Chapter 717: Clash at the Heart of the Truth Civilization

Even though he’d made up his mind, Song Chi still didn’t speak first. He wanted to hear exactly what this so-called Father of Truth wanted.

Over the course of more than three hundred thousand years, the Torch Human Civilization had made a name for itself across the boundless Sea of Stars. If there was an easier way to obtain the Eye of Truth, that would naturally be for the best.

When Song Chi kept silent, the Father of Truth above spoke again:

“Throughout these long years, Torch Human Civilization has dispatched Star-Annihilator-class warships here on many occasions. Yet, until now, none ever took the initiative to oppose my Truth Mechanicus Civilization. Your actions today have shattered the unspoken agreement between us…”

“But that’s not what matters. Cease all operations at the Core Creation Base immediately and return every Star of Truth component you’ve already dismantled. Do this, and perhaps afterwards, we can negotiate the details of a true partnership!”

After the Father of Truth finished speaking, the starry sky above was silent for nearly twenty seconds. Song Chi knew he couldn’t stall too long. Judging the time right, his cold voice rang out from the Heavenly Ruin.

“Oh? May I ask, what kind of partnership does the Father of Truth have in mind?”

As he spoke, Song Chi also sent a mental message to the Abyssal Devil below, urging it to work as fast as possible dismantling everything.

Of course, a stalling tactic this obvious couldn’t possibly fool the opposition. With the Eye of Truth’s power, they had most likely already seen every detail happening inside the so-called Core Creation Base below.

Since he suspected as much, Song Chi naturally had a plan of his own.

By his order, every enslaved creature inside the Core Creation Base was working at full speed, dismantling the massive machine—no, as the Father of Truth himself put it, the Star of Truth. Aside from the very beginning, every part they pulled off was carefully stored in a storage capsule.

As for larger components, those were sealed away in Dimensional Spatial Stones, Void Beast Hide, storage pouches and other large-capacity storage artifacts.

In this way, even if the Father of Truth truly had witnessed everything, there’d be no reason for him to act hastily. After all, from his perspective, though the pieces were dismantled, every component still remained nearby. Even if negotiations failed, he could be confident in reclaiming them all.

Just as Song Chi expected, knowing full well Song Chi was dragging things out, the Father of Truth didn’t call him out. Instead, he calmly explained:

“You likely already know: my Truth Mechanicus Civilization is embroiled in war with the Starsea Giant Ape Civilization. The fighting has dragged on for a hundred and forty thousand years with neither side gaining ground.”

“If you’re willing to return to Torch Human Civilization and bring ninth-tier Paragon Captains as reinforcements, my civilization will not only help you subjugate those ninth-tier Starsea Giant Apes, but will reward you handsomely once the war is won!”

Upon hearing this, Song Chi couldn’t help but sneer to himself.

Setting aside the fact that Torch Human Civilization’s four empires were currently waging an even larger war far beyond this galactic cluster—meaning they had no strength to spare—even if they could, so what?

He was just a Star-Annihilator Captain from a minor princedom. How could he possibly convince the Human Emperors of the Four Great Empires to intervene in person?

Each of the Four Human Emperors carried the fate of Torch Human Civilization itself. They held countless Torch citizens’ lives in their hands, and every step they took had to be supremely cautious. Why would they ever risk getting involved in a top-tier civilization war trillions of light-years away?

What if this was all just a ploy by an alien civilization?

Though he knew all this perfectly well, Song Chi showed none of it on his face. He kept his expression calm, pretending to weigh the offer for some time before asking, seemingly curious:

“And these rewards you spoke of—could you be more specific?”

This curiosity was no act. He truly wanted to see what kind of treasure a veteran ninth-tier mechanical sovereign could put on the table.

Above them, the crimson rays flashing across the Father of Truth’s mechanical visage betrayed his fading patience with Song Chi’s stalling.

The war on the frontlines was still raging, and the Starsea Giant Apes pushed ever closer. The Father of Truth had only returned in secret by relying on rare artifacts. The longer he delayed here, the greater the risk the apes would notice his absence. He had to deal with Song Chi as fast as possible.

Still, the phrase “Torch Human Civilization” flitted through his mind, and in the end, he held back from immediate violence, feigning goodwill, and continued:

“If you truly secure our partnership, you’ll be a friend to the Truth Mechanicus. We’d never be stingy!”

