“Your Excellency Black Star, you’re welcome to come and visit the school any time.”
At the harbor, the principal brought his people along and sent Han Xiao and the others off. The lecture in the morning was very effective. The students were not the only ones who learned from it—he did too. So, his closeness and gratitude toward Han Xiao now were very sincere.
“Hmm, keep in touch.” Han Xiao nodded before leading the rest onto the Blacklight Stealth. It took off, turned into a stream of light, and disappeared in the dark, vast cosmic space.
Having obtained the data and completed the promised lecture, the goal of this trip was achieved. He did not stay any longer and left the Tyla Civilization.
As for the impact of this, he did not care about it much. The Tyla Civilization was considered a neutral and powerful civilization in the Shattered Star Ring. Other forces rarely messed with them, and they did not mess with others deliberately. The afterheat of the Black Star Army’s expansion had yet to vanish, so this bit of news would not cause too big a storm. At most, it might trigger some responses from the Star Cluster civilizations of the same grade.
Instead, the excited Mechanic players on the forums surprised him. Only through the forums did he know that his open lecture triggered a random ability EXP reward event.
There were many ways the players could obtain EXP, and this was one of them, but a very rare one. Other than their luck, it also depended on the knowledge difference between the players and what the NPCs were teaching. Pugilists and Mages were no strangers to this. Pugilists could secretly listen and learn abilities from some dojos. It was risky and did not guarantee success. The players mainly did this to avoid spending Contribution Points. It was the same for the Mages.
“What a surprise, this coincidentally strengthened my Mechanic class mentor image.” Han Xiao shook his head.
His consciousness entered the quantum network and poked at Phillip.
“How’s the study of that set of data?”
“It’s too complicated, hum… I can’t estimate the time needed to decipher it.”
The location data of the wormhole had been given to Phillip to analyze. It required a huge amount of experiments and tests, and even Han Xiao did not know how long it would take before there were any results.
However, Han Xiao was not in a hurry. Since the Tyla Civilization now knew that EsGod and he had their eyes on this set of data, they would definitely feel that this data had secrets. Therefore, they would have professional scientists secretly study this data. The efficiency of an entire Star Cluster civilization would definitely not be slower than him or EsGod, and this was one of the reasons he had befriended the Tyla Civilization. If the Tyla Civilization discovered any clues, he would have a chance to learn them as well, which would be quite nice.
He also planned to send the data to the dynasty when he had time and borrow the dynasty’s technology to decipher its secret.
…
After a smooth flight, the Blacklight Stealth returned to the army headquarters.
They rested for a few days, and the gathering order of the dynasty was officially announced. The dynasty had notified the Black Star Army, the Bloodshed Land, and Klent, the various Shattered Star Ring allies, to immediately head to the Flickering World through the dynasty stargate at the border of the Star Field.
After preparing for so long, the dynasty was finally about to start its first stage of exploration of the Flickering World!
Han Xiao immediately announced this as well.
When the departure date arrived, Phillip’s broadcast announcement echoed in the entire army headquarters.
“All army members participating in the developments of the Flickering World, please board the ships immediately. We will be leaving in thirty minutes! I repeat, all…”
The players moved with anticipation and entered the harbor, boarding the transport ships one after another.
After the secret war ended, the Flickering World had become the next main storyline in the eyes of the players.
Exploring a new Star Field… this was the largest main storyline they had ever seen!
The millions of players were exhilarated!
Furthermore, with the example of the limited title [Secret Warrior], most of the army players accepted the Flickering World’s main storyline mission. The players were excited just thinking about it.
Among which, the Constellation Corridor players were even more excited. The Shattered Star Ring players at least had similar experiences before, but the Constellation Corridor players had rarely had any large group missions like this, if any.
In the past, they had only heard about the benefits of being in the Black Star Army. Now, they had personally experienced it. The new recruits had an even higher rating for the army in their hearts.
The people at the army headquarters gathered and boarded the spaceships very quickly. With Han Xiao’s order, the fleet departed.
Sylvia had already prepared all the fleets a few months ago. While the main fleet departed from the army headquarters, the teams in standby at the various sub-bases in the Colton Star Cluster departed as well. According to the plan, these subdivisions would rendezvous with Han Xiao one after another along the way.
The number of fleets and people the army had dispatched this time was enormous. Almost all the members who could move freely went along. It was the largest-scale operation in the history of the army.
No amount of manpower would ever be enough in exploring an entire new Star Field, so this exploration team would be building strongholds in the Flickering World and not return for a very long time, including Han Xiao.
The Black Star Army had already stabilized itself in the Shattered Star Ring, and its business was consistent. Furthermore, with the support of its two allies, the dynasty and Purple Crystal, as well as the protection of being a member of the Shattered Star Ring Civilization Conference, there was basically nothing to worry about.
The Flickering World would be the central stage of the next version. Developing the Flickering World was a crucial part of the next stage of development for the army.
The dynasty allies in the Shattered Star Ring were the ones to start the exploration first. Han Xiao had gone through a lot of planning to obtain such an advantage, so he could not possibly miss it. In order to deal with the countless organizations that would be fighting for territory in the future, he had to gain bigger advantages and build firm foundations in the early stages.
…
Somewhere in the Shattered Star Ring drifted Floating Dragon Island.
“I see, so Black Star has departed…”
Han Xiao’s message appeared on the communicator. Ames looked away from the communicator and glanced at the floating dragon officers at the two sides of the throne.
“Let’s go, toward Planet Aquamarine.”
