Several days later.
"Ah~~" Volga's Eldest, casually played a card, and asked Melos opposite him, "Hey, how long are we going to stay on this native planet?"
At this moment, the mercenary group's officers, who were playing cards and chatting in the hall, all turned to look at Melos upon hearing this.
"We can only leave this planet after we solve its problems, but that's beyond my control," Melos said, shaking his head helplessly.
Everyone instinctively turned to look at a military factory outside the window. It was Han Xiao's mechanical modification workshop, where Han Xiao was currently repairing a captured assault ship.
The mercenary group has been on Planet Aquamarine for over a month. Apart from selecting players, they have basically nothing else to do every day and are bored out of their minds most of the time.
From the perspective of interstellar mercenaries, entertainment on Planet Aquamarine is naturally very limited. Apart from playing cards, there are no other activities, and many people feel that their bones are about to rust. If there were a reward for this incident, many people could tolerate it, but this is Black Star's order, and everyone can only obey helplessly, hoping that things will be resolved quickly.
After its failed attack, DarkStar did not return to Planet Aquamarine, seemingly wary of the combined power of Black Star and the Goddora fleet. However, news of DarkStar attacking other disaster-stricken planets occasionally emerged.
However, as Goddora deployed more fleets to the disaster planets, DarkStar's attacks often ended in failure. For example, on Planet Aquamarine, nearly three hundred Goddora warships were on standby in outer space, and the same number were found on other disaster planets. Nevertheless, the size of DarkStar's fleet also increased, continuing to put pressure on Goddora.
Goddora had to divide its forces to protect more than a dozen disaster-stricken planets, resulting in a dispersed fleet and strained manpower. DarkStar, on the other hand, did not have this disadvantage, appearing and disappearing unpredictably and taking the initiative.
While the Garton Star System is in dire straits, Planet Aquamarine has only suffered one attack and even repelled the enemy, so the disaster relief efforts are progressing well and the environment in the Six Nations and the Sanctuary is quite stable.
Inside the military factory.
Ding ding ding...
Small auxiliary robots climbed up and down the scaffolding, welding the spaceship's armor. Sparks flew everywhere, and the Warning of metal filled the air—a scene of bustling activity.
Han Xiao manipulated the giant mechanical hand, transforming it into various forms of tools to repair damage to the spaceship. This large mechanical limb was not only used for combat but also frequently used for the modification of large machinery, much like an enlarged palm, as easy to use as an arm.
Some time ago, the mercenaries retrieved the wreckage and brought back plenty of materials, so he set about repairing the captured spaceship. He has already repaired it to a considerable extent and has some experience in repairing large machinery, which is better than nothing.
"Check for damage," Han Xiao said, stopping what he was doing.
"System self-check in progress... Spaceship damage level 0%..." The assault ship's AI has been replaced by Phillip.
In addition to repairing the assault ship, Han Xiao also manufactured some precision machinery to enhance virtual technology, thereby increasing Phillip's computing speed. Resta also optimized Phillip's algorithm structure, making Phillip's efficiency two to three times higher than before.
The machines controlled by Phillip have gained even greater performance boosts, roughly doubling the enhancements he provides for his virtual intrusions. Phillip is still somewhat behind Resta, and continuously strengthening and cultivating his own artificial intelligence is a long-term task for virtual mechanics, from which he can reap substantial rewards.
"The last one is repaired and ready for use." Han Xiao nodded in satisfaction, snapped his fingers, and all the repair machinery automatically retracted.
The mercenary group's fleet currently consists mostly of rented travel transport ships. The nine assault ships supplement the fleet's firepower, and they are also entirely their own spoils of war, resulting in a substantial haul.
After taking a sip of water, Han Xiao took out his communicator and, as usual, browsed the mercenary group's interface.
The mercenary group is now hundreds of times larger than it was before returning to Planet Aquamarine. After this period of operation, it has recruited more than 100,000 players, and the number is still growing every day. It is now a truly super-large mercenary group!
Although the players are not strong enough at this stage, given their growth rate, each of them has great potential.
"Once we enter interstellar space, I can provide them with a massive amount of mission resources, and they will give me a massive amount of wealth in return. With so many members, the Black Star Mercenary Group's status will rise dramatically again. At that time, the name of the Dragon Calm Field Armed Force will probably no longer be just an empty title."
Thinking about the role that a mercenary group of hundreds of thousands of people could play, Han Xiao was filled with anticipation.
Due to the Mutation Disaster, his mercenary group has to stay on Planet Aquamarine for the time being. They are currently accumulating strength, and the real opportunity to enter interstellar space will come after the Mutation Disaster is resolved.
Han Xiao had been keeping a close eye on DarkStar's movements, waiting for DarkStar to launch its next plan, which would be the best time to hand over the Primarch in his possession.
After leaving the military factory, Han Xiao headed to the conference room. According to the schedule, today was a meeting between Goddora and the senior management of the Book Sanctuary to discuss disaster relief. This kind of routine meeting was held every few days, and he was already used to it.
