Translator: AnubisTL
"Of course not," Wang Jili said, shaking his head with a hint of exasperation. "The federation would never grant Jin Yishan such broad authority. But Jin Yishan is prone to emotional outbursts, so this kind of reckless action isn't entirely surprising."
"Even if Jin Yishan manages to complete this mission successfully, the federation will likely use him as a scapegoat to vent their anger."
"He'll have to pay a heavy price to get through this."
"If the fallout is severe enough, tomorrow's news might announce the complete annihilation of the Albatross Chaotic Faction."
"That man... he's far too impulsive."
In terms of firepower, Wang Jili was just a businessman with a group of subordinates who barely qualified as an armed force. How could he possibly compete with a Chaotic Faction like Albatross?
He knew exactly what Albatross did: smuggling.
Smugglers didn't care about anything but overwhelming firepower. Their motto was simple: "Disobey? Get blasted." Going head-to-head with them was clearly beyond his capabilities.
His plan was simple:
Divert the trouble eastward and snatch the coals from the fire.
The reason he manipulated events to have the Albatross accept the federation mission was straightforward: the Albatross's third-in-command was his man, giving him ample room to maneuver. None of his operatives within other Chaotic Factions held a higher rank than this third-in-command.
Trying to seize the target through brute force was out of the question; he simply lacked the firepower.
His strategy was to exploit the chaos and have the third-in-command spirit the target away.
As for how to shake off the Albatross afterward...
Wang Jili glanced at his wristwatch and curled his lip in annoyance. "Why haven't they arrived yet? Are they moving too slowly? They can't even catch a hot meal."
Indeed, the smuggling operation on Orange Red Star was contracted to a faction within the Li Clan Merchant Guild.
The guild's chairman, Li Shangyin, was a formidable figure.
Driven by a deep-seated need for security, he had infiltrated nearly every faction around the subhuman star with operatives or planted surveillance devices.
Coincidentally, he had also placed an operative within this particular faction. Though the operative held a low-ranking position, it would suffice for his purposes.
All he needed to do was leak the news of Albatross's smuggling operation on Orange Red Star to Chairman Li.
Based on his understanding of the man, Li would already be racing over, weapons in hand, to confront Albatross and his crew.
Competition in the smuggling industry was brutally simple: survival determined who controlled the smuggling routes on a given planet.
How things had escalated to this point remained a mystery.
The result was that smugglers had become heavily armed fanatics, their firepower maxed out. Disagreements were settled with lethal force—kill or be killed.
He had long known that Li Shangyin had been searching for Albatross, frustrated by his inability to locate him. Eliminating Albatross would transfer control of the lucrative smuggling operations on that planet to Li Shangyin—a windfall no one could resist, especially not smugglers.
The best way to deal with one smuggling faction was, of course, to let another take its place.
At that moment, a communication request came through from Albatross's third-in-command.
A hurried, anxious voice crackled through the line.
"Are your people here yet? They're closing in fast, less than a kilometer away, and the distance is shrinking. I've got the old woman on the roof—they haven't dared shoot, or I'd be dead by now."
"If they don't get here soon, I'll be cornered. If I die, I'll take that old woman with me!"
"No one's getting out of this alive!"
"Fuck!"
Hu Biao flew into a rage at these words. His face twisted with fury as he leaned over the passenger seat and roared into Wang Jili's wrist communicator, "I'll fucking kill you! You lay a finger on my mother, and I swear I'll make you pay!"
"Damn it, I'll—"
"Quiet, quiet," Wang Jili said, pushing Hu Biao's head back with a sigh. "Stop yelling. Can't you calm down? Sit back down."
Then he spoke into the communicator.
"Don't panic. My people are almost there. Relax—you'll get your share. You'll be living the good life for the rest of your days."
"Trust me. I've got this. Just floor it and stall for a little longer."
"You're a veteran, what's with the panic?"
"Alright!"
Heavy breathing came through the communicator.
"I trust you."
"Was that old woman's son who just spoke? Hu Biao? Are you working for him this time?"
"Tell him to watch his mouth. My mother's been dead for years. If he wants to dig up her grave, he can go ahead. But if he says one more dirty word, I'll dig up his mother's grave right now."
"Stop calling me 'father' all the time. It's annoying. One more word and I'll deal with his mother first. 'Fuck your mother'—who's mother do you think you're fucking?"
"When I was out running the streets, he was still playing in the mud with his piss."
The call ended abruptly.
