by <unknown>
“Plus, fear is the lock of desire. If we tell the truth to the revivors now, it won’t be easy to manage them anymore.”
Oathkeeper sighed and said, “But you’ll face too much pressure this way… You’re the one who will bring the revivors into the association, so anyone would think you know the truth. The three Universal Civilizations will definitely target you. Will you be able to deal with it?”
“It’s not a big problem. As soon as the association sees that the Sanctums can revive people, the Beyond Grade As will be united around me like never before. In addition, with my capability, forces, and the Underworld, it won’t be a problem to stand against the three Universal Civilizations for the time being. That way, there’ll be room for negotiation.”
Han Xiao smiled and made Oathkeeper not so worried.
Oathkeeper nodded and said with a solemn tone, “As long as you got a plan. Anyway, whether we can walk under the sun in the future all depends on you.”
…
The next day, Han Xiao went back to hosting the association and Kasuyi stepped down. Kasuyi contacted Han Xiao multiple times privately, trying to find out what Han Xiao acquired in this trip, but Han Xiao smoothly avoided the topic every time.
Reappearing again after going missing for four months did not attract too much attention. It was common for Beyond Grade As to travel, so the various organizations did not overthink about what Han Xiao had done while he was missing.
After waiting patiently for more than half a month, the three Universal Civilizations finally acted and sent Han Xiao a private meeting invitation.
“After observing for so long, they’re finally on the move, huh…”
In his room, seeing the invitation notification on the communicator, Han Xiao focused and sat up straight.
He opened the network link in the invitation letter, and his remote projection entered the online conference room.
The next moment, he came to a secret conference room. The remote projections of the leaders of the federation, the dynasty, and the church were all already there.
“Black Star, you’re here.” The dynasty’s ruler, Marbruce, smiled with his squarish face.
Han Xiao looked around, put on the signature smile of the eighth king of the Underworld, and said, “Your Excellencies, what can I do for you?”
“We haven’t officially congratulated you for being elected as the Beyond Grade A Association president, congratulations.” Marbruce nodded.
“Thanks.” Han Xiao smiled. “It’s all thanks to the support of the members.”
“We have high hopes for you. You’re more suited to lead the Beyond Grade A Association than Manison. We all agree that under your leadership, the Beyond Grade A Association will walk further on the right path…”
The few of them superficially praised each other as usual before getting to the main topic.
The federation president, Louis, stroked his moustache and said, “We’ve called you here today mainly because we need your help on a matter… The issue of the Beyond Grade A Association members privately spreading Ultimate Knowledges of the various classes has gone on too long. Manison deliberately allowed it when he was in office and ignored it. Now that you’ve become the president, we hope you can help settle this issue.”
Han Xiao raised his brow. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise it’ll work. After all, I can’t possibly interfere with the private life of every member.”
Knowing this was a perfunctory response, the church leader coughed and slowly said with a more serious tone, “Black Star, this issue is very important to us. This has lasted decades. We can’t possibly allow it to continue. There’s a limit to everything. We hope we can see the situation improve very soon.”
“I’ll do my best.” Han Xiao maintained a smile and did not reject it. He was not surprised.
The three Universal Civilizations never opened up the restrictions on the spread of Ultimate Knowledges legally, so the association members could only spread it privately. This was an important factor to attracting new blood, so of course, Han Xiao was not going to agree. The three Universal Civilizations clearly knew that too. Part of the reason they still deliberately brought this matter up was to test his position as the new president, and the other part was most likely to set the path for the ‘cleansing’.
If he rejected it, the three Universal Civilizations would have a justifiable reason to target the association. If the association compromised, the members would definitely be shaken. Arguments and split opinions would certainly happen too.
The three of them gave Han Xiao a meaningful look.
“We’ll wait for your results then. You won’t disappoint us, will you?”
“Of course. I’ve always believed in taking the win-win path; you guys know that.” Han Xiao smiled. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”
“Hmm, go do your stuff then.”
Han Xiao made a simple gesture to bid farewell and hung up the communication.
When his remote projection in the room disappeared, the three leaders remaining in the room looked at each other, nodded, and came to an agreement.
“Looks like it’s time to take action.”
Black Star replacing the Mechanic Emperor and taking office was the opportunity to act. This was because, to them, the biggest difference between Black Star and Mechanic Emperor was that Black Star knew all too well about avoiding conflicts, unlike the Mechanic Emperor, who was very headstrong. The chance of Black Star flipping the table was very low. This was one of the reasons they waited to act till Han Xiao took office—the personality of the leader was very important.
The three of them did not plan to target Black Star. Their plan was to kill some and poach some. Peak Beyond Grade As were not the three Universal Civilizations’ targets. Instead, they were even going to compensate and woo them during the operation so that they could divide the Beyond Grade As.
