Chapter 1 All Aboard!

All the organized legions converged, forming an immensely large fleet escorting all of the Kunde Clan's spaceships, heading toward Lighthouse Star.

Countless densely packed warships trailed warp streamers, their formations tight, their tail flames reflecting off each other, forming a sea of mobile light, stirring up brilliant waves in the dark universe.

Imperial warships were mainly distributed on the outer perimeter, while within the encirclement were tens of millions of Kunde Clan ships, carrying the entire population of the Kunde Clan.

The shipboard weapons had all been unloaded, and the power of the energy core was limited to the minimum level to ensure the ship's operation. The thin shields could be punctured with a single poke. The ships had lost all armed forces and were completely taken over by Imperial soldiers—these Kunde Clan ships had been transformed into prison ships.

The Kunde Clan flagship was the most thoroughly transformed. The cabins were converted into cells, all kinds of facilities were torn down, and the mechanical style of heavy industry collapsed into a minimalist style, basically leaving only the load-bearing walls.

The command hall had been taken over by Imperial soldiers. Two remote projections suddenly appeared in the hall, namely Han Xiao and Tarrokov.

"Greetings, Commander-in-Chief."

As soon as the two went online, the neat salute of the Imperial soldiers echoed around them.

Han Xiao was on time; Old Tar had just scheduled a plan to inspect the prisoners today and had already issued a notice. The soldiers on the ship were waiting to welcome them.

The senior Imperial officers in charge of the various legions were also present, all with their adjutants, gathered together using remote projections.

"Everyone has worked hard." Tarrokov smiled, nodded, and was friendly.

These young and elite officers were the rising stars of the Imperial military, and they would be the successors of these old generals in the future. Seeing that the Empire was full of talents, Tarrokov was quite pleased.

Han Xiao glanced at the officers present and couldn't help but wiggle his eyebrows theatrically.

Wow, all big names!

A group of future famous generals and military大佬 (dàlǎo, big shots) stood in front of him waiting for inspection, feeling like a group of people hanging in the Imperial Hall of Fame had walked down from the portraits on the wall.

Because he knew the future identities of these people, Han Xiao felt that this scene was quite commemorative and couldn't help but want to take a group photo.

"Your Excellency Black Star, you're here too."

Taini was also among them, and greeted him with a smile on his lips, obviously in a good mood.

"It's good to see you again." Han Xiao nodded in greeting, and seeing that all the officers were looking over, he simply said loudly, "Congratulations to everyone for winning this war. It is an honor for the Empire to have such capable military talents as you."

A widespread PR offensive, the effect is extraordinary!

Black Star's identity was here. Although he was an ally, in terms of status, he now surpassed this group of young and elite generals who had not yet reached their peak.

No one dislikes good words. Hearing the praise from the大佬 (dàlǎo, big shot), everyone's faces showed a smile of approval.

"Not at all, Your Excellency Black Star's intelligence is the cornerstone of victory. In terms of merit, you are the greatest."

"We did all the hard work. Your Excellency Black Star's contribution is the main reason why we easily won this war."

Courtesy demands reciprocity. Someone immediately started blowing each other up with commercial compliments. Of course, there were also officers with cold and taciturn personalities who didn't speak, but just nodded in agreement.

Han Xiao responded with a smile, suddenly paused slightly, and locked his eyes on the adjutant beside an Imperial general, who was Gao De with a subtle smile on his face.

"Oh, you are…"

He narrowed his eyes and glanced at this person, finding that he had no impression.

Seeing this, Gao De smiled faintly and took the initiative to speak, "I have long admired your name, Your Excellency Black Star."

"Let me introduce you. This is Gao De, one of the Empire's key superhumans. I heard that he survived the Primal Psionic Self-Destruction, which is very impressive." Tarrokov introduced Han Xiao with a smile.

"Hello, Gao De."

Hearing this, Han Xiao casually greeted him, secretly entered the quantum network vision, opened the Imperial internal interface, logged in to his account, and checked Gao De's information registered in the Imperial military.

