by <unknown>
"The space pirates always highlight a timely evacuation when an attack fails. How can we march to the resource planets to annihilate the Cultivators? We can only sit and watch them buying people over with the stuff that we looted through all the trouble. What's the outcome? We take all the blame, and they have all the benefits. Yet, there is no way that we can settle the scores with them. It's truly maddening!"
Li Wuji nodded his head and sighed. "Yes. While the Cultivators are just minor trouble compared to the Covenant Alliance and the rebelling reformists, they have been active for a thousand years since the fall of the Star Ocean Republic. During the thousand years, the minor trouble was never completely resolved, and it would be revived after every decade. It is undeniable that the Cultivators do have high expertise in deceptions. Since even the government army has failed to extinguish them, it is only natural that you can't either.
"Right, let's talk about that 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie. I've vaguely heard about the name before when I was in the Li family. He is an expert in the organization of the Cultivators who only rose recently, isn't he? How good is he compared to you?"
"The Fist King is very strong. I've fought him several times. Neither of us was a winner."
When Lei Zonglie was mentioned, Boss Bai immediately grew solemn. Considering for a long time, he said, "However, the deepest impression that the man left on me is not his combat ability. If we are talking about combat ability, so many experts were sent by the four Kurfürst families when they hunted me, but none of them could do anything about me, could they?
"But this 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie is also a specialist of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus besides fighting. He is best at hacking the control system of the hostile starships, thereby interfering with and taking over the whole starship.
"When my Big Bai Pirate Gang encountered the Cultivators' fleet of Starlight, 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie could hack my command system and mess up my previously delicate battle formation while he fought with me.
"Damn it. Why is he nicknamed 'Fist King' when he is obviously a specialist of crystal processors? How shameless!
"That was truly the most humiliating thing ever since I began my career. I intended to keep it a secret forever, but since my lord has been treating me so well, would I even deserve to be a human being if I kept anything from my lord? All in all, I suffered a notable setback from 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie, and it was quite fortunate of me to have returned in one piece.
"I was among the lucky dogs. I was told that quite the local garrisons of quite a few Sectors had also encountered the Cultivators' fleet led by 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie, and many of their starships had been hacked and stolen. Under his leadership, the crushed members of 'Starlight' who fled to this place in a panic have been redeveloped and revived, and it took only less than one year.
"I'm thinking that since the war between the four Kurfürst families and the reformists is coming near, the Cultivators are unlikely to sit by and watch but will certainly jump out and stir trouble. Now that the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors tried to recruit us, who knows whether or not they would recruit Starlight? That's why I asked my lord to be careful on the way."
"Huh…"
Considering for a long time, Li Wuji slightly nodded his head. "The information is very important for our next step in our operation. Commander Bai, it is very considerate of you."
Having been complimented by his master, Boss Bai smiled as delightedly as a blooming flower. "My lord is both strong and blessed. Even though you do encounter that 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie, my lord will certainly crumble him into pieces. It was unnecessary for me to say anything."
"No, whoever the enemy is, one can't be too careful in dealing with them. It's better to be safe than sorry."
Li Wuji looked at Boss Bai with great satisfaction. "You're quite right on this one. It was indeed necessary to report it to me. If you have any other intelligence in the future, just contact me via the private communication channel that I gave to you. Remember, that is a channel only you know. Of all the space pirates, it is your voice that I want to hear."
"Understood!"
Boss Bai smiled in ecstasy. "I will certainly live up to my lord's trust and appreciation!"
"Very good. Now go back and restrain your troops. If they are too greedy and wild, they will have no combat ability at all."
Li Wuji waved his hands. "I've stayed long enough in the Blue Sky Market. If you have anything else, just contact me through the secret letter."
"Of course. Farewell, my lord."
Boss Bai saluted in an unprofessional way first, before he bowed to the ground, his pointy and skinny bottom poking backward.
By the time Li Wuji boarded on "Eternal Spring", his flagship, Boss Bai was still in the dock of the Blue Sky Market like a black, little nail.
Having returned to his personal chamber on his flagship, Li Wuji did not have any smile or trust on his face anymore as he observed Boss Bai through dozens of surveillance cameras.
Through the feedback of the dozens of surveillance cameras, Boss Bai's every movement and every change of expression during the past half day were scanned and analyzed carefully a hundred times.
"My lord, the soundwaves of every word this Boss Bai said just now, as well as his facial changes and other biophysical changes, including heartbeat and blood flow, have been analyzed in detail just now. There… shouldn't be a problem."
A young, handsome adjutant who looked similar to Li Wuji stepped forward and brought him a cup of green tea first before he inputted a comprehensive analysis report into Li Wuji's portable crystal processor. He said boldly, "However, I'm still not fond of him."
The adjutant who had the privilege to enter Li Wuji's personal chamber freely was naturally not a random person. He was the biological son of another powerful person in the family and sort of a nephew for Li Wuji.
