The Light Fox spaceship headed towards the Planet Maixibo. Inside the cabin, Eklin was instructing his subordinates.
"We'll be landing in an acropolis soon. You all go find a local shipyard immediately and have them tow the ship over for repairs as quickly as possible. Money is no problem... As for the rest of us, find a secluded spot in the acropolis of Planet Maixibo's to rest."
The responses were scattered and disorganized.
Orosen said lazily, "Don't worry, Planet Maixibo is a neutral planet. No one will bother us. The Star Pupil Protoss has no idea which way we escaped. We have no pursuers behind us and are basically safe. As long as we stay on Planet Maixibo for a day or two to repair our spaceship, we can take the Evolution Cube back with us."
Speaking of the Evolution Cube, Orosen subconsciously glanced at the small, jet-black cube hanging around Eklin's neck, his eyes gleaming with fervor.
Noticing his gaze, Eklin snapped, "We'll figure out how to use this thing after we leave the Shattered Star Ring. Don't even think about it now."
With such a treasure in hand, everyone was envious, but few harbored any ill intentions; at most, they just wanted to experience the effects of the Evolution Cube.
While the Evolution Cube is a Universal Treasure, it's not worth betraying the Sorokin for.
Because the Sorokin possessed information about the Evolutionary Civilization, they also had some knowledge of the effects of the Evolution Cube Evolution Cube and would not have unnecessarily high expectations for it—otherwise, the Star Pupil Protoss, with so many Calamity Grade, wouldn't have only produced one Beyond Grade A being, Sisko.
However, it's true that using the Evolution Cube can make you stronger.
At this moment, the spaceship entered the spaceport, completed the simple formalities, and landed at the ground port of one of the acropolises on Planet Maixibo.
As soon as they disembarked from the spaceship, Eklin and the others mobilized and found a little-known shipyard, paying them to repair the ship.
The Light Fox spaceship is equipped with a top-of-the-line warp drive. What would take ordinary ships several months, they could accomplish in just a few days. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to travel from the territory of the Star Pupil Protoss to Planet Maixibo, the edge of the Shattered Star Ring, in only ten days or so. They insisted on repairing the ship precisely because the Light Fox spaceship's speed could greatly reduce their time for interstellar travel. They would never change vehicles unless absolutely necessary.
Because they were focused solely on escaping, they were unaware of whether they were being pursued. However, in their view, the Light Fox's hypersonic warp drive was more than enough to shake off any pursuers, and the Star Pupil Protoss might not even know where they were going—of course, the connection between Sisko and the Evolution Cube was a secret, and they were unaware that their location had been exposed.
As for their identities, they weren't worried at all. They stole the Evolution Cube using the teleportation ability of their Sorokin clones, so the Star Pupil Protoss didn't know what they looked like.
The only time it was exposed was in the Terra Civilization, but that was several months ago, and it had nothing to do with the theft of the Evolution Cube. No one would connect the two things... After all, the Star Pupil Protoss didn't make a big fuss about the theft of the Evolution Cube with the Tu Shu. Even the news about Planet Avitan was temporarily suppressed domestically, without causing any waves in the Shattered Star Ring, allowing the Secret War to continue to dominate the headlines.
Therefore, in the minds of Eklin and the others, reaching Planet Maixibo's was equivalent to having one foot out of the Shattered Star Ring, and they believed they were completely safe.
Because the spaceship was sent for repairs, Eklin and his men stayed at an interstellar hotel in the Acropolis.
But they didn't know that they had been targeted as soon as they entered Maxxi and Tu-Shuber.
Only half an hour had passed since Sisko's call.
"Has the Light Fox spaceship already appeared...?"
Sedim received the news immediately.
All port entry information on the entire Planet Maixibo's was under his surveillance. As soon as Eklin's ship entered the port, he discovered it. Sedim was monitoring the actions of Eklin and his crew.
"They went to the Number Two Acropolis, found a shipyard there to repair the ship, and then the crew checked into an inn, the location of which was..."
Security forces and observation satellites—every camera was connected to the control center system of the floating city. The entire planet was under his surveillance. After locking onto the Light Fox spaceship, Sedim naturally locked onto Eklin and the others.
He didn't actually know Eklin and the others, but after a short search by the AI, he discovered that Orosen was wanted by the Terra Civilization.
"A group of wanted criminals? Why is Sisko Pursuit them down?"
Sedim couldn't help but let his imagination run wild. "Could this be an opportunity to forge friendly relations between the Star Pupil Protoss and the Terra Civilization? From Sisko's perspective, it's possible he'd do that, but for him to personally intervene... perhaps he wants to amplify the impact of this event?"
He couldn't help but let his mind wander. Lacking information, he naturally didn't know that the Evolution Cube had been stolen.
Furthermore, due to preconceived notions, Sedim would not associate the small black cube ornament worn by Eklin around her neck with the "enormous" Star Pupil Protoss Clan's national treasure Evolution Cube.
"Sisko just wants me to hold them off, so I don't need to take action against them unless absolutely necessary."
After thinking for a while, Sedim abandoned the idea of personally probing, fearing he might alert the enemy.