Upon arriving at the conference room, Bennett, Nagokin, and others were already waiting. After Han Xiao took his seat, they nodded in acknowledgment before beginning their discussion, which focused on issues encountered during disaster relief. Han Xiao, uninterested in these topics, remained silent.
After talking for more than half an hour, the group finally stopped talking about this topic. Nagokin changed the subject and said, "Right now, we in Goddora are locked in a stalemate with DarkStar. The enemy keeps attacking the disaster planet, while the War Bureau keeps sending reinforcements. The two sides are engaged in a tug-of-war."
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao finally spoke up, saying, "That doesn't sound good."
Nagokin said helplessly, "We don't know how many fleets DarkStar has, but we have to disperse to protect more than a dozen disaster planets, and our forces are indeed insufficient. This is a tactic DarkStar used to force us to divide our forces. Although the situation is currently even, if DarkStar wanted to, it could send a large force to launch a fierce attack on just one disaster planet, and we would absolutely be unable to stop it. So the situation is not optimistic, but the enemy has not done so."
"Do you have a solution?"
"Yes." Nagokin nodded. "To address the weaknesses of dispersed forces and long distances, the War Bureau has decided to utilize military jump orbit base stations, which should be deployed in a few days."
Bennett asked in confusion, "What is that?"
Han Xiao thought for a moment and said, "You can think of it as a military teleportation portal."
Military jump orbit base stations are strategic weapons in interstellar warfare. Within a certain range, they lock onto two or more coordinate locations via directional wormhole generators, forming a rapid teleportation channel between these locations. This allows fleets that are far apart to quickly support each other and provide mutual assistance.
This device, resembling a space fortress, is technologically advanced and could only be built by advanced civilizations capable of constructing stable stargates. Goddora's military jump orbit base station is an important military supply purchased from a star cluster-level civilization, which is a level higher than the Shattered Star Ring, and is extremely expensive.
Deploying military jump track base stations requires setting anchor points at various transmission coordinates, and the base station must be located in the central area of the range formed by these anchor points, like the center point of a spider web, with connections in all directions.
With this equipment, Goddora compensated for the weakness of its forces being scattered across more than a dozen disaster planets. These escort fleets could watch over each other, and no matter which planet the DarkStar attacked, support could arrive within two or three minutes, shortening the journey by thousands of times. As a result, attacks from the DarkStar were no longer a threat.
The fact that the War Bureau is willing to use important strategic weapons in this incident indicates that they do not want to remain on the defensive indefinitely.
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. "This is an expensive strategic weapon. DarkStar will definitely attack your base stations."
"Of course the enemy will do that," Nagokin, unconcerned.
Since the War Bureau dared to use the base station, it naturally deployed a sufficient fleet to protect it, and even took the initiative. Even if the DarkStar's whereabouts were elusive, it would definitely attack the base station. This gave them control over the enemy's next move and enough room for preparation.
Han Xiao's eyes flashed, and he shook his head.
In fact, the Goddora people are not really worried yet. Although the attack on DarkStar caused some damage to Goddora, the most serious damage was to Disaster Planet. It did not cripple Goddora, and the Goddora people still believe that they can control the situation.
But he knew that DarkStar was not so easy to deal with.
'With the base station up, DarkStar's next plan should be coming soon,' Han Xiao thought to himself.
Nagokin was about to say something when, suddenly, a faint sound of commotion arose in the distance, seemingly from a great distance.
The next moment, the commotion rapidly escalated, sweeping in like a tsunami, filling the entire Sanctuary and omnipresent!
Boom boom boom--
The ground rumbled, and the windows trembled slightly under the cacophony of sound. Bennett abruptly stood up, his face filled with astonishment.
"What happened?!"
Bennett hurriedly turned on the conference room screen and pulled up the surveillance footage from various locations in the Sanctuary. He saw that the once orderly Sanctuary had turned into chaos, and the long-absent riot of the Mutation Disaster had re-emerged. Even the refugees who had been injected with suppressants had flared up.
The situation outside the Sanctuary was even worse; even the Sanctuary guards fell ill.
With no one left to maintain order, the hard-won order collapsed instantly.
The riot of tens of millions of people was as powerful as a landslide and a tsunami!
Crowding, roaring, tearing, fighting...
Aside from the chaos of battle, many more people were running wildly, frantically heading away from the Sanctuary, as if the Sanctuary instilled immense terror in them and they only wanted to escape. The fleeing people formed long lines, rushing in all directions, and the dense crowd outside the Sanctuary quickly dispersed. Some people fell to the ground and were instantly engulfed by the throngs of people following behind.
The players were completely bewildered, and soon some of them noticed that the overall progress of [Mutation Disaster] had plummeted like a waterfall!
"This, this..."
The sudden chaos startled both Bennett and Nagokin.
Han Xiao's expression changed slightly. He stood up and spoke in a deep, serious tone.
"This is... the second phase!"