allonlinenovel Chapter 296 Actually, I quite like the Hu Lei version of Fei Xiao (doge).
Chapter 296 Actually, I quite like the Hu Lei version of Fei Xiao (doge).
Chapter 296 Actually, I quite like Hu Lei's version of Fei Xiao (doge)
"You always leave the toughest battles to yourself. Just like now, you never know what running away is. It's strange, isn't it, that as your enemy, I understand you better than your comrades do?"
This is Hu Lei's backup plan: after each War Chief sacrifices the Crimson Moon, his own consciousness will remain within the Crimson Moon for a period of time in order to pass on the legacy.
Of course, the current situation cannot be described as a succession, and the next War Chief chosen by Hu Lei is hostile to Bu Liren.
However, none of that matters. Within this space of consciousness, he has ample time to persuade Fei Xiao. Of course, even if he ultimately fails to convince him, there is another option...
“Thunderous roar…?” Feixiao roared angrily.
"That rage... I really miss it. I know it never sought victory, but the hunt itself. Isn't that right, Flying Skies?"
After closing his eyes and calming himself down, Fei Xiao asked, "You shouldn't exist. I saw you die with my own eyes..."
"Just consider me an illusion. Before every hunt, I prepare myself for failure. But this time is different. This time... failure is my final destination. After learning your story from Jiaoqiu and Lujun, I discovered the secret Jiaoqiu has been trying to hide..."
"Wait!" Fei Xiao interrupted, "Wasn't Jiao Qiu rescued by the Captain and Mo Ze a long time ago? When did you learn my story from him?"
"His little schemes were impossible to hide. From the very beginning, he deliberately asked me to take him hostage so he could find an opportunity to trip me up. At the same time, he also wanted to get some information from me. So, as an admirer of his willingness to die, I used some information that interested him to learn your story from him. Combined with the information provided by Lu Jun, I finally discovered your secret..."
As he spoke, Hu Lei looked up at the sky filled with thunderclouds and sighed deeply.
"Fate is truly ironic. I've been waiting for this day, but I never expected it to arrive in this form. But I accept it. Now, let's break down the ironclad defenses of General Di Gongtian and see what lies hidden in her darkest corners."
After speaking, Hu Lei's figure disappeared, and countless phantoms appeared in front of Fei Xiao.
Those were all illusions of Bu Liren slaughtering her compatriots. Although Fei Xiao knew that these were just illusions that Hu Lei used to disturb her mind, she still couldn't help but take action to eliminate them all.
Each time a phantom is cleared, words appear above it, and Hu Lei's whispers echo in Fei Xiao's ears.
Further ahead, the phantom that appeared was a scene of Fei Xiao standing alone, facing off against the crowd, and the sound of thunder rang out at just the right moment.
"These familiar scenes have probably been shown to you countless times by the people of the Immortal Ship. But all of this is just what they want you to see. They make you fight to save the weak. But they haven't told you that, stripped of all the pretense of warmth, this is what the universe is really like."
When the Immortal Ship was weak, they pretended to be victims to gain your sympathy; when the Immortal Ship became powerful, they all crowned you as an avenger, demanding you uphold justice. I've found it… this is your [suspicion].
Then Feixiao waved his hand to dispel the illusion and said, "Your so-called law of the jungle is nothing but sophistry. You cannot sway me, Hulei."
"In the rage of the Moon, you wreaked havoc, causing the deaths of your allies... General Sky Strike, you have betrayed the Alliance's trust!"
Huai Yan's angry voice rang out from ahead, and a large number of phantom Cloud Cavalry soldiers appeared in front of him.
At the end of that illusion was a scene where Huaiyan and Jingyuan led the Cloud Cavalry to surround Feixiao, and Huaiyan's voice continued to condemn Feixiao.
“Your conduct is no different from that of those vile creatures.”
"She has the blood of a wicked creature flowing through her veins... Given time, she will surely become an enemy of the alliance. Cloud Riders, form ranks!"
Jing Yuan's phantom coldly issued commands, while Hu Lei's voice continued to whisper in Fei Xiao's ear.
"You threw yourself into the army of your new master without hesitation, thinking you had gained freedom, respect, and recognition. But you were wrong. They know very well that a wolf is always a wolf. Now, your greatest fear is about to come true: becoming an enemy of the Immortal Ship. This place... is your [fear]."
Hu Lei's low laughter annoyed Fei Xiao, so she made another move to completely dispel the illusion.
