by <unknown>
"The first type is the space pirates and mercenaries who have joined the four families but remain connected with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors. If we had encountered their warships, they probably would've let us go. The Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors has agreements with those people. As long as they secretly let a business ship through and keep the traffic of the sailing routes, they will gain subsidies from the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, which can be even greater than the benefits that they could loot from the business ships themselves.
"The second type is the local garrisons of the peripheral worlds of the Imperium. They will not kill us immediately after they capture us, but they will 'enlist' us and use us as their cannon fodder and human shields. In such a case, we will at least live for a while longer.
"The third type is the trickiest, which is made of the central descendants of the four families, who have come to the battlefield at the edge of the Imperium to gain experience. Those young masters of noble families have nothing but money. They cannot be bribed by the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and do not need cannon fodder. All they need is accomplishments. Great accomplishments, such as 'killing the spies of the reformists who have escaped from the capital'. If they couldn't find any, their only option is to kill civilians and pretend that the victims are spies.
"Do you see the insignia on the chests of the crystal suits of those few guys? A snowy mountain surrounded by clouds, that's the descendants of 'Snow God Mountain', an important branch of the Yun family. They are determined to kill civilians and make it an accomplishment of theirs. They did not open fire at the cargo ships a moment ago only because they were paralyzing us so that we would gather the cargo ships and make their massacre easier. They would not keep anybody alive."
It was rather odd that although it was a long monologue, Huo Dongling felt that the guy spoke all of it in only half a second, and she understood all of it in a trance in half a second too.
Understanding what he said, Huo Dongling felt like crying again. She asked in a shivering voice, "Mr.—Mr. Li, then what are we going to do?"
"It's very simple."
The messy-haired passenger was still smiling casually. Leaning close to the girl's ear, he said in a low voice, "Little Dongling, all you need to do is to grab my brother's clothes and do not let go of him no matter what happens."
"Huh?"
Huo Dongling turned around, her heart in a complete mess, only to be dumbfounded. Her back was utterly empty without a single soul. The passenger who had pretty eyes, a pleasant voice, and a headful of messy hair had completely vanished from the impenetrable cabin like a ghost.
Chapter 2511: Hold On Tightly and Don't Let Go! |
"Lay down your magical equipment, take off your cape, do you hear me?"
Right when Huo Dongling was overwhelmed, the Immortal Cultivator's thunderous voice echoed from behind her. Pausing for a moment, the voice was even louder than before. "Where's the last guy? There were obviously three persons on this side. Where is the last person hiding? Get out, get out!"
So, it was not Huo Dongling's illusion, and "Mr. Li" had truly disappeared.
But how was it possible?
"Mr. Li" was behind her back in the beginning. If he had walked away quietly, it was possible that she did not hear it.
However, the Immortal Cultivator in the crystal suit as well as his ferocious companions had been looking at them face to face. How could this "Mr. Li" have vanished mysteriously right under the watch of so many Immortal Cultivators?
Huo Dongling couldn't have been more baffled, but it was not the time to think. She could already feel the eyes of the Immortal Cultivators that were rubbing her body like scalpels.
The girl was both frustrated and frightened. She almost wanted to curse at the Immortal Cultivators aloud, but she did not have the courage to do so after all. Her tears ran out of her eyes helplessly again.
Was Mr. Li right that those wretched Immortal Cultivators did not intend to spare anyone in the first place? Would she die? Would her father die? Would her friends who had left the South Spirit Planet for a living just like her all die?
If they all died, nobody would bring the water cleaning cartridges and the air cleaning systems back in time. The settlements on the South Spirit Planet would surely collapse. Everybody would die of thirst, hunger, and suffocation. The South Spirit Planet that they had been constructing for a hundred years, their barren but lovely hometown, was about to be destroyed, too!
How could the Immortal Cultivators of the four families have been so ruthless?
Just now… Just now, that "Mr. Li" said that everything would be fine as long as she clung to the clothes of the cheetah?
Although it sounded absurd, Huo Dongling couldn't help but want to believe "Mr. Li". She didn't really have a second option either.
Swallowing hard, the girl extended her shivering hands at the corner of the mysterious man's clothes.
"Don't move! I told you not to move!"
The Immortal Cultivator in the black crystal suit was already paranoid because of the disappearance of "Mr. Li". Noticing Huo Dongling's tiny movement, he immediately shouted.
Huo Dongling trembled hard, and her nerve endings constricted to the limits. Her little, tender hands that looked like lotus roots were frozen. She did not have any courage to move anymore.
The mysterious man noticed Huo Dongling's movement too. He slowly turned around and looked at her, and the eyes of suspicion leaked out of the deep dark goggles, as if he were asking the little girl, What are you doing exactly?
Huo Dongling's face was immediately burning, and she couldn't have felt more ashamed. Gosh, what was wrong with her today? Why did she want to seek the protection of an Immortal Cultivator? Was she out of her mind?
Immortal Cultivators never protected the ordinary people. They were all jackals of the same lair. They were the high and mighty deities, masters, true human beings. They were…
Out of her expectation, while the girl was going to retreat her hands, her head in a mess, the mysterious man in black offered to pull the bottom of his coat and deliver it to Huo Dongling.
