The five old men were clearly well-coordinated. One of their fists struck Ding Meng's face, two of their palms struck Ding Meng's chest, and the remaining two kicked Ding Meng's right shoulder and left temple.
If a normal Origin Energy user were to take so many blows to their vitals, they would at least be knocked back, if not fatally wounded. However, Ding Meng was still standing there like a piece of metal, completely unaffected.
Hu Biao had originally thought that he could definitely take down Ding Meng, but now he was completely dumbfounded. The combined attacks of five combat masters had actually been unable to shake him in the slightest. Eight years ago, Ding Meng had given off an unfathomable feeling, and eight years later, he was still the same.
At that moment, Ding Meng's lips curled into a strange smile. "You're already so old, yet you're still doing this kind of shady business. There's no point in keeping you alive."
The five old men instinctively retreated, but they discovered that no matter how much force they exerted, their bodies were no longer under their control. It was as if they were being sucked in by some kind of invisible force. Suddenly, the hands and feet of the five old men that had struck Ding Meng transformed into red Origin Flames. This was not the Diamond Starfusing Art, but rather the simplest form of Origin Energy release.
The Origin Flames that Ding Meng had released were tens of thousands of degrees Celsius. How could combat masters possibly withstand such heat?
The five old men instantly collapsed to the ground, rolling, howling, and struggling. They had indeed trained bitterly for over a hundred years, but in an instant, they were all crippled.
Hu Biao's entire body went cold. He had spent a lot of money to invite these experts from the Federation, but in the end, Ding Meng hadn't even had to do anything, and they had all been crippled.
With a plop, Hu Biao proactively knelt down.
Ding Meng stared at him coldly. "Speak. How do you want to die?"
Hu Biao immediately kowtowed and said, "Brother Ding, I was wrong. I was really wrong. Please spare my life. I …"
This time, Ding Meng did not even give him a chance to explain. He raised his hand and spat out a stream of Origin Flame. The torrent-like heat instantly engulfed the entire resting area. The sofas, coffee tables, carts, steel plates, and even the five old men and Hu Biao were all turned into ashes in this torrent. The resting area was also turned into a deep pit.
The entire command hall was silent. The remaining 30 or so staff members were dumbfounded. No one dared to move. The huge deterrence had suppressed their fear. Everyone knew that in front of such a ferocious person, running away would only result in faster death.
Ding Meng turned around again and waved his hand through the air. The unconscious Elder Nian was sucked over to him.
After injecting a bit of telekinesis, the old man woke up. Ding Meng grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up. "Did you inject oxytocin into the residents of Thousand Sails Star when you captured them?"
Elder Nian obviously did not know what had just happened. He could not help but be shocked and angry. "Little bastard, how dare you provoke the Nian family?
You're tired of living. "
"Then you can disappear too!"
Ding Meng exerted a little force, and Elder Nian suddenly turned into a human-shaped fireball. The fireball burned for five seconds and finally turned into wisps of smoke.
The command hall was terrifyingly quiet. Ding Meng's gaze fell on a staff member beside the control panel. "You, come here!"
This person was quite young. He seemed to be about the same age as Ding Meng. He was also wearing a suit and black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. He was probably a statistician. Ding Meng believed that the people working in the command hall must know the inside story.
The statistician's entire body was trembling. He could barely move his feet. Trembling, he walked over to Ding Meng.
"What's your name?" Ding Meng asked.
The statistician said in a trembling voice, "Ding … Ding Sheng!"
Ding Meng sighed. "You really have a good name. Tell me, were these residents injected with oxytocin and turned into pigs?"
Ding Sheng lowered his head and said, "Yes … Yes!"
Ding Meng said, "Are you still human?
You raised your own kind into pigs and then gave them to the Flesh-Eaters? "
Ding Sheng immediately knelt down. "Big brother, I know what I'm doing is inhumane, but I'm short on money. My mother at home is waiting for me to give her money to fix her broken leg."
Ding Meng looked at him. "Hu Biao gave you money?"
Ding Sheng stammered, "Yes … Yes!"
Ding Meng said, "Then what's in it for Hu Biao?"
Ding Sheng said, "Someone from the Flesh-Eaters gave him diamonds and martial arts manuals. So, he asked these old men to help him."
Ding Meng muttered, "With Hu Biao's ability, he was still able to get such a job. It seems like Thousand Sails Star is no longer peaceful."
The meaning of this was not something that a small fry like Ding Sheng could understand. Thousand Sails Star was the core of the Zeta Tu Star Field. Why was it the border between the Federation and the Flesh-Eaters?
This was not only because of the geographical location, but also because the influence of both sides in this place was very balanced. There were humans living here, but there were also world devouring monsters. Most of the humans were hunters, and most of the monsters were low-level creatures. You fought and I fought, and the two sides had coexisted for hundreds of years.
