Without changing his face, Li Yao said, “In fact, I have been training in Her Grace’s secret base in seclusion since childhood, same as this brother ‘Huang Fei’ here. I barely got in touch with anybody from the outside world. So, I am a simple and outspoken man. I have no clandestine secrets in my heart at all, so what can you possibly see in me, General Lei?”

Lei Chenghu’s eyebrows were furrowed so hard that it looked like an unsheathed saber, which was about to slash at Li Yao’s carotid artery brutally.

He clenched his fists, and his fingerbones were cracking. He seemed to be holding back his urges with his astonishing willpower.

“It’s true!”

Li Yao said sincerely, his eyes as pure and clear as a baby’s, “I’m sure that General Lei has noticed that my real age is not very old.”

“… Yes.”

After a long silence, Lei Chenghu nodded his head. “Your cells are very active. The waves that your soul spreads out are full of vigor too. You are not the strongest Divinity Transformation Stage expert I have seen, but you are definitely the youngest one. I assume that aside from secluded training or long-term hibernation, you should be no older than eighty years old, right?

“An expert in the Divinity Transformation Stage no older than eighty. That is truly incredible. What kind of monster are you? And how have you been training yourself?”

“I am not a monster but just a regular person who dedicated all his time to training.”

Li Yao said, “If I had not seized every second and every minute to train myself crazily, without caring about anything happening outside, how could I possibly have broken into the Divinity Transformation Stage in less than a hundred years? You have never heard of my name before, and you cannot find any information about me, right, General Lei? That’s only reasonable, because this is the first time I have ever visited the outside world. So, I may be immature due to my lack of social experience. If I say or do anything wrong, please do forgive me, General Lei.”

“Enough.”

Taking a deep breath, Lei Chenghu said, “Listen up. I don’t care if your bulls*it is true, and I don’t care if your queen has other purposes under the fancy banner of the reformists. For me, I’m doing this for only one reason—to fulfill the responsibility of a soldier!

“Tell me, do you love the Imperium?”

Li Yao raised his chin high and saluted in a textbook unity etiquette. “My love never ends!”

“But I hate the Imperium. I even loathe the Imperium that reeks of stink from every pore right now.”

Lei Chenghu said gloomily, “However, despite all the flaws of the Imperium of True Human Beings, and although it can be too dark and cruel sometimes and become the tools of the scoundrels to meet their selfish desires, the Imperium is always the toughest shield, the sharpest saber, and… the only home for the civilization of mankind.

“The Imperium may have all sorts of problems and too many reasons for people to hate it, but it has concentrated the strength of most human beings in the sea of stars, allowing billions of people to be united against the Covenant Alliance, the extraterrestrial devils, the bizarre alien species, and even the darkness of the universe itself.

“The universe is too vast a place, and the ambitions of mankind are too exuberant. Without the common acceptance of ‘Imperium of True Human Beings’, all the human beings in different Sectors will lose organization in a hundred years and separate into different countries even though there is no aggression from the Covenant Alliance, the extraterrestrial devils, or any alien species. They will raise their own colorful flags and brutalize each other under the most ridiculous excuses.

“By then, no devils or monsters are needed. Human beings themselves are enough to turn the entire universe into a bloody hell, just like the thousands of years after the Star Ocean Imperium’s collapse and before the establishment of the Star Ocean Republic!

“Therefore…

“Despite the many shortcomings of the Imperium today, despite all the spots, ulcers, and cancers growing on its bloated body, and even though I hate its guts in many occasions, I will fulfill my responsibility as a soldier of the Imperium and defend it forever with my flesh, my bones, and my soul!

“Please forward to your queen that if she is worried that I may waver, her concerns will be unnecessary. During the half month when I was under the custody of the four Kurfürst families, I completely thought it through. In the past hundred years, I was too docile, hesitant, and restrained by the honor code of a soldier. I did not try everything I could to save the Imperium.

“But today, I have completely found my own path. Nobody can stop me from saving the Imperium with iron and fire, or even the approaches that are sordid, shameless, and cross all lines!

“If the queen’s ultimate purpose is as upright and bright as she claims, then she will forever have my loyalty. Furthermore, if her personal interests coincide with the overall interests of the Imperium, is it really unacceptable to support her to be the first female emperor in history?

“However, if I discover that her ambitions are so violent that the interests of the Imperium will be jeopardized, our cooperation will immediately fall apart, and I will stop and destroy her whatever the price is. Do you understand?”

Li Yao nodded his head quickly. “Crystal clear!”

