Chapter 595: Encirclement in the Chipan Galaxy

In the pitch-black Sea of Stars, more than twenty battleships streaked through the void.

Maybe because they had to look after a dozen Zhulu-class cruisers, the Star-Annihilator-class and Dreadnought at the fleet’s front weren’t moving all that fast.

That’s right, this was the elite support squad from the Song Family.

With several teams assigned to clear out the Chipan Galaxy, the Morningstar Family fleet and the Song Family’s joint fleet had adjoining star domains, separated by no more than two hundred thousand light-years. That’s exactly why Commissioner Wang of the Langya Wang Clan asked the Song Family for help.

For a top-tier Song Family fleet, even covering less than two hundred thousand light-years didn’t take long—not when every major family already had a decent star map of the Chipan Galaxy.

If Song Family really wanted to move at top speed, Song Chi could simply activate ‘Scarlet Vault Jump’ on his Mirror Warship and bring everyone along in one go.

The key advantage was that the Mirror Warship didn’t have the Torch Battleship’s crew limits—no price to pay at all.

But the ‘Scarlet Vault Jump’ capability on the Heavenly Ruin was still unknown to outsiders, so from an outside captain’s view, the Song Family support looked impeccable.

Still, hauling along a dozen Zhulu-class cruisers, even at full throttle, there was no telling if they’d make it to the Morningstar Family fleet in under a month—and by then, any real hope might already be gone.

……

Two days after the Song Family set off, over a hundred thousand light-years away, the Morningstar Family fleet was already on the battlefield.

Just outside a peak sixth-tier floating-land, countless Serpent warships and Eight-Armed Serpent Demons were locked in savage battle against a Torch Human fleet of over twenty million ships.

Two days earlier, the Morningstar Family fleet had been leading their force in a full assault on a nearby peak sixth-tier life floating-land. Midway through, they were ambushed as masses of Serpent warships and Eight-Armed Serpent Demons, including two seventh-tier Serpent Demon Overlords, appeared from within the floating-land.

Caught off guard, the Morningstar Family fleet failed to pull back and were instantly dragged into a desperate fight.

A few light-years from the brawl, two separate overlord battlefields formed.

You could see it—under the relentless assault of two Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Overlords, both Star-Annihilator-class ships were clearly playing defense, waiting for a chance to counter-attack.

Commissioner Wang’s flagship from the Langya Wang Clan could still hold its own—after all, it hailed from a titan of Xianqin and easily matched a top-tier Seven-Tier Serpent Demon Overlord. The Morningstar Traverse wasn’t so lucky.

It had only just ascended to Star-Annihilator-class in the past few centuries, and with the Silver Torch Seed limiting its power, plus its hull only being legendary silver grade, the Morningstar Traverse was getting steadily pushed back in a slugfest against a Serpent Demon Overlord of the same tier.

What about trying to use the Torch Battleship speed advantage for hit-and-run tactics?

That was pure wishful thinking.

This was a mid-scale starry sky fleet battle. If that Overlord decided to just leave and join the main battle, the mere addition of a single seventh-tier overlord would flip the battlefield in an instant.

……

Clang!

Another harsh screech as flesh met alloy—the Eight-Armed Serpent Overlord’s iron fists tore a huge new gash into the Morningstar Traverse’s already battered hull.

[Warning: Ship under attack. Hull armor integrity at 72%. Overall structural integrity at 47%. Repairs needed immediately!]

Inside the Morningstar Traverse’s bridge, as the shipboard AI repeated its warning in her ear, Rosetta Morningstar seized the moment and triggered a silver repair module.

In no time, the hull armor damage—once over 70%—was almost entirely fixed, and most of the main structure restored too.

At that same moment, the Eight-Armed Serpent Overlord noticed the change and unleashed a surge of Earth Law, perfect mastery flooding its serpent eyes.

Before Rosetta Morningstar could react, the Serpent Demon’s heritage move—Petrifying Ray—shot out in a blaze.

