While the Galactic Alliance Army was celebrating, the upper echelons of the Super Star Cluster Alliance were discussing the short confrontation between Han Xiao and the three Universal Civilizations, which gave them some excitement.
“External pressure was the adhesive for internal cracks. Now that the adhesive is gone, the rift between Black Star and the three Universal Civilizations will only grow larger. The conflict will happen sooner or later. However, unlike back then, the Beyond Grade A organizations are now like the sun in the sky, and they have also obtained the inheritance of the World Tree. The three Universal Civilizations can no longer restrain them.”
The leader of the Star Arc knocked on the table.
The upper echelons of the Super Star Cluster felt the same. They were gloating yet at the same time a little worried. “The galactic society might have won the war, but all the real benefits fell into Black Star’s hands. Although the war has ended, it is only the beginning of the reshuffling of the galactic structure. The new structure will be formed in the chaos. A character like Black Star will not miss this opportunity. He has the reputation of a war hero, and the three Universal Civilizations cannot stop him at all… This will be the trend!”
“Now that Black Star has the World Tree, his organization will rapidly expand. He doesn’t even need to form an alliance with us, and he can fight on par with the three Universal Civilizations. Will he still value our agreement?”
“It should still be the case. The World Tree has suffered a huge loss, and Black Star might not be willing to turn hostile in the short term. It’s definitely better to pull in external help than to do it alone. Furthermore, from his past actions, Black Star actually does not have the ambition to steal the ruling rights, nor does he have the intention to unite the entire Galaxy under him… Of course, the hearts of people are hard to predict, and this judgment might not be correct. It can only be used as a reference. On the other hand, the three Universal Civilizations have also suffered a huge loss, and they don’t want to fall out with Black Star.”
“Sigh, I feel a little pessimistic. If there are no new external conflicts, Black Star and the three Universal Civilizations might have a battle in the future. From the perspective of the entire galactic society, we defeated the World Tree and obtained the spoils of war. This is our strongest period in history, but internal conflicts cannot be resolved. Are we going to die by our own strength?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. The three Universal Civilizations aren’t really headstrong. As long as Black Star doesn’t have the intention to rule alone, the three Universal Civilizations will still give up their opposition under the threat of absolute strategic deterrence and accept Black Star as a member of the ruling circle. Having two supreme factions might be the new normal in the future.”
They carefully analyzed the possibilities of the future.
The leader of the Star Arc listened for a while and said, “Under such circumstances, we should find a new way to deal with ourselves. The original agreement was for us to work together with Black Star to fight against the three Universal Civilizations, but things are different now. The three Universal Civilizations need to rope us in to fight Black Star. It’s not suitable for us to side with Black Star.”
“You mean to cooperate with the three Universal Civilizations?”
“Of course not. What I mean is that we have to work together with both sides. The three Universal Civilizations will fight Black Star, and we will be a huge bargaining chip. The three Universal Civilizations won’t treat us the way they did in the past, so the suppression will naturally be nullified. The tables have turned, and they will lower their heads and beg us to work together. This time, we can really use the proper way to obtain a chance to develop freely. Maybe the three Universal Civilizations still wish for us to become stronger… However, we have to make the situation into a new balance, so we can’t easily side with either. Only competition can bring benefits. Monopolizing or dictatorship is not possible.”
“Hmm, that’s true. Not to mention the three Universal Civilizations, Black Star is also a dangerous individual who represents individualism. If he ascends, he will definitely give the Supers more privileges, which will allow him to lead the galactic society. He might not even be as good as the three Universal Civilizations. Furthermore, he has the World Tree, so he’s also a time bomb.”
Suddenly, someone sighed and muttered,
“Black Star, oh Black Star… such a person is really too difficult to deal with. He’s always seeking greater benefits and never relaxes. He’s really someone who does big things. If the person leading the Beyond Grade As was not the way he is, the three Universal Civilizations might have suppressed them long ago. How could they have developed to this
stage?”
Hearing this, everyone sighed. The image that Black Star had left for them was strong and ruthless, able to seize every opportunity to expand. Even if they did not consider his individual strength, they were still afraid of such a person. They could trust each other when they were teammates, but turning back into competitors was torture.
The news of the Galactic Alliance Army defeating the World Tree Civilization was temporarily locked down by the three Universal Civilizations and Han Xiao. They controlled the quantum network base station to filter out any information that might leak.
Since they were worried that it would be difficult to control the troops once they were disbanded, the victorious Galactic Alliance Army temporarily stayed in the secondary dimension to recuperate. Regarding this order, the various troops were still rather cooperative, but they could not stay on standby all the time. Thus, the plan to find the third party infiltrator required to be performed as quickly as possible. The players were not restricted at all. The ‘Galactic Alliance Army ending the war and Black Star subduing the World Tree’ incident had already been recorded in Galaxy Chronicles and was extremely popular.