“And you, you are the same.”

Lei Chenghu’s eyes were suddenly sharper than ever, as if they were piercing through Li Yao’s body and the cabin walls behind him. “I don’t care whether you are just glib, or you are really ‘simple, immature, and outspoken’, but as long as you sincerely defend the Imperium and the civilization of mankind, I will call you ‘fellow Cultivator’ and fight by your side until the end!

“However…

“If I ever discover that you’ve been keeping other secrets, which harm the interests of the Imperium, trust me, the cannonballs from ten thousand warships will hit your head at the same time, and even if you escape to the edge of the cosmos and to a thousand years later, I will shatter my body and obliterate my soul to find you and kill you!”

Li Yao took a long breath in relief. “That’s great!”

Lei Chenghu frowned. “What is great?”

“I’m totally relieved right now.”

A brilliance that was even more scorching than the sun suddenly beamed out of his clear, big eyes. “Because I can guarantee with my life that I am absolutely a loyal, devoted patriot. I have an infinite love for my country, and I am willing to spill my hot blood, shatter my bones, and burn my bones into ashes, mix the ashes with water, and spray them to my homeland. This is exactly how much I love my country!

“I firmly believe that my country stands for the best interests of mankind. So, I will never turn against my country. However formidable, brutal, and ruthless the enemies I’m faced with are, I will fight them to the end. Even though I have nothing but an appendix left in the end, I will roll a saber with the appendix and keep on fighting!

“So, what General Lei described will never happen. Of course I am relieved!”

When Li Yao was swearing, Lei Chenghu stared at his eyes closely all the time, not disguising that he was looking into Li Yao’s heart at all.

Li Yao, on the other hand, also opened his mind frankly for Lei Chenghu to perceive free at will.

Lei Chenghu sensed for a long time. Then, his face was less grave, but the suspicion on it did not disperse after a long time. He mumbled, “Why… is everything you said true and carries no air of fabrication at all?”

“Because it is true in the first place. I am really an unwavering, authentic patriot who has come to this place at great risks out of my infinite passion for my country and the civilization of mankind!”

Li Yao demanded, “I’m the one who should be confused here. Why is General Lei unwilling to believe me when everything I say is true? Is General Lei the only patriot in the vast universe?”

“Forget it…”

Looking at Li Yao’s big face that had no loopholes at all, Lei Chenghu, unusually, chose to give up. “In any case, thank you for your help in the Godly Might Prison. If you are a real patriot, I believe we will get along very pleasantly… Fellow Cultivator Li.

“Now, let’s return to the Third Battle Area.”

Lei Chenghu cleaned his military hat with the newly-installed artificial arm and strode to the bridge with his head held high.

On the bridge were the soldiers who had just been gathered and who were ten times more excited than they were ill at ease.

A middle-aged officer whose entire body was covered in bandages and whose left hand and left foot had been replaced by artificial limbs staggered to Lei Chenghu; his face cramping all the way as if he was suffering excruciating pain. He saluted Lei Chenghu in the most standard way and said, “All the soldiers have been gathered. Please give your instructions, general!”

It was Lei Honghai, Lei Chenghu’s eldest son, who betrayed his father because of the four Kurfürst families’ attraction and who was taught a lesson by his father later. He had fought a path of blood out of the Godly Might Prison!

Lei Chenghu nodded his head emotionlessly. Looking around and detonating the magma in the hearts of the soldiers with the passion in his eyes, he finally walked to the control panel.

Gritting his teeth to hold back the pain when the unsuitable artificial limbs rubbed his wounds, Lei Honghai turned on the public communication channels of the three starships.

“Soldiers of the First Mix Team of the Godly Might Fleet!”

Before the complicated faces on the hundreds of light beams, Lei Chenghu roared reassuringly, “The war that will decide the future of the Imperium and even the civilization of mankind has begun, and you and I are the only main characters in the war!

“Until today, you were a bunch of nobodies. Nobodies. You were the losers in the competitions within your families, the offcut that nobody cared about, the secondary goods who had been kicked to this snowy world to pass the rest of your lives, the ‘nulls’ that did not deserve to leave your names on the family records, and even the prisoners who were destined to rot in the dungeons!

“But after today, your names will resound in the sky and be cheered by billions of people. Your names will be carved in the monuments in the central squares of the capital and every habitable planet!

“The Imperium, the history, and the civilization will not forget what you have done today. They will not forget your sacred and glorious games!

“Everyone onboard, be prepared. Full power output to the space jump units. Target the Third Battle Area. Move forward!”