Chapter 723: Alliance of Powerhouses: Bidding for the Dragon Fleet

As soon as the meeting ended, over ten thousand Star-Annihilator-class Ships swiftly reappeared above the Floating-land. While squadrons of these ships shot skyward, the three Superdimensional Motherships remained hidden from sight.

In the silent void, nearly twenty Torch Battleships still lingered.

Aside from the three Superdimensional Motherships, those present included the Greedwolf Hall Master and Jumon Hall Master of Beidou Sevenstar Hall, two Star River-class Captains from Immortal Qin Heavy Industries, and two princes from the Ji royal family of Chiyu Divine Dynasty.

This time, although the Ji Emperor of the Chiyu Divine Dynasty didn’t participate in the civilization war, it wasn’t out of reluctance. Instead, he had to oversee the Chaotic Divine Land. Each of the four Human Sovereigns of the Torch Kingdom commands a flagship with half-mythic strength. Relying on the towering Emperor City, they’re even capable of unleashing myth-level power.

To ensure the Emperor City’s safety, at least one Human Sovereign had to stay behind—a necessary measure to safeguard the foundation of the Torch Human Civilization, not something anyone particularly wanted.

Besides them, four others remained in this silent space—four Star-Annihilator-class Ships.

Who else could these four be, if not the Song Family, intentionally left behind?

“Song Family of Longji, let me ask: can you guarantee the intel concerning the Truth Mechanicus Civilization and the Starsea Giant Ape Civilization? The future of our Torch Human Civilization hinges on this. Be certain before you speak.”

“Your Majesty, every word spoken earlier is true. The Torch Battleship’s recordings can testify for us. The Song Family would never dare to lie!”

Faced with questioning from the ancient ruler of the Divine Xia Empire, Song Wujian answered with utmost respect—his tone earnest and entirely honest, hiding nothing.

“Project the recording.”

With a command, a beam of dim light shot from Song Wujian’s flagship, the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang, casting a special light screen at the center of the silent void.

Scenes flickered across the light screen—footage captured over the past several years by the Song Family’s Shadow Division in the territory of the Truth Mechanicus Civilization, including the war fronts of both civilizations.

When the entire recording finished, the three Human Sovereigns aboard the Superdimensional Motherships all nodded in agreement.

“Indeed, these are two relatively ordinary but top-tier civilizations. Unless I’m mistaken, those Starsea Giant Apes must be descendants of the peak-bloodline Chaos Demon Apes.”

Once the intel was verified, they checked the traits of the High-Dimensional Wormhole Generator recovered from the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang.

If they were to put the plan into action, the most vital piece would be a stable transfer corridor. Without it, moving massive numbers across a trillion light-years would be an unimaginable challenge.

“Agreed. If this plan works, the Song Family of Longji will have rendered great service. You’ll be handsomely rewarded. Until then, not a word of this leaves this room!”

“Very well. You’re all dismissed for now.”

……

No one truly knew what agreements the three Human Sovereigns of the Four Great Empires reached with the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon Civilization. All that was clear was—over the next ten years of preparation, the Torch Fleet gathered outside the Demon God Floating-Land never faced any attack.

Time rolled forward. Ten years slipped by in the blink of an eye.

During those years, the Torch Fleet—only numbering in the tens of millions—made their final preparations. Every clan busied themselves with readying their trump cards.

Some Immortal Houses with centuries of legacy revealed a golden-grade mass defense component, capable of shielding up to a million ships. Working closely with their allies, all a million slots filled in just half a month.

Other ancient giants took out black-grade components that doubled attack, defense, and speed. Although only ten thousand could be bound, countless powers eagerly vied for a spot.

Naturally, within such an elite fleet, the Song Family brought forth their own secret weapon.

Azure Dragon Starlit Array Chart.

After being strengthened to level 80, this golden strategic module could bind up to ten million battleships. The Song Family could only fit it on their sixth-tier Dreadnoughts for now, but with so many elite captains from the Divine Dynasties present, its worth soared even higher.

Once the Song Family made their offer public, the flock of rival powers arrived en masse.

First in line: the Greedwolf Hall Master of Beidou Sevenstar Hall. Since they never recruit en masse, the Hall and its seven branch towers collectively only had a few hundred members. The Song Family, naturally, agreed without hesitation.

In addition, they proactively offered two positions as secondary Azure Dragon Fleet commanders.

At level 80, as soon as the Azure Dragon Starlit Array Chart bound over five million ships, ten sub-fleets could be formed, and with the main fleet, that made eleven commander slots. After reserving four for the Song Family’s Star-Annihilator-class Ships, there were seven left—giving two to Beidou Sevenstar Hall was more than generous.

