Chapter 937: Fording: It's Really Troublesome to Be Lucky...

Chapter 937: Fardin: It's Truly Troublesome to Be So Lucky...

Intrepis had no idea what the consortium's name meant, but when Black Star mentioned it, the peculiar smile on his face prompted Intrepis to imagine a whole series of loves and hatreds, as if it held some special significance. He muttered silently to himself, though his expression remained perfectly composed.

Han Xiao shook his head, dismissing the thought, and tapped the table. "When we reach the next planet, I'll have someone escort you to the headquarters of the Broken Star Ring. Once there, you'll have plenty of time to familiarize yourself with the legion's operations. That's all I have to say. You may go now and do some homework of your own."

"Understood." Intrepis nodded, offered a respectful salute, and turned to leave the room.

Once he was gone, Sylvia couldn't help but roll her eyes, her face breaking into an amused smile.

"You're holding a grudge way too much, actually coming up with a name like that."

Although she wasn't a native of Aquamarine, she had served under Han Xiao for many years and had long since learned of his early experiences from others.

"This isn't about holding a grudge," Han Xiao snorted.

Come to think of it, he, Hela, and Aurora should be the only three former Germs members left in the world... Looking at it that way, Germs truly was a place that hid dragons and crouched tigers.

After a bit of banter, Han Xiao turned serious. "Back to business. How are things going in the Broken Star Ring?"

Hearing this, Sylvia also dropped her smile, her expression turning solemn as she reported on the progress of the competition between the Black Star Army, the War Domain, and the Infinite Consortium. Ever since the rivalry had erupted, Han Xiao had instructed Sylvia to provide him with regular updates.

Currently, the remaining partner enterprises of the Black Star Army had formed a massive alliance, which had curbed the Infinite Consortium's hostile takeovers to a certain extent, turning the conflict into a protracted tug-of-war. Meanwhile, the Infinite Consortium and the War Domain had temporarily shifted their focus from aggressively acquiring business channels to consolidating the ones they had already seized, transitioning from fierce expansion to solidifying their foundations.

Thus, the true value of the War Domain was revealed. As a Super A-Class faction, it was able to rapidly digest the markets snatched by the Infinite Consortium, causing the War Domain's business scope to break through its previous confines and expand at a breakneck pace, changing with each passing day.

The two complemented each other to a certain degree; the Infinite Consortium threw money around to conquer new territories, while the War Domain provided years of cultivated influence and connections to integrate these resources. The efficiency of their cooperation sparked a chemical reaction, mutually nourishing each other and developing rapidly as they closed in on the Black Star Army's standing in the Broken Star Ring.

It was the combination of a dragon from beyond the river and a local snake that was truly headache-inducing. Otherwise, even if the Infinite Consortium had so much money that not even the Bank of Heaven and Earth would dare print it, the threat they posed would be limited.

That bastard Tyrant really knows how to rake in dirty money... After listening to the report, Han Xiao gave a light snort.

Just you wait until I finish my advancement. If I don't rub your face in the dirt a hundred times, I'll write my surname backwards!

Han Xiao shook his head.

"I'm aware of the situation now. You can head back to work."

"Hmph, you just know how to boss people around. You won't even let me stay a little longer. Ever since I became the Chief Affairs Officer, you've been growing more and more distant from me!" Sylvia pouted in dissatisfaction, wrinkling her nose.

"I haven't," Han Xiao was taken aback.

"I don't care, I haven't had a day off in ages, and I don't want to end up bald like Jenny!" Sylvia puffed out her cheeks, hands on her hips. "Even though I'm willing to serve the legion, you can't treat me like a machine! You don't actually think I enjoy working that much, do you?! If it weren't for you... Hmph!"

Helpless, Han Xiao could only comfort her for a while before finally coaxing Sylvia back to her duties.

In the eyes of the legion members, Sylvia never complained, projecting an image of capability and composure; it was only in front of him that she would ever throw a little tantrum.

Upon reaching the next planet, Han Xiao requisitioned a few warships to pack Intrepis off and ship him back to the Broken Star Ring.

As for himself, he continued to roam across the Empire, hunting for leeks on one hand and tempering his Aerodynamic Power on the other.

Traveling through the various star clusters and star systems of the Constellation Corridor, he wandered everywhere. As time went on, the major factions grew accustomed to his presence.

Along with his prolonged travels, Han Xiao slowly accumulated his Aerodynamic Power to the critical threshold of Lv19, drawing ever closer to the requirements for his advancement quest.

...

"Haa—"

Inside the gravity training room, set to simulate the maximum gravity environment, Han Xiao, bare-chested, hovered in mid-air. His eyes radiated intense light, and his mouth and nose inhaled and exhaled lightning-like currents. His breaths formed a patch of thunderclouds; his inhalation sounded like rolling, muffled thunder, while his exhalation crackled like snapping lightning. His entire body was wreathed in dense mechanical force and electric arcs. Every sign indicated that the Aerodynamic Power within him was in its most active state.

