Chapter 717: Fake It Until You Make It!
Recently, Spider Den had been particularly lively. Scumbags in every corner of Flying Star Sector had gathered in this place. Niu Youyi, the black market merchant, told Li Yao a concise summary of the events that had taken place over the past year, and it seemed he had told a lot of people about the events before.
More than a year ago, the Temple of Immortals suddenly revealed itself. Not only were the Cultivators greatly shocked, most space pirates were caught unprepared, too.
In the beginning, Bai Xinghe did not start on bad terms with the Temple of Immortals, because he knew that the Temple of Immortals must have prepared a lot of schemes during their hundreds of years of hiding in darkness. Besides, most of the personnel of the organization was still lurking. It was not time to take action yet.
Therefore, he pretended to be a guy who tried to defend his position and yet did not have enough strength. He was very stubborn about the Temple of Immortals' recruitment on the surface, but he kept a close relationship with Black Spider Tower, a branch of the Temple of Immortals. A lot of his business operated through the channels of Black Spider Tower. When people of the Temple of Immortals reached out to him and invited him to join it, he did not turn down the offer, although he did not agree on the spot, leaving room for negotiation.
When the Temple of Immortals supported Fengyu Zhong to be the second king of space pirates in order to marginalize him, he burst into fury and planned multiple operations targeting Fengyu Zhong.
However, the operations were all unsuccessful and crushed by Fengyu Zhong easily.
As a result, he gave Fengyu Zhong and people of the Temple of Immortals the impression that he was 'just so-so'.
For the Temple of Immortals, they did not want to completely alienate Bai Xinghe.
After all, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Since Bai Xinghe had been running his business on Spider Den for almost a hundred years, he had grasped immeasurable resources and subordinates in secret. It would have done nobody any good if they were determined to eliminate Bai Xinghe.
The best solution was to boil the frog in warm water. On one hand, they made various promises to Bai Xinghe and even tempted him with the title of the fifth king of the Temple of Immortals. On the other hand, they fully supported the rise of Fengyu Zhong in order to gradually reduce Bai Xinghe's power. When Fengyu Zhong was as influential as Bai Xinghe among the common space pirates, there would be no other alternatives except to lower his head.
Over the past year, the strategy proved to be very successful.
Bai Xinghe gave other people the feeling that he was too old and no longer the striving young man he used to me. He treasured his accomplishments over the past decades too much and did not dare fight a head-on battle with the ambitious latecomer Fengyu Zhong. At the same time, he was greedily negotiating with the Temple of Immortals on every detail as to his position, power, and resources after he joined the Temple of Immortals, as if he would really become the fifth king of the Temple of Immortals as long as the Temple of Immortals agreed to his conditions!
As a result, many pirate gangs that supported Bai Xinghe gradually took Fengyu Zhong's side.
Even within the Abyss Pirate Gang, many space pirates who built the enterprise from scratch together with him gradually became involved in the Temple of Immortals, too.
Bai Xinghe seemed to know none of it. He was still making ridiculous plans one after another and even gave people the feeling that he was trying to win the Temple of Immortals' favor against Fengyu Zhong.
Later, everybody on Spider Den would learn his newly-drafted plan the moment he announced it.
After several times of failure, Bai Xinghe seemed to be intimidated. He completely backed off and became more unfriendly than ever, as if he had abandoned all hope.
He did not make a move when Fengyu Zhong secluded himself for one month to break into the Nascent Soul Stage.
"Boss Bai is really old now, and the Temple of Immortals is too strong!"
For a moment, all the space pirates were whispering in secret.
If it were one year ago, nobody would even have dared to think about that, much less whisper about it.
However, none of the space pirates knew that Bai Xinghe had not taken any real action yet.
The man who could spend a fortnight in the underground world of Spider Den and melt the darkness into his blood knew clearly that, even though Fengyu Zhong was advancing into the Nascent Soul Stage in seclusion, the strength of the Temple of Immortals on Spider Den was still much higher than his.
He stood no chance of winning if he acted now.
He had to wait no matter what.
He knew that the Temple of Immortals would not lurk on Spider Den forever. No matter how they planned to overthrow the Cultivators, they would have to mobilize most of their strength into space to fight against the Cultivators.
His guess was correct.
The battle of Heavenly Saints City was the largest operation since the Temple of Immortals revealed itself. It required even more manpower and resources than the battle of Iron Plateau did.
The Immortal Cultivators who belonged to the Temple of Immortals, the assassins of Black Spider Tower, and the space pirates who joined Fengyu Zhong's side gradually moved on to Heavenly Saints City for the mission over the few months.
The intelligence network under the control of Black Spider Tower was also fighting hard with the 'Immortal Slayers' sent by the Cultivators, trying to dig out spies that were hiding inside the Temple of Immortals such as 'Apollo'.
With all the emergencies, the half-boiled old frog really did not deserve much attention.
