Chapter 1 A Black Star Joins the Fray

Bandits roamed freely in the Shattered Star Ring, and visitors from other star systems were rare. However, some knowingly ventured into the tiger's lair, despite the danger.

Paige interrogated eleven people in a row, and the results were mostly the same. These Silver Spirits were travelers who wanted to witness the edge of the Visible Universe, and the Shattered Star Ring was one of those edges. They were just passing through when Paige ambushed them.

He walked into the next cell. The Silver Spirit inside was different. The prisoners in the other cells would at least tremble when they heard the cell door open, but this person was calm and didn't move, as if he were not a prisoner but a distinguished guest on this ship.

"You are the leader?" This Silver Spirit spoke first, his tone calm. "I am willing to pay for my freedom. You can name the price."

"I'm not interested." Paige was expressionless. His spaceship maintained information isolation to prevent remote location tracking. To avoid risks, he would not allow the captives to use communicators until they were safe.

He beckoned, and a subordinate stepped forward to check the Silver Spirit's body. The Silver Spirit struggled violently and shouted, "I have a lot of money! Isn't the point of selling slaves to get money?!"

Suddenly, a scavenger subordinate discovered something. He tore open the Silver Spirit's clothes and took out a small black bead from the lining. The Silver Spirit immediately became agitated and tried to rush over to snatch back the black bead, but he was pinned to the ground and roared in anger.

"What is this thing?" Paige took the black bead from his subordinate, pinched it with his fingers. It was very hard, and the surface of the bead flickered with a deep light, tinged with a trace of magical radiance.

"Give it back to me. I am an envoy of the DarkStar. This is DarkStar's property. If you dare to take it away, you will surely incur destruction and death!" the man roared.

"DarkStar?"

Paige sneered repeatedly, "Not bad for someone so far away. A foreigner from the Sea of ​​Stars actually knows that our Shattered Star Ring has a DarkStar organization, but you are just a Silver Spirit passing by. Even I, a mixed-blood Godora, have not joined DarkStar. You still want to scare me? Do you think I'm easy to fool?"

Paige regarded DarkStar as a great pioneer of liberation and had always wanted to join, but because DarkStar was too mysterious, he had no chance to make contact, which he regretted. If DarkStar spoke, he would be willing to shed blood for them.

How could a Silver Spirit, so far away in the Sea of Stars, have anything to do with DarkStar? Could he just grab a so-called "envoy" at random? There was no such coincidence! It was just to scare people. Paige had seen too much of it.

"Seeing how nervous you are, this bead must be a treasure. I'll take it."

Paige put away the bead, intending to find someone to appraise it when he had time. He led his men out of the cell and closed the door.

Outside the door, the subordinate licked his lips with a greedy look on his face, and said, "The slave market in the Shattered Star Ring has never seen a Silver Spirit before. We'll definitely get a good price. This trip is a big win, boss. Who are we selling them to?"

Paige said, "I've already contacted a client. We're going to Longtan Floating Island."

The subordinate's eyes widened, "That's that great man's territory!"

"This client is that guy's subordinate. They're willing to spend a lot of money." The corners of Paige's mouth curled up, his smile gloomy, and he walked away.

In the cell, the Silver Spirit looked indignant and cursed, "Damn scavenger! Fortunately, the Secret Language Bead requires a password to open. They won't be able to get the contents inside..."

...

Fourth Star Cluster, Planet Faiwen-122.

This was an unclaimed planet without civilization. The Silver Spirits who issued the mission were stationed here. In a few days, this deserted planet welcomed a large number of mercenary spaceships. All kinds of spaceships formed an array, with the Silver Spirits' travel spaceship in the center.

Gersh's spaceship slowly landed, and Han Xiao and the others filed out, observing their surroundings.

The camp was bustling with people, mostly mercenary groups. The Silver Spirits' mission had attracted many famous mercenaries from the Shattered Star Ring to gather.

Gersh led the group to the main force, arriving under a larger spaceship where hundreds of Heavenly Ring mercenaries were gathered. Han Xiao looked up and saw the Heavenly Ring logo on the spaceship.

"You've finally arrived." A tall woman wearing a blue hooded robe walked over.

She was a Third Ring cadre, "Ice Sealing Mystic," whose real name was Goya. She was the leader of Heavenly Ring's expedition, with long, light-blue hair, distinct features, a cold temperament, and a ethereal voice, like a block of ice. She was a mage, and although Han Xiao couldn't feel the surging magic power on her body, he could sense the constant coldness emanating from her.

"Looks like she's specializing in ice magic," Han Xiao thought to himself.

Like the Mechanic class, the magic class was complex and had many branches. Ice mages were difficult to deal with, and their various slowing, freezing, and stiffening skills were annoying.

Goya glanced at Gersh, saw Han Xiao and the others beside him, and frowned, asking, "Who are they?"

"The Black Star Mercenary Group. We just reached a cooperation agreement. They're here to help," Gersh said.

"Never heard of them." Goya shook her head.

Han Xiao didn't take it to heart. The Black Star Mercenary Group's reputation was limited to the Juberly Hub. They weren't famous enough. Compared to Heavenly Ring, his mercenary group was indeed insignificant.

