Chapter 156 You're Running Out of Time

Austin saw Han Xiao's disbelief and said, "Sisko only cares about his own civilization. He doesn't know you, so I doubt he'd be interested in helping you. Even if I asked him for help, he might not give me face. Our friendship is so-so."

*Your* face isn't working, huh? You're an Beyond Grade A at least, and you like socializing as much as I do… Han Xiao inwardly complained.

As if reading Han Xiao's thoughts, Austin clicked his tongue and changed the subject. "Even if he were willing to help, you wouldn't live much longer if you didn't become a Beyond Grade A."

"Oh?" Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.

Austin said unhurriedly, "You've killed so many Grade A Superhumans from the war domain. Because of the unspoken rules, Heber has refrained from acting against you. But once the secret war is settled, guess what he'll do to you."

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. "He'll praise me for doing a good job."

Austin was speechless, his expression saying, "How can you be so shameless?" He shook his head and said, "If you reach Beyond Grade A before the war ends, Heber will intervene in the war to deal with you, but at least you'll still have a chance of survival. But if you can't break through the Beyond Grade A boundary, you won't even have the right to resist. At best, you'll only delay your death. He *will* fight you!

"So, becoming a Beyond Grade A is your only choice. I'm not lying to you, and you don't have much time left."

Han Xiao stroked his chin without speaking. On the side, Marian's eyes widened, and Fording also looked worried, frequently glancing at Han Xiao with concern.

Becoming a Beyond Grade A in two or three years? Impossible, right? Fording couldn't imagine how small the odds were.

He knew very well that Han Xiao had already reached a very high level. It would be extremely difficult to take it a step further. His strength had barely improved in the past seven years, a stark contrast to his previous rapid growth. Many old friends, including himself, had privately speculated that Black Star had finally encountered a bottleneck.

If Heber attacked at that time, Black Star would be doomed, and the huge Black Star Army would fall apart with his death.

Even if Black Star could grasp the extremely slim chance of becoming a Beyond Grade A, he might not be able to survive in Heber's hands. Heber had been a Beyond Grade A for a long time, and his reputation was built through fighting. His combat power would naturally crush a new Beyond Grade A.

Thinking of this, Fording held a pessimistic attitude toward the future. He reached out and patted Han Xiao's shoulder heavily, hoping to give him some comfort.

In his opinion, Han Xiao must be very desperate now.

"Where did you get this information?"

"I have my own intelligence channels." Austin smiled.

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, pretending to ponder. In fact, this news was not unexpected. Since he dared to participate in the secret war, he had long prepared to be enemies with Heber. He didn't have any wishful thinking.

Originally, he was just an unremarkable member of the Zero Organization, but now he had become a trump card, naturally attracting Heber's attention. Han Xiao had been secretly wary of Heber's intervention in the war, not out of fear. He was still affiliated with Longtan, backed by Emersy. If Heber attacked him, it would be equivalent to provoking Dragon Emperor, and the new and old grudges between the two sides were deeply rooted. Emersy would not swallow her anger.

Moreover, once Heber intervened, the Purple Crystal Civilization would also go berserk, not hesitating to send official troops to encircle and suppress Heber—a Star Cluster Civilization could threaten the lives of Beyond Grade As. At that time, Klent would also use this as an excuse to send troops. The nature of the secret war would probably change, becoming a large-scale war between the two civilizations.

Both sides wanted to control the scale of the war. This was the reason why Heber had not taken action, but Han Xiao had not gone too far. Urinating on someone's head was acceptable, but defecating was going too far.

In fact, after making a name for himself, he had consciously reduced the frequency of his actions in recent years. He had successfully allied with the Purple Crystal Civilization, obtained many development opportunities, and completed his original intention of participating in the secret war. So, he began to avoid the risk of being too high profile.

Although he had influenced the process of the secret war, it was difficult for him to change the outcome of the war with just his Calamity Grade strength and status. He did what he could and did not blindly sacrifice himself for the Purple Crystal Civilization.

At this time, Austin's words only confirmed Han Xiao's guess, so he was not too surprised.

However, on the surface, Han Xiao still thanked Austin for kindly reminding him.

"I can only help you this much. Lagi's enchantment for you is very good, and I don't need to improve it. You can leave now."

Austin waved his hand, indicating that he was ready to see them out.

