by <unknown>
"Didn't we reach a pact where you help me protect the two little fellows and I'll do my best and help you get stronger?"
Li Yao smiled. "You have done a great job so far. The two little fellows have been utterly unhurt in such a troublesome and dangerous environment. But it is quite a headache for me on my side. Now that we are still beleaguered and fleeing like mice, I can't find a stable refining workshop and enough resources to help upgrade you.
"So, I'll give you some good stuff first. Consider them as interests.
"They are the storage chips I stole from the mainframe crystal processors in the laboratories and the control center of 'Manjusaka, the City in the Sky'. All the data about the experiments on the cutting-edge magical equipment that were conducted on the Land of Sins in the past hundreds of years must've been stored inside. I believe that the test data of the cutting-edge magical equipment will be of great use for you."
The Fist King's man-made eyes were immediately brighter. His tone was still cold, but the tone of his speech was higher. "That's right. I am sort of a piece of special cutting-edge magical equipment myself. If the test data of all the best magical equipment in the past hundreds of years are melted into my main database, they will certainly yield more abundant variations and make my combat ability a hundred times higher than before!"
Pausing for a moment, he adjusted the light of the man-made eyes and said in a low voice, "Thank you."
Li Yao couldn't help but smile. "You know how to thank people too?"
"Not exactly."
The Fist King said, "Neither the real me nor the identity of 'Fist King Lei Zonglie' needs to say thanks very often. I am still learning."
Looking at his bizarre appearance with two heads, Li Yao wondered if he was making the right decision. Pondering for a moment, he still said, "Is the deal between the two of us still in force?"
The Fist King asked, "What do you mean?"
"You have to escape from the Land of Sins, but the universe is vast and full of dangers. It is possible that the world outside is even more dangerous than here. I am still not reassured about the two little fellows and the resistance warriors of Starlight. They are too weak."
Li Yao said carefully, "But you are different. With the mainframe crystal processor of the control center of the global sword network and the development data of all the cutting-edge magical equipment in the past hundreds of years, I believe that it would not take long before your combat ability soars and makes you a real super expert, would it?
"If you can continue protecting the two little fellows and the small group of Cultivators, I think the odds of their survival will be higher."
The Fist King asked, "What about you? You are obviously ten times stronger than me."
Li Yao shook his head. "I can't be with you for now. On one hand, I need to distract Li Lingfeng and other Immortal Cultivators in order to create an opportunity for you to break the siege. On the other hand, there is a greater secret that I must explore, one which probably concerns the power pivot of the Imperium."
What Li Yao referred to was obviously the dramatic relationship between Li Jialing, Li Linghai, and Li Lingfeng.
If he could get to the bottom of the issue, it was possible that he could reach out to Li Linghai through Li Jialing, thereby stirring trouble directly at the heart of the Imperium. Wouldn't it be easier for him to achieve his purposes of "diplomacy, balance, and sabotage" if so?
Therefore, Li Yao had to find Li Jialing. It was impossible for him to break out of the siege together with Han Te and Liu Li.
The Fist King would be the best bodyguard for the small group of Cultivators.
The Fist King's man-made eyes flashed for a while before he said coldly, "But I only want to be stronger."
"But you are already stronger than before!"
Li Yao smiled. Looking at the storage chips in the Fist King's hands, he said, "Trust me. If you continue walking down on the path, you will only become stronger and stronger, or even the strongest in the entire universe someday. Isn't the fall of 'Manjusaka, the City in the Sky' the best proof?"
The Fist King was deep in thought.
Although the two crystal processor cores of super performances were calculating at the same time, his metal body was still shivering violently.
"You are truly very strong."
The Fist King said, "However I calculate it, I cannot figure out the slightest possibility to shoot down 'Manjusaka, the City in the Sky'."
"I can't take all the credit for that."
Li Yao said, "I just showed up in an appropriate place at an appropriate time and did the appropriate things. It's more suitable to say that everybody in space and below the ground worked together, fought blood battles, and made the accomplishment together.
"If Starlight hadn't shown up, and without your intelligence and your cover, I might not have been able to poke down the space fortress even if I were ten times stronger."
The Fist King asked again, "The thing you used earlier was a Colossus, the legendary ultimate weapon in the sea of stars?"
"Exactly."
Li Yao said, "If you are still willing to conform to our deal and protect the two little fellows, as well as the group of Cultivators, in the next few years, maybe I can strengthen you comprehensively someday with the components and units from the Colossi. Or rather, I can reshape you into a Colossus."
Li Yao was not bragging.
He had discovered so many Colossi on the Nuwa warship in the Ancient Sages Sector. With the wealth and power of the "Glorious Sunlight Group" under his name, even if he could not get an intact Colossus, it would certainly be no trouble to purchase the debris of some of the Colossi.
In fact, the Glorious Sunlight Group was itself one of the state-of-the-art magical equipment development platforms in the Star Glory Federation. It had tremendous components and units of the Colossi for the research and duplication work.
Besides, Li Yao believed that he would be engaged in fierce battles with even more Colossi of the Imperium in the future. It wouldn't be strange if he could capture one or two of them.
