by <unknown>
Ding Lingdang smiled. "I'm fine. What about you?"
"Me, too." Li Yao paused for a moment. He tilted his head and thought for a long time. Then he said again, "I'm back."
"Yes." Ding Lingdang continued smiling. Such a peaceful and gentle smile had not blossomed for a hundred years because, of the trillions of people in the three thousand Sectors, only one could wake up such a flower of a smile. She softly said, "It's great that you're back."
Feeling that his heart was hot, Li Yao swam to Ding Lingdang.
"Wait." Ding Lingdang hurried to say, "Although the glass medical cabin is blocked from the outside world, our biophysical parameters are still closely monitored by the medical facilities. The change of any index will be read instantly!"
"I know," Li Yao mumbled. "I just want to hug you. I've wanted that for… a hundred years."
Ding Lingdang was slightly dazed. Like a blooming flower, she sent herself over.
The two of them hugged each other so hard that they were almost embedded in each other's bodies.
At this moment, the vast universe outside seemed to disappear, and the only things left were their breathing and heartbeats that were of the same rhythm.
Time lost all meaning. They seemed to be hugging for all eternity, but even that did not seem enough for them, and it would not be enough even if they hugged for another ten eternities.
"This—this is about enough." There was no telling how long had passed, but intoxicating redness spread out of Ding Lingdang's cheeks. She pinched Li Yao's shoulder and breathed hard. "Watch the time and location. Let's hug more after we are back home. I bought a new world fragment recently. The Nine-Colored Prairie inside is big and comfortable. It is the best field for the discussion of Dao. The war is not finished yet. Don't be so hasty, alright?"
"Of course." Li Yao's soul was finally back in position, and his brain began to function at full speed again, completely waking him up. However, he still did not intend to let go of Ding Lingdang. Curling her red long hair with his fingers, he asked, "How long have I been in a coma? What happened in the meantime? What is this place? How is the war right now?"
"You can take a look yourself." Ding Lingdang released a telepathic thought. One side of the shell of the medical cabin turned transparent as if it were entirely gone. The vast, boundless sea of stars immediately embraced them.
In space, the central battlefield had already become a wasteland of cold, dim debris. Remnants of starships and crystal suits as well as the empty shells of space shuttles were everywhere, colliding with each other in the chaotic turbulence.
Further away, the fire of war was still burning here and there, pushing the battlefield away to the edge of the Heaven's Origin Sector, which was tens of millions of kilometers away. Small-scale starships and groups of crystal suits were chasing and fighting each other everywhere. Emergency jumps and unexpected explosions were happening all the time. The intensity of the local battles was lower, but they were even crueler.
In the bottom-left corner of their vision, the capital of the federation, protected by the Wall of Heaven's Origin, was clearly visible. Dense spots of light popped up near the capital planet and marched to the broken battlefield overwhelmingly.
The enormous Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars flag could just about be seen among the light spots. They were all fleets of the federation.
Despite Li Yao's abundant experience in space cruises, he was still deeply awed by the scene on the battlefield after the fierce fight.
"We are now on Mica, the medical starship of the highest level in the Burning Prairie Fleet. This is a super medical cabin specially prepared for the experts in the Nascent Soul Stage," Ding Lingdang explained. "It was excavated from Kunlun thirty years ago and designed for the Nuwa Clan in the beginning. We have got it operational after thirty years and adjusted it to a pattern that is compatible with human beings.
"The medical cabin boasts the function of healing heavy wounds by absorbing natural essence. Therefore, we have directly embedded it at the outermost layer of the medical starship like the eye of a fish. What you see is not a 3D light beam but the most authentic universe."
"Have we won?" Li Yao smiled. Then he nodded very positively. "Our space gates have been repaired. The main troops from the Burning Prairie Fleet and the local garrisons from other Sectors have all arrived. We've won!"
