The question made Li Linghai smile and look at Dongfang Sheng, the commander of the Deep Sea Fleet.
Dongfang Sheng sniffed and said slowly, "Right now, the highest commander of the fleet of the Dongfang family is' Dongfang Polang '. The old fart has been the commander-in-chief of the fleet of the family since a hundred years ago. Judging from his vigorous appearance, it won't be a problem for him to live another hundred years.
"For two hundred years, such an old fart has been holding the position of commander-in-chief of the fleet of the family. How can the people below us rise?
"Besides, as one grows older, it is inevitable that one will become inflexible, obstinate, and without the courage to try anything. They cannot stand the new ideas and tactics of the young people. It is truly a waste of life to accept the command of such an old fart and watch the fleet of the family become stiffer and stiffer day by day. It is more unbearable than death.
"I couldn't stand the old fart anymore, and I could not see any future or hope. I was scared that he would still be alive when I was dead. Finally, intense conflicts broke out between us, which escalated into a full-scale confrontation. Then, I was hunted by the family and had to escape. I came to the Deep Sea Palace to serve the queen and command the Deep Sea Fleet.
"But my old comrades, including the few who were very close to me, are still in the family. They are so infuriated by Dongfang Polang and the other old farts that their internal organs are about to explode.
"If they happen to learn that Dongfang Polang and the other old farts can only maintain their level and strength by training by cannibalism, it will not be strange at all if they expose it to the outside world in fury. If it were me, I would've done the same!"
Everyone thought about it carefully and nodded one after another.
That was exactly what it meant when one was too old to die!
"Dongfang Renxin's evil arts hurt the interests of a lot of people within the Dongfang family first. If the old don't die, the young won't be able to rise. Also, the old and the young have always had conflicting beliefs. You think that I'm stubborn and conservative, and I think that you're radical and extreme. When the old win the competition, how can the young not be angry? When the anger accumulates, not just betray the family, they will be willing to die together with the old! "
Li Linghai said with a smile, "On the other hand, 'cannibalism training' is too secretive for everybody in the Dongfang family to enjoy it. I'm afraid that only a few core leaders who are deeply involved with Dongfang Wang and Dongfang Renxin can enjoy it.
"Think about it. If you are a middle-level backbone of the Dongfang family, your son is quite talented. Last year, in the internal competition of the family, he defeated the child of a certain big shot. You are deeply proud of him and think that your son can bring the status of your branch to a new peak.
"But this year's Family Competition has changed drastically. Last year, your son's defeated opponent ate some kind of strengthening drug to become so strong. His strength improved by leaps and bounds within a year, and he actually broke your son's tendons and bones. It was a tragic sight.
"Infuriated, anxious, and heartbroken, you investigated in secret out of curiosity, only to discover a great secret within the family. As it turned out, the core leadership of the family had mastered such appalling secret arts and evil arts. From now on, their bloodline would forever dominate the family. Middle-class members and secondary branches such as you would forever be their accomplices and accomplices. None of your descendants would be able to rise again!
"Hehe. Naturally, you want to join the circle so that you or your offspring can enjoy 'cannibalism training', but you are not qualified at all. You even have to live in fear day and night, fearing that you will be discovered by the leadership and killed to keep your mouth shut.
"Under such circumstances of fury and fear, you can only seek help from the outside world, hoping to expose the matter completely so that your family can be kept safe. It is almost your only choice."
Everybody looked at each other, deep in thought, and nodded quickly.
"There's more."
Li Linghai's smile was more and more intense. "Even for 'cannibalism training', there will still be certain rejection reactions. What kind of people do you think will cause the least rejection reactions when they are eaten? That's right. Judging from your face, we've all guessed it. 'Eating' the Dongfang family's own people, of course. The rejection reactions will be the least, and the absorption efficiency will be the highest!
"Therefore, Dongfang Renxin's primary targets are the low-level Immortal Cultivators of the secondary branches of the family, the cannon fodder who are destined to die for the family. But it's one thing to charge and die in the frontline, and it's another thing to be drained alive as medicine. Some people did not want to die like that and ran to the outside world in desperation, only to be discovered by me. Is it strange?"
"Therefore —"
Lei Chenghu pondered for a moment and said, "Dongfang Renxin did not do the work in the Dongfang family's own territory but in the Empyreal Terminus Sector, which is not under the Dongfang family's control in name, because he wanted to be prepared for his own people?"
"It's mostly because of that. Yes, the first thing to be prepared for is the competitors within the family. If the operations and experiments were conducted in Dongfang Wang and Dongfang Renxin's own nest, there would be no room for argument at all should it be exposed."
