Chapter 1 The Pioneer Party

The Pioneer Party's ruling star was located in the third star region under their control, and the party's top leaders were here, paying close attention to the development of the war.

In the conference room, many Pioneer Party leaders gathered together. The atmosphere was completely different from the gloomy and miserable state of the Ancient Empire Party. Everyone's face was filled with joy, and the Pioneer Party leader was even more high-spirited.

The army had the upper hand in the war, and they couldn't help but be happy.

"The Ancient Empire Party and the Advent Party are retreating steadily, and the people are looking forward to us overthrowing the rule. The current situation is very favorable to us," said the chief of general staff analyzing the war situation.

The Pioneer Party leader smiled, but said, "The more this is the case, the more cautious we must be to prevent the enemy from making a desperate counterattack."

The situation here was excellent, but he knew that the Ancient Empire Party could not surrender. The party that failed in the military coup would inevitably be exterminated, and the Ancient Empire Party could not willingly be slaughtered.

While everyone was discussing the war situation, the communication device on the internal line suddenly rang. It was a communication request from intelligence personnel.

The figure of the intelligence personnel appeared on the virtual screen, with a rather strange expression.

"Leader, the Ancient Empire Party has issued a public statement to the interstellar community."

"Send it over immediately." The Pioneer Party leader's eyebrows twitched.

Soon, the intelligence personnel displayed the Ancient Empire Party's statement on the screen, and the Pioneer Party leaders present read it carefully.

In the first half of this announcement, the Ancient Empire Party claimed to be the legitimate authority of the Gular civilization, using fierce words to criticize the Pioneer Party's armed seizure of power, defining it as a "rebel party," calling it a traitor to civilization, and calling on citizens to oppose the Pioneer Party, while publicly recruiting helpers from the interstellar community.

This part of the content was normal formulaic rhetoric, just a means to maintain its own orthodox status and suppress opponents. This set had been used for many years, and a considerable number of people were not stupid. The Pioneer Party leaders were even more accustomed to it and did not take it seriously. Now that they had control of the guns, they could control the pens after winning, so calling them a "rebel party" was useless.

As for the Ancient Empire Party seeking help from the interstellar community, in their view, it was even more futile. This was just a civil war, an internal matter, and did not violate the *Peace Treaty*. The Black Star Army was on their side, and who in the Shattered Star Ring would antagonize the Black Star Army for the sake of a star system-level civilization's civil war?

Mercenary groups of a certain scale would not help, and other civilizations would sit on the sidelines. Even the war domain did not want to antagonize its nominal allies because of such a trivial matter, so the Ancient Empire Party was basically isolated and helpless… This was the role of the Black Star Army in addition to armed support. The powerful influence formed by the powerful forces and the intricate network of behind-the-scenes interests made the enemy unpopular and isolated.

The Pioneer Party leader patiently read to the end, but suddenly froze.

"Wait… the Ancient Empire Party is asking the Black Star Army for help?!"

The Pioneer Party leader rubbed his eyes, thinking he had misread.

At the end of the announcement, the Ancient Empire Party actually wanted to hire the Black Star Army to betray them. After fighting to this point, they still tried to persuade the Black Star Army to turn around and help them.

The Pioneer Party leaders present looked at each other, all unable to understand this mysterious operation, and only felt confused.

What was the principle of asking the enemy for help?!

Okay, the Black Star Army was an external aid, but since a commission agreement had been signed, how could they suddenly publicly tear up the agreement? Wouldn't that be destroying their own reputation? Besides, the Black Star Army was a dignified Super-A Grade force. Since they had already decided to help the Pioneer Party, how could they be fickle? Wouldn't that be slapping themselves in the face? Did they think people would betray them for money? Anyone with half a brain knew that was impossible!

Even if they wanted to win over the Black Star Army, they should at least do it privately. This statement was made public to the interstellar community. Black Star was also a famous figure. How could he openly agree to betray them? On the contrary, they were blocking a possibility that was already slim. Did they think he would betray them for money? That was impossible!

If the goal was actually to sow discord, then this method was too clumsy!

"… It seems that the Ancient Empire Party has finally gone crazy." The Pioneer Party leader's mouth twitched. "This should be the funniest joke I've ever heard."

"Hahaha—"

Everyone couldn't help but laugh, and the room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

…

Thanks to the development of interstellar media, it didn't take long for the Ancient Empire Party's announcement to spread throughout the Gular civilization.

Not only the Pioneer Party, but even the Advent Party had a confused look on their faces.

Was this teammate of theirs an idiot?!

