Chapter 2877 The Law of Survival of the Star Pirates!
Kani had captured more than 80 spies among the first group, and Lin Yuan did not have the time to interrogate them one by one.
Some of these spies were certain that Lin Yuan would be afraid of the star pirate faction backing them and would not dare to make a move. Those who harbored such beliefs would adamantly refuse to provide information to Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan could not be bothered to waste time with these tight-lipped people. What Lin Yuan needed to do now was to immediately identify those who felt threatened by him and were willing to disclose the information.
After Lin Yuan finished speaking, despite being shocked by the spirit qi in the environment, none of the spies chose to speak.
Even though the burning sensation coming from their bodies made them wish they were dead.
Spring sent a voice transmission to Lin Yuan. "Young Master, these spies are used to a life of bloodshed. They are all very wild. Those who fear death in the Sky Beyond the Clouds will not join star pirate groups.
"Ever since these spies joined the star pirate groups, everything revolves around the star pirate groups. They have a sense of belonging and loyalty to each other. Rather than coercion, it"s better to lure them with benefits. If it involves benefits, these spies will surely speak up. Once one person opens up, others will follow suit."
Lin Yuan raised his brows. It seemed that he still didn"t understand the situation in the Sky Beyond the Clouds and wasn"t familiar with the ecology and interactions between the various people there.
Enticement was easier for Lin Yuan than coercion.
The Deposit Vegetable Pods were looking after the Spirit Lock spatial zone, but they were not adept at doing a lot of physical work. Genius also needed some servants to help clean up the cat garden with its tens of thousands of cat-species feys. These spies were qualified for this job.
Lin Yuan was definitely not willing to let someone too powerful enter the Spirit Lock spatial zone as a servant, especially someone who wasn"t completely under his control. Once they caused trouble in the Spirit Lock spatial zone, they would incur huge losses.
However, these people weren"t strong and were only at the level of igniting their spirit fire or had just reached the Divine Kingdom level.
Begin Lady, Celestial Sight, and the others were taking care of the Spirit Lock spatial zone. In addition, the feys in the Spirit Lock spatial zone were all at the World Emperor/Divine Kingdom, making them capable of monitoring those people effectively.
"The first five people who took the initiative to reveal information to me can stay in this paradise forever in the future. I will also reward them with 1,000 spirit qi crystals."
Lin Yuan shook the spirit qi crystals in his palm and added, "Each of these spirit qi crystals can be exchanged for thousands of chips in Fortune Treasure Palace. There are millions of chips waiting for you all. Once this opportunity is gone, there won"t be another chance!"
Given that it was coercion and bribery, he had to give a price that no one could refuse.
These spirit qi crystals were merely resources for the spies, but they were exceptionally precious as they were produced by a Creator. However, there was no concrete amount of value to these spirit qi crystals.
Lin Yuan"s words made these spies realize how precious the spirit qi crystals were. Millions of chips were something that they would not be able to earn for hundreds of years. Moreover, as star pirates, they had to take risks while plundering. There were very few pirates who had been active for hundreds of years.
Lin Yuan"s promise of benefits was constantly breaking through the psychological defense of these spies.
One of the female spies with a long scar on her cheek endured the burning sensation of her body and spoke quickly. "Lord, there is an alliance formed by more than 70 star pirates outside Treasure City. They are preparing to launch a surprise attack on the city tomorrow evening. They"ll directly crush all the defensive forces there."
Before the woman could finish speaking, a few stern shouts came from beside her.
"Red Scorpion, you actually exposed our plan!?"
"Aren"t you afraid that this person is deceiving us?!"
"I"ll see how you explain this to our boss then!"
Lin Yuan gently raised his hand, and the burning sensation in Red Scorpion"s body instantly disappeared.
In the next instant, the ground beneath the feet of the few people who had just spoken instantly turned into a whirlpool of quicksand, engulfing them in yellow sand that flowed into their seven orifices like liquid water.
Strange cries came from their throats, and soon, they stopped breathing.
Lin Yuan told the woman who had first provided him with information and was now looking at him in horror, "Your name is Red Scorpion, right? You"ve done very well. You"re welcome to settle down here from now on!"
Lin Yuan said sternly to the other star pirates that were crawling on the ground, "Is there any reason for me to deceive you? Now that the first person has come forward to explain the situation to me, I"ll wait for the rest of the four people to meet the same fate.
"As a member of the star pirate group, you have burned, plundered, and murdered countless lifeforms. Such actions are unforgivable. However, by explaining the situation to me and letting Treasure City successfully survive this crisis, you"re using your actions to atone for your sins and provide me with a reason to spare your life."
The few people who had scolded Red Scorpion had met a gruesome end. In addition, Lin Yuan had already handed the 1,000 spirit qi crystals to Red Scorpion.
Since Red Scorpion had already spoken, even if the others spoke up, they wouldn"t be the first traitor!
Soon, five people were gathered. The second and third individuals were still hesitant, but the fourth and fifth ones were basically competing to speak up.
Lin Yuan had just used his actions to prove that he was not afraid of the star pirates behind these spies.
Spring did not give the sixth person a chance to speak. After the fifth person finished speaking, she raised his hand and pointed. The remaining 70 or so spies were directly reduced to dust by the huge force, ceasing to exist in the world.
Spring"s move frightened the five people, including Red Scorpion, so much that they subconsciously recoiled. At the same time, they felt an unusual sense of relief, as if they had been given a second chance at life.
These spies, who had always been ruthless, looked at Lin Yuan as if he was the real devil!
Lin Yuan looked at Red Scorpion and the others and said coldly, "I"ve already fulfilled my promise and given you the benefits you deserve. Next, it"s your turn to explain everything to me! Remember, your lives were exchanged with great difficulty. Don"t make a mistake!
