by <unknown>
"By the time the last retreat of the Flying Rainbow Fleet is blocked, it will be the showtime for the 'Arsonist' and the 'Super Awesome Upgraded Heavenly Crystal'. Hehe. My purpose is not so simple as to crush the Flying Rainbow Fleet; I'm going to swallow them from the skin to the bones. Not even a screwhead is going to get away from my hands!"
"That explains a lot!"
Li Jialing was a smart person himself. After Li Yao pointed out the critical factors, he immediately understood everything. His anger and confusion a moment ago turned into admiration again.
Thinking for a moment, he glanced at Long Yangjun not far away and said in a low voice, "However, Brother Yao, you may want to stop calling Sister Long's Colossus 'Super Awesome Upgraded Heavenly Crystal'. She seems pissed about the name."
"What's wrong with the name? How magnificent it sounds! It's much cooler than simply 'Heavenly Crystal'!"
Li Yao frowned. "Her Colossus has been utterly transformed and is nothing like the previous 'Heavenly Crystal'. Besides, only a Colossus with such an intimidating name is qualified to team up with my 'Arsonist', right?"
"…"
Li Jialing was silent for a moment before he quickly changed the topic. "Right, I'm also confused about one thing. How did you know that the Blue Sky Space Zone is already Boss Bai's territory? His Big Bai Pirate Gang couldn't have expanded fast enough to swallow the entire Blue Sky Market, could it? Also, according to the secret messages among the four families that Xiaoming and Wenwen intercepted after hacking the mainframe crystal processor of the Flying Rainbow Fleet, Boss Bai had surrendered to the four families and joined Marquess Yongchun, Li Wuji. Even though the Blue Sky Market was not within the control of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists, it should be the territory of the four families led by Li Wuji, and Boss Bai and the other twenty or so pirate gangs should be hamstringing each other. He wouldn't be able to help us even if he wanted to.
"Then, wouldn't we suffer attacks from both sides if we jumped to this place?
"So my question is, why did you think that the Blue Sky Market's new master was Boss Bai, and even 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie and the Cultivators' fleet were here?"
"Because he is Boss Bai!"
Li Yao smiled and placed his legs on the desk. Looking at his toes that were twisting merrily inside the slippers, he said with a smile, "The moment Xiaoming and Wenwen got the intelligence that Boss Bai had surrendered to the four families, I knew that there must be a scheme in it.
"Boss Bai is a man who pursues absolute freedom. Since the moment he… broke the old boundary, nobody would ever be qualified to be his master. Even the most formidable gods wearing the supreme crowns cannot bend his knees or tell him what to do!
"The four families? Marquess Yongchun, Li Wuji? Hehe. Those small fries are not even qualified to command Boss Bai's leg hair!
"So, I was very certain that Boss Bai succumbed to Li Wuji because he had dug a gigantic trap for Li Wuji to jump in—a trap that was probably not just for Li Wuji but also for the dozens of pirate gangs that were gathered in the Blue Sky Market.
"Considering Boss Bai's ambitions and the background that the 'battle of Seven Seas' was about to begin, it was obvious what Boss Bai was trying to do. He was going to swallow the elephant and finish the most dangerous leap, making the Big Bai Pirate Gang rise at the border of the Imperium and become a powerful force that could possibly shake the situation of the Imperium!
"Such a scheme could barely be accomplished by the Big Bai Pirate Gang alone, but didn't the intelligence that we receive earlier suggest that the fleet of the Cultivators commanded by 'Fist King' Lei Zonglie had also risen unstoppably at the edge of the Imperium? Do you think that it is a coincidence that the ranges of activities of the Cultivators' fleet and the Big Bai Pirate Gang are almost the same and can barely be separated?
"The rumors had it that the Cultivators' fleet had been in frictions with the Big Bang Pirate Gang, but since you spent some time in the Martial Meritocrats Sector too, you should know why the Fist King and the rest of them were here. They were introduced by me to join Boss Bai and must've been cooperating with Boss Bai in secret. Otherwise, they wouldn't have grown so fast at all. Now that they had teamed up to trap Li Wuji and the space pirates, could their enemy possibly survive them?
