Pertempuran meledak dalam sekejap.
Albert dan kawan-kawan terjepit namun tak menyerah; mereka berusaha segala cara untuk melarikan diri.
Memang, kekuatan mereka semua sangat kuat. Namun, keunggulan kekuatan individu tidak bisa mengalahkan kekuatan kolektif puluhan Calamity Grade. Mereka hanya bisa bertahan dengan susah payah.
Hanya Beyond Grade A yang bisa menghadapi situasi seperti ini. Meskipun secara individu lebih kuat, mereka tetap berada di kisaran Grade A.
Boom!
Pertempuran sangat sengit, medan tempur meregang hingga ratusan mil. Tanah retak terbuka, tanah bergetar. Segala macam keahlian bertebaran di mana-mana; bahkan topografipun berubah drastis.
Mengikuti informasi Han Xiao, sejumlah Penyihir selalu mengawasi Eliot setiap saat. Begitu ia menunjukkan tanda-tanda akan mencoba mengacakkan teleportasi, mereka langsung memblokir dengan segala kemampuan yang tersedia.
Eliot tak bisa lolos. Ia marah hingga tak tahu harus melarikan diri.
Ia sesal telah memakai teleportasinya untuk meloloskan diri dari 'pasangan makan siang' Han Xiao tak lama sebelumnya. Jelas inilah sebabnya musuh begitu siap.
Di antara enam orang ini, Albert adalah yang terkuat. Ia seorang Psikis; gelombang psikisnya yang kuat menjangkau area yang sangat luas. Ia bertarung melawan banyak orang sendirian, berharap menciptakan kesempatan bagi Eliot mengacakkan mantra. Namun usahanya sia-sia.
Black Star telah mengumpulkan lebih banyak orang dari yang ia duga. Albert penuh putus asa. Sekadar puluhan Calamity Grade saja sudah cukup untuk memberi mereka kesulitan, padahal masih ada puluhan ribu kapal perang di langit dan Beyond Grade A Dragon Emperor.
Kekuatan yang ia kumpulkan lebih dari cukup untuk menantang pasukan resmi peradaban Sistem Bintang!
Ia tahu betapa berbahayanya Black Star, tapi tak mengesangkan!
Di kapal luar angkasa, para pemain yang dibawa Han Xiao hanya dudak santai.
Mereka belum pernah melihat ini seumur hidup. Rasa gembira dan kagum saat menyaksikan pertarungan puluhan Grade A hampir setara dengan video versi sebelumnya yang menampilkan Dragon Emperor menghancurkan kapal induk. Lebih jauh lagi, dari segi ketegangan, ini bahkan lebih mengejutkan.
Para pemain menoleh ke bawah dari atas. Mereka bisa melihat dengan jelas seluruh pertarungan di permukaan. Mereka semua merekam video dan yakin rekaman mereka akan menjadi video paling mencurigakan di forum.
Saat di perjalanan, para pemain berhasil menyadari bahwa ini adalah adegan cerita Han Xiao yang mereka saksikan.
Han Xiao mengamat-mati dari sisi. Dengan begitu banyak bantuan, tak perlu ia ikut bertarung — ia harus memperbaiki mesinnya bila ada yang rusak.
Pertempuran itu sama sekali sisi satu.
Rencananya hanya ingin menerima imbalan untuk misi kedua setelah menyentuh Feidin, namun ia sempat berpikir menyerang basis musuh mungkin menjadi misi ketiga, lalu ia sudah menyelesaikan misi kedua lama yang lalu, berharap misi berikutnya datang. Namun, misi ketiga tak muncul; menyerang basis mereka tak juga menjadi syarat misi.
Han Xiao tak terkejut. Ia tidak bisa menentukan persyaratan misi. Meskipun ini bukan misi, ia tetap akan menyerang basis mereka. Fakta tidak munculnya misi ketiga berarti ada lebih banyak musuh — ia harus menemukan identitas sebenarnya organisasi ini.
Tanpa menyentuh Feidin untuk keberuntungan, kemampuan yang ia dapatkan dari putaran kedua sangat biasa. Han Xiao memilih salah satu keahlian normal Adrian (Tulang Baja), yang memberi +30 Strength dan +20 Endurance. Ini sudah pilihan terbaik dan paling praktis di antara yang lain; meningkatkan maksimum healthnya sekitar tiga ribu poin.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Pertempuran satu-sisi dari awal hingga akhir dan hanya berlangsung sebentar. Sistem sekutu pelawanya tidak ada; tak ada kesempatan untuk menyelamatkan siapapun. Mereka semua ditangkap dan dikalahkan tanpa kesulitan.
