Chapter 619: Scarlet Advance and the Cost of Victory

The sudden turn of events snapped the ten Star-Annihilator-class Captains out of their gloom. Every one of them tensed, nerves stretched taut as they went on high alert.

But the outcome came as something of a surprise. Those Seventh-Tier Serpent Demon Dominators may have charged in fast, but they were just as quick to flee.

Not far behind the Star-Annihilator-class ships, cold corpses lay sprawled. The Seventh-Tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demons weren’t fools—they took one look at the battlefield and saw just how bad things had gotten.

Noticing their own Eighth-Tier Serpent Demons had already fallen, and seeing no sign of Torch Civilization’s Star River-class wreckage, those Seventh-Tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demons hesitated for only a heartbeat before bolting. Even the Sky Serpent fleets, busy chasing down other fleets in the starry depths, started getting retreat orders.

……

Billions of kilometers away, the Song–Luo Joint Fleet prepared for action.

Song Shiyuan’s voice rang out in the fleet’s high command channel.

“Dreadnought Captains and Battleship Captains—listen up! We’ve received an order from the Supervisors: take your fleets and pursue any Sky Serpent warships attempting to escape. Don’t let up!”

“First Fleet of the Song Family, acknowledged!”

“First Fleet of the Luo Clan, acknowledged!”

“First Fleet of the Stark Family, acknowledged!”

……

“Philip Family Golden Lion Guard Fleet, acknowledged!”

With orders coming in, the Joint Fleet’s tens of millions of warships quickly broke off into medium-sized groups—some with a hundred thousand, some several hundred thousand—and raced off in different directions, all under the command of their high-tier ships, in hot pursuit of the scattered Sky Serpent fleets.

This wasn’t just happening with the Song–Luo Joint Fleet; all the various fleets were moving in the exact same way.

Moments earlier, two Supervisors from the Divine Dynasty had relayed orders through special Torch communications, pressing the Dreadnought Captains to strike hard, aiming to inflict as much damage as possible on the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Army in the Fire Serpent Galaxy.

……

Time passed, war spreading over vast star domains. Ten days flashed by in the blink of an eye.

Now, the Star-Annihilator-class ships were gathering again.

Just recently, two Star River-class warships that had vanished for ten days finally reappeared.

No one spoke up to ask for the final report, but when everyone saw the two captains’ grim faces in the fleet’s chat, Song Wujian and the others already knew the answer.

Clearly, that other Eighth-Tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demon had most likely gotten away.

Even though everyone suspected as much, nobody said it aloud. Instead, the head of the Linyue Zhao Clan switched the topic.

“Everyone, the battle stats are in. Over the last ten days, with all fleets at full push, we destroyed over ten million Sky Serpent warships. We killed more than five million Eight-Armed Serpent Demons below Tier Four, nearly ten thousand at Tier Four and above, seven at Tier Seven, and one at Tier Eight. By any measure, it’s a great victory…”

Yet, as the Linyue Zhao Clan head spoke in the chat, excitement was nowhere to be found. A heavy silence hung over the group.

At that moment, Prince Zhenyuan of the Blood Sui Dynasty, Yang Song, cut in:

“What about our own casualties?”

That simple question instantly silenced the previously high-spirited Zhao Clan leader.

After several long moments, the clan head finally replied in a low voice.

“Your Highness, over fifty million of our warships were lost, most shredded by aftershocks from the Eighth-Tier Serpent Demon’s attack. Among them: 328 Zhulu-class Cruisers, 37 Fifth-Tier Battleships, 12 Sixth-Tier Dreadnoughts, and 4 Star-Annihilator-class ships!”

The numbers hit like a blow. You could almost see the heaviness pressing down on everyone in the chat.

These weren’t just numbers. Every ship lost meant lives extinguished.

With over fifty million warships sunk, it’s not hard to imagine—the dead among Torch humanity vastly outnumber that count. The true toll likely reaches into the billions.

Most of these sunken ships weren’t even Torch warships, but regular starships. Unlike the Torch ships with their top-tier control systems, ordinary starships required hundreds or even thousands of crew, some even more.

