Chapter 461: A New Dawn for the Morningstar Kingdom

Over the course of just a few years, the Great Wall of Civilization stretched steadily from west to east, finally bringing the entire Tianpan Galaxy under its protection.

For the Torch Captains seeing this endless star-spanning wall for the first time, the sheer scale left them speechless.

But for Song Chi, it was already a familiar sight.

……

This time, the grand summary conference was held upon the Calamity Star Floating-Land, a Seventh‑Tier Floating-land.

As for the attendees, the minimum qualification was to command a Zhulu-class Cruiser, and each faction could send only one representative. Only those factions led by a Fifth-Tier Battleship Captain could send multiple delegates.

But families like the Song Family—an elite Sixth-Tier house—not only had all their Dreadnought and Battleship Captains attending, but could also bring along several Zhulu Captains.

Within moments, thousands of Zhulu-class and higher Torch warships gathered beneath the Calamity Star Floating-Land’s sky vault, and at the very center—surrounded by every warship—sat four imposing Star-Annihilator-class Ships.

Roughly ten minutes after the Song Family’s ten ships arrived, all the factions’ representatives had assembled and the postwar summary conference officially began.

There was no elaborate opening. Time was precious, and the four Star-Annihilator Captains had further plans to discuss the garrisoning of the Great Wall of Civilization. So, as soon as the four super ships linked up their magnetic-wave comms, they launched straight into the heart of the matter.

“Yaohan–Liu Shu: Here’s the latest data on pioneering contributions from the kingdom’s departments across the last three years. Take a look. We’ll be distributing territories in order of these rankings: the higher the contributions, the greater your priority and the more space you’ll receive!”

As his message landed, a detailed contribution chart was uploaded to the group chat.

Song Chi opened it quickly, but his brow arched in surprise almost at once.

[Calamity Star Pioneering Contributions Rankings]

[1: Yaohan Liu Family]

[2: Beiqiong Shen Family]

[3: Dongli Xiao Family]

[4: Morningstar Duchy and Stark Joint Fleet]

[5: Xuanhan Yue Family and Bell Joint Fleet]

……

The list was quite revealing. Apart from the three Immortal Houses, who were singled out, every other main force was listed as part of a joint fleet.

But that did simplify matters—a lot less pointless quibbling now, at least for the time being. Any nitpicking or squabbling inside those joint fleets was their own business; the Star-Annihilator Captains no longer had to bother with it.

Removing the three millennia-old Immortal Houses, the Morningstar Duchy and Stark Joint Fleet—Song Family’s alliance—sat comfortably at fourth place.

No one was surprised by this.

After all, the Morningstar–Stark coalition had made a brilliant showing in the war—and with a newly promoted Star-Annihilator Captain among them, it was only right they’d rank directly after the veteran Immortal Houses.

What left Song Chi uneasy was that, by previous estimates, the Morningstar Family—long recognized as a fourth Immortal House—should have been listed on its own. So why did they remain lumped in with the joint fleet?

Worse, “Morningstar Duchy” was spelled out loud and clear. To the powers of the other kingdoms, this was a provocation they couldn’t ignore.

“Don’t tell me… Lady Rosetta is planning to crown herself king…”

Suddenly, a realization struck Song Chi. His breath quickened, color rising starkly on his face no matter how hard he tried to mask it.

Nearby, aboard the Unmoving Vajra, Song Shiyuan immediately noticed his odd reaction—or rather, not just his but all of Song Family and the Duchy’s five leading factions. Each attending Captain wore the same exhilarated expression.

As if on cue, Rosetta Morningstar’s cool voice rang out in the group chat, confirming what many suspected.

“Regarding this pioneer contribution list, my Captains from Morningstar Duchy have no objections. But before we make the final allocations, allow me to reveal something to you all: In three months’ time, the Morningstar Duchy will officially hold our Kingdom Ascension Ceremony. We’d be honored if everyone could attend!”

Silence swept through the group chat.

