Chapter Twelve: The Thirty-first Pirate Gang, Section 10

Unlike the bustling scene on Hell Star, the air in Li Feng was utterly quiet. Everyone—every sand pirate, including the fat Baroka and the young girl Sulei—sat frozen in their seats, staring in shock at the rows of data scrolling across the control room screens.
“Who… who can tell me… what’s going on here?” Baroka’s voice sounded like a groan, filled with pain. His usually wrinkled face was smooth, and his eyes were tightly closed.
“Why did we get chased here? All our instruments stopped working at once. And this warship, this damned warship, seems to have its own life—storming into this hellhole!!”
His voice rose sharply as Baroka stood up, staring intently out the window.
“It’s a cosmic storm!! A cosmic storm!! Do you understand?! No matter how strong this damned warship is, all that awaits us in this place is death!! You, me, everyone here—we’ll all die!!”
Roaring loudly, Baroka seemed to have lost his mind, waving his thick arms frantically in the control room. The sand pirates around him stared at him dumbfounded, unable to say a word.
Only the young girl Sulei, though also with her eyes closed, appeared calm.
“Are you afraid of death?” she asked softly, standing up as well.
“If you’re afraid of death, how dare you defy Mr. Blackhair’s orders and pilot this warship into that unknown star region? Who gave you the right? And what about the navigation system failing? Do you think I’m stupid? You’re trying to use this warship to escape, aren’t you? That newly discovered planet—wasn’t that the base you planned to establish? You’re scared, scared that others will find out. That’s why you kept chasing those pirates who happened to discover you, right?”
“Shut up!!” Baroka’s fat face twisted as he yelled at Sulei.
“Yes, I’m escaping!! But isn’t that understandable? Don’t forget how that black-haired guy treated my children. Over thirty lives—children who had followed me since they were young. They barely escaped the sand worms, only to be killed by that guy. How can I just let it go??”
“That’s because you’re greedy,” Sulei said disdainfully, turning her head away.

“Who isn’t greedy? That’s just how the world is. Little girl, take a good look. What kind of warship is this!! Have you ever seen power strong enough to easily destroy a pair ofNeedlefish-class ships? Have you ever seen a warship with tougher armor and greater firepower? No!! I can tell you that a warship like this definitely doesn’t exist even in the largest organizations in the universe, like the Interstellar Fleet. This is a power bestowed upon me by heaven. I’ll use it to open up our future!!”

“This is also something given to you by Mr. Blackhair. How shameless.”

“Shut your fucking mouth!!” Baroka’s veins bulged on his forehead as a few words from the little girl Sulei enraged him. His gaze turned extremely fierce. But Sulei didn’t care at all about his expression; instead, she stared back at him defiantly.

“You want to kill me, right? But you can’t bring yourself to do it. Without me, you can’t access any resources on Silver Star. Without me, you can’t touch any of Mr. Blackhair’s assets. Even without me, you won’t get the support of the Creek Merchant Guild! That’s why you’re not killing me, right? Ah, no, you have another reason… You’re afraid, afraid of encountering Mr. Blackhair again. If you kill me, you’ll never get his forgiveness. So you’re just leaving yourself a backdoor, aren’t you?”

Sulei’s voice was like a sharp knife, cutting deep into Baroka’s heart, causing his massive body to tremble. But as she said, Baroka truly didn’t have the courage to harm even a single hair on this little girl’s head.

Because she was right. He was afraid—afraid of that man with black hair, afraid of those eyes filled with death.

In pain, Baroka closed his eyes and waved his hand, signaling for Sulei to stop talking.

“Enough, Sulei. It’s too late to say anything now. We’ve already entered this damned cosmic storm. The pirates ahead are out of sight. What we should focus on now is how to regain control of this warship and get out of here.”

There was nothing else to do but resign oneself. In truth, Baroka’s ambitions weren’t that great. He just wanted to live more comfortably with his children. The deserts of Xieke Planet had already made them suffer greatly. These children had all survived against all odds. To survive, they ate anything, yet it was never enough. And now, after just a few days of peace, they were about to be buried in this terrifying cosmic storm again.

Thinking of this, Baroka shook his head. To be honest, the black-haired man had been quite good to them sand pirates—never abusing them. Although over thirty of his children had died at his hands, it was also because of him that he could escape from the death-filled desert of Shek Planet. Fighting alongside him, no matter how many battles there were, the losses were often astonishingly small. Of the eighty children who had left with him, not a single one was dead or injured to this day.

Perhaps he really had made a mistake this time? A hint of confusion flashed across Baroka’s eyes.

“There’s nothing left to do,” Suley’s voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Under the gazes of the sand pirates, the young girl slowly walked to the window, staring at the raging arcs of electricity and the terrifying nebula outside, her face calm.

“We won’t die. Haven’t you noticed? Even though we’ve entered a cosmic storm, we haven’t suffered any damage yet. Add to that the warship going out of control—Baroka, can’t you think of anything?”

“You mean?” Baroka’s eyes lit up instantly, though his fat face twitched uncontrollably.

“That’s right!” The girl turned around to face Baroka directly, her expression full of disdain. “What you fear the most… has arrived.”

At the same time, in the headquarters of the Hell Planet Pirates Alliance.

It was a small building only three stories tall, unremarkable in Hell City. But no one could have imagined that beneath this tiny structure, the pirates had built an underground kingdom spanning five kilometers in radius and hundreds of meters in depth. The surrounding walls were made of high-density rock, capable of withstanding the bombardment of warship guns without any damage.