With tens of millions of elite Torch Battleships, the Azure Dragon Starlit Array Chart now demanded at least third-tier cruisers to be bound.

Of course, every ship here was at least a cruiser—there weren’t any escort ships or weaker Torch Battleships.

This meant the maximum binding could now reach up to Star-Annihilator-class Ships.

Thanks to its abilities, each Azure Dragon sub-fleet could take on an eighth-tier Eight-Armed Serpent Demon alone. The Array Chart’s stat boosts made fleets tougher and far safer on the battlefield.

Seeing the benefits, word about the Song Family’s Azure Dragon Starlit Array Chart spread fast, drawing a constant stream of visitors.

After Beidou Sevenstar Hall, Immortal Qin Heavy Industries came next. Unlike Beidou, which prized quality over quantity, Immortal Qin had thousands of members and wanted a million slots for their ships.

This, of course, was too much for the Song Family—there were only ten million slots and many groups vying for them.

Other powers didn’t just make empty promises, either. They grasped the array’s potential; with more slots, the Azure Dragon Phantom’s boosts would ensure greater merit in the coming war.

This was the ultimate battle between two top civilizations. Wishing to motivate every captain, the Four Great Empires did more than issue verbal appeals—they backed them with tangible rewards.

As soon as the ten-thousand-ship meeting concluded, the Empires jointly unveiled a massive treasure vault for earned merits.

A detailed merit system was launched alongside it.

This merit system was a clean slate—the thousands of years of accumulated war merit meant nothing here. Every captain and power started out equal.

Only kills in the coming war counted. The higher one’s merit, the earlier one could redeem prizes.

That’s why every group was so fired up—the vault’s offerings were irresistible.

Even Song Chi, who’d seen so much, couldn’t help but be tempted by what he saw inside.

Four massive colored lower-grade modules stood out, alongside thirty black-grade and more than a hundred golden-grade ones.

Prizes included the Golden Apple, Silver Apple, Dominion Soul, mineral core, special warship upgrade resources, and even more. From Star River-class Captains to Cruiser Captains, every heart burned with desire.

Naturally, Song Chi’s eyes were drawn to the four mythic relics.

He was especially familiar with one of them—the Chaos Energy Generator he’d seen before.

His Heavenly Ruin warship already had a Mythic Pulsar Energy Shield, so that wasn’t a top pick. The other three, however—a mythic-grade armor (Primal Celestial Silver Hull Armor), a unique space-type module (Void Vault), and a mythic Star River Cannon (Arrow of Holy Light’s Judgement)—all caught his interest.

Primal Celestial Silver Hull Armor, Level 0.

Grade: Colored / Lower.

Trait: True Defense.

Trait 2: Hull armor durability +200%.

Trait 3: Double-layered Armor.

Trait 4: Hull strength +200%.

Trait 5: After taking damage, the armor automatically regenerates 5% of lost durability every second.

Trait 6: Bramble Celestial Silver.

Trait 7: Absolute Defense.

……

————

Void Vault, Level 0.

Grade: Colored / Lower.

Trait: Battleship cargo hold space +200%.

Trait 2: Space resistance +1500.

Trait 3: Void Vessel.

Trait 4: Depending on the abundance of external spatial energy, increases the ship’s travel speed.

Trait 5: Purifies internal spatial energy, providing a moderate buff when comprehending spatial secret arts, laws, or the Dao.

Trait 6: Void Storage.

Trait 7: Void Vault.

……

————

Arrow of Holy Light’s Judgement, Level 0.

Grade: Colored / Lower.

Trait: Main cannon power +300%.

Trait 2: True Damage.

Trait 3: Power of Holy Light.

Trait 4: Each attack from the main cannon crits for triple damage.

Trait 5: Main cannon has double attack speed, cooldown, and charge rate.

Trait 6: Mark of Holy Light.

Trait 7: Holy Light Judgement.

……

Of these mythic relics, only the first—Primal Celestial Silver Hull Armor—clashed with the Neutron-Star Core Armor already installed. The other two, Song Chi truly coveted.

Arrow of Holy Light’s Judgement could wait. Since the Heavenly Ruin needed time to advance to a Star River-class, aiming for a Star River Cannon in advance wasn’t urgent.

The Void Vault, on the other hand, had no such constraints. As soon as he redeemed it, he could install it right away.

Its traits also fit the Heavenly Ruin perfectly.

