For Tang Dingyuan, the real captain of Firefly, the experience in the past three hours was like sprinting in the torrents of space on a ragged boat. It had been so unpredictable and soul-stirring. A novel in Chinese.
During the few days he was imprisoned, he had been considering the whole thing.
Although he had learned of Chief Mate Ding Zhengyang's betrayal at the very beginning, he had thought that everything had been instigated by Speaker Cui Lingfeng and that the so-called 'Immortal Cultivators' were nothing but Cui Lingfeng's framing and Ding Zhengyang's fabrication.
That was not enough to make Tang Dingyuan desperate. He only felt sorry for Cui Lingfeng's stubbornness and Ding Zhengyang's greed.
However, the conversation he had with Cui Lingfeng in the prison a moment ago made him realize another possibility in horror. If the whole thing was not caused by Cui Lingfeng for the power struggle, and Ding Zhengyang was not Cui Lingfeng's puppet but someone who had deceived Cui Lingfeng instead, it would mean that the Immortal Cultivators did exist and had successfully manipulated the two of them!
Tang Dingyuan's heart immediately fell into a black hole.
The unexpected turn of events that followed proved his judgment even more.
Soon after Speaker Cui Lingfeng left, deafening explosions echoed outside. A mysterious squad of Exos had broken into the secret prison. They claimed that they were there to 'rescue' him, but in fact, they were there to take him away by force.
These people weren't his subordinates, and they didn't care about his order to see their faces. His eyes and ears had been sealed along the way, so he couldn't see or hear anything. He didn't know where he had been transferred to.
However, before his eyes and ears were blocked, he vaguely heard them saying that the Speaker was dead and had been killed by them.
Cui Lingfeng was dead!
Tang Dingyuan felt as if he had been struck by lightning and mired in an icy cave!
Tang Dingyuan, as the captain of the starship, and Cui Lingfeng, as the Speaker, had not been on good terms in the past. The two of them had a lot of conflicts and contradictions on the major policies that would decide the future of Firefly and the government-in-exile, especially on the issue of whether or not to join the Xing Yao Federation. They had even been at loggerheads many times. They were out-and-out political enemies.
Tang Dingyuan strongly disagreed with many of Cui Lingfeng's approaches. He had long found the parliament, which was too bloated, meddling, and bossy. However, in his eyes, however stubborn, arrogant, and cunning Cui Lingfeng was, at the very least, he had never doubted Cui Lingfeng's loyalty to the Star Ocean Republic and the path of the Cultivators as a Cultivator!
Cui Lingfeng could do anything except surrender to the Imperium of True Human Beings!
The death of such a Speaker had undoubtedly made the situation on Firefly more dangerous than ever.
Sorting through the whole thing in the darkness, Tang Dingyuan had basically deduced everything that had happened. There was definitely something wrong with Ding Zhengyang, as well as some of the people who were very close to Cui Lingfeng!
However, it was already too late to come to a conclusion now.
The Speaker was dead. His trusted subordinates who had been plotting for a long time would naturally take over his power. In the meantime, Tang Dingyuan's command as the captain had long been taken away by Ding Zhengyang.
In both the parliament and the bridge, the Immortal Cultivators had seized the power without alarming anyone. Most of the Cultivators were kept in the dark, too.
Even Tang Dingyuan, a man of iron who could sail 'Firefly', which was made of hundreds of wasted warships, through the most violent cosmic storms and simply regarded the furiously burning shooting stars as nothing more than a drizzle when they hit the spiritual shield and even the shell of the starship, was caught in the deepest desperation in such a situation.
Just like that, he spent the darkest three hours of his life. Even though he didn't give up hope for even a second, he was still racking his brains to come up with a counterattack. However, until the light returned to his eyes, he still couldn't come up with a single feasible strategy.
However, the picture in front of his eyes made his head dizzy and rendered him speechless. It was so absurd that he felt like laughing.
Ding Zhengyang, the 'mastermind' in his speculation and the former chief mate of Firefly and the captain of the modern fleet, was kneeling before him dutifully, as if he were more dead than alive. He was so ashamed that he could not find a hole to crawl into!
"Well …"
Tang Dingyuan looked at Ding Zhengyang and then at the man who unlocked the barrier for him and helped him to his feet. Although the man looked unfamiliar, Tang Dingyuan could still sense the faint smell of blood and the aura of an expert from him. He was a real expert!
How many years had it been since such an expert had appeared on Firefly, which was in dire need of training resources and had been on the run all the time?
"There's no need to worry, Captain Tang."
Li Yao smiled. "The rebellion of the Immortal Cultivators has been settled. Team Red Lotus has successfully rescued everyone who was caged in Black Stone Prison. Everybody is returning to their posts to stabilize the situation. Most of them have just broken into the bridge and regained control of the bridge!"
