Chapter 2479: Successful Reunion
Boss Bai’s wish did not come true after all.
The Immortal Cultivators of the Flying Rainbow Fleet were too terrified by Li Yao’s attack to even escape. They were all rigidified where they were, barely able to stand on their feet. How could they have the courage to attack the godlike “Arsonist”?
Also, the corrosion of Xiaoming, Wenwen, and the Fist King had completely minced their whole command and coordination system, turning every starship into a lone and isolated island in the boundless sea of stars. They were no different from coffins floating in the vacuum.
Boss Bai’s and Long Yangjun’s Colossi, the “Kleptomaniac” and the “Heavenly Crystal”, were the last two straws that broke the back of the camel.
If there were only one Colossus, it might’ve been possible for them to beat it back with dense barrages, but faced with three Colossi, the Flying Rainbow Fleet, which had been reduced into chaos after losing the commander, couldn’t resist at all.
Now that neither fight nor flight was an option, all the remaining starships of the Flying Rainbow Fleet let out pale brilliance that was gradually condensed into a circle, like a bubble released by a dead fish. It was the general semaphore for surrender in the Imperium.
Eventually, in only half an hour, the brief skirmish was already over. One might even say that it was ended by Li Yao’s one attack!
The Big Bai Pirate Gang and the Cultivators’ fleet suffered far fewer losses than anticipated, and they gained unexpected trophies. Besides the tremendous starships of the Flying Rainbow Fleet, the most refreshing news was that Li Yao was here!
Everything Li Yao did in the Land of Sins, particularly the astounding performance during the destruction of “Manjusaka, the City in the Sky”, had been spread throughout the Imperium via the ubiquitous Spiritual Nexus.
Although many people were unaware of his name, even the people in the darkest mines on the most remote resource planets were singing over the super Cultivator. Some even worshipped him, regarding him as the legendary Cultivator who had resisted the Imperium for a thousand years.
The central members of the Cultivators’ fleet were all rescued by Li Yao in person from the Martial Meritocrats Sector. Naturally, they knew part of the truth and were full of gratitude and admiration for Li Yao.
It was needless to mention the leaders of the Big Bai Pirate Gang, who, as natives of the federation, certainly knew the “founding father of the federation, dominator of three Sectors”. Besides, the picture where Li Yao emerged out of nowhere leading a dozen Colossi during the battle to resist the Black Wind Fleet was still fresh for them!
“Li Yao! Li Yao! Li Yao!”
His name and his awe-inspiring attack just now almost boosted the morale of the Big Bai Pirate Gang and the Cultivators’ fleet by ten times. It was no exaggeration to say that they were bold enough to march at the best fleet of the Immortal Cultivators as long as Li Yao was leading them!
The celebrational atmosphere for the double triumphs reached the highest point when Alloy Virus, Iron Fist, Stainless Mouse, and the ragged carrier that Li Yao boarded on arrived at the spaceport of the Blue Sky Market. The whole port exploded because of Li Yao’s arrival.
Naturally, Li Yao’s style, which was almost identical to Boss Bai’s, raised minor confusion.
But very soon, their confusion was broken by too many kids who ran past Li Yao with bouquets and balloons in their hands and jumped at Boss Bai.
“Grandpa Bai, thank you for saving us and our parents!”
“Grandpa Bai, you are a hero. You and Brother Li Yao are both the most, most, most awesome superheroes!”
“Grandpa Bai! Grandpa Bai! Grandpa Bai!”
Vehemently, the kids clambered on Boss Bai, who had been dumbfounded, if not crept out, with a twisted face. Some of the lovely fellas were even pouting their lips, hoping to stamp their saliva on Boss Bai’s face.
“What a touching scene—”
Li Yao smiled at the scene and took a long breath in relief. “Another gamble has been won!”
While the kids ran at Boss Bai, Li Yao naturally had his own adoring public—Han Te and Liu Li, the two young people who had gradually grown up.
“Grandpa Yao!”
“Grandpa Yao!”
Han Te and Liu Li jumped at Li Yao, one from the left and the other from the right, but Han Te was faster and hugged Li Yao tightly.
“You’re finally back, Grandpa Yao!”
Thrilled, Han Te was almost in tears. “I was told that you went through a lot of astonishing things when you were with the Immortal Cultivators in the capital. Liu Li and I were very worried about you, fearing that something might happen to you.
“But now that I think of it, haha, it was absolutely impossible. How could anything have happened to someone as awesome as Grandpa Yao?
“However, how exactly did you perform the attack, Grandpa Yao? It was too dazzling and unbelievable, wasn’t it? Can you tell me how to do it? Aya, it suddenly occurs to me that practicing saber is not a bad idea at all. Practicing saber or practicing cannon-shooting, how should I choose? Speaking of which, a talented genius like me must be capable of mastering them both, am I not?”
