Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1613
"As a result, the whole market will freak out, and all the other forces will lose confidence in us, even thinking that we can't make ends meet anymore, since we cannot support such an enormous network of capitals and logistics!
"If the coalition fleet of the four families takes the opportunity to attack us, wouldn't it be our doomsday?"
The horrible future that Qi Yuanbao described cast all the managers, shareholders, and investors into extreme shock.
Everybody looked at each other in bewilderment, finding it hard to believe Qi Yuanbao's alarmism. One of the white-haired, prestigious managers said solemnly, "Manager Qi, this is a very important matter. Do you have any proof for your conclusion?"
Qi Yuanbao smiled casually and clapped his hands, saying, "Of course I do. Why else could I have been bold enough to talk about the nonsense in front of so many investors and partners?
"Allow me to present to you a great show!"
As he clapped his hands, more light beams were turned on. All of them were displaying the complicated tubes and gaps between the internal district and the external district not far away from the headquarters.
Through the combination of the pictures, it could be clearly seen that the ignorant invader was still wriggling wholeheartedly, and the defenders had surrounded him from all directions, pressing toward him without a sound.
"Take action now."
Holding his temples, Qi Yuanbao spoke to the micro communicator, sneering, "Capture 'Vulture Li Yao'!"
Chapter 2541: Battle Hymn Rises Again! |
After Qi Yuanbao gave the order, all the light beams seemed to be displaying ten times faster.
The defenders covered their bodies with their crystal suits without leaving a single gap. All their cannons and flying sword launchers were activated. The machine guns were revolving quickly too.
The battle puppets rolled out from the projection holes on the two sides of the heavy crystal tanks. Colorful lines appeared on their surfaces as they were dismembered and assembled into battle forms.
The armed shuttles were rushing by from the midair. Their earsplitting noises were even making the whole conference room clatter. From below the cross-shaped wings of every armed shuttle, dozens of crimson rays shot out at a certain point on the artificial sky, illuminating the simulated blue sky and white clouds into redness!
Furthermore, accompanied by the deafening explosions, three iron giants dozens of meters tall arose and moved toward the artificial sky in a triangle. They were the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors' own Colossi.
The invader who was still struggling to move forward also sensed the gathering of a great army outside. He seemed to be scared out of his wits and was meaning to escape to the external district in the same way he came, before he ran to space.
However, there was no time.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Exos, battle puppets, crystal tanks, and armed shuttles aimed at the artificial sky around the invader and opened fire at the same time, almost turning the whole sky into a melted ocean of iron. One second later, the whole artificial sky collapsed, and even the invader was falling too!
Trying his best, the invader intended to escape through the hole that the defenders had blown out.
However, the defenders had calculated his every possible route of escape. They blocked his retreat with the most overwhelming firepower. Every attempt to escape made by the invader ended in failure, and he was forced to get back to where he was in the beginning.
He was like a fly that had been caged into a glass jar, only getting his own head broken wherever he crashed into.
"Do you see, everyone? After a hundred years of construction and training, the Seven Seas Grand Market today is not a place that anybody can enter or leave freely!"
Qi Yuanbao smiled. "If you want, you can even go to the window and observe the battlefield on your own. The battlefield is only no more than thirty kilometers from us. You can see the rising smoke and the barrage from the window.
"No, no, no. There's no need to worry about your safety. For the battle of Seven Seas, all the experts of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and even the edge of the Imperium have been gathered in the Seven Seas Grand Market. We have the most excellent killers, the most brutal mercenaries, and the most fearless gladiators. Of course, we also have the most advanced battle puppet system. Even if there may still be a gap between our fleet and the four families', the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors is invincible when it comes to the quality and experience of individuals!
"We have run detailed analyses on Vulture Li Yao's public battle videos. Even a guy as crazy as him can't deal the slightest damage to our headquarters. You are all absolutely safe!
"This is also a great opportunity to show you our strength that has been hidden for a hundred years. Vulture Li Yao can't sabotage the Seven Seas Grand Market, and the four families' fleet can't disrupt our businesses and yours! As long as you stay on our side unwaveringly, your investments will be returned ten times and a hundred times more!
On the light beams behind Qi Yuanbao, dozens of glamorous fireballs were burning, like a stage made of scorching flames.
With that as the background, he opened his arms to all the managers, shareholders, investors, and partners of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors. Thick veins were protruding on his forehead, as if he had put on a horrible mask, while he demanded aggressively, "You've seen it with your own eyes. Do you still have any reason to hesitate? The four families made use of 'Vulture Li Yao' and resorted to such vicious methods exactly because they knew that they were too disorganized and had too low a morale for them to defeat us in a space battlefield!
"Unite! As long as we are united enough, we can conquer all the enemies and grab the radiance of all the stars in the universe in our hands!
