Chapter 1

There were four well-known Super A-Grade powerhouses in the Shattered Star Ring: [Overlord] Heber, [Dragon Throne] Ames, [Sorcerer] Austin. Han Xiao had more or less crossed paths with these three. Only the last Super A-Grade, [Star Pupil] Sisko, was someone he had never even met.

Sisko's territory was located in a star cluster on the very edge of the Shattered Star Ring. Han Xiao had once attended an Overlord gathering, and Sisko was the only one who didn't show up.

Sisko was born into a galaxy-level civilization and was now the supreme leader of that civilization, leading his people and compatriots to quietly develop in his own territory, without expanding outward or causing trouble. He was even more low-key than Austin.

Could this guy also have secretly defected to the Crimson Empire?

Underneath his mecha helmet, Han Xiao's expression was uncertain.

In his previous life in version 3.0, Sisko had not intervened in the secret war. He could only attribute the current situation to his own influence on the world.

Although he had never met Sisko, Han Xiao remembered the information from his previous life.

Sisko was not a humanoid creature. It was said that his genes had undergone atavism, and he had a weak connection to a certain Outer Dimension God of the Void Spirit Religion. He had extremely high psychic talent and possessed the skills of psychokinesis activation and psychokinesis manifestation.

The attack he had just suffered was a Sisko's psychokinesis skill attack stored by some means, not Sisko's actual presence, so the damage wasn't too high. What gave him a headache was a bunch of negative statuses with unknown durations.

Han Xiao wasn't sure whether this sneak attack was at Sisko's instigation, or whether the enemy had obtained this item through some channel without Sisko's knowledge.

His mind flashed through these thoughts in a split second. Han Xiao didn't have the energy to continue thinking. The negative statuses began to take effect, and his brain was filled with a cacophony, as if countless little people were whispering deeply.

The scene in front of him overlapped, like countless mirrors placed diagonally, creating illusions. A sense of weakness rose from the depths of his mind, like mental exhaustion from extreme fatigue yet being unable to fall asleep.

"Now the guys in the War Realm all know that Calamity Grades can't pose a threat to me, so they're only using Super A-Grade methods to deal with me..."

Forcing himself to endure the chaos in his thoughts, Han Xiao gritted his teeth and waved his hand. The mechanical legion, following the established orders, intensified its offensive against Hadaway. At the same time, a black tide of mechanical troops began to enter the battlefield in large numbers, destroying enemy warships and accelerating the advance.

Han Xiao no longer cared about delaying. He prepared to capture the warp base as soon as possible, end the battle, and deal with his own negative statuses.

Hadaway was a little stunned. The white ball of light was a psychokinetic attack, without obvious power display, and he didn't know what damage Han Xiao had suffered.

Even he, a Super A-Grade seed, couldn't see it. Others on the battlefield were even more clueless. Only Han Xiao himself knew what had just happened.

"Jode, what exactly was that thing?!"

Hadaway's expression wasn't good. He didn't like ambushing opponents worthy of a fight.

"This is classified." Jode was dissatisfied with Hadaway and didn't bother to say more. Hadaway was just a cooperative partner, not loyal to the War Realm. He didn't regard Hadaway as a trustworthy member of his own group.

Hadaway suppressed his annoyance, while dealing with the mechanical legion's concentrated fire, and observing Han Xiao in the distance, "He doesn't seem to be affected. What kind of damage did that ball of white light cause him?"

Jode sneered, not intending to explain.

After ten years of fighting, the War Realm had accumulated a large amount of intelligence on fighting Han Xiao. Compared to his powerful physical vitality, Black Star's weakness was in the mental aspect, which could not be concealed and most forces could guess. But Han Xiao was only relatively weak in this aspect, not an absolute weakness. His vitality was still powerful, and ordinary Grade A psychics or mental mages were still not his opponents.

But if it was a Super A-Grade psychic, it would be different.

This materialized psychic toxin from Sisko was something Jode had managed to get his hands on. His inspiration came from the DarkStar leader summoning an alien god's avatar seven years ago, and the purpose was to weaken Han Xiao.

Because the Overlord had always hoped that Black Star would reach Super A-Grade, wanting to kill him head-on and increase his own deterrence, Jode had prioritized Heber's orders and had not used this psychic toxin on Han Xiao, quietly waiting for him to improve.

But not long ago, the Overlord had personally told him that Black Star was almost impossible to become a Super A-Grade in the remaining two or three years of the war. The Overlord's plan was going to fail, so Jode believed that there was no need to let Black Star go. This didn't count as violating Heber's idea.

Black Star couldn't become a Super A-Grade, so the Overlord would only take action after the war ended due to the rules of war. So Jode decided to find a way himself, using Sisko's psychic toxin to weaken Black Star, reduce the opponent's strength, and reduce the pressure on his own high-level combat power.

