Renard's requests were minimal. Aside from seeking knowledge of blueprints from Han Xiao, he was practically invisible. Since joining the legion, he had always been discreet, his professional abilities as rigorous and reliable as his personality. He never caused any trouble, managing the legion's logistics in an orderly manner. This was the first time he had ever asked Han Xiao for help.
Seeing Renard's worried expression, Han Xiao understood. Renard had only come to him now, probably because this matter was extremely difficult. Renard initially came only to learn, not to ask for help. But now, he had built a huge reputation throughout the Star Field, giving Renard hope that he was capable of helping, so he confided in him.
Han Xiao felt that his guess was pretty accurate and braced himself.
"Tell me about the situation first."
He didn't agree immediately, deciding to listen to the mission details first.
Renard paused to collect his thoughts, then slowly began to speak.
"You know, I come from the Heidera Star System. You must be very aware of the situation there."
Han Xiao nodded.
The Heidera Star System was an unclaimed star system without a native ruling civilization, bordering six Star Cluster Civilization, including Godora. These civilizations had stationed heavy troops in Heidera, dividing this unclaimed star system, constantly expanding, and confronting each other for many years, leading to Heidera becoming a chaotic disputed zone, a common diplomatic friction point for these six civilizations.
"I was born in a small place called Sessily Star, located in the area occupied by the Herta Civilization. Sessily Star is controlled by a low-level interstellar civilization with six ruling stars, its civilization level between a planet civilization and a Star System Civilization. This civilization is divided into several regimes that compete with each other. Because Heidera is in a state of war all year round, the political situation on Sessily Star has always been very turbulent."
Renard slowly said, "My parents ran a mechanical research company, which later went bankrupt. When I was six years old, they died in a riot caused by a political demonstration..."
Han Xiao's eyes flickered slightly. This was the first time Renard had told his story. He never mentioned his past.
"I have an older sister who is nine years older than me. Her name is Rosellin. After my parents died, I lived with her for three years. When I was nine years old, she put me on a starship heading far away, sending me away from Sessily Star, abandoning me."
"When I left my hometown, I was just a child and didn't understand anything. No one took care of me. I drifted through the interstellar space, spending the most difficult years of my childhood in displacement, before gradually gaining enough strength to protect myself. Later, I tried to go back to find Rosellin and found out what she had done."
Renard shook his head. "After I left, she displayed awakened Esper abilities. The official explanation is that she can bewitch people's minds, subtly rewrite people's perception of the world, but in the beginning, no one knew her abilities. She used this ability to gather countless followers and establish a new religion. New ideas, trends, and culture were born in her hands."
"This ability helped her complete the process of religious propagation that would normally take decades or even hundreds of years in just a few years. More and more people became her followers. She became the Pope of the new religion of Sessily Civilization, worshiped and loved by countless people. Even among the senior officials of various regimes, there were many followers. She almost controlled half of the Sessily Civilization through religion, holding a high position above countless people."
"However, those regimes felt that she would threaten their rule, so they continued to collect clues. Eventually, her abilities were discovered. She became the most dangerous ambitious figure in the eyes of those regimes. This pope of hers was arrested, and the religious sect she founded was also destroyed."
"Although her ability can rewrite people's subconscious thoughts on a large scale, it cannot brainwash or control their minds, so although all sectors of society were shocked, no one stood up for her. No one likes their thoughts being distorted. Her reputation plummeted and she became a sinner despised by countless people."
"Those regimes judged Rosellin, defining her as a crime against civilization and a crime against the race, and decided to detain her indefinitely. However, their true intentions were soon exposed. In their eyes, Rosellin's ability was an excellent tool to help rule. Who would detain Rosellin became a problem. Every regime wanted to take her for themselves, using her ability to consolidate their rule and attack their opponents, unwilling to let others get this tool."
Renard closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed, "In name, she was imprisoned, but in reality, after the public trial, she disappeared from public view, secretly snatched by agents and spies sent by these regimes. There were even some rebel forces with ulterior motives who joined the battle for her. She became a tool that was constantly transferred."
Han Xiao listened for a long time, then couldn't help asking, "So you want me to rescue her from Sessily Civilization? You're already a Calamity Grade, you can do it yourself, right?"
"No, she's not on Sessily Star anymore."
Renard shook his head. "The Herta Civilization discovered her, took a fancy to her ability, and has already taken her away. She is now a prisoner of the Star Cluster Civilization."
Han Xiao suddenly understood. No wonder Renard would ask for help. It turned out that Rosellin had become a key prisoner of the Star Cluster Civilization. This made it difficult to fish her out.
For a Star Cluster Civilization, Calamity Grades were rare, but not someone they had to give face to. Given Rosellin's importance, the Herta Civilization would not easily hand her over. Even if he went to break into the prison, Renard would not be able to defeat the high-level combat reserves of a Star Cluster Civilization. He couldn't save his sister alone.
