Zone Master-level combat power... how difficult! Lu Yin was confident he could reach the Domain Master level, or even surpass it, within half a year. But the Zone Master level... that was too difficult. Was this Ten Academies Tournament destined to be out of his reach?
The tournament was held once every twenty years. Ordinary young people could usually only participate once. However, given Lu Yin's "bone age," he could participate in the next one, but he didn't want to wait twenty long years.
At this thought, he stretched out his hand, and the die appeared. "I hope you can bring me a miracle."
Just then, the roguish Xiao Ba burst in, yelling excitedly, "Boss, we've found pirates!"
Lu Yin casually dismissed the die and stared coldly at Xiao Ba. "Remember to knock when you enter next time. Otherwise, I'll chop off your hand."
Xiao Ba jumped, nodding hastily.
"You said pirates? What's their scale?" Lu Yin asked.
Xiao Ba said nervously, "About half a 'domain' away. There's a crew called the Flying Fish Pirates. They were established a few years before us, so they're considered to have entered the 'professional pirate' scope."
Lu Yin found this amusing. "Professional pirates? You're saying there are amateurs, too?"
Xiao Ba gave a wry smile. "Boss, in truth, many pirates aren't real pirates. 'Pirate' is like a mask. Some people run out of money, have cash flow problems, or have some special goal, and a 'timely' (new) pirate crew is born. When their goal is met, the crew vanishes. It's very common."
Lu Yin's eyes gleamed. "The dark side of the universe."
Xiao Ba nodded. "Boss, about this Flying Fish crew...?"
"Approach them. Then, rob them," Lu Yin said faintly, walking toward the command room.
Xiao Ba hurried to follow. He had figured it out: since he couldn't resist, he might as well perform well. Maybe this was a different kind of opportunity.
The major territories of the universe had never relaxed their efforts to eradicate pirates. This group severely affected the economic exchanges between territories, and news often spread of important figures being killed by them. Therefore, all major territories had specialized armies to hunt pirates.
But pirates were too cunning. Except for some particularly powerful crews, smaller ones never stayed in one place for long. The Flying Fish crew was just like that.
"What's this crew's style?" Lu Yin asked, watching the medium-sized ship ahead get closer.
Xiao Ba said, "About the same as us. They rob, but they don't kill."
"I'm surprised. You all have principles," Lu Yin said.
Xiao Ba smiled bitterly. "Boss, being a pirate isn't easy. Robbing is risky, but killing carries even more responsibility. For the anti-pirate armies, 'rob, don't kill' is an iron-clad rule. Once you break it, you get on their 'kill list.' Plus, killing might provoke some major power. These are all 'risk costs' that small crews like us don't dare to take."
Lu Yin nodded. Xiao Ba had a point. The universe was cruel, but that was mainly for cultivators and those on the dark fringes, like pirates. For ordinary people, aside from natural disasters, it was rare to encounter an unnatural death. In general, as the major territories became more interconnected, humanity was learning how to protect itself.
...
Not long after, looking at the two Limiteer experts knocked to the ground, Lu Yin stretched. This was the Flying Fish pirate ship, and it had been easily robbed by Lu Yin.
These small-time crews had no real experts. Their Limiteers were only equivalent in strength to an ordinary Melt-realm student at the Starry Sky Academy, about the same as Gurbach's group. Too weak.
"Boss, here's the haul." Under the furious gaze of the Flying Fish captain, Xiao Ba presented a black Mebis Bank Star Card like a treasure.
The corner of Lu Yin's mouth curled. "How much?"
"Hehe, sixty thousand cubic Star Energy Crystals," Xiao Ba said.
Lu Yin frowned. "That little? Hasn't this crew been robbing for years?"
"Boss, a pirate crew's expenses are huge. After accounting for the cost of crew deaths, weapon maintenance, ship maintenance... buying medicine, gathering intel, paying tribute to stronger crews, and the experts' own cultivation... sixty thousand is already pretty good," Xiao Ba said.
Lu Yin glanced at the pirate captain, who looked ashen. He grunted and shamelessly took the card. "Good job. Divide the rest among your brothers."
Xiao Ba was overjoyed. "Thank you, Boss!"
Lu Yin's performance truly impressed Xiao Ba. He didn't take it all for himself. This was a great way to win people's hearts. This guy looked young, but he wasn't stupid.
The remaining pirates cheered, working with even more... curiosity (enthusiasm).
Lu Yin didn't care about that small amount of money. He cared about money, but not to the point of being unscrupulous. He spent what needed to be spent. He was counting on these pirates to bring him even greater resources. Robbing ordinary people was far less profitable than robbing other pirates. And the risk... he would bear it. For these pirates, it couldn't be better, although they knew if word got out, they'd be "feng sha" (blacklisted) in their circle.
Over the next half-month, Lu Yin, led by Xiao Ba, "roamed" the surrounding domains. The Umbral-Mist Territory had ninety-seven domains. According to Xiao Ba, this was a gathering place for many Outerverse pirates. In half a month, they robbed no less than ten pirate crews. It was like walking into a den of thieves. Of course, the harvest was good. Lu Yin alone had obtained nearly 700,000 cubic Star Energy Crystals. He had truly struck it rich. The rest of the pirates each received enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. Even if they stopped being pirates now, they could live as wealthy, ordinary people.
