Goya, Fasereni, and Porter's teams were all imprisoned in Dragon Calm Prison. They contacted their respective legion commanders, paid compensation, and were waiting for high-ranking legion officers to come and apologize in person to take them away. They could not leave until then.
During their imprisonment, they had no way of knowing what was happening outside. After several days of this, they were bored out of their minds and had nothing to do but chat and joke around. The most discussed topic was naturally Han Xiao.
"I wonder if Black Star managed to rescue the Silver Spirit People," Porter muttered to himself.
"I think it's unlikely. Even though Black Star is now Ames's subordinate, what say does he have? He can't possibly save anyone." Fasereni was pessimistic, shaking his head. "You can't blame him. Even if I were in his shoes, I'd be helpless in this situation. Besides, who knows if he'll still be a mercenary after joining Dragon Calm?"
"Since we've asked Black Star for help, let's trust him." Goya frowned.
Fasereni sighed, "I want to believe in him too, after all, he's our last hope, but what can he do?"
"... I don't know," Goya sighed softly.
The mercenaries were demoralized. Even though they wanted to believe Han Xiao, reason told them that the mission had basically failed.
"You're looking for Ames? She's not here; she just left the day before yesterday." Jenny flipped through the documents without even looking up.
"Where did she go?" Han Xiao asked in surprise. Ames usually stayed at home in Dragon Calm and almost never went out.
"She said she was in a bad mood and went out to fight." Jenny said calmly, in a businesslike, detached tone, adjusting her data access glasses. "The message you relayed made her unhappy."
Han Xiao's eyelids twitched. Given Ames's level, who else could she be fighting? It must be the other three Beyond Grade A of the same level in the Shattered Star Ring... Hopefully, there won't be any interstellar news about some uninhabited planet inexplicably exploding in a few days.
He originally intended to persuade Ames to release the Silver Spirit People, but unfortunately, she wasn't there. He could only wait for her to return. Han Xiao didn't want to betray them while she was away; the risk was too great, and it wasn't necessary. The Dragon Calm camp offered him many advantages. The head housekeeper Jenny, was very capable and not as easily fooled as Ames, so Han Xiao had no intention of persuading her.
Jenny said, " With Ames gone, Dragon Calm is in management mode. I am the highest-ranking officer. Wilsander will strengthen the guard, Haier will maintain the gravity core. Everything will proceed according to regulations and in an orderly manner. You'd better not have any other thoughts and don't do anything you'll regret."
Han Xiao's eyes flickered, and he understood Jenny's Warning. He had only been with the company for a few days, and although his other colleagues were not opposed to it, Jenny had been secretly keeping an eye on Black Star's people. This was her duty as the head housekeeper to clean up the messes of all of Ames's decisions. Jenny's words were a warning to Han Xiao, telling him not to have any ulterior motives.
With a smile, ignoring Jenny's warning, Han Xiao said goodbye and left the office. He returned to the logistics department and learned about his new job: Supervisor Haier and half of the team would be stationed near the power core of the floating island, while the remaining logistics personnel would be on standby at headquarters to handle daily maintenance. Han Xiao was one of the remaining personnel.
With half the manpower gone, the workload suddenly increased, and everyone was assigned to different tasks and became extremely busy. Master Han spent all his time dealing with the maintenance of various routine devices and aircraft, and had no time to do anything else for the time being.
A few days later, at the slave market.
Horlade initiated a communication with Han Xiao, asking, "Has your employer decided to provide the funds?"
"Not yet," Han Xiao replied as he worked on a nearby drilling and data collection device.
"Hmph, don't waste my time. Tell them I'll wait three more days, or I'll sell it to another buyer."
Horlade spoke impatiently, then hung up the call, picked up the glass on the table, took a sip of his psychedelic drink, and his eyes shifted.
"If the Silver Spirit People aren't willing to pay, the masked man from a few days ago was the second-highest bidder..."
In his eyes, the Ashes were a backup plan, a safety net. He was sitting back and waiting to make a fortune no matter what. Thinking of the huge fortune that was about to be his, Horlade was full of pride, excitement, and anticipation. He downed his drink in one gulp and started humming a tuneless folk song from his hometown.
Meanwhile, pairs of eyes, hidden in the shadows, were watching the slave market.
Today is the day DarkStar has chosen to make its move. Ashes has devised a plan, not a high-profile assault, but rather an infiltration to quietly abduct the slaves, striving to avoid causing a major disturbance. They are unaware of Ames's departure, so they are proceeding cautiously. Ashes's potential ability is A+, but he is still in the development stage, with an actual rank of B+, far from his peak. Facing Ames, who could easily kill him, even Ashes, with his inherent coldness and arrogance, has to be cautious.
Several groups of space pirates were also part of the DarkStar task force. Ash had been Ashes and secretly recruited these teammates over the past few days, promising to share the slave profits equally and revealing part of the plan. It was easy to lure these small-time pirates with this promise. This was to confuse the situation and cover up DarkStar's true intentions. If they were exposed, it would also draw fire and create chaos for them.
"Has the power been cut off?" Ashes asked into the communicator.
"I've bypassed the main AI system of Floating Dragon Island and am implanting jamming devices. It will be completed in about two minutes, cutting off the energy supply to the block where the slave market is located, temporarily shutting down the power, interrupting surveillance, and creating a blind spot. The system won't detect the intrusion; it will only trigger a self-check. The virus I implanted can block the system's self-check for seventeen minutes without triggering any alarms. That's enough time for your operation."
