Chapter 1 Rodick's Idea

Rodick's eyes flashed. "Tell me your thoughts."

"What do you think are Black Star's weaknesses?" Lagos looked around.

Hearing this, everyone fell into contemplation.

"Black Star's power is astonishing, his body is tough, his foundation is vast, his prestige is at the top…" Rodick's expression was unsightly. "I can't think of any weaknesses he has."

"Then to put it another way, what does Black Star care about?"

"His legion? But we can't shake their foundation… His homeworld? It's heavily protected, with no opportunity to attack, and this kind of small problem isn't enough to make Black Star unable to attend to other matters… His executives? As far as I know, important members of the Black Star Army are equipped with teleportation devices similar to the High-Dimensional Apocalypse Transporter, which can't be blocked, so it's impossible to threaten Black Star with this… As for other things, Black Star doesn't seem to care much."

The more Rodick spoke, the more desperate he became. In his opinion, unless the higher-ups used a group army to encircle and suppress Black Star regardless of casualties, there was no way to deal with him.

Lagos shook his head.

"Black Star is indeed powerful, but don't exaggerate it too much. Get rid of the shadow in our hearts and re-examine him. In fact, there are still some ways to achieve our goals. We can divide them into two routes: direct and indirect."

Rodick felt a glimmer of hope. In the past few years in the Free Competition Zone, Black Star had become his biggest headache. Hearing this, he couldn't wait to ask, "Tell me quickly."

"The direct route is very simple: start with Black Star himself. Although we can't erase his physical body, his soul is not as resilient as an immortal body."

Hearing this, Rodick was immediately discouraged. "So what? Even if Black Star's spirit is relatively weak, it's not something we can target. At least a peak Super-A Grade is qualified, right?"

"No, no, no, take a look at this file."

Lagos slid his finger across the virtual screen and released a confidential file.

Rodick looked over and muttered to himself, "Marvel Project file, project number -023, project name - [Soul-Turning Twins]… What is this thing?"

"This is a top-secret document that the higher-ups sent me not long ago, about the Marvel Project. I don't know much about it either. According to the higher-ups' description, this project is one of the civilization's plans to secretly cultivate special Esper talents."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone nodded one after another, not surprised at all.

Because they coveted the position of overlord of the three major civilizations, the Super Star Cluster civilizations had always known how to hide their trump cards and had formulated many plans to secretly cultivate special talents. After the Fall of the Pinnacle, there were even more similar plans. Some direct descendants of the Super-A Grade hidden in the secondary dimension world were products of different secret cultivation plans.

This matter was considered a semi-public secret among the advanced civilizations, and the three major civilizations also knew something about it, but they were not clear about the details of each plan.

"You're saying these two people can deal with Black Star?" Rodick expressed strong suspicion. "Impossible, right? These twins aren't even Super-A Grades. Can they hurt a hair on Black Star's head?"

"You've also subconsciously fallen into a misunderstanding. It's not just Super-A Grades who can hurt Super-A Grades! Although these twins are weak, they are the only two qualified to use a special universe treasure, and this universe treasure belongs to the category of universe wonders. It has miraculous effects on the soul level, and it has never been seen before. Maybe it can be effective on Black Star."

Rodick hesitated for a while and gritted his teeth. "Anyway, there's no other way. Let's apply to the higher-ups to transfer these twins to help… What's the other indirect route you mentioned?"

"The indirect route is to attack the people around Black Star. Looking at his experience so far, there are very few people he values. Among them, his relationship with Dragon Emperor is relatively subtle. If Dragon Emperor has a problem, perhaps he can temporarily put aside everything at hand and restrain the Black Star Army."

Rodick was shocked. "Why target Dragon Emperor?"

"Legion executives like Hela are under heavy protection. In comparison, there are more opportunities on Dragon Emperor's side."

"Didn't you say that Black Star equipped the people he values with special teleporters? Dragon Emperor can't be unprepared. How can we deal with her?"

"What I mean by dealing with her doesn't mean a martial encirclement and suppression. After all, she's also a Super-A Grade, not someone who can be easily manipulated…" Lagos pondered. "But imagine, what if Dragon Emperor suddenly had a drastic change in temperament and committed a heinous crime? Black Star can't turn a blind eye, right?"

