Chapter 145 At the Same Time

Meanwhile.

In the Central Star Sea, within the territory of the Crimson Empire.

A small, unmarked fleet was stationed above a massive blue planet. This was a famous interstellar city within the Crimson Empire, known for its prosperous economy and large population.

This fleet came from the Black Star Army's branch in the Star Cluster Corridor. Because this trip required a long stay in the Empire, Han Xiao, upon arriving in the Central Star Sea, dispatched the local army fleet, mainly to use the fleet's mechanical factories, allowing him to produce machinery at any time during the journey.

The Crimson Empire knew that Han Xiao had come to the Central Star Sea simply to avoid the limelight, so he didn't need to report to Scarlet Ring. He was free to roam anywhere within the Empire, except for military secret areas, and the Empire's higher-ups wouldn't monitor his movements.

While practicing his Qi Strength training method, Han Xiao also searched the Empire for those famous figures from his memories of the future. He had come to this interstellar city to visit one person.

Advanced civilizations valued the education of their descendants. Many important colonial stars within the Empire had official Imperial Academies, which were essentially top-tier universities in the universe, possessing the best educational resources. Every year, the enrollment season for the major Imperial Academies was a major event of great concern to the entire civilization.

Among them, the Esper Academies were coveted by more than 90% of the interstellar citizens. Espers and ordinary people were two different classes, as if they were in different worlds. Every ordinary person wanted to master extraordinary power. Those mortals without talent would transfer this aspiration to their descendants.

The Sixteenth Imperial Comprehensive Esper Academy, a first-class institution of the Empire, was a famous facility on this planet. Han Xiao's target this time was this academy—in his memory, a future direct-line Super A-grade of the Empire had graduated from this academy.

According to a comparison of his previous life's data, this direct-line Super A-grade was recruited into this academy between Star Sea Calendar 709 and 712, which was during the early stages of the 3.0-4.0 version update, i.e., now.

Because the fleet was unmarked, Han Xiao's arrival didn't cause a sensation on the planet. He merely informed the academy's higher-ups, and the principal immediately put aside all his affairs and personally came out to welcome this important figure from the Empire.

At this moment, in one of the campuses of the Sixteenth Imperial Comprehensive Esper Academy, Han Xiao was walking on a tree-lined road with Aurora. His face was disguised using virtual camouflage, so others couldn't observe his true identity. The principal followed closely beside them, accompanying them on a tour of the academy.

Artificially planted trees shielded the artificial sun in the sky, and the sunlight passing through the tree canopy was cut into pieces of golden shards. Beside the road was a sparkling stream, and several young, lower-grade students were jumping around on the water surface, experimenting with their extraordinary powers in a novel way. In the nearby meadow, there were male and female students of different races flirting with each other, and occasionally a few students holding books and riding flying devices rushed to class. The atmosphere was filled with youthful energy.

"It's so nice..." Looking at this scene, a trace of longing and envy appeared in Aurora's eyes.

Her childhood was like hell, and she had never experienced this kind of normal human growth process.

The life of a normal person is already very far away from me... Han Xiao glanced at her and suddenly felt a little lost.

Looking down, Aurora's profile seemed to be illuminated by the morning light, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly, making her temperament seem pure and sacred due to her ability.

"Your Excellency Black Star, the Martial Arts Department's teaching area is ahead."

At this moment, the principal's voice rang in his ears. Han Xiao withdrew his gaze from Aurora and looked forward. What came into view was a continuous complex of tall buildings. Spherical gravity training spaces visible to the naked eye floated in the air, and many Martial Arts Department students were practicing.

The three of them strolled around the teaching area for a while and came to the outside of a classroom. A class of new Martial Arts Department students was having a cultural lesson. Han Xiao looked inside through the window, his gaze focused on an inconspicuous male student of the Cosmic Human Race in the middle. This unremarkable, slightly simple and honest face was very familiar to him.

Karot, the Empire's direct-line Super A-grade in the later versions, who took over his position after the "Dark Emperor" Klotti died in battle, and whose strength also reached the level of the peak Super A-grades... Memories of his previous life flashed through his mind, and a strange look flashed in Han Xiao's eyes.

Seeing Han Xiao stop and not leave, the principal was a little puzzled. He followed his gaze and stared at Karot, hesitating and saying, "Your Excellency Black Star, do you know this freshman?"

