A three-dimensional star map of luminous blue floated in front of Han Xiao, showing the general layout of the Gaolu Star Cluster. Most of the areas were marked in green, representing the star systems available for selection.
Han Xiao stared thoughtfully at the star map, its faint blue light reflecting on his face.
Beside him, Tarrokov's remote projection also chuckled as he looked at the star map.
Have you made a decision?
"Of course, but I have a question... After the first phase of exploration, the Empire has figured out the resource distribution of each star system. Although you let me choose for myself, your attitude will be different if I choose a different star system." Han Xiao turned and glanced at him.
"Heh, I know what you mean. You're worried that if the star systems you choose are all strategically important and resource-rich, the Empire might object, right..." Tarrokov shook his head and chuckled. "Don't worry, since the Empire is willing to give them to you, we're not afraid of your big appetite. The Empire isn't that stingy."
"That's good." Han Xiao nodded.
"Furthermore, the Führer asked me to tell you..." Tarrokov's eyes flashed, his words carrying a deeper meaning, "She suggests that you choose a star system as important as possible."
"Because I'm a member of the pro-head of state faction?" Han Xiao asked with interest.
"Hmm, that might be one of the reasons... Well, let me tell you some inside information. Actually, not everyone in the Empire's high command agreed to give you seven star systems. Some people believed that those important regions should be controlled by the Empire and not given to any allies. However, President Urranrell overruled the objections and offered you the region that the Empire should have directly controlled in the Gaolu Star Cluster. In her words, since a promise has been made, it's wrong to play tricks on allies; doing so would only alienate them."
"She's right. It seems the leader is quite considerate of me." Han Xiao nodded with a smile.
"The Führer's suggestion that you take control of some strategic locations actually has another meaning: she hopes you will have a greater voice and a higher status within the Empire, indirectly suppressing some discordant voices within the Empire... You know what that means," Tarrokov said.
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao immediately understood that the person was referring to the Evolution Cube.
When a Beyond Grade A ally possesses a strategic-level Universal Treasure, such conflicts are bound to arise, just as Sisko once faced pressure from within the Arcane Church.
Han Xiao had heard rumors that some within the Empire wanted to voluntarily hand over the Evolution Cube, but given the rules governing allies of a cosmic-level civilization and his own achievements, these voices were very weak.
Forcing allies to hand over Universal Treasure is impossible; a cosmic-level civilization would not do something so short-sighted as to drain the pond to catch all the fish. But even so, the desire for Evolution Cube among some within the Empire will never disappear.
Urranrell wants to increase my influence, while another faction that covets the Evolution Cube doesn't want me to gain too much importance, making it increasingly difficult to suppress me... In another sense, this is a factional struggle within the Empire.
Thinking of this, Han Xiao felt helpless. He didn't want to get involved in the political struggles within the empire, but there was nothing he could do. Anything of value was a bargaining chip in the eyes of these imperial factions, and his Beyond Grade A ally was no exception. If others saw him as an important bargaining chip on the table, there was nothing he could do about it.
"Regardless of what they think, I'll just focus on developing myself." Han Xiao shook his head, pointing seven times on the star map with his finger. "I want these seven star systems."
Tarrokov glanced at it, his eyes flashing, and laughed heartily, "You really don't know how to be polite."
"You're the one who told me not to be polite." Han Xiao shrugged.
He selected important star systems in the Gaolu Star Cluster. Two of these star systems are gateways to two neighboring star clusters, making them strategic choke points. Two other star systems will become major transportation hubs for the Gaolu Star Cluster in the future, and are extremely prosperous. The last three star systems are located in the center of the cluster, which is the most resource-rich area with extremely high development potential.
"Alright, I'll report to the Führer. Construction will begin soon, so get ready. I'm leaving." With that, Tarrokov cut off the communication, and the remote projection disappeared.
Han Xiao withdrew his gaze, staring at the seven lit areas on the star map, and slowly exhaled.
"Seven star systems... this will be my future territory."
A few days later, the Crimson Dynasty announced to the entire universe that the first phase of the Shattered World development had been a complete success, and released the exploration results to the outside world as appropriate.
Countless eyes have been watching the development progress of the Shattered World. The new star field is not only the territory of the Crimson Dynasty, but also the wealth of the entire universe and the Tu Shu. If the development goes smoothly, the Empire can also enhance its reputation to a certain extent.
This news boosted the morale of many forces, especially many conglomerates. As early as the development stage, the Empire had announced that conglomerates would be allowed to invest in the follow-up construction of the first phase. Although there were more participants than available opportunities, and only large cosmic conglomerates could get a ticket, it was still a sure-fire way to make money.
Each allied power is a good investment target. The Empire's announcement listed the territorial ownership rights obtained by each ally. Among them, the Black Star Army ranked first with 7 star systems, far exceeding the second-place Krent's 4 star systems.
The major interstellar powers took notice, all sensing the Empire's high regard for Black Star.
... That's true. Black Star is still very young. His rapid growth means he will be Pillar of the Nation the empire for the next few hundred or even a thousand years. The empire cannot afford to neglect him.
After the announcement was issued, the major conglomerates that had been observing finally began to take action, contacting the listed imperial allies everywhere. Among them, the Black Star Army was the most popular, and in a short time, countless cooperation applications from conglomerates were sent to Phillip.
Although the seven star systems are vast, there are too many conglomerates eyeing the Shattered World. These conglomerates invest for profit, and their territories are limited, making it impossible to cooperate with everyone. Han Xiao personally screened them, first eliminating some conglomerates with limited strength, and then sending people to negotiate with the large conglomerates.
