Chapter 612 The Strongest Card Up His Sleeve

Every spectator in every spaceship stopped chatting and stared intently at the blue portal that had abruptly appeared in the center of the battlefield.

The wormhole-like portal continued to expand as if without limit. The largest ship currently present was the Black Star Army's armed satellite base, but the portal's size had surpassed even that. All the spaceships' radars began to blare, detecting rapidly escalating energy fluctuations.

In the next moment, a magnificent and vast castle slowly squeezed out of the portal, enveloped in an iridescent magical rainbow shield. The surface of the spherical, translucent protective罩 (zhào, cover/shield) was covered in countless light patterns forming rune arrays. Each complex array appeared as gorgeous as decoration, flashing with a breathing-like rhythm, constantly absorbing cosmic dark energy to refine energy for the castle.

The Red Robe Monastery's treasure—the Arcane Sanctum!

"Austin is here!"

"He actually teleported his main camp directly over. That's way too high profile."

"Did he come to watch or to help one side?"

Although the first to arrive was the only Grade Super A in the Shattered Star Ring who was not involved in this battle, the spectators were still excited—even Austin had come, proving that this was the first time five Grade Super As would gather together, a momentous occasion!

"This guy's here to join the fun?" Leylin was shocked, his expression uncertain, afraid Austin would interfere.

The commander of the battlefield's field troops, Jod, was also worried.

"I don't know if Austin is friend or foe..."

Jod swallowed. Since it was Sysko who privately contacted Austin, he also didn't know Austin's intentions.

The Arcane Sanctum quickly fully descended, and the portal rapidly shrank, turning into a point of light and disappearing. Austin's main camp was a cosmic treasure-grade Super A Magister Tower. He had inscribed a large number of space teleportation arrays on it, allowing it to perform long-distance teleportation through dimensional travel. Its functions were formidable.

Countless mages living in the Arcane Sanctum walked out of the castle, onto the open-air platforms, and gathered in a pile to become onlookers. Austin, leading the Banewitch Troops, appeared above the Arcane Sanctum, hovering in the air. While controlling the Arcane Sanctum to fly to the edge of the battlefield to occupy a good position, he observed the endless group of spectator ships with interest.

"Tsk, how come I'm the first one here? These young people these days have no sense of time." Austin supported his chubby little hands on his chin, his tone full of emotion.

He had rejected both sides' alliance requests. This time, he had come specifically to watch the battle in person. To comfortably watch the show, he had even moved his old home over. It could be said that he was a high-end otaku, a grand otaku, and an upscale otaku.

Just as countless people were whispering and guessing Austin's intentions, a spreading commotion arose at the edge of the ship swarm in the far distance.

A massive fleet warp jumped and descended, advancing toward the battlefield. The surrounding spectators saw the fleet's emblem and were all greatly shocked, hurriedly piloting their ships to make way.

The spaceship armor of this fleet was inscribed with a well-known emblem throughout the universe—the national emblem of the Void Spirit Religion of a Civilization!

The Void Spirit Religion had actually come too!

This was part of the Void Spirit Religion's garrison in the Shattered Star Ring. The small frigate models were all standard Void Spirit Religion ships, mainly disc-shaped, like thin, smooth discs standing upright, generally black and dark purple, inscribed with matrix-like patterns. The hull had three hollow, massive voids, distributed in the shape of a long-sided right triangle. Each void suspended a ball of red and black intertwined dark energy, very dense, serving as both an energy furnace and an annihilation weapon.

The large flagship was butterfly-shaped, with a sphere in the center and hundreds of pairs of butterfly wings connected to both sides. These butterfly wings were currently in a constricted state, stacked together, appearing as only one pair. Although the material was metal, it was a highly extensible alloy with a texture as smooth and light as cloth. If it entered combat mode, these butterfly wings would all open, sliding along the surface of the central sphere, transforming into a sun-like pattern.

This Void Spirit Religion fleet entered the battlefield unimpeded. A spaceship emerged from the fleet, and its hatch opened. It was Sysko, the second Grade Super A to arrive.

