Chapter 1 Who Is Black Star's Target?

Kuang Dao’s expression changed, filled with surprise.

The expressions of the others also turned strange. Black Star was their Faction Leader. Hearing that someone wanted to deal with him, the group felt a sense of camaraderie for some reason.

Haotian’s eyes flashed, and he communicated in the channel, “We may have opened a new quest line. Mingyue, keep asking and try to trigger more hidden plotlines.”

Mingyue Changzhong nodded.

“Black Star is our团长 (*tuánzhǎng*,团长 means commander/leader), we will definitely deliver this list, but we want to know more information. Can you tell us the details of this list?”

Ronaldo said in a deep voice, “The people on the list are all famous powerhouses from all over the Shattered Star Ring, not ordinary Grade A Supers. Most of them are big shots with势力 (*shìlì*,势力 means power/influence/authority), or lone wolves known for their individual strength. That group’s goal is to hunt down and capture these powerful experts. As far as I know, some of the people on the list have already disappeared.”

“Who is chasing the people on the list?”

Mingyue Changzhong followed up.

“It seems to be a mysterious group. I don’t know their origins, so I’ll just call them ‘Hunters’ for now. They capture the powerhouses on the list. I only met them once. At that time, I encountered two Hunters, who were extremely powerful, maybe at the A+ level.”

Ronaldo’s eyes flashed with a solemn look, and he added, “My hands were broken by one of them.”

“So you are also a target of the Hunters?”

“No.” Ronaldo shook his head.

Mingyue Changzhong was stunned, his expression puzzled, “Then you…”

At this moment, Ronaldo interrupted him and explained, “I was an outsider who was implicated, so I only lost two hands.”

After a pause, he continued, “I have a friend who is also a Calamity Grade. He is the target on the list. He runs an armed force in the Celestial Walker Star System and has a close relationship with the Hirt Civilization.”

“A year ago, I was a guest at his headquarters. Everything was normal, but two Hunters suddenly appeared. They fought their way into the headquarters, unstoppable. So, my friend and I joined forces to face the enemy. However, the two of them possessed overwhelming combat power, and we were completely defeated.”

“During the battle, I used some means to steal some information from their communicator and obtained this incomplete list. Their goal was my friend, capturing him and taking him away, while I was seriously injured and collapsed on the side.”

“I’m also a Grade A Super, after all. I thought they would take me away too, but they didn’t even look at me and left swaggeringly. They seemed indifferent to non-target individuals.”

Ronaldo suddenly smiled bitterly, “You could say they didn’t take me seriously, so I escaped.”

Everyone looked amazed.

The Hunters’ goal was to capture powerhouses, but they didn’t even bother to take away a seriously injured Grade A Super who had lost the ability to fight back. Was this because their goals were clear, or were their standards too high?

In any case, this group of mysterious Hunters seemed unfathomable.

“This hidden plotline must be extraordinary,” Kuang Dao said in the channel.

Ronaldo continued, “Although the Hunters are very mysterious, the people on the list are disappearing one by one. This cannot be hidden, which means the Hunters are still constantly taking action. Please be sure to pass the list on to Black Star. Although I don’t know him, since the Black Star Mercenary Group has helped me, I don’t mind reminding your团长 (*tuánzhǎng*,团长 means commander/leader).”

He also had his own little plan. Black Star had the Dragon Emperor behind him, maybe he could deal with the Hunters. If Black Star succeeded, he wouldn’t have to continue hiding here.

The reason he was living in seclusion was that he was afraid of ending up on the Hunters’ list one day. Although he had only crossed paths with them once, he was terrified of the Hunters.

At this time, the players’ panels showed some activity.

[You have triggered the hidden quest [Mysterious Hunt List]!]

The players looked at each other and nodded.

…

Shattered Star Ring, a certain star system.

A spaceship with obvious damage to its outer shell was moving at full speed, like a meteor streaking across the dark universe.

“Warning! Warning! Fuel reserves have dropped to the warning line and will exit warp mode in one minute,” the artificial intelligence announced.

“Damn it! Those two guys are going to catch up!”

Bang!!

Inside the cockpit, Kernide was frustrated and slammed his fist heavily on the control panel, his expression anxious.

He was a humanoid race with dark purple skin with natural patterns. He was wearing a special rune-engraved armor combat suit, combining mechanical technology and magic technology. The armor was covered inside and out with countless mysterious enchanted runes, possessing dozens or even hundreds of magical functions. It was a common combat weapon used by interstellar mages.

However, at this time, this expensive rune armor was tattered, full of damage and stained with Kernide’s blood.

Kernide was the number one powerhouse of an official star system civilization and an honorary member of the Crimson Robe Hermit Society of Enchanters. He was a mage nicknamed the “Deep Purple Warlock,” and he enjoyed a high reputation in the star system where he mainly operated. But at this moment, he was fleeing for his life, having never been so disheveled.

It was all because of those two abruptly appearing enemies.

He was originally enjoying a paid vacation, traveling outside, but he encountered two strange mysterious people who didn’t say a word and attacked him directly. He fought them in a daze.

Then, Kernide was shocked to find that he was no match for these two. He was soon seriously injured.

Fortunately, he had a trump card. He finally managed to shake them off and board a spaceship to escape. The two mysterious enemies were hot on his heels, and he didn’t dare to stop at all.

The fuel was rapidly consumed, and the spaceship gradually slowed down, finally leaving warp and returning to normal flight mode.

“It’s bad!” Kernide was covered in sweat and clenched his fists tightly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the buzzing sound of magical fluctuations passed through layers of bulkheads and was captured by Kernide’s keen senses, causing his expression to change drastically.

In the ship’s belly, a circle of glowing blue rings lit up. Then, the rings quickly expanded and became a portal. Two people walked out.

