Chapter 521: Tracing Back to Origins, One Final Link
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Bell of Death Island was on another continent, and it would take about an hour to return to the Sanctuary. While a spaceship had to limit its speed within the atmosphere of a planet, it was still much faster than an airplane.
After Han Xiao settled all the little b*stards of Bell of Death Island into a guest room, he found Hannes and continued the previous conversation.
Hannes began to narrate what had happened after he went missing. After the end of the Germinal Organization battle, he had led the groups of archaeologists on a journey to seek out new secrets. Because Han Xiao had let the players complete a large number of missions, Hannes had managed to receive a fair amount of new information. He had then found a suspicious point in the large sea of record scrolls, and the evidence had actually pointed to the battle of a hundred nations on Planet Aquamarine.
In the past, Planet Aquamarine had housed over a hundred nations, and while there had been small skirmishes, they had been largely peaceful. They had all been curious about the universe, and Godora’s appearance had brought about news of the universe. Knowing that the large number of nations on the planet would only slow down the development of the civilization and waste a great deal of resources, the state of the planet had begun to shift.
All the nations had taken a different stance, but none of them had been willing to give up their authority. Even if they knew that choosing to do so would result in a tragic future, before the tragedy truly arrived, they had all chosen to be short sighted. In the end, the friction between the nations had grown, and war had become the only way out.
As such, this theory had caused a world war to break out, and many nations had been eradicated in the war. Finally, only Six Nations had been left behind, and they had all begun to reorganize the resources of the entire planet. However, the negative effects of the war still had not worn off.
Hannes did not think that a single theory would result in a war between over a hundred nations. He was very certain that there must have been someone controlling the situation from behind the scenes. After much searching, he had finally made new progress in his search, but it had also resulted in a tragedy.
“The evidence led us to an underground cave in the Somar Desert. There was a large golden statue in the cave, and you will never believe what I saw. That golden statue actually began moving and launched attacks on us. Its strength was unrivaled, and our attacks weren’t able to harm it in the slightest.”
“And then?” Han Xiao asked.
“We fought a long battle with the statue, but it was indestructible and could even shoot lasers. My comrades all died in battle. The war didn’t reap their lives, but they actually died there...”
Hannes grit his teeth and continued, “I was also severely injured and thought that my death was certain. However, the statue suddenly stopped, and the entire cave suddenly turned golden. Only then did I find out that the rocky walls of the cave were actually a disguise. On the golden wall was an oval shaped container the size of a human being. A Godoran then walked out from the container and squatting in front of me. He asked how I found the place.”
“Continue, I’m listening.”
“At that time, my breathing was weak, and thus, the other party was extremely close to me. I acted as though I was severely injured and tried to communicate with him. I asked him who he was and why a Godoran would be left behind on Planet Aquamarine. However, he seemed to disdain giving me an answer and wanted to stand up and leave. The statue then moved again, and it was about to raise its arms up to smash me to death.
“I didn’t have a choice. I could only take a chance and attack with all of my strength. However, I never expected that the Godoran would not dodge my attack and was killed by a single fist. He was actually an ordinary person. After he died, the statue stopped moving, and I fainted from my injuries.
“After who knows how long, a special agent squad arrived at the cave and found me on the verge of death. They seemed to have found the cave by following my tracks, and everything inside the cave was seized by them. Because the matter involved Godora, I was sent to Bell of Death Island for interrogation.”
“Why do you think that Godora is the one behind the scenes with just this information?”
“It isn’t a wild guess, of course. Prison is the best place to think, and I have been connecting the dots in my mind. Furthermore, there must be a reason for a Godoran staying behind on Planet Aquamarine. I suspect that while Godora isn’t interfering with Planet Aquamarine on the surface, they have always been monitoring us and interrupting the progress of our civilization. While I do not understand Godora, I know that only benefits are absolute, and they definitely have some reasons to do so.”
“It may not be as you think. A single person cannot represent an entire civilization. Besides, Godora also have another golden skinned enemy force,” Han Xiao said after pondering for a moment. “I have a pretty good relationship with Godora, and I may be able to find some people to investigate this matter. Can you give me any clues?”
“I remember the appearance of that Godoran and everything in the cave.” Hannes took out a few pieces of paper and began drawing.
The appearance of the Godoran was very clear, and Han Xiao took a picture of it with his communicator. With his relationship with Godora, it was extremely simple for him to ask them to check on a portrait.
He then looked at Hannes’ sketch of the statue. It was the shape of a humans but had four arms and no facial features. Instead, it had two lines of three holes where one’s eyes would be, which were glowing with a golden light.
Upon seeing the drawing, Han Xiao let out a gasp.
“This is a type of Mojo Puppet, a product of Godora’s mages. It is easily purchased, but the price to forge it is pretty expensive. If you aren’t a mage, you can only destroy the puppet by smashing the statue. With your strength, it would be extremely difficult for you to smash a combat machine of the galactic level. This Mojo Puppet should be the Godoran’s guard, and the place where the Godoran was staying should be a life sustaining chamber. It is likely that the chamber was connected to the web. If I have time, I will ask the Six Nations if I can study that item.”
Hannes grabbed onto Han Xiao’s hands and pleaded, “This is the only clue, and it will only be of use in your hands. I can only count on you. I no longer have anything to repay you with and can only hope that you will help me based on our old friendship. I really want to get to the bottom of this mystery and find out who is the source of the calamity!”
A notification popped up on Han Xiao’s interface indicating that the third phase of [New Era—Origin] was completed. The mission gave him a few million experience points, and he successfully entered into the next phase. The interface also showed that this was the last phase of the mission, and there was only a single mission requirement, which was to find the truth. However, the only clue that they had was the Godoran’s portrait.
