by <unknown>
"What?!"
Li Yao was stunned. "How did it happen? Isn't Yun Xuefeng overestimating himself?"
"Hehe, those arrogant nobles always overestimate themselves. They believe that the whole universe is born for them and that everybody must spin around them like satellites around a star."
Boss Bai snorted heavily and said, "Before Lei Chenghu showed up, Yun Xuefeng had gathered five Adamantine Super Arsenal Warships as well as almost ten thousand main warships. The situation on the battlefield couldn't have looked better. The warlords, local magnates, and even experts of the other three families pledged loyalty to him yet again. The victory seemed right up ahead. He was so confident of himself that he really thought that he was a rarely-seen genius and a legendary 'general'!
"However, Lei Chenghu's arrival shattered all his fantasies. The victory that was more and more tipped to him was pulled back by Lei Chenghu. The cooked duck was about to fly away. How could Yun Xuefeng not be infuriated?
"Also, he and Lei Chenghu were known as the 'two pearls of the expedition army'. There were conflicts between them in the first place. Lei Chenghu did not necessarily consider him to be a big deal, but his jealousy for Lei Chenghu was deep to the bones. He had been thinking to defeat Lei Chenghu in a head-on clash on the battlefield to defend his so-called dignity. Now that a great opportunity was presented to him, how could he miss it?
"Furthermore, he had no choice except to attack. After the Astounding Thunder Fleet jumped over and annihilated a branch fleet led by an Adamantine Super Arsenal Warship quickly, it sailed at Yue Xuefeng's fleet at a high speed. If Yun Xuefeng did not want to collide with Lei Chenghu, he had to back off for millions of kilometers to avoid Lei Chenghu's edge.
"You know the situation on the space battlefield very well too. Both parties were on the precipices of confidence. The forces of both parties were observing. Neither of them could back off easily. If either of them backed off, it might lead to a landslide crush with one moment of carelessness!"
Boss Bai told Li Yao that, after annihilating an Adamantine Super Arsenal Warship unstoppably, Lei Chenghu announced his arrival through public channels to all the starships on the enemy's side and his own that were scattered all over the space zone. He also issued a "Letter To The Soldiers Of The Imperium".
In the Letter To The Soldiers Of The Imperium, Lei Chenghu did not stress the disagreement between the reformists and the Kurfürst families or pursue accountability in the civil war. Instead, he included 99% of the soldiers engaged in the battle from the perspective of "a common soldier of the Imperium".
"A great enemy is still before us. The main force of the Covenant Alliance hasn't been destroyed yet and may attack the heartland of the Imperium anytime. In such a time of crisis, the Imperium of True Human Beings cannot afford a civil war!
"No eggs in a fallen nest will be intact. Whatever your stance is, if the Imperium is screwed, the interests and even everyone's life will be screwed!
"Whether you are loyal to the reformists, to the free coin, to the four Kurfürsten, or to nobody but the folks of your hometown, everybody fighting on this battlefield right now shares a common identity, which is that you are a soldier of the Imperium!
"A soldier of the Imperium should not fight another soldier of the Imperium. As the purest soldiers, we shouldn't be instigated or manipulated by any force. Our glorious blood should be shed in places that are more valuable, in the battlefields against the Covenant Alliance!
"Now, in the bleeding Seven Seas Space Zone, countless people used to fight by my side in the cold trenches in the frontline. They saved my lives or were saved by me too many times. Our blood has been melted together. We are life-and-death brothers. I'm unwilling to meet any of you with weapons!
"If you are willing to believe me, a common veteran of the Imperium, one more time, gather around me, and let's combine all the starships here and all the soldiers of the Imperium who are willing to fight for their country into a real army!
"The army will boast unparalleled strength and can achieve all goals. It will defend the great Imperium and win the ultimate glory as well as everything you want!"
It was the general content of the Letter To The Soldiers Of The Imperium.
