But they were to be disappointed, as Mengdie stood with her ethereal beauty, unperturbed, showing no hint of emotional fluctuation. Seemingly a gentle beauty, she was oblivious to the surrounding gazes, her grace and majesty undeniable in her every movement, without any pretense. Who else but someone with such courage could be the Life-Taking Envoy of the Jade Clear Sect? Watching her move with a step as light and significant as a feather, she dissipated like a butterfly in an instant, just like the "Dream Butterfly Escape," silently coming and going without a trace...

In the blink of an eye, Mengdie landed atop Immortal Mountain, her touch as light as heaven's gossamer. The birds in the vicinity became more lively with her presence, far from afraid, as if she were the true embodiment of nature's greatest beauty.

It wasn't until Mingfei's arrival that the birds in the mountains nearly ceased flying...

With a gentle flick of her fingers, an injured Yellow Sparrow, fearless, perched itself on her fingertip. As mist enveloped the air, the bird's wings began to flutter more powerfully. Only then did Mengdie carefully open her hand, and tenderly set the Yellow Sparrow free...

Mingfei quietly took a seat beside Mengdie. As a sisterly figure, no matter what, she would support Mengdie. "Do what you love," she said, "Our options aren't many."

Mengdie took a deep breath, her clear gaze directed toward the distant horizon...

On the other side of the distant heavens, Feng Yi was free from such worries. Of course, the brother didn't think as far ahead as the federal politicians. His concern was how to lead his brothers to not only survive but thrive. This was the most significant challenge facing Feng Yi.

Unfortunately, this unfortunate fleet had now been chased to a place unknown even to him. Having lost their coordinates completely after the pursuit with the Valan fleet two days prior, they were in grave danger in the interstellar void.

The current fleet of the blazing legion wasn't only unable to contact Capital Planet, they didn't even know their whereabouts. What was certain was that they had entered an interstellar transfer point. The rundown fleet was now so vulnerable that even space pirates dared to rob them; truly, "a mighty tiger fallen flat, prey to the dogs." This morning alone, they had encountered three waves of space pirates.

Feng Yi was deeply frustrated, but amidst the frustration, he felt a twinge of schadenfreude. Encountering space pirates proved that they were not lost and had not strayed afar but were still within the realm of human activity.

Indeed, whether it be joy or sorrow, both were fleeting. Having lost so many brothers along the way and being completely cut off from Capital Planet, mere sadness was not a solution. After analyzing the situation throughout the morning, Feng Yi considered being hijacked by space pirates might not be such a bad thing. Although unsure of the exact location of their route, it was clear that space pirates were abundant. At this critical moment when manpower was needed, he could render their fleet even more bedraggled, or even disguise as a merchant vessel and stage a counter-hijacking.

In this endeavor, they had to rely on the experienced Old Wolf and Powder Keg, both of whom had been in the game for half their lives. What space tempest hadn't they seen? Feng Yi immediately prepared some drinks and dishes and invited the two elder brothers over. But when he broached the subject, both appeared helpless and resigned.

Powder Keg took a hearty swig of liquor, wiped his mouth, then offered his suggestion. He wasn't much for book learning, but put it this way: if guns were of the same standard, why not the same with hijacking space pirates? Each location required a different approach. However, analyzing the situation, he assured that in places where the infamous Bruce's pirate gang often lurked, space pirates were virtually absent, due to the fear of infringing on each other's territories. With so many in this area, he could bet that there were no large pirate gangs nearby, and the environment was relatively harmonious; that much he could infer.

Feng Yi's plan was to figure out how to catch these space pirate gangs. He wanted to expand; should they just capture them directly, wait at ease for their rescue, or wait for a better method? When he posed this question and saw Powder Keg about to speak again, Old Wolf interjected with a "Shut your mouth, why don't you? You're stealing all the credit, leaving me to blow in the northwest wind."

"What are you talking about? We're here to discuss serious matters."

"Serious matters should be treated as serious matters, but since the legion commander has called me here today, I must come up with a good idea. Brother, my experience in messing around in the Bermuda Star River is no less than yours."

Alpha Wolf, with a grave and earnest tone, was already on edge, and this irritable brother, known for his rough temper, immediately flared up at the words, "What's that supposed to mean? Let's have a try then, shall we?"

"Let's try then, we'll make a bet in front of the legion commander today."

The two, as if they had taken gunpowder, ended up scuffling and left the room before Feng Yi even said a word, leaving him laughing and crying at the sight. Oddly enough, these two who were friends as much as they were enemies and rivals sometimes shared a bond of sympathy.

Who would have thought that these two rascals would come up with the same idea to pretend to be merchants to lure space pirates? It was evident that they had been up to such tricks frequently, but because they rode a military ship, ordinarily space pirates would scatter in terror at the sight. Of course, their currently shabby appearance was quite deceptive, but as soon as they got close, they were usually discovered, and if they chose to pursue, they'd end up wasting a lot of time invisibly. Because while you chased, more distant space pirates could be startled and scatter like birds and beasts. Hence, pretending to be merchants was indeed the wisest strategy.

Feng Yi first concealed the main force of his troops in a nearby asteroid belt, and then deliberately selected a warship resembling a merchant vessel to start the camouflage job, stowing away the weaponry. Suddenly, a spectacular space painting feast commenced.

The Blazing Flame Legion never lacked talents from all walks of life; many skilled soldiers sprayed the warship's surroundings with vivid and lifelike colors. As the saying goes, people venture into space for two things: money or women. A scoundrel named Er Hou spent an entire afternoon organizing 20 officials and soldiers to paint a portrait of a beautiful woman on the central part of a medium-sized battleship.

What the hell is this mess? Upon hearing this, John immediately ordered the removal of that woman's portrait, goddamn it, The Blazing Flame Legion is an ironblooded military's elite force. It's like customers going to a restaurant—no matter how much you lack standards, serving a dish with bugs might be the worst of it, but you, you just straight-up served me a whole bowl of shit.

In a word, Blazing Flame warriors are allowed to be bloody, cheap, frivolous, and can pretend to be a pig to eat a tiger without limit, but they can never be effeminate.

Of course, Feng Yi knew nothing of this; as the commander, he had handed over his orders and kept himself busy with his affairs. Having been soundly defeated this time around also invisibly gave Feng Yi a lesson. So, that evening, he simply shut himself up in a room to study military knowledge.

The most important part was tactical exercises, which could be said to have not been very successful last time because there were many uncertainties concerning the enemy's counterattack. To make up for this deficiency, Feng Yi recently became obsessed with an arcade game named Striker 1945. This game, which originated from a 19th-century aerial combat game and had dwindled in popularity by now, had some aspects which Feng Yi managed to understand that others did not.

He was the kind of person who grasped the basics very quickly, definitely an individual not known for patience. Most of the time, no matter what he did, he would lose interest in three minutes, but this also precisely confirmed the saying that all geniuses are like this, aren't they? Feng Yi was one of those who learned fast but had trouble persisting, evident from his inadequacy of patience as the Revenge Shadow Rider.

However, Striker 1945 was different; Feng Yi paid more attention to the operational subtleties than the game itself. He discovered that oftentimes the bullets that seemed like they wouldn't hit you would gather more and more on the screen eventually trapping you with nowhere to hide. Whereas sometimes, the fast-moving bullets that seemed to pose a threat were in fact not threatening at all. Feng Yi, unable to describe what kind of feeling this was, intuitively knew it was absolutely about controlling the tempo.

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