Star Gate

Chapter 649: Ambush (III)

“This is what you eat?”

“Yes, this is my food,” the bird didn’t deny it. “They are without supernatural powers and weak, the trash of your race. Unbelievably fragile, we cleanse trash for you when we eat them.”

It didn’t find anything wrong with its actions—all monster spirits wouldn’t find anything wrong with these actions. In their races, the weak were cast away and even eaten. The bird hadn’t intended on eating the offerings at first, it simply wanted the Four Seas Company to provide some food. The company had offered this of their own accord. Upon finding their taste to be satisfactory after one tasting, it continued to partake.

“How long have you been here?”

“How long?” The bird thought for a bit. “Three years, according to your sayings...”

“How many people like these have you eaten?”

“Not people...” The bird still wanted to explain. “This envoy partakes of the offerings only once a month and chooses the ten most tender specimens each time...”

“Which means 120 people a year and 360 in three years...” Li Hao understood, then smiled. “You are the envoy of Phoenix Mountain?”

“Yes!”

“What is the nature of partnership between the mountain and the Four Seas Company?”

“We help them survey the surroundings and provide long distance flights to facilitate communication between the mountain and trading company. We exchange some monster spirit specialities for necessities that Phoenix Mountain requires...” The bird knew that the human in front of it was not someone to offend, so it didn’t dare hide anything. Its thought ripples undulated violently when it was done. “What are you doing?!”

Boom!

Li Hao brought down his sword with unfathomably dense killing intent. His sword pierced through the cardinal directions and chopped the bird’s head off. This was a late Nova monster spirit, but incredibly fragile all the same when facing Li Hao.

It was gravely wounded and on the verge of death after one blow. The young man didn’t say a word and continued to swing stroke after stroke. In the end, there was only a bird skeleton present in front of him. All of the flesh and feathers had been hacked off.

“You’re very tender too!” Li Hao smiled and turned to He Yong. “Kill all of the guards on the island, don’t leave a single one alive!”

What!

The guards prone on the ground paled with horror. The strongest among them was just Solar, how could they withstand a powerhouse like He Yong? He Yong knew that Li Hao was enraged and didn’t say anything else. He punched a massive crater into the ground and pulped several dozen guards!

“Senior Yang, kill all of the monster spirits on the island!”

“Understood!” A grunt came back on the wind before blade light flashed.

“Everyone on the island is to convene here. Those who are not present within five minutes will be executed!” Li Hao hovered in the air, light glistening from his silver armor. He looked silently at the bronze mirror in his hand. “You can try escaping if you think you can make it out! I am Skystar Vice Commander Li Hao, the Demon Sword that you know of! The Four Seas Company colluded with pirates and monster spirits to brutalize humans and eat our fellows! You have seen it with your own eyes! You can try running away if you think you’ll make it!”

Low sobs and wails rose in the surroundings. No one dared move. The jeering nobles were crouched on the ground in bedraggled form. Some of them had peed themselves from fright—various pungent scents wafted through the air.

“Commander, I am a Night Watcher...” A terrified person volunteered carefully when he heard Li Hao identify himself.

Pfft!

A sword ran through his head. Li Hao looked at the body, then at the group. “I told you to convene on this spot, not talk! Anyone who opens their mouth will die!”

The crowd was even more horrified to see this demon kill his own colleagues. More people wet themselves.

“Night Watchers?” Li Hao asked coolly. “There might be some among you, but... don’t identify yourselves right now. If you do, I’ll only find it disgusting that we’re on the same side. How embarrassing that I am also a Night Watcher! I might be able to spare you when I calm down, understood?”

No one else dared make a sound; more streamed to where Li Hao was. Elsewhere, He Yong was furiously hunting down the fleeing guards. Some had run to the beaches, but were blocked from escape. The barrier could not fend off Novas, but these guards were at most Darkmoon. No one was getting away!

Wails and howls rose and fell.

“Demon Sword, we of the Ministry of Finance...”

“Ah!!”

“The Ministry of Finance will get you guys for this!”

“......” Li Hao simply counted down the time. When it was up, he shot into the air and erupted with hundreds of rays of sword light. They exploded in all directions, razing multiple buildings! Agonized screams wailed out.

