904 Ames“ Invitation
With his gaze fixed on the edge of the blade, his finger glided lightly across the sharp edge of the blade, and he could clearly feel the sharpness of the blade.
In the room, Lothaire was seated beside the table, stroking his black blade that had accompanied him throughout his entire life as an assassin. The light from the table lamp was not reflected by his black blade as his weapon was created from a special material that absorbed all light.
Lothaire’s mood was completely unlike his calm expression.
He had been in the Black Star Army for a few days, and he was like an invisible individual. He could not fit into the boisterous atmosphere of the army and maintained his usual style.
Lothaire had chosen to come to the Black Star Army from afar because EsGod had been caught. First, he wanted to see what kind of person Black Star was, and second, he was currently at a loss.
EsGod had stolen his innate talent and had been a recurring nightmare to him. Lothaire did not like to sleep as he would be always shocked awake by his nightmares. Assassinating EsGod had been his only target.
Now that EsGod had been defeated by someone else, Lothaire no longer had the chance to take his revenge. Lothaire did not have any hobbies, and his friends had all passed away. His lone wolf personality meant that he did not like interacting with anyone else. He did not have any ambition and did not know what to do next. Should he continue hunting the fugitives of Fallen Ark, or should he sheathe his blade and drift around? Perhaps he should find a planet to lead a secluded life.
Lothaire felt that life had no meaning, and thus, he had decided to come to the Black Star Army and serve Black Star for a period of time to repay his debt. When he felt that he had repaid his debt to Black Star, he would choose to leave.
Just as he was in a daze, the doorbell suddenly rang, and Lothaire snapped out of his daze. He subconsciously gripped the weapon in his hands before realizing that he was in a safe place.
He then returned his blade to its sheath and stood up to open the door. It was Black Star who had come to visit him.
They looked at each other for a while before Lothaire said, “Do you need something?”
“We haven’t had a proper chat before. Since I am free now, are you going to stand at the door to have a chat with me?” Han Xiao replied.
Lothaire paused for a moment before stepping aside to let Black Star in.
Han Xiao walked into the room and casually looked around before sitting on the couch. He then raised his chin at the seat opposite him to ask Lothaire to sit down.
After Lothaire sat down, Han Xiao looked at him and said, “I have been paying close attention to you, and from the resume that you’ve given me, you are a powerful Calamity Grade assassin. I think very highly of you and thus wasn’t in a rush to assign you a job.”
“Ok.”
Han Xiao then said, “You don’t like speaking, right?”
“Yes,” Lothaire replied calmly.
Han Xiao chuckled and said, “It doesn’t feel good to be lost, right?”
Upon hearing that, Lothaire trembled slightly.
“Trust me, I understand your thoughts. You are different from Shazik. He truly wishes to repay my favor, but I can tell that you are different. Your target was only EsGod, and now that you have lost your enemy, you do not know what you should be doing. Thus, you decided to work for me for a short while. Am I right?”
Lothaire did not write his past experiences on his resume, but because of the information from his previous life, Han Xiao was extremely clear about Lothaire’s experiences and character, so he was able to easily deduce what he was thinking about.
“Right.” Lothaire let out a long breath and nodded.
“I can see your insistence toward EsGod and thus guessed that your hatred toward EsGod isn’t as simple as him destroying your homeland. You may have met EsGod personally before and witnessed how frightening he is. Furthermore, he has become your nightmare.”
Lothaire looked at Black Star with his eyes widened in shock. These were the secrets hidden deep within his heart, and he did not include them in his resume. He rarely revealed these experiences of his to outsiders, and he truly did not understand how Black Star could tell.
They rarely spoke to each other, so could it be that Black Star’s observational skills were truly so terrifying? Black Star was able to guess his own thoughts just by meeting him a few times?
“... You are right. I met EsGod, and I was an Esper who had my ability stolen by him.” Lothaire suppressed the shock in his heart and spoke with a calm expression.
“Then you are really lucky to still be alive.”
He knew that Lothaire’s hatred toward EsGod was carved deep into his bones. After all, the innate Esper ability that he had been born with had been stolen, and even if Lothaire managed to turn his fate around to obtain a similarly powerful strength, he still felt hatred toward EsGod.
“You must have suffered a lot to obtain the strength that you currently have.” Han Xiao comforted him.
Upon hearing that, a trace of agitation could be seen in Lothaire’s eyes as though he recalled some unpleasant memories. However, he quickly snapped back to his senses and lowered his head silently with a strange feeling in his heart.