Setelah menangkap enam orang itu, semua organisasi mengirim orang ke penjara untuk menemukan orang yang hilang dari organisasi mereka.
Albert dan kawan-kawan, berat luka, dibawa ke Han Xiao. Semua topeng mereka dikalahkan, menampilkan wajah marah yang menyala. Masih ada rasa kaget di mata mereka; mereka tidak bisa percaya mereka dikalahkan oleh Black Star dengan begitu mudah.
Kontratakan Black Star datang cepat dan kuat, dengan mudah mengalahkan semuanya. Ini terlalu sulit bagi keenam orang ini untuk diterima.
Han Xiao memindai mereka dan mengangguk.
Akhirnya, semua orang ini ditangkap, tak ada yang lolos. Ia mencapai tujuannya.
"Siapa kamu?"
Albert diam dan menatap Han Xiao dengan geram.
"Tidak jawaban? Lalu akan kujawab dengan pertanyaan lain." Han Xiao mengeluarkan daftar pemburuan dan dengan dingin meminta, "Siapa yang memerintahmu menangkap orang-orang ini di Cincin Bintang Pecah? Daftar ini dari mana asalnya?"
Albert terkejut. "Kenapa kamu punya daftar ini?"
"Kamu sungguh mengira aku tidak tahu? Aku sudah lama tahu tentang kalian. Siapa dalang di balik kamu?"
Shana tidak bisa percaya. Ia pikir kegagalannya telah membuat Black Star waspada, tapi ternyata Black Star sudah lama mengetahuinya. Dari mana ia mendapatkan informasi itu?
Albert tetap diam. Sepertinya ia telah memutuskan untuk tidak mengkhianati orang di baliknya, apa pun akibatnya.
Han Xiao mengikat lengan dan berkata, "Kamu pikir kamu masih bisa diam setelah jatuh ke tanganku? Aku punya banyak cara untuk membuatmu bicara."
Di belakang Han Xiao, Calamity Grade dari banyak organisasi menatap Albert dan kawan-kawan. Mereka pasti tidak akan membiarkan orang-orang di balik ini pergi dengan mudah. Jika Albert dan kawan-kawan tidak mau bicara, jelas mereka akan ditortur dengan tidak terpuaskan. Organisasi-organisasi ini akan berpikir cara untuk meraih informasi dari mereka.
Albert menatap orang-orang ini lalu berkata perlahan, "Akhirnya adalah kematian, tak ada perbedaan antara bicara atau tidak. Kecuali kamu bisa membiarkan kami hidup."
"Kamu tak berhak membuat permintaan," katanya Han Xiao. "Aku hanya bisa menjamin kamu akan ditortur lebih sedikit."
"Baiklah... aku akan memberitahu kamu." Albert sepertinya telah membuat keputusan. "Klent Kingdom yang memerintah kami melakukan ini."
Han Xiao mengerutkan kening.
"Aku butuh bukti."
"Aku bisa membuktikan hubungan kami dengan Klent. Intelijensi kami berasal dari organisasi intelijen di bawah Bloodshed Land; ada catatan untuk itu. Daftar pemburuan ini diberikan kepada kami oleh para pejabat Klent. Mereka ingin Cincin Bintang Pecah menjadi lebih kacau, lalu mereka membayar kami untuk... menghilangkan musuh dan menangkap individu yang lebih kuat," Albert berkata perlahan.
Bukan Klent. Han Xiao mengerutkan kening semakin dalam. Ini sepertinya terhubung semua, tapi pengenalan misi dengan jelas menyarankan sebaliknya. Fakta pasti tidak begitu sederhana.
Han Xiao merasa Klent paling mungkin bukan dalang organisasi misterius ini — ada kontradiksi dalam metode dan motif mereka. Albert mungkin sengaja menyalahkan Klent untuk menyelamatkan orang sebenarnya di balik ini.
Albert sudah kalah; ia tak punya pilihan kecuali memberi informasi. Ia mungkin berbohong untuk menyelamatkan kebenaran dan melindungi dalang sebenarnya, lalu menyalahkan Klent.
