Chapter 660: Assembly of the Battlestars

This battleship’s hull length probably isn’t much shorter than the Heavenly Ruin.

Just one look was all it took for Song Chi to reach that conclusion.

It was this very conclusion, drawn so easily, that truly surprised him.

He knew the configuration of the Heavenly Ruin inside and out—nearly thirty colored, black, and gold components in total. Even most top-of-the-line Star-Annihilator-class Ships, not to mention ordinary Star River-class Battleships, couldn’t match that level.

Now, he was seeing another ship of the same class with a setup nearly as impressive. How could that not catch him off guard?

Once he looked away, Song Chi shifted his attention to the Beidou Seven Halls’ group chat.

More specifically, he focused on the projection of Whitebrow in the chat.

He hadn’t forgotten: Whitebrow’s flagship still had the Frost King’s Crown installed.

He’d originally seized that piece from Shang Jie and later traded it to Whitebrow. With the Shangdang Spirit Lord now present in person, he couldn’t help feeling a bit uneasy.

Even though the Chasing Light Shadow Mirror was a treasured heirloom for the Shang Clan and probably wouldn’t stay on a single Star-Annihilator-class Ship forever—you never knew what might happen.

As the two exchanged glances, Whitebrow seemed to grasp his worries. A faint smile flickered across that chilly face, but it vanished just as quickly. Without his Dual Pupils, Song Chi probably wouldn’t even have noticed.

With that brief exchange, Song Chi finally felt at ease.

His possession of the Dual Pupils might fool the rest of the Yaoguang Star Tower members, but there was no hiding it from Whitebrow.

His certainty was due not just to Whitebrow’s astonishing background, but also the extraordinary foundation of Whitebrow’s flagship.

Don’t be misled by those unimpressive ships Whitebrow normally summoned; Song Chi knew it was simply a Mirage Dragon Metamorphosis Pearl reshaping the flagship’s appearance. While he couldn’t completely reconstruct the true form with his Dual Pupils, he could tell the real flagship was a Dreadnought even more formidable than the Heavenly Ruin.

For all these reasons, Song Chi was sure Whitebrow knew about his Dual Pupils.

That subtle smile from Whitebrow just now was basically a quiet reassurance, letting Song Chi know he had nothing to worry about.

After that, several new factions arrived. While most were from seventh-tier Immortal Houses, heavyweights like the Langya Wang Clan and Xian Qin Heavy Industries also appeared.

This process took nearly half a day, drawing to a close only when the Ying Clan’s imperial members finally arrived.

As one of the four Great Pillar Royal Families of Torch Human Civilization, the Xian Qin Ying Clan was undoubtedly the number-one power in the Xian Qin Divine Dynasty.

Forget the incredible existence that was Ying Huang, one of the four Human Sovereigns. Just what the Ying Clan had on display—three ninth-tier enslaved creatures—was enough to shock the arena.

There were also more than twenty Star River-class Captains and even more Star-Annihilator-class Captains. Word had it, according to rough estimates, there were at least five hundred Star-Annihilator-class Captains from the Ying Clan alone.

When Song Chi first learned this, he was stunned. He’d always known the four Great Empires’ strength was monstrous, but facing the sheer specifics of one clan—”shocking” barely scratched the surface.

And that was just what was out in the open. No one really knew what hidden reserves the Ying Clan had up their sleeve.

Even the Clan’s own Star-Annihilator Captains probably didn’t know the full picture. Only the unfathomable Emperor Ying truly understood their entire power.

When the Ying Clan’s team finally entered last, every single eye—thousands of elite captains—snapped to them instantly.

Song Chi was no exception.

Surprisingly, the Ying Clan only sent fifty people this time.

But not one person questioned it—not because Ying Clan was intimidating, but because every one of those fifty was an elite among elites.

“Three Star River-class Captains, seven Star-Annihilator-class Captains, and forty Dreadnought Captains… Whoa!”

The battleship bay was dead silent, quiet enough to hear a pin drop, but in the respective control rooms, people couldn’t help but gasp. The scale of Ying Clan’s show of force left most present utterly floored.

In the Beidou Seven Halls group chat, a Battleship Captain from Kaiyang Star Tower couldn’t help but ask:

“Don’t tell me even the Star River Captains are joining this mission?”

