Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Starry Sky Behemoth and the Apocalypse Mechanical Civilization
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Shattered Starry Sea, Tianqi Galaxy, Fallen Whale Starfield, an area dense with spatial cracks.
As a notorious restricted area within the expanse of the Heavenly Initiation mechanical civilization, this starfield had always been scarcely visited by anyone.
Thousands of years ago, the overlord of this starfield, the Starry Sky Behemoth known as the “Long Fin Void Whale,” fought a great battle with the “Genesis” Intelligent Brain-led mechanical legion of the Heavenly Initiation civilization.
That battle made the Star River change color, but no creature knew the outcome of this fight, only that afterwards, the Void Whale Starfield was renamed by the Heavenly Initiation civilization to the Fallen Whale Starfield, and the region began to be plagued by dense spatial cracks.
For countless years, any lifeform that dared to rashly enter this starfield was ultimately devoured by these cracks, utterly reduced to dust and debris beneath the void winds.
This day, a sudden intrusion by a mechanical fleet broke the silence of this star field.
The number of warships in the fleet was not large, with several dozen or so, big and small, orbiting tightly around a large flagship, carefully moving forward.
The flagship at the center of the fleet was cloaked in cyan-brown, with thick layers of cyan-brown armor covering the immense steel beast that measured a kilometer in length and more than two hundred meters in width. The flagship’s prow boasted an almost hundred-meter-wide railgun silently emanating its terrifying deterrence.
“Can we confirm that the target fled into this starfield?”
In the steel giant’s main control room, a silver-armored robot with an icy voice sat in front of the control console.
The energy fluctuations emanating from the silver-armored robot were not strong, just at First Rank, almost negligible compared to the Second Rank and Third Rank robots standing behind it; however, for some reason, its status seemed to be much higher than theirs.
“Based on the last radar detection results, the target’s signal disappeared within this starfield.”
“And…”
Before the voice dropped, an urgent alert preempted it.
“A fluctuation emitted by an unknown spatial gate detected, coordinates xxxxx.”
The red lights in the silver-armored robot’s eyes flickered uncertainly, and seconds later, an order came from its mouth.
“Go have a look.”
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Zhu Tian Ruins Market, with less than two hours left until the official end of the market’s trading, the hustle and bustle showed no sign of diminishing.
Not only was Song Chi making a profit from the price differences, but so were the Starry Sea Alien Races on the other side of the spatial gate.
After realizing that certain resources could easily sell for twice or even higher prices within the market, the high-rank aliens on the other side of the spatial gate began to send out large numbers of their Zero Rank subordinates to wildly sell these kinds of materials, each earning a full purse.
And the more they indulged in this tireless trade, the more they felt that 24 hours were simply too short; how could they afford to waste even a minute or a second?
Song Chi naturally was pleased to see this, as he could collect a 10% transaction tax with every batch of materials traded. Over more than twenty hours, together with the earnings from selling the gene optimization drugs, the total value of the resources he had accumulated in his hands had already exceeded three thousand strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin.
Compared to the 300 strands he had scraped together before the market opened, this was a tenfold increase in real terms.
…
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As the buzz of trade in the Ruins Market grew ever hotter, the appearance of a single figure was like a stone cast into the water, instantly quieting the usually noisy marketplace.
Hundreds of beings of various forms and races all turned their heads simultaneously to look at the figure that had just entered the Ruins Market.
Although the species variety within the market was vast, without exception, all were flesh-and-blood carbon-based lifeforms. However, the newcomer was entirely composed of metallic components—a mechanical lifeform.
“Mechanical Race!”
Some knowledgeable aliens identified the origins of this mechanical lifeform at first glance.
Caution immediately flashed in the eyes of the myriad aliens present.
The Mechanical Race was notorious throughout the Shattered Starry Sea. These mechanical beings were often tagged with descriptions like crazy and extreme, so many civilizations and species within the Starry Sea preferred to keep a respectful distance.
Red vision scanned across the Ruins Market’s entrance barrier as the Mechanical Race being, radiating the peak aura of a Zero Rank, stepped into the market. Its red-light flickering vision swept across all the aliens present, as if searching for something.
Seeing this, a slight disturbance arose among the aliens, but eventually they acquiesced, allowing the Mechanical Race to survey every corner of the marketplace.
Domineering as it may be, the being had not broken any of the market’s rules, and with the aim to maximize the last stretch of trading time for more resources, no lifeform wished to stir up trouble and waste their precious time.
Unnoticed by the aliens during this process was a minor episode in a corner of the market, where Song Chi, at some point, had transformed from a wandering consumer to one of the stallholders.
Aside from various Life Cores on his stall, prominently displayed at the center was exactly that First Rank Floating Land Origin Core Fusion Device.
Before long, the Mechanical Race being that hadn’t found its target, as expected, stopped in front of Song Chi’s stall.
Pointing at the Floating Land Origin Core Fusion Device on the stall, a cold, emotionless synthetic voice emanated from within it.
“How is this Purple Quality Strange Object traded?”
Hearing this, Song Chi, who had already prepared for this moment, immediately replied.
“A Purple Level Floating Land Origin Core Fusion Device in exchange for another type of relic. If you can provide a satisfactory and suitable relic, you can take this Fusion Device at any time,” he said.
No sooner had his words faded than the Mechanical Race being turned and rapidly headed towards the market’s main gate.
Song Chi’s mind was immediately peppered with question marks, wondering if his response had been too excessive. Could it be that the Heavenly Initiation Mechanical Civilization had achieved a new breakthrough in core energy technology and no longer valued relics of Purple Quality Floating Land Origin Core?
Just as he was pondering, the same Mechanical Race being that had left not long before reentered the market, this time flanked by more than twenty Mechanical Race beings, also of Zero Rank.
These twenty-plus subsequent arrivals closely guarded the initial Mechanical Race individual, displaying an exceedingly high level of vigilance.
Upon witnessing this scene, Song Chi’s mood immediately brightened, his expression unchanged, but inside he was overjoyed.
The more imposing the contingent, the more valuable the relic they would offer for the Floating Land Origin Core Fusion Device, hence their heightened wariness, which increased his anticipation.
Regarding the idea of using Zhu Tian Ruins Market’s Power of Laws to actively seize the item, to be honest, Song Chi had indeed entertained this thought. He was well aware that if he truly exploited the secret realm’s laws, failure was improbable. Nevertheless, he eventually suppressed the urge.
Once such a precedent was set, the market’s reputation would inevitably crumble, merely a matter of time.