Usually, the cultural modification movement targeted at a large civilization would last for two to five generations. However, it had been less than thirty years since the Kunde Race started accepting the cultural transformation. It was still quite early to talk about letting them out.

The dynasty probably had a certain reason to do that in advance.

Han Xiao had a rough guess.

Although the Kunde Race lost, the billions of their remaining population were quite a considerable amount of manpower. Now that they were settled in the Black Star Army’s territory, they basically belonged to the army. Plus, while the cultural transformation was carried out, the Black Star Army was also promoting the benefits of the army, trying to make the Kunde Race loyal and yearn to join the army.

The dynasty probably did this to stop the Black Star Army’s advertising in the Kunde Race as soon as possible so that the Kunde Race would not completely become the army’s talent reserve. At the same time, they likely wanted to make the Kunde Race members who were not completely transformed cause some trouble for the army.

“Tsk, feeble trick…”

Han Xiao curled his lips.

He had only met Marbruce not long ago, and the response had already come so quickly. This was certainly backed up by the dynasty’s upper echelons. The dynasty’s attitude change toward him could clearly be seen from this.

Han Xiao did not mind it really. It was good news for him. He pondered for a few seconds and said, “Reply to dynasty. We welcome the inspection. Get someone to arrange a time with the dynasty. We’ll form an inspection team on our side and have them accompany the dynasty’s emissaries to carry out the inspection.”

“Understood.” Sylvia nodded. “One more thing, the Limitless Financial Group owes the Germinal Financial Group three months of payments. I told the finances department to talk to them, but they are not giving a reply. Would you like to ask them personally?”

“The Limitless Financial Group owes me money? Are they having problems with their capital flow?”

“Iapetus already had someone investigate. The Limitless Financial Group’s businesses are all stable. They’ve even achieved new records in some fields. Their capital flow is very healthy, but they’re just not paying us.”

“How much exactly?”

“There is a total of thirty-four projects. The total amount owed is 48.2 billion Enas. You…”

Before Sylvia finished, Han Xiao’s eyes widened, and he stopped her.

“Yoho, this b*stard dares to not pay up. I’ll speak with him personally.”

Then, Han Xiao found Sorokin’s private number and called on the spot.

It rang for a while before being picked up. Sorokin’s projection appeared on the screen. His enthusiastic-on-the-surface voice sounded.

“Your Excellency Black Star, what a rare treat. I was just thinking why I am in such a good mood today. It turns out I’ve got an honorable guest. Can I do anything for you?”

“Nothing much, I just heard you owe me quite a lot of money, so I’m here to hurry you to pay up.”

Han Xiao raised his brows.

Sorokin instantly looked troubled. He then said with a very sincere and helpless tone, “Sigh, the consortium is not doing well. Our capital flow is tight right now. You know, for people who have large businesses like us, we have to spend billions every day. I really don’t have the money now.”

“Stop lying. You think my finances department is a joke? The report on our side says you’re doing very well. You even expanded quite a lot of businesses, and you’re still telling me you have no money?”

“It’s exactly because we’re expanding our businesses. We’re spending more money to open up new channels, and it’s costing more money that I expected, so I really don’t have the money.”

“Bullsh*t. Don’t blame me for not reminding you. If you don’t pay up in the agreed period, you’ll have to pay for liquidated damages. Don’t regret it then… By the way, I heard some time ago that you were trying to poach Iapetus’s team with a high salary. Is that true?”

“Hehe, I’m a businessman. These are all normal business operations. Don’t take it to heart.”

The two of them went back and forth a few more rounds, and Sorokin was still not saying he would pay up.

Seeing Sorokin’s unusual responses, Han Xiao had some guesses in his mind. He suddenly said meaningfully, “Looks like this is not a business issue. It seems we’re having some problems in terms of our positions.”

Hearing this, Sorokin smiled faintly and said, “I thought we’d work well together, but I seem to be wrong…”

Both used very ambiguous words because they did not want to leave any evidence, but they both understood what the other meant.

