At the DarkStar base, a bruised and battered Owenn lay in the center of the room, while three clones were tied together in the corner.
Sherman, carrying his giant spear, said in a deep voice, "There are five Owenn in total: four clones and one main body. The Goddora rescued one clone, so the main body is him. He was very well hidden. Linhaisa was able to read mental waves and compared them with the clones' thought patterns. Through a thorough search, they found the traitor's main body in a very secluded place."
The tall, thin man called Linhaisa nodded in agreement. He was also a Grade B superhuman and a telekinetic in the Pursuit team. His clone was exactly the same as his original body, even their mental fluctuations were identical, making it impossible for outsiders to distinguish them. However, this became a clue for tracking them.
Anur smiled with satisfaction. "Very good. Your efficiency is something the organization can be proud of. In that case, our operation can be completed sooner. Ashes, let's get started."
Ashes nodded, raised a finger, and Owenn's true form instantly turned into a pile of dust, dying calmly and silently.
Everyone remained expressionless, long accustomed to the feeling of fighting for the organization.
Just as they were about to pack up and leave, suddenly everyone froze, their eyes filled with suspicion and uncertainty as they slowly looked towards the corner.
Owenn's three clones remained, their blood-stained faces displaying a mocking expression.
"The main body is dead, so why hasn't the clone disappeared?!" Anur's expression changed, and he suddenly looked at the dust on the ground. "Could it be that he's not the main body?!"
"Hahahaha--" The three clones burst into laughter in unison, breathless.
The laughter infuriated the DarkStar warriors; it turned out they'd been tricked after all their hard work!
Anur's face twitched, and he shouted, "Kill them all! One of them must be the real one!"
Swish swish swish...
The three clones turned to ashes one after another. The first two died, but the others were still unharmed. When the third Owenn, died, DarkStar couldn't be sure if the last one was the original, but they had already anticipated it.
"The Owenn in the Goddora's hands is the real Owen. How dare he use his real body to impersonate his true body and mislead us, risking his life to accept Nagokin's protection and setting us up! If I had caught him sooner, he would be dead by now!" Sherman was furious.
Bang!
Sherman grew angrier the more he thought about it, feeling that his companions were looking at him with reproach (which they weren't actually looking at), so he couldn't help but slam his fist hard on the chair (because he couldn't reach the table).
Anur's face darkened. "With all four clones dead, Owenn will also report being injured. There's no time to lose; everyone must move out and eliminate the true body hiding with Nagokin!"
With all four clones exposed, the target is now locked. The mission can be completed successfully by killing the real Owenn. Anur, unwilling to waste time, prepares to lead everyone in Thunder attack to end the mission!
After receiving the message, Han Xiao led the two back to the stronghold and found everyone looking grim. When they arrived at the conference room, where the main fighting force was, he immediately spotted Owenn sitting at the end of the table and was taken aback.
Didn't they say the main body was captured? And according to DarkStar's nature, they must have killed the main body already. But now Owenn is still alive and well here, and the mission has not failed. In an instant, Han Xiao guessed the truth and shook his head helplessly.
"You should have told us sooner that you were actually the real one."
"Sorry, I was afraid of leaking information, so I kept it to myself to avoid the enemy taking control, cough cough..."
Owenn coughed, covering his mouth, and blood spurted from between his fingers, leaving bright red spots on the table. His eyes were dull and lifeless, and his face was sickly. His clones' senses were connected to his own. The deaths of the four clones in a short period of time had severely impacted his mind and body, and he was in extremely poor condition.
He secretly took a risk, switching his clone with his real body and accepting the protection of Nagokin and others. He supported observing the situation, precisely because the "real body" that DarkStar was searching for was actually his clone, which gave him confidence. He didn't like being passive. Rather than hiding and anxiously praying that DarkStar wouldn't find him, it was safer to be protected.
"But DarkStar has already seen through my little trick. Their next move will definitely be a preemptive strike to eliminate me," Owenn said weakly. "I can only rely on you to protect me. Please."
Han Xiao's eyes flashed. This mission was indeed not so easy to complete. The formal procedure should be to protect Owenn and continue to escape while Pursuit by DarkStar. However, it was impossible to fight indefinitely. He guessed that as long as he could hold off the enemy and wait for Owenn to split into two again, he could confuse the enemy again and delay until Goddora's reinforcements arrived.
