Shattered World, the Dawn Star Cluster.
Han Xiao's main ship passed through the stargate, instantly traversing the vast, Desolate Universe Belt, and leaping directly from the Shattered Star Ring to the Shattered World.
An Imperial fleet was also stationed on the other side of the stargate.
Han Xiao gazed out the window, his eyes sweeping over the dense, patchy starlight.
Unlike the bustling starfield of memory, the Shattered World today is still desolate and primitive, with little trace of development. The quantum network is silent, lacking the lively scene of the Explored Universe. At this moment, the only quantum network signal that can be connected is the Empire's military base station channel, indicating that this new starfield is not yet open to the outside world.
"Beep beep..."
The main ship had just passed through the stargate when it received a communication request from the Imperial military.
After the connection was established, a 3D projection appeared in front of everyone, showing an elderly imperial officer, who was not a stranger.
Hila glanced at the densely packed badges on the man's body, then at the rank insignia on his uniform cuffs, and concluded that this guy was an Imperial General, a high-ranking military officer.
The man's gaze was fixed on Han Xiao. He nodded slightly, showing no air of authority, and smiled gently before speaking:
"I am Tarrokov, Commander-in-Chief of the Shattered World Development Force, Lord Black Star. Welcome to the Dawn Star Cluster."
"Commander-in-Chief." Han Xiao nodded.
Tarrokov was also a familiar face. Back in the 4.0 version of the previous game, when players were active in the Shattered World, Tarrokov was the commander-in-chief of the Imperial forces stationed in the Shattered World. At that time, many of the Empire's expansion missions were issued in the form of military documents, all signed by Tarrokov. He was the highest-ranking person in charge of the Empire in the Shattered World, and all Imperial missions were issued by him, so players were naturally familiar with him.
Now that he was leading a team to explore the Shattered World, Tarrokov was essentially a half-superior, acting as the empire's liaison with its many allies and relaying the empire's orders to them. Han Xiao knew he would be dealing with this guy for a long time.
Fortunately, Tarrokov was a senior military leader and a moderate. He was known for his composure and was easy to get along with. It was for this reason that the Empire sent him to oversee the affairs of the Shattered World.
"Enough with the unnecessary words. Heber's War Realm and Krent arrived in Shattered World the day before yesterday. Take your troops and come here as soon as possible. Once you arrive, we will discuss and decide on the plan for on-site exploration."
"Good."
Han Xiao responded, Tarrokov then cut off the communication.
Opening the 3D star map, the current map of the Shattered World is displayed before everyone. Only the Dawn Star Region is marked as explored in green, indicating that the star map is relatively complete. However, more than 90% of the other areas are a hazy gray, lacking detailed information.
The Empire built outposts in the Dawn Star Cluster, with the main outpost located on a planet on the edge of the Dawn Star Cluster bordering the unexplored areas. This planet was a vital transportation route and was named Lighthouse Star, symbolizing a beacon guiding explorers back home.
This is the meeting point marked by Tarrokov.
"It will still take some time for the entire fleet to pass through the stargate." Aurora swiped a few times on the control panel, bringing up the countdown to the full mobilization calculated by the AI.
Sylvia, Melos, Reynold, Lagi, and other high-ranking officers remained in the Shattered Star Ring to oversee the Legion headquarters. Han Xiao only took a portion of the Legion's senior officers with him, such as Hila, Fording, Hadavy, and other guards. Most of them were usually in idle positions, and their posts were reassigned to different tasks within the exploration units.
Aurora's various elective courses came in handy as she became Han Xiao's administrative secretary, handling miscellaneous tasks.
"Phillip, plan out the route," Han Xiao said.
"Okay, hum."
A glowing line immediately appeared on the star map, marking the fastest route to Lighthouse Star.
The Empire was well aware of the importance of transportation and deployed a large number of military stargate passages in the Dawn Star Cluster, all marked on the star map to facilitate frequent jumps and greatly shorten the travel distance within the star cluster, achieving a level of transportation convenience comparable to the Central Galaxy. However, this was only a temporary situation during the closed exploration period. Han Xiao knew that once the Shattered World opened, the Empire would reclaim some of the military passages.
Han Xiao thought for a moment and then instructed, "Send out several engineering fleets and have them leave the main force to lay out our legion's quantum communication base stations within the Dawn Star Cluster. Don't hide it from the Empire; just say it's to facilitate communication between us and the people at the Shattered Star Ring headquarters."
The quantum network permeates the Explored Universe, relying on countless ubiquitous base stations and network nodes. The Shattered World, however, has not yet completed its infrastructure and is not yet connected to the Explored Universe quantum network, currently relying solely on the Empire's nodes and base stations for communication. Han Xiao's move is to establish network base stations for his legion here, planting his own eyes and Mouthpiece. Once the star field opens up, this will essentially become a natural intelligence channel—a right generally reserved for advanced civilizations.
