The mercenaries in the Shattered Star Ring were extremely active. Even in the region of Noriosse, there were many active mercenaries, but the majority of them were second or third grade mercenaries. Han Xiao issued a recruitment notice through the Mercenary Alliance, and this recruitment notice quickly spread through the Noriosse mercenary groups.

Majority of the mercenaries had the same two reactions—surprised and curious.

In the past year, Han Xiao had completed plenty of missions, and because of the backing of Floating Dragon, he had built up a large network consisting mainly of large mercenary groups including the likes of top-notch armies such as Blades, Purple Gold, and Sky Ring.

While Black Star’s position in the mercenary world of Shattered Star Ring was not considered top notch, he was considered a first-rate small mercenary group. Many mercenaries wanted to build a relationship with Black Star and tap into his connections to gain better missions. After all, the rich employers usually wanted to hire the best mercenaries, and the Mercenary Alliance would only issue these missions to the lower grade mercenaries if the large armies did not accept them. The people at the top ate meat while those below drank the soup. This was pretty much the situation everywhere.

As such, the moment that Han Xiao posted a recruitment notice, countless respondents applied, and he activated at least half of the mercenaries in the Noriosse region.

…

The gathering location was extremely crowded, and everyone was packed like sardines. The colorful mercenaries squeezed together and chatted with each other as they waited for the appearance of their employer.

Clap clap…

At the very front of the group, a clapping sound could be heard, and everyone turned to take a look. Seeing the legendary Black Star before them, the noisy crowd slowly became silent.

Their gazes were all fixed on Han Xiao as they sized him up from head to toe. They were all interested in Han Xiao’s connections but did not think too highly of his personal strength. The majority of the mercenaries were wild and untamed characters. The way they saw it, Black Star was not any much more powerful than them. He was only lucky enough to gain the recognition of Ames.

Han Xiao was unmoved, and he said emotionlessly, “Everyone, I am the one who issued the recruitment notice, and I believe that all of you should recognize me. I shall not introduce myself, and since we are all mercenaries, I shall skip the pleasantries. I received a difficult mission with bountiful rewards, and I require more manpower. I hired all of you to find partners to complete the mission together. You can treat me as a middleman, and the details of the mission shall be explained by the employer.”

Nagakin made his entrance and described the situation honestly.

Very quickly, the mercenaries below broke out in a large commotion.

Many of them were thoroughly frightened by the two Calamity Grade Supers and backed out immediately. At the same time, they stared at Han Xiao in disbelief as though they were looking at a dead man.

You actually accepted a mission that requires you to face two Grade A enemies? Have you seen how powerful Calamity Grade Supers are‽

Don’t drag me down if you want to die!

The war between DarkStar and Godora was known to everyone in the Shattered Star Ring, but the majority of the mercenaries kept their distance from the battle and were not willing to get involved.

“Our mission isn’t to fight the enemy, but there will be some risks,” Han Xiao said in a deep voice. “If any of you aren’t willing to accept the mission, you may leave now. For those who stay behind, after this mission is over, I will sign a cooperation contract with all of you to enjoy my resources.”

As everyone heard that, many of them fell into a dilemma. If they could cooperate with Black Star, they would have the chance to get better employers. It was like starting a company. Them running around to find odd jobs definitely could not be compared to working together with a large organization and easily enjoying jobs.

Many mercenaries did not dare take the risk and took their leave. The crowd began to thin, and Han Xiao did not stop them.

Only a hundred odd people were left behind. They were the mercenaries who were willing to take the risk.

Phillip read out their information, and Han Xiao viewed it once.

“Three mercenary groups, seventeen lone mercenaries. There are four Grade B Supers and the rest are Grade Cs. This is better than my expectations.” Han Xiao nodded. Because of the limited time, he did not dare wait too long, and it was not too bad for him to hire this bunch of mercenaries.

Han Xiao got the mercenaries to rest and reorganize themselves as Nagakin walked over.

“What are you planning to do?” Nagakin asked. The day before, he had just met Han Xiao, and meeting him again that day, he felt a little embarrassed. As a Calamity Grade Super, he actually had to rely on a bunch of mercenaries. This was truly an embarrassing mark on his record.

However, he quickly shook away such useless emotions and focused on the mission at hand. While he did not understand Black Star much, it did not stop him from treating Han Xiao as an ally.

“We aren’t the most anxious ones now; DarkStar are,” Han Xiao mused. “With Anur and Ember’s ambush failing, they know that Godora will definitely send out fresh reinforcements. Thus, they will try to capture Alvin as quickly as possible, so we have to try and interrupt their search.

“Alvin’s main body has remained in hiding, and he didn’t dare to reveal himself. Thus, it wasn’t possible to take him away from Noriosse. Furthermore, there may be many DarkStar battleships hiding in Noriosse’s vicinity to block all routes out.”