As soon as those words landed, a wave of replies followed in the chat.

“What’s so strange about that? The place we’re hitting is a ninth-grade Floating-land, guarded by at least two ninth-tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demons, and even more eighth-tier ones. If a Star River Captain doesn’t go, do you intend to take on those Eighth-Tier Serpent Demon Dominators yourself?”

“Ninth-tier?”

“Don’t worry. The two ninth-tier serpent demons are Emperor Ying’s business.”

“I hear Beidou Sevenstar Hall, Xian Qin Heavy Industries, the Meng Clan, the Wang Clan and others are also sending one Star River Captain each. Plus, their flagships will each have an eighth-tier enslaved creature on board. As for the eighth and ninth-tier serpent demons, we’ve got it covered. We just need to rack up as many kills as possible on the seventh-tier and below Eight-Armed Serpent Demons.”

Listening to this, Song Chi’s gaze suddenly sharpened, narrowing in on a new message in the chat.

“Anyone see that pale-gold Dreadnought? If the rumors are true, that should be the Ninth Prince of Xian Qin!”

After reading that message, Song Chi—and plenty of the other captains—quickly turned their attention to the pale-gold Dreadnought in the middle of the Ying Clan team.

Song Chi’s brow lifted in surprise.

The first thought that popped into his head was just three words.

“No way!”

Judging by the ship’s size, its foundation was a bit weaker than both the Heavenly Ruin and the Meng Clan’s Dreadnought. That didn’t match what he’d expected.

But thinking about it a little more, his earlier certainty faded. He wasn’t so sure anymore.

Ying Clan’s heritage might be matchless in the Divine Dynasty, but this was just the Ninth Prince. The resources available to him might not top those poured into the Meng Clan’s favored heir.

If every one of the Divine Dynasty’s top nine princes had a ship stronger than the Heavenly Ruin, even Song Chi would find that hard to believe.

Just the Timepiece Chessboard alone made that impossible.

Could the Xian Qin Divine Dynasty really fork out ten top-tier colored components per prince?

If so, that’d be beyond unbelievable.

Song Chi was sure the Ying Clan owned plenty of legendary myth-grade oddities, but most were likely held by the Star-Annihilator and Star River Captains, or even Emperor Ying himself. There couldn’t be that many left for the younger generation!

Swish, swish, swish!

A sudden tide of powerful dark energy yanked Song Chi’s mind back to the present.

He quickly saw this mysterious surge gathering above the center of the warship bay. Spotting that none of the Star River-class ships around him were reacting, Song Chi started to put the pieces together.

In no time, this dark energy had coalesced into a blurry figure high above the room.

The moment that figure appeared, a chorus of respectful voices rang out.

“We greet Your Majesty!”

It was only then that the Battleship and Dreadnought Captains came to their senses. All the Star River and Star-Annihilator-class Captains had already called out first.

By now, it was clear even to the slowest among them: the legendary Emperor Ying was here. One by one, everyone echoed the salute:

“Greetings, Your Majesty!”

“Rise.”

“Entering the Demon Serpent Continent this time will decide whether we can conquer this ninth-grade Floating-land. I don’t need to spell out the dangers. You’re all the finest of Torch Civilization, and it’s I who should be thanking you!”

“The road ahead is full of risks, but there’s one thing to remember—all the billions of Torch Human Civilization are waiting for your triumphant return. I await you as well!”

Compared to the earlier rousing words from Beidou Sevenstar Hall’s Star River Captain, Emperor Ying’s speech hit even harder. He didn’t use any tricks—it was just a few simple sentences, yet he roused the fighting spirit of all thousands of captains present.

In the Heavenly Ruin’s control room, Song Chi felt his blood surging too.

He barely had time to savor it before streams of starlight began rising in every corner of the bay. In seconds, starlight had engulfed the whole room.

That familiar feeling of weightlessness swept over him—Song Chi knew another mass teleportation was about to begin.

He was a little surprised; he’d expected to enter the Demon Serpent Continent by squeezing through a rift in the Floating-land Shield the usual way.

Floating-land Shields on ninth-grade Floating-lands were tough, but the Xian Qin Divine Dynasty’s nearly 300,000-year foundation was no joke.

