Chapter 1 The Start

The black hood was yanked off, and Han Xiao opened his eyes. The blinding white light made him squint involuntarily, and it took a few seconds for him to gradually adjust and see his current situation clearly.

He was sitting on a cold, hard iron chair, with a table in front of him and a one-way mirror on the wall beside him.

Two people were sitting across the table: Li Hui and Feng Jun.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm an intelligence officer with the Star Dragon Defense Bureau." Feng Jun's tone was gentle. "We've met before. Do you remember me?"

"I remember," Han Xiao said lazily. "The man with the deep pockets."

Feng Jun was speechless. Could he please not bring that up?

"Thirteenth Bureau, Li Hui." Li Hui's expression was stiff, and his tone was even stiffer, making you feel that his turds were hard as rocks.

The Star Dragon Defense Bureau had a total of thirteen departments, referred to as the Thirteenth Bureau.

"Should we call you Han Xiao, or Zero?" Feng Jun got straight to the point.

"Whatever."

Li Hui interrupted, his attitude forceful, cutting straight to the chase. "Enough nonsense. Explain your million-dollar bounty. Why is the Germination Organization after you? What intelligence do you possess? Tell us everything."

Han Xiao said with interest, "Why should I tell you?"

Li Hui sneered, "What do you think this place is? We want you to say something, and you'll say it!"

Feng Jun quickly smoothed things over. "Alright, alright, calm down. Han Xiao, you know who we are. Cooperate a little; it'll be good for you."

Han Xiao shifted his body, adopting a more comfortable posture. "One playing the black face, one playing the white face. How many years have you been using this routine? Can't you switch it up? Looking at you two serious old men, I don't even feel like talking. Do you understand smiling service? Stop being so uptight. Come on, smile."

Feng Jun's face froze, and he coughed dryly, discreetly winking at Li Hui. Li Hui understood, pretending his anger was maxed out, suddenly standing up and pointing at Han Xiao, shouting, "This isn't a place for your jokes! I can throw you in prison indefinitely!"

"Such impressive power."

Han Xiao suddenly withdrew his joking expression, his gaze sharp. "I come from the Germination Organization. Threatening me? Intimidating me? Do you think that'll work? Don't embarrass yourselves with such childish tricks.

"If you want me to cooperate, fine, then show some sincerity. Let someone important talk to me.

"You're not qualified!"

His tone gradually rose, and at the last sentence, Han Xiao even yanked at the handcuffs with both hands, the chair lifting an inch off the ground before falling back down with a bang, echoing loudly in the enclosed environment.

Feng Jun and Li Hui exchanged glances. Their mission was to test Han Xiao's attitude. Han Xiao knew this very well, so he deliberately acted fearless, wanting to tell the people monitoring behind the one-way mirror, "I have trump cards."

Just then, a deep male voice came from the interrogation room's speakers. "As you wish, I'll talk to you."

"Who are you?" Han Xiao looked at the one-way mirror, knowing it was the person behind it who had spoken.

"Thirteenth Bureau, high-level intelligence. Am I qualified enough?"

Han Xiao chuckled. "Barely."

Li Hui and Feng Jun's eyelids twitched. This guy was shameless!

The high-level intelligence officer wasn't offended. "You said earlier that you're a member of the Germination Organization..."

Han Xiao interrupted, correcting him. "Used to be."

"So you defected?"

"Yeah."

Han Xiao smiled inwardly.

"What was your position?"

"A logistics researcher."

"Researching what?"

"Mechanical weapons."

"You're lying." The high-level intelligence officer said decisively. "That's not enough to explain your million-dollar bounty."

He was waiting for that question. Han Xiao's face remained calm. "Rather than saying you think I'm lying, you're actually hoping I possess something equal to the bounty's value—intelligence. That's why you've been investigating me, instead of using forceful methods."

"Intelligence is only useful in the hands of a force with the power to act. My exposing my whereabouts represents my sincerity in cooperation. I am an enemy of Germination, not an enemy of yours."

The high-level intelligence officer said in a deep voice, "Why should we cooperate with you? Look around you. This is our territory. We have plenty of ways to make you talk!"

Han Xiao was unhurried, suddenly saying, "Communication record, Star Ocean Calendar 687, June 14th, signal origin: Aquamarine Star, target: DarkStar's Eighth Fortress, content top-level encryption."

The high-level intelligence officer was silent, silent for a full ten minutes.

Li Hui and Feng Jun were shaken, realizing that this message they didn't understand had attracted the high-level intelligence officer's attention, even requiring him to consult with higher-level leaders.

When the high-level intelligence officer spoke again, his tone was extremely serious.

"Can you confirm it?"

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, would I know about DarkStar?"

Han Xiao smiled. "Now, can we talk about cooperation?"

"...Fine."

The high-level intelligence officer's tone was grave. If Han Xiao was telling the truth, this intelligence was extremely important to Star Dragon and even the entire planet.

Han Xiao secretly smiled. This was a prepared statement he had long had ready.