By any measure, elevating a duchy to a kingdom was cause for grand celebration. Yet none of the representatives voiced congratulations. Their gazes flicked to the three Star-Annihilator Captains from Yaohan, and not a soul dared be the first to speak up.

At last, it was the Song patriarch, Song Wujian, who broke the tension with a warm smile:

“Well said. After over five thousand years as a duchy, Morningstar has finally produced a Star-Annihilator Captain. Truly a moment to celebrate!”

One voice gave way to others. Soon, Gold Horn Lu Family, the Dusk Family, the Eagle Family and more joined in, chiming their agreement.

With one duchy after another offering their congratulations, the kingdom’s representatives had no choice but to follow suit.

Yet despite their kind words, a complicated stew of emotions brewed in the hearts of those kingdom powers.

It was plain as day—the elevation meant Morningstar would directly compete for territory under the noses of Yaohan’s Immortal Houses.

In fact, it was past time to call them Morningstar Kingdom. And the more land and resources they carved out for themselves, the more the other Yaohan powers would pay the price.

Would the three Immortal Houses be the ones making up for that shortfall?

Not likely.

But even if everyone could see what was coming, nobody dared raise an objection. Not even the three Yaohan Star-Annihilator Captains themselves.

The Four Great Super Empires of Torch Humanity actively encouraged expansion, especially on the part of newly-crowned kingdoms. Anyone caught trying to sabotage a move like this would instantly face judgment from the Imperial Tribunal.

Time ticked by, negotiations dragging on, but eventually the pioneering rankings were finalized. The official redistribution of the former Doomstar Race civilization’s territory—the vast domain spanning over eight hundred thousand light-years—commenced at last.

“Yaohan–Liu Shu: First and foremost, the three Yaohan Immortal Houses will control all star domain territory within thirty thousand light-years of Calamity Star Floating-Land!”

No surprise here—the three giants at the very top claimed their portion first.

While the area surrounding Calamity Star Floating-Land contained the richest resources, it was less than half the total. Plus, an extensive public commons nearby would soon open to all. Overall, the deal was acceptable.

But things got thornier with the next round of allocations.

“Yaohan–Liu Shu: Next, everything north of the Chaos Sector, all the way up to the northern edge of the Tianpan Galaxy where the Great Wall of Civilization runs, is granted to the Morningstar–Stark Joint Fleet.”

With this announcement, not even the awe inspired by Rosetta Morningstar’s rise to Star-Annihilator Captain could hold back the chorus of protest from the kingdom’s factions.

“Everything stretching from north of the Chaos Sector to the Great Wall? That’s at least two hundred fifty thousand light-years! How is that remotely fair?”

“Exactly. We’d accept Morningstar getting one hundred thousand, but the others sharing one hundred fifty thousand? Come on!”

“No way, we can’t agree! There are hundreds of us—divide it that way and five houses grab one hundred fifty thousand, while hundreds of families share just two hundred fifty thousand?”

“What gives them the right? Absolutely not!”

……

The group chat descended into chaos, voices of protest echoing endlessly.

The three Yaohan Star-Annihilator Captains kept silent, but all their attention shifted to Rosetta Morningstar, intrigued by how she would respond.

These four super-captains had hashed out the division ahead of time. This immense territory north of the Chaos Sector had been Rosetta Morningstar’s own demand—so the other three were more than a little curious about the source of her confidence.

Ignoring the others, Rosetta Morningstar’s gaze swept to the Song Family ships at the front, locking eyes with Song Wujian.

They exchanged a silent signal. Song Wujian gave a slight nod.

Hiss—

A hatch opened with a familiar whirr. In the next instant, a colossal battleship—over a dozen kilometers long—rushed out from the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang.

As the crowd tried to understand what was happening, this enormous starship very different from any other Torch warship rocketed into the sky.

Ascending high above, it seemed to shake off all constraints. Its size began to swell at an unbelievable rate.

Thirty thousand meters.

One hundred thousand meters.