"You mean…"

"I have two plans. One is to have the [Soul-Turning Twins] assassinate Dragon Emperor and distort her thoughts. This has a higher success rate than directly dealing with Black Star. The second is to find a way to get Dragon Emperor into a whirlpool and incur public anger, such as violating the peace treaty and massacring civilians on a large scale. In this way, Black Star has no choice but to shift his attention."

"Let's not talk about the first plan. How do we do the second plan?"

"It could be framing, or it could be inducing Dragon Emperor to go crazy. According to the information, she has a very obvious weakness…" Lagos' eyes flickered. "The specifics still need to be discussed in the long term."

After hearing these words, Rodick's eyes lit up.

It felt like it was a little reliable!

…

Among all the war zones in the four star clusters, the Ferdinand Star System war zone in the Emerald Star Cluster was particularly eye-catching. The reason was that the Black Star Army was advancing rapidly, tearing apart the outer defense line formed by the Agent forces and pointing directly at the important territory of the Modo Civilization located in the central ring area.

Although the Black Star Army openly stated that it was only targeting the Modo Civilization, one move could affect the whole body. The army's current actions had already had a profound impact on the overall war situation in the Emerald Star Cluster. The outer defense circle constructed by the Super Star Cluster Alliance had been opened with a gap.

Taking the Black Star Army's offensive direction as a breakthrough point, a large number of forces standing in the camp of the three major civilizations chose to follow the army and try to break into the territory of the Modo Civilization along the gap, which was one of the hinterland locations of the Super Star Cluster Alliance.

The Super Star Cluster Alliance tried to fill the gap and could only transfer reinforcements. Even if the Agent forces were unwilling, they had to come over to contain the advance of the Three Great Civilizations' Allied forces led by the Black Star Army.

The Modo Civilization also had to send out a portion of its regular army, cooperate with the Northern Front and other player guild alliances, and jointly block the army, barely dragging the Black Star Army to the battle line from the fifth to seventh star area.

This battle line had also become a vortex of war in the Emerald Star Cluster, attracting a large number of armed fleets to gather, turning into a meat grinder. The Ferdinand Star System war zone had become the most intense area of the current war situation.

The war in the Shattered Star Ring was in full swing, and the three major civilizations were not idle either. They promulgated measures to sanction all Super Star Cluster civilizations in multiple fields and began to erode the national power of the various Super Star Cluster civilizations from political and economic aspects, so that they could not concentrate on investing in the war.

As a result, a large number of business personnel from the Germinal Financial Group boarded fleets returning to the explored universe and headed to various star fields.

…

In the spaceship, Intrepid, the current Vice President of the Germinal Financial Group, looked out the window, and the dazzling tail flames of the fleet were reflected in his eyes, muttering to himself:

"Unconsciously, it's been more than twenty years…"

He touched the small mustache on his lips, and a complicated look flashed in his eyes.

The scene of being half-forcedly taken away by Black Star was still vivid in his mind. In the blink of an eye, many years had passed. Intrepid had changed from a young man with some business talent to a middle-aged businessman with a sharp eye and rich experience. His position had also been promoted all the way to Vice President.

At first, he was unwilling, but later he came to terms with it. Then, in order to get promoted, he worked hard to achieve his goals. Now, he had become accustomed to serving the legion, working hard and seeking benefits for the legion.

Whenever he thought of the past, Intrepid had a dreamlike feeling.

He was originally just the leader of a small financial group. He never thought that he would become an important clerical cadre under the Black Star Army and ascend to the top stage of the universe.

Seizing the opportunity of the upheaval to shake the economic stability of an advanced civilization, not only earning huge profits but also affecting the changes in the situation of the universe—this was one of the top achievements of an interstellar merchant!

Those who could do this were all business giants in the universe.

If it wasn't for Black Star, the guide, he would probably only be able to make a name for himself in the small pond of a star system. He couldn't even imagine his current life.

If he had to say that he was grateful to Black Star, he was indeed a little bit, but Intrepid was more moved by the change in his own destiny.

At this moment, the secretary walked in with a virtual document in his hand.