"Rest assured. If my guess is correct, the entire Blue Sky Market must be under the control of Boss Bai. Also, his capabilities have significantly expanded after swallowing so many pirate gangs and all the starships of Li Wuji's fleet together with the Fist King. Since he is a man who is willing to die for his brother anytime, he will certainly attack with all his available forces and help me surround the Flying Rainbow Fleet the moment I cough and drop him a hint!"
Chapter 2473: No Way In Hell! |
"Is that so?"
Li Jialing was still rather suspicious. "If he is as trustworthy as Brother Yao claimed, why didn't you just activate the direct communication with the Blue Sky Market and explain everything to him, instead of shouting the humiliating distress calls? Are you sure that 'Boss Bai, help' is enough to convey all the information?"
"It can't be helped. This starship was stolen by us. Also, it's been so many years since I last met Boss Bai. I'm really not confident that I can turn on a secret communication channel to talk to Boss Bai with the devices on board. So, I can only broadcast via public channels."
Li Yao explained, "In order to attract the Flying Rainbow Fleet to bite the hook, we are too close to the Flying Rainbow Fleet. Any information sent to the Blue Sky Market in public may be received by the Flying Rainbow Fleet.
"If I confess my whole plan in the communication, only to be learned by the Flying Rainbow Fleet, they will certainly turn around and escape however stupid they are, won't they?
"So, I can only send my information and my request in such a subtle way. Even if the Flying Rainbow Fleet catches my voice, they can't figure out my real intention."
"That explains a lot, but—"
Li Jialing seemed to have understood it, but he was then mired in greater confusion. "The cry for help is so ambiguous. Are you sure that Boss Bai can understand your meaning, figure out the current situation, and help us surround the Flying Rainbow Fleet, Brother Yao?"
"Yes, he certainly can."
Through the empty juice cup, Li Yao observed the bizarre, twisted world and mumbled, "He is Boss Bai, a strengthened Boss Bai who has been enhanced by a certain Yan person. He is almost a half teacher for me. I'm sure he understands me.
"In any case, I cannot watch the Immortal Cultivators capturing so many innocents as cannon fodder, covering the old, the weak, the women, and the children in the combat suits of the Imperium, and getting them killed in the meaningless war.
"However slim the chances are, I will wager on it and let the shameless animals who captured innocents to fight in their place pay!"
…
In the meantime, above the Blue Sky Market, the Big Bai Pirate Gang, and the Cultivators' fleet, under the cover of dozens of Li Wuji's starships that could still fly, had taken off from the port, moving faster and faster to the boundless space.
"Infinite Fire", the Big Bai Fleet's previous flagship, had died together with Black Swirl, the flagship of the Black Wind Fleet, in the battle to protect the federation. After that, the Big Bai Pirate Gang had jumped to the center of the cosmos on a comprehensive supply starship. After a series of sneak-in, deception, seizure, maintenance, modification, and upgrade, the Big Bai Pirate Gang had a brand-new flagship, which had insanely melted the power units of almost ten rapid warships, making it the fastest flagship at the center of the cosmos.
Boss Bai had named his new flagship as—"Alloy Virus".
The Fist King had found the name perplexing, not knowing what deeper meaning it had.
After Boss Bai revealed his whole ambitions today, he finally understood the meaning of "Alloy Virus". Boss Bai was probably hoping that the flagship could reach the higher dimensions and pose as much a threat to th
e incredible existence there as viruses had posed to mankind, wasn't he?
As for the flagship of the Cultivators' fleet, it was much simpler.
The Cultivators who escaped from the Martial Meritocrats Sector were all gathered around Gao Kangda's Great Mountain.
Gao Kangda was the captain of a mining starship in the beginning. Despite his resolution and his devotion, he was an excellent organizer of logistics but not a distinguished fleet commander.
