Glancing at Tang Dingyuan, who was in a daze, Cui Lingfeng interrupted Ding Zhengyang. "Enough. Is this the 'Immortal Cultivator 2.0' that Lu Qingchen mentioned?"
"It's just one part of it," Ding Zhengyang said.
"Some of them are about the relationship between the Immortal Cultivators and the ordinary people."
"Relationship?"
Cui Lingfeng said coldly. "What relationship can it be other than slavery and exploitation?"
"You are wrong, Speaker Cui," Ding Zhengyang said.
"The ultimate purpose of the true path of immortality is to promote the evolution and development of the civilization of mankind, not to bring pain to the ordinary people. For 'true human beings', 'hominoids' are like kittens and puppies. Who would intentionally bring pain to kittens and puppies every day except for the perverts?
"No. Enslaving and exploiting the ordinary people is not the original intention of the Immortal Cultivators. It is only what they do when they are short of resources and the hostile forces are too strong! Didn't we say on Firefly that 'extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures' a lot?
"In fact, the purpose of enslaving and exploiting the ordinary people is to get more resources. However, as the technological boom kept happening, and the civilization of mankind was developing exponentially, the heavy labor such as mining could be replaced by machines and automation systems.
"It means that one day, after the Imperium of True Human Beings completely crushed the Alliance of the Holy Covenant, unified the sea of stars, and developed a very advanced mechanical automation system, the ordinary people will no longer be enslaved and exploited. Their living standard will be significantly improved. Not just the 'hominoids' in the past, even the citizens of the Xing Yao Federation today will be much better off!
"However, in order for the day to come sooner, the ordinary people living in the territory of the Imperium right now must work harder for the future of the civilization of mankind and collect more resources so that the Imperium can win the war!
"In the meantime, Firefly and the Xing Yao Federation should not continue to resist the Imperium. Our resistance will only weaken the Imperium and postpone the day when the Imperium unifies the universe. The later that day comes, the more impossible it will be for the ordinary people to live a good life!
If the Cultivators on Firefly and the Xing Yao Federation are truly responsible for protecting the ordinary people as they claim, they should surrender to the Imperium, join the Imperium, help the Imperium unify the universe, and improve the Imperium's policies toward the ordinary people from the inside. That is the real solution!
Cui Lingfeng listened in silence while observing Ding Zhengyang's face carefully. At this moment, he suddenly asked, "Ding Zhengyang, answer me. Do you really believe in everything you said just now and believe in the true path of immortality?"
Ding Zhengyang was talking excitedly when Cui Lingfeng's question, which was mixed with feeble spiritual energy, made him come to a halt like a doll whose spring had been broken. After a long daze, he was deflated and resumed his half-dead appearance. He mumbled, "I don't know. In the past, I absolutely believed in the true path of the Cultivators, but as it turned out, I was fooled. Although Lu Qingchen's true path of immortality sounded very convincing, who cares? I believe in everything right now, and I don't believe in anything at all. I only want to live on. I only want to live on and see my offspring continue to live on!"
"It is quite a miracle that your belief has not been shattered to this moment despite your thoughts," Cui Lingfeng said.
Ding Zhengyang smiled miserably. "Perhaps my belief was already broken when I heard that my entire family was killed in the war ten years ago, wasn't it? Right now, 'live on' is my belief. As long as I can live on and pass on my bloodline, I will say anything. As for whether the Cultivators or the Immortal Cultivators are right or wrong, I don't care at all. "
Cui Lingfeng nodded. "Alright. As long as it is proven that you are not lying, we will let you live on. We can even consider letting you keep your bloodline. Now, let's talk about the rebellion and your specific plan. What do you want exactly?"
"Our original purpose was only to kill Captain Tang and let me control the bridge," Ding Zhengyang said. "In such a case, with me in the bridge and Cheng Xuansu next to you, we would be able to completely control Firefly and play a critical role in the upcoming war between the Imperium and the Federation.
"Later, you grew suspicious of the whole thing and discovered that we had tampered with the lie detector. We could only take action first and try to kill you, too. Although it would cause a lot of trouble, it would also help us control Firefly."
"What kind of 'critical role' do you want to play in the war between the Imperium and the Federation?" Cui Lingfeng asked, maintaining his composure.
"To lead the way for the Black Wind Fleet, of course," Ding Zhengyang said. "As their 'universal lighthouse', we will help them jump over smoothly!"
Cui Lingfeng glanced at Tang Dingyuan and Li Yao again.
Such soul-stirring news even made Tang Dingyuan drop the overly mysterious' True Immortals' and prick his ears to listen carefully.
"Is the Black Wind Fleet really here?" Cui Lingfeng asked.
"Yes," Ding Zhengyang replied. "They are lurking in a mysterious space zone not far away from the Xing Yao Federation, waiting for the best opportunity to launch a critical attack!"
"But they lack the 'space gate' made of massive star beacons to guide them," Cui Lingfeng asked. "They cannot jump over directly?"
