Chapter 1 My Collection Room

The silver alloy door slowly slid open to both sides, revealing a room constructed entirely of high-polymer materials. The walls and floor were spotless, milky white, and the glaze-like reflections gave it a smooth, rounded feel.

Five large display cases were arranged in a pentagonal star shape in the center of the room. Each case contained a Super-A Grade powerhouse frozen in stasis amber, each in a different pose, their expressions fixed on their faces. Apart from these, there was nothing else in the room.

"This is my collection room."

A group of people walked into the room, led by Han Xiao, followed by Joddina and a group of former Beast Ancestor executives.

The Black Star Army had just destroyed the Beast Ancestor's base, and Joddina, followed by a group of brothers and sisters, came to thank him again. Han Xiao remembered promising them a tour of Gorutan, so he brought everyone over.

This was his collection room for the five Super-A Grade captives. The names of each captive were written on the display cases: the Arcane Church's "Red Devil" Tolein, the Light's "Lone Ranger" Jack Guernitz, "Guts" Wormul, Heidis, and the "Beast Ancestor" Gorutan.

Five Super-A Grade specimens were on display here, the best proof of his achievements. The sight alone was enough to shock everyone.

Joddina immediately locked onto Gorutan, and seeing her nemesis, who had instilled fear in her for many years, frozen in amber, she felt immense satisfaction.

"You've got this coming!"

Joddina clenched her fists excitedly, feeling that this was the happiest day of her life. The dark times of the past were gone, and the world before her seemed to have regained its color.

A refreshing aura seemed to rise in her mind, washing away the mountain of hatred, despair, and anger that had accumulated, leaving only the refreshing feeling of a new beginning and hope.

She turned to look at Han Xiao, her eyes full of admiration and tenderness.

In her eyes, Black Star seemed to radiate a holy light, like a lamppost guiding her towards a new life.

Sensing Joddina's fervent gaze, Han Xiao's face twitched slightly.

He hadn't had much contact with Joddina, but her straightforwardness and enthusiasm had left a lasting impression on him.

The reward for [Liberating the Beast Ancestor Faction] had already been settled, resulting in a significant increase in favorability. He estimated that Joddina's loyalty was about to explode.

Han Xiao cleared his throat and said, "Some of you haven't been assigned specific positions yet. We've rescued a large number of young descendants of the Beast Ancestor. I'll leave this group to you to teach. Is that okay?"

"No problem!" Everyone nodded, happy with the arrangement.

"Then you can take your time looking around here. I have some things to take care of."

Han Xiao made an excuse to leave alone. Joddina and the others had been suppressed for too long, and he didn't want to disturb their emotional release. Anyway, with Phillip watching, he didn't need to stay here.

Back in his office, Han Xiao pondered the personnel configuration of the Black Star Army, secretly pondering:

"Among my top-tier Calamity Grade combatants, there are currently only Hadaway, Rothere, Fording, and Joddina. The other potential stocks haven't fully matured yet. These dozen or so Beast Ancestor executives who have joined are quite weighty, and with the Beast Ancestor's young descendants we rescued, a new faction will form within the army in due time..."

A party without factions is strange and bizarre. The Black Star Army is also divided into various cliques. Not counting Han Xiao himself, it can be roughly divided into several major factions.

The first is the veteran faction led by Melos, which is further subdivided into small cliques such as Sunil, Godora, and Aquamarine Star. This faction represents the Black Star Army's veteran members. The second is the academic faction led by Laiki and Nilo, mainly composed of graduates from the Superpower Academy over the years, and is very active. The third is the mainstream faction led by some of the later-joined Calamity Grades, which is the largest faction, mainly composed of formal soldiers and mercenaries without backing. The fourth is the administrative faction led by Sylvia and Leonard, mainly non-combatant clerks who are in charge of the army's daily affairs, economic logistics, and other fields.

After Joddina and the others gain a foothold in the army, they will probably form a group, forming a Beast Ancestor faction, or a repentant faction.

As for Hela, she goes her own way, doesn't cultivate confidants, and doesn't have a faction. The influence of the adjutants on the various departments of the army is limited, and their functions don't overlap, so they don't constitute a faction. Rothere, who runs the Assassin Mutual Aid Society outside, is a secret and doesn't belong to any faction within the army.

These factions also fight privately, but with him suppressing them, they are all very restrained. Every large organization will inevitably have internal strife with the passage of time or expansion, but the Black Star Army has not been established for a long time and is still very young, so the internal strife is very minor, limited to internal competition for some businesses.

It's impossible to completely eliminate it. Everyone has their own ideas, and it's impossible to ask others to be selfless. Even a loyal backbone like Melos has personal interests, which is to seek more benefits for the Sunil race.

Power can constantly change people's ideas. The longer the senior executives serve in the Black Star Army, the more they want. Moreover, the Superpower users who join the Black Star Army later are originally seeking a broader future. Everyone wants to go to a higher place, and no matter how big the pie is, competition will not disappear.

