Chapter 1331: Chapter 1077: Showing Sincerity
However, since such an event could happen once, it could happen a second time.
In the following period, Long Yi started all kinds of self-directed activities. Despite the limited reward garnered from simple information, with frequent deals, he managed to elevate his life to a comfortable standard.
After some time, the three major Pirate Groups began to reduce the bounty on the whereabouts of Long Yi due to consistently getting the right leads but failing to capture him. Instead, they increased the price on his head as well as on the Mini Cosmic Stone Light Cannons. Apparently, they saw Long Yi as exceedingly cunning, and there always seemed to be some foolhardy idiots who would alarm him, thus allowing Long Yi to escape beforehand.
As a result, this time, the three Pirate Groups significantly raised the bounty on Long Yi himself and on the Mini Cosmic Stone Light Cannons, with the price on the Light Cannons even surpassing that on Long Yi!
When Long Yi saw the latest bounty notice, he showed a nearly tearful expression. He, the weapon’s creator, was actually worth less than his own weapon—what was wrong with the world, had it gone mad!
So, Long Yi glanced at the pair of invaluable Mini Cosmic Stone Light Cannons in his hand, wondering if he should sell one to make some money.
Of course, this was just a random thought and definitely not to be taken seriously.
Feeling that he had stirred up enough interest, it was time to find Mahal for a chat.
But to meet with Mahal for discussions, naturally, he couldn’t go empty-handed. Long Yi had set a price for Mahal in the past and even asked Mahal to observe his sincerity; showing up empty-handed now would certainly not prove it.
Therefore, Long Yi had to prepare his gesture of good faith in advance.
In Long Yi’s private space, there was a set of Battle Armor, standard equipment of the White Dragon Imperial Army. In the Middle Plane, such equipment could still maintain an excellent performance level. However, materials from the Human Realm needed to be replaced. Even with steel being steel, its strength in the Middle Plane was far greater than that in the Lower Plane or the Human Realm.
On the Great Explorer, as a scientific survey vessel, there were very complete sets of equipment. After dismantling the original armor and retaining its core, he rebuilt the armor using the Giant’s staff.
In Long Yi’s private space, there were also a batch of Golems, equipment from the late phase of the war between the White Dragon Empire and the Black Dragon Empire. Now they were of little use but their cores and main components were not much different from those of Battle Armor. Thus, Long Yi used these Golems to create a new batch of Battle Armor before seeking out Mahal.
At this time, Mahal was living a very miserable life. Rushing away with his subordinates, they didn’t carry many supplies. As betrayers among the Pirate Group, they couldn’t even continue their pirate livelihood and had to hide on some remote planet, disguised as ordinary residents.
This small town had been attacked by monsters, with half of it reduced to rubble, and the remaining inhabitants having fled with no intention of returning. Now Mahal and his brothers had temporarily settled here, which was worry-free for the time being. But no one knew when such a life would end.
Thus, some of his brothers began to complain aloud, though this occurred only occasionally. After all, they had chosen to leave, so they couldn’t blame anyone else. Nevertheless, upon hearing these grievances, Mahal felt helpless, as these were brothers truly loyal to him. They had followed him in his flight, yet he couldn’t provide them with a decent life.
However, they were still keeping an eye on the outside world, such as the waves Long Yi was making in the pirate world, which gave Mahal a glimmer of hope. Still, entrusting all their hopes in someone they hardly knew was a precarious proposition.
But aside from waiting, they really had no better option.
When Long Yi flew the Sea Demon pirate ship above the small town, Mahal and his brothers were scared out of their wits. They had tried their best to hide their tracks, but how had the Black Dragon actually found this place?
"Captain! Let’s fight!" one of his loyal brothers shouted. They were tired of hiding.
"No! Since they’ve found us here, we’re definitely no match. It’s too late to run, hide yourselves. This is all my fault, let me bear it alone," Mahal said.
If possible, Mahal really didn’t wish to be such a heroic character, but he knew he was inescapable from his fate this time. Rather than behaving like a coward at this last moment, it would be better to let his loyal brothers go and retain a good reputation after his death.
"No way! Brother! If we die, we die together! We will absolutely not run away on our own!" The group of pirates was deeply moved and shouted loudly.
"Brothers!" Mahal was choked up with emotion, partly moved, and also somewhat afraid.
"Big brother!" The brothers were choked up as well. They were moved, but they were more afraid.
And then, amidst this atmosphere of emotion and fear, Long Yi jumped down from the spaceship.