Ever since Han Xiao reported Sorokin’s oddness to the dynasty using the opportunity when Gaud went missing, Sorokin had been investigated and targeted by the dynasty both on the surface and secretly. In the past two years, he had needed to be careful, scared, and worried all the time. It was very irritating.

At the start, Sorokin thought the dynasty was just investing all suspicious personnel, so he put up with it. However, the dynasty’s recent actions had made him feel more and more like something was not right. Through his connections, he asked around and shockingly discovered that the dynasty’s motive for investigating him was actually because they doubted his identity.

Currently, Black Star was the only person in the entire universe who knew about his secret. Initially, the Limitless Financial Group partnered with Black Star to shut him up. However, Black Star having exposed his secret to the dynasty was the only possible reason the dynasty was targeting him now. Sorokin was furious.

Since Sorokin was already betrayed, he did not want the Black Star Army to continue draining blood from the Limitless Financial Group.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be off. Hehe, I still have other things to attend to.”

Sorokin gave a fake smile and hung up.

The screen turned black. Han Xiao put the communicator away with a snicker.

He did this on purpose to force Sorokin to expose his identity. He was curious about how Sorokin would deal with it.

“You thought I was just messing with you, but I’m actually hoping you’ll lose your cool. If you fight me, that’d be for the best. Beating you up would be justifiable.”

Han Xiao’s eyes flickered as he chuckled.

Sorokin’s identity was similar to Gaud’s. It was a form of protection for them. However, Han Xiao dared to touch Gaud because his level was much higher, and he could see all of Gaud’s abilities, so he had the confidence to take him down. Sorokin was different; his level was higher than Han Xiao’s even now. Han Xiao still saw a ton of question marks on the interface and did not know what Sorokin was hiding. Han Xiao was worried about messing up.

Most importantly, getting rid of Gaud was because Gaud was involved in a matter that was way too big to be ignored. If he did not do it, everyone would be done for. As for Sorokin, his importance was not as high, so Han Xiao did not want to break the association’s rules because of personal beef. This was the bit of virtue he had.

Of course, this was only limited to not attacking him first. If Sorokin came at him, Han Xiao would not mind playing ‘Welcome to the Black Underworld’ for him.

…

As soon as the call was hung up, Sorokin’s expression turned gloomy.

He was a little regretful. He felt he should not have hesitated when his identity was pointed out by Black Star back then; he should have eliminated this threat as soon as possible.

Although gathering all Soul Seeds would cause this body to be destroyed, and he would lose this identity, letting Black Star be would still risk losing this identity.

Since he would definitely lose a ton of things no matter what, he might as well drag Black Star down.

Although he was furious, he was still hesitant. He was worried that he might be blowing the matter out of proportion, but he was also worried about if he could actually defeat Black Star.

“No matter what, I have to make backup plans. I need to find a way to inherit part of the Limitless Financial Group’s enormous funds. If the cash flow is too large, it’ll attract attention even if I use the black-market channels. It’s best to turn the funds into actual items…”

Sorokin clenched his teeth.

Whether he was going to do it or not, preparing a way to back off was definitely not wrong.

“Black Star’s body is indestructible. His soul is his only weakness, but even that is speaking relatively. He has peak Beyond Grade A mind resistance at the very least. Killing him is extremely difficult. He has the King, so exiling him into the unexplored universe will also not work. Based on my ability and the Universal Treasures I’ve secretly collected, only one plan has a comparatively high success rate, heavily damaging or sealing his soul so that he has to go into a long-term hibernation state.

“To do that, I’d best retrieve the Soul Flame. Only then will the success rate be higher. I wonder if the Soul Flame has a master now. If it has, I can only kill him and retrieve it…”

…

A few days later, the dynasty and the Black Star Army agreed on a date for the inspection. They sent emissaries and headed to the Flickering World from the Central Galaxy.

The dynasty’s inspection team had to spend quite some time on the way, so Han Xiao told the troops stationed on the hundreds of residential planets of the Kunde Race to spread the message that the inspection team would arrive soon. He told them that they could be freed if they performed well.

