In the Bloodshed Land’s palace, Jorde excitedly reported, “… In summary, we’ve obtained many new channels of business in a short amount of time, and our operations will double at the very least this year.”
A burly figure stood beside the window, and Heber listened to the report.
Jorde then continued reading the report. “The Black Star Army completed their transformation many years back and diversified their operations. We didn’t have the Evolution Cube, so despite having Klent’s support, our transformation was very slow, and we were still restricted by the quality of the employment missions that we received. About seventy to eighty percent of our funds come from various armed employment missions. After working together with the Limitless Financial Group, they’ve provided great aid to our transformation, and the embryonic state of our transformation is already complete.”
The Black Star Army and Bloodshed Land were both Beyond Grade A organizations, but their operation direction was different. Under Han Xiao’s lead, the Black Star Army managed to diversify their operations through the Evolution Cube. They had both military and financial strength. As for the Bloodshed Land, they were a classic poor army with their influence and operations being very limited. This was a problem that had been troubling the Bloodshed Land.
With the help of the Limitless Financial Group, Heber’s problem was now resolved. As long as they continued down this path, the Bloodshed Land would no longer be a group of boorish individuals who only knew how to fight wars. They would have the right to fight with the Black Star Army as a private organization.
Heber turned around and calmly said, “Good job.”
Jorde hesitated for a moment and could not help but ask, “Your Excellency, just what kind of a deal did you make with the Limitless Financial Group? Why are they willing to help us without holding back?”
“It is just an exchange of benefits.” Heber glanced at him. “They wish to enter the Shattered Star Ring and want to borrow our influence to gain a spot in the local market. Humph, although their targets are the organizations that cooperate with the Black Star Army, we are also a Beyond Grade A organization, and it won’t be a loss for them to join us.”
This was the reason on the surface. As for the deeper intention of their deal, Heber was not planning to inform his subordinates.
Although Heber did not say anything else, Jorde could sense that this matter was not so simple. The Limitless Financial Group did not approach the Black Star Army but went to the second best option instead. They were obviously targeting the Black Star Army.
Jorde broke out into cold sweat as he thought about the possible meaning behind the cooperation and did not dare continue asking. He still wanted to live to the day where he could hug his grandchildren.
Jorde then wiped away his sweat and left the room. Heber was the only one left, and he continued looking out the window. A long while later, the corner of his lips curled up slightly.
Although he maintained his calm appearance in front of his subordinates, he was actually very happy.
He was not bothered about whether the Limitless Financial Group would succeed; he only wanted to make use of this opportunity to develop. The losses of the Black Star Army were of no consequence to him. The both of them were the dynasty’s allies but also competitors. He would be more than happy to see the Black Star Army suffer a huge loss.
…
On the other side, Karlot, who had rejected Han Xiao’s invitation, returned to his dormitory, and his friends immediately crowded over with curiosity.
“Hey, why did the principal look for you?”
Karlot was extremely honest, and his results were at the bottom. Thus, his relationship with the others was not too bad.
A few of his friends had seen the principal approaching Karlot at the end of the lesson and thought that he had done something wrong. Thus, they all crowded over with concern.
Karlot scratched his head and said, “Nothing much. Someone wanted to meet me.”
“Who? He is actually able to get the principal to personally invite you!” one of Karlot’s dormitory mates exclaimed. He was the one with the best background in the entire dormitory, but he was still far from the level of the principal. Karlot’s family was extremely ordinary, so he could not help being puzzled.
“He said that he is called Black Star and asked me to join the Black Star Army,” Karlot said helplessly.
The moment he said these words, the entire room fell silent, and a look of disbelief could be seen on everyone’s face.
“That legendary Black Star‽”
“Are you kidding me‽ Why would he look for you‽”
Seeing his dormitory mates’ expressions, Karlot could not help but ask with doubt, “Do all of you know him?”
“My goodness, don’t tell me you don’t even know who Black Star is‽” One of his friends almost fainted.
“I… I hadn’t heard of him before,” Karlot said with a tinge of embarrassment. “Is he really a bigshot?”
“He isn’t just a bigshot! He is a Beyond Grade A Super! The peak of individual strength and an existence who can chat with the Dynasty Ruler!” One of his friends then began describing Han Xiao’s history.
The others then surrounded Karlot and showered with him plenty of questions. Karlot briefly explained the situation, but with his lousy expressive vocabulary, it took a while for the others to understand what had happened.
That handsome dormitory mate of his then could not help but notice a sour feeling in his heart. Why did such a good thing fall on the head of this bottom-ranked idiot instead of him?
At this moment, another one of his dormitory mates then realized something and asked, “Did… you accept Black Star’s invitation?”
“I didn’t agree,” Karlot replied uneasily.
