Hey, don't laugh, but it's actually true. The good news is, being on an official interstellar route, the space pirates that the Blazing Flame brain-dead fleet could encounter were also brain-dead. And those pirates still dared to rob. When brain-dead battleships met brain-dead space pirates, it was obvious that the battle-capable brain-dead battleships had the upper hand. After a few such encounters, the dual-policy of the Blazing Flame Legion became the bane of this space route.

Life is simply unliveable these days, isn't it just driving people to their deaths? Even being a space pirate is tough. I might as well consider switching to being a dog.

Gunnery Chief and Head Wolf, two leaders who were originally space pirates themselves, felt that they hadn't lived their lives in vain, especially Gunnery Chief. Overflowing with pride, standing at the front of the line of troops, he and John were imitating as best they could, only switching the rebellious rhetoric to fit the identity of space pirates, lecturing people with practiced ease.

You could see space pirates standing on the deck of the Blazing Flame warship, uniformly receiving Gunnery Chief's ridiculous scoldings, "Motherfucker, I was a space pirate too, but now I'm a Federation soldier. People need to learn to turn from darkness to light, to turn back is to reach the shore, to understand advance and retreat, to be aware of gains and losses. Do you know what this legion is called? It's called the Blazing Flame Legion. Do you know why I joined the Federation Army? For justice, and for peace..."

Fuck your justice and peace. The old veterans of the Blazing Flame Legion passing by, seeing this uneducated guy lecturing the space pirates, felt embarrassed and their faces reddened. Many female soldiers, with their arms trembling, covered their lips to hide their laughter... This uncultured brother really had to pretend to be something he was not.

In fact, these space pirates weren't completely wicked villains. Most of those traveling on this route were vegetarian space pirates, who would take money if you had it, goods if you didn't, and then let you go. Some space pirate ships even lacked weapons. Because the nearby area was too harmonious and had gained a reputation, the pirates all came here seeking a livelihood. Some came from Vafidia, others from other ruined nations, driven to desperate measures and forced onto this path of thievery.

But they were still space pirates after all. John was very clear about how to deal with these people: a lash of the whip, a sweet date, but they had to know where they stood. Every evening, John's collective summaries were the most persuasive.

Often at this time, standing at the front of the deck, you could hear John's resounding roars, see John sweeping the whole scene with his disdainful gaze, cold as ice. Around the field, many soldiers would be linking arms, climbing onto the platform, pointing, and making remarks about the space pirates... as if looking at their past selves from the perspective of a Federation soldier was an amusing thing.

In that moment, John bellowed like thunder, "Yes, you space pirates have no way out. What awaits you is a slow decay in the darkness of the underground world, scheming and struggling every day with your kind, being two-faced and backstabbing, and maybe getting unexpectedly offed at any moment—but now, you have a choice. Choose to become a Federation soldier, to live like a human being, to strive for a different future, just like them."

John's gaze was sharp as he pointed to the soldiers on the periphery, who immediately felt their hearts swell with pride, while the more timid ones shamefully retracted their heads.

He took a deep drag of his cigarette, then extinguished the butt and said, "This is the only chance the Federation is giving you to thoroughly reform. As the elite unit, the Blazing Flame Legion is an expeditionary force active within the Saudi range. Every soldier here has honor and a sense of belonging. After the war is over, including myself, everyone might even be allocated a house and a family car, but there's no such thing as a pie falling from the sky," John shifted his tone, "I know this route is very comfortable, and you guys aren't completely irredeemable villains, so I'm leaving you another choice, to go back to your old trade. Those who want to leave, I will not hold you back."

These space pirates were not soldiers, nor did they have any discipline. When John finished speaking, a buzz of discussion among the 3,000 people on the deck filled the air...

"Apophis, you take charge."

John's Heavenly Communication suddenly rang out. Seeing Heavenly Communication, he quickly called out for Apophis. In fact, he was someone Feng Yi had previously told John was worth cultivating. Here, ability spoke for itself. Apophis's demonstrated personal and leadership skills, his profound intellect, and his expertise in Mecha and strategy were far beyond what the likes of Gunnery Chief and his people could compare to. Even John, a veteran of many battles, admitted he was unmatched in many respects.

But before John could take a step, a flurry of noisy footsteps had already risen on the deck... An old man seemingly of high status, wearing glasses and speaking with a scholarly tone as if he were an intellectual, asked John, "Are you serious about what you just said?"

"Serious as can be, but given your age, if you're over the limit, you can only go to logistics." John's voice inevitably softened towards the old man, and then, without further ado, he walked away.

Apophis appeared amiable, and whatever he said, it only took John less than two minutes to walk away before a whooshing sound was heard from behind; over 3,000 space pirates collectively decided to stay aboard the battleship.

Up to that moment, the space pirates still couldn't believe it was real that they would one day get the chance to wear Federal Army uniforms instead of being handcuffed by a sovereign state, thrown into prison, and sentenced to serve time long enough to wear out the prison floor.

But they soon realized this was no easy job. Before learning to be human, one must learn to be a dog. The Blazing Flame Legion never welcomed idle folks; they couldn't enjoy the job allowances or equal treatment as soldiers and still needed to prove themselves step by step, retracing the path each Blazing Flame soldier had taken, to test their mettle.

As a matter of fact, Feng Yi had just gotten himself out, and the call to John on Heavenly Communication was to ask about his recent achievements. Little did he know, John insisted on discussing it in person.

Shortly after, an enthusiastic report was heard from outside the door, unmistakably from John. When he pushed the door and entered, Feng Yi then asked what was going on, seeing John's face full of mystery and excitement. Could it be that the plan to rob space pirates had turned out quite well?

John smiled confidently, "Legion Commander, all I can say is the results are good. Guess a number."

"Guess a number?"

"Right, guess how many — cough!" John felt he was being led astray by Feng Yi and quickly corrected himself, "Guess the battle results from the past half-month, how many soldiers have joined?"

"Who could guess that, John, I order you to answer accurately."

"Yes, reporting to the Legion Commander: the Blazing Flame Legion has recently captured around 500 small and medium-sized battleships, including two large destroyers, with a total of around 30,000 people joining the reserve forces and awaiting expansion."

"What did you say, around 30,000 people?" Feng Yi stood up immediately.

John seemed to have anticipated this reaction, chuckling and saying, "That's why I wanted to prepare you mentally, Commander."

He explained that besides the efforts of Powder Keg and Alpha Wolf, the brothers also devised strategies, and Apophis even spread rumours near the star domain, claiming that merchants frequented the area lately. As a result, the space pirates who roamed this star domain fell right into their trap and got robbed instead.

John also mentioned that the space airships they had robbed had at least fifty to a hundred people on board, some with a few hundred, and two destroyers that had over a thousand each. On average, they could round up over 2,000 heads a day, right? This kind of thing gets easier the more you do it, and now the brothers were all eager to go out and rob every day.

"John, well done."

John immediately beamed with joy upon hearing this. It was rare to receive such praise from the Legion Commander. No sooner had Feng Yi finished speaking than he disappeared on the spot. Right now, Feng Yi's heart was also fluttering uncontrollably; over 30,000 people were not to be taken lightly—these were people who could fight.

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