The Blacklight Stealth carried Jupiter and his group to the nearest city-planet.
Jupiter wandered around, curiously exploring the interior of the spaceship, which was Black Star's personal vessel and rarely allowed players to board.
Resta restricted access to most of the ship's cabins, allowing the players only access to some unimportant public areas.
"This spaceship must be very valuable," Poseidon remarked.
"I've searched it up; it seems to be a spaceship model from a highly advanced civilization." Jupiter nodded.
With communicators, players could connect to the interstellar network, shedding their "native" status. Various information channels were finally open to them, and their knowledge increased daily. Phillip supported search functions, allowing them to look up any information online. Players gradually got used to consulting A-Weng when in doubt.
"Spaceships are too expensive; I don't know when I'll be able to afford one," Poseidon shook his head.
"Actually, it's not necessarily true. If we do a few hires and then raise funds from the guild to buy some basic models of spaceships, it's still possible."
As the guild leader of the elite club, Jupiter always thinks long-term. The resources he can mobilize far exceed those of ordinary players. What is an astronomical price for a spaceship in the eyes of normal players, he can still grit his teeth and crowdfund to buy it. After all, the elite club's guild is basically a company. Excluding the peripheral members who are casual players, the internal members are all employees. It is only a matter of a word for him to mobilize funds.
He was considering what advantages it would gain by providing the guild with a spaceship in advance, and whether it was worth crowdfunding.
At this moment, a core member with the ID "Michael" spoke up, "President, we can actually buy functional spaceships. I checked the prices of various resources and fuels on the free market before, and many large corporations are buying them Infinite. Although the prices are a bit low, the profits are very stable."
Jupiter's expression shifted. "You mean, buy a mining ship?"
"Yes, organizing mining teams to collect resources on uninhabited planets and then reselling them to buyers is a reliable source of funding."
Michael spoke eloquently, "The initial return on investment is relatively slow, but by mining and hiring others simultaneously, we can accumulate funds to purchase more mining ships. After the initial accumulation, our profits will continue to rise, eventually snowballing. If we have an entire mining fleet, the profits will increase exponentially."
Jupiter was somewhat tempted. "That's why the earlier we buy mining ships, the greater our competitive advantage will be."
"That's right." Michael nodded, adding, "Right now, mercenary missions are king. Everyone's doing them, and the profits are huge. But large guilds like Dynasty and Long Sky, who are on the same level as us, can mobilize even more manpower, and they'll definitely be thinking about more ways to make money... Damn Old Ju, time waits for no one."
Besides making money, the work of elite club guilds also includes providing better logistical support for professional players. Jupiter couldn't help but hesitate and ponder.
Poseidon glanced at Michael, "You wouldn't happen to be a colleague from another guild's 'Strategy Bureau,' would you? Quickly leave the group to prove your innocence."
"Get lost, you idiot." Michael responded by raising his middle finger.
Poseidon pursed his lips, looked at the cabin's decorations, and suddenly said, "Old Ju, don't you think if we robbed this spaceship, we'd make a killing, probably leaving the Dynasty Long Sky far behind?"
Everyone stared at him speechlessly.
"Actually, you're the spy, aren't you?" Michael retorted.
"I was just saying it offhand, look how worried you all are."
Poseidon clicked his tongue.
The journey from the junction point to the Feven Star System involves multiple stargates and takes a considerable amount of time.
However, in order to eliminate the threat posed by Slaik, Han Xiao decided to wait patiently.
As the raider cruised through space, in a secluded spot on board, Han Xiao, in his Chaos Body form, clung to the wall, perfectly concealed. He discovered that the racial talents of the Chaos Observer seemed well-suited to this kind of unreliable stealth... any stealth that didn't eliminate all witnesses was unreliable.
Because he was in Chaos Body state, Han Xiao had nothing else to do, so he could only browse the forums every day to learn about the progress of the players' mercenary missions from their posts. Since they had only been in interstellar space for a short time, the players were relatively well-behaved, and most of their missions were going smoothly. Meanwhile, on Planet Sunil, 200,000 mercenaries were also working in full swing.
The situation is reassuring.
Aside from browsing the forum, Han Xiao spent his other time Observation Mark and spying on Aroshia, Serre V, and Melos by tracking their profiles.
