Han Xiao was taken aback and had a strange look on his face.
All of these assault spaceships were obviously his spoils of war. Why did Barette suddenly want them?
A couple of guesses flashed through his head, but he quickly eliminated them all. Just a few small-sized assault spaceships were not enough to make Godora interested. Could it be that Barette wants these spaceships to increase his battle merits? However, that did not seem likely either. According to how Barette behaved when they were fighting together, while Barette could not be bothered about Planet Aquamarine, Barette showed a basic level of respect toward him. At the very least, Barette would not come into a conflict with him because of these little spoils of war.
Barette’s face was extremely calm and did not appear guilty in any way. Han Xiao could not help but emphasize. “Are you sure that these assault spaceships are your spoils of war? Why do I remember that I was the one who shot them down?”
“Indeed, that is so.” Barette nodded. “According to the procedures recorded, all the losses suffered by DarkStar in the calamity planets will be Godora’s spoils of war. This is the most basic requirement for us to protect the calamity planets.”
“Procedures?”
“Oh, this is the rule that the War Bureau set.”
You want me to follow the rules that Godora set? With a frown, Han Xiao said, “You guys gave up on Planet Aquamarine at the most critical moment, resulting in the enemy’s assault spaceships entering the atmosphere. At the very end, I was the one who defeated the enemy.”
Barette shook his head and said, “We didn’t give up. We were only applying pressure on the enemy’s forces. After all, it was too late for us to send reinforcements, and we only made the most appropriate decision in the ever-changing battlefield. If not for my fleet tangling with majority of DarkStar’s fleet, you would have faced an enemy many times your size. Thus, it can be said that we exerted a greater amount of strength in this battle. I hope that you will cooperate with me.”
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.
Indeed, without Godora’s fleet facing the enemy, he would have had to face more than just a small assault force, and it would have been difficult for him to achieve the current victory. For Godora to protect the planets, they naturally did not want to put in effort for nothing, and all the spoils of war obtained by the calamity planet would have to be given to them.
While it sounded logical on the surface, he would only have to follow the so-called procedures set by Godora if he was a subordinate under Planet Aquamarine’s regime. However, while Han Xiao was protecting Planet Aquamarine, he was an independent entity, and Godora’s rules would not be able to govern him. It would be impossible for him to comply, and there was no need for him to behave meekly either.
“There seems to be something that you aren’t clear about. I am the head of a Mercenary Group and the Field Team of Floating Dragon. I am not part of the regime of a backward planet that you can order around as you wish.” Han Xiao’s eyes gleamed coldly, and he said slowly, “What right do you have to order me around?”
Barette’s face darkened, and he glared at Han Xiao.
This was a conflict of interest, and both parties glared at each other, refusing to give way. While Barette wanted to behave forcefully, he did not have the ability to command the famous Black Star. After all, Han Xiao’s status was far superior to his in the universe. Han Xiao was a famous officer under Floating Dragon while he was an ordinary commander in Godora’s War Bureau.
The situation there quickly drew the attention of those in the surroundings. The mercenaries, Godoran soldiers, and players all gathered around. Especially the players who had already turned on their recording features with Bun-Hit-Dog standing at the very front.
“What’s going on?” Right at this moment, Nagakin walked over after noticing the commotion.
Barette helplessly explained what was going on. He did not feel that he was in the wrong and was only harvesting the spoils of war according to the procedures. Who would have thought that Han Xiao would not accept his request and end up in a face-off with him? Now that the high ranking Nagakin had arrived, he would have more backing, and Barette heaved a sigh of relief.
Yet, outside his expectations, Nagakin roared at him with displeasure after hearing what had happened. “Barette! Are you an idiot‽”
“Ah?” Barette was stunned.
“If not for Black Star joining the battle, we would only have been able to watch as the DarkStar fleet escaped from us. Who do you think is the one who helped us capture the DarkStar flagship‽” Nagakin roared at Barette. His rank was higher, so he had the right to reprimand Barette. When Barette refused to listen to his previous commands, Nagakin had already been dissatisfied with him. Now that he had the opportunity, he naturally would not show any mercy.
