Him and their stars.

Chapter 2212 The Gray Panda

Five minutes later, Yu Lian was comfortably seated in the most comfortable chair on the bridge, with snacks and sugarcane wine laid out on a small table beside him. Although the food was simple, it was the best the pirates could offer.

The leader of the pirate group, an Angba lion-faced man, stood carefully next to Yu Lian, his waist bent low, as if trying to bring his face as low as possible to the other man.

That's no easy feat. He's over two meters tall, while Yu Lian is sitting down.

The pirate captain had a thick, imposing black mane, and his features looked as if they were cast in iron. There was also a purplish scar on his cheek, clearly an old wound caused by an energy weapon, which had ripped the muscles on half of his face out of shape, making him look even more ferocious and terrifying.

In fact, with current medical technology capable of even limb regeneration, almost all external injuries can be perfectly healed. Yet this pirate, Umba, still keeps his ugly scar, perhaps wanting to flaunt his intimidating appearance.

However, he doesn't look imposing at all now. He's trying very hard to force a cute smile, trying to make himself look less like a lion and more like a Chow Chow.

His name is Taka, the leader of the 'Glory Stone Pirate Crew', who commands fourteen ships and nearly ten thousand fierce veterans. It is also one of the most renowned pirate crews in the Abyss Nebula.

Speaking of which, in his previous life, when Yu Lian was taking refuge in Da Zizai City, he also cooperated with this Taka leader a few times. Overall, he is indeed a very fierce underworld boss, ruthless in his methods but also quite particular in most cases, so he is somewhere between anthropomorphic and human.

Thinking about it, when I left Great Freedom City in my past life, this guy still owed me 1000 gold dragons as a final payment.

Yu Lian drank the sugarcane wine offered by the pirates in one gulp. The crudely fermented alcohol had a hint of imperfect sweetness, but once you accepted this premise, you found the taste quite good.

When Chief Taka saw that Yu Lian had drunk some wine, he breathed a sigh of relief, and his tense nerves relaxed considerably. He quickly cupped his hands and said, "General, you are wise! Our attack on this outpost is certainly not for those tattered weapons, but simply to destroy the deep space probe here."

Yu Lian glanced at him, slightly surprised.

As we all know, it is almost impossible for physical borders and natural defenses to exist in the universe due to geographical conditions. Therefore, we can only deploy so-called deep space probes in the galaxies on the borders. Once they are deployed on a large scale, they can provide early warning of large-scale mass migration, energy anomalies and transition fluctuations in the starry sky in a certain direction.

Taka quickly explained, "I received intelligence that the Gray Reef system has a unique gravitational effect, and the Empire has placed a regional-level control node there. If it is destroyed, the early warning systems of the surrounding seven star systems will be paralyzed."

"There will be a blind spot window lasting at least ninety hours! Yes, at least seventy-two hours!" replied the second-in-command of the Glory Stone Pirates, a dragon. He also had a very imposing face, but still possessed a certain technical flair.

The saying goes that pirates are cultured and no one can stop them.

"A very accurate judgment." Yu Lian asked curiously, "So?"

Taka picked up the conversation, continuing with a forced smile, "Well, this is of course a coordinated operation by the Great Free City. It's not just us; right now, most of the leaders in the underworld have mobilized. Everyone is working together, dividing the tasks. Brother Edward has already pulled off a big heist in the Gate of Glory sector. As for us, we're preparing to do something here in Ashan."

He pulled up a star map and pointed to a corner of the blurry Abyss Nebula: "The followers of the seven chieftains are all here, waiting for my message. Once I... once I've dismantled the Deep Space Array, the Imperial borders will be at our disposal. On this side of Ashan, only the Imperial's vassal fleets remain; they can't stop us."

“From now on, we can come and go as we please,” said the second-in-command of the Yalong people.

"I heard that the raiders from the direction of Great Free City have also been invited," Chieftain Taka added.

What a long-lost name!

The pirate captain glanced at Yu Lian cautiously, hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to answer honestly: "You have wiped out most of the raiders' elite forces!"

"They were all wiped out by the main forces of the Empire and the Community. I wouldn't stoop to taking credit for that." Yu Lian waved his hand.

"Yes, yes, your noble character shines like the blazing sun even in the abyss. Even we underworld figures can feel its true... well, warmth and glory. Yes, hearing your deeds, how glorious life is!" The second-in-command fawned sincerely. Clearly, he wasn't very good at this; his flattery came across as stiff, and even his adjectives seemed off.