But the Morningstar Traverse wasn’t defenseless. Its energy shield was at least golden sanctuary-grade and matched his gold-based energy attribute. Even though it didn’t help in melee before, this time it made a real difference.

Ordinarily, a Petrifying Ray from a seventh-tier Serpent Demon Overlord would freeze the Morningstar Traverse for at least five seconds. Thanks to the gold energy shield though, petrification only lasted a bit over two seconds.

That was more than enough. On the other side, Commissioner Wang’s flagship was also hit by Petrifying Ray, but escaped with only a little over a second spent petrified.

By the time both Star-Annihilator-class ships broke free of the effect, there was no sign of either Serpent Demon Overlord out in the starry sky.

“Something’s wrong! Get back now!”

On the comms channel, Rosetta Morningstar barked out a warning. The next moment, both ships powered up their jump drives.

The process took some charge time—this is where mastery over different Laws made all the difference. If only there was a captain skilled in the Law of Space here, a basic orange or red Flash-displacement module could have zipped them several light-years in one go.

Everyone else had to rely on their ships having rare silver or even gold-grade Flash-displacement components.

By the time the duo leapt back to the fleet near the peak sixth-tier floating-land, more than 90% of the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon horde had already retreated inside.

Seeing this, the two captains exchanged a grave look.

“Trouble. They’re luring us away. We need to warn the Song Family right now…”

“Rosetta, it’s our turn to provide backup!”

Hearing the deep concern in Commissioner Wang’s voice, Rosetta Morningstar pretended to think it over. After a pause, he shook his head.

“Commissioner, I don’t think it’s wise. We don’t know where those two Serpent Demon Overlords have gone. If we leave, nothing stops them from doubling back for a surprise attack!”

“Rosetta, you know the Yaohan Kingdom’s three clans are still pushing forward. There are three more seventh-tier floating-lands that need their own Overlords guarding them. Those two have no doubt used a high-grade teleportation module to return, so there’s no danger to the fleet here.”

No sooner had Wang finished, Rosetta Morningstar responded at once:

“Better safe than sorry, don’t you think?”

“You…”

He was about to argue but, for some reason, Commissioner Wang paused and gave Rosetta a long look. Then, instead of debating, he logged into the Torch Network and fired a warning to Song Wujian.

……

After Song Wujian and the main powerhouses departed, the combined Song and Luo fleet’s strength dropped enough that the Luo Clan gave up on any claim to the seventh-tier life floating-land near the Chipan core.

So now, the fleet was cruising through space, with their eyes on a sixth-tier life floating-land instead.

But right at that moment, a piercing alarm suddenly blared through the Heavenly Ruin at the fleet’s heart.

[Warning: Multiple medium Serpent Motherships detected, 180 light-years out!]

[Warning: 180 light-years…]

[Warning…]

Three repeated alarms set Song Chi on edge.

He instantly sent a Level One alert into the family chat, then posted the warning to the joint fleet channel as well.

Just as the command staff was thrown into turmoil, a sudden change erupted in the fleet’s midsection—the starfield stretching billions of miles twisting violently.

Colossal Eight-Armed forms ripped open space. Two Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Overlords, each towering over ten thousand kilometers, thrust their palms downwards. A torrent of energy gathered above the core Song and Luo battleship groups, condensing into two gigantic hands barreling down with enough power to shatter the stars.

Thanks to Song Chi’s heads-up, Song Family ships had already activated their defensive protocols. He also fired up the Darkstar Mystic Turtle Armor he’d just transferred over from the Unmoving Vajra.

Instantly, the fifty thousand Torch Battleships surrounding the Heavenly Ruin were all bound into its shield formation. Both their energy shields and hull armor were massively reinforced.

But that alone wasn’t nearly enough to stop a full-powered Law-infused palm strike from a Serpent Demon Overlord.

At the heart of the fleet, both the Chigu Luo Clan Star-Annihilator-class ship and the Tiger Carapace King Bug Song Chi unleashed shot skyward together, intercepting both incoming palms.

Boom! Boom!

