“We will consider your offer.”

The Star Cluster Civilization representative opposite Zoel stood up, bowed respectfully, and left the bright guest room. Zoel was the only one left in the room.

Zoel shook his head lightly, lifted the wine glass from the table, and took a sip. The heated emerald-colored wine poured like a string of fire down his throat.

He had seen more than ten people who represented the top organizations of the Shattered Star Ring. Everyone had been respectful to him due to his identity, but when they discussed the details, none had made a clear decision.

However, siding with the Crimson Dynasty was a huge decision that needed a long time to consider—Zoel understood that.

The Shattered Star Ring was the Federation of Light’s territory, but Star Cluster Civilizations were not the Federation of Light’s subordinates. There was no loyalty. All civilizations were independent. They only approved of the Federation of Light’s authority—that was all. Every civilization had its own ambitions, every civilization wanted to expand, and the new Star Field was the opportunity.

“Currently, of the seven Star Cluster Civilizations in the Shattered Star Ring, only Klent is siding with us firmly. Judging from the current situation, there should be some more Star Cluster Civilizations that will side with us. Combined with some large organizations like Bloodshed Land, there should be sufficient chess pieces.”

The Crimson Dynasty’s ambition to expand was not limited to just this. Zoel was only in charge of the Shattered Star Ring; there were envoys in other Star Fields. They had included the entire Galaxy in their plan. The new area outside the Shattered Star Ring was just one of the things that the Crimson Dynasty wanted.

It would take years just to complete the initial part of the plan.

…

The party was coming to an end. The people were done with business and gathered in the hall. Heber appeared again, gave a closing speech, and announced the end of the party.

The party looked casual, but it was everything but casual. Many issues that could affect countless people were decided there, through a few words between some important people. This was part of the fundamentals of how the universe operated; one’s power was closely related to their resources.

Han Xiao benefitted quite a lot as well. Not only did he get to know secret information about the Crimson Dynasty’s plan and mentally prepare himself, he also made a lot of connections. He had finally made it to the top of the social circle.

Although he had achieved this mainly because of his position on Floating Dragon Island, this was a good start. He would not have gotten the chance to join this party with his own strength and power. The right to enter the circle was more important; his position would gradually become higher.

If ‘connections’ could be quantified, Han Xiao’s connections had multiplied tens of times in this party. The people he had contact before were mostly Star System Civilizations and people in the mercenary industry. Now, he had the contacts of top organizations from all kinds of industries in the Shattered Star Ring. If he faced difficulties in the future, he would be able to receive more comprehensive and stronger support.

The nickname ‘Black Star Networking Group’ became even more suitable.

Furthermore, he had met other two Beyond Grade As of the Shattered Star Ring and surprisingly made a connection with Austin.

The guests bade farewell to Heber and left. Han Xiao and the rest walked out of the palace and immediately saw Carroll, who was waiting right outside with a long face.

“Black Star, here are the blueprints you wanted.” Carroll threw Han Xiao a new communicator; the five blueprints were stored inside.

Han Xiao took a brief look and confirmed that the blueprints were right. He nodded and walked past him. He did not want to have any further communication with Carroll.

Ames looked forward and walked past Carroll as well.

Carroll was left alone, feeling awkward and completely ignored.

This time, a shadow occupied his vision.

Carroll looked up and saw Heber standing beside him, looking at him from above.

“Your Excellency Heber…” Carroll’s face turned pale and stuttered, “Sorry, I lost this time.”

“Will you lose next time?” Heber said coldly.

It was a simple question with zero blame. Carroll suddenly felt energized like he was encouraged. “Absolutely not!”

“That’s my subordinate.” Heber slowly nodded, turned around, and walked away.

…

Han Xiao and the rest did not want to stay on Planet Heber. They headed directly to the dock, boarded the Blacklight Stealth, and left Bloodshed Land, heading back.

While Ames trained the sisters, Han Xiao told Risda to control the spaceship and went to the training room, checking the five new blueprints.

One of them was the heavy fortress that Carroll had used during the spar. Its official name was ‘Flying Fortress’. Its defense was extraordinary and could be used as a flying carrier.

There was also the Giant Soldier, which could replace spaceships as a weapon in space. Its mobility, armor value, destructive power, melee and ranged combat capabilities, and other attributes were all beyond average. It was quite the well-rounded equipment, as well as Han Xiao’s first Giant Soldier blueprint.

Heavy Armor Mechanics built heavy machines; these machines’ basic attributes were usually higher. These two things could be used as Grade A standard combat equipment directly.

The other three were also important blueprints to Carroll. One was medium-sized armor that was about six to seven meters tall, operated by more than one person. Its performance was excellent and was best for offensive combat. It was suitable to be sold to guilds.

Another was a type of anti-gravity electromagnetic hovering motorbike carrier that was equipped with a shield to block the universe’s radiation and allowed interstellar travel. Han Xiao had the Berserk Ape mechanical suit, so he did not need it. However, the great thing about these kinds of motorbikes was that they looked extremely cool. It could be the next tier replacement for the Nuclear Flying Backpack. Of course, Han Xiao had to improve the blueprint and add a self-destruct function.

