by <unknown>
For a moment, the leaders of the Flying Rainbow Fleet were indeed overwhelmed.
Naturally, they did not know the drastic changes in the Blue Sky Market, or who their enemy was. They thought that Li Wuji had somehow lost his mind and decided to swallow them. It was anything but unusual for the four families' troops to swallow the miscellaneous troops from the edge of the Imperium.
However, after they calmed themselves down and scanned the exhaust flames on the opposite side, thereby determining the number and combat ability of the Big Bai Pirate Gang and the fleet of Cultivators, they were amused and more or less relieved.
It was too far-fetched.
Judging from the lackluster and messy exhaust flames, it was not hard to tell that the hostile starships were either of low levels or just been through a fierce battle. They were heavily damaged but not repaired yet, which significantly reduced their combat ability.
Such a small army had changed into such a ferocious battle formation, trying to surround them from all directions and swallow all of their starships? It was too far-fetched!
"Damn it. What is Li Wuji up to exactly? Does he think he can blatantly exploit the magnates from the edge of the Imperium because he is a marquess and a powerful person in the Li family?"
"We have pledged loyalty to the Council of Elders sincerely and have our own supporters in the Council of Elders. Li Wuji has chosen the wrong target!"
"Even if he is dissatisfied with us drafting civilians as soldiers, there is no need for a battle. Which family in the entire Imperium does not fight a war in such a way? Is he really trying to accuse us with such a lousy excuse and swallow us to increase his own strength?"
"Hehe. Those grand nobles are always like this. They think that they are the best and everything is theirs. But why?"
"Let's crush Li Wuji's fleet first and report the matter to the four families. A great war is coming. Let's see how he can be the 'Marquess Yongchun' after he makes such a horrible mistake!"
Thinking that they had seen through the weakness of Li Wuji and the siege, the leadership of the Flying Rainbow Fleet reached the consensus to move forward at full speed and rip the enemy's battle formation from the front.
By common sense, it was the absolutely correct strategy.
No matter whether the enemy was Li Wuji's fleet or the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors', their weakness was apparent. Whatever their purpose was, it would only fall out after their siege was shattered.
The Flying Rainbow Fleet that was moving at full speed did not have the time to stop and release the remote communication units or unfold the antennae that could be dozens of kilometers long, which meant that they could not send any signal to an external world lightyears away. Faced with a hostile army whose combat ability had been compromised and which was in a wrong battle formation, it was unnecessary for them to ask for help or send alarms.
Besides, the fierce firepower from the Big Bai Pirate Gang and the Cultivators' fleet had exploded around the Flying Rainbow Fleet. The first round of fire was not very destructive, but the surging spiritual waves and space ripples it spread out prevented the Flying Rainbow Fleet from jumping and blocked their super-remote communication functions.
"They are scared that we may run away?"
The leaders of the Flying Rainbow Fleet were amused. "Those great nobles truly have infinite confidence. They think that they can trap us with such a thin siege.
"Forward! Forward! Forward! Pierce out from the enemy's front that is the weakest spot. It should be them who are running!"
The two fleets, one as round as a shield and the other as sharp as a dagger, approached each other rapidly. The most dazzling spears of light protruded from their front ends, and a short but brutal space battle was about to begin!
…
"Do you see it? Have you seen it?"
On the ragged carrier, faced with the starry light that was more and more brilliant, Li Yao danced in wild joy. "What did I say? Check it out! Just like what I said—even a man as formidable as Boss Bai has to show some respect for Vulture Li Yao!
"The Flying Rainbow Fleet has been stalled by Boss Bai. Those idiots are not even trying to escape. Haha. They are asking to be killed!
"Boss Bai has released the most intense interferential firepower at the earliest chance, stopping the Flying Rainbow Fleet from jumping away or sending out distress calls. It seems that we are truly appreciative of each other, and he understood the profound content hidden in 'Boss Bai, help' easily!
