Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1629
Yun Xuefeng was utterly baffled under Song Yushi's saliva that almost shot through the light beam. After a long daze, he replied, "… Elder Song, what do you mean?"
"What do I mean? Are you still pretending?"
Song Yushi was more than infuriated. "You incited your 'National Protection Army' and Li Wuji's fleet to swallow the temporary fleet that Song Changlie, Marquess Hushan, had just regrouped. 'Tiger Roar', Song Changlie's flagship, was even blown into pieces, and none of the Immortal Cultivators, including Song Changlie himself, escaped! Yun Xuefeng, a great foe is ahead of us. As the commander of the coalition army, you have done such insane, unpardonable things. How are you going to explain yourself?"
"What?"
Ten thousand bolts of lightning seemed to be bursting out inside Yun Xuefeng's head, which completely went blank. He said subconsciously, "How-How is it possible? It must be a misunderstanding. Don't be instigated by the bad guys, Elder Song!"
"Misunderstanding? Instigated by the bad guys? Damn you!"
His eyes bloodshot, Song Yushi spat hard.
Song Changlie, Marquess Hushan, was not only a central member of the Song family but also a nephew to Song Yushi. The three Colossi on Song Changlie's flagship were also jumbled under his support. Never had he expected that they would be wasted for no good reason in a civil war. No wonder Song Yushi was so mad that he was almost on a rampage.
"Many Immortal Cultivators of the Song family who escaped told me in person that Song Changlie's warship was blown up because the 'National Protection Army' and Li Wuji's fleet attacked it from the front and the back together. Everybody knows that Li Wuji has been very close to you recently. He is your trusted subordinate. You also offered abundant resources to arm his 'National Protection Army'. Are you still denying that it was your instruction?"
Song Yushi gnashed his teeth and said, "I know Song Changlie's strength very well. If it were not for your strong support, how could Li Wuji and the Bai-surnamed space pirate have done anything to him?"
"W-Well… Please hold your anger, Elder Song. I really did not know anything about it!"
Yun Xuefeng's forehead was covered in a cold sweat. He understood the consequences of pissing off the older-generation experts like Song Yushi too well. Besides, such an insane thing as swallowing allies when a great enemy was ahead could not be justified at all.
Even more fuel had been added to the fire on the chaotic battlefield. Yun Xuefeng started to regret that he had been too close to Li Wuji and Boss Bai. Who could've thought that the two ambitious guys would be so senseless?
Chapter 2568: Your Words Against Mine |
"Elder Song, the battlefield is in such a mess right now that countless starships from the hundred worlds have been messed up together. It is possible that the spies of the rebels infiltrated some of them. Therefore, misunderstandings can happen. All in all, I will definitely investigate the whole thing and give Marquess Hushan justice and Elder Song an explanation!"
Yun Xuefeng said sincerely, "I would also like to ask Elder Song to bear the big picture in mind and remember your loyalty to the Imperium. Don't do anything that will satisfy your foes and hurt your friends!"
"You'd better find out the truth soon and give me an explanation, or I'll ask the leader of your family for an explanation!"
Song Yushi sniffed and said, "If you understand the importance of solidarity, do not let such a thing happen! I'll give you half a day. If it turns out in the end that you were truly behind the incident, the Song family will withdraw from the battle and ask the Li family and the Dongfang family to do the same. The Yun family can fight on your own!"
"Well—"
Yun Xuefeng cursed aloud in his heart for a long time, but he did not know whether he should curse Song Yushi, or Li Wuji, or Boss Bai, or himself. His face more tightened than ever, he said in a hurry, "Rest assured, Elder Song, I'll certainly get to the bottom of it—"
Before he finished his sentence, Song Yushi had already cut off the communication, leaving the cold, dark light beam to him.
In the next second, his subordinates reported that most of the warships of the Song family in the command chain had left together with the loose warships that they had gathered. They cut off the communication with the flagship, and their whereabouts were unknown!
