Chapter 1042 A Sudden Turn of Events

This proposal was very constructive. The three leaders immediately took it seriously. After pondering for a while, they quickly finalized a preliminary plan with Han Xiao, and then ordered the Strategic Command to retract the orders to the direct troops of the three civilizations.

Their goal was to destroy the World Tree, not to deliberately turn against Black Star. Although they were unwilling to see Han Xiao subdue the World Tree, it was useless to dwell on it.

Mabrus and the others could only suppress their inner apprehension and wait for a targeted plan to be discussed in the future. Anyway, there was no way out at the moment. They couldn't really start a second war with Black Star... Who would win or lose was secondary, and third-party forces might still be lurking in the dark.

—Even if they were to fall out, they would have to wait until they had a direct-line Beyond Grade A. Urnos was their greatest hope, and he might advance one day.

The direct troops of the three civilizations stopped firing and withdrew, silently retreating from the encirclement. The tense atmosphere in the field quickly dissipated.

Han Xiao's brief confrontation with the three civilizations had left the soldiers of the Interstellar Joint Army in a daze. They realized that the conflict between the two sides had resurfaced, and they were very nervous, fearing that the victory they had just won would lead to infighting and another war.

At this time, seeing that the two sides had ceased fighting, countless people breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that their mood had fluctuated greatly, and they were all a little weak—no matter what conflicts there were, the three civilizations were the main force in fighting the World Tree, and Black Star was the hero who changed the battle situation. They were all meritorious officials in the war. They had just joined forces to defeat the foreign enemy, and then turned against each other in public, which was unacceptable. No one wanted joy to turn into sorrow.

However, the reality that the World Tree was not destroyed but subdued by Black Star also made many people feel subtle.

Although Black Star had contributed too much to the war, this last wave made them suspect that Black Star was using them to achieve his goals... Of course, Black Star might have had his reasons, but the impression it gave everyone was quite complicated.

However, everyone didn't dwell on this point too much and quickly put it out of their minds for the time being.

The conflict between Black Star and the three civilizations was a squabble between big shots, and it was not their turn to worry about it—at this moment, these front-line combat personnel only wanted to enjoy the ecstasy of victory and the relief of surviving a disaster.

"We won!"

"Long live the Empire!"

For a time, countless soldiers' cheers rang out in the combat channel again, deafening.

Many officers did not stop them, allowing their soldiers to vent their emotions. In fact, they were also excited and could not help but celebrate with their subordinates.

On the other side, Han Xiao deactivated the High Heaven's Venerate, withdrew his troops, and returned to the army formation of the Beyond Grade A forces, passing the direct troops of the three civilizations who gave way. Many Beyond Grade As immediately surrounded him.

"That was close. I thought the three civilizations were going to have their way and start a civil war at all costs."

Hunter wiped a non-existent cold sweat.

Kesuye casually analyzed, "That won't happen. They know their limits. We are clearly on Black Star's side, and Black Star has obtained the World Tree Civilization's forces. The three civilizations dare not mess around. They know what the result will be and will not court death."

"Speaking of which, Your Excellency Black Star took too much of a risk this time. We didn't know your plan beforehand..."

Someone muttered in a low voice, and many members of the association looked at Han Xiao meaningfully. These people were unaware beforehand.

Because there were hidden seeds of the Super Star Cluster in the association, Han Xiao was unwilling to leak the news in advance, so he only explained the plan to subdue the World Tree to his confidants such as Kesuye. The explanation to the entire association was to prevent the three civilizations from plotting against the World Tree and backstabbing them.

Therefore, not long ago, some members of the association were still kept in the dark. Even if they had some suspicions, they had never confirmed them. They could only cooperate with their teammates according to the original plan to hinder the direct troops of the three civilizations, buy time and create opportunities for Han Xiao, and did not dare to act rashly.

To be honest, if Han Xiao had stated his goal of subduing the World Tree from the beginning, many Beyond Grade As felt that they might not be willing to help him. They should be more inclined to completely destroy the World Tree like the three civilizations... After all, the World Tree was quite similar to the Underworld, but its power was even greater. It could implement mind control on individuals. Even if Black Star was temporarily "one of us," who knew what would happen in the future.

What if Black Star's ambition expanded to the extreme one day and he wanted to use the World Tree to devour everyone? Don't say that there is no such possibility. With a sharp blade in hand, the desire to kill arises. Black Star didn't have this idea before, just because he didn't get the World Tree... Many Beyond Grade As had to consider their own safety from their own perspectives and secretly felt apprehensive.

Seeing that many Beyond Grade As had complicated expressions, Han Xiao didn't mind. He smiled and said:

"Everyone doesn't need to worry too much. My subduing the World Tree is out of other considerations. One of the purposes is to use the power of the World Tree to make the three civilizations wary and consolidate the safety foundation of our Beyond Grade A Association after the war. In this way, we can completely reassure the three civilizations and give up suppressing us, so that we can put aside all our worries."

