After a period of vigilance, the Sorokin did not reappear.
"We forced him to retreat?" Beoni's voice came through the communication channel, his tone full of doubt, as if he couldn't believe it.
Ames gazed at the one-sided battlefield in the distance and shook her head. "He doesn't even want the fleet anymore?"
"They're all wanted criminals, no good at all," Han Xiao said slowly. "Every minute, every second, new criminals are born in every corner of the universe, and countless people come seeking his protection. His manpower is endless. How much can the Sorokin care about the lives of his subordinates? If he cared, he wouldn't have used his subordinates as bait."
Without the Sorokin, the Fallen Ark scattered and fled, Pursuit relentlessly by the Imperial forces. The Pursuit was left to the Imperial forces, and the three of them did not engage the warships, instead flying back to a secondary ship.
The main ship was destroyed by the Sorokin, and Mu Lieriqi transferred to this secondary ship to take command. As soon as the three of them entered the spaceship, they encountered several soldiers who had been waiting by the hatch.
"Third, Your Excellencies, the Commander requests your presence on the bridge." The soldier was somewhat nervous. All the soldiers on the spaceship had witnessed the three men's confrontation with the Sorokin's true form and were deeply impressed by their immense power.
"So this guy's willing to let us into the command center now?" Han Xiao chuckled, stepping forward as the soldiers hurriedly followed to lead the way.
The three men passed through numerous passageways and entered the bridge command room. Mu Lieriqi was staring intently at the tactical view, talking incessantly and issuing orders to maximize the gains. When he turned and saw Han Xiao and the other two enter, his expression turned serious, and he hurriedly came to their side.
"Lord Black Star, you saved my life, thank you! What happened before was my fault, I'm very sorry!" Mu Lieriqi said solemnly, bowing deeply. His attitude was completely different from his previous arrogance, now respectful beyond measure.
Having been saved by Black Star, even if he was arrogant, he no longer put on airs towards his savior.
Han Xiao squinted at him, but didn't take the opportunity to back down. He said calmly, "You're the commander. You can be arrogant, you can put on airs, you can have all sorts of flaws... but you can't abandon your post. The battle isn't over yet, and you're abandoning your command duties to come and apologize to us? To put it bluntly, no matter what your attitude is, it doesn't change the difference in status between you and us. Do you think we care about your apology?"
The command room fell silent; the faces of those around them changed, and they fell silent as if trembling with fear.
Mu Lieriqi was startled. He had intended to apologize sincerely, but he hadn't expected such a blunt and almost humiliating response. He felt wronged and embarrassed, and forced himself to back down, not daring to say another word, and returned to his post to continue commanding the battle.
Han Xiao turned and left without expression, and only then did the people in the room dare to breathe heavily.
Seeing this, Beoni's frustration vanished. He patted Han Xiao on the shoulder and laughed, "This kind of Imperial officer, relying on his status, doesn't know how to respect the strong. He deserves to be taught a lesson like this."
Han Xiao glanced at him and secretly shook his head. He wasn't annoyed by Mu Lieriqi's attitude. If it were just him alone, he could just laugh it off. But it wasn't just his problem. Ames wasn't an ally of the Empire. She had kindly followed him to help, but was treated like this. He couldn't pretend nothing had happened.
So even if Mu Lieriqi offered his backside, he would still Warning him away, taking the opportunity to teach the guy a lesson and crush Mu Lieriqi's pride and sense of superiority. Ames was not an ally of the Empire and had no right to speak like that; only he could stand up for her. Even if she hadn't asked, Han Xiao would have done so.
Ames sized up Han Xiao with interest. "Oh, this is the first time I've seen you put on airs with your Beyond Grade A status. Kid, you've finally gotten cocky?"
Han Xiao glanced at her, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Don't tell me you don't like it."
"You're so clever." Ames shook her head and chuckled, then stretched out her long, slender, white fingers and gently pushed Han Xiao's cheek.
"You can talk, but don't touch me like that." Han Xiao sighed, tilted his head, grabbed Ames's hand, and pressed it down.
They chatted casually about the battle they had just fought. After returning to the house, Han Xiao went into a room alone, closed the door, and finally had a moment to catch his breath and reflect on the experience.
He felt he had gained a lot from this trial.
