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

Furthermore, the situation regarding the mirror image warship was far from resolved.

Deep within the spatial rift, three mythical figures manifested in the void’s depths. Their gazes, which seemed to contain the very laws of cosmic creation and ruin, remained fixed upon the now-submerged mirror image vessel.

An instant later, the "Twelve Lives Life and Death Chess" ability of the copied [Time Chessboard] took effect. The previously darkened mirror image warship flickered back to life with an astonishing glow, its hull completely restored to its prime condition.

Disregarding the shock visible in the eyes of the three mythical entities, Song Chi re-established his connection and immediately commanded the mirror image warship to trigger its teleportation modules.

At the same time, a divine soul phantom of the Di Man Race materialized above the vessel. It wrapped the mirror image warship in a protective shroud, likely capable of stalling the combined might of the three mythical beings for a brief window.

Song Chi’s objective was to use this fleeting moment of protection to facilitate the mirror image warship’s long-distance escape.

Buzz, buzz, buzz!

The replicated [Void Cloud Boat Model] components hummed to life. Amidst a surge of spatial ripples, the mirror image warship vanished instantly.

More than ten light-years away, as the vessel exited its flash escape corridor, Song Chi felt a wave of relief wash over him within the Zhu Tian Ruins Market.

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

As he pondered, the [Starlight Flash Spirit Stone Talisman] component was also triggered.

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

After a series of rapid-fire flash escapes and a "Red Vault Jump" spanning hundreds of thousands of light-years, Song Chi finally began to feel secure.

"Redirect to the next objective and continue the survey of this Origin Star..."

Before he could finish transmitting the order to the replicated [Dome Sky Wisdom Brain], Song Chi’s mental link was violently interrupted.

As a Torch Ship Captain with mastery over time, space, and light, he detected a sudden ripple 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 vessel were those three familiar, terrifying figures. They followed like inescapable shadows, persistently tracking the escape path of the mirror image warship.

Or rather, they were doing so with calculated intent.

The previous flights of the mirror image warship had all occurred under their watchful eyes; they were tracing the path back to Song Chi’s true body.

They had confirmed that the mirror image warship was merely a clone. On the surface of the Origin Star, governed by the terrifying spatial suppression of the Chaos Divine Land, no being other than a mythical unit should be able to control an incarnation across billions of light-years.

Consequently, the three mythical beings deduced that Song Chi’s original form had to be located somewhere near the Origin Star's surface.

However, seeing that the mirror image warship was preparing for further exploration rather than returning to its master, the three mythical entities decided to reveal themselves once more.

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

Song Chi’s expression turned grim.

Facing three mythical beings—the [Heavenly Destruction Divine Machine], the [Mother of Time Erosion], and the faceless figure in gray—he knew that even with all his mythical trump cards, his chances of victory were nonexistent.

There was no time for hesitation.

"Boom!"

The [Heavenly Destruction Divine Machine] struck first.

This mythical entity from the Mechanical Race pushed its quantum core reactor into overclock. A [Causal Missile], marked with a crimson countdown, pierced the void and crossed several light-years in a heartbeat, slamming into the mirror image warship.

The ship's replicated [Mythical Pulse Energy Shield] and [Barbarian God Guardian] lasted only two seconds before the causal weapon tore through them.

"Crack——"

The armor on the ship’s starboard side disintegrated under a wave of corrosive, destructive energy.

Before the vessel could recover, the [Mother of Time Erosion] unleashed a collective shriek from her nine heads.

"Time Anchoring."

Invisible waves of temporal energy radiated outward, instantly freezing the space surrounding the mirror image warship. Its teleportation drives, capable of crossing a million kilometers in a flash, were suddenly bogged down as if in a mire, and the flow of internal energy became sluggish.

The most dread-inducing of the trio was the gray-robed figure.

His featureless face turned toward the vessel as he made a grasping motion with his hand—

"Return."

With those two simple words, the temporal flow of the entire star sector reversed. Within the mirror image warship, the "Time Chessboard" function of the [Time Chessboard] began an irreversible collapse, and the prismatic chessboard phantom above the ship faded away once more.

Inside the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, Song Chi desperately tried to maintain control and resist.

At that moment, the causal power flooding the mirror image warship intensified. Above, the mythical energy radiating from the Heavenly Destruction Divine Machine reached its peak.

"Seeking Cause and Effect!"

The sky was eclipsed by terrifying mythical power. Inside 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 opened within the dark side of the Void Sea, its pupils reflecting a chaotic web of 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 breathing grew heavy, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

While his instincts suggested that the now Ninth Rank [Zhu Tian Ruins Market] could not be easily tracked by a Tenth Rank mythical unit across 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 compromised, the fallout would be catastrophic. Even if the mythical beings couldn't invade the Ruins Market personally, they would report the location to their respective superpowers.

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

Without a moment's delay, Song Chi issued a final command.

"Sever 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 causal eye suddenly contracted.

The thread of cause and effect that had been chasing the [Zhu Tian Ruins Market] snapped!

"Boom!"

The dark side of the Void Sea erupted into a violent storm. The eye of cause and effect lashed out in fury at the loss of its target. The resulting backlash of laws caused the surrounding Void Sea to collapse, but Song Chi was already beyond the reach of the chaos.

The deliberate destruction of the mirror image warship had not only cut the causal pursuit but had also stripped the three mythical entities of any remaining clues.

---

Within the firmament of the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, inside the Heavenly Ruins Cang Qiong’s bridge.

Song Chi’s true body let out a long, heavy breath.

The final images from the mirror image warship replayed in his mind: the three mythical beings standing in the void, the gray-robed figure looking "stunned," the nine heads of the [Mother of Time Erosion] screaming in rage, and the [Heavenly Destruction Divine Machine] sparking from the backlash of its failed causal search.

If that causal ability was easy to use, they wouldn't have waited until the last second to activate it.

...

Ignoring the fury of the three mythical beings, Song Chi turned his attention to his own hand.

A bronze fragment hovered there quietly—the [Broken Door of the Temple of Time] that he had successfully secured.

While it wasn't the entire door, it was a vital clue for his future search for the Time Divine Hall.

"It was worth the risk."

A small smile played on Song Chi’s lips.

Snatching a prize from three mythical beings was incredibly dangerous, but the rewards were immense.

In addition to the [Broken Door of the Temple of Time], there was something else—

He glanced at the opposite side of the control console.

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

He had finished analyzing it. This single drop was the equivalent of 1.2 tons of time source crystals. In terms of reducing the upgrade time for a Starry Sea Oddity, it represented 1.2 million years.

This liquid could be used for the family’s [Heaven-Swallowing Python Shedding], or kept as an emergency cooldown reset for the Heavenly Ruins Cang Qiong. Using the "Zen Seal: Inner Speed" ten times in a row would provide a massive, temporary boost to the ship's combat effectiveness.