Chapter 1 The Future Territory

The translucent cyan starmap floated in front of Han Xiao, displaying an overview of the Goroo Star Cluster. Most of the area was marked in green, representing the star systems available for selection.

Han Xiao stared thoughtfully at the starmap, its faint blue light reflecting on his face.

Next to him, Tarrokov's remote projection watched the starmap with a jovial smile.

"Have you decided?"

"Of course, but I have a question… After the first phase of exploration, the empire has already figured out the resource distribution of each star system. Although you're letting me choose freely, the empire's attitude will differ depending on my choice of star systems, right?" Han Xiao turned to glance at him.

"Hehe, I know what you mean. You're worried that if you choose star systems that are all strategic locations and resource-rich areas, the empire might have something to say about it…" Tarrokov shook his head with a smile. "Don't worry. Since the empire is willing to give it to you, it's not afraid of your appetite being too big. The empire won't be so petty."

"That's good then," Han Xiao nodded.

"Moreover, His Excellency the President has asked me to relay something to you…" Tarrokov's eyes flashed, his tone meaningful. "She suggests that the more important the star systems you choose, the the better."

"Because I'm a member of the Pro-President Faction?" Han Xiao asked with interest.

"Well, perhaps that's one of the reasons… How about this, let me tell you some inside information. In fact, not everyone in the upper echelons of the empire agrees with dividing seven star systems for you. Some believe that those important areas should be controlled by the empire and not given to any allies. President Ulan Riel overruled the objections and even took out areas of direct control in the Goroo Star Cluster that were originally intended for the empire so you could choose from them. In her words, since a promise was made, allies shouldn't be tricked, as that would only chill their hearts."

"She's right. It seems the president is quite considerate of me," Han Xiao said with a smile, nodding.

"The president suggests that you control some strategic locations, and there's actually another meaning to it. She hopes you'll have more say and a higher status in the empire, indirectly suppressing some discordant voices within the empire… you know what I'm talking about," Tarrokov said.

Upon hearing this, Han Xiao understood in his heart that they were referring to the Evolutionary Cube.

When a Super-A Grade ally possesses a strategic-level universe treasure, such conflicts are bound to arise. It was like how Sisko had always been under pressure from within the Arcane Church.

Han Xiao had heard that some people within the empire hoped that he would voluntarily hand over the Evolutionary Cube. However, in the face of the rules of universe-level civilizations regarding allies and his own achievements, this voice was very weak.

Forcing allies to hand over universe treasures was impossible. Universe-level civilizations would not do such short-sighted things. However, even so, the desire of some people within the empire for the Evolutionary Cube would never disappear.

Ulan Riel wants to increase my influence, while the faction coveting the Evolutionary Cube doesn't want me to gain too important a position, so it'll be harder to suppress me… On another level, this is the empire's factional strife.

With this in mind, Han Xiao felt helpless. He didn't want to get involved in the empire's internal political struggles either, but there was no way around it. Any valuable thing was a bargaining chip in the eyes of these imperial factions, and Super-A Grade allies were no exception. If others saw him as an important chip on the table, there was nothing he could do about it.

"No matter what they think, I'll just develop myself," Han Xiao shook his head, extending a finger to tap the starmap seven times. "I'll take these seven star systems."

Tarrokov glanced at them, his eyes flashing, and laughed. "As expected, you won't stand on ceremony."

"You're the one who told me not to," Han Xiao shrugged.

He had chosen important star systems in the Goroo Star Cluster. Two of them were gateways to nearby star clusters and strategic chokepoints. Two more were future transportation hubs for the Goroo Star Cluster, which would be very prosperous, and the final three were located in the center of the star cluster, the most resource-rich areas with extremely high development potential.

"Alright, I'll report it to the president. Construction will begin soon, so prepare in advance. I'm leaving." With that, Tarrokov cut off the communication, and the remote projection disappeared.

Han Xiao withdrew his gaze, staring at the seven areas on the starmap that had lit up, and slowly exhaled.

"Seven star systems… This will be my future territory."

…

Several days later, the Crimson Dynasty announced to the entire universe that the first phase of the exploration of the Flickering World had been successfully completed, and the exploration results were disclosed to the outside world at their discretion.

All along, countless eyes had been fixed on the development progress of the Flickering World. This new star field was not only the Crimson Dynasty's territory but also the wealth of the entire universe. With smooth development, the empire could also improve its reputation to a certain extent.

This news invigorated many forces, especially many consortiums. The empire had already released information during the development that consortiums would be allowed to participate in the subsequent construction of the first phase with investment. Although there would be many people and limited resources, only large universe consortiums would be able to obtain entry tickets, it was still a sure-win deal.

Every ally force was a good investment target. The empire's announcement listed the regional ownership rights obtained by each ally, among which the Black Star Army ranked first with seven star systems, far exceeding Klent's four star systems in second place.

The major interstellar forces took note of this, all sensing the empire's emphasis on Black Star.

…That's right, Black Star is still very young and growing so fast. He will be a pillar of the empire for the next hundreds or thousands of years. The empire can't neglect him.

After the announcement was released, the various consortiums that had been watching finally began to take action, contacting the empire's ally forces on the list. Among them, the Black Star Army was the most popular among the consortiums. For a time, countless cooperation applications from various consortiums were sent to Phillip.

Although seven star systems were large, there were too many consortiums eyeing the Flickering World. Consortium investments were for profit, and the range of territory was limited. It was impossible to cooperate with everyone. Han Xiao personally screened them, first excluding some consortiums with limited strength, and then sent people to negotiate with the large consortiums.