“You actually rejected the opportunity to join the Black Star Army‽” Everyone was truly speechless. “You’re truly an idiot! This is an opportunity to change your fate! Ordinary people like us would never be able to enter the Black Star Army! You… you actually…”
Seeing everyone say so, Karlot fell into a daze and started to doubt his own choice.
Did I really make the wrong choice?
I’d better ask my family first.
Karlot then took out his communicator and ran to the side to contact his family. That handsome dormitory mate then looked at Karlot’s back, and a look of dense jealousy and resentment could be seen in his eyes.
Why him? Why‽ Why did he obtain such an opportunity but not know how to treasure it? He is truly idiotic to the extreme! Why would such a legendary figure take notice of such an individual!
He originally liked Karlot and was willing to take care of Karlot, but now, he was only filled with disgust toward Karlot.
…
The next day, Han Xiao temporarily ignored the frustration of the financial groups and continued monitoring Karlot. He noticed something interesting.
The event had already spread throughout the entire level, and the attitudes of all the students changed greatly. A portion of them fawned over him while others excluded him.
“Because of my actions yesterday, his entire school life has been rewritten by me. He can no longer be a transparent individual like in his previous life…” Han Xiao shook his head and had a greater understanding of his status as a bigshot.
For Karlot to be dragged into the storm early on, the effects on his growth would be unknown. It could be a good or bad thing.
However, his actions had definitely helped him. Any individual capable of becoming a Beyond Grade A would have grit in them and be unwilling to concede defeat. Difficulties would only spur on his potential, and he would welcome all problems head on. Who knew if Karlot had such a character? Perhaps the intense competition in the school would allow Karlot to experience a change further.
“If that’s the case, why don’t I aggravate the situation further?” Han Xiao stroked his chin.
After waiting for a moment, the bell went off, and the students left their classrooms. Han Xiao then openly called out.
“Karlot.”
Upon hearing someone call his name, Karlot turned around. Upon seeing Han Xiao in the same clothes as the previous day, he recognized Han Xiao’s identity and was startled. “Black… Black Star. It’s you again.”
His voice was not loud, but it seemed to have a magical force. The students in the surroundings all stopped and looked at Han Xiao with burning gazes.
“You seem to be very nervous?” Han Xiao ignored the crowd and smiled at Karlot. Although others were unable to see his true appearance, he could still display emotions.
“My father asked me to thank you, but he doesn’t wish for me to interact with you too much,” Karlot said with a nervous look.
Han Xiao was not too bothered by the response. Raising his finger, Karlot’s communicator flew into his hands. After fiddling with it casually, he handed it back to Karlot.
“It’s alright. I left my number for you. You can contact me if you change your mind.”
Karlot was overwhelmed with favor and said without confidence, “I… truly do not understand why you think so highly of me.”
“I am only interested in developing more talents.”
He then patted Karlot’s head and felt the changes in the gazes of those around. A profound smile could then be seen on his face.
Heh, I helped you strengthen your protagonist interface. You don’t need to thank me.
Han Xiao then looked at Karlot deeply before disappearing from everyone’s sight.
The next moment, Han Xiao’s figure appeared outside the atmosphere. He did not remain on the planet and left in his spaceship.
During the following period, Han Xiao remained in the territory of the dynasty. The upper echelons of the dynasty paid close attention to Han Xiao’s actions and observed that he paid visits to many different people. Some of them were middle-rank members within the dynasty, and others were ordinary individuals.
The upper echelons of the dynasty understood Han Xiao’s intentions. Black Star was planning for the future and considering what kind of talents he should invest in for his authority in the dynasty to increase.
However, the choices that Han Xiao had made were truly strange. Han Xiao did not pick the current high-ranking individuals but went to find some strange people. Just what kind of logic was that?
The dynasty had investigated everyone that Han Xiao visited. Some of them truly had great potential, but the majority of them did not seem special at all.
The upper echelons of the dynasty were puzzled. They could not understand the basis behind Black Star’s choices. His choices truly seemed far too random.
On Han Xiao’s side, he paid visits to many NPCs that would be famous in the future.
The majority of them rejected joining the Black Star Army just like Karlot. There were some who had accepted Han Xiao’s invitation, and he managed to bring some talents over to his side. Of course, Han Xiao did not rope over any talents who would have authority in the dynasty in future.
On the Shattered Star Ring’s side, Sylvia acted according to Han Xiao’s instructions and took the relevant measures. She contacted many of the organizations working together with the army to withstand the pressure from the Limitless Financial Group together.
This idea achieved a certain effect, and a portion of the organizations accepted the suggestion to form a loose alliance to increase the difficulty of the Limitless Financial Group acquiring these organizations.
However, this was a method that did not resolve the root cause of the problem.
The army was not a real financial group after all, and their foundation was not as robust as the Limitless Financial Group. These organizations only cooperated with the army and were not properties of the army.
