Chapter 2614: A Second Compet.i.tion and a Final Battle!
Exchanging the lives of billions of people for the most loyal and strongest fleet!
Also, considering Wuying Qi’s craziness, if his plan in the Empyreal Terminus Sector worked out, it was quite possible that he would do the same in other s.p.a.ce zones!
When the worlds were purged one after another, the Imperium would become the second Covenant Alliance in the end; a larger Covenant Alliance that occupied more resources, except that all the puppets in the “larger Covenant Alliance” wors.h.i.+pped not the Pangu Clan but him and him alone!
Was Blackstar the Great planning to take care of the four families and even the Covenant Alliance in such a way?
Yes, if everybody were equally brainwashed, equally loyal to their leader, and equally fearless and zealous, with barely any social friction, since the Imperium was larger in size and had more resources, the Covenant Alliance would naturally be no match for the Imperium, and the war that lingered for a thousand years would end with the Imperium’s victory.
However, was such a victory really the victory of mankind? Or would it be the real doom of the n.o.ble human beings who had free will?
“He must be stopped!”
Li Yao gnashed his teeth and asked, “How long do you need to locate the core components of the Gold Crystal Pyramid, or at least the direction of them, so that I can blow them up with my most powerful ‘Ultra-Galactic Cannon’?”
“Don’t be hasty. Having received all of Professor Mo Xuan’s knowledge on crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus, I certainly know what I am doing.”
The mental devil said confidently, “Even if Wuying Qi has adopted the most advanced super crystal processors of the Imperium and set up dozens of defense measures to protect his secret, so what? I’ll definitely dig out all of his secrets if I have twenty-four hours!”
Li Yao bulged his eyes. “Twenty-four hours? You’ve got to be kidding me. We don’t even have twenty-four minutes!”
“Then, there is nothing I can do.”
The mental devil replied helplessly, “The Next Sun Plan has been activated and is not a big secret itself. That’s why I found it easily. However, the secrets about how to stop the Gold Crystal Pyramid have naturally been locked in the deepest part of the crystal processors by Wuying Qi and protected by the strongest state-of-the-art encryption measures. The monsters such as Xiaoming, Wenwen, and the Fist King who are adept at the Spiritual Nexus and the crystal processors are not around. However optimistic I am, it will still take a couple of hours!”
Soaked in a cold sweat, Li Yao was about to open his mouth when heavy footsteps echoed far away from his back. But then, they came over from only a couple of meters behind him, or even stomped on his heart directly, almost blowing it apart!
Despite the st.u.r.diness of Li Yao’s soul and body, he grunted as blood surged to his throat. His head was dizzy, and the world was swirling before him.
The weirdest thing happened!
Under his feet, on the floor of the enormous place, in the middle of the esoteric ravines of runes, dark brooks were flowing from everywhere. The thick fluids that const.i.tuted the brooks were not water but more like some sort of living oil or gel.
When all the ravines of runes were filled by such black oil or gel, the runes on the ground turned black.
Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum!
Ma.s.sive and profound noises echoed in the palace, like the moan of the universe that made one feel the vastness of the cosmos and the insignificance of human beings. They would inevitably feel that human beings, as individuals, were no different from germs on a scale of billions of years. How meaningless their lives were!
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
In the moan of the universe, the sound of water dripping came over, dripping directly inside Li Yao’s brain.
However, there were no actual water drops. Instead, from the black, thick fluids, black beads the size of fingernail were separated and ascended to the midair, slowly ignoring gravity.
Very soon, hundreds of black water drops floated around Li Yao inside the empty palace, some high and some low.
The water drops were attracted to each other, extending tentacles that looked like spider threads to join each other.
From that perspective, they were not water drops but the cells and nerves of a certain weird life, which were proliferating into brilliant cl.u.s.ters.
Li Yao was astounded by the nightmare and did not know how to react for a while. He did not dare to touch the black water drops that were growing nerves either.
He had been stranded by the thousands of black water drops and their nerves!
“False! False! They’re all your illusions! You are already mired in Wuying Qi’s mental attack!”
The mental devil’s voice came from the deepest part of Li Yao’s brain, more anxious than ever. “He’s here! Wuying Qi is here! We do not have twenty-four hours or twenty-four minutes! Blackstar the Great is right behind us!
“However, he hasn’t launched an attack yet. That’s odd. What does he want? Let me see… Got it!
