Chapter 933: Star Sea Pokémon

Chapter 933: Star Sea Pokémon

The Broken Star Ring, the Domain of War.

"...That is the situation. In a short span of time, we have secured a vast array of business channels. Conservatively estimated, our revenue this year will more than double."

Within the palace, Jode read the report with palpable excitement.

A tall and burly figure stood by the window, the galaxy reflected in Herber's pupils, dyed with profound emotions as he listened to the report in silence.

Jode continued to read, "The Black Star Army completed its factional transformation years ago, diversifying its operations. We, however, lack the Evolution Cubes. Despite Keronet's support, our transition has been sluggish, forever constrained by the nature of a mercenary war organization. Seventy to eighty percent of our funds rely on various armed contracts, and the exorbitant maintenance costs for our troops have bogged down our cash flow. Now, forging a powerful alliance with the Infinite Consortium, they have greatly assisted in our factional transformation, and we are gradually taking shape."

Both the Black Star Army and the Domain of War are Beyond A-grade powers in this star cluster, yet their operational directions differ. Under Han Xiao's leadership, the Black Star Army utilized the Evolution Cubes to transition from an armed organization to a diversified one, possessing both martial might and financial wealth. The Domain of War, as its name suggests, is the epitome of militarism; its channels for monetizing influence are rather singular, a problem that has long plagued the Domain of War.

The assistance of the Infinite Consortium has lifted this weight from Herber's heart. As long as this trend continues, the Domain of War will no longer be a mere band of warmongering brutes, but will truly contend with the Black Star Army for the paramount position among private organizations in the Broken Star Ring.

"Well done." Herber turned around and spoke indifferently.

Jode hesitated for a moment, unable to suppress his curiosity. "Lord Conqueror, what exactly was the agreement you made with the Infinite Consortium? Why are they going all out to help us?"

"It is merely mutual benefit." Herber glanced at him. "They wish to enter the Broken Star Ring, leveraging our influence to better penetrate the local market. Hmph, although their targets are the partners of the Black Star Army, we are also a Beyond A-grade power. Joining us does not demean these enterprises."

These were the superficial reasons; as for the deeper transactions, Herber had no intention of telling his subordinates.

Jode's eyes darted. Herber had not spoken plainly, but he vaguely guessed that the reasons were not so simple. The Infinite Consortium did not seek cooperation with Black Star, but instead settled for them as a second choice, clearly harboring intentions against the Black Star Army.

The possibilities behind this made him break out in a cold sweat just by thinking about them. Jode dared not press the matter further; he still wanted to live long enough to hold his grandchildren.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Jode withdrew from the room. Left alone, Herber gazed out the window once more, and after a long while, the corners of his mouth curved into a slight arc.

Maintaining a stoic expression before his subordinates, appearing as calm as still water, Herber was, in truth, quite pleased.

He cared not whether the Infinite Consortium would succeed, as long as he could seize the opportunity to develop. The losses suffered by the Black Star Army were not within his consideration. Though both were allies of the Empire, they had always been rivals, and he would be more than happy to see the Black Star Army suffer greater losses.

...

Meanwhile, Karrot, having rejected Han Xiao's recruitment, returned to the martial arts department's freshman dormitory in a daze. Several roommates immediately gathered around him, their faces full of curiosity.

"Hey, what did the principal want with you just now?"

Karrot was rather simple and honest, and his grades were at the very bottom, so he got along quite well with others.

When class ended earlier, his roommates had all seen the principal come looking for Karrot, assuming he had done something strange, and were now somewhat concerned.

Karrot scratched his head. "Nothing much, just someone who wanted to see me."

"Who was it? How could they possibly get the principal to come find you?"

A handsome roommate looked suspicious. He had the best family background in the entire dormitory, yet he was far from being able to approach the principal of the Empire's Esper Academy. Karrot's family background was quite ordinary, which left him feeling utterly astonished.

"He said his name was Black Star, and he wanted me to join the Black Star Army," Karrot said helplessly.

The moment the words left his mouth, the others' eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

"The legendary Black Star?!"

