Tang Xiaoxing paused for a long time as she spoke. She looked at Li Yao carefully again before she continued. "Right now, the space jump matrix is under maintenance. In order to restore it to its normal state, a 'jump key' will have to be inputted. The key is divided into six parts, which are controlled by the five refiners including myself and my father respectively. If one of the parts is missing, it will be very troublesome."
"What kind of trouble?" Li Yao asked.
"Firefly will not be able to perform a space jump!" Tang Xiaoxing said.
Li Yao understood it now.
In the boundless universe, the two nearest star systems were often several lightyears away from each other. If a space jump could not be performed and the starship could only trudge forward with regular power, it would be like a snail traveling around the world. It would be impossible at all!
Without the space jump ability, Firefly would be like having its legs chopped off. It would not be able to run away even if it wanted to.
"Then …"
Li Yao pondered for a moment and said, "Can the part of the secret pattern be retrieved from your brain through torture or simply by killing you?"
"Of course not!"
Tang Xiaoxing was like a frightened cat. Her hair was all standing on end. "I've etched the secret pattern into my brain with special techniques. Unless I'm willing to do it in person, it's impossible for anybody else to get the part of the secret pattern! If I'm really killed, it will take at least three to five months for the maintenance mode of the space jump matrix to be bypassed! "
"That's good."
Li Yao pondered for a moment. It seemed that Tang Xiaoxing's safety was guaranteed for now, and she would not suffer any physical pain.
The most critical thing right now was to rescue Captain Tang Dingyuan. It would be best if Speaker Cui Lingfeng's scheme could be revealed in the meantime.
As a result, the Xing Yao Federation would have a super starship that was rather advanced, as well as the space jump technology that even the Imperium and the Holy League might not have!
In any case, Li Yao had to help the Federation get the job done properly.
Speaking of which, it shouldn't be difficult for ten Yuanying and two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators to rescue the captain, right? This was just a warm-up game before the great battle between the Imperium and the Federation.
Thinking for a moment, Li Yao asked again, "How many experts are there on Firefly exactly? Are there any in the Divinity Transformation Stage? And how many Yuanying do you have?"
The government-in-exile of the Star Ocean Republic was very vigilant about the Xing Yao Federation. The internal information was barely leaked. The number of the top-tier experts was a top secret that could not be found online.
Tang Xiaoxing shook her head and said, "We have been on the run for a thousand years. The few Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators we had were all killed by the Imperium. Right now, we don't have any Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators. We only have about a hundred Yuanying."
"A hundred? That's all! "
Li Yao was greatly shocked. He found it hard to believe. Firefly had a population of more than a hundred million. How could more than a hundred people have Yuanying? The output of Yuanying and normal people was a thousand times higher than the output of the Federation. This was too much!
"A hundred is not a lot," Tang Xiaoxing said.
"When Blackstar the Great first usurped the power of the Star Ocean Republic, a lot of people were dissatisfied with him. Many experts and specialists sneaked onto Firefly and escaped from Blackstar the Great's evil hands. At that time, there were hundreds of Yuanying on the tiny Firefly. A lot of them were in the Divinity Transformation Stage, too!
"Later, during the long journey to the stars, a lot of Yuanying entered the hibernation state in order to preserve their vitality. Many of them only woke up once every few decades. It was not until we docked near the Xing Yao Federation that all the Yuanying were woken up. It has been less than ten years since then. Of course, they are still alive and well.
"Had it not been for the multiple accidents that happened on our way, which led to the large-scale malfunction of the hibernation cabins, the number of Yuanying we would've had would've been multiple times higher!"
As it turned out, they were not Yuanying that had just emerged during the journey but had escaped from the center of the cosmos at the beginning of the escape.
Li Yao swallowed hard, his eyes glittering like a weasel that had just seen a hen. Every Yuanying from a thousand years ago was invaluable. If they could all join the Federation …
"That's not right."
Li Yao suddenly thought of a problem. "If you really had so many Yuanying, why were you so vulnerable that you could not even defeat a claw fleet of the expedition army of the Imperium?"
"Because we did not have many battle Yuanying," Tang Xiaoxing said in a dilemma.
"Years ago, most of the Yuanying went into hibernation. Only a few Yuanying were still awake and responsible for the operation and maintenance of Firefly. But almost all the battle Yuanying were awake because we were still faced with the pursuit of the army of the Imperium at that time!
"In order to get rid of Blackstar the Great, almost all the battle Yuanying, including the few experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage … perished!