Yet in the thick of all this, Song Wujian, in the command center of the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang, noticed a strange flash in Yang Song’s eyes.

It wasn’t grief or regret, more like a long sigh of relief that things were still under control—and even a faint hint of satisfaction.

That’s right—satisfaction. Killing an Eighth-Tier Serpent Demon meant racking up massive war merit in the Divine Dynasty. Compared to those so-called ‘inevitable’ losses, this was a payoff.

Song Wujian barely let it show, but there was no doubt in his mind—he hadn’t imagined the glimmer of happiness in Yang Song’s eyes.

Maybe Yang Song thought he’d kept it well hidden and that no one would ever notice. But Song Wujian wasn’t just anyone—he had a Sixth-Tier Vermilion Divine Bird, and thanks to the Vermilion Blood Pact, he also wielded a pair of dual pupils.

His Divine Bird could not surpass Sixth Tier due to the Laws, but the Sixth-Tier dual pupils gave him far better vision than any other captain at his level.

The realization sent a chill through Song Wujian’s heart.

This man’s indifference was far deeper than he’d expected.

But that feeling only lasted a moment before he forced it away.

He’d already steeled himself for the possibility, right from the start.

No matter how fierce the battle for the Star-Annihilator-class Captains, most had family in the Joint Fleet. But Prince Zhenyuan was different—he was dispatched by the Divine Dynasty, a power above all, with no prior ties to the Tianpan or Linyue Galaxies.

He was here for duty alone and had zero reason to consider things from the fleets’ perspective.

Because he’d anticipated this, Song Wujian bounced back quickly.

“In the end, we’re just not strong enough…”

To watch four Star-Annihilator-class ships go down in mere minutes, and then endure Prince Zhenyuan’s attitude, the brutality of war was etched into Song Wujian’s heart.

If the Song Family were one of the Immortal Houses now, would those Star River-class Captains have forced them to take on near-suicidal missions?

If the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang were already a Star River-class ship, would even an Eighth-Tier Demon wielding Bottomless Abyss power be a threat?

Lost in these thoughts, Song Wujian heard Yang Song’s voice in the chat.

“The losses are severe. None of us wanted this. Still, the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Army in the Fire Serpent Galaxy has lost over half its strength. The rest of the campaign should go more smoothly. I’ll also report your meritorious actions to the Divine Dynasty—especially holding off that Eighth-Tier Serpent Demon. That’s no small feat!”

Most of the Star-Annihilator-class Captains forced hollow laughs in response. After all, Yang Song had treated them like cannon fodder. The thought that they’d serve under him for centuries to come left none of them happy.

Yang Song knew exactly how they felt, but he didn’t care. He was the Dynasty’s appointed power behind this vanguard. As long as he didn’t overstep and cause catastrophic losses, none of the Star-Annihilator-class Captains could overturn him.

As the saying goes, there’s no war without death.

Especially in an all-out war between two top-tier civilizations. If the regular fleet didn’t bear the brunt, would he, as a Star River-class Captain, risk his life for total strangers?

With a few more words, Yang Song shifted his gaze to the side. Standing apart from the group, the Star River-class Blood River King and his ship quietly observed.

“Blood River, you got here just in time. By the way, how are the other advance fleets under the Divine Dynasty faring?”

Leaving the conversation with the other captains behind, Yang Song and the Blood River King began their own private chat.

As an established Star River-class Captain, Yang Song had traveled through the Xian Qin Divine Dynasty and even crossed paths with this legitimate Dynasty captain. So, they still had some rapport.

The Blood River King didn’t seem eager to answer. He’d been dispatched from the Dynasty’s central command for this operation, and now the mission was done, he was in a hurry to report back.

Still, Yang Song was a Star River-class Captain, bloodline aside, so the Blood River King couldn’t openly offend him.

“Things aren’t so different here. The Dynasty’s main fleet has swept through nearly ten galaxies and now stands at the edge of the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon galaxy cluster—right by the only Ninth-Tier Floating-Land in the eastern arm.”

