Ten days later, somewhere in the Shattered Star Ring, a spaceship flew, dragging a long trail of flames. Within the cockpit, Aesop was looking at the Shattered Star Ring star map with countless red marks that represented dangerous areas with a grave expression.
The captain stood to the side, hesitated for a moment, and said, “There aren’t many routes left for us. We’re about to hit a dead end. If this carries on, we probably won’t have a way to get you out of the Shattered Star Ring. Do you have any plans?”
Aesop pressed his hands on the table so heavily veins appeared on the backs of his hands. He growled, “Aren’t you guys professionals? Why is this happening?”
Confused as well, the captain smiled bitterly and said, “We don’t know either. We haven’t left any clues behind, and we’ve been moving very stealthily, but the Black Star Army has been able to put up accurate encirclements around as if they are aware of where we are. We have no idea how or where they obtained such accurate information… Could this be the ability of foresight? Aren’t you a prophet? Why didn’t you notice it?”
Aesop clenched his teeth and had nothing to say.
He did indeed use his ability along the way, and it certainly helped them to dodge some of the troops. However, no matter how many times they got rid of the Black Star Army, the Black Star Army would be able to catch up again soon after. Even though the Mechanic Emperor’s subsidiary organizations kept changing their carriers, it had absolutely no effect.
Furthermore, it was not Aesop who was controlling his body now, just the collective consciousness of a group of Modo soldiers. They were unable to use the foresight ability to the fullest. The secret stronghold location that was deliberately given to the Black Star Army was not acquired by prophecy; they knew where it was to begin with and leaked it on purpose so that the others would not suspect him.
Originally, Aesop’s target was to head to the edge of the Shattered Star Ring. However, under the pursuit of the Black Star Army, he had no choice but to keep hiding and was forced to change the route. He was still going in circles in the Star Field, and the situation was getting worse by the minute.
“If there really isn’t a way out…” Aesop looked at the star map, pointed at a planet nearby, and clenched his teeth. “Then cancel the plan of leaving the Shattered Star Ring. Take me to this planet.”
The captain looked in the direction Aesop was pointing. His expression changed slightly, and he said, “Planet Mountain Ash? That place has always been chaotic. Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Aesop nodded without hesitation.
This was a colonial planet currently belonging to a local Star System civilization. However, due to its history, this planet had very aggressive and sharp societal conflicts.
Originally, Planet Mountain Ash had a native intelligent species of its own that developed into a surface civilization that had been prospering. However, when they ventured into the universe, they were discovered by the local Star System civilization. Due to the treaty that forbade them from interfering with a lower civilization, the local Star System civilization only observed them at the start and did not interfere much. It was similar to the relationship the Godoran Civilization had with Planet Aquamarine back then.
However, Planet Mountain Ash was located at the borders of two Star Systems. The local Star System civilization had frequent physical conflicts with its neighbor, and both of them wanted to expand their borders. Therefore, they both hoped to make Planet Mountain Ash theirs. An unspoken rule of the Peace Treaty was that only Star System civilizations had real assurances. Despite surface civilizations being included in this treaty on paper, there would always be advanced civilizations that did not obey it secretly. Of course, they still had to look like they were obeying the treaty on the surface. Hence, the local Star System civilization could not possibly directly attack the surface civilization, so they resorted to two methods. The first was to contact Planet Mountain Ash in the name of technology exchange, deliberately leaking some technology and then framing the Planet Mountain Ash civilization for stealing it. The second method was to secretly incite the split of the surface civilizations, then providing ‘war support’ to some of the governments in crucial times, leaving the army on Planet Mountain Ash using the excuse of settling rebellions. The enormous difference in their strengths meant that there was no way a surface civilization could fight with a Star System civilization. Using these two methods, the local civilization gained control of Planet Mountain Ash without much suspense.
The ongoing societal conflict came from the retaliation of the Planet Mountain Ash civilization. There were frequent riots and demonstrations of all sorts. Hence, the local Star System civilization implemented policies to stabilize their ruling, occasionally sending official troops in to suppress these civilian activities on Planet Mountain Ash. This was why the environment of the planet had been chaotic.