"We secured our victory because of the unexpected assault of you and the experts from the Ancient Sages Sector." Ding Lingdang could not help but smile. She pressed Li Yao's ear and said, "You even demolished Heiye Ming's Colossus, Black Satan. I almost jumped to my feet in fury. That was supposed to be my prey!"
"Is that so?" Li Yao blinked. "I don't remember any of that now."
"Yes, it is," Ding Lingdang replied. "It was Yan Liren and Long Yangjun, the two friends you made in the Ancient Sages Sector, who told me. They said that Black Satan split apart all of a sudden and spurted out the densest black fog from its body. Then, it was reshaped into a bloody mouth and bit your Tartarean Skeleton hard.
"The crimson thorns that entangled your Colossus darted out and stabbed into the body of Black Satan.
"The two Colossi were at an impasse. While your friends wondered how to separate them, the black fog that surrounded the Black Satan suddenly dispersed, and the Colossus itself was rusted and riddled with holes as if it had decayed over ten thousand years. It then completely fell apart.
"At that time, the head of Black Swirl had already been completely blown up. There were intense explosions at the middle and rear parts of the starship, too. Fearing that you might be affected, they hurried to bring you out to escape. As for Heiye Ming and Black Satan, they must've been killed in the big explosions.
"The Black Wind Fleet's space gate was destroyed, eliminating the possibility of reinforcements. Half of their morale was gone. Then, their highest commander was slain by you, and even their flagship was blown into twisted debris. Do the remaining Immortal Cultivators have any fighting will left at all? They are merely struggling to resist before their death."
The real situation was much more complicated than what Ding Lingdang said. Li Yao did not know where to begin his explanation at the moment, either. He could only chuckle.
Ding Lingdang sniffed and pinched Li Yao's shoulder before she declared in discontent, "Enough of that. We have all become used to the miracles you create! I won't be surprised no matter what shocking things you do except for getting pregnant and giving birth to a baby."
Pausing for a moment, she added, "No, for such a monster like you, if you do get pregnant and have a baby or two after ten months, it still wouldn't seem very strange."
"You flatter me," Li Yao said solemnly. "Whatever insignificant achievements I have accomplished today are because my wife is smart, visionary, and educates and commands me well. Ninety-nine percent of the credit is yours. Tsk, tsk, tsk. You are indeed the legendary God of War in the federation to teach your husband so well!"
"Huh…" Ding Lingdang was satisfied. "This is more like it!"
She continued describing the situation to Li Yao. Fifteen hours had passed since Li Yao fell into a coma. After the demise of the highest commander and the destruction of the flagship, the Black Wind Fleet finally slid toward collapse.
However, collapse did not equal annihilation. To fight a clean, neat battle of annihilation in space was ten thousand times more difficult than on the ground, bordering on impossible.
According to the plan of Li Yao and the experts of the Ancient Sages Sector, Heiye Ming would be their representative to clean the mess.
But Heiye Ming was not deeply rooted in the Black Wind Fleet after all. She had never been among the most distinguished, and she had been missing for ten years. Would she still have any popularity left?
Despite the support of the twelve experts from the Ancient Sages Sector and the aggressive fleets of the federation, she only managed to talk twenty percent of the defeated soldiers into surrendering.
Another twe
nty percent of the defeated soldiers were stubborn diehards who were determined to fight the Cultivators to the end.
The last sixty percent of the defeated soldiers, in such a desperate situation, actually did not have much loyalty to the Imperium of True Human Beings anymore. But driven by their natural survival instincts, they simply dispersed and ran to the outskirts of the Heaven's Origin Sector.
The universe was a vast and desolate place. Those starships that had been heavily damaged in the war and used up most of their fuel and supplies did not stand much chance of survival.
Perhaps, after their boiling brains gradually calmed down and made them realize their own situation, they would turn around to surrender to the federation.
But it would certainly take time.
A few starships performed space jumps without considering anything else, trying to return to the brown dwarf dozens of lightyears away and join the main troops.
However, space jumps could be very dangerous. Not only did it require a long period of preparation and sufficient fuel and spiritual energy, the integrity of the structure of the starship needed to be high, too.
