When Big Boss's voice echoed through the City of Miracles and the words "Divine War" reached the ears of the other merchants, a heavy silence fell over everyone.
“Old Bob, do you think the God of Trade godhead is haunted by some powerful curse?”
“A curse? I’ve never heard of one. Why do you ask?”
“If there’s no curse, how could Big Boss have lost his mind like this? He actually dared to declare war on space pirates.
“The God of Trade sounds impressive, but no matter how much you talk it up, he’s just a Mythic-tier, and one that doesn't even specialize in combat power at that.
“The space pirates are a dark force that even includes Eternal-tier powerhouses. For a God of Trade to provoke them—isn't he just tired of living?”
“Heh, Big Boss might lack the strength himself. In the eyes of those ruthless space pirates, he’s probably just a particularly sturdy ant.
“But to the great existence standing behind Big Boss, those space pirates are equally just a swarm of ants.”
“You mean the Undead? But aren't the Undead and Wanbao Pavilion just in a contract? How could they...”
“Whether it’s just a contract or not, we’ll find out soon enough. If there’s no sign of the Undead, we’ll sell off our goods in the City of Miracles as fast as possible and find somewhere else to go.
“But if the Undead show up... Heh, I heard Old Li in the east is planning to wash his hands of it all and retire.
“That skyscraper of his will become quite a hot commodity.”
...
In the empty void, Big Boss personally piloted a very old model of transport starship, leading the fleet from the front.
This ship was a Wuling-brand transport starship that Big Boss had spent a fortune on when Wanbao Pavilion was first founded; it was a low-end product among starships.
But through this very ship, Big Boss had built his vast commercial empire bit by bit, spreading the name of Wanbao Pavilion across the myriad worlds.
The ship had long since been retired and was kept in a specialized hangar at Wanbao Pavilion year-round. Now, Big Boss had brought it out again to serve as his flagship, personally piloting it toward the strongholds of those space pirates.
Following behind Big Boss’s starship were over a thousand battle starships of uniform specifications, along with over a hundred signal ships dedicated to signal transmission and recording the event.
The configuration of these battle ships was quite rudimentary. Nearly half of them were obsolete models, with technology lagging behind the current market by roughly two to three generations.
While a few of the latest battle ships were fully armed, their pilots lacked the necessary experience, and they wobbled noticeably just trying to fly.
“Ship Number Three! Ship Number Three! Which stupid pig is piloting Ship Number Three?! Don’t you know this is being broadcast live? Over a hundred of the latest signal ships we just bought are streaming the scene in real-time!
“If you fly that unsteadily, aren't you just embarrassing Boss Big Boss?”
The Blessing Parrot’s claws were dug into the steering wheel of a signal ship as it shrieked angrily over the public channel.
“Lord Parrot, you can’t blame me! I told you I didn't know how to pilot these new starships, but you insisted I do it anyway.”
An honest, thick voice came through the channel. The Blessing Parrot raised a wing and covered its head in speechless frustration.
“Dammit, Garr, how did you arrange this? How could you let a pig beastman pilot a starship? Just you wait—when this is over, I’m definitely going to have Bruce bite your bones into pieces again!!!”
The chaos on the public channel did not disturb Big Boss’s state of mind.
These starships were all just for show. Since he was the one who had initiated the Divine War, he couldn't just show up with a single ship or a small handful; that would lack prestige and embarrass Chen Xu.
Big Boss’s true confidence, the actual main force of this Divine War, was the massive host of Undead following behind the Wanbao Pavilion fleet.
Over ten thousand Bone Kuns floated in the void, serving as transports for the skeletons.
Using special devices crafted by the Necrotic Heavenly Crafts, the skeleton heroes had locked themselves firmly onto the scales of the Bone Kuns.
From a distance, they looked like parasites clinging to the bodies of the Bone Kuns.
Behind the Bone Kuns were hundreds of thousands of Undead Bone Dragons, which also carried many skeleton heroes.
These Undead were not the entire force for this assault on the space pirates. Even more troops remained in the Undead Dao Court; as soon as the battle began, they could descend directly onto the battlefield through spatial gates.
Choosing to march out in this primitive fashion now was merely to build momentum and publicize this crusade against the space pirates.
Chen Xu was no saint. He was putting so much effort into this suppression not only because the space pirates had provoked him and hindered his purchase of stars,
but also because he needed stepping stones to help himself and the Undead make a name for themselves.
If he wanted to compete for the role against the Mother of Hell, Chen Xu could not remain a nobody.
...
In the cosmic void, within the Turbulent Zone—a desolate region that was a paradise for crime—lay the territory of one of the three major space pirate groups: the Extreme Evil Pirate Crew.
An old palace bore a wooden plaque with the words "Extreme Evil" written on it. A pirate flew in from the distance, charging straight into the palace.
“Boss! Boss! Something’s wrong!”
Thud!
The pirate, who had been rushing in, was sent flying backward with a loud crash.
“Ohoho, how truly impolite. How many times have I told you? When you enter my traveling palace, you must observe etiquette. Do you understand etiquette?
“If all you do all day is fight and kill, you’ll never become a great pirate.”
From the shadows, a completely transparent bubble slowly floated out. Surprisingly, a human face was visible on the surface of that bubble.
The pirate who had been sent flying had been struck by a mental shockwave emitted by this bubble.
This strange bubble was the captain of the Extreme Evil Pirate Crew, known to the world as the Cosmic Emperor, the Evil Bubble, and the Dream Destroyer.
“B-B-Boss Bobo, that Wan-Wanbao Pavilion we were targeting... they’ve declared a Divine War against us.”
The pirate lackey lay on the ground, clutching his wounds, speaking with a faint, weak voice.
In the next instant, a massive surge of mental power lifted the pirate from the ground. He was hauled upside down before the bubble.
“What did you say?”
...
Inside the Undead Dao Court, Chen Xu was leaning against the wall of the Overlord’s Castle, reaching out to play with the Death-Herald Gray Ravens perched there.
Behind him, Xuan Chu handed Chen Xu the verified information on the space pirates.
Chen Xu took it and flipped through it casually.
Among the several groups of space pirates targeting Wanbao Pavilion, the Extreme Evil Pirate Crew was the leader. Its captain was named Bobo, a highly unique creature.
He usually appeared in the form of a bubble and possessed incredibly powerful mental strength.
According to some circulating rumors, Bobo was suspected to be the product of an experiment by a certain Truth Wizard in ancient times—a composite resentment complex.
“Three Eternal-tiers, fifty-six Mythic-tiers... the numbers are decent. These space pirates are quite wealthy to be able to support so many people.”
Chen Xu was somewhat surprised. Was robbery really this profitable these days?
“My Lord, according to the data provided by Big Boss, this pirate crew’s annual revenue is equivalent to five Wanbao Pavilions before it received the support of the Land of the Undead.”
“Holy crap, they’re that rich? It seems I really have no choice but to wipe these bandits out.”
Rate on N.U.