{Void Vessel: The installed ship’s outer hull becomes wreathed in vast void energies, granting a 10% chance to dodge incoming attacks.}

{Void Storage: Consumes 1,000,000 Eon Energy Points to actively absorb any non-living object within sight, instantly placing it in the Void Vault.}

{Void Vault: Grants the warship a special dimensional space inside—usable as storage or even as a warship prison.}

For most Torch Captains, these attributes were absolutely top-tier. For the Heavenly Ruin—which had the Omniverse Market as backup and needed no extra storage—a niche benefit at best.

Paired with the Chaos Godhood module’s “Inner Chaos Oracle” trait, Void Vessel’s evasion chance could reach truly impressive heights.

Void Storage was a remote retrieval skill—combined with the Mirage Dragon Metamorphosis Pearl and Void Shroud, it was perfect for opportunistic scavenging.

Even the Void Vault trait itself seemed decent to Song Chi.

He already knew the Omniverse Market might not work on the Chaotic Divine Land, so having a portable dimension at hand would really come in handy.

……

After much persuasion, the Song Family would only grant five hundred thousand slots to Immortal Qin Heavy Industries. In the end, their envoy produced three ninth-tier Golden Apples.

The intent was clear: two and a half Golden Apples still went for the Master of Machines, but the other half was for a million Azure Dragon Battleship slots and two commander positions.

With that, Song Wujian agreed.

The Master of Machines went to Immortal Qin Heavy Industries while they received three ninth-tier Golden Apples.

One Golden Apple was used directly on the Azure Dragon Starlit Array Chart, doubling its capacity to twenty million battleships.

Azure Dragon Starlit Array Chart, Level 90.

Grade: Black.

Trait: Azure Dragon Battleship.

Trait 2: Azure Dragon Starlit Array.

Trait 3: Azure Dragon Domain.

Trait 4: Trait 1’s effect doubled.

Trait 5: Wrath—Azure Dragon’s Doomsday Breath.

……

Effect: The host ship becomes the Azure Dragon Starlit Array’s core. When over a million bound Azure Dragon Battleships are nearby, you can appoint five sub-fleets, each of a hundred thousand ships. With more than ten million, appoint five sub-fleets of a million each and twenty sub-fleets of a hundred thousand each. The larger sub-fleets are stronger, but both types can battle above their level. If more than thirty percent of the fleet is lost, all buffs vanish.

……

{Azure Dragon Battleship: Consumes 5,000 Eon Energy Points to voluntarily bind any battleship at least four tiers below the host to the Azure Dragon Fleet. Current max: twenty million ships.}

Unfortunately, even at ninth-tier, the requirement that a ship be at least four tiers lower to be bound didn’t change.

So it still couldn’t be installed on a Star River-class. Even among these millions of elite Torch Battleships, there weren’t enough top-tier Zhulu-class Cruisers for that.

Most of the Torch Kingdom’s main forces remained billions of light-years away, where plenty of mid-tier warships were needed to command. If the Eight-Armed Serpent Demons ever launched a surprise attack, losses among low-rank captains would be catastrophic, threatening the very future of the Torch Human Civilization.

Such a gap would be an absolute disaster for a rapidly expanding civilization.

After its evolution, the Azure Dragon Starlit Array Chart now covered nearly half the elite fleet assembled here. Later, forces would split up into over twenty teams, but the advantage gained by the Song Family was substantial.

Of the two remaining Golden Apples, one was used on a golden Upgraded Fire Source, allowing Ancestor Song Wujian to evolve his Torch Seed into black-grade.

With the bounty of resources and Dominion Soul plundered from the Truth Floating-Land, Song Wujian advanced many parts on his flagship to level 90—making the Calm-Sea Dragon-Xiang exponentially stronger.

The last Golden Apple went to Song Chi.

He’d discovered the Truth Mechanicus Civilization and paid the ultimate price to defeat the Lord of Truth. No matter how you looked at it, he was the top hero.

That Golden Apple alone wouldn’t suffice. The clan’s core had already decided—all merit earned in the next great war would go to the Heavenly Ruin first, so Song Chi could redeem the most valuable treasures possible.

After Immortal Qin Heavy Industries, the third visitor surprisingly turned out to be an old acquaintance.

It was Cui Yulong, also a member of the Yaoguang Star Tower.

She represented the Changsun Family, specifically requesting five hundred thousand Azure Dragon Battleship slots, plus a fleet commander position.

The commander they picked was Changsun Yu, who had just completed his advancement.

Given her personal visit, Song Chi couldn’t (and wouldn’t) refuse. He immediately agreed.