He had spent many years alone without any friends or comrades. At this moment, he realized that Han Xiao understood him, and after hearing Han Xiao’s consolation and seeing his sincere smile, Lothaire felt a little moved.
It has been a long time since someone cared for me...
If it was an ordinary person who said those words, Lothaire would not have thought about it too much. As a Calamity Grade Super, he was not so easily swayed by the words of others. However, Black Star was a Beyond Grade A, and he was no more than a little boy in front of Black Star. Black Star was a powerhouse far above him, and Lothaire was moved by the concern shown by this powerhouse.
In truth, there was another reason. In order to get Lothaire to open up to him, he activated Chen Xing’s Character Summon Card while talking.
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[A Flirtatious Smile]: +688 CHA.
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It seems like it was useful indeed.
Lothaire let out a long breath and replied with a hoarse voice, “It is all over now.”
Han Xiao shook his head and said softly, “You don’t need to keep it all in your heart. Perhaps you have been alone for far too long, but you must understand that regardless of what the future holds, you are no longer alone. I am your superior, and I hope to understand your experiences.”
Lothaire fell silent for a while. He originally rejected the idea in his heart, but upon remembering that Black Star was his benefactor, he gradually began describing his past.
Because he had not spoken so much for such a long time, speaking felt a bit foreign to him at the start. However, he was very quickly overwhelmed by his emotions.
He did not have anyone to pour his heart out to in the past, so Lothaire kept everything bottled up. Letting out those feelings, he was truly in a much better mood.
Han Xiao listened silently. In truth, he already knew all this; he only wanted Lothaire to feel better by letting all his emotions out. At the same time, he could also increase the Favorability that Lothaire had toward him. Since Lothaire had just joined the army, loyalty would not fall from the sky without any relationship between them.
“This is the way. I think very highly of you, and I will be willing to listen to you if you are willing to speak.” Han Xiao nodded.
“Thank you.” Lothaire let out a long breath and felt his entire body loosen up. At the same time, the fear in his heart toward EsGod also decreased a great deal.
He was truly overwhelmed with favor as a bigshot like Black Star was willing to sit down and talk to him.
“Let’s end here today.” Han Xiao stood up with a smile. “I hope that I can trust you with ease one day.”
“Hmm.” Although Lothaire still did not say much, his tone was completely different and was no longer as cold as before.
“I will give you a mission soon, and I hope that you won’t be so listless at that time. I’ll be going now.”
Han Xiao turned around and walked out.
Lothaire leaned against the door and watched Han Xiao’s departing figure.
It seemed like his decision to join the Black Star Army was not too bad.
...
A few days later, the Logistics department created a large batch of [Black Star Army Badge: Evolution]. After Han Xiao filled them all up with energy, they were ready to be sold.
Some of the players who had nothing better to do returned to headquarters for the goods. As for the players who were dealing with the Gulal Civilization, they could only wait for the Logistics department to send the badges to them.
Very quickly, the first batch of players personally experienced the effect of the tool, and many new posts were created on the forums.
The players participating in the civil war in Gulal used the badge in actual battle and recorded the scene of the battle. Han Xiao then opened one of the posts and watched a video.
The video showed a scene of the players clearing up a city from all resistance. There was an artillery tower being erected in the plaza with a large number of Ancient Emperor Party ground troops. The powerful firepower of the enemy decimated all the attacking players and forced the players to hide.
The players participating in the war then communicated with each other, and ten players wearing the [Black Star Army Badge: Evolution] stood up and raised their badges toward the sky.
“Ultraman, transform!” one of the Pugilist players roared, and their bodies began expanding rapidly.
“Roar!”
The ten transformed players charged out to tank the incoming firepower while charging at full speed.
They used their powerful life force to withstand the firepower of the enemy, and looks of fear could be seen on the enemies’ faces as they saw the approaching monsters.
Two of the transformed creatures were killed along the way, but the others managed to charge into enemy lines and rip through the defenses of the enemy
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Testicle Fist (Poster): Personally experiencing the effect of evolution. My body became outrageously tanky, and it is super useful for charging.
Maple Moon: Although it is a little ugly, it is truly useful...
Moon Shadow: The quality-price ratio is pretty high. However, it is still extremely expensive. Refilling it requires another 5,000 Enas. This is extortion!
Starry Sky: Think about it. How can you be strong if you don’t spend money?
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Most players used the badges in dungeons. The transformed body was extremely suitable to be a main tank, and it was perfect for handling bosses.