He floated in front of the Void Spirit Religion's fleet, staring faintly at the opposing Purple Crystal Fleet and Zero Organization in the distance. Although his size was as small as a grain of sand compared to the massive fleet, the entire audience's attention was drawn to him.

Countless spectators gasped.

"Sysko is here!"

"The Void Spirit Religion's fleet is actually moving with him. Is this the attitude of a Civilization..."

It was not a big secret that the Star Pupil Divine Race's backing was the Void Spirit Religion, but the Civilization had not expressed its attitude toward this event these past few days, yet now it suddenly appeared, making it clear that it wanted to intervene in this duel. No one was psychologically prepared for this.

Whether they were spectators on the scene or viewers watching the broadcast, they were all greatly shocked.

They originally thought that this duel was mainly a conflict between Grade Super As, but now that a Civilization was involved, the situation instantly became complicated.

"This is not good. The Void Spirit Religion is here to help Sysko!" Leylin immediately felt as if he were facing a great enemy.

This Void Spirit Religion fleet was very powerful, enough to rival the Purple Crystal and Zero Organization, and it was a Civilization; how could they dare to attack?

On the other side, Jod couldn't help but become wary.

Originally, the Star Pupil Divine Race was too far away and did not send troops to help. Almost everyone thought that Sysko had come alone, but the appearance of the Void Spirit Religion made Sysko jump to become the most powerful force on the field, because of the special status of a Civilization, all the forces present were silent.

However, before everyone could accept the change in the situation, one wave subsided, and another rose. Another fleet arrived.

Seeing who it was, every spectator was stunned.

The Crimson Empire!

Another Civilization?!

The Crimson Empire's spaceship technology was significantly different from the Void Spirit Religion's. The Void Spirit Religion's spaceships had a magical style, while the Crimson Empire's spaceships had a heavy industrial style. The hull revealed a chilling beauty of machinery and steel. The formation was as majestic and heavy as order. Just looking at it from a distance made people feel oppressed.

The Crimson Empire fleet squeezed into the central battlefield, hovering beside Klent, facing the Purple Crystal Civilization together with the Void Spirit Religion fleet, appearing to be there to help the Tyrant.

More than ten days ago, Sui had agreed to the Crimson Empire's higher-ups' request to send troops to help the Tyrant. Seeing his backing arrive, Jod's mood also relaxed. He sneered at the Black Star Army's position in the distance.

Did you see that, little brother? Do you have a backer?

We have two!

On the other side, in the Star Diamond-class flagship, Leylin slammed his hands on the table, his face pale, cold sweat dripping down, his knees weak.

He did not expect the situation to turn out like this. The current situation was not just bad; it was hopeless.

If a conflict really broke out later, with their small arms and legs, what would they use to collide with two Civilizations?!

At this time, countless spectators who had been in a daze finally came back to their senses, their hearts filled with shock.

"The Crimson Empire and the Void Spirit Religion have both come!"

"Two Civilizations are standing on the opposite side of Black Star?!"

"Black Star only has one Purple Crystal Civilization as his backer. It looks too miserable..."

"A newly advanced Grade Super A has to face this situation. He's probably going to be unlucky."

In everyone's eyes, the current situation was clearly that two major Civilizations were targeting Black Star together. The alliance between the Tyrant and Star Pupil was too powerful, and Black Star's situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

Countless people couldn't help but sweat for Black Star, feeling more and more pessimistic. The indirect impact was on the major betting markets. The Tyrant's betting amount ushered in a wave of crazy surge. The betting group originally wanted to stop betting after Black Star and the Tyrant appeared, but now they were so scared that they immediately closed the market.

In the Black Star Army's fleet, millions of players' hearts were suspended. It was the first time they had seen the pinnacle of the galaxy, a Civilization, but the other party was an enemy of their own camp.

"Army Commander seems to be in trouble this time..." Maple Moon twisted her hands together nervously.

Mad Blade couldn't help but worry, clenching his fists.

Although the Black Star Army was the main camp in the players' minds, after being influenced by three versions, the players had long established the impression that Civilizations were the overlords of the galaxy. Originally, many players were quite optimistic about this duel, but the current development made many players unable to laugh. The situation was quite bad.

