Chapter 176 The Holler of Hegemon

Everyone looked toward the source of the sound, the center of the War Realm, where Heber’s palace was located.

Ames’ eyes flickered. She glanced at the Hela sisters and sighed softly. Her pale hand dropped down, hidden by her sleeve, indicating she would no longer take action. The force field she had been brewing dissipated rapidly.

The tense atmosphere immediately eased.

She no longer looked at Kailuo but turned to Mazaker, who had also helped block her attack, and said calmly, "Stop standing there, lead the way."

When she decided to accept Hegemon's invitation, Ames had expected something similar to happen. Her earlier attack had already demonstrated her attitude. Since Hegemon had intervened on his own territory, she did not want to escalate the conflict further. After all, she wasn't here to cause trouble.

Mazaker nodded and led the way, with the others following behind him.

Han Xiao turned his head one last time to glance at Kailuo.

Watching Ames and the others leave, Kailuo did not try to stop them. He retracted his smile and shook his head at the two vanguard officers. "I thought she would ignore the warning and continue to attack. Although I was measuring my words, from what I know of Ames, this level of provocation should have been enough to anger her."

One of the vanguard officers sighed. "The Dragon Emperor has changed. The rumors were true. She has ambitions for expansion."

The Black Star Army also represented Longtan's expansion, a situation that had already attracted the attention of many forces, and the War Realm was also keeping an eye on Longtan's development.

Kailuo's mission was to test Ames' attitude. His words were mostly directed at Black Star and did not directly insult Ames. Ames' reaction would provide valuable information. If she had bigger plans, she would not provoke a larger conflict.

Meanwhile, inside Heber's palace.

The room contained only Heber and a Klent ambassador, while the surveillance footage of Ames and her party was displayed on a virtual screen.

The Klent Empire valued Hegemon's gatherings, treating them as diplomatic events. The ambassador was a high-ranking official who had come in person to demonstrate Klent's good working relationship with Hegemon.

Klents were generally slender. Standing next to Heber, who was seven or eight meters tall and like a small giant, the ambassador appeared skinny and small.

"Your Excellency Hegemon, you are as tough as ever. Without even having to personally intervene, a single word was enough to deter the Dragon Emperor. I thought I would get to see Your Excellency's heroic figure in action."

The Klent official spoke respectfully, a smile on his face.

"Mm." Heber swirled his specially-made giant wine glass, noncommittal.

"It's a pity. It would have been good if she had attacked," the Klent official said, shaking his head with a smile.

"This gathering is of great importance. If she were to cause trouble at this time, she would offend many important figures. Since she wants to expand, she won't attack," Heber said calmly.

"Aren't you afraid that she'll retaliate against you after the gathering?" The Klent official chuckled. "She is the type to do something like that."

"Isn't that what you want to see?" Heber's tone was calm.

"Haha, you're right. This would give you an excuse to attack Longtan." The Klent official laughed. He was the one who most wanted to see Ames act recklessly. "Even the Purple Crystal Civilization won't stop you from entering Colton on a large scale with this reason."

Heber glanced at him, too lazy to respond. Although they were allies, he and the Klent had different goals.

"Ames… tsk tsk. Under the halo of a Super-A Grade, if one could obtain a woman of this status, all other women would pale in comparison," the Klent official said, admiring Ames' figure on the virtual screen, his eyes quite unrestrained, as he spoke to himself.

He held a high position and had countless partners. His aesthetic focus was no longer on appearance. The addition of status and identity made women more attractive in his eyes. As the only female among the four Super-As of the Shattered Star Ring, Ames was clearly the most difficult woman to tame.

Galaxy-level civilizations did not dare to provoke Super-A Grade powerhouses, but to Star Cluster-level civilizations, Super-A Grades, while powerful, were not as frightening as they were to Galaxy-level civilizations.

Only Super-A Grades with vast power like Hegemon received more attention from Star Cluster-level civilizations.

Therefore, the Klent official did not care about expressing his desire for Ames, since it was just wishful thinking.

Heber said slowly, "I hate women who are too willful. Her character needs some tempering."

The Klent official shook his head upon hearing this. He could only fantasize about Ames, while Heber had the ability to act on it.

…

On the other side, Han Xiao and his group were on their way to their guest rooms.

After the small disturbance just now, the atmosphere in the group was somewhat subdued.

"Black Star, don't think too much about it. Kailuo was doing it on purpose," Ames said suddenly.

"I know." Han Xiao shrugged.

"This should have been Heber's instruction. I don't know what he's planning. Izo had a feeling that this gathering would be unusual. He told me not to be impulsive if anything happened," Ames explained.

Han Xiao's heart stirred. So Ames had already had Izo foresee this gathering. Her insistence on coming might also have been due to Izo's advice.