Han Xiao’s heroic act of uprooting the World Tree spread across all the forums. Although many players could not help but complain that they had watched another round of CG, they were still very happy to be able to participate in such a large event.
However, the players were only active on the forums, and the news that was occasionally spread through the communicator had been intercepted. Therefore, the galactic society was completely unaware of the Galactic Alliance Army’s victory.
The situation that countless galactic residents were aware of was the moment when the World Tree evacuated the invaders. They were still uncertain about this, and there were many different opinions online. As for the Star Alliance spies who could only gather intelligence from the public network, they naturally did not know about the World Tree Civilization’s defeat. They were still patiently waiting for the World Tree Civilization’s ‘big move’, completely unaware of the impending disaster.
In the Central Galaxy, somewhere in the desolate universe belt, the secret base of the Star Alliance lurkers.
“I wonder what the World Tree is planning. It’s been a long time since there’s been any movement.”
“I see that the Galactic Alliance Army is gathering in the Central Galaxy. The World Tree Civilization is probably going to attack the Central Galaxy.”
“By the way, we are also in the Central Galaxy. Will we be affected? Should we evacuate?”
Inside the base, a group of observers gathered together and whispered.
The Observer Captain was a little hesitant and said, “The probability of the desolate universe belt being targeted by the World Tree is very low. No one has visited this place for many years, so it should be safe… However, the World Tree might also send people to infiltrate and build some strongholds. That way, we will also have the risk of being discovered by others…”
“If we act rashly, we might get exposed. Other places might be more dangerous. Let’s stay,” one of the team members suggested. “…Alright then. If our base is really discovered, we’ll start the self-destruct sequence and sacrifice ourselves.”
The Observer Captain’s tone became solemn.
These observers who had infiltrated the territories of the three Universal Civilizations were all carefully selected death warriors. In order to prevent any information leak about the Star Alliance if they got captured, they had long been prepared to commit suicide. The self-destruct device they buried was enough to blow up the entire planet and erase all traces.
“You guys continue to pay attention to the news. I’ll go sort out the intelligence for this week and send it to my hometown in a few days.”
The Observer Captain stood up and was about to leave the room.
Ding!
However, all of a sudden, everyone’s movements froze, as if time had stopped.
A certain area in the room rippled, and Han Xiao walked out.
“Hehe, it’s the Lorese. It’s exactly the same as the visions given in the Explorer. Looks like I found the right one.”
Han Xiao looked at the Observer Captain, and his eyes sparkled.
In order to prevent any accidents from happening, after he returned to the main universe, he directly consumed the materials and used the Virtual World to create a temporary Information Form Warning Network. He quickly completed the installation and set the parameters before activating it.
If he had not used that, he would still have been left in the dark. Once he used it, he received a shock. The information state alert network gave him a lot of abnormal signals. He had the impression that the entire explored universe was like a sieve being spied on by countless enemies, and he was shocked. After some adjustments, he finally understood that this technology was used in a normal civilization, and it was very easy to churn out false reports. Since the World Tree Civilization existed as a single entity, there was no such problem. This was the difference in technology. The World Tree Special Express was a perfect match for this Information Form Warning Network. Although the three Universal Civilizations did not have such mobility, the Multi-Dimensional Sky Opening Transportation Device could be used as a replacement, so Han Xiao did not waste too much time traveling.
After some selection and adjustments, he removed most of the false reports and confirmed some real external signals, most of which were from secondary dimension life forms.
Han Xiao visited a few signal areas and only now arrived at the base of the Star Alliance’s infiltrators. He immediately confirmed that this was the real mastermind. The process was much smoother than he had expected. He had controlled the entire base and all the enemies before he even appeared.
“Let me see your background.”
Han Xiao’s eyes lit up, and the shadow of the World Tree appeared behind him.
As the World Tree merged into the space, it was stained with Han Xiao’s energy, and the entire tree turned into a bright blue electric arc. A few translucent roots shot out like electric whips and penetrated everyone’s chests.
The next moment, the figures of these observers turned illusory at a speed visible to the naked eye, and waves of energy entered Han Xiao’s body through the roots.
With the World Tree in his hands, Han Xiao had no intention of interrogating these people. As long as he could turn these spies into members of the World Tree, he would be able to obtain all the intelligence from their memories and turn them into ‘guides’, imitating the methods of the World Tree.
Not long after, these Star Alliance observers fused into the roots. Han Xiao snapped his fingers, and a few roots arched their bodies like snakes. With a puff, they spewed out a large number of lightning sparks, reforming their bodies.
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and received the memories of these people. There was a lot of information about the Star Alliance inside.
“So that’s what happened. The Star Alliance has been hiding for many years… Hmm, this civilization doesn’t seem to be that strong.”