"Very good." Ashes nodded.
For this operation, DarkStar provided high-tech equipment support. The team split into two groups: one group cut off the power in the area, pretending to be in trouble. Although this would cause some noise, it would not trigger an alarm. The other group, led by Ashes, took advantage of the situation to carry out their mission.
Two minutes later, the lights in the block flickered twice and went completely dark, darkness replacing light, and a commotion erupted from the streets.
Ashes closed his eyes, entered his supernatural vision, and sensed the dormant carbon atoms all around him, as well as the things that had been planted in the slave market a few days in advance. With a flick of his finger, he activated his supernatural power.
Inside the slave market, the stones in the corners suddenly cracked, and small metal balls fell out, spraying out colorless, potent hypnotic gas that quickly filled the entire building. The principle was to paralyze the nerves, and the hypnosis was intended to minimize harm.
Thump thump...
One by one, the staff collapsed and lost consciousness. Horlade was startled by the power outage and before he could even get up, he was knocked unconscious by hypnotic gas and collapsed to the ground.
Ashes's ability allows him to control carbon atoms to a certain extent, gathering, separating, and altering molecular chains to change the form of matter. Many natural substances contain carbon, and with his current power, manipulating a few stones is a piece of cake.
Under the cover of darkness, the group stormed into the slave market. Inside, it was completely silent. The distribution of carbon elements resembled glowing brushstrokes, outlining the terrain. Ashes instantly located the underground prison and confirmed that their target was there.
Because the energy supply was cut off, all the access control to the slave market was disabled. Ashes led his men unimpeded to the underground, opened the cell doors, and all the slaves walked out in a daze, thinking they had regained their freedom, and were all moved to tears of gratitude.
"Are you here to rescue us?" The Silver Spirit People prisoners were overjoyed after being released, thinking that the mercenaries had come to rescue them.
However, they soon discovered that they had just escaped one danger only to fall into another.
The DarkStar members all wore masks to conceal their faces. Ashes addressed the other excited pirates, saying, "As agreed, I only want the Silver Spirit People; the rest of the slaves are yours to divide among yourselves."
At this moment, a group of thugs stepped forward, snarling, "This isn't fair! The Silver Spirit People is the most valuable, why should you get it...?"
Before they could finish speaking, Ashes attacked. The thugs' faces suddenly contorted in pain, their mouths agape, but they were deprived of even the ability to scream. Starting from their skin, their flesh turned into black, carbonized powder, and their bodies rapidly collapsed.
"Does anyone else have any objections?" Ashes asked coldly.
Everyone's expression changed, and they fell silent, their restless greed extinguished by this scene. They obediently divided the slaves equally, not daring to covet the Silver Spirit People.
"Got it. Let's get out of here and interrogate them in a safe place." The DarkStar members ignored their remaining accomplices and hurriedly left.
Just minutes before the power supply was cut off, the logistics department received a report of the malfunction. Based on the location of the logistics personnel, the intelligent program assigned the task of manual repair to Han Xiao.
"An emergency mission?" Han Xiao happened to be repairing a drilling machine nearby. Upon receiving the notification, he immediately put down his work and rushed to the district where the slave market was located.
There were no lights around, and it was all dark. Han Xiao activated the mecha's sensor radar, but suddenly stopped. He found that the image inside the slave market was blurry, clearly a result of radar interference.
"Something's not right." Han Xiao's expression changed slightly, realizing that something had happened. He immediately activated the jet spray device and sped to the slave market. As soon as he entered, he smelled a pungent hypnotic gas.
[You have inhaled a potent neurotoxin; resistance assessment is underway...]
[Your stamina exceeds 100 points; you are immune to hypnosis.]
[Your stamina exceeds 150 points; you are in a state of immune sluggishness.]
The room was deathly silent. He activated his night vision and was shocked to see the unconscious staff members scattered all over the floor.
What happened?! Was this place burgled? Who dared to be so bold?!
Han Xiao was filled with doubt and uncertainty.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded on the stairs. The Ashes people, leading a group of Silver Spirit People, returned to the ground. They immediately spotted Han Xiao standing in the doorway and inwardly cried out, "We've been discovered!"
However, Han Xiao was even more bewildered when he saw that the Silver Spirit People had been rescued.
Who the hell did my job?!
Has the employer brought in another group of mercenaries? Are we friend or foe?! Which side are you on?!
Han Xiao was unsure of the other party's identity. Before he could even ask a question, Ashes made a sudden move, manipulating the carbon atoms in Han Xiao's body and using the same trick to break this intruder into ashes.
Buzz!
The superpower bypassed the mecha and acted directly on Han Xiao's body.
[You have been attacked by Ashes's [Carbon Atom Deconstruction] attack, and you have taken 1146 points of true damage...]
[You have been attacked by Ashes's [Carbon Atom Deconstruction] attack, and you have taken 988 points of true damage...]
[Your special ability [Tough Body] activated! You are immune to all true damage!]
Through the panel, Han Xiao saw a series of "-0" damage values pop up on his body!
Completely unharmed!!
The expression beneath the Ashes mask changed drastically. He could sense the carbon atoms within Han Xiao's body, but he couldn't manipulate the carbon elements within Han Xiao's body like he could with others. In his perception, the molecular structure of Han Xiao's body suddenly became as solid as a rock, impossible to change in the slightest!
"Looks like the enemy!"
Han Xiao's expression turned cold. His mech quickly covered his entire body, [Garetan's Wrath] was activated, and he entered combat mode. Without saying a word, he fired a cannon!