Chapter Fourteen: The Spoils

Above the source core of the floating land, radiating terrifying thermal energy, the shuttle cabin of the Skyward soared opened slowly. Alongside this, a tractor beam also shot out from the shuttle, its target directly aimed at the fusion body of the source core.

The moment the tractor beam took effect on the fusion body of the source core, Song Chi felt a distinct sense of repulsion—a primal instinct of the core resisting this unfamiliar constraint.

This very repulsion caused the Skyward’s tractor progress to be exceptionally slow.

Seeing this, Song Chi, whose gaze was fixed tightly on the ethereal energy shield component, grew increasingly grim. Just a moment ago, the shield’s energy had already dropped below 200, leaving just over 100 points remaining, and it was rapidly decreasing at nearly 10 points per second.

Yet Song Chi had no solution. Essentially, the Skyward was merely a standard zero-grade ethereal energy shuttle. Attempting to tractor a mass equivalent to a peak first-grade object was a case of a small horse pulling a heavy cart. Neither the ethereal energy shield nor the Fire Blossom soldier avatars were directly connected to the tractor beam.

If it weren’t for the certainty that this was merely a partially formed floating land source core, not yet possessing full instincts, and combined with the characteristics of the Emberfire vessel—which could convert any star-sea marvel absorbed into the ship into completely harmless Emberfire components—Song Chi would never have risked such a venture.

After about another ten seconds, under the persistent effort of the tractor beam, the fusion body of the floating land source core was now close to the Skyward’s cabin door, success clearly within reach.

“Swish, swish, swish!”

Suddenly, several sharp sounds of rushing air came from behind as more than a dozen heavy-footed first-grade Whitewing clan warriors resumed their pursuit.

This time, they were smarter, knowing their attacks would hardly damage the Skyward in the short term. They shifted their focus, aiming to interrupt the tractor beam.

Song Chi’s eyes turned cold. Having finally glimpsed the hope of capturing the fusion body of the floating land source core, he would not allow this to happen.

“Stop those attacks!”

At Song Chi’s command, ten fiery-red figures simultaneously swept out from the Skyward’s cabin. Each held a tungsten shield in the left hand and a tungsten spear in the right, charging directly at the incoming attacks, executing Song Chi’s orders to the utmost.

Clang, clang, clang…

A continuous clatter of metal echoed as the ten Fire Blossom soldier avatars allowed no attack to breach their defense.

“Phew!”

Song Chi exhaled deeply, his heart settling from the brink of tension. Then he issued the order again: “Free attack.”

Immediately, the Fire Blossom soldier avatars stepped forward in unison, their bodies radiating threads of fiery red light, creating a visually captivating scene.

However, Song Chi knew this was mere surface show. Thanks to their puppet-like bodies, the pressure and intense heat emitted by the fusion body of the floating land source core had little effect on them in the short term. Yet, once they faced the nearly twice-as-strong Whitewing clan head-on, the Fire Blossom soldier avatars would quickly fall into disadvantage.

After all, these ten Fire Blossom avatars were only level 10, possessing mere novice first-grade strength. Their tungsten shields and spears, while sturdy, had only average offensive power.

But that did not matter. As long as they could hold out for over five seconds, it was enough. Song Chi had never expected to defeat or kill these Whitewing warriors.

Time passed. What used to be just a fleeting second now felt unbearably long to Song Chi.

56/990

47/990

37/990

Just as the ethereal energy shield’s value neared zero, the fusion body of the floating land source core was finally fully tractor-beamed into the Skyward’s cabin.

[Close shuttle cabin door]

[Reverse shuttle body]

[Overload ethereal energy engine]

Without time to check the attributes of the fusion body now converted into a ship component, Song Chi’s mind raced at full speed upon learning of the successful tractor.

With intense concentration, he surprisingly pushed beyond his limits, achieving a state of triple focus.

“Hum…”

Accompanied by the engine’s roar, the Skyward became a blur, surging straight toward the rift’s upper airspace.

Forget examining the attributes of the now-component fusion body of the floating land source core. At this moment, Song Chi couldn’t even spare attention for the Fire Blossom soldier avatars. His only thought was to escape this rift space as quickly as possible.

Without the intense energy fluctuations from the fusion body, the hundreds of Whitewing clan warriors lost their constraints. The ethereal energy shield was on the verge of collapse, making this the Skyward’s most vulnerable moment.

Not to mention first-grade Whitewing warriors—even a few strikes from zero-grade Whitewing warriors could cause catastrophic damage to the ship and crew.

Fortunately, the ten Fire Blossom soldier avatars had held off most of the first-grade Whitewing warriors. Without their help, Song Chi might have already considered retreating into the Celestial Market.

Of course, he would never take that step unless absolutely necessary.

Hiding in the market might guarantee safety, but who knew whether the Emberfire vessel’s return function could even be triggered there?

If not, it would mean he could only remain stranded in this unknown star region forever.

According to multiple tests over the past dozens of hours, entry and exit of the Celestial Market were always based on Song Chi’s own coordinates.

In simpler terms, wherever he entered the Celestial Market, he could only exit from the same point.

Because of this, if he missed the Emberfire vessel’s automatic return, he would be trapped shuttling between this star region and the Celestial Market—virtually impossible to ever return to the domain of Emberfire human civilization.

At the thought of this possibility, Song Chi was absolutely unwilling.

Even though the Celestial Market existed, allowing for a monthly trade to secure resources for his future enhancement and advancement, the problem was that without the backing of a powerful civilization, no matter how strong his personal combat ability, in this vicious, survival-of-the-fittest shattered star-sea, it was still extremely dangerous.

One could never imagine the terrifying foundations hidden behind a mid-to-high level civilization with a heritage of over a hundred thousand years.

The Skyward sped forward. Though Song Chi pushed the speed to its limits, many attacks from Whitewing warriors still struck the shuttle’s body.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Meanwhile, the Skyward’s main and secondary cannons kept firing continuously at the pursuing Whitewing warriors or bombarding the surrounding rock walls, scattering countless flying debris to obstruct the enemy’s advance.

But the Whitewing numbers were too great, and these efforts were but a drop in the ocean. Soon, the ethereal energy shield, already on the brink, completely shattered, and attacks began to fall directly upon the Skyward’s hull.

The only consolation for Song Chi was that during yesterday’s reinforcement, besides the ethereal energy shield component, he had also upgraded the hull armor to level 7.

Although this level of armor was far less protective than a first-grade ethereal energy shield, as long as the attackers weren’t first-grade Whitewing warriors, it could hold out for some time.