Originally, inspections were usually carried out secretly. Once the inspection target knew about it in advance, in order to be freed earlier, they might ‘cheat’. This had happened before.

This time, however, the dynasty did not react at all, as letting the Kunde Race out earlier was also their secret goal. Although what Han Xiao had done went against the rules, it matched what the dynasty wanted to achieve, so they turned a blind eye. Han Xiao, too, wanted to free the Kunde Race as soon as possible so that he could acquire the mission reward.

Both sides were trying to achieve their goal. The difference was that Han Xiao knew what the dynasty was thinking, but the dynasty did not know what his goal was.

The news that the inspection team would soon arrive spread out rapidly on every Kunde Race residential planet. The Kunde Race, who had spent their days meaninglessly, suddenly saw hope.

…

Kunde Race Residential Planet No.77, South of Sigaia City, Apartment F0044’s rooftop…

Barton stood tall and looked over the entire city. Tall, rectangular apartments were neatly placed with the same height, shape, and distance between each other, like metal coffins. The city gave off a strong industrial vibe. The sky was dark, and the dawn hid behind the clouds, painting the city a depressed yellow.

Barton could not remember how many times he had seen this boring, forever the same, and depressed scenery. In his eyes, this was no city; it was more of a large prison.

Piercing cold wind swept past, bringing the voice behind.

“Brother Barton, the news said this is the first time the Crimson Dynasty inspection team has visited. Can we really leave here?”

Hearing this, Barton turned around. Hundreds of people stood on the rooftop, all young Kunde Race members.

He stayed silent for a while before nodding slowly.

“Definitely!”

They were all children of the residents in this apartment, born in the ‘Age of the Big Lockdown’. Barton was the oldest. He was the acknowledged leader of all the youngsters there.

During the cultural transformation, everything in their lives was arranged. Their residence was arranged, and their neighbors were arranged. Leaving the house had to be reported to the local artificial intelligence management system, and they could only leave the area after it was approved. Everything they did was monitored.

The Kunde Race was not allowed to develop their technology. The only thing they could pass around was part of the Super knowledge, which came from the Black Star Army. The Black Star Army saw the Kunde Race as its talent reserve, so it did not want them to all become useless shut-ins.

The cultural transformation involved many aspects, including their daily necessities, the news they saw, the education they were given, and so on. After more than two decades, this had already become the norm of the Kunde Race’s lives. They were receiving this information every day, and their mindsets changed subconsciously.

However, for the first batch of newborns during the Age of the Big Lockdown, the glory of the Kunde Race in the past only existed in words. They could not imagine it. While being educated in public schools, they were also influenced by the lingering hatred of the previous generations at the same time.

Some of the seniors who experienced the Kunde Race’s defeat still had hatred buried deep in their bones, warning the younger generations to never forget about it. Some chose not to speak of it, to let the newer generations leave the past behind. Only then would their race be freed one day and have a new future.

Living on a planet in lockdown, a society that was depressed, and between divided beliefs, this generation was lost. No one knew where the path ahead led.

Now, the arrival of the dynasty’s inspection team finally made them see something that was more important than anything else—hope.

Barton looked past the eyes filled with hope and said with a deep voice, “We might only have this one chance in our life… Anyone who causes problems will be a sinner to the entire race.”

A young man sighed and said, “Brother Barton, maybe we won’t cause any problems, but as you know, there are too many others who still are blinded by hatred just in this apartment… This is probably not what the inspection team wants to see.”

Barton stayed silent for a while. He then slowly raised the pliers in his hands. Tiny electric sparks danced on his skin, and he softly said, “Someone will have to take the lead. We still have time to prepare. Go, talk to everyone in the apartment who is still filled with hatred. For the entire race, I believe they’ll make the right choice.

“If there’s anyone who is really blinded and twisted by hatred, not willing to make any change, a burden to everyone…”

Barton paused. Colors representing pain appeared on his carapace.

“Kill them, even if they’re our family.”