Chapter 2510: Shamelessness!
For a moment, earsplitting alarms were ringing in the ten or so business s.h.i.+ps at the same time.
Although the distance was too far away for them to distinguish the strangers’ side, they would have cruised outside of the stone belt openly and contacted them voluntarily if they were the garrison of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors.
These two wars.h.i.+ps, however, had been lurking behind the meteoroids sordidly, covering their spiritual waves with the dust and radiation. It was not until the cargo s.h.i.+ps could not retreat anymore that they finally marched out. Their hostility couldn’t have been more evident.
They were probably the hunting wars.h.i.+ps of the four Kurfürst families!
For a moment, all the civil cargo s.h.i.+ps panicked. Like a bunch of headless flies, they were about to disperse, only to be blocked by the rus.h.i.+ng meteoroids, which raised colorful flames on their spiritual s.h.i.+elds. Two of the s.h.i.+ps almost collided because they failed to calculate their distance in time.
As it turned out, the two wars.h.i.+ps sent a message to the cargo s.h.i.+p at the same time. “Retreat your spiritual s.h.i.+elds, lower your speed to one third, move forward in a straight line, and be prepared to be boarded!”
In the meantime, the heads of the two wars.h.i.+ps glowed, launching a barrage that blew the meteoroids ahead of the cargo s.h.i.+ps into powder to demonstrate their unparalleled damage.
In terms of size, all the cargo s.h.i.+ps were much bigger than the wars.h.i.+ps. Also, some defensive magical equipment such as minor cannons were accommodated on those s.h.i.+ps too.
However, in terms of speed and firepower, as well as the well-trained, murderous soldiers on board, cargo s.h.i.+ps couldn’t be compared to wars.h.i.+ps at all. It was like a fat pig faced with a bunch of tigers.
“Stop!”
“Stop and accept inspection, or you will be killed immediately!”
The high-pitched ultimatum crashed into every cargo s.h.i.+p as well as everyone’s heart like a meteoroid. Everybody was scared out of their wits.
Inside the warehouse of Little Bear, the few mercenaries who claimed to be professional killers were already shouting, “Are you f*cking deaf? Retreat the spiritual s.h.i.+eld and prepare to be inspected. That’s the most advanced ‘Starry Shark’-level hunting wars.h.i.+p, designed to block the enemy’s sailing routes and supply lines! We are but thin-skinned cans in front of them that will be cracked after the slightest knock. What are you waiting for? Hurry and stop!”
Hardly had they finished talking when the two hunting wars.h.i.+ps took action in their impatience.
Taking advantage of their speed and agility, they moved quickly in the stone belt that had a complicated environment and approached the fleet of cargo s.h.i.+ps while they shot at the surroundings of the cargo s.h.i.+ps to make them draw closer to each other. In the meantime, they spurted out countless dark, giant iron b.a.l.l.s from their abdomens.
Those iron b.a.l.l.s were all attached to deft mechanical arms, which were not meant to attack but to spurt out flames, granting them unparalleled mobility. They were like the swiftest octopi.
As the mechanical arms opened and closed, the giant iron b.a.l.l.s crowded at the cargo s.h.i.+ps, and no matter how the cargo s.h.i.+ps dodged, it was impossible to escape from their scourge.
Very soon, the sh.e.l.l of every cargo s.h.i.+p had attracted a couple of giant iron b.a.l.l.s. From the mechanical arms, gels were spurted out, whose speed did not decelerate even in the vacuum, sticking them to the cargo s.h.i.+ps tightly.
Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi!
High-heat flames spurted out of the holes on the surface of the giant iron b.a.l.l.s. Condensed into narrow sabers, they cut holes on the sh.e.l.ls of the cargo s.h.i.+ps more than easily that were precisely the size of the iron b.a.l.l.s. There was not the slightest gap, so no oxygen was leaked out.
In such a way, the battle units accommodated within the giant iron b.a.l.l.s could invade the cargo s.h.i.+ps openly.
Inside every iron ball were three to four Immortal Cultivators in crystal suits as well as a dozen crouched battle puppets.