"In the hundreds of years that followed, we had been wandering in the depths of the sea of stars, hiding everywhere in fear. We did not have the courage to fight the Imperium's army at all and would flee the moment we smelled the scent of the Imperium's army!
"If we did not even have the courage to fight, how could a new generation of battle Yuanying be born?
"Also, we had drifted in the sea of stars for a thousand years after all. The cannons, weapons, and magical equipment units on board were all seriously worn out. We were almost out of ammunition and food. How could we have competed with the strong fleet of the Imperium, even if it was just a tiny claw fleet?
"My father, Captain Tang Dingyuan, was the one who knew the current situation of Firefly best. He and most of the technicians on board knew that it was impossible for us to fight on our own anymore. Even if we managed to repair it, Firefly could not struggle for many more years. Joining the Xing Yao Federation was the only way to perpetuate the spirit of the Star Ocean Republic!"
"Understood."
Li Yao had gathered all the information he needed.
Every word that Tang Xiaoxing said just now turned into snowflakes that were spluttering brilliance and crashed into his brain, raising thousands of whimsical plans.
Captain Tang Dingyuan was the key. Their mission was to rescue him. Everything would naturally be solved after the captain was rescued.
The question was, where was the captain exactly?
Compared to the Xing Yao Federation that included the seven Sectors, Firefly was naturally just a grain of sand in the sea of stars.
However, it was a super starship, or a super metropolis, that was connected and combined by hundreds of starships after all. It was multiple times larger than Fish Dragon City. If the captain was locked up in secret, it would be no easier to locate him than to find a needle in a haystack.
It was not like Li Yao, Long Yangjun, Meng Chixin, and the rest of them could really summon their Colossi and march into Firefly while roaring, could they?
This is what they mean by 'the small temple is big, but the shallow pond is full of bastards'!
Li Yao thought to himself. For a moment, he felt that Firefly was indeed full of thorns that made it hard for him to bite it.
Right then, he felt itchy again deep inside his ears, as if somebody was scratching him with a feather.
It was Long Yangjun.
"What's the situation on your side? Are there any new changes? We have observed quite a few secret Exo squads that are suspected to be the 'Dim Moon Squad'. They are all running around crazily! "
Long Yangjun grimaced, as if she were not worried that the fire would burn even more fiercely. "Besides, we've also found a very interesting piece of intelligence. Do you remember 'Fei Qi', the guy who attacked us when we just jumped over?"
Li Yao nodded. "Of course. Wasn't 'Fei Qi' handed over to Qi Changsheng and Wan Mingzhu to deal with? Is there a problem?"
"There's no problem with Fei Qi. But didn't he say that he was a peripheral member of the 'CFIA' and that he had a 'superior' in Fish Dragon City?"
Long Yangjun said. "This' superior ', on the other hand, is a big problem. We discovered that he was mixed in the Exo Society of the Chamber of Commerce and searching together with them. But his whereabouts were mysterious, and he seemed to be contacting somebody in secret.
"Later, while the Exo Society of the Chamber of Commerce and the Dim Moon Squad were fighting fiercely, Senior Meng and Senior Wu captured the guy with a trick. After interrogation, we learned that the Immortal Cultivator of the CFIA was naturally an Exo under the Chamber of Commerce's command on the surface, and the operation was indeed under the order of the Chamber of Commerce. But in secret, the CFIA had also issued an order to help the Chamber of Commerce and the secret police on Firefly capture Tang Xiaoxing!"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. "Wait. That's not right. Logically, everybody on Firefly, whether they support joining the Federation or not, should be a mortal enemy of the Imperium of True Human Beings. But the 'CFIA' is an organization of local Immortal Cultivators. Shouldn't the two parties be at loggerheads?"
"We don't know," Long Yangjun said. "The guy is just a lackey of the CFIA. We won't be able to get much information out of him.
Long Yangjun said, "Although we can trace him all the way up, we'd better not do that in case we alert the enemy. God knows what clandestine deals the CFIA has made with certain people on Firefly!"
"Firefly, Fish Dragon City, CFIA …"
Li Yao thought quickly. Under the surging telepathic thoughts, a few glittering pearls seemed to have been connected by him in the seemingly messy situation.
He suddenly turned around and asked Tang Xiaoxing, "Right now, is there any starship in Fish Dragon City that will go to Firefly?"
Tang Xiaoxing was confused, but she still nodded. "Of course. Firefly is undergoing major maintenance right now. Tremendous materials and resources are delivered to Firefly through Fish Dragon City every day. It is our top priority. Despite the tense situation right now, the transportation cannot be completely suspended."
"That's good …"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
