Chapter 112 Rescue

During the spaceship's dive, the pilot manipulated the ship's communications, sending out a distress signal on the local channel. Invisible waves spread out into the vast universe. The local channel was like the region's public channel in the players' eyes, capable of being received by all spaceships passing through this area.

"This is the Faiwen Star System, the territory of the Holy Stone Civilization and the Black Raven Civilization, where border friction frequently occurs. The group armies of the two major civilizations are stationed nearby year-round, deploying high-power signal transceivers. They are highly sensitive to all wavebands and maintain high-power operation to collect stellar radiation. To the detectors of both sides, this area is like daylight. If DarkStar implements signal shielding, it would be like an inexplicable shadow appearing, impossible to hide. The highly vigilant Holy Stone and Black Raven will worry that the shadow is each other's strategic action, and they will definitely be attracted."

Ge Ya explained a series of things and quickly said, "So I have a fifty percent chance of determining that DarkStar has not deployed signal shielding."

*Tss—*

The screen displayed the communications of Blade, Zijin's spaceship Port, and Faseranieri, their voices anxious as they discussed tactics. They had also sent out distress signals, but Faseranieri was very pessimistic, saying, "Even if someone receives our distress call, the question is who dares to come? It's DarkStar attacking us. The Holy Stone and Black Raven might come to watch, preventing DarkStar from having ulterior motives, but they may not be willing to waste military force to rescue a group of unimportant mercenaries like us. They aren't Godora, with an irreconcilable hatred for DarkStar. They may not want to provoke DarkStar."

The three looked at their respective legion executives, who nodded steadily.

"We have contacted the legion commander. He will come to rescue us and is issuing an emergency dispatch order to teams in nearby areas. We fear DarkStar, but we will never allow them to do whatever they want, nor will we abandon our own people. The legion commander is assembling a fleet and issuing a call to all collaborators. We must protect ourselves, delay for time, and someone will definitely come to save us."

All the mercenaries perked up, their faces solemn. A sense of honor arose from their hearts, morale warmed up, and determination and hope appeared on their faces.

"A large legion is indeed extraordinary, with strong cohesion." Han Xiao secretly envied them. Large legions had been established for many years and naturally had their advantages. Although they were mercenaries who did nothing without profit, they understood how to build a sense of belonging to attract experts to serve them. Although many members knew this, it was undeniable that most people were very receptive. After all, having an organization that did not abandon teammates allowed them to build bonds in the cold universe.

Even though DarkStar was infamous, Sky Ring, Blade, and Zijin were not to be trifled with. In addition to their own strength, they also had intricate connections in the mercenary industry, with many collaborators, all of whom were extremely powerful. DarkStar was provoking not just three large legions, but half the mercenary industry in the nearby three star clusters!

In other words, DarkStar had been recklessly accustomed to doing as they pleased and this time, they had stirred up a hornet's nest.

However, distant water could not quench the immediate fire.

Han Xiao took out the one-way communicator Jenny had given him, steeled his nerves, and sent a request.

While the mercenaries were calling for reinforcements, he also asked his cheap superior for support, not relying entirely on the three major legions.

'I didn't expect to use it so soon…'

*Ding.*

Ames appeared on the screen. Han Xiao saw the environment Ames was in: a palace with a magical aura, made of obsidian, white crystal, mithril, fine gold, emerald, and gemstones, like a jewelry sculpture magnified thousands or tens of thousands of times. Mysterious magic circuits floated in the air, iridescent and dazzling. Many semi-transparent mana dragons swam happily in the air. Ames was sitting at a floating table, covered with various rare foods. Across from her was a red-and-white robed… little brat. He looked about six or seven years old, with pointed ears, fair skin, and a round face. The robe on his body looked like a rolled-up quilt. It was very ill-fitting. The robe was long, and the child was short, as if burying him.

