After the better part of the day.

A faint green force field picked up a set of clothes, causing them to float in mid-air. Han Xiao reached out, took them, and draped them over his body. After dressing neatly and rubbing his overworked lower back, he went to the mirror and rubbed his cheeks.

Ames untied her hair, casually gathering it. Her black hair cascaded down like a waterfall. She used her force field to open the refrigerator, took out a half-empty bottle of hard liquor, poured two glasses, and walked over to Han Xiao, turning to sit on the edge of the table, facing him. She held out one of the glasses and smiled.

"Care for a drink?"

Hearing this, Han Xiao glanced at her, took the glass, and took a sip. Ames smiled sweetly and reached out to straighten Han Xiao's clothes, helping him turn up his collar.

"You've been quite busy lately. I wanted to find you some time ago, but I couldn't reach you."

"When am I not busy?"

Han Xiao smacked his lips, savoring the liquor. The sweet, cool taste lingered in his mouth.

"Honestly, where have you been these past few days? Did you go to a sub-dimension with someone else?" Ames took a sip of her drink, her demeanor elegant, her tone teasing.

"Nonsense, I've only explored sub-dimensions with you, or maybe Kesuye at most." Han Xiao finished his drink in one gulp, put down the glass, and casually combed his hair with his fingers in front of the mirror.

Ames swirled her glass and laughed, "You've achieved quite a bit of success now, winning independent status for the Super-A Grade Association. The three Universal Civilizations have re-recognized your identity. Most of the goals set when the association was established have been achieved. You can relax now, right?"

"Not yet. It's not time to relax yet."

"What, still not satisfied? Want to keep climbing higher?" Ames raised an eyebrow. "You're already a top figure in the universe. Going higher might be dangerous. Don't tell me you, this ambitious schemer, really want to usurp the positions of the three Universal Civilizations and steal the ruler's seat?"

"You're overthinking it. I'm not referring to those things, but other things. There's still a huge threat that hasn't been eliminated, but I can't tell you about it yet."

Han Xiao glanced at her helplessly. He hadn't revealed too much information about the World Tree, not even to those close to him.

"Alright, you always have big plans… But you can't always be this busy, there will be a day when you stop, right?"

"If this matter can be resolved smoothly, I should be able to rest for a long time."

"Then I'll wait. Don't break your promise." Ames smiled gently.

"We'll see. If I can really find the time, I'll spend more time with you."

Han Xiao chatted casually for a few words and was about to change into his Emperor Suit and leave when his communicator rang, receiving a message.

He took it out and looked at it. It was Iso. Han Xiao immediately chuckled.

"Hey, it's the old man looking for me. His timing is really accurate."

Ames leaned over to take a look, and said nonchalantly, "He must have seen the earthquake stopped, that's why he's calling you."

"Want to go together?" Han Xiao shook the communicator.

"He's looking for you, not me. He probably has another prophecy to talk to you about. I won't go. I have to meet Hela and the others later. You go see the old man yourself, I'm going to take a shower."

Ames waved lazily, patted Han Xiao's butt, then got up from the edge of the table and walked out of the room.

Han Xiao shook his head, left the Dragon Throne Palace, and went to Iso's house, and was soon greeted by the intelligent butler.

As soon as he entered, he saw Iso sitting on the sofa, raising his eyebrows at him.

"You're out?"

"You know the answer to that."

Han Xiao curled his lips, casually picked up a piece of fruit from the fruit plate on the table and threw it into his mouth, plopping down on the sofa next to Iso, draping an arm over the back of the chair, crossing his legs, and being as casual as if he were at home, and asked casually:

"What do you want to see me for?"

"Try to keep it down next time." Iso said helplessly.

"It's not like this is the first time. Since when have you cared so much?" Han Xiao glanced at him strangely.

"I'm saying pay attention to the impact. Every time you guys are done, the logistics department has to do repairs. They thought Ames was exercising, and they've complained to me more than once, asking me to persuade her not to always wreak havoc on Longtan."

Iso shook his head, looking pained.

He knew that Han Xiao and Ames had maintained a relationship for a long time. Although Ames was nominally his adopted daughter, he knew that such private matters were not his concern, so he did not interfere, nor did he have the ability to do so. Besides, Black Star had always satisfied him.

As an ancient man with a rather rich love history, Iso was quite open-minded in this regard. He was not surprised that Ames and Black Star got together. In his opinion, two adult men and women in the Interstellar Era had known each other for nearly a century, had equal status, had experienced many things together, and found each other pleasing to the eye. Sleeping in the same bed was only a matter of time and a natural outcome.

As for the two not getting married, Iso didn't think it was a big deal. The old-fashioned marriage system had already fallen out of fashion thousands of years ago. Interstellar races had long lifespans and colorful lives. The lifelong monogamous system was already a backward system eliminated by many interstellar civilizations. The current mainstream types of marriage contracts were generally legal polygamy and monogamy with contract validity. But regardless of which type of marriage, it was no longer a necessity for interstellar citizens. Due to the strong population mobility, the identity registration of most interstellar civilizations had been simplified long ago. Registering a household was very simple, and quite a few interstellar citizens were raising offspring out of wedlock. Civilizations provided high subsidies, and even established public orphanages.

Hearing this, Han Xiao was speechless.

"You didn't call me here just to say this, did you? If there's nothing serious, I'll go back."

"I wouldn't be so bored. Of course I have something serious to see you about."

Iso steadied his mind, threw away his distracting thoughts, leaned forward, and said solemnly:

"I recently had a new prophecy. I saw an ominous cloud looming over interstellar society, containing blood and fire, roars and screams. A disaster may be brewing… Do you remember one of my past prophecies, where boundless wormholes unfolded and countless fleets invaded? The two seem to be related. Perhaps an unknown war will break out in the near future."