When such starships that were seriously twisted and damaged performed a space jump, it was more like suicide than escape.
After more than ten starships broke apart and were torn to shreds during their space jump, no other starships of the Imperium had the courage to follow their example.
Besides, even if they could return to the brown dwarf, so what? The Black Wind Fleet had wagered all their ammunition, crystals, and fuel on the assault. Even the only super large space gate had been transported to the Heaven's Origin Sector. The reinforcements near the brown dwarf were large in number but insufficient in combat ability. It was difficult for them to perform a long-distance space jump. If they returned to the homeland of the Imperium, despite all the risks on their way, what would become of the defeated soldiers?
The Imperium of True Human Beings was a paradise for experts but a slaughterhouse for the weak. The 'losers' who had just suffered a crushing defeat like them were too embarrassed and discouraged to return to the Imperium.
Chapter 1831: Escaping Star |
The battlefield had expanded from a 'narrow area' of a million square kilometers to hundreds of millions of kilometers away and even further.
Although the winner and the loser had been decided, the battle was far from over.
The situation was like a recurrence of the last phase of the Uranian Ring War. Although the core force of the Black Wind Fleet had been blown apart, a lot of claw fleets still had the strength to resist and were only short of supplies. They were even madder and more dangerous, like wounded animals, and might attempt anything in their desperation.
Faced with such unpredictable enemies, the federal fleets did not want to press them too hard. They chose to keep a certain distance from the enemy and maintain the immense, incessant mental pressure on them, hoping to find an appropriate solution.
It was a feature of the space battles. No cover from high mountains, deep rivers, or dense forests existed in the vacuum of space, nor did friction and air resistance. As long as the initial speed was high enough, a starship would be able to rapidly flee in any direction with the minimal power.
Not just days, even a year and a half might not be enough to catch all the fish that had run free. Firefly, for example, had escaped for a thousand years in the past!
Of course, Firefly's escape had been planned for a long time. It was itself a Deep Sky exploration starship of an enormous scale, which boasted perfect internal ecological circulation and resource recycling systems. Furthermore, it had absorbed tremendous starships and supplies from dozens of Sectors on its way. They were all the factors that made the amazing voyage possible.
Those starships of the Imperium that were fleeing in haste, on the other hand, had run out of food and supplies. Even if they did get away from the federation's pursuit, dog-eat-dog tragedies were bound to happen sooner or later due to the high shortage of resources, until small 'dark forests' were created. Both the people of federation and the people of the Imperium were well aware of the future.
Making use of that fact, the federation began to push the runners to surrender and even offered a 'warm reminder' to the members of the Black Wind Fleet who were escaping together, advising them to be wary of each other in case their friends killed them and claimed their starships to refill the supplies.
Perhaps the people of the Black Wind Fleet had done enough of such things in past space battles. The federation's tactic of persuasion worked out.
Although none of the runners had surrendered yet, the high-level Immortal Cultivators on some of the stars who had enough prestige and capability had already begun their dialogue with the federal fleets.
By the estimation of the highest command center, few Immortal Cultivators would be obstinate enough to resist to the end, although it would take a long course of contact and negotiation before all the Immortal Cultivators accepted the cruel reality.
The war was far from over. Small-scale hunting battles and interstellar bandit-clearing battles would perhaps last several years. The negotiation between the two parties would be another troublesome battlefield.
In any case, the Star Glory Federation was finally freed from the swirl of chaos and regained the initiative of the situation. The small battles and the details of the negotiation would no longer be Li Yao's concern.
After hearing Ding Lingdang's introduction, Li Yao took a deep breath in relief.
His only fear now was whether or not his family, friends, and disciples were fine.
"Fortunately, everybody is safe and sound!" Ding Lingdang counted on her fingers. "Wu Mayan, Jin Xinyue, Bai Kaixin, the Fire Ant King, and Fiend Blade Peng Hai, those experts that rank among the top in the federation, did not suffer any irreversible wounds despite the exhaustion of their body and soul. Our treatment today is much more advanced than a hundred years ago, too. It won't be long before they fully recover.
