Chapter 90

Zhou Xingyu’s talents continued to decline. His wrist was tightly held by Wei Lan, and he couldn’t break free from the black seawater.

The pitch-black waves crashed against him. Since stepping into the super-star level, he had never been this embarrassed.

Zhou Xingyu’s whole body was drenched in seawater, the inky black water trickling down from his brow.

He twitched in pain, his face pale, but his gaze turned incredibly dark as he looked at Ji Fu: “… From the beginning, I shouldn’t have let you, this variable, survive.”

At the start of the joint exam, Ji Fu was only an A-level, not even qualified to fight with them.

Who would have thought that in just a few months, her talents would soar.

Zhou Xingyu rarely regretted his actions, but now he realized he shouldn’t have underestimated and allowed Ji Fu to develop. When her talents started to show signs of advancing, he should have eliminated her.

“Yes.” Ji Fu stood up, giving her place to Wei Lan, and looked at him with a cold gaze. “It’s a pity you’re used to being high and mighty, standing at the top by absorbing others’ talents, with no rivals among your peers.”

“Even if you had another chance, you would still underestimate others.”

Zhou Xingyu’s eyes were dim, his life signs barely remaining, as he was pressed into the black sea, feeling the surging waters gradually devouring his talents.

The feeling of having his talents stripped away was excruciating, making it impossible for him to even argue.

He could only watch helplessly as his talents continued to drain away.

[Ding ding ding, talent drops to: Star+]

From the moment he was pinned into the black sea, it took only a few minutes for his talents to evaporate rapidly.

And in these brief few minutes, not only was the extraction of talents confirmed, but the nemesis of these thieves was also directly revealed to everyone.

The bullet comments originally dominated by the water army were instantly covered by regular citizens.

[What else is there to say? The black sea has been a common polluted area for so many years, and I’ve never heard of it devouring people’s talents.]

[I just realized why so many people avoided the black sea before the fourth joint exam.]

[But since the black sea can devour their talents, why did the joint exam include such a test? Isn’t it risky?]

It wasn’t an interstellar netizen who answered this bullet comment but Ji Fu.

“The black sea can devour the talents of thieves, but it requires the thief to be seriously injured or for their talents to be unstable.”

Under normal circumstances, entering the black sea would at most cause interference.

In this regard, it is the same as for those who possess talents normally.

Moreover, in the joint exam, everyone wore that nameplate. If someone was seriously injured to the point of having their talents devoured, they would already be teleported out.

How could talents drop during a live broadcast?

But as long as talent devouring exists, the black sea is destined to become the graveyard for this group of people.

Everyone understood this.

Including Qin Yebai, who was rushing over.

Qin Yebai was piloting a mecha, and the light screen of the mecha was synchronously broadcasting the live stream.

Since Ji Fu brought Zhou Xingyu to exam site No. 3, his face had become very ugly.

Zhou Xingyu’s talent falling during the live broadcast confirmed the alliance and aristocratic families’ practice of extracting talents. More importantly… it directly exposed their weakness.

In fact, until just a moment ago, he still didn’t take Ji Fu’s words and actions seriously.

The talent extraction had been going on for so many years, and the alliance and aristocratic families held the most advanced and powerful technology in the world.

Even if such a scandal broke out, they could suppress it if they wanted to.

Though it’s no longer the era of primitive times, in some ways, the difference isn’t significant.

Whoever has the bigger fist has the right to speak.

Even if this incident caused some adverse consequences, as long as they had the most super-star and super-star+ talents, they could forcibly suppress it.

The initiative was still in their hands.

Thinking that Ji Fu and her two companions could turn the tide was just wishful thinking.

But he never expected Ji Fu would perform such an experiment in front of countless people.

She blatantly revealed their weakness to everyone.

In the image, Zhou Xingyu’s talent continued to drop with time.

Inside Qin Yebai’s entire mecha cabin, the beeping alert sounds kept echoing, messages pouring in from the alliance and various aristocratic families.

The black sea’s ability to devour stolen talents threw these people into extreme anxiety and unease.

As the main person in charge of the “Pig Project,” Qin Yebai was their primary target for accountability.

He opened his light brain, and a flood of messages demanding what to do came rushing in.

Once this matter was exposed, the consequences were more serious than the previous surging public opinion.

Now everyone knew that the black sea could destroy their talents. People like Ji Fu could use the black sea to mass-produce weapons.

By then, it would truly be the end of the alliance.

The alliance and the major families were in turmoil, even moving the main family.

The main family’s video communication forcibly popped up, forcing Qin Yebai to temporarily halt his mecha and connect the call.

During the time Qin Yebai was delayed, Zhou Xingyu’s talent plummeted to the star level.

