Chapter 171 The Aftermath

Bennet paced anxiously in the Black Star City administrative building. Most people had been sent out to deal with the disaster, leaving only a few officials waiting in the room, staring at Bennet with tense and hesitant expressions.

Apart from the monotonous footsteps and heavy breathing, there was no other sound in the room.

Bennet clenched his fists, his heart filled with a deep sense of powerlessness. Since Aquamarine Star connected with the interstellar society, he often felt this way. In this level of battle, he found himself useless and could only sit in the rear, waiting for Black Star's victory.

Although Bennet trusted Han Xiao, he also prepared for the worst and had people begin preparations for evacuation. He couldn't let all the people gamble with him.

At this moment, the officer in charge of observation rushed in, his tone ecstatic.

"Your Excellency, the battle is over! Black Star won!"

Bennet's body shook, and his tense body softened. His fists slowly loosened.

Everyone in the room showed joy and couldn't help but cheer softly.

"I understand… Do your best to take disaster relief measures, and minimize the damage of the disaster as much as possible."

Bennet suppressed his excitement and gave orders in an orderly manner. This shocking battle triggered disasters on the planet's surface, and it was necessary to clean up the mess and reduce subsequent losses.

"By the way, have you contacted Black Star?"

"Just now, His Excellency Black Star sent a message saying that he is taking people to deal with the disaster and needs our cooperation."

"Great, fully cooperate with him and execute all his instructions."

Bennet was overjoyed.

…

The aftermath of a dozen people's battle caused earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes and other disasters in many parts of the world. Fortunately, Han Xiao quickly ended the battle, and the degree of the disaster did not exceed the critical point.

Among them, the storms at sea were the easiest to deal with. Calamity Grades could extinguish the eye of the storm and let it dissipate, while disasters such as earthquakes were difficult to reverse. Everyone mainly rescued the affected cities and reduced losses.

After spending a day and a night, Han Xiao and Wilton dealt with hundreds of large and small disasters, alleviating the immediate crisis. In the next few months, there would be follow-up chain disasters, but they were all within a predictable range.

There were still some issues on Aquamarine Star that required him to come forward to resolve, such as the follow-up treatment plan for the Six Nations.

However, Han Xiao was exhausted and planned to rest for a day before talking about it, and also familiarize himself with the changes after the advancement.

Han Xiao returned to Black Star City with the prisoners. Bennet was busy with disaster relief and took time out of his busy schedule to thank Han Xiao.

Although the enemy came for Han Xiao, Aquamarine Star suffered an unwarranted disaster this time, but Bennet was not an unreasonable guy. Aquamarine Star had risen under the protection of Black Star, and was already tied to the same chariot as Han Xiao. He would naturally not complain about this guardian, and would only be angry at the enemy's despicable methods.

Wilton and others bid farewell and left, rushing back to report their experiences.

Han Xiao thanked them again for their assistance, and discussed with Fifth Celer of Godora about compensation for the fallen Calamity Grades. Logically speaking, he didn't need to make compensation, but Han Xiao wouldn't be so ignorant.

Godora only had about twenty Calamity Grade combatants. Losing one was a huge loss. Fifth Celer was very distressed. When he heard that Han Xiao was preparing to compensate, he felt better.

The Crystal Civilization learned about this through Wilton and contacted the Godora Civilization, expressing that they would pay part of the price for Han Xiao. Han Xiao's record of killing Calamity Grades had improved his status. The Crystal Civilization was even more optimistic about his potential, and this move was to show a thorough attitude of drawing him in.

…

Back in the room, Steffan was still unconscious.

Steffan was very strong. Only when she had no strength to resist could Han Xiao safely imprison her.

The third ring of 【Prey】 had been completed. Han Xiao did not immediately settle the reward. He could draw a random ability from one of Steffan's ten traits.

Fording wasn't around, and Master Han felt uneasy about this kind of lucky draw. He planned to go back to headquarters and touch Fording before opening the prize.

During the battle, he rose to level 195 like a rocket. 【Truth Mechanic】 had reached the limit, triggering the requirements for the next stage of advancement.

