When Li Yao stepped into the grand conference room of the headquarters of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors again, everybody was looking at him in a completely different way.
In their complicated eyes, there was both fear for the Black Wind King, greed for the edge of the cosmos, and curiosity about the Black Wind Fleet. It must be noted that Li Yao did not represent just himself but also a brutal fleet that was hiding somewhere!
Although they were all rulers of the peripheral worlds of the Imperium, the "Black Wind King" was entirely different from the general warlords and local magnates. He was a tough general who had been on the battlefield for a long time and boasted the strength of five Sectors.
At such a delicate moment, whichever side the heavy chess piece that was the Black Wind Fleet was placed, the scale of victory would be tilted.
Therefore, everybody was silent, waiting for Li Yao to speak.
Li Yao looked around again and retrieved a few jade chips from his Cosmos Ring. He said, "Director Jin is right. The riot in the Seven Seas Grand Market today was just a trap that he and I set up together. Qi Yuanbao, Wuying Qinxin, and Red Lady were not the only ones who were attracted by the trap. A lot of people here were also attracted by the trap.
"As the saying goes, if you pluck the radish, the mud will be found. You know very well how many people here are hesitating and communicating with the four Kurfürst families in secret. All the evidence is inside the few jade chips."
The crowd went into an uproar when they heard this.
Many people's faces changed greatly, as if they were sitting on pins and needles.
There were also people who were bashful, looking left and right.
Some even clenched their fists with brutality beaming out of their eyes.
Li Yao smiled and observed everybody's reactions. Suddenly, he did something that was beyond everybody's expectation. He released his spiritual energy and crushed the few jade chips into pieces before he burnt them up with the flames of spiritual energy. All the data was gone.
"This King hates traitors the most. Originally, I wanted to get to the bottom of this and drag out all these fellows who were secretly colluding with the four great clans. I wanted to cut them into pieces, search their souls, and make them die miserably!"
Li Yao said gloomily. Patting away the ashes on the jade chip in his hand, he suddenly changed the topic. "However, Director Jin advised me to let bygones be bygones. He said that the four Kurfürst families boasted overwhelming advantages on the surface, and it was perfectly normal that somebody could not withstand the pressure and asked for a way to survive under the overwhelming pressure.
"Many people here have been doing business with the four families since more than a hundred years ago. Some of you are even backed by the four families. Everybody is connected to each other. If we get to the bottom of it, wouldn't we all be guilty? Even Jin Yuyan did a lot of business with the four families.... Hahahahahahahaha!"
Li Yao grinned hideously again. His ear-piercing laughter was like the crows hovering above the carrion.
"What's wrong? Am I wrong?"
Li Yao's laughter came to an abrupt halt. He bulged his eyes and looked at everybody. "Why are you not laughing, huh?"
"Hehe … Hehehehe …"
The managers, shareholders, and investors were all sweating hard. Looking at the aggressive Exos and battle puppets around, they smiled apologetically uneasily.
"Smile, that's right. Smiling is better than crying. It's better than being skinned alive by this King and having your tendons pulled out. Dragging your bloody body while screaming in pain is better."
Li Yao continued, "All in all, Director Jin has convinced me that whatever relationship you had with the four Kurfürst families and whether or not you were involved in any schemes will be written off. Nobody will mention it again!
"However, the battle of Seven Seas is about to break out, and the cause of the reform is in peril. It's time for you to make a clear decision about your stance.
"A two-sided business is destined not to last long. I know that countless Sector Masters, warlords, and experts from the peripheral worlds of the Imperium are behind you. They are even the bottom-level members of the four Kurfürst families. As their spokespersons, you are sitting in the grand conference room of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors discussing how to resist the coalition fleet of the four families, while your masters are rushing to this place on ferocious starships, determined to completely destroy this place. Can there be anything more absurd in the universe?
"It's time to make up your mind. Everybody, you only have two choices.
"You can either stand on the side of the four Kurfürst families and completely destroy the Seven Seas Grand Market, the cause of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the reformists, as well as the free coins and the resources that you have accumulated through hard work for a hundred years, and your hope to rise to the highest peak!
"Yes, your lives may be safe for now, but you will forever lose the opportunity to compete with the four Kurfürst families. You and your descendants are destined to be the dogs of the four Kurfürst families for the rest of their lives, only worthy of the leftovers that they leave behind and the dogs that are trampled underfoot by them.
