In the Black Star Palace Legion Commander's office, a bright, flat star map sand table floated one meter above the ground, like a scroll laid flat, its pale blue light illuminating Han Xiao's face.
This star map is a miniature map of the Explored Universe, with two areas highlighted: one is the Free Competition Zone of the Shattered World, and the other is the territory of the Ancient Star Desert under the jurisdiction of the Modo Civilization.
Within these two areas, there are scattered points of light, each with a portrait or faction emblem floating above it, representing the identity of each point of light. Rotel, Lothaire, Enterprise, and others are among them.
Han Xiao paced slowly around the sand table, casually shifting the points of light representing Lothaire and Rotel to the territory of the Modo Civilization, and muttered to himself:
"Rotel and Lothaire are in position, Enterprise with the Germinal Financial Group will be arriving soon..."
This scene is like a chess player using a star map as a chessboard and his forces as pieces, placing pieces across the starry sky to construct a siege against the Modo Civilization.
Because of the Development Federation agreement and the Glory image deliberately cultivated for him by the Three Universal Civilizations, he cannot personally participate in the battles. Therefore, in addition to the direct confrontations in the Free Competition Zone, he needs some people to do the dirty work if he wants to cause trouble in secret.
This time, Han Xiao devised a strike plan centered on both military and economic aspects. The main battlefield strategy was simple: besiege the stronghold and attack reinforcements to deplete the military strength and resources of the Modo Civilization. There's not much to say about that.
The economic sphere is also a major focus. Taking advantage of opportunities such as war and sanctions, they will shake up the domestic economy of the Modo Civilization civilization, which will inevitably lead to the collapse of a large number of conglomerates and enterprises. Their own nascent Germinal Financial Group, together with the Infinite Financial Group and other business giants, will enter the market to hunt down these assets and bleed the Modo Civilization.
The partners Han Xiao found for the Germinal Financial Group were not limited to the Infinite Financial Group. Now, the Black Star Army was a huge community of interests. Han Xiao had a lot of connections with the heads of consortia. He contacted a group of people and put forward similar cooperation requests from the dual perspectives of the Three Universal Civilizations and the Black Star Army. Faced with such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, few consortia refused to participate in the hunt for the Modo Civilization.
With his current influence and status, even if he stays in the Black Star Palace and doesn't move, he can still leverage a terrifying amount of resources.
The resulting chain reaction, while perhaps not enough to predict how many years the overall economy of the Modo Civilization would regress, would certainly severely damage its vitality.
Similarly, the Germinal Financial Group and its numerous partners can also make a fortune from this.
"This is increasingly resembling a mastermind behind everything." Han Xiao smiled inwardly, then pondered, "Now only the final link remains: monitoring the Shattered Star Ring is also to find the transportation route..."
The Shattered Star Ring borders the Shattered World. If the Super Star Cluster Alliance wants to send reinforcements and supplies to the Shattered World, they should all pass through the Shattered Star Ring. The Shattered Star Ring is their own rear base. The Legion has extensive connections and can track the movements of the Super Star Cluster Alliance's fleet there to find the vital transport routes.
The Super Star Cluster Alliance must know this, and will certainly use various means to conceal their fleets, engaging in a battle of wits and courage with each other. For them, maintaining the secrecy of the supply lines is the key to determining the outcome of the war.
"Sylvia and Melos have both been transferred to the Shattered World. Now, the highest-ranking person in the Shattered Star Ring is Lagi. I don't trust him to handle things..."
Han Xiao shuddered and made up his mind to quickly find a new person in charge.
"Hila and Sylvia can't be transferred back for now... Hmm, Nero has grown up, it's time for him to share more responsibility."
The Shattered Star Ring is the Black Star Army's main base, and its leadership position is already secure. Monitoring the Supercluster's movements isn't difficult, so it's a good opportunity to put Nero in charge and give him some experience.
Nero is currently in the prime of his life, possessing considerable ability but lacking experience. Han Xiao has always hoped to cultivate Nero into a capable individual. Regardless of personal relationships, Nero is a high-level protagonist-type character with astonishing potential, making him worthy of being nurtured as a core member.
If I could train someone even better than Sylvia, that would be ideal. It would save me a lot of trouble. After all, Nero is a man, so I don't need to worry about his hairline. He also has various fatigue resistances and strong liver power, so I can use him to death.
"By the way, old man Iso is good at finding people. We can ask him to serve as an advisor and temporarily act as Nero's assistant..."
Han Xiao touched his chin, and this thought flashed through his mind.
Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure. Having Iso not only increases the chances of finding the Super Star Cluster Alliance's transport route, but also allows Iso to pass on his valuable life experience to Nero —killing two birds with one stone.
I just don't know if Iso would be willing to take up a government post. The old man has been idle in Dragon Calm for decades. Giving him something to do would surely be more than a dream come true.
