Chapter 548: Greed
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
After leaving Planet Aquamarine, Han Xiao asked Wilsander about the current location of Floating Dragon Island. During that period of time, Floating Dragon had drifted to the Rain Star System.
Han Xiao left on the BlackLight Stealth alone, and he just wanted to put on an act of making a trip back to Floating Dragon Island. He had originally intended to tell Nagakin before his departure but did not manage to see the other party. Since Nagakin did not take the initiative to ask him about the matter, Han Xiao decided not to reveal it first. As such, he did not contact Nagakin on his journey. Instead, he spent his time thinking about the conditions that he should raise to Godora.
Furthermore, he also wanted to personally witness what sort of effect DarkStar had on the Garton Star System. In his previous life, he had been a player who could only remain on Planet Aquamarine and only found out about the storyline after everything was over. He had not been able to personally experience the changes in the Garton Star System. Now that he had the chance to personally witness the turmoil, he widened his eyes to have a good look. After all, the Great Mechanic Han was extremely curious about the unknown storyline.
The Black Star Mercenary Group had received a few missions in the Rain Star System, so Han Xiao was familiar with the route. It was simple; he had to first make a resupply stop at Juberly Hub before going through the stargate to the Rain Star System. Following which, he would make his way directly to Floating Dragon Island. With the speed of the BlackLight Stealth, his return trip would take less than half a month.
He did not need to remain on Planet Aquamarine. After all, Godora’s Military Orbit Quantum Leap Station was not just there for show. Even if DarkStar wanted to launch an assault, they would only attack the other colony planets.
He threw the affairs of the mercenary group over to Herlous. Herlous was the first officer to join the mercenary group and also the captain of the Sunil Division. When Han Xiao was in seclusion to construct his machines or skiving off, Herlous had always been the one in charge of managing the mercenary group. He was a professional assistant, and Han Xiao had always believed in making his secretary do the work.
The BlackLight Stealth went into hyperdrive and through the stargate of Star Zone 9. He then flew out from one of the many stargates of Juberly Hub. Without any troublesome passengers, Han Xiao had a good time piloting the spaceship.
In the control room, Han Xiao was looking at a 3D star map.
“That’s right. Planet Golden Gate is nearby, so I can take a trip there to get a look at the base since it won’t take up too much time.”
The spaceship changed direction, and not too long later, Han Xiao arrived at Planet Golden Gate. Looking through the windows, the situation on Planet Golden Gate was extremely different compared to before. A large number of Godoran battleships were hovering around the planet, and all the battleships were prepared for war.
Han Xiao frowned and thought to himself, That’s right, DarkStar’s attack on Long Arc made Godora feel threatened. All the colony planets of Godora will have battleships patrolling outside the planet, and it can be said that they are in a state of high tension.
The free port of Planet Golden Gate was also locked down, and spaceships could only land after a strict identity check. This was due to Ember’s threat. The strength that he had displayed had put Godora on high alert, and they did not dare let anyone from DarkStar sneak in.
The entrance and exit of the planet had a long queue, and Han Xiao smoothly passed through the check. However, he did not have any special privileges this time, so he had to queue up for a long time before being allowed to land at the port.
Walking on the streets, Han Xiao realized that the atmosphere was extremely different. In the past, the streets would be filled with commotion, and prosperity could be seen all around. But now, almost nobody could be seen on the streets, and a nervous atmosphere permeated the air. Even if there were a few occasional passersby on the street, they would be silent with looks of worry.
The most commonly seen individuals on the street were the Godoran patrol squads. Their faces were solemn without any banter or laughter. Their footsteps were in sync, and Han Xiao could not help but feel the urge to trip them up whenever he saw them.
The changes on Planet Golden Gate were a result of DarkStar’s terrorist attack. While the attack was aimed at another planet, no one could be certain that they would not be the next target. There were even some who felt that it was too dangerous to remain on a colony planet and decided to drift in the universe to avoid the danger.
However, because of the conflict between Godora and DarkStar, the security in the Garton Star System was not like before, and it was even riskier to travel out.
Many Wanderers and space pirates felt that this was a good opportunity. They felt that Godora did not have the strength to deal with them, so they all arrived in the Garton Star System. With a large number of pirates roaming around in the Garton Star System, many Godorans who attempted to escape ended up being kidnapped. This gave the Godoran Public Security Team an even greater headache.
In the past few days, Han Xiao had received thousands of new hire missions from the Mercenary Alliance, and all of those missions were related to various kidnapping cases. It could be seen just how terrible the situation was. It was almost like a pirate’s paradise.
It can be said that DarkStar had set off a large chain reaction with their attack. DarkStar did not collude with those space pirates, but the space pirates were vile scum who took advantage of such opportunities. With Godora revealing their weakness because of DarkStar, there would naturally be others who wanted to take advantage of the situation as well. After all, openings could be seen all around Godora, and it was almost akin to them taking off their pants. The space pirates would naturally find it a waste if they did not show up.
