Star Gate

Chapter 508: Pirates (II)

Li Hao forced out a drop of blood from his fingertip, letting it drip down and sink into the ship. As the origin weapon shook, many thoughts entered the young man’s mind. It was his first time trying to claim an origin weapon. Although he owned quite a few, he’d never tried to assert ownership over any of them.

Truth be told, it wasn’t any easy process. However, given that the young man held Stellaris and it was erupting with the sword intent of the Eternal Sword, the origin weapon decided to make the process a bit easier. The fish was afraid that an overly complicated process would inspire the sword to smash it to pieces first.

“The Vast Kun Ship...” Li Hao murmured, his eyes darting around. [1] The information in his mind was easy to process—this was a formidable ship that could sail through the Forbidden Sea. Now that was a rare find. There was some information about the Forbidden Sea among the new information in the young man’s mind.

Therefore, the North Sea should be like a little creek to the ship.

It could carry a thousand people when enlarged—a perfect fit for the Silver Moon Guards. Golden Spear and the others had made use of it a few times, but not to great effect since they didn’t claim it as their personal treasure. Many functions were inert and yet to be activated for use.

Li Hao continued to peruse the new information that’d appeared. A sheen of silver appeared over his body; he sent his thoughts into it. “Can the armor pull up information?”

The armor system of the ancient civilization was incredible. Could it act as a reference library?

“The data library is not activated.” A row of characters appeared in front of Li Hao. “Data is lost and authorization insufficient. Only basic functions can be supplied...”

It was plain to see that the data library pertaining to this armor had not yet been repaired in Battle Heaven. That was a bit of a pity! He might’ve been able to look up a lot of things and not have to rely on guesswork when studying an origin weapon.

He put the Vast Kun Ship away—it was quite convenient that these treasures could be stowed after they were claimed. Li Hao continued wandering around the warehouse, walking into another secret chamber before long. This was where the Guards kept their files. He had some points of interest to look up—the ruins that Golden Spear had attempted before and what the organization knew about the pirates.

......

At the same time, the provincial government.

Director General Zhao sat at his desk, finishing his matters for the day. He glanced at Deputy Zhou in the distance. “Has the little guy gone back?”

“Yes, he’s gone back to base,” the deputy chuckled. “Do you think he’s gone into hiding or has other thoughts in mind?”

“It’s tough to say.” Deputy Zhou shook his head slightly. “We don’t know much about Li Hao. Whether it’s Hou Xiaochen or you, director general, everyone seems to want him to shoulder some responsibilities. But I think... there’s no need for that. The eight families were indeed clans that safeguarded the world in the ancient civilization, but this is endless eons later. The glories and duties of his forebears should not be imposed on him.”

The local powerhouses such as Hou Xiaochen and Director General Zhao seemed to very much wish that Li Hao could take on some responsibilities. And yet, Deputy Zhou didn’t agree with their viewpoint.

“The eight guardian clans protected the human race of that era, not modern day Silver Moon. Li Hao is also too young, his parents are dead and his best friend suffered a horrible end. I think that the director general is too optimistic.”

“We don’t know either,” sighed Director General Zhao. “The eight families gathered in Silver City. It is fine if they fall on the side of good, but once they do evil, they are a plague upon the world!

“You see what’s happened with Red Moon. Their leader may be part of the eight families. Abject misery is inflicted upon people when the eight families veer toward evil. Hou Xiaochen and I both hope that Li Hao can stand on the side of order and justice...”

“It’s tough to levy high standards on him!” said the deputy after some thought. “We can only influence him imperceptibly and set a good example by conduct. If we can’t do it ourselves, director general, is it reasonable to have him do it? He is young and needs to be swayed through words and actions, not through commands and coercion.”

He didn’t quite agree with Hou Xiaochen and the director general’s methods; they weren’t ideal.

“We want to, but... there’s not much we can do from that angle at the moment.” Director General Zhao laughed ruefully with a shake of his head. “Ah, forget it, he can do as he wishes. Have someone watch the seas so nothing goes wrong. As for Li Hao, let him be. I don’t care what he does so long as he doesn’t cause a ruckus in Silver Moon.”

The deputy went back to his duties. The two had worked together for so many years that even their offices were connected to each other to facilitate communication. This was a very rare arrangement.

......

All sides had their eyes on Hou Xiaochen’s group; one person in particular was calculating how long it’d take the convoy to exit the northern provinces. People were also watching Li Hao of Silver Moon, but any reconnaissance was wasted since the young man didn’t do anything after returning to the Silver Moon Guards barracks.

The entire province seemed to sink into quiet stillness after Hou Xiaochen left.

......

The North Sea.

Waves reared and tossed a massive ship around.

“Hou Xiaochen’s gone, the Silver Moon Guards are gone,” snarled a tyrannical and irate voice. “According to our calculations, these guys might reach the North Sea tomorrow or the day after. Shall we strike and ambush them on the open waters?”