The world-shaking energy storm that followed their clash swept outward, but thanks to the Tiger Carapace King Bug and the Chigu Luo ship soaking up most of the impact, the damage to the rest of the fleet was surprisingly limited.

In fact, the Torch Battleship cluster around the Heavenly Ruin didn’t lose much, except for a handful of unlucky cruisers. The rest of the Torch Captains were largely unscathed.

In sharp contrast, the Chigu Luo side lost nearly a thousand ships.

Before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, a third immense shadow appeared in the turbulent energy above.

A third Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Overlord had arrived.

“Three Overlords—looks like they think pretty highly of us!”

Watching from the Heavenly Ruin’s bridge, Song Chi’s face soured, but then a cold grin crept in.

As expected, the moment the third Overlord appeared, an oppressive weight crashed down on the Heavenly Ruin.

And it wasn’t just the Heavenly Ruin. Nearly a million Torch Battleships in the entire mid-fleet were suddenly crushed under the Eight-Armed Serpent Prison unleashed by this Overlord.

For Song Chi, controlling the Heavenly Ruin felt suddenly a hundred times harder—every minor maneuver burning up huge amounts of focus and willpower.

The next second, the third Overlord thrust his massive, knotted right arm at the Song Family fleet below, the pressure brutal.

Without hesitation, Song Chi activated the Angel King’s Authority Wings’ ‘True Spirit Guard’ feature.

If he let that attack land, even with double gold energy shields, fortified armor, and the Shield of Holy Light from the Angel King’s Authority Wings, the Heavenly Ruin would probably survive—but the tens of thousands of Song Family elites, plus those from affiliated and Luo clans, might all be wiped out.

Under the suffocating pressure of a seventh-tier Eight-Armed Serpent Prison, summoning the Angel King’s Spirit Apparition was obviously slower than normal. Still, it managed to coalesce just before the Overlord’s palm struck.

Unfortunately, the apparition only lasted about ten seconds—it needed just a bit more time for full strength. The Overlord’s palm shattered it before it finished forming.

But that brief shield window had been enough. Song Chi capitalized on the pause to finish charging the next weapon module.

The moment the apparition faded, a bloody spear, more than a million meters long, manifested and hurled skyward.

Boom!

The blood spear collided with the Overlord’s palm, sparking a second energy storm. This time, even the Overlord’s monstrous body couldn’t endure it—his massive palm was gashed open, with pale silver blood splattering everywhere.

That made the third Overlord waver, his attack slowing under a rush of shock and pain.

It didn’t end there. In the next instant, the hidden black hole singularity latching onto the bloody spear exploded—one hundred thousand points of Black Hole Energy detonated at once.

The spiderweb singularity instantly tore and crushed the Overlord’s already injured hand, reducing it to a mangled mess.

The God of the Hunt’s Weakpoint Mark, previously set, then detonated as a finishing blow.

In this relentless onslaught, the Overlord’s hand was utterly destroyed, dissolving into a mist of blood from the wrist down.

Roar after furious roar split the heavens as the newcomer Overlord clutched his mangled limb before finally pulling his arm back, pain flashing across his face.

But he wasn’t so easy to put down. A being born to rule, boasting an indomitable body, he channeled his surging lifeblood, burning life force to regrow the lost hand right before their eyes.

It didn’t take long for his palm to fully regenerate.

Meanwhile, the other two Overlords hiding in the spatial rift emerged at last.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

The stars hummed with energy. Realizing the menace posed by the allied fleet, those two Overlords wasted no time—both instantly triggered the Serpent Prison as well.

The Serpent Prison, one of the Serpent Demon Civilization’s mightiest arcane arts, was nearly impossible for ordinary members to master. But for Overlords who’d reached the peak? With their bloodlines, was that really surprising?

Of course it wasn’t. That every Overlord here could wield Serpent Prison was to be expected.

But now, for the two fleets’ captains, disaster was looming.

With three layered seventh-tier Serpent Prisons bearing down, even the Heavenly Ruin was shaking apart—never mind the everyday third- or fourth-tier Torch Battleships.