Chapter 147 The End of the Meeting

The meeting lasted for the better part of the day. Tarrokov introduced various matters related to the second phase of exploration. Finally, as it was coming to a close, he slapped the table and said with a serious tone,

"There's one last thing. During your exploration, please pay close attention to any abnormal signals. Since the first phase of exploration, unauthorized intrusions into the Shattered Star Ring have been frequent. We have taken various measures to eliminate a large number of intruders, but there are always some who slip through the net. If you discover any intruders, you must pursue them."

The Shattered Star Ring was still in a closed development phase, and intruders from various organizations were constantly appearing despite the restrictions. Most of the people present knew that these intruders were mostly from star cluster-level or super star cluster civilizations, or hired hands.

Since the first phase's areas had been completely explored, these intruders had already fled to the unknown regions further behind, their whereabouts a mystery. The empire had also dispatched some pursuit squads to delve into the unexplored areas, but with little success.

In the empire's view, the best way to deal with this phenomenon was to complete the exploration plan step by step. Anyway, with the overall trend pushing forward, these intruders would eventually have nowhere to escape.

After the meeting, representatives from various allied forces returned to notify their superiors about the meeting's contents. Some of the Beyond Grade As did not leave immediately, staying behind to mingle and build connections.

After chatting for a while, Tarrokov approached and asked Han Xiao to have a private conversation with him on the side.

As they walked to the side, Han Xiao was curious.

"What's up?"

"Can't I just chat with you without a reason?" Tarrokov chuckled. "But I do have something to ask you. The Goruk Star Cluster borders the Rosso Star Cluster, and your territory happens to connect the Goruk Entry Star Gate with the Rosso Star Cluster's border. It has convenient transportation and can serve as a long-term route for other exploration forces to pass through and transport supplies. So during the second phase of exploration, some teams will borrow your route, and some supplies will also need your help for transportation."

"Sure," Han Xiao readily agreed.

The empire had divided seven star systems for him, giving him absolute jurisdiction. Since the agreement was already in effect, the empire could not arbitrarily interfere with his territory and had to ask for his opinion first.

Considering the situation in the second phase, opening the transportation network for other exploration teams to pass through was more beneficial than harmful. This could lay an important foundation for resource circulation in his own territory. The more people who chose this route, the more it would gradually become the norm, solidifying his territory's position as the core area of the Goruk Star Cluster, and also helping to improve the transportation network.

Undertaking the transportation of supplies was equivalent to assuming the responsibility of logistics to a certain extent. No one was unaware of how lucrative logistics could be. During the first phase of exploration, the Black Star Army's role was more of a pioneer, while in the second phase, with its own territory, its role began to shift to a semi-logistical, semi-exploratory one, with more diverse responsibilities.

After discussing this matter, Tarrokov suddenly lowered his voice, "Have you received the news? The call for opening the Evolutionary Totem within the empire has started again."

Han Xiao nodded, not taking it to heart. "Doesn't matter, they can't bother me for now anyway."

The current disagreement among the empire's upper echelons regarding the Evolutionary Cube would not affect his current status for the time being. Over the past six years, no high-ranking empire officials had targeted him, because they all knew that targeting Black Star before things took a turn for the better was a waste of effort.

"I know, but you need to be careful." Tarrokov whispered, "I heard that one of the Head of State candidates seems to want to gain the support of these opposing factions…"

Upon hearing this, Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, a playful look on his face. "You're telling me this kind of information? Aren't you afraid of being held accountable later?"

"Hehe, I didn't name anyone, so it's okay to say a little. Would you report me? Besides, my faction doesn't really like his approach," Tarrokov said with a smile.

Han Xiao understood that Tarrokov was not only kindly reminding him but also had political goals.

The empire's Head of State was cultivated through a system. During the term of the previous Head of State, multiple candidates for the next term would begin to be cultivated. These Head of State candidates themselves were high-ranking officials, supported by different factions. Most people would quietly accept the cultivation process.

However, there could only be one Head of State, and everyone else was just along for the ride. Therefore, some candidates who knew they had little chance of being elected or were very ambitious might try to expand their power base and gain the support of more factions during the cultivation period.

In his previous life, Ulan Riel's term ended not long after the Shattered Star Ring storyline.

With a new Head of State taking office, the empire's overall framework would remain unchanged, but the details would change depending on the new Head of State's style and personality, such as how to deal with competition, strategies for subordinate civilizations, and attitudes toward Beyond Grade A allies.

The selection of the empire's Head of State was an internal decision. Except for extremely special circumstances, all allies would have no influence on the succession of the Head of State, including Beyond Grade As.

Therefore, for the Head of State candidates, gaining the support of different factions within the empire was much more important than pleasing Beyond Grade A allies. Although Han Xiao was surprised by what Tarrokov said, he was not astonished.

