Chapter 458 Positioning Recovery

After chasing for a while, the star map showed that the Void Spirit Church's troops had finally left the alert range, entered stealth mode, and were acting separately. Talrokov lost real-time positioning. Because of the previous conversation, he invited Han Xiao to the main ship to locate the enemy ship through virtual technology.

The legion commander's vehicle docked with the main ship of the pursuing troops. Han Xiao led his people into the corridor of the main ship and headed towards the bridge command room. Hela and others followed closely behind, surrounding Han Xiao.

Along the way, imperial officers stopped one by one, nodding respectfully to Han Xiao. Han Xiao's contribution in this battle had earned the respect of most of the participants. Even their lives, to some extent, were saved by Black Star. The respect these imperial warriors showed Han Xiao was tinged with gratitude.

Han Xiao smiled in response, then turned his head and caught a glimpse of Hela's tightly knitted brows. His gaze moved downwards, and he noticed a medical bandage wrapped around Hela's neck, extending down her collarbone. He couldn't see clearly what was beneath it, so he couldn't help but ask with concern:

"How is your injury?"

Hela shook her head. "It's just a minor injury. It'll recover in a while. You don't need to worry about it."

After the battle, she didn't let Aurora waste her life force to heal them and planned to recover on her own.

"Does it still hurt?"

"...A little. Painkillers aren't very effective." Hela frowned. Although she was strong-willed, after being together for so long, she wouldn't put on a brave face for such a small matter.

"Then congratulations on still being alive," Han Xiao chuckled.

The group quickly arrived at the command room, where Talrokov had been waiting for a long time. As soon as he saw Han Xiao, he immediately greeted him and led him to the star map, pointing to a location and saying:

"This is the last position where the Void Spirit Church's fleet appeared. We have lost real-time positioning. Black Star, we're counting on you next."

Han Xiao nodded, then closed his eyes directly, entering the quantum network vision.

In the pitch-black, universe-like vision, the light of quantum network nodes lit up one by one, some far and some near, more dense than the stars in the universe. Countless information streams were transmitted between the nodes in an instant. A phantom-like information torrent crashed head-on, passing through Han Xiao's body with a whoosh, without any sensation.

The star map unfolded in front of him in the form of a quantum network layer. His vision could zoom in and out, jumping between the quantum nodes. Distance seemed to lose its meaning in front of him. The [Virtual Creator] brought a qualitative leap to his virtual technology, enhancing it in all aspects, with an extremely terrifying range.

"The quantum network vision is more detailed than before. Hmm... This feeling is a bit like the soul leaving the body?"

Han Xiao carefully felt it for a while, then got down to business. He gently plucked a "string" in the spiderweb-like quantum network, affecting the whole body with one move. He carefully identified the echoes of each quantum network node. Soon, he sensed a weak connection from the infiltration program he had left in the Void Spirit Church fleet.

His brain rapidly processed the information he felt. Han Xiao opened his eyes and snapped his fingers.

*Snap!*

Hundreds of red dots suddenly lit up on the star map in front of everyone. It was the Void Spirit Church fleet that had escaped separately in stealth.

The positions of all the teams were marked. In front of him, there was nowhere to hide!

Talrokov was overjoyed. "Well done!"

"Hehe, I just did some minor work." Han Xiao exited the quantum network vision and smiled dryly.

If it had been before learning the [Virtual Creator], the data returned by the infiltration program he left behind would have probably been discovered and cleared by the Void Spirit Church fleet's intelligence.

But now that he had learned the ultimate knowledge of virtual technology and received a huge bonus, the infiltration program he left behind could enter and exit the backdoor of the Void Spirit Church fleet's intelligence without being discovered. This was precisely Han Xiao's original intention when learning the [Virtual Creator].

Talrokov pinched his chin and pondered:

"Positioning restored. All the enemy's actions are under our surveillance. We don't need to worry about them disappearing... Well, they're adopting a strategy of dividing their forces. They must be using some of the teams as sacrifices. In that case, these sacrifices are likely carrying false secret stargate locations, trying to confuse us with this ruse. The real secret stargate location should only be known to the troops where the Super-As and commanders are located... Black Star, can you lock onto the enemy commanders and Super-A's positions? I suspect they might not be on the main ship."

"I can, but doing so would require the infiltration program to invade the enemy fleet's surveillance cameras and databases. The risk of exposure would increase sharply, and it might be cleared, losing the current positioning. Are you sure you want to risk it?"