If the Fist King was willing to join the side of the Cultivators as "our" intelligence, Li Yao felt it would be a worthwhile investment to perform complete upgrades with the units from a few Colossi.
As he expected, the Fist King's man-made eyes were glittering and scorching again.
He touched the breastplate at his chest.
There was not a heart inside, but only the Gold Barley seeds that Liu Li offered him.
"Alright. It is a very charming offer. According to my calculation and deduction, the deal has a strong positive effect on the improvement of my combat ability."
The Fist King said, as if he were explaining about his logic thinking, "Until the Imperium or any other forces makes a better offer, I'll keep Han Te and Liu Li safe and sound."
Li Yao smiled. "Thank you."
"There's no need to thank me. Gratitude means nothing to me. All you need to do is to remember your promise as you have today."
The Fist King confirmed with himself again. "You know who I really am, and you do not need to treat me like a human being. I am just a piece of sophisticated magical equipment, a cold puppet, and a fully-wound machine."
…
Gao Kangda and his crew came.
They had performed full maintenance on "Great Mountain".
Very fortunately, the ancient mining starship that could be dated back to hundreds of years ago was designed to work in the most perilous asteroids and stone belts in the first place. Having taken consideration of the possibilities of cosmic storms and meteoroid hits, the shell and the internal structure of the starship were produced in the toughest, sturdiest, and most robust way. It boasted a high ability of survival and could persist in flight under a damage level of 50%.
As long as the shell was more or less mended with temporary patches, and enough fuel was injected, the mining starship would be able to soar into the sky, get rid of the gravity of the planet, and even p
erform space jumps through the four-dimensional space, which, of course, would still be highly risky.
Under the introductions of the obstreperous "fellow Cultivators" of the underground branch of Starlight, and seeing the enormous crater left on the ground after "Great Mountain" was plucked, Gao Kangda and his companions finally realized how they were saved.
The pictures where Li Yao dominated the battles in space invincibly in his crystal suit and his Colossus were witnessed by them with their own eyes. The hearts of many of them almost exploded because of Li Yao's spectacular performance.
Plucking such a behemothic armed mining starship from the ground with only the technique of "remote manipulate" was so marvelous a method that they couldn't have been more stunned.
It was beyond any doubt that the halo of "the Cultivator who has been lost for a thousand years" had been stuck to Li Yao's head tightly. There was no way that he could get rid of it at all now.
Chapter 2123: New Way Out! |
"Senior!"
Gao Kangda, Zuo Jingyun, and other resistance warriors of Starlight greeted and bowed at Li Yao at the same time.
Their eyes that were filled with both reverence and admiration made goosebumps appear all over his body.
"Don't! Don't call me a senior. I am just your 'fellow Cultivator'!"
Li Yao was the worst at dealing with awkward situations like this. However, so many Cultivators of Starlight were looking at him earnestly. It seemed inappropriate to be silent. After pondering for a moment, he said frankly, "Captain Gao, and all the fellow Cultivators here, you must've heard the process of the whole thing from the fellow Cultivators of the underground branch, haven't you? Right now, we are still in the middle of the emergency and have to fight a bloody way out while seizing every second. There's no time for small talk, so I'll go straight to the topic!
"I am not the Cultivator who has been lost for a thousand years. It is perhaps always a very wonderful tale. Whatever you may think in your mind, this is the truth. Even if I lie to you and say some ambiguous things, the day will come eventually that I am exposed. We will all be awkward by then. So, it is better to point everything out right now."
"Well—"
Zuo Jingyun and Gao Kangda looked at each other, more or less disappointed at Li Yao's outspoken denial.
"I understand that, for the weak resistance groups like 'Starlight' to struggle in desperation, you have to encourage yourselves with some groundless hope in many cases. That is perhaps how the tale of the Cultivator who has been lost for a thousand years originated, right?"
Having no time to bother with everyone's disappointment, Li Yao simply went on solemnly, "But it is impossible to defeat the Imperium of True Human Beings and save your family and homeland purely with groundless tales!
"Besides, while I am not 'the Cultivator who has been lost for a thousand years', I am definitely an authentic, common Cultivator. You have all seen my strength with your own eyes. Such an ultimate weapon like 'Colossus' is not to be produced, maintained, and used by a single individual either!
"You should know the significance of the arrival of a Colossus that belongs to the Cultivators, right?"
Gao Kangda, as a resistance warrior who had traveled far and wide for more than twenty years, and with his profound understanding about the industrial system based on his working experience in the mining group, immediately realized what he was talking about. He asked in excitement, "Senior, where are you from exactly? Is there another 'Starlight', one that is more ancient, powerful, and authentic, in the depths of the universe?"
Li Yao smiled and said, "I know that you are not the Starlight that originated from the Martial Meritocrats Sector at the beginning but was only organized decades ago by some resisters who had enough of suppression and exploitation. But in my eyes, you have done an excellent job and totally deserve to be called the real Starlight.
"No. The universe is a vast place. There are more Cultivators than you think. I am not from Starlight but a force a hundred times more powerful, where there are at least hundreds of Cultivators whose combat abilities are on par with or slightly lower than mine!
