Chapter 1 The Mercenaries

Mercenaries in the Shattered Star Ring were very active. Even in the border area of Norios, there were many mercenaries, mostly second- or third-rate mercenary groups. Han Xiao released a recruitment announcement through the Alliance's internal system, and it quickly spread in the Norios mercenary circle.

Surprise, curiosity.

Most mercenaries had one of these two reactions.

Throughout the past year, Han Xiao had completed many missions. Thanks to the name of Longtan, he had accumulated a large network of contacts. His collaborators were basically large mercenary groups, and he even had good relationships with top-tier legions like Tianhuan, the Blades, and Zijin.

Black Star's status in the Shattered Star Ring's mercenary world was not yet at the top, but it was still a first-rate small team. Many mercenaries wanted to get in touch with Black Star and share this network in order to get better employment opportunities, because employers who were not short of money generally wanted the best mercenaries, so only tasks that large legions did not accept would the Alliance share with lower-level mercenaries. The top ate meat, and the bottom drank soup, which was basically the case in all industries.

Thus, Han Xiao raised his arms, and countless people responded. At least half of the mercenaries in the Norios region came.

...

The assembly hall was crowded and packed with people. Mercenaries of all styles gathered together, chatting with each other and waiting for the main character to appear.

Clap, clap...

Clapping sounded from the front of the crowd. Everyone turned to look and saw the legendary Black Star. The noisy crowd slowly quieted down from front to back, like ripples.

Pairs of eyes stared at Han Xiao, looking him up and down. They coveted Han Xiao's connections, but they didn't pay much attention to Black Star's own strength. Most mercenaries were unruly. In their view, Black Star's strength was equal to their own, and he was just lucky enough to gain the favor of Dragon Emperor Ames. Most of the mercenaries present were just there for Black Star's connections.

Han Xiao remained unmoved and said expressionlessly, "Everyone, I am the initiator of this recruitment. You should all know me, so I won't introduce myself. Everyone is a mercenary, so I won't bother with pleasantries. I've received an employment offer, the difficulty is not low, the reward is generous, and I need manpower. The reason for recruiting you is to find collaborators to complete this mission together. You can understand that I am an intermediary. The employer will explain the specific details."

Nagokin took the stage and introduced the situation in detail.

Soon, the mercenaries below were in an uproar!

Many people were frightened by the fact that there were two Heavenly Disaster grade enemies, and their faces changed drastically. They immediately began to retreat and looked at Han Xiao in disbelief, their eyes as if they were looking at a dead man.

You dare to accept an employment with two Grade A enemies? Have you never seen how strong the Heavenly Disaster grade is?!

If you want to die, don't drag us down with you!

The conflict between Godora and DarkStar was well known in the Shattered Star Ring. Most mercenaries kept away from it and were unwilling to get involved. Many people immediately had the intention to withdraw.

Han Xiao said in a deep voice, "Our mission is not to fight the enemy, but there are still certain risks. If you are unwilling to accept it, you can leave now. Those who stay, after this mission, I will sign a cooperation agreement with you and share my employment resources."

Hearing this, many people looked tangled. If they could become Black Star's collaborators, they would have better employment opportunities. It was like starting a company. Running around to find projects yourself was naturally not as good as strategic cooperation with a large group, easily sharing projects.

Many mercenaries were afraid to take risks and said goodbye one after another. The crowd quickly thinned out, and Han Xiao did not stop them.

In the end, only about a hundred people remained. These mercenaries were willing to take risks.

Phillip read their information, and Han Xiao browsed it.

"Three mercenary groups, seventeen lone mercenaries, including four Grade B Supers and the rest are Grade C. It's better than I expected." Han Xiao nodded, because time was limited and could not be delayed for too long. It was already good to be able to recruit these people.

Han Xiao asked the mercenaries to rest first. At this time, Nagokin walked over.

"What are you going to do?" Nagokin asked. He had only reunited with Han Xiao yesterday. Seeing him again, he felt a little embarrassed. He was a dignified Heavenly Disaster grade powerhouse, yet he had to rely on a group of mercenaries. This was a shameful record in his career.

However, he quickly got rid of this useless emotion and focused on the mission. Although he didn't know much about Black Star, it didn't prevent him from temporarily regarding Han Xiao as a comrade-in-arms.

Han Xiao pondered, "The most anxious now is not us, but DarkStar. Anur and Ember failed their ambush, they must know that Godora will send new reinforcements, so they must seize Orwen as soon as possible, and we have to try our best to hinder DarkStar's search operation.

