Chapter 1149: Chapter 899 Pirate Assembly
They had all returned to the Sanctuary Empire now, the battle entirely over, and the Divine Armor mages had suffered no casualties. It was just that some Divine Armors had been damaged, which made the warriors quite distressed, but Long Yi promised that everyone with damaged Divine Armor would be provided with new ones. This immediately turned the grumbling mages into beams of joy.
This was a specially designed secret chamber, and Long Yi, Ai Lin, Silver Light, Little Zi, and Xiaodie were all present. Long Yi and Ai Lin had just finished recounting the entire course of the battle, and now it was Little Zi’s turn.
"So it seems, I’m the only one who has gained something!" Little Zi said proudly to Long Yi.
Behind her, thirteen Female Demon avatars were suppressing six Black Crystal Mages.
"Just a layer of Dragon Scale armor can make these Crazy Demons so powerful?" Ai Lin couldn’t believe it because she had witnessed firsthand the power of these Black Crystal Mages; indeed, it was incredibly strong.
"The first time I crossed hands with the Hei Jing, I felt it was strange, but back then I only thought it was an issue with the Dragon Scale armor. Now I realize that things might be more complicated than I thought. However, my luck wasn’t very good, and I didn’t manage to catch a live one to examine," Long Yi said.
"Haha! Thank me; six of them, all yours to study!" Little Zi said proudly.
"Thank you! Great Little Zi!" Long Yi said exaggeratedly.
"You’re welcome." Little Zi giggled.
"But this time, did Xiaodie get anything?" Long Yi asked Xiaodie.
"Oh yes, the biggest gain is that Crystal Poison tastes awful," Xiaodie said.
"You ate the Crystal Poison?" Long Yi’s eyes bulged.
"Not only did I eat it, but I also ate quite a lot. It’s a pity the taste is truly mediocre. I feel I still prefer flavors that are more intense. I should go eat a star next time," Xiaodie said.
Long Yi looked at Little Zi, who could only shrug her shoulders, indicating she had nothing to say.
The Black Crystal Mages, suppressed by mental force, were statue-like. Since the Hei Jing within them had completely turned into a Semi-Crazy Demon and was no longer human, reasoning with them was meaningless. Long Yi raised his hand, casting a spell to try and remove the Dragon Scale armor, but it automatically emitted a magic that stopped Long Yi, clearly showing that Ailma was prepared.
If diplomacy doesn’t work, let’s use force. Long Yi took out the Cosmic Stone Greatsword, its sharp edge carrying surging Dragon Power, and directly cut open a large gap in the Dragon Scale armor. Then, before the Dragon Scale armor could self-heal, Long Yi tore the entire thing off. Freed from its owner, the Dragon Scale armor reverted back to a single scale, but strangely, a faint crystalline trace emerged on the surface of the scale.
"What is this? Crystals?"
Long Yi took out a Giant tablet and cast a microscopic magic spell, only to see that the dense Dragon Scale surface actually had minute crystals! And these crystals hadn’t further corroded the Dragon Scale; instead, they were fused into it.
Long Yi placed his hand on the Dragon Scale, and because of the Crystal Poison, the scale immediately adhered to his hand; at the same time, Long Yi felt that his Mana, passing through the Dragon Scale, turned into Dragon Power!
"No wonder!" Long Yi put the Dragon Scale aside, grabbed the Crazy Demon, and sure enough, there was a surge of Dragon Power within the Crazy Demon’s body.
"No wonder what?" Ai Lin asked.
"Although I don’t know how he did it, this guy Ailma is really something. He has been able to convert the Mana of these Black Crystal Mages into Dragon Power by infecting the Dragon Scale with Crystal Poison. Once it becomes Dragon Power, the innate enhancement spells on the Dragon Scale armor will help the Black Crystal Mages increase their magic strength! It’s essentially a simplified version of Divine Armor," Long Yi explained.
"It’s that advanced?" The girls were all surprised.
"I have to say, that old bastard Ailma learns quite fast. I came up with Divine Armor, and he produced Dragon Scale armor; I invented Mana resonance, and he’s got something similar going on. It seems he’s set on competing with me to the end," Long Yi said.
"So what do we do?" Ai Lin asked.
"What do we do? We learn from each other, of course. After all, we still have three hundred White Dragons. Having slept for so long and feasted recently, they’re bound to enter a period of replacing their scales soon. By then, we’ll also create a bunch of Divine Armor mages with Dragon Scale armor from the Sanctuary! Hahahaha!"
The battle this time had almost no losses for the Ancient Mage Tower, but it did successfully prove its strength, so Ailma was very satisfied.
When replaying the video footage of the scene, especially when several Divine Armors suddenly lost their shields due to Mana depletion, Ailma repeatedly watched it many times over.
"There can be nothing more exhilarating than this!" Ailma laughed heartily to Zulal.
"So, shall I immediately send emissaries with copies of these recordings to find them?" Zulal asked.
"No, no need to find them all, just these few people will do," Ailma handed a list to Zulal. This list was identical to the one before, but now with some names marked.
"These are individuals of renown in their worlds. If we can win them over, others will naturally follow," Ailma said.
"Yes, I understand."
Several days later, an envoy from the Ancient Mage Tower once again arrived at Red Star, standing before Lyd Jon.
