by <unknown>
[Seize Mothership] complete.
You have received 30,000,000 Experience and 1800 Godoran Civilization Favorability.
_____________
Other than that, [Operation Hodellas – War Hire] was shown to be completed as well, despite him not doing much. Nonetheless, after Han Xiao thought about it and realized that in order to even receive these benefits, he had to be qualified for it. After all, Godora would not hire just anyone for this. Furthermore, Risda had played a rather large part in it, so it was counted toward his contribution.
The initial reason that Godora hired him back then was to let him control the mothership; capturing Degulish and others was a pleasant surprise.
These three missions brought Han Xiao more than 70 million experience. Although it was not comparable to harvesting the players, it was still quite profitable.
Hence, despite the players’ mission being the shrunk version, they still made quite a fortune.
The players were happy, and Han Xiao was happier.
Sadly, the players did not have the [Godora’s Ally] mission and could not receive the other two rewards.
Shame.
With the boost of three continuous missions, Han Xiao’s Godora Favorability rocketed past 6,000 and reached the highest relationship status—[Reverence].
It was well deserved. He had provided intelligence to Godora to counterattack, captured deputy leader Degulish alive, and seized a mothership. If he was a civil servant in Godora, he would have been promoted more than ten times. Hell, he might even have become a candidate for top positions in the War Bureau.
As Han Xiao was about to have a conversation with the Godora superiors, Gureja, Underworld Feather, Justin, and the other Army Commanders stared directly at Black Star Army that were cleaning up the battlefield.
Defeating tens of thousands of DarkStar warriors was an easy feat; their army could do it too. However, they would never have achieved the result that Black Star Army had!
Almost zero casualties!
Their speculations about Black Star Army had become a reality.
Those Army Commanders knew full well that as soon as word about this spread, Black Star Army’s name in the mercenary world would shoot up into the skies, completely overturning their past image and officially becoming one of the top mercenary groups.
…
“Other than this seized one, all the other DarkStar motherships were destroyed. Very few escaped, and their identities are yet to be verified.” In the communicator image, the War Bureau superior explained the situation.
“Is that so?” Han Xiao contemplated.
DarkStar did not have a fixed base—the motherships were their base. Now that these had been destroyed, it was basically the end for them. The ‘DarkStar’ organization was no more. What Han Xiao cared more about was if Ember was alive.
Ember’s Esper ability was very destructive, and he had immense hatred for him. Plus, his brain was the most developed. If he escaped, there would be quite a problem.
Maybe he could use the Destiny’s Child card to foresee Ember’s whereabouts?
The Destiny’s Child Character Summon Card only had two more uses left, and Han Xiao had yet to decide whether to use one of it here.
This time, the War Bureau superior said, “After some time, Godora will announce this victory to all of the Star System. Following your request, Serbia the Fifth will publicize your achievements personally, telling everyone that you’re the hero of DarkStar’s destruction and that you’re a valued ally of Godora.”
DarkStar had threatened the Garton Star System for many years, causing countless disasters. Now that they had finally been dealt with, Godora would certainly make an official announcement, streaming to all the channels in the entire Star System, listing DarkStar’s sins and promoting their profound victory. That would boost the confidence of their people, making it known that DarkStar no longer existed, that they had saved the world, and so on.
Back then when Han Xiao sold his intelligence, one of the requirements was to publicize his contributions after the plan succeeded. This was to tremendously increase his fame.
For such an enormous feat, it was almost a definite that he would receive Star System level Legendary Points.
“By the way, you will be needed at the scene. Serbia the Fifth will personally give you the honors, and you will be a friend of Godora forever. After the ceremony ends, we will pay you the rest of the reward as discussed. Fifty medium battleships and one large main ship, the remaining fifteen million payment, and some Super Knowledges.”
Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.
Finally, he was about to receive the remaining payment, but receiving the honors was unexpected.
Godora was very generous, so being honored by the leader of the nation was a huge honor. This was not his request but Godora’s decision.
With some thought, Han Xiao roughly knew what Godora was thinking. Their appreciation was indeed sincere, as were his achievements, but a part of it was definitely because he was part of Floating Dragon. Thus, they wanted to improve their relationship with the Floating Dragon.
If Floating Dragon’s Field Team Officer was Godora’s honored hero, their relationship would be closer.
This had no negative impact on him, so of course, Han Xiao would not reject it.
“Before bringing the players to Base One to officially start their mercenary career, showing them a ‘cut scene’ of me being honored is very beneficial for my personal image. This will all increase my reputation. Marvelous!”
Han Xiao was very content.
When Han Xiao ended the communication, the battlefield had almost all been cleaned up. The Godoran fleet dragged the DarkStar mothership from the ground like pulling up a carrot. They then moved it outside the atmosphere and were planning to take it back.
On the galactical battlefield on the other side, there were also many Godoran spaceships cleaning up the wreckages of DarkStar fleets.
