The Legendary Mechanic

In the Army Commander's Black Star Palace office, the bright and shining star map sand table was suspended a meter above the ground, like a flat picture scroll, and the blue light reflected on Han Xiao's face.

The star map sand table was a miniature map of the explored universe, of which two areas were illuminated. One of them was the free competition zone of the Flickering World, while the other was the Modo Civilization's territory within the Primeval Star River.

In these two areas, there were many scattered light spots. Above each spot was a head or influence emblem, which represented the identity of the light spot. These included people such as Lothaire and Rossellin.

Han Xiao slowly paced around the sand table, moving the light spots representing Lothaire and Rossellin to the Modo Civilization area as he whispered to himself, "Rossellin and Lothaire are in place. Iapetus is almost there with the Germinal Financial Group as well…"

This scene was akin to a chess player, with the star map as a chessboard and the forces deployed as chess pieces, constructing a game of encirclement and suppression against the Modo Civilization.

Because of the development union as well as the constraints of the image created by the three Universal Civilizations, he could not move personally. Thus, in the free competition zone, if he wanted to mess around, he needed someone to do the dirty work for him.

This time, Han Xiao formulated a strike plan based on the military and economic fields. The frontal battlefield was simple—just fight and consume the forces and resources of the Modo Civilization.

As for the economic field, that was the highlight, taking advantage of the opportunity of war and sanctions that would shake the domestic market of the Modo Civilization. With the large number of financial groups and organizations that would close as a result, the Germinal Financial Group under his command would cooperate with the Limitless Financial Group and other business giants to enter and hunt down these assets, sucking the lifeblood of the Modo Civilization.

The partners Han Xiao found for the Germinal Financial Group were not just limited to the Limitless Financial Group. Since the Black Star Army represented a huge community of interests, Han Xiao had a lot of connections with the heads of various financial groups. He contacted a bunch of people, putting forth his cooperation requests through relying on his twin heavyweight identities of the Black Star Army and the three Universal Civilizations' ambassador. Faced with such an opportunity, there were few financial groups that would refuse such a deal.

With his current influence and status, even if he merely remained in Black Star Palace, he could still leverage resources of a terrifying scale.

As for what would happen as a result of this chain reaction, the Modo Civilization might not regress but would definitely be hurt through this attack.

In contrast, all the partners of the Germinal Financial Group would be able to make a fortune out of it.

"This feels more and more as though I'm the leader behind the scenes in the triads." Han Xiao snickered before sighing. "I'm only missing one last link, which is a supervisor for the Shattered Star Ring, who is needed to locate their supply lines as well…"

The Shattered Star Ring bordered the Flickering World, so the Super Star Cluster Alliance would definitely use this to their advantage to send reinforcements and supplies to the Flickering World. However, the Shattered Star Ring was his backyard, and the army would definitely know of any movements made by the Super Star Cluster Alliance there. It would definitely be possible to trace their transportation lines.

The Super Star Cluster Alliance was definitely aware of this point, so they would use various means to cover up the fleet, fighting a battle of wits. For them, maintaining the concealment of their supply lines was vital to winning the war.

"Sylvia and Herlous are both in the Flickering World, and the highest-ranking officer left in the Shattered Star Ring is Lagi. I worry about his way of doing things…" Han Xiao shivered involuntarily and decided to change to another person. "Hila and Sylvia cannot return for the time being… Oh, Nero has already grown up. It's time to make him take more responsibilities."

The Shattered Star Ring was still the base camp of the Black Star Army, and the task of monitoring the Super Star Clusters should not be too difficult. It was a good time to let Nero handle this and temper the kid.

Right now, Nero was at his peak. He had the ability but lacked the experience. Han Xiao had always hoped to train Nero into a unique talent. Aside from the close relationship, Nero himself was also a protagonist-level character, with amazing potential and worthy of training as a core member.

If he could train out a better worker than Sylvia, that would be for the best. Not only would he be more worry-free, but Nero was also a man and would not care about his hairline. Added with his various fatigue resistances, he was strong and could literally be worked to death.

"That's right. Aesop is also good at finding people. I can invite him as a consultant and let Nero temporarily act as his assistant…"

Han Xiao stroked his chin as this idea took hold.

An elder in the family was akin to having a treasure. Getting Aesop to come forward would not only increase the chances of finding the Super Star Cluster Alliance transportation line but also allow Aesop to pass on his precious life experience to Nero, killing two birds with one stone.

He just did not know if Aesop would willingly step up and help. That old fellow should be desperate for something to do, after being trapped in Floating Dragon for over a decade.

Beep beep!

Just as he was thinking about it, his communicator rang. Glancing at it, the corners of his mouth curled up.

