Chapter 111: Bluff, Keep Bluffing

The hairs on the back of Li Yu's neck stood on end as an icy cold blade slowly pressed against his throat.

"Don't move!" a clear, cold voice whispered sharply in Li Yu's ear. Her actions were immediately noticed by the surrounding Four-Armed Titans.

Li Yu: "???"

He suppressed the instinct to launch a sudden sneak attack. He had intended to just kill the person behind him directly, but seeing the numerous gazes turning their way, he decided to wait and see what would happen for now.

"Get out of the way!" the person behind him yelled at the surrounding crowd while holding Li Yu hostage.

"Lady..." Li Yu said helplessly. "I am not Bauhaus. What is the point of using me to threaten them?"

Surrounded by Four-Armed Titans, Bauhaus walked over and looked at the person behind Li Yu with great interest.

"This... beautiful lady..." Bauhaus began like a perfect gentleman. "When did I ever offend you?"

"Stop pretending!" Her voice exploded in Li Yu's ears like a bomb. He felt utterly dejected and tried to slightly move his head away.

She was a woman of unfathomable depths!

"You damn animal! You deserve death a thousand times over for the slave trade! Do you even remember how many families you have destroyed and how many lives you have ruined?!" she continued to reprimand Bauhaus.

"One, two..." Bauhaus extended his fingers, frowning as he counted. Then, an eerie smile crept onto his face. "I really cannot remember clearly."

"Do not come any closer... or I will kill him!"

As a few Four-Armed Titans closed in, the woman's grip tightened again. Li Yu could clearly feel the dagger pressing directly against his skin.

Hearing this, those Four-Armed Titans actually stopped in their tracks and looked at Bauhaus not far away.

"I have a question..." Bauhaus, whose silver-white hair was neatly combed, looked somewhat puzzled. "Why would you think that using him could threaten me?"

"Heh..." The woman sneered. "I never thought I could threaten you with him. I am just stalling for time."

Bauhaus narrowed his eyes. Bang! Bang! Bang!

From all four corners of the hall, thick purple smoke began to billow out. Nerve Gas!

Where did this crazy chick come from? She was so ruthless... She wanted to kill everyone in the entire hall.

"I am completely innocent here, do you have a spare gas mask?" Li Yu muttered to the woman. He just wanted to take a look at the Mermaid. Was that a crime?

"There are no innocent people in this hall..." the woman's voice was firm. "Do you think people who came to appreciate the Mermaid have the right to call themselves innocent?"

Li Yu: "..."

"Damn it, I do not have time to play with you!" Li Yu's eyes narrowed, and his whole body began to glow red. The woman pressed tightly against his back instantly let out a gasp and subconsciously stepped back.

Crackling electric arcs surged around his neck. The blade scraped against his brown scales, failing to cause any harm to Li Yu.

Li Yu turned his head and struck out with a palm. His blazing hand landed squarely on the woman's chest, drawing a cry of pain from her lips.

The surrounding Four-Armed Titans were quite prepared, quickly putting on gas masks. Amidst Bauhaus's surprised expression, Li Yu threw a devastating punch that crippled one of the Four-Armed Titans and snatched its gas mask.

Bauhaus seemed to possess an extraordinary resistance to poisons. Standing in the middle of the purple smoke, he used no defenses at all. He even inhaled the toxic fumes with an intoxicated expression.

Li Yu did not know what grade of Nerve Gas this was, but ordinary Nerve Gas no longer had any lethal effect on him.

However, if it was something on the level of the "Fallen One - Revelry", he would not be able to handle it either.

"Impressive," Bauhaus gave Li Yu a thumbs-up, completely ignoring the Four-Armed Titan who had been stripped of its gas mask and was now writhing and howling on the floor.

This was the top floor of Tyron Tower. The ventilation system activated immediately, quickly clearing out the Nerve Gas. Most of the guests were completely fine, as their strength was not low, and some even carried gas masks on them.

This made Li Yu thoughtful. He would have to carry a gas mask with him from now on.

The woman had already died from the Nerve Gas. This was an assassination attempt that could hardly be considered refined.

Unclear intelligence on the target meant the poison acted like mere sugar to Bauhaus.

The backup plan was also riddled with flaws. The Nerve Gas lacked sufficient potency, and there was no escape route planned. It seemed she merely wanted to perish together with Bauhaus.

A palm-shaped burn mark seared the woman's chest, turning her fair skin a charred black. She was indeed a woman of great depths, but sadly lacking in brains.

"What a pity... otherwise, she could have fetched a good price..." Bauhaus sighed in lament before ordering, "While the body is still warm..."

"Harvest all the valuable organs..." He paused and revealed a benevolent smile. "Donate them to those in need."

