"I've always been bold like that. Otherwise, I wouldn't have volunteered to break into the Godly Might Prison at the risk of my own life to save Commander Lei!"
Li Yao took out a piece of half-solidified blue glue that was wrapped in a thin film and rubbed it on his face evenly. Together with the movement of his muscles and bones, he soon regained his original appearance. Looking at Lei Chenghu somewhat awkwardly, he reminded the guy that he saved his life and asked in confusion, "When did Commander Lei realize that I was not Li Wuji … You were not bluffing, were you?"
"Hehe. I have never bothered to deceive anyone with petty tricks. I knew from the very beginning that it was not Li Wuji on the other side of the light beam. Or rather, someone even more dreadful was behind Li Wuji."
Lei Chenghu said in disdain, "I know exactly what kind of person Li Wuji is. How could he have produced such a terrifying fleet? Besides, with Li Wuji's selfishness and cowardice as a typical leader of the four Kurfürst families, who values his own life more than the entire universe, how could he have gone to the danger alone? If he was bold enough to march to my flagship on his own, I would cut off my head and give it to him!
"If Li Wuji did show up on my flagship, there could only be one explanation. He was forced to come here by somebody with a saber at his throat and a gun at the back of his head. That's why his eyes were so aggrieved just now. He was scared that he would be buried with an audacious maniac like you. Am I right?"
"You are truly observant, Commander Lei. I didn't know that my plan had so many loopholes."
Li Yao coughed and asked curiously, "However, even if Li Wuji was not the real deal, why did Commander Lei say that it was indeed me? You seemed to have seen through my real face under my disguise."
"It's not hard to guess who you are."
Lei Chenghu continued casually, "What you did and said in the Seven Seas Grand Market as the 'Black Wind King' has already spread to the entire Seven Seas Space Zone. I don't believe that you will not take any action or play any tricks later.
"Also, the queen told me your real identity, and based on my evaluation of your behavior pattern, the odds of you sneaking to my side with the 'decapitation strategy' were very high. However, I did not expect that you would sneak in openly in such a way."
"That explains a lot. However, Commander Lei, I would like to make one thing clear first. The 'Black Wind King' that I am is completely different from the 'Black Wind King' who fled a hundred years ago and tricked the court a hundred years ago. As a matter of fact, Heiye Ming, the previous' Black Wind King 'who tricked you and the court, has already been blown to smithereens by me. There's no need to thank me. It's my duty!"
Li Yao paused for a moment and said again, "Speaking of which, Commander Lei, you are quite bold. You knew that it was me, and you even guessed that I would carry out the decapitation strategy. Yet, you were bold enough to enter my space shuttle blatantly. Were you not scared that I would suddenly attack and capture you? You must know that at such a close distance, if I really did take action, not just the three Colossi outside, even three hundred Colossi wouldn't be able to stop me in time! "
"Would you?"
Lei Chenghu smiled and said, "Every word that I said in the 'Letter to the Soldiers of the Imperium' is true, and every word that I said to Li Wuji is true, too. As long as the civil war can be ended as soon as possible, more of the available forces of the Imperium can be preserved to resist the Holy League, and a brand-new future for the civilization of mankind, I can negotiate with anybody and negotiate any terms.
"A long time ago, I told you that I prefer the Cultivators to the shameless' false Immortal Cultivators'. Now that I can even negotiate with the 'false Immortal Cultivators' like Li Wuji, why can't I negotiate with you, a real Cultivator?
"I'm very curious about what kind of changes the Cultivators who haven't done anything big for a thousand years can bring when the Imperium is in such a precarious situation. Besides, as you said just now, my life was saved by you from the Godly Might Prison. As a soldier of the Imperium, do you not even have the courage to meet your savior?"
"It couldn't have been better that you are so reasonable, Commander Lei!"
Li Yao took a long breath in relief. "Had I known this earlier, I would've talked to you in a more straightforward way, Commander Lei. I wouldn't have had to resort to so many tricks!"
"Then, let's get to the point. Why are you, a real Cultivator, coming to an incompatible Immortal Cultivator like me?"
Lei Chenghu's voice gradually turned cold and hard, like the cannonballs that had just been taken out of a low-temperature arsenal. "There does not seem to be any room for reconciliation between us. At the very least, I will not compromise on the true path of immortality at all."
