Chapter 1 The Black Star Army

A group of Imperial Super-A Grades returned from the Shattered Star Ring via the Star Gate transportation network of the empire in the Morning Star Cluster in the Glistening World. After a period of navigation, Han Xiao brought Milizaus and others to the Colton Star Cluster, the headquarters of the Black Star Army.

During their journey, the Crimson Empire and the Arcane Church confronted each other on the border of the Central Galaxy, and the situation became tense.

On the Shattered Star Ring side, the Imperial forces stationed on the edge of the Glistening World thoroughly investigated the location of the secret Star Gate exit pinpointed by Han Xiao, only to find it already deserted.

Upon receiving this news en route, everyone knew that the task ahead mainly involved search fleets and intelligence personnel. There was little more they could do but await the empire's summons.

Inside the spaceship, Han Xiao, Milizaus's magical clone, Beoni, and Maxilor gathered, gazing at the magnificent Black Star Army headquarters outside the porthole.

Battleships rose and fell on the massive planetary fortress, machinery covered the surface, and metal fortresses stood side by side.

A vast fleet landed at the dock, and the army cadres stationed at the headquarters, having received advance notice, came out to greet them.

Opening the hatch, Han Xiao and the others stepped off the ship. Before them was a dense crowd, army soldiers lined up in rows, uniformly nodding in salute, the sound of the wind created by their movements synchronized, their shouted slogans echoing in unison.

"Commander!"

Upon seeing this, Han Xiao paused, somewhat bewildered.

Why such solemnity, like a military parade? It was quite the spectacle, but he hadn't ordered it.

Army cadres stood at the front of the crowd, and Sylvia pushed Laqi.

As Deputy Commander, Laqi reluctantly stepped forward, cleared his throat, and mustered his spirits, saying in a not-so-listless voice, "Ahem, welcome back, Commander."

Han Xiao's eyelids twitched. "What are you all doing? It's only been a few months, why so serious…"

"Officer Sylvia said that the entire universe knows you defeated a Super-A Grade expert head-on, so we should take this opportunity to boost the cohesion of the army members…" Melos whispered.

There was another reason he didn't mention. Sylvia, knowing that Han Xiao had invited other Imperial allies to visit the headquarters, deliberately created such a spectacle to enhance Han Xiao's prestige, hoping to give him face.

Of course, Laqi thought this was unnecessary, but he couldn't dissuade Sylvia in the end. He was forced to put on this parade-like show. In front of the powerful officer who handled all kinds of army affairs, Laqi, the slacking Deputy Commander, had no influence and was basically an inauspicious mascot.

Han Xiao didn't like this kind of superficial display and didn't need the army to support him, but he didn't dwell on this small matter. Since he had delegated authority, he had to allow others to have their own ideas. Changing the subject, he instructed, "Arrange rooms for these three gentlemen."

"It's already been arranged," Sylvia nodded.

At this moment, Laqi sighed, "I heard that Austin intervened in this turmoil, causing heavy losses to the Forbidden Witch Division. I wonder if it's true?"

"Yes," Han Xiao nodded.

"Alas, some familiar faces have disappeared again. Luckily, I switched jobs…" Laqi shook his head, dispirited. "But there's no point in talking about this. In a few years, the matter that constitutes our bodies will rot, and we'll all turn into dust in the universe…"

"Alright, I know we're all dust. Shut your mouth," Han Xiao interrupted Laqi's habitual despondency.

Preventing Laqi from embarrassing himself on the spot, Han Xiao turned to look at Milizaus and the others.

"I still have some miscellaneous matters to handle. You can rest first. If you need anything, just ask the officers. I'll find you later."

"Okay."

Milizaus and the other two had no objections. Coming to someone else's territory, they followed etiquette and complied with arrangements.

Watching the three enter the headquarters, Han Xiao turned to his office, met with all the cadres, and inquired about recent affairs.