However, now that the natives were being cultivated and fed to the monsters, it meant that a Flesh-Eaters were forming in this place. This balance had been quietly broken. Thousand Sails Star would be occupied by the Flesh-Eaters sooner or later. This was the signal before a great war.
The reason why there were Flesh-Eaters instead of Great Elders was simple. That way, the Federation would be able to see through it immediately, and the Federation would quickly send out a fleet or experts to suppress it.
Ding Meng looked at Ding Sheng. "From now on, I don't care what method you use. Make the natives return to normal. If you can't do that, I'll cultivate you into pigs and feed you to the monsters."
Seeing that Ding Meng had changed his tone, Ding Sheng immediately looked up. "Yes, brother. I will follow your instructions."
At this moment, Eisendell walked in from the main passage. Ding Meng hurriedly asked, "How was it?"
Eisendell clapped her hands. "No problem. I didn't kill the pirates. Let them heal these people."
Ding Meng nodded. This woman's train of thought was very similar to his.
The two of them walked to the control panel together. After fiddling with the control panel for a while, Ding Meng discovered that the starship's energy was very limited. It would be difficult to even fly to the Paradise Galaxy, let alone back to the Federation.
This Hu Biao is probably not the only one who took this job. There should be other accomplices. Ding Meng came to this conclusion.
Eisendell also agreed. "The Federation and the Flesh-Eaters have been peaceful for many years, but I heard that the Flesh-Eaters have never given up their determination to encroach on the Federation. Now that they're doing something on Thousand Sails Star, I'm guessing that something has happened to the Flesh-Eaters."
At this moment, the alarm on the starship sounded urgently again. Red light flashed wildly in the command room, and the entire starship seemed to tremble slightly.
Ding Meng turned his head and asked, "What's going on?"
Ding Sheng hurriedly adjusted the screen and then looked shocked. "The Flesh-Eaters are attacking."
Ding Meng and Eisendell walked forward to take a look. The reconnaissance radar had already displayed the real-time image on the screen. They saw a large number of Flesh-Eaters burrowing out of the swamp forest to the north, howling and swarming in the direction of the carrier. The pirates on the ground did not panic. Seventy or eighty of them raised their weapons and began firing. All kinds of beams and energy bullets pierced through the night sky, looking very dazzling.
Ding Meng frowned. "Isn't that scum Hu Biao working with them?
Why are they attacking us now? "
Ding Sheng said in a low voice, "Maybe … maybe they didn't receive these people and thought we were in the way, so …"
Ding Meng waved his hand impatiently. "What's in the way?
Issue the order to wipe out these monsters. "
Ding Sheng did not dare to argue with him. He immediately turned around and operated the communication system on the main control panel.
Ding Meng had seen the Flesh-Eaters before. These low-level Flesh-Eaters looked scary, but in fact, they could not withstand human technological weapons. These pirates had been in outer space for many years and were quite experienced in dealing with the Flesh-Eaters. They basically formed groups of three and formed a crossfire that swept back and forth. In an instant, large numbers of monsters fell, turning into pools of mud and poisonous liquid.
"Ding Meng, look over here!" Eisendell suddenly said.
Ding Meng looked at the other radar screen and realized that something was wrong. Under the night sky, the vegetation around them was slowly growing. The strangely shaped plants were constantly twisting and extending, like the ferocious teeth of the monsters, forming a huge encirclement from the outside. However, this change was not obvious and was not easy to notice.
After the Flesh-Eaters were blasted into pieces by the energy bombs, they turned into mud. More and more mud accumulated, and the ground gradually disappeared. This was a classic Flesh-Eaters' assimilation, turning the ground into a poisonous carpet, multiplying the combat power of the monsters.
Sure enough, the Devourer Monsters appeared in groups at the beginning, but now, they were like waves, pressing over in waves. This scale had already surpassed the army of bone-armored monsters that they encountered on Planet Madison.
The firepower of seventy or eighty photoelectric guns and ten miniature energy cannons could no longer achieve the suppressive effect. An energy bomb blasted over, seemingly blowing up dozens of Flesh-Eaters, but it felt like a hole had been punched in the waves. However, this hole was quickly filled by the monsters behind it. The waves themselves were intact and continued to press forward.
Ding Meng said decisively, "Start the engine and prepare to take off. Let the people on the ground return to the connecting cabin."
Although these people were evil pirates, Ding Meng did not intend to give up. It was better to be killed than to be eaten by the monsters.
A familiar scene quickly appeared. The monkey monsters on Madison indeed appeared in the group of monsters in the distance. The difference was that the monkeys did not have bone-armor plating. They were purely made of flesh. The same thing was that the monkeys had green plant javelins in their hands, while the monkeys on Madison used pure white bone javelins.
The green javelins were clearly some kind of powerful poison. When the monkeys raised their hands, the poisonous javelins rained down like a rainstorm in the night sky. Many people were caught off guard and were stabbed in the heart and brain. They immediately fell to the ground and rotted into green pus at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Ding Meng said decisively, "It's too late. Close the connecting cabin and take off quickly!"