After the Fist King's abilities were gradually awakened, allowing him to absorb and even "copy" a lot of tactics and skills to his database from Boss Bai, he naturally took over most of the commandership from Gao Kangda. Even the flagship had been turned into a mothership of space shuttles modified from a comprehensive supply starship. Such massive starships did not have a high combat ability themselves, but they had the thickest armor and the greatest inner space, making it possible to accommodate tremendous crystal suits, space shuttles, Colossi, and sometimes even maintenance factories with full facilities. They were the most reliable mobile bases. With the Fist King's amazing abilities, it could carry out more than 300% of its battle performance.
The Fist King had named the flagship "Iron Fist", a rather plain name.
At this moment, "Alloy Virus" and "Iron Fist", commanding their respective fleets, approached the Flying Rainbow Fleet from two sides.
The Flying Rainbow Fleet was still ignorant of the upcoming destructive strike.
Just now, they had confirmed with Li Wuji about the soul signature and the battle cooperation code. There was nothing suspicious.
Furthermore, it was they who invited Li Wuji's fleet to attack the enemy together. Nothing could possibly be wrong.
Well, the only thing that could go wrong was this Marquess Yongchun might burst into a fury after discovering that they had captured so many civilians and pretended that they were soldiers. But that was for the future. There would always be ways to satisfy Marquess Yongchun.
But it did not mean that Boss Bai and the Fist King had nothing to worry about now.
It was because they were faced with an extremely troublesome mission, which was to surround the Flying Rainbow Fleet.
A siege in space was utterly different from a siege on the ground.
A siege on a ground battlefield was two-dimensional. All one needed to do was to surround the enemy's front, rear, left, and right. Theoretically, as long as one had an army four to five times greater than the enemy's, it would be possible to complete the siege.
But the battlefield in space was three-dimensional. It was a vast space similar to a sphere, without obstacles such as mountains or rivers. Surrounding it was highly difficult, and escaping was more than convenient.
Although the Big Bai Pirate Gang had just swallowed twenty-eight pirate gangs as well as all of Li Wuji's fleet, their flagships were all ragged and riddled with holes, not even having a 50% combat ability.
It was needless to say that most of the captives might be having other plans and could not be completely trusted.
In such a subtle situation, dispersing the army and surrounding the enemy recklessly would only make the circle of siege extremely thin. Chances were that the Flying Rainbow Fleet could leave a few holes on the siege after some minor stabs.
Once the siege was broken apart and the enemy launched a counterattack, there was even the risk that the army could be annihilated.
The risk was so high that no wonder even Xiao Lishui, the chief of staff of the Big Bai Pirate Gang who had been a space pirate for hundreds of years, was gloomy and suggested to Boss Bai hesitatingly, "Boss, are we really going to… swallow the Flying Rainbow Fleet?"
"Or what?"
Staring at the data on the menu that was erupting like a flood and changing a hundred times per second, Boss Bai said coldly, "In order to combine the starships and the personnel of the twenty-eight pirate gangs and Li Wuji's fleet and to swallow the resources in the Blue Sky Market, we need at least a month.
"During the month of our upgrade, nobody outside is to know the truth of the Blue Sky Market or spread out what happened in the Blue Sky Space Zone.
"The Flying Rainbow Fleet is so close to the Blue Sky Market that they will demand to enter the port for supplies and maintenance in any case. By then, do you really think they will ignore what happened in the Blue Sky Market? If we do not annihilate all of them, should anything leak out, it will be the main forces of the four families that come here.
"Hehe, we've been planning for an entire year for today. Now that we have swallowed the elephant, it is impossible for us to give it away. Since escaping is not an option, we can only fight now!
"Besides, hehehehe, the batch of new warships that the Flying Rainbow Fleet got is not bad. It is a shame that they are used by those idiots. It's not Boss Bai's style to refuse the meat that has been fed to my mouth!"
"However—"
Xiao Lishui sighed and raised the critical question. "With our combat ability right now, it is impossible to annihilate the Flying Rainbow Fleet however we infer the battle! Boss, take a look at the results of the dozens of battle simulations. If we condense the troop into a charge formation, it will be likely that we can defeat or even crush the Flying Rainbow Fleet; but if the troop is dispersed on the entire surface of the sphere while we try to surround and swallow all of enemy's starships, it will be difficult. Highly difficult.
