Following the data link channel established by Phillip, Han Xiao's consciousness jumped to the quantum network node where Neutral Harbor was located, and the quantum network structure of Neutral Harbor, with its myriad lights, appeared before his eyes.
Han Xiao glanced at it, identified his target, and then entered the database of the neutral port.
This ordinary interstellar port's intelligent defenses were utterly useless against a Beyond Grade A mechanic who possessed knowledge of [Virtual Creator].
Under his control, Phillip easily accessed the backdoor of the Neutral Harbor database, copied the relevant data, and quickly found the disguised identities of Sagman and Taylor. Following the trail, he searched the wide-area quantum network and found all the activity records of these two identities to date.
"Both are citizens of the Aso Race, unremarkable ordinary interstellar travelers. Their last recorded appearance was..."
After reviewing the intelligence, the resume was flawless, suggesting that the person did exist. The real person must have died in outer space, and their identity was collected by spies from the Arcane Church to impersonate them.
Countless interstellar travelers die in space every year, providing a large number of protective disguises for many shady forces. Han Xiao remembers that intelligence organizations on the black market were selling such identities on a large scale, supposedly with a buy-ten-get-one-free offer and free shipping.
"If the players hadn't noticed us, no one would have noticed two ordinary people with impeccable records in the vast sea of people." Han Xiao shook his head and chuckled.
After checking the spaceship number when the two entered the country, Han Xiao discovered that the spaceship was parked in one of the hangars and had probably been abandoned. This meant that the two had changed to a new spaceship in this neutral port. Han Xiao then checked the number of their new spaceship.
"Since they bought a new spaceship, it means they've made a purchase at this interstellar port. Hmm... but there's no record of any transactions on their fake accounts, so they probably used anonymous accounts... Phillip, check which company manufactures this spaceship; they'll keep transaction records there, which might help pinpoint their secret account."
"Master, the Neutral Port's database doesn't contain information about the ship's origin. This kind of information is usually stored separately in the shipyard's independent database."
"Hmm... Mark all the network nodes of shipyards, ship markets, and black markets in this neutral port."
"... Marking complete. A total of 1,374 nodes are now visible."
"Black out everything." Han Xiao waved his hand dismissively.
As soon as he finished speaking, Phillip mobilized his massive computing power, and more than a thousand quantum network nodes were invaded one after another. The nodes changed from a peaceful and stable white to a green that indicated that he had gained control, just like a virus infection. Han Xiao's control over this neutral port expanded rapidly.
Before long, Han Xiao took control of these more than a thousand databases, pried open all the backdoors, and all the parties involved were completely unaware of it.
With his current virtual technology, once he establishes a connection channel, he can easily extend his control over the network nodes of an entire planet and remotely take over the planet.
Phillip's processing system, having been enhanced countless times by Han Xiao, possessed extremely strong computing power. In no time, it completed the data search, identifying the spaceship's place of origin and Sagman's purchase records, and locking down the anonymous secret account used for the purchase.
This adds another clue to the trail. If this secret account is used for spending elsewhere, then even if Sagman and his team change their disguises, they will still be exposed.
Han Xiao wasn't satisfied yet. He planned to trace the early transfer records of this anonymous account. He believed that most of the money transferred to this account was related to the Arcane Church, which might Implicated of some spies and other secret accounts. He would then continue to follow the clues in this way, and the leads would become more and more numerous.
This small opening might reveal the identities of some of the spies from the Arcane Church.
The [Crimson Dynasty Search and Rescue Operation - Regional Investigation] was launched and immediately attracted great attention from many Legion players. Millions of players accepted this reward pool mission and flocked from Fang Yun to move towards this area.
Originally, although the players accepted the pursuit mission, they were frustrated by the lack of clues and could only search blindly like headless flies. As a result, some people lost interest in the pursuit mission and went to do other missions.
But things are different now. The task is now set up in a specific area, which greatly increases the chances of completion. Countless players are attracted by the reward pool of this task.
The 10 million experience points in the bottom pool are considerable, but what truly excites players is the 3 million Enas. They struggle to earn even 100,000 Inar through normal quests.
Now a huge sum of money is right in front of me, three million! I don't want to work anymore!
Some players even fantasized that if they were the only ones who encountered the target, wouldn't they be able to keep all the rewards for themselves instead of sharing them equally?
