Chapter 204 Hailan Star's Rising Popularity

The movements of DarkStar had been under scrutiny from all sides, especially after the Golden Gate Star battle. Various reports and public opinion leaned towards Godora, touting their great victory, which gave them a sense of vindication. Countless interstellar citizens were eagerly awaiting further developments.

What most people didn't expect was that news of a second victory would come so quickly.

This time, the protagonist of the incident was none other than a native planet called Hailan Star!

Many people found it incredible. It was reasonable for Godora to repel DarkStar, but how could a native planet possibly defeat DarkStar?

Everyone only learned about the incident through various channels and didn't know the specific details.

For most people, Hailan Star was just one of countless low-level planets. If it weren't for being one of the Disaster Grade planets, many wouldn't even know about it, and their impression of it was very vague.

As for the name of Black Star, most ordinary people didn't know much about him. Although in the eyes of the major powers, Han Xiao was a target that needed attention, and they could guess that this incident was mostly related to Black Star, mercenaries were not celebrities to ordinary people, and they wouldn't deliberately remember a mercenary's name. Han Xiao's reputation mainly circulated at a higher level.

On the interstellar network, many people were impatient and eagerly inquired about the cause and effect of this incident. There were no bystanders when it happened, so it contained extremely high news value. Numerous interstellar reporters acted spontaneously, like cats smelling blood.

In just a few days, spaceships from different news channels sailed to Hailan Star to conduct on-the-spot interviews and uncover the truth—how exactly did Hailan Star repel DarkStar?

Hailan Star, this native planet that was almost ignored, received the attention of countless interstellar citizens for the first time and welcomed interstellar guests of normal civilization level on a large scale for the first time.

…

Hailan Star became lively.

A few days after the DarkStar attack, with the help of the Godorans, the Six Nations and the sanctuaries managed to clean up the battlefield and clear the ruins. Everything was waiting to be rebuilt, and at this critical moment, news ships came to Hailan Star and were stopped by the Godoran fleet in outer space.

The Godoran fleet didn't intend to let these reporters who came after hearing the news enter Hailan Star, partly for security reasons, and partly for other deeper considerations.

The Six Nations regime was completely unaware of this and didn't know that a group of interstellar visitors had arrived. They had no means of interstellar communication.

The reporters couldn't contact the sovereign civilization of Hailan Star, but soon someone thought of previous reports: the Black Star mercenary group was also on this planet, so they turned to contact the Black Star mercenary group.

"They've finally arrived."

Phillip relayed the message. Han Xiao had expected this. These reporters were a key factor in his plan, so he contacted Nagokin and asked him to instruct the fleet commander to make way.

The fleet commander received the order and didn't want to let the reporters in, but he had been instructed by his superiors that he had to obey Nagokin's command while guarding Hailan Star. After thinking about it carefully, he didn't want to provoke Black Star—especially after witnessing Black Star's power. He had no choice but to reluctantly let the fleet open the way.

A group of interstellar reporters excitedly entered Hailan Star. Many of them had excellent professional skills and immediately smelled something fishy—they contacted the Black Star mercenary group, but the Godoran fleet obediently made way. There seemed to be a deeper level of information hidden in this.

The Godorans actually had to give face to the Black Star mercenary group!

Many reporters immediately had a vague intuition that, in the eyes of the Godorans, Black Star was not just an ordinary mercenary. In this incident of repelling DarkStar, Black Star might have played a relatively important role.

This group of interstellar reporters respected the Hailan Star regime. Spaceships landed in the Six Nations, and the Six Nations then learned that a group of interstellar visitors had arrived. They were both surprised and nervous and hurriedly welcomed them.

The Six Nations and the people of Hailan Star saw so many different kinds of aliens for the first time and felt novel and strange. The reporters stated their identities and intentions, and the high-level officials of the Six Nations were overjoyed and realized that this was an unprecedented good opportunity.

An excellent opportunity to establish contact with the interstellar community!

All along, the Six Nations could only contact Godora one-way and knew very little about the interstellar environment. This situation only eased after Black Star returned.

