Chapter 1124 Which Place to Visit in the Golden Week?
“Prepare to jump into the secondary s.p.a.ce and leave the Sea Dragon Star Area.”
“Wait. They entered the secondary s.p.a.ce first. Phew. Thank goodness they left.”
“It seems that we don’t have to run for the time being.”
“Then… let’s observe the situation for a little longer?”
As a result, these onlookers, who had witnessed the battle with their own eyes, returned to the Dal Star.
It would take a lot of crystal stones to build a new stronghold. Thus, they didn’t want to abandon the old one on the Dal Star unless they really had to.
Hu Tianshan came in a hurry and left in a hurry.
His fleet departed right away after giving Li MU’s fleet a heavy blow. Judging by their well-organized movements, everyone could tell that they must be heading for other places to fight.
The Harmony Star was the Cloud Shadow Sky’s stronghold on the edge of the Eastern Sea Star Area. This place was off the beaten track.
“Thud, thud, thud, thud…”
Li Mu’s fleet jumped out of the secondary s.p.a.ce.
“Tell me our losses in that battle.”
Li Mu took a deep breath. He then opened his eyes and saw the Harmony Star off in the distance. In an instant, his expression changed.
“This…”
The people on the fleet all fell silent.
The entire Harmony Star was enveloped in smoke.
Flames were crackling everywhere. The sky was overcast. The s.p.a.ce station outside the planet had been turned into sc.r.a.p metals of all sizes and shapes, which were floating in the void of the universe.
“The Harmony Star has been destroyed.”
Li Mu felt that his throat was extremely dry.
“Beep, beep, beep…”
His communication device rang.
It was a call from Li Hao. Li Mu quickly answered it.
At once, he clearly sensed that Li Hao let out a sigh of relief after he picked up the call.
“I never thought that Hu Tianshan would bring such a large fleet there. How is it going on your side?”
Li Mu inhaled deeply and reported, “We’ve suffered heavy losses. I only have 30 s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps left. As for Elder Yi Hou, he… Because of my carelessness, Hu Tianshan captured his signal frequency while I was contacting him. We agreed to meet on the Harmony Star. But he hasn’t arrived yet, and the Harmony Star has already been demolished.”
“I see. Hurry back to the Cloud Shadow Sky now. The war between us and the Tiger Talisman Royal Family is in full swing. The Sea Dragon Star Area will be in chaos for some time,” Li Hao said calmly. “The first confrontation is the most disorganized. Our alliance and theirs are both striving to attack the other side’s weak points or pivotal planets. Now is not the time for you to be venturing outside. Come back as soon as possible.”
Li Mu heard loud beeps coming from his father’s communication device. There must be numerous calls coming in at the same time.
By this moment, Li Mu was well aware that the era of war had arrived!
After thinking for a while, Li Mu was no longer of two minds. He directly ordered the others to get ready to enter the secondary s.p.a.ce again.
During these two minutes, Li Mu left a message for Yi Hou.
“See you in the Cloud Shadow Sky!”
About three days later, Li Mu arrived in the Cloud Shadow Sky.
He also learned a lot of news.
The Cloud Shadow Sky’s alliance used to own a total of 153 planets.
After a couple of days of chaotic battles, the number of the planets it owned had decreased sharply to 60.
The Tiger Talisman Royal Family’s Alliance used to control 140 planets. But now, only 70 were still subject to its reign.
Someone made a calculation.
In the last few days, the Tiger Talisman Royal Family had lost about 350 s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps in the battles, while Cloud Shadow Sky had lost roughly 300.
Those destroyed were mostly corvettes. The main vessels’ defense was strong. Thus, by far, no main vessel had been wrecked.
The planets involved in the war were scattered across the Sea Dragon Star Area.
The tangled warfare was still going on.
More and more sects and forces were embroiled in the war. The Silver-winged Hall had joined in the Cloud Shadow Sky’s alliance. With might redoubled, the Cloud Shadow Sky dealt devastating blows to a planet of strategic position the Tiger Talisman Royal Family owned just yesterday.