Everything had to start with the world's background. Since the Exploration Era, the three great galactic-level civilizations had clashed for tens of thousands of years, with none able to destroy the others. The Dark Forest Law was the primitive form of galactic society. Just like the process of every historical development, when chaos and barbarism ended, order arose. The three great galactic-level civilizations reached a consensus, coexisting peacefully, jointly exploring the universe, and establishing an order system.

The universe was never lonely. Stars shone, countless races were active in every corner of the universe, and interstellar fleets as numerous as the stars traveled through the waterless ocean of the cosmos. Countless messages flowed through electromagnetic waves or optical communications in the universe, waiting to be captured. Countless thoughts and ideas intertwined, turning into psychic whispers, like invisible ocean currents, lurking in the void.

Silence was only an appearance; the universe was bustling.

Every civilization went through this stage, looking up at the stars, guessing whether there were beings like them among the stars, thinking they were the only intelligent life in the universe, stepping into the universe with the pride of the Chosen One and the ambition to conquer the galaxies, only to find that the starry sky wasn't theirs to conquer. They weren't alone, but they weren't special either.

The explored visible universe was divided into many star fields, such as the Shattered Star Ring, the Ancient Star Desert, the Silver Arm, the Sea of Astral Spirits, etc. Each star field contained dozens of star clusters, and star clusters were further divided into different galaxies, then numbered star regions, and finally to the countless planets, level by level, forming a bizarre and dazzling world of stars.

Aquamarine Star's large coordinates were: Shattered Star Ring, Colton Star Cluster, Garton Galaxy, Ninth Star Region, Aquamarine Star.

As for precise positioning coordinates, they were multi-dimensional coordinate systems composed of multiple axes, using complex algorithms combining letters and numbers.

The interstellar force that came into contact with Aquamarine Star was a higher civilization from the Garton Galaxy—Godora. And DarkStar, which Han Xiao mentioned, was a power of ambitious individuals who had broken away from Godora, constantly thinking of overthrowing the Godoran government and changing the world. The two were mortal enemies.

The starry sea was vast, with countless powers and civilizations intertwined. The level of a civilization largely depended on its mobility in the universe. For example, the Godoran civilization, without relying on stargates and wormholes built by higher civilizations, could travel across star regions. Therefore, Godora was considered a galaxy-level civilization, several levels higher than Aquamarine Star. DarkStar was the same.

If the Germination Organization had contact with DarkStar, obtaining DarkStar's resources and even military support, the six nations would be in great trouble. An evil, ambitious power like DarkStar might not abide by the *Pan-Universal Civilization Contact Treaty (Seventh Revised Edition)* established by the three great galactic civilizations during the Exploration Era.

The details of contacting interstellar forces were a secret of the six nations. He didn't doubt the truth of what Han Xiao said, so the high-level intelligence officer was very nervous.

In reality, the Germination Organization had never contacted DarkStar. Anyway, they couldn't verify it, so he could say whatever he wanted.

Only by throwing out explosive intelligence could he make the Thirteenth Bureau value him more and increase the Germination Organization's threat in Star Dragon's eyes, which would greatly help his main mission. Why not?

Relying on Star Dragon was a temporary measure. Han Xiao wouldn't always depend on others. The Thirteenth Bureau couldn't completely trust him. Cooperation between the two sides was just a charade, using Star Dragon as a stepping stone. Wholeheartedly working for others was out of the question. Using Star Dragon's power to deal with Germination, grinding experience, and when his wings were full, Han Xiao would kick away Star Dragon and strike out on his own.

"I've written down all the 'special treatment' you've given me in my little notebook, and I'll settle the score with you later." Han Xiao shook his handcuffs, thinking to himself.

Each newbie planet was like an independent server, with different main storylines. Han Xiao, out of interest, had specifically researched the events experienced by various forces in the galactic world at different times, and now they had become valuable intelligence.

Newbie planets were far apart. There were specialized interstellar travel agencies that provided travel services. As long as you used an interstellar communicator, you could contact these travel agencies. They would automatically locate the source of the information and rely on the transfer stargates built by the galactic-level forces in various star clusters and galaxies to shuttle and jump. As long as you could afford it, you could cross the entire visible universe. After all, the professional league faced players from all planets. If they couldn't gather together, how could they compete? Large-scale activities and competitions for ordinary players were usually held on neutral or uninhabited planets.

"Give me a Star Dragon map and a pen."

Han Xiao suddenly said.

Feng Jun spread a Star Dragon map on the table. Han Xiao picked up the pen and circled three locations, writing brief introductions. "These are three secret sub-bases of the Germination Organization within Star Dragon's territory. Consider it my sincerity in cooperation."

"You only know three?"

"Of course not just three. Wait until you verify the accuracy of my information before we talk about the rest."

It wouldn't be good for him to tell them everything at once. Han Xiao wouldn't reveal his bottom line easily.

"What are your conditions?" The high-level intelligence officer asked the key question. Feng Jun and Li Hui both perked up their ears.

Han Xiao smiled inscrutably. "I just want to cooperate in dealing with Germination."

That's all?

"I'll report your situation to my superiors. In the meantime, I'll have to trouble you to stay here."

The high-level intelligence officer closed the communication.

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and shook his handcuffs. "Don't keep me waiting too long. I only took one day off."