Manison slowly nodded and echoed:

"This is similar to my original idea, but at that time, our wings were not yet full, and it was not the time. My idea was too advanced. Now, our power has expanded rapidly with the help of the war, and the time is ripe. The strategic significance of the World Tree is actually the same as the Virtual Rebellion Virus, but it is more suitable as a strategic deterrent weapon, so that the three civilizations will never dare to attack us again."

After speaking, Manison gave Han Xiao an admiring look, as if saying, "We are indeed the same kind of people."

He also feared the threat of Han Xiao obtaining the World Tree, but if he were in that position, Manison would have made the same choice. How similar was the current situation to when he seized the "Virtual Rebellion Virus" from the tiger's mouth back then? It's just that he failed, and Black Star succeeded.

Hearing these words, some members of the association were no longer happy, but they couldn't say anything. The main reason was that the matter was already a foregone conclusion, and it was useless to object.

Seeing this, Aurora changed the subject and said with a smile, "We won this war. Everyone should be happy."

Hearing this, everyone relaxed and smiled... In any case, now is the time to enjoy the victory. They still had to give the healer face.

"We finally solved this powerful enemy. We can go on vacation."

"Hey, I've been exhausted these years. Don't ask me to get out of bed until I've slept for a month."

"After enduring the difficult times, a bright future awaits us."

Many Beyond Grade As unloaded their burdens, feeling relaxed, chatting and laughing with each other.

At this time, someone remembered something.

"By the way, Black Star, when are you going to resurrect the Beyond Grade As who died recently?"

In the recent year of the war, some Beyond Grade As had died again, and Han Xiao had not had time to resurrect them. Their names were still hanging on the memorial tablet.

"In a while, I still have some things to do. I can't leave for the time being, especially the establishment of a civilization's regime... The time, place, and people are all in our hands. I persuaded the three civilizations to temporarily investigate the third party and take advantage of this buffer time to allow our people to complete the final preparations for the association's transformation. We'll do it in one step."

Han Xiao replied casually.

He took out the technology of the Information Form Alert Network to persuade the three civilizations to search for third-party enemies. On the one hand, he did not want the enemy to continue lurking and profiting, and on the other hand, he temporarily shifted the focus of the three civilizations to buy time for the final stage of the association's nation-building.

The two plans were implemented in parallel, killing two birds with one stone. He had a lot to do, and he had to seize the time. He didn't have time to study how to complete the Virtual Genesis for the time being.

However, speaking of Sanctuary Revival, Han Xiao thought of the iteration problem.

He had once planned to reveal the information about the Sanctuary to the three civilizations at the right time and work together to study how to overcome the iteration. The time was not ripe before, but now that the World Tree was in hand, he really had a power base for equal cooperation, and this plan could be officially put on the agenda.

…If he remembered correctly, there should still be a related task lying in his interface.

Because of the World Tree's alchemical-like material transformation ability, he didn't have to bother collecting the materials for the Sanctuary Key in the future. He could generate new keys at any time. For him, most of the Sanctuaries were back gardens that he could enter whenever he wanted, so he wasn't afraid of the three civilizations studying the Sanctuary together. The other party didn't have this unique condition.

'This wave is really a sky full of dragons…'

Han Xiao secretly rejoiced.

The World Tree mechanism combined with the Sanctuary had an unimaginable broad prospect of benefits, and the two were simply a perfect match.

He secretly decided that when the post-war situation was completely stable, he would reveal the truth to the three civilizations and pull them to study the Sanctuary together.

—Instead of letting this group of people spend their energy on how to deal with them, it would be better to let them study how to deal with the iteration problem, so as not to waste resources on internal conflicts.

'To be honest, I'm definitely moving the Star Sea with this wave…'

Han Xiao secretly shook his head.

He was really worried about the peace of the universe. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to reward him with a few tons of medals.

At this time, Ames came over with a playful expression and said with a smile, "You've made a lot of money this time. The entire interstellar society has suffered heavy losses in the war, and trillions of lives have died in the war, but in the end, you have become the biggest beneficiary. What are your thoughts?"

"What, you want to awaken my shame? Then you've come to the wrong person." Han Xiao shrugged and said frankly, "I ended the war early and saved countless lives. The dead are gone, and the living are like this. What do you ask me what I think? Of course, my conscience is clear."

Ames spread out her hands, "Okay, there's nothing wrong with thinking that way. You'll be extremely respected after this war. You won't be as busy as before, right... How about it, take some time to accompany me?"

Han Xiao was a little tempted and was about to speak.

