Chapter 1285 - 1145: Backed by Power

Chapter 1285: Chapter 1145: Backed by Power

After receiving the warning from the Nutrient Injection, the Paranoid became much more cautious.

He donned his armor, stripped the shawl off Babus, pondered for a moment, and then shot a Golden Arrow at the heart.

After the Golden Arrow pierced the heart, the headless corpse did indeed struggle twice, but not as violently as he imagined.

Qu Jianlei sighed softly; this time, it was truly thanks to the blue flame of the Nutrient Injection.

The last Supreme he faced left a deep impression; that guy was really hard to break through defensively, and it was difficult to kill even after being captured.

This Fake Nascent Soul in front of him had the Earth Attribute, which should have been even harder to kill.

Clearly, it was the merit of the Nutrient Injection; without that blue flame, it would have been really challenging to kill this one.

However, as Babus’ head sensed his heart being pierced, his eyes blinked twice, and tears unexpectedly flowed.

Subsequently, his aura became increasingly weaker.

The Paranoid was not satisfied with just obtaining a shawl; he searched for a while and regretfully smacked his lips.

"It’s a pity, storage talismans and the like... they seem to have been burned away."

The Nutrient Injection snorted irritably, "Be satisfied; at least it’s not us who got killed."

Then he stood up from the ground, "Alright, take the head and the body; let’s go back."

Leaving the corpse exposed in the wilderness didn’t matter, but after all, the opponent was a Supreme; if someone discovered their identity, it might cause trouble.

On the way back, Qu Jianlei took out a few capsules and tossed them into his mouth.

The Nutrient Injection, carrying Babus’ head and still perceiving his vitality, noticed the boss’s little action and couldn’t help but speak.

"Give me some of those Replenishing Qi treasures too."

"Not much left," Qu Jianlei replied casually, "and they might not match your status."

He didn’t mean to be sarcastic; it was just that the Nutrient Injection ascended to the Supreme using the Awakened System all the way.

Now it was encountered with the Spirit Gathering Array, but could it really match the Cultivation System?

The Nutrient Injection pouted resentfully and muttered, "I used my Dharma Artifact and spent my only one."

Qu Jianlei glanced at him without speaking, feeling a bit conflicted about how to clarify things with this guy.

It was meant to be communicated privately, but everyone had seen this guy’s outburst.

Moreover, since this person was introduced into the team by him and was closest to him, shouldn’t he give his teammates an explanation?

Seeing them not speaking, the Paranoid spoke up, "Why did you kill this Supreme this time?"

In his impression, the Nutrient Injection was also good at making money, so why kill such a rare captive?

The Nutrient Injection pondered for a moment before answering, "This person was called Babus."

"Him?" Paranoid was stunned upon hearing this, knowing this famous genius of the empire.

"When I was at Chaoyang Academy, he was just a Supreme, and I didn’t expect him to really walk this path."

His study at Chaoyang Academy was over three hundred years ago, and there weren’t many old acquaintances left from that time.

However, at that time, Babus was already a long-time Supreme, not someone a beginner like him could easily associate with.

The Paranoid lamented for a while, then reacted, "Do you have a personal grudge with him?"

"No," the Nutrient Injection shook his head and casually replied, "I just can’t stand the people from Imperial Capital Academy."

"Damn..." Paranoid murmured lowly, truly not expecting such an answer.

That was Imperial Capital Academy, one of the three giants of the Imperial Academy; other schools could only look up to it.

One figure illustrates how powerful it is: among the academy’s graduates, there are currently two to three hundred surviving Supremes.

That’s roughly one-tenth of the entire Imperial Supreme count!

The Nutrient Injection directly expressed dissatisfaction with the whole academy, astonishing even Paranoid, known for his arrogance.

Just because of resentment towards the Imperial Capital Academy, he brazenly killed a Supreme, abandoning the hefty compensation at hand?

Why did I ever think this guy was easy to talk to?

Hearing this, Qu Jianlei also glanced at the Nutrient Injection — truly insane.

It didn’t take long before the three of them Instant Flashed back to the base.

Currently, the base was surrounded by ruins, with only the underground structures remaining intact.

The three women of Qinghu didn’t know how to repair, and Mu Guang wasn’t handy either.

They could only stay in a well-preserved basement, waiting for their teammates to return.

There were thirteen captives in total, all wounded, but two of them had relatively fresh injuries.

"I did it!" Claire admitted proactively, with two scars on her face and looking bruised and battered.

Originally, she had been hiding in the backup control room in the basement; the recent attack by the Camp-level Ship left her with minor injuries.

However, to be fair, even though her cultivation level was only B-level, the fact that she got injured showed just how fierce the attack was.

Claire originally didn’t have a hobby of abusing captives, but these captives... their attitude was exceptionally bad.