"The two parties are engaged. The Flying Rainbow Fleet has been attracted tightly without any hope of getting away. Now, it's our showtime to return what we have suffered in the past days to those scumbags!"
Li Yao licked his lips, which were blistering because of his burning fighting will, with a wildest and exhilarant smile.
"But…"
Li Jialing said next to him hesitatingly, "Why do I feel that the violent fire from the Big Bai Pirate Gang is aimed at us?"
"Huh?"
Li Yao's pupils constricted violently. Deep inside his eyes, the brilliant barrage from the dozens of arsenal warships of the Big Bai Pirate Gang on his opposite side expanded to the maximum in only one moment, almost setting his eyeballs on fire.
As it turned out, thousands of pillars of light were rushing at the ragged carrier Li Yao was in straightforwardly.
Behind the pillars of light were the magnetic tides that were slower, and behind the magnetic tides were the crystal bombs that were even slower. It seemed that Boss Bai was going to kill him in the bombardment!
Li Yao's back was soaked in a cold sweat. "Seriously?"
The overwhelming barrage almost drowned Li Yao's ragged carrier, but it brushed past him with an error of several kilometers or even several hundred meters, dispersing and shooting at the pursuers of the Flying Rainbow Fleet behind him, blowing them into a mess.
In a space battle, a distance of several kilometers was really shorter than the width of a hair. The barrage demonstrated Boss Bai's incredible control of firepower. But still, it seemed unnecessary to make the barrage so close to Li Yao's starship.
"Well…"
Li Jialing was silent for a while. "I don't know if it is my illusion, but why do I feel that Boss Bai seems very dissatisfied about us and does not welcome us, and he was venting his fury through a barrage just now?
"Right, I was right. He does not know that Sister Long, Xiaoming, Wenwen, and I are here. So, he is only dissatisfied with and does not welcome Brother Yao, right?"
"You… You must be kidding."
Li Yao swallowed hard and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. "Boss Bai and I are the closest friends. This is just the way space pirates greet each other. The more intimidating a brother is, the fiercer barrage you will use to welcome him. That was just salvo! You must know what salvo is, don't you?"
"Is that so?"
Li Jialing narrowed his eyes in great suspicion. "But when the overwhelming barrage almost drowned us a moment ago, Brother Yao obviously shrank your neck and was sweating hard with a gloomy face. Was it really a normal reaction when you were faced with a salvo?"
Li Yao: "… We are in the middle of an emergency. Let's seize every second instead of talking about the irrelevant stuff. Now, it's time for us to make a grand entrance with the most spectacular sound and visual effects! Long Yangjun, are you ready?"
"I'm always ready."
Long Yangjun, who had been leaning against the wall with her eyebrows furrowed, as if she were trying to hold something back, said casually, "But regarding the current situation, in order not to let any remnant of the Flying Rainbow Fleet run loose, I suddenly have a new idea. Why don't we split apart?"
"Split apart?"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. "How are we going to split?"
"I, Li Jialing, Xiaoming, and Wenwen will fight on one side."
Long Yangjun said, "And you will fight on the other side. In such a way, you will have nobody to hinder you when you are on a killing spree, and you
r unparalleled, terrifying combat ability can be fully unleashed."
"Huh?"
Li Yao blinked. "Is that so?"
"Yes, of course."
Long Yangjun nodded her head. "And I believe Li Jialing, Xiaoming, and Wenwen all agree with such a plan."
Chapter 2475: Countless Stars, Countless Heroes! |
"Is that so?"
Li Yao waved his hands randomly. "It doesn't matter now. Let's just march out of here. My bloodthirsty saber has been starved for a long time!"
Against the aftermath of the barrage, he rushed to the back cabin.
The carrier was not in a complicated structure. After leaving the bridge and passing a long pathway, Li Yao reached the large warehouse, which was supposed to store goods.
But at this moment, it was the stink of fear that flowed out of the warehouse when Li Yao pushed the thick alloy gate. The warehouse was fully loaded with the civilians who were in bloody, ragged clothes, with horror and sorrow on their faces. It was like an iron can crammed with rotten meat.
