by <unknown>
The upper echelons of the military began discussing this topic. Han Xiao and the others did not participate and listened quietly. After some discussion, the military finally came to a consensus. The meeting temporarily ended, and the participants passed down the order.
Secondary Dimension World, World Tree Blessed Race territory.
The roots of the trees formed a spiral-shaped pagoda that stood in the middle of the ground. Surrounding the pagoda were buildings formed by huge trees that formed a tree city. Countless members of the Blessed Race lived there.
Space cracks opened from time to time, and the battleships of the Blessed Race came and went.
Two figures floated in the blue-green sky, looking down at the tree city below. One was the Ancestral Tree King, and the other was a female figure in a gorgeous robe. Her skin was like tender leaves, glowing with jade green light. Her long white hair was spread behind her back, and there was a complicated and mysterious mark on her forehead. She was one of the 13 Ancestral Spirits, Hayleen.
“Your Excellency Tree King, why are you looking for me?” “I have a mission for you.”
“Please speak.”
“The Secret Tree King is not coming back. His crown needs a new master, and we also need a new Tree King. Are you interested?”
Hearing this, Hayleen could not help but look at the Ancestral Tree King with surprise in her eyes.
“Am I qualified to become the Tree King?”
“Of course, your magic strength has already reached the standard for this position.” The Ancestral Tree King nodded.
Hayleen narrowed her eyes. “I am indeed interested… but there are more powerful mages than me. Why me?”
“I only said that you are qualified, not chosen,” the Ancestral Tree King said calmly. “Under normal circumstances, the position of the Tree King will not be yours. What I mean is, if you want to become the Tree King, I can give you a chance. As long as you complete one objective, you will be able to inherit the crown of the Secret Tree King. The magic left behind by generations of Tree Kings is stored in there, and I believe you will be interested.”
“…What do you want me to do?”
“I know that your genes mutated in your early years, fusing with your own magic power, and you entered a rare ‘Warlock’ branch, forming some strange innate spells. You can use a very strange method to hide your existence, and you’re very good at stealth and assassination… Now that the civilization is facing an unprecedented threat, we need your ability to assassinate the Pivotal Snake’s infant protected by Black Star,” the Ancestral Tree King said with a deep voice.
“Are you asking me to die?” Hayleen frowned.
The Ancestral Tree King shook his head and raised his palm. A black-green liquid substance suddenly seeped out from his palm and floated in midair. Following that, the phantom of a golden leaf appeared beside him, and the two objects circled his palm.
“These are two key items to carry out the mission. One is a lethal poison that the mother tree specially synthesized to restrain her natural enemy. As long as you give it to the Pivotal Snake, it can quickly deprive the other party of their life force. Be it through injection or poisoning the food, it will be effective. This golden leaf is a child treasure derived from the mother tree, called the Leaf Concealment Robe. It can hide your tracks on all levels and enhance your stealth ability.”
Hayleen’s expression changed, and she took the two items hesitantly.
Seeing this, the Ancestral Tree King said indifferently, “The growth of the Pivotal Snake is very fast, and the mother tree’s perception of it is becoming clearer. Follow its guidance and you will be able to find its traces. As long as you can kill the Pivotal Snake, you will be the hero of the civilization. When you return, this tree crown will be yours!”
Hayleen played with the two items for a while and finally nodded.
“…I can try.”
Chapter 1430: Harrison’s Determination |
In a desolate universe belt in the explored universe.
The lurkers of the Star Alliance were paying attention to the progress of the battle on the news and were somewhat dissatisfied with the current situation.
“The three Universal Civilizations managed to repel the World Tree’s first wave of invasion, and also managed to stabilize the situation despite the sudden chaos. As expected of the three Universal Civilizations, they’re not that easy to deal with.”
“The World Tree’s attacks are a little weak… No, I should say that the three Universal Civilizations’ resistance is too strong.” They had leaked the information because they wanted to see the World Tree invade and bring despair to the three Universal Civilizations. However, the current situation was far from their expectations.
“The good news is that although the progress of the World Tree devouring the territory is slow, it will eventually cause the three Universal Civilizations to fall into a hopeless situation with no chance of turning the tables.”
“That’s right. The resistance of the three Universal Civilizations will gradually weaken and die.”
“I hope to see that day before my life ends.”
The members of the Star Alliance calmed down and gathered their confidence.
In their eyes, this was a long-term war that might last for decades or even centuries. They decided to wait patiently. No matter how long it took, they had to witness the three Universal Civilizations’ defeat.
Under the harassment of the World Tree’s full invasion, the lives of the galactic residents were extremely tough. Half a year passed in the flames of war.
The World Tree had launched a large-scale invasion of the various Star Fields on more than one occasion, and the three Universal Civilizations had been resisting nonstop. Both sides had fought back and forth for more than half a year, and hundreds of thousands of battles of various sizes had erupted in the cold universe.
