Chapter 499 The Black Hand Behind the Scenes

The legion commander's office in the Black Star Palace held a bright, flat star chart sand table, hovering a meter above the ground, like a flat painting scroll. The dim blue light illuminated Han Xiao's face.

This star chart sand table was a miniature version of the explored universe, with two areas lit up: the Free Competition Zone of the Shattered Star Ring, and the Modo Civilization's jurisdiction in the Ancient Star Cluster.

Within these two areas were scattered points of light, each with a portrait or faction emblem floating above, representing their identity. Rothere, Lothern, Interpace, and others were among them.

Han Xiao slowly paced around the sand table, casually moving the points representing Lothern and Rothere into the Modo Civilization's jurisdiction, and muttered to himself,

"Rothere and Lothern are in position. Interpace will be here soon with the Germinal Financial Group..."

The scene resembled a chess player using the star chart as a chessboard, with his forces as chess pieces, making moves in the starry sky to construct a siege against the Modo Civilization.

Because of the Development Federation agreement and the glorious image the three great civilizations had deliberately created for him, he could not personally intervene. Therefore, in addition to the direct conflict in the Free Competition Zone, he needed some people to do the dirty work behind the scenes.

This time, Han Xiao devised a strike plan centered on the military and economic fields. The frontal battlefield was simple: surround and attack key points to deplete the Modo Civilization's armed forces and resources. There was nothing more to say about that.

The economic field was also a highlight. Taking advantage of the war and sanctions, he would shake the Modo Civilization's domestic economy. Inevitably, a large number of consortia and enterprises would go bankrupt. His Germinal Financial Group, in cooperation with the Infinite Financial Group and other commercial behemoths, would enter the fray, hunt down these assets, and suck the Modo Civilization dry.

The partners Han Xiao found for the Germinal Financial Group were not limited to the Infinite Financial Group. Nowadays, the Black Star Army was a huge community of interests. Han Xiao had connections with a large number of financial group heads. He contacted a bunch of people, and presented similar cooperation requests from the dual standpoint of the three great civilizations and the Black Star Army... Faced with such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, few financial groups refused to participate in the hunt against the Modo Civilization.

With his current influence and status, even staying in the Black Star Palace without moving, he could mobilize a terrifying amount of resources.

The resulting chain reaction might not cause the Modo Civilization's overall economy to regress by many years, but it would likely hurt its vitality.

Likewise, the Germinal Financial Group and its many partners could make a fortune from it.

"This is increasingly feeling like a mastermind behind the scenes," Han Xiao chuckled to himself, then pondered, "Now, only the last link is missing: monitoring the Shattered Star Ring, which is also to find the transportation line..."

The Shattered Star Ring bordered the Flickering World. If the Super Star Cluster Alliance wanted to transport reinforcements and supplies to the Flickering World, they would have to pass through the Shattered Star Ring. And the Shattered Star Ring was his own rear area. The army's eyes and ears were everywhere. As long as they monitored the Super Star Cluster Alliance's fleet movements here, they could follow the trail to find the crucial transportation line.

The Super Star Cluster Alliance certainly knew this, and would definitely use various means to conceal its fleet. It would be a battle of wits and courage. For them, maintaining the secrecy of the transportation line was the key to determining the outcome of the war.

"Sylvia and Melos have both been transferred to the Flickering World. Now the highest-ranking person in the Shattered Star Ring is Lagi. I don't trust him to handle things..."

Han Xiao shuddered and decided to quickly replace the person in charge.

"Hela and Sylvia can't be transferred back temporarily... Hmm, Nero has grown up. It's time for him to shoulder more responsibility."

The Shattered Star Ring was the Black Star Army's base camp. Its leading position was already stable. Monitoring the Super Star Cluster's movements would not be too difficult. It was just right to let Nero take charge and hone this kid's skills.

Nero was now in the prime of his life, and he already had the ability, but he lacked some experience. Han Xiao had always hoped to cultivate Nero into a capable person who could stand on his own. Leaving aside personal relationships, Nero himself was a high-level protagonist-type character with amazing potential, worthy of being cultivated as a core member.

It would be best if he could cultivate a tool person who was even more useful than Sylvia, so that he could be more worry-free. Anyway, Nero was a man, so he didn't need to worry about his hairline or various fatigue resistances. His liver was strong, and he could be used to death.

"That's right, Iso is good at finding people. We can invite him to serve as a consultant and temporarily act as Nero's assistant..."

Han Xiao stroked his chin, and the thought flashed through his mind.

Having an old man at home was like having a treasure. Letting Iso come forward could not only increase the chances of finding the Super Star Cluster Alliance's transportation line, but also allow Iso to pass on his valuable life experience to Nero, killing two birds with one stone.

He just didn't know if Iso would be willing to serve. The old guy had been idle in Longtan for decades. Giving him something to do should be what he wanted.