According to the personality analysis based on their large databases, Black Star’s predisposition to seek profit and avoid conflict was extremely strong. In order to protect his own interests, there was only a very small chance he would stand on the complete opposite side of the three Universal Civilizations for the other Beyond Grade As. As long as the operation was firm and cruel enough, Black Star would very likely step back to protect himself, which would give them an opportunity to divide the association.
The most ideal result would be the Beyond Grade A Association disbanding, fundamental and medium level members all dying, and most uncertainties eliminated, leaving only their direct members and the peak Beyond Grade As. This way, the three Universal Civilizations would once again gain control of the individuals with great strength, and everything would go back to how it was.
When the three of them were discussing the plan, inside Han Xiao’s office in the Black Star Army, he put down the communicator and mumbled, “The situation is about to reach the tipping point, looks like it’s time to bring the revivors out… there just happened to be a new member requesting to join the association recently, I can use the opportunity to announce their existence to the entire universe.”
…
Half a month later, at Beyond Grade A Association headquarters on Planet Finn, a small fleet slowly docked.
In front of the porthole at the bridge of the main ship, a skinny man looked out the porthole at Planet Finn.
“The Beyond Grade A Association finally accepted my request…”
Mahel was relieved, like heavy weights were lifted off his shoulders.
He was a new Beyond Grade A who stepped into this territory a few years ago, raised by a certain Star System civilization. Although the chances of this happening were extremely low, it was not completely impossible. Some civilizations would get unbelievably lucky once in a while.
As the one and only Beyond Grade A of the civilization, Mahel carried heavy responsibilities. After he stepped into the Beyond Grade A territory, he became the guardian of his civilization, earning benefits for
his civilization and stabilizing its forces in the local area. He did not join the Beyond Grade A Association as soon as he became a Beyond Grade A, but he also rejected the offers of the other civilizations.
He had only just requested to join the association, and he had come with a mission. He hoped to gain a hold inside the Beyond Grade A Association and bring more benefits to his civilization using the resources of other members.
Today was the welcome meeting the association hosted just for him. Mahel had made a lot of preparations for today. He even hired professionals to draft a script for his speech. He had memorized it and planned to earn the favorability of other members using this nice speech so that he could quickly blend in.
“Hope everything goes smoothly…”
The spaceship stopped at the dock. Mahel walked out and followed the receptionist into the temporary lounge of the venue. On the way, he kept rehearsing the speech he would give later on.
Very soon, Mahel came to the door of the lounge, pushed the door open, and walked in. He subconsciously looked around and was suddenly stunned.
In the room, dozens of people stood and sat around while casually chatting. Hearing someone had pushed the door open, they all stopped chatting and looked at him.
“Isn’t the temporary lounge for one? Did I enter the wrong room?”
Mahel was stunned for a moment. He took a step back, looked at the room number, and was confused.
I’m not wrong. This is the lounge for the rookie to wait to enter the venue. Isn’t this supposed to be my room? Where did these people come from?
At this time, the people inside the room suddenly started laughing. The people near the gate stood up, pulled Mahel in, and pressed him down on the sofa.
“Yo, finally, a real rookie is here.”
“Sit, sit, get something to eat.”
“This is the first time I’ve seen a rookie of the new era.”
The others all crowded around and sized him up curiously while chatting.
Mahel was stuck in the middle with no idea of what to do. He could not take it anymore and yelled, “Who are you? This should be my room. Please get out!”
Hearing this, the others exchanged looks and smiled. Suddenly, everyone’s body shook.
Boom!
The presence of Beyond Grade As erupted in an instant and disappeared the next second.
Mahel was startled. He froze in place and was totally dumbfounded.
All these strangers are Beyond Grade As‽
“W-who are you peop…”
Mahel’s eyes opened wide. His brain was short-circuiting, and he could not even speak properly.
Beiger joked, “Don’t be so nervous. We’re just like you, all rookies joining the association.”
“Impossible! How can dozens of new Beyond Grade As appear in the universe silently‽ Who are you guys‽”
Mahel stood up and lost it.
Isn’t today’s welcome meeting to welcome just me‽
Beiger smiled and waved. “We’re not strangers. Take a closer look, do you recognize us?”
Hearing this, Mahel hastily observed the people present. Suddenly, his expression changed drastically.
“I’ve seen your information… you’re Primordial Ones‽”
“Haha, I knew you would recognize us… Come on, don’t look at us like that. We just simply revived. It’s no big deal.”
Beiger patted Mahel’s shoulder with a smile.
As if his bones were shattered, Mahel lay flat on the sofa with no color in his eyes like he had lost his soul.
At this moment, his brain was completely blank. There was only one thought left in his mind…
When did I fall asleep?
Chapter 1259: Youngsters, Times Have Changed! |
While Mahel was doubting the meaning of his life, in the venue a few corridors away, the remote projections of Beyond Grade A members appeared on their seats and chitchatted.
“Another welcome meeting today? The last rookie was Aurora, and that was only about half a year ago.”
