Shattered Star Sea, Apocalypse Galaxy, Fallen Whale Starfield, dense zone of spatial rifts.
As a renowned forbidden zone within the territory of the Apocalypse Mechanical Civilization, this starfield had always been sparsely populated.
Tens of thousands of years ago, the ruler of this starfield, the starry beast "Longfin Void Whale," had fought a great battle against the mechanical legion led by the "Genesis" intelligent brain of the Apocalypse Civilization.
That battle had changed the color of the galaxy, but no living being knew its final outcome. They only knew that afterward, the Apocalypse Civilization renamed the Void Whale Starfield the Fallen Whale Starfield, and the region became filled with countless spatial rifts.
For countless years, any creature that dared enter this starfield rashly would ultimately be devoured by those rifts, reduced entirely to dust and debris beneath the Void Astral Gale.
That day, a mechanical fleet that suddenly intruded shattered the silence of the starfield.
The fleet did not contain many vessels. Several dozen warships of varying sizes clustered tightly around a large flagship, advancing with extreme caution.
The flagship at the center of the fleet was entirely blue-brown. Thick layers of blue-brown armor tightly covered the thousand-meter-long, over-two-hundred-meter-wide steel behemoth. At its bow, a railgun nearly one hundred meters in diameter silently radiated terrifying deterrence.
"Can you confirm that the target fled into this starfield?"
Inside the main control room of the steel warship, the silver-armored robot seated before the central console spoke in an icy voice.
The energy fluctuations emanating from the silver-armored robot were not strong, merely First Rank. Compared to the Second Rank and Third Rank robots standing behind it, it was practically insignificant. Yet for some reason, its status was clearly far above theirs.
"According to the final radar readings, before the target signal disappeared, it was indeed within this starfield."
"And..."
Before the voice could finish, a sharp alert sounded first.
"Detected fluctuations from an unknown spatial gate. Coordinates: xxxxx."
Red light flickered in the silver-armored robot's eyes. A few seconds later, it issued an order.
"Go take a look."
Myriad Heavens Market. Less than two hours remained before this Market Ruins trading session officially ended, yet the bustle within showed no sign of diminishing.
Song Chi was not the only one using this opportunity to profit from price differences. The alien races on the other side of the spatial gates were doing the same.
After discovering that certain goods could sell for double or even higher prices within the Market Ruins, the high-ranking alien races beyond the spatial gates began sending out large numbers of their Zero Rank subordinates to frantically sell these resources, each of them making a fortune.
Having become addicted to it, they only felt that twenty-four hours was far too short. How could they bear to waste even a second?
Song Chi naturally welcomed this. After all, he could take a 10% transaction tax from every batch of goods traded. After more than twenty hours, together with the profits from selling the Gene Optimization Potions, the total value of the resources he had accumulated had already exceeded three thousand strands of Zero-Rank Floating Continent Essence.
Compared to the three hundred strands he had scraped together before opening the Market Ruins, it had increased tenfold.
Just as trading in the Market Ruins grew increasingly heated, the appearance of one figure was like a stone thrown into water, causing the previously clamorous Market Ruins to abruptly fall silent.
Several hundred creatures of different forms and races all turned to look at the newly arrived figure.
Although the Market Ruins had originally contained many different species, without exception they had all been carbon-based lifeforms of flesh and blood. Yet the one who had entered now was a mechanical lifeform composed entirely of metal components.
"A Mechanical Clan member!"
A knowledgeable alien immediately identified the mechanical lifeform's origins.
Almost simultaneously, wary looks flashed through the eyes of the gathered aliens.
The Mechanical Clan's reputation throughout the Shattered Star Sea was hardly small. Labels such as madness and extremism were often attached to these mechanical lifeforms, so the attitudes of many civilizations and races toward the Mechanical Clan were generally those of respectful avoidance.
Its red gaze swept across the rule-light curtain at the entrance to the Market Ruins. This Mechanical Clan member, radiating the aura of a Zero Rank peak, strode inside. Its red-glowing gaze passed over every alien present one by one, seemingly searching for something.
A slight disturbance arose among the aliens, but in the end, they tacitly allowed the Mechanical Clan member to scan the entire Market Ruins space from top to bottom.
It was domineering, but it had not violated the Market Ruins' rules. In order to seize the remaining trading time and earn more resources, no creature was willing to stir up trouble and waste their precious time for nothing.
During this process, a small incident occurred in a corner unnoticed by the aliens. At some point, Song Chi had transformed from a consumer wandering around into one of the stallholders.
Besides several Life Cores, the item displayed prominently at the center of his stall was the Type-1 Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body.
Before long, having failed to find its target, the Mechanical Clan member stopped before Song Chi's stall as expected.
Pointing at the Type-1 Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body on the stall, an emotionless, icy synthesized voice came from within its body.
"How is this purple-quality wonder being traded?"
Hearing this, Song Chi, who had long been prepared, immediately replied.
"A purple-grade Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body will only be exchanged for other types of wonders. As long as you can offer a suitable wonder that satisfies me, you can take this Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body at any time."
After he finished speaking, the Mechanical Clan member did not respond. Instead, it turned and hurried toward the Market Ruins entrance.
Countless question marks immediately popped up in Song Chi's mind. My answer wasn't unreasonable, was it? Could it be that the Apocalypse Mechanical Civilization's energy core technology had achieved a new breakthrough and no longer cared about a purple-wonder-grade Floating Continent Essence Core?
Just as he was muttering to himself, the Mechanical Clan member who had left not long ago reentered the Market Ruins, accompanied by more than twenty Zero Rank Mechanical Clan members.
The more than twenty Mechanical Clan members who appeared later tightly guarded the previous one at the center. Their level of vigilance was extremely high.
At this sight, Song Chi's mood instantly turned from gloomy to cheerful. His expression did not change, but inwardly, he was overjoyed.
The greater their display, the greater the value of the wonder they intended to exchange for the Floating Continent Essence Core Fusion Body. Otherwise, they would not be so cautious. This made him look forward to it even more.
As for using the law power of the Myriad Heavens Market to seize it by force, Song Chi had honestly considered it. He also knew full well that if he truly acted using the laws of the Market Ruins Secret Realm, there was absolutely no chance of failure. But in the end, he suppressed the thought.
Once such a precedent was set, the collapse of the Myriad Heavens Market's reputation would only be a matter of time.
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