They didn’t just have colored-grade shield-breaking components. The Emperor’s own Superdimensional Mothership had more firepower than anyone could imagine.

They couldn’t blast the entire Shield away, but tearing a small fissure open shouldn’t be any trouble.

He never expected they’d use teleportation instead.

But that was good news. Forcing their way through a rift would have meant immediate attacks from the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons inside. Teleporting in was a much safer bet.

…

Inside the Super Battleship control room, a component radiating prismatic light was triggered. The next moment, the control room was flooded with dazzling colors.

As the colored light danced, a faint whisper seemed to echo throughout the room.

“Dimensional Tunneling Device – High-Dimensional Space Projection: Activated!”

Across the endless starry sky, the Super Battleship unleashed a beam of colored divine light toward the Demon Serpent Floating-land.

Within the Floating-land Shield of the Demon Serpent Continent, a monstrous Eight-Armed Serpent Demon—over billions of kilometers across—raised its arms. Earth, light, and space laws churned around its body. Next, it slammed all eight arms, tearing through the Shield, sending eight collapsing space bands toward the colored light.

They didn’t know what that colored light really meant, but stopping it from reaching the Shield couldn’t be wrong.

Yet, despite the ninth-tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demon’s overwhelming attack, the flying colored light wasn’t affected at all.

The moment one of its arms touched the colored light, no explosion followed as expected. Instead, somehow, the colored light just vanished without a trace.

While the Ninth-Tier Serpent Demon Dominator was left baffled, a violent space ripple erupted somewhere on the Demon Serpent Floating-land surface below, and swarms of Torch Battleships materialized out of thin air.

Tens of thousands of Torch Battleships appearing together created enough of a stir that hiding was out of the question.

High above, two ninth-tier serpent demons were the first to spot them, their harsh shouts echoing down.

“Torch Civilization ships have entered the Floating-land. Third, Fourth, Fifth Fleets—find every last one and wipe them out!”

With the twin serpent demon lords’ order, tens of thousands of Eight-Armed Serpent Demons and Sky Serpent Warships dropped from the heavens, rushing toward Song Chi and the others’ teleportation site.

And that wasn’t all; the two serpent demon lords quickly gave a second command. Immediately, scores of seventh and eighth-tier serpent demon dominators sprang into action.

Of course, those dominators focused on taking on Star-Annihilator and Star River-class ships. It wasn’t that they were too proud to squish the little guys—there’s no such thing as fairness in a fight for civilization’s survival.

They knew full well—the big ships could massacre low-tier creatures a lot faster than the reverse. If they didn’t tie them up, the Floating-land’s will would soon be overwhelmed.

But Song Chi and his fellow captains weren’t slow on the draw either.

“Everyone, listen up! Same as before—keep yourself safe first, but kill as many Eight-Armed Serpent Demons as you can! You’re free to move out now!”

In the united fleet chat, a top-tier Star River Captain from the Imperial Clan took the lead.

His words echoed across the chat, sparking a flurry of reactions.

Where just a heartbeat ago tens of thousands of Torch Battleships had clustered together, they were now splitting into countless small teams, surging off in every direction and quickly vanishing from sight.

Song Chi’s group was, of course, with Beidou Sevenstar Hall—nearly two hundred ships strong, led by a Star River-class Battleship.

Funny enough, Song Chi actually recognized this Star River Captain—the Greedwolf Hall Master, who he’d first seen outside the Blood War Secret Realm.

After racing through the skies for half an hour, their fleet plunged into an ancient forest. There, the Greedwolf Hall Master’s flagship suddenly unfurled a special domain.

This domain enfolded every one of the nearly two hundred ships belonging to the Beidou Seven Towers.

“This is a stealth field. It’ll temporarily hide us from enemy tracking. If you brought extra people or had backup, summon them now—I won’t be able to help later! Whether you go solo or team up, it’s your call.”

With their own Star River Captain’s order, the members from various Star Towers didn’t hesitate.

Hiss—

Ship after ship opened their hatches, scattering even more figures into the air. As soon as they landed, these figures summoned their own ships as well.

Just like that, in barely two minutes, their fleet swelled from under two hundred to over five hundred ships—more than double in no time.