However, apart from a few neutral ones, some other top forces in the Sea Dragon Star Area also cooperated with the Tiger Talisman Royal Family.
As these two forces competed for superiority, their alliances continued to grow. The influence range of this war spread from only 50 percent to about 80 percent of the forces in the Sea Dragon Star Area!
Eighty percent of the forces in the Sea Dragon Star Area had partic.i.p.ated in this contention.
But this war had just begun!
“Father, it’s my fault. I was careless and fell into Hu Tianshan’s trap,” Li Mu apologized. He felt ashamed when he saw Li Hao.
“You’re still young, but Hu Tianshan is an old fox. His fleet is more powerful than yours, so it’s only natural for you to lose when faced with his attack,” Li Hao shook his head slightly and said with a sigh. “Even I have to be extra cautious when dealing with Hu Tianshan, let alone you.”
Li Mu felt a little better after hearing his father’s comforting words. He raised his head to look at Li Hao and asked, “Is Hu Tianshan really that powerful?”
“He’s a powerful person indeed. He should take half of the credit for the Tiger Talisman Royal Family’s current large scale. Their king, Tiger G.o.d, is good at combat. He is very mighty and has a deep understanding of machinery. His individual strength is also very strong. Therefore, he is more suitable to go to more advanced Star Areas and other places in the Cultivation World where dangers lurk in every corner. However, in the Sea Dragon Starfield, s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps matter most in war. To fight here requires strategies. Hence, like a fish in water, Hu Tianshan is unstoppable here,” Li Hao said slowly.
“That sounds almost unbelievable. Then how are we going to deal with Hu Tianshan?” Li Mu asked, kind of stunned.
“The way to deal with him is very simple.”
“What is it?” Li Mu suddenly became curious.
Under his intent gaze, Li Hao placed his hands behind his back and looked at the scenery outside the window.
With composure, he said, “To tackle Hu Tianshan, I alone will be enough.”
Li Mu was rather speechless.
“What are the odds of we winning this war?” Li Mu asked after some deliberation.
“If everything goes as we’ve expected, we have a 60 percent chance of victory,” Li Hao replied.
Even though Cloud Shadow Sky’s alliance was a little bit stronger than the other party, the gap between them was not large. But Li Hao’s expression was calm and collected. He had good reasons to e confident.
“Then what could the unexpected situations be?” Li Mu probed.
He knew his father well. If nothing unexpected could happen, Li Hao would say they would definitely win other than telling him that there was only a 60 percent chance of winning.
“The unexpected situations are the changes in the Chaotic Region. There are some things that I can only tell you.” Li Hao mused for a moment. Then, his voice became deeper, and his gaze turned a little solemn.
“The Sea Dragon Star Area is a remote and resource-deficient place in the Cultivation World. The Heavenly Dragon Star Province is much more powerful. But in our Star Area, the only forces that can compete with those in other advanced places are the families in the Chaotic Region. Everyone here knows a little about the Chaotic Regions. It is a place full of danger. There are some families living in seclusion in it. Although the population there is not large, each family has a G.o.d Transformation Realm master guarding it. The Grand Master of the Tiger Talisman Royal Family is a Grand Elder in one of the families, who has a deep-rooted relations.h.i.+p with that family. We also have a back in one of those families. But our relations.h.i.+p with our backer is different. At a certain critical moment, maybe our backer can bring about unexpected changes. But without the backer’s support, we will lose this war. Then, we may have to escape to another Star Area.”
“This…” Li Mu’s face slightly paled.
He didn’t expect that his father had prepared for the worst.
“Haha.”
Li Hao turned his head and saw Li Mu’s expression. He then chuckled and said, “But we still stand a chance. Elder Yue is very powerful even among those in the G.o.d Transformation Realm. As for those in the Chaotic Region, they are at the G.o.d Transformation Realm Early-Stage. Perhaps when Zhang Hanyang and his people come here, we will know how this war will turn out.”