"Also, Xie Anan, Guo Chunfeng, and the rest of them are coming on a starship to meet you!"
"That's great." Li Yao smiled in great relief. Then he thought of somebody else. "Right, before the three Colossi including mine invaded Black Swirl, a starship had crashed into it brutally and seriously wrecked its internal structure, disrupting its mobility. Judging from the paint, it was from the Big Bai Fleet, wasn't it? I've seen Bai Xingjian, the commander of the Big Bai Fleet, before. What's up with him?"
Bai Xingjian had left quite a deep impression on Li Yao. He was a terrifying man who had triggered the strongest fighting will of Yan Liren, the Sword Maniac!
Also, Li Yao and his companions had merely slain Heiye Ming and the extraterrestrial devils. The great explosion and the meltdown of Black Swirl were obviously not their doing but thanks to the starship of the Big Bai Fleet as well as the members of the assault team on it.
For some reason, Li Yao had a feeling that the mysterious Bai Xingjian was quite weird.
He was more and more interested in the man and decided to chat with him in a day or two to figure out more details about him.
But out of his expectations, Ding Lingdang put on an expression of confusion and sadness and hesitated. Then she said, "Yes. That was 'Infinite Fire', the flagship of the Big Bai Fleet.
"Besides the twelve experts of the Ancient Sages Sector, the Big Bai Fleet is almost the greatest unexpected factor and contributor to the war. Had it not been their startling assault and relentless harassment, the space gate of the Black Wind Fleet would long have been assembled and summoned the enemy's main troops to the Heaven's Origin Sector.
"If the enemy's main troops had crushed the elites of the federal fleet before you arrived, there would have been nothing you could've done even if you arrived. With the overwhelming, incessant firepower, the thousands of starships would've won if they waged a war of attrition against you!
"It is needless to say that at the last moment, Infinite Fire even crashed Black Sw
irl without caring about itself and completely blew up the enemy's flagship, which was really a shock for us. None of us saw it coming!"
Li Yao nodded and said, "Exactly. That's why I'm hoping to meet their commander, Bai Xingjian, and see what a remarkable person he is."
Ding Lingdang smiled bitterly and shook her head. "Everybody in the federal army and the parliament would love to find out the answer, but it is impossible. Bai Xingjian… has perished!"
Li Yao was greatly shocked. "What!"
"The explosion of Black Swirl was so intense that Infinite Fire, which was deeply embedded in its body, was blown to smithereens. It was the area we searched first when we cleared the battlefield. A lot of remnants of the critical parts of Infinite Fire were found, suggesting that it was completely disintegrated. But the bodies of Bai Xingjian and other leaders of the Big Bai Fleet were not found. They must've been broken apart or entirely vaporized, mustn't they?"
The space battles were usually most cruel. The surging mystic rays and the explosions of starships could emanate a high temperature of thousands of degrees easily. Even if the victims were not vaporized, it was not unusual for the broken limbs to be blown away to the end of the sea of stars after they were killed.
The dead bodies in ground battles would lie in craters or trenches dutifully, waiting to be collected when the battlefield was cleared. The corpses in space battles, on the other hand, would move about randomly. The rate of missing soldiers in the post-battle statistics in space was often hundreds of times higher than on the ground.
In 99.99% of the cases, missing meant death. Even if they were not killed immediately when they were blown away from the battlefield, they would still be dead for sure after floating in the dark space for several days when their crystal suits lost all energy.
Therefore, the missing Bai Xingjian and leaders of the Big Bai Fleet were not too unexpected for the highest command center.
After all, everybody had seen the enormous explosion of Black Swirl with their own eyes.
Despite the computational and commanding abilities of the Divinity Transformation Stage, Bai Xingjian was merely a commander of a fleet. There were no records of the sturdiness of his body. It was not surprising that he failed to survive an explosion of such enormity.
