Chapter 1 The Rewards of the Mission

The Domino Virus blueprint rewarded by the mission was an incomplete version. Many key details were missing and needed to be deduced before it could be manufactured. Furthermore, the result of the deduction might not be exactly the same as the original, and the technology might differ.

"Deducing a damaged blueprint of this level is troublesome. Awakening Points can quickly exchange for research progress, but that seems a bit wasteful. I'd rather slowly develop it myself…"

Han Xiao thought to himself.

Fate was truly fickle. He had thought that he had destroyed the Domino Virus, but the technology still ended up in his hands. The outside world now believed that the virus had been destroyed by him, so Han Xiao naturally couldn't reveal that he possessed this technology, or the consequences would be unimaginable, a complete reversal of his current treatment.

Besides, the core material required a thousand distorted intelligent lives, which were not easy to find. Manison had plenty of stock, but he had just finished fighting him tooth and nail. It was unrealistic to buy resources from him, and the old codger might notice something from the project he was buying.

Therefore, this technology could not be made public for a long time. Perhaps only when facing public enemies like the World Tree would he be able to use it.

"Thinking about it that way, there seems to be some reason why the Mechanic Emperor didn't use the Domino Virus in the World Tree War in my previous life."

Han Xiao suddenly understood a little.

Unless the war situation was beyond redemption, even if taking out this weapon could gain an advantage, it would lead to endless trouble after the victory.

Perhaps, in his previous life, the Mechanic Emperor had treated the Domino Virus as a dead man's switch. When the situation was irreparable and the three Universal Civilizations were truly powerless to turn the tide, he might release the Domino Virus and then use his large number of Ruler clones and mechanical troops to fight a guerrilla war with the World Tree.

Han Xiao couldn't help but connect one thing. In his previous life, the three Universal Civilizations, considering the possibility of defeat in the war, implemented the Tinder Plan, sending out a large number of wandering fleets to distance themselves from the explored universe. At the same time, they established a large number of shelters deep in the secondary dimension world, which contained samples of all intelligent creatures, crops, plants, animals, and so on, in the explored universe to ensure the civilization could be restarted after defeat.

Could it be that the Mechanic Emperor had set his sights on these shelters? His plan might be to use external forces to destroy and then establish himself, fleeing far away to rebuild a world that revered him as the creator god?

If his ultimate goal was to ascend to the top and dominate, this seemed to be the most viable path.

Han Xiao's mind was filled with associations. He guessed for a while before finally calming down and putting away the introduction of [Blueprint - Domino Virus (Damaged)], turning his head to open the related Specialization, browsing through them.

The effect of [Virtual Purification - Restoration] was to purify intelligent targets infected with viruses. For example, the effect of the Virtual Rebellion Virus was to rewrite the underlying logic of mechanical bodies, distorting them to kill organic life forms, and the role of this Specialization was to clear the rewritten logic and restore the original normal underlying logic.

In simple terms, assuming that an intelligent being whose logic has been rewritten is equal to a hypnotized being, this ability is to remove the effects of hypnosis.

At the same time, the application range of this ability was not limited to the Domino Virus, and any virtual virus could be corrected.

"This thing is very useful in virtual combat. With this thing, the Mechanic Emperor is going to cry." Han Xiao's eyes lit up.

If a mechanical army was taken control of by someone else, a sweep with this Specialization could directly expel the enemy's authority and regain control.

However… at his current level, there was almost no one who had the ability to seize control of the mechanical army from him. Han Xiao could only think of the Mechanic Emperor.

"Speaking of which, Manison's method of controlling the AI civilization is also to rewrite their underlying logic, just like the encounter of that AI civilization ancestor, Fenith. This move is simply his nemesis."

Han Xiao scratched his head, thinking of the [Restart] series of missions that had been gathering dust at the bottom of the mission list for a long time.

It seems I have obtained the key to liberating the AI civilization?!

If he had the opportunity to hit Manison's AI civilization with it, his Undying Mechanic Empire might lose control and have a fire in his backyard.

Also, since his convicts were living body modifications, they might have used virtual methods to distort their thoughts, and [Virtual Purification - Restoration] might also work—to a certain extent, virtual methods acting on living bodies were actually very similar to soul magic, reaching the same destination by different routes.

Even, this move might be able to take effect on the World Tree, and might be more targeted at the World Tree than the Domino Virus…

Recalling the mechanism of the World Tree, Han Xiao was thoughtful.

The blueprint and Specialization were the biggest gains of this trip. The reward for a universe-wide Grade S mission was indeed generous.

This wave also received a total of 4 points of political assets, all three Universal Civilizations, which meant that through this incident, he also had a certain say in the Arcane Church and the EsGod, and the experience acquisition efficiency bonus brought by the political assets would also act on him, additionally improving the output of the farm.

Han Xiao glanced at the generated instance [Intelligent Plague (Simulated Disaster)]. This was an alternative form of instance. The generation method was no longer to intercept fragments of this incident, but to select an area. The instance would automatically simulate the scene of an intelligent plague outbreak in this area, and the difficulty and challenge level depended on the level of the selected area.

