"Li Linghai has never really trusted me, just like she has never really trusted you. This is just a deal. I made an offer that she could not refuse."
Holding his arms, Li Yao licked his lips and said in a tempting voice, "Money. Glittering crystal coins, astronomical resources, infinite Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures … The government-in-exile of the Star Ocean Republic has nothing but those things. Money, money, money. Tons of money!
"However much Li Linghai hates the Cultivators, she does not hate the Cultivators' money. Overthrowing the four families requires money. Reestablishing the order of the Imperium requires money. In the new order of the Imperium, competing for the highest power with her 'allies' like you still requires money. Is there any reason why she would not cooperate with me?"
"Fair enough."
Jin Yuyan was greatly enlightened. He nodded and said, "If it were me, I would've cooperated with someone who offered enough crystals to fill a planet, no matter whether he was a Cultivator, an extraterrestrial devil, or some other bizarre alien life.
"If he has enough crystals to fill a whole Sector, f * ck him. I can even worship the path of the Cultivators in the next second!
"The only problem is, didn't you say just now that Firefly has been in disrepair for a long time and cannot persist any longer? That's why you want to surrender. Let me ask you, how can a bunch of desperate beggars like you have so much money to persuade the almighty queen of the Imperium?"
Li Yao sweated hard. "Well, well, well —"
Jin Yuyan narrowed his eyes. "Huh?"
Li Yao swallowed quickly. "Don't be hasty, and don't stare at me suspiciously and give me so much pressure, alright? Let me explain it to you slowly. This is very complicated. Really, very complicated. I can only explain it to you slowly, very slowly … It's true that Firefly has been in disrepair for a long time and is in dire straits due to lack of resources. But in the meantime, we are very rich. You might say that we are the richest in the world. That — that is not contradictory! Aiya, could it be that Director Jin is such a smart and business-minded person, yet you don't even understand such an obvious reason? "
Jin Yuyan shook his head. "I don't. Please continue your explanation."
"We — we don't have cash. We lack the resources needed to maintain the starships and the food to feed all the people, but it doesn't mean that we don't have anything else!"
Li Yao slapped his thigh and said, "Coordinates, we have coordinates!"
Jin Yuyan's eyes glittered. "What coordinates?"
"The coordinates of the Greater Thousand World!"
Li Yao thought quickly. His infinite brain cells exploded and congregated into a long, surging river. "You should know that, in the heyday of the ancient Cultivators, the civilization of mankind occupied three thousand Sectors in total. But after the civil war of the ancient Cultivators, the rise of the demon race, and the establishment and collapse of the Star Ocean Imperium, the war grew fiercer and fiercer, and the damage of magical equipment grew stronger and stronger. Countless Sectors were destroyed in the war. Even their coordinates were obliterated in the river of history.
"To this day, the Imperium of True Human Beings and the Alliance of the Holy Covenant have only controlled about a thousand Sectors that are relatively close to the center of the cosmos. The other Sectors have all become silent tombs that are scattered in unknown places at the edge of the cosmos.
"Although they are long dead, those Sectors once boasted atmospheres and highly-developed civilizations after all. They even boasted perfect industrial bases and relics that contained secret treasures. As long as we can find them, it is very possible to rebuild the atmospheres and the ecospheres and restore their former prosperity. At the very least, it is much more convenient and cheaper than finding a resource planet that is not suitable for the survival of human beings and building settlements by force, isn't it?
"Since the beginning of the Star Ocean Imperium, the people living at the center of the cosmos have been expanding outward, trying to restore the glory of the three thousand Sectors in the past. The heyday of the Star Ocean Republic was certainly no exception. We sent out countless exploration fleets and grasped tremendous astronomical data and brand-new sailing routes. Those things were all taken away by Firefly later. As a result, the Imperium of True Human Beings had to start from scratch. You spent a thousand years and countless resources, but you only pushed the frontier of the Imperium a little bit outward.
"In the recent one to two hundred years, because the cost of the expansion was too high, and the efficiency of the star children jumping from one planet to another was too low, the Imperium actually completely abandoned the expansion.
"But — but that is only because you do not have precise coordinates. It is certainly difficult to find a habitable planet among ten billion planets. However, as long as you have relatively precise coordinates, and as long as the vitality of a Sector can be restored, think about it. How much profit will it bring? How many hidden business opportunities will it bring? How much money will it bring?"
Jin Yuyan stared at them again, his eyes glittering like crystal coins. His voice was full of the collisions of crystal coins. "How many coordinates of unknown Sectors have you grasped?"
