Chapter 441: A Gamble Amid Devastation

Ssssk—

The hiss of the warship’s airtight doors had scarcely sounded when a ten-meter-tall Celestial‑Star Power Armor shot out toward the opening, rocket boosters blazing with force.

Inside the cockpit, Song Chi pressed close to the Fifth-Tier Celestial‑Star warrior bound to him by the Master‑Servant Pact. The interior barely fit them both—it was built for one of the Celestial‑Star Race, and Song Chi squeezed in awkwardly, taking up extra space.

If this were a battlefield, such a setup would seriously compromise the armor’s combat performance. But Song Chi didn’t care. His only goal right now was to use this high-grade Celestial‑Star Power Armor for a little extra protection—not to fight.

Seizing the split-second rush as the armor blasted toward the void, Song Chi activated the Market Token he already held ready. His entire aura surged in an instant. Powered by the rules of the Market, his life force briefly soared to match Fifth-Tier strength.

That was every preparation Song Chi could make for himself—except for one last piece, the core of his entire plan.

Black Hole Domain!

Right before the Celestial‑Star Power Armor shot past the warship doors, the Black Hole Evolution Layer’s ‘Black Hole Domain’ feature kicked in.

Bzzz—

It was like dropping a stone in calm water. Special black hole energy radiated from the Heavenly Ruin’s core, sending ripples coursing out across the endlessly collapsing Void Sea all around.

This strange black hole energy didn’t spread far—maybe the effects of those flawless Laws of Space nearby made the void’s collapse especially fierce. Still, Song Chi figured the Black Hole Evolution Layer just wasn’t strong enough yet. It had only just reached Fifth-Tier, after all.

All told, the Black Hole Domain only stretched about ten kilometers across—tiny compared to the vast collapse happening in all directions, where the zone of distortion was ten or a hundred times as big.

But within this ‘insignificant’ bubble, the collapsing power was kept entirely at bay. Nothing inside the domain was affected at all.

Feeling the shift, Song Chi—still hurtling out with the armor—finally let out a long breath.

“Now that’s more like it. No way the supreme feature of a black component is some cheap knockoff!”

Despite his words, Song Chi stayed tense. The Black Hole Domain’s invincible state was holding strong for now, blocking the spatial collapse, but outside waited a Sovereign-class Void Demon. As long as he wasn’t back in the Market, he wasn’t really safe.

Behind him, the Heavenly Ruin rapidly shrank, finally collapsing down to a miniature size and shooting straight into the Power Armor’s control chamber at the back of the head.

At the same time, the Torch Ancestral Orifice within him surged with energy—he worked as fast as possible to re-activate the Market Token.

The Black Hole Domain could protect the Heavenly Ruin and its captain for a short while. But from inside the armor, Song Chi could see that the ever-present void collapse outside was already gnawing at the boundaries, squeezing the domain tighter every second.

By his estimate, the Black Hole Domain would last scarcely more than a second.

No matter how much he wanted to hang on, Song Chi knew he had to abandon the Celestial‑Star Power Armor.

His initial plan was simple. If the Black Hole Domain failed, he’d use the Fifth-Tier armor to buy time while he stowed the Heavenly Ruin and fled to the market. If the Domain worked, he’d recover the armor before its invulnerability ended, then make his escape.

But judging by the situation now, that just wouldn’t fly. The Domain held—but barely, and not for long enough to retrieve the high-grade Power Armor.

No time to hesitate. The Fifth-Tier Celestial‑Star Power Armor was priceless, but what was that compared to his own life?

Without a shred of reluctance, Song Chi let the Market Token take effect. As the force yanked him toward the Market, he didn’t resist, just let it pull him safely away.

Omniverse Market, Free Stall Area.

Song Chi appeared from thin air, his face tight with lingering fear. He’d barely vanished from the armor when, at that very spot, the Power Armor suffered a terrifying attack.

