Chapter Thirteen: Wealth and Poverty, Section 10

With just one brief encounter, Kurokami realized that those so-called Mud Beasts had nothing special about them. They were indeed just as the Queen of Gold-Eating Insects had said—relying on bodily fluids for attack, as that was their only method. Of course, for the Gold-Eating Insects, which also could only attack at close range, such a method was already deadly enough. But in the face of his own fleet, they were like bubbles that burst at the slightest touch.

Nature was truly amazing—such a powerful race as the Gold-Eating Insects had such a weak natural enemy. If it weren’t for the Queen herself saying it, Kurokami would never have believed it. Now, he even less wanted to destroy these Mud Beasts.

It was because of this natural enemy that the Gold-Eating Insects could keep them firmly under control. Otherwise, Kurokami wouldn’t have had any confidence in controlling such a terrifying race.

However, his opponent clearly didn’t think so.

In just a short while, four more waves of Mud Beast attacks appeared on that planet, each wave larger and more intense than the last. Those brainless single-celled creatures seemed utterly fearless of death, charging wildly at Kurokami’s fleet like mad. Yet not once did they achieve their goal.

There was nothing they could do—being in a liquid state, they had no speed at all. Trying to reach Rikuo amidst a barrage of gunfire was simply laughable. Even the particle shields Kurokami had prepared initially weren’t needed; those foolish creatures were wiped out instantly.

Still, the pirates on the warships finally discovered one advantage of this form of life: cleanliness. With everything vaporized by the gunfire, not even corpses remained. How much time and effort that saved them! Almost all the pirates were grateful for the existence of this life form.

The roaring continued. Under Rikuo’s leadership, the eightsailfish-class warships-class warships abandoned their previous aggressive tactics and instead used their firepower to form a dense network. Deadly flames illuminated half of the starry sky. After eliminating three more waves of attacks, the leader of the Mud Beasts, with its grotesque face, finally admitted defeat.

“Despicable humans!! Don’t you have the courage to fight fairly? Why do you always use those horrible fireworks to insult my children!! As the leader of the Water Demons, I despise you!!!” The grotesque face roared in anger, but no more Mud Beasts were sent to attack. Its furious yet feeble demeanor made everyone almost laugh.

Is this the arrogant and haughty high-level creature from just now? Why does it seem so incompetent now? And fireworks too—he really took the captain’s mockery as reality.
Hahaha, loud laughter erupted among the Li Feng tribe. Baroka’s pirate crew all laughed until they trembled. Disdain filled everyone’s eyes toward the Mud Beast.
He who has the bigger fist speaks—this is an eternal truth, even in space.
“Don’t be so loud; it makes me nervous. If you don’t want your children or yourself to suffer more, you should face reality. Now, be quiet!!” The black-haired man lazily covered his ears and spoke casually.
“What did you say!! Are you giving orders to the great Water Demon Leader?” The freakish-faced man was enraged by the black-haired man’s words and roared desperately. The gelatinous seawater forming his face twisted wildly, making his entire face look grotesque, as if he were convulsing in anger.
“It seems you still don’t understand your situation, Baroka.”
“Yes, Captain.” The fat man laughed heartily and launched another fierce attack. This time, he concentrated all the scattered gunfire on the freakish face’s nose. The intense firepower instantly vaporized the seawater in that area, creating a huge crater visible to the naked eye on the planet’s surface.
“Ahh!! It hurts!! You’re hurting me!!!” The leader’s agonized screams echoed throughout the fleet, heard clearly by all the pirates.
Of course, this was clear enough. The leader of the Mud Beasts finally understood what kind of humans these guys were. He began to try to learn skills to communicate with them.
“Ahh… stop fighting… despicable… ah, no, great humans… please forgive our rudeness!! Forgive my rudeness!! Please stop attacking!!” The freakish-faced man cried in pain. His nose could never return to normal—every attempt to repair it with seawater was vaporized by Baroka’s artillery, causing him immense suffering, as if his soul were being dried out.
It should be noted that although the Water Demons had a very strange form of life, they were not immune to physical attacks. The ocean covering the entire planet was their body, and losing even a little meant losing a little of themselves. If they continued like this, undoubtedly, they would be severely weakened, if not killed.

Human fleets possess the power to easily destroy planets… In agony, the leader of the Water Demons suddenly remembered the rumors among the cosmic races. Fear welled up in his heart, and his screams grew louder.
What he didn’t know was that Black Hair had no intention of doing anything to him at all. This barrage of fire was merely meant to scare him—and it seemed to work quite well.
Waving his hand, he stopped the fleet’s synchronized firing. Black Hair took out a pack of cigarettes, handed one to Blood-Pupil, and lit one for himself. Taking a deep drag, he narrowed his eyes.
“Well, great leader of the Water Demons, can you feel my sincerity now?”
“I can feel it! Please stop! I’ll give you anything you want!! Spare me!!!”
“Why didn’t you just do that earlier? You made me waste so much ammunition,” Black Hair said disdainfully.
Now that the other party had surrendered, the rest was much easier to handle. In just one hour, Black Hair assigned many tasks to this unfortunate leader of the Mud Beasts. When he heard that the other party had been provoked by the Queen of Gold-Eating Insects, the arrogant leader roared in fury.
But it was useless for him to roar anymore. Unlike the Gold-Eating Insects, though a liquid form of life could bring them many advantages, they were utterly weak in the face of Black Hair’s fleet. Their only useful trait was their natural hostility toward the Gold-Eating Insects. So, in front of Black Hair, they could only reluctantly agree to all his conditions.
Relocate. Leave this planet and go to another one designated by Black Hair. Black Hair’s fleet would provide them with the necessary energy as compensation. Until further orders from Black Hair, they were not allowed to enter the territory of the Gold-Eating Insects.
It were quite good conditions—at least the leader couldn’t find any reason to object. Like other cosmic races, they needed vast amounts of energy to survive. As long as Black Hair could supply them with what they needed, everything else was negotiable. But…
“Great humans, if I leave here, how will I hunt? The Gold-Eating Insects are our food! Without them, we Water Demons will starve!!!” The monster showed a pitiful expression.
“Can you eat other food?” Black Hair was momentarily stunned.