Checking a person's background as soon as they meet has become a habit for him.

With his authority, it was no problem to check some basic information of Imperial members.

The next second, a picture of Gao De's information popped up in the brain domain. Han Xiao browsed it, and saw that it recorded Gao De's clean service resume, which looked fine.

He swiped down, and was about to look at more detailed information when the interface suddenly popped up a warning of insufficient permissions.

"Can't see it? It seems he is very valued."

Han Xiao wouldn't bother to crack the Empire's network and cause dissatisfaction among the higher-ups. He closed the interface and began to think.

Old Tar said that Gao De was on the list of key superhumans to be trained? With the Empire's size, the goals of key training are basically for Super A Grade seeds or even Super A Grades. There are two types of superhumans who are cultivated. One is special abilities, and the other is outstanding potential. This guy is at most a Calamity Grade. He was able to survive in the Primal Psionic Self-Destruction, so he is probably the former. I don't know what abilities he has... Han Xiao pondered secretly.

In his previous life, Grand Technician Han's main camp was the Crimson Empire. He was very familiar with all kinds of bigwigs in the Empire. If Gao De was really a superhuman who was cultivated by the Empire, he should have an impression.

But he could be sure that he had never heard this name before. There was no memory of Gao De in his mind at all. There was no such person in the Crimson Empire in his previous life.

"The plot has changed again…" Han Xiao muttered in his heart, "I don't know where a newcomer popped out from."

Although he was puzzled, he was not surprised.

He had done so many things that had already caused the butterfly effect, and it was not surprising that some people who were not famous in his previous life suddenly appeared.

Not to mention, Interes, who is currently running the Germinal Financial Group, is a good chive that he dug out from a corner.

Staring at Han Xiao's handsome face, Gao De's mouth slightly curved:

"Your Excellency Black Star, we may become colleagues in the future."

"Aren't we now?" Han Xiao collected his thoughts and came back to his senses.

"Hehe, you know what I mean." Gao De smiled calmly.

"…Ambitious, then I'll wait." Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.

Does he mean he thinks he will definitely become a Super A Grade? This guy is quite confident...

Silently remembering Gao De, Han Xiao moved his gaze away.

After chatting with everyone for a few words, he finally offered the universal ending sentence "I'll treat you to dinner when I have the chance in the future." Only then did all the officers go offline.

Leaving Han Xiao and Tarrokov, the two of them inspected the entire spaceship led by the soldiers on board.

The Kunde Clan civilians on board were concentrated in detention, while the high-level officials were all imprisoned separately. Han Xiao followed Old Tar and first inspected the civilian detention area.

Narrow and crowded, like a refugee camp.

Countless Kunde Clan civilians were squeezed together, and gazes containing fear, anxiety, confusion, and other emotions, swept over the Imperial soldiers standing guard from time to time.

Before the war began, many civilians were actually unwilling to leave. They hadn't even seen the shadow of the enemy, and many people thought the so-called invaders were fabricated.

And now, the Kunde Clan civilians only had panic in their hearts, like sacrificial prey who didn't know when the butcher's knife would fall, uneasy and shivering.

The race that once dominated this star cluster and called itself advanced has been reduced to a prisoner of a more advanced civilization. Every Kunde Clan civilian had a huge gap in their hearts.

After inspecting the civilians, the two of them came to the area where the high-level officials were being held separately. Standing outside the Kunde Clan leader's interrogation room, they observed the other party through the one-way window.

Although he had been reduced to a prisoner, the Kunde Clan leader sat upright, still maintaining his demeanor. He was alone in the interrogation room, closing his eyes to rest.

"When you ask questions later, I'll just go in and listen." Han Xiao glanced at the Kunde Clan leader and turned to Old Tar.

Old Tar was in charge of the interrogation. He was just here to visit, and the Kunde Clan leader probably didn't know him either.