Yun Xuefeng was stunned for a long time. He finally couldn't help but punch the control panel before him hard and howled, "Song Yushi, just wait for it! Just wait for it!"
He rose abruptly and paced back and forth, his every step thudding on the ground like a hammer of ten thousand kilograms. In only half a minute, hundreds of white hair had appeared on his head. Wrinkles deep to the bones appeared on his face, making him look more terrifying than ever.
He was about to ask his subordinates to search for Li Wuji's fleet and the National Protection army when his subordinates reported that "Alloy Virus", the flagship of the National Protection Army, had been connected to the command chain and reached out to "Landslide"!
"Connect him!"
Yun Xuefeng shrieked and dashed to the communication dashboard.
He had a mouthful of imprecations that he intended to throw on Boss Bai and Li Wuji, but after he saw their looks on the light beam, he was so shocked that all his curses and roars were stuffed in his throat.
He saw that the bridge of Alloy Virus was full of smoke and burn marks. Including Boss Bai, most crew members had bandages and medical gelatins on their bodies. Some people were bleeding hard, but they were still working hard to extinguish the fire at the corner with foam tanks, having no time to treat themselves.
Boss Bai seemed to have just been dug out of a coal mine. Except for his teeth that were still white, his whole body was as dark as a gorilla, mixed with redness that was the dried blood.
Li Wuji, on the other hand, was a hundred times more miserable than Boss Bai. His whole body had been blackened, full of scabs that had been saturated with blood and body tissues. He was soaked in a medical cabin and floating in the middle of the deep green nutrition liquids. The curve nearby that represented his biophysical parameters was rollercoasting, implying that his life was as impossible to predict as a candle in the storm.
"Commander Yun, we've finally reached out to you! A terrible thing has happened! You must avenge me and Marquess Yongchun!"
Boss Bai said in tears, "My 'Alloy Virus' followed your instruction and gathered the loose warships to form a temporary fleet immediately after we jumped to the Seven Seas Space Zone. We searched for your coordinates and hoped to approach you.
"As it turned out, thanks to Commander Yun's bliss, although we did not find you, we found Marquess Yongchun's fleet. We joined our warships and continued the search for the flagship-in-general.
"Out of our expectation, we encountered the fleet of Song Changlie, Marquess Hushan. His permission in the 'Flying Lightning Super Command Chain' was lower than ours, and he was supposed to obey our command. We tried to persuade him too. Marquess Yongchun and he were both marquesses of the Imperium after all. If he was unwilling to listen to our command, we would not force him to. Our fleets could simply cooperate with and protect each other while we searched for 'Landslide' before we reported to you.
"However, to our surprise, Song Changlie was so arrogant that he despised Commander Yun, claiming that Commander Yun was just a crying baby and that you were not even qualified to wipe the shoes for Lei Chenghu.
"Yes, that's exactly what he said back then. He also said that the fleet of the Song family would never follow the command of Commander Yun. He was going to search for Song Yushi's fleet at the edge of the space zone, claiming that Song Yushi was the real commander of the Song family's fleet. There was no way that they were going to die with Commander Yun!"
"Enough!"
While he listened, Yun Xuefeng's face was as red as the color of pig liver. He roared, "What happened later?"
"Later—"
Boss Bai coughed hard and vomited yet another mouthful of thick black blood. He said, "If Song Changlie was only talking, there was nothing we could've done about it. After all, he was Marquess Hushan of the Imperium, and the Song family is best known for their haughtiness.
"However, not only was the guy running himself, but he was also encouraging the starships that Marquess Yongchun and I just gathered to join him and escape with him!"
"What?!"
Yun Xuefeng's eyes popped out as he shouted, "That's completely unacceptable!"
"If I may inform Commander Yun, if it were the fleet of my own or Marquess Yongchun's, they would never have flinched because we had been teaching them to return Commander Yun's favors and to serve the country loyally."
With a bitter face, Boss Bai said, "But at that time, what we commanded was only part of our own warships, and most of them were the troops of the warlords from the peripheral worlds.
