Shattered World, in the central part of the Gaolu Star Cluster.
Since the player expedition team received the legacy of the Great Cosmos Corps and set up the long-distance stargate, Han Xiao has led the fleet to the central region of the star map. The famous planets in the central star cluster are more numerous and of better quality than those in the border star systems.
Among them is Golden Shimmer Planet, listed among the "Two Hundred Shining Main Stars," which was extremely prosperous in its previous life. It was the first-tier ruling star of the Empire in the Gaolu Star Cluster and one of the distinctive landmark planets of the Shattered World, attracting many people every year. There is also Planet Resenda, the core transportation hub of the Gaolu Star Cluster in its previous life. At its peak, it had more than five hundred stargate entrances and was the transportation heart of the star cluster, with convenient access in all directions, making it a strategic location.
In addition, Han Xiao also occupied a large number of famous resource planets that were known for producing various rare raw materials in his previous life.
In the past, these famous planets held a very important position in the Gaolu Star Cluster. Perhaps after the Shattered World opens in the future, the Empire will reclaim these planets and redistribute the territory. However, during the exploration period, these planets belong to the Black Star Army, and the Legion has the right to share the planet's special products, which is enough to accumulate a huge amount of rare resources.
The exploration has been underway for four months, and the progress of each exploration team is roughly the same. The War Realm is making steady progress and is almost finished exploring the Jerrydon Star System. Although they have made considerable gains, the results are all within the Empire's expectations, and things are proceeding smoothly without any major incidents. In contrast, although Han Xiao's exploration team has made slower progress in the first system due to their dispersed exploration strategy, Han Xiao has found a large number of famous planets from his previous life, which has given the Empire's high command quite a surprise.
Therefore, the empire favored him greatly and provided him with increasing support.
Han Xiao had heard rumors more than once that the Krent exploration team had secretly followed his method and sent teams to explore planets in other regions, but unfortunately they knew nothing about the specific conditions of the planets, gained nothing, and wasted their time.
Over the past four months, the benefits of Shattered World have gradually become apparent. The Black Star Army's profits from Shattered World have almost reached the sum of the Legion's other businesses, with batches of resources stockpiled in various warehouses.
As more planets are explored by the Legion, the profits continue to snowball.
Countless unclaimed planets await exploitation; that's why the Shattered World represents a tremendous opportunity for development.
The legion's profits surged, Shattered World Exploration Team fed back into the Shattered Star Ring base camp. With ample funds, Sylvia, at Han Xiao's instruction, continued to expand, recruiting more new members who were drawn in. The training camp also provided a large influx of fresh blood, and the base camp sent more manpower to the exploration team.
As for the players, with the increasing number of resource planets, guilds are running out of manpower and have begun to selectively mine resource points. The best resource planets are basically controlled by the four major guilds, followed by the first-tier guilds. The Russian and Australian guilds have been bullied enough and no longer want to play on the same planets as the four major guilds and the first-tier Huaxia guilds, so they have chosen some less desirable planets to establish resource points and compete with the second and third-tier Huaxia guilds.
Over the past four months, the average player level has increased significantly. Among them, Maple Moon has become the highest-level player, reaching level 113, just 7 levels away from the maximum level, thanks to the generous rewards from the hidden quest.
With Maple Moon's story as an example, other players frantically searched for the hidden quest, and some actually found it and handed it over to their faction. Unfortunately, a second [Bold Explorer] skill fragment reward has not yet appeared.
Han Xiao hasn't been idle for the past four months. The experience penalty period for the Evolution Cube will last for another seven or eight months, so he's not in a hurry to level up.
Besides monitoring the exploration progress and browsing the forums every day, I spend all my time in the mechanical workshop, constantly expanding the size of the mechanical army.
Currently, the number of mechanical soldiers exceeds ten million, and their performance is extremely powerful. With his current high-intensity Mechanical Force enhancement, such a mechanical legion is capable of annihilating some relatively weak galaxy-level civilizations.
Among the Five Superpower Systems, the Beyond Grade A powerhouses of the Mechanic Class are the most destructive to civilizations. The other four systems place more emphasis on individual power, and generally only Beyond Grade A Mechanic Class who control legions can single-handedly instigate large-scale interstellar wars.
In the bridge command room, Han Xiao was standing in front of the 3D star map, staring at the communication channel, waiting for a special message.
Today is a special day. Hadavy's task force is about to complete the construction of the long-distance stargate passage, and he has been waiting for news from Hadavy.
However, before Hadavy's message arrived, Tarrokov's message came first.
Beep beep.
Han Xiao glanced at it and reluctantly answered the phone.
"Commander-in-Chief, what is it?"
"I have something to inform you; we've discovered traces of illegal immigrants."
"Smugglers?" Han Xiao's heart skipped a beat. "Probably those forces that ignored the Empire's announcement and wanted to enter the sealed-off Shattered World to get a share of the spoils."
This event occurred during a version update in the previous life, and players could only learn about it from the background information without experiencing it firsthand. By the time players participated, the Shattered World had already officially opened, other factions had obtained entry permits, and stowaways were basically a thing of the past.
