Faseleni spewed out a torrent of abuse, his adjectives vivid, his gestures all-encompassing, and his nouns included Siwarde's ancestors, parents, wives, descendants, and so on. Han Xiao listened with great interest, feeling especially cordial. It turned out that aliens also liked to involve entire families when cursing.

Siwarde was stunned by the barrage of insults, unable to get a word in edgewise. His face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and he trembled with anger.

I am a high-ranking officer of the Holy Stone Civilization. Who, except for my leaders and my wife, would dare to insult me like this? I... I'll endure it!

Glancing at Han Xiao, Siwarde suppressed his anger. He was in the wrong this time, so he would give Han Xiao face.

Pert looked surprised. He thought he was violent enough, but he didn't expect Faseleni, who was usually quite rational, to be even more irritable at this moment.

After venting his anger, Faseleni finally took a breath and demanded, "Why did you try to harm us?!"

Siwarde was expressionless and spoke stiffly, explaining, "You've misunderstood. My side did want to provide support, but plans can't keep up with changes. DarkStar set up a blockade, and there was no opportunity to break through. That's why the support troops didn't arrive at the designated location on time. It was an accident."

"After we arrived at the location, we wanted to contact you, but you didn't respond at all! How do you explain that?"

"DarkStar forced back my side's support team. Seeing the situation was unfavorable, my side didn't engage and retreated first. We originally wanted to proactively contact you to change the rendezvous point, but DarkStar released a short-term signal jammer against my fleet, blocking communications. This was to prevent us from notifying you that the situation had changed. Coincidentally, DarkStar used this information to capture you. It's not surprising that you misunderstood us."

Siwarde spoke with great seriousness, not even blinking an eye, showing his rich experience. With his status, he didn't need to explain much to a group of mercenaries, but Black Star was an exception. He couldn't afford to offend Black Star's backers. It was all because of Han Xiao that Siwarde took the initiative to explain, pretending to be sincere, "Due to my side's operational errors, an unfortunate result was caused. I deeply regret this. In any case, I have explained the facts, and I hope you will understand..."

Faseleni wanted to say something, but Han Xiao stepped forward, took over the conversation, and said with a smile, "So that's how it is. We really misunderstood you. This is all a misunderstanding caused by differing information. No need to apologize, it's not your fault."

Siwarde's eyes lit up, and he said with relief, "It's great that you can understand... Now that the misunderstanding has been resolved, I won't stay any longer. You can deal with these DarkStar people."

After saying that, the Holy Stone fleet retreated, and Black Crow also left from the other direction. The sky-covering fleets were gone, and the outer space of the planet became empty again.

"You don't believe him, do you? That Siwarde guy is making excuses," Faseleni said.

Han Xiao shrugged. "A lie that can't stand scrutiny. How could I believe it?"

Goya stepped forward and sighed, "Don't pursue it. Even if we know it's an excuse, we can't do anything about him. After all, he's a border officer of the Holy Stone."

Different camps meant that it was either you stabbing me, or me stabbing you. This kind of thing was very normal.

Mercenaries valued harmony for wealth. The other side represented a large civilization with strong power. They had only been tricked, and it hadn't risen to the level of hostility. It wasn't worth doing so, either. The upper echelons of their respective legions would definitely not agree, and they themselves couldn't retaliate well. They could only swallow this bitter pill and pretend that nothing had happened, even though everyone knew the truth.

For a time, everyone was a little depressed, sighing and complaining.

Han Xiao smiled without saying a word. He was superficially accommodating, but secretly noted the Holy Stone Civilization in his little notebook. He wouldn't let it go so easily. Using violence was too unskilled and not worth it. Since you schemed against me, then it was only fair that I scheme back.

'Hmm... when I have time, I'll find an opportunity to abduct their protagonist-type character, without anyone knowing. I can also get another cadre, killing two birds with one stone.'

Han Xiao stroked his chin, a sly smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.

Undermining the foundations, secretly advancing, marvelous, marvelous.

Far away on the Glimmer, Siwarde, who was feeling pleased with himself, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and shuddered.

After the battlefield was cleaned up, the wreckage parts were recovered by the mercenaries. Salota and several other DarkStar members were tied together. Several vice-leaders surrounded the prisoners and discussed in low voices.

Han Xiao walked over and asked, "Are these all the prisoners?"

"Yes, all the escaping ships were destroyed, leaving only these survivors."

After taking a careful look, Ashes was not among them. Han Xiao thought to himself, "It seems he was on a ship that was blown up. He should be dead."

He immediately felt regret. He had finally encountered a legendary enemy, and his abilities were perfectly countered by his own. If he could have killed Ashes himself, he might have been able to extract the template specialty. Dying at the hands of a third party meant that he would not receive any rewards.

"What are you going to do with them?"

"It's best to hand the DarkStar people over to Godora. We've contacted Godora, and they're happy to take in the prisoners and are willing to pay a reward afterward," said the vice-leader of Sky Ring.

