Han Xiao felt a slight jolt in his mecha. When he opened it again, he was back in the Black Star Army's fleet, which was attacking the outer defenses of the Modo Expeditionary Army, and was in the main ship's command room.
Hearing the commotion, many of the cadres who had been watching the battle turned to look. First, they looked at Han Xiao's face, then their gazes involuntarily moved down to his large hand covering Ames's waist and abdomen, and then they glanced at Ames's calm expression. The room fell silent in an instant.
"What are you looking at? Haven't you seen this before?" Han Xiao glared at the crowd and withdrew his hand.
"Boss, target taken care of?" Melos coughed and winked.
"Otherwise, the Modo Civilization doesn't even send Beyond Grade A Book. With such a small Expeditionary Army, how could I possibly fail?"
Melos wanted to ask, "Then why did it take so long?" but after looking at Ames's radiant complexion, he hesitated and wisely refrained from asking.
Han Xiao ignored him and looked out the window at the battlefield, which was now in a fierce battle. The two fleets were fighting each other. The legion had broken through the outer protective shields of two planetary bases and deployed a large number of legion players. They were engaged in a large-scale battle with the players of the Tu Shu guild alliance, and for the time being, no one could gain the upper hand.
At this moment, Ames turned around and patted Han Xiao's chest muscle, saying, "Alright, the ringleader has been killed. I'm going back to the Shattered Star Ring now."
"Huh? Leaving so soon?" Han Xiao was slightly taken aback. "Weren't we supposed to deal with the mastermind together?"
He thought Ames would stay here indefinitely, participating in battles against Modo and continuing to vent her anger, but he never expected her to leave now.
"I've already vented my anger by killing the person who initiated the plan, and besides, having you here is enough." Ames smiled faintly, in a very good mood.
Her original idea was to help Han Xiao while seeking revenge. She had already helped a lot. If it weren't for her, Manison would have lost at least one less Convict. During this time, Han Xiao persuaded her, so Ames decided to follow Han Xiao's advice and go back to continue to oversee Dragon Calm.
Bite!
As soon as he finished speaking, Han Xiao's interface reacted, and [Ames's Wrath] changed to "Quest Completed".
'That's it? Thank goodness, she wasn't really going to wipe out the entire Modo Civilization. I guess her anger has subsided, so she abandoned such an outrageous idea. Looks like my persuasion efforts have been effective...'
Han Xiao thought to himself.
"I'll take Iso back with me. I'll keep a close watch on him from now on and make sure he doesn't escape so easily again." Ames brushed a strand of hair from her temple.
Han Xiao observed a third of a second of silence for Iso, then nodded decisively.
"Arrange things for him however you like, don't give me any special treatment."
Ames extended her long, slender, white fingers, chuckled, and tapped Han Xiao's chest lightly, saying, "Then I'll head back now. Come find me when you have time. Anyway, thanks to your help this time, I won't say thank you again. We don't need to be so polite between us, and you wouldn't like hearing that..."
"Alright, alright, hurry back." Han Xiao waved his hand dismissively.
"Oh, right, before you go, I have a gift for you." Ames seemed to suddenly remember something, and the spatial enchantment runes on the back of her hand flickered, revealing a Tu Shu in her hand.
"What is this?" Han Xiao looked down, somewhat curious.
"I recently reviewed and summarized my experience in strength training and created a new Energy Training Method that should be universal; you can practice it too," Ames said with a smile.
Han Xiao took the book and flipped through it. It was a handwritten version, and the contents recorded a Energy Training Method called "Dragon Emperor Stellar Energy Absorption Method." The specific effects were still unclear, but it seemed quite profound, no less than the "Heber's Stellar Furnace Training Method" that Little Tyrant had used before.
"Why not just write it by hand? Wouldn't it be more convenient to write it on a smart device and send it to me?"
"This will help you develop patience," Ames, her smile unchanged.
Her idea was simple: only a handwritten gift could be given in person, and it would also leave Black Star with a keepsake.
Envious of such a pleasant surprise, Han Xiao didn't refuse. He put away the notebook, nodded, and said, "Okay, I'll practice when I have time."
"Then I'm leaving."
Ames smiled and, without further ado, had Han Xiao send her back using another set of Sovereign.
After she disappeared, Han Xiao reopened the panel and took a closer look at the rewards.
The mission was rated as excellent. The base experience of 2e5 was increased to 10e, which is acceptable. The contribution of the Dragon Calm faction increased by tens of thousands. Ames's favorability was already full and could not be increased, but Iso's favorability did increase significantly. The random rewards increased from 2 to 4, and the number of character cards also doubled. Two cards were obtained, both of which were Ames's character cards.
The first character card's ability is called "Force Field: Star Capture," which uses force field power to grab targets. It's a decent control skill with a maximum of 5 uses. The other character card's ability is called "Battle Whip: Dragon Arc," which is also an application of force field power. It has both AOE damage and control capabilities, and also has 5 uses. The effect is also acceptable.
In Han Xiao's mind, this ordinary task was just a bonus, and he didn't have high expectations for it. Receiving these rewards was a small gain for him. The main event in his eyes had always been the Kunde Race's task.
