Chapter 1357 Three for One?

"Three for one?" Han Xiao was taken aback.

The Empire seemed to be going all out; judging by the numbers, it was certainly sincere.

Civilized at the universe level possessed the technology to create Universal Treasures, and with years of accumulation, their foundations were very strong.

Beicrodi touched the table, and a virtual screen popped up in front of Han Xiao.

"This is the exchange list provided by the Empire. You can choose three from it."

Han Xiao glanced at it and understood that the Universal Treasures on the list were not the Empire's entire collection.

After thinking about it, he asked, "What if I want other Universal Treasures from the Empire?"

"If you want to exchange for Universal Treasures not on the list, you won't get the three-for-one deal. Some strategic-level Universal Treasures that are more important to the Empire cannot be exchanged with you. You need to understand this... Besides that, if you have any requirements for customized Universal Treasures, you can also propose them to the Empire, which requires review," Beicrodi said.

This was within my expectations... Han Xiao nodded.

He figured that the Empire's three-for-one deal was not unlimited. It was impossible to exchange their strategic-level Universal Treasures for the Evolution Cube.

What they were willing to exchange were mostly Universal Treasures that were applied to individuals and did not greatly help the civilization as a whole.

The importance of a Universal Treasure depended on its specific effect. In Han Xiao's view, these things were like magical artifacts. The most top-tier ones were some unsolvable cosmic wonders, such as the Amber of Time. Man-made Universal Treasures varied, such as Austin's Mystical Temple, Beoni's Core of Fire, the Arcane Church’s High-Dimensional Apocalypse Teleporter, and the Vitre's Wand of the Pantheon, depending on their respective effects.

The Evolution Cube was the core technology created by the Evolutionary Civilization with the power of its entire race. The technology had long been lost, and it was accompanied by a series of application technologies.

Now that the EsGod's legacy was exposed, many advanced civilizations had obtained these technical data, meaning that whoever obtained the Evolution Cube could inherit a part of the core technology of a quasi-universe level civilization, completely exclusive to them, which was of great significance.

Han Xiao pondered, carefully browsing the exchange list again, secretly analyzing the pros and cons.

During the World Tree War in his previous life, the three great civilizations took out a large number of their stored Universal Treasures to arm all the Beyond Grade As in the universe. Many Universal Treasures on the list had demonstrated their effects.

The majority of them were magic equipment and mechanical weapons, mostly individual combat equipment, such as armor, close and long-range weapons, special devices, and so on. There was also a complete set of golden equipment created by the "Divine Craftsman" Thorne, ranking fifth among Thorne's top 100 legendary works.

A small part were Universal Treasures with special functions. Han Xiao basically understood them in his previous life, such as something called the Shadow Lantern. The wick was a fragment of the Shadow Dimension's source energy. The "light" emitted was shadow, which had many special functions. The main effect was to open dimensional portals, transforming the area into a dangerous shadow dimension, changing the nature of the things in the area, while also allowing strange shadow creatures to descend continuously.

Another example was the Key of Destruction, one of the signature technologies of the Crimson Empire, which could be mass-produced. Even ordinary people could use it. The effect was to remotely call for fire support from the Empire's various army groups.

This required the cooperation of the Empire's army groups. Most Empire legions were equipped with the Key of Destruction's matching devices. Once the Key of Destruction was activated, a special energy storage space would be temporarily opened, and a channel would be formed outside the cannon of these army groups for several seconds to several minutes. During this time, the army groups would receive a signal and immediately launch a barrage of cannon fire. All the energy fired would be stored in this temporary subspace.

The Key of Destruction could open the other end of the channel and release the barrage of cannon fire at its location, using powerful firepower to attack everything in the area without blind spots. The range covered was extremely wide, enough to cleanse everything in the area. The instantaneous burst of power was even higher than Primal Esper Energy... However, because it was an indiscriminate attack, it was basically used in desperate counterattacks or situations where they were outnumbered.

Compared to the High-Dimensional Apocalypse Teleporter, the Key of Destruction was not as flexible and was subject to restrictions such as space stabilization anchors, space-time magic, and Esper Energy Restriction Belts, which could cause it to fail. However, it also had its advantages, such as being portable, mass-produced, and having no usage threshold.

As long as one knew how to operate it, even mortals could use it. However, it was not for sale. The Empire only distributed it in batches when performing special missions.

Under a surprise attack, even ordinary Beyond Grade As could be killed by the terrifying firepower of the Key of Destruction. In the exploration era, the Empire used this technology to kill several of the Original Ones, leaving their bones and ashes to be scattered. However, with the development of various civilizations' space technology, the Key of Destruction was now slightly outdated, and everyone was wary of the Empire's trick.