"The Development Union is the same. It's just in its early stages now, and the concept of factions is vague. When resources are integrated to a certain extent, it will definitely split into different factions..." Han Xiao thought to himself.

He guessed that the three great civilizations would use divisive tactics to infiltrate the Super-A Grade Association. Some people don't really agree with the theory of a unified Super-A Grade front and are easily drawn in, and more people are wavering fence-sitters.

Super-A Grades are all unruly people. The root of splitting factions is different opinions. The structure of the Development Union is destined to have disputes in the future, and the high-level members above the council must understand the importance of forming a group. The resource integration stage of the association is an important accumulation period.

As the vice president, he is nominally suppressed by Manison, but this can't hollow him out. The source of his right to speak is his own strength and influence, and his influence in the association.

"The resource integration stage is also my opportunity. Use my advantages to make friends with more members, form my own party, and slowly shorten the gap between me and Manison's network... As long as there are more people who support me, I can contend with Manison on daily decision-making, which is also conducive to future re-election. If I don't do something, I may not be able to keep the position of vice president..."

Han Xiao pondered, he chose to take a step back in order to accumulate.

There is a good opportunity right now. Although the three great civilizations have defaulted on the legality of the Development Union, the Dark Emperor's mission has not ended.

In other words, Klotti, the nominal honorary director, will continue to attack other members, which will undoubtedly damage the credibility of the Development Union. This is a provocation and contempt from a cosmic civilization, and it is also an aggressive test.

"In that case, those neutral Super-A Grades hired by the Star Cluster civilizations should feel panic. This seems to be an opportunity for me to take advantage of the situation. If I exert influence on the Empire and let the high-level officials stop the Dark Emperor's actions, it will not only show the importance of my vice president, but also win the favor of these neutrals..."

With this in mind, Han Xiao asked Phillip to send a message to the neutral Super-A Grades in the association, first exchanging pleasantries, and then mentioning the Dark Emperor, hinting at it.

Although he decided to personally solve this matter, Han Xiao didn't want to keep a low profile. Silently helping others is generally a spare tire behavior. Either don't do it, or let everyone know that he did it.

Therefore, Master Han planned to first contact these neutral Super-A Grades who were targeted by the Dark Emperor, and let them raise this matter publicly at the next general meeting—all Super-A Grade members would hold a general meeting every once in a while, and the reason for the Development Union made this behavior legitimate. This was also one of the original intentions of building a communication platform.

"Speaking of which, the Dark Emperor caught the Traveler. That guy passed the buck to Sorokin, and the Empire will definitely not let it go. I wonder what means they will use to punish the Infinite Consortium."

Han Xiao chuckled.

Di di...

Just then, the communicator suddenly rang.

The Light and the Arcane Church sent messages one after another, containing the eleventh revised version of the ransom terms.

Han Xiao browsed through it. Compared with the initial version, the compensation conditions of the Light and the Arcane Church were much more generous.

Because he had been unresponsive to the revisions, the personnel drafting the terms of the two sides were going crazy, and deeply felt how terrifying it was to have a client who didn't make specific demands.

"It's been several months, and they've been tormented enough. It's time for a result."

Han Xiao smacked his lips and revised some conditions on the basis of the two terms, such as replacing some of the resource compensation with golden blueprints.

The two great cosmic civilizations have a wealth of golden blueprints in their inventories. The ones they take out for exchange are all screened conventional equipment, but this is not important. Since this is one of the sources of Divinity Transformation Points, Han Xiao has a huge demand for golden blueprints.

As soon as the two quotations were sent out, the diplomats of the Light and the Arcane Church were immediately excited and sent a communication request without saying a word, asking Han Xiao to start formal negotiations.

Han Xiao didn't torment the other party this time. After haggling for a while, he settled the agreement and would exchange three Universal Treasure-level blueprints one after another.

He planned to return Tolein and Heidis in the first phase, one from each side.

He didn't sell the Light's people to the Arcane Church for the time being. Such a provocation was useful, but it also had drawbacks.

Anyway, there were two other Light captives left in his hands, which could be sold at a good price. Han Xiao now needed influence over cosmic civilizations to increase his say in the Development Union. The most profitable approach was to stand still. As long as there were still captives left in his hands, the Light Federation would have to take care of his face to a certain extent, and the Arcane Church would also hold out hope, so he would not easily let go of all the captives.

After confirming the agreement, Han Xiao looked at the two relaxed diplomatic officials and slowly said:

"I'm waiting for the day you publicly apologize."

The Light and the Arcane Church publicly apologized for attacking the Black Star Army. This was the first requirement of the compensation agreement.

"Okay, please pay attention to the news."

The two diplomats performed different salutes, then disconnected the communication, and the remote projection disappeared before Han Xiao's eyes.

