Chapter 584: Escaped Fish
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“DarkStar is done for...”
At the last moment, Degulish realized that it was the end for the warriors he led, and he had nowhere to run. He lost the will to fight and gave up resisting. His exhausted and enormous body fell to the floor, facing down.
Han Xiao did not have an easy time dealing with Degulish, and many of his adorable machines had been destroyed.
Since he did not have enough time to recover the machines that he had lost during the Planet Aquamarine battle, he was using the backup machinery that he built before, and Degulish had destroyed two-third of his stash.
Nonetheless, after this battle, Han Xiao had a very clear understanding of his own strength, so it was well worth it.
His current battle mode was rather impressive, and the synergy between his talents and abilities were quite perfect. For regular Grade A Supers, he was basically undefeated just with how strong his body was. After he recovered his Mechanical Army, he would even be on par with Calamity Grade Supers who were three to four thousand Energy Rank above him.
The strength differences between Calamity Grades were exceptionally large. Han Xiao had only just stepped into this territory, so there were still many who were a threat to him. Such as those above Level 200 who could overpower him. However, given how tanky he was, he would still be quite a pain to deal with.
Comparatively, opponents who used psychic attacks were a bigger threat to him. Psychic attacks were not included in the damage types that could be absorbed by [Intermediate Energy Absorption]; only attacks that landed on his physical body would be turned into energy. Psychic attacks could break his ‘health-mana cycle’.
Some Mages would be quite difficult to deal with as well, such as those who excelled in Curse magic and abilities that could suppress life regeneration of sorts, also Espers that had psychic abilities like Hila.
There are countless abilities in the universe. I am far from the top of Grade A.
He was very self-aware of his strength, so there was no way he would get arrogant.
Seeing that Degulish did not have the will to fight anymore, Han Xiao said, “Anur had a stronger spine than you. I thought you would fight me to death.”
Degulish clenched his teeth and said, “Black Star, don’t get ahead of yourself. You’ve not won yet!”
He still had one final shred of hope—the DarkStar army had been annihilated, but the superiors were not all caught. The DarkStar leader had yet to return and was not in Garton Star System. This was his hope; as long as the leader was still alive, DarkStar was not completely obliterated.
Therefore, he had chosen to surrender. He wanted to keep himself alive and useful, even if it meant that he would be sent to Rainbow Prison, so that he could wait for his leader to come and save him, to give himself to the cause once again, rising for his leader.
“DarkStar’s leader...”
The DarkStar leader was a very remarkable man. He had avoided this disaster out of luck. However, even if he wanted to start all over, he would have to keep an exceptionally low profile for a long time in order to escape from the Godorans. Hence, he would not be much of a problem any time soon.
Furthermore, Godora wanted to kill the DarkStar leader more than he did, so there was no point worrying about it.
...
Dragging Degulish along, Han Xiao returned to where the others were. Seeing the corpses that were piled up and scattered across the ground, he nodded with approval.
The players did very well; the effect that he wanted had been achieved.
Shortly after, the mercenaries and the Godorans landed together. The DarkStar captives were handed to the Godorans. Degulish was escorted onto the ship by two Calamity Grade Godoran government officials, heading to the dreamy life of free housing for the rest of his life in the marvelous cell of Rainbow Prison.
Risda completed his mission and returned to the BlackLight Stealth, pushing Phillip out.
This DarkStar mothership was handed to Godora as part of the deal that had been discussed with the Godoran War Bureau.
The notification of two missions in [Godora’s Ally] being completed popped up on the interface.
_____________________
[Deputy Leader – Degulish] complete.
You have received 24,200,000 Experience, 1500 Godoran Civilization Favorability, [Character Summon Card – Degulish]
[Seize Mothership] complete.
You have received 30,000,000 Experience and 1800 Godoran Civilization Favorability.
_____________________
Other than that, [Operation Hodellas – War Hire] was shown to be completed as well, despite him not doing much. Nonetheless, after Han Xiao thought about it and realized that in order to even receive these benefits, he had to be qualified for it. After all, Godora would not hire just anyone for this. Furthermore, Risda had played a rather large part in it, so it was counted toward his contribution.
The initial reason that Godora hired him back then was to let him control the mothership; capturing Degulish and others was a pleasant surprise.