Not only was she injured, but so was Qinghu in many places; Mu Guang and Mu Yu were relatively better off, but they weren’t unscathed either.

This made Claire burst with anger, "If it weren’t for waiting for your decision when you return, I would’ve had the heart to kill!"

However, her outburst wasn’t without benefits; the four of them managed to figure out the rough cause of the matter.

The group primarily came from the Imperial 87th Group Army.

That’s right, they were sent by Si Xi’s Supreme faction.

Currently, most people on Qingyuan Star believe that Si Xi’s disappearance is related to the Gustine family’s tenant.

However, Qu Jianlei and his team were too forceful, and with the protection of the Sealing Land Technique, no one could investigate forcefully.

The 87th Group Army is one of the Imperial’s Seven Great Elite Forces, but they are ultimately a guest army.

So, they utilized internal military connections to deploy Qu Jianlei and others to this desolate planet.

Even if this group isn’t the culprit, the exquisite battle array is worth taking the risk for.

The reason they chose this place, besides convenience, was some worry about who might be behind their opponents.

In any case, they needed to capture the people first, and any future issues could be addressed slowly.

As for Supreme Babus? They were invited by the Group Army’s leader.

Babus didn’t come alone; there were two assistants with him, all on the camp-level ship.

However, the camp-level ship crashed too quickly, leaving only one A-level assistant who flew out from the wreckage.

This person was severely injured by Mu Yu and is currently among the captives.

After hearing this, Qu Jianlei wasn’t surprised; it was clear these people were targeting them.

Previously, he speculated whether they were in collusion with rebels, but now he could let that go.

But although these people were captured, they still acted fearless for a reason.

They weren’t concerned about Babus’ life or death—as a Supreme, even if he couldn’t win, he could at least escape, right?

Especially since only three chased after him without a Five Elements Battle Array, keeping him would indeed be challenging.

The key point is, they’ve confirmed that on this planet, there’s no starship with long-distance capabilities.

There are two lifeboats, but... are they reliable?

The relay tower was also destroyed, making any messages impossible to send out.

The Imperial’s interstellar communication is a multi-loop topology structure; this relay tower’s damage doesn’t affect the communication network’s normal use.

In other words, the public won’t discover anything abnormal; the military will be the first to notice any issues.

The military will not react in the short term, allowing them to swiftly withdraw after obtaining their goal.

But if the rescue team doesn’t receive any messages for a long time, they will surely send a starship to investigate.

Simply put, everyone can only hold on here for now, and the next arriving starship should be from the 87th Group Army.

The starship coming for support won’t need to fight, let alone land; discovering abnormalities will naturally prompt a response.

So the captives seemed indifferent—even if you eliminate all of us, you can’t escape either.

Even if you manage to survive by luck, think about your future opponent, the 87th Group Army!

Unless you stay in the sealed land forever without coming out!

Even so, if one day the 87th Group Army is reassigned to Qingyuan Star, it will be your doom.

Qu Jianlei found it a bit speechless; truly, ignorance is fearless.

Only Babus’ assistant asked upon seeing them, "May I ask, where is my lord?"

The Nutrient Injection happened to walk by and directly threw a head on the ground, "Here~"

"Ah~" The A-level assistant screamed upon seeing Babus’ head, "You actually, actually..."

He had lost an arm and a leg and fainted after uttering "actually" twice more.

They dared to kill even a Supreme, and behead him; he already guessed his fate.

Pitifully, he originally planned to apply for moderate treatment if Lord Babus could escape.

The other captives, seeing Babus’ head, all became gloomy: this is really not a good omen.

Only one B-level person sneered, "You’ve stirred up a big issue, do you know what the lord relies on?"

The Nutrient Injection raised a hand and a Flaming Arrow pierced through this person’s forehead.

Watching the opponent fall slowly, he scoffed contemptuously, "Just a mere Babus, is the Imperial Academy that impressive?"

The captives were shocked; they had followed Babus all this way without knowing this big shot’s real name.

They only vaguely knew that this person was above the Supreme, not considering three or five Supremes worth mentioning.

Some whispered about "Supreme Above" and such, but that was never something to be spoken out loud.

Now someone casually mentioned the lord’s name, what does this signify?

It implies that they might even know him personally, and yet they could go to such lengths; moreover, the "Imperial Academy" title no longer held weight.

Then, is there even a need to ask about everyone’s fate?

Having realized this, some captives with hopeful delusions no longer resisted.

Qu Jianlei didn’t bother listening to their nonsense, going to the base’s defense center to see what could still be repaired.

The relay tower was out of the question, but at least the backup power could be activated to provide a few relatively comfortable rooms.

He wasn’t planning to reveal too strong of a repair capability; getting it roughly right was sufficient.

(Updated to, summoning monthly tickets, subscriptions, and recommendation votes.)