Chapter 605: The Tyrant’s Invitation, Shattered Star Ring Territories
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Speechless, Han Xiao put the communicator away and thought on it.
Why is Ames going to Bloodshed Land? To make trouble?
Malekith had once said that Ames had some issues with Bloodshed Land. The Tyrant had taken one of her officers, and they had battled furiously, ending with Ames’ loss. Han Xiao felt that Ames was not going there with good intentions this time.
She insisted on bringing me. Does she want me to a.s.sist her and stop the Tyrant’s officers?
Han Xiao’s lips twitched. He was now Floating Dragon’s strongest officer. Back then, Ames did not have anyone whom she could use under her command. Now that she finally had someone who could fight, was she going to make full use of him?
There were plenty of strong people under the Tyrant. The eight Grade A Vanguard Officials were just the tip of the iceberg; Vanguard Officials were not the only position for their high-ranking officers. If Ames only took him along to Bloodshed Land, of course, she would end up being fine, but the same could not be said for him.
I hope we are not going there to fight… Han Xiao had a slight headache.
Hila had watched their conversation from the start till the end. Confused, she asked, “What kind of place is Bloodshed Land?”
“That’s a gathering ground for a group of muscular men. It’s just a dangerous place,” Han Xiao replied unhappily.
As Ames had told him to hurry up, Han Xiao did not delay any longer.
He found Reynold and told him to stay in Base No.1. Then, he found Sylvia and told her to take care of the other issues. This was just standard procedure; the one who was actually managing Base No.1 was Phillip, and Han Xiao could monitor the situation remotely. Hence, there were not that many things to say. The Black Star Army’s business could carry on as usual even though he was not in the base.
Settling these issues only took half an hour. Han Xiao gathered Hila and Aurora, who had now changed into new, neat clothes, and the three of them boarded the Blacklight Stealth, which was parked in the hangar.
Woo woo!
The rooftop gate of the hangar opened, and the anti-gravity stabilizer below the Blacklight Stealth activated, emitting a dark blue light.
The s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p took off vertically, and a purple flame shot out from the thrusters.
In the blink of an eye, the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p turned into a stream of light and disappeared into the sky.
…
The Blacklight Stealth exited hyperdrive, slowly caught up with Floating Dragon Island, and docked.
“So, this is Floating Dragon Island…”
Disembarking from the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, Aurora looked left and right curiously. She saw the brutes gathered on the dock immediately, who all looked fearsome. They were clearly not good people.
The brutes turned around and looked at them.
Hila saw this and quickly caught up with Aurora. She stood beside her and looked around at the brutes with alertness in her eyes, like a lioness protecting its child.
“Don’t be so nervous. Although Floating Dragon allows galactic pirates, scavengers, and wanted criminals to stop here, no fighting is allowed… Er, not usually of course. Ahem, anyway, they won’t bite.”
As Han Xiao spoke, he walked over to the two of them, then wrapped his arm around Hila shoulders and looked around. “Hey, what are you people still looking at?”
The brutes then all turned and looked away, continuing with their business. Han Xiao’s ride was too famous; no one wanted to mess with Black Star, on Floating Dragon Island especially.
Hila glanced at Han Xiao then looked at the hand on her shoulder and moved her body uncomfortably.
“My friend, you’ve returned again.”
This time, Wilsander’s voice came from nearby. He had gotten the news long ago and had been waiting to welcome Han Xiao.
What Han Xiao did not expect was that Jenny was there, standing right behind Wilsander.
He greeted Wilsander before looking at Jenny. He chuckled and said, “You’re here, too, huh? Work has been busy, I suppose; you look gaunter than the last time I saw you.”
Without any change to her expression, Jenny s.n.a.t.c.hed a weapon from a guard and started firing at Han Xiao like a maniac.
Bang bang bang!
Han Xiao let the small-caliber laser land on his body without moving. This could not hurt him at all.
At the side, Aurora’s jaw dropped from watching this. Hila clenched her teeth, looking like she was wondering whether to stop it or not. Wilsander was shaking his head and sighing.
Ka ka ka!
When the firearm overheated and could not continue firing anymore, Jenny finally threw it away and coldly said, “Ames is waiting for you in the palace.”
Then, she turned and instantly walked away.
She knew that she could not hurt Han Xiao; she just wanted to vent her frustration.
As the Head Butler, Jenny had been as busy as a bee recently. Being very understanding, Han Xiao did not mind letting Jenny enjoy herself for a moment.
Anyway, this would not affect his actions. He would still expand as he planned to. Jenny’s relaxed time was over and never coming back, just like her youth.
Han Xiao patted his clothes, unconcerned. He turned to look at Hila and said, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to see Ames. Memorize the roads on the way.”
Speechless, the two of them looked at each other before nodding.
After bidding farewell to Wilsander, they went all the way to the palace at the center of the floating island.
The dragon bone throne floated in the palace. Ames was sitting on it, resting her head on her hand, and watching the three of them walk into the palace. She sighed and said, “Black Star, you’re so slow, only bringing them here after a few months.”