For example, choosing the Black Star Army headquarters as the simulation target could increase the difficulty to the level of a plot kill. Choosing an ordinary star system civilization's colony star would have a challenge threshold of about Grade C to Grade B. Choosing a closed warship would probably turn into a science fiction horror movie.

"This instance should have a good market, especially suitable for Mechanics." Han Xiao saw a good business prospect.

In addition, the large amount of experience rewarded by the mission gave him a blood boost, and the total of 65,000 points of contribution from the three Universal Civilizations could not only be used to exchange for Ultimate Knowledge, but also for Golden blueprints. The purchase channels of the three Universal Civilizations had already been opened.

Speaking of Golden blueprints, Han Xiao suddenly thought of the Covenant of Light and the Arcane Church. These two were doing business with him. Because of the sudden outbreak of the intelligent plague, the transaction was temporarily shelved.

The Arcane Church did not need to care. They definitely would not go back on their word. He was mainly concerned about the Covenant Organization. The previous transaction date was void, and the Oathkeeper had not left any contact information, so they could only come to him.

After sorting out his gains, Han Xiao closed the panel and took out the communicator to contact the headquarters.

Now that the fleet had left the Ancient Star Desert, they could freely communicate with the outside world. He had been out for a few months, and he didn't know how the army was doing.

The communication was quickly connected, and Sylvia's projection appeared in front of him. Her makeup was exquisite, her facial features were beautiful, and she was wearing a capable professional outfit, outlining amazing curves. She seemed to be attending a meeting. At this time, when she saw Han Xiao, she couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise.

"Teacher, you've finally been released?"

"Uh, yeah."

Han Xiao's expression was strange. These words sounded like he had been in jail.

"I saw the news. Your decision this time was really too beautiful." Sylvia praised, "Now the entire army is praising your character. The cohesion is higher than ever. The last time that director wanted to sign an agreement for the next five movies, you weren't there, so I didn't reply to him."

"Promise him. The main character is still Fröding. Find something for him to do."

Han Xiao waved his hand and suddenly noticed that Sylvia was wearing rimless glasses, giving her a more intellectual and gentle scholarly air. He couldn't help but curiously ask, "What are you wearing glasses for?"

Sylvia blushed slightly, took off her glasses and showed them. The inside of the lens was a one-sided screen. She said embarrassedly, "Sometimes meetings are boring, so I use them to watch programs…"

"…Have you been getting close to Lagi recently?"

"Don't talk nonsense. I hate him the most!" Sylvia firmly denied.

Han Xiao didn't intend to dwell on the issue of his subordinates slacking off, and changed the subject and asked, "By the way, how is the Black Star Cup going?"

"It's like this, because of the impact of the Intelligent Plague incident, the ratings of the Black Star Cup have declined to a certain extent throughout the universe, but it still maintains its popularity. Now most of the sub-events have been completed, and elites from various fields have been selected for the army… uh, card players don't count." Sylvia paused, "Now there are only a few key events left in the finals, which are battles in various grade groups…"

Han Xiao listened to Sylvia's report while nodding and responding, "Not bad, not bad."

He didn't have much entertainment in the Ancient Star Desert. He watched the player forum every day and paid attention to the Black Star Cup. As the competition continued to advance, the remaining players were all elites among elites. The players had made a name for themselves in front of the NPCs and felt very accomplished, so they were very enthusiastic, and the popularity of the discussion was very high, not much worse than the official professional league.

His absence didn't affect the progress of the Black Star Cup, but it only disappointed some players who wanted to touch his character card when they encountered key matches.

"Teacher, the Black Star Cup closing ceremony requires you to give a speech. Don't forget it. Will you be able to make it back by then?"

"Yes, I will definitely be able to go back." Han Xiao responded and then changed the subject and asked, "Has there been anything major in the army recently? How is the situation in the Flickering World?"

"There are more and more people in the New Star Region. The explored areas of the free competition zone have gradually spread to the center of the star clusters. The Super Star Cluster Alliance occupies more and more territory. There are no other changes. Vice Commander Hela is also leading the fleet to slowly explore… Oh, right, she took a leave of absence some time ago, saying she was going to the secondary dimension world and asked me to pass the message on to you."

"Understood."

Han Xiao nodded. Ever since Hela inherited the Underworld dimension, she had been running to the secondary dimension world every now and then.

Now that a few months had passed, it was estimated that the Underworld dimension had stabilized. He just didn't know if Hela had been drained.

Speaking of Hela, Han Xiao thought of another thing.

"How is the Holy Light Envoy plan being implemented?"

"It's going very smoothly. In addition to the ordinary people who were normally recruited, we've hired many people to specifically cultivate the seeds of Holy Light, waiting for them to mature before Aurora harvests them. Before starting work, we've already signed work contracts with these people, and nothing unexpected will happen."

"Very good, try to expand the scale of the cultivators as much as possible."