Black Star’s status and strength were not to be estimated. Nagakin was not willing to ruin his relationship with Black Star over something so small. His status was higher than Barette’s, and with him representing Godora in reprimanding Barette, it provided a way out of this stalemate.
Barette had initially thought that Nagakin would help him say a word, but never had he imagined that Nagakin would stand on Black Star’s side. He was immediately depressed but could not interrupt Nagakin.
After a round of scolding, Nagakin looked at Han Xiao and said, “This is a misunderstanding.”
“I guessed so.” Han Xiao chuckled.
“You can deal with your spoils of war as you wish, and we won’t interfere. Godora will never mistreat our friends.” Nagakin nodded and dragged Barette away.
With the mini storm being settled, everyone in the surroundings heaved a sigh of relief. If the two protectors had broken out in a fight, all of them would definitely have felt anxious. Han Xiao’s eyes narrowed as he witnessed the Godorans leaving without saying another word. He then called his fellow mercenaries to enter the assault ships and check the damage.
One would only gain respect with sufficient strength. If he had been an ordinary individual today without any fame, Nagakin would not have spoken up for him. This was something that Han Xiao was extremely clear about. He did not feel gratitude toward Nagakin because of today’s event. Those Godorans were all the same. They were usually high above and would act according to the situation, afraid of the strong but bullying the weak. In fact, the majority of civilizations were as such, so it was nothing strange.
Nagakin’s attitude today proved that his actions had finally given him a status that Godora would treat seriously. Han Xiao would not become proud because of this but would maintain his usual cool. As long as he had sufficient strength, everyone else would take the initiative to give him the respect that he deserved.
The small conflict that had happened there was quickly spread to the Six Nations through various channels. When the upper echelons of the Six Nations witnessed the respect that Godora gave Han Xiao and thought about their own status, they were certain that their previous promise to Black Star was the right decision.
On the forums, a couple of players asked around about the entire battle and managed to recreate the battle. They naturally did not like DarkStar, who caused them to have a drop in their Main Storyline Mission progress, and were even more dissatisfied with Godora, who had abandoned them at a critical juncture.
Only Han Xiao’s performance did not disappoint the players. Not only was he able to defeat the enemies, he had even managed to capture the enemy flagship. While it could not be said that he single-handedly turned the entire battle around, he was definitely a large contributor toward the outcome of the battle. The players had always felt goodwill toward Han Xiao, and together with this forum post, all of their goodwill was increased even further.
People with a reliable vibe like him had always been popular. Together with his charisma, good public image, and suave appearance, Han Xiao was certain that he would be able to attract a great deal of female fans this time!
In actual fact, he would not mind if his fans were boorish men either. As long as they were fans, he would not reject them.
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However, this did not result in more players wanting to join the Black Star Mercenary Group. From the very beginning, almost everyone had wanted to join the Black Star Mercenary Group. After operating for such a long period of time, the entire player market of Planet Aquamarine pretty much belonged to Han Xiao. He only needed to continue increasing the goodwill that the players felt toward him.
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If he wanted another avenue of players, he would have to open another market, and it naturally was not time for that.
When the players were happily chatting on the forums, Han Xiao checked the interiors of the nine assault ships. The mercenaries had been too enthusiastic in their attacks, and the interiors of the spaceships were badly damaged. Furthermore, the AI systems would also have to be replaced and a series of maintenance done before the spaceships could be used.
Thankfully, the various spaceships that had crash landed on Planet Aquamarine were precious materials, so Han Xiao did not need to purchase replacement parts.
The destroyed spaceships were spread across almost half the planet. Some had fallen into the ocean while the others had fallen on earth. Through the radar of a spaceship, the locations of those spaceships could be located. Han Xiao sent out a portion of his mercenaries to salvage all of the spaceships. In a short two or three days, he would be able to recover all of the wreckages.
Han Xiao did not follow the mercenaries to take action. After upgrading his class to that of a Mechanic Hacker, he was able to merge a few valuable blueprints. Thus, he stayed behind in the Sanctuary and began building new machineries.
After this ambush, DarkStar would not attack Planet Aquamarine again in the short run, and he should be able to relax for a while.
