Li Yao observed the pile of junk curiously, as if he could sense the air that was condensed by the souls of countless Immortal Cultivators spreading out from them.
He had heard from Su Changfa and Heiye Lan about the legacies of the various Sectors of the Imperium of True Human Beings before. He knew that the symbols of power were not necessarily powerful magical equipment, but they were indeed the creations of the experts of generations in bloody battles. They represented a very ancient history and a pride that outsiders could not understand.
Had it not been for the fact that the five Sectors including the Black Wind Sector had suffered two devastating defeats in a row in only a hundred years, the symbols of the legacies would never have been shown to other people easily.
Di Feiwen had convinced the best experts of the five Sectors to offer the items that were both worthless and beyond everything. Li Yao was more and more confused about his scheme.
"General Di Feiwen, let's get straight to the point."
Li Yao observed the hideous face that was utterly different from the voice with great interest. "If you are willing to negotiate, a negotiation team made of the leadership of the Federation will naturally reach out to you. I am neither qualified nor interested in talking to you about any details.
"I agreed to your strange request partly because I happened to need a batch of experts to help me train. Your three subordinates are indeed not bad. In half a minute just now, I activated all the techniques that I've been practicing in the past half a year to the maximum and completely mastered them. For that, I have to thank you properly.
"On the other hand, I'm very curious about what kind of person you are exactly, and what kind of scheme you can set up?
"I've collected tremendous files about you. I've discovered that, as the No. 2 person of the Black Wind Fleet, your style of doing things is entirely different from Heiye Ming's. If he is a strict commander, you are more like a businessman, a greedy businessman.
"However, now that the Black Wind Fleet has been caught in such a desperate situation, do you have any methods of counterattack even though you are a ruthless businessman?
"It is exactly because I am deeply curious about that that I am willing to take the opportunity to talk to you. However, if you are here to negotiate whether or not to surrender, or if you are here to bargain with me about the terms of surrender, that will be unnecessary. Please go back!
"The people of the Federation are willing to pay a price for our precious lives, but it does not mean that we will compromise without limits. The competition just now was already the limit of our concession. If you think that you can do it again and again, you cannot be more wrong!"
When Li Yao said 'cannot be more wrong', there was already a mental attack in his voice without him knowing it.
Di Feiwen's face was even more humble and panicked, but his voice was as steady and gentle as before. He lowered his head and said, "There must be a misunderstanding, President Li. The Black Wind Fleet knows very well that they have failed and are on the verge of destruction. They do not dare to play any tricks in front of such an expert as you.
"You are one of the best dominators at the edge of the cosmos. You are the dominator of three Sectors, the founder of the New Federation, the conqueror of the Ancient Sages Sector, the destroyer of the space gate, and the double slaughterer of the Pangu and the extraterrestrial devils. For a universal expert such as yourself who has awed the sea of stars, we only want to appreciate your demeanor in person. We do not mean any scheme at all."
Li Yao had goosebumps all over his body. "You are saying that you do not have any scheme when you are speaking such disgusting words?"
"You are quite right about one thing. Commander Heiye Ming and I are indeed different."
Di Feiwen lowered his head so deeply that his humility almost disappeared into the gap on the deck. He explained patiently, "The Black Wind Fleet is in fact not a pure army but an 'immigrant fleet' made of all the people and resources that escaped from the five Sectors after they were swallowed by the Holy League. Other than the warriors who are responsible for conquest, there are also the families of the warriors, as well as the civilians who are responsible for production and construction.
"In fact, you may consider us as a 'nomadic nation' that has just been born and is struggling to stay together in the dark universe. We are an unstable political entity.
"Since we are a political entity, we naturally have both a military and a political command system. Commander Heiye Ming is both our highest leader and the commander of the army. I, on the other hand, am responsible for the civil affairs, filling the mouths that are waiting to be fed with the few remaining resources that we have.
"It is not an easy job. The lack of resources and the unpredictable future often make me feel that there are too many difficulties.
"Thankfully, I accumulated some fame and connections in the business world when I was in the Black Wind Sector. With the help of my friends from various Sectors, I finally managed to survive to this day and did not let the fleet, which was riddled with internal conflicts and had a dark future, completely fall apart on the way.
"However, if I have any talents that other people do not have, they are all in the fields of business and administration. The best I have is the ability to command the supply troops.
"As for how to lead the Black Wind Fleet to break out of the siege and even reclaim the pride and glory of the past, I do not know the first thing about it.
