Every hair on Li Jialing's face and body was standing up, making him look like a statue that couldn't have been more delicate. He was stunned for a long time before he mumbled to himself, "The only key to the counterattack? Am I … so important? "
"Absolutely."
Li Yao said affirmatively, "Otherwise, how can you explain the queen's attitude toward you and why she offered such an ultimate treasure as the 'Imperial Fire Pearl' for us to train ourselves? Yes, I've scanned and tested many times. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Imperial Fire Pearl itself, but it does boast a feature that … can condense and purify all kinds of chaotic forces. Didn't you say that all the forces inside your body were melted after absorbing the energy stored in the Imperial Fire Pearl crazily?
"If my guess is correct, it's a certain … preparation that the queen, no, Blackstar the Great, performed on you with the Imperial Fire Pearl. To put it more simply, it's like you have to feed the pig until it's fat before you cook it. That's basically what it means!"
Li Jialing was creeped out. He couldn't help but hold his arms and ask, "My mother … Does the queen really have the heart to do that to me?"
"Not exactly. Judging from her erratic behavior, it's obvious that she doesn't want to regard you as a pure tool, nor does she mean to kill you."
Li Yao sighed and said, "However, if she is truly under Wuying Qi's control, how can she defeat Blackstar the Great?"
"Then … What about Brother Yao?"
Li Jialing thought carefully and realized the problem. "Brother Yao, you swallowed the power of the Imperial Fire Pearl too. Also, your piece of the Imperial Fire Pearl is relatively large. Why can't you be the key to the whole scheme?"
"The queen gave the Imperial Fire Pearl to me because she couldn't give it to you directly in a reasonable way. Even if she did, you might not know how to digest and absorb the power inside the Imperial Fire Pearl. That's why she had to use me as a disguise!"
Li Yao's head was very clear, as if he had used up all the brain cells and computational ability that he had saved for this moment. "I can't be the key to the whole scheme, because my appearance was an accident. The scheme started at least decades ago when the queen just established the Deep Sea Fleet. However high Blackstar the Great's computational ability was, he couldn't have predicted my existence decades ago, could he?
"Therefore, when we inferred the whole scheme, we had to completely eliminate me, the 'unexpected factor'. We had to consider what would have happened without me.
"Then, it's very simple. Without me, 'Manjusaka, the City in the Sky' wouldn't have collapsed, but the assault of the Cultivators' Starlight on the Martial Meritocrats Sector would've still arrived as scheduled. A chaotic battle would've been inevitable. In the meantime, it was very possible that the queen would've snuck into the City in the Sky and taken you away.
"I estimate that her original purpose was not to kill you. Well, that's not right either. I can only say that Blackstar the Great's original purpose was definitely not to kill you but to capture you for refinement as some sort of … magical equipment? Formation Eye? Or a carrier? All in all, you would've suffered the most excruciating torture.
"In such a case, Li Lingfeng's speculation in the beginning was problematic.
"Think about it. Li Lingfeng speculated that the queen wanted to kill you because she was scared that your existence would expose the queen's past love, which would raise a riot. He also wanted to threaten the queen with the 'scandal'.
"However, if the queen was truly backed by Blackstar the Great, why would she be scared of an insignificant Li Lingfeng? If she wanted to kill you, Blackstar the Great could've done it in person. Could Li Lingfeng have resisted him?
"That's why I said that Blackstar the Great did not want to kill you.
"On the other hand, if the queen was controlled by Blackstar the Great, and she was not a woman who craved power, was not scared of any scandals, and loved my foster father, she had no motive to kill you at all. The only reasonable explanation was that she knew that you would suffer the most gory tortures after you fell into Blackstar the Great's hands. Unable to stop it, she only wanted to give you a quick death and be done with it once and for all!"
Li Jialing was so dizzy that he almost passed out.
Li Yao spoke faster and faster. "Now, we know that the reformists' aggressive counterattack after the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance was carefully planned in advance. In other words, when the queen left the capital and marched to the Martial Meritocrats Sector, the whole scheme had already surfaced.
"At such a critical moment, instead of commanding in the Deep Sea Palace or fanning the flames in the frontline, the queen came all the way to the Martial Meritocrats Sector to look for you? Even if she wanted to kill you, she couldn't have done it in such a hurry, could she? After all, Li Lingfeng did not end on bad terms with her at that time. Couldn't she have waited for another year or two?
"It is obvious that you must be the most critical part of the whole scheme, so important that the queen — or Blackstar the Great — dropped all the work at hand and had to find you!"
After a long silence, Li Jialing struggled to say in a voice that was almost suffocating, "Fine. If what Brother Yao said is true, what do we do now?"