"Chieftain Lyd Jon, I believe you’ve been following the recent events, right?" the envoy got straight to the point.
"Yes, the entire Plane is singing the praises of Long Yi and his comrades for driving away the invaders from the Ancient Mage Tower once more," Lyd Jon said with a smile.
"No, no, no, I think you’re seeing this too one-sidedly. In fact, that was just a strategic retreat on our part," said the envoy.
"No one likes to admit their own defeat, do they?" Lyd Jon still smiled, but this time it seemed he harbored some intentions to dismiss the person.
"Please at least take a look at this before you make your decision," the envoy said, taking out the crystal that recorded the battle that day.
"What’s this?" Lyd Jon asked.
"A surprise that you will definitely be interested in," said the envoy.
The crystal began to show the battle that Long Yi had participated in. When the Divine Armor’s shield was breached, and he was knocked to the ground by a barrage of magic, the envoy paused the playback and said with a smile to Lyd Jon, "How about it, Clan Leader, you didn’t expect even the mighty Divine Armor to have its shield broken one day, did you?"
Lyd Jon’s expression changed and said, "Please continue."
The envoy resumed the playback until the moment Long Yi appeared, which immediately led to everyone retreating.
"A strategic retreat indeed," said Lyd Jon after a while.
"In fact, we did not initially know that it was Long Yi himself commanding the battle. But as you can see, even under his command, in the face of our powerful firepower, it amounted to nothing," the envoy said.
"I saw three Divine Armors get taken down, but I also noticed you had hundreds of Semi-Crazy Demons shattered," Lyd Jon replied.
"That’s not a problem at all because Semi-Crazy Demons, if Master Ailma is willing, he could create hundreds of thousands, or even tens of millions of them at any time. However, the value of these Black Crystal Mages is beyond measure. With them, Long Yi’s proudest Divine Armor Mages would become obsolete, and the only difference between us and them is just a lack of some excellent commanders, don’t you think?" the envoy said, gazing into Lyd Jon’s eyes.
"I admit, I’m tempted. But I need to arrange my affairs, which should take about a week. Come see me here in a week, and then I hope to have a talk with Master Ailma," Lyd Jon said.
"Yes, everything as you wish," said the envoy with a smile.
In the end, Lyd Jon still joined the Ancient Mage Tower, which, to them, offered an irresistible price. Indeed, everyone who was recruited by the Ancient Mage Tower was offered a stunning price. This price usually meant that as long as they defeated Long Yi, they could do anything they wanted in this plane.
"To be honest, in my view, what lies ahead is a future that’s painted with the unknown," said Lyd Jon to someone beside him within the Ancient Mage Tower. This person was also a notorious figure in his own right, known as Lucas. While Lucas might not have had a power base as extensive as Lyd Jon had, his ruthlessness was unmatched.
"Honestly, both you and I know that this matter is not so simple. It’s easy to understand why a fugitive like me would be drawn here, but for you to come, that seems a bit strange," Lucas said.
"There’s actually nothing strange about it. After all, people like us find it hard to watch the bone that’s about to reach our mouth fly away. Knowing the danger but not giving it a try is just not my style," Lyd Jon said.
"I heard you were quite close to Long Yi," Lucas said, staring into Lyd Jon’s eyes.
"We were once very close," Lyd Jon corrected.
"And now?" Lucas pressed on.
"Now, we are still not estranged," Lyd Jon said with a smile.
"You’ve got quite the nerve! Are you planning to play both sides?" exclaimed Lucas, surprised.
"It’s not about playing both sides, but that, in the end, a victor must emerge from the two. Picking sides too early could bring misfortune upon oneself," Lyd Jon said.
"You mean to say, regardless of who eventually wins, you’ll come out on top?" Lucas seemed to understand.
"Something like that," Lyd Jon replied.
Suddenly, Lucas gave Lyd Jon a few intense looks.
"You’re actually telling me this secret?" Lucas’s face was full of distrust.
"In this kind of place, we are all very clear about the kind of people present. Powerful pirates, interstellar pirates, and all sorts of petty criminals—it would be troublesome to underestimate any of them. Incidents of going rogue and not taking commands will certainly continue to happen. In such an unfamiliar place, I think whether it be you or me, we might need a strong ally, don’t you think?" Lyd Jon said.
Lucas actually laughed this time. He never expected Lyd Jon to be so forthright. Indeed, he had long wanted to form alliances with some, but these interstellar pirates almost all bore grudges against each other, and it was uncertain if anyone could truly confide in another. Now Lyd Jon was actually trying to forge an alliance with him, albeit in a seemingly dangerous manner!
"As much as I hate to admit it, I have to acknowledge you’ve really got your ways. It’s no surprise at all that you’ve achieved your current status," Lucas said.
"So what are you saying?" asked Lyd Jon.
"Do I even have to say it?" With that, Lucas had already extended his hand.
As they shook hands, the expressions of the surrounding thieves, mercenaries, and others were not very pleasant. Lyd Jon had been a rising force lately, full of vigor, while Lucas was an old-school pirate, older, experienced, and not small in power either. The alliance of these two...
"Don’t worry, it’s not like we’re at war in the cosmos." From a distance, a mercenary spoke, "The Ancient Mage Tower needs our command capabilities, not the size of our original powers. If it were only about fighting with our own powerful forces, no matter what, we could never get reused by them." (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
