“How did you manage to steal that ancient relic fragment from Raven?” Luohua felt Yue Yang was truly bold, and quick-handed besides. Raven surely guarded that fragment as the darling of his very heart — and yet Yue Yang had lifted it back without a soul the wiser. It had to be said: if this kid ever changed professions and took up thieving, a great many thieves would starve.

“Who said the one I stole was Raven’s?” Yue Yang smiled.

“It wasn’t?” Luohua was astonished. Besides Raven, was there someone else carrying a fragment of the ancient relic?

“I didn’t think it was either. If you’d taken only the one, then however finely you divided it, it could never be enough to inlay everyone’s Black Tortoise Battle-Armor. And besides, doing that would have made Raven notice at once and grow suspicious—” The Southern Wilderness Demon King hadn’t finished speaking before Yue Yang spread open his palm.

Upon it lay a full twelve fragments of the ancient relic.

Deep purple in color. Within them was stored a peculiarly serene divine power — no longer commanded by any divine consciousness, and yet by its very nature carrying an excellent benign reinforcement for a living body.

Everyone crowded around in delight, unable to hold back a cheer. With this many small fragments, they could not only inlay the Black Tortoise Battle-Armor for Yue Yang and Princess Qianqian and the others — there would be enough left over to make pendants and bracelets for Fengxian and the rest, who meant to join the fighting but wouldn’t be wearing the Black Tortoise armor, to guard them against the enemy’s forbidden power. No wonder Yue Yang had summoned everyone the instant he returned: he’d come into an unexpected windfall and couldn’t wait to share it.

Even the Sick Beauty and Yue Yu exchanged a nod, quietly approving.

As for Princess Qianqian, her delight was written all over her face. She asked with a laugh: “How did this happen? Where did you get so many fragments all at once?”

Yue Yang first made a guess-then face, teasing Princess Qianqian nearly to the point of anger, then hastily supplied the answer: “It was like this. On the sky-hanging mothership there’s a Gladiators’ Plaza, where the star bandits gathered all the hostages together and searched them. Their intent wasn’t to search for relic fragments — presumably they were looking for treasures the merchants had hidden away. Some of the merchants resisted, but plenty cooperated. And on one exceedingly cooperative bootlicker, my Heaven’s Eye of Wisdom caught something out of the ordinary. I secretly summoned the Five-Element Gold-Seeking Mouse. In the Gladiators’ Plaza, every non-living construct’s abilities are massively amplified — but even without the amplification, the Gold-Seeking Mouse could easily have detected these fragments on that fellow’s person, well concealed as they were on the surface.”

Luohua was delighted at once. “And so you helped yourself in passing?”

Yue Yang shrugged. “A switch-and-swap. A small trick, nothing more.”

Princess Qianqian, however, suddenly knit her brows. “Hiding one could be called smuggling. But hiding this many — there’s certainly something strange in it!”

Yue Yang gently tipped the deep purple fragments from his palm into her small hand, agreeing: “Exactly. There’s a conspiracy brewing here. I suspect that behind this hijacking of the Gannet, some immensely powerful figure is secretly backing the star bandits. And it’s this same person who gave Winged Tiger, Raven, and the rest their relic fragments and the forbidden power — who even supplied intelligence on the Gannet, handing them the chance to seize her. Otherwise the star bandits alone would never have dared touch a sky-hanging mothership. Of course, this great figure certainly means no good. He won’t simply hand the Gannet over to the star bandits. This mothership may be nothing but a frame-up, or some other kind of scheme… Once the bandits have flown her to a certain place, there will surely be a great battle — and these relic fragments are the back door that great figure left aboard the ship.”

Princess Qianqian was sharp enough to understand at once. “You mean there are still people lying in wait aboard, waiting for their chance to strike back at the star bandits?”

Yue Yang nodded in confirmation. “Yes. These relic fragments are exactly what those hidden men need to counter Winged Tiger and Raven.”

Luohua’s expression turned grave. “Twelve fragments — does that mean there are twelve powerhouses aboard on the order of Winged Tiger or Raven? And that’s only what you found. There may well be a second batch, or a third. And even if there aren’t, we can hardly assume the man pulling the bandits’ strings hasn’t placed people of his own at his side.”

“Whether there’s a second or third batch I can’t say. What is certain is that the strongest — Griffin, Golden Eagle, and even Mao Podi — have not yet appeared.” Yue Yang acknowledged that there were a good many turns still to come.

“Little Third, you must handle this carefully.” Yue Yu was somewhat worried; there were, after all, eight divine-rank powerhouses in the Mountain Beyond the Mountain.

