As Han Xiao was leaving the Presidential Administration Building and heading to the guesthouse, his communicator suddenly rang. He took it out and glanced at it; it was a call from Milizaus.
"Black Star, you've arrived at Crimson Ring Star?" Milizaus chuckled.
"Yes, you're here too? I don't think I saw you."
"Not yet, we're having a remote meeting, can you log on?"
"Okay." Han Xiao entered the Quantum Network Vision, found an encrypted channel, and projected a remote image.
The next moment, his vision blurred, and he found himself in a huge room with a round table in front of him and more than a dozen thrones around it. His remote projection was sitting in one of the thrones. At this time, most of the thrones had projections on them, with only four seats missing.
Han Xiao glanced around; all the other projections were from imperial allies, essentially Beyond Grade A group chat of the Crimson Dynasty.
Normally, no one organizes the group chat, and everyone stays offline, making it quiet and deserted. Now, most of the Empire's Beyond Grade A members are online, and many of them are familiar faces—"Dragon King" Milizaus, "Burning" Beoni, "Fleet Emperor" Maxiler, "Arcane Fox" Ravenlaude, "Star Slasher" Viru, and Little Tyrant is also online. However, "Dark Emperor" Clottey and another of the Empire's Three Pillars are not online.
"Haha, Black Star has arrived!" Beoni was extremely enthusiastic, his entire body ablaze with flames, clearly delighted.
Everyone nodded to Han Xiao and took the initiative to greet him. The two old brothers who fought side by side in the Battle of Lighthouse Star spoke the most intimately, Maxiler was also quite friendly, Ravenlaude and Heber were indifferent, and the others were all treated equally but with some respect.
After the battle on Lighthouse Star, Han Xiao achieved the feat of capturing Beyond Grade A enemy alive. This not only solidified his position in the outside world, but also increased his influence among the Empire's Beyond Grade A allies.
Although Han Xiao is a newcomer to the Empire's Beyond Grade A circle, he has already gained the respect of his colleagues, been formally accepted into the circle, and risen to a relatively mid-level position, which is more prestigious than some ordinary Beyond Grade A. No one will deliberately provoke or test him like they did when they first met.
After all, the strong are respected, Beyond Grade A individuals value strength even more.
Han Xiao responded to each of his colleagues' gestures of goodwill.
After the pleasantries, Milizaus, the organizer of the gathering, spoke:
"The other four guys aren't coming, so we don't need to worry about them. Let's discuss this... As everyone knows, the Empire has decided to send at least three Beyond Grade A to hunt down the Sorokin. They've prepared several lists, but first we need to ask for our own willingness. Black Star goes without saying; he's determined to kill the Sorokin. I also plan to help. Who else is interested?"
When a cosmic-level civilization commands Beyond Grade A, it doesn't just issue simple orders. Unless it's a critical action, they usually consider the wishes of the Beyond Grade A and don't force their allies. Therefore, the Beyond Grade A allies of the Three Universal Civilizations hold private meetings to exchange their opinions.
Everyone was deep in thought, glancing at Han Xiao every now and then.
Han Xiao looked around and noticed Milizaus giving him a look. After a moment's thought, he understood.
Milizaus learned of Han Xiao's unwavering determination to kill the Sorokin from the Empire, and deliberately gathered most of the Empire's Beyond Grade A together, actually to give Han Xiao the opportunity to find helpers and choose teammates.
Old Dragon is really a good friend... Han Xiao sighed.
At this moment, Beoni shrugged. "Black Star, you were there when we fought the Sorokin last time. It's not that I don't want to help you, but I'm a Esper Class, and the Sorokin counters me. It's better to send someone from another psychic class than to send me. I won't take up a spot."
Han Xiao nodded. Indeed, the Sorokin possesses Superpower Silence that counters the vast majority of Esper Class. Beoni was right; sending him there would only be a minor role.
However, while I understand, I still despise them:
Ah, little brother.
One word: awful!
Seeing that no one expressed their opinion, Han Xiao spoke up:
"The Führer just revealed some intelligence to me. This time, it's not just the Empire acting alone; the Federation of Light and the Arcane Church will also join the encirclement. It's a three-way operation. This isn't just a formality; it's an excellent opportunity to eliminate the Sorokin... Personally, I won't let this opportunity slip by. If anyone is willing to help me, I will thank them afterward."