"You want to plant fear in my heart... but these are nothing but... illusions."
After this illusion ended, a new illusion appeared ahead, a group of Bu Li people lining the road to welcome Fei Xiao, calling him "Battle Leader".
At the end of the sky is Feixiao, where the worshippers of Buliren are received, and the sound of thunder is ever-present.
"It's time to return to the nest, Feixiao. No matter how deep your hatred for the Buli people is, no matter how much hostility there is between us, I will show you a path you never imagined. Because you made a choice—you swallowed the Crimson Moon, and you are qualified to become the leader of the Buli people."
Thus, Hu Lei's plan was fully revealed. Rather than leading the Bu Li people in a breakout that was bound to fail, it would be better to sacrifice himself and let Fei Xiao, the strongest among them, become the new leader of the Bu Li people and lead the rest of the Bu Li people out of the encirclement, even though in Hu Lei's eyes these Bu Li people had already lost their qualifications.
"What did you say?!" Fei Xiao exclaimed in surprise.
"Those Dulan descendants who came to rescue me were hoping that when I regained my freedom, I could turn the tide of the war, change everything, and make all the Buli hunting groups prosper again! But this is nothing but a beautiful dream manipulated by those with ulterior motives."
They would rather place their hopes for survival on a vague and unattainable cult leader, yet they lack even the slightest courage and strength for a desperate fight. Such people are better off being wiped out!
And I, a prisoner imprisoned for seven hundred years, a war criminal who couldn't even hope to die a glorious death, would become a puppet to be manipulated if I returned to my people. I absolutely refuse to accept such a fate!
For true powerhouses, "Fox-Man" or "Bu Li" is merely a name; true powerhouses determine their own path. I will forge a new path for myself, entrusting you with the power to decide the fate of the hunting pack—former Bu Li's battle slave, future Lord of the Fox-Man.
But Fei Xiao refused, and just like before, she resolutely swung her sword, slaying all the phantoms. Hu Lei's figure reappeared behind Fei Xiao.
"Your healer, Jiaoqiu, serves you so faithfully that he would risk everything to cure your Moon Madness. I have no doubt that he would even risk his own life for you. Therefore, I told him that the way to salvation is in my hands."
With just a nod, you will instantly awaken from this maddening nightmare brought on by the crimson moon, and your body will be completely renewed. From then on, madness will no longer torment you, doubt will be merely a speck of dust brushed away from your mind, and fear will vanish completely.
"Is this the path you've prepared for me... to become another you?"
“That’s right, after all, you and I are so similar. We are both monsters born for war and destined to die for war.”
"Hehe..." Fei Xiao chuckled twice, "I don't need to say the answer, do I? I refuse."
"I've said it before, Fox People or Bu Li is just a name. You can be whoever you want. You can do whatever you want. Accept all of this, and the Bu Li people will submit to you. Destroy them, leave them with nothing but bones, or educate them to become vassals of the Immortal Ship... It's all up to you. Your name will be engraved in the annals of the Immortal Ship, or in the list of great enemies, it's all up to you."
“You don’t understand, Hure, you don’t understand what I want. When I was a child, my hands were stained with blood for the first time in order to escape the whip and shackles of the hammer.”
As he spoke, Fei Xiao closed his eyes and drifted into memories.
It was a night with a shooting star. Young Feixiao was hiding from the pursuit of Buliren with a fox-woman girl named Saran, and they made a promise under the witness of the shooting star.
"We ran and ran, with all our might, not knowing where we were going. I escaped the wolf pack's pursuit and encountered a woman who could fly... a Cloud Cavalry soldier."
“I guess you kept your promise,” Hurley said.
"Unfortunately, when I brought her back to the old place, wanting to liberate Kulu's companions, I saw only a bottomless ravine left on the land."
"The light of the demonic bow... a calamity falls to earth, and all things perish," Hu Lei said gleefully.
"In the years that followed, my fellow Cloud Riders and I chased the trajectory of that light countless times, and watched it fall countless times. Gradually, I came to understand that it was not a shooting star carrying wishes at all. The appearance of each arrow of light meant an irredeemable world and the annihilation of countless lives. I prayed to the God of the Heavenly Bow, asking Him not to let me witness the fall of shooting stars again. But... He never answered me."
“Yes, they never respond, leaving us to kill each other in this world. That is why we have been fighting all this time. If the bloodless, tearless, and high above gods do not listen to the prayers of prisoners, then we must fight for our own desires! Do you understand, Saran… the similarities between you and me are far greater than you think.”