The soldiers of the Ancient Empire Party only felt ashamed. They were fighting desperately with the enemy, but the higher-ups were actually asking the enemy for help. What was this all about?

Many people also felt the pessimism of the Ancient Empire Party's higher-ups about the outcome of this war, and morale was once low.

On the Black Star Army's side, many army members only felt inexplicable, and at the same time, a little funny.

They were in the middle of a war, could the opponents please be serious and not try to amuse them?

Just when others were mocking the Ancient Empire Party's actions, millions of army players received different information.

The Ancient Empire Party's request for help actually generated a mission on the panel. It was the Gular civilization civil war series mission that Han Xiao had triggered before, this time it was an S-grade mission to help the Ancient Empire Party.

This change surprised the players.

"So this is a faction series mission. It should be possible to trigger the corresponding S-grade mission by helping any party."

"However, the army is helping the Pioneer Party, so we are defaulted to be helping the Pioneer Party."

"Wow, isn't this possible to support the party you want to come to power? If it succeeds, you can change the pattern of an entire star system-level civilization. I seem to have found a way to get rich."

"You said, if we persuade the NPCs to establish a party ourselves, and then support them, wouldn't that be more fun?"

The appearance of this mission aroused the interest of many army players, who used their imagination and discussed it enthusiastically on the forum.

However, the impact of this new mission was only limited to this. No army player really accepted it.

The players were not stupid. To complete this mission was to oppose the army, which was probably no different from withdrawing from the faction. They had worked hard in the army for two or three versions, accumulating so much faction relationship and contribution points. How could they just give it up? The Black Star Army was such a good growth faction that was rare to see. It was obviously not worth the loss to betray the army for a star system-level civil war.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, the Ancient Empire Party's chances of winning were too slim, and the probability of mission failure was as high as 99.9%. It was better to stick to the Pioneer Party's mission anyway, which was also S-grade.

What's more, after this month's commission, they had a certain understanding of the styles of the three parties. The Ancient Empire Party was not a good thing, and it was not as good as the Pioneer Party. There was no point in helping them.

With Xia Ye Fan Hua setting an example, there were fewer and fewer opportunistic gamblers among the player groups in the Shattered Star Ring. So at this time, the players were only interested in the mechanism revealed by the Ancient Empire Party's mission, but had no feeling for the mission itself. No one wanted to do it.

…

Black Star Army headquarters, the army commander's exclusive mechanical workshop.

Huge, fully automated production lines operated day and night, mass-producing all types of mechanical soldiers and mechanical equipment. Electrically charged mechanical power flowed through them, improving product quality and efficiency.

In another area, all the freshly produced mechanical soldiers and equipment were sent over by the assembly line, and countless multi-functional mechanical arms wrapped in mechanical power modified these products, sharing Han Xiao's enhancement and modification skills.

Modifying his own combat machinery was naturally not like treating players, dividing the enhancement effect into several times to sell for money, but enhancing it in one go. After modification, the quality of the products would increase, and the effect was excellent. Even cannon fodder robots were made into orange legendary quality.

At Han Xiao's level, these ordinary mechanical soldiers were just one of tens of millions of cannon fodder, but for players, each one was a top mechanical soldier that they couldn't buy even if they wanted to.

Han Xiao stood in front of an operating table, personally assembling a new mechanical body, humming a little tune, and in a happy mood.

The smell of metal permeated the surroundings, and the rumbling noise echoed in his ears. Han Xiao had long been accustomed to the atmosphere of the mechanical workshop. Manufacturing machinery was a kind of enjoyment. As his mechanical ability continued to increase, Mechanic Han's love for mechanical manufacturing engineering also deepened. Changes in ability could also change interests.

For example, a scumbag had to rack his brains to think hard when doing problems, which was a kind of torment, but a top student…

"Master, beep, I found a fun piece of news, shall I read it to you?"

Philip projected his Q version of the virtual image on the operating table, only the size of a palm, sitting on the edge of the operating table, shaking his legs, looking up, and looking at Han Xiao with his cute big eyes, his voice childish.

"Read it." Han Xiao didn't squint, concentrated on tapping the alloy plate, unable to extricate himself from playing blacksmith.

"It's news from the Gular civilization. The Ancient Empire Party publicly stated that they hope we will betray them and help them. Master, beep, what do you think they are thinking?"

"There's such a coquettish operation? Do they think I'm as unscrupulous as the Heteromorphs?" Han Xiao smiled.

"Eh?!" Philip was shocked, his eyes widened, "Isn't master beep like that?!"

"… You can joke too."