Opening [The Kunde Leader's Last Wish] in the task list, Han Xiao glanced at it. Requirement one was still untouched, and so was requirement two. Because it was an Grade S task, there was no specific progress displayed. However, his intuition told him that his successful raid had brought the task to a great extent.
After considering it in his mind, Han Xiao secretly pondered:
"Based on the current situation, I estimate that the day the Modo Civilization is completely worn down by me and gives up the competition for the Shattered World will be the day the second requirement of this mission is fulfilled."
He had been eyeing the three ability rewards from Quest Requirement Two: [Oath of Vengeance], [Proof of Leadership], and [Kunde's Wrath], all of which were excellent abilities, especially the growth-oriented semi-template feat [Proof of Leadership].
Thinking this, Han Xiao summoned Phillip within the Quantum Network Vision and instructed him:
"Send the video of me using Spacetime Shearing Technology to destroy the Modo Expeditionary Army's command post to the Kunde Race garrison, and have them play it on a loop in all settlements, making sure every mantis shrimp... cough, every Kunde Race sees it."
"Understood!"
Han Xiao's battle against the Modo Expeditionary Army was brief, but Phillip recorded the entire event. He was never the type to bury himself in his work; having helped Kund avenge his enemies, he would definitely use the recording to boost his reputation among the Kunde Race and let the entire tribe know of his kindness, which would also increase the mission's completion rate.
After dealing with this matter, Han Xiao summoned Fording, stepped aside from the crowd, and whispered, "Did you get what I asked you to do?"
"In the past month and a half, I have converted the souls of 15,420 Modo soldiers and mid-level officers. These are our spies within the Modo Expeditionary Army." Fording nodded.
He received a secret order from Han Xiao: when the Black Star Army fleet attacked the Modo defense line, he used the Soul-Switching Device to convert some enemy soldiers, infiltrate the Modo Expeditionary Army, and plant spies.
The Modo Civilization once used the Soul-Switching Device against the Legion, so Han Xiao had Fording use their own methods against them. With the unpredictable nature of the Soul-Switching Device, even if the Modo were on guard, they would not be able to avoid being affected.
"Well done."
Han Xiao nodded in satisfaction. With multiple methods employed, he had already planted pawns in the territory of the Modo Expeditionary Army. In this way, he would have more sources of internal intelligence, not only to control the movements of the Modo Civilization's army, but also to investigate the location of secret transport lines, allowing him to slowly torment the enemy.
"Pass on my order: temporarily withdraw our troops and return to base to recuperate for a while."
Han Xiao spoke loudly, startling all the officials present.
We have the upper hand now, how can we just retreat like that? Even if we don't break through the defensive line, we should at least finish this battle first.
Unbeknownst to them, Han Xiao wasn't giving the Black Star Army a rest. Rather, he had just killed the commander of the Modo Expeditionary Army and knew that the enemy would be temporarily leaderless and inevitably fall into chaos, so he deliberately gave them time to regroup.
He didn't want to press his advantage, but rather give Modo a glimmer of hope before crushing it again and again. This way, it would be easier to make Modo give up the competition in despair, and psychological warfare would be the best strategy.
Although many officers were confused, none of them questioned the legion commander's orders.
Soon, the entire legion's forces retrieved their warships, disengaged from the fierce battlefield, and withdrew in an orderly manner.
Seeing this, the troops stationed at Modo this defensive line were all bewildered.
Weren't we at a disadvantage? Why did they stop halfway through attacking us?
"This is strange. Inform command immediately." The fleet commander of this defensive line quickly reported to the higher-ups.
However, he was met with a long silence; no one answered the phone.
After a while, he received the devastating news from the internal network and was shocked to learn what had happened—the entire command center had been decapitated by Black Star, and the base itself had been wiped out!
On the other side, one of the planets inhabited by the Kunde Race.
After about twenty years of transformation, the new generation of the Kunde Race has gradually adapted to their current captive life and is receiving the culture instilled by the Crimson Dynasty and the Black Star Army. As batches of old mantis shrimp die naturally, the cultural transformation of the entire tribe is gradually becoming effective.
Each inhabited planet was isolated and unable to contact other planets. They each restored basic productivity, and the streets were bustling with people. The heavy and oppressive atmosphere had faded considerably, and the younger generation had injected new vitality into the Kunde Race.
On this very day, a major event occurred on this inhabited planet. Every screen in the world was playing a video showing Han Xiao destroying the Modo Expeditionary Army's command post. Phillip even thoughtfully provided an explanation of the events leading up to it, trying to help the Kunde Race understand what Han Xiao had done for them.
Every Kunde Race saw the video understood that Black Star was still keeping his promise and relentlessly seeking revenge for their people; moreover, Black Star had even used their technology.
Seeing the mechanized soldiers use Spacetime Shearing Technology to destroy the command post, the armor of the Kunde Race lit up with an excited orange light, feeling incredibly proud.
Look, those who plotted against us are no match for the strongest technology of our Kunde Civilization!
This made everyone feel that they weren't just watching Black Star uphold justice, but that they had actually helped.
Along with the pride came a deep sense of gratitude from everyone towards Black Star.
For many years, they have not only sheltered them, but also kept their promise to seek justice for their people... Such a good person is now their people's only protector, which is a stroke of good fortune amidst misfortune.
The same scene played out on every planet of the Kunde Race, and countless Kunde Race revered the Black Star even more.