Upon hearing this, many people's eyes lit up. Black Star was saying that if they helped him solve the problem of the Sorokin, they would definitely get a share of the Evolution Cube.
"I'll participate," Ravenlaude was the first to speak; his longing for the Evolution Cube had been brewing for a long time.
"Alright, who else?" Milizaus said calmly.
As fellow Ancient Ones, he and Ravenlaude didn't get along very well. Although their relationship was strained, he acknowledged Ravenlaude's strength. Ordinary Beyond Grade A cultivators couldn't become Ancient Ones. After all, this was an operation that Black Star valued, and Milizaus hoped to help him select some more powerful teammates.
As for the other two pillars of the empire, there's no need to consider them. Clottey is guarding Urranrell, and the other brother is also guarding a star field, so he can't move easily.
Heber also somewhat tempted, but he couldn't bring himself to say it, keeping a straight face and remaining silent.
Some refused, some were not interested, and some accepted. In the end, more than half of the Beyond Grade A allies present decided to participate in the operation, making a total of seven people including Han Xiao.
Milizaus, Maxiler, Ravenlaude, Viru, Kohler, and Swordswoman Fu—these six are the teammates who participated in the mission to exterminate the Sorokin. Among them, Kohler is a muscular martial arts master, and Swordswoman Fu is a female psychic. After counting them, there isn't a single person with a Esper Class in the team.
"Wouldn't seven people be too many? Would the Empire agree to that?" Ravenlaude questioned.
"If the Empire disagrees, we'll help in our private capacity. Is that any of the Empire's business?" Swordswoman Fu said in a cold tone.
The Crimson Dynasty originally planned for a team of three to five people, but due to Han Xiao's Evolution Cube reward, the team reached seven people, exceeding the Empire's expectations.
However, the Empire didn't object to this. It wouldn't be good to stop its allies from asking friends for help in private, and it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Han Xiao turned to examine the female telekinetic master. She had long, smooth white hair, and her skin was a striped blue-purple. Her features were somewhat similar to those of humans, and she was considered very beautiful by the standards of interstellar humans. She exuded a dreamlike aura and possessed a unique beauty.
"Swordswoman Fu" is her name, not her nickname. "Swordswoman" is her surname, and "Fu" is her given name.
She comes from a unique race called the Renis. This race is genderless until the age of fifteen. At fifteen, their bodies undergo unique changes, allowing them to transform into either male or female. According to Renis custom, this is called the "gender determination ceremony," and once the gender is determined, it cannot be changed in the future.
Therefore, social thought places great emphasis on division of labor and cooperation. However, the sex determination ceremony determines one's fate, and too many people choose to become male every year. Even though society is constantly raising the status and welfare of females, the birth rate is still declining year after year.
Therefore, the Renis stipulated a quota for the number of people who must become female each year to ensure the continuation of the race... Swordswoman Fu was a Renis was unfortunately selected by lottery as a child and forced to change her sex to female.
Therefore, although the Renis produced a Beyond Grade A powerhouse, they did not receive any protection. Swordswoman Fu operated independently outside of civilization, managing her own power, and publicly stated long ago that the Renis had nothing to do with her.
Another teammate Kohler, is a former lone Beyond Grade A who has completely defected to the Empire. He has no faction, is a pure muscle-bound brute, and while his strength is not as good as Heber's, he is still a Beyond Grade A fighter.
"Then I'll leave it to you all." Han Xiao suppressed his emotional turmoil and nodded in thanks.
After talking for a while, the gathering was announced to be over. Milizaus went to inform the Empire, and the remote projections all went offline.
Han Xiao withdrew from the Quantum Network Vision, exhaled, and felt excited.
The teammates have been decided. The Empire has sent seven people, and with the other two, there will be more than ten Beyond Grade A, which may be comparable to the scale of the Battle of Lighthouse Star.
Moreover, with so many people fighting against the Sorokin alone, the Sorokin's situation is far worse than that of the Empire during the Battle of Lighthouse Star.
Han Xiao clenched his fist excitedly; the situation was far superior in the pre-battle preparations!