After a period of pursuit, the star map showed that the Arcane Church's forces had finally broken out of the warning range and entered Stealth mode to operate separately, causing Tarrokov to lose real-time location. Because of their previous conversation, he invited Han Xiao to the main ship to locate the enemy ship using virtual technology.
The legion commander's vehicle docked with the main ship of the pursuing force. Han Xiao led his men into the main ship's corridor and headed towards the bridge command room. Hila and the others followed closely behind, surrounding Han Xiao.
Along the way, imperial officers stopped one after another, bowing and saluting Han Xiao with awe. Han Xiao's contributions in this battle earned him the respect of the vast majority of the participants, and their lives were even saved to some extent by Black Star. The respect these imperial soldiers had for Han Xiao was tinged with gratitude.
Han Xiao smiled in response, then turned his head and noticed Hila's furrowed brows. His gaze moved downwards, and he saw a medical bandage wrapped around Hila's neck, extending down her collarbone. He couldn't see clearly beyond it, so he asked with concern:
How is your injury?
Hila shook her head. "It's just a minor injury; it'll heal in a while. Don't worry about it."
After the battle, she didn't let Aurora waste her life force healing them, and prepared to recover on her own.
Does it still hurt?
"... A little, the painkillers aren't working very well." Hila frowned. Although she was strong-willed, after spending so much time together, she wouldn't be stubborn about such a small matter.
"Then congratulations on still being alive." Han Xiao chuckled.
The group quickly arrived at the command center, where Tarrokov had been waiting for some time. Upon seeing Han Xiao, he immediately greeted him, leading him to the star map and pointing to a location, saying:
"This is the last known location of the Arcane Church fleet. We've lost real-time positioning now. Black Star, it's up to you now."
Han Xiao nodded, closed his eyes, and entered the Quantum Network Vision.
In the pitch-black expanse, as dark as the universe, the lights of quantum network nodes lit up, some near and some far, denser than the stars in the cosmos. Countless streams of information were transmitted between the nodes in an instant. A phantom-like torrent of information crashed into Han Xiao's body, whistling past without him feeling a thing.
The star map unfolded before his eyes in the form of a quantum network layer. His vision could zoom in and out, jumping between quantum nodes. Distance seemed meaningless in front of him. The [Virtual Creator] brought a qualitative leap to his virtual technology, enhancing it in all aspects, and making its range extremely terrifying.
"The Quantum Network Vision is more detailed than before, hmm... this feeling is a bit like astral projection?"
Han Xiao carefully sensed the surroundings for a while before getting down to business. He gently plucked a "string" in the spiderweb-like quantum network, and with a single movement, the whole network was affected. He carefully discerned the echoes of each quantum network node, and soon, he sensed a faint connection from the infiltration program he had left in the Arcane Church fleet.
After his brain rapidly processed the information he had received, Han Xiao opened his eyes and snapped his fingers.
Snap!
Suddenly, hundreds of red dots lit up on the star map in front of everyone, which were the Arcane Church fleets that had split Stealth.
The locations of all the squads were marked; Nowhere to Hide from him!
Tarrokov was overjoyed, "Well done!"
"Hehe, I only did some minor work." Han Xiao withdrew from the Quantum Network Vision and chuckled.
If the data transmitted back by the infiltration program left behind before learning [Virtual Creator] was likely to be detected and eliminated by the Arcane Church's fleet intelligence.
But now that he has mastered the Ultimate Knowledge of virtual technology and gained a huge boost, the infiltration program he left behind can now enter and exit the back door of the Arcane Church's fleet intelligence without being detected. This is precisely Han Xiao's original intention in learning [Virtual Creator] at this time.
Tarrokov stroked his chin and pondered:
"Location restored. All enemy actions are under our surveillance. No need to worry about them going missing... Hmm, they're using a split-force strategy, likely sacrificing a portion of their units. In that case, these sacrificial units are probably carrying fake secret stargate locations, trying to create a diversion and mislead us. The real secret stargate location should only be known to those Beyond Grade A units and the unit where the commander is located... Black Star, can you pinpoint the location of the enemy commander and the Beyond Grade A units? I suspect they might not be on the main ship."
"It's possible, but that would require the infiltration program to hack into the enemy fleet's surveillance cameras and databases, drastically increasing the risk of exposure and potential removal, resulting in the loss of our current location. Are you sure you want to take that risk?"
