The three escape capsules were launched out by brute force like three cannonballs.
The airtight gate was closed slowly. Like a sharp guillotine, it cut off the last connection between Bai Xingjian and the Xing Yao Federation in his eyes.
With a smile that he had been looking forward to for a long time, he strode to the bridge without looking back.
Xiao Lishui, the Chief of Staff of the Great White Fleet, appeared next to him. His face was entirely different from a day ago. He looked at Bai Xingjian with both reverence and kindness. He said respectfully, "Commander, everything has been arranged. Everything is going well. We can perform a space jump at any moment.
"Also, according to the coordinates that the commander gave us, we have indeed found a twisted world fragment and a warehouse of military supplies from the Star Ocean Imperium inside. Although most of the magical equipment and assets have been destroyed, the remaining resources are more than enough to arm a starship.
"Also, we have found a lot of traces of secret development in the world fragment, which should be left by the exploration squads of the Blood Demon Sector more than a hundred years ago. All the secret stripes that have been unlocked correspond to what the commander told us. It will be very convenient for us to collect resources.
"The crystal processors, jade chips, and units that we moved out of 'Black Swirl' have been fully analyzed and deciphered. Very soon, we will be able to decipher the coordinates of the core worlds of the Imperium of True Human Beings. Although it is impossible for an enormous fleet to perform a large-scale space jump, we are confident that we can jump over on one starship.
"Right. The super-remote communication magical equipment of the Imperium of True Human Beings has been debugged, too. We are not out of the Tian Yuan Realm yet. If it is boosted to the highest power, we should be able to reach out to the Heaven's Origin Sector. I have connected the operation menu of the magical equipment to your portable crystal processor, commander. You can reach out to the Heaven's Origin Sector right now.
"Alright. Give me five minutes."
Bai Xingjian, who had walked to the door of the captain's office, said casually, "In five minutes, ask all … brothers to turn on the communication channel. I have something to say to everyone."
"Understood!"
Xiao Lishui, the white-haired old space pirate, seemed to have been injected with a brand-new life. He had never been so straight before, but he saluted Bai Xingjian in a rather weird way.
It was not the standard military salute of the Union Army, but the highest salute of the space pirates on Spider Den that had been modified by Yan Xinjian, the Supreme Space Pirate in the past.
In the captain's lounge.
Bai Xingjian looked at himself in the mirror and sent out the first communication request. There was no image, only sound.
"Damned old ghost …"
Hearing the guy's slightly sarcastic voice, Bai Xingjian narrowed his eyes deeply and gnashed his teeth. "How dare you f * cking set me up? I have carefully reviewed the entire situation and found that you have been telling a big lie from the beginning to the end!
"What did you mean by 'as long as I launched a critical attack, the victory would be secured'? Bullsh * t!
"If the monster Li Yao hadn't returned to the Heaven's Origin Sector with the twelve Colossi at the last moment, it would have been impossible for us to crush the Black Wind Fleet, and the old brothers that I gathered after all the trouble would've been killed.
"But Li Yao's arrival was definitely an accident. It was not within your calculation at all.
"Therefore, you were just gambling. Gambling on all the strength of the Great White Fleet and my life, on the possibility of a 'miracle', right? You f * cking won the bet! "
There was no telling what the metal voice on the other side of the communication channel said, but Bai Xingjian's gnashing of his teeth was more likely to be an act. He sniffed and continued, "Forget it. As space pirates, it's nothing unusual for us to cheat each other. Now that I've been fooled by you, I can only blame myself for my stupidity.
"I'm not angry. I'm just very curious. How did you know everything? Since you knew about it in advance, why didn't you tell your daughter? Why did you have to tell me? How did you, a second-rate character who was not part of the core, know about … my identity?
"You don't want to tell me? Then, I won't force you. It does make sense. Everybody has their own secrets. Many things will be boring if they are explained too clearly. Haha.
"Thank you for the information you sent me, as well as the large amount of resources in the fragment world. The amount of supplies is far beyond my expectations, and it's also much more than the conditions we agreed on.
"Rest assured. Since the ending is more or less perfect, I won't go back on my words. Even if I really end my relationship with the Star Glory Federation and have nothing to do with it anymore, for the sake of you, old fart, I will still try my best to help your daughter once when she is in trouble. Just once!
"In the end …"
Bai Xingjian's voice suddenly turned melancholy. "Did you know, old fart? What I feel most regretful about is that we didn't meet and have a good fight when our physical strength, soul, and wisdom were at the peak! What a shame. What a shame. I might have a confrontation with a monster like Li Yao one day, but I will never have a chance with you.
"The universe is a vast place, but few people can be my friend or my enemy. How helpless and melancholy.
"In any case, we won't see each other again … Jin Tuyi!"
Bai Xingjian cut off the communication and sighed rather gloomily. He rubbed his face hard in front of the mirror and put on a mocking smile. It was not until a long time later that he finally sent out a second communication request, shivering.