The last one was high-caliber, ship-mounted artillery, a type of spaceship attachment blueprint. Ship-mounted weapons were mostly heavy firearms, which were, of course, much more powerful than portable weapons.

The prerequisite knowledges for those five blueprints were mostly from the Armed Branch, and the highest level knowledge was only High-End Knowledge.

After checking through the loot, Han Xiao took out the Void Lord’s core essence and looked at it carefully.

This tiny ball filled with gray fog had a very special texture when he held it. It was as if it did not exist and he could just shatter it easily. But when he actually tried to, he would feel a very strong repelling force.

Void Lord’s core can enhance Void Genes, like the Void Dragon Pith but stronger. Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.

In the power pyramid of Void species, the Void Lord was at the top. Most of them existed in the secondary dimension as seen by Mages or hid in Void Vision and rarely interfered with reality. A Void Lord could be considered a high dimensional life form. A similar being would be Magic Beings. Void Lords gathered Void Energy to build their body and project it onto reality. They had thousands of forms. Even in Galaxy, where there were so many races, they were still considered rare beings.

This was not the first time he used this kind of item. Consuming the Void Lord’s core was very beneficial to him. Usually, there would be risks of consuming genetic items, but the adaptability between the same species was very high. The chance of a side effect occurring was minimal.

Han Xiao opened his mouth and swallowed the tiny gray ball of fog. A freezing feeling exploded from his mouth and instantly expanded to his entire body as if even his soul was frozen.

Han Xiao could sense his own body at a microscopic level, and he could see his cells gradually growing stronger under these waves of highly-concentrated Void Energy. His genes changed once again.

_____________

You have used a Void Lord’s Essence.

Fusion Progress: 38%… 61%… 100%

Fusion Complete!

Compatibility: Perfect

Permanent Attribute Increase: +8 STR, +12 DEX, +10 END, +10 INT, +15 MYS, +8 CHA

Your Talent [Intermediate Strengthened Life] became slightly stronger.

_____________

The freezing cold quickly went away. Han Xiao took a deep breath and looked at the interface notification.

The attribute increase was quite impressive, a total increase of sixty-three points. More surprisingly, there was a clear notification related to [Intermediate Strengthened Life]

This talent had been with him for a long time and provided him with a lot of health. The last time this talent leveled up, he had already speculated that he would have to use more gene items with no side effects to continue making the talent stronger. The Void Lord’s Essence had proved him right.

Although the effect of [Intermediate Strengthened Life] was unchanged and did not level up, since there was a notification, it meant that this was the right path to take. Han Xiao decided to make collecting rare Void species’ materials a new mission.

…

Han Xiao first took Ames and the sisters back to Floating Dragon Island. It was a peaceful trip.

Arriving on Floating Dragon Island, the Blacklight Stealth parked at the dock. Ames and the sisters got out and turned to look at Han Xiao, who was beside the hatch.

Han Xiao looked at Hila and Aurora and smiled. “You guys, train with the Dragon Emperor properly and quickly become stronger. I’m still waiting for you to help me.”

Aurora raised her tiny hand up and said very seriously, “I will definitely work hard.”

Hila opened her mouth but did not know what to say.

She suddenly realized that the two of them had to part again. She and her sister would be training on the unfamiliar Floating Dragon Island and start a new chapter in their lives.

It could be a very long time before she saw Han Xiao again. Hila could not help but think of the times back on Planet Aquamarine when she used to look up at the starry night. She felt her emotions become a mess.

Hila knew that she did not know Han Xiao very well. They had spent little time together, less than the time they had spent apart…

She hesitated then softly said, “Be careful.”

“Got it, bye.”

Han Xiao waved, and the hatch closed.

The next moment, the spaceship took off and disappeared.

Ames turned toward the sisters and said, “From now on, you will be starting your official training. I’ll be very strict.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Hila inhaled deeply, her expression dignified.

…

Away from Floating Dragon Island, the Blacklight Stealth entered hyperdrive and headed toward Planet Sunil.

Attending the Tyrant’s party in the Seoul Star Cluster had taken quite a lot of time including travel. During this time, the Black Star Army had been maintaining its business. The players had yet to cause any big problems, so everything was operating as usual.

Not long ago, Herlous had sent a message. After 200,000 players worked for months, the Sunils finally made a huge breakthrough. They got rid of a large amount of Prophecy Stone mines, and the strength of the Psychic Current visibly weakened.

At this pace, the threat of the Catastrophe would very soon be completely eliminated, saving the Sunils.

However, as they dug deeper into the mines underground, they noticed some strange phenomena, so Herlous requested backup from him personally.

The information Han Xiao gained during Tyrant’s party gave him quite a lot of pressure. He wanted to speed up the Black Star Army’s development, so he decided to visit Planet Sunil himself and completely solve the Sunil’s problems. At the same time, he would scout the area and prepare to build the third sub-base.

Furthermore, while doing that, he could reap the experience of 200,000 players, collect three billion experience, and level up to level 145, meeting the Class Advancement requirement.