Many people's hearts wavered. The future version was probably centered around Civilizations, but now the Black Star Army had become the opponent of a Civilization... This was not a good sign.

On the contrary, Summer Flower on the War Realm side was full of surprise.

The reason why he was optimistic about the War Realm was that this force had an upward channel and could be used as a springboard to join the Crimson Empire. The Black Star Army only had the Purple Crystal Civilization above it, which could not be compared. At this time, the appearance of the Crimson Empire fleet was like a shot in the arm for him, restoring a lot of confidence in his guess.

"Did you see that? This is what I said about the limitations of camp development. I emphasized long ago that you can't be confused by the immediate benefits like the Black Star Army players. You have to have a long-term vision like me to make the right choice." Summer Flower became cocky again, smiling and talking to the players around him.

At the same time, in the Black Star Army's main ship, many army officers had serious expressions, and no one spoke.

Raki sighed and broke the silence. "Sigh, it looks like I'm going to die here today..."

In the past, someone would always joke about Raki's despair, but now all the officers pursed their lips, and no one responded.

Even they, these officers, couldn't help but become pessimistic.

They didn't forget that the Army Commander had to face two duels!

Even if he survived the Tyrant, Sysko would still come up to force Black Star to hand over the Evolution Cube. No matter how they thought about it, they felt that Han Xiao's best choice was to give in and take the initiative to hand over the Evolution Cube—there were two Civilizations watching covetously on the opposite side, and their backing forces were far too much stronger than them.

They couldn't figure out what the army's confidence was to forcibly keep the Evolution Cube.

"If he insists on his own way..." A Calamity Grade officer couldn't help but speak.

"Shut up." Sylvia glared at him fiercely. "What we have to do is obey the Army Commander's decision. What do you want to say?!"

Everyone looked at each other. Except for Melos and others who were the most senior, most of the officers who joined the army later silently prayed in their hearts:

"I hope Black Star doesn't lose his mind..."

Just then, a War Realm spaceship drove from afar, arrived at the central battlefield, and Herber finally arrived.

The mountain-like burly body wore a heavy set of armor, suspended in the center of the battlefield. All the spaceships' radars detected the terrifying energy boiling in his body, like a walking supernova.

Herber turned his head and glanced at Sysko, his eyes warning him not to disturb his plan.

Sysko was expressionless and retreated a distance.

"The Tyrant has also arrived. Only Black Star and Dragon Emperor are left."

"Hey, they're here."

Many spectators hurriedly turned their eyes and looked over, only to see a Black Star fleet surrounding Dragon Calm Island and driving slowly. Because Dragon Calm Island was not running so fast, Han Xiao and Ames were the last to arrive.

The surrounding spaceships made way, allowing the huge Dragon Calm Island to pass through and smoothly enter the battlefield area.

"Finally, everyone's here!" Everyone's spirits lifted.

Ames slowly rose into the air and flew above Dragon Calm Island. At this time, Han Xiao also flew out of the main ship. The two faced Herber and Sysko in the distance. Not far away was Austin, watching the show.

Black Star filled the vacancy of the Mechanical System. The five Grade Super As in the Shattered Star Ring happened to be five different Super Ability System. Countless viewers suddenly felt a sense of ceremony, feeling that they were witnesses.

Han Xiao turned his head and looked at Ames, nodding to each other. Then, he glanced at the magnificent crowd of onlookers, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but twitch.

"Why are there so many people, and they're so close? Aren't they afraid that we'll randomly kill a few lucky viewers..."

Han Xiao also glanced at the Arcane Sanctum, speechless to this old man, and shook his head helplessly before turning his attention to Herber.

After sizing him up, he connected to the Tyrant's communication device, and his voice sounded in Herber's armor.

"I'm here, little Tyrant. How do you want to fight?"

"...What did you call me?" Herber didn't react.

"Hey, I can call you whatever I want." Han Xiao raised his eyebrows and smiled.

Herber was too lazy to respond and said condescendingly, "Black Star, I was optimistic about you more than ten years ago, proving that my vision was correct. Unfortunately... you rejected my invitation and made a wrong decision. I gave you a chance, but you didn't know how to cherish it."