Anyway, his target was already covered in arrows, so it wouldn't hurt to have a few more.

"Hey, a candidate is just a candidate. The current Head of State isn't him," Han Xiao said with a smile.

"You're right, that's what I think too."

Tarrokov appreciated his sentiment.

After a pause, he changed the topic. "There's one more thing I want to ask you."

"Go ahead."

"How much do you know about the legacy left behind by the Hetero God?"

Why bring up the Hetero God all of a sudden? Han Xiao was a little puzzled.

"His legacy has already spread throughout the universe, hasn't it? I don't know which aspect you're referring to."

"Hehe, this matter is related to you… Do you remember the space coordinates you gave us back then, the one the Hetero God was looking for?"

As soon as he said this, Han Xiao's heart suddenly tightened, as if thunder had struck. He barely managed to suppress his shocked emotions.

Those space coordinates were the key to the World Tree left behind by the Hetero God!

Why would they suddenly ask about this? Had the Crimson Dynasty already researched something?

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and asked in a low voice, "Have you made any progress?"

"I don't know, I'm not a researcher." Tarrokov shook his head. "It's just that the project team specifically responsible for studying the Hetero God's legacy seems to have some ideas about this set of data. He happens to know me, so he asked me to ask you about the situation back then."

After the Hetero God's legacy was leaked, this set of space coordinates was hidden among the massive amount of legacy data, becoming very inconspicuous. The project team would rather spend more time studying other legacy data and might not want to spend time studying this set of wormhole data that had no records and no known destination.

However, after spending several years basically sorting out the Hetero God's various legacies, the project team seemed to have set their sights on the mysterious coordinates that the Hetero God had sought in the Shattered Star Ring.

“… I just accidentally discovered that the Hetero God was looking for this data. I don't know what it's all about."

Han Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and responded casually, concealing the truth.

"Okay, then I'll reply to my friend like that." Tarrokov didn't doubt him.

After chatting a few more words, Han Xiao ended the remote projection, his vision returning to his own room. He secretly let out a breath of relief, his expression somewhat helpless.

…

Some time after the meeting, the Crimson Dynasty publicly announced to the entire universe that the second phase of exploration in the Shattered Star Ring had officially begun. Under the attention of the entire universe, more exploration teams invested themselves in the Shattered Star Ring.

Having experienced the first phase of exploration, the Black Star Army was now familiar with the process and had already made various preparations in advance. When the second phase of exploration arrived as scheduled, it skillfully began to act.

This time, the assigned task was to explore the Rosso Star Cluster. There were many more exploration teams traveling together, and the work of each force was more finely divided, appearing more organized.

When the empire announced the start of the second phase, Han Xiao's main quest, \[Shattered Star Ring], was also updated.

\[\[Shattered Star Ring] Phase Two Completed]

\[Your quest rating is: A]

\[You have gained 1.5 billion experience, Random Reward x2, 1,500 points of empire contribution, Blank Character Summon Card x1]

\[\[Pioneering Explorer] Current Progress: 2/3]

\[Phase Three Quest Updated]

\[Quest Introduction: Complete the empire's second phase of exploration]

\[Current Exploration Area: Rosso Star Cluster]

\[Personal Exploration Points: 0]

\[Total Exploration Points: 0]

\[Current Rating: E-]

The third phase was to explore the Rosso Star Cluster. Completing the quest was no problem, the main thing was to try to improve his own quest rating as much as possible.

In this regard, Han Xiao was still very confident. Although there were many more exploration companions this time, his advantage of being familiar with the map was still useful. He might not be able to get the S+ rating from the first phase, but reaching an A-level rating should not be difficult.

The army's exploration troops were all sent out. Han Xiao's main body was still staying in the Black Star Palace, only sending a main body clone with a mechanical army to the Rosso Star Cluster with the exploration team.

The graduates were shuffled and assigned to different troops, setting off together to explore new areas. Han Xiao specifically divided Nero and Mia into two different squads.

From what he knew, the exploration on the Rosso side would not encounter any problems. The troops on the Garu Star Cluster side would encounter tough nuts to crack.

Han Xiao was waiting for the events on the Garu side to erupt, so he could throw Nero and others over there.

——Han the Mechanic had already written more than a dozen scripts for opportunities to trigger Nero's quests. He would not give up until he deeply hurt Nero's little heart and made him feel despair and pain.

Anyway, Fording was an expert in mental health, so even if it left Nero with psychological shadows, it could be treated. Therefore, Han Xiao could torment him with peace of mind.

…

Shattered Star Ring, Garu Star Cluster, somewhere on the border.

One of the empire's exploration teams arrived in this area and began constructing a Star Gate on the spot.

At this moment, far away in many star systems, a group of people were using special observation equipment to keep a close eye on the exploration team's actions.

