"The Dim Moon Squad is about to lose."
In Fish Dragon City in the Dragon Snake Space Zone, Li Yao constricted his bones without a sound until he was almost as thin as a line. Hiding behind a magnetic rail, he observed the battle down below calmly.
Below him, the fireballs were blossoming like an ocean of flowers. Now and then, a few heavy armed shuttles would be blown up in midair. Their broken pieces would be blown up by the blast and dance in the sky like the most glamorous killer butterflies.
The 'Dim Moon Squad', a secret armed force that belonged to the Ministry of Development of the Federation, was made of the most elite warriors who had fought their way through the storms of blood during the decades of rapid expansion of the Federation. Even the secret police on Firefly were no match for them.
However, this place was the territory of the Chamber of Commerce, and the Dim Moon Squad did not seem to have informed the Secret Sword Bureau about their operation. Therefore, they did not receive comprehensive support.
Once the local Exos of the Chamber of Commerce bit their tail, incessant Exos of the Chamber of Commerce would be coming from all directions. Enough ants could bite an elephant to death. The Dim Moon Squad was about to be drowned in an ocean of mobs.
After a brief skirmish, hearing the rushing noises of the Crystal Suit, which was getting denser and denser, the Dim Moon Squad had no choice but to continue fleeing toward the GK area in the southwest, having no time to get rid of the tail behind them.
It appeared that they must have a starship in the space port and were planning to break out of the siege by force after they snatched the hostage.
However …
Li Yao was about to chase after them when he thought of something and vaguely felt that the Dim Moon Squad's operation was too simple and crude.
If they had planned to protect Tang Xiaoxing a long time ago, it was impossible that they did not know that Fish Dragon City was the territory of the Chamber of Commerce, and they would certainly be heavily besieged. 'Breaking out of the siege by force' did not seem to be Jin Xinyue's style at all.
If Jin Xinyue could only come up with such a lousy plan after a hundred years of training, it would be too embarrassing for him as her master!
Something is not right.
Tapping his forehead softly, Li Yao narrowed his eyes and observed the scene again, which had fallen into silence after the brief exchange of fire a moment ago. Every magnetic rail in the sky, every shabby street nearby, and every sewer and maintenance tube below the ground was not spared.
"Huh?"
Li Yao's eyes suddenly glittered as he made a discovery. Like a cluster of black mist, he snuck into the wreckage of the armed shuttle that had turned into garbage and was still burning furiously. Holding back the high temperature, he touched the cover of the entrance of an underground maintenance tube softly.
There was indeed a problem.
The cover of this kind of underground maintenance pipe was usually sealed with a restriction, so it was not easy for ordinary people to open it.
But now, the restriction had been tampered with.
Not only had someone opened the cover just now, new alarm rune arrays had been deployed around the previous barrier. As long as the cover was opened, feeble telepathic thoughts would be sent out, which would be perceived by a certain receiver array far away.
Such a trick was naturally not difficult for Li Yao.
Three seconds later, he appeared in the underground maintenance tube. He spread out his telepathic thoughts and soon discovered a lead gray metal box more than half a meter tall more than ten meters away from him.
Li Yao folded his fingers and snapped them softly. There was no telling what the metal box was made of exactly, but he felt that it could both absorb the intense quakes and blasts from the outside world and prevent the waves inside from being released.
If the box was not right next to him, it would be barely possible for any probe magical equipment or telepathic thoughts to penetrate the ground and detect its existence.
This is it …
Li Yao warmed up his hands and groped around the seemingly flawless lead gray metal box quickly. A moment later, after a hiss, blue stripes suddenly appeared where there were no gaps at all. With the stripes as the centerline, the cover slid to two sides without a sound, revealing Tang Xiaoxing, who was sleeping soundly inside a cluster of gel in the shape of a baby.
So, this is the real reason why I pretended to run away after I snatched the girl and attracted the enemy's full attention. In fact, I was hiding Tang Xiaoxing here first, and another team of agents would come and take her away very soon. That was the real force that was supposed to protect her!
Li Yao grinned. Such a plan was much more reasonable.
However, he still had to take action and take Tang Xiaoxing away first.
It was not that he was intentionally picking on his disciple. The reason was very simple. Jin Xinyue could never have foreseen that, other than Firefly, the Chamber of Commerce, the CFIA, and the Secret Sword Bureau, there was also a super luxurious squad made of two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators and ten Yuanying in Fish Dragon City. Also, the squad of Ancient Sages Sector was interested in Tang Xiaoxing, too.
Now that Meng Chixin, Wu Suiyun, Long Yangjun, and the rest of them were all trying to intervene in the matter, it would be barely possible for the Dim Moon Squad to retreat with Tang Xiaoxing in one piece.
Besides, Li Yao did not want the experts from the Ancient Sages Sector to have head-on conflicts with the Dim Moon Squad, either. In such a case, the situation would be too uncontrollable.