"Huh?" Her eyes widening, the girl looked at the guy in confusion.
"Hold on to it," the mysterious man in black wiped the rice on his lips and said coldly.
"A*shole, what are you doing exactly? Are you really not scared of death? Who are you people? Are you the spies of the reformists? Where is the last bas*ard hiding? Get out, get out!" the Immortal Cultivator in the black crystal suit roared crazily.
Huo Dongling extended her hands to grab it, shaking, but the mysterious man in black simply stuffed the hem of his coat into her hands impatiently. He also pinched her cold hands and hinted her to grasp it tightly.
"Stay within one meter from me. You must hold on to it tightly, do you understand?"
The mysterious man in black finally took off his goggles, revealing a pair of eyes that were more brilliant than gold. "If you do, nod your head, and we will begin."
Begin to do what?
Huo Dongling was completely lost and nodded her head subconsciously. Then—
The whole world changed!
The corners of the cabin had lights illuminating the room in the beginning, but they died out at the same time, casting the whole room into the darkness like ink.
The glittering crystal suits on the Immortal Cultivators immediately became the best targets in the darkness.
Huo Dongling felt like she was flying, as if she were sitting on a lion that had grown wings. The whole world was swirling and rushing next to her.
It was impossible for her to cling to the mysterious man's coat with her weak strength, but the guy's cold hands had been dragging her wrists and delivering gentle strength, helping her soothe the blast of the high speed.
Huo Dongling's heart was pounding three times faster, and it was impossible for her to even scream.
While she couldn't scream, there were too many p
eople who could. Colorful flames were emerging in the darkness nonstop when the storm bolters and the blades were activated and unleashing spiritual energy, but neither the burning guns nor the broken sabers could stop the arrival of death. The cocky Immortal Cultivators a moment ago were all crying as if they were pigs being butchered, mixed with the noises of crystal suits being destroyed and bones being shattered.
Whenever one of the flames was glittering, Huo Dongling could see an astonishing and unbelievable picture.
The Immortal Cultivator in the black crystal suit was the first to take the hit. His chest had been collapsed heavily by the mysterious man who had gold eyes. The entire breastplate of his crystal suit fell so deep into his stomach that it was almost stuck to his back.
Vomiting blood crazily, he was blown backward and hit the wall; his hands and feet deeply embedded into it. It was obvious that none of the gods in the entire universe could save him now.
The other invaders suffered the same. As if swallowed by an invisible tornado, their hands and feet that were covered by the solid crystal suits were bent unnaturally. Their heads were twisted by 180 degrees, allowing them to see their backs before the heads were twisted back to the front again. Their necks were loose and couldn't support their heads anymore.
When the third flame glittered, Huo Dongling saw the twisted face of the second mercenary, whose pants had been wetted and whose face was as pale as his pants. In a voice more high-pitched than a castrated rooster, he shrieked, "Don't… Don't kill me. I'm loyal to the reformists and the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors… Long live the reformists, long live the—"
His scream came to an abrupt end before he finished it, replaced by the bubbling sounds of blood springing out. Like a dying crab, he cramped as if he suffered an electric shock, with pink foams flowing out of the corners of his mouth.
"Close your eyes."
The mysterious man in black said coldly, "It's not pretty."
Huo Dongling was stunned for a long time before she realized that the mysterious man was talking to her. Her pinky face was even hotter in her embarrassment. She felt that the guy's cold hands were getting warm despite the blockage of the gloves.
After so many things, she had to persist however scared she was. Thinking for a moment, Huo Dongling said concernedly, "You… You should escape now. There are still a lot of people outside!"
She was referring to the two "Starry Shark"-level hunting warships that were covetous and about to attack.
However tough the mysterious man in black—Mr. Li's brother—was, and however many bad Immortal Cultivators he could kill, it was impossible to get away from the hunting of two warships!
"Don't be scared."
Out of her expectation, the mysterious man in black simply grabbed her wrist and said casually, "There's nobody outside now."
…
The stone belt was both cold and scorching. In the vacuum that was both dark and frequented by the lights of destruction, Mr. Li—or Li Yao—who had just left Little Bear, only wearing a mustard-seed combat suit that was as thin as paper, leaped forward agilely toward the two "Starry Shark"-level warships with the rushing meteoroids as his stairs.
While sprinting forward, he whistled an awful tune. A streak of redness darted out of his Cosmos Ring and turned out to be a mini warship the size of a short arrow. It was exactly Neltharion that he hadn't used for a long time!
A red hue surged out of his forehead and entangled Neltharion, instantly filling the mini warship with firepower and killing intent!
"Hey—"
The mental devil who was attached to Neltharion was very dissatisfied. "I am a mental devil after all, and a king of all mental devils for that matter. Why do I have to help you with the meaningless stuff again?"
"Don't think about it that way. Just consider it a test to check how powerful Neltharion is after being redesigned, modified, and upgraded by Xiaoming, Wenwen, and the Fist King. Also, the blood of those scumbags is the best offering to it!"
Li Yao said with a smile, "Hey, are you interested in a race?"
