Chapter 899: Chapter 470: Making Trouble

“Captain, once patrol duty is over, how about we go to the Xuanhan Tavern and get a table?”

“I heard that Xuanhan Tavern has a new Third Rank Jiaoyu Feast, with ‘Braised Jiaoyu’ as the main course. It’s said to be a significant aid for the Third Rank Guidance Technique.”

“Right, I also heard that Xuanhan Tavern recently brought in a group of fox women, very enticing indeed!”

…

Above Dragon Spine City, a Patrol Guard Squad was carrying out its duties, circling the entire city.

This squad was composed of ten warships, including two cruisers and eight escort ships.

While the fleet’s group chat was buzzing with conversation, patrol captain Song Quan’s voice suddenly broke through.

“We’ve received a message, there is a disturbance at Dragon Spine Shops. All units, change course, full speed ahead to the family business.”

Upon hearing this, the chat fell silent instantly.

The next second, the patrolling team’s ten warships almost simultaneously turned and streaked towards the Dragon Spine Shops in the middle of the city.

These were members of the Song family who had been fully involved in frontier wars. They might act up during their downtime, but when faced with an emergency, they would never fail. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been selected for the Dragon Spine City patrol list.

“Captain, do you know who exactly is involved? What power?”

As they were speeding ahead, a member of the squad inquired about the specifics through the group chat.

They had been patrolling Dragon Spine City for quite a while now and had encountered troublemakers before, but those were always in other parts of the city, and none had ever dared to cause trouble right in front of Dragon Spine Shops. This was a first.

The Dinghai Song family was not what it had been decades ago. Now, who in the Heavenly Disk Galaxy didn’t know or recognize the name of the Song family from Chenxing Kingdom?

With a Seventh Rank Tri-Eye Race Dominator-Level flagship under their command and owning a Star Domain that spanned 80,000 light-years in the Heavenly Disk Galaxy, they had long been referred to as an almost Immortal Clan.

This was indeed the first time someone had dared to touch the whiskers of the Tiger that was the Song Family at such a crucial time.

Song Quan shook his head, indicating he had not received any details. However, his eyes grew particularly cold.

“No matter who it is or what power they represent, since they dare to provoke trouble on the Song family’s doorstep, they better be prepared to face the wrath of the Song family. Send two back to Dragon Spine Mountain Palace to have our External Affairs Hall investigate thoroughly with all their might. Also, be ready to inform Lord Chi at any moment. Since they were bold enough to incite trouble at this time, they must be confident in their backing, and it is very likely that Lord Chi himself will need to step in!”

“Yes!”

…

In the central district of Dragon Spine City, in front of Dragon Spine Shops’ building, the usually neat and orderly lines were now somewhat chaotic. In the center of the crowd, a group of captains with fierce expressions, holding special Communication Bracelets, was loudly questioning.

Buzz, buzz, buzz!

At that moment, eight warships slowly descended from the sky. When they were just tens of meters above ground, the doors of the eight Torch Warships simultaneously opened, and eight figures leaped out.

At the same time, the eight quietly hovering Torch Warships also slowly shrank, eventually turning into eight streams of light that entered the brows of the eight Song family captains who had just leaped down.

Thud, thud, thud!

After eight dull thuds, Song Quan strode towards the middle of the crowd, where several fierce-looking captains with unknown origins stood.

“Who are you, and why are you gathering a crowd and causing a disturbance here?”

As he spoke, the Life Pressure of a Third Rank emanated from his body, intertwined with the Law of Fire, imposing a strong oppression on the surrounding crowd.

Being one of the patrolling guard captains stationed to defend Dragon Spine City, Song Quan naturally possessed considerable strength.

Aside from the decent quality of the components installed in his flagship, he himself was a prodigy who had comprehended the Laws.

However, this was clearly not enough to suppress those troublemakers in front.

Among the five causing the disturbance, there were also two Third Order Cruiser Captains, who, while they had not comprehended any Laws, could not be made to step back due to the pressure from someone of the same rank.