After more than ten days, the raiding ship finally left the Garton Star System and entered the Feven Star System, where it soon rendezvoused with the main force.
The Purple Snake Space Pirate Group ' fleet consisted of over forty warships, mostly small and medium-sized raiding ships. Their flagship was a modified Raven Cannon Class warship, the main warship model of the Black Raven Civilization in the Feven Star System. A pirate group of this size was already a formidable force.
The raider flew into the fleet and docked with the main ship. Several space pirates helped the weakened Beverly through the passageway and into the main ship's hall. Slaik was already waiting there. The hall was full of his subordinates, and three other Grade B officers were waiting to the side.
Slaik, sitting imposingly in his seat, abruptly stood up upon seeing the emaciated Beverly, rushed over, and looked utterly astonished.
"Beverly, what happened to you?"
Beverly looked at Slaik, her lips trembling, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes, her voice trembling with sobs.
"Black Star is a devil!"
What exactly did he do to you?
Slaik couldn't help but look Beverly up and down. In his memory, Beverly was a burly, tough guy, but now he was skin and bones, his whole body shriveled up, as if he would fall over at the slightest push, and he was crying like a coward.
Not only him, but the other space pirates also looked at him with disbelief, unable to believe that their powerful companion had become so miserable.
What happened to turn a tough Grade B superhuman into this state?!
Beverly couldn't help but show a look of horror when she thought about those hellish days, and she instinctively shuddered.
"He... he imprisoned me in a dark, sunless cabin. I have no idea how much time has passed. He used a device to continuously extract my Esper Gene, and the recovery speed was getting slower and slower. Until now, my abilities have only recovered a tiny bit..."
Those who gain power are most unable to bear losing it. Every time he regains a little power, it is ruthlessly taken away. He experiences this cycle repeatedly. In particular, he was kept in a prison cell and lost his sense of the passage of time. All these actions caused Beverly severe psychological trauma.
Upon hearing this, Slaik couldn't help but shudder, secretly regretting his decision to provoke Black Star.
I never expected this guy to be not only strong, but also a fucking freak!
Originally, he risked threatening Black Star because Beverly was a Grade B combatant he valued. Now it seems that Beverly is almost useless, and it's unknown how long it will take for him to recover his mental state. Slaik needs is a capable executive, not a useless person.
Even the pirate executives who were usually at odds with Beverly couldn't help but feel sorry for him when they saw Beverly miserable state.
"Black Star's insistence on the deal is probably also an attempt to threaten us with Beverly's example..." another Grade B space pirate said.
Slaik nodded heavily.
"What do we do now? Shouldn't we Revenge Beverly?" someone in the crowd suddenly asked.
Slaik's face immediately darkened. Of course, he didn't want to provoke Black Star again, but asking this question in this situation was simply putting him in a difficult position. It showed a complete lack of tact. If he directly said he wouldn't go, wouldn't he lose face, damage his leadership, and be looked down upon by his subordinates?
"I have my own plans." Reluctantly, Slaik could only offer a vague answer, intending to change the subject.
At that moment, the person who had asked the question spoke up again from the crowd.
"What kind of plan is it, and how exactly will it be implemented?"
It's you again! Can you please shut up?!
Is this something you're qualified to know?
Slaik's expression darkened as he looked in the direction the voice came from, wanting to see which of his subordinates dared to question their boss.
Seeing their leader's anger, the space pirates quickly separated, revealing the person who had spoken. All the space pirates in the hall turned their attention to him, wanting to see who had the audacity to do so.
Hmm, seems to be an Cosmic Human, wearing a black trench coat, quite tall, and his appearance... wait, he looks familiar.
Slaik stared at the man, blinked, and a deep look of doubt appeared in his eyes. The next moment, his expression suddenly turned to astonishment, and he jumped up, shouting in shock and anger:
"Black Star! What the hell are you doing here?!"
The surrounding space pirates seemed to have seen a ghost, and they all jumped back in fright, leaving an empty space around Han Xiao.
The entire room fell silent. Han Xiao glanced around before fixing his gaze on Slaik, stroking his chin as he slowly said, "Don't be nervous. I'm here to make a deal with you."
"... What kind of deal?"
"I want you to give up your freedom in exchange for..." Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "... your life!"
