Chapter 711: Two Tigers on One Mountain
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Li Yao was dumbfounded.
Theoretically speaking, the leader of any pirate gang could be addressed as 'Boss Bai' as long as their surname was Bai.
However, over the past few decades, there had been only one Boss Bai on Spider Den. None of the other space pirates dared to call themselves 'Boss Bai'. They did not even have the courage to call themselves 'Brother Bai'.
Li Yao did not expect that Bai Xinghe, whose legendary life had left a deep impression on him a moment ago, would attack the carrier he was on so quickly.
Confused, Li Yao blurted out, "Isn't Boss Bai on our side? We are all working for the Temple of Immortals. Why is he assaulting us?"
It was not unusual for space pirates to attack each other when they encountered in the space. But it mostly happened when a pirate gang had just finished a job and their trophies attracted other pirates' attention.
The carrier Li Yao snuck in, on the other hand, was commanded by the Temple of Immortals and had just finished the assault on Heavenly Saints City. It had been cruising in stealth mode and had not robbed anybody. Naturally, there were no valuable goods on the starship.
What was wrong with Bai Xinghe? Why did he do such a thing so close to Spider Den, everybody's home camp?
Li Yao thought that the question he raised was perfectly reasonable. But the panicked space pirate grew suspicious the moment he heard the question. He eyed Li Yao up and down and asked, "Who are you?"
Li Yao frowned. He had been seen through.
Li Yao sighed. Spiritual energy surged out of his body and condensed into an invisible giant hand, which grabbed the space pirate's throat and raised him into the air.
The space pirate was quite weak. Now that he was choked by the hand, his face immediately turned black, and his eyeballs were rolling crazily. However, he could not scream or cry for help.
Li Yao dragged him back to the maintenance room and threw him to the ground heavily.
After a click, Li Yao locked the door with his spiritual energy, and he eyed the man coldly. He did not release his throat until he was almost in a state of shock.
The space pirate squirmed and coughed loudly like a half-dead lobster.
Li Yao extended one of his fingers. Invisible spiritual energy turned into a sharp cone on his fingertip and poked the man's chest softly, as he asked, "I will ask questions, and you will answer them. If you tell the truth, I will spare your life."
The space pirate was quite a quick-minded guy. Feeling the throbbing pain on his chest, he knew that his kidnapper was not someone he could deal with. He quickly nodded and said, "Don't kill me. Whatever you want to know, senior, I will tell anything!"
"The situation was quite a mess when the starship left Heavenly Saints City," Li Yao said. "Other than members of the Tiger Teeth Pirate Gang, some of the space pirates from several other gangs were evacuated to this starship, too.
"It's impossible that you know the hundreds of space pirates. Why did you grow suspicious about me? Is there anything wrong with the question I asked?"
The space pirate breathed heavily for a while and felt like crying. "Everybody on Spider Den knows that Boss Bai and Fengyu Zhong, who only rose to fame recently, do not see eye to eye with each other.
"Two tigers cannot live on the same mountain, and two kings cannot rule Spider Den at the same time.
"Before, 'Hellsword' Zhuang Ziyou, the other Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator on Spider Den, had many conflicts with Boss Bai, too. They reached a deal in the end. Hellsword would be a lone wolf and never establish his own pirate gang. In return, Boss Bai would provide a huge number of resources for Hellsword every year.
"With such a deal in place, the two space pirates in the Nascent Soul Stage were at peace again.
"But it is different for Fengyu Zhong. He has always been ambitious, and now with the support of the Temple of Immortals, he has swallowed quite a few pirate gangs over the past year. His strength is ten times higher than before. Naturally, clashes between Boss Bai and him are inevitable.
"Although the two of them had not begun fighting yet when we left Spider Den, it was perfectly normal for them to lose patience and decide to attack the other party. Therefore, it is quite abnormal that you were so surprised.
"Your second question is even more weird."
Li Yao raised his eyebrow. "I said everybody was working for the Temple of Immortals. Isn't it so?"
"Of course not." The space pirate smiled miserably. "Everybody on Spider Den knows that other people work for Boss Bai. Boss Bai does not work for anybody."
Li Yao was dazed. He pondered for a moment and realized that he had been wrong about something all the time.
From the moment he first came into contact with the Immortal Cultivators, space pirates had been their accomplices. Fengyu Zhong was personally involved in the Immortal Cultivators' first scheme and was a loyal dog for them.
In the battle of Heavenly Saints City, a lot of space pirates had participated and helped with the transportation.
Therefore, Li Yao had the impression that all the space pirates were partners of the Immortal Cultivators.
But it appeared now that space pirates and Immortal Cultivators were not necessarily on the same boat.
At the very least, Bai Xinghe, the 'Pirate Potentate', did not seem to be a guy willing to bow to somebody else, according to his life experience.
Thinking for a moment, Li Yao asked, "Is Boss Bai in a bad relationship with the Temple of Immortals? What are their conflicts?"
The space pirate replied helplessly, "What can the pawns such as us know about the specific conflicts? But over the past year, there have indeed been a number of rumors saying that Boss Bai does not like the Immortal Cultivators of the Temple of Immortals, who jumped out of nowhere."
Li Yao was going to ask the reason, but he swallowed the question and realized that he was being silly.
An emperor would not allow somebody else to covet his empire. Who was Bai Xinghe? He was the underground emperor of Spider Den!