Deterred by Lei Chenghu, at least half of the starships in the four families' coalition fleet were wavering and returning to a neutral stance again. Also, as time went by, more and more starships were turning neutral. The situation was less and less in Yun Xuefeng's favor.
Yue Xuefeng's fleet was closest to Lei Chenghu's Astounding Thunder Fleet. If he backed off, they might as well surrender directly.
Therefore, for the big picture and for personal reasons, Yue Xuefeng had no choice except to activate his troops and start a duel with Lei Chenghu!
"Yue Xuefeng has the greatest trump card, which is our fleet."
Boss Bai said, "Although I only set one third of the starships to public, allowing him to detect, he is already overjoyed. He asks me to detour to the back of the Astounding Thunder Fleet and ambush the enemy. I can only accept the command on the surface. I'm actually in a dilemma and waiting for the updates on your side. Should we fight Lei Chenghu?"
"Of course not. Lei Chenghu is a target that we can try to win over, if not the greatest opportunity for us to reverse our failure into a victory. I believe that I can persuade Lei Chenghu somehow. Wouldn't the Astounding Thunder Fleet and the Coalition Fleet of Pyromaniacs be invincible after they are joined together?"
Li Yao said, "However, I will need your assistance!"
Looking at Li Yao in the eyes, Boss Bai frowned. "For some reason, I have a feeling that I won't like what you are going to say next. However, why don't you tell me first what assistance you need?"
"It's very simple. First of all, you have to bite Lei Chenghu's bottom and tear apart the Astounding Thunder Fleet's formation, creating an opportunity for me to sneak in. That's certainly not a problem with Boss Bai's marvelous commanding skills, right?"
Li Yao went on, "Of course, you can make the battle look intense on the surface. It will be best if you and Lei Chenghu are dying with each other in other people's eyes. That way, more people will be fooled by our trap!
"However, since we are going to collaborate with them later, we cannot afford any real losses. So, it will appear rather intimidating and obstreperous, but no actual damage will be caused to the fleets of the two parties. I know that it is not going to be a problem for the legendary Boss Bai, right?"
Gloomily, Boss Bai gnashed his teeth. "Anything else?"
"Yes…"
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao snapped his fingers. "Right, can you deliver a message that only an experienced commander like Lei Chenghu can understand with your delicate starship operation techniques, giving him enormous military pressure and making him realize that he will be dead for sure if he doesn't cooperate with us? That way, it will be easier for me to reason with him!"
"Hehe."
Boss Bai said with a fake smile, "If that is all the help you need, why don't I…"
He hesitated and did not say anything for a long time. Li Yao couldn't help but ask, "Why don't you what?"
Boss Bai suddenly burst into a fury and snapped, "Why don't I give the fleet to you so that you can command it?"
Chapter 2585: Aim at Where the Barrages Are Most Intense! |
Li Yao was almost showered by Boss Bai's saliva although he was hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. Wiping his face, he grimaced and replied rather at ease, "Aya, I know that my requests are slightly outrageous. If it were another fleet commander, I wouldn't have proposed such shameless requests at all. But who are you? You are Boss Bai, and not just regular Boss Bai but the super Boss who has been strengthened by Yan Xinjian's remaining soul!
"Really, I have never admired anybody in my entire life, but you are the only starship commander that I appreciate and even worship. Boss Bai, I've been regarding you as my idol since more than a hundred years ago. Other people may be incapable of suc
h requests, but I'm sure you can accomplish them! You are an unparalleled expert who is going to rage in the four-dimension, five-dimension, six-dimension, and beyond. Now that you have been reborn, you are destined to challenge the limits and create miracles. Are a tiny Astounding Thunder Fleet and an insignificant Lei Chenghu really a big deal?"
Li Yao finished his speech without stopping and stared at Boss Bai full of expectations with his big, pitiful eyes wide open and his hands crossed.
"Well…"
Boss Bai was rather reluctant to refuse Li Yao's adulation. He hesitated and said, "What you said is not entirely unreasonable."
