Looking at Ding Ling Dong's clear and sincere eyes, and sensing the strength of her warm hands, Li Yao couldn't have been more moved. He said, "We can talk about destroying Earth later, but I want to go to the Imperium immediately to explore the secrets of the primeval civilizations and find Earth. I wonder what kind of support the Federation can provide me right now, and what … will you say?"
Ding Ling Dong's eyes dimmed as she said, "The term of the Speaker of the Federation is five years, and I'm about to finish my term. However, the system was made five hundred years ago when the Federation only occupied a small territory in the Tian Yuan Realm and was in turmoil. Right now, the Federation has almost ten Sectors. The social form and the governmental structure are rather stable. Therefore, the parliament has proposed a reform. As for exactly what the reform is going to be, there's no telling yet. But I can't abandon the burden on my shoulders recklessly during the transitional period."
"So …"
Li Yao said in embarrassment, "I'm going to set off on my own again?"
"Ever since we met, we've been apart more than together."
Ding Lingdang said faintly, "Before I met you, I'd always been a lone wolf, and I really enjoyed the feeling of being alone. But for some reason, since I met you, I've always felt that the days of being alone are rather torturous, and every day feels like a year!"
Li Yao didn't know what to say. He secretly blamed himself for being too selfish. "I …"
"Forget it. The man I married is Vulture Li Yao. If I could stay at home all the time, I wouldn't be called 'Vulture Li Yao'!"
Ding Ling Dong grinned again and bashed Li Yao's chest heavily. "Go now. Pursue the answers that you want. The Federation and I will definitely support you! After I unload the burden on my shoulders, I will set off for the Imperium to find you, too. Let me see … It will only take a couple of years at most! "
"Honey!"
Li Yao held Ding Ling Dong's fists, and his voice became extremely soft.
"But I have a condition."
Ding Ling Dong grabbed Li Yao's hand, and her eyes became very deep.
"What conditions?"
Li Yao's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly had a bad feeling.
"We've only been apart for three years. You'll only stay in the Federation for a month at most before you set off for the Imperium again. The journey to the Imperium is unpredictable. It may take three to five years, but there's no telling when we'll meet again."
Ding Ling Dong said with some bitterness, "Then, as your wife, I'm asking you to finish the competition of the Great Dao in the next three to five years in one month so that I won't remember the pain of lovesickness for the next three to five years. This is not too much to ask, is it?"
Li Yao swallowed hard. "… No, it's not too much."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Ding Ling Dong tugged hard. "Then let's do it. The path to the Great Dao is long. As cultivators, we must seize every second!"
…
Seven days later, on Boneyard in the old days, Ultimacy, which had been reborn, a starship with smooth lines, solid armor, and powerful firepower landed slowly, carrying Li Yao, Ding Ling Dong, and the rest of them.
At this moment, after the hard work of the remaining soldiers of the Black Wind Fleet and the refugees from Firefly, Ultimacy was entirely different from three years ago.
Although it was not as peaceful as the sun, the birds, and the flowers, the folds thousands of meters high had all been blown up, and the valleys thousands of meters deep had all been filled up. Large plateaus that were suitable for farming and living had been created. On the plateaus, towns that were made of silver, egg-shaped fortresses had been established.
The towns were all covered in colorful membranes, which could both resist the scourge of the wind and filter the fatal venomous gas.
Li Yao saw that a lot of carefree children were playing in the open air under the protection of the bubbles. Even though he was thousands of meters high in the sky, he seemed to be able to hear their bell-like laughter. He couldn't help but feel warm.
"What a planet full of life!"
He could not help but compliment.
However, after passing through a few enormous folds almost ten thousand meters high and entering the inland, a large area of land was still in the state of desolation.
As far as one's eyes could see, there were layers of folds, broken rocks, and wind that seemed to be visible to the naked eye everywhere.
The mountain range that towered into the clouds was covered in white snow and layers of ice. It was a desolate and deathly stillness that no living creature could survive.
However, in the desolate inland, dozens of hideous-looking starships were docked. A large batch of armed shuttles and Crystal Suit were taking off and landing, too, creating the impression of a busy military base.
On the heads of the starships, the raging lightning trident emblem was clearly visible.
On the few highest mountains and above the military base, dozens of national flags of the Imperium of True Human Beings were flying.
At first glance, the place seemed to be a 'forward base' that had been occupied by the army of the Imperium.
"Is this the 'Strategic Deception Center' that you specially designed?"
Li Yao asked curiously.