Tarrokov nodded, indicating that he had no objection, and nodded towards the soldiers next to him.

"Open the door."

…

In the interrogation room, the Kunde Clan leader sat upright in his seat, trying to sit up straight.

He was not as calm as he appeared, but he had to pretend to be calm. In his eyes, he represented the last bit of decency of the Kunde Clan.

"Shua—"

The door slid open. The Kunde Clan leader heard the sound, opened his eyes, and saw two figures walking in.

One was the enemy commander Tarrokov he had seen before, and the other was extremely unfamiliar, wearing a complicated and gorgeous golden-patterned black windbreaker. The way this clothes were worn looked like a big shot, and he didn't know where he came from.

"This is our second meeting." Tarrokov quickly entered the state, with a straight face, and said lightly, "Our side has fulfilled its promise and has not carried out a massacre. Now you have to tell me everything you know, including your thoughts and logic when making decisions, and the reason for attacking us. Tell me the whole story, remember, your answer will affect our attitude towards you. It's best not to have any deception, otherwise it won't be me who regrets it."

Virtual technology can steal the other party's information, but it cannot know the judgment process and thoughts in their minds. This is the focus of today's interrogation.

The Kunde Clan leader knew that this would happen sooner or later and did not dare to have any intention of hiding anything. At the same time, there was no point in hiding anything. With a heavy heart, he told the story from beginning to end.

Listening to the other party's account, Tarrokov entered content into the report from time to time. Han Xiao leaned over and took a look, and saw words such as "xenophobia", "native arrogance", "revenge-based culture", and "incompatibility with coexistence".

These are not good words… He blinked.

This interrogation report may affect the Empire's final handling plan for the Kunde Clan, and these words are undoubtedly dangerous.

After a while, the Kunde Clan leader finally reached the end:

"...Your arrival has taken away our space for development, so we would rather look for a new home undisturbed than coexist with you. This will only make us experience long-term, passive competition, and the prospects for civilization's development will be limited to death."

Hearing this, Tarrokov nodded, too lazy to hide, "You're right, we will never allow you to rise."

Not many civilizations are saints. The Crimson Empire developed the Shattered Star Ring, of course, not with the idea of ​​benefiting all living beings. It simply had no intention of letting the natives rise. The maximum amount of kindness was just to leave some space to allow the other party to continue to survive.

For most backward natives, it is not a bad thing. The three major civilizations assimilate them with interstellar society, which is equivalent to giving them advanced enlightenment education. However, for a civilization like the Kunde Clan, which has reached a certain scale and has already begun interstellar pioneering, it is an outright disaster.

The three major civilizations have no interest in cultivating more stinky younger brothers who covet their dominant position, and will inevitably restrict the development of advanced native civilizations.

From the bottom of their hearts, the Crimson Empire actually did not dislike the Kunde Clan's initiative to start a war. It just happened to use force to conquer the other party's civilization in a justified manner.

"However..." Tarrokov changed the subject, "Now that things have come to this, I believe you also understand that the crashed spaceship you obtained was provided by some of our opponents, with the purpose of using you as a gun to deal with us.

Their information contained real technology to enhance your military power, but while the technology was real, the information about the Empire was a bunch of lies. They didn't tell you what level of strength the Crimson Empire actually possessed, deliberately making you mistakenly believe that you had a chance to fight.

That crashed spaceship was a poisoned fruit. Under the sweetness of advanced technology, there was a deadly poison hidden.

Therefore, in your opinion, obtaining technologies such as psionics, warp, and star gates is equivalent to filling most of the gap between the strengths of both sides. You think you have obtained the same weapons as us. It's like an ancient person fighting a modern person, both holding a cold weapon. Although the times are different, the outcome is still uncertain, but the fact is that the weapons in our hands are several iterations beyond yours. It's like you are still waving swords, and we have already fired a planet-annihilating cannon and shoveled you and the planet together.

As a result, you saw that we originally had the possibility of peaceful coexistence. Although you would lose the space to rise, you could at least guarantee the independence of your civilization. Compromise is sometimes a good choice."

