Planet Aquamarine.
In the days following the outbreak of the second phase of the Mutation Disaster, the number of beasts near the Sanctuary increased significantly. To prevent a beast tide, Melos and a group of lazy cadres finally came in handy, leading players who had joined the mercenary group to wipe out the beasts and setting up different defensive positions in various parts of the wasteland.
Players are the main force in eliminating wild beasts, and the battlefield quickly becomes a large-scale social scene where players seek to team up to fight monsters, recruit caravans, and sell equipment.
Most wild beasts are easier to control than humans. Based on Han Xiao's understanding of the Mutation Source, once it enters the second stage, it will consciously manipulate the beast hordes to attack places like Sanctuary, making the attacks more frequent.
This might be some kind of retaliation from the Mutation Source, but Han Xiao didn't seem to care much.
The Mutation Disaster only poses a significant threat to Planet Aquamarine; Han Xiao's level has long exceeded the 2.0 version's cap, Mutation Disaster poses a limited threat to him personally.
Han Xiao did not consider the Mutation Source a major opponent, after all, he held the trump card to deal with it. His main goal was to take the opportunity to complete his plan to recruit players. Solving the Mutation Disaster and striking at DarkStar were less important than harvesting the leeks.
However, from the player's perspective, the Mutation Disaster is the first main quest after the launch of version 2.0, and it is quite challenging.
To keep up with the main storyline, players grind daily, with plenty of missions in the Sanctuary, Black Star Mercenary Group, and Goddora, offering opportunities everywhere.
In version 1.0, players already had a basic understanding of Planet Aquamarine. During the global Mutation Disaster, everyone worked together for the [Mutation Disaster] mission, creating a strange sense of collective struggle. Players usually compete with each other, but this time they were required to unite as one, which felt very peculiar.
Han Xiao doesn't need to personally participate in disaster relief, but the current players are deeply involved in the front lines of disaster relief, encountering all sorts of side events and characters, making their time very busy and fulfilling.
The actions of Black Star and Goddora are seen by players as part of the storyline.
At this time, players on Planet Aquamarine cannot personally participate in events at the level Han Xiao is at.
Aside from recruiting players, Han Xiao doesn't usually pay much attention to the overall situation of the players. He understands the players; no matter what the situation is, they can always find room to perform and have fun on their own. Their initiative is extremely strong, so he doesn't need to worry about them at all.
A few days later, just as Nagokin had revealed, Goddora had set up military jump orbit base stations, and temporary teleportation portals connected all the disaster planets. As long as the DarkStar dared to show itself, a Thunder strike awaited them. The War Bureau was full of confidence.
However, DarkStar ceased its attacks, and the Garton Star System seemed to have calmed down... but this was just an illusion.
Not long after, a new interstellar news story shocked the entire galaxy!
"Goddora's colony planet ' Long Arc ' was attacked by a large DarkStar fleet. The enemy, centered around three DarkStar motherships, had more than four thousand warships. The stationed Goddora fleet fought fiercely with the enemy and suffered heavy losses. Long Arc was bombarded, more than forty cities were reduced to ruins, and the remaining cities were severely damaged. It is roughly estimated that the death toll may exceed three hundred million."
"It is reported that the attack began when a member of the DarkStar used a lethal ability on the surface of the Long Arc constellation. This person possesses the ability to turn human bodies into dust, and tens of millions of people died directly from his power. The Goddora Civilization responded urgently to the attack, sending three waves of support fleets, ultimately annihilating thousands of enemy ships and a DarkStar mothership, and repelling the DarkStar forces."
"Historically Goddora's colonies have faced numerous probing attacks, but this is the only time a colony has nearly been wiped out. DarkStar's actions are considered an extremely heinous act of terrorism, the worst event in the Garton Star System in the last decade. We have reason to believe this signals DarkStar's renewed intention to wage war. Based on the event's retrospective, the origin of this incident should be the simultaneous catastrophes on over a dozen civilized planets. Goddora's response is currently unknown..."
After reading the news pushed to his communicator, Han Xiao let out a breath, his eyes gleaming.