Both wore identical white coats, with no visible markings. The material of the clothing seemed very peculiar, with flowing light and countless tadpole-like enchanted inscriptions faintly flashing.

The two were a man and a woman, both wearing special alloy masks that covered their faces. The man’s mask looked like a bird’s head, while the woman’s mask resembled a feline.

The man was surrounded by more than a dozen thick, ancient books, all open. They were covered in magical words and shone with colorful magical light. Energy-formed golden runes became several circles, surrounding the man’s body.

“Location confirmed.”

The man’s tone was calm. With a flick of his finger, the pages of one of the books suddenly flipped. The portal behind him instantly shrank into a dot and disappeared. He was clearly a highly skilled magic master.

Suddenly, the bulkhead in front of the two exploded violently. Dozens of curved, radiant purple beams of light erupted from Kernide’s hands in the cockpit, piercing through layers of walls and attacking the two uninvited guests.

He knew the strength of the two pursuers and attacked first.

Boom!!

In a flash, the man changed his hand gesture, and all the books flipped simultaneously. A circle of deep blue magic shield enveloped him and the woman next to him, blocking all attacks. All the purple arcs exploded into sky-filled light fragments, unable to shake the shield at all.

Kernide flew through the hole. The rune armor lit up with layers upon layers of light and shadow, and countless magical powers gathered on him. Like a colorful meteor, he slammed heavily into the deep blue magic shield.

He had already suffered before. Competing with the opponent in long-range magic was simply courting death. So, as soon as he saw them, he switched to close combat.

All the power was concentrated by Kernide at one point. The energy did not dissipate, and his control was extremely exquisite. If an ordinary Grade A Super faced this attack, they would basically choose to avoid it and would not dare to confront it head-on. But facing two unfathomable mysterious enemies, he didn’t have much confidence.

Dong—

The sound was like striking a bell. The deep blue magic shield withstood the blow and exploded directly, turning into countless glass-like energy fragments.

“Effective!” Kernide was overjoyed, and his confidence returned immediately.

However, the next moment, he saw the bursting light illuminate the masks of the man and woman, their eyes calm and indifferent, seemingly unmoved by his full-force attack.

In the next instant, the scattered magic shield fragments suddenly paused and instantly merged, turning into a brilliant blue-white beam of light. In an instant, it bombarded Kernide, superimposed with the power that had been negated when he attacked the magic shield, equivalent to him facing his own attack.

Kernide’s remaining offensive was interrupted, and he was blasted away. Suppressing the pain of adding injuries to injuries, he asked in shock, “What kind of secret technique is this?”

With just one defensive magic, he could withstand the full attack of a seasoned Calamity Grade, and not only was the caster unscathed, but he could also reflect all the power back. The effect sounded simple, but at their level, the more crude and simple the magic, the more terrifying it was. Unlike those “quantitative changes” that superimposed layers of magic shields, this magic was a “qualitative” strength.

“Self-created.”

The man was succinct, but Kernide’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Just then, the woman on the side also made a move, raising her right hand and clenching her fist suddenly.

Kaka Kaka—

Metal twisted, and the entire spaceship made a harsh tearing sound.

The next moment, the spaceship was like a piece of paper being squeezed into a ball by a large hand, turning into an irregular sphere.

Rumble—

Large amounts of oxygen leaked, and the spaceship’s fuel tank and engine exploded one after another.

Fire shone in all directions, and the sphere exploded directly, instantly disintegrating, with various parts flying out.

In just a few seconds, a spaceship had turned into space junk floating in the universe.

A spherical magic shield protected the man and woman, allowing them to float in the universe. Not far away, Kernide’s rune armor was also flashing with an uncertain shield light.

The spaceship explosion had aggravated Kernide’s injuries, and the rune armor was on the verge of being damaged.

Without a spaceship, there was no way to escape, and despair appeared in Kernide’s eyes.

Inside the oxygen-filled magic shield, the woman waved her arm.

All the surrounding metal debris gathered again and directly trapped Kernide in the center, turning it into a huge sphere again, as if every inch of the area was subjected to tremendous pressure, constantly squeezing inward. The metal sphere slowly shrank, the irregular shape gradually became round, and the density became higher and higher.

At first, there was resistance in the sphere, but gradually the struggle became lighter and lighter, and finally there was no sound.

“Deep Purple Warlock Kernide, capture complete.”

The woman said coldly.

The man took out a communicator, opened a list, crossed out Kernide’s name, and pondered, “Shana, who should we choose as our next target?”

Shana was the woman’s name. She glanced at it, reached out, and clicked, “Let’s go with him, the团长 (*tuánzhǎng*,团长 means commander/leader) of the Black Star Army.”

“Hmm, he only joined the list a year ago. His势力 (*shìlì*,势力 means power/influence/authority) is developing very quickly. If it weren’t for this reason, we might not have paid attention to him… By the way, this guy is a bit special. He has the nickname ‘Undying Body’ and seems difficult to deal with. If we want to deal with him, we should lure him to a suitable place and isolate him, which requires enough preparation time. We still have to take Kernide back, so why don’t we change targets?”

“No need. We’ll split up. You take the person back, and I’ll deal with Black Star.”

Shana said lightly, “The data shows that he only stepped into the Calamity Grade realm two or three years ago. Besides, he’s a Mechanic. To take care of him, I’m enough alone.”

The man paused and smiled, “I forgot if you didn’t mention it. Your ability restrains Mechanics. Okay, I’ll go back to deliver the mission, and you can grab him on the way. It seems we’ve had a good harvest this time.”

As for the relationship between Black Star and the Dragon Emperor, neither of them mentioned it, and they didn’t care at all.