Now that the army was on track, coupled with the deterrent power of its leader, no shortsighted forces in the Shattered Star Ring dared to provoke them.

Moreover, due to the expansion of the Black Star Army, space pirates and scavengers frantically avoided the army's sphere of influence, which improved the security of many regions, earning praise from numerous galaxy-level civilizations.

When it came to the Logistics Department, Reynold meticulously completed his report. After listening, Han Xiao didn't ask about army affairs but instead inquired about Nello's learning progress.

"He's very talented and learns quickly. He can read all the theoretical books I give him."

*He's* forced to read them, isn't he…

Han Xiao's lips twitched. He mourned for Nello for two seconds and asked, "Where is he?"

"Outside the door." Reynold went out and brought Nello in.

Having not seen him for some time, Nello had changed a lot. He had a pair of deep dark circles under his eyes and looked drowsy, as if he had been sleepy all the time.

When Nello saw Han Xiao, he wasn't as lively as before. He just stared with dull eyes and asked weakly.

"Godfather."

"You…"

Seeing his miserable state, Han Xiao's scalp tingled a little.

Reynold, you're a devil! Look at how you've tormented the child, he's all wilted!

Han Xiao muttered to himself, thinking that he had to hide Nello well and not let any players get close, otherwise those chaotic and evil players might trigger missions like "Assassinate Reynold" on Nello.

Shaking his head, Han Xiao motioned for Nello to come closer, gently pricked him, triggered the battle information, and checked Nello's panel attributes.

"Wait, this is…"

After a glance, Han Xiao's gaze suddenly froze, and a look of surprise burst out in his eyes!

In Nello's specialization column, a specialization that hadn't been there before appeared, which was [Intermediate Machinery Affinity]!

'I guessed right! Nello has a high-level lucky aura and is qualified to acquire template specializations. He can even learn Machinery Affinity-type specializations!'

Although it was only [Intermediate Machinery Affinity] now, if Nello continued to learn like this, he might really have a chance to learn Reynold's [Perfect Machinery Affinity]!

Han Xiao had almost despaired of Reynold, who was impervious to reason, but now that he had a new breakthrough, he was excited!

Thinking of this, Han Xiao looked concerned, stroked Nello's little head, and said with pity, "Your complexion is too bad. Are you too tired from studying?"

Nello secretly glanced at Reynold, his small body trembled almost imperceptibly, and he stammered, "N-Not tired…"

"Don't be afraid, I'm here. Just tell the truth."

Meeting Han Xiao's kind gaze, Nello pursed his lips, feeling a surge of courage welling up inside. Thinking of the great men in history books who fought against DarkStar, where there is oppression, there is resistance. He finally couldn't help it and loudly accused the "Great Demon King" Reynold of his crimes.

"Godfather, he… he simply doesn't treat me like a human being. So much homework, is that something for people to do? I sleep less than three hours a day, affecting my development. I… I'm still a child!"

Han Xiao looked at Reynold and hummed, "Is this true?"

Reynold looked serious. "Since the Commander has entrusted Nello to me, I will not let you down. I will definitely train him to become a Mechanic Master!"

"Alas, I know your intentions are good, but you have to pay attention to the method," Han Xiao shook his head.

Hearing this, Nello's eyes regained their sparkle, and a surge of hope arose in his heart.

Godfather is speaking up for me!

Could it be… that the hellish life can finally end today?!

He trembled with excitement, and boundless desire surged into his heart, like a person about to die of thirst in the desert seeing an oasis.

At this moment, in Nello's eyes, Han Xiao seemed to be emitting holy light all over his body.

Just then, Han Xiao took out a bottle filled with Astral Dragon Blood, which was Milizaus's blood that he had collected on the battlefield, and said to Reynold:

"Give these dragon blood to Yi Ye Qing and have her research a gentle physique enhancer."

The next moment, Han Xiao turned his head, stared at Nello, and smiled.