This was a conference room. A huge screen played real-time footage of the empire's exploration team, and the room was filled with carapace creatures that looked like a pile of upright gray crayfish—this was a native intelligent species of the Shattered Star Ring that did not belong to interstellar society. In their language, they called themselves the "Kunde Clan."

Looking at the fleet on the screen, everyone present was silent.

After a long while, the Kunde Clan leader, sitting in the main seat, slowly spoke:

"Everything has come true. The data from that crashed spaceship was real. There are more life forms in this universe. Our world… has been targeted by a group of aliens."

The crowd was silent, their hearts in turmoil.

For hundreds of thousands of years, the Kunde Clan had multiplied here, slowly developing their civilization. Ten thousand years ago, they began to embark on the path of interstellar colonization, constantly expanding their territory and controlling one planet after another.

During this time, they had encountered other intelligent species, but they were much weaker than them and had all become their pets and slaves.

The Kunde Clan had always speculated whether there were more powerful civilizations in the universe, but they had never encountered any. Over the years, they had controlled many star systems, and their population was in the trillions. They were the most powerful civilization in this star cluster.

However, their exploration range was limited to the Garu Star Cluster. The more distant regions were unknown to them.

Without interstellar society, without any civilizations to communicate with, this was an isolated island, a dark forest. The Kunde Clan had no concept of star systems or star clusters, and their technology tree was not as comprehensive as those in interstellar societies. They had not developed Star Gate technology, and their warp engines were also backward. They could only use cryogenic capsules to survive long interstellar voyages.

For them, a day's journey in interstellar society might take the Kunde Clan more than a decade of slow flight.

However, all of this changed a few years ago.

The Kunde Clan present would forever remember that day, when a spaceship from the heavens crashed on a colony planet. It contained countless advanced technologies they had never seen before, as well as countless "alien civilization" data, causing them shock.

——After hundreds of thousands of years, we have finally encountered a product of a civilization that is more powerful than ourselves!

By studying the technology inside, the Kunde Clan's technology underwent leapfrog development. They learned Star Gate technology, advanced warp engines, applied quantum network communications, and other new technologies.

However, along with the surprise came an even greater shock. The spaceship also recorded a powerful "alien civilization" called the Crimson Dynasty.

The data showed that the Crimson Dynasty was not only a powerful civilization but also a cosmic-level plunderer. They occupied star systems and seized resources. All civilizations that were discovered by them had only two paths to take… destruction or submission.

The consequence of submission was that the civilization would lose the prospect of development, and it would never be able to reach a higher level. All future possibilities would be stifled, and they would forever be unable to transcend the status quo, becoming eternal vassals.

The Kunde Clan had doubted the possibility of the data, but these technologies were real, which guaranteed the authenticity of the data. Unfortunately, there were only shapeless corpses in the spaceship, and no survivors to interrogate.

The spaceship's log recorded that this spaceship was a group of refugees escaping the Crimson Dynasty's expansion, and it announced that the Crimson Dynasty was not far from the Kunde Clan's location, and also marked the Crimson Dynasty's possible routes, which made the Kunde Clan uneasy.

In the database, there was also a record of an ultra-long-range interstellar observation device. The Kunde Clan manufactured it and sent people to observe the directions in which the Crimson Dynasty might appear, day and night… And after a few years, this information was proven true. An unknown fleet had appeared in the starry sky not far from their territory.

"The plunderers have appeared. What should we do? Should we make friendly contact, or should we strike first?" the Kunde Clan leader asked with a heavy tone.

A high-level official slammed the table and said decisively, "We must not submit. We must make preparations. First, we must preserve the seeds of our civilization and find a way out, so that they can find a new home. Then, we will strike first. Before the enemy discovers us, we will attack first!"

Someone on the other side disagreed. "They are too powerful. We can't win. We might be exterminated. We can't start a war. I think it's better to make contact…"

"Don't have any illusions! The only result of contact is submission. Are you willing to lose all future possibilities and become someone else's vassal, just like the intelligent species that we enslaved?"

"Perhaps they are not plunderers at all, but friendly civilizations?"

"A friendly civilization? How did you get into this position? Don't forget, when we encountered other intelligent creatures, were we friendly? Can friendly civilizations exist in the universe?! Do you want to surrender and have our entire species enslaved?!"

“…But, how would we know if the data is real or fake without trying?”

"Are you crazy? All those technologies are real. You still doubt the truth now?!"

The high-level officials with different opinions were arguing fiercely.

If it hadn't been for that spaceship that fell from the sky, normally more people would have agreed to contact the "aliens" first.

However, now the situation was reversed. Under the influence of preconceived notions, more high-level officials firmly believed that the appearance of this "alien civilization" was a disaster sent from the heavens, plunderers who had come to occupy their universe.

At this moment, a strange glint flashed in the Kunde Clan leader's eyes. He slammed the table and said coldly,

"Stop arguing. I have already made a decision…"