by <unknown>
“This isn’t beneficial to your prestige,” someone said with concern.
“There will definitely be a rebound effect when it reaches the peak.” Psyker sighed. “Regardless of worship or hatred, it will definitely slide in the other direction when it reaches the peak. When public opinion reaches the peak, there will be more and more people speaking up for me. That will be far more effective than trying to manage the situation now.”
“Is this really good?”
“There isn’t anything bad about it.” Psyker let out a long sigh. “My previous contributions cannot be an excuse for my mistake. The greater my radiance, the greater the shadow. My mistakes have naturally been highlighted. I do not want everyone to praise my good deeds. This humiliation will be motivation for our citizens.”
“We are only afraid that you will be disappointed in us,” one of his aides said.
Psyker was the leader of the Star Pupil Holy Race, but after becoming a Beyond Grade A, Psyker himself was no longer part of the Star Pupil Holy Race. This was a shadow in the hearts of many.
“Don’t worry. I will never forget my mother clan.”
Psyker shook his head. As a Beyond Grade A, his ideals would not be so easily shaken.
“The world is complicated, and I will never judge the world by looking at a small corner of it. The words of a small group cannot represent the entire race. At the very end, all these people will realize that regardless of how they curse, I will still be their leader, and this is something that they are unable to change.
“As for the current storm now…”
As Psyker spoke with a smile, a trace of fatigue could be seen in his eyes.
“Fire will burn out, and the storm will end eventually. We just need to do our job and wait for it to cease naturally.”
…
“The Star Pupil Holy Race has given in.”
On the mother planet of the Arcane Church, Psyker’s press conference was displayed in the conference room. The Bishops then fell into a moment of silence.
After a long while, one of the bishops said with a hoarse tone, “This way, the dynasty’s attitude should ease up slightly, right?”
Psyker had cut off his connection to the Evolution Cube and lost the ability to locate it. The Arcane Church had also decided to give up on the Evolution Cube for good.
“How is the discussion with the dynasty coming along?”
“The dynasty only agreed to allow us to ransom Mercer and Dylan. Their price is extremely high.”
“Hmm, pay the ransom for both of them first. This will satisfy the allies who are watching. As for Taylor and Sagman, the dynasty will not allow us to ransom them back too quickly, but our allies will understand.”
“Where is Ninjia?”
“He has already escaped through a secret stargate set up by our spies. He will be back soon.”
“Thankfully, the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter is with him.”
The Bishops then heaved a sigh of relief.
Of the six Beyond Grade As that they had sent out, four had been caught, one did not have anywhere to run, and only one managed to return to the Central Galaxy. Thankfully, the only one who returned was the one with the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter.
The Ten Thousand Deity Scepter was even more important than a Beyond Grade A in the eyes of the upper echelons. New Beyond Grade As would be born over time, but every Universal Treasure was unique.
Not losing the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter was their biggest consolation.
…
Because the Crimson Dynasty was searching the entire Shattered Star Ring, the spy could only construct the secret stargate in a desolate universe belt near the Shattered Star Ring.
A spaceship was currently rushing toward the stargate with Ninjia inside.
The stargate appeared within his sights, and Ninjia heaved a sigh of relief.
After entering this stargate, he would be able to skip past a few Star Fields and return to the Central Galaxy. After running for his life for such a long time, he could no longer endure such a life.
Hum!
Right at this moment, the spaceship trembled, and the engine of his spaceship was suddenly turned off.
“What’s going on?”
Ninjia was startled, and he tried to control the spaceship. However, all his orders were completely useless, and the spaceship did not react at all.
The body of the spaceship suddenly shook.
Rumble!
A gigantic pressure crushed down from all directions, and the spaceship was reduced to a pile of scrap metal.
Bang!
A spherical protective shield then appeared from within the wreckage of the spaceship. Ninjia covered himself with a magical shield and held onto the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter while observing his surroundings carefully.
Could it be that the dynasty had discovered the stargate and set up an ambush‽
Right at this moment, a voice rang in his head.
“It truly wasn’t easy to find you, ‘Divine Spell’ Ninjia. Hand over the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter, and I can let you go.”
As the voice sounded, the universe around him lit up with the light of hyperdrive, and many silhouettes appeared before him, filling the entire region.
Many pairs of expressionless eyes were fixed on Ninjia.
At the very front was a tall figure with his entire body shining with electrical bolts. The engravings on his body showed that this was a mechanical host.
Ninjia’s expression changed abruptly upon seeing the person before him.
“Manison‽”
Chapter 870. Manison“s Interes |
Blood trickled down in rivulets, flowing on the metallic surface like crimson snakes and converging into a pool of blood.
Ninjia was sprawled on the ground, covered with bruises and bloodstains. Underneath him was a huge mechanical suction cup in the shape of a triangle, lit with a faint blue light. It was this huge gravitational force that fixed him to the ground.
