Star Odyssey

The darkness of outer space could be very oppressive. In one corner of Vastdearth Weave, there were three connected planets that were revolving around an enormous star. Numerous spacecraft occasionally landed or took off from these three planets. 

There were also various fluctuations around the planets that spread out into the surrounding space. 

This was one of Aegis’s secret training grounds within Vastdearth Weave, and it was also the largest one in the weave. At least 10,000 mercenaries, assassins, and bodyguards graduated from this place every year. 

For them, this cruel training was an ordinary day. To those who were being trained, the days here felt endless.

Suddenly, a piercing alarm sounded, and dozens of light beams shot towards the three planets from the distance. A battleship was attacking.

Aegis activated the planets’ defensive barriers, and their own spacecraft shot up into space to do battle, only to be shot down by the light beams.

Light beams rained down upon the planets from all directions, not giving the Aegis base even a moment to react, preventing them from communicating with anyone.

Multiple figures stepped into outer space from the planets and attacked in a specific direction. They were all Cruisers who were responsible for guarding the company’s bases in this region.

At an unknown time, another figure appeared in outer space and then just stood there silently.

Four Cruisers charged out from the planet and faced the figure, “This is one of Aegis’s bases. Who are you guys?” 

The figure grinned back at the Cruisers. “The Great Eastern Alliance’s Allied Forces.”

The defenders were shocked, and their faces went pale as they exchanged glances. They then gritted their teeth and moved to attack in unison. The person in front of them was a Hunter, and they had absolutely no confidence in their ability to win. 

Now that the Great Eastern Alliance and Aegis had officially gone to war and fought against each other for a few days, all Aegis members knew that once they encountered Great Eastern Alliance troops, there was no need for discussion. It would always be a battle to the death. 

This Hunter was not from any of the major powers from the eight large weaves, and he had instead been independently recruited by Lu Yin from one of the eastern weaves. He was an independent cultivator, and against these four Cruisers, he drew a long blade and sliced across space. One of the Cruisers died instantly, but the other three were able to display their battle techniques. 

Still, there was just too great of a disparity between a Cruiser and a Hunter. Even though these Cruisers had been trained, they were still ordinary Cruisers who, at best, were better than average when it came to concealing their presence. They were quickly reduced to bloody pools under the Hunter’s blade, their corpses strewn across the emptiness of space. 

Suddenly, the Hunter’s blade flew out, and its shadow became a radiant white as it sliced out in all directions, tearing the firmament apart and forcing a hidden figure to appear. 

“His Majesty was right. There really was a hidden assassin.” The Hunter’s blade sliced upwards. The newly revealed cultivator was also a Cruiser, and they were completely powerless to resist against such a terrifying attack, and they were summarily sliced in half. 

Five Cruisers had guarded this base, which showcased Aegis’s strength. Back when Undying Yushan had ruled the Great Yu Empire, only the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons’ captains had reached the Cruiser realm or above, and the entire empire had contained less than twenty Cruisers. There were five in just this solitary base, and this was just one of the Aegis’s training grounds in the eastern weaves. 

Once the five Cruisers were killed, Aegis’s base was quickly cleaned up as well. 

At the same time that this attack was carried out, the Allied Forces also launched fourteen other attacks on other secret bases of Aegis’s. Not every base had five Cruisers guarding it, but they all had at least one. Lu Yin even had to send the Thirteen Imperial Squadrons into battle, which meant that all of the secret bases had been destroyed at the same time. 

They didn’t just target these secret training grounds, and some powers that had established forms of cooperation with Aegis were also eliminated by the Allied Forces. 

The Allied Forces then headed towards Northcastle Weave, where they continued their clean-up mission. 

This operation shocked all of the eastern weaves. Not only were they surprised at the Great Eastern Alliance’s strength, but they were even more stunned at Aegis’s hidden strength. 

Who would have thought that a mere mercenary company was hiding such enormous battle potential? Together, all of the mercenaries that had been targeted by the Great Eastern Alliance’s clean-up operation was enough to wage a bloody war against an entire weave. 

The Vastdearth Sect and other powers now clearly understand Aegis’s strength and threat, and they were both frightened and thrilled. They had had no inkling whatsoever that such a terrifyingly overwhelming power had been hiding so close to them. 

Aegis was not able to react to this clean-up mission. They could live with some of their bases and associated organizations being destroyed, but the current level of destruction was different, as it had even wiped out their hidden bases and associates. Some of the bases were located in hidden places that even some of Aegis’s higher ups might not necessarily know about. So, how had the Great Eastern Alliance learned of them? The only possibility was Amethyst Exchange. 

Even with Aegis’s conceited and tyrannical nature, they still didn’t dare claim that their operations could be entirely hidden from Amethyst Exchange. 

Aegis leveled a complaint against the intelligence dealer. Even though the mercenaries were tyrannical, they were not courageous enough to go overboard when dealing with the Amethyst Exchange. They were both a part of the four great corporations, and the two of them had similarly deep foundations. Aegis did not care about some newborn government organization that had yet to be firmly established, such as the Great Eastern Alliance, but they were fearful of a power that had deeply hidden methods like Amethyst Exchange. 

At the top of an impressive tower, a loud thump rang out in a luxurious office as a youth angrily shattered a table. “What is she thinking? Waging war against Aegis? That stupid slut!” 

The young man was Zi Fang, and he was Amethyst Exchange’s first heir and future chairman.

Originally, Amethyst Exchange’s businesses had been proceeding rather normally, as external disputes were not their problems. However, one call had disrupted Zi Fang’s peaceful life. People from the board of directors had also reached out to contact him, ordering him to investigate who had revealed the locations of Aegis’s secret bases to the Great Eastern Alliance. 

