Han Xiao had convened a large group of helpers, with the core person being ‘Long Legs’ Ames.
He had rarely returned to Floating Dragon Island in the past two years, only occasionally communicating with Ames. The high amount of trust Ames had in him meant that he could move around in his own activities outside and not be doubted.
When the spaceship landed at the dock, Han Xiao walked out of the hatch to see Wilsander waiting for him. Every time Han Xiao returned, he would be the one to fetch him with great enthusiasm.
Looking around, Han Xiao did not spot the figure of Jenny, which made him a little surprised.
“Why didn’t Jenny come? I thought she would come and give me a few jabs.”
“She’s very busy, no time for you.” Wilsander grinned.
“It seems like she is still very dedicated to her role.”
Han Xiao laughed in return.
Wilsander rolled his eyes in response. Is her dedication not forced by your activities?
After a brief greeting, Han Xiao headed directly to the palace.
In the past two years, Ames had remained on Floating Dragon Island, attentively training Hila and Aurora. Upon hearing that Han Xiao had come to visit, the three of them were quite happy.
Rising from her throne, Ames floated up to Han Xiao as she smiled. “It’s been a while. I’ve missed you. What’s your reason for coming this time?”
“Can’t I return to see you if I have no time?” Han Xiao smiled. “But I do need your help this time.”
“Let’s hear it.”
Han Xiao briefly explained the situation. He did not intend to ask Ames to deal with Shana and company but rather utilize her pressure to suppress the enemy whilst he stormed the base, to ensure complete control on his part.
At the same time, this was an opportunity. He had gathered many influential people from around the Shattered Star Ring and stationed them to ambush from a secret location. The moment he pushed back Shana and company, they would join forces to destroy the mysterious force’s camp and rescue all the Supers. With so many various influences, if Ames was present to hold the fort, she would be able to command all these influences with her title of a Beyond Grade A Super.
To call in so many organizations just to deal with six Grade A Supers was akin to using a butcher’s knife to slaughter chickens. However, his greater goal was to turn this into sensational news, to further expand his own influence.
With so many organizations under the lead of Floating Dragon, this cooperation would be able to reverse the public impression of Floating Dragon. Floating Dragon would also rise from a powerless neutral faction into a powerful one. Even if this was a misunderstanding, it would prove useful.
The general consensus was that among the four Beyond Grade A Supers within the Shattered Star Ring, Ames power was the weakest. This time, their knowledge of Ames would be refreshed.
While one’s true strength could not be improved quickly, influence and connections could serve as a shortcut. The stronger Floating Dragon was, the more it would be able to protect itself.
Moreover, after fighting side by side, if they managed to save all the Supers from the powerful organizations, they would owe Floating Dragon a debt of gratitude. This would form a good relationship between the latter with the rest of the powerful organizations. While the organizations definitely had some status, they would give some face toward the prestige of a Beyond Grade A Super, and Han Xiao, through Floating Dragon, would be able to convert the forces into his connections.
Han Xiao had always attached great importance to organizations. After all, the universe was so large, an individual was limited in scope. Even Beyond Grade A Supers needed aides. One’s individual combat power and organization strength had to be grasped with both hands, and both hands had to firmly hold on to each area.
Sooner or later, there would yet be another version update. The players would disappear for about a decade once more. During this period, if he wished to prevent the faction from sinking, he needed to be pre-emptive and search for external support.
After hearing the explanation from Han Xiao, Ames did not hesitate and immediately agreed.
She fully supported Han Xiao, and besides, having been cooped up for so long, she wished to go out and stretch her muscles, at the same time allowing Aurora and Hila to get some experience.
Hila and Aurora had stood to the side without interrupting once. After two years, their temperament had shown changes once again.
Ames had taught them how to develop their abilities, and Hila’s aura had become colder, whilst the exact opposite had happened for Aurora, who had become sunnier and warmer.
In the area of strength, Hila had made rapid progress. She initially already possessed a strength of Grade C. Coupled with her own talents, it did not take much guidance from Ames for her to breakthrough and enter the realm of Grade B.
As for Aurora, her battle role was to be a super nanny. While her rank was not as high, her abilities got strengthened a lot more.
Hila’s appearance did not change much, but she had received a life sublimation, allowing her to become more beautiful and elegant. Aurora did not grow much in height, but her figure showed obvious signs of becoming a real ‘milkmaid'[1]. The front of her Battle Suit was packed tightly.
Her ability gave her frightening vitality, and with three nutritious meals a day, her appearance did not pale in comparison to her sister’s.
Glancing at Aurora’s chest, Han Xiao sighed. “Your training is too tough. Just look, how could a girl like you be beaten so hard that you are so swollen?”
Aurora could hear the teasing in Han Xiao’s voice and immediately blushed. She did not wish for herself to become this huge, but this was linked to her abilities. She had no choice, and she even had to bear the soreness in her shoulders every day. If only she was able to remove them and put them in her pockets instead, that would be so good!
Having not seen him for two years, while Hila’s expression remained passive, she was a little excited in her heart. However, upon hearing those words from Han Xiao, her face immediately darkened. She stared daggers at Han Xiao as though wishing to rip off his face. However, the result was that she could not do anything to his face, and Han Xiao even ignored her.
Han Xiao also brought up the issue of Section Zero and expressed his intention to work for the Purple Crystal Civilization for a period of time. Ames had no objections, brushing off everything. Jenny could only grit her teeth and inwardly curse.
Han Xiao secretly gathered his helpers, and after making sufficient preparations, he looked for one of his bases that was not so important and camped there, waiting for the enemy to step into the trap.