The strategic command center calculated the losses. The total area of the planets lost and swallowed by the World Tree was about three and a half Star Systems. Compared to the Star Fields that had hundreds of Star Systems, this loss was not much. There were more than ten Star Fields in the explored universe, and the planets that the World Tree had taken away were just a drop in the ocean. According to this trend, the World Tree theoretically needed hundreds or thousands of years to defeat the Galactic Alliance Army and devour the entire explored universe. However, the three Universal Civilizations would not relax because of this. They would fight for every inch of land. The players followed the fleets to fight the invaders, and their experience quickly accumulated. The number of players who stepped into the Calamity Grade increased.
On the other hand, Karlot, Evans, and the other new Beyond Grade As were also rushing around the battlefields. They did not usually have so many combat opportunities, so their strength was growing rapidly.
Han Xiao was always guarding the shallow layer dimensions alone. In the past half a year, the World Tree Blessed Races had invaded seventeen times, big and small. They all either got killed or fled, unable to shake the secondary dimension defense line that he was guarding.
Other than that, Han Xiao had been focused on cultivating the Pivotal Snake, trying to find a way to make it grow and mate with the secondary dimensions to produce an embryo.
Originally, he did not have much hope, the Pivotal Snake infant was a baby after all. Reproduction was a pressure that it should not bear at its age.
However, what Han Xiao did not expect was that this experiment actually succeeded. Not only did the Pivotal Snake infant stick it up, but it was also very strong. It eagerly destroyed three secondary dimensions that gave birth to ignorant consciousness, leaving behind three embryos. However, after studying the ‘snake p*rno’ that was specially recorded, Han Xiao also found the reason.
Due to the pursuit of the World Tree and the dangers of the secondary dimension environment, the life of the Pivotal Snake was extremely difficult. Therefore, mating as soon as possible and giving
birth to offspring might be an instinct carved into their genes. Their reproductive ability was naturally mature, and they did not need to wait until they reached adulthood to give birth.
With the three embryos, he had finally opened the door to the breeder job. Han Xiao had spent most of his time on this, making the Stockman Realmless King bleed.
However, he did not turn the Pivotal Snake infant into a Virtual Life Form because of this. He planned to wait for the embryos to mature. After he had the second and third Pivotal Snake, he planned to try this.
On this day, Han Xiao received news from Oathkeeper and Kasuyi. They planned to visit him together, so he invited them to visit the base.
In the circular corridor of the observatory, three people walked slowly side by side, chatting. The dazzling aurora outside the window left mottled shadows on the three of them.
Han Xiao smiled and said, “How do you have time to visit me today? How’s the battle in the main universe?”
“The Galactic Alliance Army has repelled another wave of the World Tree invasion. We can take a break, so we came to see you.” Kasuyi smiled.
“What about him?” Han Xiao turned to Oathkeeper. “When did you guys get together?” “Are you even going to care about who I make friends with? Such a great superior,” Oathkeeper said with his hands behind his back.
“What are you talking about? I’m just afraid that you’ll be led astray by Kasuyi. He’s a veteran two-faced actor.” Han Xiao snorted.
“You have no right to say that about me.” Kasuyi inwardly rolled his eyes.
The three chatted for a while before getting down to business. “Speaking of which, some of the Beyond Grade As have died in this battle. When do you plan to revive them?”
Han Xiao shook his head. “Not at the moment. Although my authority is high, I will have to spend two to three months in the Sanctum. If I don’t stay here, it will be easy for accidents to happen. Protecting the Pivotal Snake is more important now, so I can’t leave yet.”
Oathkeeper nodded and suddenly changed the topic. “When the war is over, I will leave the explored universe. I will leave the Holy Accord to you.”
Han Xiao was stunned.
What are you doing? What enmity do we have? Why are you suddenly sticking a flag in my face? You are making me panic!
At this moment, Kasuyi smiled and said, “Me too. After this battle, I’ll leave with him.”
What? Are the two of you eloping?
Han Xiao had a strange expression. “This is what you came to talk to me about today? What are you doing? Why do you want to leave when everything is alright?”
Kasuyi shrugged. “It’s just a long journey. Although it’s convenient to stay in the galactic society, this is just a corner of the world. The universe is so big, I want to take a look.” …So capable? The Underworld is huge too. Do you want to take a look?
Han Xiao criticized inwardly.
“You can go if you want to. It’s not like I won’t let you go. Or do you want to see if I will make you stay?”
Oathkeeper said, “That’s not the case. The unexplored universe is filled with unknown dangers. We came to inform you in advance. We hope that every time you enter the Sanctum, you will use Revive on us. If we are still alive, there will naturally be no effect. If we unfortunately die and no news is sent back, you will be able to revive us.”
“That’s it? So, you guys are going out to have fun, and you want me to back you up at home?” Han Xiao said.
“That’s about it.” Kasuyi was not embarrassed at all.
Nc
Han Xiao was speechless. He waved his hand and said, “Alright, I’ll remember this… but aren’t you guys talking too early? The war is not over yet. Didn’t you hear the analysis of the Military Strategy Department? They predicted that this war would take another 200 to 500 years under normal circumstances.”
Kasuyi laughed. “That’s for the average person to see. How can we, the upper echelons, not know? As long as your Pivotal Snake matures, it will be time for us to officially counterattack. It won’t take that long.”