There was no need for him to check, as the only person who would do such a thing was that slut, Zi Xianxian, as only she was stationed in the Great Eastern Alliance.

He thought about it and immediately contacted Zi Xianxian.

After a long wait, Zi Xianxian’s image finally appeared on his screen with a lazy appearance, obviously having just woken from a nap. In fact, she was still chewing on a piece of fruit. She had a very leisurely and content expression. 

Zi Fang was infuriated as soon as he saw her. “Did you sell the locations of Aegis’s bases to Lu Yin?” 

Zi Xianxian blinked and swallowed her fruit, “Bro, when did you become the chairman? Congrats!” 

Zi Fang was seething. “Zi Xianxian, don’t test my patience! You should know how severe this matter is. Aegis has never had any enmity with us, and sharing this information will damage the relationship that we have built up after countless years. This will cause massive losses for the exchange.” 

Zi Xianxian played with her hair. “Are you saying that our Amethyst Exchange is afraid of Aegis?” 

“It’s not a matter of being afraid of them—there’s simply no need to provoke Aegis! They are a bunch of lunatics. If you want to live a good, long life, then don’t draw their focus,” Zi Fang said, his tone settling a little. 

Zi Xianxian pondered his words. “Right, being watched by a bunch of lunatics wouldn’t be good. Alright, when Lu Yin comes again, I won’t sell him any more information.” 

Zi Fang relaxed, and his expression became more gentle. “Alright, you must clearly remember the severity of this matter. None of the four great corporations should be provoked without heavy consideration, as the losses that we’ll suffer won’t be small.” 

“Then what about this situation?” Zi Xianxian was curious. 

Zi Fang replied, “I’ll take care of it. Don’t make any further dealings with Lu Yin in the future, as this person will always cause trouble. You should already know that.”

He then quickly ended the call. 

Zi Xianxian watched as the call ended before smiling happily. “Dear brother, I told you that I won’t sell Lu Yin any information, but I never said that I wouldn’t give it to him. Your trouble is just beginning, so let’s have a good game. Hmph, who told you to scold me!” 

Zi Fang did not understand women at all. Sometimes, there was no logic to their actions; they simply wanted to be happy.

***

Lu Yin did not allow himself to relax despite cleaning out a huge portion of the Aegis’s forces in the eastern weaves. Instead, he ordered the Great Eastern Alliance to remain fully vigilant, as he was certain that Aegis would retaliate. 

From his trip to Amethyst Exchange, Lu Yin had gained a rather deep impression of Sister Ya, especially of a particular sentence that she had spoken. ‘The responsibility of the media is to reveal the truth to the public.’

Lu Yin felt that he should give the Outerverse a proper opportunity to learn more about him.

Cai Jianqiang, Felynn, Wei Rong, and many others had not had a very high opinion of Lu Yin before meeting him in person, as their impressions had been formed purely from the information available online or rumors that they had heard. This made Lu Yin very uncomfortable, and it had also taught him a salient point: he had ignored the media’s propaganda about him for too long. 

Many news outlets painted Lu Yin in a poor light, and Lu Yin had seen that when he looked himself up on the network. The media groups within the eastern weaves were somewhat better since none of them dared to offend him. However, the further west the media group was located, the worse their opinions of him became. They made him out to be a conniving person with wild ambitions and ruthless methods who freely abused people’s lives. The publicly available information on him made Lu Yin’s brows twitch the more he read. 

Was he really such a person? Definitely not! These people were slandering him. Was being smart the same as being conniving? Was it wildly ambitious to not want others to control his fate? These ruthless methods referred to him killing his enemies? The universe obeyed the law of the jungle, and the strong stood at the top. If he was not ruthless to his enemies, then he would be trampled over sooner or later. 

The greatest value of the media was advertising. In other words, it was to build a reputation. Lu Yin definitely would not allow others to continue slandering him, as that would impact his future ability to recruit talented individuals as well as his own development. 

He thought about it and then sent someone to summon Sister Ya from the empire’s morning newspaper. 

Sister Ya’s full name was Ah Ya, and although she was used to interviewing important figures, she had never expected to receive an invitation to King Zishan's palace. Lu Yin’s face entered her mind, and she quickly packed her things and followed the escort of soldiers to King Zishan's palace. 

“Miss Ah Ya, please sit.” Lu Yin smiled.

She was very nervous, as she was not meeting him in the Amethyst Exchange this time. Right now, the person in front of her was speaking to her as the Royal Regent of the Great Yu Empire, and this made her have some difficulty breathing. 

Lu Yin smiled and got Zhao Ran to serve her a glass of fruit juice, as some girls did not care to drink tea. 

“Miss Ah Ya, I requested you to visit me so that I could ask you some questions.”

She nodded respectfully. “Please ask them, Your Highness.”

“Have you seen the media’s description of me?”

She thought about it and then nodded. “Some accounts were shared to intentionally discredit Your Highness, so there’s no need to pay them any mind.”

He looked at her. “Even if I didn’t pay them any mind before, I can no longer continue to do so. Can you think of any ways to reverse my negative public image? I’m not just talking about the eastern weaves, but throughout the entire Outerverse.” 

Ah Ya felt that this would be difficult. “Your Highness, the empire’s morning newspaper only has some limited influence within the Frostwave Weave, and it cannot even spread throughout the Great Eastern Alliance, let alone the entire Outerverse.”

“If the Great Eastern Alliance wholly supports a media outlet, then would there be any way to spread its influence throughout the entire Outerverse?” 

She shook her head. “That’s very difficult. Larger media companies are supported by local governments in exchange for promoting those local powers. If an external media company wants to enter, then they have to follow the local powers’ positions. Otherwise, they will not survive.” 

“So it’s not too realistic for me to change my image?” Lu Yin asked.