But at this moment, Jodina suddenly popped up and coldly interrupted:

"Dragon Emperor, Legion Commander doesn't have that much free time. You shouldn't pester him all the time. It will only make him distressed."

Hearing this, Ames raised her eyebrows and turned to look over. Jodina also glared back without showing any weakness. The two's eyes collided in mid-air, and the air was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder.

Han Xiao noticed a burst of killing intent and couldn't help but twitch his mouth. He quickly flew to the side, not wanting to get involved in the fight between the two women at all.

He saw the two women staring at each other on their own. One was dignified and calm, with majesty in her plainness, while the other was aggressive, with obvious provocation in her eyes. Neither of them gave in, and neither of them cared that Han Xiao had run away.

"Alas, it's all because I'm too outstanding..."

Han Xiao sighed helplessly.

He flew to the side alone, thought for a while, and took out the Heart Tree King's spacetime amber.

After obtaining the World Tree, Han Xiao had completely understood the mechanism of the Tree King and the Tree God and discovered that the Ancestral Tree King had left him a mess.

All of the Beyond Grade A legacies were burned out, all of the crown ranks were shattered, and the military strength was greatly depleted. The high-level combat power was almost completely destroyed. The World Tree Civilization could be said to have suffered a great loss of vitality and would need many years to recover.

However, Han Xiao did not have any complaining emotions. After all, if he didn't beat the enemy into such a miserable state, he wouldn't have the opportunity to subdue the World Tree. You can't have both fish and bear paws. He still understood this principle. He didn't need to be pretentious if he got the greatest benefit.

However, Han Xiao originally had an idea. If the time and price were right, it wouldn't be impossible to sell a Beyond Grade A legacy to Urnos in the distant future.

Now, it was good. He couldn't give it even if he wanted to. Old Ur had once again missed the opportunity to advance to Beyond Grade A. Han Xiao could only say that it was fate, destiny, and luck...

"Now, the only intact Tree King crown rank is on the Heart Tree King. This guy has become the only seedling in my hands..."

Han Xiao shook his head and smiled.

Although the World Tree members were brainwashed to be loyal, they were not puppets without self-awareness. They had independent thoughts and had their own lives on weekdays. His entry did not affect these things—to put it in an easy-to-understand way, his control of the World Tree was equivalent to replacing the Mother Tree's will with his own will. For the World Tree Civilization, the two had similar meanings.

Therefore, Han Xiao also needed to find someone to manage the World Tree Civilization. Due to the "waste" of the Ancestral Tree King, the World Tree only had one Tree King qualification left for a long time, and the Heart Tree King was the best choice.

With this in mind, Han Xiao did not hesitate to dispel the amber.

Poof~

The Heart Tree King broke free from the seal. Without saying a word, he quickly retreated, his body glowing, and was about to self-destruct.

During these years of being imprisoned in the spacetime amber, the Heart Tree King regretted not being decisive enough. He told himself countless times that as long as there was a chance to break the seal, he would immediately let himself be freed.

But just as he was about to self-destruct, the World Tree's mind network reconnected with him, and the information it transmitted made the Heart Tree King suddenly stop his actions, his expression becoming extremely shocked.

"The World Tree Civilization… lost?!"

He quickly received the information in the mind network and finally understood the war process during the years he was sealed.

"Ancestral Tree King, Secret Tree King, Determined Tree King, Suppressing Tree King… they are all dead, along with the destruction of the Tree King crown rank. Instead, I have become the last Tree King to survive…"

The prosperous World Tree army had disappeared like rain and wind. All the familiar colleagues were destroyed, and even the entire civilization belonged to others. The owner had changed… More than ten years had passed, and everything had changed.

For a time, the Heart Tree King was stunned, his heart filled with complicated feelings and a sense of desolation.

Han Xiao did not interfere with the Heart Tree King's acceptance of reality. It was not until this time that he said:

"Presumably you already understand why I let you out. I need you to help me manage the World Tree Civilization. It may not be a bad thing for you. As long as you do well, you will be the only Tree King for a long time. You will have the sole power, and I will not interfere too much with your management. You are one person below, and above hundreds of millions of people."

The Heart Tree King came back to his senses and looked at Han Xiao, his eyes extremely complicated.

He did not expect that as soon as he woke up, the culprit who sealed him back then would become his immediate superior. Due to the World Tree's mind control, the Heart Tree King could not have any hostility toward Han Xiao at all.

"...I understand, I will follow your will."

The Heart Tree King sighed and nodded in agreement. He did not have the power to refuse.

Han Xiao nodded, raised his hand and patted, and saw the Heart Tree King turn into a stream of green light and merge into his body, returning to the Mother Tree World.

After doing this, Han Xiao looked back at the happy crowd, smiled slightly, did not participate in it, but changed into the Emperor's suit and quietly disappeared in place.