"Now, in light of the unfortunate death of the former director Jin Yuyan and the urgent situation, I request the meeting to authorize me with the permissions of the acting director so that I can command all the armed forces of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors on the continent and in space to win the upcoming battle of Seven Seas!"
Qi Yuanbao's deafening voice swept across the entire conference room like rumbling thunders.
The other four senior managers whispered to each other solemnly. Although they were still rather suspicious of him, they did not object to him or decline his request immediately.
The members of the "Wuying group" among the regular managers and shareholders also started cheering for him and instigating more people to support him.
The noises grew louder and louder, gradually congregating into a flood of shock and exclamation.
Qi Yuanbao listened gloatingly at first, confident of his victory.
But the more he listened, the more inappropriate he felt. Why did everybody look so weird? Also, the gunshots and explosions behind him were dying down. What was going on? Did Vulture Li Yao escape?
Qi Yuanbao turned around and watched, only to discover that the "intense" battle on the surveillance light beams had come to an end.
The invader did not escape or resist. Instead, he raised his hands and surrendered!
Also, he seemed to be scared that the defenders would kill him, and he had shot out black mystic rays from his backpack, writing two words that were dozens of meters in length and width on the sky:
"I surrender!"
The exclamation mark at the end was thick and long, covering almost a hundred square meters. With the sight of the Immortal Cultivators, they could see it from dozens of kilometers away.
Many managers and shareholders ran to the windows to check. They immediately exclaimed in disbelief, because they really saw the two gargantuan words hanging on the artificial sky.
Qi Yuanbao's forehead was immediately covered in a cold sweat.
The truth of Jin Yuyan's assassination was a top secret. He and Wuying Qinxin were almost the only informants.
The armed forces who went to hunt the invader knew nothing of it. It was impossible for him to demand the defenders to kill the enemy no matter what, which would've been too strange an order.
He had thought that Vulture Li Yao would definitely resist hard after being discovered, resulting in severe casualties. There would be no chance of communication and exposition at all. Even if they did talk, it would be impossible for Vulture Li Yao to explain his identity and background.
Therefore, in his deduction, the worst-case scenario was that Vulture Li Yao escaped, which would be even better, because everybody could only believe his side of the story then.
He did not expect that Vulture Li Yao would play such a move. The guy had surrendered without even activating his Colossus? It… It must be a plot!
However, before he shouted out his conclusion, Qi Yuanbao had discovered that his trouble had only just begun.
On the dozens of light beams, the invader was still standing dutifully with his hands raised high, but the crystal suit on his body suddenly fell apart and was tossed away. His combat suit was also torn apart by spiritual energy, revealing a… furry body that looked like a cheetah and a pair of bright golden eyes.
It was a hybrid with the genes of demons—a "half-demon"!
"This is—"
Dumbfounded, Qi Yuanbao was lost for words.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
Countless people looked at him suspiciously, especially the other four senior managers who were on par with him. Their eyes were filled with curiosity and wariness, as if they were questioning him, Is this really "Vulture Li Yao"?
Vulture Li Yao was an out-and-out pure human being, at least without any apparent genes of demons. It was a fact that everybody knew.
Even if he needed a new appearance to sneak into the Seven Seas Grand Market, it seemed unnecessary for him to pretend to be a half-demon. The Imperium was not entirely devoid of half-demons and demons, but those eccentrics were very eye-catching and certainly not the best camouflage.
Then, on what grounds did Qi Yuanbao believe that the invader was "Vulture Li Yao"?
Then, the black words above the head of the half-demon wriggled and changed, delivering a new piece of information:
"Stay away from the windows, and cover your ears with spiritual energy."
What was the meaning of that?
Everybody in the grand conference room looked at each in confusion, not knowing to whom the half-demon was talking. The armed forces that surrounded him obviously had no windows around. It was actually them, the managers, shareholders, and investors in the headquarters of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors dozens of kilometers away, who were surrounded by transparent windows.
Could it be—
"Don't be nervous. Just relax."
The black words above the half-demon change again. "I only want to talk with you about that business. Three, two, one!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Before anyone realized what was going on, it was like ten thousand stun bombs had exploded around the headquarters at the same time. The glass wall around the conference room immediately fell apart. The hardest tempered glass turned into broken pieces that looked like sand, splashing out. The people closest to the windows were even blown away for more than ten meters by the soundwaves. The holograms remotely projected were also torn into twisted ripples, unable to be condensed again for a long time.
The most violent sound waves were like a torrent made of thunders and flames, blasting the entire conference room as well as everyone's eardrums and heart.
It was a primitive, brutal, and barbaric battle hymn. Every note seemed to have fluttered out after an axe slashed into a bone. The notes were then mixed and orchestrated again, with the bombardment of the giant cannons on starships as the background, sounding ten times more daunting than before!
Everybody's eardrums and heart seemed to be brushed by highly-explosive bombs again, again, and again.
