Chapter 177: Taking Inventory of the Spoils and the Reactions of Various Parties

"...The Purple Crystal Royal Fleet is still right above us, yet those rampant interstellar bandits turned a blind eye to them and actually started another battle!"

Simpson arrived extremely quickly and began an emergency broadcast covering this battle.

This clash had not resulted in massive casualties, but the resulting public opinion storm would likely be more terrifying than the previous two battles combined.

Because this fight took place under the direct deterrence of the Purple Crystal Royal Fleet, it was practically a slap to the face of the Amethyst Civilization.

Naturally, the interstellar media swarmed in like sharks smelling blood in the water.

Li Yu and his group had long since cleaned up the battlefield and evacuated the area.

This was Mangu's umpteenth temporary safehouse, significantly smaller than the previous two. It was essentially just a slightly larger-than-average apartment.

Although the Inuit Hub could not quite be described as a place where every inch of land is precious, real estate here was by no means cheap. Mangu could not afford to maintain too many vacant properties.

Li Yu stretched his body, feeling a faint tearing sensation deep within his corporeal form. This was the lingering aftereffect of having his Gene Chain fusion process forcibly interrupted earlier.

Peyton conducted a brief examination. "It is not a major issue. Just refrain from engaging in combat for a while and take some time to recover."

Fortunately, they had stalled for enough time earlier, meaning that by the time he was interrupted, the fusion was already fundamentally complete.

Peyton still had numerous charred marks on his skin left behind from the recent battle, which were currently healing at a slow pace.

"I heard you risked your life to hold off Boiling Blood for me?" Li Yu teased. Peyton let out a long sigh, utterly lacking any desire to discuss the matter.

Seeing Peyton's reaction, the group could not help but share a knowing smile. Hunter stared intently at Li Yu, his gaze burning with a fierce intensity, like someone who had been starving for ages.

"I never expected you to be this strong. You managed to slaughter four lifeforms of the same tier right after fusing a Gene Chain," Hunter remarked.

"I know I am strong, but you do not need to look at me with those kinds of eyes," Li Yu replied.

Li Yu eyed Hunter suspiciously. 'Has this guy developed some weird hobbies after hanging around Mangu for so long?'

Hunter seemed like he wanted to say something else but ultimately kept his mouth shut. Mangu, as if realizing something, shot a thoughtful glance at Hunter.

Li Yu did not pay it much mind and turned his attention to Li Ping, who was currently rubbing his arm.

His metallic corporeal form could self-repair. Furthermore, thanks to Mo Duo's interference, Boiling Blood had not continuously attacked him; instead, he had just tossed him aside.

Through a twist of fate, Li Ping had managed to keep his life and was still breathing just fine.

Seeing Li Yu looking his way, Li Ping immediately puffed out his chest. There was no trace of a smile on his face, only endless self-blame. "Your Excellency Li Yu, if only I had been stronger, I definitely could have stopped that man from destroying the spaceship!"

"You have already done very well," Li Yu said, patting him on the shoulder.

Li Ping's eyes instantly welled up with hot tears. He looked entirely ready to offer his body as a living shield and charge headlong into enemy lines for Li Yu.

The rest of the group had long since grown immune to the antics of this number one crazy fan.

Mo Duo cast a hesitant glance at Li Yu. After carefully inspecting him for a moment, she asked uncertainly, "Are you sure you are not injured?"

"Do not worry, it was just a few B-Tier Lifeforms," Li Yu said, waving his hand dismissively, clearly not taking those foes seriously. He then asked, "Are you alright? I saw you pass out earlier."

"Just a mental power overdraft. It is nothing major," Mo Duo replied, shaking her head. Her complexion still looked quite pale as she added, "I need to head to Blazing Eye Star as soon as possible. I am far too weak right now."

After today's events, Mo Duo's thirst for strength had reignited fiercely once more.

The Ghost God Orb contained a massive reservoir of Mental Power, but she could not tap into it directly because that convoluted energy did not belong to her.

If she were to use it recklessly, the inevitable result would be the complete loss of her sense of self.

"No problem," Li Yu nodded, before offering, "I will escort you there."

"Escort me?" Mo Duo looked puzzled. "Did you not say earlier that I should go alone?"

"If you are doing this out of concern for me, there is no need."

"I need to make a trip to Troll Star," Li Yu explained. He had reviewed the star map; if they departed from the Inuit Hub, the route to the Giant Demon Star System would conveniently pass right through the Blazing Eye Star System.

"Troll Star?" Mo Duo grew even more confused upon hearing this.

"Yeah," Li Yu confirmed with a nod, proceeding to recount the situation regarding Tu Rui.

"That Troll..." Mo Duo's expression turned peculiar. "He really does... understand you."

Hunter also leaned in, remarking in bewilderment, "I cannot believe he dared to pull a stunt like that. Was he not afraid that you actually would not go?"

"Sigh..." Li Yu let out a heavy breath, shooting Hunter a melancholic look. "I thought that since we spent so much time together day and night, you would understand me well enough. I never expected that a former enemy would know me better."