Hearing this, the Kunde Clan leader shook his head and said in a deep voice:

"Turning a blind eye to the fact that the road ahead is blocked is not what we Kunde Clan do. We would rather take a gamble."

"Well said, a civilization without ambition has no future. I understand you. Giving up your homeland is indeed unwilling."

Tarrokov did not object, but nodded in appreciation, then slowed down his tone and shook his head: "It's just that your only mistake was choosing the wrong opponent."

The Kunde Clan leader lowered his head.

He did not regret his own choice and was still full of resentment in his heart.

However, what he hates most at this time is not the Crimson Empire, but the mastermind who used the Kunde Clan as a gun!

In his eyes, that is the root cause of ruining their clan!

"Okay, that's it. Thank you for your cooperation."

At this time, Tarrokov stood up and called Han Xiao, preparing to leave the interrogation room.

"Wait a minute!"

The Kunde Clan leader suddenly spoke, his tone low:

"You actually won't destroy us, but plan to raise us in captivity, right?"

"Well, there is such a possibility… However, we will not take the physical means of智力阉割 (zhìlì yāngé, intelligence castration) that you took, at most we will only start from the cultural aspect."

The Kunde Clan leader understood and took a deep breath, "So… I am bound to die, right."

Tarrokov paused, did not choose to hide it, and nodded, "You are a symbol for people to vent their anger, a target for the people to despise, a lesson left in history, and a useful propaganda tool."

Han Xiao shook his head as he listened.

These people spoke in a misty way, but luckily he understood.

If the Empire chooses cultural transformation, then it needs to choose a puppet to lead the Kunde Clan, and the puppet's choice will never be this Kunde Clan leader.

The role of this guy is to be used by the Empire as a marionette to perform a grand scapegoating ceremony.

And this play will end with his execution.

"I understand, someone needs to bear the blame for the wrong things. I don't care whether I leave a bad name." The Kunde Clan leader had already made up his mind to die, "I can fully cooperate with you in acting in this play, but I have two requests... Don't look at me like that, I know I'm not qualified to make conditions, but I can only say to you, just take this as my last wish."

"…Then tell me."

"First, we have already surrendered. It doesn't matter if you kill me, but I hope that other compatriots can be properly resettled and there will be no more deaths. Second..."

The Kunde Clan leader's tone suddenly became ferocious, "I want the people who used us behind the scenes to pay the price!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Tarrokov remained unmoved, pretended not to hear, and turned to leave.

Seeing this, the Kunde Clan leader silently lowered his head.

He knew in his heart that the other party would not accept his request, but today may be the last chance to speak, and he had no choice.

Just then, a black figure suddenly appeared in his lowered field of vision.

The Kunde Clan leader looked up and saw the black-clothed man who had been silent all the time after entering the door and whose details were unknown walked up to him and looked down at him condescendingly.

Before he could wonder, what he heard next almost made him jump up in shock, suspecting that there was something wrong with his ears.

"Your request, I accept it."

"!!"

The Kunde Clan leader was stunned.

Tarrokov stopped and turned back suddenly, with a look of astonishment in his eyes.

Han Xiao looked calm and continued:

"I will reflect to the Empire, settle your people in my territory, and take care of them as much as possible. As for making the mastermind behind the scenes pay the price, it's not a difficult task."

His style was to never get up early if there was no profit. Just now, when the Kunde Clan leader made his last wish, the panel really popped up a new task. He guessed it.

After seeing the requirements and rewards at a glance, Han Xiao decided—this task, he must take it!

"Who are you?!"

Hearing these words, the Kunde Clan leader finally couldn't help but ask Han Xiao's details.

"You can call me Black Star. As for who I am… Well, my title is relatively long, and I guess you wouldn't understand what it means. How about this, you only need to know one thing is enough…"

Han Xiao smiled slightly.

"I alone can destroy your entire civilization."