Chapter 295: Interlude and Return Voyage (One Chapter today, sorry)

By the time Li Yu and Hannes returned, Hunter discovered that the former Hannes had disappeared.

The current Hannes followed behind Li Yu, occasionally looking at him with a gaze that Hunter found familiar.

Hunter had frequently seen this kind of gaze—on Li Ping, and even on Gober.

And Li Yu was also somewhat surprised at this moment. He found that the Faith provided by Hannes was far higher than everyone else combined.

He could clearly feel a slight improvement in his Mental Power.

In a sense, Hannes was now his Subordinate Deity.

Li Yu wasn't too knowledgeable about the Path of Divinity, but he had previously learned about the organizational structure of the filthy cult through Otis.

It was basically a loose structure led by Priests. Because of the special nature of Faith, there was no theory of checks and balances within the faction, so they could do whatever they wanted.

Li Yu appointed Gober as his Priest to spread his Faith on Planet Abundant Star, but slowed down the actions for the time being to avoid attracting the attention of the Gui Xing High Command.

"Speak straight... I'm afraid I won't be able to resist ridding the people of an evil." Li Yu calmly took a few steps back.

"That transformation ability, can it be bestowed upon me..." Hunter asked with anticipation, then added somewhat bitterly: "Look at me... I can't take the Genetic Evolution Path, and my Superpower is useless... I'm like a useless piece of trash."

"You can undergo Cybernetic Enhancement, rest assured..." Li Yu said earnestly: "I will fully support you."

Hunter's eyebrows twitched violently, and he forced a smile: "I'm not a madman yearning for Mechanical Ascension. My Physical body is still useful... still useful..."

"If you want this ability, there's no problem..." Li Yu shifted his tone, but before Hunter could get excited, he poured cold water on him: "However... this ability requires Faith as a medium to bestow. Do you want to believe in me?"

Hunter's expression changed several times, and finally he said, Muttering Curses: "You should have said so earlier, wasting my feelings..."

Believe in Li Yu? He had no interest in that. Whenever he thought of Li Ping's Bootlicker appearance, he trembled all over.

Li Yu chuckled twice and didn't mind.

The survivors in the other Shelters on Planet Abundant Star also learned the news of the Evil God's defeat. Being already hesitant and confused, they easily became Li Yu's Believers.

After spending some more time turning the remaining soldiers of the Patrol Fleet into his Zealots, the impact of the 【Apostle】 being exposed was basically smoothed over.

The only loophole was the Corrupt God—Rohan—whose whereabouts were unknown. He had witnessed the 【Apostle】 and was even trampled under its foot.

But he faced the same problem as Dark Star: he had no substantial evidence. Did he really think the medals on Li Yu were just for show?

If any random Evil God jumped out and made accusations, Returning Star would turn on its own people? That would be too cheap.

Therefore, Li Yu wasn't worried that this loophole would blow up, and Rohan wouldn't necessarily be willing to spread the fact that his Faith was stolen.

For a Divine Spirit, this was naked cuckolding behavior; it was simply too humiliating.

After spending two days settling some matters in the Hengfeng System, Li Yu and his group prepared for their return voyage.

Next up would be the post-disaster reconstruction organized by Returning Star, but in places with low presence like the Hengfeng System, the disaster relief procedures would start extremely slowly.

However, Li Yu would use his influence to expedite this matter.

The Sinking Blood Mist gradually began to disperse, revealing the original appearance of Planet Abundant Star, with residual blood color in some places.

Massive ravines stretched across the main continental plate, clearly visible even from deep space.

Fortunately, the population on Planet Abundant Star was already small, so it wouldn't affect the survivors' lives.

Planet Eternal Distance, however, was far more tragic. The entire planet's natural environment had been destroyed, with no living creatures left. Even the oceans covering the planet's surface were dyed a faint blood color.

The Meteor Fleet and the Patrol Fleet floated quietly in space, without igniting their engines for departure. Li Yu, Hannes, and Hunter gathered in the temporary combat Command Center.

With slightly solemn expressions, they stared at the Void not far away.

"Warning... A large number of unidentified flying objects are approaching."

"Warning... A large number of unidentified flying objects are approaching." Claptrap's warning sounded.

On the Warp Detector, a large number of red dots were approaching. A rough estimate put them at hundreds, and they were closing in rapidly.

The expressions of the few people flickered, and they simultaneously prepared for battle.

Interstellar space inexplicably produced Distorted Ripples, and then a massive fleet arrived via Warp. A large number of warships appeared here, and they weren't Returning Star's fleet.

