Global Era of Star trekking Chapter 1739 - 848: Grabbing Chestnuts from the Fire and the Eye of Causality (Part 2)

Furthermore, the conflict involving the mirror image warship was far from concluding.

Deep within the recesses of the temporal rift, three mythical entities materialized in the void. Their gazes, which seemed to contain the fundamental cosmic laws of creation and ruin, remained fixed upon the now-submerged mirror image warship.

In the following instant, the mirror image warship—which had previously gone dark—suddenly regained its former radiance. Under the "Twelve Lives Life and Death Chess" ability of the replicated [Time Chessboard], the vessel was miraculously restored to its absolute peak condition.

Disregarding the astonishment of the three mythical beings, Song Chi re-established his connection and immediately commanded the mirror image warship to trigger its teleportation systems.

At the same time, a divine soul phantom of the Di Man Race manifested above the vessel. It completely shielded the mirror image warship, providing enough protection to endure the combined strikes of the three mythical entities for a fleeting moment.

Song Chi’s objective was to use this narrow window of time to facilitate a long-distance escape for the mirror image warship.

Buzz, buzz, buzz!

The components of the replicated [Void Cloud Boat Model] were engaged. Amidst intense ripples of spatial energy, the mirror image warship vanished in an instant.

More than ten light-years away, the mirror image warship exited the flash escape tunnel. Inside the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, Song Chi felt a wave of relief wash over him.

‘It appears that when the mirror image warship sank earlier, those three mythical beings lowered their guard and deactivated their spatial blockades prematurely...’

While these thoughts crossed his mind, he activated the [Starlight Flash Spirit Stone Talisman] component.

This was followed by the "Angel Wing Escape" from the replicated [Angel Sovereign Wings].

Only after performing several consecutive flash escapes and a "Red Vault Jump"—covering hundreds of thousands of light-years—did Song Chi finally feel secure.

"Switch to the next objective and proceed with the exploration of this Origin Star..."

Before he could finish issuing the command to the replicated [Dome Sky Wisdom Brain], Song Chi’s spiritual link was violently interrupted.

As a Torch Ship Captain with mastery over time, space, and light, he detected a sudden flicker of spatial energy above the mirror image warship.

When he slowly looked up, his pupils contracted in shock.

Hovering above the Heavenly Ruins Cang Qiong mirror image warship were those three familiar, terrifying figures. They followed like inescapable shadows, relentlessly tracking the warship's flight path.

Or rather, they had allowed the escape to happen intentionally.

The previous maneuvers of the mirror image warship had remained within their sight the entire time. Their true goal was to trace the location of Song Chi’s primary body.

They had confirmed that the mirror image warship was merely an incarnation. On the surface of the Origin Star, governed by the oppressive spatial laws of the Chaos Divine Land, no being—save for mythical entities—could control an incarnation across billions of light-years.

Because of this, the three mythical beings surmised that Song Chi’s true form was likely situated in a region close to the Origin Star's surface.

However, seeing that the mirror image warship was preparing a new exploration route instead of returning to its master, the three mythical beings decided to reveal themselves once more.

"As expected... there is no running away!"

Song Chi’s expression turned grim.

Against the [Heavenly Destruction Divine Machine], the [Mother of Time Erosion], and the faceless figure in gray robes, he stood no chance, even if he exhausted every mythical trump card in his possession.

There was no time for hesitation.

"Boom!"

The [Heavenly Destruction Divine Machine] struck first.

The quantum core reactor of this Mechanical Race mythical being suddenly overclocked. A [Causal Missile], marked with a crimson countdown, tore through the void. It crossed several light-years in a heartbeat and slammed into the mirror image warship.

The vessel’s replicated [Mythical Pulse Energy Shield] and [Barbarian God Guardian] held for a mere two seconds before the causal weapon pierced through them.

"Crack——"

The armor on the ship's starboard side disintegrated under the corrosive force of destruction.

Before the mirror image warship could recover, the nine heads of the [Mother of Time Erosion] shrieked in unison from above.

"Time Anchoring."

Invisible waves of time radiated outward, instantly paralyzing the space surrounding the mirror image warship. Its teleportation engines, designed to cross millions of kilometers in a flash, were now caught in a temporal quagmire, making the flow of energy incredibly sluggish.