This time it was a common Mechanic advancement mission, requiring the creation of a Mechanical suit that met the conditions. Han Xiao had triggered similar missions before, but the difficulty of this advancement mission matched his own level, and the conditions were very harsh.

Most equipment and props can be divided into inferior Gray, Common White, Good Green, Excellent Blue, Perfect Purple, Rare Pink, and Legendary Orange, with Orange equipment being the top quality.

But in addition to these common qualities, there are two special quality levels: Silver and Gold.

Gold equipment is the most special quality, extremely rare, representing "universe treasure" level items. There are not many such items in the entire universe. To give an easy-to-understand example, Purple Potato Monster's six-star diamond-encrusted gilded gauntlet is this level of treasure.

Silver equipment is an additional quality, representing the attribute of "inheritance". Items with famous historical events or honors that are passed down become Silver equipment and gain bonuses.

The inheritance attribute can coexist with common qualities. For example, an item can be both Orange and Silver.

This time's advancement mission required Han Xiao to create a Heritage-grade Orange suit, which is commonly known as "Epic" equipment!

The inheritance mode of mechanical equipment is blueprints, which means finding a special person to learn a Silver Heritage blueprint, crafting it, and reaching Orange quality. At the same time, the advancement mission also had requirements for the equipment level. The minimum usage level was 180.

"So, I have to find a Heritage blueprint for a level 180 mechanical suit, and then create an Orange quality product…"

Han Xiao's mouth twitched. Even the usage conditions of the Mountain Ape Mech weren't level 180.

Damn it, I think you're making things difficult for your Black Star!

Han Xiao did remember many ways to obtain Silver Heritage blueprints, but there were very few Heritage equipment that reached level 180, and the methods to obtain them were also very complicated.

Moreover, the higher the level of the blueprint, the harder it was to create high-quality finished products. Han Xiao calculated that with his current Intelligence attribute and Mechanical Affinity, creating a level 180 Pink suit would be the limit.

Han Xiao shook his head.

Although this mission was difficult, it was not without hope, and it was a manufacturing mission with no risk, so there was no need to try his luck with a mission settlement card… He felt that the lottery might be even more difficult.

"Heritage blueprints are not a problem, but my attributes are not enough to create a level 180 Orange suit. Hmm… Do I need to learn a new secondary class to support my attributes?"

With a thought, Han Xiao denied this method.

In the later stages, leveling up became more and more difficult, and the cost performance of the main class was far higher than that of the secondary class. Moreover, there was a level 200 advancement mission threshold, and the benefits of the secondary class were very low.

He didn't want to waste experience. The experience reserves on the panel were most cost-effective for leveling up the main class. After all, it was still early before the players went online, so he could save as much as possible.

There were also not many secondary classes that he needed now.

Besides, Han Xiao had a better choice.

"If I don't add attributes, then I need to find some Mechanical class talents…"

Han Xiao pondered, thinking of Leonard's talent, and couldn't help but feel envious.

If he could get 【Perfect Mechanical Sense】, he could directly meet the requirements… Unfortunately, it might be because the posture was wrong, but no mission had been triggered on Leonard.

"Find a chance to scavenge some Mechanical class talents. No matter what, I am a Mechanic."

Glancing at the unconscious Steffan, Han Xiao's eyes narrowed, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency.

This unexpected gain was knowing the owner behind this group of hunters. The Ancient One, Ten Thousand Shadows, was the real enemy. The deterrence of a Super A Grade made Han Xiao feel heavy. Ten Thousand Shadows made him more afraid than Overlord.

Killing Steffan's team was not the end, but just won a chance to breathe. Who knows what kind of people Ten Thousand Shadows would send to deal with him next time. With Albert and Steffan as examples, the next ring of the mission would definitely be more dangerous.

"I still need more power."

Han Xiao felt an urgent desire.

…

In the past few days, Han Xiao had been staying on Aquamarine Star to help, and the disaster had been brought under control.

Steffan remained silent after waking up. Han Xiao hadn't thought of how to deal with her yet, so he just locked her up.