"..."
Feixiao fell silent.
"You are a beast born for war, and destined to die for war!"
“Perhaps,” Fei Xiao admitted. “So, what is it that you desire to fight for, Hu Lei?”
"So that the stars in the sky may become pastures for the Buli people. And you, Saran?"
"So that one day, no one will witness a shooting star falling... so that one more person can live and return to Yaoqing with me."
Fei Xiao's words completely disappointed Hu Lei, who then sternly questioned Fei Xiao.
"I'd rather resist what you were meant to be, falling from a free wolf to a domesticated fox. Just for... one more person? Then so be it! I will feed on your fear and doubt, seize you, devour you—I will replace you... and become Flying Sky!"
"We are so alike, monsters born for war, dying for war... You are absolutely right, Hurray. So pray to the heavens—though they never answer. May the hunting arrows pierce the monster's heart!"
Suddenly, the sound of an arrow whistling through the air abruptly appeared in this space, and a meteor streaked through the darkness and flew towards the sky.
Feixiao looked at the shooting star and subconsciously reached out her hand to grab it. Then the shooting star passed over Feixiao and landed behind her, turning into a giant axe that separated her from Hulei.
Feixiao made up his mind, turned around, and took firm steps towards the location of the giant axe. He gripped the axe handle with his right hand. At that moment, His gaze and His power passed through the limitations of space and entered Feixiao's body.
Then Feixiao drew her giant axe and aimed it at Hulei in front of her. After a cloud of smoke dissipated, Hulei transformed into her appearance, with the shadow of her war beast following behind her.
Thus began the battle between Feixiao and Hulei, or rather, Feixiao's shadow.
Meanwhile, in the real world, Captain Feixiao did everything in his power to stop the out-of-control ship.
They had even used the power of Feather Dust, but the captain's proficiency in Feather Dust was completely useless in the face of Fei Xiao's beast-like intuition.
The Heavenly Judgment in his hand also exited the greatsword mode due to excessive energy consumption and reverted to the more energy-efficient dual-gun mode. The other three had long been completely defeated and lost their ability to fight. At this moment, only the captain was still struggling to hold on.
The Hyperion members were unable to act due to Otto's secret plan, while Jing Yuan, having just finished dealing with internal issues in Luofu, was on his way.
The Star Train was overwhelmed. Due to the previous Crimson Moon, some fox-people with low resistance had been transformed into Bu Li people, while the rest had lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground. Another wave of turmoil swept through Luofu. The Star Train crew was currently supporting the Cloud Cavalry Army in suppressing this aftershock.
"Based on the information Kiana gave me, I deduce that His presence in this world requires your body, and only your body can bear His consciousness and power. Therefore, He will absolutely not allow anything to happen to you, Captain. Remember, when you are in mortal danger, He will definitely descend to help you solve the problem, and what you need to do is seize this opportunity to steal His power!"
Otto's words echoed in the captain's mind, and the captain was now hesitating whether to gamble on the possibility that Otto had mentioned.
Recalling the online comments about Otto from his previous life, the captain decided to take a gamble!
After all, the Otto we know now is the reliable teammate Otto that netizens are talking about. Don't underestimate the bond between me and Otto, you bastard! (Big lie)
Faced with Feixiao's potentially fatal blow, the captain gave up struggling. To the astonishment of the three, the captain lowered his pistols, opened his arms, and took the blow head-on without any defense.
Blood gushed out behind the captain, blooming into vibrant flowers in the air.
The moment it sensed that the captain's life was threatened, the root of the Imaginary Tree opened its eyes and turned its gaze to the dying captain.
He was not surprised by this, because based on His observations, He deduced that there were quite a few future branches in which the captain would experience a death in this incident, so He projected His power onto them as He had predicted.
This power was also sensed by Su, who was observing in real time. He opened his closed eyes, his eyes revealing a look of shock.
He never expected that He wouldn't realize that the captain's death was deliberately arranged. He never expected that Otto, after learning that He had blocked the [future] to ensure He could get enough pleasure and thus could [see] the [past] and [present], would actually think of using this to achieve his own goals.
Logically, even if He could only see the past and the present, He should have been able to easily deduce the true purpose of the captain's death. Could it be that He already knew but simply didn't care?
However, what's done is done, and Otto's plan has officially begun. Hopefully, the future he observes will change from this point on.
Thinking of this, Su sighed and then closed his eyes, quietly observing the fate of the captain and the others from the outside of the world.