At that moment, in the largest hall of the building, hundreds of pirates were working frantically. Around the thirty-plus giant crystals surrounding the hall, figures moved swiftly, with countless commands intermingling to create a strange buzzing sound.

The group of the alliance’s leader sat right in the middle of the hall, each of them wearing a serious expression.

Because through a huge viewing crystal above them, they could see the last and only Spearfish warship of the Blaze Team slowly landing on the surface of Hell Planet. Behind it, the remaining three warships on rescue missions were also descending gradually. Seeing their appearance, everyone present couldn’t help but shudder, feeling a wave of dread deep in their hearts.

It’s terrifying. The sight of those three warships can only be described as miserable. Their once mirror-smooth surfaces were now covered with holes of various sizes. Numerous armor plates had flipped outward, revealing the pale skeletons beneath. Some holes even ran through the entire hull, with traces of burning still visible on the steel debris around them. The engines of each warship were damaged to varying degrees, forcing them to land with extreme caution, afraid of crashing.

After a long while, the chairman finally took his gaze away. He cleared his throat softly.

“Alright, everyone has seen it. This is what happened to the warships I sent out. Out of the original ten fully equipped Salmon-class ships, all that have returned are here. It seems we truly underestimated the power of that mysterious warship.”

The chairman’s words sparked whispers among the leaders present, but no one stood up to speak.

No one was an idiot. After seeing the state of those warships, they all understood just how terrifying that mysterious warship was. And now, that warship was rapidly approaching Hell Planet. By estimation, it would arrive in just fifteen minutes. At this moment, anyone who spoke rashly might become the first to engage it in battle.

It’s better to let others take on such a glorious task. I’m not wealthy enough to afford such losses.

That was what all the pirate leaders thought.

However, aside from their fierce style and elusive movements, what made the Pirate Alliance feared throughout the universe was also their unity—its first rule of survival. Even during a critical period of conflict between the vice-chairman and the chairman, upon hearing news of an approaching external force, they could still come together and sincerely devise a solution. So all the pirates present pricked up their ears, waiting for the chairman’s decision. If one of them had to go first, they wouldn’t complain.

Fortunately, the chairman didn’t name anyone. He simply stared blankly at the damaged warships descending slowly on the vision crystal, as well as the waiting troops in the sky, his expression shifting constantly.

“Soso, what do you think we should do?” The chairman finally spoke, turning his gaze to the vice-chairman, who was sitting with his head lowered, silent. Soso was his name. But only the chairman dared to call him by it within the alliance.

“What else can we do? Of course, we have to take action. Though we don’t know how it managed to pass through our storm barrier, since it could make it here, who knows if more might follow. We must eliminate these threats first.” The vice-chairman’s fat face showed a hint of ferocity as he spoke through gritted teeth.

Actually, even if he didn’t say anything, everyone already knew the outcome. Having been driven to their doorstep, they had no other choice.
Seeing the expressions of the leaders present, the chairman sighed and stood up. “Well then, we…”
“Wait!!” A loud shout suddenly interrupted him. The leaders turned to see three figures just appearing at the entrance of the hall, surrounded by a group of guards as if facing a formidable enemy.
It was Blackhair and his men.
“My lords, he forced his way in. He’s very skilled, and our men couldn’t hold him back for a moment. I’ll drive them out right away,” said the head guard, seeing the leaders’ gazes directed his way, and shouted urgently. But then another voice stopped him.
“No need,” the chairman said casually, waving his hand. “Let him in.”
Looking at the man with black hair before him, the chairman couldn’t quite describe his feelings. For some reason, every time he saw him, he felt a strange sensation, as if the man’s very existence was a mystery—the more he tried to understand it, the more confused he became.
“Tell us, why shouldn’t we take action?” the chairman asked in a low voice, staring straight into Blackhair’s eyes.
With his words, all the leaders’ gazes also focused on Blackhair. Their expressions ranged from disdain to envy, hostility, to attempts at alliance.
Of course, to Blackhair, these gazes seemed non-existent. He didn’t even give the leaders around him a glance before sitting down boldly at the table, meeting the chairman’s gaze calmly without any hesitation.
“Because it’s not necessary.”
“What!? Are you crazy?”
“The enemy is already at the door—do you want us to sit back and die?” The leaders immediately erupted in outrage, shouting all at once.
In contrast, the chairman and the vice-chairman seemed to suddenly remember something, their expressions changing at the same time.
“Give me a reason,” the chairman said, knocking on the table to silence everyone, then turning to Blackhair.
“The reason is simple—they’re not enemies,” Blackhair replied, lifting his head to look at the warships in the large viewing crystal above. A strange glint appeared in his eyes.
“It’s here for me.”
It? Here for Blackhair?
Everyone, including the chairman, was shocked by the meaning in Blackhair’s words. Could it be that mysterious warship belonged to him?
That was utterly absurd!!!!

“That’s right. The name of that warship is Li Feng. It’s my flagship. Right now, under my command, it’s passing through the cosmic storm and is about to enter Hell Planet.” Ignoring the shocked looks around him, the dark-haired man said coldly.
“Bastard!! I wondered how the enemy could pass through our storm barrier freely—turns out it’s you, the traitor!!!”
Hearing his words, the vice-chairman immediately roared and stood up…