Hiss—Han Xiao took a deep breath, drawing all the mechanical force back into his body and shutting off the gravity simulation. In his own perception, the cells that had been oppressed by omnidirectional gravity were freed from their constraints, squeezing out strands of newly born Aerodynamic Power.

"Another Aerodynamic Power training method mastered."

The light in Han Xiao's eyes receded. He opened his interface to take a glance and nodded in satisfaction.

This was an Aerodynamic Power tempering method cultivated through gravity, using compression and release to push the limits of the cells' Aerodynamic Power production. The number of training sessions had reached its maximum, completely exhausting its value.

Over this period, Han Xiao had mastered quite a few Aerodynamic Power training methods, costing him a considerable amount of experience and energy. Now, his Aerodynamic Power cap had reached around 119,000.

"Only the last 1,000 points left. The Lv19 Aerodynamic Power realm isn't far off."

Han Xiao rubbed his shoulders, then controlled his body to open the closed sweat glands on his upper half. Sweat instantly gushed forth like a spring, yet it vaporized the very instant it left his skin.

His current level of life allowed for perfect control over his body; whether he sweated or not was entirely up to him. Even after intense exercise, he could choose not to sweat, though it would feel slightly uncomfortable.

After cleaning himself up, Han Xiao patted his pectoral muscles, lowering his head to admire his robust physique with its golden proportions for a few moments, before finally manipulating his clothes to dress himself.

Swoosh—the alloy door slid open. Han Xiao stepped out of the gravity training room, casually nodding in greeting to a passing group of crew members, then made his way to the corridor, pausing to gaze out the observation window.

The observation window displayed the external environment and could be zoomed in and out. At the moment, the screen offered a bird's-eye view of a planet's surface, where a magnificent interstellar city was situated. Ships rose and fell, leaving lingering trails of light in the sky, creating a lively and prosperous scene.

"Aenia Hub, the famous interstellar city of the Constellation Corridor, a high-level transit hub," Han Xiao murmured in approval.

It was a bustling interstellar city belonging to an Imperial Super A-Class allied faction. Thanks to its excellent management and advantageous geographical location, Aenia Hub had become a renowned landmark within the Empire.

However, Han Xiao hadn't come to this planet to recruit. The fleet simply happened to need resupplying, and coupled with Aurora and the guards expressing that they had had enough of being cooped up on the ship and eagerly wanting to visit a big city, he had brought them to Aenia Hub, where they had been docked for several days.

Because the place was a melting pot of all sorts of people and teemed with travelers, Han Xiao had the fleet undergo camouflage to avoid causing a sensation or drawing crowds. He also had Philip cover up their arrival information and set up a fake identity. Aenia Hub's intelligence systems were incapable of seeing through it, so for the time being, no one knew of his visit.

Opening his interface to check, he saw that his status bar currently displayed the aura buff of an Evolver Totem.

"This is another planet equipped with an Evolver Totem," Han Xiao stroked his chin.

The sale of Evolver Totems had been going on for quite some time. The Empire and its allies had bought all they needed and were using them on a large scale, typically on colonial planets. It was relatively rare to see them installed at interstellar transit stations.

Han Xiao had browsed through the data on Aenia Hub from the past two years and found that the Evolver Totem had attracted even more travelers and wanderers. Some weaker races had even taken the initiative to send members of their clans to live long-term on neutral planets equipped with Evolver Totems.

A new phenomenon of migration had thus emerged, and the influence of the Evolver Totem was beginning to expand subtly and imperceptibly.

After taking a couple of looks, Han Xiao left the corridor and headed to the officers' activity room.

Usually, many people gathered here for card games, making it quite noisy, but at the moment it was unusually quiet, with less than half of the guards playing Vane cards.

Seeing Han Xiao, everyone turned to greet him before returning their full attention to their game, brows furrowed as if they had met a worthy rival.

Han Xiao walked over and glanced at the table. Well, it was a classic case of noobs fighting each other; combat prowess and card skills truly had no correlation.

Looking around, he didn't see Fardin, Hadaway, or the others. Han Xiao patted one of the men on the shoulder.

"Where did the rest of them go?"

"Oh, they all went out to play in Aenia Hub. Hadaway took a group to... cough, to that kind of bar. As for Fardin, I think I remember him going shopping with Aurora." The Calamity-grade guard scratched his head. "Do you want me to call them back?"

"Never mind."

Han Xiao shook his head. With nothing else to do, he had no desire to interrupt his subordinates' revelry.

Thinking it over, he wasn't in any rush to leave anyway. Since he was only 1,000 points of Aerodynamic Power short, he might as well stay here and focus on cultivating the last bit of his power to complete the advancement quest.

