The two left through a side door of the venue and entered a reception room in the corridor. Phillip closed the door; the soundproofing here was excellent, keeping out the noise of the banquet outside.
The two sat down facing each other. Han Xiao snapped his fingers, signaling the robotic waiter waiting in the room to pour two glasses of amber-colored liquor, add a few ice cubes, and place them on the low table in front of them.
"Now you can speak." Han Xiao swirled his wine glass, licking the rim of the glass with the fragrant, mellow liquid.
He is now a big shot in the Shattered Star Ring. With his current status, he no longer actively seeks out missions; instead, missions come to him. People will always come to him asking for help.
This phenomenon is not limited to him; players can also experience it. Suppose a player has been in a certain star system for a long time and made a name for himself, he will occasionally encounter NPCs who will come to him on their own initiative. This is the effect of regional reputation.
"It's like this, my request concerns the future of the Gular Civilization..." Cecilin sat up straight.
As expected, unless it's something of this level, who would bother a Beyond Grade A for no reason... Han Xiao remained expressionless, raised his hand, and gestured for him to continue.
"Before we begin, please allow me to briefly introduce the current situation of my civilization," Cecilin said solemnly. "The Gular Civilization has always been in a state of military division. Three main parties have formed their own military territories, opposing each other and dividing the land. These three parties are the Ancient Emperor Party, the Pioneer Party, and the Descent Party. Currently, the ruling party representing the legitimate government of the Gular Civilization is the Ancient Emperor Party. They conduct diplomatic activities in the name of Gulal, and my teammates and I who have come here are all members of the Ancient Emperor Party."
As one of the Explored Universe, the Shattered Star Ring is a complex region due to a lack of control. Some civilizations are peaceful and stable, while others are constantly plagued by internal and external troubles. The internal military divisions of the Gular Civilization are a particularly serious example of internal strife.
"Okay, I understand. So what would you like to ask for?" Han Xiao asked.
"I pray for the Black Star Army's assistance in this war, to end the division of the Gular Civilization, and to bring us peace."
"Oh, I see. You want to apply for war mercenaries so that my people can assist the current ruling party in suppressing the other two parties, right?" Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.
However, Cecilin shook his head, giving an unexpected answer.
"No, I hope the Black Star Army can assist the Pioneer Party in overthrowing the rule of the Ancient Emperor Party and suppressing the Descent Party."
Han Xiao became interested and looked Cecilin up and down. "You're a member of the Ancient Emperor Party, yet you're acting as an advocate for another party. Could it be that you've secretly joined the so-called Pioneer Party and are a spy?"
Cecilin shook his head. "No, I was born on a colony controlled by the Ancient Emperor Party, and after reaching adulthood, I served in the Ancient Emperor Party's army. To this day, I have not joined any other party."
"Then what are you doing this for? For personal gain? Did the Pioneer Party promise you benefits?"
"No, that's not it. I hold a high position and great power in the Ancient Emperor Party, and I'm a war hero. The Pioneer Party wouldn't try to win over a staunch member like me. Besides, given my status, the Ancient Emperor Party Pioneer Party can give me. I'm not doing this for personal gain."
"What was that for?"
"Ideology," Cecilin said in a deep voice, "I agree more with the Pioneer Party's ideology. The Ancient Emperor Party is corrupt; only the Pioneer Party can bring hope to the future of civilization."
"I understand." Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. "You're a traitor. The Ancient Emperor Party gave you power and status, and even allowed you to enjoy the Evolution Cube quota, yet you secretly plotted to overthrow its rule?"
"From their perspective, I am indeed a traitor, but from the perspective of the Pioneer Party, I am a traitor who has turned to the light. The narrative depends on one's stance, so I only want to focus on practical actions and not care about others' opinions," Cecilin said softly. "When I was young, I was a passionate youth, always wanting to serve civilization. But back then, my thinking was immature. Like many others, I was also enthusiastic about upholding the Ancient Emperor Party as the orthodox ideology. Because I was born on their colony, my stance was largely predetermined... But after serving for so many years, I have begun to doubt the Ancient Emperor Party's ideals and style of operation, and my beliefs have become increasingly wavering."
Han Xiao looked at him without speaking, and asked Phillip to search for detailed information about the Gular Civilization. He wouldn't believe just one side of the story.
At this moment, Cecilin's tone shifted, containing a hint of anger:
"Due to partisan conflict, the Ancient Emperor Party, in order to maintain its absolute rule, secretly committed many bloody acts against its compatriots, some of which I participated in. Looking back now, I deeply regret it. I have witnessed the darkness of politics, the bloodshed of rule, and the suffocation of thought, and I once fell into self-doubt. My home is filled with medals awarded to me by the Ancient Emperor Party. I used to love looking at them and reminiscing about past Glory, but now when I look at these medals that I was once so proud of, I can almost smell the nauseating stench of blood."
