Norios Consortium didn't want to provoke either side, but they wouldn't completely accommodate the demands of both sides. This move might cause conflict with Godora again, but it wouldn't be too serious. It was a matter of degree; a little conflict was within acceptable limits. Their way of dealing with things was very flexible.

The consortium also planned to demand compensation from Godora. The first reason was that an important DarkStar figure had died, and Godora had benefited. They would be more willing to compromise on other issues. The most important reason was that DarkStar couldn't pay compensation, while Godora was a legitimate civilization, an orderly regime, which could be understood as a "good guy" in a broad sense, and good guys would abide by the rules.

Nagokin still wanted to persuade him, but Han Xiao held out his hand to stop him, so he stopped talking.

Han Xiao had already seen that the consortium would not back down on this point, so he could only abandon the plan to besiege Ashen. The previous feigned lure had lost its effect. He felt a little regretful, but the situation was constantly changing, and he was used to this feeling. Not many things could develop completely according to the most ideal situation.

"Since a fight isn't going to happen, this mission is almost over. I won't be chased anymore," Han Xiao thought to himself.

Looking up at the sky, a mass of dark clouds hovered in the air, revealing Ashen's figure. He had finally returned.

Ashen looked down at the devastated battlefield through the protective shield, his face filled with shock. He scanned the scene and suddenly noticed Arnel's body. His gaze couldn't move away anymore, and the shock on his face instantly turned into terror!

"Perhaps luring Ashen back wasn't completely useless. Letting him see Arnel's body with his own eyes will shock his heart and leave him with a psychological shadow."

...

A few minutes ago.

Ashen remembered "Arnel's" instructions and hurried to the battlefield. He couldn't wait to participate in the battle and make up for his mission failure.

"With the instructor's speed, no enemy can escape his entanglement. Black Star will never be able to escape like before. This time, we can finally get rid of him completely."

Ashen flashed this thought, and couldn't help but feel anticipation and joy. His speed was seven hundred miles, and his mood was carefree.

However, the scene that unfolded before him was completely different from what he had expected. He never imagined that his instructor, who could never be defeated, had not only been defeated, but had even been killed in battle!

The moment he saw Arnel's body, Ashen was stunned. A chill ran from his spine into his brain, turning into unbelievable fear.

Arnel... how could he be killed!

Ashen immediately took out his communicator and dialed Arnel's number.

Beep beep beep...

The waiting time of just a few seconds felt extremely long. After the call was connected, the screen popped up with a picture, but it wasn't the Arnel he was expecting. It was Han Xiao's face, emitting deafening laughter.

"Surprise! Unexpected, right?!"

Ashen was shocked, "How could it be you!"

"Oh, don't you like handsome guys?" Han Xiao smiled and pressed his cheek, changing into Arnel's appearance, and threw a flirtatious kiss with a wicked taste, "How about this one?"

Crack!

The screen burst with cracks.

Ashen almost crushed the communicator, his heart filled with shock and anger. The last glimmer of hope had also disappeared.

Arnel was really dead!

Various emotions surged into his heart, disbelief, anger, panic, confusion...

The remaining sanity reminded him of his current situation - if the other party could kill Arnel, he would also be in danger.

"I'm the only one left. I can't stay here to fight anymore. I can't let the entire army be wiped out here!"

Ashen gritted his teeth and fled in a panic on a cloud of black smoke, as fast as lightning.

The situation here had to be reported. While running away, he contacted the DarkStar high-level officials and informed them of Arnel's death. This news immediately caused an explosive sensation within the DarkStar high-level ranks.

What the DarkStar high-level officials were prepared to hear was a triumphant report of the mission being completed, but what came was bad news.

No one expected that Arnel would die in this operation, which was originally foolproof. Two Grade A Supers were dispatched at once. When the mission was assigned, all the high-level officials felt that victory was certain. This news completely disrupted their plans.

All along, DarkStar's combat power had been constantly changing. At its peak, there were eight Calamity Grade powerhouses, with varying strengths. Arnel was one of them, a veteran figure in the organization. However, in these years of fighting, some died and some were injured. Today, only two of these eight people remain, and Arnel was one of them. In addition to these two veterans, the other Grade A combat forces were all newly trained recruits.

Losing a veteran was an extremely heavy blow to DarkStar, and the speed of replenishing high-level combat power couldn't keep up with the speed of losses. Calamity Grade Supers in the organization were already very scarce.

In less than a minute, the DarkStar high-level officials issued an emergency order to Ashen.

"Abandon this mission immediately. Leave Norios. The fleet will pick you up. We have already lost an important member. We can't lose another one!"

Originally, he was the pursuer, but the role was reversed and he became a fugitive. Ashen was very unwilling, but the situation was stronger than him, so he could only endure it. He turned off the communicator and ran as fast as he could, not daring to delay at all, feeling uneasy, worried that the enemy would catch up at any time, as if there were countless pursuers behind him.

In fact, Han Xiao and the others couldn't leave the protective shield, and the people of Norios were eager for Ashen to get out of here quickly. Ashen didn't know that no one was chasing him at all. They were all hoping he would get lost. It was all him scaring himself.

...

An hour later.

Buzz buzz buzz—

The protective shield receded, and the metal pillars retracted into the ground. Norios lifted the isolation.

This also meant that the consortium had confirmed that the battle was over. They monitored the appearance of the DarkStar fleet, picked up Ashen, and then jumped away one after another, which made the consortium breathe a sigh of relief. Although there were thousands of escort warships in the outer space of Norios, it was naturally best not to have a conflict.

The pursuit force retreated. Han Xiao knew that Nagokin's mission was completed. As long as he waited for the arrival of Godora's reinforcements, he could settle the score. Killing an Arnel had already made him a lot of money.

The battle was over, but the impact had just begun to ferment. The death of a DarkStar Grade A member would be taken very seriously by Godora, and even the entire Shattered Star Ring would pay attention to this news. Although countless people died every moment, people were different. The death of a Calamity Grade powerhouse with a sensitive identity was naturally more eye-catching than the deaths of tens of millions of unknown ordinary people on countless planets.

Moreover, he had used Ames' ability, and she herself would probably be very curious.

But these were not the focus now. Dealing with the Norios Consortium was what he needed to face at the moment. After Han Xiao and others were rescued, they were immediately asked to meet with the high-level officials of the consortium.

The consortium was preparing to settle the score after the autumn harvest, mainly the issue of compensation, and demanded an explanation.

---

Promoting a book, 《开局一个大天使》, Brief introduction: Wang Daliang is a senior dog about to graduate from university. His biggest hobby is playing various games. But as he was about to leave campus, on a hot summer night when he was woken up by mosquitoes, he suddenly discovered a big secret about his roommate and friend.

He was reborn...