However, it must be admitted that because it is so stiff, it is so sincere, and thus it does seem to have a lot of emotional value.

The captain of the Angba pirate group continued, "The elite are indeed all gone, and Silverheart is left with only the old and weak. But the more they are like this, the fiercer they become."

This statement is certainly reasonable.

Yu Lian glanced at Taka and admitted that he was still somewhat surprised.

They were pirates! A pack of unruly wolves—that's a nice way of putting it. To put it bluntly, they were nothing more than a bunch of hungry hyenas.

The great pirates of the Abyss Nebula were certainly tired of killing and hoped for a place to communicate with each other. With the influence of various forces, the so-called "Pirate Capital" Great Freedom City came into being. But to put it bluntly, it was just a large Peace Hotel.

In any case, they are all gangsters after all. Expecting them to have any spirit of unity and self-sacrifice is less likely than believing that the Dragon Kings of the Dawn Empire are benevolent and compassionate people who love their people.

What kind of planning, organization, and coordination skills were needed for them to put aside their own conflicts, coordinate their actions, and launch a planned attack on the empire's border defense system? And what kind of intelligence support was required?

Yu Lian laughed and said, "I never thought that you would have the spirit of sacrificing yourselves."

The first and second leaders exchanged a glance, and the Angba man rubbed his hands together and said with a smile, "My lord, you are wise. Although we who do this preliminary work do not get any spoils, we will get a share of the profits afterward."

The Argonian added, "Oh, right, and the bounty."

Well, there really is someone coordinating things behind the scenes.

"The bounty missions were posted through the dark web of Great Free City." The pirate dared not hide anything and quickly explained, "The missions include harassing and attacking designated military targets in the Imperial Ashan Sector and several neighboring border star sectors, creating chaos, etc... We accepted the mission to destroy the border deep space exploration system, and the bounty is quite high."

“Yes, even the deposit we received is enough to buy a new large ship,” the Argonian vice-commander exclaimed. “I’ve already seen a Mazaran Ironclad Lizard-class light cruiser on the black market. It’s 80% new, only five years old. An 80% new Ironclad Lizard!”

The Great Free City? A bounty? And they can even use money to buy it. Yu Lian roughly understood who the target was.

However, to his surprise, the pirate captain said with a bitter face, "The deposit was sent through the offshore star of the underground world, without going through the city hall of Great Freedom City at all. To put it bluntly, it's a super big shot that even the committee of Great Freedom City has to fawn over. How could people like us dare to ask too many questions?"

"Of course, there are other people specifically organizing the operations," said the second-in-command of the Yalong people. "You know our nature; we always need someone to coordinate things."

Taka and several of the underlings nodded in agreement, accepting the assessment.

"To be honest, sir, most of the leaders of the Abyss Nebula have mobilized this time. So we chose a leader before we set off."

"Not 'Firebeard' Edward?" "Edward, that old guy is just strong, he's not as smart as me." Taka forced his pea-sized eyes to widen, forcing himself to show a wise look: "The only one who can coordinate us is Captain Planck."

"Yes, yes! The pirate king from the New World, a master known as Black Serpent." The Argonian puffed out his chest as if showing off his jet-black and domineering scales: "This nickname sounds like one of our own."

I knew it.

In short, the office in Great Free City is doing a great job! Colonel Singh deserves a medal weighing a ton.

"In addition, Mr. Tan helped us make connections. He is now the chief consultant for our Abyss League of Legends!"

"He is a good person, a knowledgeable and wise person. His office in Dazizai City has helped us solve a lot of troubles, and everyone is willing to trust him."

Yu Lian was slightly taken aback; this was a situation he had never imagined.

"Which Mr. Tan?"

"Of course it's Tan Jize, Mr. Tan! Isn't he your subordinate?"

Yu Lian really didn't expect to hear Tan Jize's name here. He didn't expect him to get involved in this kind of thing, and he certainly didn't expect him to set up some kind of office in Da Zizai City.

The somewhat talkative second-in-command of the Argonians quickly explained that the autonomous territory Mr. Tan had established in the Three Paths Starfield had become quite influential, and had now officially become a quasi-governmental organization called the "Free People's Commune." Its population was said to be over a million.

Although it has not yet secured a seat in the Galactic Civilization Council, it has gained recognition from many surrounding powers, and can be considered a small country with all its basic functions.