Besides these, there were some miscellaneous things, such as the golden mechanical blueprints left behind by a former Beyond Grade A Mechanic, the magic forging blueprints left behind by a mage, and so on.

The Empire had a lot of things in stock and wanted to exchange the Evolution Cube for Universal Treasures that they did not need.

As for things that the Empire had not figured out, they naturally would not put them on the list. Han Xiao wanted to find a loophole, but they did not give him a chance.

"How is it? Have you decided?" After waiting patiently for a while, Beicrodi asked.

"Hmm..." Han Xiao pondered for a few seconds, shook his head, "It's a bit sudden. I haven't thought about it yet. I can't give you an answer now. Let me consider it for a while."

"Okay, you can." Beicrodi nodded, his tone slightly sinking, "I believe that after careful consideration, you can make a wise choice. Don't let down the Empire's sincerity. I hope you can make a decision before the Shattered Star Ring opens."

"We'll see."

Han Xiao nodded in agreement, then stood up and followed the other party's secretary out of the room.

Leaving the administrative building and heading to the small base where he stored his mechanical army, he was thinking about the pros and cons along the way.

First of all, in terms of benefits, if he handed over the Evolution Cube, he could exchange it for three Universal Treasures. According to the things displayed on the list, what he would get should be combat-related Universal Treasures. Of course, they would be useful, but Han Xiao felt that it was a bit lacking to exchange a strategic treasure for three pieces of equipment used for fighting.

It was like being in the late 20th century, clearly holding the technical data for the future development of the Internet, with a vast profit margin, but using the data to exchange for a few fighter jets... The analogy might not be appropriate, but that was how he felt.

It would be best to give it away for free... Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking.

There were also additional benefits, which was that the Black Star Army would no longer be at the center of attention. Sorokin's Infinite Consortium would probably not continue to cause trouble, and he would not have to worry about the Arcane Church and the Vitre coming for a surprise attack again, which would allow him to develop steadily in the long term... Previous grudges were not included.

Han Xiao also analyzed the impact on himself if he lost the Evolution Cube.

The Evolution Cube was a unique strategic treasure. Although it did not have combat power, its effects were reflected in all aspects of the faction's development. If it was handed over to the Empire, the Black Star Army would lose this faction specialty, and its attractiveness to players and other characters would inevitably decline. Someone like Silver Shadow today would not be so enthusiastic about him.

Now that he had the Shattered Star Ring as a foundation, the alliance of interests formed by the Cube was gradually stabilizing, but the Evolution Cube's business was still an important pillar of the army's finances.

Handing over the Cube was equivalent to transferring the terrifying profits of the Evolutionary Totem to the Empire... The Black Star Army's expansion and maintenance of its current scale required the continuous consumption of massive amounts of funds. Without Totem transactions, it would lose a large wave of cash flow, leading to a shrinking of the army's scale, or at least slowing down its expansion, which was an inevitable result.

Although he had to consider the Empire's wishes when using the Evolution Cube due to the alliance, the ownership was still his. Once he lost the ownership, the meaning would be different.

This meant that other forces no longer needed to cooperate with the Black Star Army. They could directly go to the Empire to obtain Evolution Cube services, and he would be kicked out of the game. This would have more or less impact on the army's various businesses, and the financial losses generated were not limited to the Totem transactions themselves.

Moreover, if he wanted Evolution Cube services in the future, he would have to exchange them from the Empire with contribution points or money.

At the same time, without the uniqueness of the Evolution Cube, the Black Star Army's faction influence would also decline... Even if his reputation was high and he was capable, if he could not give others the benefits they wanted, the number of people who would buy his services would naturally decrease.

To sum it up, if he handed over the Evolution Cube, the difficulty for the Black Star Army to continue to grow would increase exponentially.

Han Xiao was not sure if the Empire had the deep intention of restricting the Black Star Army from continuing to grow, and whether they felt that his army had developed to this point, which was enough—in theory, this would not be the case, but the thoughts of those in power were always difficult to fathom.

The Mechanical God was an example of someone who was allowed to grow too strong. Although the Arcane Church did not regret it, if they could do it again, they might not want the Mechanical God's power to expand to such a point that it was difficult to control.

However, there would also be trouble if he rejected the Empire's proposal.

From Beicrodi's words, Han Xiao smelled a different subtext... Was the Empire in a hurry to get the Evolution Cube in their hands because they already had the intention of publicly selling the Totem rights? Otherwise, why would they bring it up now?

After the Shattered Star Ring opened, countless forces would pour in, which would inevitably have an impact on the Empire. If they opened the sales rights at this time, in addition to obtaining massive profits, the Empire's pressure would also be greatly reduced, and their control over the Shattered Star Ring would become unbreakable, and they would not be afraid of external shocks... This was also hard to say. Han Xiao did not have enough information in hand and did not dare to determine what the Empire was thinking.