Xiaoming and Wenwen were trying to comfort the people who had luckily survived death, but the two of them were only kids no more than ten on the surface. How could they be persuasive with their cute cheeks and their young voices?
The moment they saw Li Yao, everybody was like someone being drowned who saw a lifebuoy. Their eyes gleaming with hope, they extended their hands at Li Yao.
"Master Li, the fire outside is so fierce. What happened? Did the pursuers catch up?"
"Please help us, Master Li. We really don't want to fight. We haven't received any military training and do not know how to fight at all!"
"Master Li, a lot of our families are still imprisoned in the starships of the Flying Rainbow Fleet. Are they still fine? They…"
The adults, the seniors, the children, the women, the sick, and the tortured were all weeping in misery and devastation.
"Dad…"
Xiaoming and Wenwen were somewhat at a loss too. Looking back at Li Yao, they frowned, as if they did not understand why the war in the human world had to be fought in such an absurd and shameless way.
Li Yao took a deep, deep breath to hold back his fury, particularly when he saw that some children who were no more than ten years old had been captured by the Immortal Cultivators to be sent to the battlefield.
Every time he saw such a scene, he felt that all the tranquilization skills that he had practiced in the past hundred years were all useless, and he seemed to be back to the young man who did whatever he wanted to do in the past, blowing the scum into real "scum" without caring about anything!
"As I said yesterday, I am not a master. I am absolutely different from those 'masters' of the Imperium."
Li Yao said slowly, "You may call me 'Ah Yao' or 'Brother Yao'. The only master of anyone can only be themselves.
"The barrages in the next second may be a bit fierce. While our carrier probably won't be hit, the spiritual waves may affect our power units and make the carrier shake violently. So, I'm here to remind you to enshroud yourselves and fix yourselves to the wall with the protective gels. Remember, do not expose any body part to the air, particularly not the head. It will be bad if you hit your head and bleed!
"As for the rest, I'm going to take care of it!
"I assure you as a Cultivator that you will all be fine. Your families that have been captured by the Immortal Cultivators will be fine too. I will rescue all of them and make the animals who have tarnished the dignity of the strong, the honor of soldiers, and the boundaries of mankind pay a price a hundred times greater!"
For a moment, golden and bloody lights were flying out of Li Yao's eyes at the same time!
"Brother Li Yao…"
Astounded by Li Yao's daunting vibe, everybody fell silent.
But a little girl with a headful of messy hair and a pale face stepped forward and said, biting her lips, "Grandma said that you are the most, most, most awesome hero, so you can certainly drive the bad guys away and save my mom. Is that so? I miss my mom. I want my mom…"
The little girl began to sob.
A lot of other children widened their eyes and looked at Li Yao in expectation. Just like the little girl, they were forced to be separated from their parents.
It was in such a way that the Flying Rainbow Fleet coerced the civilians to become moths that would dart at the fire "willingly". The Immortal Cultivators had captured the underage children and locked them on an independent starship, threatening their parents that if they did not charge in the front, the starship that was loaded with their children would.
In such a way, the troop of cannon fodder would have "high morale". The civilians whose children had been held hostages would go to die obediently without a gun pointed to their heads.
Before finding Boss Bai, Li Yao was too outnumbered to rescue everyone. Naturally, he got the carrier where the children were locked away first. So, there were particularly plenty of children on board.
It was rather weird that, although Li Yao had never been fond of children in the beginning, especially not the mischievous and unpredictable ones, after he discovered that he became a father and had two super mischievous and super unpredictable children that were Xiaoming and Wenwen, he somehow found the other children much more agreeable than before, and he often felt the urge of sacrificing everything to protect and fight for them.
"Little Lingdang…"
Li Yao fell on one of his knees and tried to hold back his killing intent and put on a kindly expression while raising his lips that were still cramping because of fury.
Because the girl had the same name as Ding Lingdang, she left a particularly deep impression on Li Yao. Last night, he had chatted with the girl and comforted her for a long time before she finally fell asleep.
