In the Black Star City government building, Bennett paced anxiously. Most of his staff had been dispatched to deal with the disaster, leaving only a few officials in the room, all looking at Bennett with tense and hesitant expressions.
Apart from the monotonous sound of footsteps and heavy breathing, there was no other sound in the room.
Bennett clenched his fists, a deep sense of powerlessness filling his heart. Ever since Planet Aquamarine connected with the interstellar network, he had often felt this way. In battles of this level, he found himself useless, only able to sit in the rear and wait for Black Star's results.
Although Bennett trusted Han Xiao, he had also prepared for the worst and had already started working on evacuation plans. He couldn't let all the people gamble with him.
At that moment, the officer in charge of observation rushed in, his tone one of ecstatic joy.
"Sir, the battle is over! Black Star has won!"
Bennett shuddered, his tense body finally relaxed, and his fists slowly loosened.
The people in the room showed surprise and delight, and couldn't help but let out soft cheers.
"I understand... We will do our best to implement disaster relief measures and minimize the losses caused by the disaster."
Bennett, suppressing his excitement, calmly issued orders. This earth-shattering battle had unleashed a catastrophe on the planet's surface, and the mess needed to be cleaned up to minimize further losses.
"By the way, have you made contact with Black Star yet?"
"Lord Black Star just sent a message saying he's leading a team to deal with the disaster and needs our cooperation."
"Great! Cooperate fully with him and carry out all his orders."
Bennett was overjoyed.
The aftermath of the battle involving more than a dozen people caused earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and other disasters in many parts of the world. Fortunately, Han Xiao quickly ended the battle, and the severity of the disasters did not exceed the critical point.
Storms at sea are the easiest to deal with; Calamity Grade can extinguish the Wind Eye and allow it to dissipate. However, disasters like earthquakes are difficult to reverse, and the main task is to save the affected cities and minimize the damage.
After a day and a night, Han Xiao and Vilton dealt with hundreds of disasters, large and small, alleviating the immediate crisis. There will be further chain disasters in the coming months, but they are all within the predictable range.
There are still some issues on Planet Aquamarine that require his intervention, such as the follow-up plans for the Six Nations.
However, Han Xiao was exhausted and decided to rest for a day before making any decisions, and also to familiarize himself with the changes after advancing to the next level.
Han Xiao returned to Black Star City with the prisoners. Bennett, busy with disaster relief, took the time to thank Han Xiao.
Although the enemy came for Han Xiao, and Planet Aquamarine suffered an undeserved disaster, Bennett was not a fool. Planet Aquamarine had only achieved its current status under the protection of Black Star, and was bound to Han Xiao in the same boat. Naturally, he would not blame this Protector. If he was angry, it was because of the enemy's despicable methods.
Vilton and his companions took their leave, hurrying back to report on their experiences.
Han Xiao thanked them again for their help and then went to discuss compensation for the casualties of the natural Calamity Grade with King Serre V of Goddora. Logically, he shouldn't have to make any compensation, but Han Xiao wasn't so clueless as to be so irresponsible.
Goddora only has about twenty Calamity Grade combatants, and losing even one would be a huge loss. Serre V was heartbroken, but he felt a little better when he heard that Han Xiao was going to make amends.
The Amethyst Civilization learned of this through Vilton and contacted the Goddora Civilization, indicating that they would pay a portion of the price for Han Xiao. Han Xiao's record of defeating Calamity Grade enemies raised his status, and the Amethyst was even more optimistic about his potential. This move was a clear indication of their intention to win him over completely.
Back in the room, Stefan was still unconscious. Han Xiao didn't hold back and squeezed her juice until she was too weak to move.
Stefan was strong; only when she was powerless to resist could Han Xiao feel at ease imprisoning her.
[Prey] The third stage is complete. Han Xiao did not immediately settle the reward. He could draw one of the ten abilities from Stefan.
With Fording absent, Master Han was unsure about the odds of winning with these scratch-off tickets and decided to return to headquarters to check Fording's chances before drawing the winning numbers.
During the battle, I leveled up to 195 like a rocket, reaching the [Truth Mechanic] cap and triggering the requirements for the next stage of job advancement.
