National Star Sea Era...

Chapter 896 An Unexpected Outcome (Continued)
"【White Bone Burial Sky Slash】!"

Accompanied by the roar of the eleventh-tier skeletal giant, which originated from the very source of death, the [Sea-Splitting Spear] in its hand, which emitted a dazzling seven-colored light, suddenly burst forth with an extremely dark light and slammed down towards the Golden Horned Whale War Puppet.

This strike gathered all the deathly divine power of the skeletal giant and stirred up the deathly stillness that had accumulated in the surrounding star field for billions of years. Where the spear blade fell, space was not torn apart, but it seemed as if billions of years had passed in an instant, directly falling into a state of complete "death" and turning into an absolute void and annihilation zone.

The [Eleventh-Tier Golden Horned Whale War Puppet], whose life force (energy) had already been forcibly wiped out by the death power of the "Twelve Lives Life and Death Chess", was now facing this slash that could be described as the embodiment of the "death" rule, and had almost lost all ability to resist.

Snap—Boom!
The dark golden wooden body, strong enough to withstand star metal, was easily sliced ​​open like butter under a hot blade before that extremely dark spear blade. The energy circuits and rule runes that constituted its core were instantly eroded and annihilated by the aura of death.

The enormous golden-horned whale war puppet was split in two, the light on its remains rapidly dimmed, and it eventually disintegrated completely, turning into countless lifeless fragments of metal and wood that floated in the desolate void.

An eleventh-tier battle puppet has fallen!
"Woo——!!"

In the distance, the [War Puppet Mother Tree] emitted an even more shrill and furious mental shriek.

The loss of an eleventh-tier battle puppet has dealt an unprecedented blow to its foundation.

Its massive body trembled violently, and the remaining golden-horned whale war puppet and the newly appeared eleventh-tier four-winged war puppet launched increasingly frenzied attacks in an attempt to reverse the tide.

But how could Song Chi give it that chance?

"Now! Focus fire! Target—the other golden-horned whale!"

The command was issued in an instant.

The Skyfall Dome's [Hyperdimensional Orbital Cannon - Light of Judgment] was fully charged once again, and the seven-colored light of judgment descended like divine punishment, accurately striking the Golden Horned Whale War Puppet that was entangled with another skeletal giant.

At the same time, the Mirror Sky Ruins, which had just used the "Life and Death Chess" move, also unleashed all its naval gun fire without hesitation. The crimson beams of the [Blood Erosion Annihilation Cannon] bombarded in sync, and the high-frequency particle beams emitted by the gamma ray bursts shot wildly through the air.

Boom boom boom!

The Golden Horned Whale War Puppet, already struggling to survive alone, was instantly overwhelmed by the sudden concentrated fire. The Light of Judgment tore through large sections of its armor, and the power of blood corrosion frantically eroded its internal structure.

However, it is unlikely to severely damage or even kill this eleventh-tier mythical puppet, unless the mirror warship activates the "Twelve Lives Chess" again. This is what Song Chi was thinking, but the newly appeared eleventh-tier four-winged war puppet is even faster.

In a short time, it had already crossed vast distances and arrived at the battlefield.

Swish swish!

With the flapping of its four chilling wings, four terrifying spatial rifts shot straight toward the mirror warship, seemingly trying to stop it from continuing to use the "unknown" weakening method it had used before.

"Ah!"

In the main control room of the Sky Ruins, Song Chi, whose true form had already retreated into the City of Heavenly Ruins, sneered.

Completely ignoring the four spatial rifts that were rapidly spreading toward the mirror warship, the mirror warship still activated the "Twelve Lives of Life and Death" feature without hesitation. The power of death was naturally directed at the unicorn whale war puppet.

Boom boom!

Two violent mythical explosions erupted in the starry sky once again. However, this time, not only was the unicorn whale puppet damaged, but the mirror warship's hull was also riddled with holes under the frontal cutting of the four spatial cutting blades.

Not long ago, the [Neutron Star Nuclear Armor] evolved into a seven-colored quality. If it were still five-colored, these four cutting blades would probably be able to cut the mirror warship into five pieces.

Even so, after withstanding the full force of an eleventh-tier energy attack, the mirror warship had almost no combat power left.

Song Chi decided to go all the way and the mirror warship immediately launched its fifth self-destruction. Including the two "dead" pieces, the original 11/12 of the twelve life-and-death pieces was now reduced to only 4/12.

But this was just a mirror image of the warship, and Song Chi didn't care at all.

Buzz!
Not long after, violent spatial fluctuations resounded from the void once again, and the mirror warship revived once more.

In comparison, the other golden-horned whale war puppet wasn't so lucky.

Seizing the opportunity presented by its greatly weakened combat power, the skeletal giant fiercely clawed at its energy core. Above, the newly appeared eleventh-tier [Four-Winged War Puppet] was about to provide support when it was abruptly intercepted by another skeletal giant.

