Chapter 2003: Attack!

In recent years, the Invincible Pirates, a Star Pirate Group that had risen to fame in the Chaotic Sea of Stars, had relied on the powerful collective fighting strength of the elites of the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field. They continually recruited forces within the Chaotic Sea of Stars, rapidly expanding their influence to the point of nearly stepping into the ranks of a super Star Pirate Group.

Because of that, and because they had intentionally sought to intervene in the 4th Starsea Market to become its hidden master, the Invincible Pirates had been met with a joint siege by multiple Star Pirate Groups.

In the end, it all came down to the fact that the Invincible Pirates’ meteoric rise had encroached on the profits of other Star Pirate Groups. From the moment the ambush began, although Sun Haiwei had responded calmly and the fleet had reacted promptly, the Invincible Pirates had still lost a third of their ships, and over 100 cultivators in the Martial Extermination Realm and Martial Dipper Realm.

By all logic, after losing so many ships and personnel, the Invincible Pirates should have been demoralized and starting to panic. If it had been any other group, such a loss might have caused an outright collapse.

And yet, strangely enough...

Faced with these heavy losses, the Invincible Pirates had not faltered! Instead, they had only become more resilient.

“Eh? They’re still being surrounded and attacked, but why does it look like the battle’s turned into a stalemate?” Although Ying Lianquan remained hidden aboard the Invincible, he had never stopped paying attention to the fight.

“It’s just that each of those Star Pirate Groups is holding something back. They’re saving their own strength!” Ying Lianxi, though not staring as intently as Ying Lianquan, still had a complete grasp of the battle’s flow.

Because the two had never entered the fight, they could observe this battle far more objectively as bystanders.

“There aren’t any super Star Pirate Groups among those attacking the Invincible Pirates this time.” Ying Lianquan quickly added another piece of information.

As former leaders of the Twin Star Pirates, they were no strangers to the pirate forces of the Chaotic Sea of Stars. Even though they had dissolved their original crew and left that world for 20 to 30 years, the top-tier forces among the star pirates tended to remain relatively stable, with few major changes. Because of that, after only a brief observation, Ying Lianquan could name most of the large Star Pirate Groups taking part in the battle.

“It’s only natural,” Ying Lianxi said. “Most super Star Pirate Groups in the Chaotic Sea of Stars have backing from Heavenly Fields. Our Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field has two Sages holding the fort, and Senior Shang is a high-level Sage. The forces behind those super Star Pirate Groups will have been warned. The Invincible Pirates’ identity may be a secret to ordinary Star Pirate Groups, but those powerful factions can find out with just a little inquiry. They’d know better than to provoke them.”

At that, Ying Lianxi couldn’t help feeling both wistful and relieved.

Back then, their Twin Star Pirates had been close to reaching the threshold of a super Star Pirate Group, both in top-level combat power and overall strength. But their core martial heritage was far too unique, and they had no desire to be bound by others, so they had never been favored or recruited by a Heavenly Field. In the end, they dissolved their Star Pirate Group and turned to managing their own world.

Otherwise, if they had chosen to keep growing their force to reach the level of a super Star Pirate Group without the backing of a Heavenly Field, they might have suffered the same fate as the Invincible Pirates.

The Twin Star Pirates of that time would never have had the confidence of the current Invincible Pirates, nor could they have held out like the Invincible Pirates under the combined assault of multiple large Star Pirate Groups.

It was also then that Ying Lianquan, who had been watching the battle closely, suddenly said, “I can’t shake the feeling something’s off. Do you really think all these large Star Pirate Groups came together to ambush the Invincible Pirates without some other force pulling strings behind the scenes?”

Hearing this, Ying Lianxi’s expression turned solemn. He knew his brother didn’t care much for details and tended to be brash, but his intuition had always been pretty sharp.

It was an instinct they had tested countless times during their years roaming the Chaotic Sea of Stars.

After only a moment’s thought, Ying Lianxi immediately sent a secret transmission to Sun Haiwei.

Moments later, another talisman sliced back through the void into Ying Lianxi’s hand.

The instant he activated it, Yi Jingzi’s voice emerged. “There’s a fleet hiding behind a giant star in the distance. The fleet seems to contain a super Star Ship!”

Before the words even faded, Ying Lianxi’s gaze was already fixed on the massive star floating in the void closest to the battlefield.

“That star is at least several million miles away, right?” Ying Lianquan had heard the talisman’s contents too, and continued, “A Stargazer can detect even that? That’s incredible! But maybe it’s just a passing merchant fleet?”

Ying Lianxi shot his brother a glare. “If it’s just a merchant fleet, why would they linger near a battlefield? Be ready. If there’s a super Star Ship, then it must belong to a super Star Pirate Group!”

Ying Lianquan stared at his brother with his eyes wide in shock. “You mean a super Star Pirate Group really dares to make a move?”

Ying Lianxi acted as if he hadn’t heard him. “Don’t you think the light from the star is getting stronger?”

Following his brother’s words, Ying Lianquan looked again at the blazing sphere that was millions of miles away in the void.

But before they could make anything out, the space outside the battle in the same direction of the star suddenly began to twist. The void started to shimmer, as though a massive heat wave was rolling in their direction.

Then, the two or three Star Ships at the rear of a Star Pirate Group attacking the Invincible Pirates in that direction suddenly erupted into roaring flames!

Those were vessels capable of traversing the void, each typically protected by formations. Setting one aflame was no easy feat, much less making two or three burst into flames at once.

Before long, the Ying Brothers saw that the surging heat waves in the void were still rolling forward, and every Star Ship in their path was catching fire.

Those cultivators who managed to escape in time were badly burned, but many couldn’t even make it out of their burning ships.

The void was growing hotter, even glaringly white, as if the light of the star millions of miles away was spilling directly onto the battlefield.

The heat wave pressed on, and the Invincible Pirates lay right in its path. In their position, avoiding it was no longer possible.

“They’re channeling the power of the great star!”

The Ying Brothers could no longer afford to stay hidden. They leapt out from the Invincible, ready to try and block the onrushing wave of stellar heat.

But just then, they saw clouds suddenly condense out of nowhere in the surrounding void, merging into a massive fortress. They enveloped many of the Invincible Pirates’ Star Ship.

An instant later, the heat wave slammed into it. It was like pouring cold water into boiling oil as the massive cloud fortress collapsed from the outside in. Thankfully, it slowed the heatwave that was rolling towards them.

Looking at each other, the Ying Brothers decided to act. Activating their secret art, they didn’t try to resist the incoming heat wave that was stalled by the cloud fortress. Instead, they acted to push the entire fleet away from its path.