Han Xiao shook his head, "I think he has potential."

Hearing this, the principal carefully sized him up again for a while, but still couldn't see anything special about Karot. He was somewhat unconvinced in his heart, but he couldn't ignore the opinion of a Super A-grade. He took out his communicator and secretly checked Karot's file, only to discover that this freshman hadn't awakened his Esper gene yet, and his physical test scores were also the lowest in his class.

Most of the freshmen in the Esper Academy were ordinary people. The academy conducted tests to select the good seedlings among them and begin their education, with a term of one and a half years. If they couldn't awaken their Esper power during this period, they would be asked to leave.

"I hope to chat with him later," Han Xiao said.

"This... alright." The principal hesitated for a moment and agreed.

Han Xiao casually went to an empty classroom and waited for a while. The end-of-class bell rang, and the outside became noisy. At this time, the classroom door opened, and the principal walked in with Karot.

"Sit down," Han Xiao smiled.

"Why did you want to see me? I, I didn't do anything wrong." Karot stood there blankly, looking a little uneasy and speaking clumsily.

His family were ordinary people who ran small businesses. Because his parents wanted him to become an Esper so that their family business could obtain the social welfare benefits unique to Espers, they had him come to the Esper Academy. Karot had been honest and simple since he was a child and had no opinions of his own, so he simply took the entrance exam and passed by luck. His family was overjoyed, so he also cherished his student status.

As a freshman who had never been in contact with the world of Espers, Karot had only seen the principal once at the opening ceremony. But today, the principal had come to him specifically, which made Karot feel uneasy. He wondered if he had violated any school rules.

"Haha, you didn't do anything wrong. I just wanted to see you," Han Xiao said with a smile.

Karot was relieved and stared at Han Xiao's unfamiliar face, curiously asking, "You... who are you? I don't know you. Why did you want to see me?"

"Well, I'm Black Star. You may have heard of my name. I'm the Crimson Empire's Super A-grade ally. I think you have potential. Are you willing to join the Black Star Army?" Han Xiao said with a non-smiling expression.

Although this trip was to visit a famous powerhouse of the future, Karot's status was too low at the moment, and it wasn't in line with his status to win him over. If he could poach a potential stock, Han Xiao wouldn't be stingy with the hoe.

Seeing this, the principal began to doubt his own judgment again. It wasn't polite to poach someone in person, but he didn't dare to flare up. He was more surprised that Karot had anything special about him that would be worth Black Star personally speaking up.

"What is the Black Star Army?" Karot widened his eyes, looking puzzled. He usually didn't pay attention to interstellar events and only knew the name of the Empire's head of state. He didn't understand anything else.

Han Xiao's mouth twitched. He winked at Aurora, and Aurora had no choice but to patiently explain it to him.

Karot still only understood it vaguely. "So you guys are mercenaries?"

"...You can think of it that way for now," Han Xiao said helplessly. "If you join the army, you can get better guidance and more benefits. I..."

Before Han Xiao could finish speaking, Karot shook his head like a rattle, "I'm not going. Dad just wants me to become an Esper to improve our family's life. He doesn't allow me to go out and fight. If he finds out, I'll definitely get beaten up."

Hearing this, Han Xiao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This reason was quite novel to him.

There were indeed many people in the universe who only coveted the welfare benefits of Espers. However, once they possessed power, their mentality would change on its own. Han Xiao could understand why Karot thought this way.

In his previous life, Karot himself was a late-blooming Guo Jing-style protagonist-type character. He was honest, simple, and a bit clumsy, and his growth was slow. But in the end, he stood at the peak of power, step by step. During his peak period, he could kill ordinary Super A-grades without even panting.

After graduating from the official Esper Academy, the military and some government departments would come to recruit. If he didn't choose to further his studies or join the army, then he would graduate normally. It was at that time that Karot had his own opinion and, for the first time, disobeyed his family's wishes and chose to join the army, which began his legendary career. But the current Karot was just a naive child in Han Xiao's eyes.

Every Super A-grade was unique. If he rashly changed Karot's experiences, it was uncertain whether he could grow up like he did in his previous life. After all, Karot, unlike Hela, didn't have latent potential as a baseline.

Seeing that everyone wasn't speaking, Karot scratched his head and hesitated, asking, "If there's nothing else, can, can I leave?"

