Chapter 733: Share the hardship
Translator: Sigma Editor: Hitesh
The other's speed was much faster than what they had thought.
Not long after Prince Du Feng, Bergh, and Antrim left, Bloody Slaughterer Ka Tuo and his space pirates changed their direction again.
At this moment, the other didn't try to block their way, using the wildest speed instead to storm towards them directly.
Since the volume of the war chariots was much smaller than the battleship, they were moving more agilely in the Solar Star Exploding Fragment Field. In other words, the amethyst battleship and the massive bronze steamship couldn't be faster than the chariots. It was obvious that they would be caught soon.
When Shi Yan told her about their operations, Zi Yao became ashen. She knew she had a traitor on her battleship.
The amethyst battleship had almost one hundred warriors. They were all under her command. Some of them had been with her for so many years.
In such a short given time, she couldn't find out that traitor. And, she didn't dare to do anything rash, as she was afraid that she could dispirit the others. For the time being, she had no good solution, so she had to plan one step after she finished another.
As the battleship was still moving, Shi Yan was sitting neatly next to Zi Yao, his face calm and cold. He was using his soul consciousness to detect the direction of the pirates.
After a while, Shi Yan opened his eyes with a forced smile. Looking at Princess Zi Yao next to him, he said begrudgingly. "After two hours max, the others will catch up with us. If we don't have a way around, we can't dodge this battle inevitably."
Zi Yao's beautiful eyes were bewildered. She took a deep breath and then said, "Their targets should be my brother and me. The cargo we are carrying is just the spoils of war."
Shi Yan kept silent, looking at her as he didn't know what to say in this situation.
"Da Jie!" shouted Zi Yao.
A King God Realm warrior slight bent his body toward her. "At your service, Your Highness."
"Arrange war chariots for all staff on the ship. Scatter. No one needs to stay on the ship," ordered Zi Yao.
The other King God Realm warrior nodded, then went to the lower deck to arrange everything.
Not long after that, many small war chariots started to detach from the battleship. Each chariot carried seven to ten warriors. Those warriors didn't have a high realm, and many of them were the Princess' servants, who were in charge of checking the materials on the battleship.
Shortly, warriors on the amethyst battleship left one after another. They scattered everywhere like bunches of purple light.
Still, three warriors were standing by Zi Yao, waiting for her orders. One of them was Da Jie.
"Inform the others to leave. No one needs to stay," Zi Yao continued to order with a serious look on her face.
Da Jie nodded, sending her order to the warriors on the bronze steamship behind them.
Shortly, many strangely shaped chariots flew out of the bronze steamship. They moved agilely like fish swimming and dodging the deadly sunbeams. Soon, they left this dangerous area.
"Your Highness, we can leave now." Seeing many people running away, Da Jie bowed to the Princess and spoke up with a solemn tone.
"I'm not sure those who leave could survive. I believe that half of them would be killed by Bloody Slaughterer Ka Tuo's team." Zi Yao smiled miserably, sighing. "But when they scatter and escape, they can disorder the other's formation. They can buy more time for Du Feng to leave. Although many of them will die, some can still survive. It's still better than staying here. If they stay, they will all be killed inevitably."
Shi Yan looked at her but didn't understand her.
"Do you think I am cold-blooded?" Zi Yao turned, looking at Shi Yan with her complicated eyes.
Shaking his head, Shi Yan smiled calmly. "No. If you keep them here, they would surely die. Under given circumstances, they can have a way to survive."
"I didn't expect this situation. I didn't think that space pirates would wait for us here. This was my wrong strategy." Zi Yao smiled begrudgingly, then turned to Da Jie. "You guys should leave too. I'll stay."
"Your Highness!" Da Jie and the other warriors changed their countenance, shouting in unison in order to stop her.
"I have responsibilities that can't be shirked from. I stay to seize more time for you to leave." Zi Yao's eyes were resolute. "I'm their target. If they see me here, they won't chase after the others much. Then, many of us can survive. You don't need to convince me. You should leave right now... immediately! I want each one of us to survive, so we can meet each other again."
Da Jie's team was so sorrowful. They firmly shook their heads, not wanting to leave.
Shi Yan frowned, observing everything discreetly. Something strange glinted in his eyes.
Although Princess Zi Yao was a member of the royal family, at this critical moment, she had thought for her cortege. She wasn't a bad Princess.
Even though they knew what they were about to encounter, her warriors didn't want to leave. This spoke up the fact that she was trustworthy, and she had treated them well, which made them not afraid of death.
"You don't want to follow my words?" Zi Yao's eyes were cold. "I am at the Third Sky of King God Realm. Although the Bloody Slaughterer Ka Tuo's power is a little bit stronger than me, he can't kill me easily. Do you think that I have to die inevitably?"
