Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Chapter 981 - 847: The Tree Wishes for Calm, but the Wind Will Not Cease

The reason Balrog was able to borrow this fleet had something to do with his identity with the Anomalous Management Division.But mainly because of his bad temper and eccentric personality, no one wanted to offend such a lunatic.

Moreover, the nature of Rhodiola rosea’s team also matched the fleet’s combat objectives, and they were all located in the Asteroid Belt.

These three factors combined allowed him to borrow the fleet in his personal name.

However, even so, he couldn’t bear the consequences of the fleet’s destruction—he would still have enough wiggle room even in a pyrrhic victory.

Because of this, he eventually lost the will to live and insisted on a duel with Qu Jianlei.

Of course, with this guy’s arrogant personality, encountering such a fiasco, he likely couldn’t calmly accept it.

Thus, putting everything on the line for a chance to save face wasn’t surprising.

Additionally, Qu Jianlei specifically looked into the origins of those two Armed Merchant Ships.

The two starships were indeed related to the Feiying Group, hired on a temporary basis.

However, these resources were also brokered by Balrog.

Feiying knew they had offended the Rhodiola rosea team, soon facing retaliation, and sincerely wanted to compensate but felt reluctant.

At this moment, Balrog sent someone to convey that he could recommend two Armed Merchant Ships to participate, they just needed to pay a symbolic fee.

Feiying naturally didn’t dare offend him—compared to the Rhodiola rosea team, Balrog seemed stronger.

Anyway, they were internally struggling, so taking this opportunity to participate was normal.

Thus, the Feiying Group half-heartedly agreed, and when 8384 fleet arrived, they cooperatively compensated.

After all, this is the essence of businessmen, not lacking in strong-arming, but when faced with those they can’t provoke, betting on both sides isn’t uncommon.

However, Qu Jianlei’s harsh asking price surprised them.

So Feiying quietly delayed things to facilitate Balrog’s plans.

This is the general situation of the whole event, and more details aren’t necessary anymore.

After understanding the process, Qu Jianlei handed over the fate of these prisoners to Paranoid and Flower Scorpion.

He knew these two were ruthless, yet didn’t feel any guilt.

This battle resulted in significant losses for the entire team; someone had to pay for it, right?

Paranoid gladly accepted the arrangement, "The Anomalous Management Division people... heh, they’re even less humane than you think."

Four days later, three starships completed the transition, heading straight for Celestial Blade Star.

However, this time Qu Jianlei couldn’t produce the military’s special pass.

Half a day’s journey away from Celestial Blade Star, Omen Ship was intercepted by an Armed Starship.

However, saying it’s an Armed Starship, anyone could see it was related to the military.

From its appearance, it was more than 90% similar to a military ship.

Even the paint job was carelessly done, just smeared a bit to make do.

But the military had reasons for this; the situation in the Celestial Hook Star Realm was quite chaotic.

The military had to show cooperation everywhere, not having the energy to dispatch warships for inspection.

The key is, deploying warships could easily lead to misunderstanding or over-interpretation by those unaware of the truth.

So, they rather outsource the patrol tasks, saving themselves the hassle.

Nonetheless, speaking of "outsourcing," everyone knew, the truly crucial jobs wouldn’t actually be lost to outsiders!

The Armed Starship’s attitude was very stiff, bluntly stating, "Stop the ship, accept the inspection!"

As for what qualification it had to inspect incoming starships, there was not a shred of explanation, as if it was self-evident.

Qu Jianlei, contrary to his usual attitude, did not raise any objections.

The other side’s attitude was quite stiff, but thankfully, Omen Ship had a Star of Hope Realm pass.

The pass was invalid in the Celestial Hook Star Realm, but it was better than nothing, so Qu Jianlei presented it.

The document at least proved this starship had some credibility within a certain region!

After checking the document, the opponent questioned, "Why are you here?"

Qu Jianlei replied in a deep voice, "There’s the Celestial Hook Enigma Mansion here, came to take a look."

This answer was actually quite vague, not explaining how he planned to look or why he wanted to go to the Enigma Mansion.

Whether it’s for a junior family member’s internship or someone intending a Realm Breakthrough seeking opportunities.

Yet such vagueness is a typical societal reaction—provided an answer, probing further into details would infringe upon privacy.

Indeed, the opponent didn’t pursue further, merely scoffing disdainfully, "Enigma Mansion... How much do you really know?"

Then the voice turned cold again, "Alright, open the hatch, we need to inspect."

Qu Jianlei had traveled interstellar for so long without anyone ever inspecting his starship, this was unprecedented.

This feeling was extremely unsettling, but he knew during ordinary people’s interstellar travels, this was unavoidable.

