"This is … the reincarnation of the gods!"
"Gods! Gods have shown up! Gods!"
Before they set off again for the warp jump point, everyone in the small caravan — from the passengers to the crew — knelt down and kowtowed to the vast stars outside, thanking the gods who lived on the stars for helping them to survive the ordeal and escape.
The weird things that happened on the business ships and the two "Starry Shark" -level hunting warships did seem to be the work of the gods.
On the ten or so business ships, the intruders who showed up out of nowhere suffered fatal attacks almost at the same time. The wounds were only insignificant holes between their eyebrows, their chests, or their abdomen, but they seemed to have drained all their blood and soul. All the dead people were shocked and horrified before they were killed. According to the examination of the experienced doctors on the business ships, those people were not killed by the destruction of their bodies but by the mental breakdown and the obliteration of their souls. It seemed that their lives had been completely swallowed by some kind of … boundless swirl of fear!
To put it simply, they had even been "scared to death".
The disasters that happened on the two "Starry Shark" -level hunting warships were even weirder. The first Starry Shark exploded uncannily, and the second Starry Shark had a few irreparable holes on the shell of the second Starry Shark, which quickly lost temperature and pressure and "absorbed" all the crew members. The damage control system, the automatic maintenance magical equipment, and even the alarms of the mainframe crystal processor on the warships did not react at all, leading to an unbelievable tragedy.
Who else could have such techniques except for the gods or devils?
Of course, the merchants who were bold enough to visit the docks at such a moment were mostly bold and sharp-eyed veterans. They were certainly not superstitious. After investigating the traces, they naturally understood what was going on.
However, the 'gods saving lives' was a lie, but the 'gods fighting' was real. As the saying went, 'when the gods fight, the little devils suffer'. The guy who was capable of taking down so many Immortal Cultivators and suppressing two 'Starry Shark' -level hunting warships without alarming anyone was far stronger than they had imagined. It was not something that they could investigate.
When one was outside, one should eat more, talk less, ask questions that one should not ask, and meddle less in other people's business. Such ordinary people often lived a longer life in the space of the Imperium.
Now that the attacker was unwilling to show up, they would be too tired of their lives to get to the bottom of it. It was most convenient for them to blame the unpredictable "gods" for whatever reason.
They believed that if the "gods" who attacked just now were still hiding in their business team, they would certainly continue to bless them with peace and safety, right?
As they expected, after worshipping the "gods", they resumed their journey without any trouble and reached the jump point smoothly.
After a couple of hours of preparation, they completed a very precise and steady space jump and appeared at the edge of the Seven Seas Space Zone, the headquarters of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors.
"Wow!"
When everybody recovered from the dizziness and nausea of the space jump and looked at the view outside through the virtual cabin window, they exclaimed at the same time.
It was truly … too lively!
Compared to the activities of human beings, the universe was too vast and boundless. In a regular space zone, even the most crowded sailing routes were actually a vacuum of dead silence. It was barely possible to run into any travelers who passed by them.
However, in the Seven Seas Space Zone, one could see dozens of overwhelming and glittering "rivers of light" with their naked eyes, which were made of the exhaust flames of countless fleets coming from the north and south. Hundreds of patrol boats and barges were cruising around the "rivers of light", directing the "rivers" that carried abundant money, goods, and resources to run in different directions. After zigzagging, they all gathered around a glamorous space city that was as large as an asteroid. It was the Seven Seas Grand Market at the edge of the Imperium, the center of trade, logistics, and even finance at the edge of the Imperium that had risen rapidly in the past hundred years and was almost on par with the Empyreal Terminus Sector!
As the free markets at the edge fell one after another or retreated voluntarily, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors had retreated a lot of the garrison fleets back to their nest, ready to fight a final battle against the coalition fleet of the four families.
At this moment, the defense density of the Seven Seas Grand Market was unprecedentedly high. Only half a minute after their inconspicuous business team jumped over, a patrol boat immediately came forward to inspect and guide them.
As they all belonged to the Imperium's military system, many of the warships of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors were the secondhand goods that had been eliminated by the four families or the cutting-edge or even test warships that had been smuggled over. Their appearances and decorations were very similar. Even the head of the warships was painted with the lightning trident emblem that represented the Imperium of True Human Beings.
However, the warships of the four families would also paint their family's emblems next to the lightning trident emblem. Some of them were even the unique marks of the main branch, the secondary branch, and the various branches. The more emblems there were, the more prestigious the owner of the warship was, and the stronger their combat ability on paper would be.
The warships of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, on the other hand, were much plainer. They only surrounded a circle of glittering stars outside of the lightning trident emblem of the Imperium. No, not stars, but eighteen glittering gold coins. It was the latest symbol of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and represented the "belief" of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, which was to change the Imperium with money!