The words ‘Ninth-Tier Floating-Land’ sparked Yang Song’s attention. He spoke up quickly:

“Ninth-Tier Floating-Land? Is it the Demon Serpent Floating-Land?”

“Exactly. That’s the Demon Serpent Floating-Land—center of the eighth-arm’s eastern galaxy and the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons’ main stronghold there, packed with high-tier firepower. The main fleet will launch an attack on the Demon Serpent Floating-Land soon.”

Hearing that, Yang Song’s eyes shone even brighter.

The Yang Clan had plenty of intel on the Demon Serpent Floating-Land—it had only been at Tier Nine for just over 100,000 years, making it one of the youngest Ninth-Tier Star Sea Floating-Lands.

Most Ninth-Tier Floating-Lands in the Star Sea were hundreds of thousands, even millions of years old.

So, after just over 100,000 years, the Demon Serpent Floating-Land was fairly ordinary by Tier Nine standards.

But that wasn’t the main point. Although it hadn’t been at Tier Nine long, the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Civilization had poured everything into developing it.

With so many resources invested, the Demon Serpent Floating-Land now spanned over 2.5 million light-years, bursting with rare resources.

Yang Song knew the Floating-land was home to legendary treasures and creatures like the Demon Serpent Nine-Shed Fruit, Golden-Scaled Serpent Fish, and Abyssal Nine-Headed Hydra—every one enough to drive Seventh or Eighth-Tier Lords wild.

And that was just part of it. As the eastern base, the Demon Serpent Floating-Land had drawn the Serpent Demon elite from all over for hundreds of thousands of years. They’d brought all their wealth with them.

The layers upon layers of accumulation meant the Floating-Land’s resources now defied calculation. High-tier captains claimed it held at least five legendary Oddities.

Yang Song’s heart burned hotter at the thought.

But he sighed softly to himself. Tempting as the Demon Serpent Floating-Land was, with all its resources, the Divine Dynasty had already divvied it up internally. He, as a dynasty-born captain, couldn’t even think about it.

Maybe those with connections at the very top could sneak some underlings in, but definitely not him.

He shook his head and pushed the thought away.

Now, his only goal was to salvage what he could for himself and his fleet. As long as he could avoid official censure and maybe snag a sliver of upgraded fire source, he’d be content.

“That’s enough. I’ve got to head back and file my report…”

With that, the Blood River King triggered a jump on his ship, vanishing from the Zhenyuan’s viewscreen within moments.

Watching the Blood River King disappear, Yang Song quickly turned his focus back to the fleet comms.

“All right, from here on, there’s just one goal—step up the conquest of the Fire Serpent Galaxy. The Dynasty’s main fleet has already taken almost ten galaxies. We have to pick up the pace!”

“But…”

Hearing this, the Star-Annihilator-class Captains all looked anxious.

After these brutal battles, every fleet was in rough shape. No one wanted to push forward without first pausing to regroup, but rushing the campaign now didn’t sit right.

But up against a Star River-class Captain’s command, it didn’t matter how reluctant they were. They had no choice but to comply.

So, for dozens of years, every family’s fleet stuck to the plan, sweeping across the Fire Serpent Galaxy and rooting out every last threat, intent on finishing the campaign as swiftly as possible.

Song Family Fleet. Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang. Encrypted chat.

Song Wujian: “There’s good news and bad news.”

“The good news: Rosetta Morningstar has fallen. The secret of the Timeworld Tree Sanctuary is safe, and we have a chance to secure it completely for ourselves.”

“The bad news: Yang Song is utterly cold-blooded. Going forward, he’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants, so we need to keep our guard up.”

The Song Family core members’ first reaction was excitement. With Rosetta Morningstar’s death, the possibilities were endless.

After all, the Timeworld Tree Sanctuary was an immense prize. If they played their cards right, taking it over entirely wasn’t out of reach.

And with Rosetta’s death, the Morningstar Family would lose their place among the Immortal Houses, making it even more likely the Song Family could take control of the entire Chipan Galaxy.