"Wow …"
Li Yao remarked with mixed feelings for the second time. He changed the way he addressed Cui Lingfeng, too. "Mr. Speaker, you have truly changed my opinion time and time again. I didn't know that you could be so clear-headed about the problem."
"I don't want to be so clear-headed."
Narrowing his eyes, Cui Lingfeng said gloomily, "When you are in a boundless hell, the more clear-headed you are, the more painful you will be.
"But the 'first' alone is not persuasive enough."
Li Yao asked, "What's the second?"
"Secondly, just like the natives of the Red Lotus Sector, even if I do join the Xing Yao Federation, I have to fight for the basic interests of my compatriots and for the respect and historical position that the name of the 'Star Ocean Republic' deserves," Cui Lingfeng said coldly.
"But Captain Tang is different," Cui Lingfeng said coldly. "The only thing he can do is steer the starship and the hundreds of units. Does he have to bargain shamelessly and fight for his own interests ruthlessly when it comes to such a thing? He can't. He is too inexperienced. He will only be fooled by the Federation and Jin Xinyue! "
"Well, Mr. Speaker," Li Yao said, "you don't seem to like Jin Xinyue very much. Just now, you said that I was her 'accomplice'. Usually, 'accomplice' is used to describe an enemy."
Cui Lingfeng sniffed and said, "After you rescued Tang Xiaoxing for the first time, you ran into a mysterious tactical squad and stole her from the Chamber of Commerce and the secret police. The tactical squad was probably the 'Dim Moon Squad' under Jin Xinyue's command.
"Let me ask you, how did Jin Xinyue learn of the matter when Cheng Xuansu was so secretive that even the Secret Sword Bureau of the Federation did not take action? How could a fully-armed Dim Moon Squad have been active nearby by coincidence?
"It is not a coincidence. Jin Xinyue must've had something to do with it. As to how deeply she is involved and what role she has played in the whole thing, there is no telling yet.
"But if you think about it carefully, you will understand. Who will benefit most from the great mess on Firefly? The Xing Yao Federation, of course! "
"First, with the help of the Immortal Cultivators, a stinky, hard rock in a latrine like me will be moved away. Then, everything on Firefly will be accepted naturally. In the meantime, chances are that Tang Dingyuan will be grateful to the 'selfless help of the brothers of the Cultivators', which is exactly like Jin Xinyue's style."
Li Yao scratched his head hard. "Uh, from what you're saying, this Jin Xinyue isn't a good person?"
Cui Lingfeng glanced at Li Yao, somewhat weirdly. "I've noticed that your wisdom is fluctuating. Captain Lin, has the hibernation for more than two hundred years damaged the thinking area of your brain? Do you know what Jin Xinyue does? The president of the Dim Moon Foundation! The Xing Yao Federation has two intelligence agencies. One is the Secret Sword Bureau, which is in charge of homeland security, and the other is the Dim Moon Fund, which is in charge of external attacks. To put it simply, one is to prevent the enemy from sabotaging their home, and the other is to find ways to sabotage the enemy's home. "
"A good person? Are good people qualified to be the director of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau? "
Li Yao was rendered speechless. Pretending to be very vigilant, he lowered his voice and said, "We heard a lot of rumors about Jin Xinyue in the Dragon Snake Space Zone, too. We were quite wary of the venomous witch. It was mostly because of her that we were unwilling to reveal our real identity and join the Federation! I'm told that she is truly as ruthless and venomous as a viper! Mr. Speaker, do you think that she has defected and degenerated into an Immortal Cultivator? "
"I don't think that Jin Xinyue is an Immortal Cultivator," Cui Lingfeng said. "But what makes you think that the Cultivators must be good people?"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. "Can the Cultivators be bad people, too?"
"Of course," Cui Lingfeng said.
"There are two kinds of Cultivators, the good Cultivators and the bad Cultivators."
Li Yao frowned. "I don't understand. What's the difference?"
"The good Cultivators do what Cultivators should do, and the bad Cultivators do what the good Cultivators are unwilling to do but must be done by somebody," Cui Lingfeng said casually.
"I … still don't quite understand," Li Yao said.
Cui Lingfeng frowned. "Is the question so important that we have to waste our precious time explaining it?"
Li Yao nodded solemnly. "It is very important. The Red Lotus natives are Cultivators, too. We have our beliefs and boundaries, too. Naturally, we cannot help everybody. You have a point. That's why we can reach a deal!"
"Fine."
Pondering for a moment, Cui Lingfeng sped up and said, "There's no time to explain. Let me put it this way. Right now, two candidates in the Federation are running for the Speaker of the Federation, the most important position in the past hundred years. Ding Ling Dong is the good Cultivator, and Jin Xinyue is the bad Cultivator.
"It is not a phenomenon unique to the Federation. It is the same everywhere. On Firefly, generally speaking, the captain is the good Cultivator, and the Speaker is the bad Cultivator.
