Star Odyssey

Chapter 1781: The So-called Distance

Qing Li wanted to say something, and Lu Yin looked at the man calmly. "Surely you’re not hoping for me to speak up for Qing Shaohuang."

Qing Li stared into Lu Yin's eyes, and the king’s heart sank; why had this only just occurred to him?

Lu Yin had been responsible for Qing Shaohuang’s arrest, so how could Lu Yin possibly allow the man to be released again?

"No, Alliance Leader Lu has misunderstood me," Qing Li said in embarrassment.

Lu Yin glanced around. "You said that Transience came from a strange flower that appeared in a spatial crack. Where’s that flower?"

"My imperial brother keeps that with him as well, of course," Qing Li replied.

When Lu Yin left, most of the resources were also removed from the treasury. He was actually rather unhappy to see that he had to leave some things behind. "Have that Xiao Fa from the small town come see me."

All of the representatives of Divine Venom Continent’s cities who had attended the jincan exposition had tried to avoid the site of the imperial after it had been destroyed, but none of them had left the city, as everyone was wanting to see how things would develop.

It did not take long for Xiao Fa to be found, and three young people were found with him: one woman and two men. The two men were just as timid as Xiao Fa, and only the woman dared to even sneak a peek at Lu Yin, though she quickly ducked her head.

Lu Yin stared at Xiao Fa. "Can your wireless jincan really ignore any distance?"

Xiao Fa was nervous, but he still nodded. "Yes."

"You don't even know about the true universe, so how can you guarantee that your creation can ignore any distance?" Lu Yin was curious.

Xiao Fa plucked up his courage and forced himself to look at Lu Yin. "What is distance?"

Lu Yin had not expected to be asked a question himself. "Tell me."

Xiao Fa spoke in an earnest manner. "For ordinary people, it takes several months just to get across Venom King City, but for Explorers, the same trip only takes a few days. As for a powerhouse like yourself, such a journey can be finished in an instant. The distance remains the same, but the time needed changes.

"Spacecraft can traverse great distances of space by passing through wormholes, completing their journey in a single moment.

"The distance is always constant, but the means employed to cross that distance can change. For my wireless jincan, no matter how far apart they may be, no distance can prevent them from communicating with each other. They simply have no concept of distance..."

Lu Yin listened in silence, even though Xiao Fa spoke for half an hour before stopping. When it came to the young man’s field of expertise, he became very serious and courageous in his speech. Still, as soon as he was done, fear overcame him and he started trembling.

"While I don't quite understand what you just said, I’ll give it a try," Lu Yin said. "I want to use a wireless jincan to call you."

Xiao Fa instantly took out two wireless jincans and handed one of them to Lu Yin while keeping the other for himself.

Lu Yin looked at the fragile tadpole in his hand that could be crushed without any effort at all. "How do I make a call?"

"It’s simple: there are a total of 3,279 codes. Depending on which is used, the jincan will communicate with the other that corresponds with the code used. I’ll teach you." If this bigshot was really interested, then Xiao Fa had to grab hold of this man and drag out as much research funding as possible.

"Just give me one."

"All right."

It did not take Lu Yin long to learn a single code. He then picked up his feet and disappeared into the true universe. He was still able to see Xiao Fa and the others right in front of him, and could even easily touch them, but none of them could see Lu Yin.

Xiao Fa and the others were terrified, as they could not understand what had just happened. As far as they were concerned, Lu Yin had simply left.

None of them had ever had any interactions at all with powerhouses with the strength of Envoys. Qing Shaohuang had no interest in their research, and there was no other Envoy in the entire empire. This was why they did not know about the true universe, though they were still confident in their wireless jincan.

The results proved their confidence warranted, as the wireless jincan really could communicate from the true universe to the visible universe.

Lu Yin emerged from the true universe and looked at the wireless jincan in his hand. "Don't tell me this can really ignore all distance. Tell me, what’s the furthest you’ve ever had them connect to each other?"

Right when Xiao Fa was about to answer, the woman interrupted him. She looked at Lu Yin. "Where are you wanting use our wireless jincan?"

Lu Yin looked back at the woman. "That has nothing to do with you."

The woman's eyes remained determined. "If you’re wanting to use them for war, then just forget it. We won't provide you with any wireless jincans."

Lu Yin laughed. "You’re in no position to try to negotiate with me."

The woman continued staring. "I know of you; you’re the leader of the Great Eastern Alliance, Lu Yin. Everywhere you go, war breaks out. You’re the reason that His Majesty Qing Shaohuang was arrested!"

"Sister Guoguo!" Xiao Fa freaked out and shouted.

The woman still did not stop. "Even though we’re looked down upon because our jincan can’t be used in a battle, we don't want our research to be used for war. Our small town is a peaceful place, and we don't want to have anything to do with a war."

A smile crept across Lu Yin's face. "What if I destroy your little town?"

The moment the words were spoken, all of the youths in Xiao Fa’s team grew pale from terror, even Guoguo. Her eyes never left Lu Yin. "We just want to live in peace."

"Help me, and you’ll be able to live a peaceful life. How I want to use your wireless jincan has nothing to do with you, just the production. Don't ask any other questions, or else-" The smile disappeared from Lu Yin’s face and both his spiritual force and domain surged forth. The sky grew dark, and everyone felt as though the heavens were collapsing down upon them and the earth was about to swallow them and consume all of Divine Venom Continent. "Whether or not you believe me, I can make your little down disappear in an instant if I so choose."

Guoguo's body trembled and she nearly collapsed.

Peace was something that everyone in their small town wished for, but when faced with someone like Lu Yin, their wish seemed completely absurd.

Lu Yin also did not want to start a war, but all peace was something that was bought with war. As long as people would have thoughts and ideas, contradictions would also appear and wars would break out. There was no way to stop this.

