Chapter 702 Disclosing the Truth

An hour later, the joint conference room of the three great civilizations.

Han Xiao's remote projection leisurely entered the room. He immediately saw the three old geezers with gloomy faces. Their gazes were like hooks, firmly fixed on him.

"Yo, you're all here."

Han Xiao was not anxious at all. He casually greeted them. This was the first time he had been called to a meeting after the relationship between the two sides had dropped to freezing point.

"Black Star! What exactly do you know!"

Mabrus looked extremely solemn and was not in the mood for pleasantries. He went straight to the point.

An hour ago, the three of them were waiting for the Empire's envoy to report Black Star's attitude towards the peace agreement with the three great civilizations to see if they could stabilize the Association. However, they did not expect to hear a shocking piece of news: Black Star had directly revealed the secret of the wormhole.

The three of them were stunned.

How did Black Star know that we had cracked the wormhole's secrets? Was there an internal intelligence leak? Was there a mole?

If not, how would Black Star know? Could it be that he had long known the secret of this set of wormhole data?

The amount of information contained within was too great!

Mabrus, Louis, and the leader of the Arcane Church were restless.

Black Star had specifically asked someone to relay the message. Regardless of the situation, it meant that Black Star had unexpected intelligence. This was a major matter and could not be taken lightly. The three of them had an emergency discussion and decided to talk to Black Star, issuing an invitation that led to the current meeting.

"I know a lot of things."

Han Xiao glanced at the three of them, deliberately revealing a meaningful expression, while secretly breathing a sigh of relief in his heart.

He was not sure what the three great civilizations were really thinking, so he did not directly call out the name of the World Tree, but tentatively pointed out the intelligence of the Hetero-God's wormhole.

Now that he had been called to the meeting, Han Xiao knew that he had made the right bet. He had indeed guessed the truth and secretly rejoiced that he had not overdone it.

"You mentioned the wormhole data in the Hetero-God's legacy. How much do you know about it?" Louis asked in a deep voice.

Han Xiao composed himself, glanced at him, and casually said, "You found a civilization on the other side of the wormhole, right?"

The three of them exchanged glances, their expressions solemn.

Mabrus frowned and said, "Where did you get your information?"

"I know what you want to ask…" Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. "But I didn't steal your internal intelligence."

Upon hearing this, the three of them looked even more serious.

Black Star said that his source of information was not leaked from within the three great civilizations, implying that he had already known the secret of the wormhole data and had unknown intelligence in his hands.

Mabrus took a deep breath, put down his airs, and even lowered his voice slightly, solemnly saying:

"You should be clear about the nature of this matter. We hope you can tell us the truth. This is very important to the entire universe."

"Alright."

Han Xiao nodded. Now that the matter had already happened, there was no point in hiding it. It was time to have an open and honest conversation. Now, the three great civilizations had to be made aware of the danger of the World Tree in advance.

"...This wormhole leads to a territory called the World Tree Civilization. It is an extremely powerful galactic civilization, fanatical about war and expansion. Decades ago, for some reason, the Hetero-God sent an avatar to attack me. In the end, the avatar fell into a wormhole during the battle and happened to discover the World Tree Civilization. After that, the Hetero-God sent someone to steal this wormhole data to study the coordinates of the World Tree Civilization, and I became the only person who knew about it by chance..."

Han Xiao concealed the part about his previous life's memories and told the story in a different way, emphasizing the strength of the World Tree Civilization and basically telling everything he knew about the World Tree.

The three of them frowned, full of doubts.

Mabrus could not help but question, "Did the Hetero-God tell you all this? Leaving aside why the Hetero-God would reveal the information to you alone, why are you so clear about the World Tree Civilization's information? It doesn't seem like the Hetero-God only went there once?"

"I understand your concerns."

Han Xiao nodded. This matter was not a joke. If he pushed everything to the Hetero-God, a simple confrontation would expose the lie.

Without solid evidence of the source of the intelligence, the three great civilizations would not rashly believe this information.

However, he had already thought of a reason, which would give him a closed-loop explanation for his detailed understanding of the World Tree.

"Actually… I have an artifact from a civilization destroyed by the World Tree. It contains a large amount of relevant information. My understanding of the World Tree basically comes from it."

As he spoke, Han Xiao raised his hand and summoned a three-dimensional model projection of SWY-001 and displayed the prepared information on the virtual screen.