Mengapa ia memilih Klent? Mungkin karena Klent memang terhubung dengan organisasi misterius ini. Atau mungkin karena Klent adalah pilihan terbaik untuk disalahkan di Cincin Bintang Pecah.
Han Xiao menatap mata Albert tapi hanya melihat keikhlasan. Ia mengunculkan mata tapi tak melanjutkan pertanyaan terhadap Albert.
"Baiklah." Senyum tiba-tiba muncul di wajah Han Xiao. "Jadi Klent adalah dalangnya. Aku percaya kamu."
"Benar. Jika kamu ingin bukti, aku bisa memberikan. Aku harap kamu bisa mematuhi janjimu dan tidak menyiksaku." Albert bersikeras bahwa itu Klent.
Para utusan organisasi lain merasakan rasa permusuhan yang sangat kuat terhadap Klent. Mereka marah.
"Klent betapa gila? Berani melakukan hal seperti ini? Apakah mereka mengira kami mudah untuk dimanipulasi?"
Setelah Klent bergabung dengan Crimson Dynasty, mereka semakin otoriter. Banyak organisasi tahu Klent ambisius, sehingga mereka percaya kebanyakan 'kebenaran' yang Albert sampaikan.
Emissary peradaban Kristal Ungu tersenyum licik, senang secara diam-diam. Jika Klent akhirnya disalahkan, mereka rela mempercayai apapun, benar atau tidak. Ini akan membuat organisasi-organisasi ini bersatu melawan Klent.
Musuh dari musuh adalah teman.
Albert dan kawan-kawan jelas ingin menyembunyikan dalang sebenarnya, namun Han Xiao tidak ingin mengungkap mereka dan justru menurut alur membiarkan Klent disalahkan.
Dia bisa mencari kebenaran secara pribadi. Setelah semua, orang-orang ini kini berada di tangannya. Ia bisa melakukan apapun yang dia inginkan. Menyalahkan Klent saat ini paling menguntungkan baginya. Dengan cara ini, ia bisa tidak langsung mendapatkan lebih banyak sekutu untuk tekanan selama perang rahasia.
Setelah begitu banyak organisasi mengetahui 'kebenaran' ini, berita pasti akan menyebar ke seluruh Cincin Bintang Pecah. Pada saat itu, reputasi Klent akan rusak Parah. Meskipun tidak benar, bagi banyak orang itu akan menjadi kebenaran. Tak ada cara Klent bisa terbebas dari ini.
Han Xiao awalnya hanya ingin organisasi ini berutang pada dirinya dan membangun hubungan kerjasama dengan mereka; menyalahkan Klent sebagai bocoran adalah kejutan menyenangkan. Lebih lanjut lagi, ia tidak bertanggung jawab atasnya.
Kali ini, tim yang mengirim untuk menangkap tawanan membawa semuanya kembali. Orang-orang yang sial itu kini lepas dari batasan tubuh mereka dan mulai pulih.
"Haha, orang benar-benar datang menyelamatkan kami!"
"Ada begitu banyak orang di sini."
Kernid dan kawan-kawan berdiri dengan senyum ceria, menoleh ke berbagai arah. Banyak yang melihat organisasi mereka dan kembali mengobrol dengan teman-teman. Sebelum lama, mereka mengetahui bahwa Han Xiao-lah yang member
Chapter 643 Crushed
The battle erupted in an instant.
Albert and the others were surrounded but did not give up resisting; they did everything they could to escape.
Indeed, all of them were very strong. However, the superiority of their individual strength could not overcome the collective strength of dozens of Calamity Grades. They were barely holding on.
Only Beyond Grade As could deal with a situation like this. Despite them being stronger individually, they were still in the Grade A range.
Boom!
The battle was intense, and the battlefield stretched across hundreds of miles. The earth was split open, and the ground was trembling. All sorts of abilities were flying all over the place; even the terrain was tremendously changed.
Following Han Xiao’s information, a few Mages kept their eyes on Eliot at all times. As soon as he showed any signs of trying to cast a teleportation spell, they would use all sorts of abilities to prevent him from doing so.
Eliot was completely restrained. He was furious and had nowhere to run.
He regretted using his teleportation spell to escape from Han Xiao’s ‘ambush’ not long ago. Clearly, that was why the enemies were so prepared.