He was tottering in the black sea, his consciousness gradually blurring, blood pouring from his mouth and nose under the immersion of the black sea.

In excruciating pain, he still mustered some strength, his voice hoarse: “Do you think, with just the two of you, you can really overturn the heavens?”

As he spoke, he didn’t look at Ji Fu but raised his head, gazing at the horizon in the distance.

Zhou Xingyu was the super-star+ that the Zhou family had painstakingly cultivated; they would not let him die so easily.

When he came over to intercept, Zhou Xing had already mobilized the corps closest to the exam site.

Zhou Xingyu had been delaying for so long, waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

He stared fixedly at the horizon, but there was no movement, only an eerie silence.

Wei Lan looked at him coldly: “Are you waiting for reinforcements?”

“It should indeed be time for them to arrive.” Wei Lan’s expression was calm, and in the next moment, a loud bang pierced through outer space, exploding in a chain reaction.

It presented itself in the sky above exam site No. 3, like a brilliant fireworks display, lighting up half the sky.

Before arriving at exam site No. 1, Wei Lan had installed numerous bombing devices outside this polluted area.

Those bombing devices were equipped with intelligent systems, and as soon as they detected the appearance of a starship, they would launch indiscriminate bombing.

The vanguard fleet Zhou Xing had dispatched couldn’t break through the bombing defense line at all.

Zhou Xingyu’s face was grim, but he still gritted his teeth and held on.

The main fleet mobilized by Zhou Xing was still on the way, and… as long as Qin Yebai arrived on time, Ji Fu and Wei Lan wouldn’t be able to leave the polluted area today.

Relying on the black sea was indeed advantageous for them.

However, a Special Star-level fighter attacking a Super Star-level, or even facing multiple Super Star+, would still be a dimensional suppression.

With their current strength, they couldn’t harm Qin Yebai.

Without injury, what could the black sea devour?

Ji Fu discerned his thoughts and suddenly said, “Do you think the person you’re waiting for will still come?”

Zhou Xingyu’s expression momentarily froze.

What Qin Chu Yue could detect was a top-level mecha approaching, but it was unclear whether it was Fang Yanli or Qin Yebai.

The satellite detection had reached its limit and couldn’t identify the specific mecha.

But Ji Fu calculated the time, realizing that the person started heading toward the exam site right after she exposed the Pig Project, so it could only be Qin Yebai.

The person who set off at that time must be someone who didn’t want her to reveal more truths.

That’s why she specifically disclosed the matter of the black sea during the live broadcast.

Compared to the exposure of the Pig Project, having their weakness revealed was what these people least wanted to see.

Following the alliance’s usual style, the Pig Project could be covered up, but the talents that would fall under the black sea were a direct threat to their vital interests.

The super talent group they had painstakingly built, disregarding the consequences, was the foundation of the alliance and the aristocratic families.

And this foundation was broadcasted by Ji Fu.

This, in effect, sent an invisible message to all interstellar citizens.

That message was… anyone could use the black sea to attack the alliance.

With the emotions stirred by the Pig Project and the weapon handed over by Ji Fu, the alliance must be in a state of extreme distress.

Qin Yebai, if Ji Fu guessed correctly, should be the main core researcher currently in charge of the Pig Project.

The black sea posed such a significant hidden danger that had existed for a long time; they couldn’t be unprepared.

So now the question arose.

Would Qin Yebai abandon all his vested interests and chase after Ji Fu and Wei Lan at all costs, or would he prioritize the safety of the core interest group?

Under Zhou Xingyu’s sinister gaze, Ji Fu coldly said, “That depends on whether your worth outweighs the entire alliance.”

Ji Fu wasn’t the only one who could use the black sea to create weapons.

Over the years, the major families had monopolized resources, exploiting and oppressing countless people.

Every minute Qin Yebai delayed in providing a solution, the aristocratic families would spend another minute in fear.

The tightly bound interests inevitably led to various entanglements.

Compared to stabilizing the internal situation of the alliance, a half-crippled Zhou Xingyu, whose survival was uncertain, was truly insignificant.

Zhou Xingyu’s face was pale, different from the pallor caused by pain earlier. This pallor was because he realized he would be abandoned.

Originally, the Special Star-level fighter the Zhou family wanted to cultivate wasn’t him.

As he was tormented to the point of wishing for death, he laughed maniacally, his body slumping into the dark sea, exhausting the last bit of his strength.

[Drip drip drip]

[Talent is decreasing rapidly, and has dropped to star level, S+, S… Vital signs return to 0]

Zhou Xingyu had been severely injured by Wei Lan, and in the intense fluctuations of his talent, he was devoured by the black sea’s pollutants until he lost consciousness.

The stolen talents ultimately became the noose around his neck, causing him to die in extreme disparity.