Seeing this, Han Xiao no longer bothered him and left the Arcane Palace with Fording and Marian, who were full of worry.

Austin returned to his throne, a look of interest appearing on his round face.

He did not get involved in disputes. He liked to stand from the perspective of an observer and watch the changes in the stars and the world.

Pressure was motivation. He deliberately revealed Heber's intentions because he wanted to see what actions Black Star would take under pressure—whether he would rise against the odds, fall from grace, or become a stray dog, leave the Shattered Star Ring, and escape Heber's pursuit.

No matter which result, Austin was happy to see it.

Of course, what he wanted to see most was Black Star changing the long-standing pattern of the Shattered Star Ring and injecting new vitality into this remote Star Field.

…

Han Xiao and his party boarded a spaceship and left the Arcane Palace.

The ship was silent.

Fording couldn't help but ask, "Are you confident that you can break through your current bottleneck in two or three years?"

Bottleneck? What bottleneck? Han Xiao didn't react for a moment, glanced at him in confusion, and then realized what Fording meant. He shrugged.

"I don't know either." Naturally, he didn't intend to reveal the panel's existence.

"Then what should we do? Heber will definitely come to kill you." Fording was a little anxious.

Marian suggested, "Maybe we can find a way to borrow the Evolution Cube from Sisko. Doesn't that thing lower the threshold for Beyond Grade As?"

"Probably no way." Han Xiao shook his head.

Austin could definitely ask Sisko, but he had no obligation to help him. Emersy was a homebody, and he guessed that she was not familiar with Sisko, so her face wouldn't work. The Evolution Cube was Sisko's treasure. It wasn't something he could use whenever he wanted. He didn't know him, and Sisko was probably too lazy to get involved.

Besides, he didn't have a real bottleneck. What he lacked was experience.

"Then what are you going to do?" Fording looked worried.

"Take it one step at a time."

With the return of the Version 3.0 players, Han Xiao was confident that he could become a Beyond Grade A, but he couldn't explain it to Fording.

Fording held Han Xiao's shoulder with a serious expression. "If it really doesn't work, then give up the Black Star Army and escape to another Star Field. We can build up the force again, but life is more important."

"Then would you follow me?" Han Xiao joked.

Fording hesitated for a moment and slowly nodded. "Yes."

Noticing Fording's sincere concern, Han Xiao was a little touched.

He shook his head, changed the subject, and smiled. "Don't be scared by something that hasn't happened yet. Let's talk about Heber's matter later. Right now, there's still a problem waiting to be dealt with. I have to find a way to suppress the psychic poison parasitizing my spiritual brain domain… oh, it should be called a soul embryo. With this thing inside me, I don't even dare to use my strength randomly."

"It's a pity that the Caster didn't help." Fording sighed.

"He simply didn't want to help. Don't look at his amiable appearance. In fact, that old man is very cunning. Do you think he told me this information just to help me?"

Han Xiao curled his lips. He wasn't as easily fooled as Melos. He made him come all the way, but in the end, he just dismissed him with a few words and didn't even reimburse him for the fuel. What kind of nonsense was that?

In the final analysis, he still had to find a way himself. He shouldn't have trusted Austin. It was a wasted trip. In this day and age, even Beyond Grade As couldn't be relied on.

Han Xiao thought about it and suddenly had an idea.

Since the reason why Beyond Grade As could recover on their own was that their spiritual power was strong, and his spirit would also increase with each level up, then even if he didn't reach Beyond Grade A, leveling up should also be able to suppress the soul embryo.

NPCs didn't have panels and could only slowly improve bit by bit, while his level up was an instant boost with significant effects. Although leveling up couldn't remove negative statuses, it should be able to suppress the growth of the soul embryo.

Han Xiao opened the panel. He had spent more than half a month on the road, and the players had already returned to the Black Star Army, consuming resources one after another. At this time, he had accumulated enough experience to level up, which gave him the capital to experiment.

He didn't hesitate and leveled up directly.

[【Apostle Mechanic】has leveled up to Lv23, Stamina +240, Strength +3, Agility +4, Endurance +5, Intelligence +10, you have obtained 8 free attribute points, 1 potential point]

Han Xiao immediately entered the spiritual brain domain through the portable enchantment. Looking down, he saw that the purple-black mist area of the soul embryo was further compressed, from 6% to 4%.