Most terrifying of all was the gray-robed figure.

His faceless head turned slowly toward the warship as his right hand made a grasping motion in the air—

"Return."

With those two simple words, the flow of time across the entire star domain was reversed. Inside the mirror image warship, the "Time·Chessboard" function of the [Time Chessboard] began to collapse. The seven-colored illusion of the chessboard hovering above the ship faded away once more.

Within the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, Song Chi still attempted to force the mirror image warship to fight back.

At that moment, the power of cause and effect flooding the mirror image warship intensified. Above it, the mythical energy of the Heavenly Destruction Divine Machine reached a violent peak.

"Seeking Cause and Effect!"

The sky was eclipsed by terrifying mythical power. In the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, Song Chi’s heart hammered against his ribs.

Deep within the dark side of the Void Sea, a colossal eye formed entirely of causal power manifested.

This massive Eye of Cause and Effect slowly blinked open within the Void Sea’s dark reaches, its pupils reflecting a labyrinth of intertwined causal threads.

Each strand linked the mirror image warship to a different destination, but the thickest thread pierced through the endless void storms, stretching directly toward the [Zhu Tian Ruins Market].

"Huff, huff, huff!"

Song Chi’s pupils narrowed, and his breathing grew heavy and labored.

Although he felt instinctively that the [Zhu Tian Ruins Market]—now restored to the Ninth Rank—could not be easily located by a Tenth Rank mythical unit through the dark side of the Void Sea, he refused to take that risk.

What if he was wrong?

If the coordinates of the [Zhu Tian Ruins Market] were exposed, the fallout would be catastrophic. Even if the three mythical beings couldn't invade the market personally, they would report the location to the superpowers they represented.

Even if he moved the Zhu Tian Ruins Market immediately, absolute safety would no longer be guaranteed.

Without a second of hesitation, Song Chi gave a final command.

"Disengage the Mirror!"

With a single thought, the mirror image warship on the Origin Star's surface shattered. The entire vessel dissolved into a cloud of light particles, scattering into the atmosphere of the Origin Star.

The pupil of the Eye of Cause and Effect suddenly contracted.

The causal thread that had been chasing the [Zhu Tian Ruins Market] snapped!

"Boom!"

A massive storm erupted in the dark side of the Void Sea. The Eye of Cause and Effect lashed out in rage after losing its prey. The resulting rule backlash caused the surrounding Void Sea to collapse, but Song Chi was no longer concerned with those events.

By proactively destroying the mirror image warship, he had severed the causal link and deprived the three mythical beings of any way to track him.

---

In the skies of the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, within the control room of the Heavenly Ruins Cang Qiong.

Song Chi exhaled a long, heavy breath.

The final images from the mirror image warship played in his mind: the three mythical beings standing in the void, the gray-robed figure appearing momentarily "stunned," the [Mother of Time Erosion] screaming through all nine heads, and the [Heavenly Destruction Divine Machine]’s quantum core sparking from the backlash of the causal laws.

If the "Seeking Cause and Effect" ability was easy to use, they wouldn't have waited so long to activate it.

...

While the three mythical beings were left in a state of fury, Song Chi looked down at his hand.

A bronze fragment floated there quietly. It wasn't something he had seized by force, but rather the [Broken Door of the Temple of Time] itself.

Though it was only a piece of the door, it was a vital clue for any future search for the Time Divine Hall.

"It was worth the effort."

A faint smile touched Song Chi’s lips.

Stealing a prize from under the noses of three mythical beings had been incredibly dangerous, but the rewards were immense.

Aside from the [Broken Door of the Temple of Time], there was something else—

He turned his gaze toward the other side of the control panel.

The drop of "Time Source Liquid" that had been extracted from the polyhedron crystal was glowing with a mesmerizing silver-white light.

He had completed the analysis of this liquid. This single drop was the equivalent of 1.2 tons of time source crystals. In terms of reducing the cooldown or growth time of a Starry Sea Oddity, it represented 1.2 million years.

This item could be applied to the family’s [Heaven-Swallowing Python Shedding], or it could serve as a desperate trump card for the Heavenly Ruins Cang Qiong. The prospect of using the "Zen Seal: Inner Speed" feature ten times in a row would provide a massive, temporary boost to the ship's combat effectiveness.