A World Worth Protecting

Here I come!

Wang Baole coughed. He stood up and disappeared from the secret chamber, reappearing in the sky outside a moment later. With a single step, he entered the atmosphere. He had taken on Zhuo Yixian’s appearance once again.

This disguise had little use in the previous robbery, but Wang Baole was well-versed in the high officials’ autobiographies. He remembered there was a line in one of those autobiographies that mentioned cultivating certain good habits that could help compensate for personality and other habitual flaws.

There are still many dangers that can threaten my life in the Divine Eye Star System… transforming into smoke is my first layer of protection. Should my presence be detected, I’ll appear as Zhuo Yixian. That will be my second layer of protection.

Wang Baole patted his face. He thought that it didn’t hurt to be a little more careful. He kept his disguise as Zhuo Yixian, then transformed his disguised form into black smoke. The black smoke traveled swiftly in the atmosphere and soon reached its uppermost region. Wang Baole found a discreet spot and hid himself. He stared into space and watched the battleships entering and leaving the planet. He released the donkey then as well.

To stop the donkey from braying, he threw a piece of scrap material that was leftover from the Thousand Spirit Sect battleship. Wang Baole grinned.

“Son, the old rules apply!”

The donkey gobbled up the scrap material in a few bites. Its eyes shone intensely as it licked its lips. It appeared to be enjoying the snack and recalling the taste of the scrap materials it had eaten recently. It lifted its head, spirits high. Driven by a strong innate hunger for more food, the donkey studied the battleships that passed it. Its gaze was like the Divine Sense of a powerful cultivator.

It’s a pity that the members of the Thousand Spirit Sect are such cowards. They actually declared that they will be temporarily ceasing all galactic travel. In times like this, shouldn’t they set a trap instead? Load a battleship with hordes of precious resources and use that to lure the culprit out… Wang Baole sighed. As an elder of the Holy Crest Sect, he had been able to get information on the Thousand Spirit Sect’s moves. The information he had gotten wasn’t complete, but it was enough. He knew that Gongsun Hou had put a hold on galactic trips out of the star system. There would be no trips out of the star system for the Thousand Spirit Sect within the year.

What is the Thousand Spirit Sect thinking? Wang Baole shook his head. He was about to think more deeply about the intentions driving the Thousand Spirit Sect’s actions when the donkey suddenly shivered. It started braying at Wang Baole.

Wang Baole perked up. He raised his head and looked in the direction the donkey was pointing him towards. Wang Baole’s eyes glowed, and he licked his lips. After a long moment, he stored the donkey and then transformed into black smoke, disappearing.

It didn’t take long before a Water Refinement Sect battleship that had just returned to the planet charged into the atmosphere, the roars rumbling from its entry resonating in the air…

The Thousand Spirit Sect battleship incident had the other sects on high alert. They had implemented certain measures to prevent the same from happening to them. However, the Thousand Spirit Sect hadn’t revealed the full details of the robbery. In addition, the other sects had attributed the cause to a leak of confidential information in the sect. They all thought it had been an inside job. Besides, there had been no repeated incidents in the two months that followed the first robbery, so everyone’s guard had naturally lowered.

It didn’t take long before the cultivators inside the Water Refinement Sect battleship heard the same terrifying voice that the cultivators aboard the Thousand Spirit Sect battleship had heard.

“Freeze, this is a robbery!”

Half an hour later, when the Grand Supreme Elder of the Water Refinement Sect hastily led his men to a remote valley, they were greeted with the sight of a severely damaged battleship that had crashed into the valley. Outrage and fury consumed the cultivators instantly.

Upon inspection, they realized that the battleship was missing nearly half of its components. Even though the disciples on board the battleship were all unharmed, the loot that they had gotten from this trip had all been stolen. The female Grand Supreme Elder of the Water Refinement Sect was so furious that she almost spat blood.

“Look into this! I don’t care if we have to put up a reward for it, I want this scoundrel found. I’m going to rip this wretched beast into pieces!”

The Water Refinement Sect was in an uproar. They were amongst the most powerful sects on the fifth mountain ring, reputable and as powerful as the Thousand Spirit Sect. Their sect disciples numbered in the tens of thousands. News of the sect’s mad search for the culprit who robbed them soon spread like wildfire.

Two robberies had occurred within a short span of a few months. News of the second robbery erupted instantly. Every sect was shocked when they found out!

The Thousand Spirit Sect robbery could’ve been considered an isolated incident. But now the Water Refinement Sect had been targeted as well. This wasn’t something that could be easily explained away as an inside job. A serial robber appeared to be on the loose!

