The 3D map, displayed in a vibrant blue color, was suspended in front of Han Xiao, showing the overview of the Garu Star Cluster. Most of the areas were marked in green, representing the available Star Systems.

Han Xiao gazed with a thoughtful look at the star map, and the light from the map was reflected on his face.

Beside him, Tarrokov's long distance projection was also smiling while gazing at the star map.

"Have you decided?"

"I have, but before that, I have a question. After the first phase of exploration, the dynasty has now figured out the resource distribution for each Star System. While you allow me to choose, will your attitudes change if I do not pick the ones that the dynasty wants me to pick?" Han Xiao eyed him.

"Haha, I know what you're referring to. You're worried that if you pick all the resource rich areas, the dynasty will have something to say, right?" Tarrokov laughed. "Relax, since the dynasty is willing to give you something, that means they are not worried no matter how big your appetite is. The dynasty is not so petty."

"That's good." Han Xiao nodded.

"However, the Ruler has asked me to warn you…" Tarrokov's eyes flashed at this moment, carrying a hidden meaning. "She advises you put some thought into choosing the Star Systems."

"Because I'm in the Ruler's faction?" Han Xiao got interested.

"Well, this could be one of the reasons… How about this? Let me share some inside information with you. In fact, not everyone within the dynasty agreed to give you seven Star Systems. Some of them thought that the important areas should be controlled by the dynasty and should not be distributed to any allies. However, Urranrell and her heads of state stood in the way and took out what they had within the Garu Star Cluster for you to choose. Based on her words, since the dynasty had made a commitment, they should not go back on their word, or it would only cause their allies to lose trust."

"Seems like the Ruler is really looking out for me." Han Xiao smiled and nodded.

"The Ruler thus recommends that you hold onto some strategic locations," Tarrokov said. "The implied meaning is that you use this to obtain a louder voice within the dynasty. That way, she can suppress the unharmonious voices within the dynasty… I think you know what's going on."

Hearing this, Han Xiao understood that it was the matter of the Evolution Cube.

Every time a Beyond Grade A ally appeared with a strategic level Universal Treasure, this sort of contradiction would occur. In the past, Psyker often had to bear the pressure of the Arcane Church as well.

Some people within the dynasty would hope for him to take the initiative to turn in the Evolution Cube. It was not that Han Xiao had not heard of it, but their voices were currently very weak when faced against the rules of how Universal Civilizations should treat their allies.

It was impossible to force their allies to turn in any Universal Treasures. However, the desire of some people for the Evolution Cube within the dynasty had yet to vanish.

Urranrell wanted Han Xiao to increase his voice, but the other party of the faction coveting the Evolution Cube did not wish for him to do so, which would make it harder to suppress him. From another perspective, this was an internal factional competition.

With this in mind, Han Xiao felt helpless. He originally did not wish to be involved in the political struggles within the dynasty, but it seemed like he did not have a choice. Anything of value in the eyes of these dynasty factions would be used as a chip, and their Beyond Grade A allies were no exception.

"No matter how they think, I just need to develop myself." Han Xiao shook his head, stretching out his hand to tap on seven points on the map. "I'll take these seven Star Systems."

Tarrokov took a look, and his eyes flashed before he laughed out loud. "You're really not polite."

"You were the one who told me not to be." Han Xiao shrugged.

He had chosen all the important Star Systems of the Garu Star Cluster. Two of them were Star Systems that served as gateways to the other two Star Clusters, which were strategic choke points, and two other Star Systems chosen were to be important transit points within the Garu Star Cluster. The last three were in the central location of the Star Cluster, where the resources were the richest, with extremely high developmental value.

"Alright, I'll report back to the Ruler, and construction will soon begin. You should prepare well in advance." Tarrokov then switched off his communicator, and his projection vanished.

Han Xiao turned back to face the seven lighted spots in the star map, slowly letting out a breath.

"Seven Star Systems… This is my future territory."

…

Several days later, the Crimson Dynasty announced to the universe that the first phase of the Flickering World exploration was a complete success, announcing the exploration results to the world.

There were countless gazes observing the development process of the Flickering World all along. The new Star Field was both the territory of the Crimson Dynasty as well as the wealth of an entire universe, and if successfully opened, the reputation of the Crimson Dynasty would also be raised.

This news inspired the spirits of many organizations, especially the financial groups. Even as early as during its exploration, the dynasty had already released the rumors that the follow-up construction would allow the financial groups to inject capital to participate. Even though there were more people than benefits provided, only the larger financial groups would be able to compete for the rights to construct, so it was still a profitable trade.

Every ally of the dynasty would be a good target to invest in. The dynasty's announcement also listed the ownership of territories for each ally. Among them, the Black Star Army stood at the very top with seven Star Systems, far exceeding Klent in second place with four Star Systems.

The major organizations within the universe could feel the importance the dynasty viewed Black Star with.

But that was to be given. Black Star was still so young, yet he had grown so quickly. He would most likely end up as one of the pillars of the dynasty for the next hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Therefore, the dynasty would not neglect him.

After the announcement was released, the major financial groups also started to act. They began to contact the dynasty allies within the list. The Black Star Army was the most popular with the financial groups, with countless applications sent to Phillip.

While the territory of seven Star Systems seemed huge, there were just too many financial groups staring at the Flickering World. A financial group's goal was to profit, and with only that much territory, there was no way Han Xiao could choose to work with all of them. Han Xiao personally screened out the financial groups with limited power and sent his people to negotiate with the larger ones.