The expressions of the three changed, and they hurriedly browsed through it. The more they looked, the more shocked they became, their minds shaken.

The memory component of SWY-001 recorded the tragic state of the Karma Republic Alliance when it was invaded. It recorded the special war mode of the World Tree Civilization, which was extremely powerful, and also showed that the World Tree Civilization was a galactic civilization that was almost impossible to coexist with. All of this confirmed what Han Xiao said was true.

Without this treasure, even if Han Xiao could explain the source of the information, his persuasiveness would be limited.

'This treasure came at just the right time...'

Han Xiao sighed inwardly.

There was nothing much to say, just one sentence—Fording is awesome!

After a while, the three finished reading the information, their eyes still filled with shock.

"The World Tree Civilization's mode of devouring everything is simply the enemy of all intelligent civilizations. I didn't expect such hunters to exist in the universe…"

Louis murmured to himself.

Mabrus was afraid for a while, with lingering fear, and said in a low voice:

"Fortunately, we sealed the Hetero-God early. If he had attracted the World Tree Civilization, then…"

Halfway through his words, his expression suddenly froze.

At this moment, Mabrus suddenly remembered that the action to seal the Hetero-God seemed to have been strongly promoted by Black Star. They had not been discovered by the World Tree now, all thanks to Black Star.

Back then, Black Star insisted on sealing the Hetero-God at all costs. Could it be that he had already started a long-term plan at that time, secretly protecting the explored universe from being invaded?!

Mabrus's heart trembled. He looked up at Han Xiao and could not help but ask:

"The reason why you strongly urged us to pursue the Hetero-God was because of this?"

"Otherwise? Did you really think I had an irreconcilable hatred with him?"

Han Xiao clicked his tongue and asked casually.

Mabrus's expression changed slightly. He looked at Han Xiao deeply and could not help but feel a little respect and gratitude. The wariness and suspicion in his heart were instantly diluted a lot.

If not for Black Star's efforts, the interstellar society might have already been invaded. Strictly speaking, the entire universe owed Black Star a favor.

However, Black Star had never revealed this matter, silently letting this credit be buried by the dust of history, and no one knew the huge contribution he had made.

Deeply hidden merit and fame!

In Mabrus's heart, Han Xiao's image immediately became taller.

Suddenly, the leader of the Arcane Church said in a deep voice:

"Black Star, you are clear about the threat of the World Tree Civilization. Since you already knew this information, why didn't you say it all along?"

Han Xiao shook his head.

"I know you too well. If you knew that a powerful unknown civilization was entrenched in the unexplored universe, would you pretend it didn't exist? As long as it was said, it would lead to contact in advance. It was best to keep this secret to oneself. If you hadn't made progress in studying the wormhole data, I wouldn't have said it now."

The three were immediately speechless.

Indeed, they didn't know even if it was, but if they knew about the great threat of the World Tree, the three of them were very clear that they could never sit idly by. They would definitely implement the principle of striking first, just like now.

Detection was a two-way action. Exploring the information of the World Tree also meant bearing the risk of exposure. But even so, from their standpoint, striking first was the inevitable choice, otherwise, they would be at the mercy of fate and sit and wait for death.

How could they allow others to snore on their beds? With such a powerful foreign enemy entrenched in the unknown universe, they were restless and afraid that one day they would be discovered and invaded. There was no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days. Of course, actively stifling hidden dangers was more in line with the needs of the three great civilizations.

This was like the interference effect. If both sides did not know of each other's existence, then they could still be at peace and be two parallel lines that did not intersect. But once they discovered each other, they would quickly interact.

"I admit what you said makes sense…" Louis sighed. "But isn't this kind of approach a fluke, betting that the enemy won't discover us?"

Han Xiao shook his head and said nothing.

His confidence in doing so was that he knew when the World Tree would invade, but there was no need to explain this now, and it was not easy to explain. Even if he said it, people would be skeptical.

At this moment, the leader of the Arcane Church frowned and said:

"But how do we confirm that the information in this civilization's relic is true and not fabricated?"

"Are you doubting me?" Han Xiao glanced at him.

"I'm just being cautious, not targeting you." The leader of the Arcane Church waved his hand.

