"We will consider your request."

Having said that, a representative from a star cluster civilization opposite Su Yi stood up, bowed respectfully, and then left the bright reception room, leaving only Su Yi in the room.

Su Yi shook his head slightly, picked up the wine glass on the table, and took a sip. The spicy amber liquid entered his mouth, as if a line of fire went down his throat.

He had met with more than a dozen representatives of the most powerful forces in the Shattered Star Ring. Everyone showed respect, which was due to his status, but when it came to specific issues, everyone was vague.

However, defecting to the Crimson Empire was a major decision that required a long period of consideration, and Su Yi understood this.

The Shattered Star Ring was the territory of the Glimmering World, but star cluster civilizations were not subordinates of the Glimmering World and had no loyalty to speak of. Civilizations were independent and merely acknowledged the jurisdiction of the Glimmering World. Every civilization had its own ambitions and wanted to expand, and the new star field was an opportunity.

"Currently, among the seven star cluster civilizations in the Shattered Star Ring, only Klent is firmly on our side. Based on the current trend, we should be able to win over some more star cluster civilizations in the end, plus some large forces, including the War Realm. The pawns in our hands are barely enough."

The Crimson Empire's ambition for expansion was not limited to this. Su Yi was only responsible for the Shattered Star Ring. Other star fields also had imperial envoys, laying out plans for the entire star sea. The new area outside the Shattered Star Ring was just one of the things the Crimson Empire was seeking.

It would take at least several years to complete the initial layout.

...

The gathering was coming to an end. After the crowd had resolved their business, they spontaneously gathered in the hall. Heber reappeared, made a concluding speech, and announced the end of the gathering.

This gathering seemed relaxed, but in reality, undercurrents were surging. No one knew how many major events that could affect countless people had been finalized in private. From the balance between various relationships, one could often glimpse the operating rules of the interstellar world and the essence of power, where the right to speak was closely related to the amount of resources at one's disposal.

Han Xiao had also gained a lot. Not only did he learn the inside story of the Crimson Empire's actions and prepared himself for the next version update, but he also expanded his network of contacts and officially entered the circle of top forces.

Although he mainly relied on his Longtan identity, he was still an outsider, but this was a good start. If he relied solely on his current strength and power, he would have no chance to participate in this gathering at all. Gaining access to the circle was more important. His status would gradually improve.

If contacts were quantified, Han Xiao's ability to build connections had increased dozens of times this time. In the past, he mainly came into contact with people from star system civilizations and the mercenary industry, but now, he had the contact information of top forces in all walks of life in the Shattered Star Ring. If he encountered difficulties in the future, he could get more comprehensive and powerful assistance.

The nickname "Black Star's Network Group" was even more deserved.

He also saw the other two Beyond Grade A powerhouses in the Shattered Star Ring this time, and he also unexpectedly got in touch with Austin.

The crowd said goodbye to Heber and dispersed in twos and threes. Han Xiao and his group walked out of the palace and immediately saw Kaelot, who was waiting outside the palace with a sullen face.

"Black Star, here are the blueprints you wanted." Kaelot looked ugly and threw a new communicator to Han Xiao, which contained the data of the five blueprints.

After a quick glance, confirming that there was no problem with the blueprints, Han Xiao nodded and walked past him directly, not wanting to have any other communication with Kaelot.

Aimes ignored him and walked past Kaelot.

Leaving Kaelot alone in an awkward situation, feeling completely ignored.

At this moment, a shadow blocked his vision.

Kaelot looked up and saw Heber standing next to him, looking down at him.

"Your Excellency Overlord..." Kaelot's face turned pale, and he stammered, "Sorry, I lost this time."

Heber said lightly, "Will you lose next time?"

A simple sentence, with no intention of pursuing his mistake, Kaelot's spirits lifted, as if he had received encouragement, and he replied loudly, "Absolutely not!"

"That's my subordinate." Heber nodded slowly, turned and walked away, leaving behind his tall figure.

...

Han Xiao and his group did not plan to stay on Heber's Star and went straight to the spaceport terminal, boarded the Blacklight Lurker, and left the War Realm directly, embarking on their return journey.

Aimes guided the two sisters in their cultivation, Han Xiao let Risda control the spaceship, and he came to the training room to inspect the five blueprints that Kaelot had lost to him.

Among them was the heavy fortress used in the sparring match, officially named "Flying War Fortress", with amazing defense and also served as a flying vehicle.

There was also the Ship Breaker Giant Mechanical Armor, which could replace a spaceship as a cosmic combat weapon. Its mobility, armor value, destructive power, melee and ranged functions were all considerable and quite comprehensive. It was Han Xiao's first Giant Mechanical Armor blueprint.

Heavy machinery mechs produced by Heavy Armor Mechanics tend to have stronger basic attributes. These two things could be directly used as Grade A combat equipment.

The other three were also important blueprints of Kaelot's. The first was a medium-sized armor six to seven meters tall, multi-person operated, with excellent performance, good at frontal strong attacks, and suitable for selling to guilds.

The second was a kind of anti-gravity electromagnetic levitation motorcycle vehicle, with its own ecological shield to resist cosmic radiation, which could sail in interstellar space. Han Xiao had the Mad Ape mech, so he didn't need it, but the characteristic of this kind of interstellar motorcycle was that it was handsome and stylish, and it could become an advanced product of the Nuclear Magnetic Power Flying Backpack... Of course, Han Xiao still needed to improve the blueprint and add a self-destruct function.