"Alright," Han Xiao said, putting aside his thoughts and smiling, nodding his head, deciding to not target Karot for the time being, as he didn't have any value to poach yet.

However, he could also be considered to have indirectly helped Karot. With his status, expressing his appreciation for a student would definitely make the principal try to focus on cultivating him. He could stay here for a longer period of time and have more contact with him, trying to find a way to make Karot owe him a favor and form a closer relationship.

After watching Karot leave, Han Xiao also temporarily bid farewell to the principal and returned to the spaceship in the outer space.

As soon as he entered the cabin, Han Xiao's communicator rang. It was Sylvia calling.

"Teacher, something's happening with the Limitless Financial Group!"

A flash of light appeared in Han Xiao's eyes, "Tell me the details."

Sylvia quickly told him about the Limitless Financial Group's actions in the Shattered Star Ring. Han Xiao's brows furrowed, and the scene of his conversation with Sorokin flashed through his mind. He suddenly understood.

"Advancing into the Shattered Star Ring is a facade. Dealing with me is the real goal."

"Teacher, are you saying..."

Han Xiao pondered, "On the surface, the Limitless Financial Group is only carrying out commercial activities, but in reality, they are supporting the War Realm to act as our competitors, directly restricting our development. I've been waiting for the pressure brought by the Evolutionary Totem, and it turns out it's in this form. Someone must have instructed the Limitless Financial Group behind the scenes, most likely related to the Crimson Dynasty and the Arcane Church."

He had been maintaining a sensitive state, and the current situation made him feel enlightened, guessing the whole story.

"Then what should we do? There's no way to resolve this kind of method!" Sylvia's expression was grave.

Han Xiao was a little embarrassed. Specialization existed in every industry, and in terms of commercial activities, the Limitless Financial Group was a hegemonic existence. The army's core business wouldn't be affected, but he couldn't stop Sorokin from targeting and acquiring the army's partners. Moreover, this would also lead to a negative effect: some corporate partners, in order not to be targeted by the Limitless Financial Group, might proactively terminate their partnership, sacrificing a little profit for their own safety.

This was a fair and square strategy of attacking the enemy's weaknesses with one's own strengths.

"Well, the Limitless Financial Group is a whole. If we want to compete with it, we must also turn the scattered capital into a whole. It's not like we don't have any benefits at all. External pressure makes it easier for the internal to unite. Maybe we can use this opportunity to turn some partners into die-hards. You inform them and try to promote their alliance, forming a chamber of commerce or something similar, helping each other, and resisting the Limitless Financial Group's malicious acquisitions."

"This method is not bad." Sylvia thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

"Alas, this can't resolve the Limitless Financial Group's methods. It's just cutting our losses," a glint of cold light flashed in Han Xiao's eyes. "After a while, I'll have the mechanical body left at the headquarters take a trip to the War Realm and find Heber... for a good—good—talk—!"

After discussing the countermeasures, Han Xiao hung up the communication, and his expression quickly turned grim.

Sorokin's move was a desperate measure. He made this move while the Black Star Army was developing rapidly due to the Shining World's opportunities, deliberately dragging the army down and preventing him from developing in peace.

The plan for the interest alliance had been going on for several years, and it was finally taking shape. Sorokin was going to destroy the army's achievements of the past few years!

He ostensibly carried out commercial activities and borrowed the shell of the War Realm. The Empire also had no position to interfere, so he couldn't attack or resolve it with force.

Although Sorokin's methods couldn't shake the army's core, they were very insidious and disgusting, stifling the army's future!

He originally wanted to contact Sorokin and ask him about it, but after thinking about it, he gave up on this idea. With Sorokin's cunning nature, he would definitely prevaricate him and use normal commercial activities as an excuse. Since people had already done this, they weren't afraid of his dissatisfaction.

Since that would be Sorokin's reaction, Han Xiao was too lazy to call him and get angry.

'Heber agreed to cooperate, probably with the idea of taking the opportunity to develop his power. He doesn't mind attacking me. When I reach level 300 and advance, I'll go find him for a good chat.'

Han Xiao clenched his fists with a sullen face.

He couldn't deal with Sorokin, but he could still find trouble with Heber.

Wasn't Little Overlord concerned about face? Didn't he think this deal was very profitable? Then don't blame me for weakening your prestige!