“I don’t know if you guys noticed, but the frequency of new Beyond Grade As in the past few decades seems to have increased quite a bit compared to before.”
“Indeed. I remember that very long ago, just three of four Beyond Grade As appearing in a few decades was already quite a lot, yet there have already been eight new Beyond Grade As in the past few decades. Although this kind of thing is very random, it does prove that the times are evolving.”
“That’s right. The population in the galactic society is increasing, the study of the Super system has been improving, and the Beyond Grade A seeds have been reaching their tipping points. There’s going to be a period with many new Beyond Grade As.”
The time before the meeting started was always for the members to chat and bond. They chatted casually, and it was boisterous.
Han Xiao’s projection sat in the main seat and looked at this peaceful scene with a smile.
Looking at how clueless everyone was, Han Xiao smirked slightly… These people had no idea that something huge was about to happen that would change the structure of the entire universe.
At this time, someone suddenly brought up a topic related to Han Xiao.
“I received the Federation of Light’s warning a few days ago, strictly prohibiting me from privately spreading Ultimate Knowledges. Your Excellency Black Star, did you know about this?”
Hearing this, many people added their input and expressed that they had received the same warning from the three Universal Civilizations. They all looked at Han Xiao.
Han Xiao glanced at the three Universal Civilizations’ direct members, nodded, and said, “I spoke with the leaders of the three Universal Civilizations not long ago. They hope I can solve the issue of privately spreading Ultimate Knowledges.”
“And what did you say?’ Manison asked.
“The three Universal Civilizations maintain the laws of the galactic civilization. I’ll do my best to cooperate with their work without affecting the operations of the association.” Han Xiao gave a meaningless answer with a smile.
Manison snorted softly. He knew that given how smooth Han Xiao was, he would not directly reject the three Universal Civilizations and would most likely agree verbally.
This time, a direct member said, “How do you plan to solve this problem?”
“I haven’t decided. Do you have any advice?” Han Xiao turned and looked at him.
“I think that one of the reasons the private spread of Ultimate Knowledges is happening is that the statute of the association is too lenient and did not clearly forbid it. I suggest improving the statute and heavily punishing those who disobey…”
While this direct member spoke, the other association members all shut up and exchanged looks.
The interests of the direct members of the three Universal Civilizations were different from normal Beyond Grade As. The two sides were the two most clear-cut factions. As the three Universal Civilizations became more and more dissatisfied with the acts of the Beyond Grade A Association, the conflict between the two factions grew stronger. People had already secretly proposed to Han Xiao to kick the direct members of the three Universal Civilizations out of the association more than once.
Han Xiao listened to the direct member for a while. He suddenly interrupted him and said with a smile,
“These suggestions are all not bad. I’ll consider them carefully. Let’s leave this topic to the next plenary. Today is the welcome meeting, after all. We shouldn’t overstep our bounds.”
He skipped this topic casually with a meaningful tone.
This direct member Beyond Grade A’s heart sank. He understood Han Xiao’s subtle warning and had no choice but to sit down reluctantly.
The other Beyond Grade As, however, were excited… ‘Shouldn’t overstep our bounds’ was a warning to the direct members of the three Universal Civilizations, telling them not to forget who the master of the association was and not to think the three Unive
rsal Civilizations could give them orders.
With Han Xiao’s subtle response, many people felt more at ease. As Black Star was quite closely related to the three Universal Civilizations, some people never stopped worrying about Black Star changing from taking the firm path like the Mechanic Emperor to compromising with the three Universal Civilizations.
Seeing this, Kasuyi helped to calm the atmosphere and said, “The president is right. We’re gathered here today to welcome the rookie. Let’s not talk business.”
Hearing Kasuyi, the atmosphere became joyful again. The people skipped over this topic and started guessing the identity of this new rookie. Some even set up bets.
After discussing it for a while, someone looked to Han Xiao again and joked, “President, the rookie of this time should be Mahel, right? It’s not going to be another new Beyond Grade A officer from the Black Star Army, is it?”
Han Xiao raised his brow, with a smile that was unlike a smile on his face.
“All I can say is… everyone is definitely familiar with them.”
The people chatted while waiting. After some time, everyone was finally present.
Seeing this, Han Xiao raised his hand, signaling everyone to quiet down. “It’s about time. The welcome meeting can start now. Let’s remain quiet and get ready to welcome the rookie.”
Hearing this, everyone became silent, turned around, and looked at the side gate of the room. According to the routine, the rookie always walked out from here.
Not long after, the side gate was finally pushed open. Mahel walked out and appeared in front of everyone.
The people started softly discussing right away.
“I knew it. It is indeed Mahel.”
“Haha, I guessed right. Give me my money.”
“Hmm? Why does he look weird?”
They sized up Mahel and realized that something was off right away. Mahel’s eyes were out of focus as if his spirit was not here, and he was frozen.
“What’s he doing standing there and not coming here?”
“Why isn’t he saying anything? He’s not mute, is he?”