"Beneath my handsome, unbridled exterior lies a pure and innocent heart. I am actually a good person."

Hunter felt his scalp tingle with absolute cringe, deeply regretting ever leaning in to speak. He forced out a couple of awkward chuckles.

"What is with that laugh?" Li Yu demanded, clearly displeased. "If I were not a good person, would I have been willing to give half of the Amethyst Core to Molcasar?"

"Yes... yes..." Hunter nodded repeatedly, wholeheartedly conceding that Li Yu was indeed a saint.

"Umm..." From the corner, Kansa, who had felt like he had caused a massive disaster and had not dared to utter a word, suddenly stepped out slowly.

"The people here to pick me up have arrived..."

The atmosphere in the room instantly plummeted into silence. Several pairs of eyes drifted subtly toward Kansa.

Kansa felt as if he were being subjected to death by a thousand cuts. Their stares were far more terrifying than his own Purple Crystal Short Blades.

"You had better be careful this time. Do not go luring over another batch of B-Tier Lifeforms," Mangu remarked with a mocking tone.

"I will not, I will not..." Kansa offered an apologetic smile. Seeing that he was in the final stretch and about to head back home, he desperately wanted to avoid getting detained by Mangu over this incident.

"His Excellency Mangu truly has suffered quite a few losses." Li Yu patted Kansa on the shoulder, his tone laced with hidden meaning. "You bear a heavy responsibility for this matter. As a man, you need to take the initiative and shoulder that responsibility."

"I understand... I understand..." Kansa bowed halfway, maintaining a stiff smile on his face.

Li Yu spoke at a leisurely pace, "I know that once you return, you will have status and identity. Surrounded by attendants and guards, your mentality will definitely undergo some changes."

"It will not... I swear..." Kansa attempted to explain himself.

But he was immediately cut off by Li Yu, who pressed down heavily on his shoulder. "Listen to me first!"

"I hope you can keep those changes in mentality in check. Cooperate when you are supposed to cooperate. We are not the type to drain the pond to get the fish, either."

Kansa nodded profusely. Having just witnessed Li Yu brutally pummel four B-Tier Lifeforms, he did not dare harbor any treacherous thoughts.

Normally, when traveling, he did not even have two B-Tier Lifeforms acting as his bodyguards. How could he possibly dare to act tough in front of Li Yu?

Trembling with fear, Kansa walked out of the room to rendezvous with the members of the Purple Crystal Royal Fleet.

"Let us hope that kid can recognize reality, otherwise..." Mangu sneered coldly. The Thought Seal possessed far more power than what had been displayed so far.

Li Yu was unconcerned. "He will. There is nothing quite like hardship to make a person grow."

And lately, the hardships Kansa had endured were easily more than everything he had experienced in the first half of his life combined.

"Boss, we brought the goods back." Just then, Mangu's subordinates hauled in the corpses and the shattered pieces of armor.

They had evacuated the area in batches, and the chore of sweeping the battlefield naturally fell to the underlings.

"Oh..." Li Yu's eyes lit up with sudden interest. Thanks to the existence of the Thought Seal, Mangu's subordinates definitely would not dare to secretly pocket any of the spoils.

The corpses of Boiling Blood, Nobus, and the two Black-Armored Men, along with their respective armors, were all present.

"You deal with those two sets of black armor," Li Yu told Mangu. Because the battle had been an overwhelming crush of sheer strength, the armor worn by the Black-Armored Men had not sustained severe damage.

His Titan Colonization Armor had already devoured one set of this standardized model. Consuming another would not yield any further technological enhancements.

Mangu had suffered significant losses this time around, so Li Yu did not mind letting him have a taste of the spoils. He was always generous with his friends.

"Haha, Zeth truly does not understand you well enough. You are undeniably a good person." Mangu threw his head back in laughter, affectionately caressing the two sets of standardized armor.

After all, armor worn by B-Tier Lifeforms was highly valuable. Selling them off would allow him to recoup a good chunk of his losses.

Hunter's lips twitched slightly. He remained silent.

"Remember to grind off the identifying markers before you sell them..." Li Yu cautioned. If the markers were left intact, this type of standardized armor would be incredibly easy to track.

"I understand." Mangu nodded, fully aware of the underlying risks.

Following that, Li Yu rummaged beneath the heavily mutilated remains of Boiling Blood's armor and retrieved the Mechanical Giant Bow.

Because he had lacked the Cursed Arrow, Boiling Blood had not utilized the Mechanical Giant Bow during their earlier clash, leaving the weapon completely unscathed.

It had merely been slightly warped by the shockwaves of the battle.

"This thing..." Li Yu weighed the Mechanical Giant Bow in his hands. It was covered in gears and hinges, with a large number of miniature turbocharging devices distributed across the entire frame.

There was even a dedicated Energy Engine inlaid directly into the bow itself.

He lightly plucked the bowstring, producing a vibrating hum that echoed endlessly. Drawing the Cursed Arrow from his compressed space, Li Yu immediately felt a completely different sensation.