Di di—

Just as he was thinking this, the communicator rang. Han Xiao glanced at it, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

'Speak of Iso, and Iso arrives. Is this old geezer predicting that I was going to look for him again, and preemptively made a move?'

Muttering to himself, Han Xiao answered the call.

"Old man, did you know I was going to find you again?"

"I have something else to look for you about." Iso didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "I foresee a crisis coming from the Modo Civilization. They may have some unusual movements recently, and they should be directed at you. Be careful. They used a shielding device, so I can't get a clear prediction."

"Oh, I know." Han Xiao nodded, not finding it strange.

They were already targeting them like this. The Modo Civilization would definitely do something to try to salvage the situation. Even without Iso's reminder, he knew that Modo would definitely take countermeasures against him, and it was not strange to use a device to shield against prophecy, after all, he also had the identity of a "Prophet."

"You'd better be careful. Although I can't get a clear prediction, I have a bad feeling," Iso emphasized again.

"Alright, I'll pay attention to it later."

Han Xiao quickly recalled all the trump cards of the Modo Civilization that had been exposed in his previous life in his mind, and guessed all the possibilities of how they would deal with him.

"It's good that you take it seriously. You just said you were looking for me?" Iso changed the topic.

Hearing this, Han Xiao explained his intention to invite Iso to come out of seclusion.

"Invite me to serve... I have no objections, but I have to ask Ames. If she's not afraid that I'll take the opportunity to run away, then I don't care."

Iso thought for a while and did not refuse.

He had been cooped up in Longtan for decades, and he had entrusted Ames to Black Star, finding a good home for his daughter. With nothing to worry about, his soul, which sought excitement and death, was restless again and a little itchy.

"I'll talk to her about it when I have time," Han Xiao smiled.

Although he had a close relationship with Ames, he still had to be polite and say hello if he wanted to borrow someone from Longtan.

After talking for a while and reaching a consensus, Han Xiao turned off the communicator and looked at the star chart sand table, nodding with satisfaction.

In this way, the layout was basically completed. He didn't need to interfere too much. He just needed to wait for the chess pieces to start moving and let things develop as planned.

Han Xiao opened the interface and glanced at it.

"The 4.0 version is already more than halfway over. According to the current experience accumulation efficiency, before the end of the version, the experience I accumulate will be enough for me to level up to level 340 and complete the next tier advancement."

He had originally almost saved enough experience, but because of the battle with the Machinery Country, he exchanged his experience for awakening points in one go, adding nearly ten thousand points of Intelligence. Now that many days had passed, the experience had slowly accumulated again.

The divine transformation points brought by the four new universe treasures had already been added by him. Now his Mechanical Path Divine Transformation had reached the ninth layer, with considerable bonus. As long as he obtained another divine transformation point, he could trigger the large-scale enhancement every five layers again.

According to Han Xiao's estimation, when he reached level 340, maxed out the Mechanical Path Divine Transformation to more than 10 layers, obtained a few powerful talents from the Kunde Race mission, and created some new mechanical universe treasures, he should be able to turn the tables and suppress the Machinery Country.

At that time, even if the Machinery Country didn't come to provoke him, he would have to fight the Machinery Country and rewrite the "draw" record in a fair and square manner!

…

As the days passed, the war in the Free Competition Zone intensified. Under the chain reaction, riots and turmoil occurred simultaneously throughout the universe, and the situation was turbulent.

The three great civilizations' sanctions against the Super Star Cluster Civilization were extremely severe. The Super Star Cluster Civilizations were all under pressure, and various negative reactions appeared in their countries to varying degrees.

Among them, the Modo Civilization was in the worst situation. Not only had it suffered heavy losses from the Black Star Army in the Free Competition Zone, but its country was also gradually becoming chaotic. Assassination incidents occurred frequently, and the victims were all prominent figures from all walks of life, causing public panic. It was as if someone was deliberately inciting negative sentiments, leading to increasingly acute social contradictions and frequent riots.

At the same time, the economy was also affected to a certain extent. A large number of enterprises went bankrupt, and a large number of people lost their jobs. Even if the Super Star Cluster Civilization had a large family and a large business, it was impossible not to suffer losses when a large group of interstellar financial giants took advantage of the fire to loot.

If it were normal times, with the Black Star Army's power, it would have been impossible for the Modo Civilization to be so embarrassed. However, the three great civilizations were the main force of the sanctions, making the Modo Civilization overwhelmed. This environment provided Han Xiao with an excellent opportunity to cause trouble.

In just three months, the Super Star Cluster Alliance had tasted the taste of being in deep water, but with unlimited investment, the overall war situation in the Free Competition Zone had instead gained some advantages... except for the war zone where the Modo Civilization was located.

On one day, three months after the official outbreak of the conflict between the two sides, a fleet without any faction logos arrived in the Shattered Star Ring through the inter-star field Stargate. It was the secret force that was specially transporting the Transcendent Duo.

——

(Happy New Year, may all your wishes come true~)