"Team Red Lotus?"
Tang Dingyuan chewed on the strange name in silence. He was still confused and did not know what was going on.
"We are the highest secret armed force that directly belongs to the Speakers of the past generations. We were established by Speaker Shui Yian more than two hundred years ago. All traces of us were erased after we were trained and organized. We have been hibernating all the time, just in case something like today happened again!"
Li Yao said solemnly. "In fact, everything was a trap set up by Speaker Cui. Speaker Cui had long sensed that a lot of Immortal Cultivators were lurking on Firefly, but it was difficult for him to distinguish them without any evidence. Therefore, he intentionally put on such a good show and woke up Team Red Lotus, just to lure the enemy out and catch them all! In order not to leak the information, he did not disclose it to Captain Tang in advance, which made Captain Tang suffer a lot. The Speaker asked me to express his gratitude to Captain Tang on his behalf! "
Tang Dingyuan was still in disbelief. "A trap set up by Speaker Cui? That — that's too … "
He felt that something was not right. The whole thing was not as simple as it seemed.
"Thankfully, the result is quite satisfactory!"
Li Yao put on a brilliant smile again. Not allowing Tang Dingyuan to think, he went on quickly. "Cheng Xuansu, the Immortal Cultivator lurking around Speaker Cui, has been executed. 'Chief Mate Ding' lurking around you is willing to atone for his mistake, too. The Immortal Cultivators on the bridge, in the parliament, and in the key posts will not be able to get away! After the crisis that was more daunting than dangerous, the combat ability of Firefly will not be weakened at all. Instead, it will be even stronger! The negotiation with the Star Glory Federation will be able to begin smoothly, too! "
"The negotiation with the Xing Yao Federation?"
Tang Dingyuan was greatly surprised again. He felt that the whole world had been turned upside down in only a couple of hours. "Isn't Speaker Cui most against joining the Xing Yao Federation?"
"Speaker Cui is a man of great foresight," Li Yao said solemnly. "Everything is under his control. How can he really object to the merger with the Xing Yao Federation when a great enemy is right in front of us? "However, a lot of Immortal Cultivators were hiding on Firefly before. Before the 'viruses' are completely annihilated, the merger with the Xing Yao Federation will only lead to the continuous spread of the fatal viruses, which may even break out in the critical battles! Can you understand Speaker Cui's concern, Captain Tang? "
Tang Dingyuan smiled bitterly. As the captain of Firefly, he was a standard technician. He was not a man fond of intrigue and deceit in the first place. He only felt that everything Li Yao said was too complicated compared to piloting a starship. "If that is the case …"
"Of course it is!"
Staring at Tang Dingyuan in the eyes, Li Yao slightly raised his voice. "Captain Tang, after such a setback on Firefly, the captain and the Speaker need to work together to stabilize the situation and recover our combat ability as quickly as possible! Speaker Cui wants to know if you are still loyal to the parliament and the Supreme Speaker of the rightful government of the Star Ocean Republic, even though he has agreed to join the Xing Yao Federation in principle and only the details need to be discussed. "
Tang Dingyuan looked at Li Yao's eyes carefully, trying to find some answers from the eyes that did not have the slightest brilliance. But he found nothing in the end.
Pondering for a long time, he nodded his head firmly in the end. "… Of course!"
Half an hour later, when Tang Dingyuan returned to the cockpit under Li Yao's escort, he felt as if he had been in a dream for a lifetime.
"Dad!"
It was not until his daughter, Tang Xiaoxing, jumped into his arms, crying and laughing that he finally regained the calmness and decisiveness that he should have as a father and a captain.
After a rough glance, he discovered that one-fifth of the staff on the cockpit were missing. They must have been the Immortal Cultivators on Ding Zhengyang's list. Instead, they were replaced by dozens of elite warriors who were fully armed and wearing Crystal Suits, filling the cockpit with a solemn atmosphere.
However, the officers leading the team were Tang Dingyuan's own men, who had just been rescued from Black Stone Prison and were absolutely loyal Cultivators.
The surveillance light beam of the mainframe crystal processor transmitted the picture of every corner of Firefly.
As the soldiers of the Third Military Academy spread out, they, who had been granted high permissions by the Speaker and had the spiritual stripes carved in person, soon won the support of the bottom-level soldiers like a rolling snowball. Even though a few Immortal Cultivator commanders were involved, it did not help at all.
Peace and order were gradually restored to the chaotic crowd. The Cultivators rescued from Black Stone Prison all played critical roles, too.
The Immortal Cultivators had launched the attack in a hurry in the first place. They were deceiving the enemy instead of attacking by force. When Ding Zhengyang and Cheng Xuansu, the two leaders, were either killed or surrendered, and there was an unstoppable force such as' Team Red Lotus' on the opposite side, the only outcome was a total collapse.
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