"That's right! It's a deal then!"
Li Yao jumped to his feet in excitement and transferred the data link between him and Boss Bai from the super crystal processor in the command center to his wrist crystal processor, before he stormed out of the room. "All in all, just hang in there for a while, Boss Bai. I'm going to the space battlefield as fast as possible!
"Right, since the Astounding Thunder Fleet has come to reinforce the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, they must've established data links between themselves and the garrison fleet of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors or at least shared the code of their identification system so that they would not accidentally hurt their allies, right?
"You can ask Xiaoming and Wenwen whether or not they can hack Lei Chenghu's fleet with the garrison fleet of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors as the platform if I ask Jin Yuyan to fully open the ports of the identification system to them. I'm not asking them to seize the commandership of the Astounding Thunder Fleet. As long as some information can be sent to you or that some of our starships can be marked as the Astounding Thunder Fleet's 'allies', it will be of great help for your operation, right?"
"Hey, hey!"
Boss Bai continued shouting on the light beam, but Li Yao had already run out of the building like a wind.
Because the communication channel had been transferred to the wrist crystal processor, the reception abilities were ten times weaker than before. The images and voices of the two parties were even more twisted. There were even several minutes when there was nothing but fuzziness and noise. Nothing could be seen or heard at all.
The Seven Seas Grand Market boasted an artificial atmosphere and tremendous metal materials after all. The interferences were rather severe. Only after Li Yao entered the space battlefield could stable communication be restored.
On his way to Jin Yuyan's command center, Li Yao saw countless pillars of light rising from the horizon like the pillars of a magnificent palace, supporting the artificial sky that had been smoked and burnt.
Many Exos even launched themselves to the sky only with the jetting of their crystal suits instead of boarding on a starship. After accelerating to the highest speed, they turned off their power units and marched towards the battlefield through inertia.
The warriors were so dense that they were like thousands of boats on a running river.
They were the last reserves that the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors had launched for the final battle.
While thinking, Li Yao rushed into the command center and met Jin Yuyan whose eyes were bloodshot.
According to Jin Yuyan, in the space battlefield, Lei Chenghu's "Letter To The Soldiers Of The Imperium" was as powerful as a piece of stellar magical equipment. 90% of the warlords' fleets and miscellaneous troops had stopped attacking. They were observing the situation in a neutral stance.
Yun Xuefeng's fleet and Lei Chenghu's fleet, the two enormous military groups which each boasted ten thousand main-force warships, were colliding like two furious beasts. The result of their collision would very likely decide the stance of 90% of the observers as well as the outcome of this war.
As for the starships of the Li family, the Song family, and the Dongfang family, after realizing that the Astounding Thunder Fleet had jumped to the Seven Seas Space Zone, they naturally could not sit on the fence anymore. They all rushed toward the coordinates where Yun Xuefeng and Lei Chenghu were confronting.
It was a pity that they had run too far in the battles in the previous days. Many of their main-force warships had escaped all the way to the edge of the Seven Seas Space Zone.
Also, their fleet was mixed with abundant starships of the warlords, the miscellaneous troops, and the Immortal Cultivators of other surnames. Those guys were not determined to fight in the first place. After Lei Chenghu's arrival and his declaration to "establish a powerful national army and realize the glory of soldiers", whatever left of their determination was entirely gone. They hesitated and slacked off from the orders issued by the four families. Sometimes, they even purposefully made some accidents in order to stay where they were.
The Immortal Cultivators of the Li family, the Song family, and the Dongfang family could barely do anything about those guys. They could not fight those guys, and their criticism mattered little. If they were too inconsiderate, they might even be pushing those guys to Lei Chenghu's side.
Therefore, they could only get rid of the troops of the warlords and the miscellaneous troops, and they could regather only with the forces of the four families.
As a result, a lot of time was wasted.