Han Xiao stood with his arms crossed; the intelligent defense mechanism of a cosmic-level civilization was certainly quite sophisticated.
After thinking for a moment, Tarrokov shook his head. "Let's maintain the status quo then. As long as we have a location, we can try to wipe out the entire Arcane Church's fleet... Let's give them some intelligence from the Sorokin first."
Han Xiao nodded and stopped talking. His consciousness sank into his mechanical army, and the mechanical troops he had sent out were about to make contact with the Sorokin's avatar.
On the other side of the pursuit, a small fleet carrying the empty spaceship containing the Sorokin's avatar headed to the rendezvous point. After waiting for a while in a space, streaks of warp light leaped from the darkness in the distance and stopped in front of them, revealing the true appearance of the Black Star Army's warships.
The two teams made contact, exchanged identities, and then the Black Star Army's warship docked with the empty spaceship.
A group of Imperial soldiers stationed at the empty spaceship to monitor the Sorokin's avatar waited at the hatch to welcome the envoy sent by the Beyond Grade A to oversee the situation. Each of them wore an expression of relief.
The shadow of a tree casts a long shadow over a person's reputation. This group of ordinary soldiers were monitoring the Sorokin's avatar. Even though the Sorokin's avatar did not resist, their psychological pressure was immense. It was like overestimating their own abilities and keeping company with a ferocious beast. The tension of being killed at any moment kept their nerves on edge. Now, their helpers have finally arrived.
laugh--
The hatch slid open, and the over four-meter-tall Dark Emperor walked in first, leaning on the Dark Emperor War Spear, which resembled a scepter, as if he were wearing a feathered robe. Behind him were a group of mechanical lifeforms and a large number of mechanical soldiers.
The Dark Emperor looked down at the imperial soldiers at his feet and slowly spoke:
"I am Dark Emperor, the first apostle under the Black Star Dominion, here to hand over the mission to you. From now on, the Sorokin avatar will be under our care."
"It's all yours now." The group of Imperial soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly handed over their mission, and quickly left the empty spaceship.
Dark Emperor led his troops to the cabin of the empty spaceship, where the Sorokin's avatar was located.
Behind him, Silver Flash stared indignantly at the drastically changed Dark Emperor, saying, "The Dominion is too biased towards Dark Emperor. Why should he be the first Apostle Weapon?"
"Stop complaining. Dark Emperor is the firstborn son of the Dominion, so it's inevitable that he'll be like this," said a strengthened Oathkeeper mechanical life form named "Golden Supreme" beside him. He was also among the first batch of mechanical life forms to be transformed and had a rather cold personality.
Before the two stood a streamlined, beast-like mechanical warrior called "Heavenly Wild Hunt." It turned its massive mechanical head to glance at them and slowly said, "The Dominion has his own considerations. What we must do is offer absolute loyalty. Since the Dominion is only now bestowing this power upon the Dark Emperor, then the qualifications for Apostle Weapon must be limited... Perhaps among all our brothers and sisters, only a small fraction can become Apostle Weapon."
Dark Emperor to the discussion behind him without making any comment, and soon led everyone to the cabin.
Because the energy core of this empty spaceship had been removed, energy was extremely scarce. In the dim light, the Sorokin's avatar leaned against the sofa, facing the mechanical army of the Dark Emperor.
"Black Star, you've arrived." The Sorokin's avatar spoke with a smile.
"I am the Dark Emperor. The Dominion does not wish to see you for the time being. Just convey my message to me."
The Sorokin's avatar sized up Dark Emperor, sat up straight, and spoke with a playful tone:
"Apostle Weapon? I remember Black Star didn't have this ability when we fought before. It seems he gained quite a bit in this battle... Alright, I'm not interested in talking to you. Call Black Star out."
Dark Emperor, leaning on his spear, ignored him, clearly having no intention of complying.
Seeing this, the Sorokin's clone suddenly raised its arm, the arm formed by black mist stretched out like rubber, and the fist shot out like a cannonball, the speed of the fist could not be followed by the eyes!
Clang!
The fist, imbued with supernatural power, slammed heavily onto the spear that Dark Emperor had brought horizontally, unleashing a violent shockwave that echoed and roared endlessly in the confined space!
Without saying a word, Dark Emperor channeled energy into Dark Emperor War Spear, which instantly unfolded and entered its form-unleashing mode with a loud boom.
With a vertical slash of the spear, a beam of light condensed from Psionic Energy shot out in an instant.