“Alas.”
Speaking of Zhang Hanyang, Li Mu sighed and said, “I messed up the task Senior Zhang gave me.”
“It’s not your fault. You’ve done your best.” Li Hao smiled and said, “It will be turbulent for a couple of days during the initial stages of the war. You can still rebuild the s.p.a.ce station and the rest after the first round of confrontation is over. But don’t do it openly next time. You’d better hide in the dark. When constructing the s.p.a.ce station, you can use some methods to conceal the project. At times, if your project attracts too much attention, others will still head over and destroy it even if they have no idea what that project is carried out for.”
“Yes, I’ll bear that in mind. Oh, Yi Hou is back!”
Li Mu suddenly glanced at the communicator. His eyes lit up immediately.
“How are you?” Li Mu hurriedly asked.
He then learned that Yi Hou had only lost 10 s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps.
“Phew…”
Li Mu heaved a sigh of relief.
If something had happened to Yi Hou, Li Mu would blame himself for bringing his teammate to doom.
Fortunately, the losses were not great.
After more than 10 minutes, Yi Hou and about a dozen elders walked over quickly.
“Sect Leader, on our way back, we pa.s.sed by the Sea Central Star Area, attacked the Longda Star, and destroyed the s.p.a.ce station there. We also went by the Buxia Star and vanquished the branch of the Dark Pond Sect. We planned to go to the Heavenly North Star Area to destroy the headquarters of the Dark Pond Sect. But just when we were about to attack, Hu Tianshan came to reinforce them. Fortunately, they were far away from us and the secondary s.p.a.ce. Otherwise, we would have to tackle this tough opponent. Hu Tianshan is attaching every place. His whereabouts are difficult to track down,” one of the elders said calmly.
“Well, good job. Everyone, thank you for your hard work.” Li Hao nodded but didn’t show any signs of surprise.
Li Mu, on the other hand, was in a daze.
“Yi Hou and the others have achieved so much on their way back. But I didn’t get anything done along the way…”
He became silent and started to do a self-reflection. He now did that several times every day.
Perhaps this meant that he had grown up.
Learning about the confrontation between the two overlords of the Sea Dragon Star Area, many people’s eyes fell out of their sockets in fright.
In a lot of small sects, everyone was worried about their own safety.
Some had even boarded s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps to fly far away from the center of the vortex.
Battles seemed to be taking place at all hours.
The world had sunk into complete turmoil.
But Liu Qingfeng and Zhang Han still knew nothing about this.
Earth was hidden in the Sea Dragon Star Area. Without Yue Wuwei, the ferryman, no one could find it.
Therefore, it was impossible for those on Earth to contact the outside world.
After the first monthly examination was over, the Golden Week, the seven-day holiday in the first week of October, soon arrived.
“Nina, we have seven days off. We can hang out again.”
“Do you have any places you want to visit?”
On the evening of the 30th of September, Mengmeng and Yue Xiaonao discussed with Nina where they were going to have fun in the Golden Week.
“I saw a saying on the Internet, which says he who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man,” Nina said with a smile. “It means that the Great Wall in Shang Jing is a magnificent attraction that dates back to ancient times. Why don’t we go to Shang Jing first?”
“Oh, okay.”
Mengmeng certainly wouldn’t object.
Mengmeng had been to many tourist attractions around the globe. But, of course, there were also many places she hadn’t been to yet. This time, she planned to visit a couple of new places. Since Nina wanted to go to Shang Jing, she decided to change her plan and make a trip to Shang Jing first.
“Mummy, Daddy, can we go to Shang Jing during the Golden Week?”
After returning to the castle, Mengmeng scampered to her parents’ bedroom, lay on the bed, and made the suggestion.
She was in high spirits when she came in. But soon, her enthusiasm was doused.