"The private troops of the warlords did not have a strong fighting will in the first place. Many of them had been secretly in contact with the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors. In the first place, they were thinking to preserve their strength and claim the benefits later. Marquess Yongchun and I went through a lot of trouble to regroup them, but they were still sloppy, loose troops that could not stand instigation.
"Song Changlie spoke to those starships openly through the public channels that if they continued to follow me and Marquess Yongchun, they would certainly be asked to attack the Seven Seas Grand Market after we found Commander Yun. It would be a life-and-death battle when they fought the desperate, ferocious dogs. In the meantime, in order to eliminate the losses of your own people, Commander Yun—Commander Yun would certainly place the starships of the local forces at the vanguard. So, the odds that they were killed were 99%.
"Therefore, they might as well go with Marquess Hushan and lay low at the edge of the space zone for now, leaving the other dummies to fight and bleed hard. After the troops were all exhausted and the situation was clear, they could then make a decision unhurriedly.
"After he said that, most of the commanders of the starships under Marquess Yongchun and me somewhat wavered and were thinking to leave with him. How could Marquess Yongchun and I support Commander Yun to accomplish your success if we had no subordinates?
"I did not know that Marquess Hushan could've been so shameless. Even a prodigal space pirate like me knew that defending the Imperium was defending my own interests. Why were the Immortal Cultivators of the Song family so selfish and shortsighted? Aya, too shameless! I was infuriated… too infuriated, and I…"
"And you swallowed Song Changlie's fleet and even killed him?"
Narrowing his eyes, Yun Xuefeng asked coldly.
"Huh, how did you know, Commander Yun?"
Dumbfounded, Boss Bai lost his calmness and exclaimed.
"Huh…"
Frowning, Yun Xuefeng asked, "Bai Xingjian, just tell me the truth honestly. Who attacked first, your 'Alloy Virus' or Song Changlie's 'Tiger Roar'?"
"About that…"
Boss Bai lowered his head, somewhat in embarrassment, and said, "If we examine who attacked first, it might have been me, but I was only meaning to intimidate Marquess Hushan and force him to retreat. Then, we could just go our separate ways. How could I have been bold enough to challenge the experts of the Song family? Wouldn't that have been suicide? Therefore, most of my attacks were aimed at the vacuum instead of Tiger Roar.
"However, Marquess Hushan was so brutal that Tiger Roar's first barrage hit my Alloy Virus precisely."
Yun Xuefeng was not convinced. "Do you have any proof?"
Boss Bai looked at the messy bridge and said with a bitter smile, "Our mainframe crystal processors were all hit. The data are in a mess. For now, nothing can be retrieved. However, as long as Commander Yun supports Marquess Yongchun and I, we will certainly be able to 'find' some proof in half a day."
Yun Xuefeng naturally understood what Boss Bai meant perfectly. Thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Then, explain to me honestly how you knocked down 'Tiger Roar'. How could it have been possible with your combat ability?"
"Marquess Yongchun and I probably benefited from Commander Yun's unbelievable luck."
Boss Bai said solemnly, "Supposedly, my 'Alloy Virus' was just a ragged, rapid attack ship that was absolutely no match for 'Tiger Roar'. However, during the barrages of the two parties, one round of my attacks hit the arsenal or the fuel cabin of 'Tiger Roar' precisely, raising a serial explosion that shed a light of hope for Marquess Yongchun and I.
"Please don't blame us for being too brutal, Commander Yun. At that time, most of the loose warships were vacillating and even vaguely more inclined to Marquess Hushan. If we hadn't crossed the line and knocked down 'Tiger Roar' completely, it would've been Marquess Yongchun and I who were killed after those starships openly joined Marquess Hushan.
"In order to bring more troops to Commander Yun, we could only set an example for everybody else by knocking Tiger Roar down when it had a serial explosion. Naturally, Tiger Roar's counterattack before its death was rather remarkable too. Marquess Yongchun's flagship is now on the verge of total-loss, and my Alloy Virus has been reduced to such conditions too.