It was also the reason why "Little Lingdang" had the courage to speak to him when he looked all aggressive and murderous.
"Didn't Brother Li Yao tell you a lot of stories about the heroes in the universe yesterday?"
Li Yao held Little Lingdang's shoulders and delivered a stream of tranquilizing spiritual energy, warming up Little Lingdang's body like a warm flow. "About the most, most, most awesome hero, I'm certainly not one. Even if I am a hero, I'm just the most, most, most small and insignificant one. Here, just as small as this finger."
Li Yao shook his little finger with a rather comical look on his face, making the worried little girl giggle. A lot of other children behind her laughed too.
Li Yao laughed at himself. Coughing for a moment, he said, "Let me tell you, there are a lot of superheroes who are way more awesome than me, like Boss Bai or the Fist King. They are also good guys with a strong sense of justice and integrity, and they like to help the people in need best!
"Naturally, it is not enough to save your parents or to terminate this war with only my strength, but together with the strengths of those superheroes and good guys, it will be more or less enough.
"Listen. Can you hear the thunderous noises when the spiritual waves are blowing at the shell of our starship? That's the heroes like Boss Bai and the Fist King who have received Brother Yao's cry for help, learned what happened here, and therefore come to save you and your parents without caring about anything!"
"So…"
Little Lingdang was moved. In a trance, she mumbled, "Brother Yao didn't lie to us. There are real heroes. There are so many of them!"
"That's right."
Li Yao nodded his head heavily and glanced around at all the little kids. "Trust Brother Li Yao. No matter how dark the world is in your eyes, there is light, there is justice, there are heroes, and there will forever be in the future!
"There are as many stars in the sky as there are heroes in the universe. Sometimes, the light of the stars is shadowed by the dark clouds, but in the end…
"The dark clouds will be ripped apart by us!"
"Ah…"
Li Yao's words made all the little kids forget the dread of the bombardment and the pain of being se
parated from their families for a moment. In their trance, they seemed to have entered a new world, one where the clouds were torn into pieces, the darkness faded away, and the heroes shined as brilliantly as stars!
"So, Little Lingdang, stop thinking, and just go to the jelly gel with your friends for a nice sleep."
Li Yao smiled. "When you wake up, your parents will be right before you."
"Okay!"
Little Lingdang nodded her head heavily. "I believe in Brother Li Yao. Thank you, Brother Li Yao. Brother Li Yao is the best!"
"Hehe, you don't need to thank me. It's mainly Boss Bai that you need to thank."
Scratching his messy hair, Li Yao said, "Right, you haven't forgotten what I taught you yesterday, about what you should do after we meet Boss Bai, have you?"
"Of course not, Brother Li Yao said that Boss Bai is a kind and lovely grandpa who loves children best."
Little Lingdang said innocently, "So, after the bad guys are kicked away, Brother Li Yao will bring us to meet Boss Bai. The moment we see him, we will run to him and cling to his thigh and call him 'Grandpa Bai' in the sweetest voice. Then, he will be greatly touched. When he is touched, he will offer a lot of resources to us, or even give us some starships for us to live in with our mom, dad, grandfather, and grandmother temporarily. We will be able to hide somewhere unknown and rebuild our home after the war is over!"
"Exactly, Brother Li Yao has entrusted the matter to you, Little Lingdang. Remember to practice more with your friends."
Rubbing the little girl's head, Li Yao said, "Remember, you must cling to his thigh tightly and do not let him go. Also, you must learn the rhetoric that I taught you by your heart, well, namely the things about how he is a superhero and how he is a man of integrity and compassion, so that you can speak them aloud in public occasions when there are a lot of people. Trust me. Brother Yao is such a good man. How can I possibly deceive you? Boss Bai will certainly be moved to tears by what you do, and then he will satisfy all your wishes whatever they are!"
"Okay!"
All the children nodded their heads solemnly, eager to carry out their task.