Zi Yan glanced at her and said blandly, “If you want to go, then go by yourself. Why drag us along?”
“Huh?” Mengmeng was stunned in an instant.
Seeing the tiny smile on her mother’s face, Mengmeng knew she was suppressing her laughter.
“Humph!”
Mengmeng snorted heavily, leaned against Zhang Han’s leg, and said, “Mummy, I don’t like you anymore. You can do whatever you want. Anyway, I’m not your baby girl anymore. I’m Daddy’s baby girl. I and Daddy will go out to play. We won’t take you with us.”
“Hahaha…”
Zi Yan couldn’t help burst out laughing. She stretched out her hand and pinched Mengmeng’s pink cheek. “Well, Mummy was just joking. Let’s go to Shang Jing for the holiday tomorrow.”
“What should we ride to get there? My aircraft? The Blue b.u.t.terfly is so beautiful. It’s a pity that it has to remain invisible before others.” Mengmeng pouted. Her eyes froze for a moment, then she said, “If we go there by the Blue b.u.t.terfly, where should we park it?”
“Eh?”
Zhang Han’s expression changed. He dispersed the energy of the Star Formation of the Five Elements with his mind. From his expression, he seemed to be focused on listening to something. Two seconds later, he laughed.
“Elder Yue has a manor in Shang Jing. We can go straight to his manor. Yue Xiaonao just told him on the phone that she would go to Shang Jing to have fun, and she didn’t want him or Lisa to go with her. Haha!”
“Pfft!”
Zi Yan couldn’t help but giggle. “Elder Yue and Lisa are really not worried about Yue Xiaonao’s safety. If it were me, I would not let Mengmeng live outside our home without us for this long.”
“Haha, of course. Because I’m Daddy’s precious little girl,” Mengmeng said proudly, swaying her legs on the edge of the bed.
“Humph.” Zi Yan snorted and urged, “Well, don’t impose here any longer. It’s late. Go to sleep.”
“No, I’ll lie here for a while longer. Alas.” Mengmeng suddenly heaved with a sigh. Suddenly, she acted as an elegant queen and put on a perfect lofty expression on her face as she raised her right hand.
“Whizz!”
A small blackboard appeared.
Then, propping herself up on one elbow, she began counting the little red flowers on it.
“One, two, three, four…”
Zhang Han and Zi Yan simmered with laughter when they saw this. But they didn’t stop her. Mengmeng finished counting after two minutes.
“Well, there are exactly 108 little red flowers.
“Well, this means Daddy shall fulfill my 108 wishes unconditionally.”
“You are showing off.” Amused, Zi Yan patted Mengmeng’s little b.u.t.tocks.
“I’m not showing off. I’m obviously rubbing this in your face,” Mengmeng said, grinning.
“Fine, you win,” Zi Yan said cooperatively.
Mengmeng suddenly thought of something. She put away her precious blackboard, edged to Zi Yan’s side, and lay comfortably on her long legs before saying, “Mummy, lately, I found that Beibei, a boy in my cla.s.s, is not a good guy.”
“You mean Bei Jinnan? Why is he not a good guy?” Zi Yan asked curiously.
“You know, he had a crush on me in the first grade. But now, he’s pursuing Nina. He is fickle, so he’s not a good man like Daddy,” Mengmeng muttered.
“That’s it?” Zi Yan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this moment. “It’s normal for boys to like pretty girls. Bei Jinnan knows he can’t be with you, so it’s normal that he changed his goal. However, he’s only in junior high. Can’t believe all he thinks about is dating girls. He is sort of precocious.”
“Well, there is no other man as wonderful as Daddy in the world,” Mengmeng commented.
“You have no idea…”
Zi Yan snorted while speaking.
The corners of Zhang Han’s mouth twitched with awkwardness.
Judging from Zi Yan’s expression, he knew she wanted to say, “Your father used to be a famous playboy in Shang Jing City. You have no idea how many beautiful women he had dated.”