'Is this unruly thing actually taking the initiative now?'

Last time, Li Yu had exhausted all his strength and failed to pry it open. Yet now, it generously opened itself up, allowing a thick surge of energy to flow right in.

"So this thing was the key all along?" Li Yu stared at the Mechanical Giant Bow in his grip, unable to spot anything particularly special about it.

He nocked the arrow, and fired!

Swish!

The Cursed Arrow pierced straight through the metallic wall, flying off to who knows where.

Immediately after, Li Yu raised his hand. Before long, the Cursed Arrow came wobbling back.

"Not a bad attack method." Li Yu nodded in satisfaction, casually tossing the Mechanical Giant Bow to the Titan Colonization Armor.

The Mechanical Giant Bow did not contain much high-end technology. Within a mere ten minutes, the Titan Colonization Armor had finished devouring it. However, it subsequently spat out a pitch-black bone fragment.

The Black Bone Fragment, barely the size of a fingernail, was engraved with exceedingly intricate and twisted Runes—at least a thousand of them in total.

"This thing is the real key. The Mechanical Giant Bow was merely a launching mechanism." Li Yu instantly reached a realization. As he rubbed the freezing bone fragment, a faint stinging sensation transmitted through the pad of his finger.

Pressing the bone fragment into the Titan Colonization Armor, Li Yu then picked up and tested the weight of Nobus's Red and White Twin Blades. The impression this weapon had left on him was quite profound.

After all, Nobus had relied on these Red and White Twin Blades to face the attacks of the Ship-breaking Blade head-on. They must have been forged from a material on par with Lusian Black Gold.

"Peyton, take a look." Li Yu deployed his personal humanoid appraiser.

"Day Cold Iron and Fire Hell Stone." Peyton only needed to cast a single glance to identify the materials of the two blades.

With the names secured, Li Yu simply had to look them up on the Interstellar Network.

"...Both are B-Tier materials native to Troll Star. Tsk tsk, Troll Star really is a treasure trove. How come the Star Glory Empire has not turned them into the Troll Remnant Race yet?"

Li Yu could not help but joke, which inadvertently prompted a rather serious response from Peyton: "Because the overall IQ of the Trolls is not very high, and the vast majority of them only know how to obey the commands of their Chieftain."

"They fundamentally lack the capacity to resist the empire's savage excavation operations."

'The overall IQ is not very high...' Li Yu pondered. Most of the Trolls he had encountered did seem rather slow-witted.

'Uh... Tu Rui could be considered one of the smarter ones, but even he is just so-so.'

These two weapons possessed no technological components whatsoever, so there was no need to hand them over for the Titan Colonization Armor to devour. Two White Chains extended from the Titan Colonization Armor, latching directly onto the hilts of the Red and White Twin Blades.

With a gentle flick, the chains rattled sharply. Cold light flashed, and fiery flames boiled. With Claptrap's assistance in manipulating them, they could absolutely serve as extra hands to attack his enemies.

'Not bad...' Li Yu felt as if he could star in a live-action role as a certain God of War—punching Apollo, kicking Athena, and sleeping with... cough cough...

...

Due to the frequent battles over the recent period, the Inuit Hub had found itself constantly under the watchful gaze of several interstellar media outlets.

According to a survey conducted on the Interstellar Network by Amethyst Express News, thirty-five percent of interstellar travelers were already unwilling to dock and resupply at the Inuit Hub.

It was rumored that a few massive interstellar travel groups were actively reconsidering whether they should continue using the Inuit Hub as a transfer station in the future.

But in reality, the impact of these events stretched far beyond just that.

"According to the latest reports, the travel ship that vanished three days ago—the Peace Ship—has been confirmed hijacked by Space Marauders."

"The ringleader is currently extorting a ransom from the passengers' families."

"No Space Marauders have appeared in the vicinity of the Inuit Hub for two years. Some experts speculate that it was the recent string of fierce battles around the Inuit Hub that lured these Space Marauders here."

"Because of this, a portion of netizens on the Interstellar Network believe that the Amethyst Civilization should foot the bill for the ransom. In response... the Amethyst Civilization has yet to release any official statement."

Various news broadcasts circulated across the Interstellar Network. The confirmation of the Peace Ship's hijacking thrust the entire situation directly into the eye of the storm.

The fact that the arrival of the Purple Crystal Royal Fleet had failed to quell the fighting sent countless interstellar media outlets into an absolute frenzy.

"Is the Sun Setting on the Amethyst Civilization? Rampant Interstellar Bandits Deliver a Slap to the Face!"

"Infuriating, Shaking, Chilling! The Royal Fleet Gets Ignored? When Will We Finally Stand Tall!?"

Only the internal media outlets within the Amethyst Civilization remained relatively restrained, refraining from open mockery. Meanwhile, the surrounding civilizations—especially the media outlets from the Star Glory Empire—were the perfect embodiment of unscrupulous journalism.

After all, countless events were occurring simultaneously across the vast interstellar expanse every second of every day. If the headlines were not exaggerated enough, who would even bother clicking on them?