This time, a seriously twisted light beam that was covered in snow popped up in front of the mirror. Inside the picture was the bridge of Burning Prairie, which was in a mess.
Bai Kaixin, the Chief of Staff of the Burning Prairie Fleet, stared at him as if he had seen a ghost.
"You — you!"
There was no telling whether he was excited, overjoyed, or exasperated. "You … You are not dead yet. Where are you exactly? Your signal is sent from the edge of the Heaven's Origin Galaxy. What are you doing? Don't do anything stupid!"
"Hey."
Bai Xingjian stared at every part of Bai Kaixin's face and body carefully, as if he were counting every hair on the guy's head. But he simply said, "We haven't had a proper conversation for years. Now that I'm leaving, can we stop talking about such boring things?"
"You are leaving? Where are you going? "
Bai Xingjian was somewhat panicked. Then, he burst into fury in his panic and bashed the control panel hard. "Bai Xingjian, you are not thinking of … defecting, are you?"
"I told you not to ask such boring things."
Bai Xingjian took a deep breath and swallowed the bitterness deep inside his nose back into his stomach. He said casually, "Don't you have anything more important to ask? I'll give you one last chance. Go ahead. "
"You … I …"
Bai Xingjian blushed. As a senior commander of an ace fleet of the Union Army who was more than a hundred years old, he was somewhat at a loss in front of a 'junior'. After a long daze, he finally summoned his courage and gnashed his teeth. "I want to know the truth about your mental derangement when you were trying to break into the Yuanying level forty years ago!
"Ever since you joined the Burning Prairie Fleet, you hated me and even wanted to kill me, didn't you?
"But the hatred and killing intent were unreasonable. At that time, you and I did not know each other at all. We did not hate each other at all. The best we had were our differences in commanding and training styles. But I could tolerate what you did. Even if you were dissatisfied with me, it would not have escalated to the point where you wanted to kill me!
"But you did want to kill me. I could clearly feel that Bai Xingjian, or rather, something inside your body wanted to kill me!
"The killing intent reached the maximum on the day when you were trying to break into the Yuanying level. When I showed up in front of you, you really could not help but attack me.
"But why did you completely extinguish the killing intent at the last moment? Why did you even detonate your soul, abandon your Cultivation, and even your life to completely shatter the killing intent?
"Don't lie to me, Bai Xingjian. Don't lie to me!
"I've spent decades pondering over what happened that day. I've thought about every detail over and over again. The truth is this. There was a force in your body that wanted to kill me, but it was crushed, suppressed, and annihilated by another force at the cost of both sides suffering great losses!
"What happened exactly? Who are you exactly? Are — are you … the person that I think you are?"
Bai Kaixin's voice was shivering.
Bai Xingjian was silent for a long time. Then, after a long sigh, he said, "With everything coming to this point, there is indeed no need to keep certain things a secret anymore. Bai Kaixin, do you know why I have been at loggerheads with you since the first day we met? I was unwilling to listen to your command no matter what. I even belittled you and described your talents as a commander as a pile of sh * t.
"Why — why?"
Holding the back of the chair, Bai Kaixin breathed so hard that he could barely stand on his feet.
"Because …"
Bai Xingjian's ugly face glowed. He had never been so solemn before. "Because your talents in command were a pile of sh * t in the first place. Do you want me to praise it as a flower?"
Bai Kaixin: "Huh?"
"What are you 'huh' for?" Bai Xingjian said. "Don't think that you are somebody just because you are the Chief of Staff of the Burning Prairie Fleet. Compared to the truly powerful fleets at the center of the cosmos, what is the Burning Prairie Fleet? It is just a bunch of garbage! Go back and train yourself for a hundred years before you brag in front of me again! "
Bai Kaixin: "You —"
"However …"
Bai Xingjian's eyes suddenly turned extremely soft. He could not help but put on a smile of comfort. "In the final battle yesterday, you were still able to control Burning Prairie and push forward at a high speed despite the sabotage inside the starship against the five Colossi. You do have a tiny, tiny bit of potential after all. Chances are that a flower will grow out of the sh * t one day, won't they?"
Bai Kaixin was completely confused. Dumbfounded, he was lost for words for a long time.
"All in all, nobody will clean up your mess after I'm gone. Brat, you have to count on yourself for everything. Take care of yourself!"
Bai Xingjian said, "I've left something in your house. It's sort of my experience in commanding a fleet after all these years. How much you can learn from it will depend on yourself!
"By the way, your son … is quite handsome. He seems much smarter than you, too."
"You've been to my house? How is it possible? Haven't you been carrying out deep-space drills outside all the time? "
Bai Xingjian almost jumped to his feet. "Hey, don't cut off the communication. Let's make it clear. Bai Xingjian, are you him? Are you me?"
"Do you want to know the answer?"
Bai Xingjian said with a smile, "Then, be the commander of a real super fleet and come to the center of the cosmos. I'll be waiting for you there!"
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