Him and their stars.

Chapter 2220 The Fate of Choice

When Yu Lian realized this problem, he subconsciously brushed off the radiation flow layer on his body, feeling as if he were surrounded by hundreds of slugs.

"You've finally realized it. Haha, I told you, its greatest strength is its persistence. It wants to prosper with you, and it definitely will..."

"Could you please not use that word? I find it nauseating."

"If it wants to win you over, it will naturally try to increase your favorability."

Or, let's go back to using the original word.

I also hope you grow stronger, and even more so, I hope you cross that boundary and enter the realm of true gods in the shortest possible time.

"...Shouldn't I thank it?"

"That's how the program is designed. Although it's an artificial intelligence with disabilities, it can still handle this level of intelligence."

"So, is this a good thing?"

“That’s certainly a good thing.” Little Grey smiled warmly and added, “At least for now, it’s definitely a good thing.”

Yu Lian sighed and decided to put it off for the time being.

"So, where to go next? You decide, Captain!" With a turn of his head, Little Grey changed his bulky spacesuit into a 17th-century military uniform with tassels and a tricorn hat, and even added a headscarf and half-eye patch.

"It's up to you, Captain!"

"The ship is gone, what's the point of having a captain now!" Yu Lian mourned the Gray Panda for two seconds before looking at his loyal companion, the incomparably loyal Flamewing Dragon.

During the match, Frost seemed to sense Yu Lian's gaze. He swallowed the crystal, which was equivalent to half of his body, in a few gulps, raised his neck, and helplessly looked at Yu Lian's smile.

And so, a hint of understanding appeared in those eyes that seemed to be cast from molten gold.

He conveyed his determination to himself.

"As expected of you, my old friend! Here is a feast, here is family, but the Milky Way is still there. The warmth of family cannot be an obstacle for a good man to roam the world!" Yu Lian used his spiritual power to clearly convey his thoughts to his non-human comrade: "The place I'm going to is still far away, and there are many hardships and dangers on the way. However, whether human or dragon, happy individuals share similar happiness, while unhappy individuals experience their own unique unhappiness. It's time to do something more. So, would you like to come with me?"

I don't understand a word you're saying.

During the match, Frost emitted a low, somber mental fluctuation, as if trying to convey this meaning, but in the end, he clearly became more spirited.

It turned its head with difficulty and uttered a silent incantation towards the dragons still feeding in the distance. Its wings, which resembled long swords, spread out, shimmering with a highly rhythmic spectrum.

It was a long and wistful farewell.

The massive, older male dragon ally raised its head and looked over, its gaze lingering briefly between Saifulus and Yu Lian. The flames emanating from its body appeared short and peaceful.

“Go, young man, may your path be as warm and steady as a star… that’s what he must have said,” Little Gray said.

"The translation is good; that's how I understand it too," Yu Lian agreed.

The remaining Flamewing Dragons also raised their heads, their psychic abilities stirring up different electromagnetic frequencies in the universe, which was also a farewell.

“Go, go and explore the world. But don’t forget the child in your arms… that’s what they must have said,” Little Grey added.

"The translation is excellent. Look how moved he is, more so than Severus," Yu Lian commented.

With one last glance at his people, Frost resolutely turned and swam slowly toward Yu Lian. His movements were slow, filled with reluctance, yet also brimming with determination.

He had already conveyed a clear message to his comrades: "I am willing to go with you!"

"Excellent! Very spirited!" Yu Lian, full of vigor, looked down at the distant sky and stretched out a hand as if trying to grasp the stars: "If we stand side by side, we can roam freely among the stars and the sea!"

Xiao Hui glared at Yu Lian with his hands behind his back, then raised the huge peony flag even higher.

In conclusion, even though he had broken through to the Great Perfection of the Eighth Ring and reached the half-step Ninth Ring realm, and even though he had mastered techniques like "Free and Easy Wandering," Yu Lian was still, after all, a harmless and normal human being. His ability to physically traverse the Star Sea was, after all, inferior to that of a proper Star Dragon.

With a comrade like Besseforus as their mode of transport, the efficiency of traversing star systems naturally increased significantly. More importantly, they could also pass on the techniques of the Free Travel to the dragons through a mental link. They were all of the same race; there was no reason why Ancalagan could master it but Besseforus couldn't.

Can the Four-Phase Dragon and the Flame Wyvern really be considered to be of the same species? However, that's not important.

Ancaragan automatically grasped spatial manipulation upon reaching a certain age, a natural awakening. However, this isn't really important.

