Chapter 75: Chapter 72: Departure·Civilization Ruins (Seeking first subscription)_2
Among those who have successfully advanced after 5 to 9 explorations of the Alien Star Domain, the proportion is 15%.
Those who have successfully advanced after 10 to 20 explorations of the Alien Star Domain account for 70%.
And those who only advanced after 21 explorations of the Alien Star Domain make up 10%.
However, those who had successfully advanced in the first 4 explorations only account for about 5%.
That is to say, if Song Chi were not lying, it means his advancement speed at Zero Rank surpassed 95% of his peers among the Torch Human Civilization’s Torch Ship Captains.
Observing the serious expression on their son’s face, Song Chao and Chen Lixia exchanged glances. Even though they were very much aware of their son’s character, this was no small matter, so the couple still brought Song Chi to their community’s exclusive Torch Warship dock. It was not until they saw with their own eyes Song Chi summoning the nearly twenty-meter-long Cang Qiong that they were completely reassured.
After returning home, although Song Chao and Chen Lixia did not say much, the fleeting smiles that they could not hide in the depths of their eyes said it all, as Song Chi had brought them far too many surprises recently.
First, it was pearls that had been cultivated for hundreds of years, then the mermaid’s tears that were handed over to Chen Lixia, and now it was a direct promotion to a Spectral Airship after just three explorations; all of this was not something a typical Torch Ship Captain could achieve, and it amply demonstrated their son’s abilities.
Of course, they also did not ask too many questions.
In the afternoon, after lunch, Song Chi received a communication from Shen Qing.
“Dad, Mom, I had made plans with Shen Qing to explore together; I’m heading out now,” he said.
Before he left, Song Chao and Chen Lixia reminded him, emphasizing that the more people who explore the Alien Star Domain together, the higher the risk, and told him to be extra cautious.
Of course, Song Chi was well aware of this, but this time was different. Shen Qing had an Alien Star Domain guide marker, meaning that their deployment was targeted rather than random, so the risk would not change, and furthermore, Shen Qing had already explored the Buluo Civilization Ruins once before, so the danger should not be too great.
In the starry sky directly above Jiangyuan City, Song Chi and Shen Qing successfully met up.
When Shen Qing saw Song Chi’s Cang Qiong, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes, followed by an air of inevitability.
Even though Song Chi had only awakened three months ago, he did, after all, have Song Chao, a Second Rank Torch Ship Captain, as his father, so a bias in resources was inevitable. Moreover, Shen Qing was somewhat prepared for this; otherwise, he would not have taken the initiative to invite Song Chi, who had just awakened more than two months ago, given that the combat power of a newly awakened Spectral Shuttle is very limited.
In the communication projection screen, Song Chi caught the changes in Shen Qing’s expression and could roughly guess what he was thinking. However, he did not offer an explanation. On the contrary, he hoped everyone would think this way, attributing everything to his father. This was not only logical but also meant he did not have to worry about the exposure of the Zhu Tian Ruins Market; it was the best of both worlds.
After meeting up, the two set off toward the desolate starry space. The Spectral Airship’s autonomous deployment was quite noisy, so they usually headed to a deserted area to initiate the deployment.
However, before starting the deployment, there was a very important operation. Shen Qing’s “Qingfeng” rapidly emitted a streak of blue brilliance. This light strip was not a straight beam of light but a rope-like strip that could twist and knot itself.
This light strip stretched out from Qingfeng and swiftly headed toward Song Chi’s Cang Qiong. After extending and winding for more than ten seconds, it successfully connected the Qingfeng and Cang Qiong, two Spectral Airships together.
This type of light strip is emitted by a special warship-mounted component called the “Warship Interlock Device,” which can connect two or even multiple Torch Warships, allowing multiple ships initiating deployment to arrive in the same area.
However, the price, as Song Chao and Chen Lixia had mentioned, is that the danger of exploring the Alien Star Domain in this joint manner is very high, although with Shen Qing’s Star Domain guide marker, this would not be an issue this time.
Aboard the Cang Qiong, Song Chi asked Shen Qing on the projection screen:
“Big Qing, how long is the cooldown time for your Star Domain guide marker component? If we still can’t finish exploring this time, can we place a second marker?”
Shen Qing quickly shook his head.
“My component is only of blue quality. It needs a buffer of three years after each activation, and this is after enhancing it to Lv19. When I first got it, the buffer time was even longer, a full five years,” he said.
Hearing the buffering time of a full three years, Song Chi couldn’t help but be astonished. Components like this one, capable of actively marking a certain star domain with an interstellar beacon for subsequent exploration, were extremely rare. He hadn’t found any relevant information on the Torch network, which sparked his curiosity.
And indeed, he found that while such components were handy, their cooldown times were unimaginably long. They could only be used once every three years, and, despite the beacon being able to last six months once set, it could only be activated once—whenever it was, the beacon would disperse after use.
That is to say, each beacon not only demanded a buffer time of three years but also allowed for the exploration of a star domain at most twice, which was essentially the difference between 24 and 48 hours. The restrictions were particularly severe.
Thinking of this, Song Chi’s gaze flickered uncertainly as he thought of the feature of the spatial anchor point in the Zhu Tian Ruins Market.
He had previously contemplated this issue, as spatial anchor points seemed to serve similarly as interstellar beacons, albeit potentially enhanced versions.
If he were to remove his spatial anchor point from his bedroom and reset it to the Alien Star Domain he ended up in after a deployment, then even if he returned later, he could use the Zhu Tian Ruins Market as a midpoint and revisit that star domain via the spatial anchor point.
With this thought, Song Chi could barely contain his excitement, for he had a feeling that his idea was feasible. Of course, it wasn’t truly possible to travel back and forth at whim.
After all, he could currently set only one anchor point—and if he activated the anchor point without any preparation, he would only be able to travel between the star domain of the anchor and the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, having lost the anchor point within the Torch Human Civilization’s stronghold.
As for the initial anchor point that came inherent with his body, it would automatically move to the Alien Star Domain at the instant he activated the anchor set there and entered that domain himself.
Unless he activated the anchor point and stayed within the ruins market without leaving, his presence wouldn’t reach the other side, and he wouldn’t be able to further explore or collect resources from that star domain, rendering the anchor point itself meaningless.
In response to this problem, Song Chi had also considered a solution: utilize the auto-return feature of the Spectral Airship. After setting the anchor point, he would resist the urge to activate it immediately. Instead, he would enter the ruins market from the deployed star domain and then use it as a waypoint to activate the anchor point and head to the star domain where the anchor was.
In this way, once the twenty-four hours were up, the Spectral Airship would naturally be able to return automatically to the star domain of the anchor, forming a perfect loop.
However, the chance of success for this method was just very high—it wasn’t guaranteed, and further personal experimentation was needed to see if it truly worked.
Lost in thought, a faint sensation of weightlessness hit him, growing stronger as time passed.
Feeling the familiar prelude to an alien domain deployment, Song Chi quickly refocused, concentrating entirely and putting aside all distractions.
As the sense of weightlessness peaked, he was immediately followed by a spell of dizziness.
When he had recovered, Song Chi found that both the Cang Qiong and Qingfeng had emerged above a yellow-brown expanse of the Starry Sea Floating Land.
Wuu wuu wuu!
Outside the airship, yellow sand swirled, and a terrible sandstorm ravaged every region of the Floating Land at all times, with the mournful howling providing ample proof.
“Little Chi, quickly activate the energy shield. This Floating Land has long been eroded by yellow sand. The sandstorms here can easily damage the hull,” Shen Qing’s voice rapidly came through the airship’s short-range communication.