Through his Voidform Avatar left in the cockpit, Song Chi saw it all—the supposedly impregnable armor, boasting Fifth-Tier defenses, was shredded instantly, torn to pieces without warning.

That meant, against the power of spatial collapse, not even a Fifth-Tier unit stood a chance.

If he’d been a moment slower, he’d be dead now. Realizing this left Song Chi silent for a long while.

After a heavy pause, he shook his head and muttered,

“Decades since I last braved the Void Sea, switched hunting grounds over and over—and I still ran smack into a Sovereign Void Demon. Just my luck!”

With a sigh, he focused Dominion Power to keep alert for any sign of a Sovereign Void Demon tracking him down in the Market. With half his mind on defense, he started replaying everything that had just happened.

They called those Sovereign Void Demons ‘Void Overlords’—the highest monarchs in the Void Sea, virtually all wielding supreme mastery of space itself. Each was strong enough to take on two ordinary Sovereigns of the same level at once.

In the heat of trouble he hadn’t stopped to consider any of this, but now it made sense why such an opponent ignored the Market’s projections completely.

The market’s projections barely reached Sovereign-level power—and at the weakest tier. Why would a true Void Overlord ever take them seriously?

Song Chi’s thoughts returned to the Heavenly Ruin.

This incident made him realize a huge flaw in his warship. Yes, with a spatial anchor, he could freely jump between the Market and his ship—but what about emergencies? Retrieving the warship in a pinch was almost impossible.

If he didn’t want to abandon it, he’d have to summon it back to his Torch Ancestral Orifice. But while the ship was being taken in, Song Chi himself would be left completely exposed. There was just no escaping that dilemma.

He’d only come up with one possible solution.

A cross-galactic recall system for the warship.

If the Market could be outfitted with a device to summon his ship across the Sea of Stars, the problem would be solved.

Now, such relics weren’t exactly rare. The Heavenly Ruin already had the Soulcalling Demon Golem, which almost counted. But for galaxy-scale retrieval, the component would have to be top quality—very top.

Never mind red components—the Soulcalling Demon Golem wouldn’t cut it. Song Chi guessed even a silver legendary would fall short. He’d probably need at least a Gold Sanctum Domain Component.

This thought killed his enthusiasm. Gold-grade recall components… Later, he could offer a huge bounty to the family, the Yaoguang Star Tower, Shen Youran, and even contacts here in the Market. But the odds of finding such a miracle in the short term were slim to none.

Putting such matters aside, Song Chi waved and produced a Storage Capsule full of Void Crystals.

There were more than a hundred thousand Third-Tier or lower Void Crystals, 380 at Fourth-Tier, and 25 at Fifth-Tier.

“Only 25… a bit short, but I think there are a few more from Wang Zhen and the family elders recently. That should be enough. Worst case scenario…”

He muttered, glancing back toward the engine bay.

Among the enslaved creatures there, two new figures stood out—both Fifth-Tier Void Demons, newly subdued over the last four months.

A previous Fourth-Tier Void Demon, his old servant, had been killed by a Fifth-Tier one during a hunt. Song Chi hadn’t been able to intervene in time, so he was forced to capture two new Fifth-Tier demons.

Void Demons with a deep understanding of Space could still prove incredibly useful at times.

But if he really fell short of Fifth-Tier Void Crystals, he’d just have to use these two as substitutes.

Luckily, it never came to that. Wang Zhen, the family elders, and even some Family ancestors gave him a few Fifth-Tier Void Crystals each—just enough to boost the Cultivation Sanctuary to Sixth-Tier.

With all the crystals in hand, Song Chi started the upgrade process at once.

After several rounds, the No.004 Cultivation Secret Realm of Chicang, a silver component, successfully hit level 60.

The specific attribute gains were secondary. The main thing was the Sanctuary itself expanded massively. Not only did it solve the conflict between the Silver Apple Mother Tree and the Moyun Vine, but the Silver Apple Mother Tree began to show a huge reaction.

Song Chi understood—what the tree really craved was the core of another Sixth-Tier star-plant, so it could hasten its own breakthrough.