This base was located on one of the colonial planets of Godora. Many players often chose to settle there, and choosing this place as the battlefield had been carefully considered by Han Xiao. This was to paint a positive image in the eyes of the players. This face engineering process was extremely important.
At this moment, the Black Star Army had already completed the function of guiding the faction into the universe. Han Xiao’s next objective was to retain the players and focus on managing the Black Star Army.
Starting from the next version, there would be a multitude of factions available to choose from. Many of them were combined organizations, which could offer large benefits and large main storylines. The players would inevitably be tempted. Han Xiao had to maintain the attractiveness of his faction, so as the leader, he had to continue to improve the players’ impression of him.
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After waiting for a few days, Shana’s group finally moved. In fact, they had arrived in the Garton Star System much earlier, always monitoring the movements of Han Xiao.
Han Xiao was doing the same thing to them. The Chain Mission (Prey) had already released the second mission earlier on.
The mission requirement was to repel the attack of the three people. In addition to the high experience provided, he would receive a random reward of an ability from the trio. Han Xiao predicted that this series of difficult missions would each provide an additional special reward of being able to draw an ability. As long as his luck was good, he would be able to profit handsomely off this.
Because this was a colonial planet that belonged to Godora, the attacking trio did not wish to make too much noise, opting to use stealth and assassination tactics instead. They wanted to get Black Star and quickly evacuate.
Eliot was responsible for the advanced concealment and camouflage. While the base had access restrictions, in front of the abilities of a Grade A Super, it was useless. Adrian and Eliot very easily sneaked into the base without alerting Phillip, whilst Shana remained outside.
The camouflage technique that Eliot used turned them into common mercenaries. Eliot was extremely confident of his techniques, thinking them unbreakable. The two of them swaggered into the area, as though it was their own backyard.
However, after walking a short distance, they noticed that something was off. All around them, it seemed that the Black Star Mercenaries all started to turn around and look at them with weird expressions, as though they were out of place.
“I feel that the situation is a little weird,” Adrian whispered.
“Could it be that we’ve been discovered? That’s not possible. How can my technique be seen through so easily?” Eliot refused to believe it.
His deception was indeed effective, and the players around them could not see any sort of information about them. Even their names appeared as ‘???’.
However, the question marks for both Eliot and Adrian were bright red!
Two red-named people representing enemies walking around scared the players stiff. No one knew what sort of situation this was.
While Brock was part of DarkStar, he was an undercover agent. Furthermore, DarkStar had already kicked the bucket. Before he joined Black Star, he had merely appeared as a yellow name, but since Eliot and Adrian were downright enemies to Black Star, they appeared red named in the eyes of the players, the most dazzling attraction in this place.
Boom boom boom!
A player suddenly opened fire at the two of them, and the surrounding players immediately followed suit. A barrage of bullets enveloped the two of them, and a violent explosion sounded.
While the players were unaware of what was going on, they decided that since they were red names, they might somehow trigger a mission and earn something
Hum!
The magic shield was deployed, blocking all attacks.
“We’ve been exposed!” Eliot was shocked. He could not understand it. How did all those Grade C mercenaries crack his seamless camouflage
At this moment, Han Xiao, who had long prepared himself, appeared, floating in the sky as he overlooked the two. He put on a show, pretending that he was not aware of their origin.
“The last time I was attacked, I felt that something was amiss. Indeed, there are people targeting me. To think I actually managed to wait for you to arrive. Who are you guys?”
Eliot did not reply, merely shouting lowly. All sorts of magic was deployed, and Adrian’s body began to increase in size.
When Shana realized that her teammates had been exposed, she immediately acted by tearing apart the walls of the base. She was prepared to join them in attacking Black Star. With three Grade A+ Supers present, they could just forcefully suppress Black Star and end the battle quickly.
However, Han Xiao leisurely dodged their attacks, saying, “Did you think I did not do any preparations beforehand?”
Just as his voice fell, strong auras exploded from the sides of the base. Nagakin as well as two other Godoran Grade A Supers shot out from the hiding spots.
Han Xiao had gathered the other organizations for the sake of attacking the enemies’ base camp. Thus, his goal here was just to repel the three of them, and as such, he had chosen the Godoran Colonial planet, which would allow him to request assistance from Godora. Without overwhelming suppression on his side, it would allow things to flow more naturally and allow Shana’s group to ‘escape’.
The Black Star Army had close ties with Godora, so this small request was merely a phone call away from Han Xiao. Nagakin was extremely glad to help.
Eliot furrowed his brows. They were faced with four Grade A Supers, and while they were not afraid, they had no way of forcing a quick end to the battle. This was Godoran territory; the moment they got entangled, Godora’s fleet would be able to give them no small amount of trouble.
The three of them exchanged glances, immediately coming to the same consensus.
Black Star was just too vigilant. Merely a single attack, and without knowing their histories, he decided to make a mountain out of a molehill. It seemed like he was a cautious yet decisive person.
The three of them did not once suspect that their whereabouts had been leaked. Han Xiao pretended that he was using his stupid idea to wait for a reward, and this did not raise their doubts. They were confident enough that their actions were secretive.
Furthermore, if Black Star knew that they had three people, then he would not have brought along just three other Calamity Grades.
Han Xiao continued with his performance, speaking in a deep tone. “You have no way of escaping. No matter who you are, I’ll find out your origins today.”
“You’re overconfident in being able to stop us. You can try!” Eliot snorted.
Just four Calamity Grades would not be enough to enter his eyes. Maybe only Black Star would give them some difficulty.
The three of them did not panic, for they were confident in their own capabilities. Black Star could not stop them with so few people; they could leave as and when they wished to.
[1] The original phrase can be read as either ‘nanny’ or ‘milk mother/maid’, so I decided to go with the latter to convey what the author wanted to say