Brush!
The Sorokin's clone moved with astonishing speed, dodging the attack. The sofa he was sitting on was sliced in two, followed by a slicing beam that penetrated the cabin wall. The next moment, the entire empty spaceship was split in two, with a smooth break.
The mechanical troops and the Sorokin's avatar both fell into outer space, hovering and facing each other. The Imperial ships next to them hurriedly aimed their cannons at the Sorokin's avatar, ready for battle.
Dark Emperor was at the forefront, and a Mechanical Force came from the void and descended upon him. Instantly, his whole body erupted with lightning, extremely dazzling. The other mechanical troops did not receive the Mechanical Force enhancement and retreated at Dark Emperor's signal, clearly intending to fight one-on-one.
Upon seeing this Mechanical Force, the Sorokin's avatar knew that Han Xiao was watching this place. The scene before him made him realize Han Xiao's plan, and he smiled coldly to himself.
Was this a deliberate attempt to pit the Apostle Weapon against me, using me as a target to test my combat abilities?
"Hmph, since you let me evolve, I'll play with your Apostle Weapon for a while."
The next moment, the Sorokin's clone moved, shooting towards Dark Emperor like a cannonball. Its arm extended again, launching a series of fierce attacks on Dark Emperor, leaving a trail of afterimages.
This clone doesn't possess any particularly powerful superpowers, only a few abilities such as physical enhancement, body modification, and shock-absorbing contact. However, with the amplification of its rank, this Sorokin clone also possesses combat power at the Beyond Grade A- level, overwhelming the Calamity Grade.
The Dark Emperor wielded his spear and clashed with the Sorokin, engaging in a fierce battle that tumbled and rolled across this cosmic space. His mechanical body collided with the Sorokin time and again, scattering large amounts of Psionic Energy fragments.
In direct confrontation, the Dark Emperor and the Sorokin's avatar were evenly matched, neither gaining the upper hand!
The Dark Emperor War Spear condensed a dark blue energy, continuously emitting beams of Psionic Energy. The Sorokin, like a piece of clay, constantly changed its shape, dodging various attacks. The Sorokin's attacks were also avoided by the Dark Emperor through splitting, transforming into agile floating guards that could attack by combining only body parts, making them extremely difficult to hit.
The two sides traded blows, neither gaining the upper hand, much to the astonishment of the mechanical beings who had been ordered to watch from the sidelines.
Previously, they were merely cannon fodder of slightly higher rank in the face of Beyond Grade A, but now, Dark Emperor possesses the combat power to directly confront Beyond Grade A.
"Is this the power of the Apostle Weapon...?"
Many mechanical beings, including Silver Flash, felt an even stronger urge to identify themselves as Apostle Weapon.
The two sides clashed again, exploding into a large cloud of light debris, and Dark Emperor and the Sorokin's avatar retreated simultaneously.
At this moment, the Mechanical Force on Dark Emperor's body disappeared, signifying that the sparring had come to an end.
Seeing this, the Sorokin's avatar stopped attacking; he had come to discuss business.
The group returned to another Black Star Army spaceship and entered the cabin. As soon as the Sorokin avatar sat down, Han Xiao's remote projection appeared, sitting opposite him and staring at him calmly.
Seeing this, the Sorokin's avatar laughed:
"Black Star, thanks to you this time, I finally evolved."
Han Xiao crossed his arms and snorted, "You came to see me just to say something like that?"
"Of course not."
The Sorokin's avatar waved his hand, he was in a very good mood, and chuckled:
"I wanted to ask you, you've already obtained that wormhole data, right? What results have you found?"
This guy really did deliberately reveal the anomaly in that set of data back then, indirectly helping him with his research by leveraging my connections... Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.
The Sorokin believed he was the only one who knew of the existence of the World Tree Civilization, and thus felt a sense of superiority in intelligence.
Even now, the Sorokin still believes that Han Xiao only studied that set of wormhole data out of caution, unaware that Han Xiao also knows about the existence of the World Tree Civilization; he remains completely in the dark.
Han Xiao certainly wouldn't shatter the Sorokin's illusions now; concealing this information was the only way to keep the Sorokin from being wary.
"To make a long story short, this is location intelligence transferred from the Empire." Han Xiao had Phillip show him part of the data and slowly said, "If you can truly help the Empire intercept the Arcane Church, the Empire may reconsider how to deal with you."