I had never heard of Owenn in my previous life, probably because he died in the Battle of Noriosse and was successfully killed by DarkStar. Indeed, besides the ground Pursuit forces like Anur, there must have been a large number of DarkStar's fleet hidden in outer space. For Owenn, it was a dead end with no way out, leaving him only able to eke out a living.
There are ambushing fleets in space. If you try to leave by spaceship, you will be surrounded and killed. You must escape in the brief moment before the DarkStar fleet attacks, which is almost impossible. This requires extremely high spaceship performance.
However, there is currently a spaceship capable of performing this highly difficult operation.
Resta's Blacklight Stealth!
With only microseconds of preheating required to initiate warp drive, and equipped with anti-capture and anti-shielding devices, this advanced Reconnaissance ship from the Federation of Light can traverse most dangerous zones and escape the ambush and encirclement of DarkStar.
"What would happen if I helped Owenn survive?" Han Xiao frowned, suddenly thinking of the Grade S mission [Bloodline] in the panel list. He had a feeling that Owenn might be a helpful factor in this mission.
Although he still had one [Mission Settlement Card] left, it would only get him the minimum reward. For such a high-level task, he naturally wanted to maximize his rating. It would be a waste to use the settlement card after finally getting such a high-level task. He planned to keep this settlement card as a backup in case he encountered any unexpected tasks...
"The people of DarkStar won't hesitate; they'll be here soon." Han Xiao's tone was stern as he slammed his hand on the table, gesturing for everyone to quiet down and look at him. "We don't have much time to prepare. Listen, I have a plan that can get Owenn out of Noriosse directly."
Everyone was taken aback by what they heard.
"We must split into two groups. Nagokin, the majority of the others, and I will stay behind to hold off the pursuers. Aroshia will take Owenn to find the teleportation mage and have him send you to the port quickly. This will not only save time but also shake off the Pursuit. Then you go to Resta and take Owenn away from Noriosse."
Han Xiao's expression was solemn. The plan sounded simple, but its implementation was extremely risky. The DarkStar's Pursuit force had two Calamity Grade experts, as well as Ashes, which could deal large-scale area-of-effect damage. This was truly daunting. Most importantly, there was not much time to prepare, so everything had to be carried out hastily.
Their side only had one Grade A, Nagokin, who could draw fire and hold back Ashes, preventing him from killing the others. Fortunately, Ashes had been injured a few days ago, which would affect his combat to some extent. But even so, dealing with two Calamity Grade at the same time was already beyond their limits. Han Xiao knew that even with himself, they would not be able to deal with Anur and Ashes simultaneously without any preparation.
There is only one option left: to divide the battlefield and split the enemy. Therefore, it is necessary to let the enemy know that Owenn is on the run so that DarkStar can divide its forces, dealing with them on one side and sending people to pursue Owenn on the other, which is equivalent to spreading the risk... still very risky.
But now we have no choice but to take the risk.
With time of the essence, Han Xiao quickly assigned tasks, and everyone mobilized, working together under intense pressure to act as fast as possible.
Less than ten minutes into the preparations, a loud bang suddenly rang out.
Boom!!
A powerful gust of wind struck the entire building, and everyone was jolted by the shockwave. However, they were prepared and jumped out, landing on the street and kicking up clouds of dust.
In mid-air, Anur, after transforming, looked down at everyone, her body enveloped in wind pressure. Ashes was also in the air, stepping on a black whirlwind of carbon particles that was a hundred meters long. The other DarkStar Warriors approached from the ground, quickly closing in, their killing intent palpable.
"The attack came very quickly."
Han Xiao's expression was solemn. With Nagokin by his side, his aura surged, and he entered battle mode. The surrounding mercenaries were all on high alert, and many of them showed tension on their faces. Not everyone can remain calm in the face of a powerful enemy whose strength far exceeds their own.
The intense pressure was like the sky collapsing, making everyone present feel a tightness in their hearts, as if a heavy stone was pressing down on them.
The shockwave from the building's collapse kicked up countless specks of dust, creating a tremendous commotion that once again drew a large crowd of onlookers, who looked utterly bewildered.
No way, not again?!
Can we please stop the demolition?!