Several notifications popped up in his mind, but not one of them indicated that Xiao Ran had been punished for killing participants from the same faction. As for dealing with the participants, every arrangement had only been put into motion after Cruze had calculated their mindsets and thoughts to the very end. Other than making arrangements, no one had personally acted, so the final kills naturally could not be attributed to Xiao Ran.
Having Silver Hand set out from Orb from the very beginning had been intended to give those participants the illusion that their strength would wane with each passing attempt. The time when they were most likely to be attacked—at departure and along the way—had instead been completely calm and normal, easing their vigilance. Once they reached the base here, those participants would never have imagined that they would be attacked the instant they arrived at their destination. Xiao Ran had even brought in high-ranking officials from every major power to cooperate with him, not to mention involving a battleship that had already been confirmed to belong to the participants.
Although Second Archangel had been lost, Xiao Ran felt it had been entirely worth it. As mission difficulty increased, Second Archangel had become less and less useful. Of course, that was only true for participants like Xiao Ran, who possessed better warships. Trading one Second Archangel for the participants' carelessness, for keeping the secret hidden, and for resolving all the participants in one stroke—no matter how he looked at it, it was an excellent deal.
Besides, while Second Archangel was worth some Merit Points, those points were not particularly helpful to Xiao Ran. Even without Second Archangel, once he controlled Orb, he would still have Archangel. He could even have Little Archangel or Seraphim. If he wanted to