Han Xiao stood with his arms folded. The intelligence defense mechanisms of a galactic civilization naturally had some tricks.

After thinking about it, Talrokov shook his head. "Let's stick with the status quo. As long as we have positioning, we can try to wipe out the Void Spirit Church's fleet in one fell swoop... Let's give the Heterochromatic God some information first."

Han Xiao nodded and stopped talking. His consciousness sank into his mechanical legion. The mechanical troops he sent out were about to make contact with the Heterochromatic God's clone.

...

On the other side of the pursuit, a small fleet was carrying the empty spaceship where the Heterochromatic God's clone was located to the rendezvous point. They waited for a while in a patch of space. Streams of warp light jumped out of the darkness in the distance and stopped in front of them, revealing the true appearance of the Black Star Army's warships.

The two teams made contact, reported their identities, and then the Black Star Army's warship docked with the empty spaceship.

A group of imperial soldiers stationed on the empty spaceship, monitoring the Heterochromatic God's clone, were waiting at the hatch to welcome the envoys sent by the Super-As. Everyone had a relieved expression on their faces.

Their names carried weight, and they were a group of ordinary soldiers monitoring the Heterochromatic God's clone. Even if the Heterochromatic God's clone didn't resist, they were under immense psychological pressure, like living with a beast beyond their capabilities. The tension of being killed at any time made their nerves strained. Now it was better, and help had finally arrived.

*Tss--*

The hatch slid open, and Youzu, who was more than four meters tall, walked in first, wielding the Youzu battle spear like a scepter, as if wearing a feathered robe. Behind him was a group of mechanical lifeforms and a large number of mechanical warrior troops.

Youzu lowered his head to look down at the imperial soldiers at his feet and slowly spoke:

"I am Youzu, the first apostle under the Black Star Sovereign, and I am here to take over the task from you. Next, we will be responsible for guarding the Heterochromatic God's clone."

"We'll leave it to you." The group of imperial soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly handed over the task, and left the empty spaceship in a hurry.

Youzu led his troops all the way to the cabin of the empty spaceship, where the Heterochromatic God's clone was located.

Behind him, Silver Flash looked at the greatly changed Youzu and said angrily, "The Sovereign favors Youzu too much. Why did he let him become the first apostle weapon?"

"Don't complain. Youzu is the Sovereign's firstborn. It's inevitable." A strengthened Vindicator mechanical lifeform named "Gold Supreme" next to him said. He was also one of the earliest mechanical lifeforms to be transformed and had a cold personality.

In front of the two was a streamlined beast-type mechanical warrior called "Crazy Sky Hunter". He turned his huge mechanical beast head and glanced at the two, saying slowly, "The Sovereign has his own considerations. What we have to do is offer absolute loyalty. Since the Sovereign has only now bestowed this power upon Youzu, then the qualifications for apostle weapons should be limited... Perhaps only a small portion of our many brothers and sisters can become apostle weapons."

Youzu silently listened to the discussion behind him without any expression. He quickly led the group to the cabin.

Because the energy core of this empty spaceship had been removed, energy was scarce. In the dim light, the Heterochromatic God's clone leaned on the sofa, facing Youzu's mechanical troops.

"Black Star, you're here," the Heterochromatic God's clone said with a smile.

"I am Youzu. The Sovereign doesn't want to see you for the time being. Just tell me what you want to say."

The Heterochromatic God's clone looked Youzu up and down, straightened his body, and said playfully:

"Apostle weapon? I remember that Black Star didn't have this ability when we fought before. It seems he gained a lot in this battle... Fine, I'm not interested in talking to you. Call Black Star out."

Youzu leaned on his spear, ignoring him. He obviously didn't plan to do so.

Seeing this, the Heterochromatic God's clone suddenly raised his arm. The arm condensed with black mist stretched out like rubber, and the fist shot out like a cannonball. Even the vision couldn't keep up with the speed of the fist!

*Clang!*

The fist containing power-type abilities slammed heavily on the Youzu's horizontally placed battle spear, bursting out a violent shockwave that echoed in the narrow space!

Without saying a word, Youzu poured energy into the Youzu battle spear. The battle spear instantly unfolded, and with a bang, entered the form liberation mode.

Waving the spear vertically, a cut wave condensed from dark energy shot out in an instant.