“That’s hard to say.” Han Xiao shook his head and said, “The Pivotal Snake is similar to most creatures. It has six stages of growth, namely the embryo stage, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Although the Pivotal Snake infant is growing quickly, it has only been less than a year since it broke out of its shell. At most, it is still in the infant stage, and it is still too far from adulthood.” “No matter what, the Pivotal Snake won’t take a few hundred years to reach adulthood. I estimate that it will take at most ten to thirty years,” Oathkeeper concluded.
“That isn’t short.” Han Xiao spread out his hands. “Therefore, the expeditionary army still has to continue moving. We have to search for the World Tree’s main body together. Now that we know each other’s strengths, we don’t have to worry about leaking information. The expeditionary army doesn’t have to be as secretive as before.”
Kasuyi suddenly thought of something and said, “By the way, is there someone called Harrison among your subordinates?”
“You know him?” Han Xiao was surprised.
“I went to reinforce a battlefield not too far away from Planet Aquamarine’s refuge planet, so after the battle, I went to Floating Dragon to take a look. Ames was not at home, and her manager, Jenny, received me. She knows about our relationship and wanted me to pass you a message.” “What is it?” Han Xiao was curious.
“She said she’s pregnant.” Kasuyi’s tone was playful.
“F*ck!” Han Xiao was shocked. “It’s not mine! I’ve never mated with her! Don’t talk nonsense!”
“What are you thinking?” Kasuyi raised his brows. “She said the child’s father is Harrison, not you. Why are you so agitated?”
“Phew, that’s good… Can you finish your sentence in one breath next time?”
Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief.
If Ames misunderstood that he had something going on with her sister, things would get interesting…
Kasuyi sized him up from head to toe and laughed. “How can a Transcendent be afraid of a mere Ames?”
“What do you mean scared? What do you know? No matter how strong you are, strength is not used to intimidate your family. This is called protecting the harmony of your family.” Han Xiao said with disdain.
Kasuyi did not comment and continued, “Anyway, Jenny told me to tell you that she hopes you can persuade Harrison to give up his position in the expeditionary army and not take the risk again. She doesn’t want her child to lose his father the moment he’s born.”
Hearing this, Han Xiao also stopped joking and told Phillip to check on Harrison’s current situation.
He did not have the time to dig into his subordinates’ privacy, and he only found out about this today. In the past, he only knew that the two of them had some ambiguous relationship, but he did not confirm their relationship. After some investigation, he realized that the two of them had only officially gotten together half a year ago. In the past decade or so, Harrison had been participating in the expedition in the secondary dimension and rarely contacted Jenny. He had originally thought that he would not be able to take care of her feelings, but Jenny did not know if it was because no one wanted her or because she was old and did not want to be alone anymore. Not only did she not have any complaints about this, but her feelings for Harrison also grew deeper instead.
More than half a year ago, the expeditionary army outpost was breached by the World Tree Blessed Race, and the expeditionary army suffered heavy losses. Harrison escaped with his life, and when the expeditionary army reassembled, he finally had the time to return to the main universe. He had escaped death, and Jenny was burning with passion. The two of them finally did it, and the long-distance relationship had come to fruition. They seemed to have made up their mind to reproduce, and they did not take any safety measures.
A month ago, Harrison returned to the expeditionary army and left Jenny’s side.
Han Xiao looked at the file and said, “No one seems to have recruited him. He returned to the expedition army voluntarily.”
Because of the Pivotal Snake, Han Xiao did not continue to force Harrison to participate in the subsequent expedition. Now, he realized that it was Harrison’s own doing.
“Why is this guy so proactive?”
Han Xiao was curious. Using the Realmless King as a transit station, he contacted Harrison, who had been branded.
A few seconds later, the call connected.
“Your Excellency Black Star.”
Harrison’s remote projection appeared and greeted Han Xiao respectfully.
“There’s no need to be so polite. It’s like this. Jenny is pregnant, and she told me to persuade you not to take the risk with the expeditionary army. Furthermore, you’re not the only one in the army. How about it? Do you want to go back?” Han Xiao went straight to the point.
Harrison shook his head. “I appreciate her kindness, but I won’t go back.”
“I noticed that you joined the expedition willingly. What were you thinking?” Han Xiao asked.
Harrison was silent for a moment before slowly saying,
“When I was on Floating Dragon Island, I came into contact with many refugees. Do you know their current state? They live in panic every day. Many of them can’t take the pressure and choose to free themselves, while those who are alive fear the unknown tomorrow. No one knows if they will one day become the target of the World Tree invasion. New religions are popular, and countless people are looking for comfort. Everyone is praying for the war to end soon.
You said that my luck is very good, and it’s very suitable for me to find things. I don’t know if it’s true, but I hope you’re right. I hope that this illusory luck will be of use and contribute to the end of the war as soon as possible.”
Han Xiao raised his brows and chuckled.
“Not bad, you’ve made me feel a little respect for you… However, you should know that we have a very high chance of winning now that the Pivotal Snake is in our hands. The expeditionary army is no longer the only way, and it might not be of any use. You’re not the only one in the army, and your actions might just be a waste of effort and a risk to your life. Why not go back and accompany your unborn child?”