The emblem on the outer Armor of this fleet's spaceships was somewhat unfamiliar to Li Yu. It was a knight riding a warhorse, the horse's head raised high.

This fleet was very large, not like scattered stragglers. The small Frigates were all standardized models, mainly shuttle-shaped.

The main colors were black and purple, engraved with matrix-like patterns.

The ship's hull had hollowed-out cavities arranged in a triangular distribution. In each cavity floated an incredibly dense red-and-black dark energy sphere, acting as both an energy furnace and an annihilation Weapon.

The large Assault Cruisers were irregular prismatic bodies, embedded with a large number of energy spheres, and even had some kind of metallic light bands fluttering about.

Although the material was metal, it was a highly ductile alloy, with a texture as soft and light as fabric.

"Exiled Knight Group––A top-tier interstellar Marauder active at the borders of multiple civilizations and barren cosmic regions."

"...The commander, Raphael Sastre, is an A-Level Esper... tremendously strong... According to the Returning Star Database, his peak Energy Reaction exceeded 300,000 Calorie Units..."

Through the emblems on the warships, Claptrap quickly found out the other party's origin.

Hunter's expression changed slightly: "Why would such a fierce person appear here? Returning Star's defenses..."

Subsequently, he paused and looked at Hannes: "Oh... I almost forgot, the Patrol Fleet captain responsible for this area is right here."

Li Yu frowned deeply. This was within Returning Star's territory, and the other party obviously wasn't just passing by. Their target was precisely the Hengfeng System.

Could this place be hiding some secret?

Li Yu guessed in his heart, otherwise why would the Corrupt God target the Hengfeng System, and this top-tier interstellar Marauder also come here?

"Don't worry..." At this time, Hannes spoke up. He looked at Li Yu and said, "Your Excellency Commander, he is from Returning Star."

"Oh?" Li Yu was slightly surprised. Hannes was now Li Yu's loyal Believer, so naturally he wouldn't Keep in Suspense, and continued to explain: "The Exiled Knight Group is an exploration group funded by Returning Star, and possesses an exploration license issued by Returning Star."

"Exploration license?" Li Yu's expression was odd. Without needing to think much, he could guess the purpose of this thing: an external "legal plundering permit."

It belonged to the Seven Warlords of the Sea category.

He had thought there was some secret in the Hengfeng System that attracted so many people, but looking at it now... he probably overthought it.

According to Hannes, many advanced civilizations had these kinds of "exploration teams" operating outside to handle matters they couldn't deal with openly.

This kind of information belonged to higher-level secrets and wasn't recorded in the open Database.

It was only because Li Yu had become an A-Tier Lifeform for too short a time, otherwise he would also know about such secrets.

"Then it's fine..." Hunter suddenly relaxed. The Star Glory Empire also had these unofficial groups, and he had even interacted with a few of them.

Just then, the other party requested a connection. After Li Yu agreed, on the massive Holographic Screen appeared an Interstellar human with hair covering half of his face.

Through the gaps in his hair, one could see a black eyepatch over his left eye; he seemed to be blind.

With current Interstellar Technology, many mechanical eyes could pass off as real ones, but this person hadn't chosen to install one.

"You should know my origins. I am Raphael." His voice was somewhat hoarse; he really was the commander of the Exiled Knight Group.

"Yes..." Li Yu nodded, waiting for the other party to continue.

After introducing himself, Raphael said straightforwardly: "Received a notice from Majesty Digor. It's said that a [High-Risk] level Evil God invasion event occurred here. I happened to be relatively close, so I came to take a look."

Due to the appearance of the Divine Child, Hannes had once requested secondary backup. The backup sent by the Gui Xing High Command was too slow, so Digor actually sent this person to assist.

Raphael's single eye shifted around, seemingly observing other pages, appearing slightly surprised: "...Looking at it now, the matter seems to have been resolved. Who resolved it? And who are you?"

Raphael's attitude wasn't great, carrying a bossy feeling; perhaps he was used to being unrestrained.

"I am the temporary commander of the Meteor Fleet––Li Yu." He narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a deep voice: "Thank you for Your Excellency's support, but the incident here has already been resolved."

Raphael's expression looked somewhat strange: "Li Yu, this name sounds a bit familiar. Let me check... Possessor of the Golden Cross Medal, Honorary Baron... Just became an A-Tier Lifeform..."

He was looking up information on Li Yu, and just some surface-level resume made him somewhat surprised.