“They’re only false gods!” Fengxian’s words carried contempt, but inwardly she was not as easy as she seemed.

She was no Empress Vivienne. She hadn’t yet reached the realm where one could look down on false gods. Against a single one she wouldn’t dare claim victory; against two she’d surely lose.

And now there were eight of them. This battle was, if anything, harder than fighting the evil god under Human Valley’s martial ban. The one small comfort was that the eight false gods were not united — outwardly cordial, inwardly at odds, locked in ceaseless covert struggle. If some opportunity could be used to divide the eight and then break them one by one, it would be a great deal easier.

Fengxian summed it up at last: “Perhaps this time, this is our chance.”

With the Sick Beauty’s and Yue Yu’s assistance, Yue Yang worked through the night, inlaying the twelve ancient relic fragments into the Black Tortoise Battle-Armor, and fashioning what was left into pendants and bracelets, distributed to Fengxian and the others who meant to seize their chance to fight.

Without pausing to rest, Yue Yang seized what time he had to sense and familiarize himself with the fragments, so that no accident would arise if fighting broke out suddenly.

Only after confirming again and again that the fragments were harmless to the human body did Yue Yang return, at ease, to his cabin aboard the Gannet.

A night without sleep, and no time to rest — a knock came at the door.

It opened, and that irrepressibly familiar brute of a star bandit, Flower Duck, came barging in with a steaming breakfast: “You sleep like the dead. I called you three times! If Boss Winged Tiger hadn’t told me not to disturb you, I’d have been afraid something happened to you and broken the door down. I don’t know what you like to eat, so I just grabbed a few things from the kitchen. Will this do?”

Knowing perfectly well the man was working to win him over, Yue Yang still couldn’t help being a little moved.

The fellow was, after all, a coarse and brutish bandit. To manage even this much — one truly couldn’t ask for more.

So Yue Yang, who rarely thanked anyone, couldn’t help nodding at Flower Duck: “That’s very thoughtful of you. I’m easy, really — nothing to be fussy about!”

Flower Duck’s great mouth split into a grin: “Good, good! Hahaha — don’t stand on ceremony with your Big Brother. Anything you want to eat, just say the word. The cooks aboard are no match for the master chefs at the Full Flower Pavilion in the Eastern Divine Nation, but if they put their hearts into a dish or two, it’s at least presentable. And even if those useless lot can’t manage it — haven’t you still got me? Back in our den, your Big Brother’s cooking is beyond reproach, absolutely up there with the best. It’s only that I don’t care to wait on just anyone… Eat, eat, eat! Don’t just look at it. I’ve eaten long since. You’re probably the last man aboard who hasn’t!”

This Flower Duck was presumably the Tang Monk’s long-lost brother, marooned in another world.

He was more long-winded than an eighty-year-old grandmother. Yue Yang’s head was swimming, but he couldn’t bring himself to throw the man out.

Fortunately, after a while another star bandit came looking for Flower Duck — squad leader that he was — leaned in at his ear, and murmured for a good long while. The smile drained from Flower Duck’s face; it went dark, and at last he lost his temper: “What in blazes have you people done? We’re already back in our own territory, and you still managed to get the heading wrong? The shame of it — I’m embarrassed to call myself a star bandit. Getting lost in our own home! What kind of business is that, I ask you? First time piloting a sky-hanging mothership? You’ve the nerve to say it. You had specialists coaching you for three whole months, you’ve got every navigation chart there is, and you even ran a simulation beforehand. And now you come and tell me you’ve got the heading wrong? How am I supposed to explain this to Boss Winged Tiger? Where’s Pelican? Is that fellow’s brain packed with dog shit? And he pounded his chest and swore it was foolproof — and now he lands us in this. What is he playing at?”

The black-cloaked Raven suddenly drifted in and gave a cold snort: “Calm down, Flower Duck. It’s already happened. What we need to think about now is how to handle it, not how to complain. The Gannet has changed heading and drifted off her original course. Clearly someone has been tampering. Otherwise it couldn’t have happened.”

As he spoke, he watched Yue Yang, who was leisurely enjoying his breakfast.

And by the end of it, Raven’s gaze had turned upon Yue Yang with an edge sharp enough to cut.

Yue Yang set down his breakfast, smiled faintly, and met that gaze without the least guilt: “Chief Raven, your look doesn’t seem terribly friendly.”

Raven’s voice was colder than ice, and he gave a slight snort through his nose: “There’s just one thing I’d like to know: where did you go last night? Flower Duck called you for a late supper and you gave no response at all, and only now have you returned. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to offer some small explanation.”

