Chapter 1281: Chapter 655: The Turmoil Sparked by a Single Sentence (Part 2)
"Besides, it might just be universe distortion, itâs happened before."
Mikhail couldnât be bothered to respond, simply watching Azure Dragon.
It was just a made-up lie, yet it caused such a panic.
Li Ming sighed inwardly, his tone remained calm, "Donât worry, those people arenât a problem."
"You see..." Reynolds spread his hands with a mischievous tone: "Mikhail, if you keep talking, youâre belittling Azure Dragon."
Mikhail snorted coldly, not continuing to dwell on this matter.
The goods they brought were still being unloaded, and the three chatted intermittently, first touching upon Gutierrezâs resignation, which Reynolds found rather poignant:
"That guy, he was in power for just over a thousand years, but he certainly had methods, the Star Alliance was quite united under him."
Mikhail nodded in agreement, "I thought he would have to step down after the Chaotic Star Gap battle, but to hold on for so long, thatâs impressive."
"I just donât understand why he was fixated on the Empire and the Federation in his last days, there seemed to be no reason."
Li Ming remained silent; the two of them were unaware of the Dominator Laboratory, and he had no intention of revealing it.
After discussing this for a moment, Reynolds steered the conversation towards the Mechanical Seed.
Thanks to the modification packages of major mechanical transformation companies, the sales of the Mechanical Seed kept rising, breaking records continually.
Moreover, some civilizations had already started large-scale procurement.
Compared to other evolution paths requiring various physical demands, the mechanical evolution path only required money, offering great value for the price.
The buzz surrounding it had already diminished significantly, with no related news on the interstellar network for quite some time.
Itâs not that nobody cared, but it had already become a part of everyday life, so naturally, there was no need for surprise.
"...The artificial Mother Ore has now entered the synthesis stage, it should yield results in as short as three months or as long as six months," Mikhail said finally, his expression quite grave:
"The Three Great Civilizations have researched Genetic Essence targeting the Dominator Flesh, and we are significantly behind, we need to quickly find a path to continue evolving."
This information was also released by Azure Dragon, and the interstellar high-level life forms were already well aware.
The Genetic Evolution Bodies naturally harbored hope, but other high-level life forms following different evolution paths felt more worry.
"Thank you both," Li Ming couldnât help but nod.
He truly was a hands-off manager when it came to the Mechanical Seed, worrying about little more than waiting to collect money.
"What are you talking about?" Reynolds said frankly: "If it werenât for you, the Three Great Civilizations would have already acted against us, thereâs no way theyâd just watch us monopolize an evolution path."
"Itâs deserved..." Mikhail also nodded, but before he finished his sentence, his mechanical pupils flickered, he suddenly turned to look at Azure Dragon, arcs of electricity dancing across the surface of his body with crackling sounds.
"Whatâs wrong with you, having a fit?" Reynolds couldnât help but look over, teasing without mercy, "Growing old, and now you canât even control your carrier?"
Mikhail ignored him; the voice coming from the carrierâs mouth was strained: "Did you take out Gusta?"
Reynolds froze slightly, looking at Azure Dragon in astonishment.
"The news travels this fast, my meeting just ended less than half an hour ago," Li Ming was also quite surprised.
"Did you really kill him?" Reynolds eyes widened mechanically, "How did you find him? He hid so thoroughly, and you still found him?"
"Kept searching until I found it," Li Ming replied evasively.
The two were equally unable to settle, Mikhail remained silent for a long while, whereas Reynolds instead sighed, "Gusta, did some business with him a few times, the Black Hole Hall had quite an influence."
"He died just like that, itâs a really complicated feeling."
Saying this, Reynolds perhaps felt something awkward about it and explained, "Not that it was wrong for you to kill him, I had no personal ties with him, whether he lived or died was of no concern, it just resonates a bit."
Finally, Reynolds hinted at something, "But Mikhail, I heard you had a good relationship with him."
The reminiscing Mikhailâs face darkened, though it was only on his true body, unseen by Reynolds naturally,
"What relationship? He was only one of the suppliers for the Black Hole Hall, after he disappeared and the Black Hole Hall fell apart, I had nothing further to do with him."
Li Ming didnât care about the thoughts of the two, through Reynoldsâs way of dodging the issue, the three naturally drifted away from this topic, returning to the Mechanical Seed conversation.
Their main goals now were, on one hand, advancing artificial Mother Ore technology, and on the other, continuing to study the Mechanical Seed to make it effective for even higher-level life forms.
Roughly half a day later, the three simultaneously received reports that the unloading was nearly complete.
"Letâs go, head to the trade coordinates." Li Ming gestured broadly, and the three set off.
Costate and others had long arrived at the location, and were even starting the preliminary processes of the captive exchange, checking over the state of these soldiers.
Due to the large number, the verification wasnât something that could be completed in a short time, and by the time Li Ming arrived two or three days later, only about two-thirds was done.
This batch of soldiers was both important and unimportant.
The ones most concerned and attentive were the people from the Federation and the Star Alliance.
After Li Ming arrived, he didnât see representatives from either side, likely they were personally supervising this matter, needing to account for it upon return.
He was received by Costate on the warship.
For some reason, Li Ming once again noticed that peculiar expression on his face which, though fleeting, didnât escape his eyes.
This old fellow, whatâs going on, he always has this expression whenever he sees me, Li Ming mused.
Costate had already suppressed his physiological responses and adjusted his emotions, coming forth to greet him, "Lord Azure Dragon surely trusts us, having not even come himself and allowing us to proceed with verification first."
"Itâs not trust." Li Ming shook his head, "If you really plan to pull something, it might even be good news for me."
Costateâs face stiffened, recalling the information he received a day ago that Gusta had already been eliminated by Azure Dragon and the Vice Chairmanâs replacement.
Being hidden for so long and yet found by Azure Dragon, he now had a new concept of this fellowâs tendency to hold grudges.
He skipped over this topic and instead asked, "About the Titan Branch attack on X Level Life Forms you announced earlier, could I ask a few questions?"
"No." Li Ming shook his head directly.
Costate paused, but having dealt with Azure Dragon many times, he quickly reacted, explaining:
"We donât mean anything inappropriate; these hidden Titan Branches harbor great hostility towards the current interstellar community. This isnât the first time weâve handled such incidents."
"In this matter, we might even cooperate, as long as you provide specific information, we can help look for them."
"No need." Li Mingâs response remained concise.
Behind him, Reynolds spoke rather bluntly, "Stop pretending, who knows if you plan to find these Titan Branches only to cooperate with them against Azure Dragon."
Costateâs expression subtly shifted, yet he firmly shook his head, "We have no such intentions, although there is some tension between us and Lord Azure Dragon, these are matters for our era."
"Collaborating with them would be equivalent to going against our own kind."
"Morris." Hearing the otherâs righteous words, Li Ming merely said three words.
Costate didnât get embarrassed, explaining, "That was different, Morris was just a tool."
Li Ming wasnât interested in debating this, only urging, "Hurry up with the verification, Iâm on a schedule."
Seeing Azure Dragon completely unmoved, Costate had no other options, temporarily shelving the matter.
Then he brought up another issue, "I heard youâve already taken out Gusta?"
Li Ming didnât speak; his metal faceplate naturally exuded a sense of cold detachment.
Costate, however, was sincere, "We received news that some deeply loyal followers under him are already preparing to retaliate."