Thunderous applause immediately erupted all around, with the onlookers praising Bauhaus for his boundless mercy.

The corpse was disposed of, and the area was scrubbed clean. This was just a minor interlude. It was merely an assassination. If someone did not experience dozens of these a year, they could hardly be called a major player.

"...I apologize for ruining your mood..." Bauhaus bowed slightly before getting straight to the point. "Now... the Mermaid Appreciation Assembly... shall begin!"

"...A species whose name resounds throughout the Cosmic Star Sea... A race pursued by countless individuals—the Mermaid, is about to make her appearance!"

The atmosphere among the crowd grew visibly tense. The metal floor in the center of the room split apart, accompanied by the grinding sound of mechanical gears.

A massive, transparent glass tank slowly rose before everyone's eyes. Bathed in a dreamlike glow, a swimming Mermaid instantly captivated the entire room.

Her upper body was humanoid, with her chest covered by pink seashells. Her naturally wavy hair flowed gracefully like sea kelp.

Her large, crystal-clear eyes were filled with panic and unease. Her lips were pale, and her teeth were somewhat sharp and serrated.

From the waist down was a fish tail adorned with scales in a gradient of pink. Right now... she was swimming around restlessly, desperately trying to escape the tank.

The appearance of a Mermaid was no secret; anyone could easily look it up on the Interstellar Network. However, very few people ever got the chance to see one in person.

Bauhaus retreated to Li Yu's side as the majority of the crowd surged forward, eager to get a closer look at the Mermaid.

"Have you ever seen a Mermaid before, young friend?" Bauhaus probed, noticing Li Yu's unmoved expression.

"This is my first time seeing one face-to-face..." Li Yu answered honestly.

"What are your thoughts?" Bauhaus was quite curious. The strength Li Yu displayed earlier had caught his attention; he could effortlessly knock down an adult Four-Armed Titan.

No matter how one looked at it, the young man was a C-Tier Lifeform. A C-Tier Lifeform would not be ignored anywhere; they would hold the position of a boss or a bodyguard captain at the very least.

"It is just alright, I guess..." Li Yu could not quite understand why the people in this universe were so obsessed with Mermaids. Perhaps it was simply a matter of the masses copying the tastes of the elite.

"That is because you have not tasted the many flavors a Mermaid has to offer..." Bauhaus chuckled softly. "If this Mermaid was purely for viewing, how could she hold such immense value?"

Li Yu was actually getting curious, but this old geezer suddenly stopped talking. Bauhaus wore an expression that clearly said: 'Those who know, know. Those who do not, do not, and explaining it would not help you understand.'

"Mr. Bauhaus, what is the price... for this Mermaid?" a voice rang out from the crowd.

Bauhaus shook his head. "She is not for sale. This is merely for everyone to appreciate..."

"How about two billion?" The man immediately offered an astronomical price, causing many people to gasp in cold air.

Two billion Star Coins... This price was definitely not cheap, even for the Mermaid market.

But nowadays, with Mermaids becoming increasingly difficult to traffic, this price was unlikely to be the ceiling.

"My friend, I already said she is not for sale..." Bauhaus's face grew noticeably colder.

"And if I insist on buying her..." The man seemed completely unafraid of Bauhaus. He stepped out from the crowd. His face was gloomy, and his appearance was completely ordinary and unremarkable—the kind of person who would disappear seamlessly into a crowd.

"May I ask who you are?" Bauhaus did not lose his temper immediately, opting instead to ask cautiously.

"Pachis, Scarlet Commander..." he declared his title with a hint of arrogance, drawing a wave of gasps from the onlookers.

"Pachis..." Li Yu looked at him, recalling the relatively muscular Scarlet Commander who had stood beside Dark Star back then.

It was him...

Bauhaus also frowned slightly. "Does Mr. Dark Star need her? If that is the case..."

"I am buying her for myself..." Pachis interrupted Bauhaus.

"If it is a personal purchase..." Bauhaus paused, a smile returning to his face. "I am sorry... she is not for sale."

"You!" Pachis instantly flared with anger. "Bauhaus, do not be ungrateful. How dare a mere slave trader oppose Dark Star!"

"Can you represent Dark Star?" Li Yu spoke up from beside Bauhaus. "A mere Scarlet Commander dares to spout such arrogant nonsense at Mr. Bauhaus?!"

"Even if Dark Star himself were here, he would have to treat Mr. Bauhaus with utmost respect. What kind of nobody are you?!"

Li Yu cursed righteously, filled with indignation. Bauhaus's mouth twitched slightly, while Pachis's face turned incredibly gloomy. "Very well. I will be sure to pass these words on to His Excellency Dark Star."

