In the conference room, where the defenses had been tripled, the remaining Two Kings of Modo and a group of high-ranking officials held an emergency meeting. Everyone present was a seasoned individual who had seen much of the world. They quickly recovered from their initial shock and were filled with boundless rage and lingering fear.
"Have you found out who did it?"
The Two Kings of Modo were ashen-faced.
Every time they recall that scene, the two feel lingering fear. If it hadn't been their unfortunate colleague giving the speech, they might have been the ones who died!
The fact that they dared to openly assassinate him, the leader of their civilization, was a provocation against the entire Modo Civilization. The two were now filled with uncontrollable rage.
"The culprit hasn't been caught yet, but the Intelligence Department has submitted an analysis report of the video footage and found a matching case in the database..."
A senior intelligence officer, with a serious expression, made a gesture on his desk. The next moment, a green virtual screen rose up on the desk in front of each official, displaying the same document.
"The weapon used by the murderer was a golden spear. According to data comparison, the owner of this weapon was a high-risk wanted criminal codenamed [Secret Spear]. The earliest record of this person was during the Kunde Race incident, when he committed multiple assassinations. He then disappeared for more than ten years, but recently he has become active again in the country, killing some of the leaders in various industries..."
Analysis suggests that [Secret Spear] possesses top- Calamity Grade combat power, potentially reaching the level of Beyond Grade A Seed. His golden spear is a powerful enchanted weapon, but due to limited observation records, we lack sufficient information. However, based on this assassination attempt, we can infer that [Secret Spear's] weapon possesses extremely strong energy penetration and additional lethality against powerful targets. Furthermore, [Secret Spear] may be operating as a group; it seems many other assassinations are connected to him, and we suspect he built a powerful force during his disappearance over a decade...
The frequent assassinations targeting the Modo Civilization are not solely the work of the Assassins Mutual Aid Society; other forces are also active in the shadows. Advanced civilizations have no shortage of enemies, and some are taking advantage of Modo's chaos. These include black market assassination organizations, foreign terrorist groups, and even racial extremists and criminals posing as assassins. Social order is unstable, and law enforcement is overwhelmed.
After reading the report, one of the Two Kings of Modo shouted, "I'm more concerned about who ordered this assassin! Which faction does he belong to?"
"The appearance of [Secret Spear] is clearly related to the Kunde Race incident. At that time, the main parties involved were the Crimson Dynasty and its allies. Although we don't know which faction the assassin belongs to, he is definitely inseparable from the Crimson Dynasty. He may be a secret agent trained by the Empire, or he may be a cadre of an Empire's Beyond Grade A ally..."
"So, this operation was very likely orchestrated by the Crimson Dynasty?!" The Two Kings of Modo's expressions were uncertain.
"That... not necessarily." The intelligence officer thought for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "The situation was different back then. More than ten years ago, the Beyond Grade A Association had not yet been established, and the Empire still had sufficient control over its Beyond Grade A allies. The assassination at that time was indeed related to the Empire, but the situation has changed now. We cannot rule out the possibility that this incident was a private operation by Beyond Grade A."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed, and a figure almost subconsciously appeared in their minds.
"Could it be... Black Star?!"
The Two Kings of Modo were furious and shocked.
Although the Crimson Dynasty is ruthless, the risks of assassinating leaders of advanced civilizations far outweigh the rewards for them, so there's basically no reason for them to do so.
After much thought, it seems that only someone with deep-seated hatred like Black Star would have such a motive.
"Black Star! He gained the upper hand in the Shattered World Battle, causing us many losses, but does that give him the right to do whatever he wants?! How dare he do such a thing, he's too arrogant! Modo will never let him get away with this!!"
The Two Kings of Modo were furious.
This gives them another objective in participating in the Shattered World Battle: not only for the future of civilization, but also to make Black Star pay for his blood debt. The two believe that after this incident, the entire civilization will be united in its hatred of the enemy, and there will be no more opposition.
But at this moment, a senior executive hesitated for a moment and then voiced his objection:
"But I feel something's not right. What is Black Star trying to achieve by doing this? Is it just for a momentary act of revenge? There's no reason for that! He's a ruthless tyrant who prioritizes profit. He's gained the upper hand and taken the initiative in the Shattered World... To be honest, he could have easily surrounded the enemy and attacked their reinforcements, causing us to suffer losses time and time again. There was no need for him to assassinate the leader of a civilization. Doing so would only bring him risks."
If it were exposed later, the heroic image that the Three Universal Civilizations had cultivated in him would be severely damaged, and he would be put on the defensive. Black Star doesn't seem like the type to make such a rash decision...