“The situation is truly terrible.” Han Xiao shook his head.
When he returned to the base, everything had been functioning as it should have been, and he had not found any problems. Despite Han Xiao being on Planet Aquamarine, the assembly line had not stopped its work. The program was controlled by Phillip, and Han Xiao could control it remotely from Planet Aquamarine.
The large quantities of equipment being constructed by the assembly line piled up into a small mountain in the warehouse. Han Xiao did a brief calculation, and the amount of equipment in the warehouse was sufficient to supply 230,000 players. This was all of his stock, and when the players entered the galaxy, the only problem would be that he might run out of stock.
After supplying the assembly line with a fresh batch of materials, Han Xiao left Planet Golden Gate and headed to Juberly Hub.
…
The BlackLight Stealth entered the port and slowly parked. He only needed to replenish his BlackLight Stealth and stock up on additional fuel for the other spaceships on Planet Aquamarine.
After refueling, he would continue his journey.
Juberly Hub was still bustling with activity and did not seem to have been affected by DarkStar. Han Xiao made his way to the Hub Center before taking an exit that led to the merchant district.
At the same time, a few others recognized him. They were all dressed in simple battle outfits that were a common sight in Juberly Hub.
The few of them were together in a group. Looking at Han Xiao departing, they exchanged gazes and discussed softly.
“Was that Black Star?”
“That’s right, it’s him!”
“Hehe, who would have thought we would find a large fish while replenishing our supplies?”
“Hurry up and inform the boss.”
…
Located near the periphery was a certain, not at all high-end, bar.
The few fellows who had spotted Han Xiao rushed over, and after scanning the place, they walked up to a seat in the corner of the bar. A burly human was seated there, wearing thick, heavy combat attire. He was drinking a bottle of strong liquor, which dripped down from the corner of his lips, wetting his messy beard.
“Boss Befuli, we found an enemy!”
The person who was called Boss Befuli slammed his bottle of wine down, and his body leaned forward. Under the dim lights of the bar, his malevolent face was revealed. If one were to judge his appearance by the standards of a normal space humans, his appearance would be a perfect fit for the description ‘wanton and unrestrained’.
His eyes did not have any whites and were dark red in color like burning flames, and his pupils were completely white in color.
‘Fiery Eyes’ Befuli.
He was a ferocious space pirate who operated in the Fawn Star System and was a Grade B Super. He belonged to an infamous space pirate group that belonged to the Fawn Star System called the Purple Snake Space Pirates.
The Purple Snake Space Pirates had more than a dozen spaceships, and their captain was a Calamity Grade Super who had a bounty of 2,800,000 Enas issued by the Black Raven Civilization. When Han Xiao received the mission to kill a Grade A Super, the captain of the Purple Snake Space Pirates was a targeted whom he had considered. But since he had managed to get a Mission Completion Card, he did not take the risk.
More than two years ago when Han Xiao was completing missions with Frenzied Sword and the other players, they had once killed an officer of the Purple Snake Space Pirates, and the grudge had formed then. As a mercenary, having enemies was unavoidable, and Han Xiao was already used to it.
Befuli was an officer in the Purple Snake Space Pirates, and he had led a team to the Garton Star System so that they could make use of the chaos in Godora to rob others. At that moment, the team that he was leading were concealing their identity in Juberly Hub to rest and resupply. In the past, they had mainly operated in the Fawn Star System, so it was extremely easy for them to disguise themselves in the Garton Star System.
“Enemy? Who?”
“Black Star!”
“I see.” Befuli began chuckling sinisterly. “A few years ago, he got rid of Maddow’s team. Even though I did not like that fellow, our captain has not forgotten about this debt.”
“Boss, Black Star is alone. Shall we make a move?” a space pirate asked softly with his eyes glowing fiercely.
As Befuli heard that, he burst into laughter. “Hahaha, do you think that it is so easy to get rid of Black Star? Are you looking for death?”
As he said that, Befuli’s expression suddenly changed, and he choked the space pirate in front of him. “Brat, you do not have the right to set your sights on such a character. You’d better learn some respect for the strong!”
This space pirate gulped in horror and hurriedly agreed with what Befuli had said. Befuli’s temper was unpredictable, and he did not dare provoke Befuli.
Befuli released his grip and held up a wine glass. After finishing the wine in the glass, he stood up and walked toward the door.
“Little ones, follow me.”
The few space pirates hurriedly followed behind him and asked carefully, “Boss, what are we going to do now?”
Befuli licked his lips, and a look of greed could be seen in his eyes. “I hear that Black Star’s spaceship is a high quality one. While he is still in the Hub Center, let’s snatch his spaceship. Heh, I am sure that it will fetch us a tidy sum.”