by <unknown>
However, when he made the declaration with a voice that was not very loud but particularly touching, the great tides that he raised in Li Yao's heart were as intimidating as the suffocating auras that Li Yao had felt when he confronted Lu Zui, Zhou Hengdao, Xiao Xuance, Bai Xinghe, and Elder Nether Spring!
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao stood at attention and solemnly said, "Sir Speaker, Team Red Lotus has been activated and is ready for battle. What's our mission?"
"Excellent!"
Every wrinkle on Cui Lingfeng's face seemed to have turned into a dagger. He quickly said, "We have reached the most perilous moment. The parliament is as badly compromised by the Immortal Cultivators as the bridge. Neither side looks promising. It is not difficult to figure out that Cheng Xuansu, as the commander of the secret police, could only control the Internal Affairs Division at best. She certainly couldn't have controlled the whole of Firefly or influenced the bridge. To play a greater role in the war between the federation and the Imperium, the bridge is certainly the key!
"Therefore, Cheng Xuansu cannot be the leader of this rebellion.
"Chief Mate Ding Zhengyang, the former general commander of the deck floor, accused Captain Tang Dingyuan with detailed evidence. I studied the evidence carefully. A lot of information he provided could only have been known by insiders. It was also why I did not doubt him at all and arrested Captain Tang immediately! Right now, he has assumed Captain Tang's post according to the regulations and temporarily gained full control over Firefly!
"So, leaving Lu Qingchen of the CIFA's role in the rebellion aside, the No. 1 person on the Immortal Cultivators inside Firefly is definitely Ding Zhengyang!"
While speaking, Cui Lingfeng turned on his mini crystal processor and triggered almost a hundred light beams in a row.
As the Speaker, he had the highest clearance on the starship, which allowed him to retrieve most of the surveillance pictures from most places.
According to the Immortal Cultivators' plan, he should have been killed directly. Therefore, his clearances had not been canceled. Also, it was difficult for Ding Zhengyang and Cheng Xuansu alone to remove the Speaker's permissions to manage the starship.
Pictures of shouting, uneasy crowds, and rising fire and smoke, shot by mini crystal processors of the people, occupied every light beam.
Every critical node of Firefly contained large-scale riots. Countless angry people had crammed into the narrow cabins and pathways, demanding that Captain Tang be released immediately. They were shoving the police officers who were maintaining order. The two parties were at loggerheads.
At such a time, as soon as a few malicious people in the crowd or among the police opened fire at the other side, a great fight would definitely be caused!
"Although Ding Zhengyang is the acting captain, he couldn't have developed a lot of Immortal Cultivators in secret!"
Considering the issue for a moment, Cui Lingfeng said, "The participants of the 'Immortality Orientation' must be very few. Only those who passed the meticulous vetting arranged by Ding Zhengyang, Cheng Xuansu, and their lot would be brainwashed by them. It is impossible for them to kill everyone who joined the 'Immortality Orientations' but was reluctant to turn into an Immortal Cultivator! There couldn't be many 'accidents', which would attract unnecessary attention!
"It means that the Immortal Cultivators only control some critical posts on the starship. For most people, even if they are involved in the insurgency, they are simply being fooled, and they do not know exactly what they are doing!
"Let me take a guess. Ding Zhengyang and Cheng Xuansu's arrangement is probably to have a troop that pretends to be the Immortal Cultivators break into the prison. On one hand, they can kill me along the way. On the other hand, it will be undeniable proof that Tang Dingyuan is an 'Immortal Cultivator'. As a result, both the technical staff who are loyal to Tang Dingyuan and the MPs who are loyal to me will suffer a heavy blow. Then, if Ding Zhengyang and Cheng Xuansu join hands, it will be more than simple for them to suppress those on Firefly who disobey them!
"Cheng Xuansu is dead, but Ding Zhengyang still holds the bridge. If he is grasped by desperation, I don't think that there's anything he won't do!
"Therefore, we have two top priorities now. Firstly, we must let everyone know that the Speaker is still alive. Secondly, we must get Ding Zhengyang under control before he goes crazy!