Since it could not be stopped, then the only way to end war was by winning a war. This was true for Lu Yin’s conflict with the four ruling powers, as well as the Aeternals.

"Now it's your turn to answer my question," Lu Yin said as he looked back at Xiao Fa.

Xiao Fa trembled. "That- I don't really know. In theory, all distance is ignored, but we’ve only been able to travel as far as the border of Venom Flowzone. We were still able to communicate from there."

Lu Yin beckoned Qing Li over. He did so in such a casual manner that it frightened Xiao Fa and the others. To them, Qing Li someone whose power encompassed the entire universe. "Do me a favor and check how far these wireless jincans can connect to each other. Send people in all different directions, and to the Astral Wilderness as well."

Qing Li nodded, as this was a trivial matter to agree to.

If it was confirmed that the wireless jincans could truly ignore all distance when communicating with each other, that small town would become Lu Yin's treasure. Until that time, he would confiscate all of their research related to the wireless jincan in order to prevent anyone from making any moves against the town.

Several days later, Lu Yin and Yuan Miaomiao were walking alongside a river a bit outside Venom King City. The city was close to a large, turbulent river that surrounded it.

Most of the water and mountains on Divine Venom Continent could not be casually approached, but this particular river was an exception.

"I don't want to stay in Venom King City any longer," Yuan Miaomiao said as she stared at the river in a bit of a trance.

Lu Yin stared at the side of her face and softly said, "Then I'll take you away."

Yuan Miaomiao dropped her head and blushed. "Thank you."

"Me? I should be thanking you! The Neohuman Alliance is mankind’s greatest enemy, and yet Yuan Taishi worked with them to study that poison. If you hadn't uncovered this, I have no idea how much the Neohuman Alliance would have gained from this place or how many people they would have harmed. You’re a hero of humanity, and the Hall of Honor will not forget what you’ve done," Lu Yin said with clear admiration.

Yuan Miaomiao shook her head. "I don't want the Hall of Honor’s acknowledgement. I-"

She hesitated before simply falling silent and not saying anything more.

Boats slowly rowed by out on the river, accompanied by beautiful songs and playing children.

Lu Yin and Yuan Miaomiao stayed by the river for a long time that day.

A few more days passed, and yet Qing Sheng still had not returned. When Qing Li met with Lu Yin, he reluctantly said, "Qing Sheng clearly doesn't want to come back. He must have gone to the Neoverse."

"Is he going to try to speak to the Interstellar Supreme Court?" Lu Yin was surprised at this. He remembered shortly after he had returned from the Perennial World he had met with the Innerverse’s Distinguished Five in the Lockbreakers World. That hidden world was not far from Arbitration World.

"That’s most likely the case." Qing Li felt bitter about it.

"He doesn't want to come back to lead the Divine Venom Dynasty?" Lu Yin felt quite curious.

Qing Li shook his head. "If he had wanted to, he wouldn’t have left in the first place. He hasn’t been back here for many years."

"In that case, who has the final say for the Divine Venom Dynasty right now? You or Qing Longlong?" Lu Yin asked.

Qing Li's face twitched. "It should be me."

Lu Yin smiled. "Alright, in that case, it's time for us to talk about the Divine Venom Dynasty joining the Great Eastern Alliance."

Qing Li let out a long breath. There was no way to escape this matter, and the Divine Venom Dynasty did not possess the strength to fight against the Great Eastern Alliance. Even though Venom Flowzone was a unique place and it would be difficult for any outside force to invade, Lu Yin alone could easily wipe out all the Divine Venom Dynasty’s experts.

Even the emperor had feared Lu Yin when he had been present, so there was no need to even mention how Qing Li felt in his brother’s absence.

Qing Sheng refused to return, so the king could only temporarily agree to join the Great Eastern Alliance.

…

The Great Eastern Alliance had united the Innerverse, and Lu Yin had decided to hand over the affairs regarding negotiations with the major Innerverse powers to En Ya and the others. Lu Yin had no need to deal with anything at all, and he was also too busy.

After everything was settled in Venom Flowzone, he intended to lead Yuan Miaomiao towards Blazing Mist Flowzone.

But first, he needed to visit the Infernal Zone.

"Infernal Zone?" Yuan Miaomiao was surprised. "That's one of Venom Flowzone’s forbidden regions that even Envoys are wary of. Why do you want to go there?"

Lu Yin answered in a solemn tone, "The Yuan family controlled a secret auction house, and I coincidentally participated one time. There was a person in attendance who tried to sell information related to what happened in the Horned Galaxy, but Yuan Taishi eventually took the man away. However, not even Yuan Taishi was able to understand the information. I learned the information as well, and it indicated that there are things in the Infernal Zone just like in the Horned Galaxy."

Yuan Miaomiao was taken aback. "What is it?"

Lu Yin shook his head. "I don't actually know, but I'll find out after looking."

"If you already had the information, why didn't you just tell the Chief Justice?" Yuan Miaomiao wondered.

Lu Yin showed a bitter smile. "Because I don’t even know if it’s true or not. I want to go to the Infernal Zone to verify the truth, and after that, then I can make a report to the Chief Justice and whatever is there can be used as bait to trap the Neohuman Alliance."

At this moment, Lu Yin looked at Yuan Miaomiao and grew incredibly solemn. "Don't tell anyone at all what I just told you, or else you’ll definitely be killed."

Yuan Miaomiao grunted, "I know."

She then stared off into the distance where a strange light flashed away.

Given the speed of Lu Yin’s spaceship, it would not take him long to reach the Infernal Zone. Even though Venom Flowzone was full of poisonous gasses and creatures, they were not able to pose any threat to Lu Yin.