In the universe, planets like Planet Mountain Ash were not a rarity. Laws created the seemingly peaceful galactic society, but under the surface, the rule of the jungle still applied. It was just not that bloody and naked anymore rarely causing the extinction of an entire race.
Aesop needed a planet exactly like this. If he could die in the hands of the Star System civilization’s troops, the Dragon Emperor would be furious at the local Star System civilization, and the plan would be considered a success! “Alright, since you’ve made up your mind, I’ll find a way to secretly send you in.”
The captain did not try to dissuade Aesop any longer.
He was a base member of the Mechanic Emperor’s subsidiary organization who was unaware of the whole picture. He was only responsible for completing the transport mission that was given to him. Whatever his employer said, he would follow, and he knew nothing else. In fact, he did not even know that his top boss was the Mechanic Emperor. “Remember, it has to be stealthy,” Aesop said and enlarged the image of Planet Mountain Ash on the star map. A complex emotion flashed passed his eyes.
Looks like this is where I die…
His mind was shaken for a split second before becoming firm again. As the collective consciousness formed from multiple soldiers’ souls, he did not fear death and was absolutely loyal to Modo.
Sacrifice himself in exchange for a chance for the Modo Civilization to take a breath, this was his mission!
However, while he was in an emotional state, no one on this ship knew that there were dozens of advanced spaceships secretly following them from not far behind.
It was the fleet led by Han Xiao!
The fleet was equipped with state of the art stealth devices of the logistics department. They had already been following the spaceship Aesop was on for close to half a day, but they had never been discovered.
Inside the main ship command room, Ames looked at the spaceship in front and wondered, “Where do you think he’s going?”
Han Xiao glanced at the star map with his arms crossed and said, “Probably Planet Mountain Ash.”
“Why would he go there?”
“How would I know?” Han Xiao shrugged.
Through monitoring all the secret organizations that the Mechanic Emperor had planted in the Shattered Star Ring, the search of the Black Star Army became much smoother. He was able to fully lock onto Aesop’s whereabouts a day ago and followed behind it secretly. He did not immediately act because he wanted to see what backup plans the Mechanic Emperor had.
Speaking of which, if the Modo Civilization insisted on using their own forces to transport Aesop, Han Xiao really might not have been able to catch him this easily. He still did not know that the mastermind behind this was the Modo Civilization.
However, the Modo Civilization thought that the Mechanic Emperor’s troops were more hidden, so they chose to borrow his forces, which achieved the complete opposite effect. To Han Xiao, most of the subsidiary organizations that the Mechanic Emperor had in the Shattered Star Ring had no secrets. It was like he had ‘maphacks’. “Do we go catch him now?” Ames turned to look at Han Xiao.
“We don’t have to go through so much trouble. Just make him come to us.” Han Xiao smiled, snapped his fingers, and sent an invisible set of data.
Boom!
Aesop was studying the star map when he suddenly felt the spaceship tremble. It seemed like it had suddenly shut down its engine and stopped moving
He looked up at the captain with a shocked and nervous expression.
“What’s going on? Did the spaceship malfunction?”
“I-I don’t know.”
The captain was confused. He then displayed his superior home appliances repairing ability and slammed the control table a few times, but it did not respond at all as if the artificial intelligence of the spaceship had died.
Whoosh!
The hatch suddenly automatically opened. Everyone was startled. The spaceship was in the middle of cosmic space. If the hatch opened, everyone inside would be sucked out.
However, that did not happen. The outside of the hatch was quiet. The people inside looked out the porthole with confusion, only to still see the dark cosmic space outside.
“What’s going on?”
Aesop and the rest came to the hatch and looked out. The moment they saw what was outside, Aesop’s entire body froze, and terror filled his face.
Outside was an enormous metal interior of a ship. Black Star and Dragon Emperor were standing outside the hatch with a group of their subordinates, staring at him with a faint smile.
Aesop’s eyes opened wide. His mind went into chaos.
Where is this? Why am I here?
Did I open the door the wrong way, which caused me to see illusions?
Han Xiao smirked and said, “You really can run, huh? But not even saying anything before you leave? That’s cold, old man.”