He changed his approach, using the control center of the floating city to issue new orders to his mechanical security forces, secretly increasing the density of patrols and guards around where Eklin and the others were staying, which was equivalent to placing more informants and increasing surveillance.
"Oh, right..."
Sedim then remembered something else and made a phone call to the shipyard that had taken on the repair work on the Light Fox spaceship, ordering them to slack off and tamper with the spaceship.
Although the shipyard wasn't his, given his status on Planet Maixibo, he still had that much power.
"That's about right. Now we just need to keep a close watch..."
Sedim set up new commands for the floating city's control center, instructing them to notify him should any unusual activity by Eklin and the others, and then set the matter aside.
As the master of the planet, he is very busy every day and cannot keep an eye on the monitor all the time.
After parting on bad terms with Sedim, Han Xiao found that no one had actually kicked him out. He completed his afternoon work as usual, but received some bad news in the evening.
The Summit Keystone Group removed him from the Eternal Light project, preventing him from continuing to participate in it, eliminating his need to build spaceship parts, and taking back all the blueprints he had.
He had already learned all the blueprints, and it didn't matter if he handed them back, but the signal Sedim had given was very clear: he would not allow Han Xiao any further opportunity to access the blueprints of Eternal Light.
"Sedim has started to be wary of me. If I continue to stay in the group, he'll only use me for manual labor and won't let me get involved in important projects."
Han Xiao shook his head.
"I've already acquired the specialization; there's no need to stay on Planet Maixibo any longer. Once I get the Eternal Light blueprints, I can make my escape..."
Although Sedim had increased his vigilance against him, Han Xiao had already made progress in stealing the blueprints for the final core component of Eternal Light.
Actually, it was Sedim who gave him this clue.
Originally, Han Xiao couldn't find the blueprints for their core components in the database of the Summit Keystone Group, which was a bit of a deadlock. But today, Sedim took the initiative to reveal the truth, which gave him a new target.
It turns out that Sedim was the true owner of the Eternal Light blueprints.
Therefore, he must also have the blueprints for Eternal Light kept in his home, so there's no need to make a fuss about the Summit Keystone Group anymore.
Sedim's home is the magnificent floating city base above Planet Maixibo.
Han Xiao's goal is to... cough, hack into Sedim's floating city!
"Sedim doesn't know my true strength, nor does he know if he'll regret revealing his abilities to me today... Oh, I almost forgot, he definitely won't regret it, because he has no idea I hacked into his floating city."
If I hadn't worked at the Summit Keystone Group to pursue my expertise, I wouldn't have caught Sedim's attention. If I hadn't caught his attention, he wouldn't have recruited me. And if I hadn't been recruited, I wouldn't have known that Sedim was the true owner of the Eternal Light blueprints.
It could be said that Sedim himself pointed him in the right direction.
Han Xiao chuckled inwardly.
The floating city is the base for A+ level armed mechanics, with stronger intelligent defenses, far surpassing the database of the Summit Keystone Group.
However, as a virtual mechanic of a higher level Sedim, he could still infiltrate the control center of the floating city silently if he made proper preparations.
"However, it would be best to increase our chances even further..."
Han Xiao is currently level 221, and at level 225 he can trigger the [Apostle Mechanic] job change. Once he changes jobs, his virtual technology will be enhanced again.
The experience panel contains a massive amount of experience. Since there was nothing urgent before, Han Xiao had been thinking of accumulating experience to make a final push. Now that he has a need for it, he won't delay.
The nights on Planet Maixibo's are as bustling as day, with interstellar travelers reveling and partying all night long. Their spaceships, trailing colorful flames, fly between skyscrapers, painting the night sky with neon lights, creating a vibrant night scene—this is the life of interstellar citizens indulging in sensual pleasures.
The nightlife here is vibrant, so no one stopped Han Xiao from sneaking out of the dormitory at the Summit Keystone Group.
He arrived at the ground port, returned to his rented hangar, boarded the spaceship, and entered the dedicated combat training room to avoid attracting attention with the commotion caused by his advancement.
After closing the door to the practical training room, Han Xiao opened the panel and, without hesitation, directly used his experience reserves to upgrade.
I quickly reached level 225, but got stuck on the [Apostle Mechanic] job change quest.
Han Xiao had spent seven years accumulating Mission Settlement Card, so he naturally had some left over and directly settled the job change task.
The next moment, my brain was jolted.
[You used Mission Settlement Card!]
[Your job change quest is complete!]
[You have obtained the new profession [Mechanic Emperor] Lv1, with Strength +300, Agility +5, Endurance +8, Intelligence +12. You have gained 10 free attribute points and 1 potential point.]
You have acquired the [Mechanical Emperor] feat!
[You have mastered the skill [Emperor-Level Mechanical Affinity] using the picture book!]
[You have learned the skill [Emperor's Gift]!]
[You have learned the skill [Quantum Non-Distance Transmission Channel (Inactive)]!]
[You have learned the skill [Secondary Dimension March (Not Activated)]!]
[You have learned the skill [Mechanical Force - Royal Authority (Not Activated)]!]
[You have learned the skill [King's Army (Not Activated)]!]
[All your virtual technology skills and expertise will have their effectiveness increased by 35%]