“That’s nonsense!
“You can’t tell her that!”
“Why are you suddenly talking about this?” Zhang Han coughed softly and said with a serious face, “Mengmeng, I’m telling you, the bottom line is…”
“I’m not allowed to date anyone yet? I know that.” Mengmeng immediately chimed in. “Whether I’ll obey this rule depends on your performance. If Daddy doesn’t treat me well, humph, there will be others who do.”
Zhang Han was bereft of speech.
His face darkened.
“My little girl is getting more and more naughty,” he groaned inwardly.
“I’ll go to play games now.” Mengmeng sat up in a good mood.
“Have you finished your homework?” Zi Yan suddenly asked.
“Buzz!”
Mengmeng’s expression stiffened.
She pursed her lips and said bitterly, “Mummy, are you trying to scare me again? I won first place in the last monthly exam as well.”
“But taking first place doesn’t mean you can stop doing your homework, does it?” Zi Yan showed a confused look on her face.
“Humph!”
Mengmeng ran out in a huff.
Would she go back to my bedroom to do homework? No way. The holiday had just begun. How could she have time for homework? She would play for at least a couple of days before starting with her homework.
“Haha…”
Watching Mengmeng hop out of the room, Zhang Han shook his head in amus.e.m.e.nt.
Everyone loved holidays.
It was because, on holidays, they could sleep in, play games to their heart’s content, and go out for fun.
But sometimes, the following situations would occur in some places during the Golden Week.
“Hahahaha, Liu, just now, a stunning beauty beside me checked me out for half an hour with a smile on her face.”
“Holy cow! You lucky dog! How could this happen to you right after you went out to travel? Where are you? I’ll also go there next time.”
“Oh, I’m on the highway.”
“What? Who’s that beauty?”
“She’s on the advertising board on the side of the road.”
“Well, it turns out that you are stuck in a traffic jam. Can you describe how you feel at this time?”
“I… well… hope I had stayed at home.”
Some even began to compose poems on the Great Wall while recording the hubbub there with their mobile phones.
“In Shang Jing’s first week in October, traffic stretches for thousands of miles, and hundreds of thousands of people cram into all the tourist attractions. Look at the Great Wall. The line is moving as slow as turtles. Everyone is agitated because they can hardly move. Now the place is so congested, we may soon wet our pants…”
It was noon.
Zhang Han’s family of three, Yue Xiaonao, and Nina were also stuck in the crowd.
“Nina, is the Great Wall… magnificent?” Mengmeng scratched her forehead and asked.
“Er, well, it’s quite special.” Nina tucked her chin.
She didn’t expect there could be so many people here. They couldn’t take a step forward at all.
The only thing that made her thankful was that it was not too crowded here, for Uncle Zhang had been keeping others a short distance away from them with his powers.
In other places, it was difficult to move at all. But for them, they still had room to turn and move.
“Gee, I’m almost out of breath.”
Yue Xiaonao looked at the ma.s.ses and shook her head. “We’d better not go further.”
“Let’s go visit somewhere else,” Zi Yan suggested, too.
This place was indeed too congested. Besides, it was still hot in October. Zi Yan was wearing a cap and a pair of sungla.s.ses. Every step she took cost a minute or so. After inching forward like this for several hundred meters, her desire to visit the Great Wall had almost dissipated.
“Let’s go then.”
Zhang Han laughed.
Since it was the Golden Week, Zhang Han knew that tourist attractions would be crowded. Yet, he never knew it could be crowded to this extent. This was simply preposterous.
In Zhang Han’s memories, a few years ago, it was not like this yet.
Surprisingly, in just a couple of years, the number of tourists increased ma.s.sively. At the end of the day, it was because the overall environment was better.
“Swis.h.!.+”
He then turned around only to find himself facing several people behind.
But this was not a problem for the omnipotent Zhang Han.
Waves of gentle strength were released, imperceptibly separating the crowd and opening up a path.