement bled into his voice. Ignoring the heap of gold and black Oddities he’d just grabbed, Song Chi quickly activated the Superbody Compression Plate.

Two streams of silvery light shot from the Heavenly Ruin, pouring into the two old seventh-tier Behemoth bodies. Both shrank rapidly until they were small enough to stash aboard.

With those seventh-tier Mech bodies secured, Song Chi swept his eyes over the even larger numbers of fifth and sixth-tier machines below.

The Sky-Domain AI chimed in: “There are 240 old-model sixth-tier units, and 1,400 fifth-tier units.”

“Forget it—leave the rest for the Abyssal Devil!”

Knowing he couldn’t waste time, Song Chi summoned the seventh-tier Abyssal Devil, handed over several Market-Walking Tokens, and ordered it to scoop up every remaining valuable in the vault, while he piloted the Heavenly Ruin away.

Despite the seal, he knew word would soon get out. The scale of a super Machina city defied belief—outside support would certainly come fast. He had to gather as many resources as possible before the endless Machina could react.

Hiss—

High above, the ship’s doors slid open. The Flamewrath Giant leaped out, carrying a Dimensional Spatial Stone, followed by Song Wujian, Song Shiyuan, and Song Yan.

“Xiaochi, this is the Truth Floating-Land you mentioned?”

As he spoke, Song Wujian produced a lightning-wreathed crystal and handed it to Song Chi.

“Just as you asked, the family spent a fortune collecting this from various joint fleets. But at this level, Law Crystals are rare, and we only secured one.”

Far from disappointed, Song Chi’s eyes shone with delight. He took the crystal quickly and explained the situation to the three.

“Ancestor, time is tight, so I’ll skip the details. Below is the production base for this Machina city—three brand new sixth-tier Mechanica Beast lines. Your job is to move all three to the Omniverse Market!”

Understanding the urgency, the three quickly nodded and summoned their warships, readying their Battleship Replication modules.

They’d planned for this for years. Their ship-clone functions had been idled for decades, only waiting for this very moment.

Once the ship clones were deployed, the trio recalled their real bodies and used Market-Walking Tokens to return to the Omniverse Market. The Heavenly Ruin and three Star-Annihilator-class Ship Replicas were left above the city.

From the Market, they would remotely control their ships, keeping themselves safe while moving the production lines at full speed.

“Here’s a Market Projection Token. If anything blocks your way, use it to summon help—but always put your safety first!”

Passing a Projection Token to the Clan Elder, and without lifting the double-layer golden seals, Song Chi teleported straight to the northern region of the Truth Floating-Land.

For over eighty years, he’d plotted every move. He’d visited the Truth Sacred City several times, preparing a Spatial Anchor each trip.

Today, using that anchor, he warped directly from the southern sector to the Sacred City.

After summoning the Heavenly Ruin, he watched this capital from afar.

Compared with City 101, the Sacred City was even larger. Sunlight gleamed off its metallic walls.

The scale was mind-boggling. Light-year-high city walls pierced the clouds as countless Machina ships took off and landed, surpassing the bustle even of City 101.

One headache, though—the Sacred City had its own domed City Shield, too. Lightning arced across it; judging by the flickers, its defense was even greater.

If City 101’s shield was only close to ninth-tier—maybe half-step ninth—then the Sacred City’s was truly, fully ninth-tier.

That was why Song Chi hadn’t acted on it all these years.

After all, the Sacred City was the absolute core of the Truth Floating-Land; even all seven other supercities together couldn’t match it.

For example, where the other supercities boasted seventh-tier production lines, and even advanced cities had sixth-tier lines, only the Sacred City held Dominion-level Mechanica Beast lines, making all the difference.

That made the gap between them enormous.

High above, the Heavenly Ruin kept silent in Mirage mode.

In the ship’s control room, Song Chi’s eyes were glued to his radar.

With “Eyes of Heaven” active, he watched the city below as Dominion-level Mechanica Behemoths and elite Machina officers left for the southern sector, following news of City 101’s abrupt silence.

Clearly, the sudden blackout had even the heavy hitters investigating in person.

