This spaceship belonged to a special task force from DarkStar. Disguised as ordinary travelers, the group disembarked from the gangway and stepped onto the dock of Dragon Calm. The thugs around them immediately fixed their seemingly ordinary passengers with the hungry eyes of wolves.
The DarkStar personnel discreetly entered the city, turned through several alleys, and passed through a narrow passage between two houses. Suddenly, a group of strong and burly space pirates appeared in front of them. When they looked back, a group of thugs also appeared in their path, blocking their way from both sides.
"Ordinary people shouldn't come to places like this. This advice will cost you..." The burly pirate leader, his expression ferocious, pointed his gun at the forehead of the group's leader.
The other pirates smiled sinisterly. After waiting for a while, their leader remained silent, and they all became puzzled. One of their men nudged the leader's shoulder, and suddenly, the pirate leader's body "collapsed"!
The clothes fell to the ground, spilling black powder.
The pirates' ferocity instantly turned to terror, and they immediately turned and fled. Before they had run a few steps, all the pirates were turned into black powder, leaving only clumps of clothes on the ground.
The DarkStar members glanced at it, remained unmoved, and continued on their way. They were used to this kind of scene. This was the ability of their captain, [Ashes], to manipulate carbon atoms to a certain extent. He was the nemesis of carbon-based life forms. As long as a living being had carbon in its body, he could cause extremely terrifying real damage. Even superhumans with protective auras would be severely injured. This was the origin of Ashes's codename. His superpower potential rating reached A+!
Ashes is a new generation of elite combat power that DarkStar is preparing to cultivate. The contents of the Whispering Bead are products that the organization bought at a high price from a research organization in another star field. DarkStar has been secretly cooperating with the other party for many years. In order to keep it secret, the other party will send different races to the Shattered Star Ring each time to secretly hand over the goods, just like underground work.
The shipment, originally intended for the Silver Spirit People, was disrupted when the courier was captured. This special task force's objective is to retrieve the Whispering Bead.
Ashes led his men to find a place to stay, set up anti-detection devices in the room, and then his men went out to gather information. Before long, everyone returned to the room to discuss important matters.
"We've found out that the Silver Spirit People are being held in a local slave market, right here on the map. We need to find a way to contact the transporters."
"What's the plan? To raid the slave market and rescue the cargo handlers?"
"If we only kidnap one Silver Spirit People, it will easily arouse suspicion. If we're going to do it, we should rescue everyone."
Only after all his subordinates had finished their discussion did Ashes slowly speak, saying calmly, "Don't use force with the Tu Shu yet. This is, after all, Dragon Emperor territory. I'll go to the slave market and negotiate to buy back the Silverborn."
On Floating Dragon Island, next to a large drilling and mining device, Han Xiao was carrying tools to repair it, while a group of workers craned their necks to watch.
After tightening the last screw, the drill returned to normal, and the workers resumed work. Han Xiao picked up his toolbox, turned around, and walked away, glancing at the control panel.
"Most of the machinery on Floating Dragon Island is large-scale equipment with relatively advanced technology. My knowledge is not enough to reverse engineer the blueprints, but I have managed to deduce the Dragon Calm Guard's aircraft..." Han Xiao thought to himself.
After working in logistics for a few days, he secretly learned the blueprints for the combat aircraft through the control panel. Its official name was the "Dragon Butterfly" Reconnaissance aircraft. It was designed for anti-gravity levitation, atmospheric flight, high speed, maneuverability, and medium size. Each aircraft could carry 6 to 10 people. These blueprints were developed by Haier itself and were learned by Han Xiao.
Master Han had always wanted to build a multi-person vehicle. With the new blueprints, he could overcome some technical difficulties and significantly improve performance. When there was no maintenance work, the logistics personnel could move freely. He used his spare time with the blueprints to create a prototype of the vehicle.
Back in his private workshop assigned to him by the logistics department, a huge spherical mechanical structure stood in the center, with a mechanical cantilever lifting it into the air. His manufacturing speed was much faster than before. He had previously obtained the [Split-Second Disassembly and Reassembly] from the Silver Spirit People. The effect of this knowledge was to greatly accelerate the speed of disassembly and assembly. He spent 10 potential points to upgrade it to the maximum level.
The biggest advantage of logistics is that you have access to mountains of warehouse materials. You can manufacture vehicles without any cost, saving a lot of money on materials. However, some very precious materials can only be used by the supervisor, Haier, such as the Void Dragon Bone.
Han Xiao was extremely envious. The toughness of the Void Dragon Bone was incredible, stronger than all the alloys he could currently manufacture. The core material of an advanced mecha blueprint was the Void Dragon Bone, which was another series of individual combat suits. Its performance was even stronger than his current Flying Serpent, and it also had the special ability of the dragon bone. In terms of actual combat power, it was almost two or three times stronger than Flying Serpent!
The mecha blueprint wasn't technically advanced; it only required Advanced Knowledge. The only difficulty was the materials. Void Dragon Bone were extremely rare and could be considered a limited mineral vein. Floating Dragon Island was one of the very few places in the entire Shattered Star Ring that produced dragon bones. If he obtained enough dragon bones, he could build a new generation of mecha, no longer the "snake-type" model.
