Yu Xian had great respect for life.
Thus, he never committed evil, nor did he ever slaughter the innocent.
Yet if someone attacked with the intent of taking his life, he would grant them the exact same respect in return.
Right now, as long as the warships and starships ahead dared to strike first and fire the opening salvo, Yu Xian would utterly annihilate every enemy present to properly intimidate the rest of Crescent Bay's factions.
Crescent Bay actually had a famous principle known as the Goblin Law.
Put simply, when there was only one goblin, it dared not do anything; but when a horde gathered, they dared to storm the pantheon of gods.
At this moment, the countless warships and starships facing Yu Xian were in a state of swelling arrogance. Banded together in an alliance, they genuinely refused to believe anyone would dare stand against them.
So when Yu Xian refused their inspection, the crews across the multitude of vessels grew furious. After all, united they were so overwhelmingly formidable, while Yu Xian's lone warship looked so pathetically weak.
If any other Earthlings were present, they might have cited the ancient adage: *If your vessel is small yet you refuse humility, if your strength is meager yet you fear not the mighty, if you lack courtesy and insult a powerful neighbor, if you are greedy, obstinate, and inept at diplomacy, then ruin awaits you.*
Indeed, the crews aboard those warships genuinely believed they were the mighty party, and Yu Xian's group was the isolated, feeble prey.
On a crimson warship, the red-haired man who had spoken with Yu Xian earlier angrily patched into the open communications channel connecting all the warships and starships, grating out through clenched teeth, "Everyone, they refused! Since they don't know what's good for them, let's send them straight to Avici Hell!"
"Hehehe, we ought to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. Once their warship is reduced to space debris, anyone who comes later will see the wreckage and know how to behave," a pig-headed beastman chortled immediately.
A blond male elf wore an indignant scowl as well. "Since he refuses our goodwill, let's send him back to the embrace of nature."
Just then, a male fiendfolk with a dragon's head and a wolf's body glanced at his screen and raised the question weighing on everyone's mind: which warships and starships would actually carry out the bombardment?
Though the main cannons on every warship and starship were glowing bright, looking as though they could loose beams of light against the Aska at any second, they were all merely charging.
Once a beam was fired, a single shot cost anywhere between ten thousand and a hundred thousand Star Coins. If a capital ship fired at maximum output, a single salvo could easily run up to a million Star Coins.
Everyone had gathered here for profit.
Right now, they hadn't even caught a glimpse of Helick's Great Trove. Who would willingly shell out their own money for nothing?
If the Sea Clan's warships never returned, whoever spent their resources attacking the Aska would almost certainly take a loss—and a catastrophic, ruinous loss at that.
"..."
Everyone was generous with brotherly loyalty when talk was cheap.
Yet the moment money was mentioned, the entire fleet fell silent.
***
Aboard the Aska.
Yu Xian finished the pasta on his plate, set down his fork, and looked up at the holographic screen.
He had already finished his meal, so why hadn't the opposing warships and starships attacked yet? Could someone on their side possess foresight and foresee that attacking meant certain death?
"Why haven't they made a move? Could they have gotten scared?" He picked up a lobster from the food pile beside Little Nora, shelled it, extracted the meat with his telekinesis, and popped it into his mouth, asking around chews.
Little Nora's mouth was stuffed full of food. Hearing his question, she hastily swallowed it down and raised her hand. "I know! I have a fan on one of the warships over there! He said they're arguing because they can't agree on who pays for firing the cannons!"
"When cannons roar, ten thousand taels of gold are spent. Those people came solely for money. Before seeing a single coin, how could they possibly act so readily?" Niman said with an amused smile.
Eating away, Yu Xian activated his Star Ring and logged into Little Nora's livestream.
Sure enough, plenty of viewers were discussing the situation, and many fans were frantically urging Little Nora to flee for her life, warning that once the fleet reached an agreement, escape would be impossible.
[Breadman: Run, Yaya! I love watching you eat so much, don't you dare die! (ToT)]
[Chubby Chub: Yaya, stop eating, stop eating! (﹏)]
[Pangtun: (TT) Still eating?!!!]
[Old Dog Scram: Yaya, if you die, what am I supposed to get off to?]
[No Persimmons: It's over, it's over! I just followed two days ago, and the streamer is already done for!]
Yu Xian scrolled up and found that someone really was aboard one of the opposing warships or starships, leaking that an argument was raging. Some demanded that everyone share the expenses equally, while others argued that whoever contributed fire should receive a larger cut of Helick's Great Trove.
"What a bunch of rabble," Yu Xian remarked with a laugh after reading the leaked chat.
He then turned to Little Nora and said, "Little Nora, tell that fan of yours to scram right away. Otherwise, he can't blame me for slaughtering him along with the rest."
"Oh, I'll message him right now," Little Nora replied dutifully.
The livestream chat immediately erupted with curses. Since Little Nora was still streaming, Yu Xian's voice came through loud and clear. Accusing him of blind arrogance and vastly overestimating himself, the viewers mocked him mercilessly.
On the other side, the red-haired man and the other leaders finally reached a consensus: any warship or starship that contributed to the bombardment would receive a proportionate compensation once Helick's Great Trove was divided.
Finally, countless light cannons fired at the Aska simultaneously. Without any warning or announcement, blinding beams blasted onto the Aska's surface. Many had even started their own livestreams, eager to record the moment the Aska exploded.
An explosion did indeed erupt, but it was merely the blasts of energy slamming against the shield's surface and compressing outward. The Aska itself didn't suffer the slightest scratch.
When the detonations cleared, the previously gloating red-haired man, the pig-headed beastman, the blond elf, and everyone else froze, their eyes bulging in utter disbelief.
"How is that possible?!"
"There were over a dozen capital-grade main cannons! It can't be completely unscathed!"
"Not good, we've kicked an iron plate! Turn around and retreat!"
"Am I dreaming? This makes no scientific sense! Not even the shield broke?!"
Amid the clamor of shock and panic, Yu Xian appeared in the void before the Aska, the flower within his pupil radiating a brilliant golden gleam.
Clenching his fist, he channeled the spatial energy residing within the World Eye and muttered, "Next up... Great World Collision!"
A single punch!
Colossal spatial energy detonated outward.
In a split second, a tremendous mass of spatial power violently compressed the space ahead, akin to two heavy trucks head-on colliding, or two glass marbles violently smashing into one another.
Instantly, space shook violently, the entire spatial layer folding backward as the forces within pulverized every speck of matter into crushed fragments.
If Yu Xian had still been clumsy the first time he used this technique, he was now extraordinarily proficient. He could pinpoint the collision's radius with pinpoint precision and even calculate the exact depth of the compression.
Across the forward fleet, shields shattered under the violent spatial tremors. One warship after another exploded amid the horrific compression, appearing from Yu Xian's perspective like a sprawling cascade of fireworks...
Seeing the warship to his right instantly detonate, despair washed over the red-haired man. Amid the blinding fire, he stammered, "You can't kill me, my father is..."
Over on the other flank, the blond elf spun around to flee, but trapped inside his warship, where could he possibly run?
In the end, the blast engulfed him in an instant. Amid the searing flames and violent spatial tremors, his once-handsome visage rapidly dissolved into a scorched, blackened mass.
Meanwhile, through Little Nora's livestream, countless viewers throughout Crescent Bay witnessed this scene with their own eyes. The prior mockery vanished in an instant; the chat turned so dead silent it was as if there were no audience at all.
Yet many perceptive figures throughout the region recognized the truth: the true overlord of Crescent Bay had finally arrived.
Chapter 317