In fact, it would have been more appropriate to let Holy Stone or Black Crow take over the prisoners, but neither side wanted to be involved. Siwarde had pretended to be generous and let them handle the prisoners, but he didn't want to take on a hot potato at all.

Hearing this, Salota suddenly struggled and roared, "Kill me!"

There was only one outcome for DarkStar members who fell into the hands of Godora—life imprisonment in the Rainbow Prison.

The Rainbow Prison only held captured DarkStar members. The inside of the prison was very mysterious. All DarkStar members who were imprisoned there would, after a period of time, no longer believe in DarkStar and would instead become loyal to Godora. DarkStar believed that this prison constantly brainwashed prisoners, distorting their minds, turning them into traitors, and making them Godora's lackeys and tools.

The organization deeply feared the Rainbow Prison. Rumor had it that the reason Godora didn't execute DarkStar's war criminals was to brainwash them and have DarkStar's former comrades kill each other, with malicious intentions!

Salota was not afraid of life imprisonment. He was afraid of his mind being twisted. If he had to betray his faith, he would rather die!

A mercenary kicked Salota hard in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious and shutting him up.

"I'm also going to Godora's colony. How about giving me a ride?" Han Xiao said.

"Haha, no problem."

The mercenaries sorted things out for several hours, recovering everything of value, before the fleet set off. Spaceships took off one after another, and the joint fleet left in a mighty formation, heading to the neighboring Garton Star System.

With the matter concluded, the planet returned to peace, with only the devastated surface reminding people that a fierce battle had once taken place here.

What happened here was all recorded in the Shattered Star Ring Express, and a day later, other channels' news programs also used the materials from the Shattered Star Ring Express to rebroadcast, and the influence gradually fermented.

The most eye-catching was naturally the scene of Dragon Emperor displaying his power, which was repeatedly played on various channels. The second most watched was Han Xiao, with even DarkStar's blood loss being relegated to the sidelines.

Countless viewers recognized a mercenary named Black Star. He was the only team active outside of the Dragon Tamer camp, equivalent to the agent of Dragon Emperor's will, and his influence far exceeded his own. He had powerful connections, and Black Star's name and information quickly spread throughout the major forces of the Shattered Star Ring, becoming one of the targets worthy of attention.

Throughout the Shattered Star Ring, citizens of all races who watched the program remembered the name of Black Star, and all kinds of rumors spread by word of mouth.

Someone spread a new message that the three great mercenary groups and their partners had actively reached cooperation agreements with Black Star. The previously unknown Black Star suddenly became a popular new favorite in the mercenary industry, and his vast network of contacts made many middle and lower-level mercenaries envious.

In just a few days, Black Star became famous and his reputation soared!

In the past few days, Han Xiao's interface would occasionally display a notification that his fame had increased, in different regions, covering multiple star clusters in the Shattered Star Ring. The numerical value alone increased by 37 points and was still growing.

This surprised him a little. It wasn't until he saw the interstellar news that he suddenly understood.

No wonder his fame only increased dramatically after the incident. It turned out that he was on TV. This fame was an extra benefit that Ames' influence brought him, saving him a lot of time to grind reputation. This was crucial in the early stage of camp development, making him famous overnight and giving him a higher starting point.

…

A few days later, Garton Star System, the joint fleet stopped midway at Godora's colony star, "Golden Palace".

Godora's architectural style was beautiful, favoring curves and arcs. Curved surfaces and fan shapes were everywhere, and the color tones were mostly gold and white, which were gorgeous and pure. Godorans didn't like the sense of towering forests of high-rise buildings, nor did they like the seriousness of symmetry. Cities were generally low and winding, and their aesthetics were "traditionally retro". The only towering buildings were mage towers, the Gotha Temple, government centers, and military garrisons. There were no metal vehicles on the streets, but instead, there were dazzling magical rails. People walking on them would be accelerated, no slower than cars, and there were no traffic problems. In addition, there were people riding strangely styled mounts, which were more expensive and rarer. Flying vehicles were also related to magic. There was a facility called "Flying Emblem Rental Station." By spending some money, you could rent an item that solidified various flying spells. Many people flew around in the sky, and a translucent magical wing behind them could fly them far with a single fan.

Pedestrians wore various kinds of robes, most of them were Godorans with skin like gold powder, and the color was a bit eye-catching. The pace of life in a city could be seen from the speed at which pedestrians walked. Godorans walked slowly, and their lives were relatively tepid and leisurely, adhering to the ancient style of Godora. Generally speaking, magical civilizations didn't develop as rapidly as technological civilizations, which also influenced the pace of life, with huge differences in social forms, aesthetics, and culture.

Han Xiao walked alone on the street. He came to the Golden Palace to find the appraisal master, open the Secret Whisper Pearl, and see what was inside that DarkStar valued so much.

The spaceship was still waiting at the dock. Han Xiao didn't delay and went straight to his destination.