The first layer of the relic space was still engulfed in dense toxic fog, and at the same time, there were as many as tens of thousands of ironclad beetles scattered throughout the space. Song Chi and his companion had no interest in continuing the cleanup and directly left this relic space.
These ironclad beetles, unlike the Queen Insect that was originally a high-rank insect race, were genuine Zero Rank insect race. Even if they killed all of these tens of thousands of ironclad beetles, they would only obtain a strand of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin. The effort was not at all proportional to the reward.
If their flagship had a large-scale, lethal main cannon that could clear out these tens of thousands of ironclad beetles within a few shots, they might not mind delaying a little while, but the problem was they didn’t have one.
…
The familiar scene of rolling yellow sands unfolded, with terrifying tornado storms raging unabated in the distance. Two Spectral Airships shuttled above this completely desertified Floating Land.
Once they reached an appropriate location, the two Spectral Airships had no more concerns, their engines fully fired up, roaring as they soared into the sky, and quickly they left the interior of the Floating Land, reaching the outer star space.
Compared to the dangers that might be encountered within the Floating Land, the outer star space was still as dark and silent as the majority of the Shattered Starry Sea Star Domains.
The two airships, one leading and the other following, quickly broke free from the gravitational field of the Yellow Sand Floating Continent.
What the leading Qingfeng didn’t detect was that Song Chi found the right moment, during the Cangqiong’s mid-flight, to place an indistinct and traceless special spatial beacon.
It was the same Spatial Anchor Point that had been removed from his bedroom.
With this Spatial Anchor Point, for every future exploration in the Alien Star Domain, he could choose to come back to this Star Domain and continue exploring the undiscovered Buluo Civilization Ruins.
Of course, he wouldn’t act rashly until everything was completely ready. The second layer of the ruins housed a once Third Rank Queen Insect in slumber, so who knew what even more terrifying thing lay on the third layer.
“Little Chi, about this relic exploration, unless necessary, let’s not reveal it to others, after all, it involves Purple Relics and Intermediate Energy Crystals, which can easily provoke greed from others.”
Song Chi glanced at Shen Qing’s projection on the communication screen and nodded calmly, agreeing to the request.
He understood Shen Qing’s thoughts. Besides the point mentioned above, the desire for secrecy was probably also to prevent Shen Wenjie from hearing about it.
The nephew had explored the ruins in secret from his uncle, and if Shen Wenjie learned of it, even if he were magnanimous, he might unavoidably have some thoughts.
During their casual conversation, the time to return arrived quickly. After the familiar weightlessness and dizziness, Cangqiong and Qingfeng vanished from the star space above the Yellow Sand Floating Continent, and when they reappeared, they were in the realm of Torch Human Civilization, unknown light-years away.
Above the White Tower Floating Land, a fleet from the Huanbai Tower planetary belt was rushing back at full speed.
Since the battle incident involving the Torch Warship fleet in the mining area more than a month ago, the Tianyu Mining Company had greatly tightened its management of the mining area, conducting all kinds of detection in each region of the mining area, nearly turning everything upside down, for fear of missing something.
This fleet was the first to be allowed to return in half a month, and the miners who couldn’t wait to go home to see their wives and children were naturally unwilling to delay any further.
Suddenly, a strong space fluctuation swept across the space tens of thousands of meters ahead.
Seeing this, the Interstellar Mining Ships all stopped moving forward, and an old miner cried out in the local communication channel.
“Spatial fluctuation, that’s a Torch Warship or something above a Spectral Airship returning, everyone be assured, it’s not an alien species…”
Hearing the explanation, the commotion among the fleet quickly quieted down. Although these miners were ordinary citizens, they were very familiar with the term “Torch Warship.”
They had often heard of battles like “The War of Chenxing’s Founding,” “The Defense of the Golden Lion,” “The Second Great Chenxing Expansion,” all closely related to the Torch Warships.
The big figures who controlled the Torch Warships were the protectors of the entire Torch Human Civilization, standing as flesh and blood shields on the frontline of the civilization’s battlefield, safeguarding the stability and peace of the entire Torch Human Civilization.
