Chi!
The gravity and air pressure in the training room returned to the standard values. As white mist spurted out, half of the cabin was enshrouded in smoke.
Li Yao was like an enormous beast that breathed deeply as he slowly appeared from the mist that was mixed with the smell of sulfur.
Taking the towel that Heiye Lan handed to him respectfully, he wiped the sweat on his body and glanced at everybody casually.
The Cultivators of the Black Wind Fleet, who were standing in front of the training room and watching the whole process of his unbelievable training, felt as if they were faced with a surging flood. Their faces were pale, and their minds were in turmoil. They groaned and even stepped back involuntarily, not daring to compete with Li Yao's aura.
"Is — Is this the horror of 'Vulture Li Yao'?"
The Cultivators of the Black Wind Fleet were soaked in cold sweat. Their faces were pale, and their teeth were chattering nonstop.
They had all just surrendered voluntarily with the letters of persuasion from the Federation.
However, their identities, personalities, and past experiences had to be carefully examined so that they would not be inviting trouble.
For the Immortal Cultivators whose hands were stained with the blood of ordinary people, who had committed all kinds of crimes against humanity, such as training with living human beings, refining human souls to build magical equipment, or eating human beings alive, the Federation would never accept their surrender.
This point was also clearly stated in the 'letter of persuasion'.
Not only would the Federation not accept the surrender of such people, their heads were also the most valuable for the heinous criminals. If other Immortal Cultivators could tie them up or surrender to the Federation with only their heads, they would be able to trade for a better future.
"According to the crimes that they committed in the past, the Immortal Cultivators would be classified into different levels, mainly those who committed lesser crimes and those who committed heinous crimes. Then, the Immortal Cultivators would be instigated to fight those who committed heinous crimes.
"This is exactly what the theory of 'chain of suspicion' is all about. Even if the Immortal Cultivators who committed lesser crimes at the beginning were intimidated by the heinous criminals and did not have the courage to fight them, the latter were well aware of their crimes. Naturally, they would suspect that the Immortal Cultivators would come to the federation with their heads and ask for rewards.
"Fleeing in space, running out of supplies, and having nowhere else to go, they were already under tremendous pressure in the first place. In the dim, narrow cabin that was riddled with holes, all kinds of conflicts could break out at any moment. In order to prevent their heads from being used as a 'pledge of allegiance', the heinous criminals would inevitably take action first.
"You suspected that I would take your head to ask for a reward, so you prepared to strike first to gain the upper hand. I also knew that you would suspect that I would take your head to ask for a reward, so I could only 'strike first to gain the upper hand' before you strike first to gain the upper hand.
"As a result, among the remaining soldiers of the Black Wind Fleet, there were both the 'territorial conflicts' between the Immortal Cultivators of the Black Wind Sector and the other four smaller worlds, as well as the brand-new conflicts between those who committed lesser crimes and those who committed heinous crimes.
"When the double conflicts were torn apart, the remaining soldiers of the Black Wind Fleet naturally collapsed on their own!"
Perhaps because the news of her father's death had triggered her infinite potential, Jin Xinyue immediately proposed such a strategy after she recovered from the pain of losing her father. The effect was indeed remarkable. The total number of Immortal Cultivators who surrendered to the Federation in the past month was already equal to the total of the previous five months.
'Nine Cauldrons', the comprehensive supply starship, was the identification agency that the Union Army had established in the frontline. Many Cultivators of the Black Wind Fleet who had surrendered to the Federation half a year ago and passed the 'loyalty and safety test' were all stationed here to make independent evaluations on the new surrenders. By crossing all the evaluations, it would be possible to assess the sincerity of the surrenders and the danger level of the surrenders later.
Of course, before the identification, showing the surrenders the dominance of Vulture Li Yao, the dominator of three Sectors, would be of great help to intimidate their souls and stabilize the chaotic situation, too.
Li Yao had seen too many dumbfounded, overwhelmed, and fearful Cultivators of the Black Wind Fleet in the past few months after he returned to the frontline in space. He was too lazy to waste his time on them.
He was more interested in Heiye Lan, or rather, General Di Feiwen, the deputy commander of the Black Wind Fleet in Heiye Lan's mouth.
Although Heiye Ming, Heiye Lan's father, had been killed by Li Yao, Long Yangjun, and Yan Liren's joint attack, Li Yao and the rest of them did not hide all the truth about the extraterrestrial devils from her for the sake of incorporating the Black Wind Fleet. Therefore, she clearly understood that Black Swirl had been reduced to a nest of the extraterrestrial devils before Li Yao and the rest of them arrived, and her father's brain had been deeply corrupted by the extraterrestrial devils, turning him into an out-and-out 'devilized person'.
'Devilized person', or 'demonic Cultivators', looked exactly the same as before, but they were no longer themselves but 'devils' who were wearing their previous skin!
It was the same in both the Xing Yao Federation and the Imperium of True Human Beings.
