"Is that a threat?" Han Xiao asked, surprised by the directness.

"No, I'm just making you understand your situation." Sisko's tone was candid, his attitude firm.

As fellow Super A Grade powerhouses who controlled great strength, the roundabout negotiations between civilizations were laughable. Super A Grades were privileged individuals in the Star Sea who had already stepped outside the rules. Thus, Sisko knew that empty words were useless. He directly presented the stakes, seized the other party's concerns, and found that it was more effective than a pile of metaphors and hints.

Sisko didn't know much about Black Star's situation. He only knew that the Tyrant and Black Star were opposed to each other. This meant that no matter which side he joined, he could break the balance.

He was betting that Black Star, as a new Super A Grade, would choose stability. Ascending to Super A Grade was the time to accumulate power and divide the Star Field's cake of benefits. Faced with two old Super A Grades joining forces at this critical moment, he believed that Black Star would most likely compromise.

The Star Pupil Divine Race's genes were almost optimized to their limit, and the Evolutionary Cube's function was no longer useful to them. What Sisko needed was not to continue using the Evolutionary Cube, but the value of the Evolutionary Cube itself—to control it and exchange it for the support of the Void Spirit Religion.

In fact, in recent decades, the Void Spirit Religion had repeatedly offered generous terms to exchange for the Evolutionary Cube. The most recent offer stated that they were willing to support the Star Pupil Divine Race to become the designated spokesperson of the Void Spirit Religion in the Shattered Star Ring, turning them into a true Star Cluster civilization. This had already made Sisko somewhat tempted.

However, the bargaining chip had been snatched away.

Therefore, whether the Evolutionary Cube was portable or not was not important. Han Xiao's conditions were not attractive to him. He did not need to borrow it; he wanted the Evolutionary Cube itself.

In any case, the Evolutionary Cube must return to his hands. Otherwise, he would lose the support of the Void Spirit Religion. Without this premise, no matter what kind of exchange of benefits was made, it would not work. There was no room for compromise!

Han Xiao pondered for a moment and understood Sisko's reliance and bottom line. The other party's toughness gave him a headache.

This little comrade refused a win-win cooperation and only wanted to get back the Evolutionary Cube. There was nothing he could do to Sisko.

Threatening the other party's race was more harmful than beneficial. Galaxy-level civilizations were protected by the "Civilization Treaty," while armed forces were not within the scope of protection. This was the difference in the nature of the forces. In other words, it was okay for others to hit him, but it was illegal for him to hit others. This was how miserable interstellar mercenaries were—no emotions, no human rights.

Sisko cared about his race, which was a well-known weakness. But if he had to back down every time someone threatened him with his race, the Star Pupil Divine Race would not have reached this point today. It could be said that Sisko had been scared into adulthood. This was also the reason for his tough style. Unless Han Xiao was determined to give up the Black Star Army and become a cosmic-level wanted criminal like the Heterogeneous God, threatening the Star Pupil Divine Race would sound like a bluff. Han Xiao felt that Sisko must be aware of this.

'But he knows this, but he doesn't use the Black Star Army to threaten me, which means he still has some concerns and doesn't want to push me too hard.' Han Xiao's heart stirred.

The focus of the competition was the Evolutionary Cube. Both of them had concerns. In order to avoid both sides suffering, they did not mention their respective forces.

But Han Xiao was unwilling to return the Evolutionary Cube to Sisko just like that. For most civilizations, the Evolutionary Cube was an unprecedented opportunity for development. No civilization could refuse such an opportunity. If he controlled the Evolutionary Cube, it would form a huge interest group, and the influence of the Black Star Army would skyrocket hundreds or thousands of times.

Taking a step back, as long as he cooperated with the Crimson Empire using the Evolutionary Cube as a Super A Grade, he could also obtain the support of a universe-level civilization. The benefits that the Star Pupil Divine Race enjoyed from the Void Spirit Religion could also be enjoyed by the Black Star Army. Furthermore, he could join the early exploration and development army of the Flickering World, placing a bet for the future version in advance.

At the same time, the Evolutionary Cube could also attract countless Disaster Grades, and it might even be possible to rope in other Super A Grades.

He was not a racist like Sisko and would not hide good things and only use them for his own race.

There was only one Evolutionary Cube, and the benefits were huge. It was fine if there was no chance before, but now that there was a chance to get involved and he had the strength to protect such a treasure, it would be too disappointing to give up easily.

When it was time to fight for it, Han Xiao would not back down.

Keeping the cube would bring the greatest benefits, along with certain risks. But with his durability and Aurora's potion, the Tyrant and Sisko might not be able to kill him even if they joined forces. He was not afraid of risks in terms of power. The py power of the Evolutionary Cube was top-notch. And returning it to Sisko, although there was no risk, meant giving up the biggest cake and giving away a bright future, only to accept the leftovers.

This was a choice between a tree and an entire forest!

With this in mind, Han Xiao stopped testing and asked in a deep voice,

"Is there no room for negotiation?"