As for Qin Yebai, things proceeded almost as Ji Fu had anticipated.

With time pressing, he had to quickly provide a response to the black sea. Although the research results weren’t yet mature, they had no other choice.

Before Zhou Xingyu lost consciousness, he had already changed his mecha’s route.

The satellite detected the signal shift, and Qin Chu Yue immediately relayed it to Ji Fu.

Interestingly, even in this situation, the alliance didn’t give up on pursuing her and Wei Lan.

Yet the one who should have intercepted them, Fang Yanli, never appeared.

The person who arrived at the polluted area was the commander of the second legion.

As soon as the super starship’s signal appeared, Ji Fu and Wei Lan logged into their mechas simultaneously.

The main fleet dispatched was still traversing outer space.

The densely packed legion fleet almost surrounded the entire polluted area’s outer space.

Before Zhou Xing arrived, the legion declared war.

In the vast expanse of space, countless starships targeted exam site No. 3, releasing intense bombardment waves.

It was as if the stars in the night sky were lit up all at once.

The area forcibly suppressed by firepower saw the special zone network server constructed by Ji Fu being pulverized into dust under the barrage of artillery fire.

The live broadcast was cut off at that moment.

Before the disconnection, the last image seen was two mechas, one silver-gray and the other pitch-black, standing side by side, looking up at the sky filled with powerful bombardment cannons.

In an instant, meteors fell worldwide, sparking vast flames and crashing down on Ji Fu.

In that moment, she linked the two mechas, Zhu Shi and Wu Jin.

[Mecha connection, symbiotic mode activated]

The Endless, piloted by Wei Lan, erupted in the symbiotic mode.

The giant mecha lifted a massive fireball, hurling it out with a roar.

Boom——

The scorching fireball burst out, shattering the bombardment cannons in outer space, creating a vast crimson-gold wave.

The wave burst forth with power comparable to two planets colliding.

The starships touched by the wave were all blasted into fragments and debris.

The two mechas, sharing panels and all energy, stood back-to-back.

They activated gravity cannons from all directions, ascending rapidly in a spiral.

They conducted indiscriminate fire at the fleet of starships in front of them.

Amidst the overwhelming siege, they carved out a bloody path.

In the extreme ascent, Ji Fu locked onto the nearby super starship.

The legion that came to blockade them must have received a death order.

Instead of intercepting with mechas, they used firepower suppression to trap them within the polluted zone.

The super starships in these fleets served as command centers for each team.

As Ji Fu sped through the air, she aimed at the target and switched Zhu Shi’s mode.

With a red arc light surrounding it, she launched two spiral lock-on cannons.

The projectiles were fired instantly, and while she continuously attacked the approaching starships, they shot out.

[Beep Beep Beep] The super starship emitted a piercing alarm.

Before the mecha pilots could react, the two projectiles exploded at the head and tail of the super starship.

The cannons mounted on Ji Fu’s mecha were called Canghuang.

Named for the scene of the explosion resembling a yellow streak in the sky.

The Canghuang violently exploded, turning the entire super starship into debris.

This level of starship had extremely strong defenses, yet Ji Fu’s mecha could penetrate them and annihilate the starship.

The legion commander’s expression changed dramatically, and he shouted, “Retreat! Retreat!”

But dozens of nearby starships had no time to react in the short interval.

When they realized what was happening, they saw the super starship explode, and the shockwave blasted many starships into fragments…

Zhu Shi and Wu Jin burst through the encirclement in the churning sea of debris.

The two mechas, sharing their ferocity, activated a rapid-fire mode.

After breaking through the encirclement, Zhu Shi turned to a blue arc light.

Wei Lan, piloting Wu Jin, launched a massive lightwave projectile.

But this time, it wasn’t a fireball; instead, it was…

Before leaving exam site No. 3, Ji Fu used Zhu Shi to load it with Black Sea water.

The Black Sea water combined with the quantum lightwave, forming a huge water cannon.

Wei Lan surged forward and blasted out the massive Black Sea cannon.

Boom! Crack!

The violent Black Sea cannon exploded on the legion’s starships.

Boom—

In the silent outer space, countless warning sounds suddenly erupted.

At the same time, the Imperial Star Alliance received news from the exam site.

The commander’s face turned extremely grim.

The dispatched legion fleet comprised over a hundred ships, including the main forces of the second legion. Such a fleet could sweep through black hole areas, yet it failed to intercept Ji Fu and Wei Lan.

At the last moment, they were shattered by the Black Sea cannon.

Hundreds of mecha soldiers were killed or seriously injured.

Four years later, the absurdity that clouded the alliance, reminiscent of Yun Chi, swept through once more.

But unlike last time, Fang Yanli was nowhere to be found.

