Inside the house of happiness, an interrogation was going on.
“Who sent you?” Han Xiao yelled as if he did not know.
Stephanie was constrained by Electromagnetic straps all over her body, through which high voltage currents coursed. It seemed like she did not feel pain at all, and she looked at Han Xiao with an expressionless face. Her face was pale, her lips slowly opened, and she said with a soft voice, “Like I said, you won’t get any intelligence from me.”
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and did not speak.
The (Prey) mission did not end yet, and the fourth round was still in an inactive state. Thousand Shadows could share the senses of his shadows to a certain extent, so Han Xiao did not want to expose the fact that he knew the truth. Doing so would make the next round more dangerous. Therefore, for the past few days, he had conducted fake interrogations on Stephanie whenever he was free, acting like he did not know about Thousand Shadows.
Whether he was just doing meaningless work or not, being cautious would do no harm.
Han Xiao had already made hundreds of Genetic Medicines from her, but Han Xiao was rather stumped by what to do with her.
If he did not know that the enemy behind her was Thousand Shadows, he might have kept her to produce more medicines. However, Thousand Shadows could sense his shadows, so keeping Stephanie was a huge hidden risk.
The look in Han Xiao’s eyes kept changing. In the end, he sighed. With a flash of Mechanical Force, nanotechnology particles shot out from compressed orbs and covered his arm like black sand, turning into a psionic cannon, pressing onto Stephanie’s head.
Bang bang bang!
After some time, the sound of cannon fire stopped.
The door opened, and Han Xiao walked out, shaking his head.
Although Stephanie’s history was rather tragic, he did not become soft hearted. Thousand Shadows’ shadows had lost themselves and were unable to escape his control. Death was a relief for them instead.
The reward for killing Stephanie was 280% for killing someone many levels higher, giving Han Xiao more than 350 million Experience, replenishing his Experience a little. It also gave him a Stephanie Character Summon Card.
Character Summon Card—Stephanie: [Resonance Penetration)— Reduce the physical defense of the target by 50% – 80% using close range resonance. For every 100 END the target has, the duration will decrease by 1 second.
Basic Duration: 24 seconds.
Minimum Duration: 3 seconds
Usage: 0/4
Han Xiao closed his eyes and recalled the images from earlier. When struggling for her life, Stephanie seemed to have recovered to her true self. He clearly saw the relief and gratitude in Stephanie’s eyes as her life faded.
This time, a notification suddenly popped up on the interface.
You have triggered the mission (Stephanie’s Last Wish]
Mission Introduction: In the last moment before death, she begged for your help to make up for the one thing she regretted the most in her life.
Mission Requirements: Find the last Antarrian bloodline.
Reward: 15,000,000 Experience
Remarks: This is a Ruins Mission. Some people might be interested in this.
Triggered a mission…
Han Xiao was a little surprised.
Antarr was Stephanie’s civilization, which was long gone.
It seemed like not being able to protect her civilization was her biggest regret. However, after becoming Thousand Shadows’ shadow, her belief had become twisted, and she only could recall it moments before her death.
Ruin Missions were a special type of mission. The reward from the interface were usually very low, but they were mostly related to places that were buried in history. Exploring ruins would often lead to more rewards.
If I have the time, I might do it.
His holiday was coming to an end. Han Xiao thought for a while, took out his communicator, and flipped dozens of pages through his contact list to find Ralph.
In the Kaya Star System, a fleet was moving in stealth mode. This was a guerrilla fleet, mainly from a partnered organization, the New Phylen Rebels. Most of the battleships were assault models.
Inside the main control room of the Shining Crow grade flagship, the commander Morred and the others were having a strategic meeting around a silver table. The people in charge of the other partnered organizations of this fleet were listening from the side. Above the table was a three-dimensional star map, marked with the dense Bloodshed Land strongholds and fleets that were colored deep red.
“In our area, there are twelve Bloodshed Land strongholds. This operation is the highest level order given directly by the combat command. Including us, a total of twenty-seven fleets are involved in this mission. What do you guys think?”
Morred was a Phylen Human. His body was thin and boney, and he looked very weak, but the strength of his muscle fiber was close to that of an alloy. His weight was close to one ton. He was one of the high-ranking combatants of the New Phylen Rebels, a Calamity Grade Mechanical Pugilist. His body was fused with semi-organic metals.