“Whether martial master or supernatural, do any of you think you’re getting away from me?” Li Hao couldn’t see balls of light around martial masters, but he had the bronze mirror to identify any signs of life within its effective range. They wouldn’t be escaping his reach!

A martial master rose into the air and immediately shot for the distance. He punched Li Hao’s answering ray of sword light to pieces!

A powerhouse among martial masters!

“I am a disciple of Buddha Mountain...” he roared.

BOOM!

A thick column of sword light raced down. Li Hao shot upward like he was a bird, kicking and punching. The Buddha Mountain disciple plummeted with grave injuries after a second. Li Hao reached out and snapped his throat.

“Your mountain lord’s younger brother seems to have been killed a few days ago. We did that too. Your mountain lord is on bad terms with my master, so is Buddha Mountain supposed to be scary?”

This was a decently strong martial master, at least on par with Golden Spear. But when he encountered Li Hao, he could only suffer the fate of being killed.

The premises grew even more hushed. The young man looked at where he’d stood before. Thousands of people crouched on the ground made for a magnificent sight. What a pity that the overpowering stench did not live up to it.

“Everyone is to write down their identity, cultivation level, and hand over their storage ring!” Li Hao’s voice once more rang out. “Make sure to clearly write out your name. Those who conceal their identities will be shown no mercy!

“Don’t think that you’ll be able to evade disaster if you give a fake name! You can try it out if you’re that confident in yourself!”

Thousands of pieces of paper and writing brushes landed in front of everyone. Some of them trembled so much that their hand shook too much to write. They were beside themselves with fear. However much they were cocky before, they were truly terrified now. This was a real demon!

“Sp this is what the dynasty’s nobles are like?” He landed in front of everyone with a sigh. “How can the dynasty not decline with scum like you guys? How can it not collapse? Wake up, you’ve got five minutes. Those who can’t write should find someone else to write it for you. If not, you can be buried here!”

It was like school was in session as the sound of brushes scratching over paper was the only thing that could be heard. Many were explaining their identity, while a few shook so hard that they were unable to grip a brush. They begged for those next to them to help.

He Yong came back before long and nodded with a smile. “It’s done!” He’d killed six Novas and one Nova monster spirit in a short while. There were also numerous guards on the island—at least one thousand. But right now, they were completely obliterated by a few butchers!

In Li Hao’s view, these guys were worse than pirates. All of them were guilty! It wasn’t much to keep monster spirits around, but they fed humans to the monster spirits! Women... children... Though monster spirits gave these actions the pretty veneer of helping humanity eliminate waste, would these guards be unaware of the truth? Would those enjoying themselves on the island be oblivious?

Li Hao wanted to kill them all, but he held himself in check in the end. He forced down the burning flames of his heart because he knew he couldn’t do so. There were too many here and they were connected to too many others.

It was fine for him to kill a few or a handful, but he couldn’t kill them all unless he wanted to go against the entire dynasty. He didn’t have the strength to do so, despite these people all deserving death.

Li Hao felt that it wouldn’t be an injustice to kill them all, but he suppressed his rage in the end.

“After you finish identifying yourself, detail the crimes of the Four Seas Company!” He smiled. “As for what crimes there are, you guys can decide yourselves! When you are done, sign and stamp the confession!”

He scattered a rainfall of papers over the terrified crowd. “You can live if you write, you can also try not writing anything!”

Yang Shan appeared at this time, holding many storage rings in his hand. “I’ve emptied out several warehouses and taken the storage rings from the Novas and Solars. There’s probably still a lot of unclaimed treasure in the buildings of this island.”

Li Hao didn’t look at the rings after he received them from Yang Shan. He continued to stare at the bronze mirror and reached out before long, summoning the papers and store rings from the crowd. He grinned after perusing them.

“A lot of you guys are highly placed! If I summon your fathers or grandfathers to collect you, half of the nine ministries and royal family would be represented. No wonder the Four Seas Company is so arrogant and so wealthy. With all of you present, of course they’re wealthy!”

He pointed at a young man who seemed relatively composed still. He lowered his head when he saw Li Hao point at him.

“You are the grandson of the North Sea King?” Li Hao smiled.

The North Sea King was the greatest pirate of the North Sea! The identity on this sheet of paper was his grandson... Li Hao had reeled in a big fish!