"Hmm, are you all crying so passionately because you haven’t seen me for so long?" Long Yi asked the group of teary-eyed pirates with a smile.
The arrival of Long Yi was beyond everyone’s expectations; although he had been following Long Yi’s news, he never imagined Long Yi would suddenly appear before him. What puzzled him even more was how Long Yi had found him?
"That’s quite simple, I cast Magic on you, which allows me to track you down," Long Yi said.
"I actually had no idea," Mahal said with a bitter smile.
"Had I let you know, chances are you would’ve found some opportunity to erase this magic, and then I’d have had a lot more trouble with you," Long Yi said.
That was indeed true; given Mahal’s degree of distrust towards people, he would certainly do such a thing.
"So, why have you come to me, my lord?" Mahal had no idea what Long Yi was suddenly aiming to do.
"I figure you should know what I’ve been up to recently, right?" Long Yi asked with a smile.
"Yes." Mahal nodded. Up until now, three or four brothers had always been active in the outside world, passing back the information they’d gathered. And recently, the news about the Plane and the islands that mentioned Long Yi the most had been impossible to ignore.
Long Yi nodded, then said, "Actually, I had intended for you to take over the Black Sea Demon Pirate Group, but somewhere along the line, a little error occurred, and I accidentally got the Interstellar Wraiths involved as well. So I thought, since I’ve already escalated the trouble, why not expand it further? Hence, I went ahead and, uh, what’s the name of the first pirate group again?"
"Silent Raging Flame," Mahal instinctively said.
"Right, that very poetic name. I just took the liberty of seizing two of their ships, and now I’ve successfully provoked them all!" Long Yi said excitedly.
"And then..." Mahal swallowed nervously as a bizarre idea surfaced in his mind, one so frightening that even he was taken aback. He told himself it wasn’t true, but Long Yi’s subsequent words felt like his heart had stopped.
"Next, it’s time for you guys to defeat the three major pirate groups and become the strongest pirate group in this Plane!"
A dead silence fell, and everyone forgot to breathe.
Thud!
Someone’s vision went dark, and they collapsed heavily to the ground.
"Look how excited he got, he fell over!" Long Yi chuckled.
"Big brother! You’re my own brother! This isn’t excitement! This is fear! We’re all scared to death! Please tell me you’re just joking!" Mahal could no longer pretend to be calm. Though he had envisioned many ways Long Yi might have him replace Yahola, he had never considered this method. Because it was simply impossible! His people, whether in numbers, individual strength, or the number of warships, couldn’t possibly outdo Yahola!
"Of course, I’m not joking! Look at my serious face!" Long Yi pointed to his own face and said.
Your serious face? Where’s the seriousness in that smile on your face?
"It’s impossible! With just the power of us here, let alone taking on the three big pirate groups, even the Black Sea Demon... no, no, no! To be called the Black Sea Demon, even any pirate group with more than two warships could easily wipe us out! We don’t have the supplies, the warships, or enough people!" Mahal knew that now was not the time to pretend they were more capable than they were; with such a massive disparity in strength, there was no way they could win!
"But I never said that you should go fight barehanded," Long Yi still said with a smile.
"Don’t tell me you’re going to join us?" Mahal’s eyes shone bright, and this time, not just Mahal, but the eyes of everyone around them lit up. Indeed, if they had someone on their team who could take a hit from a warship’s light cannon, just one person could hold off the enemy’s main force!
"Are you kidding? How could I possibly join you? I have more important things to do," Long Yi said.
"Then..." Mahal’s eyes immediately fixed on the pair of Mini Cosmic Stone Light Cannons at Long Yi’s waist. These had been the talk of the entire Plane, nearly akin to divine artifacts. If Long Yi could give him these, he could quietly return to the pirate group, make contact with insiders, raise his hand, and blast Yahola with one shot, ending all their problems!
Following Mahal’s gaze, all the pirates’ eyes also focused on the Mini Cosmic Stone Light Cannons at Long Yi’s waist, making him feel like the light cannons on his hip were heating up.
"There are only two of these, so stop dreaming. What I’ve prepared for you is something else," Long Yi said.
"Okay, then what is that something?" In Mahal’s view, whatever came next couldn’t possibly be of more value than Long Yi’s help or the Mini Cosmic Stone Light Cannons.
However, when one Battle Armor after another jumped down from the spaceship, standing in front of them, Mahal found himself shamefully short of breath.
"Come on, one for each person," Long Yi said with a smile. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes, monthly votes, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