The entry fee for the mission is only 200 experience points. With such a low cost, players have no concerns, leading to a crazy accumulation of experience in the prize pool, which in turn attracts even more players.
With millions of players participating, that's two to three hundred million experience points, which is extremely generous for current players.
In a short time, a large number of players flocked to this area, and the probability of interstellar citizens encountering members of the Black Star Army when they went out increased significantly.
In the interrogation room of an imperial warship, a group of captured spies from the Arcane Church were tightly bound to chairs, while imperial soldiers stood guard at the door with guns at their ready.
The group of spies was captured based on the latest intelligence provided by Black Star. Black Star had extracted information about the spies from the secret accounts of Sagman and his partner, which allowed the Empire to identify some new targets.
The interrogation room door opened with a whoosh, and a smiling man walked in, wearing a crimson officer's overcoat and black gloves.
He stopped in front of the group of captured spies and chuckled softly:
"Let me introduce myself. I'm a telekinetic practitioner, currently a senior agent in the Imperial Intelligence Bureau. My name is... hehe, I won't tell you. Anyway, let's hurry up. I'm going to extract some information from your brains, so please cooperate. Otherwise, if you burn out your brains, I won't be responsible."
As he spoke, the Imperial Intelligence Bureau agent walked up to a prisoner and placed his hand on the prisoner's head.
Clang! Clang! Clang! The prisoner struggled violently, his whole body convulsing wildly as if he were having an epileptic seizure.
A few seconds later, serpentine blood snakes crawled out from the various orifices on his face. The prisoner opened his mouth wide, and tears, snot, saliva, and blood dripped onto the ground. He looked ferocious and miserable, and his body was still twitching under the influence of his nerves.
"Thank you for your cooperation." The Imperial Intelligence Bureau agent's smile deepened as he moved on to the next person.
The next spy watched helplessly as this person approached, his eyes filled with terror, his face practically screaming, "Don't come any closer!"
"Ah!"
The screams rang out again.
Seeing this scene, the Imperial soldiers guarding the door unconsciously tightened their grip on their guns, a chill creeping into their hearts.
The Imperial Intelligence Bureau agent quickly finished his work, took off his gloves, put them in his breast pocket, and turned to leave.
Before leaving the interrogation room, he patted a guard on the shoulder, turned his head, and gestured towards a row of spy prisoners behind him, foaming at the mouth and convulsing unconsciously.
"Don't clean up the scene. These people are still useful; we need their genetic code to verify their spy identities."
"Yes, I understand." The gatekeeper swallowed hard.
The intelligence officer stepped out of the room, took out a communicator, and reported to Tarrokov.
"Several people have made contact with Beyond Grade A individuals. The targets have been identified as Sagman and Taylor, and the codes used to confirm their spy identities, as well as the tasks assigned to them by the Arcane Church, have been determined."
Tarrokov nodded. "Are there any spies suspected of being the real contact?"
"Have."
The spies of the Arcane Church are under the direct command of the intelligence agency. Their missions are to go to different locations, but a large portion of these locations are misleading and fake. Only a very small number are actually the people who will meet with Sagman and his companion.
Now that Han Xiao has pinpointed the area where the two are located, the Empire is able to eliminate many misleading locations. Furthermore, the spies whose mission locations are located in the vicinity of the two are suspected to be the real contact persons, which has greatly narrowed down the Empire's screening range.
Only by finding the real contact could Tarrokov implement his plan to impersonate a spy for the Arcane Church. Because Sagman and his group were in direct contact with the Arcane Church, their meetings with the spies were not accidental but pre-arranged, so they would not trust any spies other than the real contact.
Impersonation is difficult, but not impossible. If the real contact person is caught, there is a real chance it can be done. Even if the Arcane Church discovers it afterward, it will be too late.
As the Black Star Army launched its massive search, Sagman and Taylor gradually noticed something amiss, feeling as if their whereabouts were being monitored.
Alarmed, the two hastily took various measures, but it was as if an invisible net was spreading out towards them, covering them, and gradually tightening.
The feeling that their every move was being watched sent chills down their spines, making them feel like they were being watched from behind.
Although the two didn't know where the problem lay, after a little thought, they realized that it was most likely that Black Star was tracking them in the quantum network, and that the spaceship and the account could be the source of the leak.
Therefore, the two abandoned the purchased spaceship and traveled a distance in space, far from their original vessel. At their next spy rendezvous, they transferred to a vessel carried by the spies, embarked on a new journey, and acquired a new set of disguised identities.
