Chapter 1 January 1, Star Sea Calendar 800

Central Star Sea, New Century Star.

Months ago, the three great civilizations began artificially modifying this planet to hold this celebration, transforming a desolate and barren wasteland into a celebration planet and naming it "New Century Star" to commemorate the past hundred years, especially the victory of the World Tree War.

From space, a massive, towering structure like a Tower of Babel stood on the surface of New Century Star. At its peak was an open-air plaza platform, the venue for the celebration, surrounded by neatly suspended rows of floating seats in a circular pattern.

Countless spaceships hovered in the sky, blotting out the sun, and numerous interstellar media outlets had arrived early.

This event was also broadcast throughout the major star clusters, although the number of viewers could not break new records because the war had caused a significant population loss. However, the viewership rating set a new record, with almost every household staying in front of the television to watch the broadcast.

Anti-gravity hovercraft rose from the ground within the atmosphere and flew to the venue, where invited guests took their seats one after another. Representatives from various civilizations, military heroes, Super-A Grades, and so on – basically all the big figures in interstellar society – filled the venue, which quickly became lively as they waited for the celebration to begin.

The Super-A Grades around him chatted idly. Han Xiao didn't join the conversation, casually taking out his communicator for a glance. The interstellar media had already started broadcasting, the camera scanning the venue and, seemingly knowing what the audience wanted to see, occasionally focusing on his face, capturing the sharp angles of his masculine features in exquisite detail.

"Tsk, always filming me. Do they like eye candy that much?"

Han Xiao clicked his tongue, unashamed.

Kersuye, sitting beside him, nudged his waist with his elbow and whispered with a smile, "It's a pity you haven't revived those Super-A Grades who died in battle. They'll miss this celebration."

"I did it on purpose. When we're commemorating the dead and everyone's mourning together, it would ruin the mood if they saw those few victims come back to life."

Han Xiao paused, his expression suddenly turning a little strange, and added, "Besides, you wouldn't want to see Dillon giving a speech on this kind of occasion, would you?"

"...That's true." Kersuye shuddered.

Han Xiao shook his head and said no more.

In the past six months, the Super Power Sanctuary had stabilized, and he had enjoyed a rare and relaxing vacation. His mental state was excellent, and he had a great appetite.

Although this celebration ceremony was just a formality for Han Xiao, it was quite meaningful for interstellar society, as it attempted to soothe the wounds left on interstellar citizens by the war and encourage them to look to the future with courage. After all, normal people's lives need a sense of ritual.

Without much waiting, the heads of the three great civilizations arrived in person, and the venue gradually quieted down. The audience watching the broadcast also held their breath in anticipation.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Marblus slowly walked to the podium, his expression solemn. He scanned the audience and slowly began to speak:

"The universe is vast and boundless, and countless unknown civilizations, like stars, dot the world, bringing vitality to this otherwise silent realm. We are also one of them, living in a corner of the universe, constantly multiplying and growing... In the past hundred years, we have experienced many hardships, from internal strife to technological disasters to foreign invasions..."

Marblus spoke at length, recounting the various experiences of the past hundred years, including the Red Tide, the Shining World's great development, the Intelligent Plague, the World Tree War, and so on. He reviewed them one by one, recalling the bitter past to appreciate the sweet present, awakening many people's long-dormant memories.

These hundred years had been turbulent, and Black Star was an unavoidable figure, with an extremely strong presence on the interstellar stage. It seemed that most major interstellar events had his shadow, and the past hundred years were like the history of Black Star's rise.

Many players watching the broadcast listened with relish, and, thinking of Meatbun's "Black Star Army" series of videos, they couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and strong identification, as if they were there themselves.

No matter how great Black Star's achievements were now, in the minds of many veteran players, the figure of Black Phantom in those years still lingered. They had supported and witnessed him growing up step by step, like watching their own child grow up, and they felt incomparably close to him.

"...We have survived all kinds of difficulties in the past, and today, we have finally entered a peaceful new century. This is inseparable from the contributions and sacrifices of pioneers who exchanged their lives for our stable new life..."

Marblus' expression became grave, and he took out a speech and began to read it slowly:

"The Interstellar Joint Army's Thirty-first Corps, formerly the Crimson Empire's 'Iron Flag' Fleet, resisted the World Tree civilization in the interception zone. A total of 8.8 million personnel, all sacrificed."

"The Interstellar Joint Army's Four Hundred and Seventy-seventh Corps, formerly the Glorious Federation's 'Glimmer' Fleet, met the World Tree vanguard at the Shining World defense front. A total of 11.2 million personnel, with only 4,003 survivors."

"The Interstellar Joint Army's..."

Marblus' tone was solemn as he read out one shocking casualty statistic after another.

As each sacrificed unit's designation was listed, the mood of the people present and the many interstellar citizens in front of the screen became solemn.

Many people only knew that the war had caused heavy casualties, but they did not know the specific details. Only now did they have a clear idea.

Everyone mourned in silence for a few minutes before Marblus continued to speak, posthumously awarding medals to the fallen, creating a solemn atmosphere. After all the sacrifices had been posthumously honored, it was time to reward the living war heroes, and the atmosphere became relaxed and warm.

One war hero after another took the stage, and the heads of the three great civilizations awarded medals in succession. Officers accounted for the vast majority, but every Super-A Grade received one, and even the former direct descendants of the resurrected who had defected to the Super Power Sanctuary received different medals of honor. Even the Super Star Cluster Alliance, which had always only been able to watch from the sidelines, received different medals.