This is a common mechanic job change quest, requiring the creation of a suitable machine. Han Xiao had triggered similar quests before, but this job change quest is challenging enough to match his level, with very strict requirements.
Most equipment and items can be categorized from low to high quality as follows: inferior gray, common white, good green, excellent blue, superb purple, rare pink, and legendary orange, with orange equipment representing the highest quality.
However, in addition to these general qualities, there are two special quality grades: Silver and Gold.
Gold-grade items are the most special quality, extremely rare, representing "Universal Treasure" level items. There are only a few of them in the entire universe. To give a simple example, the Purple Potato Monster's six-star diamond-encrusted gold gloves are treasures of this level.
Silver is an additional quality, representing the "legacy" attribute. Items with famous historical deeds or Glory that have been passed down become silver and receive a bonus.
Heritage attributes can coexist with general quality; for example, an item can be both an orange item and a silver item.
This job change quest requires Han Xiao to create a legacy-grade orange-tier equipment, which is essentially an "epic" item!
The inheritance method for mechanical equipment is through blueprints, meaning you need to find a special person to learn a silver inheritance blueprint, craft it, and achieve orange quality. At the same time, the job change quest also has requirements for equipment level, with a minimum level of 180 to use it.
"So, I need to find a level 180 mechanical equipment blueprint and then craft an orange-tier item..."
Han Xiao's lips twitched; even the requirements for using the Mountain Ape Mech hadn't reached level 180.
Damn it, I think you're trying to make things difficult for me, Black Star!
Han Xiao did remember many ways to obtain silver inheritance blueprints, but inheritance equipment that reached level 180 was extremely rare, and the methods to obtain it were also very complicated.
Furthermore, the higher the level of the blueprint, the more difficult it is to create a high-quality finished product. Han Xiao calculated that with his current intelligence attribute and Mechanical Affinity, he could only create a level 180 pink-grade equipment at most.
Han Xiao shook his head.
This task is difficult, but not without hope. Moreover, it's a manufacturing task, so there's no risk involved, and there's no need to rely on luck using Mission Settlement Card... He thinks that drawing a lottery might be even more difficult.
"The blueprint isn't the problem, but my stats aren't good enough to craft level 180 orange gear. Hmm... should I learn a new secondary profession to boost my stats?"
With a quick change of heart, Han Xiao rejected this idea.
In the later stages, leveling up becomes increasingly difficult, and the cost-effectiveness of the main profession is far higher than that of the secondary profession. Moreover, there is an advancement quest at level 200, which makes the secondary profession very inefficient.
He didn't want to waste experience points; using the experience reserves on the panel to upgrade his main profession was the most cost-effective approach. After all, it was still a long time before players logged in, so he wanted to save as much as possible.
There aren't many side jobs he needs right now.
Moreover, Han Xiao had better options.
"If we don't add any attributes, then we'll need to find some Mechanic Class specializations..."
Han Xiao pondered, thinking of Reynold's expertise, and couldn't help but feel envious.
If he could obtain [Perfect Mechanical Sense], he could directly fulfill the requirement... Unfortunately, perhaps due to the wrong posture, the mission was never triggered on Reynold.
"I'll find an opportunity to gather some Mechanic Class skills; after all, I'm a mechanic."
Han Xiao glanced at the unconscious Stefan, his eyes narrowed, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency.
The unexpected gain this time was learning about the master behind this group of Hunters. The Ancient Ones Manison was the real enemy. The intimidating power of the Beyond Grade A made Han Xiao's heart heavy. Manison was more fearful of him than the Tyrant.
Taking down Stefan's team isn't the end; it's merely bought them a respite. Who knows what kind of people Manison will send to deal with him next? With Albert and Stefan as examples, the next mission will definitely be even more dangerous.
We still need more strength.
Han Xiao felt an urgent desire.
In the past few days, Han Xiao has stayed on Planet Aquamarine to help, and the disaster has been brought under control.
After waking up, Stefan remained silent. Han Xiao had no idea what to do with her at the moment, so he simply locked her up.