In conclusion, Yu Lian felt that he had shown the competition Frost the many possibilities of the future, and as long as there was a dragon with ideals, he should definitely thank him.

In short, after bidding farewell to his family, the spirited and idealistic Frost carried Yu Lian across the fiery sea of ​​stars and leaped toward the stars on the other side.

Of course, during the first leap, Little Gray told Yu Lian, "Anyway, once you've done it the first time, there will be many more. You'd better be prepared."

What are you trying to say?

"You have to admit that, objectively speaking, because of the Void Crown's actions, you are evolving, you are receiving a great deal of reward, and you are moving towards the future. You have already received a considerable return. Your hostility towards him is diminishing."

Yu Lian had to admit that this was indeed the case: "So, there will still be crazy crystal clusters, clusters of Ti Yangkai, and Void Realm Lords who inexplicably appear in the main material universe?"

"Other dangers may arise. However, from its perspective, it will certainly be a test for you, a test of your cooperation."

"What a high-class sugar-coated bullet! But I'm happy to accept it!" Yu Lian looked straight at the starry sky and said proudly, "Let the storm rage on!"

"Awoo!" That's how Frost responded to the match.

That being said, in reality, the adventure team consisting of one person, one dragon, and one AI was relatively uneventful for the next week. There was only one instance that could truly be considered a "test" and a test of "cooperation".

Near the Great Free City, a small family of dome whales encountered an attack by giant rock-dwelling beasts. These beasts were parasitic on small planets, feeding mainly on space radiation and rocks, and occasionally they would even disguise themselves as asteroids to hunt passing creatures.

This creature's mobility is certainly far inferior to that of a dome whale, but it successfully camouflaged itself and captured a curious calf from the pod.

This small pod, consisting of only four adults and nine juveniles, was forced to attack this ugly and ferocious behemoth.

When Yu Lian passed by, this was what he saw. He wasn't sure if this pod of whales was part of the large pod he had seen before.

However, when he saw the cub, which was about the same size as the Edelweiss, struggling with its heavy tentacles, and watching its family members charge futilely at the rock-dwelling beast, that was enough for him to make his choice.

In theory, he shouldn't interfere in the natural struggle for survival, but the rock-dwelling beast's size of half a moon was already too unnatural. Considering that the dome whale had always been a friendly unit, there was no reason for him to stand idly by, so he immediately rode his dragon into battle.

Although this creature was so large it seemed capable of taking on an entire fleet single-handedly, it was no match for Yu Lian, who was at the half-step ninth ring level. Once he found its pattern and weakness, it was no problem for him. He observed the behemoth and quickly found his target. Strange illusory energy and natural life force were twisted into a rather incongruous anomaly at a certain point within the behemoth's body.

Then, they embarked on a spatial leap on a dragon, entering the body of the giant beast and seeing the ethereal creature parasitizing its abdominal cavity—a bizarre monster called the "Nightmare Weaver Spider."

Then, naturally, comes the breaking of the nightmare, the killing, and the release of the juvenile whale cub.

And then, of course, comes the high-quality zero-element core and the extraordinary characteristics of the Void Realm Beast.

In the process, he accidentally blew open the abdomen of a giant rock-dwelling beast, but it was a necessary sacrifice. The dome whales not only escaped their predicament but also obtained enough food to last them for a hundred years, which was, of course, a gift from nature.

In short, filled with gratitude from the whales, Yu Lian decided to continue his journey, keeping his achievements hidden.

Perhaps it was because of the beating he received after leaping into the giant beast's body that the Flamewing Dragon opened up some kind of connection between heaven and earth, and he finally learned the ability to capture spatial folds.

Thus, during this space surfing, they crossed more than a dozen star systems at once and actually flew directly to the star system where the Great Freedom City was located.

Yu Lian was very pleased. Through their long-term travels and constant exposure, Bishop Fullers's skill in spatial manipulation was improving by leaps and bounds.

This free port of pirates and outlaws is currently quite lively. In addition to a considerable number of pirate groups, there are even two merchant ships from the Tos Merchant Guild. It certainly has the air of a gathering of heroes from all walks of life.

If it were my past self, I wouldn't have missed such a scene. I would most likely have made another trip to this city to gather intelligence and get some basic supplies. But now, there's absolutely no need for that.

In the city of Great Freedom, there was also an intelligence station overseen by Colonel Singh, as well as an office set up by Tan Jize, but he was too lazy to bother them. He simply adjusted his personal terminal, which had been enhanced by the Little Gray Cells and the Bifang brand nanomachines, amplified the power through the Golden Whistle, connected to a gravitational wave beacon floating inside the galaxy, entered a password, and then entered the internal system of this free port without any hindrance.