This mentality was similar to wanting to hold a promising stock for a long time, but the stock's growth stagnated, or even showed a downward trend, so he sold it to stop the loss.

Sisko's psychic toxin was very hidden, and its source couldn't be seen. Jode estimated that Black Star didn't even know whose trick he had fallen for.

"Your mission is complete, find a chance to retreat." Jode calmed down, said casually, and then ended the communication.

He was already very satisfied that Black Star had fallen for the trick this time.

Hadaway was silent. He was the only one left in the communication channel. After Black Star was hit, he no longer continued to use trash talk harassment. He suddenly felt a sense of loneliness and decided to retreat.

He charged left and right on the battlefield, using the War Realm fleet as a distraction. Relying on his indestructible body, he forcefully broke through the encirclement of the mechanical legion, seized a spaceship, and quickly left the battlefield, warping away.

Han Xiao was already used to his escape posture and knew that he couldn't catch him with his current strength, so he recalled the mechanical legion and turned back to deal with the enemy's other high-level combat power. The opposing Calamity Grades all fled in defeat.

The Eternal Light also entered the battle, and its crystal edges fired ultra-concentrated dark energy annihilation rays, sweeping away everything and leaving linear blank areas on the battlefield.

Faced with the unstoppable advance of the Zero Organization, the War Realm changed its strategy, no longer resisting desperately, and began to retreat while fighting. Seeing that the warp base was about to fall, the War Realm directly blew up the base, actively cutting off the connection between the various planetary strongholds, not leaving it to the enemy.

Without the fast wormhole passage, the other planetary strongholds became independent, and the fleets of the strongholds also began to withdraw, abandoning the Kant Star System and preserving their strength.

Before long, all the War Realm troops withdrew, and the Zero Organization's large-scale counterattack was victorious, driving out all the enemy troops in the Kant Star System.

The number of star systems stationed by the War Realm changed from five to four. That is to say, the War Realm's foundation in the Kant Star System was unstable. If it were replaced by the three star systems of West Wind, Kaya, and Chaidar, which had been occupied for a long time, it would not be so easy to drive out the enemy. Even so, this was a rare victory. The Zero Organization was encouraged and their confidence was boosted. The Amethyst Faction was overjoyed when they heard the good news.

The players' campaign missions were also settled, and the victory improved the mission rating and increased the rewards.

...

A certain planetary stronghold that had been occupied by the Zero Organization.

Black smoke billowed, and scorched corpses were everywhere. Soldiers cleaning up the battlefield were walking through the devastated battlefield, collecting spoils of war.

Mixed in with the cleanup crew were many players, picking and choosing, like picking up trash.

"This harvest is not bad. Dismantling these broken equipment into materials should sell for one or two thousand Enas."

Mad Blade picked up a broken high-tech mechanical war hammer and threw it into the hovering loot box, feeling happy.

Jiangcheng's team members were also looting spoils of war around, chatting in twos and threes.

Vice-Captain Evil Sword picked up a broken energy gun, curled his lips, threw it aside, and asked casually, "Captain, how much experience do you have?"

"Let me see..." Mad Blade glanced at the panel, "Almost enough to advance."

Because at the end of version 2.0, these professional players had to participate in professional leagues, so they didn't save much experience. Their levels weren't the highest after the version opened, and many people hadn't reached level 100 to advance.

"You're leveling up so fast." Evil Sword envied. "I'm still a bit short on experience."

"I killed more enemies than you, and my mission rating is higher than yours, so of course you won't level up as fast as me." Mad Blade said smugly.

Evil Sword curled his lips, "Forget it, I won't compete with you on leveling. I'll spend some experience to learn some high-end knowledge and suppress my level."

"What's the point of suppressing your level? You should be able to reach Grade B after completing the level 100 advancement, right?"

"Maybe when I reach Grade B, there will be experience penalties for fighting those Grade C monsters. Anyway, I have you as an example, so I'd better wait and see." Evil Sword smiled slyly.

"Whatever, you coward, you'll have to level up sooner or later anyway." Mad Blade rolled his eyes.

On the other side of the battlefield.

Chang Hen Tian was also cleaning up the battlefield with a few friends, chatting about topics.

"This battle is finally over. Let's find a time to go to other star systems and respond to the War Realm's recruitment order."

Chang Hen Tian said.

When the war was going on, there was no chance to join the opponent's camp. Now that the battle was over and they could move freely, Chang Hen Tian decided to take action.

"Now there seems to be a 50% discount on benefits. I think we should enjoy the last wave of benefits before changing camps. Let's go back to the Black Star Army headquarters, spend all our earnings this time, and then join the War Realm." One person said.