These three missions brought Han Xiao more than 70 million experience. Although it was not comparable to harvesting the players, it was still quite profitable.
Hence, despite the players’ mission being the shrunk version, they still made quite a fortune.
The players were happy, and Han Xiao was happier.
Sadly, the players did not have the [Godora’s Ally] mission and could not receive the other two rewards.
Shame.
With the boost of three continuous missions, Han Xiao’s Godora Favorability rocketed past 6,000 and reached the highest relationship status—[Reverence].
It was well deserved. He had provided intelligence to Godora to counterattack, captured deputy leader Degulish alive, and seized a mothership. If he was a civil servant in Godora, he would have been promoted more than ten times. Hell, he might even have become a candidate for top positions in the War Bureau.
As Han Xiao was about to have a conversation with the Godora superiors, Gureja, Underworld Feather, Justin, and the other Army Commanders stared directly at Black Star Army that were cleaning up the battlefield.
Defeating tens of thousands of DarkStar warriors was an easy feat; their army could do it too. However, they would never have achieved the result that Black Star Army had!
Almost zero casualties!
Their speculations about Black Star Army had become a reality.
Those Army Commanders knew full well that as soon as word about this spread, Black Star Army’s name in the mercenary world would shoot up into the skies, completely overturning their past image and officially becoming one of the top mercenary groups.
...
“Other than this seized one, all the other DarkStar motherships were destroyed. Very few escaped, and their identities are yet to be verified.” In the communicator image, the War Bureau superior explained the situation.
“Is that so?” Han Xiao contemplated.
DarkStar did not have a fixed base—the motherships were their base. Now that these had been destroyed, it was basically the end for them. The ‘DarkStar’ organization was no more. What Han Xiao cared more about was if Ember was alive.
Ember’s Esper ability was very destructive, and he had immense hatred for him. Plus, his brain was the most developed. If he escaped, there would be quite a problem.
Maybe he could use the Destiny’s Child card to foresee Ember’s whereabouts?
The Destiny’s Child Character Summon Card only had two more uses left, and Han Xiao had yet to decide whether to use one of it here.
This time, the War Bureau superior said, “After some time, Godora will announce this victory to all of the Star System. Following your request, Serbia the Fifth will publicize your achievements personally, telling everyone that you’re the hero of DarkStar’s destruction and that you’re a valued ally of Godora.”
DarkStar had threatened the Garton Star System for many years, causing countless disasters. Now that they had finally been dealt with, Godora would certainly make an official announcement, streaming to all the channels in the entire Star System, listing DarkStar’s sins and promoting their profound victory. That would boost the confidence of their people, making it known that DarkStar no longer existed, that they had saved the world, and so on.
Back then when Han Xiao sold his intelligence, one of the requirements was to publicize his contributions after the plan succeeded. This was to tremendously increase his fame.
For such an enormous feat, it was almost a definite that he would receive Star System level Legendary Points.
“By the way, you will be needed at the scene. Serbia the Fifth will personally give you the honors, and you will be a friend of Godora forever. After the ceremony ends, we will pay you the rest of the reward as discussed. Fifty medium battleships and one large main ship, the remaining fifteen million payment, and some Super Knowledges.”
Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.
Finally, he was about to receive the remaining payment, but receiving the honors was unexpected.
Godora was very generous, so being honored by the leader of the nation was a huge honor. This was not his request but Godora’s decision.
With some thought, Han Xiao roughly knew what Godora was thinking. Their appreciation was indeed sincere, as were his achievements, but a part of it was definitely because he was part of Floating Dragon. Thus, they wanted to improve their relationship with the Floating Dragon.
If Floating Dragon’s Field Team Officer was Godora’s honored hero, their relationship would be closer.
This had no negative impact on him, so of course, Han Xiao would not reject it.
“Before bringing the players to Base One to officially start their mercenary career, showing them a ‘cut scene’ of me being honored is very beneficial for my personal image. This will all increase my reputation. Marvelous!”
Han Xiao was very content.
When Han Xiao ended the communication, the battlefield had almost all been cleaned up. The Godoran fleet dragged the DarkStar mothership from the ground like pulling up a carrot. They then moved it outside the atmosphere and were planning to take it back.