Han Xiao stroked his chin. "So you've decided to betray the party that nurtured you?"
"To be precise, after experiencing self-doubt, I felt like I had broken free of some kind of shackles." Cecilin picked up his glass, took a sip, took a breath, and sighed, "I had always been bound by my identity. At that moment, I realized that the three parties were merely positions dividing civilization, and the so-called opposition was meaningless. The future of the entire civilization should be of greater concern. Whoever can bring a brighter future to Gulal, I should help. So I broke free from the entanglement of being a member of the Ancient Emperor Party, broke free from the position that had bound me all along, and chose to follow free thought and the judgment of my heart. Therefore, I chose the Pioneer Party, which has the support of the people. They can lead Gulal further."
"So you think you're great?" Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't think that way." Cecilin shook his head.
"... Regarding your choice, I am merely an outsider and have no intention of commenting further."
Han Xiao slowly said, "I just want to know, you say you haven't joined any other political party, so on what grounds do you represent the Pioneer Party to discuss cooperation with me?"
"I am not making this request on behalf of the Pioneer Party, but in my personal capacity."
Han Xiao laughed, "Then what makes you think you can convince me to get involved in a civil war that I don't care about at all? You haven't reached an agreement with the Pioneer Party. Putting aside whether they even want me to get involved, realistically speaking, can you afford the pay for a war contract? Why should I kick out the Ancient Emperor Party currently cooperating with me, to help you? What can you offer me?"
"I know it's presumptuous of me to act in my personal capacity, but I have no other choice," Cecilin said in a deep voice. "The Ancient Emperor Party Ancient Emperor Party sent me here with a mission: to represent them and submit a request for war-related mercenaries. They intend to use force to eliminate the other two parties and reclaim all the divided territories."
"So that's how it is." Han Xiao Ming.
The Ancient Emperor Party wanted to resolve the schism once and for all, but they didn't want to be controlled by advanced civilizations. Therefore, instead of seeking help from cluster-level civilizations, they planned to hire outside aid, namely interstellar mercenaries. In the Shattered Star Ring, there are several major mercenary forces, the three most representative of which are the Mercenary Alliance, the War Realm, and the Black Star Army.
Since the Black Star Army is the chief council member of the Mercenary Alliance and is also an ally of the Empire with the War Realm, mercenaries in the Shattered Star Ring Black Star Army generally not be hired by employers who are opposed to the Black Star Army, as long as they hire the Black Star Legion. After all, the Black Star Army has a high status and strong strength, and although mercenaries value money, they do not want to die. At the same time, mercenary groups with cooperative relationships will not be hired by employers who are hostile to each other. This is an unspoken rule in the mercenary industry.
In the mercenary world of the Shattered Star Ring, the Black Star Army's status and influence have reached their peak.
As the ruling party, the Ancient Emperor Party has already established connections with the Black Star Army. With their assistance, the Pioneer Party, which Cecilin has his eye on, is doomed. Therefore, he has no choice but to take a risk and make a direct request to Han Xiao without adequate preparation.
Tsk, choosing a traitor like you as an envoy, they really had terrible luck... Han Xiao's lips twitched slightly.
Is this what they mean by "I didn't have a choice before, but now I want to be a good person"?
Han Xiao shook his head. "Let's get down to business. It doesn't matter which party is in power to me. The Ancient Emperor Party must have offered a real price to cooperate with the Black Star Army, while you just come to me so rashly, offering no guarantees... Forget it, I don't want to say anything unpleasant. This conversation can end here."
With that, Han Xiao put down his wine glass, stood up, and walked towards the door, feeling somewhat dissatisfied.
Cecilin made nice promises, but didn't discuss any substantial compensation. Han Xiao didn't care about the partisan struggles of a strange civilization. After its transformation, the Black Star Army retained its mercenary business, but mercenaries aren't charities.
Violating professional standards is unethical and offers no real benefit; are you just trying to fool a Beyond Grade A expert with empty words?
You're dreaming too much! You're so lucky!
"Please wait." Cecilin hurriedly stood up. "As you said, it doesn't matter to you which party is in power. The Pioneer Party will also maintain its cooperative relationship with you. I beg you to help the Pioneer Party. The stronger the Gular Civilization becomes, the greater the rewards it will bring you. The Ancient Emperor Party is corrupt; the Pioneer Party is the one that is righteous."