"We've finally reached this point..."
The damage caused to Goddora by the DarkStar's attack on the colony far exceeded that caused by the attack on the disaster planet. Moreover, this time they were serious, with three DarkStar motherships deployed simultaneously. According to data revealed by players within DarkStar in the previous life, DarkStar never had more than fifteen motherships at its peak.
And that bastard m•hetushu•com•com Ashes, ran wild on the surface, attacking from both inside and outside.
It must be said that Ashes's ability to deal with ordinary people is indeed abnormal. With a single thought, he can decompose all carbon-based life forms within the range of his ability. He is exactly the "slaughtering tool" in the eyes of DarkStar. This is the first time Ashes has openly demonstrated his power to the entire galaxy.
Unlike Goddora, which possesses hundreds or thousands of military factories, DarkStar suffers a devastating blow from the loss of each mothership, requiring a hefty price to replace. The attack on Long Arc resulted in the loss of one mothership, a considerable blow indeed.
But Han Xiao knew that DarkStar had already achieved the desired outcome.
The Long Arc Disaster shocked the entire Goddora Civilization civilization. Soon after the incident, a theory emerged that DarkStar attacked the disaster planet to divert Goddora's military forces, and then took advantage of the situation to invade. DarkStar's real goal was to attack the colonies.
As a result, the citizens of Goddora on other colonized planets were filled with fear, and support for rescuing the disaster planet plummeted overnight. Countless people strongly demanded that Goddora withdraw the troops protecting the disaster planet and use them to protect them instead.
Because their own safety was at stake, almost all Goddora citizens accepted this explanation without question, and sympathy for the disaster-stricken planet was naturally relegated to the sidelines.
In reality, the Long Arc disaster had little to do with the rescue forces. The main reason for the failure was that DarkStar displayed overwhelming military power, deploying three DarkStar motherships at once. Naturally, the defense forces of a second-tier colony planet could not withstand it. The military jump orbit base station was not connected to the colony planet, and redeployment would take a lot of time.
Although Goddora is a powerful force, its troops are scattered across hundreds of colony planets, making it impossible for each planet to have a strong defense. If DarkStar were to go all out, it could still forcefully take down a few colony planets; otherwise, it wouldn't be considered a major enemy by Goddora.
This time, DarkStar also lost a mothership fleet. However, most people did not pay attention to the loss of DarkStar as a terrorist organization; they only focused on the consequences caused by DarkStar and the losses of Goddora.
The citizens of Goddora are unable to maintain rational judgment; panicked people are most easily manipulated. Moreover, DarkStar is stirring up public opinion behind the scenes.
This not only caused panic, but also reignited the conflict between purebloods and hybrids. Many of their relatives or friends who lived in the Long Arc died tragically. DarkStar was the instigator, and it can be said that he hated everything associated with Dark Star.
DarkStar has always operated under the banner of being a mixed-race society. Under these circumstances, the mixed-race people living in the Goddora colony naturally became a substitute for venting their hatred and anger. The conflicts among the people are based on long-standing prejudices against mixed-race people, which are almost a tradition that the Goddora government cannot forcibly reverse.
The Hutt Civilization had been keeping an eye on Goddora and discovered that Goddora was overwhelmed by internal troubles. The Hutts were happy to play the role of an "external threat."
The Hutt fleet stationed in the Heidegger Star System began to move, probing frantically at the edge of Goddora's territory, constantly exerting pressure, and showing signs of aggression.
The successive blows left Goddora almost breathless.
The shadow of DarkStar is behind all these events, and their actions were just the beginning. The Long Arc tragedy was the fuse that ignited a chain reaction.
However, Han Xiao was not prepared to let DarkStar's plan continue.
"I bet Goddora is feeling as disgusted as if she ate shit right now."
Han Xiao shook his head. He didn't like Goddora, but he wasn't gloating. After all, DarkStar was a common enemy. He pondered to himself.
"The Mutation Disaster is one of the key contradictions, consuming a great deal of energy. Goddora will soon realize that time is of the essence. The best solution is to eradicate the Mutation Disaster as soon as possible. This way, the disaster relief forces can be freed up, and domestic conflicts will also be alleviated..."
