Iso coughed lightly and said, "You won this game, but I don't want to see Ames, Black Star. Can we talk this over?"
Han Xiao suppressed his killing intent and asked in surprise, "You really don't want to see your disciple?"
"Back then, I just casually adopted a little girl, spent some time with her, and taught her how to awaken her superhuman talent. How could I have known she would become a renowned Beyond Grade A powerhouse across an entire star field?" Iso shook his head and said, "I should have never adopted her. With her strength, if she got involved with me, I definitely wouldn't have been able to escape. Those days of losing my freedom were like being in prison. Just thinking about it makes me want to die."
Han Xiao's lips twitched. Adopting a little girl at random, and having her become a top-tier expert many years later—why did that sound strangely familiar?
The old man still looked reluctant. Hey, I'll let you show off, but don't go too far, you jerk!
Suppressing the urge to retort, Han Xiao squinted and asked, "If you don't want to see her, then why did you come back?"
Iso, completely oblivious to his countless years of life and utterly lacking in sophistication, sulked like a mischievous old man, "The more she tries to find me, the more I'll want to be in front of her."
Her personality is as awful as ever...
Han Xiao was speechless, secretly recalling that in his previous life, Iso had always been a wanderer, a mysterious merchant in the eyes of players. Until one time, he was involved in a dispute between two star system civilizations and, as usual, played a "game". However, as the saying goes, "He who walks by the river will eventually get his feet wet". Iso made a mistake, which took his life. He never saw Ames again before he died. After hundreds of years of searching, Ames only saw Iso's tombstone in the end.
Ames acts entirely on whim, and this time she was even more impulsive, venting her anger by smashing all the planetary territories of those two civilizations, including their home planet, causing countless deaths and injuries, and creating a sensation. The survivors who escaped the calamity appealed to the three major cosmic civilizations, stating that such atrocities violated the Order Treaty. As a result, Dragon Calm no longer had any special privileges and faced a massive siege by an army.
At that time, a large number of players accepted the mission and participated in the siege.
Countless warships exploded in this battle, and the Dragon Calm also disintegrated, becoming a fragmented asteroid belt. Although Ames did not die in the battle, she disappeared from everyone's sight forever...
The renowned Beyond Grade A powerhouses of the Shattered Star Ring have also changed generation after generation over the course of time.
Of course, that was a very late version.
Now, Iso has been caught by himself. If he lets Ames meet him, something that didn't happen in his previous life, he doesn't know how things will turn out.
However, the massacre of two civilizations with populations of hundreds of billions, the destruction of Dragon Calm, and the serious injury and disappearance of Ames —this series of tragedies should not happen again.
'Forget it, I owe her a favor. I'll just hand him over to Ames. Killing him will only create unnecessary risks.'
Shaking his head, Han Xiao withdrew his killing intent. Iso was indeed formidable, but he was no pushover either.
Iso's predictions were only limited to a small area within a certain timeframe, while what I possess... is the grand scheme of things!
I'm not a coward at all!
Han Xiao put one arm around Iso's shoulder, hooked his arm around Aesop's back, and whispered in Iso's ear:
"I refuse."
Iso's expression froze. Why did he speak so softly? He had been expecting this for nothing.
Han Xiao opened his communicator to contact Ames. As soon as the connection was established, Ames saw Iso next to Han Xiao. Her beautiful eyes lit up, and a playful look appeared on her face.
"Iso, my teacher, I miss you so much."
Iso gave a wry smile. He could hear the deep dissatisfaction in Ames's tone, and even without foresight, he knew he was in a bad situation.
After hiding for so many years, heaven knows how much resentment Ames has accumulated. It would be terrible if she fell into her hands.
Then, Ames turned to Han Xiao and said, "Wait for me, I'll be there soon!"
After saying that, the screen went black, swift and decisive.
Iso looked dejected and turned to look at Han Xiao.
"Are you really not going to reconsider?"
"She's already seen you. Do you think I'd still let you go?" Han Xiao said with a smile.
Not long after, Ames's spaceship arrived at the port. She had just arrived in Noriosse today. Han Xiao brought Iso to the dock. Ames saw him as soon as she got off the spaceship and walked over aggressively. Her aura was at least ten stories high!
Han Xiao gripped Iso's shoulder and clearly felt the old man's body tremble.
"The Dragon Emperor?!"
At this moment, the pedestrians near the dock were in an uproar, their faces filled with horror, and they hurriedly retreated far away, never expecting that a top expert from the Shattered Star Ring would suddenly appear.
"Shouldn't you say something to me?"
Ames remained expressionless.
Iso sighed resignedly, saying helplessly, "Alright, I should have come back to see you sooner. I shouldn't have been hiding from you. Don't stand here being stared at by people. Let's go, let's go."
As he spoke, he stepped onto the gangway, and before entering the spaceship, he glanced back at Han Xiao, a smile suddenly appearing on his face.
Ames was about to return to the ship, she suddenly remembered something, turned around, looked at Han Xiao, paused, and spoke with a serious expression and solemn tone.
"Thanks."
Han Xiao waved his hand, "It's nothing, I've repaid your favor."
No, I owe you.
Ames's tone left no room for doubt. She hesitated for a moment, then slowly reached out. Her soft, black sleeve slid down her smooth forearm, revealing her slender, fair hand, and patted Han Xiao's shoulder.