Didi--
Just as he was thinking this, the communicator rang. Han Xiao glanced at it, and his lips twitched.
'Speak of Iso, Iso appears. That old geezer must have foreseen that I was going to find him and preemptively struck, right?'
Muttering a curse to himself, Han Xiao answered the call.
"Old man, so you knew I was looking for you?"
"I have something else to discuss with you." Iso didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "I foresaw a crisis from the Modo Civilization. They might be making unusual moves recently, probably targeting you. Be careful. They've used concealment devices, so I can't get a clear prediction."
"Oh, I see." Han Xiao nodded, not finding it strange.
Given their hostility towards him, the Modo Civilization was bound to do something to try and salvage the situation. Even without Iso's warning, he knew that Modo would inevitably retaliate against him, and it wouldn't be surprising if they used a device to obscure the prophecy, after all, he still had the identity of a "prophet".
"You'd better be careful. Although I can't get a clear prediction, I have a bad feeling," Iso emphasized again.
"Okay, I'll keep an eye on it later."
Han Xiao quickly recalled in his mind all the trump cards that the Modo Civilization had revealed in his previous life, and guessed the various possibilities of how they would deal with him.
"It's good that you value it. You just said you wanted to see me?" Iso changed the subject.
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao explained his intention to invite Iso to show his work.
"Inviting me to serve... I have no objection, but I'll have to ask Ames. If she's not worried that I'll take the opportunity to run away, then I don't care."
Iso thought about it and did not refuse.
He had been cooped up in Dragon Calm for decades, and after entrusting Ames to Black Star and finding a good home for his daughter, he had nothing to worry about. So his adventurous spirit, always seeking thrills, began to stir again, and he was itching to get back to action.
"I'll tell her sometime." Han Xiao smiled.
Although he had a close relationship with Ames, he still had to politely ask permission before borrowing anyone from Dragon Calm.
After discussing for a while and reaching a consensus, Han Xiao turned off the communicator, glanced at the star map sand table, and nodded in satisfaction.
With this, the layout is basically complete. I don't need to interfere anymore; I just need to wait for each piece to move and let things develop as planned.
Han Xiao opened the panel and took a look.
"Version 4.0 is more than halfway through. At my current rate of experience accumulation, I should have enough experience to reach level 340 and advance to the next level before the version ends."
He had almost accumulated enough experience, but because of the battle with the Mechanic Emperor, he converted all his experience into awakening points, adding nearly 10,000 intelligence points. Now, quite some time has passed, and his experience is slowly accumulating again.
He has already added the Divine Transformation Points from the four new Universal Treasure, and his Mechanical Path Divine Transformation has now reached the ninth level, with a considerable bonus. As long as he obtains one more Divine Transformation Point, he can trigger a significant enhancement every five levels.
According to Han Xiao's estimation, once he reaches level 340, pushes the Mechanical Path Divine Transformation to level 10 or higher, obtains several powerful feats from the Kunde Race's questline, and forges some new mechanical Universal Treasure, he should be able to turn the tables and overpower the Mechanic Emperor.
Even if the Mechanic Emperor doesn't provoke him, he'll still fight Mechanic Emperor and rewrite the "draw" record fair and square!
As the days went by, the battle in the Free Competition Zone intensified, and as a chain reaction, chaos and turmoil simultaneously arose throughout the universe, with winds and clouds rising.
The Three Universal Civilizations imposed extremely heavy sanctions on the Supercluster Civilization, which is currently struggling to withstand the pressure, resulting in various negative reactions within its borders.
The situation was the worst among the Modo Civilization. Not only did they suffer heavy losses at the hands of the Black Star Army in the Free Competition Zone, but their country also gradually descended into chaos. Assassinations occurred frequently, and the victims were all prominent and successful people from all walks of life, causing public panic. It seemed as if someone was deliberately inciting negative sentiments, leading to increasingly sharp social contradictions and widespread unrest.
At the same time, the economy was also impacted, with a large number of companies going bankrupt and a large number of people losing their jobs. Even though the Supercluster Civilization was large and powerful, it was impossible for it not to suffer losses when it was plundered by a Stars financial giants.
Under normal circumstances, the Black Star Army's resources would not have been enough to leave the Modo Civilization in such a sorry state. However, the Three Universal Civilizations were the main force behind the sanctions, causing the Modo Civilization to be overwhelmed. This situation provided Han Xiao with an excellent opportunity to cause trouble.
In just three months, the Super Star Cluster Alliance experienced the bitterness of war, but with its relentless investment, it actually gained some advantages in the overall war in the Free Competition Zone... except for the zone where the Modo Civilization was located.
Three months after the conflict officially broke out, a fleet without any faction markings arrived at the Shattered Star Ring through an inter-stellar portal. It was a secret force specifically tasked with transporting the Soul-Switching Twins.