Any criminal tagged with the word “serial” was going to create an uproar. Many sects on the main Divine Eye planet went on high alert instantly. They felt threatened, and they poured everything they had into protecting their own battleships.

While numerous sects were panicking, the disciples of the Thousand Spirit Sect were laughing at them. Gongsun Hou laughed the loudest. He hadn’t revealed details of the robbery that had targeted their battleship in order to preserve whatever reputation remained of their sect. He had run through the entire robbery in detail and even tried replicating it. He had been left with the realization that he was dealing with an extremely difficult opponent, and he hadn’t been willing to share that information. Besides, he had been looking forward to… seeing other sects suffer as well!

“Weren’t they all talking about how the Thousand Spirit Sect was supposed to be a galactic pirate but ended up being pirated by someone else? The Water Refinement Sect seemed especially cheerful mocking us. Who’s the idiot now?”

The Thousand Spirit Sect continued to mock the other sect’s misery with great glee. The Water Refinement Sect’s investigation went on for two weeks, but no clues surfaced, even when they put up significant rewards. It was then that the third robbery happened and shocked the sects!

This time, the target wasn’t a sect from the fifth mountain ring, it was multiple sects from the sixth, seventh, and eighth mountain rings!

Within a single night, within the span of two hours, seventeen battleships that belonged to sects on the sixth to eighth mountain rings were robbed. The robber’s target wasn’t the resources the battleships carried but the components of the battleships themselves!

An uproar overtook the entire main Divine Eye planet. The Grand Supreme Elder of the Water Refinement Sect was shocked by the scale of the robberies that had been committed. After some deliberation, she approached her longtime rival, Gongsun Hou. No one knew what they discussed, but the day after their private discussion, the two sects made a joint declaration calling for all sects from the fifth to the eighth mountain rings to join them in a joint investigation. They swore to find the wretched culprit behind the series of shameless and brutal robberies!

The large-scale investigation took the fifth to eighth mountain rings by storm. There was no end in sight. Despite the ruckus that had resulted from everything, the three main sects, which were stationed on the second to fourth mountain rings, didn’t seem to care. The difference in power between the three main sects and the remaining sects was too great. To the former, it was like watching a group of children crying over broken toys.

The massive search didn’t yield the results that the sects desired. During this period, battleships belonging to sects on the sixth to eighth mountain rings continued to be raided. The robber’s activities had worsened. There was now a casualty count and people dead. Battleships were no longer simply missing parts, entire battleships were stolen!

That led to a greater uproar. Voices demanding for the culprit to be found and for his death began to resound in every sect. Upon hearing what had been going on, Wang Baole himself was enraged as well.

Damned scoundrel! Who’s trying to use me as a scapegoat for their malicious deeds? Wang Baole was displeased. The last robbery he had committed was the string of seventeen battleships. Everything that happened after that hadn’t been him at all. It was obvious… that no one man could’ve stolen entire battleships. Only a sect was capable of doing that.

Others might have guessed the same, but Wang Baole was certain that some sect was exploiting the current situation and trying to fish for profit while the situation remained murky.

He didn’t care to find out which sect—or sects—was responsible. As an icy glint flashed across his eyes, a plan formed in his head.

So, someone’s gutsy enough to try and make me a scapegoat. Are they gutsy enough to bear the consequences? Wang Baole narrowed his eyes, hiding the frosty look within. He charged out of his chamber then and, with the aid of his essence technique, raced towards the heavens without detection. The next robbery he was going to commit was going to be a big one. He only lacked that final batch of resources. He’d stop after this robbery.

Besides, he wanted shit to hit the fan. He wanted the upper sects to take notice and get involved.

Wang Baole had the skills to accomplish what he set out to do, and he had the guts to do it as well. He had his essence technique, which would keep him hidden, so he wasn’t afraid of any investigations. The sects that were trying to use him as a scapegoat, however… were different. Once it was discovered that they had been involved in the robberies, the rage of the upper sects and every sect that had been robbed would fall upon them like a heavy fist. They could swear that they had only done it that one time, but no one would choose to believe them.

After all… finding out who had committed the robberies might appear to matter, but in reality, it didn’t actually matter all that much. There was only one thing that mattered in this world that put profits above everything else and based the development and growth of the civilization on invading and robbing other civilizations, and that was finding someone who could compensate their losses many times more than their actual losses. That would be enough.

When the time came, even if someone did see through his ploy, they would choose to remain silent as well.

“We’ll see who becomes the final scapegoat.” Wang Baole sneered before he transformed into a cloud of smoke and sped away.