Actually, she has a phobia of germs and never wants to touch other people, but this time, she made an exception.
Although she remained outwardly calm, she was actually very happy and grateful to Han Xiao for capturing Iso. She knew how cunning Iso was and had tried to track him down before, but each time she had returned disappointed. This success surprised her.
The touch was brief. Ames quickly withdrew her hand, turned around, and walked onto the spaceship. Han Xiao didn't react much, but suddenly remembered something and hurriedly used Blank Character Card in the panel to generate Ames ' character card before she closed the door.
boom--
The spaceship made a rumbling sound as it left the dock along its orbit and quickly disappeared into space.
Han Xiao remained on the dock. He had already notified the others, and they all rushed over, gathering together and watching the departing spaceship. Melos asked, "Black Star, now that we've finished, where do we go?"
"Let's rest in Noriosse for a bit, then leave tomorrow." Han Xiao turned to Wilsander, "Do you want to come with us?"
"I'm not in a hurry to go back, and staying in Dragon Calm is too boring. Hehe, looks like I'll be bothering you for a while." Wilsander gave a standard sly grin.
"As long as it doesn't cost me money, you can bother me for as long as you want." Han Xiao shrugged.
At this moment, a commotion broke out in the direction of the hall. A group of high-ranking members of the Noriosse Financial Group, having heard the news of Ames' arrival, rushed over. They dared not neglect such an important figure, but Ames left immediately after taking Iso away, the whole process taking only a few minutes. The group of consortium executives came up empty-handed.
The conglomerate's executives then turned to Han Xiao, greeting him warmly and engaging in friendly conversation.
Now that the Dragon Emperor has left, they can't have come for nothing. They'll try to build a relationship with Black Star and see if they can offer any help, thus demonstrating Noriosse's stance.
Originally, when Han Xiao first arrived in Noriosse, the conglomerate's top management only paid slight attention to him, sending their subordinates to give him a brief greeting. However, with the appearance of the Dragon Emperor, the level of attention changed drastically. They felt that they had to come in person to show their sincerity, and the conglomerate's top management's regard for Han Xiao rose several levels.
As they were talking, the sound of orderly footsteps came from not far away, and everyone subconsciously looked in that direction.
A group of Goddora people dressed in battle uniforms hurried through the hall, seemingly having just arrived, with their leader displaying extraordinary bravery.
"People from Goddora? What are they doing here?" Han Xiao's gaze was also drawn to them. He glanced curiously at the leader of the Goddora people, and his expression suddenly changed.
He knew this person!
This is a A Tier superhuman!
On Ames's spaceship, Iso stood by the porthole, silently watching Noriosse gradually disappear into the distance.
"What are you looking at?" Ames asked from behind.
Iso withdrew his gaze, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
"You have a good cadre; he is trustworthy."
"You mean Black Star?" Ames nodded. "He is indeed very capable. Didn't you already meet him and have him pass on a message to me?"
Iso paused, then shook his head and chuckled.
"I'm getting old, I almost forgot about this."
As he spoke, Iso lowered his head, turned on his communicator, and deleted an email that had been scheduled to be sent long ago. The original recipient was none other than Ames he had been blocking from making communication requests.
Iso shook his head helplessly.
"If it weren't for you, you troublesome bastard, I wouldn't have come to the Shattered Star Ring to walk right into their trap..."
Iso knew Ames too well. She was willful, capricious, and not good at playing mind games. Just like Black Star asked, if he didn't want to be found by Ames, he could have just stayed far away. Why did he have to return to the Shattered Star Ring?
As for his motive, it certainly wasn't to tease Ames. Although he was indeed tired of living, his taste wasn't that boring... His target was clearly Han Xiao!
--Someone is misusing his name to deceive Ames. What if this person has discovered Ames's weakness and is deliberately using it to get close to her, and is actually a malicious enemy?
Iso was very worried about this.
No matter what achievements Ames has made, in his eyes, she will always be that little girl with snot bubbles hanging from her nose who needs to be taken care of.
So he returned to the Shattered Star Ring, exposing his whereabouts and attracting the attention of the Ames executives. If Han Xiao didn't catch him, then this person was nothing special. If he did catch him, it would be another test from Iso. He had already made follow-up preparations, deliberately showing his precognitive abilities, while setting up a series of traps to provoke the other party. If Black Star was truly an enemy of the Dragon Emperor, he would not allow such a dangerous enemy to live.
If she were to die, the pre-set timed message would remind Ames of her death, and whoever lied to her would be the murderer.
Iso was risking his life, gambling with the life of an old man like himself. If he died, Ames would never trust others easily again, which he felt was worthwhile. Having lived for so long, the habit of courting death had become ingrained in his blood, and it only made him feel excited.
Although he pretends to be tough, he actually cares a lot about Ames. Iso has no children, so Ames is like his adopted daughter.
Han Xiao had no idea that his casual remark to persuade Ames in Dragon Calm would cause such a butterfly effect, allowing the two who had never met in their previous lives to reunite for the first time and indirectly changing the fate of hundreds of billions of people.
"Black Star..." Iso thought to himself, "A very promising guy. If he lived for a thousand years like me, he would be a hundred times more terrifying than me."
"With his assistance, Ames will suffer less..."