Hu Biao sat in the back seat, his expression shifting between dark and uncertain. For a moment, he didn't speak, his heart twisting with pain, unable to sit still.
He hadn't imagined rescuing his mother would be this complicated. She was still gravely ill, strapped to the outside of a speeding car—how could she endure such treatment, especially with the constant threat of gunfire?
"What's wrong? Feeling a little uneasy?"
Wang Jili chuckled, lighting a cigarette as he leaned back in his seat. He opened the sunroof, gazed up at the night sky, and shook his head with a smile. "Don't worry about it. These guys are desperate criminals. They don't exactly have clean mouths."
"They live by the sword, licking blood off the blade every day. No one knows when their time will come. You expect them to speak politely and act civilized? That's impossible."
"Besides, he wouldn't actually do something like that. And..."
"Uh..."
He paused abruptly, then corrected himself: "Anyway, as long as things don't escalate, he probably wouldn't do something like that."
"And your mother will definitely be strapped to the outside of the vehicle. Otherwise, if they get shot down, no one will escape. It's a crude tactic, but under these circumstances, it's the best solution."
"Relax. I told you before we set out that your mother was at risk. Haven't you seen how many people have already died? It wouldn't be surprising if she's next."
"Anyone who gets into this line of work should have prepared themselves for this kind of outcome long ago."
"Most people in this line of work have lost their families. They're all lone wolves with nothing to hold them back. You're the first person I've ever met who joined this profession while still having an elderly mother bedridden at home."
"If my mother hadn't been bedridden with a serious illness and we couldn't afford treatment, I never would have gotten into this line of work," Hu Biao said, shifting uneasily and glancing resentfully at Wang Jili.
"Well, that makes sense," Wang Jili replied. "But take heart. Your mother has a good chance of surviving."
Scar Dog stood at the edge of a rooftop, gazing at the colossal explosion in the suburbs. His expression was wistful as he said, "I always thought the limit of violent law enforcement was beating suspects. Now I realize there's no limit at all."
"Maybe the limit of violent law enforcement is only as high as humanity's audacity."
"Speaking of which, what's the federation thinking?"
"To hunt down one wanted criminal who killed over a hundred thousand people, they're willing to sacrifice nearly a tenth of Ash City to pursue him?"
"If the federation keeps enforcing the law like this, they'll destroy themselves without us even needing to lift a finger."
Chen Jiang glanced at the radiant blue light blooming in the distance, his expression peculiar. "I knew Ash City would be lively tonight, but I never imagined it would be this lively."
"These guys must be completely out of their minds, not even considering the consequences. This couldn't be the federation's doing."
Indeed, after hearing Wang Jili's plan, Chen Jiang had slipped out that very night. As for why he was out? To watch the spectacle, of course.
The Ten Thousand Races Arena was a far cry from this kind of entertainment. Without a global event, it was utterly boring—nothing to do but sleep and eat.
He'd left the task of mapping the territory entirely to Scar Dog and Li Hao. They'd already located several mechanical race cities but hadn't moved in yet, waiting for a global event that offered rewards for killing alien races to maximize their gains.
Now that there was finally some excitement to witness, how could he miss it? Besides, they were here on a mission. With that item, Li Hao's mental power was practically limitless.
They could freely manifest maps and open phantom gates.
After enjoying the spectacle, they decided to visit Orange Red Star's most prosperous city, North Creek City, which they had visited before.
Just then—
A massive ray of strange, starlike light suddenly erupted in the distance, slicing through the night sky and piercing toward the city district.
"Holy shit," Scar Dog muttered, watching the scene unfold. "What kind of weapon is that?"
"Let's go check it out."
The group quickly vanished from the rooftop.
"Damn impressive," a voice exclaimed from Wang Jili's wrist communicator. "Your people are truly something else. They even pulled out the x-15 Cosmic Ray. I'm speechless."
"My people have been intercepted and are temporarily safe. Send me your coordinates, and I'll bring them to you."
"Alright."
Wang Jili nodded with a strange expression, sent the coordinates, and glanced out the window at the starlike ray, saying nothing.
He knew that those in the smuggling business would naturally possess powerful weapons.
However, the existence of the x-15 Cosmic Ray made him realize that the Li Clan Merchant Guild was just a bunch of fools.
The x-series was a weapon line developed by the Galactic Federation Research Institute. These weapons had only one purpose: immense destructive power, far surpassing conventional weapons, and were strictly forbidden from entering the black market.
Any discovered instances were to be confiscated immediately.
Of course, as was obvious, this was just another empty promise.
(End of the Chapter)
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