Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1551
When they passed by the largest hospital in town, Li Yao slightly slowed down.
The hospital had been fully inhabited—no, crammed with heavily wounded soldiers who were covered in bandages.
Most of the wounded soldiers couldn't have basic treatment. Not only were the medical cabins filled with nutrition drugs few, but even their bandages hadn't been replaced for days even though the bandages were dirty and filled with blood.
Had the soldiers not been strong, healthy fighters or low-level Immortal Cultivators, who boasted a high vitality, they would've kicked the bucket a long time ago.
But however vigorous they used to be, they were dying right now and did not seem to have much time left.
They had all suffered heavy wounds on the city defense line a few days back when they covered the nobles to retreat.
The moment they were no longer of any value, they were immediately abandoned by the nobles and piled up here like decaying, salty fish.
Even though Li Yao was a Cultivator, he couldn't help but feel sympathetic toward the poor and pathetic Immortal Cultivators.
The only comfort was that Li Yao knew the army of the reformists would soon break into the downtown area and rescue the dying soldiers.
It was not exactly because Li Yao had high hopes for the moral standard of the reformists, but because the wounded soldiers were the best materials for propaganda. For nothing other than to reveal the ungratefulness and heartlessness of the big nobles, the reformists would take good care of the wounded soldiers and use them as the most powerful weapon in the psychological war, exactly like how they used Zhang Guanglong, the deputy leader of the Furious Tide Sect.
Soon after they left the hospital, the road ahead of them was completely jam packed with people. It was impossible to pass.
Further ahead, based on the highly-rising mountain was a splendid alloy gate that was dozens of meters in both length and width with a weight of almost ten thousand tons. Behind the gate, it was the body of the mountain that had been hollowed out and the main part of the Netherwind Channel.
It was a gate of survival and hope.
But right now, it had become a gate of death and destruction.
A hundred burning, exploding crystal tanks were heaped before the gate, blocking the road to the gate completely. A team of Exos with extremely fierce firepower was hiding on the fortresses on the two sides of the gate, raining flying swords, cannonballs, and scorching metal particles upon their partners a moment ago crazily.
The terrain here was extremely tricky. On the two sides of the road were high, steep precipices. No matter how many people had come from the downtown area, they had to cram forward through the narrow road in the middle. Therefore, all that it took was a few elites and enough firepower to claim countless lives. The place was barely conquerable.
When the mobsters marched forward, they were immediately blown back by the stormy forward. After more than ten futile charges, their morale hit the rock bottom.
As mobsters or even "devilized people" who had lost control of their souls in the first place, they were not determined to conquer the place. Instead of charging at the Netherwind Channel, they might as well go back to the downtown area to burn and kill without restraint!
But right at the moment, the ten-thousand-ton gate behind the burning tanks and the fixed firing points were slowly closed under the pull of the giant gears and hinges.
It seemed that the escape on the Netherwind Channel had reached the last moment, and few starships were available inside.
Should the gate be closed, it would be impossible for the people outside to squeeze in.
As a result, the soldiers and the bottom-level officers who lingered in the firing points to buy more time for the big nobles were immediately dumbfounded.
They had just killed thousands of their partners in the old days. The freshest blood was on their hands. Even if other people could all surrender to the reformists, how could they be accepted?
No, before they met the reformists, they would've been torn into shreds by the crazy beasts outside!
Realizing that, the soldiers and the bottom-level officers in all the fortresses and crystal tanks howled in fury and desperation, abandoning their positions and running toward the gap of the gate that hadn't been entirely closed.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Some people even turned around the crystal cannons and fired at the gears and hinges at the edge of the gate, trying to destroy the locking system of the gate.
They all turned into crazy mobsters from accomplices of the nobles in half a second.
The mobsters who were about to retreat in their low morale were greatly encouraged, too. They shouted and passed the burning tanks, charging at the undefended gate.
Li Yao and his companions were naturally at the vanguard. Boosting the power rune arrays, they turned into five streaks of brightness and crawled in at the moment before the gate was closed.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
By the time everybody landed, almost twenty sections of broken arms had landed next to them, which all belonged to the guards who attempted to stop them from breaking in.
Like the gods of killing, Li Yao and Long Yangjun pushed forward in a storm of blades. Not any guard could resist their one attack. Even the crystal tanks were easily chopped and torn apart before they exploded in spluttering electric arcs.
After Li Yao gripped a crystal bomb that flew at him with only one hand and threw it back to where it came from, nobody had the courage to stand in the way of the mysterious yet strong squad.
Li Yao's team pressed forward and reached the departure point of the Netherwind Channel without meeting any obstacle. It was a secret dock deep inside the mountain.
Tens of thousands of nobles and their squires were waiting for their starships to refill the fuel and prepare for the jump anxiously inside the dock. The news that the gate had been lost made them even more nervous. They hurried to ask their subordinates to work faster.
The Netherwind Channel was designed to accommodate one starship and accelerate it to a high speed to break into the four-dimensional space for a jump at a time. Also, the gap between two consecutive jumps was at least two minutes.