"Ding Zhengyang can't die. He must know a lot about the Immortal Cultivators, including the fact that the Black Wind is already here and is lurking in the darkness preparing to launch a fatal strike on the Star Glory Federation. It does not sound like a pure bluff. We have to exploit every piece of intelligence in his head!"
Li Yao nodded. "What do we do now? Go rescue Captain Tang Dingyuan first?"
"No!" Cui Lingfeng shook his head. "Rescuing Captain Tang alone will be useless. He has been smeared by Ding Zhengyang as an 'Immortal Cultivator'. In such chaos, it is practically impossible for him to prove his innocence or control the bridge.
"Moreover, now that Ding Zhengyang has decided to wager everything on this, he must've transferred Captain Tang. It will be impossible for us to locate him for now.
"Rest assured. Captain Tang knows a lot of core secrets about Firefly. Ding Zhengyang cannot kill him immediately if he wants to completely control the starship. His life must be secure for now.
"Team Red Lotus only has thirteen warriors. You are too few in number and must not be divided. Therefore, instead of rescuing Captain Tang, you might as well save the other prisoners who have been captured by Ding Zhengyang and Cheng Xuansu!"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. Then, his eyes immediately glittered. "Exactly. We can't tell the Cultivators from the Immortal Cultivators. But Ding Zhengyang and Cheng Xuansu know it clearly. Those who are imprisoned by them must be innocent!"
Cui Lingfeng disconnected his mini crystal processor from the Spiritual Nexus. Retrieving a few maps that were stored on the chip, he explained, "We locked and interrogated Captain Tang and the rest of the prisoners separately. Up until this morning, besides Captain Tang, 122 people had been arrested in secret. Most of them are the leaders of the key posts on Firefly, influential scholars, and social activists. They are all locked here, in Black Stone Jail, which was modified from 'Black Stone', a heavy carrier designed to transport dangerous products!
"I am going to transmit a password of the highest permission right now. You will distribute the password to the other members of Team Red Lotus so that they will have some of the permissions on the starship and set the prisoners free in the Black Stone Jail!
"Any method is allowed. If the jail does not cooperate, they are permitted to take all measures necessary!
"Tell them that on Firefly right now, they have the greatest power only secondary to the Speaker's!
"After everyone is saved, they will escort the prisoners back to their previous posts and ask them to soothe the chaos on Firefly as fast as possible. Should your team encounter any troops on their way, Team Red Lotus will take over commander with the password as the order!
"Captain Lin, are your men capable of such a mission?"
Li Yao licked his lips and smiled. "No problem at all, but it never occurred to me that the Speaker boasts such great power. You can essentially turn Firefly upside down any minute!"
"Exactly." Cui Lingfeng put on a creepy smile. "For a thousand years, the 'good Cultivators', led by the captain, have been trying to reduce the power of the Speaker and the parliament. We conceded in many respects, but when it comes to the boundary, the 'bad Cultivators' certainly will not give in!"
Li Yao nodded. "It shouldn't be difficult to break the Black Stone Jail. After all, the guards of the jail can't all be Immortal Cultivators. Only some of their leaders might be. The 'decapitation strategy' should resolve the problem perfectly.
"But my communication magical equipment hasn't been paved to this area yet. The signal is still intermittent right now. It is difficult for me to reach out to my teammates."
"It doesn't matter!" Cui Lingfeng said resolutely. "Just use the civil Spiritual Nexus!"
"The public network?" Li Yao was slightly dazed. "Then, won't we be discovered by the enemy easily?"
Cui Lingfeng sneered and declared, "Firstly, with the riots on Firefly right now, the enemy won't have time to identity you from the messy signals on the Spiritual Nexus. Secondly, with everything coming to this point, are we scared of being discovered?"
Li Yao took a deep breath and thought the whole thing through. Yes, it was true!
Team Red Lotus had been activated. It was Ding Zhengyang and the other Immortal Cultivators who should be scared!
Glancing at him, Cui Lingfeng knew that those 'natives of the Red Lotus Sector' certainly had their own secrets that they needed to discuss. Therefore, he simply walked away considerately and collected the crystal processors of the five Immortal Cultivators, checking if there was any unexpected evidence.
