Chapter 1420 The Sworn One’s Intentions

At the same time, in the Black Star Palace.

[【Return to the Historical Stage】 is complete!]

[You have received 1 point of Legend!]

[Universal Legend Degree: 【Awakener of the First Generation】—Because of the Holy Covenant Organization’s activities, a batch of the First Generation have been revived from silence. You secretly promoted this matter. You are one of the main instigators behind the return of the First Generation. Your actions are likely to bring profound impact to the entire universe.]

[Begel Quiodalamir's favorability toward you +25 points]

[Trip Sun Chaser Doncaster's favorability toward you +25 points]

……

[Pan Ergon Fyrette's favorability toward you +25 points]

In the private mechanical factory, Han Xiao, who was immersed in research, suddenly received a large number of panel notifications. He opened them and his face lit up with joy.

“The mission is settled, does this mean the Sworn One succeeded?”

Only a few hours had passed since the players logged off, and Han Xiao didn’t expect to receive such good news.

The Sworn One had been out of contact in the Sanctuary for so long, so it was finally showing some reaction.

The reward for the 【Return to the Historical Stage】 quest included 1 point of Legend and 25 points of favorability from all the revived Super-As. These favorability notifications spamming the screen should be from the Super-As who were revived this time.

Han Xiao carefully browsed through them, his eyes flashing with excitement. The names of these people were all legendary. He only needed to search their names online to find out about their life stories in the Exploration Era.

"'War King' Pan Ergon, 'Law God' Begel, 'Omniscient' Trip... all of them are the most famous First Generation in history.”

As the first batch of people to reach the Super-A Grade, the First Generation had one characteristic: their nicknames were generally quite fierce, stealing a lot of good names.

Han Xiao immediately discovered another benefit of this mission reward: he could immediately see who the revived subjects were, and he would immediately have a good idea.

Some of these people were the ones who appeared during the Superpower Calamity, which was like solving a case, proving that the revival of this group of people was indeed related to the Holy Covenant.

Han Xiao wrote down the names of these people, counted them, and suddenly frowned slightly, muttering to himself.

“The number of revivals doesn't seem right…”

He remembered the number of all the Super-As who were revived in his previous life. One batch appeared in the Superpower Calamity version, and another batch appeared during the World Tree Civilization, adding up to far more than the current number.

Moreover, all the people who appeared in the favorability notifications were the First Generation. In the World Tree War version of his previous life, there were also many historical Super-As who were not from the First Generation among the large number of revived Super-As brought by the Holy Covenant Organization.

But now, the number of revived people is much less than the total number in his previous life. What could be the reason for this…

A flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in Han Xiao's mind.

“…I think I understand!”

In a flash, he connected the clues in his mind, and suddenly felt enlightened.

Jess revealed the mechanism of the Sanctuary’s revival. With this important information, he finally understood the Holy Covenant Organization’s movements in his previous life.

The Holy Covenant revived a batch of the First Generation in Version 5.0. Some of these people should have had disagreements, so they parted ways and ran out to trigger the Superpower Calamity, but they may not have leaked the Holy Covenant's secrets. The remaining First Generation continued to hide under the leadership of the Sworn One. The reason for this was probably that the Sworn One discovered the secret of revival in the Sanctuary, so he wanted to control the lifeline of the Super-A Grades, so he had been developing in secret.

During this period, the Holy Covenant must have obtained new results, revived more Super-As, and used some method to persuade the subsequent people to participate in this plan together, so the total number of revived people at this time did not match the total number in his previous life.

Silently developing in this way, the Holy Covenant Organization had been hiding until the World Tree War version, when they had no choice but to expose themselves and participate in the war because of the threat to their own existence, shocking the explored universe at once.

This made sense!

In this way, the nature of the Holy Covenant Organization in his previous life was similar to the current Super-A Grade Association. The goals were very similar, all for the future of the Super-A Grades.

“I guess this is the whole story behind this plot in my previous life…”

Han Xiao’s eyes flickered.

Although it was just a guess, he had a feeling that this was probably the truth.

If that was the case, the Sworn One already knew the true mechanism of the Sanctuary's revival. He and Kessel were no longer the only two people who knew about it. Then the plan he had made might need to be changed. Perhaps he should reach a deeper level of cooperation with the Holy Covenant.

The Sworn One’s attitude was very important. Han Xiao had limited understanding of him and didn’t know what he was thinking.

At this moment, a few black flames suddenly appeared in Han Xiao's sight, condensing into a familiar figure.