It's, of course, the guild message board for "freelance mercenaries." In this abyssal star system, freelance mercenaries, pirates, cult and gang henchmen, or even the black gloves of certain foreign bigwigs, all frequent and exchange information on this website. Their identities aren't really that clearly distinguishable.

"Planck's fleet has entered through the Far Frontier, and I heard they've already seized one from Salna!"

"Yes, yes, we snatched a lot of meat!"

Hmm, isn't Salna Shirley's hometown? How can someone make a fortune from that?

"What did Lord Edward say? Wasn't he among the first to invade the Empire?"

"It seems they encountered Gong Ao's fleet near the Diamond Nebula, fought a battle, and are now fleeing. There's been no further news since."

"Gong Ao is a scoundrel! We're brothers in the underworld, yet he's so ruthless!"

"What kind of talk is that? Aren't those who received amnesty the most ruthless?"

Well, my cheap nephew was ambushed by Feifei once before, and apparently suffered quite a loss, but he seems to be in pretty good spirits now.

After all, he was once the great pirate king of the Spiral Cross Nebula. If he couldn't beat the Silent Ship, could he not beat his old gang brothers?
But speaking of which, is Miss Rowentourage, who used to partner with him, still healthy? Could it be that because her comrade ended up in a petri dish while she remained unharmed, she was relegated by the Regency to fight pirates?

That's not bad either; it shows that everyone has their own area of ​​expertise.

"In short, most of the Imperial border fleets are concentrated in the Central Sector, so just remember not to go too deep."

"Understood, I'm going too. It's a rare opportunity to rob the Empire."

"Oh, by the way, there's a job here. The Toss ship just delivered ten million tons of munitions and ammunition, and they need us to deliver them to Helots and hand them over to the local rebels. Are you interested?"

"Whose job is this?"

"Is that the point?"

"Of course I'll take it. The reward for delivering a shipment is more than what I could rob a nobleman. Why wouldn't I take it? But I can't handle it all by myself."

"Let's go together!"

In short, all the heroes seem to be in high spirits.

Of course, amidst such a noisy stream of information, what he truly cared about was a crucial piece of intelligence: the main force of King Shazamen's fleet, which had heavily blockaded the mountain and sea routes, had arrived at Bamiao, the capital of the Kingdom of Ketai, a week ago and was there to prepare for resupply.

Needless to say, they took the route through the South Heavenly Gate, intending to return directly to the empire's homeland.

The source of the information was a smuggler who was stationed in Great Free City. He claimed to have seen the purple Titan with his own eyes and loudly complained that the Imperial Lord had arrived, which meant he could no longer do business in Bamyu.

Even a fool could guess that this person actually went back to China to participate in the musical chairs game.

Of course, this Sand King is a flamboyant gay man, so he's definitely not going to sit on the throne. But as an elected emperor, he certainly has the duty to make the most of his power during this "regency" period when the throne is vacant.

But now that he's gone, what will become of the young King Sorein?
Although he is young, he probably won't be so stubborn as to stick to the mountain and sea routes, right?
Yu Lian calculated, "The pressure on Fei Fei and Yang Xiyi will be greatly reduced, and the success rate of their reunion will increase significantly. Perhaps we can even do something else. Considering the time involved, it's even very likely that we've already finished."

"I don't know. After all, it's just an ordinary robot and doesn't understand military affairs," Little Gray said.

"Yes, that's why I didn't ask you. I was just talking to myself."

Little Grey chuckled twice and then said, "Well, your dragon is growing very fast. If you keep running day and night for another month or so, you might be able to reunite with your loyal subordinates and your loyal lovers."

Yu Lian had a brief moment to think.

He thought of the other side of the star map, of that sector where a storm was brewing, of the fragile balance of the imperial confrontation.

In the darkness, the ethereal trajectory within the sea of ​​stars seemed to become even clearer.

This is the intuition of someone who has reached the eighth level of perfection and is halfway to the ninth level.

"Is it still following us?"

“Of course. As I already said, it’s an artificial intelligence with obvious advantages.” Little Gray nodded.

“Then let him continue to witness.” He patted Saifulus on the shoulder. A new star map coordinate entered the Flamewing Dragon’s mind through a mental link.

The dragon was silent for half a minute, then began to frantically flap its fiery blade-like wings, probably due to excessive excitement.

(End of this chapter)