"Reynold didn't consider everything… without a good body, how can you study well? The potion made from this dragon blood can replenish nutrients, refresh your mind, and not affect your development even if you sleep late. Follow Reynold with peace of mind and study hard."

The expression on Nello's face froze, and his eyes slowly widened.

In his eyes, the holy light on Han Xiao's body instantly turned into the black aura of a demon, and Godfather's smile was full of malice, like the smile of a devil.

Two streams of hot tears welled up in his tear glands, about to spill out like a burst dam.

Nello cried, crying his heart out, so miserably that it would make the listener sad and the hearer weep.

G-Godfather is also a devil!!

Wuwawa… Mom and Dad, I don't want to come to the universe, I want to go home!

Hearing this, Reynold's eyes lit up, and he nodded, looking approving.

-- As expected of my beloved Commander, you are also a terrible person.

Han Xiao had Sylvia take Nello aside to comfort him, but unfortunately, Roselyn had gone to start a revolution, otherwise she could easily restore his mental trauma.

Then, he used a blank character card on Reynold to replenish the number of times he could use [Perfect Machinery Affinity]. Unlike the mission reward, a blank character card generally only had one use.

He didn't know how long it would take for Nello to learn [Perfect Machinery Affinity]. After the Beacon Star battle, Han Xiao remained vigilant, worried that the Arcane Church would resort to desperate measures, so he was always prepared with trump cards.

…

After dealing with internal affairs, Han Xiao went to find Milizaus and the others, took them to visit the army headquarters, and contacted Tarrokov to discuss the empire's pursuit.

The empire's fleet in the barren universe belt of the Shattered Star Ring was smaller than in the Glistening World. In addition, the enemy used secret Star Gate jumps, so the empire could not set up a blockade line in advance. Taking advantage of the brief pursuit vacuum, Sagman and others escaped the empire's eyes and detoured to the Shattered Star Ring.

"Based on the spatial folds they left behind, I judge that Sagman and the four acted separately, which has increased the difficulty of our search," Tarrokov's projection floated beside the four, walking together.

"Once they enter the Shattered Star Ring, it will be like a drop of water merging into the sea, very difficult to find," Beoni said, spitting sparks.

"Yes, Your Excellency the President thinks so too," Tarrokov nodded. "Moreover, according to reliable intelligence, the Arcane Church has activated its dark forces that have been deployed in the Shattered Star Ring for many years to rescue these four Super-A Grades. Universe-level civilizations have spies lurking in every Star Field. There are quite a few of them, disguised as people from all walks of life, which are extremely difficult to identify. They are very important intelligence channels and secret forces. With their help, Sagman and the others will have a much greater chance of escaping."

"Lurking spies… If we can get a list of the spies, we can track them in reverse," Han Xiao stroked his chin and pondered.

"That's impossible," Tarrokov shook his head. "Such lists are generally stored in the main database of universe-level civilizations, maintained by Super-A Grade virtual machinists. The firewall is extremely solid, and there is no possibility of hacking into it."

"Are those spies not connected to their superiors?"

"The spies and agents of universe-level civilizations are directly responsible to the intelligence bureau. A simple encrypted instruction can make them willingly lurk for ten years. They have no actual superiors."

"I see, then forget it," Han Xiao shook his head, dismissing the idea.

Tarrokov: "Although the difficulty of capturing them has greatly increased, we can't give up halfway. Moreover, we have also gained unexpected rewards from this. We have implicated the Arcane Church's spy network and can try to uproot it, destroying the Arcane Church's layout in the Shattered Star Ring and destroying their years of lurking results! It will take them decades to redeploy spies."

"Well, that's good. Statistically speaking, it's better to eliminate the Arcane Church's spies than to hunt down four extremely flexible Super-A Grades," Maxilor said. He was a tall and steady mechanic.

Having captured two Super-A Grade prisoners, including Milizaus, they were already satisfied with such results.