With the entire squad wiped out and no one able to maintain the false memories of the Six Nations leaders, the leaders of the Six Nations gradually recovered, as if waking from a deep dream.
The high-ranking officials of the Six Nations learned of their behavior after "amnesia" from the records, and everyone was terrified and turned pale.
--Oh my god, what have we done?!
Everyone was still shaken. Fortunately, Black Star eliminated the mastermind behind it all; otherwise, they would have been manipulated indefinitely and made a grave mistake.
Fearing that Black Star might misunderstand them, the Six Nations immediately clarified their position, stating that the previous declaration of war and the missile launch were both misunderstandings.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the Six Nations hurriedly contacted Bennett, explaining the situation with trepidation and asking for forgiveness.
Bennett did not respond, but instead invited the leaders of the Six Nations to a meeting, saying that the planet had just suffered a calamity and needed to discuss future development plans.
Bennett's attitude seemed to indicate that he did not intend to pursue their actions after their memories were altered, which, in the eyes of the high-ranking officials of the Six Nations, represented Han Xiao's intentions.
The leaders of the Six Nations breathed a sigh of relief and arrived in Black Star City for the meeting with great excitement. They had prepared earnest speeches in advance, intending to explain the situation clearly and clear their names of any blame.
However, things didn't go as they imagined!
To Black Star, the army of Planet Aquamarine was practically useless, so the high-ranking officials of the Six Nations were unprepared. However, they did not expect that Bennett would arrest them all as soon as they got off the plane, which greatly surprised the high-ranking officials of the Six Nations.
All the high-ranking officials from the Six Nations were escorted to the conference room, where they met Han Xiao, who had been waiting for them.
"Lord Black Star, what do you mean by this?"
"You must have misunderstood us. Please let me explain."
Seeing Han Xiao's expressionless face, everyone's hearts skipped a beat, and they hurriedly began to offer explanations at once.
Han Xiao waved his hand, signaling everyone to shut up, and slowly said, "If it weren't for me, you would have been wiped out in the Mutation Disaster long ago. You declared war on me and broke our agreement. I am very disappointed."
"But... but we're being manipulated! You know that perfectly well!"
"A senior executive said anxiously."
"Yes, you've been manipulated..." Han Xiao narrowed his eyes, "So you can just pretend nothing happened? What if Black Star City's protective shield couldn't stop the missiles you launched?"
Everyone was speechless, feeling deeply aggrieved.
Many people vaguely sensed Han Xiao's meaning, and their expressions suddenly changed.
Han Xiao slammed his hand on the table. "You are victims too. I won't kill you, but this matter can't just end like this."
"You mean...?" someone asked hesitantly.
"Dissolve your government and let Bennett take over. This civilization doesn't need so many governments; one is enough."
From the perspective of civilization development, global unification is very important, as it can significantly improve resource utilization. Too many regimes can only cause internal friction. The Six Nations governments become superfluous, wasting talent and resources, and are almost a burden on the Planet Aquamarine civilization's journey towards interstellar travel.
Because there was no strong-willed government, the civilization of Planet Aquamarine was in a state of division for a long time. This incident made Han Xiao feel that the time was ripe to take advantage of the situation. In addition, the negative public opinion of the Six Nations declaring war on him could minimize the resistance of the people.
Even if there is a period of growing pains, in the long run, the civilization can become healthier, and there are too many benefits to taking over a civilization. As long as Planet Aquamarine's technology keeps up with the interstellar age, it can become a powerful logistical base for the Black Star Army.
Han Xiao's words were like a bolt from the blue; the high-ranking officials of the Six Nations were all stunned, their faces filled with disbelief.
"You... you want to destroy Six Nations?"
One of the leaders spoke with a trembling voice, a mixture of anger and fear, saying that if Black Star used force, they would have no chance of resisting.
"Destroy the country?"
Han Xiao raised an eyebrow, stood up, walked to the window, and opened the curtains. From high above, he could see several urban areas, bustling with crowds, and maglev trains coming and going.
"That's what a nation is."
Han Xiao pointed out the window, then pointed to the room full of officials from the Six Nations.
"You are not."