On the galactical battlefield on the other side, there were also many Godoran spaceships cleaning up the wreckages of DarkStar fleets.
This was an overwhelming victory; joy was on the face of every Godoran soldier.
Not only Han Xiao, but all the mercenary groups were also invited to Godora’s Mother Planet to attend the government ceremony not long after. Showing their faces was a free advertisement, so no one rejected the offer.
The Black Star Army and Alliance Fleet took off and headed toward Godora’s Mother Planet together.
After just experiencing a war, all the players were excited. All kinds of screenshots and recordings were being posted to the forums.
Herlous was extremely excited. Han Xiao had promised to get rid of DarkStar, and he had always thought that there was little hope. He had stood behind Han Xiao and watched his every step. He had never thought this promise would be fulfilled in just a few years. At this point, Black Star’s promise only had one outstanding condition—sending hundreds of thousands of Supers to deal with the problem on Planet Sunil. Even though DarkStar was destroyed, Black Star would definitely not go back on his word on this one. The highly risky bet that he placed on trusting an unknown mercenary back then had paid off!
Inside the BlackLight Stealth cockpit, Han Xiao did not pay attention to the players’ actions as he would usually. After a long consideration, he had made a decision—he would foresee Ember’s whereabouts. Although he might waste one use of the Character Summon Card, he wanted to be mentally prepared in case Ember was still alive.
_____________________
You have used [Character Summon Card: Destiny’s Child]
Usages: 4/5
_____________________
The familiar fog covered his vision once again. Passing through the fog, a blurry image appeared before his eyes.
...
A mini DarkStar assault ship was speeding through the universe, escaping.
Ember was the only one on the ship.
Long before the ambush, he had felt uneasy and kept his alert up. When it happened, his reactions were the quickest. Realizing that there was no possibility of winning, he had abandoned the mothership, taking a small, fast assault ship. With a bit of luck and all his might, he had successfully escaped.
Hundreds of assault ships had tried to escape, but he was the only one that had succeeded. Ember had seen the mothership shattering into pieces under the barrage with his own eyes, and countless DarkStar warriors had turned to ash, floating in the cold universe.
DarkStar was finished, and Ember realized that.
Where should he go?
Piloting the spaceship, the dim light from the star map illuminated Ember’s face. He was lost without purpose.
As a wanted man who had slaughtered tens of millions of Godorans, Godora would never give up chasing him.
It seemed like there was only one path ahead of him—leave Garton Star System, or even Colton Star Cluster, go to another Star Cluster in the Shattered Star Ring, hide his name, and start a new life.
Thinking about this, veins filled his eyes.
He did not want to escape anymore.
DarkStar still had him; it was not the end for DarkStar!
“I am destined to become Godora’s nightmare. With slaughter, I will make them reflect on their traditions that are countless years behind. The bloodline belief they have is against the nature of reproduction. This twisted mindset is exactly what created us. After their confession, I will make them swallow the fruit of their thousands of years of the pureblood belief. DarkStar will build a new Godora above their ruins!
“Then, there will be no more pureblood; no one will feel superior for their blood. Discrimination will no longer exist; no one will be born lower than another!”
Those were the DarkStar leader’s hopes for him when he was young, and he had always remembered them in his heart and made them his faith.
“Godora will definitely host a ceremony to announce to the entire Star System that they have defeated DarkStar and that the purebloods’ reign is still strong...” Ember clenched his teeth. “When you people think that everything has ended and are celebrating your victory, I will tell the entire Star System that DarkStar has yet to disappear.”
He decided to go to Godora’s Mother Planet.
When Godora was holding their ceremony and was watched by the whole Star System, he would use his Esper ability and start a slaughter, destroying Godora’s victory announcement.
However, Godora Mother Planet was very dangerous, so he had yet to figure out a way to get in. There would definitely be a lot of Calamity Grade Godoran government officials at the ceremony as guards, so him doing so might cost his life.
As Ember was having a thousand thoughts and was about to make a decision, his communicator suddenly rang. It was a communication request from the DarkStar leader.
That’s right, the leader is still alive!
He came up with a better idea!
Ember’s mind recovered, and he was overjoyed that he had found someone whom he could rely on.