...

At the same time, in Entertainment District 04 of Aenia Hub.

A grand ceremony was underway. The streets were packed with a dense crowd of diverse races. The parade floats moved slowly, with performers on board making all sorts of bizarre gestures to the spectators along the road. Street artists performed on the sidewalks from time to time, creating a noisy and lively atmosphere filled with laughter and cheers everywhere.

Fardin and Aurora had both disguised their appearances as they walked through the crowded, cheering throng. Aurora looked around curiously, while Fardin followed close behind, acting as her temporary bodyguard. He wore a smile, occasionally commenting on the surrounding performances with her.

"Sigh, being stuck on the ship for too long is so stifling. Crowded places are just so much more fun."

Aurora held a skewer of hot, local delicacies in her hand, chewing and speaking indistinctly at the same time, in quite a good mood.

Hela preferred to be alone, whereas Aurora favored crowded places. Although the hardships of her childhood had caused her to suffer from social anxiety for a period, years of adjustment had completely resolved that issue.

She spent most of her time with Hela. Now that Hela had gone on a long journey, Aurora wanted to travel around and broaden her horizons. However, her fondness for lively environments wasn't solely due to her personality; there were physiological factors as well. Her supernatural ability allowed her to sense life auras, and places with abundant life signals held a certain allure for her. Being in such an environment could activate her abilities, thereby generating a pleasant mood.

"Hmm, I prefer places with fewer people," Fardin said with a shrug.

Aurora shot him a withering look, "You're the one who prefers a world for two, aren't you? Is telepathic communion really that entertaining? Have you two gotten addicted to it?"

Fordin remained unfazed, offering a faint smile as he tapped his temple, "You've made her blush."

A wave of cringe washed over Aurora. Just as she was about to retort, Fordin's gaze suddenly sharpened; he lunged forward a step, clamped a hand on Aurora's shoulder, and stared intently in one direction.

"Wait, something's up."

Seeing this, Aurora asked no questions, instantly dropping her playful demeanor. She tossed aside her snack, reached for the folding firearm at her waist, and slipped into a combat stance in a flash.

Simultaneously, she pushed her life-sense ability to its limits, probing along the line of Fordin's gaze, only to abruptly detect several life signatures that had not been there before, suddenly materializing in the distance—one of them exceedingly faint, as if gravely wounded.

Exchanging a glance, the two hurried in the direction of the sensing, turning into a narrow alley, weaving through multiple corners, and venturing ever deeper until the traces of passersby gradually faded away.

Soon, they arrived at the location of the anomalous life signature, yet all that lay before them was an empty lot, its surface betraying nothing out of the ordinary.

Fordin frowned, drawing a magical badge from his coat—a gift from Laki, designed to detect abnormal mana fluctuations. It was vibrating violently now, pointing straight at the empty lot ahead.

"Looks like a barrier spell. To mask the city's mana detection array, even if only temporarily, is no small feat. Concealing a whole zone right in the city... they're clearly no saints. What are they up to?"

Fordin hesitated for a fleeting moment, weighing whether to meddle in the affair.

But before he could make up his mind, the very space before them suddenly shattered like broken glass, exploding outward with a resounding crash!

Shattering crash—

The invisible barrier was broken from within, and a blood-soaked figure stumbled out, collapsing to the ground with a heavy thud. The pool of blood beneath him expanded rapidly, and the empty lot before them instantly transformed, revealing a landscape pockmarked with the brutal scars of battle.

Aside from this wounded man, several figures stood in the distance, wielding long-handled metal warhammers inscribed with runes. They were clad in black hooded robes emblazoned with white runic symbols, adorned with multiple strands of peculiarly shaped necklaces, dressed like priests or monks of some obscure cult, as drops of blood dripped steadily from their hammers.

Clearly, a brutal ambush had just taken place here.

Perhaps because the barrier was broken and they wished to avoid drawing further attention, the men dressed as priests showed no hesitation; they turned and fled with blinding speed, swiftly vanishing from the duo's sight.

Fordin pondered for a moment. Unaware of the strangers' background, he had no intention of giving chase, and instead stepped forward to support the gravely wounded man, who was clinging to his last breath.

Yet before he could even utter a question, the dying man suddenly seized his clothes, his fingers gripping the fabric with a deathly tightness, and rasped out in a hoarse, frantic voice:

"St... stop... them..."

Before the words were fully out, the wounded man collapsed again, slipping into unconsciousness and leaving a bloody handprint on Fordin's garment.

The two stared at each other in blank astonishment.

"...What do we do now?"

"Sigh, use your ability to save him. Since we've stumbled upon this, we should at least ask what's going on. I have a feeling... a nagging premonition that this is no small matter."

As he spoke, Fordin shook his head in helpless resignation, unable to suppress a low murmur to himself:

"Why do I always end up running into these sudden emergencies?"