What surprised Song Quan was that these two, despite their fierce appearances, were not mindless brutes. Faced with his aggressive pressure, they did not summon their Spectral Energy to forcibly resist; instead, they raised their Communication Bracelets and shouted loudly:

“What’s this? The people of Dragon Spine Shops can’t provide an explanation, so they’re planning to suppress us with brute force?”

“Everyone says the Dragon Spine Shops in Dragon Spine City have the best reputation and the most complete selection of goods in the whole public area. I never expected them to bully customers just because they run a big shop!”

Listening to the opponent’s confident accusations, Song Quan’s eyes were icy, but he stopped advancing.

To forcibly suppress them would be to give the appearance of guilt, and there were many customers around. One or two instances might not cause too much of a stir, but he feared the conspirators behind the scenes had a series of plans.

His gaze remained cold as he stared down the other party and said icily:

“Friend, you can eat without care, but you can’t talk nonsense without paying a price!”

The five on the opposite side were not intimidated at all and jeered:

“Whether we’re talking nonsense, the people of Dragon Spine Shops know best. Here’s a video of our brother entering your Dragon Spine Shops an hour ago, and he never came out again. We know that ‘Time Marrow Fluid’ is of high resource value, so we made sure to record the video, just in case we needed to defend ourselves. Let everyone look and see if it’s us lying.”

As he spoke, he held up the Communication Bracelet, which was projecting a video. It showed a short and stout man entering the Dragon Spine Shops and never coming out again.

The video ended with a tone from the semi-automatic shipboard intelligence inside the accuser’s warship.

[Please note, the magnetic wave chat link to warship [Changban] has sunk, and the last second it was part of the chat group has ended.]

After watching this video, Song Quan basically understood why the opposition managed to draw so much attention from the surrounding customers. Everything was set up too perfectly, so perfect that even he, upon first watching it, subconsciously doubted if indeed someone from the Dragon Spine Shops had acted improperly.

Turning his head towards the Dragon Spine Shops manager standing to the side, he saw the Third Rank family manager’s equally ugly expression. The manager shook his head and said gloomily:

“This man did indeed just enter the shop. He’s traded with us several times before. But not long after he entered this time, his figure mysteriously disappeared inside the shop, and not much later this group came out making a scene!”

“Ridiculous. You admit that my friend went into your shop, and now you’re saying he just mysteriously disappeared. Do you really take everyone for fools?”

The five fierce-looking individuals didn’t give an inch; their implication was clear–they were accusing the Dragon Spine Shops of murder and robbery.

As everything seemed to side with them, many Torch ship captains on site began to look at the Song Family patrol captain and the Dragon Spine Shops manager with suspicion.

At this moment, everything pointed to the Song Family being involved in despicable acts of murder and robbery. No one could help but think the worst.

Seeing that the situation was somewhat out of control, Song Quan’s eyes shifted as he spoke:

“This matter’s cause and effect are yet to be determined. Thus, I’ve already sent someone to notify the External Affairs Hall of the Song Family. Our family’s External Affairs Hall has several unique components that can assist in the investigation. Please wait about ten minutes, and my Song Family will surely give everyone a satisfactory explanation on-site.”

The Dragon Spine Mountain Palace was not far from Dragon Spine City. With the speed of two Escort Ships making a jump, they should have already arrived by now. Plus the time it would take for the External Affairs Hall to retrieve a few components, about ten minutes should be just enough.

However, at this moment, the deputy squad leader behind Song Quan unexpectedly leaned in.

“Captain, just received a transmission from Xiao Yuan and the others. The space around Dragon Spine Mountain Palace has been blocked, the jump failed!”

Song Quan’s fists clenched tightly, and the fiery Spectral Energy surged out around him.

“Good, very good, even space blockade components are being used. This is a determined effort to tarnish the reputation of the Song Family!!”

“In that case, notify Lord Chi!”