They came to participate in the routine cleanup, ostensibly to complete tasks and increase their contribution points, as well as to clarify their stance and distance themselves from the Sorokin.
The hidden objective was twofold: first, to test the combat strength of the Sorokin's true form.
Master Han was full of self-confidence. He had hidden the Evolution Cube beforehand because he didn't think he was a match for the Sorokin. But since they were both Beyond Grade A, he wouldn't be too cowardly and still had the qualifications to fight the Sorokin.
Since he was now at odds with the Sorokin, and with allies by his side, Han Xiao took the initiative to test the other party's strength this time, personally experiencing the difference in power between himself and the Sorokin, so that he would be prepared and not caught off guard if they met again in the future.
The test had yielded results. The Sorokin gave him the feeling of being as unfathomable as a vast ocean, and today it had only revealed a drop in the ocean, putting him under great pressure.
"Levels, specializations, and Ultimate Knowledge all need to keep up, and the mechanical legion also needs to continue to expand," Han Xiao thought to himself.
The ability of Beyond Grade A Mechanic's legion to embark on expeditions stems not only from their own capabilities but also from enhancing the size and strength of their mechanical forces. Now that they have obtained the Ultimate Knowledge and activated [King's Army], they can properly cultivate their mechanical legion and carry forward the style of the Beyond Grade A Mechanic.
The first purpose of personally contacting the Sorokin was to plant a spy on him.
The Sorokin possesses numerous abilities, but it is not a magician after all. Even with only a tiny chance, it's necessary to try to know if it can succeed. Han Xiao, with a try-it-out mentality, secretly threw an Observation Mark at the Sorokin during the battle. Unfortunately, the other party could indeed detect the Observation Mark and slapped it away.
Han Xiao wasn't too disappointed. It was a gamble after all; success would be a pleasant surprise, but he was prepared for failure.
"Ding'er."
Just then, a notification popped up on the panel indicating that the task was completed.
Han Xiao's heart skipped a beat.
"Is the battle finally over?"
Open the panel and look at the prompt:
[[Empire Campaign: Fallen Ark (Repeatable)] Completed!]
[Your completed objectives include: [Elite Soldier], [Fierce General], [Scavenger]... [Confront the Sorokin I], [Confront the Sorokin II], [Confront the Sorokin III], [Confront the Sorokin IV]]
[Task Evaluation: Incredible]
[You have received an incredible rating reward: an additional 900,000 experience points, and two random rewards.]
"Quite a lot of experience." Han Xiao was in a good mood. Missions involving Beyond Grade A characters always offered extremely generous experience rewards, just like when he dealt with Heber.
This mission yielded a total of nearly 30 billion experience points! Even for someone his level, that's a lot. The majority of the rewards came from the branches related to the Sorokin, which he could easily complete, but were incredibly difficult for other players.
Han Xiao glanced at the settlement notification and a smile crept onto his face. He had made a killing this time, earning over 8,000 contribution points to the Crimson Dynasty, enough to exchange for an Ultimate Knowledge.
Han Xiao stored the two random rewards and looked at the description of the Sorokin character card from the [Facing the Sorokin IV] reward.
[Character Summon Card - Sorokin: [Superpower - Superpower Silence] - Suppresses the target's superpower genes through close contact, preventing them from using their superpowers. Requires the target to be a superpowered individual for this to take effect. The success rate and duration of control depend on the difference in character levels, stamina levels, and luck attributes between the two parties. If effective, the minimum control time is 0.25 seconds, with a maximum usage of 0/2.]
"Superpower Silence?" Han Xiao's eyes widened as he remembered that this was the superpower that the Sorokin had used on Beoni.
The Sorokin possess numerous abilities, and only one type can be drawn from the character cards. Drawing this particular ability will greatly benefit him, making his gesture of touching Fording before the battle worthwhile.
Han Xiao pondered. This character card's ability was a perfect counter to the Sorokin, which was an unexpected bonus. However, the gap between himself and the Sorokin was huge, making it almost impossible to successfully judge him.
Perhaps, this character card will only be useful to the Sorokin once its level catches up with the Sorokin.
Han Xiao's gaze hardened, and he put the character card away, keeping it as a trump card.
"By severing ties with the Sorokin, I've eliminated some potential threats, and I've achieved my goal for this trip... Next, I can exchange for Ultimate Knowledge, and then I should rejoin the main legion and contact the players in the Constellation Corridor."