He even found a way to set up an office in Da Zizai City, right across from Yu Lian's intelligence station.

Perhaps because this Mr. Tan was a law school graduate and spoke in a pleasant manner, in less than half a year, he actually helped several pirate leaders resolve some conflicts and had quite a bit of influence in the underworld of the Abyss Nebula.

Taka added, "To make this a grand occasion possible, Mr. Tan also made the entire star map and gravity well data of the 'Tan Gong Trail' available to us."

The second-in-command of the wyverns beside him, his eyes gleaming, couldn't help but chime in, his rough scales swaying slightly with excitement: "That's a road paved with gold! It avoids most of the Empire's regular patrol and surveillance areas. Although it's not easy to travel, it's still more stable than the old smuggling routes. This is more reliable than any number of golden dragons!"

Taka told Yu Lian that Tan Jize used information about this sea route as a bargaining chip to gain the support of a considerable number of pirate leaders, including themselves, for this joint operation. They also readily accepted Captain Planck as the temporary leader of the alliance.

After all, the latter's "Black Snake" has a certain reputation, and he himself is a real "snake." Perhaps he has recruited soldiers and gathered a group of old bandits.

Sure enough, Taka said, "Captain Planck is also very admirable. He has only been in Great Free City for half a year since he fled from the New World, and he has already integrated seven or eight mountain strongholds. His new 'Black Serpent' gang already has more than 30 ships and more than 20,000 brothers. What a hero! With him as the leader, Mr. Tan as the chief advisor, and an unknown financial backer, we are willing to take a gamble."

“If there’s a deposit, it’s not considered gambling,” said the second-in-command of the Yalong people.

Your "unknown benefactor" must be an herbaceous plant. Yu Lian thought.

Then, this massive operation came about.

The pirate leaders from all the Abyss Nebulae thus began an unprecedented joint operation, as if they all considered themselves Vikings.

Yu Lian was both amused and exasperated by what he heard.

He had to admit that his old friends and subordinates were indeed quite proactive. Of course, since he was almost completely unaware of their activities, he felt a real lack of accomplishment and didn't know whether to be sad or relieved.

Just then, a sharp alarm sounded on the bridge, followed by a report from the neighboring warship: "Sir... and the leader! Communication received. Large-scale Imperial fleet gathering has been detected in the Lanrener A system, four jump points away from us! At least four heavy cruisers, totaling more than thirty ships!"

The atmosphere on the bridge instantly became tense again, and the ingratiating smiles disappeared from the faces of the pirate leaders.

Taka suddenly stood up straight, his humility and naivety vanishing instantly, replaced by the ferocity and decisiveness of a ruthless pirate leader on his ugly face.

Yu Lian felt that this looked much better than before.

The pirate leader looked at Yu Lian, speaking faster but still respectfully: "My lord, we should not linger here. We must get to work."

Yu Lian felt that he had heard these words somewhere before.

At this moment, the second-in-command of the Argonians adjusted the star map again, quickly drawing an arrow from the Gray Reef system to the prosperous star field deeper into the Empire's territory: "According to the original plan, once we destroy the early warning node here and open the passage, my 'Glory Stone' and the other brothers will directly launch an attack on the heart of the Empire! Make a big commotion to attract the attention of the Empire's border guards and create an opportunity for Boss Plank and the others."

At this point, the second-in-command clenched his fist, the scales rubbing together making a slight sound: "So, the underlings are about to set off."

"Understood," Yu Lian said.

"So, we have to set out." Commander Taka looked at Yu Lian with an embarrassed expression.

“I said, I heard it.”

Yu Lian and the pirates stared at each other, and a subtle awkwardness settled over the scene once again.

Yu Lian thought to himself, "I feel like I've encountered this scene somewhere before."

Taka finally sighed resignedly, forcing an awkward laugh to hide his reluctance, but he still let out a clearly groaning sigh: "Well, well... I understand."

Half an hour later, Yu Lian waved goodbye to the Glory Stone pirates, watching their warship flash briefly at the edge of the star system before shrinking into a point of light and disappearing into the horizon.

They were truly a group of pure pirates, meticulous in their actions. To settle the unpaid debts from their past lives, Leader Taka even happily gifted himself a ship. Although it was a converted cruise ship, it was still a proper spaceship capable of warp jumps and traversing the Abyss Nebula.

Yu Lian looked at his newest vehicle and decided to officially name it the Gray Panda.

He had really thought about it for a long time.

(End of this chapter)