The third was a large-caliber ship-borne turret, belonging to the ship's attachment blueprint. Ship-borne weapons were mostly heavy firearms, and their power was naturally far greater than portable weapons.

The five blueprints had Armored branch as the main prerequisite knowledge, and the highest level involved was only high-end knowledge.

After reading the spoils, Han Xiao took out the essence core of the Void Overlord and examined it carefully.

This small ball condensed from gray fog had a special touch in his hand, ethereal and seemingly non-existent, as if it could be crushed with a single pinch, but once force was applied, he would feel a burst of elastic repulsion.

"The core of the Void Overlord can strengthen Void genes, just like the Void Dragon Marrow used to, but the effect is stronger." Han Xiao's eyes flickered.

In the hierarchy of Void creatures, the Void Overlord belonged to the top level. Most of them existed in the secondary planes in the eyes of mages, or hid in the Void Horizon, rarely interfering with reality. The Void Overlord could be regarded as a type of high-dimensional life. Similar existences were magical entities, condensing Void energy to shape their bodies and projecting themselves into reality, changing in countless ways. Even in the star sea where races were diverse, they were very rare and strange lives.

This was not the first time he had used similar items. Swallowing the core of the Void Overlord would be of great benefit to him. There was a risk when using species gene props normally, but species of the same type had high compatibility, and the probability of side effects was very small.

Opening his mouth, he swallowed the gray fog ball in one gulp. A feeling of extreme cold burst out from his mouth, sweeping through his body in an instant, as if even his soul was frozen.

Han Xiao's perception of his body had already reached the microscopic level. Under the scouring of this high-purity Void energy, his cells slowly strengthened, and his own gene chain changed again.

[You have used the core of the Void Overlord, fusion progress 38%...61%...100%]

[Fusion complete! Compatibility: Perfect]

[Permanent attribute increase, Strength +8, Agility +12, Stamina +10, Intellect +10, Mystery +15, Charm +8]

[Your talent [Intermediate Tenacious Life] has been slightly strengthened]

The cold quickly subsided. Han Xiao breathed out a sigh of relief and couldn't help but brighten his eyes after seeing the panel prompt.

The attribute bonus was considerable. His total attributes increased by 63 points. What was even more surprising was that a clear prompt appeared for [Intermediate Tenacious Life].

This talent had accompanied him for a long time, providing a large amount of health. The last time the talent was upgraded, Han Xiao guessed that he needed to use more non-side-effect gene props to continue to strengthen this talent. The core of the Void Overlord confirmed his idea.

Although the effect of [Intermediate Tenacious Life] had not changed and had not yet been upgraded, since a prompt appeared, it meant that this idea was correct. Han Xiao decided to make collecting rare materials from Void creatures a new task.

...

Han Xiao first sent Aimes and the three back to Longtan. The return journey was smooth.

Returning to Longtan, the Blacklight Lurker stopped at the dock. Aimes and the three walked down the gangway and looked back at Han Xiao next to the hatch.

Han Xiao turned to look at Hela and Aurora, and smiled, "You two should follow the Dragon Emperor and cultivate well, and strive to stand alone as soon as possible. I'm still waiting for you to help me."

Aurora raised her small hand with a serious face, "I will definitely work hard."

Hela opened her mouth, but suddenly didn't know what to say.

She suddenly realized that the two of them were going to separate again. They would cultivate on the unfamiliar Longtan and start a new career.

Perhaps for a long time, they would not see Han Xiao again. Hela couldn't help but recall the scene when she was left on Aquamarine, often looking up at the starry sky, and her mood became complicated.

Hela knew that she didn't understand Han Xiao very well. The opportunities for the two of them to get along were actually very limited, and they had always been separated more than they were together...

The words came to her lips, she hesitated, and said in a low voice, "Be careful."

"Got it, I'm leaving."

Han Xiao waved his hand, and the hatch closed, blocking his figure.

The next moment, the spaceship took off and disappeared into the distance.

Aimes turned to face the two sisters, restrained her smile, and said lightly, "Next, you will begin your formal cultivation. I will be very strict."

"That's what we want." Hela took a deep breath, her expression solemn.

...

Away from Longtan, the Blacklight Lurker entered warp mode and flew towards Sunil.

Going to the Sols Star Cluster to participate in the Overlord gathering took up a lot of time. During this period, the Black Star Army had been maintaining its business, and the players had not had any major problems for the time being. Everything was as usual.

Not long ago, Melos sent a message that after several months of work by 200,000 players, the Sunil people had finally made a breakthrough, eradicating a large number of Muttering Stone veins, and the intensity of the psychic undercurrent had significantly decreased.

According to this trend, the threat of misfortune could soon be completely eliminated, saving the Sunil people from their predicament.

However, as they gradually dug deeper into the underground mining veins, they discovered some strange phenomena, and Melos requested his personal support.

The inside story learned at the Overlord gathering gave Han Xiao a lot of pressure. He wanted to speed up the development of the Black Star Army, so he decided to personally go to Sunil, completely solve the Sunil people's predicament, and conduct on-site inspections to prepare for the establishment of a third sub-base.

——Moreover, he could also harvest the experience of 200,000 players, collect 3 billion experience points, upgrade to level 145, and reach the standard for advancement.