*Whoosh!*

The Heterochromatic God's clone was astonishingly fast, drawing back and dodging. The sofa he was sitting on was cut in two, and then the cut wave penetrated the bulkhead. In the next moment, the entire empty spaceship was split in half from the middle, with smooth cut surfaces.

The mechanical troops and the Heterochromatic God's clone in the spaceship all fell into space, hovering in confrontation. The imperial warship next to them hurriedly aimed their cannons at the Heterochromatic God's clone, ready for battle.

Youzu was located at the front. A strand of mechanical force came from the void and descended on him. In an instant, electric light surged from his entire body, extremely dazzling. The other mechanical troops did not receive mechanical force enhancement. Under Youzu's signal, they retreated, clearly wanting to fight one-on-one.

Seeing this mechanical force, the Heterochromatic God's clone knew that Han Xiao was paying attention to him. This scene made him realize Han Xiao's plan, and he sneered coldly in his heart.

*Is he deliberately letting the apostle weapon fight me, using me as a target to test his battle prowess?*

"Hmph, for the sake of letting me evolve, I'll play with your apostle weapon."

In the next moment, the Heterochromatic God's clone moved, shooting towards Youzu like a cannonball. His arm stretched out again, launching a series of fierce attacks towards Youzu, bringing up a series of afterimages.

There were no powerful special abilities in this clone, only a few abilities such as physical fitness enhancement, body modification, and vibration contact. However, with the amplification of the level, this Heterochromatic God's clone also possessed the combat power of a Super-A level, crushing the Calamity grade.

Youzu wielded his spear and fought with the Heterochromatic God, tumbling and fighting fiercely in this space. The mechanical body collided with the Heterochromatic God time and time again, splattering large patches of dark energy light flakes.

In a head-on confrontation, Youzu was evenly matched with the Heterochromatic God's clone, not falling behind!

Youzu's battle spear condensed dark blue energy, continuously spraying dark energy beams. The Heterochromatic God was like a piece of plasticine, constantly changing his body shape, dodging various attacks. The Heterochromatic God's attacks were also avoided by Youzu by splitting, turning into agile floating sentries that could only combine body parts for attacks, making it extremely difficult to hit.

The two sides fought back and forth, evenly matched, causing the mechanical lifeforms who were ordered to watch from the sidelines to be amazed.

Originally, they were just slightly higher-level cannon fodder in front of Super-As, but at this time, Youzu had the combat power to fight head-on with a Super-A.

"Is this the power of an apostle weapon..."

Many mechanical lifeforms, including Silver Flash, were more eager for the identity of an apostle weapon in their hearts.

The two sides collided again, exploding a large mass of light flakes. Youzu and the Heterochromatic God's clone retreated at the same time.

At this time, the mechanical force on Youzu disappeared, representing that the sparring was over.

Seeing this, the Heterochromatic God's clone stopped attacking as well. He was here to talk this time.

Everyone returned to another warship of the Black Star Army and came to the cabin. As soon as the Heterochromatic God's clone sat down, Han Xiao's remote projection appeared, sitting opposite him, staring at him faintly.

Seeing this, the Heterochromatic God's clone opened his mouth and smiled:

"Black Star, thanks to you this time, I finally evolved."

Han Xiao folded his arms and snorted. "You came to see me just to say this kind of thing?"

"Of course not."

The Heterochromatic God's clone waved his hand. He was in a good mood now, and smiled:

"I want to ask you, you've already obtained that wormhole data, right? What are the results of your research?"

As expected, this guy deliberately revealed the abnormality of that set of data, indirectly helping him research through my connections... Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.

The Heterochromatic God thought that only he knew about the existence of the World Tree Civilization and had an advantage in intelligence.

Until now, the Heterochromatic God still believed that Han Xiao was only studying that set of wormhole data out of caution and didn't know that Han Xiao also knew about the existence of the World Tree Civilization. He was still in the dark.

Of course, Han Xiao wouldn't shatter the Heterochromatic God's fantasy now. Hiding this information would keep the Heterochromatic God from being wary.

"In short, this is the positioning intelligence transferred by the empire." Han Xiao had Phillip display some of the data and said slowly, "If you can really help the empire intercept the Void Spirit Church, the empire might reconsider how to deal with you."

The Heterochromatic God's clone was noncommittal and browsed the intelligence on his own.