As the Pirate Potentate, Bai Xinghe suddenly discovered that an enormous organization was lurking right under his nose. It had ill intentions and concocted various evil plans.
Li Yao felt that it was alarming enough if he were Bai Xinghe.
"Didn't the Temple of Immortals try to buy over Boss Bai?" Li Yao asked.
The space pirate quickly replied, "Maybe. But Boss Bai buys other people. How can anybody buy Boss Bai? In short, over the past year, Boss Bai has not thought highly of many things that the Temple of Immortals did. It is said that they had conflicts in secret many times. The Temple of Immortals' full support for Fengyu Zhong had a lot to do with those conflicts, too."
Li Yao pondered for a moment and thought everything through.
For such a distinguished man as Bai Xinghe, it was extremely difficult to buy him. The price would be very high, and even if he was bought, it would be hard to manipulate him. Nobody could anticipate if he would swallow the Temple of Immortals instead.
Therefore, the Temple of Immortals decided to bring up their own 'Pirate Potentate'.
In the past, Fengyu Zhong was also a well-known brutal bandit in the circle of space pirates. But he did not have his own docks or crystal suit centers. In other words, he was only among the best ones in the middle class of space pirates.
Such people were the most ambitions and the easiest to buy over. As long as he was promised Bai Xinghe's position as the new ruler of space pirates when the endeavors succeeded, he would be the most loyal warrior for the Temple of Immortals and do what he was ordered to wholeheartedly.
Naturally, it hurt the interests of Bai Xinghe, the incumbent 'Pirate Potentate'. The conflicts between the two parties were not strange at all.
Li Yao sorted through all the information in his head and asked a few more questions.
However, the man was a pawn in his pirate gang in the first place, and he had been away from Spider Den for almost half a year for the mission. Therefore, he did not know the latest situation on Spider Den. Li Yao's questions proved futile.
"Last question. Answer it honestly, and I will not kill you." Li Yao did not give him time to think. He asked straightforwardly, "How many ordinary people have you killed?"
The space pirate was dazed for a moment. His eyeballs rolled to the up.
It was a micro-expression suggesting that he was recalling and counting.
It also meant that he had killed ordinary people.
Li Yao's lips curled. His eyes turned cold.
The space pirate shuddered and shouted crazily, "You said you wouldn't kill me! You said you wouldn't kill me!"
Scratching his chin, Li Yao smiled. "Do I look like someone who honors his words?"
Five minutes later, Li Yao appeared among the overlapping wires of spiritual energy above the cabin that stored the escape capsules.
Unless absolutely necessary, Li Yao did not want to run into space in an escape capsule, especially at a moment when Bai Xinghe's starships were possibly patrolling nearby.
The explosions gradually died down, and the carrier became stable again.
Li Yao hid himself and released Neltharion silently. He attached half of his telepathic thoughts to Neltharion and commanded it to fly along the pathway in stealth mode.
It was obvious that every zone of the carrier had been taken over by another group of space pirates.
The intruders were well-trained and looked sharp. Intense killing intent was flowing out of their eyes. It was not simply boldness on the surface, but a toughness deep to the bones indicating that they did not care for the lives of other people or their own.
Faced with the intruders, the space pirates on the carrier did not have the courage to fight back at all. They all sat in the corners of each cabin with their hands on their heads.
Li Yao thought of something. The intruders were likely from Bai Xinghe's Abyss Pirate Gang.
Right then, a large batch of space pirates crowded toward the bridge.
Since Neltharion was no larger than a finger and it was in the stealth mode, it followed the space pirates into the bridge easily.
In the middle of the bridge, there were two space pirates, one standing and the other on his knees.
The standing pirate was wearing colorful casual clothes. He was slightly bold, and his hawk nose protruded forward high. A blinking, eye-catching pendent in the shape of a spider was hanging on his neck.
It seemed that he was not here for a fight, but for a vacation.
He stared at the space pirate who was kneeling before him in pure boredom. There was pity and scorn in his indifferent eyes.
The space pirate who was on his knees was wearing a glamorous coat made of bear hide, with a bear head sewn onto its shoulder. He could not have looked more intimidating.
Yet, sweat and tears covered his face. He was going to move forward and hold the other person's leg, but he did not have the courage and simply cried. "Boss Bai, I was wrong. I was really wrong. Please do spare me!"
The two words 'Boss Bai' nearly made Li Yao's heart skip a beat.
He did not know that the legendary Pirate Potentate would assault the carrier in person. No wonder the bridge had been taken over so easily.
If he had known that Bai Xinghe, a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, was in this place, Li Yao would never have dared to send Neltharion in.
However, it was easier to come in than to get out. The cabin door had been closed. Members of the Abyss Pirate Gang was everywhere. Li Yao did not dare to move at all, fearing that Bai Xinghe would discover him.
He could only hide Neltharion in a corner and eavesdropped anyway.
Li Yao knew the space pirate who was begging on the ground. He was Luo Jinhu, the owner of the carrier and the captain of the Tiger Teeth Pirate Gang.
The man was an expert in the beginning level of the Core Formation Stage. His name was on the wanted list of Heavenly Saints City for his countless crimes.
However, such a brutal bandit in the Core Formation Stage was like a stray dog whose three legs had been broken before Bai Xinghe. He was crying buckets and could not have looked more miserable!