"Is that so?"

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. The content of Iso's prophecy probably referred to the World Tree.

"You don't seem surprised?" Iso blinked.

"Since you have a prophecy, there's no need to hide it from you. You must be curious about the reasons for the Three Universal Civilizations' repeated concessions, this is it." Han Xiao spread his hands.

Iso was shocked, then realized, "So there's an external enemy. That makes sense. The Three Universal Civilizations have to unite their forces, so they reached an agreement with you."

"That's pretty much it. I can reveal a little information. This time, the external enemy is very troublesome. Maybe they are the strongest enemy the Three Universal Civilizations have seen in recent years. As for the specific details, I can't tell you for now. Just be mentally prepared." Han Xiao said.

"...So a universal war is really going to break out. Alas, peaceful days are always so short. If it's an external enemy, it won't be a small fight. I don't know how many people will die by then." Iso sighed.

As he spoke, his expression became solemn, and he said in a deep voice:

"Black Star, if the situation is not good, I hope you take Ames and leave. There's no need to be buried with the Three Universal Civilizations."

"...How tragic is the scene you prophesied that you're so pessimistic?"

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.

Iso had a serious look on his face and said slowly: "I'm just taking precautions. Remember, if the situation is not right, don't go down a dead end."

…

On the other side, in the Void Dimension, in Kesuye's palace.

Kesuye sat at one end of the table, opposite was Manison's remote projection. On the table was a virtual game of Vienna Poker, and the two were chatting casually while playing cards.

"The association has official status. According to Black Star's character, he should strike while the iron is hot and implement the next plan. But now he's burying his head and developing in a low-key manner, and has been delaying the start of a new plan, missing the opportunity in vain. That's not like him."

Kesuye casually played a card and said slowly.

Manison examined his hand, not even raising his head, and said casually: "Black Star must have his own plans."

"He's been very mysterious lately, flirting with the Three Universal Civilizations. I don't know what he's doing. Speaking of which, the concessions made by the Three Universal Civilizations have always been suspicious." Kesuye folded his hands.

Manison didn't care, and said lightly:

"The Three Universal Civilizations' choice is obviously due to pressure, and where the pressure comes from, there are only so many situations. In the current situation, the most likely situation is an external enemy invasion. Black Star should have reached an agreement with the Three Universal Civilizations to jointly resist the enemy. Let's just wait and see."

"That's not necessarily true." Kesuye shook his head.

Because he had information about the iteration, he thought more. In addition to the possibility of external enemies, he also felt that maybe the Three Universal Civilizations had discovered the existence of the iteration, so they put down their disputes. However, these were all guesses. Regardless of which one it was, he supported Han Xiao's current approach.

Although Han Xiao did not reveal the situation of the World Tree, many Super-A Grades had come to their senses after these days of thinking and roughly guessed that the reason for the current situation was the existence of an external enemy.

However, since Black Star did not announce it, many association members tacitly pretended not to know, but they actually knew it in their hearts. In a place that Han Xiao didn't know about, quite a few Super-A Grades were secretly preparing to meet the enemy.

…

Unexplored universe, somewhere.

The World Tree's long-range exploration team's spaceship changed direction and was warping at full speed in one direction. The crew in the cockpit were all excited. In the corner, there were also a few trembling elderly Kundas tied up.

"After so many years, we finally found a prey."

The captain stared at the coordinate navigation direction on the screen, extremely excited.

Wandering in the universe for many years, searching for unknown civilizations alone, the universe was so vast that the probability was conceivable, like looking for a needle in a haystack. For the long-range exploration team, it was like a punishment of exile, until today they had a harvest.

Not long ago, they discovered a low-tech escape pod and captured the lives inside. Through various means, they obtained information from the memories of these intelligent beings who called themselves Kundas.

When the empire defeated the Kunda civilization, batches of people escaped through escape pods. After many years of navigation and some coincidental factors, some survivors were far away from the explored universe, and this escape pod was one of the escapees.

The memories of these Kundas of the explored universe only stayed in the war stage between the Crimson Empire and them. Because they were natives of the Shattered Star Ring and had never integrated into interstellar society, they knew almost nothing about the situation of the explored universe.

But for the World Tree exploration team, the most valuable intelligence was the coordinates recorded by this escape pod, as well as the navigation records of these years, which provided them with a navigation target, pointing to the original address of the Kunda civilization, which was the Shattered Star Ring.

Due to the particularity of the World Tree's Mind Network, each exploration team was a real-time connected universal coordinate recorder. The coordinates of each place they passed through would be synchronized and uploaded to the World Tree.

This meant that as long as the long-range exploration team arrived at the destination, they would obtain the coordinates of the opponent. After analysis and research by the World Tree headquarters, they could use the wormhole generator to transport a large number of troops. The Three Universal Civilizations also used this method when they first entered the World Tree Civilization's territory, which was basically the standard space technology for advanced civilizations.

At the same time, the exploration team was also responsible for intelligence work, sneaking into the territory of unknown civilizations to collect information about the other party. Only after knowing the situation of the opponent would the World Tree launch a large-scale invasion, not recklessly start a war as soon as they discovered a prey.

"I wonder what level of civilization the prey we discovered this time is. Could it be the lair of the outsider who recently caused a big disturbance in the civilization's territory… Hiss, we have to act carefully!"

The captain muttered to himself, very vigilant. He also learned from the Mind Network about Han Xiao's record of fighting a hundred enemies alone in the World Tree Civilization's territory.

—If this coordinate is really the hometown of that brave outsider, the danger level will have to be raised to the highest!