Chapter 186 The True Purpose of the Combined Fleet: Hidden Star Pirates

After thinking for a moment, Li Ming asked again: "Is Asmara the commander?"

Ford nodded. "The combined fleet, with Asmara as commander-in-chief and my father, Prince Baijan, as deputy commander, has assembled fleets from thirty-two civilizations."

"They're all acquaintances." Li Ming couldn't help but sigh, "Are you going there to collect military merits?"

Ford's face darkened. "My military theory is full marks anyway. What do you mean by faking military merit?"

Military merit is the most valuable and is the most likely to lead to exceptional promotion.

However, the Silver Cluster has been peaceful in recent years, with almost no major wars, making it difficult to gain military merit.

Perhaps feeling guilty, he added, "During this time, we took advantage of the opportunity to launch a crackdown on the Torch Organization. Many people are indeed trying to join the Combined Fleet and gain some merit."

"But I'm different from them. I have experience in command."

Hearing this, Li Ming didn't argue with him, but just said perfunctorily: "Hmm..."

Seeing Li Ming's perfunctory attitude, Ford felt depressed and couldn't help but say, "I'm not kidding you. My sandbox simulation results ranked third in the three previous sessions."

Although he was a young man, Ford rarely had a competitive spirit. Even if there was a royal descendant like Isius who was better than him, he rarely tried to prove anything in front of him.

Because the other party can mobilize more resources than him, it is natural that they are more powerful than him.

But facing Li Ming, it was a little different. This kid was too rebellious. He was always defeated and always wanted to get back at others. He didn't want to be looked down upon.

"Awesome, awesome..." Li Ming nodded and asked, "How long will it take for the combined fleet to reach the Land of the Stars?"

Ford shook his head unhappily, "I don't know either."

Facing Li Ming's calm eyes, Ford subconsciously dodged and forced himself to straighten his chest. "I really don't know. The goal of the joint fleet is not to clear out the Star Land, but to target the Torch Organization."

"And right now, there's no accurate intelligence proving that the Torch Organization's headquarters is in the Land of the Stars."

"They do control many of the Torch Organization's outlying bases. We must first clear those bases and complete the deterrence of the Silver Star Cluster. Only after we are sure that we can't find the headquarters will we head to the Land of the Stars."

Li Ming was thoughtful. The target of the joint fleet was the Torch Organization, or more accurately, to make up for the damage caused by the Torch Organization to the Itlan civilization.

This fleet will obviously continue to show off its power for a long time and only complete its military, strategic and political goals.

"By the way, the Torch Organization has been in contact with the Great Mechanic recently, and it seems that they want to build something. You may be able to start from this aspect and find the headquarters of the Torch Organization." Li Ming mentioned this matter and didn't mind causing some trouble for the Torch Organization.

"We know about this as well." Ford's eyes flickered as he sighed, "However, the master mechanics the Torch Organization has contacted are not from the Silver Star Cluster, so it's difficult for us to ask for their cooperation."

Li Ming thought for a moment and then asked, "I can confirm that a great mechanic has been invited and is currently in the Land of Stars. Do you want to contact him?"

"Oh?" Ford perked up. "Who?"

"Jessiah..." Li Ming uttered a name. Ford seemed familiar with it and immediately said, "Silver Meteor, the Mechanical Knight bathed in fire, the Great Mechanic—Jessiah?"

Li Ming was confused for a moment. What the hell is this? Such a long string?

"He actually accepted the invitation from the Torch Organization." Ford, obviously unaware of this news, frowned. "Plus, the Torch Organization has already invited three great mechanics. What on earth do they want to do?"

"Ah..." Ford sighed again, "You may not know that the reason why Jessiah embarked on the path of mechanical transformation was because of us."

"The Knight of Fire is bathing in the fire of our Itlan. It is basically impossible to come into contact with him."

At this point, he quickly glanced at Li Ming and said, "It's very difficult to locate the Torch Organization's headquarters, unless there are mechanics working together from inside and outside, maybe it can be done."

"The Torch Organization also covets you, so we are considered a common enemy."

Li Ming narrowed his eyes, "What exactly do you want to say?"

"Did your teacher, the great mechanic, accept the invitation?" Ford asked tentatively.

Li Ming chuckled, "So that's what you were planning. I won't hide it from you, my teacher did receive an invitation, but he wasn't interested in getting involved with the Torch Organization and declined."