"Shouldn't such a piece of news be a better boost for your morale than 'the Cultivator who has been lost for a thousand years'?"
Li Yao slightly bragged about the Star Glory Federation here.
However, if "slightly worse than" could be defined as the level secondary to the Divinity Transformation Stage, which was the Nascent Soul Stage, it was possible to make up a team of a thousand Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators taking the eight worlds of the federation as well as the two "special districts", namely Firefly and Boneyard, into account.
Together with the Colossi of the Black Wind Fleet that had been captured, the number of the Colossi in the federation nationwide was close to a hundred. Almost every battle-type Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator had the opportunity to receive training with the Colossi.
If the Imperium of True Human Beings was not regarded as a united whole, the Star Glory Federation was not significantly worse than any force within the territory of the Imperium, including the four "Kurfürst" families.
Therefore, although Li Yao was bragging, he certainly had enough confidence to do so!
"There are a hundred people who are as strong as you!"
Gao Kangda, Zuo Jingyun, and the rest of them were all shocked. They stammered, "Is… Is it true?"
"There's no need for me to lie to you. If I were to deceive you, I could have followed your preconception and admitted that I was 'the Cultivator who has been lost for a thousand years'."
Li Yao said solemnly, "All in all, I hope you can understand two things, fellow Cultivators.
"First of all, your resistance is definitely not meaningless. Like the flames ignited in a dark night, however feeble and flickering it is, there is always a chance for it to illuminate the entire Imperium! Therefore, I am very happy to see that 'Starlight' exists for real. I also hope that the fellow Cultivators here will fight side by side through bloody battles until the flames that we ignited illuminate every planet!
"Secondly, there is still hope. I believe that drastic changes will happen to the Imperium of True Human Beings before long. As long as you persist for a while in the universe, you will certainly witness the arrival of the changes. By then, everything will be different from right now, and there will be a great room for the survival of Starlight!
"So, don't be frustrated or desperate, and just live on stubbornly. Tell everybody everything that happened to the Martial Meritocrats Sector, or the Land of Sins. Another day of your survival will mean another triumph for us!"
Gao Kangda and Zuo Jingyun looked at each other and said gravely, "Are you saying that the force you are at will surface eventually and create more miracles like what happened this time?"
Li Yao smiled. "As you have put it yourself, it is a 'miracle', and miracles do not happen on a daily basis. However… you are not wrong. We will definitely surface and raise the banner of 'Cultivators' openly at the center of the cosmos!"
Gao Kangda nodded his head thoughtfully.
Just like Zuo Jingyun and all the other crew members, he was eager to figure out everything.
But as a member of Starlight, he had seen too many betrayals and defections and understood the cruelty of the interrogational methods of the Imperium. Naturally, he knew very clearly that he should not learn what he was not supposed to learn.
"Got it."
Gao Kangda said solemnly, "The main body of 'Great Mountain', our armed mining starship, is fine. Now, my brothers are seizing every second to fix the shell. By estimation, the ability of space voyages will be recovered within one night at most. I will bring all the fellow Cultivators out of here safe and sound!"
"Excellent!"
Li Yao took a long breath in relief. Then he asked, "If you can break out of the siege, do you have a destination?"
"Well…"
Gao Kangda hesitated and said, "We had a few secret bureaus before. However,
judging from the operation, our organization had been so deeply infiltrated that it was no better than a sieve. I don't think that the few 'secret bureaus' will be safe. We'll be walking into a trap if we go there.
"If left with no choice, we have to wander in space for a while and make a living by robbing the carriers of the Imperium."
"Robbing the carriers of the Imperium, like…'space pirates'?"
Li Yao thought of something and asked, "Captain Gao, you are from the space. I believe you must've been quite informed when you dealt with the army of the Imperium, didn't you? How much do you know about the space pirate groups in the Imperium?"
Gao Kangda was slightly dazed. Then he replied, "In our most difficult times, we sometimes did robberies and other things that we were not particularly proud of. However, we were different from the scoundrels who had no boundaries. Our targets were the starships from the noble families of the Imperium, which were shipping goods for the nobles and the warlords, and we never disturbed civilians. Therefore, we lived in peace with the traditional space pirates, each minding our own business. The best we knew were their names and active areas."
"Then—"
Li Yao asked, "Have you ever heard of a space pirate named 'Boss Bai', or a force named 'Big Bai Space Pirate Gang'?"
"Boss Bai…"
Gao Kangda thought hard for a moment, before he nodded his head affirmatively. "Yes, I have. He only started the business in recent years, but he did quite a few great jobs when he began his career. He is a notorious bandit who has risen to fame in the circle of the space pirates! Our organization never had any encounter with him. But we heard the news about him every once in a while and knew that he was a cunning, cruel, and most brutal man. The carrier fleets of the four Kurfürst families, the arsenals of the fleets of the Imperium, or other space pirate groups—he never lacked the courage to rob any of them, and he never failed any job!
"After all, the Imperium is too large. Boss Bai's group of space pirates seem to be active in the few Sectors in the fourth quadrant of the Imperium and have nothing to do with us at all. Why did you mention him all of a sudden?"