Han Xiao's eyelids twitched, he laughed and decided to skip this topic. He changed the subject and nodded, "Although it is difficult to understand why the Ancient Empire Party did this, it seems understandable in terms of reason. If it weren't for Seresly, that two-faced fellow, I wouldn't have any contact with the Pioneer Party. They… huh."

Just then, Han Xiao paused and suddenly remembered the Ancient Empire Party's series of missions. His heart moved, he stopped his work, opened the forum and glanced at it, and his eyebrows raised slightly.

The players were indeed discussing this matter on the forum. Many people posted screenshots of the Ancient Empire Party's S-grade mission. As he had guessed, the Ancient Empire Party's request for help triggered the mission that he had seen at the time for all army players.

Han Xiao frowned and pondered, habitually rubbing his chin.

This matter seemed to be just that the Ancient Empire Party had lost their minds and jumped over the wall in desperation, but he always felt that there was something strange about it.

"This kind of unreasonable request for help, always feels…" Han Xiao squinted, "Is it specifically aimed at the players?"

It wasn't that he was suspicious, there was indeed a subtle coincidence. The Ancient Empire Party's approach was already abrupt. What others regarded as a joke was not a joke for the players, but an introduction that could trigger a mission.

Was it a lucky coincidence, or was it intentional?

Han Xiao hesitated a little. There were too few clues, and he was not sure about his intuition, but as a precaution, he would consider everything in the worst possible direction.

There was a reason for thinking this way. In the previous life, there was a similar stage. In the cosmic spatial scale, the player group was a very small existence, but as the players continued to move in the universe, the powerful interstellar forces that paid attention to the player group were also constantly increasing, from ordinary observation to key attention, slowly studying the habits, characteristics, and behavior patterns of this group of "undeads", just like the Germinal Organization at the beginning.

Even in the current version, there were many interstellar forces that paid attention to the players.

Of course, he was not the only one who was enthusiastic about recruiting players.

Han Xiao was not too worried about this. The energy that the army players had invested in the army for three versions was a sunk cost. The domesticated leeks were not so easily abducted, and normal NPCs would at most use the players as a special force. Others did not have a panel and could not obtain massive amounts of experience from the player group like him.

But if someone really stole his vegetables, it would be infuriating.

"I originally planned to free-range the Gular civilization's mission. It seems that I have to observe it. Don't let anyone be eyeing the army players." Han Xiao's eyes flashed.

…

A mysterious fleet sailed into the border of the Gular civilization. This was the territory of the Ancient Empire Party, and the Ancient Empire Party's responding troops had been waiting here for a long time to welcome the reinforcements.

"Finally here." In the main ship of the responding troops, the remote projection of the Ancient Empire Party leader looked at the star map and breathed a sigh of relief.

The mysterious Super-A Grade had promised to provide support, and this fleet was the first batch of reinforcements. The Ancient Empire Party leader wanted to guess the identity of the Super-A Grade through the origin of the reinforcements, but when he saw the badge of this foreign aid fleet, he couldn't help but reveal a surprised expression.

This was a large free armed organization in the Shattered Star Ring, active in this star cluster. The organization was controlled by four Calamity Grades, one of whom was a Super-A Grade seed many years ago, so the organization's reputation and scale were not small, and many people had always believed that they had no backstage.

Now it seemed that this low-key armed organization had an unknown Super-A Grade as its backer?

Who exactly was this guy? Being so mysterious, did he have more than one affiliated force in the Shattered Star Ring?

The Ancient Empire Party leader suppressed the surprise in his heart and directed the team to hand over with the other party.

With the support of this armed force, their situation could be slightly alleviated.

The main ships of the two sides docked, and the Ancient Empire Party leader's projection met the four Calamity Grade leaders of the armed organization.

"I am the leader of the Gular civilization, thank you…"

"We will help you suppress the rebel party, no need to thank us, we are just acting according to orders." The Super-A Grade seed interrupted the Ancient Empire Party leader and said lightly.

The Ancient Empire Party leader's face changed slightly. After thinking about it, he tentatively asked, "I don't know who you are obeying?"

At this time, a member next to him shuddered all over, possessed by a mysterious person, and said lightly, "Don't inquire about my name, not again, otherwise the agreement will be void."

The Ancient Empire Party leader was shocked and had to nod in agreement. After thinking about it, he said:

"We did what you suggested, but the Black Star Army didn't respond at all."

"Is that so." The mysterious person was not surprised. "Failure is inevitable. The patterns I summarized don't always work, so we need more observation and experiments."

"But…" The mysterious person was thoughtful, "It seems that Black Star is not simply lucky. Like me, he also knows some patterns."