No wonder this is a hidden Grade A mission. It’s linked to two different versions, and one would have to be on friendly terms with Godora to follow up on this clue. Thus, this mission can only be continued in Version 2.0. Han Xiao’s eyes glowed.
The reward was naturally plentiful, giving him a few million experience points. However, the Great Mechanic Han had the large market of the players and needed experience the least.
Apart from experience, there were a few Free Attribute Points, Potential Points, a chance for a Random Reward, and a unique Medal of Honor, which only Grade A missions had. This item was able to strengthen all of his attributes. Because he had handed this mission over to his contract workers who would work without complaints, all the mission requirements of every phase had been completed. His mission evaluation would definitely be very high, and he would definitely be able to get the Medal of Honor.
This would be his second Medal of Honor.
Han Xiao began planning his next move in his heart. If the one who started the war in Planet Aquamarine was truly Godora, information of this individual would definitely be top secret. Recklessly trying to fish for information would only alert Godora.
“I should just wait for the Godoran troops to reach Planet Aquamarine before planning my next step. The one leading the team should be Nagakin, and it will be much easier to talk to someone I know.”
Han Xiao shook his head and was not too bothered by the outcome. After all, the struggles of a civilization were not right or wrong. It was only a matter of interests.
Even if Godora was truly the one behind the scenes, the current Planet Aquamarine still required Godora to save them. With so many lives at stake, being hard headed was not the solution to things, and it was best to be flexible.
Compared to harping on about the past, he was more interested in the food before him. Just like how a person ignored the source of their food when eating. Just like how growing crops required feces as fertilizer and pigs ate swill. When drinking milk, no one would bother thinking about what the person who discovered milk had been trying to do.
When marrying a wife, unless you were extremely lucky, you would have to selectively ignore the fact that your wife might have been your best friend’s ex...
Thus, the way Han Xiao saw it, regardless of what the truth was, the most important thing was the value of its creation.
...
After returning to the Sanctuary, Han Xiao got the mercenaries to watch over the prisoners from the Bell of Death Island. While those unruly prisoners had been caught by him, they still had to be properly trained before they could be used. Han Xiao felt extremely at ease to hand them over to the mercenaries.
While those prisoners all looked extremely arrogant and haughty, compared to the galactic mercenaries who had traveled through various Star Systems and killed countless different species, they were no different from tame sheep.
In the following ten days, Han Xiao gradually set his plan into motion. The mages under him largely increased the yield of the suppressant, and the suppressant was handed out in large quantities to the refugees of the Sanctuary, thus stabilizing the situation.
At the same time, even more refugees flooded to the Sanctuary, and the entire Sanctuary was extremely crowded. As such, Bennett began to expand the Sanctuary, and with the aid of the players, the construction proceeded smoothly.
The refugees flooded over without stopping, and if things proceeded at that rate, the Sanctuary would probably have to be expanded into the size of a gigantic city.
Han Xiao did not forget about the Six Nations. Since the Six Nations had agreed to his conditions, he sent some mercenaries together with some raw materials to the capital of the Six Nations. All the citizens of the Six Nations who were not aware of the situation fell into a daze.
Some of the mercenaries stayed behind in the Six Nations to aid them in producing the suppressant, and the experienced Six Nations also advertised the news of the suppressant greatly to stabilize the hearts of their citizens.
The Six Nations naturally would not only pay lip service to Han Xiao, and Han Xiao had the authority to mobilize all of their military forces. Han Xiao only needed to say the word, and he would be able to control all these things. However, there was no need for him to do so. It would be best that he left those armies to the Six Nations so that they can help share some pressure with the Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary and the Six Nations already had some experience in fighting the Mutation Disaster, but the number of refugees that they were able to save was a small fraction of the entire planet. However, they were not able to take care of the beasts and plants in the wilderness, and the most frightening thing would be the underwater sea creatures. Their numbers were a couple of times greater than that of the land creatures, and they were also affected by the Mutation Disaster. There were even some amphibious beasts who came onto land and destroyed a few cities near the sea.
In places where they could not see, the situation of the Mutation Disaster was still extremely terrible and was getting worse by the second.
The majority of Planet Aquamarine’s players were currently in the Sanctuary, and this was actually not beneficial to the big picture. However, this was extremely beneficial to Han Xiao as he was able to harvest a large amount of experience. Through the Black Star selection process, he had hired a full thirty to forty thousand players as well.
The selection trial had already become a daily activity for the players, and it was fervently discussed on the forums. The players shared their experience on the forums and came to a conclusion. A valiant warrior was no more than a shooting star quickly fading off into the night sky. Only by choosing a sneaky path would they be able to lead an eternal life.
Because it was a group-based selection trial, the players gradually began to form groups. Casual players tried their luck while professional players flaunted their skills. The core members of the large guilds would usually be protected by a thick layer of players on the outside.
All those who had not been able to pass the thirty second trials would not miss this chance again. Every time they saw Frenzied Sword, Hao Tian, and the others walking around the city with their bodies clad in high quality armor, all the other players could not help but be filled with envy. There were even a few who wanted to try their luck and see if killing them would cause the equipment to fall out of their inventories.
With the cooperation of other players, the success rate of the players increased significantly. The players still thought that it was because they had found the trick to the trials, and Han Xiao truly loved it when the players thought this way.
Han Xiao had prepared for a long time, and everything was currently going according to his plan. However, there was a scene that he had not expected.
The players had actually learned how to play Wayne Cards from Herlous, and many of them were actually addicted!
After hearing about this matter, Han Xiao almost had the urge to strangle Herlous to death! All he did was play cards every day and lead the excellent players astray!
How incorrigible!