Chapter 490: A Yearlong Pact

Seeing the uncertain looks on the faces of the two Pan Clan members through the battleship’s communication projection, Song Chi thought for a moment, then added another line.

“Do you know who exactly has set their sights on your clan? As long as they don’t have a Dreadnought, I can step in and negotiate for you!”

Hearing this, the two Zhulu-class Captains of the Pan Clan exchanged glances, a hint of excitement flickering beneath their eyes.

“This isn’t something the two of us can decide alone. We’ll need to consult with the rest of our clan. Sir, would you mind waiting a moment?”

Judging by their tone, even though the Pan Clan was clearly under threat from outside forces, it was obvious that these two weren’t the only Zhulu-class Captains in their clan—and neither had any intention of letting the Heavenly Ruin dock on the Floating-land just yet.

Song Chi understood and didn’t mind in the slightest.

Though battleships were restricted from taking action within Torch Human Civilization territory, their deterrence was undeniable.

And with the Torch Human Galaxy Cluster stretching across a billion light-years, the number of Torch Captains was beyond counting.

Given such staggering numbers, no matter how great the deterrence of the four great empires, in thirty thousand years, there were bound to be cases where battleship captains bent the rules.

Seeing his agreement, the two Zhulu-class Cruisers spun around and hurried off to convene their family council.

Near the Floating-land’s center stood the ancestral Pan Fortress—the clan’s grand meeting hall.

“That’s the situation. What are your thoughts?”

After laying out everything about the ‘Eastern Kunlun’ in detail, the current head of the Pan Clan looked down from his seat at the front of the hall at the eight figures below.

Counting himself, there were nine people—these were all the Pan Clan’s current Zhulu-class Captains.

Compared to their heyday two thousand years ago, when they boasted two battleship captains and eighteen Zhulu-class Captains, the clan had fallen far.

After hearing it all, the captains exchanged words among themselves, and then all their eyes turned to the cool-eyed woman at the front right.

Her name was Pan Ying, direct descendant from two generations ago. Though she was under seven hundred years old, both her mastery of the Guiding Technique and her ship had reached the peak of fourth-tier. She was the only Extreme Zhulu-class Captain left in the family.

The source of the incident—the ‘Timepiece Chess’ component—was installed on her ship.

As the family’s current hopeful, the final say lay with Pan Ying.

Faced with her clansmen’s attention, Pan Ying’s face remained calm, betraying nothing. Yet, deep in her eyes, a hidden conflict flickered.

She knew her own ship well—it had reached the extreme limit of the Zhulu-class—but age was against her, and her preparations weren’t complete. Even with full support from the clan elders, her odds of advancing to battleship captain were slim.

She’d need a senior captain guiding her step by step, as well as plenty more high-tier alien blood to boost her chances. Without that, she’d need at least another hundred years.

That was the hard part. With the Pan Clan’s current resources, they could hardly afford her even that much time.

The Pan Clan really had thrived once. But after their last battleship captain perished in the Outer Domain fifteen hundred years ago, their strength had only continued to wane.

A family holding vast territory simply couldn’t last without a battleship captain at the helm, even if those ships were banned from open battles.

A battleship captain represented far more than personal might. Their connections and influence were on another level entirely—a kind of strategic deterrent that Zhulu-class Captains couldn’t compare to.

If not for this, their fleet wouldn’t have been pushed back from a full Star Domain to just this small patch of fifth-grade Floating-land over the last fifteen hundred years.

Even this bit of Floating-land was now on the verge of slipping away. Predatory eyes from outside watched the land constantly. If they couldn’t change things soon, the Pan Clan would be torn apart down to the bone.

With that thought, a sharp glint flashed in Pan Ying’s cool eyes—she’d made her decision.

She stood up, bowing to both the head of the clan and the elders.

“Patriarch, elders—I’d like to negotiate with him myself!”

“Ying, you…”

Before the patriarch could finish, streaks of deep green mystic energy had already begun to coil around Pan Ying. Wrapped in the Law of Wind, she became like a streak of breeze herself, darting out of the Pan Fortress in an instant.