Seeing this, Han Xiao's eyes flashed and he said, "But I still don't understand why you suddenly want to cooperate with the empire. Angering the Void Spirit Church isn't a good thing for you either."

"That's none of your business." The Heterochromatic God's clone said without raising his head.

Han Xiao rubbed his chin, lost in thought.

He always felt that this wasn't the Heterochromatic God's intention, but that he seemed to be bewitched by someone else.

Although the Heterochromatic God's actions could be considered an attempt to please the empire, Han Xiao felt that it was more like seizing the opportunity to deliberately expand the losses of the Void Spirit Church, targeting Sagman and several other Super-As and weakening the Void Spirit Church's high-level combat power.

"If it succeeds, who will be the biggest beneficiary? The Crimson Empire? The Radiant Federation? Or... those Super Star Cluster civilizations?"

Han Xiao pondered secretly.

...

After the Void Spirit Church fled separately, Rogo and Sagman changed their vehicles, abandoned the main ship, and disguised themselves as an ordinary small team, heading silently towards the true location of the secret stargate.

Rogo believed that this method of splitting up could confuse the empire's pursuing forces, but what happened next shocked him.

Some of the teams that fled in other directions were attacked, and the attackers were not only the imperial fleet but also the Fallen Ark!

"Has the Heterochromatic God gone mad? Why is he attacking us!"

Rogo was shocked and angry, his face pale. He was panting heavily, his bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at the star map, as team after team was destroyed.

"I'm afraid the Heterochromatic God has turned around and reached a cooperation agreement with the Crimson Empire. This guy... he's determined to have us contain the empire!"

Sagman was also very annoyed. It was one thing for the Heterochromatic God to go back on his word, but now he was even turning against them. Although he never had any hope for the Heterochromatic God's integrity, he was still annoyed by the Heterochromatic God's actions.

Cisco stared intently at the star map and suddenly said, "The situation is a bit strange. They can accurately attack our teams. Is it because those teams were unlucky enough to run into the empire's blockade line, or does the empire still know our whereabouts?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone's expressions changed.

"That Black Star guy is a virtual mechanic. He might have done something."

Cisco gritted his teeth.

*He's a damn mechanic!* Metes beside him rubbed his fists, stubbornly thinking.

Hearing this, Rogo hurriedly ordered the fleet's intelligence to run a self-check, but it didn't detect Han Xiao's infiltration program, so naturally, it couldn't be cleared.

"I can't even find Black Star's intrusion program..." Sagman had a headache. He was knowledgeable and experienced. A virtual mechanic who could easily bypass the intelligence firewall of a galactic civilization was not easy to deal with.

Although everyone wasn't sure that Han Xiao had done something, because of Han Xiao's performance this time, everyone decided to make the worst plan.

Rogo gritted his teeth and said:

"The empire's encirclement isn't complete yet. This is our only chance to escape... Notify everyone to split up again, from hundreds of teams to one million teams. Also, cut off the quantum network connection of half of the teams!"

He was going to take advantage of the fact that the encirclement wasn't complete and use more teams to confuse the empire's vision, splitting them into millions of teams, meaning that each team only had a few warships, which meant giving up the ability to resist, turning more people into sacrifices. If they encountered the imperial fleet, there would be no chance of escape.

Cutting off the quantum network connection of half of the teams was equivalent to turning these teams into isolated troops without command. They all became deaf and mute, unable to communicate with other troops and could only run silently according to the star map instructions. The only advantage was that cutting off the network could get rid of any positioning that might exist. And Rogo was going to have his troops cut off the network, which was equivalent to giving up command and handing over command to the adjutant in the networked troops.

Because of Han Xiao's methods, Rogo made such a cruel decision, almost abandoning everyone in exchange for a glimmer of hope for himself and the five Super-As.

Niga coldly stared at him. "Commander, doing this will get you court-martialed when you get back."

"Hehehe..." Rogo smiled miserably. "If this battle fails, what future will I have when I get back?"

"If it weren't for you guys being turned around by Black Star, how could I have failed?"

"Do I hate you? Of course, I hate you!"

"But... you are, after all, high-level combat power of the Void Spirit Church."

"The Void Spirit Church doesn't care about these millions of warships and these soldiers. We can manufacture more warships and recruit more ordinary soldiers at any time, but you are different. Super-As are irreplaceable existences, and you also have the Universal Treasure, the Scepter of the Gods..."