Li Yao walked to a corner and connected Long Yangjun and the rest of them through the public network. Noises and chaos were obvious in the background.
"What's the situation on your side?" Li Yao asked.
"You're finally in contact," Long Yangjun replied. "What happened to you? You were silent for such a long time! We have already snuck into Firefly. However, the plan has not gone so well. There seems to be some sort of change on the starship. Infuriated people and highly-alert policemen and soldiers are everywhere. The defense is ten times higher than before! Also, we have been keeping a low file and concealing our capabilities. It is barely possible to move forward!"
"Yes. Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, we were worried about your safety," Ba Xiaoyu added. "We were afraid that we would bring new trouble to you if we cause any fuss here. Also, we kept in mind your repeated reminders that we must be calm, restrained, and low-key. We did not dare act freely. We're almost suffocated now!"
"Well, in fact, the outsider world is much more complicated than the world we were in," Li Yao said. "It doesn't matter if we act according to the changes when carrying out a mission, and we don't necessarily need to keep a low profile…"
"… What do you mean?"
"Cough, cough. As a matter of fact, I was with Speaker Cui Lingfeng of the Star Ocean Republic just now. He has proved to not be a bad man at all, nothing like what we mistook him to be."
"Get to the point!" Long Yangjun exclaimed.
"The point is, I revealed the capabilities that are far beyond the beginning level of the Nascent Soul Stage in front of Speaker Cui. At the most dangerous moment, I killed four Immortal Cultivators including Cheng Xuansu, the head of the secret police, and saved the Speaker's life. Then, Speaker Cui, admiring my talents, appointed me as his new trusted subordinate, his special representative, and the captain of the Speaker's secret armed force 'Team Red Lotus'. He also said that as soon as the riot of the Immortal Cultivators is settled, the identity of the 'natives of the Red Lotus Sector' will be taken care of by him. Well. That's about everything. So, there's no need to worry now. Our greatest headache has been resolved by me."
"…" Long Yangjun.
"…" Wu Suiyun, Wu Suiyun.
"…" Han Baling, Qi Zhongdao, Yan Liren, and the rest.
"Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture," Ba Xiaoyu said, "I have a lot of complicated feelings hearing what you said. Can I express my feelings with some local slang that I picked up on the Spiritual Nexus?"
"Oh? You can say whatever you want, Fellow Cultivator Ba."
"Why did you go out in secret to show off when we agreed to keep a low profile together?"
Chapter 1623: Trolling! |
Li Yao coughed and pretended that he did not hear what Ba Xiaoyu said. Explaining the whole event from beginning to end quickly, he finally concluded, "Our purpose is to get an appropriate identity. Then, it is obviously better to cooperate with Speaker Cui than with Captain Tang.
"First of all, he is the legitimate Speaker of the Star Ocean Republic and the well-deserved No. 1 person on board. Theoretically speaking, even Captain Tang has to obey his commands. It is impossible for us to completely bypass him if he hamstrings us, but if he claims that such a secret 'Team Red Lotus' exists, Captain Tang can barely prove that it is false.
"Secondly, Speaker Cui does not have any trusted subordinate right now, but Captain Tang has at least absolutely reliable subordinates who are still in prison. Therefore, even if Speaker Cui is somewhat suspicious about our identity, he will have to cooperate with us sincerely under such a situation until he establishes a new group of subordinates that are in balance with Captain Tang again. But it won't be easy!
"We mean no harm for him or Firefly; we only want to enter the Star Glory Federation with them as an intermediary. There is no fundamental conflict of interest. I believe that our cooperation will be pleasant.
"Thirdly, unlike Captain Tang, Speaker Cui is not entirely in favor of the Star Glory Federation. Even if he is truly willing to let go of his insistence on the Star Ocean Republic, he will still need to run a deep, sweeping investigation on the Star Glory Federation. As long as he is willing to concede in that regard, with the many precious techniques and facilities on Firefly as the leverage, I believe that the Star Glory Federation will certainly open the door and allow his 'special representatives', namely us, to enter the core departments of the federation for observation, which is the whole purpose of our trip!