"Vice President, the Infinite Financial Group has drafted a cooperation agreement and needs your signature."

"Okay, bring it here."

Intrepid put away his thoughts, quickly glanced at the terms of the document, and then signed his name.

He kept in mind that he was carrying a mission on this trip.

Cooperating with the Infinite Financial Group to get a share of the economic sanctions was just the surface reason. There were two real tasks.

One was to focus on attacking Modo in the economic field, and the other was to help intelligence personnel lurk and monitor the movements of the Super Star Cluster civilizations' supplies and troops.

The lifeline for the Super Star Cluster Alliance to maintain the war was logistics transportation. If they could not get a steady stream of assistance, the troops in the Free Competition Zone would only be a defeated lone army. Therefore, the legion commander privately gave him a task to find out the transportation lines of these civilizations through the resource movements of the Super Star Cluster civilizations.

As long as they could control or cut off the transportation lines of the Super Star Cluster Alliance, the troops in the Free Competition Zone would be a group of turtles in a jar.

After more than twenty years of contact, the image of Han Xiao in his mind was one of deep thoughts and far-sightedness. He knew very well that his legion commander was planning, and he was just a chess piece among them, and he needed to be placed in the right position.

…

On the other hand, the Black Star Army's frontline exploration base.

A group of players gathered in a private room, heads crowded together, noisy.

"We've been waiting for almost twenty minutes. What are you calling us here for?"

"Were you also notified by Phillip to come here?"

"Yeah, I don't know what we're doing here."

Many players were talking.

Everyone present had just arrived at the exploration base, ready to join the next fleet to attack the Modo Civilization. But just as they arrived at the base, they suddenly received a notice from Phillip, asking them to come to this room and wait for orders.

This situation was generally a precursor to triggering a mission. Not many people refused, and most of them came. Now there were about two thousand people in the room, most of whom were veteran players who had joined the legion early on, and some were even members of certain China club guilds.

Just as everyone was discussing, a strange noise suddenly sounded in the room.

Buzz—

A virtual projection appeared in front of the crowd, immediately attracting everyone's attention. Many people widened their eyes in surprise.

"Black Star!"

The projection that appeared in front of everyone at this time was Han Xiao.

Han Xiao looked around at the curious faces and nodded:

"Everyone, I'm the one who notified you to come here. You are all veterans who have followed the legion for many years and are trustworthy. I have selected you among everyone, and I hope to entrust you with a secret mission."

Hearing this, everyone present couldn't help but widen their eyes.

We were specially selected by the legion commander?

Ah, the fragrance of a hidden mission!

"What do you want us to do?" A bold player shouted excitedly from the crowd.

Han Xiao smiled slightly:

"I need you… to act as spies!"

With that said, he released the "secret mission" that he had already written to the players present. All of them lost focus in their eyes, revealing a look that they were looking at the panel.

Many foreign clubs had placed spies in his place, and Han Xiao was preparing to use his own methods to return the favor. He sent some legion players to pretend to join those guild alliances to find out information, and also placed spies in the Modo Civilization to investigate the information on the transportation lines.

For this reason, he would hide the files of these players in the legion and "whitewash" their identities to play a game of Infernal Affairs, which was not difficult for a Super-A Grade virtual mechanic.

Knowing the transportation lines was not to completely cut off the hope of the Modo Civilization, but to better encircle the point and attack the reinforcements. He grasped that the Modo Civilization would never easily give up the Shattered Star Ring. As long as the other side could survive, then the Modo Civilization would insist on investing troops and continuously sending soldiers into this meat grinder.

Not only could he meet his own mission needs, but he could also allow the Black Star Army to continue to intervene in the situation—after all, if Modo was gone, the Black Star Army would have no reason to intervene in the war.

And this was just one corner of the strategy. Han Xiao was secretly laying out plans in many aspects, preparing to weave a large net to cover the Modo Civilization, making it a prey on the web, with no way to escape.

For this reason, he even secretly contacted an old friend who had not been in contact for a long time, a dangerous anti-social element, a powerful bewitcher, a very useful tool in his mind…

Loserleine!

By offering this great weapon, it was not difficult for him to imagine what kind of changes would occur within the Modo Civilization…