Li Yao blinked and said, "I'm only here to take a gamble!"
Lei Chenghu frowned. "What's the gamble?"
Li Yao replied resolutely, "The gamble that Commander Lei is a real Immortal Cultivator and an uncompromising fundamentalist Immortal Cultivator. The gamble is that everything you do is really for the Imperium and the civilization of mankind, unlike the 'false Immortal Cultivators' outside who only regard the Imperium, the civilization of mankind, and the true path of immortality as their slogans when they are in fact selfish and can stomp on all beliefs for their own interests.
"I'm going to bet that you value the future of mankind more than anything else, even more than Blackstar the Great, whom you admire most!"
After a brief silence, Lei Chenghu said with gloomy brilliance flowing inside his eyes, "You have indeed learned His Majesty's real identity. I appreciate you more and more, Cultivator Li Yao.
"Now that everybody knows His Majesty, you should give up. You know that I will never betray His Majesty!"
"Not necessarily."
Staring at Lei Chenghu hard, Li Yao said, one word after another, "If you are really a pure, real, and selfless Immortal Cultivator, and everything you do is for the interests of the Imperium of True Human Beings and the future of mankind, then, when what Blackstar the Great is doing harms the interests of the Imperium and will destroy the future of mankind, you should stand out and object to him without any hesitation!
"Getting to the bottom of it, what you are loyal to wholeheartedly and willing to contribute everything to is the Imperium and the civilization of mankind, not a specific emperor, even if the emperor is Blackstar the Great. Am I right to understand your belief?"
After a long daze, Lei Chenghu was amused. "Are all the Cultivators so sharp-tongued? Of course, His Majesty is not equal to the Imperium or the civilization of mankind, but in the center of the cosmos today, who is more qualified to represent the Imperium and the civilization of mankind than His Majesty? If I don't pledge my loyalty to His Majesty, should I pledge my loyalty to the four worthless Kurfürsten, the shameless merchants of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, or should I pledge my loyalty to the Cultivators who can't do anything right? "
"Who exactly Commander Lei is willing to pledge loyalty to, and whether or not he pledges loyalty to anybody but his own faction is not my concern. I'm only trying to remind Commander Lei that there is something wrong with Wuying Qi!"
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao said quickly, "Does Commander Lei not feel that the timing of your jump to the Seven Seas Space Zone was very inappropriate? If you jumped over so early, you would've been involved in the double swirls of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors and the coalition fleet of the four families. By the time you settled all the enemies in a couple of months, you would've suffered heavy casualties yourself!
"I believe that the timing was Wuying Qi's order. So, he did not trust you at all. He was trying to achieve a lose-lose effect in the battle of Seven Seas so that the Thunder Fleet, the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, and the coalition fleet of the four families would all suffer heavy losses. You would be weakened to the minimum, and you would not be able to compete with him anymore. Of course, you would not be able to resist the attack of the Holy League either.
"Also, the Thunder Fleet was a saber that was stuck to the throat of the four families in the first place. If you left the heartland of the four families recklessly and jumped to the Seven Seas Space Zone at the edge of the Imperium, you would've secured a partial victory, but you would've left the capital undefended. The ace fleets of the four families would've definitely seized the opportunity to attack the capital!
"Even a layman like me can see through such a low-level mistake. I don't believe that a military expert such as Commander Lei can't see it. So, have you ever asked 'His Majesty' what he intends to use to resist the ace fleets of the four families? The Imperial Guards who have not used their weapons for hundreds of years, the Deep Sea Fleet that is not large in scale, or the mobsters who have just surrendered to him?
"No, it's impossible. Wuying Qi's military strength on paper is definitely not enough to resist the repeated attacks of the ace fleets of the four families. So, he must have a secret weapon, a very sharp secret weapon that can destroy the world. Once the secret weapon is activated, it will even cause irreparable damage to the entire capital, the entire Empyreal Terminus Sector, and the entire capital!
"Commander Lei, you worship, respect, and submit to Blackstar the Great so much that you are his greatest loyal subject. Let me ask you, did he tell you the details of the secret weapon so that you could be prepared? Come on, let's take a gamble. If he does tell you the existence of the secret weapon, I'll cut off my head and give it to you! "
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