2225 Make the Best Use of ThingsLooking at Li Yao’s sincere face and earnest eyes, Lei Chenghu failed to come up with any reply until a long time later. “Is this some kind of lousy trick to win my trust through fake loyalty so that you can monitor me from close up?”
“Absolutely not.”
Li Yao shook his head quickly. “Trust me, General Lei. I mean it!”
“I trust nobody right now. None of the guys from the capital, either from the Council of Elders or the royal palace, are easy to deal with!”
Lei Chenghu looked at Li Yao thoughtfully but had no time to talk more to the strange guy. He turned around to Yun Chenghua again and said, “Warden Yun, what is the situation right now? How good is your control over the Godly Might Prison? Where is the Godly Might Fleet deployed? Is it under your absolute control?”
Just now, he addressed Yun Chenghua as “Fellow Cultivator Yun” because they were negotiating for cooperation.
At this moment, he began to call Yun Chenghua as “Warden Yun”, implying that he had accepted the man’s pledge of loyalty.
Yun Chenghua took a deep breath. Now that he had taken the step, there was no turning back. Lei Chenghu was quite right. In order to keep their wives and children safe, and for them to distinguish themselves in the vast stage in the sea of stars, they had to build up their strength as much as possible!
Therefore, he refreshed himself and was completely devoted to his new role. His hands moving as quickly as wind, he retrieved a hundred surveillance light beams and said while he operated anxiously, “The Godly Might Prison has just experienced a very serious artificial earthquake. Tremendous underground magma has been squeezed into the bottom level of the Godly Might Prison by the high pressure. The five floors at the bottommost level have all collapsed. Even the four energy supply bases were seriously wrecked. The emergent backup energy reserve is only enough to power the most fundamental defense system and the anti-air firing points on the ground.
“Besides, our mainframe crystal processor was hijacked by the weird viruses from the Covenant Alliance. When the magma swallowed the energy supply base and the mainframe was under the most pressure, it was hijacked by the enemy, who opened part of the prison cells in the first district and all of them in the third district through remote control, setting abundant prisoners and captives free.
“As a result, the first and the third districts have been completely occupied by the rampaging prisoners and captives. Most of the jailors inside have been killed by them. The situation is rather terrible.
“However, the defense system of the Godly Might Prison has been time-tested for hundreds of years after all. Even if the prisoners and the captives can completely take over the districts, it is absolutely impossible for them to get away.
“Right now, I have taken back the control of the mainframe crystal processor and cut off all the channels from the first and the third districts to the outside world. Not an ant would be able to crawl through. The crystal suit legions stationed at the upper levels of the Godly Might Prison have also set up bastions at the critical locations. They haven’t marched into the fallen districts yet only because the environment down below is too complicated.
“As for the Godly Might Fleet, it has learned of the riot in the Godly Might Prison too and is breaking into the atmosphere and switching to the ‘firepower blockage’ mode. They will descend to a low altitude of two to three hundred meters and lock onto every channel from the Godly Might Prison to the ground. Any prisoner or captive who is bold enough to crawl out will be the most obvious target in the snowy world!
“However…
“Although I am the warden of the Godly Might Prison and the Godly Might Fleet is under my command theoretically, the fleet is in fact very independent. General Dongfang Lei, the highest commander of the fleet, has always been loyal to the family and is only here to gain more experience. He will certainly persist to the end without surrendering.”
A warden and a commander of a fleet were absolutely different.
A warden needed to master the professional but otherwise useless abilities. They were essentially the seneschals of the desolate land. The future of their career was very gloomy.
In most cases, one day as a warden meant a lifetime of being a warden. Even if he was no longer the warden of the Godly Might Prison and sent to somewhere else, he would still be managing a bunch of wretched prisoners. What else was he capable of doing?
Besides, after spending enough time in a prison, one would be familiar with every brick, every rock, and every wood, as well as the psychological state of all the prisoners. So, there were even fewer reasons for their superiors to change them.
Quite a few wardens of the Godly Might Prison had died of old age in their post or retired with empty hands when they were so old that their Cultivations had plummeted.
Therefore, when Lei Chenghu gave him the opportunity, Yun Chenghua did not struggle much before he grasped it.
However, the commander of the fleet would be changed every few years. The young officers from the four Kurfürst families would accumulate experience in the place first, learning how to command an entire fleet. A few years later, they would have opportunities to be dispatched to other fleets, sometimes from the near-planet orbit defense fleets to the deep-sky fleets that could travel to thousands of lightyears away, in which case their future would be nothing but promising.
As long as there was the slightest hope, who would ever completely break apart from the four Kurfürst families and join Lei Chenghu who had nothing at all in his hands?
Therefore, Warden Yun Chenghua might surrender, but Dongfang Lei, the highest commander of the Godly Might Prison, would never do so.
“Got it.”