The bodies of the Void Dragon Race are treasures, and the extracted marrow fluid is also useful. Unfortunately, they are all controlled by Haier, but this also shows how lucrative the Dragon Calm are. Even though Ames doesn't deliberately cultivate her power, her warehouse still has many good things.
"Now that I've integrated into the group and established myself, it's time to go find Horlade and talk to him about the Silver Spirit People. My current identity is actually an advantage, making it easier to have open and honest negotiations," Han Xiao thought to himself. Since he couldn't rely on the three major mercenary groups, he could only rely on himself.
Han Xiao arrived at the slave market again, but things were different this time. Just as he was about to walk openly through the door, someone behind him called out urgently.
"Black, Black Star, wait a minute!" Sion caught up, panting.
"Oh, it's you." Han Xiao glanced at him.
Sion was bruised and battered, his face covered in bandages, as if he had undergone eye surgery. He was followed by a group of his men, all looking equally disheveled.
Sion, looking terrified, stammered, "Could you please tell your men to stop bullying us...?"
"What kind of talk is that? We're colleagues. My team members were kindly conducting combat training for you to improve the quality of the guards and better protect the stability of Dragon Calm. How can that be called bullying?" Han Xiao said earnestly.
"I was wrong, I was really wrong, I'll apologize however you want!" Sion cried, his face contorted with grief, a far cry from his arrogant demeanor of just a few days ago.
Sion's arrogance stemmed from his status as a guard, which allowed him to look down on all outsiders. However, when Han Xiao and the others suddenly became his colleagues, he was immediately dumbfounded, and his hard times were about to begin.
Han Xiao was too lazy to waste time personally teaching him a lesson, so he casually threw a task at the players. Coincidentally, they were also in the guard, so they beat him up every three hours, and every five hours they beat Sion badly, leaving Theon feeling like he was dying. Theon complained to the captain, but Wilsander turned a blind eye and didn't care at all.
Sion was beaten so badly he couldn't take it anymore, but he didn't have the courage to leave the guard. Without that status, how could he still act like a tyrant? His life was in danger. He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He had been waiting near the slave market for days, hoping and waiting. Finally, Technician Han arrived, and that's how this scene came about.
Han Xiao smiled and said, "Oh, why apologize? You were just doing your job; you didn't do anything wrong."
"How can you let me go?" Sion looked like he was about to cry. What goes around comes around; he never imagined things would turn out this way. He should have been more restrained back then.
"People often say that health is priceless. How much do you think your health is worth?" Han Xiao smiled wickedly.
Sion shuddered, pulled out his communication terminal, and gritted his teeth, saying, "One thousand..."
Technician Han was surprised, "You actually think you're so cheap?"
"That 1500..."
Han Xiao shook his head and clicked his tongue, saying, "It seems my friend needs to help you establish the right values."
"Two thousand! That's all the money I have in my account. It's my savings of several years. Please, I really only have this much money..."
"Sigh, consider it a discount, what can I say, I'm just too kind-hearted." Han Xiao didn't comment, casually took out his communicator, brought up the payment page, glanced at Sion's men, and chuckled, "And you guys?"
His smile was like a devil's in everyone's eyes. He trembled as he transferred the money. The notification sounded that the transaction was successful. Sion was completely exhausted, his mouth filled with bitterness. Not only had he lost the fee that Horlade had paid him to do this privately, but most of his savings had also been extorted by Han Xiao.
With 34,000 Enas acquired, Han Xiao's wallet was once again full. He smiled contentedly, waved his hand, and turned to walk into the slave market.
Sion's team had taken money from Horlade, which was the biggest reason they failed. It's not Han Xiao's style not to take a cut. He'll make Sion pay back everything he took, with interest.
Upon entering the slave market, a staff member introduced Han Xiao to Holland, who was now meeting Horlade in the office.
Horlade greeted him with a smile, saying warmly, "Please have a seat. What would you like to drink?"
"No need for formalities, I'll just get straight to the point. I want to take the Silver Spirit People with me. Name your price." Han Xiao got straight to the point. Horlade knew he was a mercenary from back then and also knew he was now a colleague, which was why he was so enthusiastic.
However, Horlade was under the butler's command, and Han Xiao couldn't easily force Horlade to submit, let alone use force. Han Xiao's purpose in coming here was to negotiate.
Horlade gave a forced smile and said, "What happened back then was a misunderstanding. I apologize if it caused you any inconvenience, but the matter is settled now. The Silver Spirit People are already goods, and a major client has already placed a deposit. I'm in a difficult position as well."
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow, suddenly sensing the scent of a fellow professional, and said, "No need to keep me in suspense, you already have a plan, don't you?"
Horlade chuckled, "I've heard your employers care a lot about their own kind, and I'm sure they'd be willing to spend money. How about this, you help me convince them, and I can give you 10% of the deal."
"How much money are you planning to spend?" Han Xiao asked.
"Two hundred thousand... per person!" Horlade held up one finger with a sinister grin. This price was outrageous, several times higher than the market price. The Silver Spirit People's employer was the real sucker Horlade was after.