"It's too risky to swallow the enemy in one bite. Boss, be careful not to be tripped by the gutter!"
"Have you taken Li Yao into consideration?"
His eyes half narrowed, Boss Bai said, "According to the Fist King and Li Yao's performance with the reformists, he is now steadily in the Divinity Transformation Stage, with a rather tough Colossus, the 'Gold Vulture'."
"Yes, we have. We added Li Yao's combat ability to the simulations."
Xiao Lishui said, "It's true that the Colossi can be incredible when it comes to attacking strongholds and decapitating, but they are not invincible. Their fatal weaknesses are fuel, ammunitions, and longevity of fighting. However strong Li Yao is, it hasn't been long since he entered the Divinity Transformation Stage after all. He is in the beginning level or the middle level of the Divinity Transformation Stage at best. How could he blow up a few starships in a row?
"A space battlefield can be tens of thousands of kilometers in diameter. Should we collapse on one side, it may be barely possible for Li Yao to reinforce in time however spectacularly he fights on the other side. So, Boss, you have to think carefully!"
"Huh…"
Crossing his fingers under his nose, Boss Bai thought hard, with profound brilliance beaming out of his eyes.
He replayed Li Yao's cries for help.
"Boss Bai, help! Boss Bai, help! Boss Bai, help!"
Li Yao's earsplitting scream echoed in the bridge again, making every member of the bridge team pale.
But this time, Boss Bai chuckled in a low voice.
"Little a*shole, Old Xiao is right, it's been no more than one year since you advanced into the Divinity Transformation Stage, hasn't it? I really can't figure out what kind of 'miracle' you can bring to us this time!"
Boss Bai mumbled but bulged his eyes immediately like the main guns of a starship being fired. He rose abruptly and waved his hands, declaring resolutely, "Send my order out. We will no longer pretend to be an ally of the scumbags of the Flying Rainbow Fleet. Go full speed ahead from the flanks and surround the enemy according to Plan D. In the meantime, launch enough interferential bombs to prevent the enemy from jumping away or sending out any distress call.
"The Blue Sky Market is mine. Now that you've come to hell, there is no need for you to leave now!"
Chapter 2474: A Welcome Barrage! |
The only outcome of trespassing on the Big Bai Pirate Gang's territory was death!
Boss Bai's roars were the most intense excitants for the space pirates from the federation. Even though they had run out of their strength and spiritual energy in the previous battle,
when the horns of a new battle were blown again, they were still unleashing the most fervent enthusiasm, as if they were devoting their lives to the furnaces of the starships.
The starships that looked like arrows suddenly accelerated, leaving trails behind that looked like sharp claws, while they went to the flanks and the rear of the Flying Rainbow Fleet.
The distance between the two parties was so close that the Big Bai Pirate Gang and the Cultivators' fleet were unable to continue their disguise. Even the most inert commander could tell that their transformation, which looked like a blooming, man-eating flower, was not meant for the few carriers; they were planning to swallow the Flying Rainbow Fleet that was almost their size!
"What… are they doing?"
On the flagship of the Flying Rainbow Fleet, the leadership made of dozens of warlords and local bigshots from the peripheral worlds of the Imperium had been gloating under the illusion that the carrier Li Yao was at would be captured in no time. They were even thinking about how they should relax and enjoy themselves in the Blue Sky Market after the battle.
Little did they anticipate that "Li Wuji's fleet" on their opposite side would suddenly transform into a highly-malicious battle formation of siege and annihilation!
They tried to transform, stay away, or even retreat, but there was no time.
The Flying Rainbow Fleet and the Big Bai Pirate Gang had been moving toward each other in the beginning, like two crystal trains running on the same rail at the highest speed that would collide very soon.
In such a gargantuan fleet, a safety distance must be guaranteed between every two starships in case of the conflicts of the spiritual shields or the exhaust flames. It was like a piece of precise but delicate artwork, and turning the fleet around quickly was certainly not an easy job. Also, turning around against the enemy's fire was suicide.
The Flying Rainbow Fleet had no choice but to keep their speed and charge into the siege of the Big Bai Pirate Gang and the Cultivators' fleet.