"In a while, other spies will be brought here. I will also inquire with them about the situation. If they make me think that you"re deliberately hiding more than you say, you"ll follow in the footsteps of your companions just now.
"I"m not sure how many more groups of star pirates there will be. I"ll only spare the lives of half of them. Don"t let down your guard and think that everything is fine now!"
If Lin Yuan had just established Sky City, he would never have been able to say such words. However, times had changed, and Lin Yuan was already used to adopting different att.i.tudes toward different people.
These spies were inherently cunning, and Lin Yuan did not want to get any dispensable information that served no purpose to him. Hence, Lin Yuan exerted a lot of pressure on the spies as soon as he arrived, preventing them from covering up for each other.
Even if these spies were the survivors of the same group, they were all compet.i.tors. Lin Yuan"s words immediately caused the few spies to return to their tense state.
Originally, they were standing very close to each other, but now, there was a distance between them.
Red Scorpion, who was the first to disclose information to Lin Yuan, was also the first to speak. "Lord, although we are also spies, there are different ranks between us. The higher the rank, the more information the spies possess.
"Not all of us know each other. I only know the people who are in charge of contacting me. For instance, I only know two of the four people here. Both of their ranks are lower than mine, so they definitely don"t have as much information as I do. However, I can guarantee that I"ll tell you everything I know!"
Red Scorpion"s words caused the two spies she pointed out to glare fiercely at her. However, what Red Scorpion said was the truth. The two spies had no way to refute her. Nonetheless, it appeared that an enmity had formed between them.
There was no absolute relations.h.i.+p between the rank and strength of the spies. Out of the two of them, one was significantly stronger than Red Scorpion.
Red Scorpion dared to speak these words in order to gain Lin Yuan"s trust and make him aware of her value. After all, Lin Yuan had said that regardless of how many people there were in the end, he would only spare half of them. As long as Red Scorpion pointed out those of lower level, she would be able to save her own life.
Having already abandoned the star pirates to ensure her own survival, Red Scorpion no longer had anything to hide.
The man, who looked very sloppy with his eyes concealed beneath the disarrayed hair on his forehead, spoke up. "I know her. My name is Mino. My level is higher than hers. I can also tell you all the information!"
Mino was the fifth person to report to Lin Yuan. Before he could finish speaking, Spring had already eliminated the remaining 70 or so spies. It could be said that among the five of them, Mino was the one who felt most like he had been given a second chance at life.
The old woman pointed out by Mino shouted hysterically, "What if your rank is higher than mine? Does that mean you necessarily know more than I do? Even if you know more, it doesn"t necessarily mean you know the details better than I do! Mino, I saved your life. Is this how you repay me?!"
Mino told the old woman without any guilt, "You saved me because it was your duty as a doctor. Remember, you"re the one who blinded one of my eyes with your treatment.
"So what if you saved my life? I"m truthfully explaining the situation to my Lord. My rank is higher than yours, and there are a total of ten people reporting to me, including you. Are you suggesting that you also know the information reported by those nine people? Whatever orders the star pirates have, I"m the one who sent them to you. Low-ranked spies like you have no chance of obtaining information."
The old woman was so angry that her body trembled.
Lin Yuan looked at the scene in front of him and pondered whether this continuous cycle of backstabbing was driven by the instinct for survival. From any perspective, this scene was a little ironic. This chapter"s initial release occurred on the N0v3l-B1n site.
"All right, who told you to argue so loudly here? I don"t care what your rank is. All you need to do now is tell me everything you know! There will be someone who will come to summarize your information."
Lin Yuan then arranged for Genius to send a few Hundred Questions Beasts to record the information provided by the spies.
…
Kani was extremely efficient and quickly sent the second group of people to Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan repeated the same process, and Kani divided the star pirates into four groups and captured them all.
In the third group of spies, Red Scorpion pointed out an extremely ordinary-looking person, indicating that the spy was her superior.
Red Scorpion wasn"t sure if this person held the highest rank among everyone, but they would definitely be able to provide Lin Yuan with useful information. Red Scorpion did that because the information Mino possessed was comparable to hers.
Mino and Red Scorpion didn"t want to be disregarded by Lin Yuan and hoped to be valued more by him. Hence, Red Scorpion was using this method to prove her value to Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan looked at Red Scorpion with admiration before seizing the person that she had pointed out from the crowd.
Lin Yuan had already obtained information from the two groups of spies, so he basically had a clear understanding of the information that he needed to know.
However, these spies did not know if there was anyone behind the star pirate groups. When Lin Yuan raised this point, many spies revealed shocked expressions.
When Lin Yuan obtained the information, the Sky-Questioning Flaming Heart Mushroom"s spores were already within their bodies. If a spy lied, the spores would immediately react, and Lin Yuan could easily find the liar.
This left Lin Yuan feeling somewhat frustrated, so he placed all his attention on Red Scorpion"s superior.
Lin Yuan was actually not very interested in the size of the star pirate group or the number of experts in it. Spring and Winter could easily deal with these people. The strongest among these star pirates was only at the Holy Spirit level.
Lin Yuan had already nurtured a Holy Spirit expert, so he no longer had any sense of awe for the Holy Spirit level.
However, Lin Yuan learned from these low-ranking spies that there were two devil groups in the star pirate group, and each devil group had 10 members. These two devil groups had been giving orders. It was these devils" idea to let so many spies enter Treasure City. As a result, the spies captured by Lin Yuan were hostile toward the devils.
When this spy was pointed out by Red Scorpion, his expression stiffened. It was obvious that he did not expect Red Scorpion to identify him.
The fact that Red Scorpion had identified him meant that she had completely submitted to the young man in front of him. It was likely that the information had already been leaked.