Chapter 596: Two Hostages

Although the thugs didn’t know the specific identities of the two hostages, they knew these two had been personally escorted onto the spaceship by the Meteor Group CEO.

Being sent off by someone at the Unity Stage indicated their status was comparable to a Unity Stage cultivator.

Unity Stage cultivators could open spatial passages on their own, but these two were still riding a spaceship, so they definitely weren’t at the Unity Stage.

Spirit Transformation cultivators were half-energy, half-physical bodies, but these two weren’t in that form, so they definitely weren’t at the Spirit Transformation Stage.

Then there was no problem – the thugs were at the Nascent Soul Stage and had seized the initiative first. Even if these two were at the Nascent Soul Stage, they couldn’t cause any trouble.

“Your security here is absolutely terrible! I must report this incident to the Rulers!”

“That’s right! We two can actually speak directly with the Rulers!”

The two hostages shouted loudly, their words clearly indicating their extremely high status.

“Behave yourselves.” The thug felt panicked by their shouting. He had thought these two were just council members – high status, but not high enough to reach the Rulers’ level.

After all, only Unity Stage cultivators could speak directly with the Rulers.

But if these two were truly exceptions, then things would become extremely serious.

The thugs could only assume these two were bluffing to intimidate them.

Yu Yin turned her head and asked Growth: “As the most prosperous First Mother Star among over a thousand mother stars, with all industries highly developed, are there any psychologists here? My two companions here aren’t quite right in the head and might need to see a doctor.”

Growth said sincerely: “Given these two’s mental state, I’m afraid they might turn the psychologist into a mental patient.”

For the psychologist’s mental health, Yu Yin had to abandon the idea of taking these two to see a doctor.

“Who is your leader?” The government official still didn’t know what these thugs wanted to accomplish.

“You don’t even know our boss? You should resign in disgrace!”

“Our boss is the terrifying interstellar pirate captain Liang Chen! The star mineral heist twenty years ago, the spaceship disappearance case seventeen years ago, the wealthy kidnapping fifteen years ago, the cases twelve years ago… ten years ago… five years ago – they were all done by Boss Liang Chen leading us!”

“The boss has been captured by your government now. You’d better release him immediately! If you don’t, no one on this ship will survive, and I’ll expose the whole process to the media!”

The government official quickly found Liang Chen, who was currently standing trial in court.

“Haha, well done! Hurry up and release me!” Liang Chen laughed heartily. This was all part of his plan – the government would definitely release him to protect their reputation and passenger safety.

What did it matter if the police had worked hard to capture him? He had plenty of ways to escape.

“Um, can I ask a question?” The hostage Jiang Li cautiously inquired, since his life was still in their hands.

“Begging for mercy, right? Go ahead.” The thug didn’t mind if Jiang Li boasted about his status or pleaded pitifully – the higher the status and more pitiful the situation, the better.

“Since your boss has already been imprisoned, why do you still need to rescue him? Wouldn’t it be better to establish your own operation?”

Jiang Li’s first sentence made the thug freeze in place.

Bai Hongtu followed Jiang Li’s line of thought: “Look, doing bad things requires wealth, companions, methods, and territory, right?”

“Wealth means money. You should know where your boss has hidden his earnings over the years – otherwise where did the money for planning this hijacking come from? You could take all your boss’s money and claim it for yourselves.”

“Companions mean allies. Although your boss has been captured, the remaining members are still here. You could say your boss left instructions that you should take charge in his absence, allowing you to inherit the original team.”

“Methods mean techniques. You’ve followed your boss for twenty years, so you’re definitely familiar with his criminal methods. Imitate him, surpass him! If he can do bad things, so can you – believe in yourself!”

“Territory means hiding places to avoid government detection. You can continue using the locations your boss left behind.”

Hostage Jiang Li and hostage Bai Hongtu took turns encouraging the thugs to learn independence, to grow big and strong, to surpass their predecessor, to let the new generation surpass the old. The thugs grew increasingly excited, thinking it made more and more sense.

Why be so stubborn about following a boss who’s already in prison? Wouldn’t it be better to become the boss yourself?

If the interstellar pirate group had a first captain, it should have a second captain too.

“Officials, I want to report! This Liang guy has committed far more crimes than you know! There are many offenses you haven’t uncovered! I’ll provide clues – you must investigate and not let this villain get away!”

The thug immediately turned traitor, worried the sentence wouldn’t be severe enough, and began revealing more of his boss’s crimes, planning to escape after exposing everything.

Wealth, companions, methods, and territory – what an excellent summary. These two hostages were naturally suited to be pirates too.

Before the hijacking, they had already planned their escape method, capable of erasing their tracks and vanishing completely. One could say that as long as the Rulers didn’t intervene, no one could catch them.

Seeing they were about to escape, Jiang Li asked: “Recognizing mistakes and correcting them makes you good comrades. But could you release me?”

“That won’t do. You’re an important hostage.” The thug refused to let Jiang Li go.

“Then you leave me no choice.”

Jiang Li sighed, then flipped the thug onto the ground in one swift motion. The thug struggled desperately, trying to launch a miniature nuclear bomb to kill Jiang Li.

Jiang Li gently tapped the thug’s back, the force penetrating his body and striking the nuclear power core. The nuclear power core emergency-braked, stopping energy supply, making the miniature nuclear bomb launch impossible.

Seeing Jiang Li was done playing around, Bai Hongtu imitated Jiang Li’s approach and also pinned a thug to the ground.

Yu Yin released her spiritual sense, controlling all the thugs in the cabin.

The government official and boss Liang Chen hadn’t even processed the thugs’ betrayal when, in the blink of an eye, all the thugs were subdued.

Passengers cheered, thanking the trio profusely as the crisis was resolved.

After disembarking, the three tied up the thugs like zongzi dumplings, lining them up and handing them over to the government.

“Are you three Unity Stage experts?” The official couldn’t discern the trio’s methods and concluded they must be Unity Stage cultivators.

The government possessed intelligence on most Unity Stage cultivators, but there were still a few they didn’t recognize. After all, reaching the Unity Stage required the assistance of the three Rulers, not government help.

“A level or two above Unity Stage.” Jiang Li didn’t elaborate further and left the port area.

Growth was waiting for them at the port entrance. Seeing them arrive, he approached and asked: “Are you three here to observe the Unity Stage advancement ceremony in ten days? I’m going too. I’m relatively free these ten days, and I noticed you’re unfamiliar with this place. How about letting me be your guide?”

“Thank you very much then.” Jiang Li didn’t refuse Growth’s kindness, then casually asked, “What field does a scientist like you research? Entropy increase, entropy decrease, or entropy balance?”

“Hahaha, Mr. Jiang Li, you’re joking! I’m just an ordinary scientist – how could I research such advanced topics? My daily work mainly involves monitoring surveillance, summarizing patterns, and thinking about how to prevent great demon invasions.”