"Orwen's main body has been hiding, not daring to show himself, so we can't take him out of Norios, and who knows how many DarkStar warships are lurking around Norios, blocking the route, watching covetously."

With the current situation, they had to contact Orwen first to formulate a plan. Nagokin took out an encrypted communicator to contact him.

"Nagokin? Didn't you lose?" Orwen's voice came from the communicator, but no image was displayed. In order to prevent others from knowing his location, Orwen did not turn on the video projection.

"Your clue was wrong. DarkStar sent two Heavenly Disaster grades this time. I survived. I found helpers. We will help you escape DarkStar's pursuit. New reinforcements are on the way. As long as we delay, DarkStar will have to retreat at that time. You will be safer if you accept our protection. Where are you hiding?"

"I don't need your protection. The main body is safe, no one can find me. You have already failed once. If I hadn't been cautious, I would have been caught by now. I would rather believe in myself. I have three avatars in DarkStar's hands. They can't return to the main body. I have to endure the pain of torture every day. Only the last avatar can move freely. If you really want to help me, then protect my avatar, he is being tracked by pursuers..."

Hanging up the communication, Nagokin frowned. He had a feeling of not knowing where to start. He couldn't protect the main body, and whether DarkStar found him or not could only depend on fate.

Han Xiao smiled and said, "DarkStar got three avatars. Once the avatars are too far away, they will die. As long as the avatars are as far away as possible in three directions, it will be easy to find the edge of the range, and a simple algorithm can locate the center point, so Orwen won't be foolish enough to stay in the same position."

Nagokin worried, "There's one more thing, we publicly recruited mercenaries, DarkStar is likely to get information, they won't sit idly by."

"Hmm... I roughly know what they will do, it seems that we have to take some risks."

Han Xiao stroked his chin and decided to disrupt this situation midway. In addition to the generous rewards, this was also a good opportunity to open up the upper echelons of Godora. Now he was thick-skinned and could fight a few rounds against Grade A Supers, and there was no problem in retreating unscathed, so he was not as afraid as before his advancement. Moreover, he had the advantage of understanding the opponent's abilities, so he was confident and not flustered. If the opponent was Ember, he felt that he could last longer.

...

Due to the destruction caused by the Grade A Supers' battle, the DarkStar troops changed to a new secret base to discuss the next action. Anur believed that it was a pity that they failed to kill Nagokin. Nagokin must have asked for help, so they needed to seize the time.

At this time, the team tracking outside was monitoring Orwen's last avatar. Without delay, Anur sent out all his manpower, preparing to take down the last avatar in one fell swoop.

But before that, the DarkStar troops received a piece of information that Nagokin had found new helpers, and it was the Black Star Mercenary Group.

"Nagokin is still不死心, he wants to fight us two alone?" Anur's face was gloomy, revealing a sneer, "Since he doesn't obediently hide, it just gives us a chance to kill him."

Originally, he thought that Nagokin would not dare to show his face after being ambushed, but he didn't expect that there was still a chance to kill the other party. Anur was not surprised but happy.

In fact, when Nagokin was first attacked in his previous life, he was not seriously injured. However, he never gave up on the mission. Even without reinforcements, he fought against DarkStar's two Supers with his own strength, and was finally crippled. And at that time, the other Heavenly Disaster grade who participated in the battle was not Ember. At this time in his previous life, Ember was not forced to retreat and cultivate. Now he had entered Grade A much earlier than in his previous life.

A large part of this was due to Han Xiao's butterfly effect... or rather, his encouragement.

"Finding a group of mercenaries to help, what effect can it have, it's just a mob." Anur didn't think much of it. Only top legions like Tianhuan and the Blades were qualified to make him pay attention.

Ember's eyes turned cold.

"It's Black Star again... I gave him a chance."

Ember no longer took Han Xiao seriously, but Black Star dared to interfere in their affairs, he must clear the obstacles in his way.

Even if Ember had not yet decided whether to kill Black Star due to the threat of Longtan, he had to at least kill all his companions, so that he would know that provoking DarkStar would pay the price.

Black Star might have some kind of talent to be immune to his abilities, but his companions couldn't. Ember still remembered that during the last battle, he seemed to have torn off a companion's arm. It seemed that they hadn't learned their lesson yet.

They shouldn't interfere in things that didn't concern them, rashly intervening would only invite death.

Anur looked at the information, "These mercenaries can't be kept, I don't want any unexpected factors."

"You take people to capture the avatar, I will go and kill the mercenaries alone." Ember stood up, "With my ability, it won't take a minute to crush them. After solving them, I will meet you again."