Even if Li Yao and the rest of them had not done anything, the Heiye Ming of the past would have been killed the moment the extraterrestrial devils arrived. The attack of Li Yao and the rest of them actually gave him relief.
Even if it were Heiye Lan herself, she would have had no choice but to do so when faced with such a father who had been possessed by extraterrestrial devils. There was no room for mercy at all.
The Immortal Cultivators were more indifferent about the relationship between father and daughter than the Cultivators were in the first place. Now that Heiye Lan had advanced into the Yuanying level, she was certainly not someone who would be bothered by such unimportant details. She did not blame Li Yao and the rest of them for it but remembered the name of the extraterrestrial devil Lu Qingchen.
Or rather, the arrival of the extraterrestrial devil gave her a better reason to convince herself that cooperating with the Federation and controlling the entire Black Wind Fleet was the best choice for herself, her deceased father, and the living natives of the Black Wind Fleet.
In the past six months, Heiye Lan had still been fighting in the frontline in space, trying her best to gather the scattered soldiers. She had done quite a good job and saved the precious fuel, ammunition, crystals, and even immeasurable lives for the Union Army.
However, for the main troops of the Black Wind Fleet, which were stationed behind a certain mysterious brown dwarf dozens of lightyears away, there was nothing that she could do.
Part of the fleet behind the brown dwarf had entered the space jump state impatiently and perished in the four-dimensional storm after the space gate collapsed.
But there was still a rather enormous fleet that was not moving at all, which became the greatest problem and the last unstable factor for the Federation.
Only by making the fleet behind the brown dwarf surrender would the space war truly come to an end.
"What's Di Feiwen's position among the natives of the Black Wind Fleet?"
Li Yao walked to the medical room and asked Heiye Lan, who was following him closely, "What's the situation of the fleet behind the brown dwarf right now? Is he really willing to surrender?"
"When my father was still alive, General Di Feiwen was already the No. 2 person in the Black Wind Sector and had the capability to threaten my father's position," Heiye Lan said.
Heiye Lan said, "However, he was a pure advisor. Despite his remarkable computational ability, his own combat ability was not remarkable. Also, the capability of his family was slightly weaker than mine. That was why he was at a disadvantage in the competition for the position of the 'Sector Master' of the Black Wind Sector. Then, he turned to my father's side and tried his best to help him govern the Black Wind Sector.
"How should I describe General Di Feiwen's style? The natives of the Black Wind Sector are best known for their bravery and craziness in the Imperium of True Human Beings, but he was also more patient and ruthless. For the opponents that he could not defeat, he would wait for them to die of old age.
"Therefore, although he was from a family that was one of our competitors, my father trusted him very much and made him his right-hand man.
"My father's willingness to let him command the majority of the fleet behind the brown dwarf while he was only leading the elites to carry out the most dangerous assault is indicative enough.
"My father was convinced that even if the elites of the Black Wind Fleet were all destroyed, General Di Feiwen would still be able to lead the remaining soldiers of the Black Wind Fleet and find the best path of retreat."
"Oh?"
Li Yao's eyes flashed. He pondered for a moment and asked, "Is he an ambitious man?"
"All the Immortal Cultivators are ambitious. We believe that ambition and desire are the source of human beings' progress. Those who do not have ambition and desire do not deserve to live in this world," Heiye Lan said.
"However, General Di Feiwen's wisdom is enough to control his ambition. I don't think that he will do anything stupid."
"Got it."
Li Yao's eyes flashed. "Then, he must mean it when he says that he wants to negotiate, right?"
"He is somewhat trustworthy," Heiye Lan said.
"According to the information collected through other channels, serious internal strife took place in the fleet behind the brown dwarf. The high-level officers from the Fiery Spider Sector, the Purple Fire Sector, and the other two smaller worlds intended to join hands and seize the command of the fleet behind the brown dwarf, but they were quickly killed by General Di Feiwen. As a result, his control over the fleet behind the brown dwarf was even deeper, and his position was even more unshakable.
"Even so, the Black Wind Fleet is made of the Immortal Cultivators from one major world and four minor worlds after all. It is impossible for General Di Feiwen to kill all the Immortal Cultivators from the other four smaller worlds. On the contrary, after crushing the mutiny quickly, he had to try his best to appease the Immortal Cultivators from the other four smaller worlds.
"All in all, the hidden danger of the fleet's collapse is still there. He has to find a way out for the fleet behind the brown dwarf as soon as possible. Otherwise, the fleet that has been divided will completely collapse very soon.
"They are still capable of long-distance communication with the homeland of the Imperium, but returning to the homeland of the Imperium will be a dead end. Everyone from Di Feiwen to every bottom-level Immortal Cultivator knows that very well.
"The Imperium will not tolerate two failures. The weak can only die. That is the law of the Immortal Cultivators!
"Therefore, negotiating with the Federation for a more favorable surrender terms is the only choice for Di Feiwen and the fleet behind the brown dwarf."
"Understood. But there is still one thing that I don't understand."
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