Chapter 1 Fei Wen-122 Planet

Whoosh—

An outdated small spaceship slowly descended onto the scarred, gray-black earth. The airflow from the bottom stirred up circles of airwaves on the ground. The engine emitted a droning noise. The propulsion device was rudimentary, with extremely poor speed, noise reduction, and shock absorption. It was a piece of technology about to be phased out. In the interstellar trade market, only penniless people would buy such a basic spaceship.

However, this old relic was equipped with top-notch stealth equipment: optical invisibility, sonic insulation, gravitational wave penetration, quantum network shielding, and so on. Several DarkStar members disguised as travelers stepped off the spaceship, placed a special signal diffuser on the ground, and invisible electromagnetic waves passed through the cracks on the planet's surface at an incredible speed, penetrating into the underground.

Deeper and deeper along the winding ground fissures, in a dim and narrow space, a pair of eyes that had been dormant for a long time suddenly opened. The back of his hand glowed faintly, with a microchip implanted inside. It received the signal and emitted a slight tremor. The vibration occurred in the blood vessels and bones, awakening the sleeping man.

"Finally here..."

After a while, the spaceship on the surface finally waited for the target to appear. In the distance, from a ground fissure, a man crawled out and walked slowly. It was Ash. He was covered in dirt, his cheeks gaunt. He was the only survivor of the Sarota Fleet. Before the arrival of Dragon Emperor, Sarota had issued a retreat order, but Ash, knowing that the enemy was Ames, knew that the mothership was doomed. He ventured to stay underground, deep into a cave, using his Esper ability to form a piece of carbon material to wrap himself up, and manipulated his heartbeat and blood flow to enter a state of suspended animation. Sure enough, those companions who boarded the fleet to evacuate were all blown up by the mercenary fleet and the Sacred Stone Black Raven, turning into brilliant fireworks in space, reduced to ashes.

After the destruction of the Sarota Fleet, the mercenaries captured Sarota, the highest commander of the mothership, so they did not bother to search the entire planet for possible survivors. This DarkStar unit was basically wiped out, so there was no need to waste time. Ash survived. This cadre, who was regarded as important, had a positioning chip implanted. After everyone evacuated the planet, a rescue spaceship came to pick him up.

At that time, Han Xiao also tended to believe that Ash had kicked the bucket, but there was still a trace of doubt in his mind. After all, this kind of character with legendary qualities should not die so easily, but he couldn't search the entire planet. The other mercenaries were rushing to Godora and would not help. Relying on his manpower alone, it would take a long time to explore the entire planet, which was not necessary, and from a probability point of view, it was not worth the loss, so he did not delve into it. Whether Ash was dead or alive, Han Xiao could accept it.

Several DarkStar warriors stepped forward to help him, but Ash waved them away. He didn't need anyone to help him. His face was stern, and he said in a deep voice, "Tell me the current situation! Did Sarota and the others all die?"

"Ames shot down Sarota's mothership. We were ambushed by Sacred Stone and Black Raven. The fleet was wiped out. Some members on the mothership survived, including Sarota. They were handed over to Godora by the mercenaries. Colton News reported this a few days ago. They were all sent to Rainbow Prison."

Every mothership was a mobile base for DarkStar, and losing any one of them was a terrible loss.

Ash gritted his teeth. "What about the Whispering Pearl?"

"We received rumors that the Whispering Pearl was originally picked up by the Dragon Tan guards and handed over to the Sacred Stone Civilization, who then transferred it to Godora..."

Ash staggered and said in a low voice, "In other words, our sacrifice was meaningless, all in vain... How can we let such a big loss go? Even if we can't beat Dragon Emperor, we must make her pay the price! She attacked us to rescue Black Star, so let's find a chance to kill Black Star and let her know that we are not to be trifled with..."

At this moment, a solemn and powerful shout, as heavy as a mountain, stopped Ash's words.

"At this critical moment, it is not appropriate to provoke strong enemies. Remember, Godora is the real enemy."

A virtual image appeared in front of Ash, that of a mixed-race Godoran, with light golden skin, covered with strange scales and animal skin-like wrinkles. His forehead was covered with a mysterious pattern, extending down to his bags under the eyes and the wings of his nose, like a barbarian's war paint. This person was older, but his eyebrows and eyes were very sharp, and his aura was heavy, like a mountain.

As soon as he saw him, the anger in Ash's eyes subsided, and he lowered his head respectfully. "Teacher."

The surrounding DarkStar members also lowered their heads in fear. "Lord Anul."