…
On the Andrea continent, in the old address of the Germinal Organization…
Not too long ago, a meteor had landed from the skies and charred the entire earth. At the same time, a hundred-meter- long gorge had been created. When the dust settled, the only thing left behind had been a pile of wreckage. It was the DarkStar spaceship that had been shot down by the mercenary group.
A skeleton sat not too far away from the landing site, which stood up slowly, walking over unstably toward the wreckage.
The Mutation Source that was attached to the cervical vertebra could feel the powerful energy reaction from the wreckage. It was the energy core of the spaceship.
The radiation from the Germinal Organization had already been mostly absorbed by the Mutation Source, and the destroyed spaceship was just like a pie dropping from the skies.
The skeleton climbed into the cockpit of the spaceship and found the leaking energy core through its senses.
Countless hair-like black tentacles extended out from the Mutation Source and wrapped around the energy core of the spaceship like a spider about to devour its prey. The entire space around the region became distorted, and the pure energy began to seep into the Mutation Source. The tentacles began to bloat up and shrink back as it absorbed the pure energy.
The energy core of a spaceship contained a large amount of fuel. As the Mutation Source began to suck out all of the energy, the fuel from the energy core rapidly disappeared. At the same time, the speed at which the Mutation Source sucked out the energy also sped up. From the Mutation Source seemed to come the sound of a heart beating.
The energy core let out a final buzz and fell silent. Its light began to fade away, and it disappeared. The Mutation Source retracted all of its tentacles, and the skeleton remained on the ground.
All of a sudden, the Mutation Source began spitting out copious amounts of a black sticky substance. The sticky substance was extremely thick, but it seemed to have the slipperiness of oil. After releasing this sticky substance for half a day until the sticky substance covered the entire room, this strange behavior stopped.
The next moment, all of the sticky substance that had been shot out began flowing toward the skeleton in the middle of the room as though it was alive.
When the final bit of sticky substance had climbed up on the skeleton, the skeleton already looked completely different. It was no longer a rack of bones but had transformed into a black human body. The sticky substance seemed to have formed the flesh and muscles of the body, and the body looked extremely well built. The facial features began to take form; eyes, a nose, a mouth, and ears roamed around the face for a period of time before finding their appropriate place.
If Han Xiao was here, he would have realized that the appearance of the figure looked like the Germinal Organization’s leader. It was just before he was disfigured.
The monster opened its mouth and let out an incomprehensible groan. To think that it even had vocal cords.
After absorbing a large amount of energy, the growth of the Mutation Source had skyrocketed. The Mutation Source no longer needed to convert all of its absorbed energy and could control a portion to go through cell division. Thus, that small pile of Mutation Source was able to spit out an entire room full of sticky substance.
The Mutation Source could enjoy the senses of numerous animals and understood the structure of different life forms. With the skeleton as the base, it was able to recreate the human body. This monster was not leeching onto a human body but simulating a human body. Apart from its entire body being black and the lack of sexual characteristics, it was no different from an ordinary body. The Mutation Source was wrapped up deep within the simulated body.
The simulated body lowered its head and observed its body through its eyes while touching all over its body curiously. While it could share the senses of all those infected, it was now able to control its own body, and this was an entirely different feeling. It could not help but have a strange feeling.
Freedom!
The intelligence of the Mutation Source had originally been operating only from instinct, but its thoughts began to form as it looked at the world around it.
Like a three-year-old child suddenly having memories, the world in front of it seemed so different.
“Air, hands, body…”
The simulated body let out a barely audible voice, and through the numerous shared senses it had, a massive wave of memories flooded its head, and the sense of fatigue quickly assaulted it.
The simulated body walked out of the cockpit. Looking in a direction, its figure disappeared over the horizon.
In another region of Planet Aquamarine, the concealed troops of DarkStar detected a rapid increase in the energy levels of the Mutation Source. All of the members were stunned.
Their information journal had recorded such circumstances. This indicated that the Mutation Source had absorbed energy to the point that it was saturated and was beginning its next stage of evolution!
The Mutation Source had evolved far earlier than in Han Xiao’s previous life!