After things improved for a while, both Sagman and Taylor believed they had shaken off Black Star's pursuit.
However, what they didn't know was that, through various clandestine schemes, the Empire had completely pinpointed their location, quietly set up an encirclement, and was closely following their movements. Once the Empire's Beyond Grade A troops arrived, it would be time to close the net.
At the center of the Shattered Star Ring lies a cluster of wormholes, within which the Fallen Ark forces, led by the Sorokin, roam.
"Your Sorokin, are you sure we want to leave the Shattered Star Ring from here?"
Inside the main ship, Harkison questioned the Sorokin beside him.
"Otherwise what?" The Sorokin shook his head and chuckled, "Whose stargate can we borrow?"
By this time, the Sorokin had already completed its evolution and was brimming with vitality. Harkison felt an even deeper pressure from its life force.
The Sorokin, who possessed data on the Evolutionary Civilization, obtained Evolution Energy, and no one knew how much he had changed.
The Fallen Ark only established a temporary stargate between the Shattered World and the Desolate Universe Belt, but there was no stargate in the Shattered Star Ring. They had borrowed the Arcane Church's long-distance stargate to come from the Central Galaxy, but now that the cooperation between the two sides has ended, they naturally could not borrow it on the return journey.
From the very beginning, the Sorokin planned to leave this star system through the central wormhole cluster of the Shattered Star Ring, partly due to his past adventures here.
"The teleportation locations of these unstable wormholes are completely random. We don't know where we'll be thrown. The risk is too great. Let's just move slowly in the Desolate Universe Belt. We need to lay low after this incident," Harkison advised.
The Sorokin ignored him, gazing at the unstable wormholes constantly being created and disappearing outside the porthole, and remarked with emotion, "Look at this chaotic and disordered scene. The true meaning of the universe lies within it; only in a state of disorder can endless possibilities be contained."
As he spoke, the Sorokin turned to look at Harkison and casually asked:
"Do you have any information on the remaining Beyond Grade A Arcane Church?"
Harkison nodded. "The Empire is focusing its efforts on capturing the remaining four and hasn't devoted much energy to us. The Black Star Army, the War Realm, and the Krent Empire are the local powers in the Shattered Star Ring. With their help, the Empire might be able to capture one or two more Beyond Grade A."
"Looks like the Arcane Church has suffered a huge loss this time." The Sorokin glanced at Harkison indifferently. "Are you pleased?"
"Of course," Harkison chuckled softly, "They put a warrant for my arrest back then, and I was happy to see them suffer."
"Ah, I'm afraid that's not the only reason..."
The Sorokin chuckled, showing no intention of pressing for details. He turned back to gaze at the wormhole and slowly said, "Go in."
The Fallen fleet slowly set sail, entered the wormhole cluster, and disappeared without a trace.
A streak of light swept across the dark space of space; it was Sagman and Taylor's spaceship.
"We'll reach the next public stargate station in seven hours, getting closer to the edge of the Shattered Star Ring. The Crimson Dynasty's control over the next star cluster isn't strong. Their spies are already in place, waiting to assemble the stargate to quickly transfer us to another area of Shattered Star Ring, making it even harder for the Crimson Dynasty to find us," Sagman said.
Taylor nodded, her expression relaxing slightly.
After more than three months of hiding and fleeing, this stifling life on the run was unbearable. Now, there is finally hope for a safe escape.
Sagman sighed. "It's a pity that Motes and Dilun were captured. Of the six of them who went together, only four have returned... no, maybe only three. Sisko's base is in the Shattered Star Ring, and he'll have to come back sooner or later to face the pressure from Black Star and the Tyrant."
Thinking of this, neither of them felt good. The mission that seemed certain to succeed had ended in a humiliating retreat. They had really messed up this time.
Just then, the spaceship's AI suddenly spoke, and a familiar voice rang out.
Instead of worrying about others, you should worry about your own situation first.
The two were startled, their expressions changing drastically.
That voice... it's Black Star!
The next moment, the ship shook violently, and the spaceship's AI locked the warp drive, pulling the ship out of warp mode.
Even the regular engines shut down completely, and the spaceship drifted in space.
Milizaus and Ravenlaude had laid out a magical interference trap in the void beforehand, covering the area and disrupting all spatial teleportation abilities, causing the spacetime coefficient to tend to be constant.