This was a large project. Han Xiao had Silvia draw clerical staff from various departments to form various groups to connect with different consortiums for negotiations, discussing cooperation details.

The specific method of cooperation was for the consortiums to invest cash to purchase various resources and engineering equipment to help the investment targets build up their territory. In return, the investors needed to promise certain operating rights or mining rights to certain planets after the Flickering World was opened, or convenient conditions for various businesses. The industries involved were very broad, so the terms of cooperation varied greatly depending on the business of each consortium.

There were countless derivative rights extending from the rights of jurisdiction. Besides the actual planets, there were many things that could be traded. Because the territory was completely under its own jurisdiction, basically, it could do any transaction that those civilizations could do, and it had even less pressure without the burden of citizens.

Although Han Xiao was wary of Sorokin, they had reached a preliminary cooperation intention before, so in the spirit of keeping his promise, he sent Sorokin a message to inquire about it and quickly finalized the terms of cooperation. However, the amount of investment from the other party was far below Han Xiao's expectations, revealing a sense of poverty.

"It doesn't make sense. The Infinite Consortium is only investing such a small amount of money. Why does it seem like they don't value it at all?"

In the Commander's office, Han Xiao looked at the contract terms with a strange expression.

"Silvia, I asked you to investigate the whereabouts of the Infinite Consortium before. Do you have any results?"

"Yes. After the Infinite Consortium entered the Shattered Star Ring, they split off another team to participate in the Gathering of Tyrants in the War Realm. If I'm not mistaken, the Infinite Consortium is investigating investment targets. They only symbolically invested a little money in us, focusing on the War Realm."

Han Xiao was puzzled. "That's strange. The territory I was allocated is more than three times that of Heber. Sorokin's investment focus is actually on Heber? Did Heber give him particularly generous terms?"

After thinking for a few seconds, Han Xiao didn't dwell on the matter too much. A large number of consortiums were eyeing this opportunity, and he had plenty of room to choose. If the Infinite Consortium was unwilling to cooperate in depth, so be it. What he lacked the least right now were cooperative partners.

After dealing with the matters at hand, Han Xiao put down the communicator, opened the interface, and looked at the mission bar.

The first stage goal of the [Flickering World] main mission was to explore the Goroo Star Cluster. When the Crimson Dynasty announced the success of the first phase of development, the first stage mission was displayed as completed and could be settled at any time.

The players also had this main mission, but they would not be able to settle it until the version was updated and they went back online.

Han Xiao glanced at the mission description. He had accumulated a huge amount of exploration points, and the mission evaluation had already reached the highest level.

"After exploring for a few years, I finally completed the first stage of this S+ level main mission," Han Xiao muttered to himself. "With such a high mission evaluation, the contribution points I receive should be enough to exchange for the last Ultimate Knowledge."

With that, Han Xiao chose to settle the mission.

[【Flickering World】Stage 1 has been completed]

[Your mission evaluation is: S+]

[You have received 2 billion EXP, Random Reward x3, 3,000 Crimson Dynasty Contribution Points, Blank Character Summon Card x2]

[【Exploration Pioneer】Milestone has been unlocked]

[Milestone Activation Requirement: Obtain at least 3 A-level Exploration Evaluations in the 【Flickering World】Mission Chain]

[Current Progress: 1/3]

"Oh, a milestone mission," Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.

This type of milestone mission would grant unique title headers or Legend Points. Some titles were just for show, while others had additional bonuses. Han Xiao remembered that he still had a 【Legendary Hunter】 milestone that he hadn't completed. The effect of that title was to increase damage against beast-type creatures, while 【Exploration Pioneer】 seemed to be able to increase the drop rate of dungeons and random rewards.

The highest mission evaluation gave 2 billion experience points as a reward. It wasn't much to him, but for level 120 players, it was enough to level up many times. Under the version standards, this reward was already very generous. Those 20 to 30 billion experience rewards that Han Xiao had done were basically the reward level for fighting Super-A Grades. Compared to the difficulty of the [Flickering World] itself, this reward was already very high.

The second stage of the [Flickering World] also popped up, requiring the completion of all infrastructure construction in the Black Star Army's territory.

This main mission itself was very flexible, and the specific requirements would vary depending on the faction and actual situation. Han Xiao's and the army players' 【Flickering World】 mission requirements were released based on the dual faction positions of the Crimson Dynasty and the Black Star Army. The second stage was to build their own territory, and Han Xiao was not surprised by this.

It was a pity that the players were offline and missed this stage of the mission.

After letting his thoughts wander for a while, Han Xiao gathered his thoughts and glanced at the faction relationship bar. The most useful reward for him was the empire's 3,000 contribution points. Adding this to his current amount, the empire's contribution points had exceeded 12,000, enough to exchange for the last Ultimate Knowledge.

"Well, I'm finally going to collect all the Ultimate Knowledges," Han Xiao breathed a sigh of relief.

…

At the same time, in the War Realm.

After the Infinite Consortium and Heber reached a consensus on cooperation, Lophil acted as an envoy stationed in the War Realm, and Sorokin passed secret instructions to her through possession of his followers.

Not long after the empire announced the territory of its allies, Lophil contacted Sorokin and expressed her shock.

"The empire is too generous to the Black Star Army, a whole seven star systems. Father, is it really okay for us not to focus on investing in the Black Star Army?"

Sorokin also frowned. He knew that the empire valued Black Star, but the empire's love was still a bit beyond his expectations.

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

Tsk, those cooperating imperial factions had agreed to operate internally to prevent Black Star from getting too good of a territory. Now it seems they've failed, giving the Black Star Army so much room for development. Isn't this increasing the difficulty of my suppression work…

This batch of teammates is useless!