"Kailuo was one of the earliest members of Longtan, but he betrayed me and joined Hegemon. He holds a high position in the War Realm."

Han Xiao stroked his chin. "Hegemon dares to let a traitor hold an important position. He has a lot of guts."

If you suspect someone, don't use them. If you use someone, don't suspect them. Recruiting people required generous conditions. When Mazaker recruited him, he also offered him the treatment of a vanguard officer.

"Because he is Hegemon, he is not afraid of being betrayed."

"How so?"

"Kailuo betrayed me, and Hegemon can protect him. If he betrays Hegemon, no one in the Shattered Star Ring can protect him."

Ames sighed. "And I have to admit, Hegemon's personal charisma in the eyes of his subordinates far exceeds mine."

"Are you wary of him?" Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. "I thought you weren't afraid of anything."

"Of course I'm not afraid of him, but even if I hate him, I can't change the fact that he's very powerful." Ames shook her head. After a pause, she revealed her true meaning. "So, in Hegemon's territory, try to keep a low profile. Don't be angry because of Kailuo's words. He was doing it on purpose."

Ames valued Han Xiao and explained it to him proactively because she was afraid that Han Xiao would hold a grudge.

Han Xiao's heart warmed. He didn't take Kailuo's words to heart, but he didn't expect Ames to consider his feelings.

From what he knew of Ames, it didn't seem like she was the type to consider others.

"I feel like you've changed."

Han Xiao almost blurted out the words "you dog."

"How have I changed?" Ames asked with a smile that was not quite a smile.

"You're more patient than before."

Ames smiled slightly and did not answer, turning her head to look at the Hela sisters.

"Izo said that only children are willful. He told me to change, or I would suffer sooner or later."

Han Xiao rolled his eyes. "That old thing Izo, how can he be so shameless? Where does he get the right to say that?"

"I think so too."

Ames' beautiful eyes curved like crescents as she covered her mouth and chuckled.

…

The building providing guest rooms was located next to Heber's palace, a huge castle. The entire castle was guest rooms, and some of the participants of the gathering had already checked in. The treatment was naturally high-end, and the guests would not be slighted.

There were still a few days before the gathering officially began. Many forces would arrive early because the days before the gathering were an opportunity to expand their networks and make friends widely. Opportunities for the big shots or representatives of various forces to gather together were rare.

Led by Mazaker, Han Xiao and the others entered the castle.

At this time, there were groups of guests in the hall, of different species and from different forces in the Shattered Star Ring, socializing.

Hearing someone enter, the guests in the hall looked over at the same time. After recognizing Ames, their expressions were a little strange. They seemed to want to come up and say hello, but they hesitated, so they stayed where they were.

They had also heard Hegemon's deafening roar just now. After weighing the situation, they felt that it was more important to please Hegemon, so they did not come forward to talk.

Ames didn't care. The group left the hall and went straight upstairs.

The War Realm had arranged the rooms. Ames had one room, Han Xiao had one room, and Hela and Aurora shared one room.

Back in his room, he closed the door, leaving only Han Xiao alone.

He activated a compression orb, turning it into a detector, and checked the room, finding no listening or surveillance devices.

Han Xiao nodded and took out another mechanical device, placing it on the ground.

Buzz—

A burst of light flashed, releasing an illusion that covered the room. Even if there were magical surveillance devices, they could only see the illusion and could not see what he was actually doing.

Although many big shots lived in this castle, and there should be surveillance devices, Han Xiao was used to being cautious.

"Kailuo…"

Han Xiao's eyes flickered as he transformed into a Chaotic Body and activated the Void Vision, his line of sight suddenly crossing the distance to peek at Kailuo's every move.

When Ames decided to stop, Han Xiao took the opportunity to throw an observation mark on Kailuo, replacing the position of a Star Pirate.

The observation mark was just in case, to monitor Kailuo's actions. If there was anything needed in the future, it might come in handy.

Moreover, Kailuo was the logistics director of the War Realm and probably often came into contact with important equipment, handling many blueprints and technologies. Han Xiao felt that he should have a lot of valuable information on him.

"This gathering seems like it can be used to gather intelligence through the observation mark."

Han Xiao thought to himself.

In his previous life, no players had discovered Hegemon's gathering. They couldn't reach this level and couldn't get into the circle of big shots. This was the first time he knew about this event.

Although there was an unpleasant incident, overall, this gathering was still very safe, with excitement but no danger.

Ames' idea was probably to focus on participating, but this was indeed a good opportunity to gather intelligence. Han Xiao decided to use it. The participants were all big shots, and some of the information they revealed might seem ambiguous to others, but with his memory of the plot, even a little inspiration could lead him to think of many things.

The intervals between version updates had always been a problem that Han Xiao took seriously. After all, the events during the version updates in his previous life were just a general record for the players. He needed more details and might be able to get some clues from this gathering.