Almost eight starships were still waiting, which meant that it would take at least twenty minutes for everybody to evacuate.
But it was a big problem whether or not the mobsters who had broken into the gate would give them another twenty minutes.
"Let me go first!"
"I'll go first. Just give me your terms!"
"Bulls*it! If you don't let me go first, nobody will be leaving!"
Dozens of nobles who seemed to be CEOs, leaders, and captains, without their usual manners, opened their arms like crabs and argued with each other vehemently.
Suddenly, dozens of flying swords, in fatal brilliance, were focused on the most awe-inspiring noble of all of them, blowing up his spiritual shield as well the protective magical equipment. Then, his half body and his head were completely ripped apart, burnt up, and obliterated!
Before anyone realized what was going on, the cocky noble a moment ago had only half of his body that had been blackened left, which fell to the ground into powder!
"There's no need to fight."
Li Yao strode to the nobles and released the daunting vibe of the Divinity Transformation Stage as he casually said, "Get out of the way. We'll go first!"
Chapter 2438: The Birth of a New Imperium! |
The overwhelming vibe of the Divinity Transformation Stage was like a collapsing mountain, whose billions of invisible rocks were falling on everyone's head.
Besides, Li Yao was not the only person in the Divinity Transformation Stage. Long Yangjun was also releasing the coldest killing intent behind him, locking onto the heart of every noble.
Li Jialing also grimaced and unleashed the fighting will of a lion.
While those nobles belonged to the four Kurfürst families, the members of the Kurfürst families had different ranks as well. The people who had lingered to the last moment naturally couldn't have been the central persons of their families. Their capabilities were quite limited. The few best ones of them were only in the Nascent Soul Stage.
Under the covetous eyes of Li Yao and Long Yangjun, two ferocious animals in the Divinity Transformation Stage, those nobles absolutely couldn't resist.
"Senior!"
"Elder!"
"Master!"
Seeing that the noble who was most aggressive, intimidating, and actually strongest had been blown up by Li Yao and Long Yangjun in half a second, the remaining nobles all turned pale and put on an obsequious smile between their wrinkles and their cold sweat.
Although they were cursing aloud in their hearts about how two a*sholes in the Divinity Transformation Stage had jumped out of nowhere, they couldn't have appeared more humble. They looked so enthusiastic and welcoming that they seemed willing to kick their parents off the starship and spare the seats for Li Yao and his team if their parents were on board.
Li Yao glanced at the starship on the dock that was about to enter the rail quickly and pointed at the third starship to the left. "Whose starship is that?"
It was a "Blue Bird"-level light, half-armed merchant ship. Although the loading capability was not high, and the turrets and the spiritual shield it boasted were limited, it had remarkable power units and could be quite agile in turning and dodging, which made it most suitable to evade the enemy's bombardment or pass in the complicated meteoroid belt. It was a rather classic "smuggler's starship".
Many people were fond of wandering in the gray area doing the clandestine businesses with the starships of such a model.
Li Yao did not have a high requirement for speed and defense ability. After all, should he encounter any danger, he and Long Yangjun could always march out with their Colossi. The key was that the "Blue Bird"-level starships were easier to control and highly automatic. Under the cruise state, more than 95% of the operations could be completed by the mainframe crystal processor.
It was a very classic starship that many people were familiar with. There were no secrets about its control system. Xiaoming and Wenwen happened to know the ways to maneuver the starships of such a model.
In other words, even without the cooperation of the crew, they were still confident to get the starship to the edge of the Imperium.
"It's… It's mine."
A fatty with wrinkles all over his greasy face stood out, shuddering. "If I may ask…"
"This starship will go first!"
Li Yao did not bother to chitchat with him. With his eyes glowing brighter than the sun, he said to the other nobles, "It will take twenty minutes at most for all the starships to evacuate. Everybody will be able to leave if you stay patient and obedient! Otherwise, we will blow up all the other starships first and kill each and every one of you lot, and there will still be time for us to leave!"
His words made all the nobles pale and flabbergasted. They hurried to shake their heads, announcing that they daren't violate the order of the almighty experts.
Li Yao sniffed and looked at Long Yangjun. The two of them took action together. Thousands of rays of light emanated from their crystal suits, blowing up the cave from the outside of the mountain to the cave. The entire pathway was blocked after the collapse.
Although the rocks were rather loose, it would still take the rebels outside at least half an hour to dig through the blockages.
"Let's go!"
Li Yao spoke to the overjoyed fatty.
The "Blue Bird"-level starship had long refilled the fuel and been prepared for a space jump, but the fatty was by himself and couldn't bid for the right to go first. Now that he had the support of Li Yao and Long Yangjun, the final test was done in only half a minute.
The starship entered the rail and moved upward helically, faster and faster, until it ripped apart the void and disappeared in the vortex in earsplitting shrieks!
Li Yao's team had escaped from the capital that was illuminated by Blackstar. The universe was open for them!
