Chapter 1166 Secret Hands

Han Xiao shook his head, retracting the [Information State Erasure] vision.

The abilities he drew this time were pretty good. The Tree God directly took third place on his list of good people, with the Germinal leader in second.

As for first place, it belonged solely to Old Man Macaron, unshakable, the eternal god.

"Speaking of which, the Tree God has a lot of good stuff. It would be great if I could draw a few more times... but the World Tree shouldn't use this trick on me easily again. The chances don't seem high."

Han Xiao stroked his chin, pondering to himself.

This time, when extracting abilities, he also saw some of the Tree God's secrets in the options. Among them, [Tree King Crown Position · Liberation] confirmed his guess that the Tree God was indeed a product of the fusion of several Tree Kings. It seemed to involve a huge consumption, so the possibility of them using this trick against him again after he drove them away was not high.

"But looking at the current situation, the three Universal Civilizations have already turned from passive to active. Now it's them who are on pins and needles."

Han Xiao smiled inwardly.

The current situation was excellent, much more comfortable than in his previous life, mostly due to his efforts—wasn't he carrying the entire interstellar society?

Just then, patches of black flames appeared in front of him, quickly solidifying into the Mind Projection of the Oathkeeper.

"Your Excellency Black Star, the three Universal Civilizations are cleaning up the battlefield. Our Arcane Church has already taken the opportunity to evacuate, without much interaction. What are your next instructions?"

Han Xiao glanced at him, and seeing the Oathkeeper's submissive appearance, he couldn't help but laugh. "Your attitude has changed quickly. After seeing my heroic figure, are you afraid?"

"..." The corner of the Oathkeeper's eye twitched, but he didn't speak.

Admitting it was impossible, never in this lifetime.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Han Xiao tutted and said, "Don't be so restrained. I still prefer your unruly appearance."

"...Don't joke around."

"Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore." Han Xiao smiled, then his expression turned serious. He pondered, "The Arcane Church has been exposed to the world this time, but I don't plan to let you debut... cough, I mean come out of the mountains. In short, you continue to return to the shadows. Without my call, you don't need to actively participate in battles, and don't have too much interaction with the three Universal Civilizations. All contact is best relayed through me."

"Then how do we explain it to the Association? They will definitely ask when these Revivals appeared. If you keep it a secret, it may make them suspicious..." the Oathkeeper said.

"You don't have to worry about this. I will provide some explanation while hiding the specific situation of the Arcane Church."

Han Xiao waved his hand.

"Alright." The Oathkeeper nodded.

"By the way, there's one more thing. Arcane Church members can stay out of the fighting, but your technology in the secondary dimensions must be contributed, such as Dimensional Banishment Bombs, Qi Disruption Waves, etc., for use in the war."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

The Oathkeeper had already been worn down by Han Xiao, and he agreed expressionlessly.

...

At the same time, the Super Star Cluster Alliance was holding a meeting. The leaders of the various participating civilizations had complex expressions, with both joy and sorrow.

"The three Universal Civilizations repelled the World Tree's invasion of the secondary dimension... they're really fierce."

"At this rate, the three Universal Civilizations can steadily stop the enemy outside the explored universe. The situation won't be chaotic."

"In that case, we can't carry out our plan..."

Many civilization leaders didn't know what to say.

The Super Star Cluster Alliance had originally planned that when the three Universal Civilizations were fighting desperately with the World Tree Civilization, they would take advantage of the fact that the three Universal Civilizations had no time to care about them and take their entire civilization out of the explored universe, escaping the control of the three Universal Civilizations.

But now it seemed that the three Universal Civilizations were not in a difficult battle at all, but were rather stable!

It was all Black Star's fault for being too fierce, not giving them a chance to start their plan at all!

"Alas, the plan to leave the explored universe is one of our few opportunities to obtain free development space. Let's continue to wait and see, hoping that the World Tree can be more reliable."

The Star Arc leader sighed helplessly, feeling a bit pained.

This plan was very important to the Super Star Cluster Alliance. Even if the current situation was unfavorable, they wouldn't easily give up, but frustration was inevitable.

At this moment, a civilization leader narrowed his eyes and whispered, "Perhaps we can help the World Tree..."

However, before he could finish speaking, the Star Arc leader glared at him and scolded, "If you want to die, don't drag us down with you! If we are found out, we're doomed!"

He simply couldn't believe that someone would make such a suicidal suggestion. Wasn't this courting death?

Even if they hoped that the World Tree would disrupt the war, they could only silently cheer for the World Tree and passively wait for the situation to change. How could they provide substantial help? Wouldn't that be colluding with the enemy?!

Speaking of this, the Star Arc leader felt anger rising in his heart—you World Tree are acting so powerful, I thought you could beat the three Universal Civilizations into a pulp, but you can't even get past Black Star.

And you call that an invasion?

How laughable!

...

A few days later, the great victory in the shallow dimensions was quickly spread throughout the interstellar society with the promotion of the three Universal Civilizations. Although it met Han Xiao's request and didn't emphasize his battle against the Tree God at the Beyond Grade A level, it still caused widespread excitement among the interstellar people.

Originally, when they saw the news that the World Tree had invaded from the secondary dimension, most of the interstellar citizens were frightened and panicked. But when they continued to see that the three Universal Civilizations had successfully repelled the enemy, they breathed a sigh of relief, became excited, and had even more confidence in the three Universal Civilizations winning this war.

Because they felt that the safety of staying in the explored universe had greatly increased, the degree of chaos on the various refuge planets was also greatly reduced. Many interstellar citizens settled down, the frequency of demonstrations decreased, and fewer people ran away, making it easier to manage them centrally.