Pondering for a moment, Lei Chenghu said, “I remember that a rather tough anti-air fire net has been established on the ground for the defense of the Godly Might Prison, which can even reach beyond the atmosphere. I believe the anti-air troop should be under the control of your hands, right?”
“Yes.”
Yun Chenghua replied quickly, “Since the beginning, what the Godly Might Prison has worried most is the external attacks. Therefore, the anti-air fire net is an important focus. Nobody ever thought that the enemy would activate the magma and earthquakes below the ground, which, naturally, is absolutely useless aside from creating chaos.
“But the greatest problem right now is the serious instability of energy supply. Because most of the spiritual energy is supplied to the defense system in the different prison cells, several of the most powerful ‘Heaven Battering Cannons’ on the ground have been paralyzed due to the shortage of energy.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Lei Chenghu said, “Now, pass my orders. First, reduce the energy consumption on the defense system in the underground prison cells as much as possible. Focus every drop of spiritual energy on the anti-air fire net on the ground, especially the most powerful ‘Heaven Battering Cannons’. Make sure that the Heaven Battering Cannons can perform at least one barrage. As for the other anti-air magical equipment, it will be fine as long as they can pretend that they have locked onto targets.
“Second, contact the flagship of the Godly Might Fleet and inform them that the worst situation has already taken place. A large batch of prisoners and captives are about to escape to the ground. Ask the fleet to approach the ground to suppress the runners. Tell them not to kill the runners if possible.
“In any case, make the flagship and the main-force warships of the Godly Might Fleet reach as close to the ground as possible. When they approach to the point that you are confident of the barrage, lock onto the flagship of the Godly Might Fleet with the maximal firepower!
“Third, prepare to turn on the broadcast system of the entire Godly Might Prison and make as many people as possible hear it. I will speak to the prisoners!”
“Concentrate all the spiritual energy on the anti-air fire net? Lock onto the flagship of the Godly Might Fleet?”
Greatly shocked, Yun Chenghua immediately realized what was going on. He stammered, “You-You want to shoot down the flagship as well as Commander Dongfang Lei? B-But to achieve that, we will have to drain all the spiritual energy down below, and the defense system will become an empty shell. All the defense rune arrays will stop working, and they cannot let out a single electric arc. The prisoners will likely crush the defenses!”
“That’s why I need to speak to the prisoners.”
Lei Chenghu glanced at Yun Chenghua coldly. “Warden Yun, just carry out the orders!”
“… Understood!”
Shuddering, Yun Chenghua did not dare to ask any further but operated on the mainframe crystal processor quickly.
Very soon, half of the light beams were displaying the pictures that the anti-air firing points in the snowy world were secretly turning directions and aimed at midair.
The other half of the light beams, in the meantime, were manifesting the rampant, crazy beasts in the underground prison cells.
Lei Chenghu observed for a moment and said, “Open all the prison cells in the first district.”
Yun Chenghua was slightly dazed. But he did not argue this time and simply carried out Lei Chenghu’s order.
Clang!
Before this, many prison cells at the corners and the ends of pathways in the first district had not been activated yet. The prisoners who were dizzy in their ecstasy did not notice it either. It was not until this moment when the iron bars as thick as arms slowly descended to the ground that the most ferocious prisoners were all released.
“Aoooooooooooo!”
The thirsty roars of the inhuman beasts immediately came over from the surveillance picture.
“Open all the channels between the first district and the third district, including the ventilation tubes. All the channels!” Lei Chenghu said coldly.
Yun Chenghua blinked his eyes and immediately realized what Lei Chenghu was trying to do. But he found it hard to believe that Lei Chenghu was capable of doing that!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The gates that were tightly closed before slowly opened, revealing ways leading to the unknown before the rampant beasts of the first district. The roars and explosions coming over from the ends of the pathways were natural temptations for the bloodthirsty beasts.
“Brothers of the Godly Might Prison who have long been caged, this is Lei Chenghu, the highest commander of the Astounding Thunder Fleet, speaking to you from the highest control center of the Godly Might Prison next to Warden Yun Chenghua!”
Lei Chenghu’s voice that was tougher than superalloys echoed in every corner of the Godly Might Prison, making the ears of the beasts hum hard. “My army has occupied the entire Godly Might Prison. As the new master of the Godly Might Prison, I pronounce that you are free now!”
The words were even louder than the earthquakes and the volcano eruptions. All the beasts were dumbfounded. The district that was as obstreperous as hell a moment ago was caught in dead silence.
All the ferocious beasts turned into statues, except that their lips were shivering and repeating the same word, “Freedom!”
“However, you should all be aware that the precious freedom is only temporary!”
Lei Chenghu’s voice was mixed with undeniable solemnity as he continued, “Even if you tear down the entire Godly Might Prison, so what? You will still be killed if you run to the snowy world outside. You may even be captured like a pig or a dog and suffer humiliations again!
“Now, I can give you the real freedom!
“But only the strongest warriors are entitled to such freedom!”