"I truly dare not think what miserable outcome it would've been if Marquess Yongchun and I had hesitated a while longer. Perhaps we would never be able to reach out to 'Landslide' or continue to serve Commander Yun!"
Chapter 2569: Victory Is Justice! |
Seeing Boss Bai's look that was mixed with regret, adulation, and anger, Yue Xuefeng somehow became unconfident.
He paced back and forth for a long time, only to come up with a meaningless question. "Are you speaking the truth?"
"Absolutely, Commander Yun!"
Boss Bai was almost bashing his chest and swearing as he said, "How can I possibly have the courage to say anything untrue to Commander Yun? If it weren't because Marquess Hushan was too outrageous and attacked my flagship vehemently first, how could I have been bold enough to attack a marquess of the Imperium without reserve? Could I have benefited from it at all? Was I not worried about the thunderous revenge from the Song family later?
"If I should be bold enough to lie to Commander Yun about the matter, I would be pissing off the Song family and the Yun family at the same time. Then, however vast the sea of stars is, would there be a single piece of land that I could stand on? Please consider it carefully, Commander Yun!"
"Huh…"
Yun Xuefeng was untouched. Sullenly, he said, "But that is not what Song Yushi said. Part of Song Changlie's subordinates escaped. Their theory is the opposite of yours. They all claimed that you attacked first, and you meant to swallow Song Changlie's fleet!"
"Of course they would talk like that. Could they have spoken the truth that they were encouraging a lot of starships to escape with them only to be crushed later?"
Boss Bai almost cut his chest open to show Yun Xuefeng his heart. "Commander Yun, right now, none of us has solid proof, but please consider it with common sense. Whose words are more reasonable, mine or the words of Song Changlie's men? Did I really lose my mind and attack a marquess of the Imperium for no good reason other than to get myself killed later? It is utterly illogical!"
Yue Xuefeng pondered for a long time but still couldn't sort it through. Rather upset, he said, "I too know that the Immortal Cultivators of the Song family have always been arrogant. The disobedience of this Song Changlie is universally known. I do not believe that you would've pissed him off without a good reason.
"But still, it is a very important matter. After all, a marquess of the Imperium has been killed, by none other than his 'allies'. Song Yushi demanded that I give him an explanation. Otherwise, the morale of the army would be affected, and the alliance of the million starships might fall apart immediately. Therefore…
"Commander Yun, I am an uneducated man who doesn't understand rules. I'll just speak whatever is on my mind. If what I say is too farfetched, please forgive me, Commander Yun."
Boss Bai swallowed hard. As if he had made up his mind, he said straightforwardly, "As a matter of fact, while the four families' coalition army seems to be in one piece on the surface during the attack of the Seven Seas Grand Market, everybody in fact has their own plans, especially the people of the Song family, who never planned to let Commander Yun win the battle comfortably.
"If Commander Yun wins the battle unstoppably and invincibly, Commander Yun and the Yun family's prestige will soar ten times. How can the Song family compete with the Yun family in the choice of the next emperor then?
"Therefore, the Song family will certainly try to challenge Commander Yun with all kinds of excuses and create trouble for Commander Yun.
"The conflict between me and Song Changlie is a great excuse, but even without it, they can find other excuses as well!
"Now that a million starships have been mixed up in a mess, isn't it more than easy to make some minor frictions? I even suspect that Song Changlie intentionally came to make frictions by the order of Song Yushi, except that things went out of control in the end, and Song Changlie got burnt by the very fire he started.
"All in all, the Song family is causing trouble and slacking off, reluctant to approach Command Yun or follow your command, isn't it? If my guess is correct, there are few warships from the Song family around Commander Yun right now, right? All the starships of the Song family have fled far away and joined each other, haven't they?"
The more Boss Bai talked, the more excited Boss Bai was. He completely ignored Yun Xuefeng's face that was getting more and more gloomy.
"How dare you!"
The dark clouds on Yun Xuefeng's face finally exploded as he roared aloud.