Goya thought they were just a group of followers, but suddenly felt a palpitation. The mage's perception reminded her that she had encountered a strong person. She was slightly startled and then took a serious look at Han Xiao and the others, discovering that the cellular energy in two of them was very active.

"Two Grade B Supers..." Goya's expression changed slightly. Although Grade B Supers were relatively common, they weren't everywhere. Even in Heavenly Ring, a Grade B was at least a Third Ring cadre, and this mercenary group of only a few dozen people had two Grade Bs. The ratio was very high.

She was the only Grade B in this team, and the high-end combat power was actually not as good as this small mercenary group.

Goya withdrew her gaze and said, "The Silver Spirits have hired many mercenaries. They don't lack combat power, but the situation isn't very good right now... Since everyone is here, let's go over first and talk on the way."

The group walked towards the Silver Spirits' spaceship. Goya explained the current situation.

The Silver Spirits had spent a lot of money hiring mercenaries to rescue their captured companions, and they were indeed generous, but the mercenaries had not set out for a long time, stuck in an awkward situation—no one knew the enemy's location. The scavengers who attacked the Silver Spirits had disappeared, so gathering more mercenaries was useless. There was no way to start.

This kind of mission with a lack of intelligence was very troublesome. The mercenaries used various detection methods, but the scavengers had turned on information isolation, so they couldn't be located. The other party had not left many clues when they committed the crime, which was frustrating. Even if they knew that the other party had to dispose of the stolen goods, they didn't know where they would go.

If it dragged on any longer, their clansmen would be sold. The surviving Silver Spirits were very anxious and released new requirements, offering generous additional bonuses if they could provide effective location information.

"In addition to our Heavenly Ring, the Blades and the Crimson Dynasty have also come. The Crimson Dynasty has gone to find a diviner, who may be able to find the enemy's location," Goya said.

The Blades and the Crimson Dynasty were two large mercenary groups of the same level as Heavenly Ring, and they were also active in the Shattered Star Ring. The reward for this mission was divided into a base salary + bonus. The basic hiring fee was the base salary, and the Silver Spirits would give the mercenaries who rescued the captives a bonus several times higher than the base salary. So in this mission, the mercenaries were both comrades and competitors.

Legitimate mercenaries competed fairly and would not hold each other back, otherwise, it would damage their reputation.

When it was generally impossible to locate the enemy, if there were no more powerful detection devices, the mystical means of divination might have miraculous effects. Divination, prediction, and other abilities had strict usage conditions and required special talents, so they were rare.

Players could not awaken predictive abilities. Even if they could learn magic-side divination, using it would only give them very little information, with great limitations.

The group encountered the Blades' team along the way, and they traveled together. Goya and the Blades' leader chatted casually, walking in front.

The two major mercenary groups had their own uniforms, and people who knew each other talked to each other. Han Xiao and the others were conspicuous in the middle of the two groups, and people curiously sized up this unknown mercenary group from time to time.

"Who are they?"

"They seem to be Heavenly Ring's helpers, called the Black Star Mercenary Group. They're small in scale and don't have much reputation."

"They're probably just here to join the fun."

The surrounding mercenaries whispered, making the players feel awkward, feeling out of place in this group, like aliens being watched.

On the way, Han Xiao was planning what to do next. He didn't know if Goya had any plans to hire him. He didn't want to make a wasted trip. Now that he was here, how could he return empty-handed?

"This planet has gathered many famous mercenaries from the Shattered Star Ring. I'm too late, and I don't have any accumulated reputation. It seems like there's nothing for me to do."

Han Xiao thought to himself that this was an event he hadn't come across before, so he had to act according to the circumstances.

As he was thinking, the group arrived at the center of the camp. The appearance of the Silver Spirits was displayed before them. Their skin was snow-white, and they had cute, slender antennae on their heads. They wore gorgeous clothes, and the material was unknown, but it was smooth and silky. They wore masks to filter the air on the lower half of their faces.

This was the first time the players had seen a "cosmic noble." They looked left and right, but they couldn't see what made them "noble." They felt that they were no different from other strange-looking space races.

"If a civilization is old and powerful enough, the ruling race will naturally be the nobles. Others will take their interests as the noble standard. This is a class issue and has little to do with their individual qualities." Han Xiao patted Melos on the shoulder.

"Why are you patting me?" Melos rolled his eyes. Regarding this topic, the Sunil people indicated that they didn't want to talk to you.

The Silver Spirit captain was negotiating with the mercenaries, saying, "I hope you can set off to rescue my companions as soon as possible. It's been dragging on for too long. If you continue to be passive, you won't get any reward."

"We don't know the enemy's location. All detection and tracking methods are ineffective. You can't provide valuable information either. We can only wait for now, but don't worry, our companions have already gone to invite a diviner. As long as you keep your promise to give extra rewards to those who provide information, I believe there will be results soon," said a mercenary.

The Silver Spirit captain complained, "You people in the Shattered Star Ring are so greedy and barbaric. I hate this place. No matter what, I just want results. Money is not a problem."

Whoosh—

The wind and sand dispersed, and another spaceship landed. The ship was emblazoned with the Crimson Dynasty insignia. The crowd parted, and the Crimson Dynasty's team disembarked and walked over. Beside the leader was a divination mage holding a crystal orb, also a member of the Crimson Dynasty, who had traveled from several star systems away for this mission.