His hands, feet, and torso were also bound by heavy-looking black alloy rings. This was a special mechanical shackle. With a strong interference field attached and through the use of spatial conversion technology, it could disperse the energy released by the target.
At the same time, four pipes protruded from the ground on both sides, inserting into his spine and injecting nano worms that interfered with his pneumatic operations, causing his nervous system to go haywire, affecting his control.
Ninjia could only barely lift his neck. His vision was blurred but was fixed toward an area full of mechanical limbs, where a dense number of mechanical soldiers were surrounding him.
Both parties were currently on the surface of a steel fortress, a mobile base brought by Manison, and there were marks of battle and broken mechanical parts scattered everywhere.
Because space was locked by Manison’s spatial stabilizer equipment, along with magic jamming to render teleportation invalid, Ninjia could only fight.
However, with the numerous equipment and machinery he had with him other than the host he utilized for [Lord’s Descent], there were still four other Apostle Weapons, which made it such that Ninjia was not his opponent.
“I was waiting for you to utilize the scepter, but you did not. Now I can see why…”
Manison caressed the amber sealing the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter, feeling the energy insulation properties and letting out sounds of praise.
“To dare snatch even our Ten Thousand Deity Scepter, Manison, are you not afraid of angering my Arcane Church‽” Ninjia gritted his teeth.
“Don’t be mistaken. I’m not interested in the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter; I’m just doing the Federation of Light a favor.”
Manison eyed Ninjia before waving his hand.
A silver Apostle Weapon walked over, its body as smooth as a mirror without any sort of mechanical seams.
The Apostle Weapon squatted down, turned its fingers into spikes, and inserted them into Ninjia’s body. After which, its
entire body turned liquid and flowed into his body through the wounds.
Next, Manison released the shackles. However, the Apostle Weapon within Ninjia’s body suppressed his ability to control his body, and he could only glare at Manison.
“What do you want to do to me‽”
“The Federation of Light allowed me to kill you and destroy the evidence. However, your body is still useful to me.”
Manison threw out a compressed orb, which transformed into a restraint cabin, locking Ninjia within.
After confirming that he could not escape, Manison turned his head, gazing at the amber-sealed Ten Thousand Deity Scepter. An interested look appeared in his eyes.
“Oh, what a special new material, and it seems like Black Star has mastered the manufacturing method… I’ll find an opportunity to contact him.”
…
“Lost contact? Explain to me, what does it mean by lost contact‽”
The upper echelons of Arcane Church quickly received the news that Ninjia, who was supposed to pass through the stargate a while ago, had lost contact with them!
This gave the Bishops a big scare. They had thought that Ninjia had gotten away from danger and could successfully bring the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter back. To think that an accident had occurred.
Since they could not contact Ninjia, the worst possibility was that he had been ambushed and killed.
But even if he was attacked, he should have been able to send news back, or the Arcane Church should have discovered some abnormalities.
There was only one explanation for this… The attacking party had a Virtual Mechanic who was able to tamper with the data and prevent any communication.
The first suspect that the Arcane Church thought of was Black Star.
However, Han Xiao had been at the Star Pupil Holy Race not too long ago and was still en route to his headquarters. There was an alibi… but they did not forget that Han Xiao could command troops from a distance to complete the attack.
“If Black Star is the murderer, is he being supported by the dynasty? They have already captured four of our people and forced Psyker to apologize. Is this not enough?” someone wondered out loud.
“The possibility is not high. Both sides are in negotiations, and we have reached a preliminary conclusion. The dynasty knows that it is not beneficial to continue chasing and fighting them. If they take away our Ten Thousand Deity Scepter, it will force us to flip the table. I’m afraid it is not worth it for them.”
“Could it be that Black Star wants the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter and decided to move on his own?”
“But… if we think about it closely, this will give Black Star more problems than benefits. He has already obtained a huge benefit from this matter, and there is no need for him to also steal the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter. He will not be able to use it either, and just having it with him will cause numerous problems. The only way would be to give it to the dynasty. However, what we’ve checked about Black Star shows that he is not someone who enjoys taking risks, and he is still in his honeymoon period with the Dynasty. He would not do such a thing behind the back of the dynasty.”
The Bishops frowned. Everything pointed to the fact that Black Star was not involved.
Could it be that there were people who wanted to fish in muddy waters?
To be able to attack Ninjia, one had to fulfil two criteria. One was a strong enough intelligence network to be able to track Ninjia, and the second was to possess the ability of a Beyond Grade A Mechanic to be able to silently kill him off.
Thinking about this, a plausible answer floated up.
The Bishops present all lurched.