Currently, this is one of the benefits for the Empire's allies, and the Empire will not stop them—as long as they don't dismantle the Empire's base stations and replace them with their own, they will just let it be.
One after another, the legion's warships passed through the stargate, and soon all the troops and personnel assembled in the Shattered World, immediately jumping out and heading towards Lighthouse Star.
There were no outsiders in the Dawn Star Cluster for the time being, and the fleet traveled smoothly for several days, passing through several dozen military stargates connecting various strongholds, traversing the entire Dawn Star Cluster, and finally, Lighthouse Star came into view in the distance.
Outside the porthole, what appeared before everyone's eyes was a planet surrounded by a dense array of warships.
This tiny planet now gathers three forces: the Imperial Direct Exploration Team, the War Realm Exploration Team, and the Krent Empire Exploration Team, plus the belated Black Star Army Exploration Team, bringing the total number of spaceships to over 100 million!
It's spectacular!
In the minds of many officers, this scene was second only to the grand spectacle of the corps commander's duel with Heber.
The Imperial direct forces were the largest, possessing extremely advanced cosmic-level civilization productivity, accounting for about 70% of the total number of spaceships.
Several stargate stations exist not far from the planet, but they are not activated at this time.
The surface of Lighthouse Star was covered with machinery and metal, with not a trace of soil exposed. The Imperial exploration team used the Empire's famous foolproof planetary base expansion pack on Lighthouse Star, using high pressure to flatten the land, increase the planet's density, and modify the landform and crust, directly turning this planet into a planetary military fortress.
The fleet remained in outer space. Han Xiao, along with his personal guards, boarded a small spaceship and landed at the ground dock on Lighthouse Star.
laugh--
The hatch opened.
Han Xiao stepped onto the metal dock, his gaze sweeping over the rows of metal buildings, finally settling on the most conspicuous building in the distance.
This is a towering tower that reaches the heavens, thousands of meters high, standing out from the crowd. All the surrounding buildings look like dwarfs at the feet of a giant in front of this towering tower—this is the headquarters of the Lighthouse Star.
Officers were already waiting at the dock. After giving a military salute, they invited Han Xiao and his group to board a ground vehicle and head to the headquarters of Lighthouse Star.
Whoosh... The group traveled through the base complex on the surface in vehicles, the wind whistling through them.
Han Xiao observed for a moment and found that the ground buildings were mainly hangars and supply warehouses, with countless vehicles and mechanical assistants like a swarm of industrious ants, transporting truckloads of supplies.
"Lighthouse Star is the logistics base for the exploration forces, and it stores a large amount of supplies."
Seeing that everyone was looking around, the accompanying officer began to explain.
Han Xiao nodded. The three star clusters to be explored in the first phase are Renault, Gaolu, and Crown Ring, all of which are adjacent to the Dawn Star Cluster. Lighthouse Star guards the transportation route and is the best transit station.
The ground journey was short, and the group quickly entered the Lighthouse Star headquarters. They took the anti-gravity levitation elevator all the way to the central floor of the headquarters, about 1,400 meters above the ground.
Following the instructions, Han Xiao entered a huge strategic conference room. There were already many people in the room. Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and immediately spotted Heber, whose size was as large as a small mountain and was the most conspicuous.
Heber also turned his head and looked over. His eyes met Han Xiao's, but his expression was neither sad nor happy. He remained seated and nodded casually as a greeting.
Behind him stood the eight Vanguard Officers of the War Realm, all casting unfriendly glances at Han Xiao.
In particular, Chief Vanguard Officers Fosters seemed to want to stab Han Xiao with his gaze, his eyes blazing with fury.
Enemies meeting are bound to be hostile. Although the Black Star Army and the War Realm reached a ceasefire agreement, agreeing to keep to themselves during the exploration period, the War Realm's cadres' hostility towards Han Xiao will not diminish in the slightest.
"Snort."
Seeing this, Hila's face darkened, and she stepped forward, followed by her guards, who all stared intently at Heber's vanguard Vanguard Officers.
Han Xiao's personal guards and Heber's Vanguard Officers faced off, their gazes like laser beams, as if they were about to collide and spark in mid-air.
Hila and Fosters locked eyes, an invisible hostility rising between them, and the atmosphere became tense.
Once, when Han Xiao attended the Tyrant's Gathering for the second time, Fosters challenged one of Han Xiao's subordinates. Hila, as the captain of the guards, accepted the challenge. However, Heber appeared and reprimanded Fosters, preventing the two from fighting.
When they met again, the incident resurfaced in both of their minds.
One was the chief Vanguard Officers in the War Realm, and the other was the captain of the Black Star Army's guard. Regardless of their identities, status, or strength, they were naturally opposed. Whoever defeated the other would have the advantage over the other's camp. The two men had cold expressions and secretly listed each other as enemies they were destined to fight.
Now that Aurora has ample security, Hila works for Han Xiao not only to repay him but also to become stronger. Because of her past experience of being controlled by others, she has an obsessive pursuit of power. Although she did not go to extremes like in her previous life, she still does not give up the opportunity to challenge the strong.