At the same time, the "Blue Bird"-level starship appeared abruptly in the vast space at the periphery of the Empyreal Terminus Sector, with mist-like space ripples around it popping up like hot steams.
The jump of the first phase had been completed successfully.
Because the coordinates were set randomly, they had no idea where exactly they were at in the vast space at the edge of the Empyreal Terminus Sector. They only knew that it was already far away from the capital planet and that the fleets of the reformists were too busy surrounding the capital planet and reclaiming the resourceful, steady space zones around the capital to be deployed so far away.
They were safe for now.
"My two… seniors."
The real owner of the starship, the greasy fatty, struggled to get out of the buffer gel and looked at Li Yao and Long Yangjun in fear before he said half in reverence and half in impractical illusion, "May I know the names of the seniors, and where you are going to? If you don't think that the Song family is too weak for you…"
As it turned out, the fatty was from the Song family too. It seemed that he was the same as Song Hongchang, the unfortunate leader of the Furious Tide Sect. Neither of them was the important person in their family.
However, his status would certainly be different if he could bring two experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage back to his family.
Li Yao glanced at him casually and focused his attention on the intelligence that he just collected as he discussed with Long Yangjun and Li Jialing about his plan.
After all, during the first space jump just now, when the computation load of the mainframe crystal processor of the starship was heaviest, the two kids had hacked it, controlled the password of the maneuver system, and slightly modified it.
Right now, without Li Yao's consent, it would be impossible for the captain or the crew to perform a second space jump.
They had stayed below the ground for too long, and they were in dire need of the latest intelligence on the ground to analyze the situation, especially the movements of the four Kurfürst families.
Just now, when they passed Netherwind City, they stole a lot of crystal processors by the way. The portable crystal processors of the nobles in the dock had been "impounded" by them ruthlessly too.
Li Yao and his companions analyzed and discussed for more than half an hour, and the Song-surnamed fatty waited for exactly the same time nearby pitifully, not having the courage to interrupt the two experts with any noise.
In the end, Li Yao finally showed a pair of coordinates to him. "We're going to this place."
"This is… not the territory of the four Kurfürst families!"
The Song-surnamed fatty was greatly surprised that the coordinates Li Yao gave him was at a peripherical world of the Imperium, which was among the most lawless and chaotic places in the universe. The "Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors", the de facto greatest force in the place, was even the hardcore ally and the biggest sponsor for the reformists. He was less and less certain about who Li Yao and Long Yangjun were.
However, before he gave orders to the captain and the crew, the starship began to hum and shiver on its own, a sign that the space jump units were functioning at the maximal power!
"This is—"
The Song-surnamed fatty's pupils constricted to the size of needle tips, and his pants were soaked in a cold sweat. He had no idea why the starship was operating "automatically" as if there were ghosts on board.
"Just sit down."
Li Yao smiled and said to the Song-surnamed fatty, "You'll know in the future how lucky you were not to get killed today."
…
When the "Blue Bird"-level starship disappeared from the Empyreal Terminus Sector with the two—three—or maybe five most dangerous persons at the center of the cosmos, Netherwind City, the last stronghold of the Kurfürst families on the capital planet, was completely occupied by the reformists too.
The reformists hadn't planned to march so fast. They hoped that the Kurfürsten's army in the city could brutalize each other for a while longer.
But at the last moment, they seemed to be urged by certain influential persons and attacked furiously without bothering the cost unlike before. Before midnight, the flag of lightning trident purged by flames was raised at the highest peak of the Netherwind Mountain.
In the debris of the Netherwind Channel, Li Linghai, who was wearing casual clothes and keeping a low profile, stared at the damage caused by Li Yao and Long Yangjun a moment ago with her eyebrows furrowed.
Her nose was jerking, as if she could smell unusual air from the feeble ripples spreading in the air.
A few strands of black hair appeared on her snowy head.
"They've escaped."
Li Linghai spoke to a voice in her head. "It was half a day ago. If we had attacked half a day sooner, we would've had a chance to catch them."
"There's no need to be bothered. It was impossible."
Blackstar the Great replied casually in her head, "The two highly-dangerous monsters couldn't have been captured so easily. Even if we had occupied Netherwind City a day soon, they would've found another way to escape beyond the atmosphere and steal one of our starships for a space jump."
"Then—"
Li Linghai seemed very concerned. "What about your body, Your Majesty?"
"I can still keep my current form for a long time. That boy belongs to me, and he will come back obediently someday."
Wuying Qi said, "The escape of the few queer rats does not affect the situation. Except for the minor setback, our progress in other aspects has been quite good. Unexpectedly good, I would say.
"Right now, let's focus on the bottom of the capital and the peripheral worlds of the Imperium. As long as we can dig out 'that thing' from the bottom in time and win the support of the newly-rising warlords and Sector Masters at the edge of the Imperium, we will be able to surround the territories of the four Kurfürsten and force them to come to the capital for a strategic battle!