"We are all very clear that there won't be a second Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors. There won't be such a great opportunity for you to rise again. You will just crouch in a corner and whine like dogs whose legs have been broken for all eternity!
"Right, I almost forgot. Even if you want to be a dog in peace, you may not be able to ask for it. Who knows how the four Kurfürst families will treat the disloyal people like you after the situation is stabilized and the capital is taken back? Is it very troublesome to carry out a great purge?
"Hehe. For those of you who are from the four families, I need to remind you to be careful, because people hate traitors a hundred times more than they hate their enemies.
"Director Jin and I can write off the past magnanimously, but if the vengeful rulers of the four Kurfürst families learn that you are here, do you think they will write it off?"
His words made a lot of people look even more awful.
"If that is not the result that you want, there is only the second choice left!"
Li Yao's voice suddenly rose an octave and swept across the room like a black storm and rolling thunder again. He extended his arms, as if he were going to hug the shoulders of all the Immortal Cultivators. "Stand on the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors' side, on the reformists' side, and on my side! Fight side by side with the powerful Black Wind Fleet and strike the arrogance of the four families, shatter their evil plan to destroy the Seven Seas Grand Market, and then launch thunderous counterattacks to disintegrate the reign of the four Kurfürst families. Divide the population, resources, and market at the center of the cosmos, and share the many worlds at the edge of the cosmos with me!
"In the end, all of us will be able to completely control our own fate and become lawless, unparalleled Immortal Cultivators. We will be the dominators of our own fate, the entire Imperium, and the entire universe!
"I am the most important person in the world, and I am the master of my own fate. If I do not have such self-awareness and would rather be a dog obediently, what kind of Immortal Cultivators are I?"
Li Yao's roar shattered the eardrums and the defense lines in the brains of countless Immortal Cultivators.
It was especially so for the investors and partners who were from the four families. Most of them chose to arrive at this place through holographic projections, and their real bodies were indeed marching to the Seven Seas Space Zone aggressively on their own starships in the enormous coalition fleet, just like Li Yao said.
It was time to make the final decision!
"Black Wind King —"
Jin Yuyan seized the opportunity to ask, "That being said, where is your Black Wind Fleet exactly? What's its comprehensive capability after a hundred years of wandering?"
Everybody pricked up their ears because of the question.
Yes, Li Yao's bragging was not important; the existence of the Black Wind Fleet was the key!
"The Black Wind Fleet is naturally where they should be. The moment when the saber is about to be unsheathed is the sharpest."
Li Yao smiled mysteriously. "As for the capability, just rest assured. Although the Black Wind Fleet has been wandering in the boundless sea of stars for a hundred years, it did not encounter any gory battles, and the losses were not high.
"On the contrary, after crushing Firefly, we received tremendous secret treasures from the government-in-exile of the Star Ocean Republic. We also dismantled and reorganized Firefly into a new branch fleet. We also captured tremendous elite warriors on Firefly and transformed them into Immortal Cultivators through education. Their combat ability has been significantly improved.
"Also, the desolate worlds have provided incessant sources of soldiers for us, too. The fearless barbarian warriors are the best light infantry. They have been rubbing their fists for a long time and are eager to have a big fight.
"I assure you that the Black Wind Fleet today is more than five times stronger than when we set off a hundred years ago. It will definitely be a venomous blade that can cut your throat instantly!"
"Then —"
His eyes glittering, Jin Yuyan asked, "When will the Black Wind Fleet arrive?"
"That will depend on your performance."
Li Yao sniffed and said, "Getting to the bottom of it, this is your war first and my war second. If you are united and fight hard, and if a lot of Immortal Cultivators in the four families' coalition fleet turn against you and give us hope of victory, the Black Wind Fleet will certainly march out at the most critical moment!
"However, if all of you are hesitant and still want to take advantage of both sides, then why should I help you to pull chestnuts out of the fire?"
"Fair enough."
Jin Yuyan said aloud, "All in all, as long as we fight hard, the Black Wind Fleet will certainly show up, right?"
"Of course it will!"
Li Yao declared resolutely, "You and I share the same interests. What benefits can I get by watching you being annihilated by the four families without doing anything?
"The news of my arrival today cannot be kept a secret for long. It will spread out in the entire sea of stars. It is safe to say that I have completely fallen out with the four families. If I do not unite with you and destroy the four families, should I wait for them to attack me one by one and kill you first before they kill me?
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