The balance of power on the battlefield has begun to tilt completely.

Song Chi's eyes were icy as he maneuvered the Tianxu Cangqiong warship through the sea of ​​puppets. The [Three Realms and Five Elements Certificate] made the warship appear like a ghost, always able to appear in the most fatal positions. Every time the ship's cannons roared, it could clear out a large area of ​​low- to mid-level puppets.

Compared to the eleventh-tier battlefield above, the situation in the ordinary battlefield below was much clearer. The number of tenth-tier mythical puppets, which had been reduced to single digits, was no match for the two Sky Ruins Skyships, not to mention the presence of the mythical Asura.

Amidst the chaos of battle, Song Chi's gaze suddenly shifted, locking onto the distant [War Puppet Mother Tree]. With his ultimate trump card, the eleventh-tier four-winged war puppet, already restrained, he didn't believe the opponent had any more tricks up their sleeve.

Furthermore, since the domain of the mythical ancient tree had already shattered, his attention naturally shifted to the [War Puppet Mother Tree] itself.

However, he did not intend to test it himself. Instead, he turned his attention to the damaged 10th-tier four-winged war puppet at the edge of the battlefield. It had just dodged the aftershocks of a gamma-ray burst and was in a moment of relative vulnerability in its defense.

Opportunities are fleeting!
With a thought, Song Chi caused the Tianxu Cangqiong ship to shine with multicolored light.

Not long ago, the [Heavenly Authority Control Ring], which had just evolved into a five-colored quality item using the mirror image of the [Devouring Python's Sheath], was suddenly activated!
"Heavenly Authority in Control!"

An invisible and intangible fluctuation, yet containing the supreme rules of control, transcended the transmission of energy and information. It instantly crossed the battlefield, ignoring the energy barrier of the mythical [Four-Winged War Puppet] and the slightly unstable spiritual link between it and the Mother Tree due to its own injuries, and directly invaded its core control rune matrix.

hum!
The tenth-tier [Four-Winged Battle Puppet] suddenly trembled, its four wings stiffened, and the eerie light in its eyes flickered and became chaotic. The commands belonging to the Battle Puppet Mother Tree were forcibly overwritten and erased.

In the next instant, the mythical four-winged war puppet, whose absolute control had been temporarily seized, made an action that surprised all units—

It didn't attack the nearest skeletal giant or Asura, nor the two warships; instead, it frantically poured all its energy into the four wings of light on its back. Whoosh!
Its speed instantly surpassed its limits, transforming into a burning, space-distorting streak of light, crashing straight into the distant [War Puppet Mother Tree] at suicidal speed.

"Do not!!!"

The Mother Tree of War Puppet finally realized the enormous threat and let out a sharp mental roar, trying to mobilize all the surrounding puppets to intercept it, and even tried to forcibly destroy the four-winged war puppet, but it was all too late.

A puppet completely controlled by the [Ring of Heavenly Authority] will never stop midway unless it is instantly physically destroyed.

*Thud—Boom!*

The burning four-winged war golem, like a precision-guided annihilation bomb, crashed into the crack in the main trunk of the mother tree, and terrifying energy instantly erupted within it.

"Swish swish swish—!!!"

The War Puppet Mother Tree let out its most miserable and painful wail since the start of the war. A huge hole was blasted open in its massive trunk, and dark green energy slurry gushed out like blood. Its aura plummeted at an alarming rate, almost completely paralyzing the command network of the entire puppet army. All the puppets became stiff, slow, and even collided with each other.

Seeing this, Song Chi understood that his opponent had run out of other trump cards and it was the perfect moment for him to deliver the decisive blow.

The opportunity has arrived; victory or defeat hinges on this moment!
His eyes flashed with divine light, and he unleashed the full power of the [Ring of Heavenly Authority], unleashing its strongest enslavement force—

"Absolute enslavement!"

The vast and boundless rules of enslavement transformed into a solid, multicolored mark of enslavement. It surged through the blasted wound—the weakest point in the Mother Tree's defenses—and into the severely damaged core essence of the [War Puppet Mother Tree], whose consciousness was almost completely scattered.

The mother tree's struggle was extremely weak; the mental fluctuations filled with pain, anger, and resentment quickly extinguished like a candle flickering in the wind.

Sensing this, Song Chi felt a surge of joy. He had endured the pain and actively consumed some Time Source Liquid to reset the "Mythical Metamorphosis" characteristic of the mirror image [Devouring Python's Metamorphosis], thereby evolving the [Ring of Heavenly Authority Control] into a five-colored quality. His purpose was to try and see if he could enslave the [War Puppet Mother Tree].

Although the clan also has an eighth-tier peak-level ancient mother queen, the Starsea Insectoids need too many resources to reproduce and are also prone to being antagonized by the original mother queens of the Insectoids. In comparison, the value of the [War Puppet Mother Tree] is obviously many times higher.

