Chapter 2473: No Way In h.e.l.l!
“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 stars.h.i.+p 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 stars.h.i.+ps that could still fly, had taken off from the port, moving faster and faster to the boundless s.p.a.ce.
“Infinite Fire”, the Big Bai Fleet’s previous flags.h.i.+p, had died together with Black Swirl, the flags.h.i.+p 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 stars.h.i.+p. After a series of sneak-in, deception, seizure, maintenance, modification, and upgrade, the Big Bai Pirate Gang had a brand-new flags.h.i.+p, which had insanely melted the power units of almost ten rapid wars.h.i.+ps, making it the fastest flags.h.i.+p at the center of the cosmos.
Boss Bai had named his new flags.h.i.+p 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 flags.h.i.+p could reach the higher dimensions and pose as much a threat to the incredible existence there as viruses had posed to mankind, wasn’t he?
As for the flags.h.i.+p 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 stars.h.i.+p 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 commanders.h.i.+p from Gao Kangda. Even the flags.h.i.+p had been turned into a mothers.h.i.+p of s.p.a.ce shuttles modified from a comprehensive supply stars.h.i.+p. Such ma.s.sive stars.h.i.+ps did not have a high combat ability themselves, but they had the thickest armor and the greatest inner s.p.a.ce, making it possible to accommodate tremendous crystal suits, s.p.a.ce 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 flags.h.i.+p “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 s.p.a.ce 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 s.p.a.ce was three-dimensional. It was a vast s.p.a.ce 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 flags.h.i.+ps 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 s.p.a.ce 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 stars.h.i.+ps 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, n.o.body outside is to know the truth of the Blue Sky Market or spread out what happened in the Blue Sky s.p.a.ce 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 wars.h.i.+ps 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 stars.h.i.+ps, 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 stars.h.i.+ps in a row?
“A s.p.a.ce 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 stars.h.i.+p 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 sc.u.mbags 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 h.e.l.l, there is no need for you to leave now!”