Having achieved one of his two goals in the Central Galaxy, Han Xiao planned his next itinerary Central Galaxy.
"Oh, right, there's one more thing..."
Han Xiao thought for a moment. He was quite interested in the wormhole that the Sorokin had mentioned and wanted to know what the Sorokin was planning.
"Once we return to the Shattered Star Ring, we'll find time to visit the civilization where Harofal lives and see if we can get our Sorokin are after that data... Unfortunately, that guy was killed by the Sorokin ' minions to silence him."
Han Xiao's eyes flickered.
He had a gut feeling that this matter was not simple, and might bring him a pleasant surprise...
In another room, Beoni turned on the communicator and dialed Clottey's number.
The communication was established quickly.
beep.
"Clottey, my battle is over."
"How is the situation?" Clottey asked calmly.
"We encountered the true form of the Sorokin..." Beoni recounted the events.
Clottey frowned, but after listening, his brow relaxed, and he nodded, saying, "So it seems the Sorokin did contact Black Star, but Black Star didn't agree. Hmm... we can't rule out the possibility they're putting on an act. Anyway, thank you for your hard work. I'll report the situation to His Majesty."
"I don't think it's acting," Beoni said on Han Xiao's behalf. "I think Black Star knows that the Empire secretly suspects him, and this is a deliberate public statement to reassure the Empire. After all, he's a newly joined Beyond Grade A ally. Even if they have suspicions, they won't make it public. They wouldn't send someone to interrogate such a big shot like him, so he needs to do this."
Clottey neither confirmed nor denied this; he was only responsible for reporting and ultimately concluded that it was Urranrell's work.
"Oh right, Black Star also asked me about the Mechanic Emperor," Beoni remembered.
"That's not strange at all," Clottey shook her head.
After saying a few more words, Beoni hung up the call, exhaling a puff of sparks.
He was not only close to the young and middle-aged military officers, but also a confidant of the Führer's faction. In addition to his intention to befriend Han Xiao, he also secretly received instructions from Urranrell to keep an eye on Black Star's actions.
In the Desolate Universe Belt Central Galaxy system, far from the battlefield, lies another fleet of Fallen Ark ships.
Above the fleet, a portal resembling a spatial vortex appeared, and the Sorokin emerged.
The main ship opened its hatches to welcome the Sorokin aboard.
Back in the main ship's lobby, the few people waiting there stood up, their voices rising and falling.
"Lord Sorokin!" "Boss!"
The Sorokin ignored them, walked to the throne, lifted his hood and robe, turned and sat down, glanced at the crowd below, and slowly spoke.
How's the research progressing on the research team's side?
"We're still matching coordinate data. We don't know how long it will take to pinpoint the exact location of the data record. That set of data is too strange; it seems to be outside the Explored Universe. Even if we have the data, without a matching target on the star map, the workload is still enormous."
"I just want the results, to pinpoint the location as soon as possible." The Sorokin said calmly, turning to his trusted aide beside him, "Contact the Arcane Church for me."
"Oh? What do you need them for?"
The man licked his lips, his purple tongue resembling a long, barbed whip. A bright red mask, as if branded onto his face with a hot iron, covered the upper half of his face, leaving only his mouth and chin exposed, without even eyeholes. He was an upright, non-human creature, about 1.7 meters tall, with a hunched back like an old man. He had thick, dark purple skin, rough like sandpaper, and two pairs of upper limbs and one pair of lower limbs. He was emaciated, his limbs resembling withered purple tree branches. He wore a trendy beggar's hood, similar to those worn by Sorokin, and exuded an eerie and sinister aura.
Harkison, nicknamed "Purple Nightmare," was one of the Beyond Grade A Seed in the Central Galaxy many years ago. He was once a super wanted criminal Pursuit by a cosmic civilization, but later joined the Fallen Ark and has been an important cadre under the Sorokin for hundreds of years.
"Tell the people of the Arcane Church that they want the data left behind by the Evolutionary Civilization, right? You can give it to them."
"What are the conditions?" Harkison tilted his head.
"Cooperate to seize the Evolution Cube, and tell them that if they succeed, the Evolution Cube is theirs. I only need to use it a few times; I won't fight them for it," the Sorokin said slowly.