"Rejected?" Ford was a little surprised and couldn't help but sigh: "It seems that your mechanics teacher has a very powerful background. He can even ignore the Sublimator Ruins."

Ascendant ruins?

Li Ming's heart moved slightly. Ford meant that the mechanical masters who were invited there would be able to access the Ascender ruins?

The Torch Organization probably isn't that kind and would share it for free.

What they need, made by the great mechanic, may be the key to entering the ruins, Li Ming guessed thoughtfully. No wonder it could attract so many great mechanics.

If that was the case... the beam of light that had just hit the planet seemed to have struck Li Ming's mind, and a sharp light flashed across his eyes.

"Is your combined fleet making such a big fuss really just for the Torch Organization?"

Ford's expression froze slightly, then quickly calmed down. "What do you mean?"

Li Ming stared at Ford: "You don't want to use the power of the entire Silver Star Cluster to help you obtain the Ascendant Ruins?"

Fuck, Ford cursed inwardly, how did this bastard guess it again?

"What a good plan." Li Ming became more and more certain that his guess was correct.

The death of Isius gave Itlan a legitimate reason to assemble a joint fleet. Although they were the only dominant civilization, the power of other civilizations should not be underestimated.

There is nothing more appropriate than using other people's power to do your own things.

"Alas..." Ford neither admitted nor denied it, but just sighed: "You really shouldn't have left. If you leave, not only Asmara, but also my father and the senior members of the royal family will be very dissatisfied with you."

He felt more and more regretful. If Li Ming were in the Itlan civilization, he would have achieved great things.

"Your teacher can hardly protect himself."

Li Ming chuckled, "There's no right or wrong. I'm not you. They won't train me unconditionally."

Ford shook his head. This was an unsolvable contradiction. It was impossible for Itlan to cultivate an uncontrolled A-level life form.

On the screen, Ford's eyes moved slightly, and he gestured outside the screen, then said half-jokingly, half-seriously:

"Let's leave it at that for now. When the coalition forces head to the Land of the Stars, I'll notify you to leave as soon as possible. It would be bad if we meet on the battlefield."

Before the screen went out, the last thing Ford saw was the ambiguous smile on Li Ming's face.

"The Combined Fleet will have to wait for a while, which is good news." Li Ming pondered secretly, "However, the Collectors' estimates are wrong. This time, the Combined Fleet will not leave easily."

He shook his head, drank a tube of development potion, and continued to develop the gene seed. Under the power of [Gene Warrior], various evolutionary theories worked together in his cells, and flames and green air currents surrounded his body.

Although his development speed was fast enough, he still felt it was not enough.

"It would be great if it could just go up to 100%." ​​He sighed to himself. He had been looking for something that could directly or indirectly improve the development progress, but there were too few such things.

Early the next morning, Li Ming heard a noise outside. He pushed the door open and walked out, his eyes changing slightly.

Between the floating islands, more than a dozen slender spaceships were seen heading towards the trading island. They were obviously a standard fleet, with a flag painted with an upside-down dagger with a black pupil at the end.

"Night Eye Mercenary Group..." Li Ming frowned slightly. This is another big force in the Land of Stars. Their territory is far away from the floating island, and it is usually difficult to see them.

They are different from the Star Hunters. They are mainly employed by large forces and civilizations, and sometimes even accept war-level employment.

The overall strength should be among the stars, the most capable, and the players under his command are all managed in a militarized manner.

The patrol soldiers nearby pointed at it and looked quite surprised.

"They're actually from Night Eyes. I might not even see them for a few months, and yet they've come with such fanfare."

"There's an agreement among the major forces of the Star Power that they are not allowed to enter other people's territory at will. This time, something big must be going on."

Li Ming opened the local network of the smart terminal and found that many people were discussing this matter. Li Ming soon found the reason.

"It is said that the guy who robbed the Night Eyes Mercenary Group of valuables has not been found yet. The Night Eyes boss is anxious and has asked several other major forces in the Star Land to join forces to search for him."

"That thing..." Li Ming recalled that a few days ago, the news that the Night Eye Mercenary Group had lost something caused a lot of uproar.

He paid a little attention to it. The A-level life form took action personally, but still couldn't find it?

"I don't know what was lost, but it seems quite urgent." Li Ming muttered, but didn't take it to heart. He turned around and went back to develop genetic seeds.

