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Xia Fan had chosen the nearest route, passing through the Burning and Ye Tong Star Regions, before flying through an enclave that bordered the Ye Tong Star Region and finally arriving at their destination.

They were far, far away from Federation territory. It was a good thing the Black Egg was extremely fast, as a normal warship would have taken at least a month to make the same voyage, while those large cargo ships would spend an even greater amount of time to achieve the same.

The Lywellian Star Region was beautifully named, but there was nothing beautiful about the place.

Historically, the Lywellian Star Region was a place where a famous pirate named Lycel had been born.

When he was at his strongest, Lycel managed to conquer every force big and small in the Star Region, bringing the entire Star Region under his rule. Such a huge pirate organization could mobilize thousands of warships, and had fought with the expeditionary forces from the three Federations before.

Meanwhile, the name Lywellian came from the dead daughter of the pirate Lycel. In order to commemorate his little girl, Lycel changed the name of the Star Region, as the place was previously known as the Tooth Hunter Star Region.

The locals were fond of plucking out their enemies’ teeth before killing them, and they would hang them around their necks like trophy necklaces. The more teeth someone had hanging around their neck, the greater their military exploits, and that was how the Star Region was named.

Lycel was actually quite an amazing figure. As a hero of his generation, he doted on his daughter so much so that he renamed an entire Star Region for her, and the legend was something the people of the Outer Frontier still avidly till talked about to this day.

Later, after Lycel passed, his descendants had ruled over the Lywellian Star Region for hundreds of years.

That lasted until finally the pirate clan was jointly annihilated by the combined forces of the three Federations, just like many of the major forces that had once existed in the Outer Frontier.

The three Federations did not mind the small forces, because small forces were unable to threaten the safety of their territory.

But the moment a pirate organization grew too much and could become a threat to the three Federations, potentially becoming a new empire that ruled in the Outer Frontier, the Federations would abandon their existing suspicions of one another and proceed to unite so that they could eliminate the force that was becoming significant.

Historically speaking, similar events had happened time and again, and no proper force had managed to successfully establish their rule of the Outer Frontier. At the moment, the Outer Frontier was fragmented and chaotic, largely as a result of the policies of the three Federations.

It was the three Federations’ belief that just the three of them in this universe was crowded enough. Ashen Moon Universe did not need a fourth superpower who could sit at the same table as them, nor would they allow such a force to surface!

It was only now, with the rise of Murder Shrine, that the three Federations once again felt threatened.

Different from the forces from the Outer Frontier that they had vanquished in the past, the members of Murder Shrine were all from the three territories, and they were mainly defectors from the three Federations.

Many of the traitors had once held important posts in the various federations, and some had even been military grand marshals, with five stars on their epaulets!

Under the leadership of these defectors, Murder Shrine struck viciously, and observed strict military discipline among their ranks. They had broken away from the category of pirates and become a proper navy in the Outer Frontier. One could just imagine how much hatred the three Federation harbored toward them!

In any case, the Lywellian Star Region was a Star Region traditionally run by pirates. The people who lived their lives out here more or less had ancestors who took part in piracy, and were generally hardened souls. Even other people of the Outer Frontier viewed the Lywellian Star Region as a very dangerous place.

—

Nie Yan changed into a black battlesuit and appeared on the command deck.

This battlesuit was not made from the common high-strength fibers, but a specially treated leather that was very tight-fitting. It accentuated the figure of the very mature Nie Yan, dangerously curving where it mattered, with her long yet shapely thighs looking very well defined, highlighting the healthy athleticism of her body.

Her big black-rimmed glasses made her look slightly nerdy, a stark juxtaposition from her seductive form in the battlesuit which gave her a unique contrarian aesthetic sense.

Both Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha’s eyes glittered the moment they saw Nie Yan appear dressed like that.

Traveling Buddha had once privately told Xia Fan his criteria for finding a girlfriend, and it was quite similar to this unwed sister-in-law of his. Because Nie Yan would often head over to their place to look for Traveling Buddha’s brother when he was younger, her presence had left a deep impression on him.