"Heh..." Li Yu sneered. "Do you think Mr. Bauhaus is afraid? When Bauhaus was drinking with the Tyrant Goblins, who knows where Dark Star was still playing in the mud?!"

Everyone in the hall instantly gasped in cold air. Damn, was Bauhaus declaring war on Dark Star?

"Enough!" Bauhaus's face was darker than the abyss. Since when was he this incredibly bad-ass? Even he did not know!

He pointed at Li Yu, his face completely devoid of expression. "I do not know him..."

The crowd wore bizarre expressions. As expected of Black Hand Bauhaus—truly ruthless. He was willing to sell out a subordinate of this caliber at the drop of a hat.

Without Bauhaus's protection, the things he just said would ensure that Dark Star tortured him to death.

Li Yu did not care much. He just needed to change his face later.

"However..." Bauhaus said to Pachis with equal solemnity, "I am still not selling this Mermaid!"

What did that mean? The crowd was thoroughly confused. If you were yielding, why not sell? And if you refused to yield, why did you abandon your subordinate?

Was he trying to have his cake and eat it too?

Pachis stared at Bauhaus, let out a few cold sneers, and then turned and left the area.

The remaining crowd looked at each other in dismay before taking their leave one by one. The Mermaid was beautiful... but their own lives were much more important. If Bauhaus had lost his mind and decided to oppose Dark Star, it had absolutely nothing to do with them.

In a short while, Li Yu was the only outsider left in the room.

The smile was completely gone from Bauhaus's face. He glared at Li Yu with a dark expression. "You are courting death, do you know that?"

"I am saving you..." Li Yu said sincerely.

Bauhaus let out a sinister chuckle. From outside the door walked in another Four-Armed Titan. He was much taller and broader than the others, exuding a dangerous aura as he looked down upon Li Yu.

"You are just a C-Tier Lifeform. It is not like I have never killed one before!" Bauhaus completely tore away his disguise, his eyes utterly cold and indifferent.

"Disaster is looming over your head, do you know that..." Li Yu glanced at the massive Four-Armed Titan but paid it no mind—it posed little threat. Instead, he addressed Bauhaus directly.

"Disaster is looming over me?" Bauhaus was suspicious and uncertain, but then he sneered. "Are you trying to stall for time?"

"No..." Li Yu shook his head. "The Star Glory Empire wants to turn this place into an outpost. When that happens, a Local Tyrant like you will be the first target to be purged."

"What?!" Bauhaus was genuinely startled.

No matter how much of a Local Tyrant he was, his network was strictly limited to the No Man's Land System. He knew very little about the intentions of the Star Glory Empire's high echelon.

"Impossible!" Bauhaus declared decisively. "The Radiant Council would not turn a blind eye if the Star Glory Empire built an outpost here. Even with public opinion regarding a missing Imperial Noble, that cannot serve as an excuse for them to expand their territory!"

It was no longer the era of savage expansion. The borders of the Star Glory Empire had remained unchanged for many years.

Only undiscovered planets that had never made interstellar contact could be secretly developed into colonies. And then the Empire would spin some excuse like:

"Oh, we actually incorporated this territory ages ago, we just forgot to update the maps..."

"They fell to their knees and begged to join us, we had no choice..."

Such nonsense excuses were common. As long as there were no major conflicting interests, interstellar public opinion would merely issue verbal condemnations.

But to turn the No Man's Land System into an outpost? That would provoke not only the Radiant Council but also several neighboring civilizations, potentially escalating into an armed conflict.

"You do not believe me? When the massive army of the Star Glory Empire descends upon us, let us see if you believe it then," Li Yu sneered.

"This is a buffer zone..." Bauhaus furrowed his brows deeply. "Unless the Star Glory Empire wants to spark another war, why would they occupy this place..."

"Do you have any proof?" Bauhaus's expression turned moody and unpredictable. If this was true, the slave trade network he had painstakingly built in the No Man's Land System would be reduced to ashes.

"I am the evidence..." Li Yu's face shifted, reverting back to his original appearance.

"It is you?!" Bauhaus's pupils contracted violently; this time, he was genuinely shocked.

He never imagined that the very person who had kidnapped the Imperial Noble would actually appear right in front of him.

Lately, the discussions surrounding Li Yu's kidnapping of the Imperial Noble had been running hot across the No Man's Land System without any sign of dying down.

Especially with the Imperial Fleet sailing into No Man's Land, Li Yu, the chief culprit, was constantly being cursed and condemned in every conversation.

"Kidnapping an Imperial Noble? That was nothing but a complete and utter fraud..." Li Yu began his bluffing. "The Star Glory Empire simply needed an excuse to interfere in the No Man's Land System."

"Do you know why the Radiant Council has not reacted at all?" Li Yu asked again.