Such a methodology of invasion was very similar to the regular tactics of the Colossi. It was barely possible for two wars.h.i.+ps to control more than ten cargo s.h.i.+ps at the same time, but once the Immortal Cultivators entered the business stars.h.i.+ps, unless everybody was united and put up resistance together, they would have no choice except to surrender.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
In the collision of armors, four Immortal Cultivators in black crystal suits that looked like fiends broke into the warehouse of Little Bear, preparing to attack the c.o.c.kpit ahead from there.
“Ah!”
Sensing the intense stink of blood from the strangers, many crew members and pa.s.sengers were shrieking.
“Lay down your weapons. Drop all your weapons!”
“You are all rebels, and you are going to reinforce the Seven Seas Grand Market, aren’t you?”
“Lay down your blades and weapons. n.o.body is to summon any of their spiritual energy, or you will be killed immediately!”
Detecting the mercenaries, the attackers were suddenly alarmed. The dozen battle puppets hopped over at the same time, aiming at the mercenaries with their dark barrels.
The mercenaries who were talking about what a great time it was were all frightened. The first mercenary hurried to say, “We are all Marquess Yongchun’s people. This is just a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding!”
“A misunderstanding?”
The Immortal Cultivator in the lead grinned hideously and suddenly stepped forward, slas.h.i.+ng from down to top across the mercenary’s left abdomen and right shoulder. Half of his body was immediately chopped off, and the most stinky guts were flowing on the floor!
“Ahh!”
The crew members and the pa.s.sengers cried even more miserably.
The Immortal Cultivator in the black crystal suit pointed at the second mercenary and said gloomily, “Speak now. Why are you going to the Seven Seas Grand Market? You must be the spies of the reformists who have escaped from the capital, and you are going to contact Jin Yuyan in the Seven Seas Grand Market because there is important intelligence that you need to deliver, right?”
The second mercenary was dumbfounded, not expecting the soldier would be so shameless as to make such a serious accusation so easily. His pants were almost wetted when he saw the miserable body of his “big brother”. Knowing that he would be killed however he was going to answer, he looked around and noticed Huo Dongling. As if he had caught a lifesaver, he screamed at the top of his voice, “I am not! I’m not a spy of the reformists, but I know who is! That boy! That boy in black leather coat and black cape over there! Please be careful, he is very strong, and he does not dare to reveal his real face. He must be a spy! A great spy!”
“Huh?”
The Immortal Cultivators in black crystal suits suddenly grew hostile. Turning around with the dozens of battle puppets, they moved their eyes to the corner where Huo Dongling was at.
“You—”
Huo Dongling felt that she had fallen into an ice cave. She did not expect that the Immortal Cultivators could be so brutal and shameless and that they could make up such things just for a slim chance of survival.
“Boy, just admit it, you are a fu*king spy of the reformists!”
Hiding behind the Immortal Cultivators in black crystal suits, the mercenary grew c.o.c.ky and declared gloatingly, “Weren’t you very awesome a moment ago? If you are capable, just show your skills in front of the brilliant, invincible, and righteous warriors here! Why are you covering yourself so tightly, not even revealing your face? You must have intelligence with you. Very important intelligence!”
Looking at his shamelessness, Huo Dongling finally couldn’t help but cry. In a feeble voice that only she could hear, she roared, “What kind of heroes are you?”
“Don’t mind that. It doesn’t matter. They did not intend to keep anyone alive in the first place. The result is the same whether or not the few mercenaries say anything.”
The voice as warm as the winter sunlight, however, flowed into Huo Dongling’s mind in a hot stream. The messy-haired pa.s.senger said casually, “There are three types of hunting wars.h.i.+ps that the four families sent out to block the sailing routes.
“The first type is the s.p.a.ce 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 wars.h.i.+ps, 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 s.h.i.+p 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 s.h.i.+ps 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 s.h.i.+elds. 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 n.o.ble 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 G.o.d 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 s.h.i.+ps a moment ago only because they were paralyzing us so that we would gather the cargo s.h.i.+ps and make their ma.s.sacre 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 s.h.i.+vering voice, “Mr.—Mr. Li, then what are we going to do?”
“It’s very simple.”
The messy-haired pa.s.senger 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 pa.s.senger who had pretty eyes, a pleasant voice, and a headful of messy hair had completely vanished from the impenetrable cabin like a ghost.