The three great civilizations showed their sincerity, stating that today they would not talk about camps, only about merit, treating everyone equally... except for Lagukin.

Lagukin had originally wanted to improvise, but feeling the gaze of Han Xiao staring at him from his seat, he obediently said what was written in the script.

This segment lasted a long time, and finally it was Han Xiao's turn, as the last and most important act.

Marblus coughed and said loudly:

"During the World Tree War, Black Star made too many contributions, providing us with a large amount of intelligence, and in the end, he almost turned the tide, reversing the unfavorable situation and giving us the opportunity to end the war ahead of schedule. His contribution cannot be replaced by anyone. All the civilization members of the Star Sea Civilization General Assembly unanimously decided to award Black Star the Star Sea Medal!"

Clap clap clap—

Everyone applauded vigorously. Black Star's reputation in the Order camp had exploded, and almost everyone was sincerely congratulating him.

When solving the Intelligent Plague, Black Star had already received a Star Sea Medal, and now he had received a second one... The Star Sea Medal was the highest honor in interstellar society. In principle, it would not be awarded a second time, but Black Star was the only person to have received it twice, creating history.

But no one was surprised. It was well deserved that Black Star received such an honor. Apart from the Star Sea Medal, no other award could match his contribution.

Amidst the warm applause, Han Xiao stood up calmly and walked to the high platform.

"Thank you for your contribution to interstellar society," Marblus said sincerely.

Louis and the leader of the Arcane Church on the other side looked serious and patted Han Xiao's arm on either side to show their closeness.

Han Xiao would not refuse to give them face on this occasion, nodding in greeting and receiving the Star Sea Medal from the heads of the three great civilizations, casually pinning it on his chest.

According to convention, the recipient of the medal needed to make a speech. Han Xiao had already prepared a speech, all of which were platitudes. He was already familiar with this.

He skillfully walked to the podium, and just as he was about to start speaking according to the speech, he suddenly paused.

Countless lights flashed before his eyes, and countless interstellar citizens were watching him from behind the screen. The guests around him quieted down, craning their necks, their faces, from different races, all with the same expectation and hope, holding their breath, waiting for his long speech.

Looking at this scene, Han Xiao was momentarily in a daze. He looked down at the medal on his chest and subconsciously reached out and rubbed it with his fingers.

He hesitated for a few seconds, abandoned the lengthy speech, shook his head gently, and said solemnly:

"...I hope there will be no more wars in the world, and I wish for world peace."

There was a moment of hesitation in the venue as they waited for Han Xiao's next words, but after Han Xiao finished speaking, he nodded slightly to the crowd. Seeing this, everyone applauded, and the applause lasted for a long time.

…

The process proceeded step by step, and after Marblus' impassioned "Looking to the Future" speech, the celebration ceremony finally came to a successful conclusion.

The entire interstellar society was jubilant, their hearts seemed to have been baptized once, and they were full of new motivation for the days to come.

And a few days later, in the joint conference room of the three great civilizations.

"The Star Alliance is still the same as before. According to the spies who were turned against by Black Star, the Star Alliance's senior management deeply believes in their intelligence and is very excited."

"But we still have to pay attention to prevent the Star Alliance from sending new sleepers, otherwise we will be exposed."

"Yes, Black Star has already given us a heads-up. He said that he will disappear for a while to go to the Sanctuary to resurrect a batch of Super-A Grades. During this period, we need to be careful not to let the Star Alliance see through our tricks."

The three of them discussed in low voices.

Black Star was going to the Sanctuary and would be temporarily unable to oversee the Super Power Sanctuary, but the three of them no longer had any other thoughts about him. Now, they were only worried that the Star Alliance would see through their plan because Black Star was not around.

"After more than half a year of recuperation, the army has recovered some vitality, but the loss of superhumans is quite serious, and there is no way to compete with the Super Power Sanctuary. Alas..."

"But Black Star said a few days ago that he is willing to develop the Sanctuary with us in the future. I don't know if he is lying."

The three were somewhat puzzled.

Black Star was now in a dominant position with a stable status. He had no need to share the Sanctuary's information with them. They didn't know what Black Star was up to this time.

Marblus hesitated and said, "I don't think it's very credible. Sanctuary resurrection is Black Star's important trump card. How could he share it... If he really does this, he must have a bigger plot."

Louis shook his head: "Let's not talk about him for now. It's still more important to solve the Star Alliance. Although they have fallen for our trick, we can hide it for a while, but we can't hide it forever. The longer it takes, the more likely they are to become suspicious. When do you think it's better to take action?"

The leader of the Arcane Church pondered: "Now, war-weariness is high. Interstellar society cannot withstand another round of war. If we rashly take action, the current praise might turn into accusations... I think it is appropriate to take action at least three to five years after interstellar society stabilizes. Anyway, time is on our side. There is no need to rush. Let's wait until we recover our strength."

The three of them discussed in low voices when to launch a new war.

…

Half a month later, a certain uninhabited area in the Super Power Sanctuary.

Han Xiao was suspended in the universe, with no one else around.

He had already informed the three great civilizations and the Super Power Sanctuary, and today he would step into the Sanctuary to begin his plan to gain authority.

Within his inner space, the World Tree moved slightly, transforming into a Sanctuary Key, which quickly burned.

The next moment, a surging light blossomed from the palm of his hand, shooting straight out and transforming into the light gate of the Sanctuary in the space in front of him, slowly rotating.

"I hope this plan will work..."

Han Xiao steadied his mind and flew in, his figure gradually swallowed by the light.