Han Xiao nodded. He was counting on Aurora to harvest leeks and grow, so the farm should naturally be as big as possible.

As he spoke, he paused and said, "This time I've made a great contribution. The three Universal Civilizations plan to cooperate with me in depth and vigorously support the branches in various Star Fields…"

Han Xiao explained the support of the three Universal Civilizations in detail, and Sylvia's face suddenly fell.

"So my workload has increased again?"

"Hey, you, young comrade, your ideological awareness is not good." Han Xiao seriously criticized, "Without courage, how can there be output? Your idea should be more positive. The scope of work has increased, which means that the power in your hands has expanded again."

I believe your nonsense!

Sylvia gave two emotionless heh heh sounds.

Hearing the laughter, Han Xiao nodded in satisfaction.

Look, how happy she is laughing, her face is full of happiness.

Taking a moment to glance at Sylvia's hairline, Han Xiao felt relieved.

After years of summarization, the hairline of his subordinates = durability. It seemed that this student had not been scrapped yet and could continue to be used.

After they had a few words, Sylvia suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right, yesterday a current affairs interview program wanted to invite you to be a guest to discuss the Intelligent Plague incident. Do you want to agree?"

"What program?"

"It's that one that's quite famous throughout the Star Sea, 'An Appointment with Ludeng'."

"No, no." Han Xiao waved his hand.

With the help of the three Universal Civilizations to promote, he didn't need to go on stage himself. Appropriately maintaining a sense of mystery and distance could make his reputation even higher.

"Okay, then I'll turn him down."

After giving a few reminders, Han Xiao hung up the communication and thought to himself.

The Intelligent Plague was a sudden situation. If the disaster hadn't broken out, the three Universal Civilizations must have been preparing to deal with the Super Star Cluster Civilization. At this time, this stage was delayed, and the Intelligent Plague gave the Super Star Cluster Alliance a certain amount of breathing room.

When the three Universal Civilizations completely finished the Intelligent Plague clean-up, they would be able to free up their hands and start fighting with the Super Star Cluster Alliance as in his previous life. This time, the Super Star Cluster Alliance had more preparations, and the competition between the two sides would be more intense. The result would determine the direction of the universe's situation.

As an organization that was semi-independent from both sides, his and the Mechanic Emperor's factional struggles would inevitably be involved in this turmoil and should be prepared early.

Huff—

Just as he was thinking about this question, he suddenly heard the sound of abnormal air flow beside his ear.

Han Xiao raised his eyes and looked over, only to see black flames gathering out of thin air, forming a black-robed man whose face could not be seen, abruptly appearing in front of him. It was the Covenant's Oathkeeper's psychic projection.

Looking around, he saw that all the crew members in the bridge command room, including Harrison, were turning a blind eye to the Oathkeeper's figure, as if they couldn't see him at all.

"We meet again, Black Star." The Oathkeeper opened his mouth, his voice directly ringing in Han Xiao's mind, establishing a mental connection.

"You're on time. As soon as I left the Ancient Star Desert, you came looking for me. Speaking of which, why can you directly cast your mind on me? Did you know my whereabouts?"

Han Xiao stroked his chin and asked in the mental connection.

The Oathkeeper slowly said, "This is the characteristic of my ability. There are no two souls in the world that are exactly the same, especially the souls of the strong, which are very easy to recognize. As long as I record the characteristics of your soul wave, I can track the target in a higher spatial dimension and cast my mind on the target from afar… but it's only limited to casting my mind to find people and can't know the target's real location."

Han Xiao remained noncommittal and didn't find it surprising.

It was impossible for the Grade Super powerhouse of a mysterious organization that had been hidden for many years to not have a few tricks up his sleeve.

"You contacted me because you plan to continue the previous transaction, the parts of the two Original Knowledges plus two Universal Treasure Grade blueprints, in exchange for a portion of Holy Light Particles."

"That's right."

The Oathkeeper replied in a deep voice.

Because of the Intelligent Plague, the transaction was put on hold for a few months, and he was actually happy to see it happen. He just took advantage of these few months to conduct a thorough investigation of the mole in the Covenant Organization.

Unfortunately, the operation to catch the mole caused chaos and panic within the organization, but he gained nothing. He couldn't even find a single hair of the mole.

Either the mole was hiding too deeply, or Black Star's source of information wasn't a mole.

The Oathkeeper became increasingly suspicious of whether the mole really existed, so he temporarily stopped the operation.

"Then let's set a new transaction date…"

Speaking of this, Han Xiao suddenly thought of something and casually asked:

"By the way, you have a long history and should know a lot of secret information, right."

"It depends on which aspect."

"Then… have you heard of the Sanctuary?"

"…"

The Oathkeeper was caught off guard and felt a storm in his heart.

This is a test, right? This must be a test!!

Didn't you say last time that you didn't know our purpose?!

Liar!

His originally wavering heart became as firm as a rock again.

As expected, there is still a mole!

Investigate! Definitely investigate to the death!