"My primary task is to escort you high-level combat power away. Your safety priority is higher than anyone else's!"

"When I was in the military academy, the instructor told us, 'If you're not ruthless, don't be an officer.' A win-win situation is a beautiful and greedy fantasy. Most of the time, the situation doesn't allow us to be willful. We will often face trade-offs, and in order to complete the tactical mission, everything that is relatively unimportant can be abandoned..."

"I've already figured it out! Screw the court-martial. My only task now is to preserve the Void Spirit Church's living strength!"

After saying so much in one breath, Rogo glared with bloodshot eyes and gasped for breath.

Sagman and the others narrowed their eyes.

As Super-As, they wouldn't be easily moved by other people's words. In fact, with their experience, Rogo's little thoughts couldn't escape their eyes.

The five people looked at each other, then turned to look at Rogo.

Sagman said faintly:

"Then let's do as Commander Rogo says."

...

Shattered Star Ring, above Aquamarine Star, Longtan Floating Island.

Compared to a few months ago, Longtan now had many more facilities and had taken root here. Countless spaceships came and went, making it very prosperous.

Because it had officially established its base camp, Longtan no longer allowed pirates and scavengers to dock, driving away all the gray forces on the island. Of course, some of them didn't dare to approach the Black Star Army's base and ran away on their own initiative.

Now the forces stationed on Longtan were all proper consortia. Under the influence of Longtan, Aquamarine Star had also been favored by many consortia, ushering in new development opportunities.

In the Longtan Palace, Ames sat on the throne. Her white legs extended from under the high-slit black dress, crossed together to form a beautiful curved arc, making her look enchanting and graceful.

Ames propped up her chin with her right hand, overlooking the consortium representatives who came to pay their respects, her face as calm as an ancient well. She looked nonchalant, but in reality... she was indeed spacing out.

*Oh well, Jenny is in charge of these miscellaneous matters in the end. She's too lazy to care.*

Ames' thoughts had already drifted elsewhere. She muttered in her heart:

"I wonder how Hela and Aurora are doing. Tsk, Black Star is really annoying. He took my two students away for so long and didn't send back any news..."

*Didi.*

At this moment, the communicator floating on the side suddenly rang. Ames raised her finger and used her force field to grab the communicator. She glanced down and was a little surprised.

"Austin? Didn't this guy go to the secondary dimension to find materials?"

Curious, Ames connected the communication, and Austin's figure appeared on the screen.

"What do you want from me?"

Austin smiled. "Ames, I have some intelligence here that might be useful to you."

Ames raised her eyebrows. "Interesting. When did you become an intelligence dealer? Isn't that Black Star's hobby?"

Austin didn't mind. His smile was meaningful as he told Ames about the situation of the Beacon Star battle in detail.

At first, Ames listened lazily. As Austin spoke, she gradually sat up straight and became expressionless. Unstable force fields floated beside her, bringing great pressure and making the consortium representatives below feel cold and at a loss.

"...That's the situation."

Austin finished his narration and added, "I only notified you specifically because you are Black Star's ally. As I expected, you didn't know about it. Black Star hid this matter from you. Hehe, he seems to not want you to get involved in this storm."

"No need to be long-winded. I know what you mean. Hmph... Anyway, thanks. I really need this intelligence."

Ames hung up the communication and closed her eyes, seemingly thinking.

Iso also heard the intelligence and shook his head. "The prophecy has come true. Fortunately, I reminded Black Star, otherwise he might not have escaped this time. Black Star hid this matter from you because he didn't want you to get involved in the galactic civilization's storm. But Austin specifically told you about this to muddy the waters. Hehe, he's really a troublemaker."

Hearing this, Ames opened her eyes and said faintly: "I am his ally, not his subordinate. What qualifications does he have to tell me whether to get involved or not?"

Iso was helpless, with a "I knew it" expression on his face. He shook his head and asked:

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Help me contact the Crimson Empire's special envoy, Sui. The Crimson Empire is likely to mobilize its troops in the Shattered Star Ring to attack the Void Spirit Church's garrisons and stargate stations here..."

As she spoke, Ames stood up. Her black dress spun and bloomed.

"Black Star, Cisco, Herber, Austin, all four of them are in the Flickering World..."

"So... in the current Shattered Star Ring, I'm the only Super-A!"

"I can go wherever I want!"

---

(About 6700 words today, it's the end of the month, asking for monthly tickets)