“That’s not the case. All living creatures can serve as our food. But there are only the Gold-Eating Insects in this area. If we leave here, it will be very difficult to find a planet with life. Moreover, ordinary creatures aren’t as delicious as Gold-Eating Insects.” The Monster with the Strange Face sounded aggrieved, but his words enraged all the pirates.

No one expected that this unruly leader of the Mud Beasts had such a childish side, and everyone was amused. Laughter filled the cabin immediately. Lily even laughed so much that she slumped weakly against the Black-Haired man.

However, the conditions were simple. Although Black-Haired’s power wasn’t yet great, it was easy to transport some creatures over. Once he took control of this star system, he could have the shipping vessels of the Creek Merchant Guild deliver food continuously. The Gold-Eating Insects would then become his personal miners.

What an ideal combination! Black-Haired was very satisfied that this plan was coming to fruition. The thought of turning that massive Cemxi ore planet into his own made him unable to contain his excitement.

Just like oil in the past, the Cemxi ore here was far more valuable than oil. With such a planet, he could truly be described as incredibly wealthy. Of course, before that, he needed to establish a solid sales network to prevent others from easily finding this place.

With that in mind, he didn’t want to waste any more time and promptly agreed to the Mud Beasts’ request for food, securing their promise. Soon after, his massive fleet turned and disappeared into the vast depths of space.

The taste of conquest was truly the sweetest wine in the world. All the pirates were intoxicated. On the way back, the cabin was filled with laughter, and everyone was beaming with joy.

Upon returning to the Queen’s Planet, they were given a warm welcome. The Queen of Gold-Eating Insects personally led thousands of her subordinates to form a huge welcoming formation at the palace gates. When Black-Haired’s massive fleet landed on the surface, all the Gold-Eating Insects raised their front paws and made hissing sounds. The dark crowd looked almost like pilgrims!

Seeing this scene, Blood-Pupil’s tightly strained nerves relaxed slightly, and she whispered in Black-Haired’s ear, “Boss, it seems they have no ambush. We were wrong.”

“That doesn’t matter. It’s better to be cautious. We must never let fate be in someone else’s hands. Tell the crew to get ready, ready to take off at any moment. Keep the ship’s cannons ready. Remove the safeties, but tell them not to leave the ship. Just you and I are enough here,” said Black Hair with a frown, in a low voice.

“Understood, leader,” nodded Blood Pupils, turning to pass on the orders.

It was still that huge palace, still that spacious area. But this time, the Queen of the Gold-Eating Insects was clearly in high spirits, her tone much more cheerful.

“Welcome, my most noble guest. My children told me you’ve driven away those terrifying mud beasts—is that true? Ah, great Mother Goddess, you’re truly a treasure she bestowed upon us!! I praise her!!”

Hearing such extreme flattery, even Black Hair couldn’t help but blush, his expression turning solemn. “Noble Queen, you needn’t be so polite. We humans are generous; it’s our duty as humans to help those in need. Although such battles are indeed resource-intensive, and my subordinates have suffered heavy losses, I’m still glad to be able to assist you.”

“Despicable…” Blood Pupils secretly despised his leader. He certainly knew the true situation of this battle, but before he could express his disapproval, Black Hair changed the subject.

“They’re all my children. They’ve followed me since the beginning of my journey. Each of them is a highly trained elite. I bet there are no better crew members in this universe. By God, I feel so heartbroken.”

Watching Black Hair’s convincing performance, Blood Pupils was completely stunned. After a long while, he murmured, “Shameless…”

What losses? Not a single hair was lost. Black Hair could still describe those supposed huge losses in such detail—Blood Pupils really had to admire his leader.

Damn, it’s a shame he’s not an actor.

But for the Queen of the Gold-Eating Insects, such a performance was absolutely deadly. Unlike the deceitful humans, most races in the universe were very honest and kind. Though they might sometimes be arrogant, they were rarely hypocritical. So she reacted immediately.

“Oh, my Mother Goddess. I really didn’t expect to cause you such great loss. If I had known, I wouldn’t have asked for your help. Good heavens, what a terrible mistake I’ve made—causing my most honored guest to lose so many lovely children. Mother Goddess, please forgive me.” The green entity on the throne trembled violently, its tone even more agitated than that of the black-haired one.

“Honored guest, please forgive my offense. I’m willing to have my children give you all their ores as compensation. Though I know this won’t make up for the loss of your children, I still hope it will ease your pain somewhat. From now on, our Gold-Eating Insect clan is willing to form a lasting alliance with you. Please accept our friendship!”

“Really? That’s wonderful. If my crew knew after death, they would weep over your kindness. Please don’t mind my sorrow; it’s an honor for us to do something beneficial for our allies.” The black-haired one quickly took advantage of the situation to secure benefits for himself.

He had originally planned to use the Gold-Eating Insect clan as mere miners for himself, but he didn’t expect this queen to be so sensible as to propose an alliance. Now, it wasn’t just about miners anymore. He was sure he would have an extra thug at his disposal in the future. At the thought of this, his eyes narrowed…