‘Speak of the devil, here he is. I was just wondering when the Sworn One would come looking for me. I didn't expect him to be here so soon…’ Han Xiao’s eyes lit up.

Soon, the Sworn One’s Mind Projection took shape and nodded at Han Xiao.

“It’s been a while, Black Star. I have returned from the Sanctuary.”

“Looks like you’re planning to fulfill the deal we made back then today?” Han Xiao’s eyes flashed as he deliberately asked, “Was your revival plan successful?”

He still didn’t know how much information the Sworn One had, so he didn’t want to reveal his cards immediately. He planned to use words to probe the Sworn One’s bottom line to see how much he had.

“It was successful. It went smoothly.” The Sworn One nodded.

“Oh, I didn’t expect this method to actually work. How many people have been revived?” Han Xiao pretended to be excited and put on a look of great interest.

“Dozens of them, I guess.” The Sworn One answered ambiguously, making it clear that he didn’t want to reveal this information to Han Xiao.

“Hmm, quite a few people.” Han Xiao naturally knew the exact number. Seeing that the Sworn One didn’t want to say, he wasn’t surprised. He didn’t dwell on it and changed the topic, asking, “What’s the situation inside the Sanctuary?”

The Sworn One thought for a moment and said in an uncertain tone:

“The feeling inside is like being in a dream. My consciousness floats up and down, as if I’ve experienced a lot of things, but it also feels like it’s only been a moment. The only clear impression I have is that I was in a boundless space. There were countless white balls of light floating within my sight. Most of them would avoid me, as if there was some kind of repulsive force on my body. I seemed to see different images in each ball of light…”

Hearing this, Han Xiao stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Combining Jess’s explanation, those balls of light might be information-state existences containing different content. One ball of light might represent a civilization, or it might represent a Super-A Grade, or it might represent a period of history. It was hard to say.

“Are there any dangers inside?”

“There shouldn’t be…” The Sworn One hesitated.

Han Xiao pondered for a few seconds and smiled, “Let’s talk about the method of reviving Super-A Grades in the Sanctuary first. We agreed back then that once the revival plan was completed, you would tell me the relevant information. You wouldn’t go back on your word now, would you?”

“Of course not. Our understanding of the Sanctuary is this…”

The Sworn One’s eyes flickered, thinking that his chance had come.

According to the plan, he said all the relevant information that the Holy Covenant Organization had accumulated in the past, without correcting the wrong guesses in it. At the same time, he concealed the Sanctuary's repeatability and deliberately described it as a one-time method.

His explanation was also very simple, because the revival method was related to information-state projection. He deliberately distorted the concept and described the revival process as "cutting" the target's information from the Sanctuary, indicating that the corresponding information in the Sanctuary would disappear as a result. Therefore, he naturally defined it as a one-time function.

On the other hand, the Sworn One did not reveal the source and use of the Sanctuary. He did not mention any information about the universe's iteration or the Great Reboot, intending to mislead Han Xiao into thinking that the Sanctuary only had the function of revival.

The Sworn One babbled on and on, and the content was very different from what Jess said. Han Xiao felt that something was wrong halfway through listening.

The two versions were different, so one of them must be wrong. Based on the situation of the Federation of Star Clusters and Jess’s motives, Jess’s explanation was more credible.

Then, was the Sworn One mistaken, or was he deliberately lying to me…

Hmm, considering the Holy Covenant Organization’s actions in his previous life, this guy definitely wanted to trick him!

Han Xiao’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and a playful expression flashed across his face.

He didn’t refute immediately. After the Sworn One finished speaking, he suddenly sighed, changed the topic, and said, “I’m very curious. You just said that the existence of the Sanctuary is closely related to the information-state. Revival is done through information-state projection and other methods. Doesn’t that mean that the Sanctuary records all the Super-A Grades’ information?”

“Hmm, it should be…” The Sworn One answered cautiously.

“Then I find it strange. Why would the Sanctuary store the Super-A Grades’ information? Don’t you find it strange?”

“Uh, I’m indeed very confused.” The Sworn One tried to control his tone.

Han Xiao pretended to be thinking and frowned, “I feel that the Sanctuary doesn’t seem like a naturally formed phenomenon. It’s very likely the product of someone or a civilization, and its function should be more than just reviving Super-A Grades… What do you think?”