Nie Yan arrived at the floor-to-ceiling window and swept her gaze across the stars. She then proceeded to turn around to face Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha, her expression serious.

“Right now we’ve arrived at our destination,” Nie Yan stated solemnly. “In a while, I’ll be sending you to the Union spy we have situated in Lywellian. He’ll be the one giving you further instructions about this operation.

“Meanwhile, I’ll remain behind here, acting as your back-up support. If the need arises, I’ll pilot the Black Egg and rendezvous with you, but there’s no way for us to get support from the Extraterritorial Task Force, given that this is a covert operation, and we would risk exposing it if the Extraterritorial Task Force were to hurry over to the Lywellian Star Region.

“In conclusion, all you can rely on out here is just the few of us already here. Though the Grand Old Buddha and the others are also coming to Lywellian, they will not easily show their faces, unless we encounter some extremely prickly and extraordinary situation.”

Nie Yan’s gaze shifted between Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha as she spoke. Traveling Buddha’s expression was as carefree as always, while Xia Fan was smiling as usual.

Neither of them looked like they were particularly worried, and only then did Nie Yan nod her approval. With a brush of her finger over her spatial ring, she retrieved item after item and set them on the ground.

She instructed Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha on what each and every one of these items were used for. Traveling Buddha got bored after hearing her speak a few sentences about them, so he went to the kitchen to brew some tea.

“Xia Fan’s here anyway; as long as he understands what their uses are, we’ll be alright,” Traveling Buddha said nonchalantly. “I’m just being his aide this time, and I’ll fight whomever he directs me to. Was that not the arrangement from above as well?”

Nie Yan was helpless about Traveling Buddha; all she could do was instruct Xia Fan in detail about the uses of the equipment. Xia Fan was clever and a fast learner, so it did not take him too long to comprehend their essence and application.

There was a lot of equipment, all taking into account the possible emergencies that might occur, but in Xia Fan’s eyes, there were only two pieces of equipment out of everything that were truly meaningful.

The first was the Stealthed spatial ring.

Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha both had a spatial ring of their own, but they had to wear them on their fingers, looking no different from any ordinary metal ring as far as the eye could see.

But the Stealthed spatial ring was invisible, and its utilization was also much more complicated. First it needed to have Xia Fan’s DNA bound to it, which could not be changed after that. That is to say that the Stealthed spatial ring and the twenty-cubic-meter space contained within could only be accessed by Xia Fan from that day onward.

To use the ring, a very complex process had to be enacted. The ring had a built-in waveform sensor, and was specifically attuned to what Xia Fan’s seventh brain region gave off. Xia Fan needed to recite 128 digits in his mind for the ring to be accessed!

Xia Fan opened his eyes, absolutely surprised by this new toy he had received. This was the first time he had heard about a spatial ring being able to become invisible!

“That is why I say that the Union has really paid a blood price this time around. That spatial ring you have, how big is it?” Nie Yan asked.

“About a thousand cubic meters,” Xia Fan answered.

Nie Yan was startled. “So big? I couldn’t tell that you were actually a small tycoon! Even me, your big sister, is slightly moved after hearing that! In Ashen Moon, any spatial ring that is above a thousand cubic meters in space can be considered legendary grade, and would be a major clan’s heirloom treasure! Traveling Buddha and Drunken Buddha’s spatial rings are just a hundred cubic meters each!”

Nie Yan pursed her lips, “I originally even wanted to say that this twenty-cubic-meter Stealthed spatial ring would be equivalent to a five-hundred-cubic-meter spatial ring in price. Looks like I don’t have to say that, since you won’t be shocked hearing it.”

Xia Fan chuckled. His spatial ring had been given to him by Blind Grandpa, the last descendant of the Twin Golden Pupil Clan. It was no doubt a priceless artifact, since it came from Blind Grandpa!

Xia Fan gave it a try, and realized he needed approximately twelve seconds to gain access to the Stealthed spatial ring. That meant that the drawback of the ring lay in its speed of access. There was no way for him to quickly gain access to what was inside during critical junctures.

