Wang Zhen's voice had faltered, but Song Chi could discern the shifting intonation within.

He nodded slightly, signaling Wang to continue.

"But in the past few months, I've had multiple reports of disturbances from my subordinates, and I myself have received threats, implying that we should cease our acquisitions."

Song Chi's eyes narrowed as he pondered.

"Do you know who specifically?"

Wang Zhen shook his head.

"The other party hasn't shown their face, only sent messengers, one of whom was an Extreme Cruiser Captain. I suspect it's related to the other four powerful families."

Song Chi nodded without uttering a word immediately.

The "other four families" mentioned by Wang Zhen were not hard to understand; they were simply the other four titans of the Duchy. After musing for a moment, a glow passed over his hand, and then he tossed a dark-colored medal to Wang Zhen.

His tone was forceful as he spoke:

"Don't bother with these tricksters, even if it really is people from the other four families, they won't be those in power. At most, they'll be direct descendants of that caliber. Otherwise, they would've simply invoked the family's name outright instead of these roundabout tactics."

"Continue with the acquisitions as normal. If they wage a price war afterward, follow their lead in real-time. If they forcibly make a move, activate this Shadow Medal. I'd like to see which family's figure dares to do this!"

"Understood, Your Highness!"

With Song Chi's backing, Wang Zhen naturally had no more concerns. He respectfully bowed and quickly left the Ruins Market.

Song Chi stayed in the Ruins Market for a few more days until he had completely stabilized his current might of Thirty Uses With One Mind. Only then did he leave the Ruins Market.

It took nearly two years for him to absorb all the Fifth Rank and Half-Step Sixth Rank Evil God Essence in his possession, thus substantially enhancing his Spiritual Force, which surged from Twenty-seven Uses With One Mind two years ago to Thirty-four Uses With One Mind now.

This level of Spiritual Force was exceptionally astounding for a novice Fourth Rank Zhulu Warship Captain. Even a slightly weaker Battleship Captain would only manage Thirty Uses With One Mind.

Naturally, Song Chi was exceedingly pleased with this.

Red River Star Domain, Floating Land of the Dark Origin.

This was a level 3 resource-type Floating Land newly occupied by the Tenth Direct Vein. Lately, ordinary starships kept landing and taking off from this Floating Land, and their cabins were nearly filled with Storage Capsules, which increased the amount of resources they could transport each trip by tenfold or even a hundredfold.

These starships would first pass through the micro Star Gates set up by the vein; once they reached the short-range Star Gate transport point established by the family, they would then be transported back to the Thorny Star Region along with the transport starships, and finally to the Dragon Spine Continent.

Not just the Song Family Fleet, but other powers reliant on the Song Family were doing the same. Still, they had to turn over twenty percent of their findings to the Song Family, a rule established before the start of the frontier wars.

Not far from the Floating Land of the Dark Origin was a part of space adjacent to the more northerly Chaotic Star Field, which was also the current headquarters of the command of the fleet led by the Song Family.

Basing on a massive Floating Land Fragment spliced together, this space dock station also housed the main command center.

By the time Song Chi arrived, nearly a hundred Fourth Rank Zhulu Warship Captains had gathered.

Song Chi chose a corner seat and sat down, scanning the room to see a barely concealable smile on the faces of all Zhulu Warship Captains.

Clearly, all forces had garnered significant gains over the past two years.

And understandably so, any given region spanning over more than two thousand light-years, when divvied up, yields a considerable profit.

Just then, five figures entered from outside the door, and upon recognizing the faces of these five people, all the Zhulu Warship Captains in the command room stood up, showing the utmost respect.

They were none other than Song Dingbang, Song Xingru, Song Tianhao from the Song Family, Battleship Captain Wu Yuanshan from the Wu Family, and the Fifth Rank Clan Elder Red Alpha from the Alpha Clan.

With the arrival of these five high-ranking individuals, the meeting naturally began officially.

The one who spoke first was still Song Dingbang; in the absence of the Prime Ancestor and with the almost complete Stealth Trace of the Prime Ancestor, he was the de facto person in charge of the Song Family.

As for Song Xingru, although her seniority was higher, her temperament clearly did not suit the role of a spokesperson.

"This meeting has only one agenda item: to discuss the timeline for the fleet's entry into the Chaotic Star Field,"

"According to the latest information, the Duchy's Main Fleet has already penetrated the southern part of the Chaotic Star Field and will soon enter the western Star Region. If we set off now, we'll be the first to face attacks from the civilizations of the western Chaotic Star Field. Casualties are inevitable, but so are the potential gains. If we wait until the Duchy's Main Fleet arrives, I fear most of the benefits will have been taken."

Having finished speaking, Song Dingbang raised his gaze to sweep the entire command room before continuing:

"Everyone present has one vote. You may choose to move out immediately or to wait a while longer. Let's begin!"

With that, two buttons appeared on the surface of everyone's table—one red for immediate action and one green for waiting.

Song Chi didn't hesitate; he immediately pressed the red button.

During these two years, he had absorbed all the Evil God Essence, meaning he was now in peak condition. Staying in the Red River Star Domain would only waste time.

Of course, his primary motive was to grab more resources, not least the Sixth Rank Floating Land Origin, which he would never consider too plentiful.

As all Zhulu Warship Captains gradually finished voting, the results appeared on the command room's front screen.

Immediate action: 88 votes

Temporary wait: 15 votes

Without a doubt, after having tasted the rewards, most powers no longer wanted to remain in the Red River Star Domain. They were eager to plunder anew in the Chaotic Star Field.

"Since the voting result is clear, we'll set out in five days. The fleet will formally head toward the Chaotic Star Field in five days."

The Clan Elders of the Song Family were delighted with these results. With the family holding absolute authority over the entire fleet, the better the fleet performed, the more benefits the Song Family could reap from their accomplishments.

Five days later, the fleet, now reduced to over a million starships, set off again, heading towards the northern Chaotic Star Field.

Although the Red River Star Domain had been cleared, it still needed a prolonged period to develop the resources and transport them back to the Duchy; hence, over two hundred thousand starships stayed behind specifically for this task.

Yet even so, the actual strength of the fleet was not diminished. After all, the true measure of a fleet's Combat Power was never the ordinary starships but the Torch Warships.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read