“I’m not sure either. In my opinion, it doesn’t seem like it was created by a civilization. The three Universal Civilizations don’t have this technology, right? Previous civilizations were even more impossible. I think the Sanctuary might be some kind of cosmic wonder…” The Sworn One had no choice but to follow his lead and secretly guide him, not daring to directly refute him for fear of being exposed.

Hearing this, Han Xiao pinched his chin, pretending to be seriously analyzing, and slowly said:

“Okay, let’s assume that the Sanctuary is a cosmic wonder in terms of information-state and has the function of recording Super-A Grade information… Then tell me, if those revived Super-A Grades are active in the universe, will the Sanctuary’s information be updated? In that case, although revival cuts off the original record in the Sanctuary, a new record will appear in the Sanctuary. Then the next time we enter the Sanctuary, won’t we be able to ‘cut’ the same subject again?”

“This…”

The Sworn One was speechless. This analysis was well-founded, and he didn’t know how to explain it.

If he objected, he had only been to the Sanctuary once. Why would he be so sure about the next time’s situation? He shouldn’t know so much information, and Black Star was cunning and would definitely suspect this point.

But if he didn’t object, it would make Black Star feel that the Sanctuary's revival could be repeated many times, which would go against his intentions.

This guy was too difficult to fool!

After thinking for a while, the Sworn One couldn’t come up with a proper explanation and could only say dejectedly, “I didn’t think of this.”

Han Xiao’s eyes narrowed and he said with a playful look, “So you admit that you were lying to me just now? It seems like I need to re-evaluate our agreement.”

“Cough, cough, cough, I just didn’t think of this possibility. How can that be considered lying?” The Sworn One quickly quibbled.

“Hehe.”

Han Xiao smiled expressionlessly, put his hands behind his back, walked around the Sworn One, and said calmly:

“If I’m not mistaken, the strength of those revived First Generation has declined, and everyone has lost some abilities, more or less, right?”

“Yes, they… Wait! How did you know?!”

The Sworn One’s eyes widened suddenly.

This matter was only discussed privately by them Super-A Grades, and those First Generation couldn’t have any contact with Black Star. He hadn’t leaked any information either. It had only been a few tens of minutes. Where did Black Star get this information from?!

“I know more than you think.” Han Xiao paced slowly and said slowly, “Are you familiar with the terms ‘Great Reboot’ and ‘Iteration’?”

“!!!”

The Sworn One paled in shock and took two steps back, staring at Han Xiao in disbelief, shocked beyond words.

“How could you possibly know these things?!”

His whole body was dumbfounded, his mentality instantly collapsed, and his abilities were out of control. The body of his Mind Projection fluctuated violently, as if it would collapse at any moment.

The Sworn One’s brain was boiling again!

I was the only one who entered the Sanctuary this time. There couldn’t be a mole. Why would Black Star know these things?!

Who betrayed me, and who did I betray?

Could it be that Black Star has planted an eye on me, and he can see all my actions?!

In that case… Did I betray myself?!

Under the shock, the Sworn One’s thoughts were confused, and he felt a chill all over his body. Han Xiao’s image in his mind became mysterious and unpredictable, making him extremely fearful and apprehensive.

—How much does this guy know? He analyzed a bunch of things with me just now. Was he just laughing at me!

Admiring the Sworn One’s panicked expression, Han Xiao put his hands behind his back and said slowly:

“I showed my sincerity and hoped that you could be honest with me, but it seems that you don’t cherish my friendship very much.”

He didn’t actually know how much information the Sworn One had. He just felt that anyone who entered the Sanctuary should understand the basic concept of iteration. This wave was just a bluff. He wasn’t 100% sure, but he had achieved a miraculous effect, directly exposing the other party’s bottom line and scaring him out of his wits.

This was comfortable. In this way, he had completely grasped the initiative in his hands.

Han Xiao maintained a mysterious posture, looked down at the Sworn One, and said playfully:

“What, do you think I don’t know what you’re thinking? Do you want to monopolize the exclusive information, trick me into investing resources to make wedding clothes for you, and help you master the Sanctuary’s revival channels?”

The Sworn One was shocked.

Black Star saw through all the calculations in his heart. At this moment, he felt like he was naked in front of Black Star, with no secrets to hide. All that was left in his heart was shock and panic.

He had guessed the possibility of failing to trick Black Star, but he never expected Black Star to rudely expose him in this way, directly calling out all the secrets he had hidden and tearing apart all his lies!

At this moment, the Sworn One stood there blankly, completely dumbfounded, his face uncertain, and he just wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.