Yue Yang shook his head. “I don’t care to explain. But I can tell you one thing: you’re wrong to suspect me.”

“I’ve already investigated you.” Raven suddenly produced a sheet of paper covered edge to edge in tightly packed writing, gave it a shake, and snorted coldly. “Yue Titan — young, richly promising apprentice divine attendant. I’ve learned everything about you from your companion Guoguo. Can you tell me why Mao Podi took such a shine to you? Why a newcomer became an apprentice divine attendant, an exception no one has made in a thousand years? These past days your movements have been consistently secretive and strange — including boarding the Gannet itself, which you concealed even from your own companion Guoguo, while performing all manner of baffling acts. Have you a response? And if you refuse to answer my questions, doesn’t that prove your guilty conscience? I have no direct evidence that you had a hand in misdirecting the Gannet‘s course, but you can hardly wash away suspicion either. If you won’t be honest about the truth, then I’m afraid we shall have to place you, for the time being, in the ranks of the suspects.”

“If I’m classed as a suspect, does that mean I’ll have to move out of this cabin and be locked up in some little dark room?” Yue Yang asked, of all things.

“That won’t be necessary. However, until the truth is established, please do not leave this room, and you must submit to supervision by our people.” Raven smiled. “If you truly are an important personage, then I’m sure Mao Podi and the others will come back to rescue you!”

“Ah, well, if that’s how it is, then I’ve no objection. I hadn’t planned on leaving anyway. Go on and investigate your so-called truth at your leisure!” Yue Yang picked up his still-warm breakfast again and set to it with a good appetite.

At that very moment, Winged Tiger and another chieftain-rank figure, Wind Hawk, were standing at the door of the luxurious cabin Yue Yang had once occupied.

Had Yue Yang been there, he’d have recognized this Wind Hawk as the down-at-heel drunkard he’d seen that day at the inn.

Down the corridor, a man came flying toward them.

It was the middle-aged man in the gorgeous fire-red furs — the same one who, on the day of their meeting, had checked the giant from roughing Yue Yang up. He was Flamingo, one of the three great chieftains of the Skyfall Bandits. Flamingo came speeding over, calling out hurriedly as he came: “Xiaotian! Qianli! What did you call me here for? I’m run off my feet — I’ve truly no time to go touring luxury cabins… Heavens. What happened here? Who did this? Impossible. What kind of power made these cuts? A war beast? An innate gift?”

“Divine power, perhaps,” said Wind Hawk — no longer the down-at-heel drunkard, without a trace of drink in him now, his eyes keen as a hawk’s.

“I don’t know how he did it, but I can now say for certain that he is not the one who misdirected the Gannet‘s course. Because if he wanted to, he could sink the Gannet outright and send every soul aboard down with her, to be destroyed together.” Winged Tiger, in his soldier’s guise, let out a long sigh. “This young friend really is an interesting little fellow. I’m beginning to suspect that whoever misdirected the Gannet isn’t aiming at us at all — but at him.”

“And if that’s so — what do we do?” asked Wind Hawk in his down-at-heel garb.

“That young man has potential, but he’s far too young. In another few centuries he might have a hope of breaking the deadlock; right now it’s much too early. If he’s been marked, then it’s all over. A young man like that — they’ll never permit him to grow. They’ll kill him at any cost.” Winged Tiger clenched his fist and swung it down hard. “I can’t speak for what you two will do. But I’ve decided. Protect him.“

“Can we protect him?” Hearing it, Wind Hawk’s voice trembled slightly.

“Whether we can or not, we protect him. We absolutely cannot do nothing. Even if there’s only a thread of hope, I’ll stake everything on it!” Winged Tiger drew a deep breath and nodded gravely.

“Right. Better to go out in a blaze than spend a whole life as a thief who can’t show his face in the sun!” The richly dressed Flamingo showed a bleak smile, resolute to the point of desperation. “It’s foolish, staking our lives for a stranger. But I hope our children and grandchildren might one day take pride in us — human filth that we are. This, after all, is a battle where we sacrifice ourselves and give for another…”

“Perhaps that person’s target isn’t him. Perhaps they truly are coming for us!” Wind Hawk’s gaze regained its keenness. “In this game, we may have become pieces on someone else’s board. We were outmaneuvered from the very beginning!”

“I hope you’re right.” Winged Tiger pulled the door shut, expressionless, and said in a low voice: “If you’re right, it will be the greatest stroke of luck we’ve ever had.”

“A pity. Your luck ends here!”

A voice, hair-raising as a venomous snake’s, rang out darkly in the corridor outside.

(End of Chapter 1143)