Death Knell Island is located on another landmass, and it takes an hour to get back to the Sanctuary. The spaceship maintains a low speed within the planet's atmosphere, but it is still much faster than an airplane.
Han Xiao settled the little rascals from Death Knell Island in the guest room, then left them there and went to find Hannes to continue their previous conversation.
Hannes recounted his experiences after his disappearance. After the end of the Germinal War, he led the archaeologist team on another journey to find new secrets. Because Han Xiao had the players complete many mission conditions, Hannes and his team obtained new information and discovered new doubts in the vast amount of files. The clues even pointed directly to the Hundred Nations War on Planet Aquamarine.
Once upon a time, there were hundreds of countries on Planet Aquamarine. Although there were minor conflicts, it was generally a peaceful and prosperous world with a strong curiosity about the universe. However, with the arrival of Goddora, who brought interstellar knowledge, they learned that too many countries were slowing down the development of civilization, wasting resources at an extremely high rate, and would trap them on their planets. As a result, the world order became unstable.
Because of differing stances among nations, none are willing to relinquish their sovereignty. Even knowing that tragedy may occur in the future, for various reasons, most people choose to be short-sighted before a crisis truly looms, leading to escalating friction and ultimately making force seem like the only option.
As a result of this theory of internal friction, a world war broke out decades ago. Many countries were destroyed in the war, leaving only Six Nations. This led to a major reshuffle and resource integration, but the negative impact of the war has not been eliminated to this day.
Hannes did not believe that a single theory could cause hundreds of countries to go to war. He firmly believed that there must be a mastermind behind the war. After some searching, they finally made new progress, which also brought about annihilation.
"... The clues led us to a crypt beneath the Somar Desert, where a towering golden statue stood. You won't believe what I saw with my own eyes—the statue actually moved and attacked us with immense strength, while our attacks couldn't harm it in the slightest."
"And then?" Han Xiao nodded.
"We fought the statue; it was indestructible and could even shoot beams of light. My team members were killed. The war hadn't taken their lives, but I never imagined they'd die here..."
Hannes gritted his teeth and said, "I was also badly injured and thought I was going to die, but the statue stopped, and the walls of the cave suddenly changed color, becoming metallic. I then realized that the original rock walls were a disguise. Embedded in the metallic wall was an oval-shaped container, like a nutrient tank, about the size of a human body. A Goddora came out of the tank, squatted in front of me, and asked me how I found this place."
"Go on, I'm listening."
"I was on the verge of death at that time, so the other person was very close. I pretended to be seriously injured and tried to communicate with him. I asked him who he was and why a Goddora would stay on Planet Aquamarine. He seemed to disdain to answer and was about to stand up and leave when the statue moved again and was about to raise its hand to smash me to death."
I had no choice but to seize the opportunity and attack without holding back. Unexpectedly, not only could that Goddora man not dodge, but I also killed him with a single punch. He turned out to be just an ordinary person. After he died, the statue stopped, and I was seriously injured and passed out.
After an unknown amount of time, a special agent team arrived at the cave and found me on the verge of death. They captured me; they seemed to have followed our trail to find the cave, and they seized West Capital inside. Because I was involved with the Goddora people, I was imprisoned on Death Knell Island and frequently tortured for information.
"How can you be certain that Goddora is the mastermind based on just these facts?"
"Of course I'm not just guessing. Prisons are good places for reflection, and I've pieced together a lot of intelligence. Besides, there must be a reason why a Goddora person is staying on Planet Aquamarine. I suspect that Goddora doesn't outwardly intervene on Planet Aquamarine, they've actually been sending people to monitor us and secretly interfering in our civilization's progress. Although I don't know much about Goddora, I know that interests are eternal, and doing this must be in their interest."
"It might not be what you think. One person can't represent an entire civilization. Besides, Goddora has a sworn enemy, and that faction is full of gold-tier warriors." Han Xiao remained noncommittal, then thought for a moment and said, "I currently maintain a good relationship with Goddora. Perhaps I can have someone investigate. What clues can you give me?"
"I remember what that Goddora man looked like, and every scene that happened in that cave." Hannes took out a piece of paper and buried himself in drawing, quickly producing more than a dozen drawings.
The appearance of the Goddora people was very clear. Han Xiao took a picture with his communicator. Given his relationship with Nagokin, it would be easy for him to ask Nagokin to search for a portrait.
He then looked at the statue or image that Hannes had mentioned. It was humanoid with four arms, and its head had no facial features, but rather two rows of holes like eyes, three on each side, for a total of six, radiating golden light. He immediately exclaimed in surprise.
"This is a combat puppet, a product of Goddora Magic Industries. It's easy to buy, but quite expensive. If you're not a magician, you can only destroy the puppet by smashing the statue. With your strength, it's difficult to destroy an interstellar-level man-made combat machine. This puppet is probably a guard for that Goddora person. Also, the Goddora people live in life-sustaining sleep pods, which may have internet connectivity. I'll ask the Six Nations when I have time to see if I can get some to study."
Hannes grasped Han Xiao's hand, his voice pleading, "This is the only clue; it can only work in your hands. I can only count on you. I have nothing left to repay you with, I only hope you can help me for the sake of our old friendship. I really want to find out the truth, who is the origin of all this disaster!"
A prompt appeared on the panel: the third stage of [New Era--Origin] is complete, granting millions of experience points, and you've successfully entered the next stage. It shows that this is the final stage of the task, with only one requirement: to find the truth, and the only clue is the portrait of this Goddora person.