Because this was a big project, Han Xiao asked Sylvia to send staff from the various departments to form a team to negotiate with the different financial groups to discuss the details of cooperation.

The typical method of cooperation was for the financial group to invest cash, buy resources and engineering equipment, or help them to construct the territory. The invested party had to promise that after the Flickering World was opened up, these financial groups would get to operate or mine on certain resource rich planets or have certain rights when conducting businesses within the territory.

Because the territory was completely under one's jurisdiction, they had the final say in any transactions approved and did not have to face any pressure from a ruling civilization.

While Han Xiao was still wary of Sorokin, the two of them had already reached a preliminary agreement to cooperate, so in the spirit of keeping promises, he sent a message to Sorokin to set the terms of cooperation. However, the other party's investment amount was far below Han Xiao's expectations, almost to the point of an investment made while suffering from poverty.

"There's no reason for the Limitless Financial Group to only invest that amount. It seems like they do not respect me at all."

Within the office, Han Xiao observed the terms of the contract, his expression strange.

"Sylvia, when I asked you to check the Limitless Financial Group's movements, did you find anything?"

"Yes. The Limitless Financial Group split into two groups after they entered the Shattered Star Ring, with the smaller group joining the Tyrant's Party. If I'm not wrong, the Limitless Financial Group should have been evaluating their investment targets, and they seem to have chosen the Tyrant over us."

"That's strange. The territory I have is more than thrice that of Heber, yet Sorokin is focusing on Heber?" Han Xiao wondered aloud. "Could it be that Heber gave him some special terms?"

After thinking for a few seconds, Han Xiao did not continue struggling with this matter. There were many financial groups staring at this opportunity, and if the Limitless Financial Group did not wish to cooperate in depth, it was fine. What he did not lack now was potential partners.

After dealing with the matter at hand, Han Xiao placed the communicator down, opening the interface to view the Mission notification.

The first part of the [Flickering World] main mission was to explore the Garu Star Cluster. The moment the Crimson Dynasty announced the successful exploration of the first phase, the first mission would also be shown as completed and ready for Han Xiao to collect his rewards.

The players had also received this main storyline, but they had to wait till they returned from the version update to obtain their reward.

Han Xiao glanced at the mission description. He had accumulated a large number of Exploration Points, and the Mission Rating had long reached the highest tier.

"After several years of exploration, I've finally managed to complete the first part of this Main Storyline Mission," Han Xiao grumbled. "The Mission Rating is so high. The reward should also be enough for me to redeem the last Ultimate Knowledge I need."

As he spoke, he chose the option to obtain his Mission rewards.

_____________

[Flickering World] First chain mission completed.

Your Mission Rating is S+.

You have obtained 2,000,000,000 Experience, x3 Random Reward Draws, 3,000 Crimson Dynasty Contribution Points, and x2 Blank Character Summon Cards.

The milestone [Exploration Pioneer] is now activated.

Milestone Requirements: Obtain at least 3 'A' Ratings and above for Mission Rating in the [Flickering World] Chain Missions.

Current Progress: 1/3

_____________

"Yo, a milestone mission." Han Xiao brows went up.

These kinds of milestone missions usually gave either a unique title or Legendary Points. Some titles were just for bragging rights, while some had additional bonuses. Han Xiao remembered that he still had a [Legendary Hunter] milestone mission that had not been completed. The title would increase his damage against Beast-type creatures. On the other hand, [Exploration Pioneer] increased his rate of obtaining dungeon copies or random rewards.

The highest Mission Rating gave him twenty billion experience. While it was peanuts to him, for a player at level 120, it was enough to level up quite a few times. Based on the standards of this version, this reward could be considered sizable. The only other missions that gave him the same amount of experience involved fighting the Beyond Grade As, and comparing their difficulties, the [Flickering World] exploration was so much easier.

The second chain mission for the [Flickering World] also appeared, which was to complete all the infrastructure construction in the territory that the Black Star Army was assigned.

This Main Storyline was very flexible, and its specific requirements would vary according to one's faction and the actual situation. The mission requirements for Han Xiao and the army players in [Flickering World] were issued based on their position as the Crimson Dynasty and Black Star Army factions.

It was a pity that the players were all offline, missing out on this mission reward.

After letting his thoughts wander for a while, Han Xiao then collected himself and glanced at the faction contribution point bar. The most useful thing right now was the three thousand Contribution Points. With this, his total contribution exceeded twelve thousand points, enabling him to gain one more Ultimate Knowledge.

"Finally, I'm getting the number of Ultimate Knowledges needed." Han Xiao breathed out in relief.

…

At the same time in the Bloodshed Land, the Limitless Financial Group and Heber reached a consensus. Lovell served as a resident emissary in the Bloodshed Land, and Sorokin would pass her instructions by possessing her followers.

Not long after the dynasty announced the territory of its allies, Lovell contacted Sorokin in shock.

"The dynasty is too partial toward Black Star, giving them a whole seven Star Systems. Father, will it really be okay if we don't focus on investing in the Black Star Army?"

Sorokin also frowned. He knew that the dynasty treated Black Star with importance, but this was out of his expectations.

The Black Star Army had gathered more wealth and popularity than expected, which was detrimental to their plans.

Those cooperating internal factions mentioned that they were working internally to prevent Black Star from getting any good territory, but now it seemed that they had failed. This was not suppressing him but rather increasing the difficulty level…

His teammates were not useful at all!