If that was really the case, then rejecting the proposal would be disrupting the Empire's strategic deployment, which would be equivalent to being insensible.

Beicrodi represented the Empire and showed "sincerity", speaking politely and with a sincere attitude, but it was actually a disguised form of coercion. Once he rejected, some of the Empire's upper echelons might feel that he did not know what was good for him, thus generating dissatisfaction.

Technician Han believed that if he refused to hand over the Evolution Cube, the Empire would not give up easily and would probably take unknown follow-up measures.

It was impossible to snatch his ally, but small tricks would definitely come one after another.

"This is really giving me a difficult problem..."

Han Xiao sighed, finding it difficult to choose.

When the Evolutionary Totem was born, he knew that there would definitely be trouble in the future, but the Empire helped him withstand the pressure, supporting him for more than twenty years. This trouble had finally come to him.

"I have to think carefully and contact Ulan Rier in a few days to probe his tone." Han Xiao thought to himself.

...

Not long after Han Xiao left, a figure walked into Beicrodi's conference room. It was Gaud.

More than ten years had passed, and after accumulating enough service experience outside, Gaud was recalled by the Empire and formally focused on cultivating the same batch of direct line potential Calamity Grade existences.

The birth of a Beyond Grade A was filled with uncertain factors. Even civilizations at the universe level could not mass-produce them, so they basically adopted a wide-net approach, cultivating batches of direct line Calamity Grades at the same time.

Due to the vast talent base and advanced cultivation methods, the conversion rate was not zero, and the production interval was not fixed. Dark Emperor Clotti was cultivated by the Empire as a direct line Beyond Grade A in this way.

At this time, Gaud was wearing a special Imperial military officer uniform without military rank markings. He was thin and looked no different from more than ten years ago.

"You're here, sit." Beicrodi saw him and nodded lightly.

Gaud sat in the seat Han Xiao had just sat in and smiled softly, "How did the discussion go?"

"Not sure. It would be best if Black Star agreed, which would save a lot of trouble."

"With such good conditions, I don't think he will refuse. Black Star is a smart person, and smart people know how to adapt to circumstances," Gaud said with a smile.

"It's hard to say. According to the Black Star personality model analyzed by the Hall of Heroes, he is a typical profit-seeker. A three-for-one deal might not be able to move him. The probability of him rejecting is 63%." Beicrodi shook his head, then changed the topic, "Let's not talk about him. In any case, whether he agrees or not, we will eventually need your ability to analyze the principle of Evolutionary Energy."

"Hehe, I'm at your disposal at any time," Gaud said with a half-smile.

"I know your ability is unprecedented, but how confident are you that you can analyze the principle of the Evolution Cube with your ability? Don't tell me you can't do it in the end."

"It's zero now, but when I reach Beyond Grade A, I'll have a 70-80% chance."

"So, when can you reach Beyond Grade A?" Beicrodi asked.

Gaud smiled without saying a word.

Seeing this, Beicrodi knew that there was no answer to this question and shook his head, "In any case, it's good that you know what you're doing. Remember, as long as you can analyze the mysteries of the Evolution Cube, you will have done a great service to the Empire, which will greatly help your promotion, and His Excellency the President will pay more attention to you."

He firmly supported handing over the Evolution Cube. Sorokin, who could only rely on private transactions to pressure the Black Star Army, had not achieved much results due to the cooperation between the Black Star Army and the Germinal Financial Group. It was not until Gaud entered his sight that Beicrodi saw new hope.

As a direct line potential Esper that the Empire cultivated, Gaud was courted by several factions of the Empire in the past ten years. The closest relationship was with the hard-line faction that Beicrodi belonged to. They had made a political investment in him early on and branded him with the faction's mark.

After a pause, Beicrodi changed the topic:

"Let's put this matter aside for now. Let's talk about the Chaos Secret Energy you mentioned. This is information leaked from the EsGod's legacy. This Primal Esper body is very dangerous. If it cannot become a host, even a Calamity Grade will be devoured and die. Isn't your idea too risky?"

"Not risky."

Beicrodi frowned, "Are you sure your ability can control Chaos Secret Energy when you're at Calamity Grade?"

"Yes, this will allow me to reach Beyond Grade A faster and grow faster," Gaud said with a chuckle.

"Hmph, you better be confident." Beicrodi said in a deep voice, "Chaos Secret Energy is information from the EsGod's legacy. This copy has not fallen into the hands of the Empire. You obtained this information from other forces and handed it over to the Empire, which is good... Other forces will snatch the Chaos Secret Energy at that time, and the Empire will also intervene. I have reported your application, and it is still under review whether the Empire will hand over the Chaos Secret Energy for you to use."

"Not bad," Gaud said with a faint smile.