So, he values my current influence... Han Xiao thought to himself.
"I know this is abrupt, but I can't do anything about Rosellin's situation. I hope you can save her." Renard bowed deeply.
"Hmm..." Han Xiao rubbed his chin. "Your sister seems to be an ambitious person. I think she's completely brought her current situation on herself."
Psychics can also change other people's thoughts to a certain extent, but the scope and efficiency are obviously far less than Rosellin's Esper abilities. It is simply perfect for preaching, exactly the type the Void Sect likes the most.
"Maybe she really is an ambitious person. I'm not trying to defend her actions. Although she abandoned me back then, my feelings for her have faded, but she is still my relative. She has already paid the price, and I don't want to see her suffer all the time."
Han Xiao looked at him with interest. He had always thought that Renard's heart was made of machinery. This was one of the few times Renard had shown his emotions.
After pondering for a while, Han Xiao slowly said, "I can help, but this matter is not simple. Even I can't necessarily get the Herta Civilization to hand someone over with just a word. Rosellin did break the law. This is not a reasonable request. They can completely disregard my face..."
Renard nodded, solemnly saying, "I understand. You don't owe me anything. I will continue to work for you to repay this debt."
You're reasonable, brother... Han Xiao's eyes lit up, and he smiled, "Since that's the case, then I'll try my best."
At this moment, a prompt popped up on the panel.
[You have triggered the mission [The Reformer]!]
[Mission Description: You agreed to Renard's request and decided to rescue Rosellin from the Herta Civilization.]
[Mission Objective: Rescue Rosellin]
[Reward: 18 million EXP, Renard's favorability +30, Rosellin's favorability +80, [Blank Character Summon Card - Renard] x1]
Han Xiao glanced at it, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
The mission itself didn't seem too difficult, but the prerequisite conditions for triggering it were very harsh. It seemed to require a good relationship with Renard and a very high level of influence, so that Renard would take the initiative to ask for help.
The experience reward was average for this level of mission. Increasing the favorability of the two characters was also considered satisfactory. The reward that surprised him the most was Renard's Character Card.
A blank card of a specific character meant that he could choose one of Renard's abilities as an effect. Han Xiao had obtained a blank card of a non-specific character before, and at that time, he randomly obtained one of Ames' abilities and killed a DarkStar Calamity Grade.
And among all of Renard's abilities, the most valuable was the Mechanic's powerful Template Talent [Perfect Mechanical Sense].
Although Character Cards had usage limits, it was better than nothing.
Most of the time, only combat missions with rewards that could be drawn had a chance of obtaining other people's Template Talents. Apart from Character Cards, players would definitely not be able to obtain Template Talents. He had an NPC template himself, so the scope of the draw would include Template Talents, but players didn't, so there wouldn't be missions that directly rewarded Template Talents.
Han Xiao wasn't disappointed either. This was originally a matter of luck. If he wanted to obtain the real [Perfect Mechanical Sense] Talent, he probably had to find another way.
"A Character Card is fine, it will be useful recently." Han Xiao thought to himself.
Just in time, the class advancement mission required him to forge a Level 180 Legacy Orange Equipment. According to his current Mechanical Affinity, it might be a bit uncertain whether he could create an Orange Equipment. He would have to find ways to improve his crafting ability everywhere, but with the effect of [Perfect Mechanical Sense], he could directly do it in one step, saving a lot of trouble.
Putting away his thoughts, Han Xiao returned to the topic.
"I'll leave in a couple of days to take a trip to the Herta Civilization. Tell me all the information you know. Oh, by the way, what does your sister look like?"
"I haven't seen her in many years, but when she was the Pope, she left behind many photos. I saved them. Take a look." Renard took out his communicator and called out a few pictures, projecting them in the air.
This was a woman wearing a gorgeous red and white religious robe, her long hair tied up in a noblewoman's hairstyle, adorned with beautiful hair accessories, bright eyes and white teeth, with a soft and beautiful appearance. Her facial features were vaguely similar to Renard's, her skin was snow-white, and her temperament was graceful, with an imposing presence. In the photos, she seemed to be giving a religious speech, with all the devout followers below her listening with their heads lowered.
Han Xiao took a look, then suddenly frowned. He took another look, then stared at the woman's face in the photo, unable to move his eyes away.
Noticing Han Xiao staring intently, Renard was a little puzzled, "What's wrong?"
Han Xiao came back to his senses, retracted his gaze, covered his mouth with his fist, and coughed dryly twice, "It's nothing, your sister is quite beautiful."
Now it was Renard's turn to have a strange look in his eyes.
In fact, when he saw Rosellin's appearance, Han Xiao's heart was stirred up with shock.
The Verna he had met today was an acquaintance from his previous life. He didn't expect that a second acquaintance would appear within a day!
Moreover, the awesomeness of this one was hundreds of streets ahead of Verna!