The Sorokin's avatar remained noncommittal, browsing through the intelligence on its own.
Seeing this, Han Xiao's eyes flashed, and he said, "However, I still don't understand why you suddenly want to cooperate with the Empire. Angering the Arcane Church isn't a good thing for you."
"That's none of your concern," the Sorokin's clone said without even looking up.
Han Xiao stroked his chin, seemingly lost in thought.
He always felt that this was not the original intention of the Sorokin, but rather that they had been bewitched by someone else.
While the Sorokin's actions could be seen as an attempt to curry favor with the empire, Han Xiao felt it was more like a deliberate attempt to amplify the losses of the Arcane Church, specifically targeting Sagman and several other Beyond Grade A cultivators to weaken the Arcane Church's high-level combat power.
"If successful, who will be the biggest beneficiary? The Crimson Dynasty? The Federation of Light? Or... those supercluster-level civilizations?"
Han Xiao pondered silently.
After the Arcane Church members fled in different directions, Logo, Sagman, and the Book People changed their vehicles, abandoned the main ship, and disguised themselves as an ordinary small squad, quietly fleeing towards the true location of the secret stargate.
Logo believed that this method of splitting up would confuse the Imperial pursuit forces, but what happened next horrified him.
Some squads that fled in other directions were attacked, and the attackers were not only the Imperial fleet, but also the Fallen Ark!
"Has the Sorokin gone mad? Why is he attacking us?!"
Logo was filled with shock and rage, his face ashen, panting heavily, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the star map as squad after squad was wiped out.
"It seems the Sorokin has turned around and reached a cooperation agreement with the Crimson Dynasty. This guy... he's determined to have us restrain the Empire!"
Sagman was also furious. It was bad enough that the Sorokin had broken his promise, but now he was even turning around and blaming him. Although he had never had any hope for the Sorokin's integrity, he was still very angry about the Sorokin's actions.
Sisko stared intently at the star map and suddenly said, "Something's fishy. They were able to precisely attack our squads. Were those squads just unlucky enough to run into the Empire's blockade, or does the Empire still have our whereabouts known?"
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed.
"Black Star is a virtual mechanic; he might have done something underhanded."
Sisko gritted his teeth and said.
"He's a damn mechanic!" Motes thought stubbornly, rubbing his fist.
Upon hearing this, Logo hurriedly ordered the fleet's intelligent self-check to be activated, but no infiltration program by Han Xiao was detected, and naturally, it could not be removed.
"I can't find Black Star's intrusion program..." Sagman was troubled. He was experienced and knowledgeable; a virtual mechanic who could easily bypass the intelligent firewall of a cosmic civilization was not easy to deal with.
Although no one was certain that Han Xiao Han Xiao had done anything wrong, they decided to prepare for the worst based on his performance this time.
Logo gritted his teeth and said:
"The Empire's encirclement hasn't fully formed yet; this is our only chance to escape... Pass the word: everyone split up again. Divide the hundreds of teams into a million teams. Also, sever half of the teams' quantum network links!"
He intends to take advantage of the encirclement not yet being fully formed, using more squads to confuse the Empire. Dividing into millions of squads, each with only a few ships, means abandoning the ability to resist and treating more people as expendable pawns. Once God fleet, there will be no chance of escape.
Cutting off the quantum network link of half the squads is equivalent to turning these squads into isolated, commandless armies, completely deaf and mute, unable to communicate with other units, and only able to blindly flee according to the star map instructions. The only advantage is that they can get rid of potential location tracking after being disconnected from the network. Logo is preparing to disconnect his own troops from the network, which is equivalent to relinquishing command and handing over command to the adjutants in the networked units.
Because of Han Xiao's methods, Logo made the difficult decision to abandon almost everyone in exchange for a chance to survive for himself and the five Beyond Grade A.
Ninja stared coldly at him. "Commander, you'll face a court-martial for doing this when you get back."
"Hehehe..." Logo gave a bitter laugh, "This battle has been lost. What future do I have left after I go back?"
"If Black Star hadn't turned the tide for you, how could I have failed?"
Do I hate you? Of course I do!
"But... you are, after all, the high-level combat force of the Arcane Church."
"These millions of warships and soldiers are nothing to the Arcane Church; we can build more warships and gather more ordinary soldiers at any time. But you are different. Beyond Grade A beings are irreplaceable, and you also possess the Universal Treasure, the Scepter of All Gods..."