This was a huge project. Han Xiao had Sylvia draw civilian staff from various departments to form different groups to liaise and negotiate with different conglomerates and discuss cooperation details.
The specific cooperation method involves the consortium investing cash to purchase various resources and engineering equipment to help the investee build a site. In return, the investor needs to promise that after the Shattered World opens in the future, these consortia will have the right to operate or mine certain planets, or convenient conditions for conducting various businesses. The industries involved are very wide, so the cooperation terms vary greatly depending on the business of each consortium.
The derivative rights derived from jurisdiction are countless. Besides actual planets, there are many things that can be traded. Because the territory is entirely under its own jurisdiction, it can basically do all the trades that other civilizations can do. Moreover, it has no citizens to burden it, so it is even less stressed.
Although Han Xiao was wary of Sorokin, the two had reached a preliminary cooperation agreement. So, in keeping with his word, he sent a message to Sorokin to inquire about the details, and they quickly finalized the cooperation terms. However, the amount of investment from the other party was far lower than Han Xiao had expected, revealing an air of poverty.
"That doesn't make sense. The Infinite Financial Group is only investing such a small amount of money. It seems like they don't value it at all."
In the legion commander's office, Han Xiao reviewed the contract terms with a strange expression.
"Sylvia, I asked you to investigate the Infinite Financial Group's whereabouts. Have you made any progress?"
"Yes, after the Infinite Financial Group entered the Shattered Star Ring, they sent out another team to participate in the War Realm's Tyrant's Gathering. If I'm not mistaken, the Infinite Financial Group was scouting investment targets. They only symbolically invested a small amount of money in us; their focus is on the War Realm."
Han Xiao asked in confusion, "That's strange. The territory I was allocated is more than three times that of Heber, yet Sorokin's investment focus is on Heber? Did Heber give him particularly favorable terms?"
After thinking for a few seconds, Han Xiao didn't dwell on the matter too much. There were plenty of conglomerates eyeing this opportunity, and he had plenty of options. If the Infinite Financial Group wasn't willing to cooperate further, so be it; what he had in abundance right now was potential partners.
After finishing his work, Han Xiao put down the communicator, opened the control panel, and looked at the taskbar.
The first objective of the main questline [Shattered World] is to explore the Gaolu Star Cluster. When the Crimson Dynasty announces the success of the first phase of development, the first objective will be marked as completed and can be completed at any time.
Players also have this main quest, but the reward can only be earned after the version update is completed and they log back in.
Han Xiao glanced at the mission description. He had accumulated a huge amount of exploration points, and his mission rating had already reached the highest level.
"After several years of exploration, I've finally completed the first part of this S+ level main quest," Han Xiao muttered to himself. "With such a high quest rating, the contribution points I've received should be enough to exchange for the final Ultimate Knowledge."
With that, Han Xiao selected to complete the task.
[The first stage of "Shattered World" has been completed]
[Your task rating is: S+]
[You have gained 20e experience, 3 random rewards, 3000 Crimson Dynasty contribution points, and 2 Blank Character Card.]
[[Exploration Pioneer] Milestone Begins]
[Milestone Activation Requirement: Achieve at least 3 Grade A exploration ratings in the [Shattered World] quest chain]
[Current progress: 1/3]
"Oh, a milestone mission." Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.
These milestone quests grant unique titles or Legend Points. Some titles are just for show, while others offer additional bonuses. Han Xiao remembered that he still had a [Legendary Hunter] milestone he hadn't completed. That title increased damage against beast-type creatures, while [Exploration Pioneer] seemed to increase the drop rate of dungeons and random rewards.
The highest mission rating gave a reward of 2 billion experience points, which is nothing to me, but for a level 120 player, it's enough to level up many times. Under the current version's standards, this reward is already very generous. The 20-30 billion experience points that Han Xiao has achieved are basically the level of rewards for completing Beyond Grade A missions. Compared to the difficulty of [Shattered World] itself, this reward is already very high.
The second step of [Shattered World] popped up, requiring the completion of all infrastructure construction in the Black Star Army's territory.
The main quest itself is quite flexible, and the specific requirements will change depending on the faction and the actual situation. The requirements for Han Xiao and the Legion players' [Shattered World] quest are based on the dual faction positions of the Crimson Dynasty and the Black Star Army. The second part is to build their own territory, which is not surprising to Han Xiao.
Unfortunately, all the players logged off and missed this part of the quest.
After letting his thoughts wander for a while, Han Xiao finally gathered his attention and glanced at the faction relationship panel. The most useful reward for him was the 3,000 contribution points from the Empire. With this, his Empire contribution points had exceeded 12,000, enough to exchange for the last Ultimate Knowledge.
"Well, I've finally gathered all the Ultimate Knowledge." Han Xiao breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, in the War Realm.
After the Infinite Financial Group reached a cooperation agreement with Heber, Loffer served as an envoy stationed in the War Realm, Sorokin conveyed secret instructions to her by possessing her follower.
Shortly after the Empire announced the territories of its various allies, Loffer contacted Sorokin and expressed his shock.
"The Empire is being far too lenient with the Black Star Army, granting them seven entire star systems. Father, is it really wise of us not to prioritize investing in the Black Star Army?"
Sorokin frowned. He knew the Empire valued Black Star, but such favor from the Empire was still somewhat unexpected.
The Black Star Army has amassed more wealth and popularity than anticipated, which is detrimental to their plans.
Tsk, those cooperating imperial factions agreed to operate internally to prevent Black Star from acquiring too much territory. Now it seems they've failed, allowing the Black Star Army such a large space for expansion. Isn't this just making my suppression efforts more difficult...?
This team is useless!