The badge immediately became a popular tool used to fight dungeons, and every party would have at least one member with the badge.
Some of the players immediately saw the business opportunity hidden within and gathered money to purchase the badge. They then collected fees to enter parties and provided their service to the players that could not afford one.
Very quickly, many different ways of using the badge were discussed on the forums, and after looking at it for a while, Han Xiao closed the forums. There was something else for him to do right now.
The Crimson Dynasty had already decided to sign an agreement with him, and he would be providing the Evolutionary Totems to them long term. He would have to provide a hundred million Evolutionary Totems within five years.
Because of the relationship between the two, Han Xiao would not be able to make any money from the dynasty, so his targets to make money would be the other civilizations. An important part of their agreement was the authority for Han Xiao to sell the Evolutionary Totem to other civilizations with the profits belonging solely to the Black Star Army.
The dynasty did not wait for EsGod’s properties to be slowly exposed but took the initiative to announce to the entire universe about the Evolutionary Totem. A huge commotion was immediately created, and countless civilizations were stirred up!
The civilizations in the Shattered Star Ring that already had a cooperative relationship with Han Xiao were also shocked. The way they saw it, the value of using the Evolution Cube could not even be compared to the Evolutionary Totem!
Countless civilizations could no longer sit still, and the contact numbers of the army were engaged throughout the day. Many people tried to contact Han Xiao, hoping to purchase an Evolutionary Totem.
Han Xiao got Phillip to inform all the civilizations about his agreement with the dynasty. As long as they received approval from the dynasty, they would be able to purchase the Evolutionary Totem. As such, he managed to successfully push all the problems onto the dynasty.
As for the allied civilizations that had already joined the alliance, Han Xiao traded with them directly and signed a large number of orders. The sales figure of the totems reached the millions, and his business was spread across all the Star Fields.
He would not set the price of the Evolutionary Totem as ‘cheaply’ as the Ovitan Badge. As such, the Black Star Army made huge profits.
The Evolutionary Totem became a staple faction product of the Black Star Army, and the high profits from the product naturally attracted the jealousy of many organizations. However, the Black Star Army and Crimson Dynasty combination made many organizations forget about the idea.
The larger the business, the greater the strength required to protect it. The Black Star Army already had the strength to enjoy this cake all by themselves.
The Black Star Army was already a tyrant in the Shattered Star Ring, with many local civilizations in a cooperative relationship with them. A Beyond Grade A organization of such a level was already at the top of the food chain in the universe.
Furthermore, after the battle on Planet Lighthouse, everyone knew that it was incredibly difficult to deal with Black Star. Even the Arcane Church and EsGod had failed, and not many were confident that they would be able to deal with Black Star.
Furthermore, Black Star’s organization was not alone in the Shattered Star Ring. The Shattered Star Ring had another four Beyond Grade As, and three of them were in a cooperative relationship with him. The network of his was truly frightening.
On top of that, the Shattered Star Ring was located right beside the Flickering World, and the dynasty had millions of battleships stationed in the Flickering World, ready to reinforce the Shattered Star Ring at any moment. Even the nominal owner of the Shattered Star Ring could only close one eye. Not many organizations dared to do as they wished in the Shattered Star Ring.
With the many considerations, no organizations would make a rash move at the moment and had to agree to the trade conditions set by the dynasty.
Han Xiao naturally would not forget about his own people. Every army division and training camp had the Evolutionary Totem, and Bennett also received the benefit of having the Evolutionary Totem. He did not forget about the Black Spirit Race either, and Han Xiao sent an Apostle Weapon to pass an Evolutionary Totem to them. At the same time, he sent some mechanical soldiers to guard the planet that the Black Spirit Race was located on.
Seeing their archnemesis earning such a huge fortune, the Star Pupil Holy Race was extremely frustrated. Originally, the members of the Star Pupil Holy Race no longer blamed Psyker as much, but after seeing the immense profits being earned by the Black Star Army, many of them felt their hearts ache and blamed Psyker for losing the opportunity to develop the civilization.
The wave of scolding within the civilization made Psyker extremely frustrated.
Heber also felt extremely bitter. He could clearly feel his status in the Shattered Star Ring becoming unstable. However, he did not have any ideas and could only watch as Han Xiao roped many organizations over to his side. His heart was as sour as a lemon at this moment.
Just when everyone’s attention was focused on the Evolutionary Totem, Han Xiao received a special invitation for battle.
It came from Ames.