Originally, he meant to offer those slots for free—old friends deserved better treatment.

Still, he couldn’t talk Cui Yulong out of her insistence, and the Changsun Family paid with a golden Upgraded Fire Source.

Aside from the Immortal Qin Dynasty, the other three Divine Dynasties sent plenty of representatives as well.

For instance, the Pei Clan of Hedong from the Divine Xia Empire brought two portions of eighth-tier Dominion Origin Blood and one ninth-tier Dominion Soul—a show of real sincerity. Since both families descended from the Longji Leviathan, the Song Family agreed immediately.

There was also the Qingqiu Trading Association, the Williams family of the Divine Federation, the Tantai family of the Chiyu Divine Dynasty, and so on.

These were all famed powerhouses, never stingy with their offers, so the Song Family accepted them all.

……

“Lord Song, our Fusang Dynasty was at fault in our earlier conflicts. I hope your clan won’t hold it against us. The Sato Clan and the Imperial Family together are offering three Yaqui Serpentfruit—they greatly enhance tier-seven Guiding Technique.”

“We don’t ask for much—just eight hundred thousand Azure Dragon slots and a fleet command post…”

Among the stars, at the Song Family’s base.

Several Star-Annihilator-class Ships hovered in space, quietly discussing affairs.

Yet although the Fusang Dynasty’s envoys spoke humbly, what they offered was frankly stingy.

Yaqui Serpentfruit did have good effects, but couldn’t compare to the generosity shown by other giants.

Song Wujian let out a cold laugh:

“Where’s Sato Kawa? If they’re really sorry, shouldn’t their leader be here in person?”

“King Dinghai, are you sure your Song Family can accept a personal apology from a Star River-class Captain? Some things are better left unsaid!”

“Heh. The Song Family has hosted no less than twenty top clans lately. Who does the Fusang Dynasty think it is? You aren’t more prestigious than the great giants of the Four Empires. If Sato Kawa isn’t coming himself, take your offer and leave!”

Song Wujian’s firm stance left the Fusang delegation with no option but to slink away.

That bout essentially declared open rivalry between the two families.

In the Song Family’s secure comms chat:

Song Shiyuan: “Spread the word. Shadow Division is to raise all Fusang-related assignments by one rank. With their vengeful ways, they’re not likely to forget this slight!”

Song Wujian: “They had their eyes on us since that last conflict anyway. But who’ll be forced into hiding down the line—only time will tell!”

Song Yan: “Let their Mechanical Battle Star finish construction, then we’ll see how much the Fusang Dynasty really matters.”

“By the way, someone from the Shang Clan of Shangdang is here now. Xiaochi, should we turn them down?”

The Shang Clan of Shangdang from the Immortal Qin Dynasty first clashed with Song Chi over the Demon Serpent Floating-Land. Their warship replications, including the Heavenly Ruin, had nabbed crucial treasures. Once the Song Family’s involvement came to light, relations soured further.

Hence the current question.

Hearing this, Song Chi paused for a moment before shaking his head:

“If they show sincerity, we can grant them regular Azure Dragon slots. But as for fleet command, those posts are almost gone anyway, with more groups still negotiating. Just say the slots are filled for now.”

Truth be told, their only real grudge stemmed from that “cherry-picking” incident—not deep hatred.

Being overly obvious in refusing could just provoke unnecessary trouble.

After all, it was still a secret that it was Song Chi who killed Shang Jie in the Blood War Secret Realm. The Shang Clan didn’t know, so there was no reason to openly antagonize them.

With that settled, the Song Family moved on to cooperate with other groups.

There was never any rule that joining the Azure Dragon Fleet prevented the use of other group-boosting modules.

The coming war would be even bloodier than anyone could imagine; boosting attributes from any source now only meant greater safety later. No one would turn down extra power.

So life went on like this, the days slipping away peacefully.

In the blink of an eye, another decade passed.

On this day, tens of millions of Torch Battleships stood ready beyond the Demon God Continent, having made every preparation for war.

At the very front, three Superdimensional Motherships hung silently in space, with dozens of Star River-class warships behind them, then thousands of Star-Annihilator-class Ships heading several fleets.

Upon each vessel, beams of energy shimmered—whether law-infused or group-buffing magic—binding the fleets together and pushing every battleship’s strength to its limits.

On the enemy’s side, behind the super Floating-Land Shield, there stood legions of Eight-Armed Serpent Demons. They needed no such methods; the origin will of a peak ninth-tier Floating-land alone was enough to overwhelm all.