Having learned his lesson the hard way, and not wanting to repeat the same mistake, he decided to use Sisko's ability to sense the Evolution Cube. Since Cisco had slaughtered the Star Pupil Protoss, Sisko wouldn't cooperate with him. Therefore, the Sorokin planned to negotiate secretly with the Arcane Church. As long as the Arcane Church gave the word, he could secretly borrow Sisko's abilities.
The Arcane Church harbors an unusual enthusiasm for the Evolution Cube. Ever since the Sorokin stole the cube from Sisko, revealing to others that he possessed data on the Evolutionary Civilization, the Arcane Church has secretly made many demands of him, intending to exchange it for the Evolutionary Civilization's data.
According to the Sorokin ' speculation, the Arcane Church's fanatical worship of gods is likely a major motivation for their pursuit of Evolution Cube, but the specific details are unclear.
Although the Sorokin knew he was the common enemy of the Three Universal Civilizations, since both sides shared a common goal and involved interests, there was a possibility of secret cooperation. Moreover, the negotiating partner was the Sorokin Arcane Church, the most difficult to judge in terms of stance among the Three Universal Civilizations. Compared to the Federation of Light and the Crimson Dynasty, the Arcane Church had the least killing intent towards him.
"We're going to make a deal with the Arcane Church? That's risky. If they get the chance, they might eliminate you too," Harkison said with a playful tone.
"Heh." The Sorokin smiled faintly, offering no reply, and slowly said, "I'll leave the matter to you. I need to slumber for a while."
Snap!
Harkison flicked his tongue, making a cracking sound in the air like a whip, which meant the same as snapping his fingers—that everything was fine.
The Sorokin grunted, lowered its head, its hood obscuring its face, and its countenance transformed back into a swirling vortex of black mist, entering a state of slumber.
Harkison was not surprised by this. The many superpowers of the Sorokin existed in his body in the form of genetic chains, which put a huge burden on his body. Constantly switching between different superpowers would cause his cells to age very quickly. In other words, the Sorokin's ability to absorb other people's superpowers was actually trading his lifespan for power.
The Sorokin's cellular activity has entered a period of decline, and his lifespan has reached old age. However, he possesses the superpower to suppress aging and temporarily restore youth, which requires slumber to trigger. This is why he often falls asleep. Generally speaking, after experiencing intense battles, the Sorokin will voluntarily fall asleep.
"Black Star..."
Harkison stuck out his tongue. He knew that the Sorokin had gone to negotiate with Black Star, but obviously the talks hadn't gone well, and he had returned defeated by Black Star. He couldn't help but be a little surprised.
After cleaning up the battlefield, Mu Lieriqi's troops returned to their border garrison base, and Han Xiao and his group followed suit.
The empire has millions of border garrison bases scattered along its vast borders, and the highest-ranking officer in charge of a garrison base is a lieutenant colonel.
After the battle, everyone bid farewell to the base's highest-ranking officer and left.
Han Xiao and Beoni agreed to meet again sometime, then parted ways. Beoni left alone, while Han Xiao, along with Ames and the others, boarded a spaceship and headed to the location where the Black Star Army's main force was establishing a branch.
Having taken a longer route, Han Xiao conveniently retrieved the Evolution Cube and another mechanical unit. Only after having everything back in his possession did he feel much more at ease.
Since the legion's mobile base hadn't arrived yet, and the group wasn't in a hurry, Han Xiao slowed down the travel speed. Hila and the others' first time in the Central Galaxy. They traveled along the way, stopping occasionally to visit the Crimson Dynasty's colonies and showing everyone around.
Within the Constellation Corridor, thanks to Han Xiao's identity, the group moved freely, able to use their faces anywhere.
Han Xiao kept an eye on the Constellation Corridor section of the player forum and listened to player feedback throughout the journey. Ever since he revealed his intention to come to the Constellation Corridor on the Shattered Star Ring more than half a month ago, the players here have been in a state of excitement and anticipation, hoping that the Black Star Army will cross the star field and make contact with them.
The Central Galaxy was easily accessible. While Han Xiao was still on his way, the main force of the legion, which had split up, finally arrived at its destination and descended upon the players.
Han Xiao hadn't arrived in person yet, but he could already feel the huge impact of the cross-server legion event from the Constellation Corridor section of the forum.
The players' enthusiasm exploded!