And this time, it was DarkStar's attack that attracted interstellar attention. This was of great significance to a native planet, and the high-level officials of the Six Nations welcomed the reporters with twelve points of enthusiasm. They all felt that this was a blessing in disguise, which confirmed a principle: risk and opportunity are often proportional.

Although the Six Nations didn't know the etiquette of the interstellar community, they were very humble and constantly asked the reporters questions. The reporters answered everything they knew. After all, they wanted to collect material on Hailan Star, so naturally they had to maintain a good relationship with the Hailan Star regime. The reporters also didn't have the arrogance of interstellar people and wouldn't look down on natives—this planet had repelled DarkStar, so necessary respect was still required.

Soon, the high-level officials of the Six Nations learned from the reporters that they had been stopped in outer space and that Han Xiao had given the word to let the reporters in. They were immediately filled with gratitude to Han Xiao, because Black Star had prevented the planet from being destroyed. Now, it was Black Star who gave them the opportunity to connect with the interstellar community.

Sure enough, hugging Han Xiao's thigh was the right thing to do. The other party had already begun to fulfill their private agreement and help them develop.

On the other side, after communication, the reporters also learned that the main reason for repelling DarkStar was the Black Star mercenary group, which immediately confirmed their previous speculation.

—No wonder Godora had to give face to Black Star.

However, the Six Nations didn't know much about the process either. They were too busy at the time and only found out afterward.

After taking many photos of the attacked cities, which were all valuable materials, the reporters couldn't wait to go to the sanctuary to interview the people involved.

Spaceships arrived at the sanctuary one after another, and the first thing they saw were two huge ring-shaped mountains, which were clearly traces of combat.

Sure enough, they came to the right place! The reporters' spirits were lifted, and without saying a word, they picked up their camera equipment and took a series of photos of the ring-shaped mountains.

Spaceships landed one after another, and Melos walked out. He had been waiting for them for a long time. He glanced at them and said faintly:

"Follow me to the conference room. Black Star will accept your interviews."

The reporters nodded repeatedly and hurriedly followed, with a different attitude than they had toward the Six Nations.

Although these reporters were not arrogant and maintained an equal attitude when facing the Six Nations, even if they didn't despise them, the natives were still different and didn't have many common topics.

However, in front of the Black Star mercenary group, this group of interstellar reporters voluntarily lowered their stance. The Black Star mercenary group was an existence of a higher level. This respect came from the heart and was not feigned.

When they arrived at the conference room, Han Xiao hadn't arrived yet, so the reporters could only wait, but they didn't idle around. They first interviewed Melos.

Melos had already been instructed by Han Xiao to deliberately stay here for the reporters to interview him. He introduced the specific process in detail:

"...At that time, DarkStar sent a large number of spaceships to attack the Six Nations and also attacked us. The leader was DarkStar's target, and the enemy sent three Beyond Grade A combatants to besiege the leader!"

Black Star fought three Beyond Grade A alone? Since he was still alive, the result was self-evident!

The reporters were in an uproar and recorded it one after another:

—"DarkStar sent three Beyond Grade As, who only dared to fight Black Star together!"

Melos continued: "The leader held back the three most terrifying enemies alone, shouldering the greatest danger. The three Beyond Grade As failed to break through the leader's defense, so they used the main cannon of the mothership to attack the leader..."

The reporters exclaimed again and again and recorded it again:

—"Three Beyond Grade As were beaten up and forced to use the main cannon of the spaceship!"

"...The two ring-shaped mountains outside are the traces left by the main cannon. The leader withstood the cannon with his body, almost unscathed. Even the main cannon couldn't hurt his body. DarkStar then fired a second cannon, but fell into the leader's trap, almost killing their own Beyond Grade A member, so they didn't dare to fire again..."

This, this is big news!

The reporters were stunned and hurriedly wrote:

—"Flesh withstands the cannon from the sky, Black Star shouts for another shot!"

"...In the end, the Godoran reinforcements arrived. DarkStar was unwilling to engage in combat with Godora, so they were forced to retreat. That's the whole process." Melos closed his mouth.

The reporters applauded warmly and then buried their heads in writing:

—"Black Star shows great power, DarkStar flees in panic!"

…

After a while, Han Xiao estimated that Melos had finished the interview, and then came to the conference room on time.