Outside the Floating-land’s shield.

Standing tall in the battleship’s command center, Song Chi’s gaze locked on the light blue Zhulu-class Cruiser streaking toward him from inside the barrier.

This Zhulu-class Cruiser was 3,500 meters long. Its foundation was clearly solid, but that wasn’t what interested Song Chi.

His gaze swept over the area where the Destiny Compass component lay, confirming the beams of light were indeed tracking this ship.

In other words, the second ‘Timepiece Chess’ component was on board this cruiser.

A few minutes later, the light blue Zhulu-class Cruiser reached the highest point inside the Floating-land’s shield and, wasting no time, sent a communications request to the ‘Eastern Kunlun’.

Once linked, the two quickly saw each other’s projections. Song Chi’s expression stayed calm, unreadable.

Pan Ying was certainly attractive, with a natural coolness that set her apart. Still, compared with the one from Silverplate Floating-land before, she fell a tier short.

“Well? Did you reach a decision?”

Song Chi broke the silence.

Pan Ying’s face didn’t flicker as she answered coolly:

“The ‘Timepiece Chess’ is with me. I don’t need you to negotiate with the Annan Consortium.”

“Oh? Then what’s your offer?”

“For the next year, follow me to the Outer Domain and help me hunt fifth- and even sixth-tier alien species!”

Song Chi raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement creeping into his tone:

“So you want to trigger your battleship advancement mission? But hunting sixth-tier aliens—don’t you think you’re overestimating me a bit?”

Unfazed by his teasing, Pan Ying replied seriously:

“No, I don’t think I am.”

“Go on, then?”

“Forget that your ship is 14,000 meters long—all I need to see is how precisely you’ve tracked the ‘Timepiece Chess’ component. That says it all.”

“The ‘Timepiece Chess’ is a silver-grade piece. There are only two ways you could track it so precisely. One: the Timepiece Chessboard. Two: another high-grade tracking component.”

“If you had the Timepiece Chessboard, that’s probably even higher than gold sanctum quality. Otherwise, to track a silver component, your tracking piece must at least be gold sanctum level.”

Here, Pan Ying paused, meeting Song Chi’s eyes.

Song Chi gave a wry shake of the head.

“So what if I really did have a gold sanctum grade tracker? It’s just a tracking component, no combat bonus. That’s enough to hunt sixth-tier aliens at will?”

Pan Ying blinked, then added:

“You said earlier you’d negotiate personally anywhere without a Dreadnought, right? So even an Extreme Battleship Captain wouldn’t threaten you much.”

Clap, clap! Song Chi couldn’t hide his smile now, lightly applauding.

“Smart and thorough. I agree. For a year, I’ll help you hunt high-tier aliens. But as for where those high-tier alien civilizations are, that’s up to your clan to find.”

“No problem!”

“Then let’s head out right away!”

Getting her agreement made Song Chi all the more decisive.

In his view, if the deal would last a year, better to get started early—and finish early.

Pan Ying paused, glancing toward the Floating-land below.

She didn’t need to spell it out; the meaning was obvious.

Song Chi waved it off.

“That’s simple…”

He spoke, and the battleship ’s hatch swung open. A towering sixth-tier Doomstar Race member, its height quickly swelling to 100,000 meters, strode out.

Under the Abyssal Devil’s remote command from within, the sixth-tier Doomstar simply stood silent outside the shield, like a massive stone guardian. Anyone wanting to threaten this Floating-land would have to think twice.

“Let’s go!”

With the Doomstar released, Song Chi called out to Pan Ying, who was still within the barrier.

He’d chosen a Doomstar because after the Yaohan Kingdom’s great expansion war, sixth-tier Doomstar slaves were common. That way he didn’t risk exposing his identity, but still sent a warning to all the would-be predators lingering outside.

The sight of the sixth-tier Doomstar shocked Pan Ying—such a powerful slave creature was rare anywhere. To summon one so easily spoke volumes about Song Chi’s identity and strength.