Li Yu hadn't been in Returning Star for long, yet he had played a key role in various incidents, and even had a few unverified Scandals with the Mermaid Princess.

He could be considered a prominent figure a while ago, but hadn't been very active recently.

The amount of information Interstellar Citizens received every day was extremely massive, and Li Yu hadn't deliberately maintained his presence.

Most netizens who were just there for the show had already relegated the previous [Vitel Incident] to a corner of their memories.

Unless the [Vitel Incident] was specifically mentioned, they would suddenly remember that there was a person named Li Yu.

In fact, Li Yu had thought about it two days ago: the Interstellar Network was the best medium for spreading Faith.

But considering that the netizens were mostly Chaos Enjoyers, probably there to watch the fun, not many would truly believe, and the network risk control of various civilizations wasn't Useless either.

If they found a trend of spreading Faith, they would definitely intervene and stop it promptly.

So he dispelled this idea.

"[High-Risk] incidents are not something ordinary A-Tier Lifeforms can resolve. It seems Your Excellency Baron is not simple..." Raphael's attitude changed quite a bit, and his tone softened.

"The main Merit for this matter belongs to Commander Hannes. I was merely assisting from the side." Li Yu pushed Hannes forward.

This was what he had planned: push the Merit to Hannes while he hid his achievements and fame. Hannes was one of his own anyway.

"The commander of the Fourteenth Patrol Fleet..." Raphael then noticed Hannes behind him.

Any Discerning Person could tell that between the two, Li Yu was the one leading, but Raphael didn't expose it.

The two chatted idly for a moment before Raphael said:

"...Since the matter has been completed, I won't stay here any longer. I will report to Majesty Digor; he is quite..."

Speaking up to here, Raphael suddenly paused. He suddenly realized that under normal circumstances, Digor wouldn't pay too much attention to a certain Star System.

Whether it was an Evil God invasion or a foreign enemy attack, Returning Star had a systematic process; they just had to follow the process.

But this time, Digor had him rush to the Hengfeng System for backup as soon as possible.

Raphael knew that the illustrious Star Burier absolutely couldn't be concerned about the Hengfeng System.

Thinking of this, his eyes became profound, his single eye falling on the overly young-looking Interstellar human.

All this seemed self-evident; the other party seemed even more complex than he imagined.

Figuring this out, Raphael had some ideas in his mind.

"...Your Excellency Baron, why don't you and I exchange contact information, so we can look out for each other in the future." Raphael's tone was gentle, a stark contrast to his initial attitude.

Li Yu naturally didn't refuse. He definitely needed to build a good relationship with this kind of Seven Warlords of the Sea; who knew when he might need him in the future.

Not long after, the two bid farewell, and the Exiled Knight Group entered the Jump State again, leaving the Hengfeng System.

In the Command Center, Hunter looked Li Yu up and down, his gaze strange: "Say, you're not Digor's illegitimate son, are you?"

Li Yu shot him a glance, too lazy to respond.

"That Star Burier is famously Ruthless and has destroyed countless Life Planets. When an incident occurred in such a Prosperous star system as Vitel, he didn't even show his face, yet he pays so much attention to the Hengfeng System..."

The light of wisdom flashed in Hunter's eyes: "Furthermore... the Loren Family of the Star Glory Empire inexplicably wanted to catch you, and many people said they couldn't find your Identity, so you definitely have an unknown Identity."

"Combined with how much Digor cares about you now, even mobilizing the Exiled Knight Group for backup... the result is self-evident, you're Digor's illegitimate son! We're in trouble, if you are Digor's illegitimate son, then the matter with Klein, wouldn't it be... be... be... be..."

Hunter twitched all over, Golden Electric Arcs surging, black smoke coming from his mouth, unable to speak a complete sentence.

"If you have nothing better to do, go swim in space..." Li Yu said Speechlessly. Hunter's brain was truly bizarre.

"I... I... was just making a joke..." Hunter calmed down, Electric Arcs still occasionally shooting from his mouth.

The Exiled Knight Group was just a small interlude and didn't affect the return voyage.

The Meteor Fleet and the Patrol Fleet simultaneously entered the Jump State, preparing to head to the nearest Stargate.

Hannes also needed to return. His fleet had been crippled and urgently needed to replenish warships and soldiers.

And this Star Sector would be handed over to the other Patrol Fleets for joint patrols, ensuring no Marauders would take advantage of the vulnerability.

A good friend got pancreatitis. I went to see them after work yesterday and got home quite late. Just one chapter today, I'm extremely sorry. Thanks for your support.

(End of this chapter)