After hearing this reasoning, many of the high-ranking officials present frowned, looking surprised and uncertain.
"That makes sense. Black Star wouldn't do something meaningless. If the assassination was ordered by him, he must be doing it to achieve some goal..."
What could the target be?
The room fell silent. Everyone frowned, deep in thought, and filled in their own imaginations.
After more than ten seconds, an intelligence officer's eyes flashed, and he suddenly stood up, saying, "I think I understand Black Star's plan!"
"Oh? Tell us quickly." All eyes immediately turned to him.
The intelligence officer's eyes gleamed, and his tone was resolute:
"Black Star is doing this to prevent us from surrendering!"
"Ha?"
Everyone tilted their heads in unison, a big question mark popping out on their foreheads.
"You... explain yourself." The Two Kings of Modo frowned.
"My speculation is this: Black Star knew that we were well aware that there was basically no chance of breaking the deadlock in Modo's hands, and he was afraid that we would abandon the Shattered World Battle and withdraw the Expeditionary Army. In that case, he would not be able to continue the siege and attack reinforcements. So, in order to prevent us from giving up, he secretly instructed the assassin to do this, openly provoking the face of the entire Modo Civilization. He had anticipated our reaction—regardless of whether the assassin was one of his people or not, we would definitely suspect him."
So, given the hostile relationship between the two sides, he felt there was a high probability we would publicly declare Black Star as the mastermind, thus damaging his reputation and fulfilling his wishes... Once we declared Black Star the mastermind, under the watchful eyes of the entire universe, we would have to adopt a determined attitude and not easily withdraw the Expeditionary Army; instead, we would have to continuously commit troops, otherwise it would appear as surrender to the outside world. As a high-level civilization whose leader had been assassinated, we absolutely could not compromise. In this way, Black Star successfully maintained the situation, preventing us from retreating, while he continued to besiege and nibble away at our forces.
Everyone was startled and quickly recalled what had happened. They realized that their thought process coincided with this guess, and a chill ran down their spines.
As expected, Black Star anticipated our reactions... Fortunately, we predicted Black Star's prediction.
One of the Two Kings of Modo shook his head repeatedly, saying, "No, no, Black Star knows we'll identify him. Isn't he afraid of his reputation plummeting?"
"I think he might not be afraid at all..." an official pondered. "If we don't catch the murderer and have no evidence, with Black Star's pre-existing heroic image, who will the outside world believe? And even if we have evidence, Black Star can still deny it to the death and accuse us of framing him... Moreover, his current heroic image was deliberately crafted by the Three Universal Civilizations. Although Black Star has enjoyed the benefits, he is also bound by his reputation. If he can break free, Black Star won't be entirely without benefits for him. The Three Universal Civilizations might be even more anxious than he is..."
As soon as he finished speaking, many people nodded in agreement, agreeing that there was some truth to it.
Suppressing their anger, the Two Kings of Modo said, "If it really was Black Star who did it, not only will we not investigate, but we'll also help him cover it up? Absolutely not! Don't even think about it!"
The two admitted that the reasoning made sense, but in order to avoid falling into Black Star's trap, should a supposedly advanced civilization not pursue the murderer but instead hide him and suffer this great loss for nothing?
This is absolutely absurd! Don't I have any dignity?!
How could our mighty Supercluster Civilization be intimidated by something like this? Such a heinous incident should be dealt with exactly as it should be, without any form of compromise!
At this moment, the intelligence officer who made this conjecture hesitated for a moment, then spoke again:
Actually... there's another possibility.
"Go on!"
"Ahem, I was just thinking about this. What if a third-party force, based on our feud with Black Star, anticipated our reactions and sent someone to impersonate the [Secret Spear] or bribed the assassin to deliberately carry out an assassination in full view of everyone, causing a huge impact and framing Black Star Black Star to deepen our hatred towards him... Could that be the case?"
Upon hearing this, everyone was startled.
Historically, there have been many instances of third-party instigation, so this inference is entirely plausible.
Who would do such a thing?
"Need I say more? They could be enemies of Modo, or they could be enemies of Black Star, secretly sowing discord and watching us fight each other until we both suffer heavy losses..."
"So, in that case, we should withdraw the Expeditionary Army to avoid falling into the enemy's trap?"
The Two Kings of Modo were led through layer upon layer of thought, and they were completely confused.
It's no wonder they overthink things. Smart people always make all sorts of assumptions about an uncertain event, guessing the reasons behind it, and deducing things from one level to the fourth or fifth level. They never realize that the matter is actually very simple; it's just the behavior of a naive young man acting on his own. Everything else is just him fooling himself.