Han Xiao's mouth twitched. This little brat was another Super-A Grade in the Shattered Star Ring, a mage, a long-lived race with a human-like appearance. His real age was unknown, perhaps hundreds or thousands of years old. And he was the one Ames was fighting. To be precise, Ames was visiting. The four Super-A Grades in the Shattered Star Ring knew each other. Fighting was just a pastime. When they were tired, they would eat and rest. The atmosphere was very harmonious… Han Xiao only pitied that short-lived asteroid, what a bitter fate.

Ames raised an eyebrow slightly. "It's you, my new subordinate."

"…Have you forgotten my name?"

Ames swiped on the communicator, as if pulling up some interface. After a second, she said naturally, "Black Star, what do you want? Have you found my teacher's whereabouts?" She emphasized Han Xiao's codename, as if stressing that she had not forgotten.

Han Xiao shook his head and said, "The spaceship I'm on is being attacked by DarkStar. The situation is critical. I'm here to ask you for help."

"Why is DarkStar attacking you?" Ames asked curiously.

Han Xiao coughed.

"A few days ago, DarkStar recklessly caused trouble on Longtan while you were away. It seemed like they had a conspiracy. I happened to stumble upon it, and this attack should be revenge."

Ames tilted her head, recalling Jenny's report. Speaking of which, DarkStar had some grudges with her. She had been planning to find DarkStar to cause trouble.

"Alright, wait there. I'll go over when I have time." Ames said casually and hung up the communication.

Han Xiao was helpless. Ames' attitude was indifferent. He couldn't force her to come immediately. His strength was not enough, so he could only seek help from the strong and try to mediate.

[You have triggered the emergency mission: Escape for Your Life!]

[Mission Brief: Run!]

[Mission Objective: Escape DarkStar's pursuit and delay until reinforcements arrive.]

[Reward: Base reward of 800,000 experience. The final reward depends on the mission rating. If you persist for 2 days, the mission rating reaches the minimum standard of D-grade, and you can get the base reward. For every additional 12 hours, the rating increases by one grade.]

[Failure Condition: Being captured by DarkStar.]

Han Xiao's eyes flashed, and he scanned the surrounding players, finding that their expressions had changed slightly at the same time. They probably triggered the mission as well.

This time, the players' mission rewards were exactly the same as Han Xiao's. All the players were stunned!

Eight hundred thousand experience!

Han Xiao was already used to it. To him, it was like a drop in the ocean. However, for the players, this was the highest reward they had ever seen in a mission!

Various emotions appeared on the players' faces: shock, ecstasy, amazement, and so on.

Han Xiao secretly analyzed the information revealed by the mission, "Persisting for two days is the lowest rating. We should be able to deduce that the earliest reinforcements will take at least two days to arrive, which means we have to fight alone for two days…"

He suddenly felt a headache. Not to mention two days, even persisting for two hours would be difficult.

At this time, the spaceship finally returned to the surface, flying close to the ground. This barren planet was almost completely bare, with no forests, no life, and full of jagged rocks and mountains. The only good thing was that the terrain was treacherous enough. All three spaceships adopted the same plan—to delay as much as possible using the terrain obstacles.

*Bang bang bang—*

Hundreds of DarkStar's small floating ships pursued, firing low-level laser cannons from above, presenting a green color, chasing the tails of the three spaceships, and blasting out puffs of smoke and dust on the ground. The explosions rumbled incessantly, and the resulting shockwaves made the spaceship's magnetic field shield flicker.

DarkStar wanted to capture everyone alive and did not want to blow up the spaceship, as that would shatter any Cipher Pearls that might be on board. Therefore, they sent out small floating ships. The floating ships were less than ten meters long, and the micro-laser cannons had very little power, enough to wound but not kill. They used speed and agility to surround and intercept, forcing everyone to abandon ship.

"Split up!"

The three spaceships swept past a treacherous black-gray mountain peak, then suddenly split up, fleeing in three directions. The green lasers that followed hit the mountain peak, and with a rumble, the peak broke, rolling down the slope, shoveling up dust and billowing like a ferocious dragon descending the mountain. With the broken mountain peak as the dividing point, the floating fleets also split into three groups, pursuing their respective spaceships.

