Chapter Twelve: The Alien Race of the Star Sea * Tier One Phantom Energy Shield

He who controls the Celestial Expanse Market only needs to develop steadily; taking risks is simply not part of his considerations.

Yet, upon reflection, although the scale of this energy fluctuation far exceeds the zero tier, it still falls short of second-tier levels. Moreover, this deployment is a benefit-oriented exploration, so the nearby area should not pose a significant threat to the Sky Sovereign.

Lost in thought, he glanced again at the seven Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Statues standing upright beside him. Confirming that he had a reliable chance of escaping unscathed, Song Chi made his decision.

He reversed the flying shuttle’s course and headed toward the area where the anomaly had just occurred.

...

An hour later, behind a large fragment, the Sky Sovereign had already shut down its engines and quietly docked on the debris.

This fragment measured over twenty meters in both length and width, perfectly concealing the shuttle’s body.

On the other side of the fragment lay a vacuum zone enclosed within the debris belt. Unlike the star-sea void band, this vacuum was tiny, only about ten thousand meters across. At the very center of the vacuum was a smooth fragment nearly a thousand meters in diameter.

Song Chi speculated that the previous abnormality detected by the patrol radar most likely originated from that fragment. A massive energy burst had erupted from its surface, pushing all other fragments several thousand meters away.

However, the exact truth no longer mattered. What was crucial was that Song Chi could confidently assert that there was something extraordinary on that large floating landmass ahead. Within the mere ten minutes he had observed, no fewer than three waves of strange-winged alien creatures had surged onto the fragment.

Even more telling, these aliens, once on the fragment, had begun to fight each other with no apparent coordination. From this, Song Chi inferred that whatever or whoever occupied that large fragment—or the resources it held—must be extraordinarily valuable, enough to drive these clearly similar alien beings to turn on one another.

As for Song Chi himself, naturally he was curious, but he refrained from rash action.

At this moment, the large fragment exceeding a thousand meters in diameter was inhabited by hundreds of winged aliens, including a dozen or so first-tier individuals.

He waited for the analysis results from the semi-automatic onboard intelligent brain of the Sky Sovereign. Every captain exploring alien star realms downloaded a copy of the publicly available foundational data on star-sea civilizations compiled by the Ember Human Civilization.

However, the volume of information was immense. Even with the onboard AI’s processing speed, it would take some time to verify the data.

Of course, this was likely because the AI installed on all Ember flying vessels was only a lowest-grade semi-automatic model. But this was unavoidable; the Ember Civilization had strict regulations that all onboard AI must remain semi-automatic.

This limitation was understandable. Many star-sea civilizations had been overtaken by their own AI, transforming into mechanical civilizations. Vigilance was necessary.

...

Several minutes later, the onboard AI finally produced comparison results.

Species Name: Whitewing Clan

Description: An exceedingly common void-dwelling species in the shattered star-sea. They do not rely on floating lands and can move freely through the star-sea void.

Species Advantages: Agile, astonishingly fast.

Species Weakness: Extremely weak attack power. Below their tier, it is difficult to penetrate the energy shields of Ember flying vessels.

“Whitewing Clan...” Song Chi murmured, staring at the virtual projection cast by the AI. After careful comparison, he confirmed these were indeed the void creatures known as the Whitewing Clan. Thoughts stirred in his mind.

If the official data from Ember Civilization was accurate, a bold idea took shape within him.

Currently, the Ember ancestral core contained 110 strands of zero-tier floating land essence and nearly two hundred zero-tier life nuclei. Upgrading the spectral energy shield from level 7 to 8 required 15 strands of floating land essence and 12 life nuclei; from level 8 to 9 required 17 strands and 13 nuclei; from level 9 to 10 required 50 strands and 40 nuclei.

In total, elevating the spectral energy shield to first tier demanded 82 strands of floating land essence and 65 life nuclei. The emergency resources on hand were more than sufficient. As for spectral energy points, those could be replenished within minutes and were of minor concern.

Once the spectral energy shield was boosted to first tier, even a coordinated assault by hundreds of Whitewing Clan members could not breach it in the short term. This was because the first-tier spectral shield component would raise the shield value sharply to one thousand points.

Combined with the full protection of the first-tier Fire Chrysanthemum Soldier Statues, the situation was promising.

After a moment’s hesitation, Song Chi resolved not to delay. After all, the remaining resources were meant for emergencies. If not now, then when?

With multiple clicks, the spectral energy shield component was rapidly enhanced from level 7 to level 10, at the cost of depleting the Sky Sovereign’s resource reserves significantly. Only 28 strands of zero-tier floating land essence and just over a hundred life nuclei remained. Fortunately, the attributes of the level 10 spectral shield were satisfactory.

Spectral Energy Shield Level 10

Quality: Colorless

Consumption: 20 spectral points per second

Defense: 99

Shield Value: 990/990

Charge Time: 20 seconds; Overload Buffer: 40 minutes

Upgrade Requirements: 100 strands of zero-tier floating land essence, 1600 spectral points, 50 zero-tier life nuclei

As a colorless quality standard component, after reaching first tier, further upgrades to the spectral energy shield required only zero-tier floating land essence and life nuclei—much easier than upgrading white or higher-grade exotic components. However, with the Sky Sovereign’s resources nearly exhausted, further enhancement was impossible.

Having finished strengthening the spectral shield, Song Chi still made no move. He remained cautious, shutting down the shield after enhancement. Once the spectral energy pool was replenished, he began piloting the Sky Sovereign back along the original route.

He was not foolish enough to strike immediately. Judging by the current situation, the internecine battles among the Whitewing Clan would not conclude anytime soon.

Therefore, it was best to return first and retrieve the Angry Tiger mining vehicle. He would also collect several previously recorded resource-rich sites. Then, when the 24-hour exploration period neared its end, he could return to seize an opportunity to act. Even if the situation became untenable, retreat would be easier.

Of course, if upon his return the battles had long since ended and the fragment’s treasures were gone, it would simply mean that the mysterious object was not destined for him, and Song Chi would not force the matter.

...

More than ten hours later, Song Chi returned to the location of the small vacuum zone. Only half an hour remained before the 24-hour limit for this alien star realm deployment expired.

Looking ahead at the large fragment, over two hundred Whitewing Clan members still remained, and likely several new groups had arrived since his departure.

The only thing that vexed Song Chi was that after more than ten hours, the number of first-tier Whitewing Clan individuals had not decreased but instead had grown by several. Now, nearly twenty first-tier Whitewings occupied the fragment.

...