Mora, an international pirate, was one of the most civilized pirates in the universe. He never treated his hijacked spaceships roughly; after surrounding a merchant ship, he primarily used persuasion and education. Before raiding, he always thoroughly analyzed the intelligence, then used the person in charge of the ship as a starting point, using their weaknesses as leverage to force them to hand over the cargo. If they refused to cooperate, he would target the others, using instigation, coercion, and bribery—using every means possible. Human nature is difficult to fathom, but he had the ability to make his adversaries willingly hand over their goods. Even after returning home, they dared not make a big fuss, much less call in the Federation army to recover the cargo, because doing so would come at a greater cost than the stolen goods. Moreover, the few who did try to seek revenge all disappeared without exception.
"Pirate Mora?"
Xuanyuan Lie's expression remained unchanged, as if this was no big deal.
"You actually recognize me? That makes things easier." Mora looked at Xuan Yuanlie and said, "Compared to life, everything else is just material possessions. The general surely understands this better than I do. Leave your things behind, and you can go."
Xuanyuan Lie laughed, "My ship is less than a third the size of yours. Do you really think we could be carrying anything?"
Mora raised an eyebrow, as if she had heard something unbelievable, and looked around the screen before finally fixing her gaze on Xiang Wan.
Xiang Wan thought to herself, "Oh no! Could this person be trying to take advantage of me?" She quietly hid behind Xuan Yuanlie, not daring to show her face again.
Xuan Yuanlie silently protected Xiang Wan and said in a deep voice, "Mora, you don't care about anything else on this ship besides us. Let us leave, and we can pretend that your plundering of us never happened."
Hearing this, Mora became intrigued. She stared at Xuan Yuanlie for a long time before laughing, "I've always heard that you, General Xuan Yuan, are fair in your rewards and punishments and keep your word. But if I just let you go like this, people will think I'm afraid of you. How about this, leave one person behind as a hostage, and when you return to the Federation, you can exchange him for the person's value in your eyes. What do you say?"
Mora's words were truly venomous. For Xuan Yuanlie to escape unscathed, sacrificing one person for another, given the vast disparity in strength between the two sides, would undoubtedly be the best outcome. However, choosing someone would surely alienate everyone. On the other hand, sacrificing everyone for one person was also something no one wanted to see. Most importantly, everyone's value to Xuan Yuanlie was crucial to the stability of the entire team. If Xuan Yuanlie made even the slightest mistake, the entire team would crumble, collapsing without a fight, allowing Mora to seize the ship without firing a single shot, and the Federation's prestige would be utterly destroyed.
Fortunately, everyone firmly believed that Xuanyuan Lie would find a solution. If a final battle was necessary, they would not hesitate to join it, even if it meant their deaths.
Everyone was determined and just waited for Xuan Yuanlie to give the order. Xiang Wan quietly stepped forward, tugged at Xuan Yuanlie's sleeve, and whispered, "Why don't you let me go? You can come and pick me up later. There's no need for a direct confrontation. You can just bring something to exchange for me."
Xiang Wan knew that Xuan Yuanlie wouldn't fall into Mora's trap so easily, but she couldn't let go of such a good opportunity to perform. She could win everyone's favor and gain Xuan Yuanlie's trust. Even if she was really sent there, she would have a way to get away.
Xuan Yuanlie turned his head, glared at Xiang Wan, pulled her behind him, subtly winked at the team members beside him, and then said to Mora, "That's too much of a loss. You're a renowned pirate, how could you only kidnap one person? Why don't we all board your ship and be your hostages? That way, we can enhance your reputation and get more ransom, wouldn't that be better?"
Mora was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter, "Interesting, very interesting. Xuan Yuanlie, you really don't play by the rules. You knew I just wanted to be a carefree pirate, yet you deliberately made me rob you all. My reputation has certainly grown, but I'll face pursuit from the Federation and provocations from other pirates. While I'm not afraid of those things, getting involved in this kind of trouble for no reason is annoying. I'm not taking this hot potato."
"Since you're not going to take us, then let us leave. We'll go together or stay together, it's up to you."
Hearing such outrageous words coming from Xuan Yuanlie's mouth, Xiang Wan felt something was off. Was this really the Xuan Yuanlie she knew?
Not only was Xiang Wan surprised, but Mora was also very surprised. She looked at Xuan Yuanlie suspiciously for a long time, wondering if he had actually kidnapped the general himself.
His subordinate pressed a portrait on his wristwatch—it was Xuan Yuan Lie before he put on makeup. Mora compared Xuan Yuan Lie to the portrait for a moment, then angrily exclaimed, "So this is Xuan Yuan Lie! He actually dared to send an imposter to fool me..."
"You're right, he's a fake. Our general is incredibly shrewd; he knew long ago that someone would be unable to restrain themselves and want his life, so he set up this scheme to expose the mastermind. He never expected it to be you! Do you really think our presence here alone is just a coincidence?"
When Mora's expression turned suspicious, Xiang Wan tightly grasped Xuan Yuanlie's wrist, leaned forward, and said the following: Mora disliked trouble, especially big trouble. If they could trick him into leaving, it would save them a lot of trouble.
After Xuan Yuanlie's subtle gesture, one of the team members quietly slipped back into the communications room. Xiang Wan had asked the system; the nearest planet to this coordinate point had a Federation garrison. If communication was smooth, rescue ships could be dispatched promptly. Unfortunately, the signal here had been intercepted by Mora early on, so she had the system simulate signals coming from all directions, creating the illusion that ships were flanking from all sides. Combined with her earlier words, Mora wouldn't doubt her.
Sure enough, a moment later, a soldier approached and whispered something to Mora. Mora's expression turned serious. He stared at Xiang Wan for a while, then bowed to Xuan Yuanlie and said, "It's all a misunderstanding. How could I, Mora, do such a thing? To express my apology, I'll give you a small gift. Farewell!"
Mora ordered his men to retreat. The images on the screen disappeared, leaving only the long trails of light from the ships in space before they vanished from sight. In one corner of the screen, a small airship hovered silently.
If Xiang Wan had known what was inside, she would never have wasted her soul power to have the system stage this fake show. Unfortunately, things rarely go as planned.
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