"Therefore, personally, I am very inclined to surrender and even surrender unconditionally. I believe everything that the Xing Yao Federation said in the 'letter of persuasion', and I believe in President Li's magnanimity even more. Since the main troop that I led did not cause any substantial damage to the Xing Yao Federation, and I did not even hurt a single member of the Federation, and there are countless supply troops and living starships in my troop that are full of innocent civilians, President Li and the Xing Yao Federation will certainly not give us a hard time … for the poor guys who are essentially 'garrison troops' and 'production and construction troops' a hard time."
Li Yao sniffed and said, "You are the No. 2 person of the Black Wind Fleet. Are you here to win my sympathy? The Federation means what it says. Every word on the 'letter of persuasion' is our solemn promise. You don't need to ask me what will happen to you. Just ask yourself whether or not you have committed any heinous crimes! "
Di Feiwen did not have the dignity and pride of the No. 2 person of the Black Wind Fleet at all. Faced with Li Yao's sarcasm, he still lowered his head and said, "In that case, I'm relieved. Right now, there is only one minor problem left …"
"Wait."
Li Yao frowned hard and said resolutely, "Right now, the only problem is whether or not you want to surrender. There are no other minor problems! If you surrender, you will reach out to our special negotiation team. If you don't surrender, we will continue fighting! Are you trying to scare us by pretending to be space pirates? There are a lot of space pirates in the Union Army in the past. They are all your ancestors! "
Faced with Li Yao's reprimand that was almost an insult, Di Feiwen was still smiling. His voice was as gentle as before. There was no telling whether he was sophisticated or shameless. "You do have a point, President Li. We are indeed willing to negotiate and even surrender. The only minor problem is, who will negotiate and surrender on behalf of the Black Wind Fleet?"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. "What kind of excuse is that? Although Heiye Ming died in battle, you are still here, aren't you?"
"As I said just now, nominally, I am the deputy commander of the Black Wind Fleet and the No. 2 person in the entire 'nomadic people', but in fact, I am only responsible for the civil affairs system and part of the supply fleet. I do not have much prestige in the real battle troops. According to the Federation's system, I am more or less a 'minister of commerce' or 'minister of civil affairs'. How can I represent the entire Black Wind Fleet?"
With a fake smile, Di Feiwen said, "Besides, you know the rules of the Immortal Cultivators, too. I am not good at fighting, and I have been despised and discriminated against by the tough soldiers in the first place. If I am asked to surrender on behalf of them as the highest leader of the Black Wind Group, they will certainly turn the world upside down.
"By then, some of the disobedient soldiers will defect on their starships and turn into space pirates who commit all kinds of crimes. They might even try to escape back to the homeland of the Imperium and tell the truth about what happened here. It will do nobody any good, right?"
Li Yao narrowed his eyes. "You do not have any prestige in the battle troops, and you are not good at fighting? Why am I told that your methods to suppress the mutiny were rather cruel and efficient? Forget it. If you put it that way, what about Heiye Lan? She is the daughter of Commander Heiye Ming, and she has the support of the experts of the Ancient Sages Sector. She has gathered a lot of defeated soldiers in the past half year. She is qualified to represent the entire Black Wind Fleet, right? "
Di Feiwen was amused. "The rule of the Immortal Cultivators has always been that strength is everything. Family background and bloodline are not important at all. Heiye Lan is only at the beginning level of the Yuanying Sector, and it is obvious that she is a puppet of the Xing Yao Federation. Our crushing failure this time has a lot to do with her poor performance in the Ancient Sages Sector. Let me ask you, how can the proud people of the Black Wind Fleet and the Immortal Cultivators of the other four Sectors accept such a traitor and a puppet as the new 'Black Wind King' who can govern the remaining soldiers of the five Sectors? In that regard, President Li's plan is wrong. "
Li Yao nodded. He had to admit that his idea in the past was rather crude. "So to speak, you are planning to elect a new supreme leader internally, the so-called 'Black Wind King', who will negotiate with the Federation and surrender on his behalf? Hehe. Is this some kind of stalling trick? How long will the Federation wait for you? "
"No, no, no. You misunderstood me again."
Di Feiwen smiled very sincerely and cunningly. "It is true that we are going to elect a new 'Black Wind King', but we are not stalling for time at all. In fact, if everything goes well, today — no, in one minute, our new leader will be elected. He will completely surrender to the Xing Yao Federation on behalf of us, accept all the demands of the Federation, and guarantee that every Immortal Cultivator and every screw on the starship will surrender unconditionally!"
"Oh?"
It was rather out of Li Yao's expectations. "… A new 'Black Wind King' will be born in one minute? If so, why are you wasting your time here? Why don't you just ask him to come? Or is it because he's worried about his safety that he's hiding? "
"No. He is already here."
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