Anul was the mentor who discovered Ash's Esper potential and taught him to grow, a senior cadre of DarkStar, one of the few Grade A combatants in the organization, with a revered status, second only to the leader.

He looked down at Ash and said in a deep voice, "I can see that you are angry. Tell me, who is making you angry?"

"... Black Star. He is a mercenary commander under Dragon Emperor. I failed on him twice... no, three times. Since officially working for the organization, I have only failed three times. He shamed me, and he has special abilities that restrain my Esper ability... Only his death can wash away my shame!"

Anul interrupted him and said coldly, "Naive! Narrow-minded! The organization has invested massive resources in you, training you to become a powerful warrior, not to deal with unimportant people. The organization has high expectations for you, and the responsibility you shoulder is far beyond your imagination. A small mercenary is not a target you should be thinking about. Focusing on him is a waste of time!"

After a pause, he added, "Moreover, Black Star is a member of Dragon Emperor's command. Now is not the time to provoke them. When the big event takes shape, we will slowly settle the score."

Ash lowered his head and asked, "What should I do?"

"Anger has affected your reason. This is an unforgivable mistake. Within a year, you are not allowed to go on missions. Stay in the base and concentrate on training, and reflect on yourself."

"Understood." Ash nodded. He respected Anul very much, and his heart calmed down. He accepted this arrangement, and the hostility towards Black Star was suppressed in his heart... The teacher was right. He was destined to become the organization's trump card, plotting big things, and should not waste his energy on unimportant people.

After thinking about it, Ash asked one last question, "Teacher, what about the Whispering Pearl?"

"Sooner or later, Godora will know what's inside the Whispering Pearl. The seventh-generation latest model of the Heteromorphy Prime has fallen into the hands of Godora. The organization's plan is at risk of exposure. This matter still needs to be considered in the long term. In a few days, the leader will hold a high-level meeting to discuss this matter, and future strategic plans will have to be adjusted based on this reason."

Having received the answer, Ash no longer hesitated, boarded the ship and took off, the spaceship leaving far away.

...

Jubely Hub.

Ten days passed in a flash. The players had nothing to do while waiting for orders at the base. They spent most of their time running dungeons.

Everyone tried the [Campaign: Dragon Emperor's Might] many times, exchanging experiences and brainstorming, and found a possible way to clear it.

First, you have to choose the Support Force camp. The countdown is the same as the DarkStar camp, which is three hours. Compared to the three, this is the simplest camp. Then, you have to be lucky and meet a key figure within the first twenty minutes—Ge Ya of the Heavenly Ring Allied Forces. Gather with her, and then don't do any side missions. Follow Ge Ya for two hours, and then accurately time it to leave before encountering the next wave of powerful enemies that can wipe out the players. This way, you can get through two hours and twenty minutes. The difficulty is only the last forty minutes. If everything goes smoothly, there should be six to eight players left. By sacrificing teammates one by one, there is a chance that one person will survive to the end. Doing so will reduce the reward by 90%, but at least you can clear the level.

However, although there is a theoretical way, it mostly depends on luck. So far, no one has succeeded.

Originally, these professional players thought that choosing the mercenary camp and encountering Han Xiao would allow them to survive, but they were overthinking it. No matter which camp it was, encountering Han Xiao was certain death. Needless to say, the DarkStar camp. If it was the mercenary or support camp, they could spend a long time safely after encountering Han Xiao, but they would definitely encounter Ash in the end, and everyone would be instantly killed. Even if they left Han Xiao's side in advance, they would still encounter Ash.

The professional players shifted their focus to the Level 60 Germination dungeon. The level was suitable, and it was much easier. Even if the Level 90 dungeon had higher rewards, they could only look but not touch.

Meatbun didn't record any footage of Dragon Emperor, so he had to make an earlier episode of the series, recording the scenes of the Level 60 Germination dungeon, continuing the previous Black Phantom chapter. It just so happened that this series had not yet concluded, and players had only heard of Han Xiao's deeds and had not seen the footage.

Meatbun's video recorded the progress of the dungeon. The Germination dungeon was a large-scale team dungeon where Han Xiao infiltrated the Germination headquarters all the way to the final destruction of Germination, progressing step by step, magnificent and full of twists and turns.

Meatbun originally just wanted to use this episode as a transition, but the video, once released, received a response that exceeded his expectations. The enthusiasm was actually comparable to the Black Star chapter, which surprised and delighted him greatly.

Influenced by the Black Star chapter, more players from other planets recognized Han Xiao as a character, the first NPC to take players away from the planet. Players from other regions were quite curious about his previous experiences. It just so happened that the Black Phantom series was basically Han Xiao's solo story, and many new viewers were attracted.