Given his current identity, facing such a situation, complying obediently was the correct reaction.

Anyway, it’s just this once, it doesn’t matter, so he opened the hatch.

The bridge docked, and five people came up from the opposite side, with a B-level Awakened leading the way.

Don’t underestimate B-level; in this kind of scenario, having one B-level is already impressive. Usually, a C-level is enough.

This means that the situation here has been somewhat tense lately; otherwise, this setup wouldn’t appear.

The five entered and were stunned, "So spacious?"

The Omen Ship is an armored merchant ship, with space slightly smaller, but the passenger cabin can easily accommodate twenty to thirty crew members.

In general, a minimum of a dozen crew members should be configured on such an armed merchant ship; a shortage of personnel leads to vacancies.

Theoretically, one person can operate a starship, but that is simply impossible.

The inspectors were quite shocked to see such a large starship with only three crew members.

This setup barely meets the minimum requirements for interstellar navigation, but... what if combat occurs?

Flower Scorpion frowned upon hearing this, "If you’re here for inspection, then stop talking nonsense!"

Her A-level aura couldn’t be hidden, and she was the highest Cultivation Level among the three.

Qu Jianlei disguised as B-level Water Attribute, while Paranoid was more extreme, with no Awakened aura, feeling like a Modified Warrior.

The B-level leader wasn’t worried about accidents; with things developing to this point, everything was normal.

He had inspected many people, wasn’t unfamiliar with A-levels, and most of the time, no one would cause trouble now.

However, it’s best not to completely ignore what an A-level says.

He did not further question about the crew, just waved his hand, "Alright, open the cargo hold!"

There was naturally nothing unusual during the inspection, even though they were upset and deliberately checked thoroughly.

The cargo hold had few things, just Energy Blocks, ammunition, daily necessities, and some industrial materials.

When asked why they loaded these, Qu Jianlei casually replied, "For our own use."

There’s nothing wrong with that; armed merchant ships don’t necessarily have to carry cargo—can’t they enjoy Space Travel?

The crucial point is that there were no contraband items, leaving no opportunity for a narrative.

Also, the responder was B-level too; having three crew members might be few, but with an A-level and B-level, their strength wasn’t weak.

Someone noticed anomalies in the weapon systems and asked in a deep voice, "Did you recently fire?"

The three crew members remained silent, just coldly staring at him, the meaning clear—we fired or not, that’s none of your business!

Actually, this anomaly deserved a thorough investigation.

But clearly, these three weren’t to be trifled with, and this merchant ship... the armor alone showed they weren’t short of money.

So the B-level gave a wave, leading the others away.

However, some people’s eyes still showed a trace of resentment, wondering if someone in the Star Port would seek revenge.

After shutting the door, Flower Scorpion sighed deeply, "Kind of miss the military’s pass."

With and without credentials, the difference is really distinct. Qu Jianlei could only smile wryly at the comment.

He didn’t want to give up a peaceful life, but alas, the tree wishes to be still, yet the wind won’t cease; Balrog insisted on picking a quarrel.

After this encounter, there were no further troubles, arriving smoothly above Celestial Blade Star.

Several warships floated beyond Celestial Blade Star, suspended in space, adding a chilling atmosphere to the planet.

According to procedure, the Omen Ship needs a landing application and another inspection to land.

But Qu Jianlei didn’t do so; he secretly commanded Little Lake, "Search for messages on the planet."

The starship was now seven to eight thousand kilometers from the planet, allowing smooth communication.

Before leaving, Qu Jianlei left the old lady two Pioneers; they might not excel in other aspects, but long-distance communication was no issue.

Big Head Butterfly moved a bit and answered, "They left a message, have already left Celestial Blade."

One Pioneer was hidden in an abandoned house, connected to a battery, functioning at minimum energy cost.

The abandoned house was two hundred kilometers from the yard they rented, indicating they departed rather calmly.

"Used fake identities to Transfer Star?" Qu Jianlei furrowed his brows, "See if there’s any news about us."

This time, Little Lake took around five minutes to answer that query.

"No specific news, but there is a secret message to strictly check all kinds of special passes and report promptly."

"Oh yeah, this request appeared five days ago... coinciding with our battle time."

"No need to guess," Paranoid timely spoke, "Information must have been delivered!"

"Except the military isn’t too sure on the battle results, and doesn’t want their issued credentials mocked... they won’t be very cooperative with the Anomalous Management Division."

He was quite familiar with the military’s relationship with the Anomalous Management Division.

"Transmitted quickly," Qu Jianlei murmured softly.

But now he wasn’t considering how the message was transmitted, "Since they’ve left, we won’t land either!"

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