"Brother Ba, isn't that the Viscount crew's territory up ahead? Let's go rob them!" a pirate in the command room said excitedly.
Xiao Ba smacked him on the head. "Are you crazy? Rob the Viscount crew? Get lost!"
Lu Yin had just walked over and heard this. "The Viscount crew? Why can't we rob them?"
Xiao Ba jumped at the sound of Lu Yin's voice. He quickly turned and said, "Boss, the Viscount pirates are the strongest in the surrounding domains. They have at least five Limiteer experts. Their captain, 'Crazy Snake' (Kuang She), is an absolute expert who graduated from the Starry Sky Academy."
Lu Yin was shocked. "Graduated from the Starry Sky Academy? Is he a Star-wanderer (Man Bu Xing Kong) expert?"
Xiao Ba shook his head. "No. If he were a Star-wanderer, he wouldn't be hanging around these domains. He's a peak Limiteer expert."
Lu Yin let out a breath. As long as he wasn't a Star-wanderer. In that case, the claim that he "graduated" was probably false. The Starry Sky Academy had a rule: you had to reach the Explorer realm to graduate. Otherwise, once you reached the age limit, you could only be "expelled" (qu zhu), not considered "graduated" (bi ye).
The Academy was split into ten. Aside from the Tenth, the other academies averaged a thousand students, but less than a third graduated. Those who did were absolute elites. Even those who were expelled weren't weak. After all, reaching the Explorer realm required luck and talent. Without five cycles of the Supreme-Form-Decision, it was very difficult to reach the Explorer realm within the age limit. Still, those expelled students were outstanding wherever they went. They wouldn't stoop to being pirates. This guy was probably just bluffing.
"Let's go. We'll rob this Viscount crew. If they can dominate the surrounding domains, the haul should be pretty good," Lu Yin said in anticipation.
Xiao Ba's face fell. "Boss, we really can't mess with this crew. An army fleet once surrounded them, but in the end, the fleet lost almost half its men. The blood stained the starry sea. Even a Star-wanderer expert was schemed to death by Crazy Snake. That guy is terrifying."
Lu Yin's eyes narrowed. "It's decided. Let's go."
Xiao Ba was helpless. He glared at the pirate who had spoken up, then changed course toward the Viscount pirates.
Finding a pirate crew wasn't easy. They didn't stay in one place. It required luck. But, being pirates themselves, Xiao Ba's chances of finding them were high.
At this point, Lu Yin had long forgotten about the Lockbreaking mission. To him, Lockbreaking was important, but not as important as Star Energy Crystals. The die was his shortcut to rapidly changing his strength.
He had over 700,000 cubic crystals. One last job, and he could return to the Tenth Academy and wait for the tournament to begin.
The Tước Sĩ crew roamed several domains. Xiao Ba thought they wouldn't just run into them, but one day later, they spotted a large spaceship in a meteorite cloud ahead. It was the Viscount's ship.
Under Lu Yin's stern gaze, Xiao Ba sent a communication request. Soon, their ship was permitted to dock with the larger vessel.
With a jolt, Lu Yin looked at his personal terminal. This ship had a lot of combat power—nearly a thousand people. Three of them had reached the Limiteer realm's combat power. Most importantly, one combat power level reached 10,000! The dazzling number nearly made Xiao Ba collapse. This was a peak Limiteer—it had to be the combat power of Crazy Snake. This person was just one step away from breaking through to the Explorer realm.
Lu Yin's expression turned a bit more serious, but he wasn't too concerned. He had met many peak Limiteer experts. He had encountered them in the Transmission-Field-War, too. Although they suppressed him, it wasn't an insurmountable gap like the Explorer realm. Uro was a peak Limiteer, as was Van Kleed, and the spear expert he killed when he first entered the Purgatory Path.
"B-Boss, it's not too late to regret. I still think we shouldn't mess with Crazy Snake. We can just pay 'tribute' and leave," Xiao Ba stammered.
Lu Yin waved his hand and walked out of the cabin, entering the Viscount pirate ship. He had indeed come with two plans. If Crazy Snake was too strong, he could back down. But he should be manageable. Even if he wasn't, it didn't matter. His status as a Lockbreaker could save his life.
He used his identity as a pirate captain to request a meeting with Crazy Snake. This wasn't an unreasonable request. Soon, Lu Yin was led outside the captain's lounge, where he saw a Limiteer expert.
Just as this Limiteer expert was about to speak, his expression changed. His personal terminal beeped. His face shifted, and he quickly left. The pirate who had led Lu Yin here also quickly departed, leaving Lu Yin alone.
Lu Yin frowned but paid it no mind. He pushed open the lounge door and walked in.
Crazy Snake Tước Sĩ was a middle-aged man—it seemed all pirate captains were middle-aged. He wore an elegant, aristocratic coat and held a cane. His face was tattooed with the pattern of a python. At a glance, he looked quite majestic.
Lu Yin's entrance didn't disturb him. He was staring intently at his personal terminal, watching something unknown. But his eyes held a trace of anxiety.