Li Linghai said calmly, "But the more important reason is to collect more diverse raw materials. Many of the low-level Immortal Cultivators of the Dongfang family cannot be matched successfully, and they all have the same defective genes. Training with their own people for a long time will lead to the outbreak of genetic defects, just like the abnormal offspring of close relatives.
"Therefore, we still need a lot of fresh blood from the outside world as a supplement. It is not easy to find such foreign experts in the Dongfang family's territory, and it is not convenient for us to attack them even if we do find them. However, in the messy, murky capital that is under His Majesty's direct command, we do not have so many concerns. This is a lawless place where countless Immortal Cultivators go missing every day in the lawless places below the ground. Who can possibly find them?
"When the Imperium's counterattack begins, many heavily wounded soldiers in the frontline have to retreat to the rear for surgery, but they often choose to jump to the capital for treatment because they cannot bear the torture of too many space jumps. The Empyreal Terminus Sector is the most convenient and easiest place to jump at the center of the cosmos in the first place.
"The Heavenly Star Hospital has received a lot of such heavily wounded soldiers. Those people have often been blown into smithereens by the cannonballs, and their internal organs have been burnt by the flames of spiritual energy. Their death rate is very high in the first place. Even if some tricks are played on their bodies, or if some of them die when they are not careful enough, it will be perfectly normal even if part of their bodies is missing, won't it?"
Lei Chenghu raised his eyebrows like unsheathed sabers. "Of the heavily wounded soldiers who retreated to the rear for treatment, including the experts of the other three Kurfürst families, Dongfang Renxin was bold and insane enough to do such a thing?"
"That's why we have chosen this as the 'tipping point'!"
Li Linghai said with a smile, "If they are only butchering hominoids for training, it will be perfectly normal. Nobody will care about the life and death of hundreds of hominoids.
"Even if they are training with some low-level Immortal Cultivators who have no background, I believe that Dongfang Wang and Dongfang Renxin will be able to take care of them with their capabilities.
"However, if they are training with the experts of the other three Kurfürst families, once the matter is exposed and real evidence is presented, Dongfang Wang will definitely be killed. Nobody will be able to save him. Then, it will be an avalanche for the entire family!"
Lei Chenghu shook his head slowly. "I still find it hard to believe that Dongfang Wang and Dongfang Renxin were so unwise as to piss off the experts of the other three families."
"Greed is unquenchable. Training with evil arts is like taking drugs. You will only be more and more addicted to it, until you completely lose your mind in the end."
Li Linghai sighed and said, "General Lei, imagine that you are a dying old man who has fallen from your peak for a long time. You can only taste the feeling of the Divinity Transformation Stage in your dreams. All the juniors are looking at you ferociously and will lunge at you and gnaw your body at any moment. Your offspring, on the other hand, are all untalented. Your branch will completely decline the moment you die.
"At this time, if someone can help you recover to your peak state and let your children be reborn and have outstanding talent … Even if you have to pay any price, even if you have to offend the other great families, would you not be willing to do it?
"Such evil arts, on the other hand, are obviously not one-time. They have to be nourished regularly, and the dosage will only be higher and higher. Then, when you are gradually addicted to them and can't free yourself, will you choose to stop halfway, only to be weakened and aged at a visible speed in a few days and be 'beaten back to your original form'?"
After a long daze, Lei Chenghu shook his head firmly. "No, I will never do that. It will be the most shameless betrayal of the true path of immortality!
Pausing for a moment, he said in frustration, "However … I can understand why somebody in the Dongfang family is bold enough to take such risks."
"Now, do you understand why I chose this as the 'tipping point'?"
Li Linghai concluded, "Few people of the Dongfang family are involved in the incident. The pressure that we are faced with is not great, and the nature of the incident is too vile. Once the truth is out, everybody will be on our side. For the honor of the family, the other three families will not negotiate or make deals in private at all.
"After we completely unveil the masks of Dongfang Wang and Dongfang Renxin and reveal their hideous faces as the incarnations of the extraterrestrial devils, we will naturally infer the truth of the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance. Even if the evidence is' created 'by us, who will question it? In short, everyone kicks a collapsing wall, and tens of thousands of people beat a drum when it breaks!
"As long as Dongfang Wang's cabinet completely collapses, more and more big shots of the Dongfang family will be involved. The other three families will certainly attack the Dongfang family together. In the chaotic battle of the noble families, the reformists will naturally be in the most advantageous position to carry out our ideas and realize the proposition of 'renewing the Imperium'.
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