This was an overwhelming victory; joy was on the face of every Godoran soldier.
Not only Han Xiao, but all the mercenary groups were also invited to Godora’s Mother Planet to attend the government ceremony not long after. Showing their faces was a free advertisement, so no one rejected the offer.
The Black Star Army and Alliance Fleet took off and headed toward Godora’s Mother Planet together.
After just experiencing a war, all the players were excited. All kinds of screenshots and recordings were being posted to the forums.
Herlous was extremely excited. Han Xiao had promised to get rid of DarkStar, and he had always thought that there was little hope. He had stood behind Han Xiao and watched his every step. He had never thought this promise would be fulfilled in just a few years. At this point, Black Star’s promise only had one outstanding condition—sending hundreds of thousands of Supers to deal with the problem on Planet Sunil. Even though DarkStar was destroyed, Black Star would definitely not go back on his word on this one. The highly risky bet that he placed on trusting an unknown mercenary back then had paid off!
Inside the BlackLight Stealth cockpit, Han Xiao did not pay attention to the players’ actions as he would usually. After a long consideration, he had made a decision—he would foresee Ember’s whereabouts. Although he might waste one use of the Character Summon Card, he wanted to be mentally prepared in case Ember was still alive.
_____________
You have used [Character Summon Card: Destiny’s Child]
Usages: 4/5
_____________
The familiar fog covered his vision once again. Passing through the fog, a blurry image appeared before his eyes.
…
A mini DarkStar assault ship was speeding through the universe, escaping.
Ember was the only one on the ship.
Long before the ambush, he had felt uneasy and kept his alert up. When it happened, his reactions were the quickest. Realizing that there was no possibility of winning, he had abandoned the mothership, t
aking a small, fast assault ship. With a bit of luck and all his might, he had successfully escaped.
Hundreds of assault ships had tried to escape, but he was the only one that had succeeded. Ember had seen the mothership shattering into pieces under the barrage with his own eyes, and countless DarkStar warriors had turned to ash, floating in the cold universe.
DarkStar was finished, and Ember realized that.
Where should he go?
Piloting the spaceship, the dim light from the star map illuminated Ember’s face. He was lost without purpose.
As a wanted man who had slaughtered tens of millions of Godorans, Godora would never give up chasing him.
It seemed like there was only one path ahead of him—leave Garton Star System, or even Colton Star Cluster, go to another Star Cluster in the Shattered Star Ring, hide his name, and start a new life.
Thinking about this, veins filled his eyes.
He did not want to escape anymore.
DarkStar still had him; it was not the end for DarkStar!
“I am destined to become Godora’s nightmare. With slaughter, I will make them reflect on their traditions that are countless years behind. The bloodline belief they have is against the nature of reproduction. This twisted mindset is exactly what created us. After their confession, I will make them swallow the fruit of their thousands of years of the pureblood belief. DarkStar will build a new Godora above their ruins!
“Then, there will be no more pureblood; no one will feel superior for their blood. Discrimination will no longer exist; no one will be born lower than another!”
Those were the DarkStar leader’s hopes for him when he was young, and he had always remembered them in his heart and made them his faith.
“Godora will definitely host a ceremony to announce to the entire Star System that they have defeated DarkStar and that the purebloods’ reign is still strong…” Ember clenched his teeth. “When you people think that everything has ended and are celebrating your victory, I will tell the entire Star System that DarkStar has yet to disappear.”
He decided to go to Godora’s Mother Planet.
When Godora was holding their ceremony and was watched by the whole Star System, he would use his Esper ability and start a slaughter, destroying Godora’s victory announcement.
However, Godora Mother Planet was very dangerous, so he had yet to figure out a way to get in. There would definitely be a lot of Calamity Grade Godoran government officials at the ceremony as guards, so him doing so might cost his life.
As Ember was having a thousand thoughts and was about to make a decision, his communicator suddenly rang. It was a communication request from the DarkStar leader.
That’s right, the leader is still alive!
He came up with a better idea!
Ember’s mind recovered, and he was overjoyed that he had found someone whom he could rely on.
Chapter 585. Mastermind |
“Ember, are you the only one who escaped? What’s the situation now?”
The projection of the DarkStar leader appeared. Not too long ago, he had received many emergency messages from the upper echelons of DarkStar and found out that all the DarkStar motherships were being ambushed by Godora.
If Godora was able to lock onto their coordinates through some unknown means, DarkStar would not have anything to rely on anymore, and the situation would definitely be grave. He had tried contacting the various upper echelons to find out the news of the battle, but many of their numbers did not even respond.
After waiting for a long time, the DarkStar leader finally managed to contact Ember and immediately asked about the situation.
“All the motherships have been destroyed, and only a small number of people managed to escape. Our fleet is already gone…” Ember described the situation honestly with his fists clenched tightly and his teeth clenched.
The DarkStar leader fell silent before letting out a long sigh.