"You're kidding, right! Why would he come to you?!"

Seeing his roommates looking as if they had seen a ghost, Karrot was somewhat surprised. "You all know him?"

"Good heavens, don't tell me you don't even know who Black Star is!" one roommate exclaimed, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"I... I've never heard of him before." Karrot looked embarrassed and curious. "Is he really a big shot?"

"A big shot? He is far more than that! He is a Beyond A-grade powerhouse, the pinnacle of individual might, an existence who can chat and laugh with the Emperor himself!" one of them spoke with fervent excitement, recounting the history of Han Xiao's rise as if enumerating his most prized possessions; he was a true fan.

The group crowded around Karrot, pressing him with questions. Karrot then recounted the whole process. His expression was clumsy, and it took him a good while to make everyone understand that Black Star had no connection to his family whatsoever, but had simply taken a fancy to his potential.

The handsome roommate felt a sour taste in his heart. Why should such an opportunity fall to a bottom-dwelling simpleton like him, rather than to himself?

Just then, another roommate suddenly realized something. "Did you... did you accept Black Star's invitation?"

Meeting the intense stares of the crowd, Karrot felt somewhat uneasy. "I... I didn't agree."

"You actually refused the chance to join the Black Star Army?!" The others gaped, rendered speechless, their faces a picture of exasperation. "You fool! This is a chance to change your destiny! For ordinary people like us, we don't even have the qualification to join the Black Star Army, and you... you actually..."

Seeing everyone say this, Karrot felt somewhat bewildered, beginning to doubt his own choice.

Did I really make a mistake?

I'd better ask my family.

With a conflicted expression, Karrot took out his communicator and ran to the side to contact his family. The handsome roommate watched Karrot's retreating figure, a strong flash of resentment and jealousy flashing in his eyes.

Why him? Why on earth him! He got such a destiny-changing opportunity but doesn't know how to cherish it; he's simply irredeemably stupid. How could that legendary big shot take a fancy to someone like him!

He used to quite like Karrot and was willing to look out for him, but now, all that remained in his heart was disgust; he couldn't stand the sight of him.

...

The next day, Han Xiao temporarily set aside his troubles with the Infinite Consortium and continued to enter the academy to observe Karrot, discovering an interesting situation.

After a day of fermentation, yesterday's events had spread throughout Karrot's freshman class. The other freshmen's attitudes toward Karrot had changed: some took the initiative to curry favor, some subtly ostracized him, and some watched with cold eyes.

"Because of my actions yesterday, his entire student life has been rewritten by me; it's impossible for him to remain a nobody as he did in his past life..." Han Xiao shook his head, gaining a deeper appreciation of his status as a big shot.

Karrot's accumulation period was long, and being drawn into the turmoil early on would have an unknown impact on his growth; it could be for the better or for the worse.

However, for the time being, it was actually helping him out. Those who could become Beyond A-grade powerhouses all possessed an unyielding resilience in their bones, charging headlong into difficulties. Hardships could only stimulate his potential. Karrot was unaware of this latent trait within him; perhaps experiencing fierce competition in the academy could allow Karrot to transform even earlier.

"Since that's the case, why not add fuel to the fire?" Han Xiao scratched his chin.

After waiting for a while, the bell finally rang, and the students filed out of the classroom. Han Xiao made no attempt to hide his presence, calling out to him in public.

"Karrot."

Hearing his name called, Karrot paused in his steps and turned around. Seeing that Han Xiao's clothes were the same as yesterday, he finally recognized his identity. Unable to help but be startled, he stammered, "B-Black Star, it's you again."

His voice was not loud, but it seemed to possess a certain magic. All the surrounding students stopped in their tracks, countless eager and excited eyes focusing on Han Xiao, stirring with excitement and whispering among themselves.

"You seem quite nervous?" Han Xiao swept his gaze around, ignoring the crowd, and smiled at Karrot. Although the virtual disguise prevented others from seeing his true appearance, it could still convey expressions.

"My dad told me to thank you, but he doesn't want me to have much contact with you," Karrot said with a flustered expression.