What they were worried about was that the Arcane Church had lost more Super-A Grades and might really resort to desperate measures, evolving into a large-scale assassination of each other's Super-A Grades.

This was not without precedent. At the end of the Exploration Era, more than a thousand years ago, there was a historical event called the "Saint Menanson Incident."

At that time, the leaders of the three major civilizations were not the current ones. The incident was triggered by the suspicion that an important Super-A Grade of the Light Federation named "Saint Menanson" was privately attacked by two Super-A Grades of the empire, with the goal of seizing the Universal Treasure in Saint Menanson's hands. During the escort, the Light Federation gathered more Super-A Grade combat power, intercepted them halfway, recovered the Universal Treasure, and killed the two Imperial Super-A Grades.

The two dead Imperial Super-A Grades had many friends, which became the fuse for the subsequent events.

Because of this, the Light Federation and the Crimson Empire condemned each other politically, which should have ended there.

However, nine months later, the Imperial Super-A Grade combat forces privately united and went to other Star Fields, massacred the headquarters of three Light Federation ally Super-A Grade forces, besieged and killed two Light Federation Super-A Grades, and only one escaped because he was away. During this period, the biological brother of an Arcane Church Super-A Grade was visiting the territory of the attackers and died in the aftermath.

As a result, the Arcane Church was also dragged into the water, and the large-scale assassination event of Super-A Grades called "Peak's Demise" began. The three major civilizations carried out frequent assassinations against each other's Super-A Grades. The more people who died, the more out of control it became, because in the eyes of the civilizations, Super-A Grades were strategic deterrent weapons. If their own Super-A Grades died, they would not allow the Super-A Grades of others to survive. Moreover, under the influence of blood feuds and the attitudes of allies, the three major civilizations could not alleviate the contradictions between the Super-A Grade combat forces and could only bite the bullet and fight each other's Super-A Grades.

In the "Peak's Demise" event, the Super-A Grades of the three major civilizations sacrificed a lot, and the turning point of this event was that the three major civilizations claimed that the "Saint Menanson Incident" and the death of the Arcane Church Super-A Grade's brother were actually orchestrated by a behind-the-scenes manipulator, which was the Super Star Cluster-level civilization at that time. The three major civilizations claimed that they had mastered conclusive intelligence and believed that these Super Star Cluster-level civilizations were fanning the flames behind the scenes, wanting them to lose Super-A Grades.

Then, under their tacit understanding, the three major civilizations shifted the conflict, slaughtered the Super-A Grade allies of those Super Star Cluster-level civilizations, and the bloody "Peak's Demise" event came to an end.

At that time, about half of the Super-A Grades in the entire universe died. Under the frenzy, some neutral Super-A Grades were not spared, and some were forced to join the three major civilizations.

As for whether the behind-the-scenes manipulator was a Super Star Cluster-level civilization, only the three major civilizations knew, but that's what the history books wrote.

The Super-A Grades died, but the civilizations still survived. Although the three major civilizations since the Star Sea Era were much gentler than the Exploration Era, which was full of iron and blood, most people did not want to see history repeat itself. After that event, the probability of Super-A Grade sacrifices decreased significantly.

Tarrokov smiled and said:

"Don't worry, even if we can't catch Sagman and the others, we have a target that can never escape."

"It's Sisko," Han Xiao also laughed.

The Star Pupil race was in the Shattered Star Ring, and Sisko could run away, but the temple couldn't run away. Even if the empire abided by the *Peace Treaty* and would not attack the Star Pupil civilization, Sisko could not never come back. Sisko must regret this very much.

If he had successfully killed Han Xiao, eliminated his confidant's trouble, and retrieved the Evolutionary Cube, even if the empire questioned him, Sisko would have the protection of the Arcane Church and would not be as passive as he was now.

As for now, the word "miserable" was simply engraved on Sisko's face.

Han Xiao had only one view on Sisko's current situation:

-- He's hopeless, move the family.