Speak of the Aesop. That old man probably foresaw that I was going to call him and thus decided to be preemptive.

As he thought that, Han Xiao answered the call.

"Old man, you saw that I was going to find you?"

"I've come for something else." Aesop did not beat around the bush, immediately speaking. "I foresaw that danger's coming from Modo Civilization. They've made some movements lately targeted toward you. You have to be careful, as they used a shielding device and I cannot get a clear prediction."

"Oh, I understand." Han Xiao nodded, not feeling surprised at all.

With him already targeting the other party, the Modo Civilization would definitely do something to try and restore the situation. Even without Aesop's reminder, he knew that the Modo Civilization would inevitably counterattack. It was not surprising for them to use a shielding device, as he still had someone with the title of [Oracle] protecting him.

"You'd better be more cautious. While I might not have gotten a clear prediction, I have a bad feeling about this," Aesop stressed.

"Alright, I'll keep my eyes peeled."

Han Xiao began to recall the various trump cards that the Modo Civilization had in his previous life, beginning to deduce how they would carry out their counterattack against him.

"Just take it seriously. You said you were looking for me as well?" Aesop changed the topic.

Hearing this, Han Xiao told Aesop his plans.

"To invite me as a consultant… I have no objections, but you've got to ask Ames for this. If she's not afraid that I'll take the chance to run off, I'm alright with that."

Aesop thought about it and did not reject it in the end.

He had been 'trapped' in Floating Dragon for so long and had already given Ames to Black Star as though he was sending off his daughter to be married. He had nothing else to worry about now, so his adventurous spirit had begun to resurface once more.

"I'll find time to speak to her." Han Xiao laughed.

While his relationship with Ames was close, he still needed to observe his manners and pay a visit if he wished to borrow one of her people.

After chatting a while more, Han Xiao turned off the communicator, sizing up the star map as he nodded in satisfaction.

In this manner, the layout was basically complete. He did not need to interfere anymore; he just needed to wait for his pieces to act and let things develop as planned.

Han Xiao opened the interface.

More than half of Version 4.0 has passed. According to my current experience accumulation efficiency, I should have enough to reach level 340 before the end of the version, undergoing my next sublimation.

He had originally almost saved up enough experience, but because of his battle against the Mechanic Emperor, he had been forced to change his experience into Awakening Points in one go, adding nearly ten thousand Intellect points. After so much time had passed, his experience was slowly accumulating once more.

The God's Trait Transformation points obtained through producing four new Universal Treasures had already been used by him. Now his God's Trait Transformation—Machinery had reached level nine, bringing to him a considerable bonus. As long as one more God's Trait Transformation—Machinery point was obtained, there would be a qualitative change as with every five stacks.

According to Han Xiao's estimation, when he reached level340 and transformed his God's Trait Transformation—Machinery to level ten or more, alongside the new talents from the Kunde Race Mission and some new Mechanic Universal Treasures, he would be able to suppress the Mechanic Emperor.

At that time, even if the Mechanic Emperor did not come to provoke him, he would go and fight with him, rewriting the 'tie' battle record that they had!

…

As the days passed, the battle in the free competition zone intensified. Under this chain reaction, turmoil broiled in the universe, raising surging winds and storms.

The three Universal Civilizations began imposing extremely strong sanctions on the Super Star Clusters. The latter was still resisting all pressure, and various negative reactions had already started appearing in each civilization.

Among them, the Modo Civilization suffered the most. Not only did they suffer heavy losses due to the Black Star Army in the free competition zone, but the country also gradually turned chaotic. Assassinations got more frequent, with the victims all being successful people from all walks of life, causing panic among the populace. It also seemed that someone was deliberately inciting negativity among them, causing the social conflicts to further amplify.

At the same time, their economy was also impacted. A large number of their companies went bankrupt, and many people became unemployed. Even if the Super Star Cluster Civilizations had many huge businesses, when having their revenue robbed by several financial group giants, it would be impossible for them not to suffer losses.

If it was in peacetime, with just the power of the Black Star Army, it would be impossible for the Modo Civilization to even be swayed. However, the three Universal Civilizations were the main force behind the sanctions this time, which burnt out the Modo Civilization. This environment provided Han Xiao with an excellent opportunity to mess them up.

In just three months, the Super Star Cluster Alliance's plan was in full swing, but with their investment regardless of cost, the overall war in the free competition zone had achieved some advantages… except for the zone where the Modo Civilization was located.

Meanwhile, a fleet with no emblems arrived at the Inter-Star Field Stargate linking to the Shattered Star Ring. It was the secret force dedicated to transporting the Soul Swap Twins.