Han Xiao curled his lips. "Don't say those useless things. Aren't you just trying to use me to establish your prestige today?"

"That's right." Herber didn't hide it. "You can live until now because the you in the past was not worth me slaughtering. But you didn't disappoint me. I saved your life until today just to use your blood to color my throne."

Once one reached Grade Super A, only the record of killing someone of the same level could gain greater prestige in the galaxy, which was the best way to improve one's status. This was the Tyrant's goal all along—in his eyes, as long as his prestige became higher and higher, there would be a continuous stream of talents joining his command.

However, the other three Grade Super As in the Shattered Star Ring were not easy to deal with and had no reason to attack. Even Ames, whose abilities were restrained by him, had first-class life-saving abilities. So, he implemented a pig-raising tactic, preparing to cultivate a Grade Super A enemy and then kill him before this person's wings were full, stepping on the enemy's corpse to build his own "Tyrant" prestige.

And Han Xiao was the target he had chosen.

So you like raising pigs, be careful of being killed by the pig... Han Xiao couldn't help but shake his head when he heard this.

At this moment, the interface suddenly reacted and popped up a new message.

[You have triggered the Grade S mission ["Tyrant" Herber]!]

[Mission Introduction: Grade Super As are top experts standing at the pinnacle of the galaxy, possessing unparalleled power. "Tyrant" Herber is one of them. Are you sure you want to fight him?]

[Mission Requirements: Try to last longer in Herber's hands (combat mode is not limited, each disengagement from combat is up to thirty minutes, if overdue, the mission will enter the settlement stage, number of disengagements is unlimited)]

[Reward: The reward for this mission is phased. Each time you reach a requirement, you can get the corresponding reward (only 1% of the disengagement time is counted into the determination time)]

[Last for 10 seconds: 10,000,000 experience]

[Last for 30 seconds: 23,000,000 experience]

[Last for 1 minute: 45,000,000 experience]

[Last for 2 minutes: 70,000,000 experience]

[Last for 3 minutes: 90,000,000 experience, Legend Degree +1]

……

[Last for 7.5 minutes: [Character Arrival Card - "Tyrant" Herber], 300,000,000 experience]

……

[Last for 20 minutes: Randomly draw a specialty or skill from the Tyrant, 850,000,000 experience, Legend Degree +1]

"It's this kind of mission." Han Xiao's eyes lit up.

Grade Super A experts were truly big Bosses, insurmountable mountains. Even if the players had their current level, they still couldn't beat a Grade Super A with a template specialty. The difference was how long they could last. In the later versions of the previous life, there were also players who challenged Grade Super As, and some people had a chance to trigger special Grade S missions, which were in this form—giving rewards based on how long the players lasted in the Boss's hands.

In the previous life, it was extremely difficult for most players to last a minute in a head-on battle with a Grade Super A. The only way was to constantly disengage and kite. Because only 1% of the disengagement time was counted, it meant that each disengagement could only harvest a maximum of 18 seconds of determination time. For players, to complete the requirement of "lasting 20 minutes", they had to disengage at least sixty times and not be caught up by the Grade Super A within thirty minutes, which meant dragging the Grade Super A for more than thirty hours in total, which was almost an impossible task.

Han Xiao had also challenged Grade Super As before, and his best score wasn't this high.

However, the evaluation criteria of the panel mission had always been based on the player's strength, but Han Xiao was the only exception.

He didn't need to disengage at all, he could just face it head-on!

With his endurance, twenty minutes was just a warm-up!

Han Xiao exhaled, and blue-gold Mechanical Force exploded, his arms stretched out, clenching his fists and hammering them to his sides, as if holding thunder.

A secondary dimension that had been surveyed in the past ten days was suddenly opened behind him!

Looking out, it was full of dark mechanical legions, endless, as if infinite!

Emperor Mechanic - Secondary Dimension March!

Personal conquest, the army was pressing down!

Seeing this, Herber twisted his neck, and a supernova-like aura rose from him, as dazzling as a star.

In the next moment, the mechanical legions poured out, meeting a star-like figure!