…
In the Central Galaxy, on the Federation of Light’s mother planet, the president of the Federation of Light, Bader Ohoside, put down the deck of intelligence in his hands, looked at the Elders in the room, slowly said, “The Crimson Dynasty is finally going to officially start to explore the Flickering World… The dynasty will be focusing on this in the future. The exploration of the Flickering World is estimated to take decades or even an entire century.”
The Chief Elder tapped the ground with his crutch and said with a hoarse voice, “It was our detectors that discovered the Flickering World. Back then, we transferred the ownership of the Flickering World to the Crimson Dynasty for a lot of profits. It will take a very long time for them to make a net profit from developing a new Star Field.”
Back when they compromised with the Crimson Dynasty, it was not just to exchange for profits and calm the Crimson Tide. They also had more secret plans.
“Hmm…” Bader said indifferently. “In order to develop a new Star Field, the dynasty will definitely put in a lot of manpower and resources. The Flickering World will become a pond of quicksand that keeps dragging the dynasty’s men down in the decades to come. The dynasty will have a very difficult time fighting for anything else during that time. This is highly beneficial to us.”
The Chief Elder caressed the crystal at the top of his crutch and said, “When the dynasty purchased the ownership of the Flickering World from us, we made an agreement that only the Crimson Dynasty is allowed to build stargates at the early stages of the exploration. Any unauthorized forces in the Flickering World will be seen as enemies of the dynasty… However, the agreement is just words.”
“Without us having to do anything, those ambitious beyond Star Cluster civilizations are smart enough to know the Arcane Church’s and our stand on this,” Bader said. “They know very well that this is a perfect chance for them. Almost none of them will be willing to give up on the resources of a new Star Field. Although these chess pieces only obey us on the surface usually, as soon as they see something with low risk and high reward, they will act according to our goals without needing us to do anything.”
After a pause, Bader continued. “With so much attention on them, the dynasty doesn’t have the ability to have the new Star Field to itself. Due to multiple factors, the dynasty will open the Flickering World to the entire universe around the time they complete creating a full star map of it. This way, they will be able to obtain an infinite amount of foreign labor and resources, and most of the dynasty’s military and manpower will be able to retreat.”
The Chief Elder nodded. “The dynasty has the ownership of the Star Field, but the larger the profit, the more pressure they will have to endure. Let them endure it. Something can only be said to be lost when it was once possessed. We can obtain larger profits by taking a step back here.”
Bader crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “Since the dynasty is willing, let’s give them more pressure.”
…
On the Crimson Dynasty Mother Planet, the Dynasty Ruler, Urranrell, had just finished reading the intelligence of the Black Star Army and the Bloodshed Land departing. She put down the deck of data in her hands and looked up. Everyone there was a top-level official of the dynasty.
“Your Excellency Ruler, the Shattered Star Ring allies are the ones to carry out the earliest explorations. We will continue to put in more dynasty troops and allies in the future. The Federation of Light compromised on paper, but they will definitely violate the agreement secretly. The Federation of Light, the Arcane Church, and those beyond Star Cluster civilizations will undoubtedly move discreetly.”
“I know,” Urranrell said calmly. “Ever since the universe entered the Galaxy Calendar era, the Federation of Light lost their sharpness and are no longer willing to endure the pressure, so they don’t deserve the largest profits. I never expected them to obey the agreement anyway. In the coming decades, things might be tough for us, but history will eventually prove that those who have given up on the future will be abandoned by the future.”
Everyone nodded in silence.
“Those who cause trouble secretly will not expose their identity. Using this chance, we shall strike fear into those beyond Star Cluster civilizations who are getting more and more lawless.”
Urranrell’s eyes became focused as she spoke with a powerful and firm voice.
“Let’s remind them of the dynasty’s way of doing things!”
…
On the Fallen Ark, Harrison woke EsGod up from his sleep.
“The Arcane Church has responded.”
EsGod woke up, breathed, and said slowly, “What did they say?”
“They say that they’ve never heard about this.”
“That means they agreed.” EsGod narrowed his eyes. “Tell the fleet to turn around and go to the desolate universe belt near the Arcane Church. Let’s see where the temporary stargate they’ve prepared for me is.”
…
At the edge of the Shattered Star Ring, inside the endless darkness, a gigantic stargate stood in the cosmic space. The enormous Black Star Army was approaching slowly.
This was the Crimson Dynasty’s exclusive stargate connecting to the Flickering World, which was currently the only way to go to the Flickering World. A lot of dynasty’s battleships were stationed there to keep anyone from sneaking through.
After reporting their identity, the Black Star Army fleet entered the stargate one batch after another, disappearing into the blue space vortex.
“We’re going to do pioneering!”
“Brothers, I’m a little excited!”
The players on the transport ships were filled with anticipation.
As the main ship was about to enter the stargate, on the bridge, Hila and the Black Star Guards all turned around subconsciously to look at the bright stars behind them.
Han Xiao glanced behind him as well.
The next time I’ll be back here will be very far in the future…
Looks like I’m going to have to spend the ten-month EXP penalty period in the Flickering World.
When I am back in the known universe by then, my level should be far higher than the 240 I am at now.
And the Evolution Cube might not be the only Universal Treasure in my hands…
Turning his head back, Han Xiao looked at the blue stargate vortex ahead. The other side of this stargate was a wide world filled with opportunities.
Boom!
The next moment, the main ship entered the stargate and trembled.
In an instant, there was only a bright blue light in their sights.