"Why..." Bauhaus asked subconsciously. His face then darkened as he realized he was being completely led by the nose by this brat.

However, this was indeed a question that had many people curious.

The Star Glory Empire had made such massive moves, yet the Radiant Council had not taken a single countermeasure. It had certainly left many completely baffled.

Naturally, it was because they were in the wrong. Xia En had been taken away by them, and they were busy trying to secretly groom Xia En.

Li Yu suspected that the Radiant Council was preparing to concede certain benefits in exchange for the Star Glory Empire's silence on the matter regarding Xia En.

Although the No Man's Land System lacked precious resources, its location was prime. It served not only as a buffer zone between the Star Glory Empire and the Radiant Council.

There were also several formidable civilizations nearby. Once the Star Glory Empire gained a firm foothold, they could project their influence over a far broader region, perhaps even reaching directly into the Radiant Council's territory.

Of course, this must have been a deal struck after the dust settled on the Xia En incident.

Li Yu mulled over these thoughts privately, but outwardly he declared, "That is because the Radiant Council has already prepared for war!"

"Prepared for war?!" Bauhaus felt his entire big-boss mentality crumbling from sheer terror.

A war between the Star Glory Empire and the Radiant Council was no minor skirmish. It would either not happen at all, or it would engulf the cosmos entirely.

"What exactly is your goal in telling me all this?" Bauhaus calmed down after a moment, suddenly realizing he had no reason to panic over these grand affairs.

If the Star Glory Empire and the Radiant Council really were going to war, a small-time Local Tyrant like him would not be the one sweating bullets.

Moreover, this guy was constantly harping on about massive events that would impact the entire universe. Who knew if a single word of it was true?

"Let us put the distant future aside for now..." Li Yu coaxed. "At the very least, the Stargate must absolutely not be built successfully... otherwise, your days are numbered..."

Bauhaus narrowed his eyes. A Stargate was a long-distance spatial teleportation device.

Once constructed successfully, fleets from within the Star Glory Empire's borders could arrive here in an endless stream, completely bypassing the agonizingly long warp periods.

Connecting this with the fact that Dark Star had locked down No Man's Land, along with the rumors he had picked up from several other Marauder factions, Bauhaus suddenly had a very bad feeling.

It was the feeling an old spider lying dormant in a dark corner got when its web vibrated unnaturally. Sometimes, it did not mean prey had been caught; it meant extreme danger had arrived.

"I can just leave this place... With the wealth I have amassed, it is more than enough for me to live the rest of my life free from worry..." Bauhaus said, his expression aloof.

"Of course you can..." Li Yu shrugged and sighed deeply. "It is just a pity that the great Black Hand Bauhaus will be reduced to raising dogs and teasing cats on some random Life Planet for the rest of his days..."

Bauhaus squinted his eyes and asked rhetorically, "And what does any of this have to do with you?"

Li Yu acting in his best interest? Bauhaus was not foolish enough to believe that.

"Right now, No Man's Land is on lockdown. Once the Stargate is completed and the Star Glory Empire purges this place, I will not be able to escape either." Li Yu offered a reason that Bauhaus could somewhat accept.

"Forget it, never mind..." Li Yu shook his head as he looked at the silent Bauhaus. "If you do not believe me, then whatever..." He then lifted his foot, preparing to leave.

A massive figure blocked his path. It was that huge Four-Armed Titan, his four arms crossed over his chest. He was Bauhaus's bodyguard captain. With a cold sneer on his lips, he spoke in a muffled, booming voice:

"Who gave you permission to leave?"

Li Yu glanced up and grinned widely. In an instant, his left leg was coated in a crimson liquid, with purple electric arcs dancing wildly across it.

With almost zero delay, Li Yu's left leg slammed brutally into the giant's crotch. A painfully clear shattering sound echoed through the room.

A hundredth of a second later, the Four-Armed Titan's pupils dilated completely, the veins on his neck bulged outwards, and his jaw dropped wide open. Yet, not a single sound escaped his throat. His eyes simply rolled back into his head, and he fainted dead away on the spot.

Every other Four-Armed Titan in the room instinctively clamped their legs tightly together, their faces draining of color. Even Bauhaus felt a nervous flutter in his stomach.

Taking out his bodyguard captain in a single strike—and that was a C-Tier Four-Armed Titan no less! Although the move was undeniably a cheap shot, it was more than enough to prove Li Yu's immense strength.

This meant that he had not been using those grand words merely to intimidate him and beg for his life... Bauhaus's eyes flickered thoughtfully...

"What is the point of growing so tall?" Li Yu shook his head. He kicked aside the unconscious Four-Armed Titan blocking his path and prepared to walk out.