Sizzle—Bang!
As soon as he finished speaking, Berserk burst of Mechanical Force erupted, and the Mad Ape instantly possessed him. Han Xiao fired a high-energy concentrated particle cannon, blasting through the spaceship's armor from the inside and creating a hole that connected directly to the outside universe.
The suction from the vacuum was like a hurricane; the space pirates in the hall were all pulled out of the spaceship by the terrifying suction and thrown into outer space. Some of the weaker superhumans had their bodies quickly stiffen and their blood vessels rupture. The vacuum environment of outer space was also deadly for low-level superhumans.
Only Slaik and a few other powerful space pirates managed to maintain their balance and resist the suction, reaching Grade B strength. The vacuum environment of space was only considered a harsh environment, at most restricting their movements but not fatal, and those at the Calamity Grade were not afraid at all.
The mecha has its own internal circulation, so the vacuum has no effect on Han Xiao, and he floats in mid-air.
Slaik was furious, his mouth opening and closing as if he were roaring, but the whooshing sound of the air being sucked out drowned out his voice, making it almost inaudible.
Without saying a word, Han Xiao slammed his fist into the alloy floor, using [Power Blast]!
boom--
A shockwave carrying an electric arc erupted, causing the alloy floor to twist and break!
The aftershocks swept through, and the collapse continued to expand outwards. The hall and nearby cabins began to explode and crumble, and the hole instantly widened several times over.
Having lost their footing, all the space pirates except Slaik were sucked out. Only Slaik managed to stabilize himself by swinging out thick, purple, viscous tentacles from his hands and inserting them into the surrounding alloy walls.
Slaik's ability is to secrete purple slime, which is highly toxic and corrosive. It can also temporarily solidify into tentacles and various other forms. Moreover, the secreted purple slime can be preserved for a long time. Slaik can actively adjust the corrosiveness of the slime, hence his nickname "Purple Snake".
Slaik is a superhuman, but he also possesses armor. However, he is not a mechanic, so the armor cannot be compressed into a ball for transport and is currently stored in his private warehouse.
Although he hated Han Xiao to the extreme, he knew that the most urgent task was to put on the armor so that he could at least move freely without being in a vacuum. He immediately used his tentacles to pull himself up to the wall and headed straight for the private warehouse.
Whoosh—the thrusters spewed out, leaving a trail of eerie flames as Han Xiao rapidly approached Slaik's back.
Just then, Slaik suddenly swung his hand back, sending a wave of purple slime slapping towards them. The edge of the slime touched the spaceship's cabin wall, releasing thick smoke, and the corrosive marks looked as if they were melting.
"This ability is quite interesting."
Han Xiao's eyes flashed, his arm armor suddenly deformed, revealing a row of tubes, and he clenched his fist tightly.
The spaceship's interior hadn't completely become a vacuum yet; a large amount of air was drawn in by the nano-suction holes all over the mech's body. Immediately afterward, a row of high-pressure air cannons shot out from the tubes of the arm armor, directly scattering the purple slime waves.
Corrosive slime splattered everywhere, and the surrounding area instantly filled with thick smoke.
Han Xiao accelerated and suddenly grabbed Slaik's arm.
With a burst of Mechanical Force emanating from his body and his thrusters shooting in the opposite direction, Han Xiao instantly stopped in place, grabbed Slaik's arm, and made a large twisting throwing motion.
Berserk Throw!
"Captain ship, please respond! Captain ship, please respond! What exactly is the situation?"
In outer space, dozens of raiding ships of the Purple Snake Space Pirate Group circled the flagship where Slaik was located.
Everything was normal until just a few dozen seconds ago, when all the raiding ships suddenly lost contact with the main ship. No matter how they tried to call out, the main ship responded with silence.
Just as the other raiding ships were preparing to dock with the main ship to check the situation, the main ship's external armor suddenly exploded, leaving a hole. Countless debris, including a large number of fellow space pirates, were sucked into space like a tornado.
Before the other space pirates on the other ships could even react in shock, the next moment, a hole also exploded at the tail of the spaceship, a full thousand meters away from the hole in the hall. A large amount of broken metal and a figure flew out—it was none other than their leader, Slaik.
Slaik was hurled by Han Xiao, crashing through most of the spaceship!