Chang Hen Tian nodded, "That works too."

"It's just that the main quest rating we increased in this battle will probably be wiped out and replaced with the Klent Faction's main quests." Someone regretted.

"That can't be helped."

Chang Hen Tian shook his head. "But at least we got the rewards for this battle, so it's not a loss, right? Compared to the Klent Faction's hidden plot, this little loss is nothing."

Everyone nodded.

At the same time, in another stronghold, Summer Flowers was also thinking about this issue.

"After this mission is over, someone should go join the Klent, and then I can verify that my deduction is correct. Klent is the best choice."

Summer Flowers muttered to himself. He believed in his speculation and was looking forward to changing camps.

...

While the main force was cleaning up the battlefield, Han Xiao had Melos and others take full responsibility for post-war processing and locked himself in the training room.

In the room, Han Xiao looked pale, closed his eyes, concentrated, and experienced his negative statuses. After a long time, he opened his eyes with a solemn expression.

The problem was very棘手(jí shǒu, thorny).

[Soul Poisoning] kept him in a mentally weak state with all attributes reduced by 20%, and stamina and energy consumption were additionally increased by 15%, requiring more energy to use skills.

[Sensory Misguidance] reduced his hit rate, crit rate, and evasion ability.

[Whispering Hallucinations] constantly harassed him mentally, with strange voices constantly whispering in his mind, making it difficult for him to maintain a calm and rational state.

[Personality Splitting] was the most dangerous, causing him to develop other sub-personalities, while [Mind Parasitism] was the psychic toxin parasitizing his mind. Every time he consumed energy, a portion of it would be absorbed by the psychic toxin to nourish the weak sub-personalities, allowing the sub-personalities to grow stronger and compete for control of the body.

If the control of the body was taken, the panel said he would enter a [Confused] state, out of control, indiscriminately attacking friend and foe.

But Han Xiao knew that for him, the actual effect would be more complex, not just entering a [Confused] state.

"Sisko... Sigh, I hate psychics..."

Han Xiao frowned, rubbed his temples. Now the sub-personalities seemed very weak, and he hadn't felt their existence yet, but every time he took action in the future, the sub-personalities would grow.

Could the War Realm's goal be to limit my actions and make me afraid to fight at will?

Han Xiao shook his head helplessly. Even if he was prepared, he would still be hit by a Super A-Grade psychic's attack.

It seemed that he had to put aside other things and find a way to solve these negative statuses first...

Han Xiao sighed.

"The duration is unknown, it probably won't disappear on its own, how to eliminate it..."

He endured the mental fatigue and thought silently.

The simplest way was to ask Sisko himself for help, but Sisko was neither friend nor foe, and rashly going to his door was throwing himself into the net.

The second way was to ask Austin for help, which could be considered.

The panel's information wasn't comprehensive. Han Xiao wanted to see the details of the psychic toxin, but his profession was very materialistic and couldn't give his mind a physical examination. So he summoned Raki and Fording.

"You were ambushed by a Super A-Grade psychic?!"

Fording and Raki came to the room. After listening to Han Xiao's explanation, they were both shocked.

Han Xiao rubbed his eyebrows and sighed, "It's hard to guard against. I didn't expect to run into Sisko. Fording, help me check. How bad is the situation?"

Fording became serious, solemnly stretched out his hands, pressed them on the back of Han Xiao's ears, closed his eyes, and his mental energy probed into Han Xiao's brain.

Han Xiao could feel Fording's mental tentacles stretching in.

Buzz!

Suddenly, the vision in front of him changed, displaying the scene of his mental brain domain. This was Fording sharing his vision.

The mental brain domain was a vast white world. Han Xiao and Fording both existed in the form of mental light people, overlooking the mental brain domain.

At this time, one-tenth of the area was filled with purplish-black mist. The mist tried to condense into a human form from time to time, but failed every time.

"This is the psychic toxin parasitizing your mental brain domain."

Fording said solemnly, "It will continue to absorb your energy and expand on its own. When it expands to 30% of the area, your sub-personalities will develop their own consciousness and begin to compete for your body."

Han Xiao's expression was not good. "Can you eliminate these psychic toxins?"

Fording shook his head helplessly, "This is a psychic energy from a Super A-Grade psychic. Its erosion is overbearing and difficult to eradicate. Even my mental energy will be swallowed by it and turned into nourishment. I'm sorry..."

At this moment, Raki's mental body also squeezed in and appeared next to the two of them. He glanced at it, then patted Han Xiao on the shoulder.

"You're hopeless. Pass the position of legion commander to me. I will inherit your career."

"Thank you so much." Han Xiao said unhappily.