“Could it be… the Federation of Light‽”
The Shattered Star Ring was still their territory, and while it looked like they did not care, it would be careless for them to ignore their intelligence system. After operating for so many years, their network would naturally be seamless, and their intelligence gathering would trump the dynasty’s, who were newcomers in the region.
While the Crimson Dynasty did not spot Ninjia’s traces, the Federation of Light did. This explained everything.
The faces of the Bishops were green. The more they thought about it, the more it felt as though the Federation of Light was the culprit.
From the start, when they loaned out the Multi-Dimensional Sky Opening Transportation Device, that bunch of robbers had intended to fish in muddy waters.
This time, not only did the Arcane Church lose a lot of their Beyond Grade A combat power, they had also strained their relationship with the Crimson Dynasty. To the Federation of Light, this was their best chance.
The Bishops realized that this meant that their entire expedition had been captured and annihilated, and they almost spat blood.
Federation of Light, f*ck your mom!
At this time, the virtual screen on the conference table appeared, showing the command of the pope.
“Stabilize the situation with the Crimson Dynasty and redeem our allies… We’ll settle the scores with the Federation of Light at a later point.”
The Bishops exchanged glances, and within each gaze, they could see depression and helplessness.
Yesterday, they thought that at least the scepter was returning. Today, they once again received bad news. This feeling of falling from heaven to hell made them extremely uncomfortable.
It was a total loss.
Without evidence, the Federation of Light would never admit it. After all, both sides were of the same strength, so they would not be threatened.
They could only take things one step at a time.
…
On the mother planet of the Federation of Light, President Bader put down the communicator, smiling at the elders present.
“Manison has achieved the objective. The Ten Thousand Deity Scepter is ours.”
At his words, everyone revealed smiles of success.
The Chief Elder fiddled with his cane, praising, “Indeed worthy of being one of the strongest Ancient Ones. The Mechanic Empire is still as reliable as ever.”
Bader nodded with a smile. Manison was an ally whom he deeply valued, not because of his frightening power but because of their ability to appear at long distances and wipe out all evidence, perfectly completing secret operations.
“The Arcane Church will suspect the Crimson Dynasty and may even suspect us, but they have no evidence. Besides, they will not tell the world about theft of the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter.”
“According to our intelligence, the usage of the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter is simple. It’s just that we do not have the necessary skills to repair it. However, we can use it as a trump card with limited uses, as it can greatly damage a Beyond Grade A… Cough cough, just don’t use it in front of Black Star.”
“While it may infuriate the Arcane Church, we’ve earned big by obtaining the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter. This is also a chip to deal with the Arcane Church in the future.”
Many of the elders revealed smiles as they discussed their success.
“Manison said that the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter is sealed by the special material. When he returns, I’ll have the research team crack it.”
Bader’s tone was confident; he did not doubt that the seal could be removed at all.
Chapter 871. Business Snatching Mid-Version |
The little secret between the Arcane Church and Federation of Light was not made known to Han Xiao.
After leaving the star system of the Star Pupil Holy Race, Han Xiao’s fleet did not stop, returning to the headquarters of the Black Star Army.
In the previous gathering that the Tyrant hosted, Han Xiao had signed a few agreements with a large number of civilizations in the Shattered Star Ring and had also publicly sold access to the Evolution Cube in exchange for cooperation with the major civilizations.
This year was the first year of cooperation, and because Han Xiao would remain in the Shattered Star Ring for this period, he prepared to handle the slots purc
hased by the various civilizations this year and complete them.
In the past years, the civilizations had conducted numerous internal selections, confirming the list of elites who would undergo evolution, and had been waiting for this day. Upon receiving the notice, the teams were dispatched, and many elites from each civilization gathered at the Black Star Army headquarters.
Using the Evolution Cube as a bridge to reach better relationships with multiple star cluster and star system level civilizations was a key step in the expansion plan for the Black Star Army.
In Han Xiao’s blueprint, maintaining this sort of cooperation network for a long period would form a large network using the Black Star Army as a transit point. By that time, the power and influence of the Black Star Army would truly cover the entire star field, so Han Xiao paid a lot of attention to the cooperation in the first year.
Furthermore, there was an additional benefit. The people picked by the civilizations would all be elites, and there would definitely be well-known characters or protagonists within.
Letting them take the initiative to gather was better than him looking for all of them himself.
This is probably the alternate reality version of keeping the talents in the world for my own usage… Han Xiao mused to himself.
…
Spaceships of different styles landed at the Black Star Army headquarters, and elites of all races poured out as the hatches opened. They were led to the accommodation area under the guidance of the reception robots, causing the dock to be extremely lively.
These elites were all leaders back in their respective civilizations, and the majority were either Calamity Grades, military officers, potential Calamity Grades, or scientific researchers. All of them sized up the other elites as they disembarked, their expressions wary.
“This is the Black Star Army talked of in legends.”