Streaks of light shot in from all directions, surrounding Sagman and Taylor's spaceship and blocking their escape route.
Milizaus and other Imperial Beyond Grade A all arrived at the scene, each occupying a position, watching with predatory eyes.
"We're surrounded!" Taylor exclaimed in alarm.
Sagman's face twitched violently, his expression a mixture of disbelief, shock, and anger. He stared abruptly at the mechanical legion blocking his path— Han Xiao's troops.
In front of the mechanical legion were four Apostle Weapon lined up in a row: Dark Emperor, wearing specially made heavy armor and with a Giant King Kong body; Silver Flash, holding a giant cannon; and Heavenly Wild Hunt, with a graceful figure.
In front of the four Apostle Weapon, there was another figure, not Han Xiao's real body, but a mechanical shell codenamed "Mammoth". At this moment, Han Xiao's will was projected into the mechanical shell through [Dominator's Descent]. The tough mechanical body was surrounded by blue-gold Mechanical Force, which was very dazzling.
This mechanical body seemed to have become Han Xiao's clone, sharing a large number of his attributes, skills, and expertise, and possessing genuine Beyond Grade A combat power.
"Surrender." Milizaus spewed two torrents of dark energy from his dragon nostrils, as if he were exhaling with high fighting spirit.
Although he was reluctant to pursue the enemy relentlessly, the Empire had already identified the enemy, and he and the other Beyond Grade A could not openly slack off and disobey the Empire's orders.
Sagman looked around, his gaze finally settling on Han Xiao's mechanical clone.
Having been repeatedly defeated by Han Xiao, he was furious.
Seeing this, Han Xiao controlled his mechanical clone and slowly said:
"In this situation, your chances of escape are extremely slim. We only want to capture you alive, so why don't you surrender?"
Sagman exhaled, then suddenly laughed, a smile filled with ferocity.
"When have you ever heard of Beyond Grade A surrendering before even fighting?"
"... Perhaps today?" Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.
Although he said that, he lowered his body slightly, assumed a charging posture, and prepared for battle. Seeing this, the other Beyond Grade A also became restless, ready to follow Han Xiao and fight at any time.
Sagman looked ahead and said to Taylor beside him, "I'll try to hold them all off. You find a chance to escape. They only want to capture us alive; every one who can escape is a chance."
"Don't be silly, they clearly came prepared. I can't escape." Taylor gave a wry smile and took out her staff. "I'll stay and fight alongside you. Even if we can't change the outcome, I can't be captured without dignity."
Sagman nodded, and said in a low voice, "I wonder how long it will be before we regain our freedom after this battle."
The two exchanged a glance.
Boom!
The next moment, the spaceship exploded, and the two charged towards the countless Imperial troops.
The Galaxy Chronicles (Official Revised Edition)
[On September 27th, Galaxy Calendar 705, the Arcane Church and the Fallen Ark joined forces to launch a surprise attack on the Lighthouse Star Outpost of the Shattered World. Their aim was to seize the Evolution Cube and kill the Crimson Dynasty's Beyond Grade A allies Black Star, Milizaus, Beoni.]
["The Sorcerer" Austin intervened in the battle, Arcane Church used the Scepter of All Gods to severely injure Milizaus, but was sealed away by Black Star using special methods.]
[Black Star captured the Arcane Church's Beyond Grade A Dilun alive, making a monumental contribution and turning the tide by thwarting the Arcane Church's surprise attack plan. The Arcane Church's fleet was forced to retreat and enter a flight phase, with the Empire launching a manhunt.]
[On October 3 of the same year, when the Arcane Church fleet escaped from the Shattered World, fleet commander Logo and Beyond Grade A Motes were captured.]
[On January 21, 706, with the assistance of the Federation of Light, the Black Star Army, the War Realm, the Krent Empire, and the Amethyst Civilization, the Crimson Dynasty successfully intercepted Beyond Grade A Sagman and Taylor in the Shattered Star Ring. The two fought a bloody battle but were ultimately captured by the Crimson Dynasty.]
[With this, the Empire's pursuit operation came to an end. The entire Arcane Church fleet was annihilated. Of the six Beyond Grade A who participated in the surprise attack, four were taken prisoner by the Crimson Dynasty, and only two escaped. This event is known as the "Battle of Lighthouse Star" or the "Enemy of the Arcane Incident."]