Chapter 411: Spoils of Victory

A few hours after the trio aboard the Heavenly Ruin returned, the Violet Moon Longsong also docked above Sky‑Star City.

Song Xingru, whose seniority in the Family is second only to the Progenitor and the Prime Ancestor, is now almost three thousand years old; her flagship became a battleship more than a millennium ago. Though the Violet Moon Longsong has yet to reach the limit‑battleship tier, it still ranks near the top among veteran battleships.

To her, handling a Celestial‑Star of the same rank is effortless. Even with the Floating-land’s origin rules boosting the enemy and suppressing her, she still won with ease.

Three terrifying Zhulu‑class cruisers, a veteran battleship and a tier‑six slave creature joined the assault, and the nuclear shield over Sky‑Star City faded even faster.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

From inside the shield, volleys fired by Celestial‑Star Power Armor howled out and slammed into the twenty‑odd Song Family warships outside.

The bombardment barely scratched the fleet. By Song Dingbang’s order every remaining ship carried at least an orange Torch hull. Although not all had red energy shields, every orange shield was reinforced to fifth‑tier peak. Coupled with red hull armor, their defenses were staggering.

Several more hours passed. When every main gun fired together again, the already dim nuclear shield finally shattered.

No one had time to cheer. The very next second two hundred‑meter‑tall figures burst out of Sky‑Star City.

They moved at blistering speed, yet under Song Chi’s heavy‑pupil vision empowered by the Law of Light they looked slow‑motion. He noticed violent energy surging across their high‑grade Celestial‑Star Power Armor and his pupils contracted sharply.

An urgent voice exploded across the fleet’s comm channel.

“Two fifth‑tier Celestial‑Stars are about to self‑destruct! Activate your hull‑armor defenses, now!”

The elders reacted instantly, triggering the defensive traits of their red hull armor. Song Chi alone refrained from activating Neutron‑Star Fission.

It wasn’t stinginess with the Zen Seal · Internal · Time Acceleration trait. Neutron‑Star Fission had already cooled down and could be used at any moment.

Since the Neutron‑Star Core Armor evolved to silver quality its cooldown dropped to six hours—plenty of time had passed.

He held it back because every nearby ship was family; once the armor morphed into neutron‑star form it would unleash temperatures of tens of millions of degrees and roast his own fleet first.

Instead, he triggered the Space‑skipping Pearl, which had just regained one flash‑shift charge.

From above, the twenty‑plus Torch warships seemed to change shape simultaneously.

Some sprouted another layer of special plating, some converted their hulls into high‑defense materials, and a few, like Neutron‑Star Fission, morphed into strange prehistoric stellar forms. Their defenses skyrocketed at once.

Two deafening explosions erupted one after another. The instant they went off several figures darted from a corner on Sky‑Star City’s western side, trying to escape, but the mostly unscathed Song Family fleet would never allow it.

Under patrol radar nothing could hide.

Two hours later every fourth‑ and fifth‑tier Celestial‑Star in the city was exterminated, though a minor episode occurred.

Before the last fifth‑tier Celestial‑Star was killed, Song Chi asked to try enslaving him.

He ignored the Enslave Medal and the Parent‑Child Spirit Control Rings—those had failed for the three fifth‑tier ancestors. Song Chi doubted he’d be luckier with them.

Instead, he produced the Master‑Servant Pact given by Wang Zhen. In sheer mental power a Celestial‑Star could never match a Torch Captain; if the Pact can bind a fourth‑tier captain it should succeed here.

It did. Under the astonished gazes of the three ancestors he turned the last fifth‑tier Celestial‑Star into his servant and claimed the high‑grade power armor.

Song Chi was delighted.

With that fifth‑tier Celestial‑Star in high‑grade armor he had a first‑rate enforcer. In a pinch the fellow could self‑detonate—a power Song Chi had personally felt and knew few could survive.

…

Sky‑Star City, Sky‑Star Palace.

The palace had been the Celestial‑Star headquarters for ten millennia and held resources beyond counting. Even with the elders’ puppet soldiers it took hours to haul out the most valuable goods.

Half the grand hall’s floor was piled high with loot. More than twenty Family elders stared at it, eyes blazing.

And this was only the cream of the crop. Huge warehouses still held mountains of lower‑tier or unidentified resources.

Even this portion alone left everyone present thrilled.

“So this is the fortune a ten‑thousand‑year‑old mid‑level civilization can amass…”

Murmuring to himself, Song Chi also fixed his gaze on the mountain of treasure.

Seventh‑tier Floating-land Origin: 5 wisps

Sixth‑tier Floating-land Origin: 1,000 wisps

Fifth‑tier Floating-land Origin: 120,000 wisps

Fourth‑tier Floating-land Origin: 2,200,000 wisps

Third‑tier and below Floating-land Origin: over ten billion

Red Epic‑grade wondrous items: 21 pieces

Orange Glory‑grade wondrous items: 240 pieces

Purple‑grade and lower items: more than five digits

Fifth‑tier stellar plant Moyun Vine—vine heart

Titanite crystals: over 200,000 pieces

Celestial‑Star alloy: more than 100 tons

…

There was simply too much good stuff. Even with Song Chi’s experienced eye it was dazzling.

The seventh‑tier origin, the Moyun Vine heart, the red epics and those two hundred thousand Titanite crystals were especially valuable.

The only pity was the Celestial‑Stars had no silver‑grade wondrous items, though that was expected; silver‑legend items are never common.

