Chapter 669 Ambush and Counter-Ambush
In a dark cell, a man whose hands and feet were shackled by electromagnetic handcuffs was sitting on the floor. Light glimmered through the window of alloy bars and lit up his furious face.
“The world outside is in a mess. I can’t stay here!”
The man’s voice was husky with a very worried tone.
If Han Xiao was there, he would have recognized this man. This imprisoned man was his former boss from more than seven years ago, the ex-director of the Stardragon National Strategic Defense Department, Gu Hui.
He had survived the Mutation Disaster. In the past three years when Planet Aquamarine was rapidly growing, he had retired from Division 13 and been promoted to an upper echelon in the government.
However, a few days prior, his position had been taken away, and he had been imprisoned.
Gu Hui took a deep breath as the images from a few days ago flashed across his eyes.
He was invited to an upper echelon conference. During the meeting, the national leader had suddenly made a decision that petrified everyoneto work together with all the Six Nations and declare war on Black Star City. No matter how strongly the majority of the officials present opposed this, the leader took an extremely strong stand and refused to retract the decision. The several deputy level officials kept silent and shockingly did not oppose it too.
As both sides stood their ground firmly, this meeting ended without them coming to an agreement. However, before Gu Hui could recover from the shock, one hour after the meeting ended, he was secretly captured and thrown into prison.
“I’m definitely not the only one that’s been captured. All the opposing officials are locked up, too. The upper echelons are going to declare war no matter what. This is a dictators.h.i.+p!”
Gu Hui still could not figure out the reason behind this. He was rather familiar with the national leader; such extreme and arbitrary behavior felt like it was a different person.
Black Star was now the protector of Planet Aquamarine, yet they want to fight their own protector? Was that not insanity?
Gu Hui had been locked up for many days and was very worried about what was happening in the outside world. Since the people that opposed the decision had been captured, no one would stop the leader anymore. He could not imagine what the consequences of declaring a war would be. He could only pray that at least the military would still have a clear mind and not just follow orders blindly.
“This will definitely lead to Black Star’s revenge!” Gu Hui did not want to imagine Black Star’s reaction to this.
That man was no longer that weak Black Phantom of the past!
He could crush the entire Planet Aquamarine alone!
“Those Six Nations have declared war on Black Star’s forces. This planet is his garden, so he has definitely received the news.”
In a certain city of the Six Nations, Stephanie and the rest were walking down the crowded street, coldly observing the riots happening.
Just a few days ago, this city had still been peaceful and harmonious. Now, however, large groups of people were protesting. They were angry and agitated, strongly opposing the government’s declaration of war against Black Star.
The military cooperated with the police to maintain security. Yelling, screaming, and roaring was everywhere. The messy footsteps almost trembled the ground. Some people even threw Molotov c.o.c.ktails at the buildings, igniting flames and fighting with the police.
Chaos reigned!
This scene was happening in many cities of the Six Nations at the same time.
Stephanie looked at the chaotic scene and smiled in satisfaction.
“Good. Black Star will definitely come back here to investigate, but he won’t know that we are behind this. He won’t know that we are targeting him, so he won’t be very alert. We just have to wait in the dark for an appropriate opportunity to give him a ‘surprise’!”
As she was speaking, the nine of them turned and walked away before disappearing in a flash of light.
This team had ten members, but only nine appeared there.
Ten days later, a stream of light approached an unpopulated planet. This was the gathering location that Han Xiao had set. It was not far from Planet Aquamarine.
The Blacklight Stealth circled around the planet for a while. It then received a signal from the surface and came to the location where the signal was sent. Purple Crystal and G.o.dora’s people had all reached there before him, waiting for his arrival.
The s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p landed, and Han Xiao walked out the hatch. The helpers approached him. Han Xiao looked around—there were six of them.
“h.e.l.lo Black Star, we’re here to a.s.sist you. You can call me Wilton. I’m a Purple Crystal Calamity Grade combat officer. These are my two team members…”
Wilton seemed to be their leader. Han Xiao nodded and shook hands with the six of them one by one. All six of them were Calamity Grades. Purple Crystal and G.o.dora had each sent three. The leader of the team on G.o.dora’s side was a familiar face— Nagakin.
Even to Star Cl.u.s.ter Civilizations, Calamity Grades were rare high-level combatants, yet Purple Crystal had still sent three to help him, showing their sincerity.
“As per the order from the superiors, you’re the commander and can give us orders. Tell me, what do you want us to do?” Wilton said with an expressionless face.
Han Xiao sharply noticed Wilton’s impatience. He thought about it for a second and figured out why.
Wilton was a high-level combatant of a Star Cl.u.s.ter Civilization, so he had a sense of superiority and was rather arrogant. However, he had no choice but to follow the orders of a same grade Super who was not even a part of his government. Although he would definitely not disobey the superiors’ orders, he would still probably be unwilling.
Han Xiao did not mind it at all. He did not need them to be willing or whatnot-he only needed them to obey his orders and be useful.
“I suspect that the civil strife on Planet Aquamarine is a plot, and there are people behind it. Their goal might be to a.s.sa.s.sinate me…” Han Xiao repeated what he had said to trick Ralph.
“What do you want us to do?” Wilton asked.
Han Xiao thought about it and said, “Since the enemies are trying to attract my attention by starting a civil strife, they will most likely be hiding till I appear. Let’s not alarm them. I will go back alone first as the bait. You guys wait near Planet Aquamarine. When the hidden enemies show themselves, you guys come to support me.”
“Okay.”