The reporters subconsciously stood up, with respectful expressions on their faces, and shouted "Your Excellency Black Star", which made Han Xiao suddenly feel like a head teacher inspecting the class.

Han Xiao sat down, and the reporters immediately began to interview, confirming the process that Melos had just said and asking many questions, such as whether he felt any pressure when facing three Beyond Grade As, what it felt like to be hit by the main cannon, and what he thought of DarkStar's behavior and purpose. Han Xiao felt like he was holding a press conference.

Han Xiao patiently answered the questions. Spreading his deeds depended on these reporters. This was an additional reputation gain, and the potential rewards for events that could give Legend Points were naturally not small.

At the end of the interview, a reporter asked a final question:

"Your Excellency Black Star, you stayed on Hailan Star to help this planet resist disasters and fight against enemies. Is it because this is your hometown?"

Hearing this, Han Xiao's eyes flashed, and he had an idea.

"That's just one of the reasons..."

"Would you mind telling us the other reasons?" The reporter asked quickly, hearing that there was something more to the story.

Han Xiao smiled and said, "There's nothing to hide from you. Hailan Star is not only my hometown, but also the address of the branch base that our Black Star mercenary group is preparing to expand, which is one of the outer armed forces bases of Longtan. Some time ago, Dragon Emperor came to visit Hailan Star for a field investigation, so my job is to repel all invading enemies."

The reporters' eyes lit up, overjoyed. This was another fresh piece of big news!

So Hailan Star was a planet protected by Black Star and Longtan!

Han Xiao nodded secretly. From today onwards, Hailan Star would no longer be a low-level planet without any special features. It would be labeled as Longtan, and this reputation would be a talisman, at least able to repel 90% of those with ill intentions—especially countless shark-like space pirates.

After all, he wouldn't always stay on Hailan Star. This was a good thing that outweighed the disadvantages for both the Hailan Star civilization and his base.

In addition to improving security, the name of Longtan could also attract investment. Some consortia would voluntarily come to invest, which could greatly accelerate the integration of Hailan Star with the interstellar community.

Since Hailan Star was one of Longtan's territories, even if it was still a native planet, the consortia would make preliminary investments, reveal some common technical knowledge, and help the Six Nations quickly improve their technology level. He would also fulfill the treaty with the Six Nations. Although it had suffered an attack, it had also made the interstellar community aware of this planet as a result, establishing itself after destruction.

At the same time, labeling Hailan Star with the Longtan tag was also a plan to avoid future risks. Even if the Six Nations became more confident and had stronger wings in the future, they would never dare to tear up the treaty and turn against him. They would be very clear about the consequences of losing the name of Longtan.

In this way, the government on the surface was the Six Nations, while the actual manipulator in the dark was...

Ames.

—Of course, it wouldn't be him. Han Xiao, the great mechanic, still had some self-awareness.

However, with Ames's hands-off personality, he would have a lot of say.

What is hands-off? She doesn't care about this, doesn't care about that, doesn't care about anything!

Ames would naturally not object. As for Jenny, the chief steward in charge of actual operations... ha, shouldn't loving colleagues wipe each other's butts!

…

This trip was fruitful and rewarding, and the reporters left satisfied.

The next day, many news channels in the Garton Star System simultaneously released related reports, detailing the "real process" of Hailan Star repelling DarkStar. The text was accompanied by photos, and the pictures of the ring-shaped mountains took up the most space.

After taking a look, Han Xiao almost spat out and grabbed Melos by the neck, roaring.

—You said you were going to tell the truth, what did you tell the reporters! Did I ask you to brag? Did I ask you to brag?!

Melos was very aggrieved. He clearly said what he knew, who knew how much artistic processing those reporters did.

In the Sea of Stars, the related news of this incident spread far and wide. Not only was the Garton Star System in an uproar, but other star systems and star clusters in the Shattered Star Ring that were concerned about the DarkStar turmoil also knew that there was a guy named Black Star who fought three Beyond Grade A combatants alone and withstood a DarkStar mothership's main cannon.

Even Star Cluster civilizations remembered the name of Black Star.

The Shattered Star Ring was a sensation!