Once bitten, twice shy. Half a day ago, they were almost killed by the hunting warships of the four families. Seeing the patrol boats of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors that lunged at them, especially the aggressive turrets on the patrol boats, everybody couldn't help but feel creeped out.
It was especially so on Little Bear. The crew from the distant South Spirit Planet came to the Seven Seas Grand Market for the first time. They did not know what kind of behemoth they were faced with. Their hearts were beating fast, their mouths were dry, and their palms were sweating.
However, in the next second, the enormous light beams that the two patrol boats shot at them made everybody take a long breath in relief and smile as if they had survived a disaster.
Two lines of words were written on the enormous light beam. "Welcome to the Seven Seas Grand Market, the freest place in the entire universe!"
…
From the edge of the Seven Seas Space Zone to the Seven Seas Grand Market, it would take an entire day of inspection, guidance, and distribution.
After all, they were at war right now, and a world-shaking bloody battle was about to come. It was already very open and efficient to enter the Seven Seas Grand Market for free trade after only one day.
"The freest place in the entire universe …"
Li Yao and Li Jialing stood on the rear deck of Little Bear, which was specially cleaned up by Huo Dongling for the two of them. It was the most convenient place for the two of them to talk, surrounded by dark minerals.
Holding a cup of iced juice, Li Yao looked at the ocean of light made of thousands of business ships outside of the cabin window and said with a smile, "I dare not say if it is the 'freest place', but this place is definitely one of the richest places in the entire Imperium. In terms of the activity of money, it is even more active than the capital and the capitals of the four families!"
"I've heard that the Seven Seas Grand Market is also known as' City That Never Sleeps', not because people do not sleep, but because the money in this place never sleeps. 'Money Never Sleeps' is the slogan of this place."
Li Jialing also remarked in amazement, "It was Li Lingfeng who told me the name. He once described the prosperity of this place to me, and I was deeply impressed by the unscrupulous methods of the merchants to make money. However, it was not until I came here that I realized that Li Lingfeng's description years ago was far less than one tenth of the real prosperity of this place. I really wonder what kind of tricks the unscrupulous merchants of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors have played to build the peripheral space zone that is far away from the prosperous center of the cosmos into such a prosperous and developed place!"
Li Yao said, "Oh? Did Li Lingfeng mention this place, too?"
"Yes. Li Lingfeng once told me that, should he become the leader of the Li family, the first thing he would do would be to attack the Seven Seas Grand Market and claim the market for himself!"
Li Jialing shaved his hair with the depilatory cream and the razor, before he dyed the short hair black. He was no longer as magnificent as a golden lion but as cunning and brutal as a black panther. He swallowed, and with greed and wariness flashing in his eyes, he mumbled, "At that time, I didn't understand why Li Lingfeng, as an almighty 'future Kurfürst', would steal food from the bowl of so many merchants. But today, after seeing the overwhelming tides of business teams here, even I am somewhat tempted."
"Li Lingfeng realized the importance of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the Seven Seas Grand Market before the reformists surfaced. His eyes were truly keen. As expected of the best candidate of the Li family as the 'future Kurfürst'. It's a shame that he died such an uncanny death."
Li Yao's eyes grew sharper and sharper as he said, "However, he did not tell you the whole truth. Or rather, with his identity and his natural standpoint, he could not understand the real source of the strength of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors at all — money never sleeps. That is truly incisive. The rise of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors is the rise of the power of money. How can it be explained by the word 'unscrupulous merchant'?"
Narrowing his eyes, Li Jialing looked at his fists that were enshrouded in gold flames and asked, "I don't understand. However powerful money is, doesn't it still have to succumb to absolute violence? Brother Yao, what can money do? Is it worth the attention of Li Lingfeng, you, and everybody in the four families right now? Is it necessary to fight for the Seven Seas Grand Market without caring about the ownership of the capital?"
"Money is naturally not omnipotent, but you can't do anything without money!"
Looking at Li Yao's fists, Li Yao said, "Absolute violence is certainly awesome, but where can you get 'absolute violence' if you are so poor that you can't even afford half a bun?
"In the remote villages of the ancient Cultivators, it was possible to grasp 'absolute violence' if you dug out the primeval treasures from a certain tomb with your brute strength or luck. However, as the civilization of mankind developed, the so-called 'violence' was more and more organized, systematic, and industrialized. It had to be supported by incessant resources. For individuals, it was impossible to make great achievements in martial arts by jumping off a cliff or roam the world by picking up an ancient treasure.
"Whether violence brings money or money breeds violence, this is the question of which comes first, the chicken or the egg. It has no practical meaning. Money and violence are two sides of the same coin. They complement and support each other.
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