"Leveling up is indeed effective. The spiritual brain domain is expanding, which can indirectly suppress the erosion of the soul embryo." Han Xiao withdrew his spiritual probe and immediately had an idea. It wasn't that he couldn't take action. As long as he reasonably leveled up and controlled the erosion area of the soul embryo to less than 30%, a troublesome split personality wouldn't be born.

Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief. Now that there was a long-term suppression method, the threat of the soul embryo had decreased by a level. As expected, enchantments were all external methods. Strengthening oneself was the most reliable. Things that Beyond Grade A mages were helpless about could be solved by leveling up.

"In that case, it's not that I can't take action, as long as I control the battle time… Hmm, but just in case, I still have to find a powerful thug…"

At this moment, the communicator suddenly rang. Han Xiao took it out and saw that it was Sylvia, who was stationed at the headquarters, who had sent a message containing a photo.

In the picture, a dark red spaceship was using a tractor beam to drag dozens of spaceships with Star Pirate markings. It was parked at the spaceport. The long, deep red curly hair that he hadn't seen for a long time came into view. Hela was standing on the dock with Aurora, revealing her cold and beautiful profile.

Hela is back?

Han Xiao stared at the photo, a slight smile on his lips.

At this moment, he had the best candidate for a thug in his mind.

…

"Your Excellency Dragon Emperor, they have already arrived at the Black Star Army headquarters."

In the Longtan Floating Island Palace, Virna was bowing her head, reporting the two sisters' itinerary to Emersy.

Emersy squeezed the force field into tiny light green spheres, playing with them between her fingers, hovering and dancing like elves. Hearing this, she smiled softly. "Did they encounter anything on the road?"

"Yes, the fleet I sent out was secretly escorting them. Eight small Star Pirate groups attacked them one after another, but they were all easily killed by Hela." Virna said. She was afraid that something would happen to the two sisters, so she sent people to protect them secretly.

"You did a good job. Now that they have safely arrived in Black Star's territory, withdraw the troops. Black Star will take care of them."

Emersy nodded. She cared about the two sisters even more than she cared about herself. She didn't feel anything usually, but after the two sisters had been gone for more than half a month, she felt empty and melancholic.

Isora shook his head on the side. "You don't need to worry about them at all. They can grow up quickly by following Black Star."

Emersy looked over, a little unhappy. "Are you saying that I'm not teaching well?"

Isora waved his hand, looking helpless. "Hela can absorb the remaining spiritual power of the dead to enhance her abilities. She has no chance to use this ability in Longtan, while Black Star is participating in the war. Countless people die in the war. For Hela, the battlefield is the most suitable place for her to train. Even I can't imagine how fast she will grow by Black Star's side."

"That's right, that bastard Black Star will definitely make them participate in the war. The battlefield is so dangerous. What if Black Star doesn't protect them well…"

Emersy muttered to herself, her focus obviously shifting to another direction. She was like a parent worrying about her children. The two disciples who had been with her for more than ten years were like her own children in her eyes.

Isora and Virna heard this and suddenly had a bad feeling.

…

After spending more than half a month, Han Xiao and his party returned to the Black Star Army headquarters and met the two sisters, Hela and Aurora, whom they had not seen for a long time.

In the office, Aurora threw herself into Han Xiao's arms and twisted non-stop. Although she had grown up, she was still as close to Han Xiao as before.

"As agreed, we're here to work for you." Hela said expressionlessly.

"We're all old acquaintances. There's no need to talk about agreements. I'm happy that you're here to help me." Han Xiao stroked Aurora's head and smiled. "I didn't expect ten years to pass by in a flash. You've all grown up."

There was a slight fluctuation in Hela's eyes.

They were once just puppets controlled by the Germination Organization, but now, Black Star had become a big shot in the universe, and she had also become a Calamity Grade powerhouse. Everything was different from before.

Thinking of the past, Hela felt a little emotional. The man in front of her had changed her life. Without Black Star, she would probably grow old on the planet with guilt and hatred, and she would never be able to step into the magnificent universe.

"The last time we fought side by side was more than ten years ago. At that time, I couldn't help you much." Hela raised her eyebrows, high-spirited. "Now, I've finally caught up with you!"

"I've been waiting for this day for ten years."

Han Xiao patted Hela's shoulder, smiled slightly, took two steps back, opened his arms, and raised his voice.

"Welcome to the Black Star Army!"