"Last but not least, I am truly not a snobbish man who likes showing off, but I was already forced to blow out the strength of at least the middle level of the Nascent Soul Stage in front of Speaker Cui in the perilous moment just now. What else can we do if we don't cooperate with him? It's not like we can simply kill him and keep his mouth shut, right?
"Fellow Cultivators, just think about it carefully. Does it make sense?"
There was a brief silence in the communication channel. Then, Meng Chixin's low voice came over. "Although we made the step by accident, based on Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture's analysis just now, it is indeed more beneficial to work for the Speaker than to work for the captain. Fine. Team Red Lotus sounds good enough. It will do as long as we can enter the federation openly with a special identity!"
Li Yao had only just taken a breath in relief, when Ba Xiaoyu's voice came over again. "Wait. I have a question. Why are you the captain of Team Red Lotus, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture?"
Blinking quickly, Li Yao said, "Because I showed the Cultivation of the middle level of the Nascent Soul Stage in front of Speaker Cui and told him that you were between the Core Formation Stage and the Nascent Soul Stage and at the peak of the Core Formation Stage on average! Is a Core Formation Stage Cultivator more qualified to be the captain than a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator is? The twelve Cultivators at the peak of the Core Formation Stage were already a huge shock for him. It's not like I could tell him that you are all at the high level and peak of the Nascent Soul Stage, some even in the Divinity Transformation Stage, right? He definitely would have passed out! How can the Red Lotus Sector breed so many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators with the harsh environment and the disordered spiritual energy?"
Wu Suiyun, the other Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators, casually said, "Now that we have come to the unfamiliar world of modern Cultivators, the twelve Cultivators of the Ancient Sages Sector should be united. We are all here for the survival and future of the Ancient Sages Sector. Does vanity really matter? Since Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture rescued Speaker Cui by chance, he is certainly the best candidate for the captain of Team Red Lotus. Not just that, I also propose that Fellow Cultivator Wang Xi acts as the vice-captain, because 'Team Red Lotus' is founded for the same purpose as Fellow Cultivator Wang Xi's Ghost Character was. It is more appropriate for him to be in charge of the actual command than for me, Fellow Cultivator Meng, or any other people here who are more used to commanding a huge army.
Long Yangjun's 'previous life' was probably a capt
ain of the assault team or the special forces on the Nuwa warship, which was why she had founded the organization Ghost Character in the Great Qian Dynasty. It was indeed an easy and familiar job for her to work as the vice-captain of Team Red Lotus and take charge of the operation to attack the Black Stone Jail.
The experts of the Ancient Sages Sector had no objection. Long Yangjun did not hesitate, either. They quickly discussed the plan. Li Yao took the opportunity to send the detailed map of Firefly, the new friend-or-foe identification code, and the special permissions to them via Speaker Cui's portable crystal processor.
"Next, I'll send a series of tokens to you." Li Yao operated quickly and said, "Through the tokens, you will be able to jump to a secret node on the Spiritual Nexus that solely belongs to the Speaker. Then, log in with the twelve passwords that I'm about to send to you. After that, you will be able to download twelve certificates with the highest permissions. Input the certificates into your tactical crystal processors and your crystal suits; you will be identified as 'allies' and 'superiors' by the defense system, cabin doors, magical equipment, police officers, soldiers, and all the other armed forces! Whoever doesn't acknowledge your identity and disobeys your command, just show them the toughness of Team Red Lotus that has slept for two hundred years!"
"Haha. Hahahaha!" 'Heaven Battering King' Qi Changsheng laughed in a weird tone. "Such a prerogative will definitely make a lot of people jealous!"
"Right." Li Yao suddenly thought of something else. "How do you plan to explain it to Heiye Lan? It does not seem very suitable to simply tell her we are going to fight the Immortal Cultivators, right?"
"Nothing is not suitable," Meng Chixin said unhurriedly. "Just tell her the truth. There's no need to lie to her. This is a rebellion that was never going to succeed. Even if we hadn't interfered, the scheme of the Immortal Cultivators wouldn't have worked out, either."
"Huh?" Li Yao was confused.