Han Xiao paid it no mind. With a flick of his finger, the communicator in Karrot's bag flew into his hand. After casually operating it for a few moments, he handed it back to Karrot.

"It's fine. I've left my number for you. If you ever change your mind, you can contact me at any time."

Karrot was overwhelmed with surprise, immediately followed by a look of insecurity. "I... I really don't understand, why do you value me so much?"

"I am simply passionate about cultivating more talent."

Han Xiao reached out and patted Karrot's head, taking a slight advantage. Looking at the bewildered Karrot, and noticing the changing gazes of the surrounding students, an enigmatic smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

Hehe, I'm just helping to reinforce your protagonist-type character template. No need to thank me.

Giving Karrot a deep look, Han Xiao's figure vanished without a trace under the gaze of the crowd.

The next moment, Han Xiao's figure appeared on a spaceship in outer space. Without lingering on this planet any longer, he ordered the fleet to set sail and depart.

In the following days, Han Xiao remained active within the Empire's territory. The Empire's high command noticed that Han Xiao seemed to be constantly visiting various figures, some of whom were mid-to-low-level members of the Empire, while others were ordinary people.

The Empire's high command understood Han Xiao's intentions. It was not just that the Empire's future hopes relied on Black Star; Black Star was simultaneously laying out plans for the future, considering investing in talent to secure his future voice and influence.

However, what astonished the Empire's high command was Han Xiao's choice of targets. Instead of selecting current high-ranking officials, he went to seek out some rather peculiar individuals. What was the logic behind this?

The Empire had investigated every single person Han Xiao had visited. While some indeed possessed extraordinary potential, most of the targets showed nothing particularly special.

The Empire's high command was deeply perplexed. They could not figure out the principle by which Black Star chose his investment targets; it seemed far too random...

As for Han Xiao, his successive visits to many future famous NPCs gave him a bizarre sense of déjà vu, making him feel as if he were playing a game called Galactic Pokémon.

Most people, like Karot, refused to join the Black Star Army, but a few promising prospects accepted Han Xiao's invitation, allowing him to poach heavily from the Empire's talent pool; naturally, however, those he poached did not include any future high-ranking Imperial officials.

Meanwhile, over in the Broken Star Ring, Sylvia followed Han Xiao's instructions and took action, contacting many of the Legion's partner organizations and leveraging the pressure brought by the Infinite Consortium to urge these organizations to form an alliance and jointly resist the Consortium's acquisition plans.

This strategy yielded some results, as a portion of the Legion's partners decided to take the advice and unite, establishing a loose alliance that increased the difficulty of the Infinite Consortium's acquisitions and curbed their momentum.

Yet this was merely treating the symptoms and not the root cause; at best, it turned the situation into a tug-of-war, still carrying the risk of being defeated piecemeal.

After all, the Legion was not a true consortium, nor did its capital rival the vast wealth of the Infinite Consortium; these partners were independent entities, not subsidiaries of the Legion, and in terms of commerce, they had temporarily reached their limit.

The most crucial thing was for the partners to hold their ground themselves; for the rest, the Legion could only approach the partner civilizations, offering policy incentives to counter the relationships forged by the Infinite Consortium's financial might, thereby indirectly assisting the enterprises cooperating with the Legion.

The only fundamental solution was for the Empire to open up the sales rights for Evolver Totems, which was not something Han Xiao could decide alone; since competition was inevitable, Han Xiao did not dwell on it too much, silently cultivating his Aeris while waiting for it to meet the requirements of the advancement quest, at which point he would go looking for trouble with the Overlord.

This move would not solve the problem, but it would allow them to hurt each other.

The only one he could target with force was Herber; proposing a sparring match to Sorokin would be utterly useless, as the man was merely a consortium leader conducting business within the normal rules, and using force against him would only make the citizens of the universe feel that the Black Star Army was a sore loser and overly tyrannical, not to mention that Sorokin had no need for prestige at all, and Han Xiao could easily imagine a hundred and eight ways Sorokin would simply concede defeat.