Among the six of them, Albert was the strongest. He was a Psychic; his powerful psychic waves covered an extremely large area. He took on many people alone, hoping to create an opportunity for Eliot to cast a spell. However, his effort was wasted.
Black Star had gathered more people than he could ever have expected. Albert was filled with despair. Just the tens of Calamity Grades would be more than enough to cause them a lot of trouble, yet there were still tens of thousands of battleships in the sky and the Beyond Grade A Dragon Emperor.
This force that he had gathered would be more than enough to challenge the official army of a Star Cluster Civilization!
He had known that Black Star was dangerous but not this terrifying!
On the spaceship, the players that Han Xiao had brought along were having an exciting time doing nothing.
They had never seen anything like this. The excitement and awe of this battle between dozens of Grade As could even match up to the video where Dragon Emperor crushed the mothership in the previous version. Furthermore, in terms of thrill, this was even more exhilarating.
The players were all looking down from above. They could see the entire battle on the surface clearly. They all recorded videos of it and felt that their recordings might become the most astonishing videos on the forums.
On the way there, the players had all come to discover that Han Xiao had staged this. They felt like they were watching a cut scene of the storyline.
Han Xiao watched at the side. With so many helpers, there was no need for him to join the battle-he would have to repair his machinery if any of them got damaged.
It was completely one-sided.
He had planned to only receive the reward for the second round of the mission after he touched Feidin, but he had thought that attacking the enemies’ base might be the third round of the mission, so he had completed the second round long ago, hoping to receive the next round of the mission. However, the third round did not appear; attacking their base did not become a mission requirement.
Han Xiao was not surprised by this. He could not decide the mission requirements. Even though this was not a mission, he would still attack their base. The fact that the third round did not appear meant that there were more enemies—he had to find out the true identity of this organization.
Without touching Feidin for luck, the abilities that he had drawn from the second round were very ordinary. Han Xiao had selected one of Adrian’s normal talents (Bones of Steel), which gave him thirty Strength and twenty Endurance. This was already the most practical choice among the rest; it increased his maximum health by around three thousand points.
Bang bang bang!
The battle was one-sided from start to end and only lasted a while. The six’s resistance was meaningless; they had no chance of escaping. They were all captured and thrashed without any hiccups.
After capturing the six of them, the organizations all sent people into the prison to find the person that was missing from their organization.
Albert and the others were heavily injured and taken to Han Xiao. All their masks were taken off, showing their furious faces. There was still shock in their eyes; they still could not believe that they had been defeated by Black Star so easily.
Black Star’s counterattack came so quick and strong, easily defeating all of them. This was too difficult for the six of them to accept.
Han Xiao scanned through them and nodded.
Finally, all these people had been captured, and no one had escaped. He had achieved his goal.
“Who are you?”
Albert kept silent and glared at Han Xiao.
“No reply? Then let me change a question.” Han Xiao took out the hunting list and coldly demanded, “Who ordered you to capture these people in the Shattered Star Ring? Where did this list come from?”
Albert was shocked. “Why do you have this list?”
“You really think I don’t know about it? I’ve known about you people for a long time. Who’s the mastermind behind you?”
Shana could not believe it. She had thought that her failure had alerted Black Star, but it turned out Black Star had known about them long ago. Where did he get that information?
Albert still kept silent. It seemed like he had decided not to sell out the people behind him no matter what.
Han Xiao crossed his arms and said, “Do you think you’re able to stay silent after falling into my hands? I have plenty of ways to make you talk.”
Behind Han Xiao stood the Calamity Grades of many organizations, staring at Albert and the others. They were definitely not going to let the people behind this go easily. If Albert and the others were not going to talk, they were clearly going to be painfully tortured. These organizations would think of every way to get information from them.
Albert looked at these people then spoke slowly. “The end is death anyway; there’s no difference between talking or not talking. Unless you can let us live.”
“You’re not in a position to make requests,” Han Xiao said. “I can only ensure that you will be tortured less.”
“Okay... I will tell you.” Albert seemed to have made up his mind. “The Klent Kingdom ordered us to do this.”
Han Xiao frowned.
“I need proof.”
“I can prove our relationship with Klent. Our intelligence came from an intelligence organization under the Bloodshed Land; there are records for it. The hunting list was given to us by the Klent upper echelons. They want the Shattered Star Ring to be more chaotic, so they hired us to get rid of enemies and capture stronger individuals,” Albert slowly said.