Based on the present circumstances, they had to first contact Alvin before they could formulate a plan. Nagakin took out his encoded communicator.

“Nagakin? Weren’t you defeated?” Alvin’s voice sounded from the communicator, but there was no image displayed. In order to prevent anyone from finding his location, Alvin did not turn on his image display.

“Your intel was wrong, and DarkStar sent out two Calamity Grade Supers. I survived and found some helpers. We will help you escape from DarkStar’s pursuit, and new reinforcements are on the way. As long as we can stall for enough time, DarkStar will have no choice but to retreat. You will be safer if you accept our protection. Where are you hiding?”

“I do not need your protection; my main body is extremely safe. You have already lost once, and if it wasn’t for my cautiousness, I would have been caught. I would rather believe in myself. I have three doppelgangers in DarkStar’s hands, and they aren’t able to return to my main body. I have to suffer the pain from their torture every day, and only a single doppelganger of mine is able to move about freely. If you really want to help me, protect my doppelganger. He is still being followed by the enemy…”

Alvin hung up, and Nagakin frowned, feeling pretty helpless. If he could not protect the main body, whether or not the main body was found would be up to the heavens’ will.

Han Xiao smiled and said, “DarkStar obtained three doppelgangers, and the doppelgangers will die if they are too far away from the main body. As long as split the main body up in three different directions, it will be easy for them to pinpoint the region that the main body is in. With some simple calculations, they will then be able to determine the center of the region. Thus, Alvin will not foolishly stay in one place.”

“There is one more thing,” Nagakin said with concern. “For us to recruit mercenaries openly, DarkStar will probably receive news about it, and they won’t sit still without doing anything.”

“Hmm, I have a guess as to what they will do. It seems like we will have to take some risks.”

Han Xiao stroked his chin and decided to mess up this storm midway. Apart from the plentiful reward, this was also a good way for him to contact the upper echelons of Godora. He was pretty tanky, and he would be able to exchange a few blows with Grade A Supers. Retreating with his life definitely would not be a problem, and he did not have to be as cautious as before. With the advantage of understanding his enemy, there was no need for him to be anxious. If his opponent was Ember, he felt that he would be able to last a long time.

…

Because of the destruction caused by the battle between the Grade A Supers, DarkStar decided to change to a new secret base to discuss their next move. Anur felt that it was a waste that they had not been able to kill Nagakin, and he knew that Nagakin would have called for more reinforcements. Thus, they needed to seize every second.

At that moment, the troops on the outside was spying on Alvin’s final doppelganger. Without daring to delay any further, Anur sent out all of his men, preparing to capture the final doppelganger.

However, before they could, the DarkStar troops received new intel. Nagakin had found some helpers—the Black Star Mercenary Group.

“Nagakin still isn’t giving up, and he thinks that he can face the two of us alone?” Anur’s expression was dark, and he revealed a sneer. “Since he isn’t willing to hide obediently, we will use the opportunity to kill him.”

He had originally thought that Nagakin would not dare reveal himself again after being ambushed by the two of them. Now that he had a chance to kill Nagakin, Anur was naturally overjoyed.

In truth, in Han Xiao’s previous life, when Nagakin was ambushed, he did not suffer any severe injuries as well. However, he refused to give up on the mission, and even without any reinforcements, he had faced the two DarkStar Supers alone, eventually being crippled. At the same time, the Calamity Grade Super who participated in this battle was not Ember. In Han Xiao’s previous life, Ember had not been forced to enter seclusion, so he had entered the Calamity Grade far later.

A large reason was because Han Xiao had caused the butterfly effect… or perhaps it was because Han Xiao served as a great motivator for Ember.

“So what if he’s found a bunch of mercenaries? What can they do? They are no more than a bunch of weaklings.” Anur was completely unconcerned. Only an elite army like Blades or Sky Ring was worth his attention.

Ember’s gaze turned cold.

“Black Star again… I have given him a chance already.”

Ember no longer placed Han Xiao in his sights, but since Black Star wanted to interfere with his mission, he had to wipe out all obstructions.

With the threat of Floating Dragon, Ember had not decided if he wanted to get rid of Black Star. However, he had to wipe out all of his companions at the very least and let Black Star know the price of provoking DarkStar.

While Black Star had some talent to be immune toward his abilities, Black Star’s companions were not immune. Ember could still remember that he had managed to rip off the arm of one of Han Xiao’s subordinates previously.

If you want to interfere in matters that you shouldn’t, you will also place your life at risk.

Anur looked at the intel. “None of these mercenaries can be kept. I don’t want any accidents to happen.”

“You can take people to catch the doppelganger; I alone will be sufficient to get rid of the mercenaries.” Ember stood up. “With my abilities, I will crush them all in less than a minute. I will meet up with you after taking care of this matter.”