Once enslaved, it can not only be transplanted into the nurturing realm, but it can also absorb free energy from the starry sea through its roots to replenish itself. Coupled with the extremely fast time flow inside the nurturing realm, the speed at which the mother tree nurtures puppets will be quite remarkable.

As Song Chi waited in anticipation, several minutes passed until, at a certain moment, the [War Puppet Mother Tree]'s will to resist completely dissipated, ultimately being covered and replaced by a soul imprint of absolute obedience and irresistibility.

This also means that the peak tenth-tier [War Puppet Mother Tree] has been officially enslaved by the Ring of Heavenly Authority, becoming the second mythical enslaved creature under Song Chi's command.

Moments later, the battlefield fell into a deathly silence.

All the remaining puppets stopped moving at the same time, like soulless puppets. The only remaining eleventh-tier golden-horned giant whale battle puppet and eleventh-tier four-winged battle puppet also floated quietly in the void, their fierce light completely extinguished.

At the edge of the horizon, the colossal [War Puppet Mother Tree] rooted in the starry sky slowly retracted all its violent energy. Its damaged trunk bowed slightly, emanating a faint yet incredibly clear wave of thought filled with awe and submission towards the direction of the Heavenly Ruins Sky Ship:

“Master…from this day forward, your will is the meaning of my existence.”

Feeling the incredibly strong and absolute connection of control deep within his soul, Song Chi's tense mind finally began to relax.

He gazed at the chaotic yet now completely under his control starry sky, a relieved and triumphant smile curving his lips.

This meticulously planned yet extremely brutal interstellar war ultimately ended in his complete victory.

Not only did they clear away the biggest obstacle in their path, but they also successfully enslaved a tenth-tier peak [War Puppet Mother Tree] with boundless potential.

Sensing the gentle yet powerful will within the soul link, Song Chi's mind stirred slightly, and he tried issuing his first command:
"Quickly gather all remaining puppets, assess battle losses, and repair ourselves."

"Yes, Master."

[War Puppet Mother Tree] responded respectfully, and then, the wounds on the massive trunk of that enormous tree began to writhe. Countless tiny roots intertwined like living things, drawing on the remaining energy in the void, and began to slowly repair themselves.

At the same time, the puppet remains scattered throughout the starry sky, as well as the complete puppets that had stopped moving, all converged towards the mother tree as if drawn by an invisible force.

They will be reabsorbed by the mother tree, turning into nutrients to repair themselves, or as materials to nurture new puppets in the future. The two eleventh-tier golden-horned whales and the four-winged war puppets also flew back quietly, like the most loyal guards, hovering on both sides of the mother tree. Their damaged bodies also need time and energy to repair.

Song Chi's gaze swept across the ravaged starry sky after the great battle. The broken space was slowly repairing itself under the rules of the Broken Star Sea Avenue, but the remaining violent energy and spatial cracks still told the story of the previous tragedy.

With a wave of his hand, the two skeletal giants completed their mission and began to slowly retreat back into the [Bone Tomb]. After this great battle, the integrity of the skeletal giants' bodies will most likely drop below 90%, and they will need a certain amount of time to be reborn before they can be summoned again.

The mythical Asura on one side also withdrew his divine form and stood silently to the side, his wounds slowly healing under the surge of Asura's malevolent energy.

"This battle has taken a toll..." Song Chi thought to himself.

He didn't really care about the mirror warship; what he was most worried about was the large number of mid-to-high-level puppets that had been destroyed in the recent battle, including four tenth-tier mythical puppets and one eleventh-tier golden-horned whale war puppet. He didn't know how long it would take to get the [War Puppet Mother Tree] to regrow.

Fortunately, the enslavement was successfully completed, and in any case, the gains were greater.

This peak-level tenth-tier [War Puppet Mother Tree] is worth far more than one can imagine.

It is not only a powerful fighting force, but also a near-perfect "puppet factory". Once it is transplanted into the [Chicang No. 004 Cultivation Secret Realm], the speed at which it breeds a puppet army will reach a terrifying level by utilizing the time acceleration effect in the secret realm.

One can imagine that in the event of the impending collapse of the Botian Ruins thousands of years from now, if the Xinhuo Civilization is inevitably affected by the mythical war, then this [War Puppet Mother Tree] will be the largest cannon fodder breeding mother in the hands of Song Chi, and even the entire Xinhuo Civilization, providing the civilization with a large number of backbone forces, or even mythical-level combat power.

As for the heart of the mythical starry sky plant, we can just keep searching for it. Although this will delay the time for the [Golden Apple Mother Tree] to advance to the tenth tier, there is nothing we can do about it. Compared to the Golden Apple Mother Tree, the value of this tenth-tier battle puppet mother tree is no less.

(End of this chapter)