When Han Xiao took his leave from the war, the situation of the secret war changed drastically. Bloodshed Land’s army gathered with the forefront armies. With unstoppable momentum, they kept expanding the strongholds in the West Wind, Kaya, and Chaida Star Systems. In two months, they built hundreds of stronghold planets that guarded each other. The positions of these strongholds were carefully selected, allowing them to affect many Star Zones. They had completed the first part of their strategic blueprint.
The rulers of the three border Star Systems did not interfere in the unofficial secret war. According to some gossip, the Bloodshed Land had already sent out emissaries to contact and negotiate with those three Star System Civilizations. Although only two short months had passed, according to neutral intelligence organizations’ data and investigation, the influence of Purple Crystal had dropped by about 13.7% in those three Star Systems.
Reducing Purple Crystal’s influence of border Star Systems was one of the main strategic goals of the Klent Kingdom. It was true that Star Systems were a part of Star Clusters, but the Star Clusters were determined and planned later. Hence, Star System Civilizations were not technically under the Star Cluster Civilization’s command.
If Purple Crystal’s influence dropped severely, the Star Systems that had received an invitation from Klent and pressure from the Crimson Dynasty in the future would announce independence and join Klent. Even though the Colton Star Cluster’s border Star Systems and Klent’s Seoul Star Cluster were separated by a desolate region, those border Star Systems would still be able to become parts of the Seoul Star Cluster. With the Star Cluster level stargate technology, distance was not a limitation.
In order to redetermine the area of a Star Cluster, the most important factor was support from a Universal Civilization. This was where Klent got their confidence to snatch these Star Systems. Purple Crystal was semi-neutral; unless they were willing to become a vassal of their Universal Civilization, the Federation of Light would not help them.
The Tyrant Heber’s armies were all elites that had fought hundreds of battles. They were known in the Shattered Star Ring to be the top tier military forces. In a direct battle, Section Zero would be no match for them.
Section Zero’s largest advantage was their strategy. The Combat Command took Han Xiao’s advice and adjusted their strategy during the two months when the Bloodshed Land was at their peak strength. They stopped looking at temporary losses and gains, split up the Bloodshed Land’s forces, and focused on harassing and surprise attacks. They were waiting for an opportunity.
Morred and the others were indeed discussing the large scale counterattack operation that had been in the works for a long time!
“The Bloodshed Land’s biggest army is in the West Wind Star System, where all eight Vanguard Officials are. Other than Black Star, no one will be able to deal with them. Comparatively, the Kaya Star System has the fewest Bloodshed Land troops, so it’s the most suitable target,” a staff sergeant said.
Morred nodded and said, “The goal of this operation is to get rid of the twelve Bloodshed Land strongholds in this area. The twelve strongholds are connected by a hyperdrive base station. Despite them having a very quick reinforcement speed, their total size will not change. Our twenty-seven fleets will attack every stronghold planet and split their troops up. Then, the Knife Team will raid and destroy this hyperdrive base station, making the enemies lose the ability to quickly shift the battlefield. Following that, we’ll rapidly destroy the twelve strongholds.”
The crowd nodded. This was the right method to deal with hyperdrive base stations. The attacking side would gain the upper hand. Section Zero’s strategy was simple and efficient.
“The twenty-seven fleets can be classified into four types of fleets—Restraint Teams, Feint Teams, Standby Teams waiting to attack the strongholds, and the Knife Teams that are going to raid the hyperdrive base station.” Morred knocked the table. “We are one of the three Knife Teams. The enemies have set up a very strong defense around the hyperdrive base station, so our mission is very important.”
“When everyone arrives at their positions, we will start the operation…” The deputy’s words had yet to finish. Suddenly, the 3D star map was replaced by a communication request that interrupted his sentence.
Ralph appeared with his hands behind his back. He looked around and loudly said, “This operation is temporarily postponed. New reinforcements will be joining the operation. Morred, standby nearby and wait to rendezvous with them. They will be raiding the hyperdrive base station with you.”
Postponing the operation just for reinforcements?
Everyone was stunned. Morred reacted the quickest. He frowned and said, “Who are these reinforcements?”
Ralph smiled satisfyingly and said with a joyful tone, “Black Star.”
Morred’s eyes sparkled.
It’s him!
After the shocking battle two months prior, Black Star had left the battlefield. Now, he had finally returned!