With the team completely wiped out, no one maintained the false memories of the Six Nations' leaders. The Six Nations' leaders recovered one after another, as if waking up from a dream.

The Six Nations' higher-ups learned about their "amnesiac" behavior from the records, and everyone was frightened.

—Oh my god, what have we done?!

Everyone was still afraid. Fortunately, Black Star eliminated the mastermind, otherwise they would have been manipulated all the time, making big mistakes.

The Six Nations were worried that Black Star would misunderstand them, and immediately stated their position, declaring that the previous declaration of war was a misunderstanding, and the missile launch was also a misunderstanding.

At the same time, the leaders of the Six Nations hurriedly contacted Bennet, explaining the reasons in a panic and asking for forgiveness.

Bennet did not respond, but invited the leaders of the Six Nations to hold a meeting, saying that this planet had just suffered a disaster and needed to discuss the future development plan.

Bennet's attitude seemed that he did not intend to pursue their behavior after their memories were tampered with, which in the eyes of the Six Nations' higher-ups represented Han Xiao's meaning.

The higher-ups of the Six Nations couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and excitedly came to Black Star City to attend the meeting, having prepared an earnest speech in advance, intending to explain the matter clearly and get rid of the blame on their heads.

However, the direction of things was completely different from what they imagined!

For Black Star, Aquamarine Star's army was a formality, so the higher-ups of the Six Nations did not take precautions, but they did not expect that as soon as they got off the plane, Bennet would arrest them all, which shocked the higher-ups of the Six Nations.

All the higher-ups of the Six Nations were escorted to the meeting room and saw Han Xiao, who had been waiting for a long time.

"Your Excellency Black Star, what do you mean by this?"

"You must have misunderstood us, please let me explain."

Seeing Han Xiao's expressionless face, everyone's hearts jumped, and they hurriedly opened their mouths to explain.

Han Xiao waved his hand, signaling everyone to shut up, and slowly said, "If it weren't for me, you would have been destroyed in the Mutant Disaster. You declared war on me and betrayed the agreement between us. I am very disappointed."

"But, but we were being manipulated! You clearly know this!"

A higher-up said anxiously.

"Yes, you were being manipulated…" Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, "So can you pretend that nothing happened? What if Black Star City's protective shield failed to block the missiles you launched?"

Everyone choked, speechless, and felt aggrieved in their hearts.

Many people vaguely realized what Han Xiao meant, and their faces suddenly changed.

Han Xiao patted the table, "You are also victims, I will not kill you, but this matter cannot be left like this."

"You mean…" someone asked uneasily.

"Dissolve your governments and let Bennet take over. This civilization does not need so many regimes, one is enough."

From the perspective of civilization development, unifying the world is very important, which can significantly improve resource utilization. Too many regimes can only cause internal friction. The Six Nations' governments have become redundant, wasting talents and resources, which is almost a burden for Aquamarine Star Civilization to move towards interstellar society.

Because there was no iron-fisted regime, Aquamarine Star Civilization had been in a state of division for a long time. This incident just made Han Xiao feel that the time was ripe to take the opportunity to make a fuss, coupled with the negative public opinion of the Six Nations declaring war on him, which could minimize the public's resistance.

Even if it will go through a period of pain, in the long run, the civilization can become healthier, and there are too many benefits to taking over a civilization. As long as Aquamarine Star's technology keeps up with the interstellar era, it can become a powerful logistics base for Black Star Army.

Han Xiao's words were like a bolt from the blue. The higher-ups of the Six Nations were all stunned, with disbelief on their faces.

"You, you want to destroy our Six Nations?"

A leader's voice trembled, with both anger and fear. If Black Star used force, they would not have the slightest chance to resist.

"Destroy the nation?"

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows, stood up, walked to the window, opened the curtains, and could overlook multiple urban areas from a high altitude. The crowd was bustling, and the floating trains came and went.

"That is the country."

Han Xiao pointed to the outside of the window, and then pointed to the Six Nations officials in the room.

"You are not."

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(The double monthly pass event starts tomorrow, brothers, please use your votes to drown me, don't pity me just because I am a delicate flower~)