As he spoke, a faint spatial ripple shimmered across his mechanical body. Song Chi immediately saw ten glowing orbs materialize out of thin air.

Two of these spheres shone gold, the remaining eight were jet black.

Each of the two golden spheres crackled with fiery energy—they were clearly two divine-level gold fireseed artifacts. Judging by the Father of Truth’s deep understanding of Torch Human Civilization, they were likely both seeds that could be converted into upgraded Torch Seeds.

Each black orb, meanwhile, represented a supreme black oddity.

“Just as I figured…”

For Song Chi, supreme black oddities were no longer especially rare—he didn’t overreact. Still, he found it a little amusing; in the entire Vault of Truth, there’d only been six black oddities before, yet the Father of Truth pulled out nine with ease. That meant the real treasures of the entire civilization were all stashed with him. That was why Song Chi felt like commenting.

Quick as a thought, he pulled himself back on track.

After that, he started asking if he could take one up front as proof of trust, if there were any colorful, myth-grade oddities, how many Paragon Captains would be needed…doing everything possible to stall for time.

Yet during this exchange, the Father of Truth’s patience finally wore thin. Scarlet light blazed in his eyes and a torrent of data stormed toward the Heavenly Ruin.

At the same time, his sharp mechanical voice boomed across the sky.

“Enough dilly-dallying, Star-Annihilator brat. Since you aren’t serious, then face the judgment of the Truth Mechanicus Civilization!”

With that, the massive mechanical behemoth overhead began shifting its armor. In no time at all, the Father of Truth’s body sprouted hundreds of thousands of pitch-black gun barrels.

Some of the barrels were only a few meters wide, but the large ones dwarfed even the Heavenly Ruin, gaping like yawning voids.

Hummm—

Limitless energy gathered around him. Over a hundred thousand turrets all charged up in unison.

The ten-odd eighth-tier Truth Mechanica Behemoths mimicked the same action.

Their own dark-matter reactors poured energy into their systems. In less than ten seconds, the turrets all roared to life.

Nearly a million beams of blazing firepower erupted together, flooding the sky above the Sacred City.

Even before the barrage reached the Heavenly Ruin, the Sky-Domain AI aboard the ship was already raising frantic alarms.

“Warning: warship has been targeted by immense energy attack. Evade immediately!”

“Alert! Immediate evasive action required! If you don’t, there’s a 99.92% chance the ship will be destroyed!”

……

Song Chi gave no response to the Sky-Domain AI’s warnings. He didn’t react at all—instead, his Dual Pupils narrowed to pinpricks of focus.

If Song Wujian and the others were present, they’d notice that space around the Heavenly Ruin was frozen solid, clearly locked down by some special spatial force.

But that was only part of the reason. The true explanation lay within Song Chi himself.

At a precise moment, he sent out new instructions to his enslaved creatures, then, just before the barrage reached the Heavenly Ruin, activated a component he’d prepared long ago.

Timepiece Chessboard: Time • Game—activate!

An invisible ripple of temporal force burst forth from the Heavenly Ruin. High above, the Father of Truth seemed to sense it—thanks to the Eye of Truth, hidden within his body, he picked up this faint trickle of time energy.

But with over seventy percent of his energy currently consumed by the turrets, and with a spatial lock artifact already deployed, it was impossible to boost his speed to the limit in that instant.

His backup power supply was strictly reserved for matters of life and death—the key to fending off equal-tier Starsea Giant Apes. Now he hesitated, unsure if it was truly necessary to waste it on this one little Star-Annihilator-class ship.

That single instant of doubt cost him his last opportunity.

The strand of time energy flashed across billions of kilometers and arrived right in front of the Father of Truth.

Before he could react, it burrowed directly into his massive mechanical body.

Hummmmm—

A subtle spatial ripple swept through the air. The very next moment, both the Heavenly Ruin and the Father of Truth vanished together from the sky.

The sudden disappearance startled the ten-odd eighth-tier Truth Mechanica Behemoths hovering overhead. Yet soon their attention was drawn by the deafening explosions erupting below.

With the Star-Annihilator-class ship gone, the barrage lost its primary target. A million streams of murderous firepower blasted straight downward—hitting the three eighth-tier Truth Mechanica Behemoth production plants below.