Once she recovered, she hesitated no longer. Under the gaze of several other Pan Clan ships, she shot out of the shield.

Trailing behind her came a Pan Clan relay ship—someone would have to lead the way to the next Star Domain.

Seeing this, several prowling warships in the starry space outside couldn’t stay hidden any longer and revealed themselves.

Everyone knew Pan Ying had the best chance of advancing to battleship captain. This agreement with a mysterious battleship could only mean she hoped to break through—there was no way these onlookers would stand by and let it happen.

As they drew near the ‘Eastern Kunlun’, the lead ship’s commander sent Song Chi a communication request.

Song Chi didn’t refuse. He was curious what they wanted.

As before, he wore the goldvine armor, masking his true face—the other side couldn’t see his appearance.

“Sir, the Pan Clan has quite a feud with our Annan Consortium. Could you do us a favor? Afterward, our Consortium’s battleship captain will personally bring gifts to thank you.”

The speaker was polite enough, but when he said ‘battleship captain’, there was an obvious emphasis—the message was clear.

Their Annan Consortium had its own battleships. Song Chi would do well to think it over.

Song Chi wasn’t the slightest bit moved.

From Pan Ying, he’d already learned a bit about the Annan Consortium—it had been around nearly five thousand years and held some sway in the southern Silverplate Galaxy.

Supposedly, the Consortium fielded at least three battleships, including one at the extreme grade. While they couldn’t compare to the great central conglomerates, they were a force to be reckoned with.

But what did that matter to him?

He only wanted the second ‘Timepiece Chess’—the rest was none of his concern.

With the Heavenly Ruin’s current firepower, not even a standard Dreadnought could shake it. Why would an extreme battleship worry him?

He had no interest in dealing with them, but the Consortium wasn’t about to back down.

Just as Song Chi instructed Pan Ying to activate the ship’s fusion module and prepare for targeted transference to the Outer Domain, a violent spatial distortion rippled over the distant stars.

Moments later, a battleship spanning 11,000 meters emerged from the void.

With the battleship in place, the smaller Zhulu-class ships circling the Heavenly Ruin rushed over to greet it.

“Greetings, Deputy Director!”

…

Seeing the Consortium’s battleship arrive, panic flashed in Pan Ying’s eyes aboard her light blue ship—quickly replaced by fury.

Song Chi spotted the change and spoke softly:

“Relax. I’ll handle this.”

With that, the two battleships surged toward each other in unison.

When they were only tens of thousands of meters apart, both ships slowed to a halt.

Inside the comms channel, Song Chi and the middle-aged man across from him locked eyes for several seconds—maybe spooked by the Heavenly Ruin’s massive presence, the other finally broke the silence.

“Sir, this is strictly between the Annan Consortium and the Pan Clan. Are you really going to stand in the way?”

Song Chi shook his head.

“Your business isn’t my concern, but I did make a deal with the Pan Clan. Just for a year—after that, do as you like. But for this year, no.”

His tone was casual, but there was no mistaking the absolute authority in his words.

There was no way they could reach any kind of agreement.

Sure enough, the middle-aged man’s face turned stormy after hearing him out.

A year—clearly meant to buy Pan Ying time to attempt her breakthrough.

It concerned a whole fifth-tier Floating-land. How could the Annan Consortium accept that?

If her advancement failed, fine. But if she pulled it off, there’d be no hope of taking the Floating-land from them after.

The man’s aura slowly began to radiate out, as the formidable pressure of his 11,000-meter ship mounted.

Sensing this, Song Chi’s gaze chilled.

With over 55% comprehension in the Law of Space, he unleashed a wave of pressure that far outstripped the other’s.

The concentration of spatial law buzzed and swelled, pulling together a Void-Return Ray over 10,000 meters long, locking onto the opposing battleship.

In that instant, the middle-aged man felt an overwhelming sense of peril.

Only then did Song Chi’s cold voice ring out again.

“Well, then—are you really looking to spar with me? Or are you planning to challenge the rules laid down by the four great empires?”