Song Chi was banking on this, drawing away the top defenders to lighten his real challenge.

Days slipped by.

By now, the southern city’s barrier had faded and word had spread. The Sacred City’s elite left in even greater numbers.

But two days ago, when an eighth-tier behemoth left as well, the outflow slowed—today, fewer and fewer left the city.

“It’s time!”

In the ship’s control room, Song Chi spoke quietly.

All his experience said this was the moment. Much longer, and defenders would start coming back.

With that thought, his mind was set.

He activated the Market Projection Token, and as purple mist flooded out, the Heavenly Ruin’s arsenal powered up again.

Just like against City 101, the first blow was a massive purple mist handprint.

This time, what was different—before the hand struck, not one but two Lights of Severance activated.

Besides the main Skybreaker Drill, he pushed the Pusa Zen Seal’s timeshift feature into play.

But it had to be done; the Sacred City shield was a real ninth-tier, leagues above the last one. One Light of Severance would never be enough.

And so it proved.

Even with two lights working together, the Sacred City’s shield lost less than a third of its strength—worse than the earlier city after just one attack.

Song Chi could’ve summoned his Mirror Warship, unleashing a third or even fourth Light of Severance to halve the shield instantly.

But he never even considered it.

That ship was his secret weapon for the Father of Truth—a trump card too valuable to play now, so early in his plan.

After the Lights of Severance, the bombardment began: a purple-mist handprint, the power of “Raging Seas Dragon Whale,” the Infinite Fallen Immortal Quantum Star-Annihilator Cannon’s “Fallen Immortal Sword Formation—Ten Thousand Swords As One,” and more.

Yet these attacks—so destructive against City 101—barely made a dent here. They felt like thunder with no rain.

Watching the shield still holding at fifty percent, Song Chi frowned.

A faint light flickered at his brow as a lightning-laced crystal flew from his Torch Ancestral Orifice.

Clutching the crystal tightly, Song Chi’s gaze shifted back and forth.

This wasn’t just any crystal—it was a Lightning Law Crystal, but not an ordinary one.

“Oddity: Legendary Lightning Law Crystal.”

“Grade: Black.”

“Effect: Packed with deep lightning law truths. While carried, it greatly boosts the user’s lightning comprehension. When actively used, it serves as a one-time Lightning Law buff.”

A black-grade Law Crystal—this was about as good as it got. As far as Song Chi knew, nobody had ever heard of a mythic rainbow Law Crystal.

To buy this legendary crystal, the Song Family forked over a black hull armor from a previous haul, and a ninth-tier Dominion Soul.

Originally, Song Chi wanted to save it for the ultimate battle with the Father of Truth. But if he couldn’t break through the Sacred City’s shield now, and that enemy returned to such a fortress, things would only get harder.

As the black legendary Lightning Law Crystal merged into place, the Divine Thunder Cannon at the ship’s prow transformed, becoming a true Star‑Annihilator Cannon.

Endless violet thunderclouds began to gather around the ship’s bow.

Boom!

Lightning tore through the sky. In a heartbeat, those black thunderclouds replaced the purple Market mist, blanketing the Sacred City beneath their shadows.

At the storm’s heart, a dark and silent vortex grew ever wider, like an abyssal maw threatening to swallow the entire city.

BOOM!

A fresh thunderclap split the heavens. Violet light exploded from the vortex, followed by a devastating thunderbolt that smashed into the Sacred City’s shield.

After the first strike, the barrier’s strength dropped to sixty percent.

It looked like there was a long way to go, but these world-ending calamity bolts came in ninefold waves—and this was only the first.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

More bolts hammered down, dragging the shield’s dimness from sixty percent up to eighty.

By the eighth wave, the shield was down to ten percent left.

Every lightning strike had been stronger than the last, and if the eighth had hit this hard, what would the ninth bring?

The defenders seemed to understand as well.

Just before the final bolt descended, several white-hot pillars shot from the city as every eighth-tier Machine Behemoth launched their assaults, hoping to block that last world-ending thunder.

But Song Chi was prepared. He triggered the first golden component on his ship once again.

“Pusa Zen Seal—Samsara Time Domain!”