"Exactly," Ding Zhengyang said.
"Without the 'space gate' of a large scale to guide them, the best they can do is to project some small-scale infiltration fleets and spies to sneak in. But it is impossible for the main body of the fleet to be teleported over in one go. If they jump recklessly, it will take at least one day for the entire fleet to recover from the weakness and chaos after the jump to the battle formation.
The Xing Yao Federation was slightly more capable than the Black Wind Fleet estimated in the beginning. One day was more than enough for the local fleet of the Federation to launch a fierce attack on the Black Wind Fleet that had not stabilized itself yet. They could even throw out all kinds of space-disrupting bombs to prevent the following fleets from jumping. Then, they could divide the Black Wind Fleet and swallow them one by one!
"Once that happened, it was very likely that the battle would turn into a war of attrition, which was not good for the Black Wind Fleet, which did not have a base in the rear. Even if the Black Wind Fleet secured the final victory, it would be a gory victory with tremendous casualties, which was not what they wanted to see.
"What the Black Wind Fleet wants is a clean victory and a quick battle. They want to completely crush the main force of the Xing Yao Federation in one go!
"Therefore, the Black Wind Fleet is still waiting for the agents that they sent to the Federation in advance to collect intelligence and guide the way together with the 'CFIA', a local organization of Immortal Cultivators, in order to find an opportunity to kill the enemy in one strike!"
"So," Cui Lingfeng said, "not just Firefly and the Dragon Snake Space Zone but also the seven Sectors in the homeland of the Xing Yao Federation," Cui Lingfeng said. "It is possible that a lot of agents of the Imperium of True Human Beings are lurking in the seven Sectors in the homeland of the Federation, who are looking for the weaknesses of the federation in secret and trying to establish secret 'space gates'? How can you believe such an important piece of information without any concrete evidence? "
Ding Zhengyang hesitated for a moment and said, "At first, I did not want to risk a rebellion on Firefly, but Lu Qingchen told me the news and told me that the Imperium would win for sure and the Federation would fail for sure! Although he didn't show me any concrete evidence, I've carefully pondered over every piece of information he said for a long time. There isn't much of a flaw. Most likely, it's true. If you don't believe me, I can repeat everything he said. "
"Alright."
Cui Lingfeng, Tang Dingyuan, and Li Yao looked at each other in bewilderment. They all realized the importance of the intelligence and were about to urge Ding Zhengyang to continue.
Right then, Tang Dingyuan's mini crystal processor buzzed. He raised his wrist and looked at it, only to put on an even weirder expression.
Cui Lingfeng frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Yes. A message from the Federation has just been sent over from the bridge," Tang Dingyuan said.
"A fleet of the Federation is performing a routine drill of 'secret sailing' near the Dragon Snake Space Zone. However, they unfortunately encountered a cosmic storm and suffered heavy losses. It is said that they have lost most of their fuel and supplies. A lot of people have been heavily wounded. Since they are not allowed to enter the Dragon Snake Space Zone for medical treatment and maintenance, they are hoping to dock in our dock and return to the homeland of the Federation after simple maintenance and supplies."
The Xing Yao Federation and the government-in-exile were allies, and the enemy had just encountered a cosmic storm. Such a request sounded perfectly reasonable.
"What a coincidence." Cui Lingfeng sneered. "A fleet of the Federation has' accidentally 'shown up right next to us when a large-scale rebellion of the Immortal Cultivators took place on our starship? Let me take a guess. How will the script be written later?
"After the fleet of the Federation docks in our dock, their commander will naturally communicate with the highest commander of Firefly and express his gratitude. At that time, the commander will discover, to his' surprise ', that the highest commander of Firefly is neither Tang Dingyuan nor Cui Lingfeng but Ding Zhengyang and Cheng Xuansu.
"Then, he will naturally investigate what happened on Firefly and see through the Immortal Cultivators' scheme after a series of 'accidents'.
"Since the fleet of the Federation is out for a drill, they must've carried tremendous weapons and ammunition and are ready for battle at any moment.
"In the end, the valiant Cultivators on the fleet of the Federation will break into Firefly and finish off all the Immortal Cultivators on our side, becoming the great heroes who saved Firefly!
"In such a way, not only will they be able to figure out the internal situation of Firefly, the new management of Firefly will also be grateful to them, just like how we are grateful to 'Team Red Lotus' right now.
"If such a thing does happen, not only will Firefly join the Xing Yao Federation without any suspense, we will also have no leverage in the negotiation."
Tang Dingyuan frowned hard. "Speaker Cui, what — what do you mean? We are all allies. Aren't you being too narrow-minded by saying that?"
"Narrow-Minded by the heart of a gentleman?"
Cui Lingfeng smiled and said unhurriedly, "Let me guess. The fleet of the Federation that appeared out of nowhere must be related to Jin Xinyue, the minister of development of the Federation and the president of the Dim Moon Fund, right?"
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.