The mental devil's blood brilliance immediately broke apart. "What race?"
"There are thirteen starships aside from Little Bear. Let me see… Huh, there are three and a half Immortal Cultivators and 22.3 battle puppets on average that have invaded each starship."
Counting his fingers, Li Yao said, "I'll take care of the two warships, and you will settle the scumbags who have invaded the cargo ships. Let's see who is faster."
"It's such a childish game. I don't want it."
The mental devil scorned, "Moreover, it is very troublesome to clear the invaders on every cargo ship. You obviously have more advantages… Fine, let's have it!"
While talking, it suddenly accelerated and dashed toward where the other cargo ships were on Neltharion, at a speed thirty percent higher than before. The bloody streak it left behind was multiple kilometers long, like a ribbon attached to the back of a flying sword.
Li Yao smiled. "I knew it!"
His eyes suddenly grew sharp. Too lazy to summon the Colossus, he simply touched his forehead with two fingers and retrieved a Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit with eight pairs of super-alloy wings. When he raised his hands, his vitality field immediately spread to hundreds of meters away, enshrouding a thousand meteoroids that were flying by. His technique of remote manipulation accelerated the meteoroids nonstop and covered them in dazzling electric arcs, which joined each other and congregated into a destructive lightning storm!
Standing at the center of the lightning storm, Li Yao slowly descended between the two warships. His telepathic thoughts saturated the two warships like tides while he put on a cold smile. "The strongest people on board are just juniors in the Core Formation Stage. You are bold enough to play evil when you are so evil? You truly don't know what you are doing!"
Chapter 2512: The Kindhearted God of Death |
Thousands of meteoroids were blown into powder at the same time. Like some sort of special fuel, they made the electric arcs a hundred times brighter than before. The electric arcs congregated into an overwhelming flood of plasma and tore apart the spiritual shield as well as the super-alloy armor more than easily, leaving an astounding crack on the part close to the bridge.
Stepping on the lightning and surrounded by thunders, Li Yao stabbed into the heart of the "Starry Shark" with blades in both hands.
On the warship, the descendants of the noble families were all scared out of their wits after they detected the powerful reaction of spiritual energy. They did not know how to counterattack at all except for putting on their combat suits and their crystal suits in time.
However, in front of the dominating strength beyond the Divinity Transformation Stage, it was utterly meaningless however many crystal suits those shrimps put on.
Li Yao's vitality field had been boosted to the maximum as he controlled the meteoroid powder that was enshrouded in the plasma as if it were a horde of dragons, sweeping across the bridge first and then lunging at the cabins along the pathways, before exploding between the arsenal and the engine compartment. The latter half of the "Starry Shark"-level warship was completely consumed by the crimson ball of light!
While the two sharks were struggling under Li Yao's attacks, the mental devil on the other side had also accelerated to the highest speed as it crawled into the cargo ships one after another, leaving the exhaust flames dozens of kilometers long.
When it reached the inside of the ships that had sufficient air and a stable pressure, the raging sounds of Neltharion were even more like the whistles of the god of death.
While blowing the whistles, it locked onto the exuberant vitality field of the Immortal Cultivators and crawled in through the most vulnerable crack of the field, reaping the lives of the Immortal Cultivators mercilessly.
It was often the case that the Immortal Cultivators who had invaded the cargo ships lost their consciousness before they realized the arrival of the god of death. They were all ki
lled in the most terrifying illusions.
Even if they had sensed that a formidable enemy was coming, it was utterly helpless whether they resisted or fled. Neltharion simply pierced through their eyebrows, chests, and abdomens again and again!
The crew members who were shuddering in fear on the ground often only saw a dazzling red line flashing before their eyes, and the Immortal Cultivators who were roaring ferociously and arrogantly a moment ago were rigidified, with a couple of holes on their bodies, collapsing to the ground.
It took the mental devil only several seconds to settle the invaders on a cargo ship, and it was in fact more time-consuming to travel between two cargo ships and search for a gap that was large enough to break into.
However, after realizing that their warship had exploded uncannily and hearing the screams of their comrades in the communication channel, who claimed that there were "evils" in other cargo ships, the descendants of the noble families were all panicking. They retreated from the cargo ships in a hurry, hoping to escape to the other "Starry Shark"-level warship and flee.
It actually saved the mental devil a lot of time.
Even in the vacuum where soundwaves could not be transmitted, the most wonderful music was still being played with the blood and the souls of the Immortal Cultivators.
The mental devil's whistle sounded even merrier than before.
…
"Evils!"
"Monsters!"
"Fiends!"
"Ahh! Ahhhhhhhh!"
On Little Bear, the flames of blades and guns had completely died out, but the cabin, though dark, was not quiet. Sounds were leaking out from the broken helmets of the dead Immortal Cultivators. All of them were panicked screams, devastated cries, aimless barrage, and miserable moans.
The messy, frightening sounds almost froze Huo Dongling's heart. She would've passed out if the man in black hadn't been holding her hand and delivering warmth.
"This… This is—"
The girl asked feebly.
In fact, she was meaning to ask the man in black where "Mr. Li" had been hiding, but she was too afraid to ask.