Finally, the battleship ballooned to hundreds of thousands of kilometers in length, dwarfing even the biggest Star-Annihilator-class Ships.

Torch Captains across the sky gaped at the ship, its super-strong nuclear shield gleaming, a giant golden Star-Annihilator Cannon mounted openly at the prow. For a moment, everyone instinctively swallowed hard.

At a glance, the Three-Eyed Clan Imperial Flagship radiated far more power than even the four Star-Annihilators present.

Without a doubt, this was a warship with Lord-level combat strength. They couldn’t say exactly how strong, but it was surely worthy of the title.

That was the thought running through every Torch Captain’s mind.

But before they could dwell on it, a calm voice rang out from the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang.

“So. Is that qualified enough for you?”

Nobody dared answer. Every protest fell instantly silent.

“So that’s where Rosetta gets her confidence—a Three-Eyed Clan Seventh-Tier Flagship. Talk about luck!”

“Indeed, my lord!”

The experienced Yaohan Star-Annihilator Captains recognized the vessel at a glance. Song Wujian, knowing he couldn’t hide it, gave an honest nod.

From that moment, nobody voiced another objection. Liu Shu immediately carried on with the remaining allocations.

With the outcome clear, Song Wujian aboard the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang managed to keep his expression neutral, but in his heart he let out a huge sigh of relief.

Truth be told, the three Yaohan Star-Annihilator Captains should welcome the addition of another Lord-class force. It would take a heavy weight off their shoulders when it came to defending the Great Wall.

The Tianpan Galaxy had changed drastically. With the Doomstar civilization wiped out, Yaohan now bordered the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Civilization directly. Every new Lord-level power meant a bit more security.

Still, it wasn’t an orthodox Star-Annihilator, so Song Wujian hadn’t dared hope for the others’ recognition before now. But with Rosetta Morningstar’s kingdom-claiming move, they’d accepted the Three-Eyed Clan Imperial Flagship—and this would mean worlds for Song Family’s future.

At the very least, the Song Family of Calm-Sea could now lay claim to being a half-Immortal House. Even if the world didn’t acknowledge the title, in the coming division of Morningstar territory, it would win them undeniable benefits.

Calming his excitement, Song Wujian swiftly recalled the Three-Eyed Clan Imperial Flagship. It shrank and docked back inside the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang.

As for having it stolen? He had no such worry.

First, the ship’s Lord-class status meant no one could simply take it. Second, even if someone could, they’d never dare act in front of so many powers.

With so many eyes upon the scene—and, invisible to most, even representatives from the Xian Qin Imperial House—any reckless move would draw everyone’s ire.

After this brief, dramatic interlude, the conference stretched on for several more hours. Even after the final allocations were set, it wasn’t quite done.

Next up: publishing the lists of high-grade Floating-Land resource locations, and the names of factions busted for illegal mining.

Both were massive—countless precious sites and a daunting number of offending factions. The figures alone were staggering.

At first, no one reacted much. As the hours dragged by though, grumblings surfaced in the chat, growing more heated every minute.

It wasn’t that the Immortal Houses lacked authority. The problem was every entry on the list involved extremely valuable resources—and anything seized required hefty double compensation. For fourth, fifth, and even ordinary sixth-tier houses, it was a punishing blow.

But when Liu Shu revealed that all these orders came directly from the Xian Qin Divine Dynasty itself, the entire group chat fell dead quiet.

However much they might’ve resented the Immortal Houses, no one dared defy Xian Qin—the true sovereign of all Torch Humanity.

The Song Family’s reaction was the complete opposite. From start to finish, they remained composed. After all, they weren’t on either list.

Thanks to deep cooperation between Song Wujian and Rosetta Morningstar, the Song Family basked under the Morningstar Family’s protection. All territory, Floating-Lands, and resources allotted to them remained theirs, needing no tribute.

And with that, the postwar summary conference finally ended. One by one, the representatives departed and the thousands of great warships swiftly vanished from the skies above Calamity Star Floating-Land.