“With such a strong helper, our chances of winning are even higher. At least in terms of high-level combatants, we’re at an advantage!”
Morred nodded heavily. No wonder the operation was postponed. It was acceptable since it was because they were waiting for Black Star.
A few days later, the Black Star Army’s fleet arrived in the Kaya Star System and rendezvoused with Morred.
The main ship connected, and Morred waited with the several ship captains at the bridge. The hatch far away opened, and a man in black clothes walked out first, followed by a group of people in mercenary clothing. This time, Han Xiao had brought six hundred battleships. The people following him were Herlous, Harmon, and a few Grade B officers. Reynold was in charge of logistics, and Lagi had yet to return.
Quickly sizing Han Xiao up, Morred approached him and extended his hand passionately.
“I’m the commander of this guerrilla team, Morred. I’m from the New Phylen Rebels. We welcome your assistance, Black Star.”
“Hi.” Han Xiao shook his hand.
“Let’s not waste any more time. The operation’s plan is like this…”
The two of them walked side by side as Morred explained the steps of this mission to Han Xiao. The others followed behind as they walked toward the main control room.
Han Xiao was distracted as Morred explained. When accepting the mission, Ralph had already told him the details, so what Morred said was all repeated.
Ralph had been looking forward to his return. As soon as his holiday ended, Ralph sent Han Xiao to the Kaya Star System to join this counterattack that they had planned for a very long time.
Within the past two months, the goals that Han Xiao had set had basically all been completed. He had learned a Cutting-Edge Knowledge, completely rebuilt his mechanical army, completed his Promotion and leveled up to 195, turned a huge amount of Experience into actual combat capability, and learned the very surprising attack type Molding Talent. His strength had skyrocketed.
As Purple Crystal was at a disadvantage in the war, they had more and more hope for Han Xiao. As soon as he returned, he was given a very big responsibility.
I’ve made a good start. As long as I keep accomplishing difficult tasks, my position in Section Zero will definitely increase very quickly!
His goal was to make the Black Star Army a force that had help from Purple Crystal, so of course, he would not reject the important missions.
He put aside the Class Advancement mission for the moment. The Experience that he had saved in his interface was limited, and he was afraid to finish it too early since the update time was ten years long. His current strength was enough to deal with most situations. There were not many Lv.180 legacy blueprints, and they were extremely complicated to obtain. Before the next time he could slack off, Han Xiao would have no time to finish the Class Advancement mission. The secret war was an important part of his plan; he had to take it seriously.
As they arrived, Morred turned on the 3D star map and explained in even further details. Only then did Han Xiao start to listen carefully. A mission popped up on the interface that required him to follow with Morred to complete the raid of the hyperdrive station.
After some analysis, Morred scanned through the data of those people, and his expression became solemn.
“According to the intelligence, the hyperdrive base station is guarded by tightly grouped guards. There are fifteen Calamity Grades standing by. Among the fifteen calamity grades, twelve of them were found by the Bloodshed Land in the Seoul Star Cluster, and the other three are officers of the Bloodshed Land.
Morred pointed at a drawing, on it was a ferocious looking female creature with a light green skin. She had short and gold hair, and a few ferocious scars stretched across her face. She was blind and used mechanical eyes.
“Tamaria, Bloodshed Land Adjudicator, high grade Calamity Grade, nickname ‘Poisonous Bones’. It’s said that she’s killed more than a billion people, including 10,000 Supers and 100 Calamity Grades. This rumor is exaggerated, but the truth is most likely not far from it. In conclusion, she’s very murderous and is a famous mad woman under the Tyrant…”
Han Xiao rubbed his chin and thought, Green skin? She probably has Beastman blood.
Even the Tyrant’s female subordinates were muscular.
There were many talented people under Heber’s command. Other than the eight Vanguard Officials, there were also many famous Calamity Grade officers. It was just that the eight Vanguard Officials were the most famous.
Morred stared at Han Xiao and said, “This woman and the other fourteen Calamity Grades are all yours.”
Han Xiao turned around and patted Herlous’ shoulders. “You heard the man. They’re all yours.”
Herlous’ face was filled with question marks.
“I’m kidding. Why would I let you die like that?” Han Xiao laughed. “Don’t worry, it’s just fifteen Calamity Grades. Even if I can’t win, can’t I run?”