Their organization did not have any territory to their name, and those motherships were DarkStar’s moving bases. All their production, research, and training capabilities were concentrated within those motherships. Their many years of accumulation had been destroyed in a single battle. Their losses were incomparably heavy, and their foundations were completely destroyed.
Their entire organization no longer had any armed forces and was only left with the leader and a few escapees.
When the Mutation Disaster was resolved before the expected timing and they were forced to make a change in their plans, the entire plan was no longer within their grasp. Even if their plan was stopped midway, Godora would still be the loser, but now, Godora had actually managed to turn the tables around and launch an all-out attack to thoroughly destroy them.
As such, Godora’s losses had not been suffered in vain, and they had become the outright winner.
Who would have thought that the Mutation Source plan would become the final plan of their organization?
After pausing for a while, the DarkStar leader asked, “What are your plans?”
Ember hesitated for a moment before saying that he wanted to unleash a massacre at the Godoran ceremony.
“Ridiculous.” The DarkStar leader immediately rejected this plan. “With our fleet completely wiped out, we have to make further plans. Leave the Garton Star System first and meet up with me.”
Does this mean that I have to escape?
“Alright then.”
Ember was reluctant in his heart but could only swallow that feeling. He adjusted the course of his spaceship and set course to the nearest planet on the border of the Garton Star System.
As long as the leader is still around, we have a chance to rise up again.
…
In the Colton Star Cluster, in some Star System, the spaceship of the DarkStar leader was currently drifting in space.
After getting off the line with Ember, the DarkStar leader tapped on the spaceship’s control panel in deep thought.
After pondering for a long time, he stood up and left the control room. He then came to another walkway that was made from an alloy. When he walked to a specific location of the walkway, he knocked a few times on the wall. The spot that he knocked on did not seem any different from the wall around it.
Ka-cha.
The alloy panel slid open and revealed a secret chamber. An odd-shaped communicator was located within it.
An ordinary Galactic Communicator had many different designs. They could be worn or the wrist or even shaped in the form of glasses. There were some that were extremely simple spherical designs, and others followed civilian wristwatch designs. However, the communicator in the secret chamber was an old-fashioned design from many years back that seemed bulky and unwieldy.
Upon activating the communicator, lines of complicated encryption could be seen on the screen. The DarkStar leader keyed in many different passwords and confirmed his DNA before he could turn on the communicator. However, it seemed as though all the functions of the communicator were blocked, and he could only dial a single number.
Di di di…
The time spent waiting for the transmission to go through seemed extremely long.
Du…
The screen of the communicator then turned black, and a hazy, mosaicked face appeared on the screen.
The other party remained silent, and the DarkStar leader was the first to speak.
“Godora destroyed my fleet, and all my subordinates are dead. Only Ember is confirmed to be alive.”
The hazy figure on the screen moved, and a mechanical voice sounded from the communicator. “Got it.”
“I need a sum of money to build a new fleet,” the DarkStar leader said with a deep voice.
“This isn’t the time. Since you have failed, lie low for a while. You haven’t been caught yet, so Godora will be on guard against you. You cannot restore DarkStar to its former heights any time soon. If not, there will be a risk of exposing the source of your funds.”
“How long will
I have to wait for?”
“The day Godora forgets the name of DarkStar will be the day for you to make a comeback.”
“I do not wish to continue waiting,” the DarkStar leader said in a depressed tone. “I have already been under your control for a very long time. When will it end? All of you are extremely clear that I can only create destruction and cannot truly destroy Godora entirely. Just when will all of you be satisfied?”
“You will know when the time comes.”
“Humph, you guys provided me with resources very willingly in the past. Now that my organization has almost been wiped out, you are starting to shrink back. Do you think that I have lost my value and wish to go back on our agreement‽” The DarkStar leader raised his voice slightly.
“Are you threatening us?” The hazy figure fell silent. “I think that you are getting your target wrong.”
The face of the DarkStar leader changed slightly, and he said humbly with his head lowered, “My apologies, I spoke wrongly.”
“We will evaluate whether or not the transaction has been completed. Do not rush us. Remember, you were the one who chose to make this agreement with us; we did not choose you,” the hazy figure said. “Even without you, we can have a second DarkStar. At that time, the agreement will naturally be cancelled.
“So, you’d better watch your attitude…
“You’d better wait if we tell you to.”
“I understand,” the DarkStar leader said with a soft tone.
The hazy figure paused for a moment before saying, “In any case, this isn’t the time for us to make an appearance. You should leave the Shattered Star Ring and rebuild your forces in other Star Fields.”
The DarkStar leader nodded.
“Hmm… we can introduce you to another big shot in a different Star Field. If you can gain his aid, you may not need to lie low for too long. However, you have to prepare a sacrificial offering for him.”
“Sacrificial offering?”
“A Super who has a sufficiently powerful Esper ability,” the hazy figure said slowly. “You should understand what I mean, right?”