'No wonder this is a hidden Grade A quest, involving two versions. To utilize this clue, one must inevitably deal with the Goddora Civilization, so the quest can only proceed in version 2.0.' Han Xiao's eyes flashed.
The rewards are plentiful, including millions of experience points, but Master Han, who dominates the player market, has the least need for experience rewards.
Besides experience, there are several free attribute points, potential points, a chance for a random reward, and Medal of Honor unique to Grade A missions. This medal can enhance all attributes. Because the mission was assigned to a hardworking contractor, all the conditions for each step were completed, resulting in a high evaluation, and the medal is guaranteed to be obtained.
By this calculation, I will receive my second Medal of Honor.
Han Xiao secretly pondered that if instigating the war on Planet Aquamarine was indeed Goddora's scheme, then this person's information should be classified, and asking about it rashly would alert her.
"Let's wait until Goddora's troops arrive on Planet Aquamarine. Nagokin should be leading them; it's easier to talk to someone we know."
He shook his head, not really caring about the truth. After all, the conflict between civilizations is not about right or wrong, but simply a clash of positions.
Even if it really Goddora who did it, now Planet Aquamarine has to rely on her for disaster relief. So many lives are at stake; being tough won't do, being genuinely interested is the only way to go.
Rather than dwelling on the past, he cares more about food and vegetables. Just like when eating, people always need to ignore the source of the food. For example, growing vegetables requires manure, feeding pigs requires swill, and when drinking milk, few people care about what the first person who knew milk was safe to drink was doing at the time.
And when it comes to getting married, unless you're exceptionally lucky, you still have to selectively ignore the fact that you have a brother-in-law...
If a friend passes away, at the cremation and memorial service, when everyone closes their eyes in silence, Master Han is the kind of person who will go up and add fuel to the fire. No doubt about it, he's just a practical person!
Therefore, from Han Xiao's perspective, regardless of the truth of history, the value that can be created in the future is more important.
Back at the Sanctuary, Han Xiao assigned mercenaries to guard the prisoners on Death Knell Island. Although these unruly fellows had been captured, they still needed some training before they could be used. He was very confident in entrusting this task to the mercenaries.
Don't let their arrogant attitude fool you; these prisoners are practically screaming "I'm a bad guy" on their faces. Compared to the interstellar mercenaries who have traversed different star systems and killed countless species, they're like kind little lambs.
Over the next ten days, Han Xiao gradually launched his operation. The Mage Class mercenaries greatly increased the production of inhibitors, enabling them to supply the refugees in the Sanctuary on a large scale and stabilize the situation.
Meanwhile, more refugees arrived at the Sanctuary, making it very crowded. So Bennett began to expand the Sanctuary, and with the help of players who were willing to grind, the construction progressed at lightning speed.
With refugees arriving in droves, at this rate, the Sanctuary will likely be expanded into a massive city.
Han Xiao did not forget the Six Nations. Since the Six Nations compromised, he sent some mercenaries with some raw materials to land directly in the capital of the Six Nations by spaceship. The unsuspecting civilians in the city were stunned.
After the two sides made contact, some mercenaries stayed in the Six Nations to help them manufacture inhibitors. The Six Nations were also experienced in this, and they made a big deal out of the inhibitors. After a few shows, the confidence of the people gradually returned, and order slowly resumed.
The Six Nations ' concession to Han Xiao was not merely verbal. Han Xiao had the right to mobilize their armies, aircraft, tanks, warships, and all other war equipment. He could obtain them with just a word from Han Xiao. However, there was no need to do so. He didn't need them, so it was better to leave them to the Six Nations to share the pressure on the Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary and the Six Nations ' efforts to resist the Mutation Disaster have yielded some results, but the number of refugees saved is only a drop in the ocean compared to the global population. Wild animals and plants cannot be dealt with, and the most terrifying thing is the marine life, which outnumbers land animals by several times. They have also been affected by the Mutation Disaster, and even amphibious behemoths have come ashore. Several coastal cities have already been severely damaged.
Therefore, in places beyond our sight, the situation of the Mutation Disaster remains extremely serious and continues to worsen.
Most of the players on Planet Aquamarine stayed in the Sanctuary, which was actually not good for the overall situation, but it was very beneficial to Han Xiao. He gained a lot of experience and recruited as many as 30,000 to 40,000 players through the Black Star Selection Ceremony.
This selection process has become a daily activity for players, sparking heated discussions and experience sharing on the forums. The conclusion reached is that those who are reckless are like fireworks that last only a moment, while those who survive can endure forever. Slaughtering a city is not as effective as waiting for one person.
Because it was a group selection process, players gradually began to team up and cooperate. Casual players tried their luck, professional players showed off their skills, while large guilds used peripheral members to protect their core members. Everyone used their own unique abilities to help each other.
Having failed the "Thirty-Second Real Man" test before, they can't miss the opportunity to join now. Whenever they see players like Frenzied Saber and Hao Tian swaggering around in their high-level gear, other players can't help but feel envious. If it weren't for the fact that fighting isn't allowed in the Sanctuary, many would want to go up and try to kill someone and loot their gear.
With the players' cooperation, the selection success rate increased significantly, and the players even thought they had found a trick... Han Xiao liked it when they thought that way.
Han Xiao had been preparing for a long time, and everything was proceeding according to his plan, mostly good news... except for one unexpected phenomenon.
Players have learned how to play Veyne Cards from Melos, and more and more people are becoming addicted to the game!
When Han Xiao learned of this, he wanted nothing more than to strangle Melos —all he ever did was play cards, and he even corrupted the dedicated and high-quality male gamer! Was he trying to force me to become an agent for selling card packs?!
Not doing your proper job!!