Li Yao listened to Han Te with a smile. It was great to know that the young people who luckily escaped from the Land of Sins had reached Boss Bai’s place safe and sound.
However, what was wrong with Liu Li? Why was she staying back and looked rather pensive?
“Liu Li—”
Li Yao waved at the girl and said in curiosity, “Is there anything wrong? Are you not happy to see me?”
“Of course I am very happy to see Grandpa Yao. It’s just that I do not want to see the bummer Han Te!”
Pouting her lips, Liu Li accused him in front of Li Yao, her eyes red. “Grandpa Yao, Han Te has been mean to me!”
“Huh?”
Blinking quickly, Li Yao looked at Liu Li and then at Han Te, before he became grave. “Han Te, you and Liu Li are having an adventure outside of your hometown together. You should support each other. How can you be mean to her?”
“Grandpa Yao, I am not!”
Han Te raised his hands and complained, “I was never mean to Liu Li. I hadn’t seen her for a long time until today. Hardly had we started talking when she burst into fury and stormed off. How could I have the time to be mean to her?”
“Is that so?”
Her arms akimbo, Liu Li glared at Han Te. “You didn’t have time with me, but you had all the time with those big sisters of yours, didn’t you?”
“You are being completely unreasonable!”
Han Te turned to Li Yao. “Grandpa Yao, please tell us who is right and who is wrong…”
Scratching his head, Li Yao knew what was going, but there was little he could do. “Han Te, if you have any super scheme, world-ending crisis, or if you need to save the universe, you can come to consult me. But regarding this… about the relationship of young men and young women, hehehehe, there is barely anything that Grandpa Yao is capable of. While Grandpa Yao is a married man, it was my wife who pursued me years back, so I am actually short of experience in that regard…”
…
On the other side of the port, the Fist King was also searching in the crowd with dozens of spiritual puppets.
Although Xiaoming and Wenwen looked no different from the kids that Li Yao saved, their unique brainwaves allowed the Fist King to distinguish them from the crowd easily.
A cold iron puppet, confining the excitement of finding its own kind, appeared before the two kids and released a friendly wave to them.
“Greetings, I am the Fist King. We already met each other in the space battlefield just now.”
“Hello, Master Fist King. I am Xiaoming, I am Wenwen, we are Li Yao’s children and the children of mankind.”
After a brief communication, the kids crawled on the broad shoulder of the iron puppet, one on the left and the other on the right, before they walked to the depths of the port.
Those unique beings seemed to have a lot of information and data that they needed to share with each other.
…
Not far away, Long Yangjun roamed in the port casually and observed the warships that were as magnificent as mountains with her hands in her back.
Most of the warships still had the insignias of Li Wuji’s fleet, the Flying Rainbow Fleet, or the twenty-eight pirate gangs painted on their heads, but they were like animals that had been obediently domesticated and followed the orders of the federal space pirates and the Cultivators of the Imperium.
After so many starships were gathered in the Blue Sky Market for a month of maintenance and upgrade, with the commandership of Boss Bai, the excellent warriors like Li Yao and Long Yangjun, and the chain of command as well as the cyberwarfare abilities that had been comprehensively strengthened by Xiaoming and Wenwen, Long Yangjun had no doubt that such a luxury coalition would be qualified to challenge any elite troop of the Imperium.
Although it was not enough to resist the reformists or the four families singlehandedly, it would certainly be enough to be an important leverage in the game of the two parties.
Not a long time ago, when they marched at the army of the Immortal Cultivators in the furious flames of the Great Iron Factory deep below the capital, she didn’t foresee that such drastic changes would happen so soon.
“Li Yao…”
Long Yangjun combed her long hair and said with a smile, “One truly does not need to worry that their life may not be spectacular enough when they are with such an interesting guy like you!
“Is Blackstar the Great the ultimate enemy of the game? What wonders are coming next?”
…
The festivity in the port endured more than three hours, before the Cultivators, the federal space pirates, and the people who were just saved gradually dispersed and were relocated to appropriate places.
The panoramic image of the space battle just now, particularly the glamorous scene where Li Yao beheaded the flagship of the Flying Rainbow Fleet in one attack, was also displayed and replayed before the captives, destroying their last resistance.
The captives who were secretly planning to rise, after learning that the Big Bai Pirate Gang had swallowed the entire Flying Rainbow Fleet when they were exhausted and incomplete, were greatly appalled by Boss Bai’s arts of commanding and Li Yao’s astonishing combat ability.
Strength was the highest moral in the world of the Immortal Cultivators. Since Li Yao and Boss Bai were the strongest experts they had ever seen, there was not a second choice except to follow and pledge loyalty to them.
It took more than half a day to anchor the fleet, regroup the soldiers, settle the civilians, and lock up the captives. Finally, Boss Bai, the Fist King, Long Yangjun, Li Yao, and the rest of them were able to take a rest and sat down to talk about everything that had happened.