This was his doing. He easily hacked into the spaceship and took over control without anyone noticing, then made it turn around and fly into the main ship.
He left misguiding imagery on the portholes, so the people inside had no idea what happened. Ames took a few steps up, narrowed her eyes, and said with a displeased tone, “Humph, you made us look for you for so many days! Don’t you have anything you want to say to me?”
Seeing this, Aesop lost all hope.
It’s over! The plan’s failed!
Damn it, I was so close!
Now it’s all gone down the drain!
He was filled with frustration.
No, there’s still a chance! Black Star and Dragon Emperor both think I’m Aesop himself. I can still continue to disguise myself as him!
Aesop had yet to totally give up. He wanted to keep trying. He suppressed the tsunami of shock in his heart and forced out a smile, faking an embarrassed expression. “Well, you found me… Black Star, didn’t we agree you’d let me go? Why have you gone back on your words?”
Han Xiao did not reply to him but instead turned to Ames and said with a smug tone, “See, I was right.”
Hearing this, Ames sized Aesop up and nodded heavily with approval. “You’re right, his smile isn’t despicable enough. He must be a fake!” Aesop was completely stunned. His brain went blank.
What, they can actually see through my identity from such a small detail?
Damn! What kind of laughable reason is that! Like hell I’ll believe it!
Aesop’s smile became more and more stiff. He had a bad feeling but still persisted and said, “What are you guys joking about? Alright, I admit I was wrong for sneaking away. I’ll accept any kind of…”.
Before he finished, Han Xiao suddenly shouted, “Still faking it?” Aesop was shocked. He was filled with despair.
At this moment, he knew that he had long been exposed. Black Star was only toying with him!
The next moment, he clenched his teeth, suddenly pulled out a weapon, and aimed it at his own head. He pulled the trigger without any hesitation.
The plan had failed, and he had no way of escaping, so he immediately chose to end his own life. This way, he could prevent Black Star from finding out who was behind all this, while at the same time, he would get rid of the prophet Aesop, making his last contribution to Modo!
Boom!
However, he was just about to raise the firearm when a light beam flashed past his eyes. Nero, who was prepared for this, instantly blasted the firearm out of Aesop’s hand.
Then, the army soldiers swarmed over and pressed Aesop to the ground, making him unable to move.
Seeing this, Ames breathed a sigh of relief, deactivated the force field in her hand, and looked at Aesop, who was still struggling, with complicated emotions in her eyes. She then turned to Han Xiao and nodded as a sign of appreciation. “Thanks. Things would’ve become troublesome without your help.”
“It’s no biggie. Aesop is my friend too.”
Han Xiao waved his hand.
Ames smiled and softly punched Han Xiao’s chest but did not say anything. She knew that without Han Xiao’s help, there was no way she could have found Aesop this easily. In the end, something irreversible might have happened, and Aesop was her irreplicable family. She could not imagine what she would do if that happened.
Words were not enough to express her appreciation. She looked at Han Xiao; he gave her a feeling of assurance and reliability.
This time, the captain who was shivering on the side carefully said, “Erm… Your Excellency Black Star, you’ve found your man. Can we go now?”
Han Xiao glanced at him, snorted, and said, “Leave? Stay here and don’t resist. I’ll let you guys go when you’ve told me everything you know.”
Although these people were the Mechanic Emperor’s subordinates, they probably did not know anything. Han Xiao did not plan to do anything to them. This would be entered into the Mechanic Emperor’s ledger, and it was far from over.
Then, Han Xiao came to Aesop, squatted, and looked curious.
“Alright, now let me see what’s going on with you, old man…”
Han Xiao ordered the soldier beside the press down hard on Aesop. Nanoparticles slipped out of his sleeve and formed a thin, black needle.
He held it in his hands, aimed at Aesop’s butt, and pressed it in like a nurse injecting a needle into a patient. “Huh!”
A very strange yell sounded.
Han Xiao plugged out the black needle and looked at the combat information on the interface. He quickly browsed through Aesop’s status, and his expression became confused.
“Soul Swapper? What is that?”