"My primary mission is to escort you high-level combatants out of here. Your safety is a higher priority than anyone else's!"
"At the officer academy, our instructors told us, 'If you're not ruthless, don't become an officer.' The idea of having the best of both worlds is a beautiful but greedy fantasy. Most of the time, situations don't allow us to be willful. We often face choices, and to complete tactical missions, everything relatively unimportant can be discarded..."
"I've figured it out! To hell with military tribunals, I have only one mission now: to preserve the fighting strength of the Arcane Church!"
Having said so much in one breath, Logo stared with bloodshot eyes and gasped for breath.
Sagman and the others narrowed their eyes.
As Beyond Grade A, they are not easily swayed by others' words. In fact, with their experience, Logo's little schemes could not escape their notice.
The five exchanged glances, then turned to look at Logo.
Sagman said calmly:
"Then let's do as the Commander says."
Shattered Star Ring, above Planet Aquamarine, Floating Dragon Island.
Compared to a few months ago, Dragon Calm now has many more facilities and has taken root here. Countless spaceships come and go, making it appear very prosperous.
With its headquarters now officially established, Dragon Calm no longer allowed space pirates and scavengers to dock, driving away all the gray forces on the island. Of course, some of them were too afraid to approach the Black Star Army's stronghold and chose to flee.
Currently, the forces that have settled on Dragon Calm are all legitimate conglomerates. Under Dragon Calm's influence, Planet Aquamarine has also gained the favor of many conglomerates, ushering in new development opportunities.
In the palace of Dragon Calm, Ames sat regally on her throne, her fair legs extending from beneath her high-slit black dress, crossed to form a graceful curve, making her appear alluring and graceful.
Ames propped her chin up with her right hand, looking down at the representatives of the financial groups who had come to pay their respects. Her expression was calm and composed, seemingly nonchalant, but in reality... she was indeed lost in thought.
Oh well, Jenny ends up handling all these chores anyway, she's too lazy to bother with them.
Ames's thoughts had already wandered elsewhere, and she muttered to herself:
"I wonder how Hila and Aurora doing. Ugh, Black Star is so annoying, taking my two students away for so long without sending back a single word..."
Beep beep.
Just then, the communicator floating to the side suddenly rang. Ames raised a finger, used her force field to grab the communicator, glanced at it, and was somewhat surprised.
"Austin? Wasn't that guy supposed to be out gathering materials in Secondary Dimension?"
Curious, Ames answered the call, and Austin's image appeared on the screen.
What do you want with me?
Austin smiled. "Ames, I have some information here that might be useful to you."
Ames raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. When did you become an information broker? Isn't that Black Star's hobby?"
Austin, unperturbed, smiled knowingly and recounted the entire Battle of Lighthouse Star to Ames.
At first, Ames listened listlessly, but as Austin spoke, she gradually sat up straight, her face becoming expressionless. An unstable force field floated around her, bringing immense pressure that chilled the corporate representatives below, leaving them at a loss.
That's the situation.
Austin finished his story and added, "I only informed you because you're Black Star's ally. As I expected, you were indeed unaware. Black Star kept this from you. Heh, it seems he doesn't want you involved in this mess."
"Enough with the chit-chat, I know what you mean. Hmph... Anyway, thanks, I do need this information."
Ames hung up the call, closed her eyes, and seemed to be thinking.
Iso was standing nearby, also heard the information and shook his head. "The prophecy came true. Luckily, Black Star was warned, otherwise he might not have escaped this time. Black Star hid this from you probably because he didn't want you to get involved in the turmoil of a cosmic civilization. But Austin specifically told you about this to stir up trouble. Ha, what a troublemaker he is."
Upon hearing this, Ames opened her eyes and said calmly, "I am his ally, not his subordinate. What right does he have to tell me whether or not I should intervene?"
Iso, with a helpless expression that said, "I knew it," shook his head and asked:
So what do you want to do?
"Please contact the Crimson Dynasty's special envoy, Suy, for me. The Crimson Dynasty is very likely to mobilize troops in the Shattered Star Ring to attack the Arcane Church's garrison and stargate station here..."
As she spoke, Ames stood up, her black dress billowing and swirling in the air.
"Black Star, Sisko, Heber, Austin, all four of them are Shattered World..."
"So... in the current Shattered Star Ring, I'm the only Beyond Grade A!"
"I can go wherever I want!"