"Not too many, not too few. About a hundred, I think."
Li Yao said, "The coordinates of those Sectors have long been stored in the database of the Star Ocean Republic's External Exploration Institute. They were taken away when we evacuated. Our original idea was to escape to the edge of the cosmos, find a few stable Sectors to settle down in, rebuild our country in a thousand years, and then figure out a way to counterattack the center of the cosmos.
"It was a pity that when we searched for those Sectors according to the maps, we discovered that they had been destroyed in the war, and their civilizations had all perished. Some of them were worlds that were full of rust and deserts like the Land of Sins.
"The resources we carried were too few to modify and rebuild such forsaken worlds. On the other hand, we were scared that we would be found by the pursuers of the Imperium again after we settled down. Then, we would be screwed!
"Living in fear, we searched for one Sector after another, recorded their detailed information, and marked new sailing routes. But in the end, we all gave up settling down in those places and continued to flee to the depths of the cosmos. In the end, when the resources ran dry and we wanted to turn back, it was already too late.
"Therefore, Director Jin, you see what I mean now, don't you? We are like countless treasures that have been discovered, but we are so hungry that we lack the strength to open the gate of the treasures. If we do not figure out a solution, we will be starved to death outside of the treasures that are flowing with milk and honey!"
Jin Yuyan finally understood it. "Therefore, you know where the hundred forsaken Sectors are, but you lack the first resources to develop them, namely … the start-up capital?"
"Yes, start-up capital. What a wonderful word. Why else would I say that I am just a warrior, and you are a business genius?"
Li Yao slapped his thigh in excitement and said in an even more tempting voice, "It must be noted that those Sectors used to be very prosperous and prosperous. Many of them were famous natural paradises in the age of ancient Cultivators, where countless seniors with unimaginable Cultivation trained themselves. Some of them were important production and R&D bases of the demon dynasties in the past thirty thousand years. Laboratories and weapon factories could be found everywhere below the ground. Even relics from the primeval age could be found everywhere! It was a pity that we lacked the start-up capital to develop them on a large scale. We could only watch the relics that had been sealed for ten thousand years and do nothing except drool.
"After much consideration, we decided that we could only return to the center of the cosmos to find someone to cooperate with if we did not want to wait and starve to death with a golden bowl. That was how Li Linghai came into my sight.
"At first, I thought that she was the leader of the reformists, so I told her everything frankly. I did not know that Blackstar the Great was lurking behind her!
"Even if we offered all the Sectors that Firefly discovered in a thousand years to Wuying Qi, it was impossible for him to let go of us. With that in mind, I could only run away. It was not until I escaped to the peripheral worlds that I realized that, compared to Wuying Qi and Li Linghai, you, as one of the best business magnates in the Imperium of True Human Beings and the director of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors who started out with the space trade and the exploration of asteroids, seemed to be a more suitable partner for me!
"Come on, Old Jin, stop hesitating and let go of our prejudice. Whether we are Cultivators or Immortal Cultivators, we are all trying to make a fortune! Think about it. A newly discovered Sector will allow us to establish a hundred trade routes. The profits of rebuilding a Sector, including the real estate, the development of mines and farmlands, and the headcount fees for interstellar migration … Tsk, tsk, tsk. I don't know how to calculate it. Why don't you calculate it for me? "
Jin Yuyan's breath was obviously heavy.
Although he was trying to suppress his heartbeat, it was not his original body that he was controlling right now after all, and he accidentally revealed some clues.
"Is it true?"
He asked a redundant question.
"I know that it's hard to win other people's trust without evidence."
Li Yao opened his hands and said calmly, "However, please think about it from a different perspective. Even Li Linghai and Wuying Qi believed it. Why wouldn't you?"
Slightly dazed, Jin Yuyan was deep in thought.
"Do you think that with Li Linghai and Wuying Qi's wisdom, they would've been fooled by me so easily? Would they not have investigated my words?"
Li Yao said, "Li Linghai and I had a great time cooperating for more than half a year until I accidentally discovered Wuying Qi in the end. It is obvious that the problem was on their side, not mine. If I had lied, I would've been killed by them!"
Jin Yuyan took a deep, deep breath.
"I still think that you are lying, but at the very least, the proportion of your lies has been reduced from 10% to 1%. My intuition tells me that the interstellar trade routes you talked about do exist, and it is possible for me to make a fortune by cooperating with you."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