"I happen to possess a copy of the Mutation Source. If I provide it to Goddora, they can quickly devise an antidote, and the Mutation Disaster will be resolved."
Once the immediate crisis is resolved, Goddora can breathe a sigh of relief and focus on dealing with DarkStar.
The more urgent Goddora's needs are, the more benefits he can gain from the Mutation Source in his possession.
"Now is the time. Although Goddora is willing to pay an even higher price if we delay any longer, there's no need to wait until DarkStar has achieved great success before taking action. Once Goddora realizes the importance of time, she will naturally understand the consequences of not being able to stop DarkStar."
Han Xiao composed himself and sent a contact request to Nagokin, but after waiting for a long time, the other party did not answer, which was unusual.
After a moment's hesitation, Han Xiao decided to head to the Goddora camp to find Nagokin, but was stopped by Nagokin's adjutant.
"Black Star, Nagokin instructed me not to let anyone disturb him unless it's absolutely necessary. You may return now."
What's wrong with him?
The adjutant said sternly, "The commander is in a meeting with higher-ups and doesn't have time to see you."
Nagokin would never have turned him away before. Han Xiao thought about it and immediately understood. Goddora was facing both internal and external troubles and had serious problems. Nagokin was a high-ranking official and naturally had many things to do. Therefore, he was not so important in Nagokin's eyes.
Han Xiao stroked his chin, suddenly remembered something, and left the Goddora camp without insisting on seeing him.
He suddenly realized that even if he had to hand over the Mutation Source, he couldn't do it too promptly, otherwise it would be seen as if he had been carrying the Primite all along but hadn't taken it out sooner.
I still need to put on a show a little.
"Since the excuse is that the Mutation Source came from Dragon Calm, I might as well go back and put on a show."
Han Xiao mentioned it to the officers, then piloted the Blacklight Stealth away from Planet Aquamarine alone.
Two hours later, Nagokin ended the meeting and learned from his adjutant that Han Xiao had come to see him.
"Black Star couldn't find me, so he left in his spaceship?"
Nagokin frowned, then shook his head. Black Star didn't contact him again; it probably wasn't anything important, and he didn't want to waste time on such trivial matters.
Currently, all departments in Goddora are overwhelmed with the Long Arc incident, and his superiors may transfer him away from Planet Aquamarine. Nagokin also very busy, so he has no time to deal with Han Xiao at this critical juncture.
"The plan is gradually unfolding, and this time it will definitely significantly weaken Goddora's power."
At DarkStar Headquarters, Deputy Leader Degulish was speaking at a meeting, his tone smug.
"We have caused considerable trouble for Goddora. Domestic public opinion is demanding that they withdraw their disaster relief forces, which is naturally impossible. Since they have already begun disaster relief, abandoning it halfway would shake Goddora's dominance and interstellar reputation. However, persisting would only lead to escalating domestic conflicts."
Even if they give up, we can then act without restraint and easily annihilate these disaster planets. This will not only eliminate the forces dependent on Goddora but also create the misunderstanding that Goddora's abandonment of the disaster planets led to their destruction...
The head of the Intelligence Department said, "These are just a few simple examples. In short, no matter what Goddora chooses, they will always be the losers, and we hold the initiative."
Degulish sneered, "The Mutation Disaster, the Hutt Civilization, and internal conflicts all consume Goddora's energy. We have ample opportunity to carry out subsequent plans. The Mutation Disaster is the root cause. The disaster planet is tying up a large number of Goddora's mobile forces. The longer it drags on, the more the situation will escalate, accumulating from quantitative to qualitative change... If this can last for a year or two, hehe."
"It's hard to say exactly when, but given Goddora's research capabilities, it's impossible for them to solve the Mutation Disaster in the short term; they won't be able to research anything."
The intelligence chief laughed, "My people have already found out that Goddora didn't get the Mutation Source that was lost last time. They only got an empty Whispering Bead, which was probably secretly taken by the Holy Stone Civilization. Goddora has been kept in the dark about what's inside that bead."