"Yes. The Imperium of True Human Beings does not know the news at the edge of the cosmos. They do not know that the Black Wind Fleet has been annihilated or even had a 'battlefield uprising'. We do not want them to know that, either."
Ding Ling Dong said, "However, the intermittent communication between the two parties has not been completely cut off. We are interested in the precious information from the Imperium, too, and we have to send some messages back every now and then.
"Therefore, taking advantage of the desolate environment on Boneyard, we have fabricated the 'forward base' of the Black Wind Fleet and established the Strategic Deception Center. Jin Xinyue will be the commander of the deception troop, and Di Feiwen, the former deputy commander of the Black Wind Fleet, will be the deputy commander. Together, they will complete the deception and intelligence collection work in the inland of the Imperium.
"Look, what a desolate environment this place is. It is almost a primeval planet that has nothing. But it does boast a certain atmosphere, and it seems to have the slightest value that can be exploited. It is a standard 'chicken rib' that is tasteless but a pity to abandon.
"In the fake news that we sent to the homeland of the Imperium, most of the territories of the Xing Yao Federation were such planets. We hoped that it would dispel the interest of the other warlords and nobles of the Imperium in the edge of the cosmos as much as possible and provide a reasonable excuse for the Black Wind Fleet to stay here for a long time.
"The idea that we wanted to inculcate in the homeland of the Imperium was that the edge of the cosmos was an unattractive, desolate land that was not worth conquering on a grand scale. But since the Black Wind Fleet had come here after such a long journey, and they were all homeless dogs, they had no choice but to settle down in this place while holding their noses!
"In order to make it more convincing, we have also filmed a lot of the environment nearby and sent the parameters of the planets back to the Imperium. At the very least, the effect so far is not bad. The Imperium believes that the Black Wind Fleet is still suppressing the Xing Yao Federation. Everything is going well except for the harsh environment. Therefore, the Imperium does not intend to send out a second expedition army."
An enormous gap appeared on the tarmac of the 'forward base of the Black Wind Fleet'. Li Yao, Ding Ling Dong, and the rest of them slowly flew into it.
Below them was an enormous dock where quite a few super light starships were undergoing the final maintenance.
Those starships …
They were even smaller than 'Sparkle', the multipurpose exploration starship that Li Yao was most familiar with. Their surface was translucent, as if they were made of countless crystal scales, giving them the feeling of the single escape capsules of the Pangu clan.
Generally speaking, they were elegant, agile, stealthy, and unpredictable. They stood at the peak of the starship production level of the Federation.
As a specialist of magical equipment, Li Yao had natural instincts about most magical equipment. He could sense the strength hidden inside the starships immediately.
"Although some news is sent over from the homeland of the Imperium now, it is far from enough for us to have a comprehensive and profound understanding of the Imperium right now. Besides, the veracity of the news itself is still unknown. For such an ambitious expedition army as the Black Wind Fleet, the nobles in the homeland of the Imperium and even His Majesty might not necessarily tell the truth."
Ding Ling Dong said, "Therefore, it is imperative that the Federation actively investigate the Imperium and send trustworthy candidates to collect the first-hand intelligence. We have named the intelligence-gathering operation 'Heavenly Eye Plan'.
"The super light starships in front of you are the latest generation of stealth exploration starships of the Federation based on the multipurpose exploration starship of Sparkle, the single escape capsules of the Pangu clan, the Black Wind Fleet, and the remarkable starships on Firefly. They have been named 'Heavenly Eye'. Their performance is many times more advanced than that of the starship that carried you to the depths of the dark nebula a hundred years ago, mainly because of their powerful stealth and remote communication abilities.
"Right now, we have a detailed star map of the Imperium of True Human Beings, as well as the transportation and sailing routes between the Imperium and the Federation. It is not entirely impossible to teleport an enormous fleet over as long as the precision and formation are not demanded.
"However, if such a fleet is teleported over, it will certainly be noticed by the Imperium. In that case, not only will it be a one-way trip, the Immortal Cultivators of the Imperium will also trace it back and discover the truth about the Federation. It will be a disaster.
"Therefore, the reconnaissance operation in the beginning can only be carried out with the 'Heavenly Eye' stealth exploration starships with the minimum number of elite scouts to figure out the general situation of the Imperium. Most importantly, the war between the Imperium and the Holy League, as well as the veracity of the news that the Imperium sent to the Black Wind Fleet in public … After the information is sent back, or even a space gate that sends guiding signals to the Federation in secret, we will know what to do next.
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