But he didn’t have anything suitable on hand. Song Chi could only offer some careful reassurance, waiting for the Silver Apple Mother Tree to quiet before stepping out of the Sanctuary.

He remained in the Market for another two days, making absolutely sure the Void Overlord hadn’t tracked the Omniverse Market.

……

Storm Calamity Floating-land, Torch Network.

A special channel connecting the Joint Fleet’s patriarchs.

“Hardy Stark: The main command from the Eastern Fleet just gave new orders. Within the next month, we must finish clearing the Storm Calamity Sector and keep advancing north. Any thoughts?”

“Angel Star: We’ve cleaned up most of the Floating-land already. It’s about time to move forward. But what about the other fleets from Yaohan Kingdom? If everyone moves at once, no issue. If it’s just the East Route, we should wait.”

“Lu Beili: Don’t stick your neck out. Better to wait two months. If we head out after that, HQ can’t complain!”

“Hardy Stark: Settled, then!”

……

Time sped by. Two months passed in the blink of an eye. Just as the patriarchs agreed, when the time was up, only a single garrison fleet stayed behind at Storm Calamity Floating-land. The rest of the Joint Fleet—over ten million warships—set off, their course northward, using the mid-range star-gates to push forward.

All those earlier worries never materialized. The three major fleets of Yaohan Kingdom advanced in unison all along—none went off on their own.

This coordinated push remained the standard for the next thirty years.

During those thirty years, the three fleets kept advancing. With constant supply runs and reinforcements, the entire force made their way almost three hundred thousand light years north. Combined with their first one hundred thousand light years, they had taken over nearly half the Doomstar Race’s territory.

That meant every member of the three fleets reaped a bounty of resources.

There were a few unexpected incidents. The most serious happened seventeen years ago: the Doomstar Race gathered their top fighters and launched a lightning raid against Yaohan’s Central Fleet—the one led directly by the Liu Royal Family.

Two Seventh-Tier Doomstar commanders, wielding three gold relics, brought over a hundred Sixth-Tier Doomstars with them. Using a gold-quality mass teleportation device, they ignored the defensive zones set by the Liu royal fleet and warped straight into the core headquarters.

The surprise attack caused major chaos for the Liu main fleet. In the end, two Star-Destroyer Captains stationed on the east and west lines came to the rescue in the nick of time with their pinpoint teleporters, scaring off the invaders.

Even so, the Liu’s flagship force took heavy losses. Rumor had it five Sixth-Tier Dreadnoughts alone went down, most destroyed by the Sovereign-ranked Doomstars wielding their lethal powers. There were even more losses among Fifth-Tier ships and below.

But ultimately, it was a side story. That level of loss couldn’t sway the wider war. The three Star-Destroyer Captains of Yaohan Kingdom held fast, even speeding up their advance in the aftermath.

According to numbers from Yaohan’s statistics bureau, the past thirty years saw the fleets seize over three thousand Fourth-Tier or higher Floating-land platforms. Of those, more than four hundred were Fifth-Tier, and at least a hundred were Sixth-Tier.

Take just the Stark and Morningstar Duchy Joint Fleet—over thirty years, they kept pace with the Eastern Fleet, clearing a total of six galactic sectors. That tally included one Sixth-Tier life-type Floating-land, three Sixth-Tier resource platforms, six Fifth-Tier life-type platforms, fourteen Fifth-Tier resource platforms, and numerous Fourth-Tier ones.

Even if mining the resources on those platforms wasn’t possible, the gains from the land alone were almost unimaginable.

Song Chi wasn’t sure about the other clans, but his own ancestors told him plainly: the loot from this campaign had nearly doubled the Song Family’s accumulated wealth.

‘Accumulated wealth’ here meant everything the Song Family had amassed over three thousand years—a staggering number. To double even that… The results were flat-out incredible.

If there was one regret, it was not securing a legendary relic fit to serve as the Family’s ultimate trump card.