Nie Yan said, “For safety purposes, you and Traveling Buddha have to hand over your own spatial rings, since your identities are now special-ability users from the Outer Frontier, and it is illogical for someone with your background to own something as costly as a spatial ring.

“Because of how small the Stealthed spatial rings are, you can only carry a small portion of what you own. As for what you wish to carry with you, I’ll leave it up for you to decide.”

The equipment that the Union had given Xia Fan took up ten cubic meters of space in total, and what remained was split between Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha, each taking five cubic meters.

Blind Grandpa’s Law of Gold and the Grade Nine energy crystals, as well as the Immortality Wine, were all things Xia Fan had to keep with him, and what space he had remaining he devoted to some of the keepsakes that the other scoundrels had given him.

As for Traveling Buddha, what he mainly brought along was his precious tea set, and canister after canister of tea leaves.

Xia Fan did not take out all those items of his in front of Nie Yan, and she did not ask about them, either. She was a mature woman and knew that everyone had their own secrets. The fact that she did not pry into others’ secrets made Xia Fan feel more favorable toward her.

Another very important thing they needed to bring was false skin.

Transparent, as heavy as a veil and thin as a cicada’s wings, the skin could be fixed upon their bodies, instantly making Xia Fan’s skin appear coarse and rough, and so help him look much older. Looking into a mirror, it gave Xia Fan the look of someone who was born and raised in the rugged environment of the Outer Frontier.

Nie Yan laughed, “You’re not going to be as dashing as before, but that can’t be helped. You’ll just have to withstand this grievance for the sake of infiltrating Murder Shrine for now.”

Xia Fan pinched his arm and face, and asked in disbelief, “Where did you get this thing? It’s so fantastic, almost as if it’s sticking to my skin through some sort of magic!”

Nie Yan replied, “Speaking of where this came from, you’ll be in for a shock. You ought to have heard about Ashen Dragon and Hidden Moon, right?”

“I know some. Weren’t they the two most formidable military organizations from ancient times?”

Nie Yan nodded slightly. “Ashen Dragon and Hidden Moon represented not just military organizations, but also Four Great Clans. The word ‘Hidden’ refers to the Faceless Clan.

“The Faceless Clan’s ability to adopt a myriad of faces and looks all stem from that thing you have on you right now. That thing has no name of its own, and the secret to creating it is a huge secret that no one outside the Faceless Clan is imparted.”

“Unfortunately, when the Skywings eradicated the Four Great Clans, their descendants did not act like us, who established the three Federations. Instead, they disappeared from the face of this universe. I reckon they must still be harboring a grudge, intent on taking their revenge against the Skywings, so they hid themselves to train.

“In any case, anyone who you meet in Ashen Moon who has a surname of Moon, Dragon, Ashen, or Hidden you need to pay extra attention to, because they just might be a descendant from one of the Four Great Clans.

“Of course, you need to be extra careful when meeting anyone with the Xia surname! In the event they are a descendent of the Skywings, then you won’t be able to flee, even with the speed you currently have. The speed the Skywings possessed was at the level where they could traverse the stars, and you are just an ordinary Speed-type ability user.”

“Uhhh?” Xia Fan was speechless. He was just an ordinary Speed-type ability user?

What kind of statement was that? He was clearly a real Skywing, okay?!

It seemed that because the Skywings were so vicious that they had already turned into a mythological existence here in the Ashen Moon Universe. People in this universe believed that the speed a Skywing possessed was not just your average speed, but a Skywing speed, the speed of a Demon-sealing Fiendish Blade, otherwise there could be no explanation as to how they managed to wipe out Ashen Dragon and Hidden Moon!

Nie Yan and the people from the Union did not suspect Xia Fan was a Skywing because they realized he was just an ordinary Speedster after their investigation and research. He was not a Skywing, so they were able to be at ease with him.

But what the people of Ashen Moon had no clue about was that the Skywings were actually just ordinary Speedsters. The reason why they were different was purely because their bodies contained Fiendish energy!