Han Xiao didn't take it seriously, waved his hand, and told the guards to step back.
A fight is impossible under the empire's nose, so let's not waste time staring at each other. Even if we stare until our eyes are sore, we won't kill them.
Seeing that the two sides had calmed down, Han Xiao smiled at Heber:
"You're here early."
I don't like being late like you do.
Heber gave a lukewarm response.
He regarded Han Xiao as an equal, but he had no intention of making a deep reconciliation or becoming friends, and was determined to go his separate ways.
The two sides harbor deep resentment, only reluctantly becoming allies due to the Empire's influence. Although they are currently at peace, they remain rivals in their exploration of the Shattered World.
Since they were business rivals, Heber didn't want to be too friendly. His previous initiative to make peace with the Black Star Army had already damaged his prestige in the War Realm, and he didn't want people to think he was truly afraid of Black Star.
Han Xiao laughed heartily, seeing right through Heber's thoughts, and didn't bother to argue.
--My Little Tyrant has been having a tough time lately, let's not rub it in.
Ignoring Heber, Han Xiao turned to Tarrokov, who was standing next to the strategic analysis board, and smiled, "Commander-in-Chief, we finally meet."
"Lord Black Star, Suy may have said those words, but I will repeat them again: on behalf of the Empire, I welcome you to join us."
While Han Xiao and Heber were bickering, Tarrokov had been watching with great interest without saying a word. Now that Han Xiao spoke, he smiled and replied with a polite remark.
"It seems we'll be colleagues for a long time to come." Han Xiao extended his hand to shake Tarrokov's.
"Please have a seat." Tarrokov smiled and gestured for a seat.
Han Xiao nodded and led his men to sit down. He and Heber's men sat on opposite sides of the room, separated by the Krent Empire's forces, as if separated by a Chu-Han border.
The leader of the Krent Empire was an unfamiliar man who appeared to be in a high position. He didn't give Han Xiao a friendly look and didn't bother to greet him.
Compared to Krent, Heber's grudges were nothing. Krent's ten-year plan was completely overturned, and his ten-year Secret War was ended by Han Xiao. The resources invested yielded no returns whatsoever...
Thank goodness my underwear exploded!
Hate the Amethyst Civilization? They practically won without lifting a finger, they didn't even have to lift a finger.
Hate the Crimson Dynasty? As if I dare to say that!
Hate the War Realm?
Wake up!
Therefore, all the hatred could only be directed at Han Xiao.
If the level of hostility towards Han Xiao in the War Realm are two stars, then Krent's is at least ten stars, hating him to the bone and wishing he could gnaw him on like a rib.
"Now that everyone's here, let's begin."
Tarrokov ignored the animosity between the three parties, opened the strategic analysis panel behind him, pulled up the unexplored star maps of the Renault, Gaolu, and Crown Ring, and slammed his hand on the table.
"These three star clusters are the targets for the first phase of development: the War Realm and Krent will explore Renault, the Imperial direct forces will explore the Crown Ring, and the Black Star Army will explore Gaolu. These are the targets you have already chosen. Now I will talk about the specific precautions... The exploration tasks are very complicated, but in essence, they can be divided into several key points."
Tarrokov held up a few fingers and said slowly:
"Star map creation and large-scale deployment of regional observation buoys, transportation network construction, transfer station and base construction, improvement of detailed information on various planets... and resource collection."
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao nodded. These were the main objectives, but there was far too much work to be done. They needed to develop the map and construct the site simultaneously, covering a terrifyingly large area. The reason for bringing so many people was to divide the work into multiple groups and expedite the process.
At this point, Tarrokov added, "The Empire has the largest manpower. To ensure progress, we will assign some troops to accompany the three parties and provide assistance."
Han Xiao's heart skipped a beat. The Imperial troops accounted for 70% of the force, so it was normal to allocate some personnel to them. However, providing manpower was only one reason; there was also the implication of surveillance.
The Empire is willing to allow its allies to explore and share the benefits, but it does not completely relinquish control. It sends over supervisors to prevent allies from concealing or falsely reporting the discovery of resources, to stop any attempts to monopolize resources, and to ensure the authenticity and accuracy of the exploration results.
"The Empire has invested a lot of resources, so it's only natural that it would take the lion's share of the resources in the new star field..." Han Xiao pondered to himself.
However, the extent to which explorers can gain additional benefits remains a subject of much discussion...
Others don't know what's on unexplored planets; they can only explore them one by one, which is entirely based on luck.
Han Xiao didn't know the situation of most planets either. Although he was a veteran player in his previous life, he wasn't so abnormal as to remember the information of every single planet... However, he was very clear about some very famous and unique planets in the Shattered World.
This means that he doesn't need to explore; he already knows which planets are incredibly fertile.
"Hmm..."
Han Xiao stroked his chin, lost in thought.