"What does your so-called justice have to do with me?" Han Xiao didn't even turn his head. He just spouted off about upholding justice for himself. We're all in this together, there's no point in doing this.
His kindness is limited to acquaintances and very little to strangers. This is partly due to his personality and partly due to the indifference of the times. Moreover, having experienced so much, he is naturally not easily persuaded by outsiders.
"Please help the Gular Civilization!"
Thump.
An unusual sound came from behind him. Han Xiao turned around and saw Cecilin lying prostrate on the ground. A Calamity Grade had adopted the lowest posture to beg for help, his tone anxious. He had no other words to say.
Han Xiao glanced at it, remained unmoved, withdrew his gaze, and prepared to push open the door and leave.
Just then, a task popped up on the panel.
[You have triggered the Grade S quest [Gular Civilization: The Pioneer's Fire]!]
[Mission Brief: The Gular Civilization is a star system civilization plagued by internal divisions. Severe factional antagonism has kept the civilization embroiled in war, preventing it from progressing for many years and even causing it to regress. In order to break the deadlock, Cecilin, a high-ranking member of the Ancient Emperor Party, has decided to switch sides to the Pioneer Party and has made a request to you.]
[Mission Requirements: Overthrow the rule of the Ancient Emperor Party, eliminate the Descent Party, and make the Pioneer Party the rulers of the Gular Civilization.]
[Failure Condition: Destruction of the Pioneer Party]
[Reward: The reward for completing the task depends on the performance evaluation]
"Grade S mission?" Han Xiao paused. A coup d'état in a galaxy-level civilization is practically a total war, and it does indeed have the difficulty of an Grade S mission. It's very difficult for players to influence the course of an internal war within a galaxy-level civilization.
Of course, he was different. The Black Star Army was a powerful force, and naturally qualified to intervene in the war between galaxy-level civilizations. This task was not difficult for him.
After thinking for a moment, Han Xiao didn't stop. He quietly pushed open the door and walked out, leaving Cecilin in the room, looking lost and dejected.
Grade S missions are indeed attractive, but there's no reason why helping the Pioneer Party would give you a mission while helping the Ancient Emperor Party wouldn't. Han Xiao is experienced and can tell at a glance that this must be a series of missions.
Han Xiao planned to first communicate with other high-ranking Gular Civilization to trigger a mission from another faction, and then see how to choose.
He has never been an obsessive-compulsive person who feels compelled to complete every task that pops up on the dashboard.
Grade S mission-level mercenary warfare is no small matter. Although the Black Star Army now has a status comparable to a star cluster, it doesn't mean they can ignore galaxy-level civilizations.
Han Xiao was well aware that although the Black Star Army held a high position, there were other factors at play. The time available for the faction to develop was limited. While the legion's military strength was sufficient for galaxy-level wars, it was still far from being comparable to a star cluster-level civilization.
Han Xiao didn't really need the rewards for this mission, nor did he care about the compensation from a galaxy-level civilization. He was only concerned about this matter for the sake of the players.
He was hired for this war, but he didn't intend to get involved personally—it would be too much for Beyond Grade A to interfere in the struggle of a galaxy-level civilization, it wouldn't be in line with his status or good for his reputation, and during this time he just wanted to stay quietly at headquarters building machinery and waiting for the experience penalty period to pass, so this task was naturally left to the players.
Moreover, players are indeed the best at carrying out such missions, which can greatly reduce casualties among legion warriors.
With the Battle of Lighthouse Star coming to an end, it's estimated that there won't be any other major events for a long time. Players can only do side quests, and while exploring the Shattered World has its benefits, it's getting a bit tedious for players. So, he's thinking of creating a new major event to fill this gap and take care of the players' experience in the Legion.
On the other hand, this also allows legion players to obtain more rewards before the professional league, as the rewards for Grade S war mercenary missions are definitely more generous than those for side quests.
Helping players progress faster within the version's limits can enhance the faction's appeal, and Han Xiao has always done just that.
At this point, Phillip bubbled up in the quantum network.
"Master, I've found the information on the Ancient Emperor Party you requested."
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao focused his mind on the quantum network to check the intelligence.
In this respect, Cecilin was not lying—nor could he. The Ancient Emperor Party was indeed unpopular, its rule corrupt, its elites colluded, corruption was rampant, and the citizens were full of complaints, but they were under high-pressure control and dared not speak out.
The Descent Party wasn't much better, and in some ways even more extreme. The Pioneer Party itself wasn't as good as Cecilin claimed, but with two counterparts to contrast it, it did seem the most reliable of the three main parties—a case of choosing the best among the worst.
After reading it, Han Xiao nodded secretly.
Seeing is believing; only with actual data could he have a clear understanding.