The most important thing would be for these organizations to hang in there by themselves. As for the rest, the army could only look at convincing some of their partner civilizations to provide some political leeway to these organizations to aid their businesses.
The only way to resolve the root cause of the problem would be for the dynasty to open up the rights to sell the totem to everyone. However, this was not something that Han Xiao could decide alone. Since competition was unavoidable, Han Xiao did not think too much about it and focused on training his energy. As long as his energy reached the requirement for the Promotion Mission, he would go and cause trouble for the Tyrant.
He would not be able to solve the problem this way but could create a lose-lose situation for both of them.
He would only be able to use strength to target Heber, but it was useless for him to suggest sparring with Sorokin. The other party was the leader of a financial group and was using normal business means to compete with him. If Han Xiao used strength to deal with Sorokin, the citizens of the universe would only think that the Black Star Army was too tyrannical. Furthermore, Sorokin did not need prestige, and Han Xiao was able to think of over a hundred different reasons for Sorokin to admit defeat immediately.
Heber was different. As an ally of the dynasty, Heber helped the enemy backstab him, and Han Xiao would have no qualms with beating Heber up. Heber placed much importance on his prestige and would never run from a spar. This was also a good opportunity for Han Xiao to take revenge about the time Heber bullied him when he had just become a Beyond Grade A.
As the owner of the Evolution Cube, many large organizations paid close attention to all of Han Xiao’s actions. Even if he was only having a holiday in the dynasty’s territory, many organizations still paid attention to him. Everyone knew that he was hiding from the storm, and no one wanted to disturb him.
However, there were some who had other thoughts.
…
Planet Ladbu was the colonial planet of a Star System Vassal Civilization in the Crimson Dynasty’s territory. Because of the interference from the Universal Civilizations, all the Vassal Civilizations in the Central Galaxy made use of more lax and backward political systems. This civilization was like that. This colonial planet was managed by a local feudal lord. Apart from in emergency situations, the feudal lord would not be appointed by the central power but elected from the region. It was a semi-independent system.
Such a backward ruling method was not advantageous to the authority of the civilization.
The position of feudal lord on Planet Ladbu had always been held in the hands of a few prestigious families.
Although an election would be held according to an ancient agreement, the election was only for show, and the family that took up the position of feudal lord had already been decided beforehand.
This year was the election year for Planet Ladbu, but it was different from the other years. An individual called Iapetus, who was born in a business family, returned to participate in the election. Originally, someone like him would have been suppressed by the other families, and it would have been impossible for him to emerge victorious.
But this time, the citizens of Planet Ladbu seemed to be tired of the various large families playing politics and wanted a new face. As such, they gave their votes to the outsider, and Iapetus became the most popular candidate. First, he was a local, and second, he was from a pretty famous business family on Planet Ladbu. According to the current votes, he was the most likely candidate for the position of feudal lord.
“We hope that you will back out from the election.”
In one of the most luxurious apartments of the planet, the emissaries of the various families placed a communicator with a bank transfer page on the screen in front of Iapetus.
“What is the meaning of this?” Iapetus frowned.
“Name a price.”
“I do not lack money.”
“Do you really want to block our way?”
Iapetus replied with a deep voice, “I am only playing according to the rules. This is what an election means.”
The emissaries then looked at each other and stood up to leave. One of them then looked at Iapetus coldly and said, “You’ve made the wrong choice.”
After the emissaries left the room, Iapetus let out a long sigh. His back was already covered with sweat, and he let out a bitter laugh.
At this moment, a lady wearing a secretary uniform walked in and stood in front of Iapetus. She said with worry on her face, “They will not let go of you so easily.”
“I know.” Iapetus waved his arms and muttered under his breath, “Now that negotiating with me has failed, they will employ more violent means. If they are kind, they will kidnap me and use various methods to frame me. If they aren’t, I will not be able to survive until the end of the election.”
“I have already hired more galactic mercenaries as your bodyguards. They will protect you for sure.”
“Mercenaries… People who can be bought over with money cannot be trusted.”
“… Brother, why not you give up on the election? Your life is more important than anything.”
This female secretary was not an ordinary employee but Iapetus’ kin.
“No. There are some things that an individual has to do.” Iapetus shook his head.
The female secretary had a complicated look in her eyes and a tinge of admiration. She had always admired Iapetus, not just because of his methods but also because of his courage.
Both of them then fell silent for a while, and Iapetus’ eyes lit up as though he thought about something.
“Right, I heard that the bigshot Black Star is currently touring the dynasty. His last seen location isn’t too far from Planet Ladbu, right?”
“Er, I think so.”
Upon hearing that, a bright glow lit up in Iapetus’ eyes.
“I have a bold idea. Perhaps… we can make use of Black Star!”