All three bases were built from Type II Truth Alloy, but they couldn’t withstand hundreds of thousands of attacks—especially with many rounds packing eighth-tier or even ninth-tier power.

The factories didn’t even last half a minute before the onslaught wiped them from existence.

Fortunately, the Core Creation Base itself was deep enough underground, its stone walls reinforced with huge quantities of Type III—and even some precious Type IV—Truth Alloy, allowing it to barely survive.

The bad news: The eighth-tier Truth Mechanica Behemoths reacted with terrifying speed. They were all linked to the Truth Core AI, and if the Father of Truth suffered any mishap, they’d know first. Since they sensed no disturbance, the Father of Truth clearly wasn’t in mortal danger.

So, their focus shifted instantly, fixing on the dark passageway exposed below.

All of them overloaded their dark-matter reactors at once, jetting down through the air and leaving streaks of blazing afterfire across the sky.

As for the Vault of Truth, they showed it zero interest. There were more than ten of them, and not one bothered to go back and deal with the puppets and slaves still hauling resources inside.

That alone shows just how important the Core Creation Base is to the entire Truth Mechanicus Civilization!

If even one of these eighth-tier Mechanica Behemoths broke into the base, the Abyssal Devil’s dismantling work would be stopped cold. If their people couldn’t evacuate in time, every last slave would be slaughtered without mercy.

The good news was, Song Chi had planned for this hundreds of years ago. Even now, he had a backup strategy ready.

Sudden spatial ripples cut through the Core Creation Base. In the next moment, Song Wujian, Song Shiyuan, Song Yan, plus Shen Youran, all appeared deep within the base.

They hadn’t just come out of thin air; the moment Song Chi arrived at the base, he’d ported all four to the site, then sent them back to the Market via Market-Walking Tokens.

Because of this, the four avoided the Father of Truth’s detection entirely.

Song Chi’s latest message included clear instructions for them.

The instant they rejoined the base, the four summoned their own ships.

Three Star-Annihilator-class ships appeared. Song Wujian and the other two immediately activated their ships’ spatial lock components—the blockade areas matched perfectly, and six layers of interlocking barriers sealed off the entire Core Creation Base.

Unfortunately, only one of these was a golden blockade screen, a rare find Song Chi had snatched up during his eighty-year-long scavenging campaign.

Against the combined onslaught of more than ten eighth-tier Mechanica Behemoths, the six barriers clearly wouldn’t hold long.

Just then, the White Snow Qingyou Dreadnought sent up a golden beam, and a second golden barrier rapidly spread above the base.

This golden shield didn’t come from Shen Youran’s own ship but was borrowed through the Heart-Linked Pendants’ Yin-Yang: Synergy function, letting her temporarily deploy the Frosted Void Prison from the Heavenly Ruin.

With all seven shields layered together, the barrier finally steadied, though the four knew it wouldn’t last long.

Luckily, the White Snow Qingyou’s bay doors swung open. Tens of thousands of elite Song Family clansmen leapt out.

Every last one wielded at least second-tier Guiding Technique, each hauling several high-grade storage capsules. As soon as they charged from the White Snow Qingyou, Shen Youran activated the Star-Annihilator Crew Pass’s Seal Removal property.

Instantly, the energy within every Song clansman was unsealed. Having waited for this, they dashed straight for the half-dismantled Star of Truth. Nearly a hundred thousand people, like tireless bees, poured in alongside thousands of Doomstar Race slaves, accelerating the pace of dismantlement.

With almost six figures of elite Song clansmen working, the speed surged. As soon as someone filled a storage capsule, a Terracotta Warrior would take it away, instantly delivering it to the Omniverse Market via a Market-Walking Token.

But good things don’t last: all seven shield layers lasted just minutes under the all-out assault of ten-odd eighth-tier Mechanica Behemoths empowered by ninth-tier Floating-land Origins. It wasn’t long before spiderweb cracks began spreading.

Spotting this, the three Star-Annihilator-class ships above the base hovered in place. Song Wujian, Song Shiyuan, and Song Yan traded glances.

“It’s time!”