These words were only audible to him and his deputy squad leader standing behind him, not said out loud for everyone to hear, because that would be useless. The other party could easily claim it was just an excuse made up by the Song Family.

…

At Zhu Tian Ruins Market, Song Chi, who was exercising his body, raised an eyebrow.

“Someone’s deliberately causing trouble at the Dragon Spine Shops?”

With a thought, he quickly disappeared within the Ruins Market.

Beneath the Dragon Spine Shops building, Song Chi’s figure quietly emerged.

Retrieving his Ethereal Body that he had left in place, Song Chi inquired about the situation from the shop’s Deputy Manager.

“The one involved in the marrow fluid transaction?”

Upon hearing the entire sequence of events, Song Chi’s eyes narrowed slightly.

If it really was an accomplice of that stocky man, then the hidden manipulator behind this incident must have been planning for quite some time, indicating that there is definitely a force targeting the Song Family.

Outside the shop, a commotion quickly arose.

“Song Chi, the legitimate successor of the previous generation of the Song Family, it’s actually him!”

“Now this is getting interesting. I’ve heard that this Song Chi is the most ruthless among the previous generation’s line of legitimate successors; he doesn’t act often, but when he does, he directly killed a legitimate successor of the Stark Family.”

“I seem to recall that he had frighteningly high achievements in the previous frontier wars!”

“But it’s unknown how he will resolve this issue, whether he will suppress it directly with force or try his best to find the person instigating from behind.”

“The manipulator behind the scenes? Are you implying that it was deliberate from the start?”

“Don’t be naive, how could Dragon Spine City in recent years not attract attention? How could it possibly not be coveted?”

“True as well…”

…

Amidst the noises, actually, the majority of people could see the deeper implications and basically understood the entanglement behind this incident.

However, they also knew that none of this mattered. Whether the Song Family bullied its customers or was framed, these things were not important.

What determined the outcome was the matter of strength. If the Song Family had the strength to find those who orchestrated the incident and crush and purge them with the might of a thunderbolt, thereby deterring other malicious forces, then the Dragon Spine City of the Song Family would continue to thrive. But if they could not, then all who were coveting would swarm in, crushing the reputation of the Song Family.

The instant they saw Song Chi, the ferocity on the faces of the five instigators instinctively subdued. A Fourth Rank Zhulu Warship Captain, and a legitimate successor of a nearly Immortal Clan, carried substantial weight no matter where he was.

“Lord!”

All five spoke respectfully.

Yet Song Chi did not respond; the aura of a Fourth Rank Torch Captain subtly spread outward, enveloping all five.

Bang bang bang!

Among the five, the three Second Rank Escort Ship Captains immediately knelt on the ground, unable to withstand the pressure, while only the two Third Rank Cruiser Captains were barely holding on.

“Do you want me to take action, or would you prefer to tell the whole story in front of everyone?”

This was the first thing that Song Chi said. His voice was not loud, but under the influence of the Fourth Rank Spectral Energy, it was clearly heard by tens of thousands of Torch Ship Captains in front of the Dragon Spine Shops building.

The two Third Rank instigators clenched their teeth tightly and did not speak.

“It seems you’ve chosen the first option…”

As he spoke, a flicker of Ghost Light suddenly flashed at Song Chi’s glabella, followed by two beams shooting out from his Ancestral Aperture.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of Torch Captains around, these two beams of light entered the heads of the two Third Rank instigators.

The next second, the attitude of these two Cruiser Captains suddenly took a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

After respectfully glancing at Song Chi, they began to narrate everything they knew.

“So, from beginning to end, you’ve never met face-to-face… Not so foolish after all!”

“It’s getting more interesting!”

Muttering to himself, Song Chi’s tone suddenly changed.

“And the reward? Since you were asked to do something, there should be a price, right?”

However, his abrupt question made all the onlookers form question marks in their minds.

Reward?

Wait, isn’t the pursuit for the hidden instigator? What’s this about a reward?