Chapter 47: The Big Figure Behind the Black Mountain Society

Tianyu Mining, Mining Area No. 013, located somewhere near the dorsal side of the White Tower Floating Land.

Song Chao and Shen Wenjie, leading a fleet of eight Firekind airships, slowly came to a halt. This exact spot was the coordinates they had obtained a few days prior.

"Everyone listen up, begin exploration at maximum speed. Report immediately upon any discovery."

At Shen Wenjie's command, the six psionic skiffs in the rear quickly dispersed, launching an omnidirectional survey of all nearby asteroids.

As for Shen Wenjie's Bronze Halberd and Song Chao's Azure Sky, they remained in place, not joining the six psionic skiffs in their operations. Exploration and extraction were not their responsibilities; their duty was to maintain perimeter security.

Although they had taken sufficient concealment measures before departure, and the mining area workers had deliberately employed communication-jamming devices, the commotion caused by intercepting people at the Black Mountain Gold Shop earlier was by no means small. They could not be certain whether interested parties were paying attention to the matter.

Soon, more than half an hour passed. The survey progress of the six psionic skiffs was already past the halfway mark, yet there was still no trace of titanium crystals.

"Could it really be a coincidence? Did those two miners mistake a similar-looking ore for titanium crystals at the same time?"

On board the Bronze Halberd, Shen Wenjie voiced his doubt.

In response, Song Chao appeared even more calm.

"Don't rush. Even if it's ore resembling titanium crystals, nothing has been found yet. The final verdict isn't in. We've spent this much time on the matter, so we can afford a little longer."

About ten minutes later, a communication request suddenly came from one of the six psionic skiffs.

Seeing this, Shen Wenjie, whose hopes had largely faded, saw his eyes light up again and signaled Song Chao to connect immediately.

As soon as Song Chao answered, the projection of a young man appeared on the communication screen.

Before Song Chao could ask, the young man's excited voice rang out first.

"Uncle, we found it! It really is titanium crystals. The preliminary survey here indicates a micro-vein, with an estimated quantity of about one to two thousand titanium crystals."

"Good!"

Even for someone like Shen Wenjie, who had held the position of Inspection Team Captain for nearly twenty years, he could not keep his emotions in check at this moment and cried out in great joy.

"Gather the other five immediately and proceed with full-scale extraction—"

Boom!

Before the words had completely faded, a muffled impact suddenly came from the rear, followed by a violent tremor rippling through the Azure Sky beneath Song Chao's feet.

Checking the Azure Sky's shield value, it had dropped by a full fifth. Song Chao's heart sank instantly. One must know that the energy shield component on the Azure Sky was a rare blue-tier part, and its reinforcement level had already reached Level 29.

Fortunately, he had kept his energy shield activated all along; otherwise, this single strike might have directly pierced the hull armor of the Azure Sky and caused severe structural damage to the vessel itself.

Song Chao's eyes flashed, knowing that the news of the titanium crystals must have leaked.

To be able to strip away one-sixth of the shield value of a reinforced Level 29 blue-tier energy shield component in a single blow, the enemy was not only operating a Tier 2 Firekind airship as well, but was likely an extremely formidable entity among Tier 2 vessels.

With this thought, he spoke immediately.

"Old Shen, the enemy is also a frigate. Be careful."

"Xiaolin, leave two skiffs over there to continue extraction, and send the other four over to help."

Following these rapid commands, the eight Firekind airships had a clear division of labor: two remained at the target asteroid to carry out subsequent extraction work, while the other six quickly converged.

Two frigate-class psionic airships led the way, with four psionic skiffs following behind. All six main cannons began gathering psionic light, making final preparations for the impending counterattack.

Looking toward the direction from which the previous attack had originated, a similarly sized fleet of Firekind vessels lay dormant several hundred kilometers away.

"Two frigates and seven psionic skiffs. A few of those seven skiffs probably belong to the Black Mountain Society, but as for the origins of the two frigates, it's hard to say. Old Shen, what do you think?"

Shen Wenjie's laughter soon came from the Bronze Halberd.

"Hahaha, what is there to think about? Let's beat them into surrender and then we'll see."

Song Chao's eyes blazed with light as he began to laugh along.

"Alright, then let's test the capabilities of these two frigates today. If they want to snatch food from the tiger's mouth, they'd better have the strength to back it up."

At this, his tone shifted, and he anxiously instructed the five psionic skiffs behind him:

"Xiaolin, Xiaoqing, just stall them. The moment your skiffs sustain damage, withdraw from the battlefield immediately. The victory or defeat of this battle does not depend on you."

"Understood, Uncle!"

Within the hostile fleet hundreds of kilometers away, the flagship frigate-class psionic airship with silver armor plating clearly held the highest status in the entire fleet. In the control room of this silver frigate, a rather young-faced man flashed a hint of surprise in his eyes.

He clearly had not expected that this unknown faction, daring to meddle in the titanium crystals halfway through, would be able to bring out two frigates. After all, there were very few factions in the entire Jiangyuan City with that kind of clout.

Yet it was merely a hint of surprise. His expression quickly returned to calm. Although the opposing faction was not small, he still did not take them seriously. Across the entire Jiangyuan City, he was the absolute overlord.

At that moment, a communication came through. Once connected, the projection of a fat-eared man appeared before the youth.

If anyone from Jiangyuan City were present, they would undoubtedly recognize the identity of this fat-eared man.

The leader of the Black Mountain Society, "Scarface."

Strangely enough, Scarface, usually vicious to the extreme, appeared exceptionally respectful before this youth at this moment.

"Young Master Kang, judging by their strength, their backing seems quite significant. Should we..."

Before Scarface could finish, the youth impatiently interrupted him.

"Backing? Never mind what kind of backing they have, fight them with everything you've got! I want to see who dares to steal from under Zhu Kang's nose."

Since both sides had made up their minds, battle naturally broke out instantly.

Four hundred-meter-long frigates tacitly surged out from the fleet, leaving the mining area below behind them and choosing a battlefield in a region several thousand kilometers away.

Firekind airships of the frigate class possessed terrifying might; against objects like psionic skiffs and asteroids, any random aftermath of combat could easily reduce them to cosmic dust.

After the four frigates departed, the battle between the twelve psionic skiffs also commenced. By comparison, however, this battlefield seemed somewhat trivial. After rounds of attacks, at most the energy shields of a few skiffs grew slightly dim, and it was clear that the conflict could not be concluded in a short time.

In another uninhabited mining area a thousand miles away, the battle between the four frigates officially began.

Song Chao's opponent was the silver warship, while Shen Wenjie's Bronze Halberd engaged the enemy's other frigate.