"Your Excellencies, we are only making assumptions now, and we cannot confirm that Black Star is the True Culprit. Catching the murderer is the top priority!" a high-ranking official reminded them.
The Two Kings of Modo came to their senses, nodded emphatically, and shouted:
"Yes! No matter what, track down the assassin with all our might, capture him at all costs, and find out who's behind it all. Even if it really is Black Star's trap, Modo will never back down or compromise!"
After saying this, the two looked extremely pale and felt depressed, as if no matter what choice they made, they could not escape Black Star's grasp.
Such an opponent is terrifying!
The people present looked at each other, many of them wanting to say something but ultimately remaining silent.
If it really is Black Star's trap, then the Two Kings of Modo ' decision is exactly what they wanted. In some people's eyes, the Twin Kings have become somewhat irrational and lost their minds.
The opposition members who jumped ship are under investigation, but some who haven't yet emerged are becoming increasingly uncertain.
Perhaps Maruko and his group are right; it's time for a change of leadership.
In the corner, seeing that no one was paying attention to him anymore, the intelligence officer who had made the deduction sat down, looking unsatisfied, with only one thought in his mind:
--Help me up, I can still fill in the blanks in my mind!
If Modo only suspected Black Star, then the Crimson Dynasty was absolutely certain.
"... So, Black Star did this perhaps to prevent the Modo Civilization from retreating?"
In the Crimson Dynasty, in the head of state's office, Urranrell rested his hands on his pale chin, his eyes gleaming.
Modo blocked the footage, so the assassination could not be seen through normal channels. However, the Three Universal Civilizations naturally had ways to obtain the recordings. This had nothing to do with virtual technology; it was entirely due to their extensive intelligence networks built up over many years.
In this respect, the accumulation of advanced civilizations is incomparable to that of Beyond Grade A civilizations. For example, Han Xiao's influence in the Ancient Star Desert is limited. Although his virtual technology can easily obtain recordings, it still takes time. He needs to descend from the Shattered World to the past to launch a virtual invasion and obtain the recordings. If he wants to obtain the information as soon as possible without taking action himself, that falls under the category of intelligence channel management.
During the Kunde Race incident, Black Star and the Empire had a tacit understanding regarding the assassination. Having witnessed it before, even though she didn't know the exact identity of the person using the golden spear, she could determine that he was one of Black Star's subordinates. Therefore, she immediately assumed that the assassination of the Three Kings of Modo was Black Star's plan.
"Ha, Black Star is even bolder than I imagined, capable of assassinating a leader of a higher civilization... Although it breaks the rules, the effect seems to be quite good."
Looking at the report on the screen, a glint of light flashed in Urranrell's eyes.
Shortly after receiving the news, she also figured out Black Star's "plan".
The Three Universal Civilizations also do not want the Modo Civilization to withdraw so quickly. Their goal is to cripple these supercluster Three Universal Civilizations. Black Star's "actions" are in line with the interests of the Three Universal Civilizations.
Wonderful, wonderful...
"However, this is still a bit excessive." Urranrell's smile faded.
Beyond Grade A assassination of a leader of an advanced civilization is an extremely sensitive matter that would touch a nerve with all advanced civilizations, including the Three Universal Civilizations.
Just by considering the implications, one can understand how heinous the nature of this is and how much the leaders of advanced civilizations fear it.
Because this is what Beyond Grade A originally did when it was first created!
With individual combat power exceeding the limits, the cost-effectiveness of using them for decapitation strikes is far greater than their deployment in large-scale wars. One can imagine how terrifying the destructive power Beyond Grade A assassin dedicated to being a killer could unleash.
During the initial Exploration Era War, the Beyond Grade A assassins, specifically targeting civilization leaders, were a nightmare for all surviving civilizations. The Three Universal Civilizations established Psionic Energy Restriction Belt on their home planets, primarily to guard against surprise attacks from other civilizations, but also to protect against Beyond Grade A assassins targeting civilization leaders for decapitation.
This assassination attempt reminded Urranrell of numerous tragic examples from the history of exploration. If someone were to open this door, it could have far-reaching consequences detrimental to advanced civilizations.
"Well..."
After pondering for a long time, Urranrell finally sighed.
Times have changed. In any case, Black Star is an important ally and Pillar of the Nation the Empire.
In this matter, she had no choice but to help clean up the mess. Logically and emotionally, she could not possibly do something like "betraying her ally."
"I wonder if Black Star's men managed to escape... Just in case, let's have our forces lurking within the Modo Civilization provide some covert assistance..."