“Do you have a death wish?” answered a frosty voice. “They have almost one thousand Silver Moon Guards, Hou Xiaochen, Golden Spear, Yu Luocha, and multiple other powerhouses. So many of the three great organizations’ Novas have died to their hands. Ambush them? Do you have shit for brains?”

“But I can’t just let them pass through like this!” raged the tyrannical voice. “That bastard Golden Spear killed so many of our brothers over the years...”

“Then you lead people to attack them. I won’t stop anyone who’s willing!”

“......” The ship’s hold suddenly fell quiet.

“How will we be able to do it if big brother doesn’t come with us...” mumbled the tyrannical voice with some reluctance. They really didn’t have the gall to make such an attempt without their boss. Hou Xiaochen was terrifying! It was only in the seas that they stood a chance as their targets were masters of land. The North Sea, however, was their territory.

“Then shut up!” echoed the aloof voice. The speaker couldn’t be bothered with the other as all the latter would do was offer ludicrous ideas. Ambush Hou Xiaochen? This is something that the three great organizations wouldn’t dare attempt, and you want me to ambush him? Do I look like I want to die? We spent so much effort creating this enterprise and dominating the seas. Even if I wanted to die, I don’t want to go out like this.

“Big brother, we should take revenge on Silver Moon even if we don’t on Golden Spear,” raised Tyrannical. “The Silver Moon Guards and Hou Xiaochen are gone. Why don’t we rush to Silver Moon, slaughter some of his cities, and make Hou Xiaochen and the Guards regret their prior actions!”

“Silver Moon is impoverished. Where is there a city rich enough for our efforts apart from White Moon City?” Dissatisfaction crept into Aloof’s tones. “There may be more than Hou Xiaochen in White Moon who’s concealing their true strength. It’s a very dangerous place and completely meaningless to attack. We might bring trouble down on our heads instead.”

“Then we should at least kill some Silver Moon people, even if we leave White Moon City alone. The province has some cities near the sea, we’ll just raze one of them! If not, our brothers won’t be willing to let things go like this, it’s not just me! They’ve been cooped up something fierce, they need to stretch their legs.

“It’s not a good idea to head to the three northern provinces right now since they’re at war. We’ll just turn into targets. But we can throw our weight around in Silver Moon with no problem. We’re going to go crazy if we keep staying cooped up in here!”

Raucous agreement sounded in the ship.

“That’s right, boss! The third master is right, we’re going stir-crazy!”

“Yeah! Those Silver Moon Guards killed a lot of us before. Those Silver Moon damned savages are vicious!”

“......” Sentiment soared and the crowd agitated. A man in white upon a throne furrowed his brows and looked at Big Beard among the crowd. He bore a scar on his forehead that was courtesy of Golden Spear from two years ago. The man obviously itched for vengeance.

“Hou Xiaochen is crafty and cunning.” Aloof frowned. “He won’t be wholly unprepared since he dared leave with all of the Silver Moon Guards. It’s not like fools oversee the province. It may be a trap if we go to them now...”

“Boss, we’re pirates, not politicians!” Big Beard agitated. “Every bullet results in an extra inch of territory. Do we need to worry so much with our strength? Silver Moon would’ve risen over the other northern provinces a long time ago if they were that strong, would they wait until now?”

He was growing unhappy with the boss’ indecisiveness and unreasonableness. Granted, his unhappiness was useless since he was weaker than Aloof. On the seas, strength was king.

What was there to be wary of when it came to Silver Moon? These pirates had raided mid-sized cities along the central region coastlines before. They were only human and needed food, drink, and women to vent their furies into. It’d been a long time since their last raid since the times hadn’t been right for one.

Silver Moon had plainly entered a defensive void. He wouldn’t be able to look at the scar on his head if they didn’t pay the province a visit. He’d wring old fart Golden Spear’s neck sooner or later!

Big Beard had lost by a hair two years ago, but he’d become a supernatural since then and improved quickly. There was no way that Golden Spear had matched him in pace.

Aloof looked silently at the fidgeting Big Beard and the rest of the eager crowd. “Then... take a few brothers with you and be careful,” he said faintly. “Retreat as soon as you find something amiss. Remember, don’t linger too long on land!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll come back as soon as we’ve had our fun!” promised an overjoyed Big Beard. He’d finally received permission!

“We’re going to raid Silver Moon!” he roared with excitement. “We’re gonna kill and loot and screw their women! Silver Moon is poor, but their women are soft! You can squeeze the water out of them! And heh, their female martial masters have some fire and kick to them! Brothers, come with me!”

“The third master is mighty!” yelled the motley crew. They streamed outside with Big Beard, where several large ships rested.

1. The peng is a giant bird that transforms into an enormous kun fish in Chinese mythology. ☜