If we have to play a dangerous game, I'll be the one to roll the dice!
Li Yao smiled and licked his lips. Confidence beamed out of his eyes. This is the Xing Yao Federation. It is my territory. Naturally, I should be the one to call the shots! I'll be the one to decide how the game is going to be played!
He picked up Tang Xiaoxing from the protective gel and carried her on his shoulder as if she were a sack. Then, he crouched and marched into the darkness of the maintenance tubes.
Ten minutes passed.
When Tang Xiaoxing woke up, she discovered, to her surprise, that she was sitting on the seat of a shuttle again. Outside the window, the glamorous night view of Fish Dragon City was all over the place.
The guy sitting next to her, who was driving the shuttle casually while tapping on the light beam of the crystal processor quickly, was none other than Li Yao.
"Senior Lin!"
Tang Xiaoxing exclaimed in disbelief. She bit her tongue hard to make sure that she was not dreaming. Or maybe, everything that had happened just now was a dream and an absurd nightmare?
However, the explosions that were echoing in the night sky, as well as the roars, curses, and screams from the mainframe crystal processor of the shuttle, immediately pulled Tang Xiaoxing back to reality.
Tang Xiaoxing discovered that the mainframe crystal processor of the shuttle seemed to have been connected to a private communication channel, in which the voices of the Exos of the Chamber of Commerce were shouting and deploying tactics could be heard.
"You're awake?"
Li Yao continued tapping on the light beam, studying the terrain of Fish Dragon City and all the information about Firefly that could be collected on the Spiritual Nexus, especially the internal structure of Firefly and the famous experts on board. Sensing Tang Xiaoxing's confusion, he said without raising his head, "I installed a 'small thing' on the Crystal Suit of an Exo of the Chamber of Commerce and hacked into their tactical communication channel. Don't be nervous."
"You — you — I …"
Tang Xiaoxing did not know what to say for a moment. "You didn't abandon me and run away?"
"We are in a hurry right now. Please show some of the wisdom and decisiveness of the Cultivators in the sea of stars and don't ask such obvious questions, alright?"
Li Yao said quickly. "If you want to continue asking questions like 'who are you exactly and what do you want', that's very unnecessary. I will tell you my real identity, but not right now. I can only assure you that I mean no harm to you or Firefly. Instead, I want to help you and make a deal with you."
"If you believe in my promise, then let's continue. If you think that I have ulterior motives, then look around and see if there's a good environment nearby. I can put you down again. I think the entrance of the shopping mall is not bad. It's quite lively. Why don't you go there?"
"Don't!"
Her face pale, Tang Xiaoxing could not help but grab Li Yao's arm and recall the nightmarish scenes just now. Taking a deep breath, she gritted her teeth and nodded. "I — I'm willing to trust you, Senior Lin!"
"Very good. Then, let's talk about the deal and how we can help you and Firefly."
Li Yao said, "But first of all, I need to make sure whether or not you are still of value to be helped and whether or not you are capable of completing the deal. Since, well, time is of the essence, I will not beat around the bush. I believe that you must be very clear about the situation right now. Right when you were arrested by your own people for 'treason', your father, Captain Tang Dingyuan, who was on Firefly far away, must've suffered the same treatment, if not worse. It is very possible that he has … been killed."
Tang Xiaoxing shivered softly. Tears were rolling in her eyes, but she tried to hold them back. Looking at her hands, she said softly but firmly, "I know!"
"But there is another possibility, one that is even worse than your father being killed."
Li Yao said casually, "In fact, your father, the captain of Firefly, is behind everything. He has had clandestine ambitions since decades ago. For the seemingly noble and great ideas that are actually sordid and shameless, he has secretly planned a great scheme in secret. Should it work out, it is very likely that the world will be destroyed!"
"What?" Tang Xiaoxing asked. "How do you know that, senior?"
"It's just my insignificant experience as a senior in the sea of stars," Li Yao said.
"…" Tang Xiaoxing.
"Of course, on the bright side," Li Yao said, "your father is not involved in any great scheme, and he hasn't been killed yet. That is exactly what I want to ask. In your opinion, how likely is it that your father will be executed immediately after he is captured by the enemy, let's say your Speaker Cui Lingfeng? Do we still have a chance to rescue him right now? "
Tang Xiaoxing covered her mouth and nose with her hands. Taking a deep breath for half a minute, she gradually sorted through her messy thoughts and shook her head. "If Speaker Cui Lingfeng is really behind everything and even arrested my father for groundless crimes such as' treason ', it is impossible for him to be executed immediately.
"The rightful government of the Star Ocean Republic is an open and fair parliamentary system after all. Speaker Cui is not a dominating dictator. It is impossible for him to secretly arrest and execute the captain of Firefly, a leader whose identity is only second to his own. I don't think that he can even interrogate him."
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