All this was passed down from the older generations, and the trust in the Torch Warships and the Torch Ship Captains was etched into the bones of all ordinary citizens of Torch Human Civilization.
Under the excited and awe-stricken gazes of a group of miners, two Spectral Airships, wrapped in ferocious warship armor and over twenty meters in length, slowly came into view.
Feeling the faint hint of bloodshed emanating from the bodies of Cang Qiong and Qingfeng, as well as the solemn killing aura in the air, were traces left by the slaughter of tens of thousands of insect race members. The miners held their breath and focused intently. Even though they were tens of thousands of meters apart, the nearly imperceptible pressure made it difficult for them to breathe.
Fortunately, Cang Qiong and Qingfeng did not linger for long. They turned and swept downwards, quickly disappearing from the civilian radars of the numerous interstellar mining ships.
In one of the interstellar mining ships at the back of the fleet, a young boy of only fifteen or sixteen, with traces of youthful naivety still on his face, asked the man sitting in the driver’s seat beside him.
“Brother, is that the ultimate force of our Torch Human Civilization, the Torch Warship? Such a strong magnetic field and intense aura of killing.”
“How majestic!!”
Seeing the bright sparkle in the young boy’s eyes, the man let go of the deep envy in his own gaze and turned to the boy:
“Yes, that’s the ultimate force of our Torch Human Civilization, the legendary Torch Warship that can suppress a Floating Land with a single ship, ruling the Starry Sea alone. I couldn’t awaken the Seed of Torch back in my day because my Guidance Technique level was too low. That has been the regret of my life.”
“So, brother, you must work hard, strive to cultivate your Guidance Technique, and become the first Torch Ship Captain in our family. Enhance our family’s legacy and in the future, spread the flame of our Torch Human Civilization to the vastness of space, raising the might of our Torch Human Civilization.”
Gazing in the direction where Cang Qiong and Qingfeng had departed, the youthful boy’s eyes reflected firm determination, and his answer was equally resolute.
“Yes!!”
…
Over Jiangyuan City, after parting with Shen Qing, Song Chi headed straight to the Dongjiang Community where his family lived, wanting to get the Intermediate Energy Crystal in his hand to his mother as soon as possible.
Although using an Intermediate Energy Crystal for the promotion of a First Rank Torch Warship to Second Rank might seem like overkill, Song Chi couldn’t care less. Ensuring his mother’s successful promotion was what mattered most. As for the waste, with the treasure trove of the Zhu Tian Ruins Market in hand, would he spare such trifling matters?
Counting the time, it had been over ten months since his mother began the promotion mission. With less than two months left until the official promotion of the warship, the success rate of the Dragonfly’s promotion had to be ensured to be above 50%.
No, 50% was not safe enough; it would be best to aim for above 70%.
As he pondered, the Cang Qiong arrived at Dongjiang Community. Song Chi leaped down from the airship and recalled the Cang Qiong into the Ancestral Torch.
However, when he got home, he found no one there. Both his father and mother were absent, which puzzled him.
He distinctly remembered that the buffer period for his parents’ shifts was not yet over.
“Could they have just gone out?”
Before he had much time to wonder, he soon found a note on the dining table not far away.
“Son, your grandmother’s big birthday is coming up, and your father and I have gone to Baita City. Come over as soon as you can!!”
Song Chi suddenly understood, but then his eyebrows raised in curiosity.
“Isn’t it still a few days away? Such a grand preparation implies that this time the celebration is going to be extravagant.”
Having understood the situation, Song Chi had no intention of staying alone at home for long. He quickly set off for Baita City.
As the capital city of White Tower Floating Land, Baita City is situated right in the middle of four other cities—Jiangyuan, Jiangyuan, and two others, encircling Baita City like stars around the moon.
In addition to this, Baita City also boasts the largest population amongst the five cities and is the only city on the entire White Tower Floating Land to have a Fourth Rank Torch Ship Captain.