Long Yangjun had been listening to Li Yao's analysis with her arms crossed. At this moment, she suddenly chuckled and said casually, "It's very simple. Since you are the key to the whole scheme, and Blackstar the Great's scheme cannot be activated without you, I will butcher you right now and burn you up. I guarantee that not a single remaining soul or a single cell will be left for Blackstar the Great. Won't that be the end of it?"
"What?"
Greatly alarmed, Li Jialing hid behind Li Yao out of natural instinct and looked at the mysterious "Sister Mingyue" with cold sweat.
He could sense that … the woman was not entirely joking!
"Hey, don't be outrageous. What kind of Cultivator are you if you can do such a thing?"
Li Yao glared at Long Yangjun. "Also, what's the use of just killing Li Jialing? It must be noted that the enemy we are faced with is not just Blackstar the Great but also the covetous Alliance of the Holy Covenant. We don't know Blackstar the Great's real scheme yet. Assuming that something happens to Li Jialing and Blackstar the Great's efforts are in vain, who knows whether or not the thousand-year-old ghost will go on a rampage and kill the entire Imperium together with him?
"If Blackstar the Great turns the Imperium into a mess first, and the army of the Holy Covenant marches in, even I, 'Vulture Li Yao', may not be able to resist them!"
"Not 'may not be able to resist', but 'certainly not'."
Long Yangjun yawned and said casually, "That's why I listened to your rambling for so long patiently instead of killing the brat the moment we met. I've shown you enough respect, haven't I?"
"Brother Yao."
Li Jialing poked Li Yao's waist from behind. "This … Sister Dongfang Mingyue, has she really been subdued by you? Why do I feel that the truth should be the other way around, and you should've been subdued by her? "
Li Yao blushed. "What are you talking about? Of course, it was me who subdued her. Also, her pride was hurt during the subduing process. That's why she put on such a cold face in front of us!
"But don't be nervous. This person only has a foul mouth, but she is quite kind at heart. She seems to have a secret base deep inside the capital. Let's hide there for a while and figure out the situation by the way. We'll make further plans after we contact the heroes in the universe."
"The righteous men at the center of the cosmos?"
Li Jialing's eyes suddenly glittered. "For example, General Lei Chenghu, Marquess of Liaohai?"
"Well, let's talk about it later!"
Li Yao smiled bitterly. Lei Chenghu was a fervent admirer of Blackstar the Great. When the two of them chatted in the Emperor's Mausoleum last time, he even mentioned that he wished that Blackstar the Great could be reborn so that he could clean up all the crooks! If Lei Chenghu learned the truth, he would probably come to the capital in a hurry to pledge his loyalty as Blackstar the Great's most capable subordinate. How could Li Yao have the courage to go to Lei Chenghu?
However, when it came to the commander of the fleet in the Imperium, Li Yao did recall one of his "best friends". It was said that he was doing quite well in the borderland of the Imperium and had a rather prosperous career. Last time, Li Yao even asked Han Te, Coloured Glaze, A Boxing Champion, and the other warriors of the Land of Sins as well as the Cultivators of Starlight to join him. He did not expect that he would have to ask for reinforcements so soon.
Boss Bai, we've been friends for more than a hundred years. However carefree you are, there's no reason for you to turn a blind eye to my plight, is there?
Li Yao thought to himself. Besides, if Blackstar the Great really regains the power of the Imperium, it won't do your 'Big Bai Pirate Gang' any good at all! The Imperium of Iron and Blood, which is completely united, will not tolerate the existence of any pirate gang. So, if you save me, you will be saving yourself!
While he was considering how to escape from the capital and ask for help from Bai Xinghe, the Pirate Potentate in the Divinity Transformation Stage, an earsplitting shriek suddenly echoed from the Crystal Suit.
"Somebody's coming!"
Long Yangjun sounded anxious, too.
Li Yao was slightly dazed. Then, he sensed that dozens of intimidating auras were sweeping toward the deep ocean like the tentacles of devils.
Something is not right.
Li Yao narrowed his eyes and sensed the noises at the center of the undersea battlefield far away. It was not until then that he discovered that the intensity of the undersea battlefield had gradually dropped, and waves were rising on the surface of the ocean.
Turning on the public communication channel of the battle network, he browsed through the past information carefully. His face couldn't have looked more awful.
There were more than ten battle-type experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage who participated in the operation to hunt Dongfang Wang and rescue Emperor Shenwu. It was indeed an unprecedentedly luxurious team.
However, even in such a luxurious team, few of them were at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage.
Right now, the hundreds of personal guards of "Devilish Abyss" Li Jianyi and "Star Breaker" Song Huanzhen, two experts at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage, were acting abnormally?
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