Han Xiao leaned back, crossed his legs, and muttered:

"The Light and the Arcane Church have temporarily yielded, and the Empire has also fulfilled the decree to make the evolution totem public and repair relations with me. They won't use force against the Development Union on the surface. In this way, the three great civilizations should be quiet for a while..."

He knew the nature of the three great civilizations very well and estimated that it would be calm for several months or even a year.

But this was just the calm before the storm, because the three great civilizations had another nemesis to deal with, that is, the Star Cluster Alliance, which was silently chanting "You can't see me" and expanding in a low-key manner in the Free Competition Zone.

When the three great civilizations were ready, they would inevitably give the Star Cluster Alliance a head-on blow, and this time they would not be as gentle as they were with the Development Union. They would inevitably use thunderous means to dispel these Star Cluster civilizations' unrealistic ambitions—or rather, the reason why the three great civilizations were tolerant to the Super-A Grades was because the Star Cluster Alliance was the number one enemy that urgently needed to be dealt with.

"This half a year to a year is just enough for me to accumulate in a low-key manner."

Han Xiao glanced at the panel. A massive amount of experience flowed in every day. Although the cost of upgrading from Level 320 to Level 340 was an even more outrageous astronomical figure, it would be gathered sooner or later in the face of the ruthless韭菜 harvesting machine (players).

Now the players are familiar with the gameplay of the Shattered Star Ring version, and are gradually getting on the right track, exploring and PKing at the same time, fighting fiercely.

Han Xiao planned to enrich their game experience. Taking advantage of this free time, he would just hold the Black Star Army Grand Tournament that he had envisioned before, and make it a large-scale festival event for the camp.

As the saying goes, a horse won't get fat without night grass. Only when the players are happy will they be more motivated to grind.

...

At the same time, a secret location in Black Star's palace.

A player named [Disco Elysium] passed through layers of restrictions under the guidance of two mechanical soldiers and walked in a deep passage.

This corridor had no decorations, only pale ceiling lights extending all the way to the distance. The end of the line of sight was the metal wall at the corner. The passage was silent, and only the monotonous sound of footsteps could be heard.

Disco Elysium only felt that the atmosphere was eerie and couldn't help but say:

"Brother, where are we going?"

The two mechanical soldiers had no intention of answering, and didn't even turn their heads. Their steps were still uniform.

"It's so mysterious..." Disco Elysium shrank his head and simply opened the panel, muttering softly: "What exactly is this mission?"

In the mission list, a mission named [Special Experiment] was shining brightly.

Disco Elysium remembered that he didn't do anything, and this mission suddenly triggered by itself, requiring him to follow the mechanical soldiers to a designated location to conduct a special experiment. Besides this, there was no other introduction, but the reward was very generous, equivalent to seven or eight B-level mercenary rewards.

Curiosity drove him to accept this mission, and he opened his mind all the way.

Does this involve the Black Star Army's secrets?

Is the Black Star Army actually conducting secret experiments that violate some kind of taboo?

Why did I trigger it? Could it be that this European stealth success?

Just as he was thinking about it, the two mechanical soldiers in front stopped. The passage reached the end, which was an unadorned alloy door.

After swiping the access control, the door opened. Disco Elysium curiously poked his head in, and a white laboratory came into view.

At this time, there was another player in the room, who also looked over. The two looked at each other and were both stunned.

"You also accepted the mission?"

"[Special Experiment], right?"

"Yes, yes, that's it. Do you know the mission content?"

"I don't know, I just arrived."

"It's so mysterious, I like it so much."

The two gathered together to exchange information, their curiosity growing stronger.

Since they came to such a secret place at the headquarters, it must not be a small matter.

At this time, a team of mechanical soldiers pushed in two devices similar to life support pods. Two mechanical soldiers took out sensory isolation mask equipment and handed it to the two players.

The mechanical soldier captain at the head said in a voice without any emotional fluctuations: "Lie in the cabin, put on the mask, and wait for the experiment to begin."

The two players looked at each other, and had to do as they were told, suppressing their curiosity and sleeping in the cabin.

Disco Elysium put on the mask and instantly fell into darkness. Sight, hearing, and smell were all deprived, so there was no way to know anything about what was happening outside.

His hands and feet were fastened, and he couldn't move his whole body.

In this state, the waiting time was especially difficult, every minute and every second felt like years.

Disco Elysium became more and more curious, and even had several impulses to break free from the restraints and take off the mask to see what was going on, but the high failure penalty of this mission made him a little hesitant.

He didn't know how long had passed. Just when he was about to lose his patience, a prompt suddenly popped up on the panel.

[Your B+ potential ability [Body Strengthening - Muscle and Bone Inflation] has been stripped!]

[You have entered the [Ability Freeze] state. You cannot use any skills related to abilities]

[Duration: Unlimited]

"Wh-What?!"

Disco Elysium was stunned for a moment and suddenly turned pale.