He ignored all messages and didn’t return to the Imperial Star Alliance.

Even the highest office had no idea where he went.

While the highest office had many strong mecha soldiers, they only obeyed Fang Yanli.

This led to the failure of the interception plan.

The atmosphere in the alliance’s conference room was extremely tense.

The meeting lasted a long time, and afterward, the alliance issued three urgent wanted notices.

After the interstellar joint exams ended that day, interstellar citizens were waiting for the alliance’s explanation.

Unexpectedly, the alliance provided no explanation and instead put Ji Fu back on the wanted list.

Major forums were filled with ridicule and anger.

“As expected, the people at the top don’t care what we commoners think.”

“Now it’s just a lockdown after another, and not a word about the Pig Project, not even the word ‘pig’ can be mentioned.”

“Yun Chi returned, and once again, she’s a wanted criminal.”

But this time, it was clear that the alliance couldn’t just cover things up.

Three days after the broadcast, a large-scale conflict erupted within the legion.

Led by Lu Bingyun, ordinary legion officers refused to comply with the alliance’s search and capture orders.

Despite not fully recovering, Lu Bingyun led many soldiers out of the legion.

…It was said she left lying half in a medical capsule, pushed by others.

During her time in the legion, she had achieved numerous feats, earning great respect among ordinary soldiers. This event caused significant turmoil within the legion.

Lu Bingyun herself disappeared without a trace.

Most people believed she went to find Ji Fu, and the alliance pursued this lead.

Zhou Xing suspected she went to the Interstellar Academy.

But the academy uniformly denied seeing Lu Bingyun, let alone Ji Fu.

The academy’s principal claimed ignorance, feigning confusion when pressed.

Zhou Xing searched the academy three times, but each time to no avail.

Fortunately, he received inside information confirming that Ji Fu was indeed not at the academy.

All the search for Lu Bingyun was a cover.

The alliance and the aristocratic families’ real aim was to find Ji Fu.

Ji Fu had suffered minor injuries before leaving the exam site, and they believed she would lay low for a while.

However, they never anticipated that Ji Fu and the other two didn’t go anywhere.

They didn’t even return to the remote star system with the Black Sea.

After leaving the joint exam site, they met up with Qin Chu Yue.

Then, they intercepted an alliance’s super starship on the way.

For the past few days, they’ve been piloting the starship, blending in with the teams searching for them…

Having fugitives search for fugitives would naturally yield no results.

Moreover, no one expected that it was Qin Chu Yue who helped Lu Bing Yun escape from the legion and get to the Interstellar Academy.

Upon arriving at the academy, Lu Bing Yun asked Qin Chu Yue to wait a while.

She somehow procured a starship full of supplies.

Qin Chu Yue was still a bit stunned when she left with the supplies.

When she met up with Ji Fu, she said, “…You know, being a fugitive for so many years, this is the best treatment we’ve had.”

Ji Fu, sitting at the control panel and still experimenting, replied softly, “It will be even better after today.”

She paused briefly, “No, after today, we might not be fugitives anymore.”

Qin Chu Yue raised her eyebrows at this.

They had been observing the situation these past days.

Almost all normal interstellar citizens were outraged by the incident.

There had been about a dozen conflicts, both large and small, because of this.

The most and largest conflicts erupted within the legion.

However, these forces were still relatively scattered, not yet unified.

Currently, the only clear allies they had were Lu Bing Yun and a few students from the Interstellar Academy.

Compared to just the three of them at the beginning, this was significant progress.

But compared to the massive alliance and noble families, they were still too weak.

Though Qin Chu Yue believed that Ji Fu and Wei Lan alone could fight their way to the Imperial Star Alliance,

the force to topple it wasn’t strong or ruthless enough. Even if they replaced the alliance, it would just repeat the past.

So Ji Fu planned to fan the flames on these rising sparks.

In three days, while the alliance thought they were laying low, they followed the alliance’s route to locate the second research facility.

Above the clear skies of the remote star, a super starship suddenly appeared.

People in the research facility immediately sounded the alarm upon seeing the starship—

[Beep, Beep, Beep]

[Unknown intruders detected]

A huge turret rose above the facility, aiming at the large starship. But before it could fire, the starship’s hatch suddenly opened.

The facility’s personnel, enlarging the image from the hatch, saw…

A large number of black mechas poured out of the super starship.

Hundreds of them, densely packed.

And all of them were star-class mechas.

Ji Fu watched the livestream footage and smiled lightly.

Well, thanks to the Interstellar Academy for sending advanced machinery.

Lu Bing Yun didn’t just provide supplies.

She provided a large amount of mecha materials and countless finished mecha engines.

Ji Fu spent three days modifying them.

She created three hundred black mechas.

Now, the roles of offense and defense have switched.