Louis thought for a while and echoed, "Indeed, the source of information you provided is very persuasive, but the authenticity is still questionable… It's not that we doubt you, but that we can't completely believe this information. Although it looks very real, who knows if there's a problem with this civilization's relic itself? We can't draw conclusions arbitrarily…"

"Black Star, we will treat the information you provided as reference material. The specifics will still depend on the results of the actual exploration," Mabrus said.

Tsk, you three are really troublesome!

Hearing this, Han Xiao curled his lips, but he was not surprised.

From the perspective of the three great civilizations, being cautious was right. After all, there was the possibility of false information, just like the encounter of the Kunde Race back then. Who knew if this information was a fabricated "bait".

Han Xiao pinched his chin and slowly said, "This civilization's relic still has life reactions, but it's in a deep sleep. If we wake it up, we should be able to ask for more information."

He still had a related mission on him. He had not awakened SWY-001 because he did not want to create unnecessary problems, but now that he was sure that the three great civilizations would come into contact with the World Tree in advance, this concern was basically eliminated. Therefore, Han Xiao did not mind awakening SWY-001 at this time. On the contrary, it could become an assistant.

"Okay, then we'll have to trouble you. This is very important… By the way, you'll help us, right?"

Mabrus nodded, then suddenly paused, realizing that they and the Association seemed to still be in a state of confrontation.

The other two also realized this, and their expressions were a little unnatural.

The situation had changed, and they needed the power of the Association instead. Not long ago, they wanted to settle accounts with them, but now they were asking them for help. The three of them felt awkward and a little ashamed.

However, the three of them were high-ranking officials after all, and they were only embarrassed for a few seconds. They quickly adjusted their mentality and kept their faces calm, but their eyes were fixed on Han Xiao.

Han Xiao glanced at the three of them and smiled.

"The World Tree Civilization cannot coexist with us. We are in a relationship where if one dies, the other will be in danger. No one can be alone. Everyone should be united and fight against the common enemy. Cooperation is the only choice."

"…It's great that you understand this."

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief. They needed to unite all forces now. They were really afraid that the Super-A Grade Association would not be able to figure things out at this time and play some dirty tricks.

Seeing that Black Star had lightly brushed over the conflict, the three of them could not help but recall the disputes between them and the Super-A Grade Association over the years, and their moods were quite complicated.

Looking at Black Star's actions since he took office, he had always been promoting checks and balances, hoping to get along peacefully, and had never taken the initiative to provoke conflict.

In the past, the three of them thought that the Association was dragging on time to accumulate strength, but now, looking back, the three of them suddenly realized that Black Star's approach seemed to have another explanation… Wasn't this also preserving the living forces?

Because of various reasons such as fear, they had been constantly suppressing and ostracizing the Association. Black Star had been restrained and maintained a fragile balance like walking on a tightrope. When they were still entangled in internal strife, Black Star might have already set his sights on the World Tree Civilization and was preparing to fight against foreign enemies.

Unfortunately, the leak of the Virtual Mutiny Virus technology made them determined to provoke war and try to start a full-scale war to settle accounts…

'We almost couldn't turn back!'

The three of them were shocked and broke out in a cold sweat, feeling very fortunate.

Fortunately, they reined in at the critical moment. If they really fought, they would have destroyed Black Star's good intentions and damaged their own living forces.

Thinking of this, the three of them looked at Han Xiao again, their eyes very complicated, with guilt and apology, as well as gratitude and respect.

'We misunderstood him…'

Knowing the real motivation, the three of them seemed to have re-acquainted themselves with Han Xiao.

Black Star's image in their minds suddenly became vivid. The three of them seemed to see a lonely figure walking alone, bearing the unknown burden alone, trying to eliminate disputes, but no one understood his true intentions…

'Black Star… Your contribution to this universe deserves to be called great.'

Mabrus had such a thought in his mind, his heart surging, secretly admiring and respecting him, and at the same time feeling a little regretful, having the same thoughts as Ulan Riel.

——If Black Star was a direct descendant of the Empire, how great would that be…

The past prejudice melted like ice and snow. Now that it had come to this, continuing to confront was a foolish act. The three of them knew that Black Star had already shown goodwill, and it was their turn to express their stance.

The three of them looked at each other, understood each other's meaning, and slowly nodded.

Mabrus coughed, looked at Han Xiao seriously, and solemnly said:

"Black Star, I officially represent the three great civilizations and re-invite you to serve as a special security consultant. I wonder if you are willing?"