“I didn’t lose to Godora, but I lost to him…”

The DarkStar leader looked complicated.

Back then, Black Star first entered his field of vision as an unknown mercenary. Only after Black Star killed Anul did he truly take notice of this person. He never expected him to rise like a rocket, even causing three Heavenly Disaster grade executives to return defeated. In the end, the infamous DarkStar became Black Star's stepping stone.

“A terrifying figure…” The DarkStar leader wasn't so much angry as helpless.

How did we get involved with such a guy in the first place?

Ashes’ face was ashen.

Years ago, when he first fought Black Star on Longtan, he never dreamed that Black Star would eventually become the destroyer of DarkStar. At this moment, he only felt the vastness of the universe and the impermanence of fate.

Black Star had almost become his nightmare.

Although he valued Black Star's potential more than his other colleagues, it was too late to say anything now… The DarkStar leader was about to leave the Shattered Star Ring with him, saying they were going to find a backer in another star area.

Ashes believed in the leader's judgment, so even if they knew Black Star was the real mastermind, they couldn't possibly turn around and deal with him. Besides, the Gadon Star System was full of troops chasing them; going back would be walking into a trap.

Still, Ashes felt unwilling.

The DarkStar leader glanced at him, his eyes flickering, and said faintly, “Don’t think too much. Losing is losing. We don’t have the ability to retaliate until we restore our strength.”

“I know. The most important thing is to go and seek refuge with the backer you mentioned.” Ashes nodded solemnly, suppressing his anger and unwillingness in his heart. Retaliation was empty talk until he had the ability. He paused and asked, “Who exactly is the backer you’re talking about?”

“A Super-A Grade powerhouse. You’ll know when the time comes.”

Ashes looked delighted. “To be able to get in touch with a Super-A Grade, that’s great. This way, we won’t be held back by Longtan in the future.”

The DarkStar leader glanced at Ashes, seemingly lost in thought, and suddenly asked, “Ashes, what do you think is the best future for mixed-bloods?”

“The best future? Of course, it’s overthrowing the rule of pure-bloods and becoming the new Godora.” Ashes replied without thinking.

The DarkStar leader remained noncommittal and slowly said, “Then to what extent is the rule of pure-bloods overthrown? All the government’s high-level officials becoming mixed-bloods? Or killing all the pure-bloods? Even if we successfully seize power, we can’t change the inherent class structure of bloodlines overnight. And once the coup is successful, the remaining remnants of Godora will request help from allied civilizations. At that time, facing both internal and external troubles, even if we successfully replace the rule of the pure-bloods, it may only be a flash in the pan. What’s more, the Colton Star Cluster’s star cluster level civilization will not recognize our legitimate status.”

Ashes frowned. “Even if there are many difficulties, there will always be opportunities.”

“What if there’s a better solution? The mixed-bloods leave Godora, get rid of the rule of pure-bloods, and we establish a home belonging to the mixed-bloods in another star system. All the people are mixed-bloods, and there will be no more bloodline problems. We rule ourselves, get rid of the Godora label, and become a new civilization, a new race.”

Imagining that scene, Ashes' eyes were filled with longing, but he immediately shook his head. He had thought about this problem before, so he didn't need to think too much to answer:

“An open and aboveboard split, we have nowhere to hide. Godora will immediately wipe us out. Moreover, if we want to establish a new civilization, territory, diplomacy, productivity, population, etc., are all problems. And the political resistance is too great. Other star system civilizations, even star cluster civilizations, will not sit idly by and let us establish a civilization casually. Almost no one will support us.”

“Yes, no civilization will support us, unless higher-level political forces intervene.” The DarkStar leader stopped this topic and changed the subject. “You pilot the spaceship. I have something to deal with.”

With that, the DarkStar leader got up and left the cockpit, took out the communicator from the secret compartment, and sent a communication request.

The blurry human image appeared again.

“We’ll be able to leave the Shattered Star Ring soon. Everything is ready.”

“Yes, we’ve already introduced you to that person. He’s very interested in your sacrifice and is waiting for you.”

The DarkStar leader nodded and said, “There’s another thing, about Black Star… he’s an obstacle.”

“You don’t need to worry about Black Star. If necessary, we’ll find someone to offer him a commission that he can’t refuse.” The blurry figure smiled faintly. “After all, he’s a mercenary. Dying on a mission is the most normal way for a mercenary to die.”

After exchanging a few words, the DarkStar leader hung up the communication and returned to the cockpit.

The spaceship that had finished collecting fuel continued its journey, heading outside the Shattered Star Ring, turning into a stream of light and disappearing into the universe.

…

Longtan Floating Island.

“Black Star is the strongest executive in Longtan, right?”

“Ames really found a treasure.”

“Hehe, you know, I fought Black Star in Longtan back then.”

“You were the one who got beaten up, right?”

The Godora celebration was also broadcasted here. Many scavengers and star pirates gathered around the pier, talking and chatting.

At this moment, a small, iron-gray spaceship slowly landed. The hull was painted with a special mark: crossed arms covering a cross-shaped pattern, surrounded by a circle composed of square patterns of various shapes interlocked with each other.

Noticing this spaceship, the star pirates' voices suddenly became quieter, their faces turning pale with fear, as they became as quiet as cicadas in winter.

