Sage Monarch

The Cruiser of Civilization made to leave, but Young Master Leaf locked it down, much to the anxiety and anger of the almighty beings inside. After all, they were rapidly burning through their power reserves.

Again, one of the almighty beings in the spacecraft spoke. "Sir, what exactly do you want? Why don't we negotiate? Considering you have some of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions, you can freely enter and exit the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. We Mechfolk have been stuck here for over a million years. Cease your attack, sir, and free us. If you do, you'll become a very important friend to the Mechfolk. We have outposts in many immortal worlds, even some of the thirty-third ranked ones. We can provide you with immense rewards, and even perform services for you. Just think of how powerful you would be with the Mechfolk as your ally!"

"Nonsense," Young Master Leaf said, clearly unimpressed. "No fancy words from you are going to save you from me. In fact, thanks to your jabbering, after I take the Cruiser of Civilization I'll ensure you die a painful death. The only way to escape that would be to kill yourselves!

"Who cares about the Mechfolk? You think I want to have friends as despicable and lowly as you people? You have no hope whatsoever of gaining my friendship. I'm going to exterminate all despicable races such as yours. I don't even need the friendship of the legion of gods. I'm Young Master Leaf, and I don't go around making friends. People who face me either die or become slaves! Sadly for you, you don't even qualify to be a slave."

His words contained nothing but despair. Even Yang Qi had to shake his head; this Young Master Leaf was clearly a deranged lunatic.

'I need to think of a way to help these Mechfolk with their Cruiser of Civilization. It's obviously very powerful, but at the moment it's getting very low on power. Well, I can give it more power.'

He had done business with the Mechfolk and was considered by them to be an important customer. Overall, he had a good relationship with them and knew that they treated all customers fairly. They also valued their reputation. In contrast, Young Master Leaf was obviously a threat. Once he found out that Yang Qi had some of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions, he would never let him off the hook. He was definitely going to be an enemy, and a far greater threat than the young man in yellow had ever been. All in all, helping the Mechfolk out of this situation would be like helping himself.

'What should I do? How can I help the Mechfolk without revealing myself? Getting into their spacecraft isn't going to be easy, especially considering they have that Light of Civilization up. And even if I did get in, they would probably assume I was an enemy. Maybe I can use my Sagely Sacrifice to open a line of communication.'

He crept toward the battlefield and, when he was close enough, summoned an altar to sit on. Then he drew on the God Legion Seal and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, causing a projection of the halls of heaven to appear. "Boundless Faith; Endless Psychic Power!"

A ball of vital energy appeared between his palms, which quickly took the shape of the Cruiser of Civilization.

Only a godly-class energy art like the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth could be used to create a perfect replica of the Cruiser of Civilization in this way. Yang Qi carefully sent his divine will inside, backing it with the power of faith. It soon became an expression of will that hovered between existence and nonexistence, and could manifest as a faint voice.

Meanwhile, in the depths of this piece of the Cruiser of Civilization, countless Mechfolk were hurrying about, converting their vital energy into power for the spacecraft. Unfortunately, it was like throwing a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood.

On the bridge of the spacecraft there were several dozen thrones arrayed in front of an enormous photonic computer, which was working at top speed to negate the incoming attacks and divert power to relevant systems.

The thrones were occupied by Mechfolk patriarchs, all of them sweating profusely because of the deadly situation. They were Godmyths, none of them weaker than Proud Wing, yet so inferior to Young Master Leaf that they were all simply waiting to die.

"Devil tribulation. This is a true devil tribulation," one of the patriarchs said, an elderly Mechfolk with a long white beard and a similarly white robe. His beard was so long it reached the deck beneath his feet, although the deck was absolutely clean, free of even a speck of dust. "What do we do? If things keep going on like this, we're going to run out of power. We're not going to last long."

"We might as well take them out with us," said another of the patriarchs, who was bald and had a hunched back. "Let's use the last power we have to fire the Cannon of Civilization. Hit them with everything we have!"

