Chapter 1 Inability to Crack?!

"Unable to crack it?!"

In the Presidential Office, Badr received a detailed report from the research station. He frowned, reading through it, unable to hide his astonishment.

He never doubted the technological strength of the Glimmering Federation. He originally thought breaking the seal on the Allfather's Scepter would be a cinch, but the research station gave him a "surprise."

"A cosmic wonder-level special substance, seemingly a solidified space-time with abnormal physical constants..." Badr muttered, carefully reading the report again from beginning to end.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed. He seemed to recall something. He logged into the internal network and pulled up a classified document. The cover was marked with a file number and a "Level 16" icon. This indicated the document's classification level. Within the Glimmering Federation, internal document security was divided into 1 to 20 levels.

Levels 1 to 5 were public information, such as annual revenue and expenditure reports, which the public could access. Levels 6 to 10 were ordinary secrets, accessible to most government members, but only for information related to their specific positions. Levels 11 to 15 were high-level secrets, with all access recorded. Depending on the reader's background and access level, some details were obscured with redactions. Levels 16 to 19 were top-level secrets, generally accessible only to high-ranking officials with real power. Level 20 was reserved for special documents, not proactively accessible and almost never disclosed to anyone.

"Confirming identity... Welcome, Mr. President. You have Level 19.5 access privileges. Authorization confirmed. You are authorized to view the complete document. Removing redactions... Removal complete."

Badr tapped the virtual screen, flipping the page. The title page revealed the document's title:

*The Chrono-Freezer Archive!*

This First One had served the Glimmering Federation during the Age of Exploration. The Glimmering Federation preserved his file, containing far more detailed information than the outside world, including records and analyses of his abilities. After reading the research station's report on the Chrono-Amber, Badr immediately thought of this First One, whose abilities were somewhat similar.

Leaders of cosmic civilizations were specially trained, possessing in-depth knowledge of their civilization's history, classified intelligence, and technology, storing it all in a memory palace. These were mandatory courses, which allowed Badr to immediately recall the Chrono-Freezer's existence.

"[Chrono-Freezer] Frogo possesses the ability to freeze space-time. This ability is listed in the *Ultra-High-Risk Ability List*. It can freeze time and space in a specified area or target, and can have a significant impact on Super-A Grades. The effect far exceeds the time-space spells of the magic system. There have been instances of freezing entire planets [See Appendix B-004]. He also froze enemy fleets multiple times on the battlefield, leaving them defenseless and allowing our fleets to devour them, reversing the course of hundreds of local wars [See Appendix B-027]...

According to investigations, Frogo must continuously expend Qi to maintain the space-time freeze in an area [See Appendix A-001 for specific parameters]. If the Qi supply is interrupted, the freeze effect will quickly disappear. The application of this ability can be fine-tuned. Frogo has used it to defend himself by freezing the space around him, providing excellent defense against physical entities and most forms of energy, but it cannot immunize against mental attacks directly targeting the mind. Subsequent tests showed that although this ability can imprison soul bodies, it cannot stop their conscious activity. This is a flaw in Frogo's ability, proving that his 'space-time freeze' is not perfect...

Frogo died in the Millennium Star Battle [See Appendix B-1940]. His remains disappeared without a trace."

Badr frowned, pondering. "Indeed, very similar. Could there be some connection between the two... But even Frogo himself didn't have the ability to materialize frozen space-time. What exactly is this..."

Naturally, he didn't know that the Chrono-Amber had drifted through the universe for many years, absorbing all sorts of cosmic radiation, and had long since mutated. Abilities were originally the product of genetic mutations. Frogo's own ability had a flaw; although he could freeze space-time, he couldn't resist mental attacks. The mutated Chrono-Amber didn't have this weakness. Even mental attacks couldn't penetrate the amber it created.

After thinking for a while, Badr transmitted the document to the head of the research department, hoping it would help with his research. After completing this task, Badr rubbed his forehead in frustration and helplessness.

The difficulty of cracking the Chrono-Amber was unexpected. Badr was now a little upset. He thought he had seized the Spiritual Church's trump card, but even though he had snatched it back, he could only look at it but couldn't use it. It was just a display piece.

Come to think of it, even if he let the Spiritual Church take it back, they probably couldn't crack it either.

What was supposed to be a headache for the Spiritual Church was now a headache for them. They had also offended the Spiritual Church severely for it, and in the end, they only got back something that no one could use...

So what was the point of snatching this thing back?!

This mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, seems to be a big loss!

Badr was very upset.

Black Star, that bastard... No, I'm the president, I can't swear... That Black Star is really hateful!

"No wonder Manison thought I would send someone to see Black Star. He also discovered the strangeness of this thing... It seems I really need to find an opportunity to contact Black Star privately."

Badr shook his head. He was unwilling to guard the Allfather's Scepter without being able to use it.

It would be good to have the descendants of the Chrono-Freezer as envoys. Perhaps as members of the same race, they could discover some clues and see if the cosmic treasure in Black Star's hands was really related to their ancestor, the Chrono-Freezer... Badr thought to himself.

...

On the other side, the Spiritual Church had the same troubles.

After negotiations, the Crimson Dynasty had agreed to let the Spiritual Church redeem a Super-A Grade first. After paying a considerable price, the Spiritual Church retrieved Dillon from the dynasty—actually, they wanted to get back "Photon" Sagman, but the dynasty didn't agree. After all, according to normal logic, the one returned first was usually the weakest.