No, it’s not Klent. Han Xiao frowned even more. It sounded like things were all connected, but the mission introduction clearly suggested otherwise. The truth was definitely not this simple.
He felt that Klent was most likely not the mastermind behind this mysterious group-there were contradictions in both their method and motive. Albert might be deliberately putting the blame on Klent.
Albert was done for; he had no choice but to give out some information. He might be lying to cover the truth and protect the real mastermind behind this, letting Klent take the blame.
As for why he chose Klent, it might be because Klent really was connected to this mysterious organization in some way. It might also be because Klent was the best choice to push the blame onto in the Shattered Star Ring.
Han Xiao stared at Albert’s eyes but could not see anything but sincerity. He squinted but did not continue to question Albert.
“I see.” Han Xiao suddenly smiled. “So, Klent is the mastermind. I believe you.”
“That’s right. If you want any evidence, I can provide it. I hope that you can keep your promise and not torture me.” Albert insisted that it was Klent.
The emissaries of the other organizations felt an immense sense of hostility toward Klent. They were furious.
“Is Klent out of their mind? How dare they do something like this? Do they think we’re easy to mess with?”
After Klent joined the Crimson Dynasty, they had become more and more imperious. Many organizations knew that Klent was ambitious, so they believed most of the ‘truth’ that Albert revealed.
The Purple Crystal Civilization emissary’s eyes sparkled, and he was secretly delighted. If Klent ended up taking the blame, they were willing to believe it regardless of whether it was the truth or not. This would make these organizations hostile toward Klent.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Albert and the others clearly wanted to hide the real mastermind, but Han Xiao was not planning to expose them and went with the flow of letting Klent take the blame.
le
He could search for the truth privately. After all, these people were now in his hands. He could do anything he wanted. Letting Klent take the blame was most profitable for him at the moment. This way, he could indirectly get more allies to help with the pressure during the secret war.
After so many organizations found out about this ‘truth’, the news would definitely spread across the entire Shattered Star Ring. By then, Klent’s reputation would be heavily damaged. Even if it was not the truth, it would become the truth for many people. There was no way Klent would be able to come clean from this.
Han Xiao initially only wanted these organizations to owe him a favor and build partnership relationships with them; letting Klent take the blame for this was a pleasant surprise. Furthermore, he would not be responsible for it.
This time, the team that had gone to find the prisoners brought all of them back. These unlucky people got rid of the constraints over their bodies and finally started to recover.
“Haha, people really have come to rescue us!”
“There are so many people here.”
Kernid and the others looked around with joyful faces. Many of them saw their organizations and returned to chat with their friends. Very soon, they got to know that it was Black Star who had provided the information that saved them.
They approached Han Xiao one after another to show their appreciation excitedly.
“If not for you, we would be done for.”
“Thanks, we owe you one. If there’s anything you need our help for in the future, be sure to tell us.”
“Black Star, from now on, you’re my brother.”
Han Xiao replied friendlily one by one. Notifications kept popping up on his interface; the relationship with these organizations rocketed and all jumped right to ‘Friendly’. For people that were saved such as Kernid, their Favorability increased the most.
He expressed his intention to keep this partnership going. Of course, the others were not going to reject. Not mentioning this favor, the Black Star Army itself was an organization that they were willing to work together with. This incident had become the bridge of their partnership.
After saving those unlucky people, Han Xiao’s network expanded tremendously.
The Purple Crystal Civilization emissary got what they wanted, too-some organizations were willing to join Section Zero and help Purple Crystal fight Klent, their shared enemy.
This was all thanks to Han Xiao. His Favorability with Purple Crystal increased by 2,000 points straight away. He was one step closer to exchanging Cutting-Edge Knowledge.
Han Xiao had another goal. Some of the people captured were lone Calamity Grades. After saving them and increasing their Favorability, there was a chance to recruit them.
After asking around, most of those lone Grade A Supers rejected him and expressed that they had no intention of joining another organization. Only one person was an exception, which made Han Xiao overjoyed.
Being able to recruit just one of them was already more than good enough. He was currently the only Grade A in the army; adding one more meant that the number of Grade As doubled.
This was also the first Grade A whom he had recruited.
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