The Sky Ring spaceship that Han Xiao was on was being chased by hundreds of floating ships. However, unfortunately, the direction they turned was a flat plain with no obstacles.

"It's bad!" Everyone's expression changed.

The pilot was sweating profusely, trying his best to maneuver the spaceship to dodge, twisting like a water snake. The dust kicked up by the green light was like a fountain, splashing on the ship. The spaceship dodged some of the lasers, but the chance of being hit was higher than when the three ships were moving together, and the shield flickered erratically.

"Warning! Warning! Shield energy remaining 67%! Reaching the yellow warning line, please replenish in time!"

"Energy core approaching overload! Please cool down in time!"

A series of system alerts were issued, like heavy hammers hitting everyone's hearts.

The pilot's face was pale.

Suddenly, everyone saw Han Xiao stand out from the crowd, walk to the pilot's seat, press on the pilot's shoulder, and say in an unquestionable tone.

"You get up, give me the seat."

All the mercenaries on the ship changed their expressions. Switching pilots at the last minute, can you be relied on?!

"This is related to the life and death of everyone on board, do you know what you are doing!" Ge Ya stared closely at Han Xiao.

Han Xiao nodded, not at all polite, and said, "If he drives the ship, the chance of crashing is 99%. If I drive the ship, the chance is only 30%."

"You!" The pilot was angry.

Ge Ya stared at Han Xiao for a full two seconds, then nodded heavily and said, "Alright, you do it."

The Sky Ring mercenaries immediately clamored. Although they knew that Black Star was powerful, driving a ship was not the same as fighting. In an emergency, no one was willing to hand over their fate to a guy with unknown skills.

"If things continue like this, our ship will crash in less than an hour. Let him try."

Ge Ya explained.

Even though the pilot knew this, he was unwilling to let others control his fate. His face turned green and white, and finally he reluctantly gave way.

Han Xiao immediately took over the pilot's seat. At this time, Ge Ya approached, his tone extremely serious.

"Black Star, you hold our lives in your hands… you must, must be steady."

Now that things had come to this, all the mercenaries could only place their hopes on Han Xiao. In fact, many mercenaries knew how to drive spaceships, but no one was confident that they could do better, and no one dared to take on this responsibility, fearing that their mistakes would kill everyone. The pressure was great, and no one dared to replace him. Han Xiao was able to come forward at this critical moment. They could only hope that he was truly reliable.

"Black Star, you can drive a spaceship?!" Meros was surprised.

"I can do many things. Do you know me well?"

Han Xiao adjusted the control panel skillfully.

What was driving a spaceship? He used to drive mechs!

It was like the difference between a passenger plane pilot and a fighter plane pilot. One required safety and stability, and the other required extraordinary skill. And the operation difficulty and requirements of a mech were far more difficult than those of a fighter plane.

Han Xiao had honed his ship skills in the universe battlefield and in PvP battles with players! Even in the interstellar world, he was a top ace pilot!

Suddenly, everyone heard the system broadcast.

"Adjustment complete, shield power reduced to 20% of the original…"

"Are you crazy?!" The pilot exclaimed in shock.

Everyone was shocked. As soon as Han Xiao took over, he weakened the shield, greatly reducing the defensive ability. If they were attacked with the same intensity as before, the ship's body would be damaged.

Did all the previous reminders fall on deaf ears?!

Ge Ya regretted it greatly and was about to scold him when the spaceship system sounded again.

"All energy is being transferred to the propulsion engine… input successful."

Han Xiao tilted his head and reminded the people behind him.

"Hold on tight."

In the next moment, the sudden burst of recoil directly broke through the spaceship's internal gravity stabilization, and everyone staggered and fell to the ground.

The rebuke that Ge Ya was about to utter was directly choked back in his throat!