They vaguely felt that the battle hymn sounded familiar, as if they had heard it somewhere a long, long time ago, but their boiling brains and their exploding hearts forbade them from further recalling their memories.
Crazy wind, mixed with the scent of iron and smoke, flowed into the conference room overwhelmingly, making everybody's soul shiver.
Dumbfounded, they could only watch the burning steel god standing at the center of the soundwaves outside of the empty window frame, the super Colossus named "Arsonist", as if they had fallen into a nightmare!
Chapter 2542: The Unspeakable Identity! |
The Colossus that was as dark as a swirl, as brutal as a fiend, and as deep as a black hole was destined to be the most devastating part in the nightmare of the observers.
It was simply standing between the sky and the earth, not even in a battle posture, but the most daunting vibe was already flooding out.
Countless black flames were rising to the sky, congregating into pillars of smoke that were almost concrete and sprawling in all directions. The blue sky and the white clouds were eclipsed, and the whole headquarters of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors was enshrouded in a hazy mist.
If one were to observe closely, they would find that the mist was actually made of countless twisted fiends, as if the black Colossus was commanding a great army and surrounding the heart of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors.
One person and one Colossus had surrounded the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors!
It wasn't that the managers, shareholders, and investors of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors had never seen any Colossus before. As a matter of fact, because of its unique advantage, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors had collected plenty of Colossi during the hundred years. It was one of the temptations they used to attract the great warriors to work for them.
However, the Colossi of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors were mostly the assembled products, which had been seriously damaged on the battlefield before. Some of them were even duplicates whose original components had been replaced by mass-produced components. Despite the quantity, they were not nearly as good as the Colossi under the control of the four Kurfürst families in terms of quality. It often took two to three miscellaneous Colossi of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors to compete with an advanced Colossus of the four Kurfürst families.
The black Colossus, on the other hand, was an ultimate Colossus of the ultimate Colossi based on the style, the air, and the soaring spiritual energy. Even the experts who had traveled in the Imperium for a hundred years had never seen such ultimate weapons!
It seemed that the one Colossus was enough to pierce through the entire Seven Seas Grand Market and butcher each and every one of them. Even though they knew that it was only their illusion, their nerve endings were still quivering beyond their control, and they couldn't calm themselves down at all.
That was the real god of destruction and the unparalleled weapon that could even slay Pangu and Nuwa!
The black Colossus floated outside of the headquarters of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors quietly, intentionally waiting for the defenders to surround him.
However, even if the defenders had reinforced in a haste, and several Colossi had arrived, how were they bold enough to attack the aggressive super Colossus easily?
Compared to the glamorous, brutal, and powerful Colossus, the Colossi of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors were like ragged garbage that was riddled with holes.
The battle hymn from the chest of the black Colossus was even more violent. Finally, somebody remembered its name from the resounding rhythm. Their faces immediately turned pale as if they had just suffered a lightning strike. Their lips shivering, they stuttered, "It's… It's impossible… It's absolutely impossible!"
Qi Yuanbao was so scared that his brain cells were all frozen. He perceived two facts during the moment.
Firstly, Vulture Li Yao had predicted his every move. Li Yao did not break into the ventilation tube in person at all but merely sent an unimportant subordinate, intentionally letting the guy be discovered so that all his available forces and his own attention would be distracted!
One third of the armed forces under his control were still hunting Red Lady and the assassins of Bloody Skull in the external district, and the other two thirds were distracted by the decoy. When the place was utterly undefended, Li Yao could simply barge in openly.
He thought that Li Yao wanted to steal the critical data stealthily, but as it turned out, Li Yao had marched to the headquarters of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors without caring anything through the simplest move of distraction!
Secondly, Vulture Li Yao, the shameless liar and the ferocious fiend, had been hiding his strength the whole time!
The capability that Li Yao was demonstrating at this moment was more than three times stronger than when he was a fighter for the reformists in the "Gold Vulture". Plus the Colossus that could be called the worst nightmare, even if he hadn't played any trick of distraction, he still could've barged in openly.
Nobody could've stopped him. Nobody could've stopped the fiendish Colossus or Vulture Li Yao!
At this moment, Qi Yuanbao finally understood why Wuying Qi and Li Linghai reminded him again and again that he must inform the capital the moment he discovered the traces of Vulture Li Yao or even only heard anything about the monster, and that he must now act alone against Li Yao.
Qi Yuanbao had always been confident about himself. He thought that the dozens of mysterious soul techniques that he had practiced and the "Body Puppet Technique", which allowed him to assume hundreds of different appearances, were enough for him to defeat any enemy in the Divinity Transformation Stage. Not paying heed to Wuying Qi and Li Linghai's warning, he was consumed by the fire of ambition.
Little did he expect that the blow could come so soon. He was about to slide into the abyss of doom before he got to taste the feeling of victory.