"No, you know that won't work," another of the patriarchs said. "This part of the Cruiser of Civilization isn't focused on battle, but rather operational elements. Yes, we can use the Cannon of Civilization, but at its strongest it can only take down Lesser Gods, and right now we only have access to a trillionth of its full power. You think that's going to do anything? Not only would it not kill our enemy, it would drain our power even faster."

"Then what do we do? Just sit here and wait to die?"

"Power! We need power That's the only way we can hold out!"

"But where do we get more power from? We've been stuck in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart for a million years, and the entire time we've been collecting scattered bits of power. But it's not enough. And now we're locked down and incapable of moving."

An atmosphere of dread had long since filled the entire spacecraft.

"Mechfolk friends…."

All of a sudden, a faint, mysterious voice drifted into the ears of the patriarchs.

"Who's there? Who are you?"

"Did you hear that?"

"What? I don't hear anything. Er, wait. Yes! I can just barely hear it! Has someone come to save us?"

"That shouldn't be possible. How could the Cruiser of Civilization possibly be talking? Maybe the spirit automaton of the spacecraft has woken up because of the danger we're in."

"Bah! That's impossible. This spacecraft isn't a magical treasure. How could it have a spirit automaton?"

"Maybe it doesn't have a spirit automaton, but the ship itself is intelligent!"

"Yes but the power levels we have aren't enough to wake it up. We would need to reach at least fifty percent power before that could happen. Right now we're at one trillionth of normal power levels. Enough with the crazy talk!"

A moment later, the patriarchs all quieted down and cocked their ears.

"I'm no illusion, Mechfolk friends. I'm here to help. My name is Yang Qi, and I'm an honored customer of your people. This Young Master Leaf is a monster from the Tusita Heaven, bent on destroying everything in his path. He has a special constitution, and considering you're low on power, there's no way you can beat him. Not even I'm a match for him. However, I have a way to fool him. Just get me into your Cruiser of Civilization, and I can provide you with the power you need."

"A savior has come!"

"Slow down. How do you know it's not a trick!?"

"There's no way it's a trick. Our enemy is a crazy lunatic who's battering us with immense levels of power. Why would he need to resort to a low-down trick? Besides, the fact that this person has sent a psychic message to us indicates that he must not be on the side of our enemy."

"Whoever he is, he's strong. The Light of Civilization should be able to block anything, even a psychic intrusion."

"It's simply marvelous."

"In a situation as dangerous as this, you might as well give medicine to a dead horse. You never know what might work."

A host of red warning lights were shining on the bridge's photonic computer, indicating that power levels were dangerously low.

The patriarchs really had no choice. "Friend, although we can't completely trust you, we're out of options. Please, save us. If you do, the Mechfolk will consider you a friend and benefactor for all lives and all lifetimes. In fact, we'll even become your servants. Just don't try to pull a fast one on us. If you do, we'll make sure that you die along with us."

"Don't worry. I've done business with the Mechfolk before, and I won't let you down. In a moment, I'll send you my coordinates. Use whatever power you can to guide me to you, and I'll use my energy arts to mask my presence. Just make sure I can get through the Light of Civilization."

WHIZZZ!

With that, Yang Qi sent them his coordinates.

The patriarchs fed them into the photonic computer, whereupon Yang Qi saw something like a wormhole open up in front of him. He stepped in, and a moment later was in the spacecraft.

"Incredible. That was no wormhole. It was a god tunnel! A passage fit for the legion of gods."

Inside, the Mechfolk faced him as though he were an invader.

However, he waved his hand and sent out the identity medallion he had been given by the Mechfolk identifying him as a valued customer. When the patriarchs saw it, they breathed sighs of relief. "So, you really are an important customer. Please, do what you have to do to save us!"

Buzzzzz!

Suddenly, the lights went dim and the entire spacecraft shook back and forth.

Claxons screamed in piercing fashion.

"This is bad. It took a lot of power to open up that god tunnel. We can't hold on any longer!"

"I have just the power you need," Yang Qi said. Exhaling, he sent forth a river of Tusita Heaven power stones.

1. In reality, this term "god tunnel" uses the same characters as black hole and wormhole. In other words, hole. However, I can hardly imagine the kind of comments that would fill the story if I used "god holes" as the translation. So "god tunnel" it is. Lol.