Da Jie's group shook their heads, but they still didn't want to leave.
"I'm using my name and my title of a Princess to order you to leave! Immediately! If you can survive, help me save my force. Staying here is more dangerous for all than leaving. If you are all dead, my loss is going to be the biggest!" Zi Yao ordered with a cold face.
Under her advice, Da Jie's team nodded sorrowfully, using another amethyst chariot to leave.
"I say leave. You too. Why don't you leave?" Zi Yao frowned, looking at Shi Yan while the surroundings became strangely quiet. "Your time following me has been the shortest. You don't need to take risks with me. Just now, I meant for you to leave together with Da Jie's team."
Shi Yan smiled, talking deliberately. "Because I've spent the least amount of time with you, I don't know the others. And of course, I won't report your whereabouts to your enemy. Besides Bergh and Antrim, I think I'm the one who's worth your trust the most."
As he had observed, Shi Yan knew that although Zi Yao was talking big and brave, she didn't believe Da Jie's team wholeheartedly.
If they stayed, no matter how hard she tried to escape, the traitor would still be there. Bloody Slaughterer Ka Tuo still could track her down. He would be like her shadow, and she would never escape.
Zi Yao was truly a kind woman. She wanted her people to survive. But, if saying that her goodwill didn't include herself, Shi Yan would never believe it.
Zi Yao was astounded for a while. She pondered, then talked with a strange countenance. "You're smart."
Shi Yan just smiled and didn't say anything further.
The reason why he stayed was the same. Besides Zi Yao, he didn't believe anyone else. At the Second Sky of True God Realm, his realm was too low. Once he detached from Zi Yao, the traitor would kill him as easily as flipping his hand.
Even though staying with Zi Yao was perilous, he didn't need to worry that she would attack him while he didn't notice.
And, through the hardship of strenuous battles, he could break through shortly by collecting Essence Qi of dead people to strengthen his power.
This was a rare chance he didn't want to miss.
"Well, you want to stay, so I have nothing to comment. We will fight shoulder to shoulder. Honestly, I did hope that you would you stay. With you here, my chance of surviving would be bigger." Zi Yao smiled tenderly. After all members of her delegation had gone, she calmed down, and wasn't as anxious and tense as before.
"What do we have on this battleship and the bronze steamship?" Shi Yan asked naturally. He seemed not afraid of anything.
"Cultivated spiritual herbs and plants, precious mineral products, and many auxiliary materials for cultivation." Zi Yao looked painful, twisting her long hair that looked like a waterfall as she was listing the materials. "Thinking about destroying those things, I'm bleeding inside. Those are priceless, and essential to warriors for their cultivation. I don't want to do it."
Shi Yan was stunned.
"What's strange?" Zi Yao threw him a glance, smiling miserably. "I can't bring all of them with me. Should I leave them for Bloody Slaughterer Ka Tuo? If I can't have them, I have to destroy them. We must not let them benefit without paying anything."
"Why don't you use the Storage Rings to store them?" Shi Yan asked.
But he immediately realized how stupid his question was. If they could simply do that, why would Zi Yao need to use the battleship to stock those materials?
"If we put those spiritual herbs and plants inside the rings, without the heaven and earth spiritual Qi to nurture them, they will shrivel quickly. Many mineral products on the ship will counter the space inside the ring. If we can put them into the Storage Ring, why do we need to use the battleship to transport then?" Zi Yao burst out laughing and then continued, "And, some ores are incomparably heavy. A small piece can be as heavy as a giant meteorolite. The ring can't bear them."
Shi Yan smiled embarrassedly, nodding his head. "I understand."
"You go to the bronze steamship and destroy the spiritual grass there. I will destroy this place. We need to burn them completely. As for the mineral ores, sigh, just let Bloody Slaughterer Ka Tuo take them." Princess Zi Yao's jade-like finger pointed at the bronze steamship behind them.
Shi Yan didn't move. Magical light sparkled in his eyes as though he was thinking of some possibilities.
"What?" Zi Yao stopped, turning to him suspiciously.
"Don't you need them anymore? Do you want to obliterate them?" Shi Yan's eyes flared up while asking in a serious tone.
Zi Yao nodded painfully. "I can't bring them all. But I don't want to leave them to Bloody Slaughterer Ka Tuo. I have no choice."
"Then I will help you," Shi Yan's face trembled, then he suddenly grinned at Zi Yao. "Perhaps we can find them later."
Then, he sat down next to Zi Yao. Energy started to circulate massively in his body. An extremely swift and sharp aura appeared in front of him under his Soul Consciousness' guidance.
Zi Yao was astounded, looking at him bewildered, as she didn't know what he's doing.