The garrison fleet and the hunting fleet of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, on the other hand, did not idle by. On one hand, they intensified the cyber interferences on all frequencies indiscriminately, sabotaging the enemy's "Flying Lightning Super Command Chain" without considering the cost to prevent the starships scattered at the edge of the Seven Seas Space Zone from regrouping. On the other hand, all the capable soldiers in the Seven Seas Grand Market were all deployed to stop the fleets of the Li family, the Song family, and the Dongfang family from reinforcing Yun Xuefeng's main force.
They were naturally no match for the four families.
However, as long as Lei Chenghu took down Yun Xuefeng, their "commander", before the arrival of the reinforcements of the four families, 90% of the warlords' troops and the miscellaneous troops would be inclined to the reformists' side. They would take the initiative of the battle.
"Listen to me, Director Jin—"
Li Yao was deep in thought as he stared at the red and blue light spots that were glittering on the holographic map of the space zone. He suddenly had an idea. "Whatever Lei Chenghu is really up to, he is an ally to the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors on the surface, right? It is perfectly normal for allies to send a few liaison officers to each other. Can you tell Lei Chenghu that you are going to send a liaison officer to his flagship?"
"It's very difficult."
Jin Yuyan shook his head and said, "In order to destroy the intruders' command chain as greatly as possible, we projected tremendous indiscriminate interferential magical equipment everywhere in the entire space battlefield. It is interfering with the enemy as well as us. Now, the communication between us and Lei Chenghu is very bad. Sending a liaison officer is absolutely meaningless.
"Besides, Lei Chenghu made it very clear a moment ago that whatever questions we had, we could discuss with him after he annihilated Yun Xuefeng's main force. I could feel that he was very indifferent and even slightly wary of us.
"It seems that he must know something, or he just doesn't like the greedy merchants no more than Wuying Qi does.
"Don't forget that the most serious economic crisis of the century in the Imperium a hundred years ago, caused by Black Wind Fleet's failure in the collapse of the defense line in the Black Wind Sector, had a lot to do with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors. If Lei Chenghu learns part of the inside information, it will not be unusual that he is highly vigilant of us!"
In his anxiety, Jin Yuyan lost control of his mouth and spoke part of the truth.
"Also, Yun Xuefeng's fleet and Lei Chenghu's fleet are already getting engaged."
He continued, "The tens of thousands of main warships of the two parties are about to collide with a thunderous momentum. It
will definitely cause a destructive vortex. How are you going to approach them? Isn't it too weird that a liaison officer is sent at such a moment?"
"It does make sense."
Li Yao had to seize every second and did not have any time for explanation. "Then, give me the fastest starship. I have to go to the space battlefield immediately!"
"Are you really going to take the risk?"
His eyes red, Jin Yuyan stared at Li Yao for a long time. "The fastest starships under my command have just set off to the battlefield with the last reserves to block the reinforcing fleets of the other three fleets. The only vehicles left are the cargo ships that are terribly slow. By the time you reach the battlefield, the fight between Lei Chenghu and Yun Xuefeng would have been concluded.
"However, if you are the only passenger, I have faster ways.
"We have a facility named 'tidal slingshot' on the No. 5 spaceport of the Seven Seas Grand Market. It is a super teleportation array that can launch objects of small masses directly into space. Those who are above the Nascent Soul Stage and who can resist the tearing force can be launched too.
"However, the precision of such a super teleportation array is very low. It is impossible to teleport you to a certain safe place accurately but will likely send you to the center of the most intense battlefield. Is there a problem?"
Li Yao immediately understood what Jin Yuyan meant.
The so-called "tidal slingshot" was a piece of teleportation magical equipment similar to the "Heaven's Artillery" in the Heaven's Origin Sector and the "Eye of Blood Demon" in the Blood Demon Sector.
Such a piece of massive teleportation magical equipment was mainly meant for middle and long-distance teleportation across Sectors. For example, Jin Tuyi had tried to teleport an army of demons to the capital of the federation through the Eye of Blood Demon.