However, at exactly the same time when the battle of Heavenly Saints City broke out, Bai Xinghe took action!
Fake it until you make it.
Within one night, six bureaus of Black Spider Tower were uprooted, seven black markets under the control of Black Spider Tower were looted and burnt to the ground, and twelve docks and crystal suit centers under the name of Fengyu Zhong were assaulted simultaneously. Not only were all the facilities destroyed, a lot of refiners also went missing. Many of them were even beheaded on the spot!
Everything changed overnight.
Before dawn, the leaders of eleven pirate gangs lost their heads without a reason.
All of them had been loyal to and were greatly helped by Bai Xinghe, but they joined Fengyu Zhong's side when Bai Xinghe showed that he was weak.
The strength that the Temple of Immortals had left on Spider Den was mostly wiped out during the night.
Just like that, Bai Xinghe took advantage of the situation with one year of forbearing and one night of outbreak. He proved with his brutal methods that the Pirate Potentate might not achieve anything but was certain able to sabotage many things!
Right now, the situation on Spider Den was utter chaos.
Many space pirates were awed and returned to Bai Xinghe.
However, many other space pirates held that the Temple of Immortals were deeply rooted and extremely wealthy. Even though Bai Xinghe was on the winning side right now, it was impossible for him to last long against the Temple of Immortals. He was merely trying to get more bargaining chips for his negotiation with the Temple of Immortals.
Therefore, these people were determined to stand with Fengyu Zhong, Black Spider Tower, and the Temple of Immortals, with the thought 'difficult times are when one's loyalty is proved' in mind, and worked even harder.
Although Bai Xinghe's Abyss Pirate Gang and Fengyu Zhong's Storm Prison Pirate Gang had not engaged in battle yet, the secondary pirate gangs had already started fighting.
They were like the scouts sent by two great armies who were involved in brutal combat.
"Right now, Spider Den is a chaotic place. Almost every city is on fire!
"But this is also the time when foreign space pirates like you earn your fame!
"Many pirate gangs are hiring talents with a decent price. Daily contracts and result-based contracts are all available! If you distinguish yourself and Boss Bai or Fengyu Zhong notices you, your future will be nothing but bright!"
Niu Youyi spoke touchingly, as if he were really thinking of Li Yao's interests.
Li Yao asked, showing neither approval nor disapproval, "You know a guy?"
"Of course!" Niu Youyi smiled. "Although I cannot introduce you to the Abyss Pirate Gang or the Storm Prison Pirate Gang, I do know some guys in the middle-sized pirate gangs on both sides."
"Is that so?"
Li Yao blinked and asked, "I wonder, which side is more likely to win? I have never liked to stand on the loser's side."
Niu Youyi replied, "In terms of odds of success, Fengyu Zhong's side is obviously higher. He is supported by Black Spider Tower and the Temple of Immortals after all! However, Boss Bai has his own advantages, too, which are the secret treasures below ground!"
Li Yao's eyes suddenly shone as he asked, "What secret treasures?"
The gate of the warehouse had been closed, but Niu Youyi still looked around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping, before he lowered his voice and said, "You must know a thing or two about Boss Bai's rise even though you are not a native of Spider Den. But I'm afraid you don't know the details.
"It is said that Yan Xinjian, the supreme space pirate from five hundred years ago, went deep down underground and found the control center of the underground fortress of Spider Den before the fleet of Cultivators arrived. It was only because he activated the defense system of Spider Den to 50% that the army of Cultivators was stopped!
"In his early days as a treasure hunter, Boss Bai found Yan Xinjian's notebook by accident and learned his knowledge. He then grasped all the secrets below the earth of Spider Den!
"Think about it. In the Star Ocean Imperium ten thousand years ago, the military constructed Spider Den as the last castle of the Flying Star Sector! Unbelievable resources, Cultivation arts, and magical equipment were buried inside! Bring several items out, and everybody will benefit a lot!"
Li Yao sniffed. "Even though Boss Bai received the heritage of Yan Xinjian, how can everybody know such a big secret?"
Niu Youyi replied, his face unchanged, "It is hard to tell if the story is true, but the Cultivation arts and magical equipment that Boss Bai presented are definitely real!
"In short, Boss Bai has decided to bring out all his belongings to fight a last battle!
"This is basically the situation right now. If you join Fengyu Zhong's side, you will be more likely to win with the support of Black Spider Tower and the Temple of Immortals, but your gains will be relatively fewer. Many of their promises are empty and can only be redeemed a long time in the future.
"If you stand on Boss Bai's side, naturally, the chances of winning are slim, but you will receive your rewards on the spot and won't need to wait at all.
"Since you are planning to buy a high-end crystal suit like 'Fire Dragon Battlesuit', I assume you are an expert perhaps in the Building Foundation Stage. Both sides are running out of hands and are in desperate need of experts like you. Think about it. I'll introduce you to them and give you a 70% discount on the intermediary fee!"