It was a tradition that the powerful persons in the family struck an alliance. They would entrust their biological sons to each other for tutelage in exchange for a more valid alliance and deeper trust so that they would be condensed into an inseparable community of interests.
Therefore, the adjutant could be counted as a half true disciple for Li Wuji. Plus the noble identity of his father, he did not need to be too careful about how he talked.
"The Bai guy is certainly not a likable man. When I saw him, I thought of a rat grinding its teeth in the gutter."
His eyes closed, Li Wuji took over the refreshing perfume that the adjutant handed over and smeared it on the sides of his nose, soothing the disgust of dealing with the stinky space pirates. "However, I didn't recruit him for his personal charisma. Even a rat has a rat's usage, doesn't it?"
"He is a treacherous scoundrel."
The adjutant retrieved a few pictures where Boss Bai dragged Zuo Tianying to walk. Then he said, "Please take a look, my lord. How arrogant the Bai guy was when he was faced with Zou Tianying, and how adulatory and shameless he was before you! He even wanted my lord to adopt him? That's truly daydreaming. How can the noble blood of the Li family be tarnished by that kind of people?"
"He is a space pirate. If he is not a shameless scoundrel, are you expecting him to be someone chaste?"
Li Wuji was still not bothered. He even laughed in amusement. "Despite the clumsiness, he was still pledging loyalty to me. Don't bother about the small details.
"Your analysis of micro-expressions and biophysical parameters should support that too. Except for his brazenness and desire for power, his face does not imply any other scheme, right?
"I've seen too many such people. He may be insane and crazy when he is a space pirate, but he is just waiting to sell himself for a good price!"
"I just don't understand."
The adjutant stared at Boss Bai in the picture gloomily.
At this moment, the fleet that Li Wuji brought had taken off and left the Blue Sky Market, but until the last starship left, Boss Bai had been standing there to see them off.
&
nbsp; Boss Bai's spiteful behavior made the adjutant uncomfortable. The pure adulation and shamelessness was something that a noble descendant like him couldn't understand. "Why do we have to recruit those scumbags?"
Chapter 2448: He Can Only Be a Dutiful Dog for My Lord! |
"A rat and a scumbag can also be useful under the right circumstances."
Li Wuji continued to teach his adjutant who was also a half disciple for him. "Space pirates gather and disperse unpredictably, yet they can cause great sabotages. They are like annoying flies that hum next to your ears all day and can be a great distraction.
"If you try to hunt those rats and scumbags, you may not be able to catch all of them, but as long as they begin to resent you, they will jump out and seek revenge from you in the next ten years there is a chance.
"Think about it. If such people are recruited by the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists, who invest tremendous resources to arm and upgrade them, what great trouble will they grow into?
"Therefore, the 'National Protection Army' we established is not expected to have a great performance. It will be worth it as long as they are not inclined to the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists.
"Besides, those scoundrels are adept at certain things that the regular army is not good at or unable to do due to their identity. If we use them well, they can be an army that catches everyone unprepared in both the war between the four Kurfürst families and the reformists right now and the competition within the families for me and your father to rise to higher places!
"Trading their loyalty with the resources of the family is always a great bargain no matter how questionable the loyalty is.
"One more thing. It's true that I think highly of this Bai guy. He seems different from regular space pirates. How is the investigation on his identity going?"
"There's no result yet."
The adjutant shook his head. "His identity is truly mysterious. I've searched the official file databases of dozens of Sectors, but none of them contain the information of such an expert. It's almost like he jumped out of nowhere.
"Is that so? That's quite understandable."
Li Wuji said, "The peripheral worlds of the Imperium have always been messy and disordered. Even the strongest family of Immortal Cultivators may be demolished, with everybody killed, in the blink of an eye. Those who luckily survived will also escape further into the space without leaving any information, as if the family had never existed.
"However, I have studied many of his battle cases and found the hint of the regular army in his tactical style, which indicates that he is probably associated with the army. Perhaps his father was a serviceman? All in all, he is neither from the family of space pirates nor with the rebelling reformists, and he should naturally be on our side.
"Boss Bai can't be his real name, and his hideous face right now must've been carefully devised too. But it doesn't matter. Up until so far, I can't find any reason why he would betray me. Standing on our side is his best choice. He can't be crazy enough to piss off the reformists and the four families at the same time, can he? Hahahaha!"
"You do have a point, my lord."
The adjutant said, "Whoever he was in the past, now that he has cooperated with us and razed the Blue Sky Market, he has declared war on the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists, and he can only take our side to be my lord's dog now!"
"Yes, that's quite right, but I'm not putting a hundred percent trust in him either."
Li Wuji said, "I've left a few spies in the twenty-nine pirate gangs that make up the 'National Protection Army'. On the other hand, the half fleet that I entrusted to the Bai guy's disposal will supervise him. Should he have any anomaly in the conquest of the Seven Seas Grand Market, the half fleet and the spies in the pirate gangs will teach him a good lesson about 'loyalty'.
"My plan is absolutely flawless. What's there to be worried about?"