All three nodded. At their mental command, the previously calm sky over the Sacred City was suddenly crowded with three gigantic warships, each stretching tens of thousands of kilometers. Their roaring engines turned them into streaks of afterimage as they plunged toward the passage below.

As they hurtled downward, their hulls began charging up fiercely. When they hit their peak, countless cannons opened fire—each aimed at the gaping black tunnel below.

There were more than ten eighth-tier Mechanica Behemoths clustered inside that tunnel.

Despite the intensity of the barrage, only three Star‑Annihilator Cannons and maybe the Star Annihilator’s Wrath on the Unmoving Vajra could actually hurt the behemoths below.

Even after a full bombardment, the damage inflicted was minimal.

Song Wujian and the others seemed unsurprised, plunging their warships faster through the darkness, their speed undiminished.

First into the tunnel was the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang. In less than two minutes, a deafening explosion sounded from deep below.

Together came blaring alarms from inside the behemoths.

The Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang’s replica self-destructed, crippling the two behemoths closest to the exit.

Next came the Unmoving Vajra, which managed to further aggravate the injuries—and even injure a third.

Last came the Scorching Sea Blazer. Rather than blow up immediately, it used the Flame God’s Dominion Skull and Black Hole Armor to maximize its damage, holding out to buy more time.

When it finally did go up, it destroyed a behemoth outright and left another unable to keep fighting.

All things considered, this was quite an achievement. Up against over ten behemoths—all powered by ninth-tier Floating-land Origins—even a hundred Star-Annihilator-class warships would’ve been slaughtered in a straight fight.

That level of origin blessing wasn’t just for show.

But the trio knew it wasn’t enough.

The dismantling work below still wasn’t done. Unless they wanted all their effort wasted, they couldn’t afford to lose even a single component on this nearly-finished ninth-tier battle star. If even one part went missing, it could take decades or centuries for the Song Family to replace it.

The star wasn’t even completed yet. Once more components vanished, it could take millennia to repair those missing parts—or they might never bridge the gap at all.

So, until the very last moment, Song Wujian and the others refused to give up. After all, this machine could someday become the Song Family’s first true ninth-tier battle power.

Thinking this over, Song Wujian said in a grave voice:

“Xiao Yan, it’s your turn. Be careful…”

As he finished, three golden lights shot out from the Scorching Sea Blazer, piercing into the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang, Unmoving Vajra, and White Snow Qingyou around them.

Overhead, four mighty phantoms formed—the dragon, tiger, sparrow, and tortoise. Their patterns linked up, all converging around the Scorching Sea Blazer.

Right then, the last cracked golden barrier above finally shattered. Two immense mechanical behemoths burst into view at the tunnel’s mouth.

They were only the leaders—the shaft was just big enough for two behemoths to squeeze through side-by-side, with nine more following closely behind.

Song Yan responded instantly. The instant the barrier broke, he teleported the Scorching Sea Blazer to the mouth of the tunnel. Raging flames billowed from the scarlet hull, giving rise to a towering ninth-tier Dominion Spirit Apparition of the Flame God, which plugged the mouth so completely that the behemoths inside couldn’t get through.

To their credit, not a single Song Family clansman lost his nerve. They all kept cool and kept dismantling parts at breakneck speed.

……

While the Song Family was fighting desperately within the Core Creation Base, somewhere in an unknown high-dimensional space forged by temporal energy, Song Chi himself was enduring his own deadliest battle in two thousand years.

Pulled forcibly into this realm by the Timepiece Chessboard’s Time • Game ability, the Father of Truth’s power should’ve been forcibly suppressed by a full tier. Yet that wasn’t the case.

Maybe the Heavenly Ruin’s grade affected the ability’s effect, or perhaps the Father of Truth’s own Eye of Truth artifact had powered him up. Either way, instead of dropping to peak eighth-tier, his strength steadied at just below ninth, with a real chance of regaining his full power. The pressure on Song Chi was immense.

Market Projection Token.

Celestial Authority Ring: Enslave Seal—Berserk, target: Ashura Emperor.

Pusa Zen Seal: Zen Seal—Time Acceleration, linking to Enslave Seal—Berserk.

Celestial Authority Ring: Enslave Seal—Berserk, target: Black Devourer King Beast.

…

In a flash, Song Chi activated multiple artifact abilities, including the Market Projection Token!