Wilton had no problem with the plan. Although he did not like Black Star, this did not mean that he doubted Han Xiao’s body. After all, it was a strong body that had withstood the attacks of the eight Vanguard Officials, so Black Star would definitely be able to last till they arrived.
After discussing it for a while, Han Xiao settled on the plan. The enemies had set a trap for him to step into, but he could use the same method to lure them out. This was the contest between an ambush and a counter-ambush.
After confirming the plan, Han Xiao looked at the few of them. Suddenly, he had an idea and said, “I have a small request. I hope to spar with each of you to test your combat capabilities. Only then will I be able to know the overall strength of our team.”
There were six Calamity Grades there; it was definitely a good opportunity to earn Trial Points. His Promotion mission progress was currently at 24/50. If these six teammates were strong enough, he might be able to even complete his Promotion right there.
Wilton frowned.
Han Xiao’s request was not nonsensical, but it was too straight forward. It was as if he was doubting their strength. This made him feel like he was being underestimated. Wilton was expressionless but could not help but feel rather annoyed in his heart.
However, he did not even consider fighting Han Xiao seriously during the spar. To him, the mission was the priority. He suppressed his anger and sparred with Han Xiao. This time, the sparring was even shorter than when Han Xiao sparred with the Forbidden Sorcerers. Both of them stopped at a suitable time and did not go all out.
Han Xiao sparred with his six teammates one after another. It went smoothly and did not waste too much time. After all, the six of them were temporarily under his command, so they did not have any objections.
Among the six Calamity Grade helpers, only Wilton was twenty or more levels higher than him and gave him 6 Trial Points. Four of them were less than twenty levels away from him. Han Xiao found an excuse to spar with each of them twice and obtained 4 Trial Points each. In total, he gained 22 Trial Points.
The progress of the Promotion mission was now 46/50, four points away from completion. Sadly, one of the G.o.doran Calamity Grades was three levels lower than him, so he did not give any Trial Points.
Only four points away. I need one more opponent… Han Xiao hesitated. He kind of wanted to find another person to spar and complete the Promotion before returning to Planet Aquamarine.
However, finding a new opponent would take quite some time. Over the past few days, Bennett had sent him reports every day. The situation was getting worse very quickly. Bennett was hurrying him back all the time, so Han Xiao did not really want to delay it much longer.
Furthermore, as soon as he completed the Promotion, he would go through Race Evolution, and the Observer’s Mark ability might disappear. This was a very useful special ability, especially against these elusive hunters.
After pondering, Han Xiao came to a decision. The enemies are ambus.h.i.+ng me, so we will fight sooner or later. I have helpers now, so it won’t be easy for the enemies to succeed. It won’t be too late to complete the Promotion mission during the battle. It’s better to keep the Chaos Observer’s abilities they might be useful.
Han Xiao sorted his thoughts and left Phillip’s sub-programs to deal with the rest. In case the enemies had ways to cut communication, Phillip could call for reinforcements for him.
As the preparations were completed, Han Xiao did not stay on this planet. He boarded his s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p and headed to Planet Aquamarine.
At the central helipad in Black Star City, the mercenaries stationed there and some of the officials under Bennett received the news and waited for Black Star’s return.
Bennett was walking back and forth at the front and glancing at the sky occasionally, appearing rather anxious.
Hu!
As the sound of s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p approached, the crowd hastily looked up and saw Black Star’s signature s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p slowly landing. Everyone felt relieved as if they had finally found someone to rely on.
The Blacklight Stealth stopped, and Han Xiao stepped onto Planet Aquamarine once again. He saw Bennett and the others immediately and walked over.
“You’re finally back!”
Bennett felt as if his shoulders were lighter, like the weight above them had been removed. Recently, he had been very stressed, but as soon as Black Star returned, he suddenly felt no stress at all. Black Star was the protector of the entire Planet Aquamarine; he would be able to solve any problem they had.
Han Xiao nodded and walked toward the base. Bennett and the others followed beside him.
“What’s the situation now?”
“The Six Nations have publicly declared war. Both their people and our people are fl.u.s.tered. The intelligence personnel I planted in the Six Nations told me that the Six Nations have already started preparing missiles to attack Black Star City. I don’t even dare turn off the protective s.h.i.+elds these few days for fear of a sudden attack by the Six Nations. They’ve gone insane. I cannot judge their actions with logic at all!” Bennett spoke hastily.
Han Xiao curled his lips. “Do all the government officials of the Six Nations agree with the war declaration? I don’t believe that everyone has lost their mind. Do you have any information regarding this?”
With a grave tone, Bennett said, “You’re right. The Six Nations’ decision to declare war was very sudden. Many government officials did not even know about this before it happened. Many opposed it, but a few hours later, all the opposing government officials were captured. The Six Nations are basically under a dictators.h.i.+p now.”
“Collective dictators.h.i.+p? Ha, that’s new.” Han Xiao acted as if he was curious and asked, “Have you talked to the Six Nations’ leaders?”
“No, they refuse to communicate with me. I have no idea why they’re doing this.”
Han Xiao squinted. “Then I will have to go to them personally to talk.”
He wanted to see what these hunters had done to the Six Nations to make them go insane together.
With a worried expression, Bennett said, “Six Nations won’t allow you to get close to them. You have to be careful. They might launch missiles at you.”
“Let them try.” Han Xiao’s tone turned cold. “I’ve had enough of internal fights. The civilization has been split by too long. It’s time to unite it.” Since he was acting as a bait, he had to look real. Han Xiao secretly looked at the government officials following behind him.
The enemies might even be looking at him right now.