The adjutant nodded his head and filled Li Wuji's cup with hot water.
"Right—"
Sipping the hot tea, Li Wuji suddenly said, "How's the intelligence work on the Cultivators going? The Cultivators have caused quite a fuss in the peripheral worlds of the Imperium. A lot of information has come from various channels. Even the Bai guy told me a lot just now. Even a minor trouble can be quite tricky when it happens at a critical moment.
"The Cultivators' fleet attacked seven military warehouses in the Red Fat Space Zone and disappeared after plundering tremendous assets."
The adjutant said, "We don't know whether they are upgrading their warships with our military assets, preparing for another big job, or it is an even worse possibility—that they have truly been recruited by the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors.
"In my opinion, the regular Cultivators are not a big deal at all. Just a bunch of worthless mobsters. But that 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie is truly an extremely dangerous person, even more dangerous than this shameless Boss Bai.
"That's right. 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie escaped from the Land of Sins of the Martial Meritocrats Sector. Getting to the bottom of it, wasn't the dead man Li Lingfeng to be blamed for everything?"
Li Wuji said after a long sigh, "That pair of siblings is really interesting. The brother founded the Land of Sins and started the slaughter stream, only to broadcast the magnificent killing spree of the Cultivators to all the people of the Imperium. Not only was it a great humiliation for all the Immortal Cultivators, but he also let the crushed members of Starlight run loose. As a result, the tides of Cultivators have been breaking out nationwide in the past year. Even many Immortal Cultivators found their beliefs collapsed after watching the great collapse of 'Manjusaka, the City in the Sky'.
"The sister, on the other hand, is even more 'incredible'. She has changed from the queen of the Imperium to the leader of the reformists and the temporary archon of the Imperium, about to swallow her family back. The Li family has truly suffered a lot. Otherwise, it would've been unnecessary for us to recruit all those flies, bugs, and rats.
"Are those siblings the heaven's punishment for the Li family?"
The topic was too sensitive. Even though Li Lingfeng had died and Li Linghai had rebelled, Li Wuji could comment on them, but his adjutant, as a junior, did not have the courage to. He simply chuckled in acknowledgment.
"Alright, just go now. Let the captain perform a space jump after sailing to the designated steady area. I'm going to take a nap. There will be no need to wake me up."
Li Wuji adjusted his chair, transforming it from a hard seat to a soft gel-like bed, before he lied down.
His adjutant quietly cleaned up the tea utensils and left the room.
Since he was on his own flagship, Li Wuji relaxed quickly and forgot the discomfort he had when he was dealing with the space pirates. But when he was half asleep, he was dwelling in new annoyance again.
It was not exactly about the Cultivators.
Even though the Cultivators did have a leader like "Fist King" Lei Zonglie, they would be no trouble in front of the powerful Imperium even if they were ten times stronger.
His concerns were not even the reformists or the Covenant Alliance.
After all, the reformists were too shallow and short of soldiers. They might have seized the capital, but so what?
In the past hundred years, after the rise of the four Kurfürst families, the heart of the Imperium had been beating more and more slowly in the first place. The symbolic significance of the capital's fall was much greater than the actual significance.
Of course, the Empyreal Terminus Sector where the capital was at was a unique convenient intersection of space jumps. Losing it would increase the trouble for the Kurfürst families to communicate or gather their fleets, but there was nothing too severe.
As for the Covenant Alliance, it had been crippled in the great expedition in the past two decades, and it was an even lesser problem.
What Li Wuji was worried about was still
the internal relationship of the four families.
The four families were both friends and foes. Before every new emperor ascended to the throne, a storm of blood had always been raised regarding the choice of the new emperor.
Queen Li Linghai had been through such competitions in person. That was why she was bold enough to kill Emperor Shenwu atrociously. It hit the critical part of the four families.
It was exactly Li Linghai's goal to let the four families fight over the choice of the new emperor, which was an open, undisguised scheme.
But Li Wuji discovered, to his sadness, that even though they knew it was a scheme, they had no choice except to bite each other hard.
If the four families could be united, the Covenant Alliance, the reformists, the space pirates, and the Cultivators would've been annihilated a long time ago, and today's devastation would be spared!
Li Wuji thought in pitifulness, "It's a shame that nobody is really selfless. People of the four families understand it too well!"
Such national concerns only hovered for one moment in his head.
When the idea that "nobody is really selfless" popped in his head, he began to focus all his attention on his future interests.
The twenty-nine pirate gangs had been recruited by him. If the battle of Seven Seas went well, even more space pirates would join him, which would be a force not to be underestimated. If he could grasp them in his hands…
The capital had been conquered by the reformists, and there were a lot of vacancies in the Council of Elders after the casualties. Everybody wanted to move one step higher, and he seemed to have a great shot…
While thinking, Li Wuji fell asleep.
The microchips in the soft bed, sensing the changes of his biophysical parameters, switched to the sleep protection mode automatically. The gel became softer and gradually enveloped him, which could soothe the discomfort in the space jump later.