In the Empire's records, they engaged in a protracted struggle with the stowaways during their exploration, with various chases and escapes. However, the star field was too vast, with many unexplored areas, and even the Empire could not eradicate the stowaways. They would kill one group, only for a new group to emerge after a period of time.
Tarrokov nodded. "They should be troops from some supercluster-level civilization. Keep an eye out for them. If you spot any stowaways, remember to report it to me. We need to find their secret stargate, and we'll have your troops help if necessary."
"OK."
As soon as he finished speaking, a new task popped up on the panel. Han Xiao glanced at it.
[You have triggered the quest [Clues to the Stowaways] (Repeatable)!]
[Mission Brief: The New Starfield is a treasure trove, and no power capable of getting a piece of it is willing to watch the Crimson Dynasty monopolize its benefits. Even though the Shattered World is nominally the territory of the Crimson Dynasty, it cannot stop their ambitions. As an ally of the Empire, the stowaways are infringing upon your interests, and the Empire needs your help.]
[Mission Requirements: Submit a valuable lead on the stowaways, eliminate a group of stowaways, and destroy the stowaways' secret stargate.]
[Task Rewards: 2 million to 50 million experience points, 50 to 700 Imperial Contribution Points]
[Note: This quest belongs to the [Shattered World] sub-quest]
This is a repeatable task, and you get a reward every time you deal with smugglers. The reward is decent, but what Han Xiao values most is the contribution to the empire.
However, these stowaways are elusive and not easy to find; it's a matter of luck. Moreover, these stowaways are not natives; if they establish a secret stargate, eliminating them would face a counterattack from a powerful fleet.
Han Xiao only intended to provide clues; he had no desire to fight with a supercluster-level civilization. The Empire, on the other hand, was not afraid of offending them and was well-suited for this task.
"There must be members of the Arcane Church among these illegal immigrants..." Han Xiao pondered to himself.
Iso prophesied that the Arcane Church would bring him danger in the Shattered World, and he was quite concerned about this.
"If the Arcane Church wants to deal with me, they will definitely send a large number of troops. Because they need to stockpile troops, they probably won't be able to take action in the short term. However, I still need to be more vigilant recently," Han Xiao thought to himself.
Sisko can locate himself, the Arcane Church will definitely want him to join, so paying attention to Sisko's whereabouts can indirectly tell when the Arcane Church will make its move.
Unfortunately, the Observation Mark he left on Sisko had already been removed, otherwise things would have been much easier. Although Sisko couldn't remove the Observation Mark himself, he could sense that he was being watched. He knew that Black Star had tampered with him when they fought, and it had been more than half a year. He couldn't have ignored it for so long, so he had asked the Arcane Church to remove the Observation Mark for him long ago. Austin wasn't the only Beyond Grade A mage.
Han Xiao shared his concerns with Tarrokov, Tarrokov smiled slightly, as if he had expected it.
"The Empire has also considered this possibility. The Arcane Church might take advantage of your presence in the Shattered World to steal your Evolution Cube. Therefore, the Empire will closely monitor the movements of the Arcane Church's Beyond Grade A members... Furthermore, His Majesty the Führer is preparing to deploy a second batch of personnel to the Shattered World, which includes many Imperial allies. He will also send a direct Imperial Beyond Grade A member to accompany you and temporarily protect you."
Han Xiao's eyes flashed; the second batch of allies... these competitors were finally arriving.
Out of consideration for the Evolution Cube, the Empire specially sent someone to protect him closely. However, Han Xiao knew that the Empire would rather he not take the Evolution Cube around.
After obtaining that unclaimed Universal Treasure, I'll return to Lighthouse Star for a while... Han Xiao thought to himself.
Knowing that the enemy was likely to target him, Han Xiao decided to play it safe, since the Arcane Church was still quite formidable.
To be on the safe side, staying at the Empire's outpost Lighthouse Star, is much safer than wandering around. Besides, it's still safe to be stationed on the Shattered World, allowing me to support the Legion and oversee its explorations.
"Please Urranrell Head of State Ulanriel for his attention." Though his mind was elsewhere, Han Xiao didn't forget to offer a polite greeting.
"Haha, the Führer recently reviewed our exploration progress, and she was very satisfied with your findings, specifically expressing her praise for you," Tarrokov laughed.
After chatting patiently for a while, Han Xiao finally hung up the call.
Just then, news of Hadavy finally arrived.
After a four-month wait, the stargate tunnel has finally been completed!
"Here you go!"
Han Xiao. With the passage now available, he could finally retrieve the unclaimed Universal Treasure from the Shattered World.
Hadavy's message also expressed his resentment; he was very unhappy that he hadn't sparred with Han Xiao for four months and wanted to return to Han Xiao's side immediately to be beaten up. Han Xiao was in a good mood and decided to give Hadavy three beatings every day after he returned, exceeding his expectations.
Han Xiao immediately ordered the main fleet to change direction and head towards the stargate passage.
The news quickly reached Seniko. By this time, he had become accustomed to the Black Star headquarters' unpredictable operations and was no longer surprised or suspicious.