However, the Chrono-Amber seal on Dillon hadn't been lifted. The dynasty stated that the Spiritual Church would have to solve it themselves. This was mainly to verify Han Xiao's statement and see if the Chrono-Amber was as troublesome as he said.

On the other hand, the Crimson Dynasty didn't yet know that the Glimmering Federation had snatched the Allfather's Scepter. So, Urlenriel's idea was that if Dillon suddenly jumped out alive, it would indirectly prove that the Spiritual Church had lifted the seal on the Allfather's Scepter, so they wouldn't be caught off guard again one day.

The dynasty wouldn't unlock the seal, using the excuse that Black Star was in seclusion and they didn't want to disturb him. What could the Spiritual Church do? They could only rely on themselves and try to solve the problem themselves, letting their researchers attempt to crack Dillon's seal.

The result was exactly the same as the Glimmering Federation's. They couldn't do anything about the Chrono-Amber for the time being.

The Spiritual Church was also annoyed, but apart from that, they were even a little bit relieved.

They were naturally annoyed that the dynasty had tricked them again, and they had to pay a higher price to ask the Crimson Dynasty to help unlock the seal. They were relieved that the Glimmering Federation was probably in the same situation as them, unable to do anything about the seal on the Allfather's Scepter.

Although their own cosmic treasure had been snatched away by the Glimmering Federation, the king of backstabbing, fortunately, they could only look at it through a protective film, unable to use it. It was like their own wife falling into the hands of bandits, but the bandits were impotent.

That was very satisfying.

If they hadn't formed a grudge, the Spiritual Church would almost want to praise Black Star.

The Glimmering Federation and the Spiritual Church were therefore highly concerned about each other's research, wanting to see what progress their opponents were making. It was like classmates secretly peeking at each other's answers during an exam.

With the Spiritual Church's indirect admission of defeat, the conflict between the two sides was no longer acute. The heavy troops that had been exerting pressure on the border were also gradually withdrawn. The interstellar forces paying attention to this matter breathed a sigh of relief. As hegemonic powers, the two affected the whole body with one move. If the conflict hadn't completely erupted, they would have good days.

After a small-scale fluctuation in the overall interstellar situation in the explored universe, it gradually calmed down again.

The Glimmering Federation and the Spiritual Church temporarily ceased their activities, and those Super Star Cluster civilizations that were taking advantage of loopholes also became low-key. No one wanted to continue provoking the Crimson Dynasty at this time, and they were all waiting for the storm to pass completely.

...

The Black Star Army fleet, carrying a large number of Star Soldiers, arrived at the Gular civilization's star system.

The Pioneer's forward base planet was faintly visible. Under the guidance of the ground base personnel, the Black Star Army fleet landed in batches. From one thousand-meter-long black warship after another, a tidal wave of army members poured out, gathering at every port.

In addition to the legitimate army warriors, there were also millions of army players participating in the war. War employment was a collective major event, and it was more interesting than exploring the Shattered Star Ring, so most people accepted this S-level mission and came to participate in the internal war of the civilization at the level of the galaxy as mercenaries.

More than half a month ago, the Pioneer Party announced their alliance with the Black Star Army. The news of the Black Star Army's intervention alone set off a huge wave within the Gular civilization. The Ancient Star Party and the Descendants Party were terrified, and the party fell into a brief internal strife. Some high-level officials fled or defected to the Pioneer Party, and the remaining hardliners decided to take the initiative. The two parties joined forces to attack the Pioneer Party's territory from different directions. The Pioneer Party also directly met the challenge.

The three parties launched a war without the need for prior preparation, because the long-term division had kept the three major parties in a state of wartime alert. The three parties divided the territory of the Gular civilization and formed three power sectors in this galaxy, each deploying military fleets on the edge of their territory, maintaining a long-term confrontation. The foreman could start a fight with a shout.

Therefore, the timing of the Black Star Army's intervention was precisely when the three parties were fighting like a pot of porridge.

After the Pioneer Party's officers negotiated with the Black Star Army fleet commander, the star charts and optional mission lists for millions of army players were updated.

The Pioneer Party provided a military star chart, marking the detailed distribution of the other two parties' forces in the nine star regions of this galaxy.

Most of the Black Star Army's manpower had returned to the Shattered Star Ring to explore, and the rest had to guard the various bases, so the number of mercenaries sent was not large, and they did not have an overwhelming advantage. Therefore, this internal war could not be ended in the short term. The main focus was on annihilating the enemy and recovering the opponent's colony stars. They needed to advance step by step, constantly recovering territory.

And every unrecovered colony star, resource planet, and military base was a battlefield mission for players to choose, so there were many opportunities for ground warfare. After all, this was an internal war, and they would not choose to recover colony stars by bombing. This gave the players a chance to use their skills—millions of B-grade players, whose forte was ground warfare!

After reading the mission introduction, the players became excited. They had experienced many events so far, and they immediately knew that this was the most comfortable kind of mission. It was very troublesome to fight with the spaceship. The players liked to fight monsters on the ground, and in this war employment, the role they played was obviously the ground force that cleared the field, so they only needed to enjoy the battle.

The scale and level of the enemies on each colony star were clearly marked, and the players could choose according to their abilities. The level of the enemies was also very clear. With the current strength of the players, the enemies could be roughly divided into ordinary mobs that could be easily defeated, advanced monsters with C-grade combat power, powerful elite monsters with B-grade, small bosses who were stronger than B-grade, and some well-known Calamity Grade big bosses.

Many players were very satisfied with this mission. This time, they were important participants in the war, and they could fight to their heart's content.

--Finally, it's not just watching the cutscenes!