"Don't be hasty. You will understand everything after I give you an example.
"Did you know that, in the past hundreds of years, Firefly has been through a few catastrophes that almost wiped us out? The cabins that we used to grow crops and feed animals were once destroyed by a meteor shower. We were once in dire need of a critical material, which made it impossible to produce certain special drugs for a long time. We were caught in desperation because of the shortage of doctors. A very serious plague spread out on the starship, but there was nothing we could do about it.
"Let me ask you. When the artificial greenhouses and the feeding cabins on the starship were seriously damaged by a cosmic storm, and it was calculated that the starship would be mired in a severe famine in the next hundred years, the more people there were, the more famine there would be. Under such circumstances, the good Cultivators could make a decision to forbid natural pregnancy and childbirth. If they wanted to have a baby, they could only freeze the sperm and the eggs and wait in line for numbers. Many people could not even die in peace before they saw the birth of their baby in person.
"Could the good Cultivators make such a decision that was against humanity?"
Li Yao was rendered speechless. He did not know how he should answer.
But Cui Lingfeng did not let him go. He went on. "Let me ask you again. When we are in dire shortage of a certain material, which makes it impossible to produce a certain special drug that targets heart diseases, and the stock of the drug is about to run out, for the sake of the young people and the future, can the good Cultivators impose a rule that all the seniors above a hundred and fifty years old are not allowed to use the special drug after they suffer from heart diseases, even if the drug is the only one that can save their life, and they have to leave it to the young people?
"Could the good Cultivators make such a cruel decision and watch the seniors above a hundred and fifty years old die slowly without helping them?"
Li Yao swallowed. Then he swallowed again.
Cui Lingfeng stared at him. His eyes were like two cold flames. "Alright. Now, there is such a rule. All the seniors above a hundred and fifty years old are treated the same and are not allowed to use the special drug. But suddenly, a power rune array specialist who is very important to Firefly, who has just turned a hundred and fifty-one years old, suddenly contracted a heart disease. If the special drug is not used, he will certainly die.
"His death will be a serious blow to the sailing of Firefly. It will even lead to the loss of a special extreme power enhancement technology, which was the key for us to get rid of the hunting of the Imperium's army in the past! Under such circumstances, could the good Cultivators have altered his identity files and changed his age to a hundred and forty-nine years old so that he would be qualified to receive the special drug?
"Later, a reporter accidentally discovered the matter and intended to expose the great scandal, which might lead to a great riot on Firefly. Could the good Cultivators have threatened and bribed the reporter to cover up the scandal by force?
"Do you understand now, Captain Lin? The good Cultivators should not do such things. Such things are dirty, ugly, stinky, and cruel. They should be despised by all the 'real' Cultivators!
"The captain of Firefly must not do such things!
"Captain! The captain of Firefly, the greatest deep-space exploration starship of the Star Ocean Republic that has ventured into the land that no one has ever visited before! He was supposed to be a good Cultivator who was bright, righteous, and flawless without a single stain on his record! He should lead everyone on this ship with a brilliant smile, an invincible belief, and a fearless spirit. He should lead everyone on this ship from one victory to another, from light to even greater light! "
"The captain's hands should not be dirty.
"But I don't care about the parliament that is as useless as an appendix. I don't care about the Speaker who does not understand the suffering of the bottom-level people at all. He is a bad Cultivator, and he can freely make decisions that good Cultivators cannot!"
"That is the reason why the 'dual head' system is still implemented on Firefly after a thousand years of sailing. It is also the reason why Firefly has persisted in its voyage for a thousand years! The captain and the Speaker are the good Cultivators and the bad Cultivators. The former is in charge of the righteous, blood-boiling, and heroic work, and the latter is in charge of the rest of the work. That's it.
"Tang Dingyuan is a very competent captain and a standard good Cultivator, just like Ding Ling Dong, the other candidate of the Xing Yao Federation, the 'God of War' of the Federation. Hehe. Yes. They are both the most perfect warriors under the sunlight!
"But the warriors under the sunlight are only suitable for fighting under the sunlight. Tang Dingyuan and Ding Ling Dong can shake hands, sign contracts, hug, and show the most brilliant smiles in front of the public, but he cannot play games with Jin Xinyue like a wild dog in a place where the public cannot see. There is no way that he can defeat Jin Xinyue!
"I am the only one who can fight for more interests for Firefly under Jin Xinyue's sharp teeth and tusks and with the 'Star Ocean Republic' as the condition, because Jin Xinyue and I are the same kind of people. We are both bad Cultivators and … defenders of the path of the Cultivators in darkness!"
Cui Lingfeng said, one word after another. "Therefore, I have to control the leadership in my own hands. After the negotiation, it doesn't matter what my future is, but right now, I have to be the Speaker. The powerful Supreme Speaker of the Star Ocean Republic!"
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