Han Xiao pondered.
The third party had already been found, but they still had to discuss with the three Universal Civilizations how to deal with it. They had to see if they could destroy the Star Alliance or merge them into the explored universe. After all, although the Star Alliance was not strong, they had reached the standard of a Universal Civilization. The three Universal Civilizations had already suffered heavy losses, and they still had to consider the cost of starting another war. The three Universal Civilizations had been the targets of the invasion before, but now that they had the chance, they definitely did not mind changing their roles seamlessly and turning into the invaders. After all, the Star Alliance was the one who had plotted against them, so they could not be considered innocent. The damage caused by the World Tree’s full invasion could naturally be blamed on the Star Alliance.
Han Xiao withdrew his thoughts and sized up a Planetary Alliance spy. “Continue hiding and maintain contact with the Star Alliance. Don’t do anything without my orders.”
“Understood. We will do our best to help you steal the intelligence of the Star Alliance!”
Many of the lurkers turned into fanatics.
“…Sigh, with the World Tree mechanism, who would believe that the user is not a villain?”
Seeing how passionate these former Star Alliance loyalists were about dealing with the Star Alliance, Han Xiao felt strange. He shook his head and disappeared.
Not long after, in the joint office of the three Universal Civilizations, Han Xiao brought the news of the third party being captured. “You’re right. There really is a third party interfering, and they’ve been hiding for so long. If not for the Information Form Warning Network, we wouldn’t have found them…”
As Marbruce and the other two looked at the information that Han Xiao had brought, their expressions kept changing. Sometimes, they were angry, and sometimes, they were glad. With the evidence before them, they basically believed that the mole was not from the Super Star Cluster or any other ally. After browsing through the information of the Star Alliance, the three of them discussed for a while and came to a consensus.
“The Star Alliance is very far away from us, but once we obtain the spatial coordinates, we can use the Multi-Dimensional Sky Opening Transportation Device to send our troops over, just like how the World Tree Civilization was dealing with us. Therefore, we have the initiative… We are inclined to destroy the Star Alliance and take it as our vassal. However, we should hold back for now. We have just experienced war, and we still need some time to recuperate.” Han Xiao raised his brows. “How long are you planning to rest?”
Louis pondered and said, “It depends on the situation… However, time is on our side. Although the news of defeating the World Tree Civilization can’t be sealed forever, you have already controlled the spies of the Star Alliance. You can make use of them to send fake intelligence and fabricate the battle situation, making the Star Alliance think that we are still fighting the World Tree Civilization.”
“The prerequisite is that the Star Alliance does not have any other methods to monitor the galactic society…” Han Xiao paused for a moment and spread out his hands.” However, with the Information Form Warning Network, this possibility can be eliminated.”
“In any case, try not to alert the enemy,” Marbruce said with a deep voice. Han Xiao nodded and suddenly commented.
“The association and I will not accompany you in the battle of invading the Star Alliance. You can deal with them yourselves. I’m only responsible for these spies.”
The eyes of the three of them flashed, but they did not say anything immediately. They quickly analyzed the situation in their minds and felt that there were pros and cons.
In this World Tree War, the three Universal Civilizations did not gain anything in the first place. The World Tree Civilization had been taken away by Black Star, and they did not even have the slightest bit of technology or resources. If they could swallow the Star Alliance, they would be able to reap some benefits.
Since Black Star was not participating in the battle, he would not share the spoils of war. Han Xiao had the World Tree, and he was the best at snatching resources. The three of them had to be wary of him.
Without the help of the Beyond Grade A Association, the war would be a little more troublesome. However, the three Universal Civilizations were not to be trifled with. They could not defeat the World Tree, but the same could not be said for the Star Alliance.
However, the three of them were worried that Black Star or the Super Star Cluster would try to assassinate them while they were at war with the Star Alliance. It was very risky… Who knew if Black Star had such plans?
For a moment, the three of them were caught in a dilemma and did not know if this was a
trap.
Han Xiao glanced at them and guessed their thoughts. He pursed his lips. He had only helped the three Universal Civilizations because he had been thinking about the calamities in his previous life and wanted to resist the World Tree.
Do you still expect me to help the three Universal Civilizations expand their territory?
It’s already good enough that I didn’t replace you. Be content, little brother!
Now that the threat was finally resolved, the galactic society could enjoy many years of peace. Han Xiao was satisfied.
Ever since his arrival, the World Tree had been the sword of Damocles in Han Xiao’s eyes. It was the biggest psychological shadow and the source of his anxiety. For a very long time, he could only keep this secret alone and work hard to get rid of it. He did not dare relax, and the pressure was difficult to speak of to others.
After persevering for more than a hundred years, he had finally removed the threat of the galactic society. He no longer had to worry about the safety of his friends. He was relieved and wanted to retire and truly relax for some time.