And the Arcane Church Revivals who suddenly appeared this time became important contributors to stabilizing the war in the propaganda. But after the battle, they left without communicating with the three Universal Civilizations, acting very mysteriously, which aroused the strong curiosity of the interstellar citizens.

On the internet, many interstellar citizens recognized the identities of some of them based on the Wien card deck, all of whom were famous Beyond Grade As in history.

Therefore, everything pointed to Black Star, who controlled the Sanctuary Revival. Countless interstellar citizens enthusiastically used their imaginations, and various versions of speculation circulated on the internet.

The headquarters of the Beyond Grade A Association, the meeting hall.

Many Beyond Grade As gathered together, all staring at Han Xiao on the main seat, chattering.

"Black Star, you have to give us an explanation. What's the origin of that group of Revivals?"

"That's right! You've been hiding it from us. That's not fair."

"This matter must be related to you. If you say you don't know, I won't talk to you for a month!"

Most of the people asking questions were Beyond Grade As of the current era, while Beyoni and other insiders and subsequent Revivals didn't speak, watching the show from the sidelines.

"Cough, um..." Kesuye slightly raised his hand and coughed. "Actually, I also know a little about this."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes became sharp and focused on him.

No way, when Black Star first revealed the Sanctuary Revival, you knew about it in advance. How do you know about it again now, and you're helping Black Star hide it from us.

We used to think you were experienced because of your thick eyebrows and big eyes, so we chose you as the vice president. Now it seems that you have completely become Black Star's shape!

Seraon on the side was envious and jealous. We're both vice presidents, but how do you know so many secrets, and I'm kept in the dark like a fool? Are you just treating me as a decoration!

Damn it, I can also be a confidant. I also want to be in cahoots with Black Star!

Han Xiao was a little surprised and turned to look at Kesuye. "When did you find out?"

"I guessed."

Kesuye smiled embarrassedly.

During the training camp, Han Xiao once entered the Sanctuary and had the Oathkeeper contact Kesuye.

Although the Oathkeeper didn't reveal the situation of the Arcane Church, Kesuye assumed that the Oathkeeper was Han Xiao's secret subordinate outside. From this, he reasoned that Han Xiao might have a backup plan and might have hidden a group of Revivals. Therefore, Kesuye wasn't surprised by the emergence of the Arcane Church, but instead had a feeling of "I knew it."

Han Xiao thought for a moment and guessed where Kesuye had learned about it. He didn't mind and turned to look around at everyone, smiling.

"I was originally planning to explain this to everyone. Back then, when the three Universal Civilizations and the Association had conflicts, I specially had a group of Revivals hide to form a special group. If we had an accident, we would still have a way to retreat and a way to counter the enemy, so don't blame me for hiding it.

Later, you also knew about what happened. The World Tree suddenly invaded, and we and the three Universal Civilizations made peace and fought against the enemy together, so this trump card has been kept until recently, when the secondary dimension front was in crisis, I let them come out of the mountains to support us."

Everyone nodded, accepting this explanation without any objections.

However, Hunter asked casually, "Since they've been exposed, why not join the Association?"

Han Xiao smiled. "This involves our future development direction. In my vision, a part of the Beyond Grade As should secretly form an organization, one in the open and one in the dark, watching over each other. Unless we encounter a major event, we will remain in the shadows. These mysterious Revivals are the first batch of members I've taken a fancy to. They don't all act on orders, and they themselves have the idea of retiring, so this task is very suitable for them.

I plan to keep this system as a retirement place for Beyond Grade As. When everything is stable, if someone is tired of the disputes and politics, they can completely choose to retire in this organization and return to their identity in the wild."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes flashed, capturing Han Xiao's subtext, and they couldn't help but take a deep look at him.

It seemed that Black Star had advanced to the Super level and was no longer satisfied with the form of the Association. When the war ended, he would probably use the official status recognized by the three Universal Civilizations to do something big...

'War is indeed a catalyst for ambition...'

Many Beyond Grade As had such feelings in their hearts.

However, from a personal point of view, they didn't reject this. It was a good thing for their group that Black Star, as their leader, was ambitious.

"Then I have no objections."

"Neither do we."

"You're still foresighted."

Everyone expressed their approval and gave a rainbow fart in a familiar manner.

Han Xiao smiled and was about to speak when suddenly, the interface vibrated.

He was slightly stunned and quietly opened the interface, glanced at the prompt, and his eyes lit up.

[Version 5.5 is open!]

[Acquiring data... Data acquisition complete!]

[Player forum is open]

[Welcome to Galaxy Version 5.5—[Black Star Era: Total War]

"Oh, this small update is finally over?"

Han Xiao immediately became energetic.

The players went offline more than ten years ago and updated a small version. He didn't expect the adorable leeks to come back at this time.

However, Han Xiao wasn't happy for too long. His attention was attracted by the change in the version name.

"Total War?"

Han Xiao's eyes narrowed.

Based on his experience, the nodes of version updates are generally on the eve of major events.

Now that the three Universal Civilizations are in a good situation and the World Tree is on the defensive, the version name is like this, which made him feel a little uneasy, feeling that things were not simple.

"Who does this version name refer to, our total war against the World Tree, or the World Tree attacking the entire territory of the three Universal Civilizations like in the previous life? They are now blocked outside the borders of the Shattered Star Ring, do they still have such an opportunity... Well, it's best to check in advance."

Han Xiao calculated in his mind, his eyes flickering.