This mark represented another Super-A Grade force in the Shattered Star Ring—War Domain.

Herber, the Overlord, was a powerhouse who had reached the Super-A Grade in martial arts and was known as the “Mobile Stellar Furnace” and the “One Who Set Foot in the Forbidden Zone of Life.”

Unlike the neutral Ames, Herber was a guest of honor of a star cluster level civilization, and his War Domain was an extraordinary force entrenched in one area. Compared to it, Longtan was like the difference between a baby and an adult.

A group of people walked out of the spaceship. The leader was a burly man wearing heavy armor. He wasn't wearing a helmet, revealing a face with demonic racial characteristics: dark red skin and a pair of curved horns on his head, one of which was only half left.

Two deep black lines extended from his forehead, passing through his eyes, all the way to his jaw. His pupils were pure white, making him look unapproachable.

With each step he took, a shallow footprint was left on the ground, showing the terrible weight he was carrying.

“That’s Mazat, the 'Broken Horn,' one of the core executives of the War Domain's Eight Vanguard.”

“People from the War Domain actually came to Longtan. Could it be that these two Super-A Grades have some kind of plan?”

The people at the pier held their breath and whispered. Watching Mazat from the War Domain instruct his subordinates to stand by, he went straight to the palace in the center of Longtan and disappeared from sight.

Not long after.

A meteor suddenly rose from the palace in the center of Longtan. It was extremely fast, drew a parabola, flew across the entire city, and landed heavily near the pier.

Boom!

Like a meteorite, the ground was smashed into a deep pit.

The surrounding star pirates were startled and hurriedly looked over.

They saw dust filling the air, and Mazat climbed out of the deep pit, patting the dust off his body.

The Dragon Seat had always disliked people from their War Domain. After seeing Ames, he was thrown out directly with force field by Ames after only a few words. However, although Mazat was covered in dust, he was unscathed.

“The invitation has been delivered. Let’s go.”

Mazat was expressionless as he called his subordinates to board the ship. The spaceship took off and disappeared from the sight of the people at the pier.

…

Aquamarine Star.

The post-disaster reconstruction shelters and the six nations welcomed uninvited guests.

Fleets from the universe landed on Aquamarine Star. These people were all free consortiums operating in the Gadon Star System.

After Bennett discussed it with the leaders of the six nations, they decided to use the base that Han Xiao left on Aquamarine Star as the landing point to uniformly welcome the guests from space.

The consortium personnel gathered together and spoke with Bennett and the leaders of the six nations at the same time.

“May I ask what brings you here?”

With the precautions for contacting aliens that Han Xiao had left behind, Bennett and the high-level officials of the six nations appeared much calmer.

“Hello, government of Aquamarine Star, I am a senior director of the Lauren Consortium…”

“I am the supervisor of the Bright Radiance Consortium…”

The consortium personnel introduced their identities one after another before revealing their intentions:

“We hope to reach a commercial cooperation treaty to invest in Aquamarine Star. To put it simply, we will pay to help you transform Aquamarine Star in exchange for an operating license to build industries here.”

Because Aquamarine Star had the backing of Longtan, coupled with the recent sensational event of Black Star receiving the Galkin Golden Statue Medal, Aquamarine Star had become a sweet pastry in the eyes of many interstellar consortium investors. Not only were there business opportunities, but it could also show goodwill to Black Star and Longtan, making the return rate considerable.

As a result, many consortiums decided to invest in the development of Aquamarine Star.

Generally speaking, advanced civilizations cannot interfere in the progress of low-level civilizations. However, rules are dead, and people are alive. What counts as advanced civilizations interfering? This is a blurry line. And the spontaneous investment behavior of interstellar consortiums is basically unrelated to advanced civilizations. As for whether there are shadows of advanced civilizations behind them, that is even more ambiguous.

What's more, this was the Shattered Star Ring, the edge of the explored universe. The heavens are high and the emperor is far away.

Bennett and the high-level officials of the six nations were overjoyed. What they had dreamed of was to transform from a surface civilization into an interstellar civilization. Although they were now taking a slightly different path, it seemed to be an effective path as well.

All of this was brought about by Black Star's changes. Having a fellow villager who was doing well in the universe was simply the goddess of fortune favoring Aquamarine Star.

Sure enough, hugging Han Xiao's thigh was better than hugging Godora's smelly feet.

After reaching a consensus on cooperation, the Aquamarine Star government negotiated cooperation with an interstellar consortium for the first time.

This planet gradually began to integrate into the interstellar process.

The interstellar era of Aquamarine Star had begun.

…

The day after the medal-awarding ceremony, Han Xiao bid farewell to the Godora high-level officials and the various legion commanders, and received fifty Falcons class battleships and a Fortress class flagship. The fleet, which had expanded several times in size, carried all the members of the Black Star Army and left the Godora mother planet in a mighty manner.

This trip could be described as a rewarding one. With the current number of fleets, it was more than enough to fight a small-scale interstellar war, which could also be regarded as indirectly broadening the scope of business.

After many days, Golden Gate Star finally came into sight.

“We’re finally back at the main camp.”

In the cockpit of the BlackLight Stealther, Han Xiao looked at the outline of Golden Gate Star and smiled.