Even top mid‑level civilizations with sixth‑tier units may lack one—such items brush the dominator level.

Song Chi didn’t dwell on that. One thought filled his mind.

“Murder and arson put the gold belt on your waist.” The old saying never lies!

While he mused, Ancestor Ru’s voice sounded beside him.

When he walked over, Song Xingru plucked one Oddity from the twenty‑one red wondrous items and tossed it to him.

Song Chi examined it curiously.

[Wondrous Oddity: Cloud‑Seeker Disk]

[Grade: Red]

[Convertible: {Cloud‑Seeker Disk}]

[Note: A wondrous Oddity born by chance within the Celestial‑Star race, possessing special functions.]

…

Cloud‑Seeker Disk Lv0

Grade: Red

Trait 1: Cloud‑Seeker

Trait 2: Doubles the detection range of the ship’s patrol radar after installation

Trait 3: Increases patrol radar detection priority by 500

Energy consumption: 20 per second

Effect: After installation the ship’s 360‑degree holographic vision gains 40 percent clarity.

No charge‑up or buffer required

Upgrade cost: 20 wisps zero‑tier Floating-land Origin, 2,000 psionic points

{Cloud‑Seeker: Spend 50,000 psionic points to ignore psionics, space, illusion, strong magnetic fields and other special shielding or jamming, and remotely probe a designated location for 24 hours. Cooldown: 72 hours.}

Song Chi raised an eyebrow, then grinned at Song Xingru.

“Ancestor Ru, is this a reward for your grandson?”

Song Dingbang and Song Tianhao both twitched at the corners of their mouths, as did Song Xingru.

Song Xingru shot Song Chi a strange look, making him feel awkward. He realized he’d misunderstood.

“Dream on. That Cloud‑Seeker Disk is the red Oddity your grandfather lost when he screwed up the Family’s plan a century ago.”

???

Song Chi’s face flushed bright red. He groused inwardly, “Great‑grandma, you could’ve just said so. Grandpa would never tell us grandkids about his old blunders.”

Of course, he only dared complain in his head. If he said it aloud this fiery great‑grandma might hurl him off the Floating-land.

While he cringed, Song Xingru suddenly shifted tone.

“Still, since you helped the Family enter the Floating-land quickly and personally forced a fifth‑tier Celestial‑Star to self‑detonate, we decided that besides this Cloud‑Seeker Disk you may pick one more Oddity as a reward.”

Song Chi’s gloom vanished. Without hesitation he said,

“I want the Moyun Vine heart!”

“You’re sure?”

“Sure!”

His firm answer surprised everyone present.

In their view the seventh‑ or sixth‑tier origins, a red wondrous Oddity convertible to a ship module, or a larger share of Titanite were all better picks.

The Moyun Vine heart might be a fifth‑tier stellar‑plant core, but its life‑extension effect is weak, slashing its price.

Song Chi guessed their thinking yet stuck to his choice.

Not only had the Qiongtian AI in his ancestral aperture conveyed the Silver Apple Mother Tree’s longing, he also knew that choosing seventh‑tier origin or Titanite would net him only a slice, never the whole pile.

Take seventh‑tier origin: the Progenitor and Prime Ancestor need it desperately, so it wasn’t even in the pool. At best he’d get one wisp—useless to him.

Seventh‑tier origin is for battleships at minimum. The Heavenly Ruin only just reached fourth tier; upgrading it to battleship will take centuries.

By contrast the Moyun Vine heart is far better. According to the Silver Apple Mother Tree, three fifth‑tier plant cores can restore it to sixth tier, after which it will steadily produce sixth‑tier Silver Apples.

Once Song Chi stored the Moyun Vine heart the distribution officially began.

First, Song Dingbang collected all five wisps of seventh‑tier origin to deliver to the Progenitor; they were not up for grabs.

Next, forty percent of everything was set aside for the Family Merit Tower as communal property. Of the remaining sixty percent another twenty percent went to elders who had withdrawn early.

Only then did individual allocations begin.

In the end Song Chi received 15 wisps sixth‑tier origin, 2,000 wisps fifth‑tier origin, assorted fourth‑tier and below origin, four orange wondrous items, more than a hundred purple‑grade and lower items, and 3,500 Titanite crystals…

The other clansmen’s shares weren’t much different.

Some distributed wondrous items couldn’t be converted into ship modules. Song Chi asked right there in the hall,

“Elders, if anyone wants to sell a wondrous Oddity that can’t be installed on a ship, I’ll pay seventy percent of the going price for the same‑grade module.”

He welcomed them all, yet could feel a few fifth‑tier ancestors at the head of the hall casting subtle looks his way.

He shrank his neck but still went ahead and negotiated with the elders.

He knew the Family had its own special channels to off‑load such items—risky but steady income. What he was doing bordered on stealing their business, but fortunately the ancestors said nothing.

Time passed. Once distribution ended, the Family fleet outside the Floating-land began a preliminary sweep—one of the war’s bonuses.

They would do it civilly; there’d be no destructive mining. After all, from now on this Sky‑Star Floating Continent belonged to the Song Family.

The next step was to erect a spatial stargate.

This gate would link straight to the Thorny Star Region. A large Family fleet stationed there would rush over to start mining and shipping.

Additional fleets would trail the Family’s Torch warship group deeper north into the Chaos Sector.

Outside the Floating-land, watching waves of ordinary Family starships pop out of short‑range gates and dive inward, Song Chi sat in the Heavenly Ruin’s main control room, a thousand thoughts swirling in his mind.