But Herber was a different story; as a fellow ally of the Empire, he was helping the enemy pull the rug out from under him, so beating him up carried no psychological burden whatsoever; this bastard cared about face, and deterrence was of great importance to him, so he would never concede or avoid a sparring match, and would grit his teeth and brawl with Han Xiao, which was perfect for settling the grudge from when he had bullied Han Xiao right after he had just entered the Super A-grade.

As the owner of the Evolutionary Block, Han Xiao's every move affected the nerves of the major factions, and his aimless wandering within the Empire's territory had also drawn the attention of all parties; everyone knew he was laying low, and no one wanted to disturb him.

But there were those who had different ideas.

……

Within the territory of the Crimson Empire, on the planet Ladbudo.

This was a colonial planet of a galaxy-level vassal civilization; due to the behind-the-scenes interference of universe-level civilizations, most vassal civilizations in the Central Galaxy adopted loose and backward political systems, and this civilization was no exception—the colonial planet was governed by local lords, and unless in an emergency, lords were not appointed by the central government but elected locally, semi-independent from the center, akin to the governors of an independent duchy.

Such a backward political system was detrimental to the unification of the civilization's power, which was precisely the reason it had come into being.

The position of Lord of Ladbudo had always been monopolized by several noble families, who took turns becoming the planetary lord, much like a family-based political party.

Although elections existed, according to ancient conventions, they were merely a show; the families actually in power had long settled the matter behind closed doors.

This year was an election year on Ladbudo, but unlike previous years, a young entrepreneur born on this planet had returned to participate in the campaign, named Intrepis. Normally, an outsider like him would be jointly suppressed and smeared by the several families, leaving him to play a mere supporting role in the election.

However, in this election, the citizens of Ladbudo seemed to have grown weary of the political game of rotating power among the few families and eagerly desired a new face, thus casting their votes for the outsider; Intrepis had the highest appeal, firstly because he was a local, and secondly because he was a rather famous entrepreneur in this civilization, and judging by the voting trends, he was currently the candidate most likely to be elected as the local lord.

"We hope you will withdraw from the election."

In the top-floor suite of the world's highest building, envoys from several families placed a communicator displaying a transfer interface on the table, turning the screen toward Intrepis, who sat on the opposite sofa.

"What does this mean?" Intrepis frowned.

"Name your price."

"I don't lack money."

"Are you truly going to stand in our way?"

Intrepis said in a deep voice, "I am merely following the rules of the game to campaign; this is the very essence of an election."

The envoys from the several families exchanged glances, put away the communicator, and stood up as if to leave; one of them cast a cold glance at Intrepis and said faintly,

"You have made the wrong choice."

After the family envoys left the suite, Intrepis finally let out a long sigh of relief, his back already drenched in cold sweat; he sat in silence for a moment before a bitter smile appeared on his face.

Just then, a young woman dressed in a secretary's uniform and wearing gold-rimmed glasses walked in, standing before Intrepis with a somewhat worried expression:

"They won't let you off easily."

"I know." Intrepis waved his hand and murmured, "Since negotiations have failed, they will certainly resort to force; the mildest outcome would be kidnapping me and using underhanded means to smear me, but if it gets worse... they won't let me live to see the end of the election."

"I have already hired more interstellar mercenaries as bodyguards; they will definitely ensure your safety."

"Mercenaries... those who can be bought with money cannot be trusted."

"...Brother, if it really comes to it, just give up the election; life is more important than anything else."

This female secretary was no ordinary employee, but Intrepis's own kin.

"No, some things must be done by someone." Intrepis shook his head.

The female secretary's expression was complex, with a hint of admiration in her eyes; she had always admired Intrepis, not only because he was highly capable, but also because he possessed a courage and sentiment that ordinary people lacked.

The two fell silent for a moment, until suddenly Intrepis thought of something, his eyes lighting up.

"Right, I heard that the big shot Black Star is wandering within the Empire's territory; wasn't his last known location not far from Ladbudo?"

"Uh, I think that's right."

Upon hearing this, Intrepis pondered for a moment, his eyes suddenly narrowing as a sharp gleam flashed through them.

"I have a bold idea; perhaps... we could make use of Black Star!"