However, to his surprise, the collector arrived within a few hours.

Ulrich looked at the mechanical bodies working on the floating island with calm eyes. He didn't care what the other party was doing on the floating island, as long as it completed what he needed.

"Mr. Collector." Li Ming came out to greet him and noticed the bearded man behind Ulrich wearing blue heavy combat armor with the Nighteye logo on it.

Ulrich nodded and followed Li Ming into the simple reception room. He then pointed at the bearded man and introduced him, "This is the captain of the Night Eyes Mercenary Group—Lelian."

"Your Excellency Leilian." Li Ming greeted him, and Leilian responded in a deep voice, "Your Excellency Qinglong."

Ulrich said, "He came here this time mainly because Nighteyes lost something. Their leader, Theo, was very worried and asked me to help investigate. We have some friendship."

"Sir Lelian, you don't think the thief is here, do you?" Li Ming frowned slightly.

Ulrich shook his head. "That's not the case. I promised to help them investigate. The port has already issued the order. The most important thing now is to determine if the thief is hiding inside."

Lei Lian said in a deep voice, "Please, Your Excellency Qinglong, please ask everyone on this island to come here."

Li Ming frowned even deeper. Was he going to take off the mimicry mask?

Were they really lost items, or could Ulrich have resisted trying to determine their origins?

Ulrich added, "We just need their blood for comparison."

"Blood comparison?" Li Ming thought for a moment, "Okay."

Then he called Yaluo and Kai over, squeezed out a drop of blood from each of them, and compared them on the instrument.

Lei Lian looked up, confirmed that he was not the target, and his eyes fell on Li Ming again.

"He doesn't need it. I can guarantee it." Ulrich took the initiative to say. Li Ming was slightly surprised.

Leilian hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Are you sure there are only these two people on the floating island?"

"That's right." Li Ming nodded. Yaluo and Kai didn't know what to do yet, so they were cautious and alert.

Lelian walked out, as if to conduct a thorough inspection of the entire floating island.

"What a big commotion..." Li Ming asked Yaluo and the other man to leave and asked Ulrich to sit down.

Ulrich smiled, "After all, something was lost. The leader of Nighteyes, Gray Eyes - Theo, has a very bad temper."

"What was lost?" Li Ming was a little curious. Something that could make an A-level life form so anxious must be something extraordinary.

"It's just a small thing, not worth mentioning." Ulrich had no intention of explaining further. Instead, he felt a sense of gloating: "This time, Theo has finally gotten into trouble. A B-level lifeform stole the things and even ran away."

Li Ming was not surprised to learn that it was a Class B life form that did it. If it was a Class A life form, it would have run away or fought a big fight instead of hiding.

"Then this B-level life form should be very powerful." Li Ming agreed.

Ulrich continued, "Yes, this B-level lifeform is extremely skilled at camouflage and extremely fast. None of the B-level lifeforms in the Night Eyes Mercenary Group can catch up with him."

"Oh?" Li Ming frowned. "There shouldn't be many people like this."

"Indeed, there aren't many. It's said to be the hidden star thief, Serrad. He's active in the Sophia Cluster, a loner with exceptional thieving skills, having committed numerous crimes." Ulrich said.

"The biggest incident before was the theft of the Gutria Crystal Diamond. His gene seed favored speed, and his B-level gene seed was the rare [Quantum Light and Shadow Lizard]."

"Quantum Light and Shadow Lizard?" Li Ming felt that it sounded familiar.

"You know that too?" Ulrich caught the change in Li Ming's expression and continued:

"They are the natural spy race that was exterminated by the Itlan civilization and several other advanced civilizations. Using their genes to modulate gene seeds, they can perform mimicry and camouflage."

"At least, judging from the appearance alone, even A-level life forms are difficult to detect, and ordinary detection equipment is useless. It's quite powerful. Many of Yitlan's ace agents have integrated it."

After wiping out the clan, they made it into gene seeds. Tsk… Li Ming sighed inwardly.

While they were talking, Lelian had almost finished searching and was sure that no suspect was found.

After returning, he specifically reminded Li Ming: "Mr. Qinglong, I see you have a lot of precious metal materials here. It's best to put them away and be careful not to lose them."

Li Ming thanked him for the reminder. He thought Ulrich would leave as well, but unexpectedly the collector stayed. After watching Lelian leave, he seemed to have something to say.

(End of this chapter)