Sisko said lightly, "Civilizations will inevitably compete for resources and futures if they want to develop… From ancient times to the present, whether advanced or backward, they cannot escape this law. If they don't compete, they will eventually be eliminated. I believe you have also heard a saying circulating in the universe: 'A civilization without ambition has no future.'"

He would not say things like, "The Evolutionary Cube is mine; you should return it to me." It was useless to reason with the peak powerhouses of individual strength. In essence, the Evolutionary Cube was an unowned object. Sisko had also taken it for himself by relying on his strength. It was only after a long time that other forces had defaulted to it being his.

If the Star Pupil Divine Race had created the treasure on their own, Han Xiao might have been willing to return it. However, this thing did not originally belong to Sisko. Even if the other party had the righteousness of his race, the universe was not opened by your Star Pupil Divine Race. Resources were obtained through competition. Why should everyone else make way for you? The Star Pupil Divine Race was a wise civilization, and so were other races.

Sisko monopolized the Evolutionary Cube and focused on transforming his race. He was a hero of the race, but in the eyes of other civilizations, he was also a selfish fellow. One man's hero was another man's enemy. Value judgments were based on position, especially in the complex environment of the Star Sea. There was no simple right or wrong. Civilization development was a process of sailing against the current.

In Han Xiao's opinion, the Star Pupil Divine Race had already enjoyed the dividends of the Evolutionary Cube. Even if they lost the cube, the Star Pupil Divine Race would still be a strong race. Sisko was just holding on to this benefit and did not want to let go, not satisfied with the status quo, wanting to elevate the civilization to a higher level.

"A civilization without ambition has no future. That's right. As a civilization leader, you do have to shoulder the future of the entire civilization, but…" Han Xiao sighed. "I don't plan to pay for your ambition."

"…Have you thought about it?" Sisko paused, his tone becoming more serious.

"There is only one Evolutionary Cube. Neither of us wants to give up. The contradiction cannot be reconciled, so there is nothing to talk about."

Han Xiao shook his head. He had never been a good Samaritan. After weighing the pros and cons, he had made a decision.

"Alright, I hope you don't regret your choice today!"

Sisko suddenly attacked, and thousands of shockwave-like mental energy spikes burst out, leaving behind a series of distorted trajectories in the air, attacking the mechanical legion behind him and directly penetrating the formation.

Bang bang bang!

Thousands of fireworks exploded in the mechanical legion, and shattered parts flew everywhere. Nearly 100,000 mechanical soldiers were severely damaged, their bodies shattered, and many machines were directly scrapped.

Tsk, as expected, the mechanical soldiers manufactured during the Disaster Grade were too fragile against a Super A Grade, even with the bonus of Mechanic Force…

"Disperse the formation!"

Han Xiao directly ordered the combat intelligence Sparta in his mind. Then, the mechanical arm nanotransformed into a spiral drill wrapped in psionic energy, stabbing toward Sisko, who was close at hand.

Sisko was quick-witted and clamped the drill bit with both hands.

Chila chila—

The drill bit rotated at high speed in Sisko's hands. His palms were covered with a psionic shield, frantically rubbing against the drill bit, bursting out a string of yellow and blue sparks. The light in his eyes exploded.

Han Xiao's mind ached, and he suffered another mental attack. Before he could react, the next moment, Sisko's whole body exploded with white light, and circles of ripple-like psionic halos spread rapidly, like an invisible wall pushing over. Han Xiao was pushed out thousands of meters.

Then, Sisko clenched his four arms with force, and with a boom, a majestic and rich energy wave rose into the sky!

Han Xiao stabilized himself and took a closer look, only to see that Sisko's appearance had undergone a huge change.

Sisko's body had expanded by a circle. The two jade-like straight horns on his forehead had lengthened, and a head of white hair-like small tentacles had combined to become a huge white tentacle, like a tail growing on his head, swinging back and forth. The texture seemed to be very tough. The three pairs of jet pipe-like bone wings on his back were opened to the maximum, like six limbs.

Seven eyes lit up with dazzling white light, and the dark purple lines on his skin all lit up, emitting a full energy. Sharp bone blades grew out of the bone armor on the joints, and white cloud-like psionic energy was continuously released from the surface of his body, wrapping around him.

Sisko was serious. This was his official combat form.

Han Xiao's eyes narrowed. Not everyone was willing to cooperate with him. Sisko refused to py and hid his ass, and in the end, he could only rely on his fists.

Fists were always the most crude and direct way to resolve conflicts.

Since language negotiation had failed, he could only convince people with (physical) force.

"He turns hostile as soon as he turns hostile. This guy is really tough… but I'm not afraid of you either. Who's afraid of who!"

Boom!!

Han Xiao no longer held back, adding many Buff skills to himself and erupting all his Mechanic Force.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

The mechanical legion pressed forward together, focusing all their firepower on Sisko. The devastating psionic particle cannon offensive was like a raging wave.

Compared to the hasty sparring just now, this was a real battle!

It was also his first battle at the Super A Grade level!
Chapter 1 The Beginning
作者：蝴蝶蓝
Hu Die Lan