“Listen, we still have a chance. Although Wuying Qi has arrived in time, he has to be very careful too. First of all, a battle here may damage all the super crystal processors. Although I estimate that the crystal processors are not the real core, their loss will result in certain interferences with Wuying Qi’s plan. For example, the activation of the Gold Crystal Pyramid could be postponed, and the best opportunity when the four families’ ace fleets are gathered may be missed out.
“Secondly, after Xiaoming and Wenwen’s treatment, we are multiple times stronger than when we fought him last time, as suggested by the fact that we crushed three experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage including Yue Wushuang. The remote confrontation in the Seven Seas Grand Market last time also taught Wuying Qi a lesson about our new strength. Even though we are still no match for him, he will have to pay a horrible price if he is determined to kill us!
“Since he is going to launch brainwaves crazily in the Next Sun Plan, it will definitely consume his spiritual energy and even his soul power tremendously. Therefore, unless it is absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t want to suffer heavy wounds at such a moment!
“Do you understand? Right now, we are both deeply wary of each other. Therefore, unless it is absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t want to destroy us with violence but would try to brainwash us through mental attacks and eliminate the threat without fighting. If possible, he can even turn us into his accomplice.
“This is an opportunity. This is the only opportunity that we can defeat him. We have to do this… this… and that in order to kill this thousand-year-old monster, but first of all, you have to delay him long enough.
“Enough talking. I can sense that his mental power is surging over like a tide. He is unaware of my existence for now. I have to cut the connection between us in case he discovers anything. All in all, try to buy me enough time for me to crack the secrets of the Gold Crystal Pyramid!”
Before the thousands of black water drops and nerval threads completely enshrouded Li Yao, the mental devil’s voice had come to an abrupt end.
Li Yao looked around. The crystal processors, the blood pools, and the broken limbs on the ground all turned into translucent ent.i.ties, but the water drops and the nerve cl.u.s.ters were more and more eye-catching and real.
He did not know whether he was on the boundary of reality and illusion, or if he was inside the realm that Blackstar the Great built with his ma.s.sive mental power, or maybe his soul had been absorbed into Blackstar the Great’s head.
When he turned around, Queen Li Linghai, whose long hair was half black and half white and whose eyes were the same, was standing in the depths of the mist and staring at him with a mysterious look on her face.
The nerves extending from the black water drops were all connected to her long hair. No, they were even simply part of her hair!
Her long hair dancing like water plants, Li Linghai walked toward him unhurriedly.
After her every step forward, the black water drops floating in the air would be stimulated and grow even more nerves.
On Li Linghai’s pale skin, interconnected black cracks were showing up too. Her skin fell apart like a broken vase, with the pieces splas.h.i.+ng everywhere. Enshrouded in dark flames, she went through such drastic changes that it was like a rebirth.
After she walked the thirty meters, the sh.e.l.l of “Li Linghai” was completely broken, and a tall, majestic man was revealed.
The man whose long black hair was waving crazily had a deeply hollowed face that left the impression that his whole mouth was a ravenous mouth that could swallow the whole cosmos and all the living creatures in it.
When an ordinary person stood before him, it was like standing before a cliff that was inclined to them and could collapse any moment, smas.h.i.+ng them into pieces.
Li Yao had seen the unique soul-stirring face on countless occasions—say, from the overwhelming statue in the Emperors’ Mausoleum in the capital.
It was Blackstar the Great!
Li Yao confirmed that he had suffered Wuying Qi’s attack without him knowing it and entered a certain illusionary realm that was controlled by Wuying Qi.
That was because Wuying Qi’s soul was still trapped inside Li Linghai’s sh.e.l.l in reality. It was impossible for him to reveal his real appearance just yet.
However, for the experts in Li Yao’s level, when their lives were under threat, their cells and their souls would have intuitional reactions, resulting in intense stimulations that would get him away from the illusion.
It was one of the reasons why Wuying Qi dare not attack him in the real world.
The other reason was perhaps that Wuying Qi was confident of his brainwas.h.i.+ng abilities. Now that he had a chance to have a mental communication with Li Yao face to face, he believed that he could transform Li Yao into his own subordinate, and therefore, he was unwilling to waste a “talent” like Li Yao.
“Don’t come any closer!”
Thinking of what the mental devil said, Li Yao frowned so hard that his eyes almost popped up. The muscles on his face rose like boas, and the flames of spiritual energy over his body soared to the maximum. He shouted, “If you get any closer, I’ll cry for help!”