Han Xiao did not agree or disagree. Hila and Aurora bowed as a greeting.
Ames controlled her force field, lowering the height of the throne, and landed in front of the three of them. She smiled and said, “Alright, you will be my students from now on. You can call me teacher.”
“Teacher,” the two of them replied.
Ames was very pleased by that. Her smile became even more gentle. This was what she had once called Aesop. Now that she had her own students, it felt very special.
“Although our Esper abilities are different, I can teach you methods to develop yours using my experience, helping you to make use of your potential,” Ames said gently.
Hila nodded solemnly. “Okay, when do we start?”
She was a training maniac, and with such a strong teacher, she could not wait to start training.
However, Ames shook her head and said, “Not now. I want you guys to go somewhere with me.”
Han Xiao’s eyebrows twitched. “Bloodshed Land?”
“Yes, all three of you are coming with me.”
She’s bringing Hila and Aurora too? Then it seems like we’re not going there to fight… Han Xiao was relieved.
This was good news. He did not want to mess with the force of another Beyond Grade A out of nowhere.
However, to confirm Ames’ intention, Han Xiao still asked, “That’s Heber’s territory. I heard there were problems between you and him. Why are we going?”
Ames’ smile became dimmer as she slowly said, “The Tyrant is an ambitious guy. We don’t get along. He even once stole someone talented from me, but this time, we are not going there to cause trouble.
“Every once in a while, the Tyrant hosts an enormous party. He sends out invitation letters to the important people of the Shattered Star Ring. Almost everyone shows him respect and attends. There are high ranking government officials of Star Cl.u.s.ter civilizations, representatives of large organizations, and sometimes even emissaries of the three Universal Civilizations. Of course, the Beyond Grade As of Shattered Star Ring are invited, including me… Humph, despite that guy being a pain in the neck, he is a very unpredictable man. Back then, I battled through his headquarters, but the next party, the Tyrant still invited me.
“Anyway, the Tyrant’s parties have continued for many years. It has become an unspoken tradition between large organizations. This is a chance to make connections for many important people. The Tyrant has the ability to be the host. At the party, many important people will communicate and discuss various topics. A large amount of information will be leaked out every single party. The discussions between these people during the party decide the future developments of the Shattered Star Ring to quite a large extent.”
So that’s what this is… Han Xiao realized what was going on.
Simply put, the Tyrant hosted a Shattered Star Ring party, which people attended to make friends, chitchat, gossip, and all that. The difference was, the attendees all held very important positions, which, when all combined, could even decide the future of Shattered Star Ring.
Hosting this kind of gathering and turning it into a tradition for the high-cla.s.s organizations… the Tyrant was indeed ambitious. His goal was ma.s.sive.
“So, are you going to attend the Tyrant’s party?”
Han Xiao was surprised. Floating Dragon had always stayed neutral. Plus, considering Ames’ personality, she did not seem to care about this sort of thing.
“Of course I’m going!” Ames’ voice became deeper. “I don’t want to look so petty!”
What? What does this have to do with petty? Han Xiao was puzzled.
He then tried to think from Ames’ perspective and finally realized what Ames meant.
I hate his guts. How dare he invite me to join his party! To show he’s generous? F*ck, did he invite me because he thinks I won’t go? If I don’t go, doesn’t that show that I’m petty? Go! I must go! I’m generous and awesome, why would I be afraid of going!
To Han Xiao, he thought this guess was about at least ninety percent right. This seemed like the kind of thing Ames would think.
Then why bring me? Oh, because the Tyrant has so many strong people under his command, so Ames doesn’t want to lose on that front. That’s why she’s taking me there!
At least we’re not going there to make trouble… Han Xiao was a little puzzled and could only comfort himself this way. “When does the party start?”
“There’s still some time. We will leave tomorrow, heading straight toward Bloodshed Land’s headquarters.”
Bloodshed Land was located in the Seoul Star Cl.u.s.ter. If the Shattered Star Ring could be described in a flat 2D map, the middle would be the most dangerous, unstable cl.u.s.ter, filled with wormholes appearing and disappearing at random, connected to all places in the universe.
On the map, one side would be the edge of the known universe, beyond which was the unknown part of the universe that was unexplored.
The other side would be the tunnels toward other Star Fields that cover astronomical distances of the unpopulated desolate universe. That was how Risda had arrived, traveling through Star Fields for a very long time from another Star Field.
Surrounding the wormhole cl.u.s.ter were ten or so Star Cl.u.s.ters, all divided and controlled by the seven Star Cl.u.s.ter Civilizations of the Shattered Star Ring.
The Taralam Star Cl.u.s.ter was the closest to the wormhole cl.u.s.ter. It was plagued with scavengers. When Han Xiao was doing the Chen Xing missions, he had gone there once.
Between the Colton Star Cl.u.s.ter and Seoul Star Cl.u.s.ter was a desolate area. It could almost be considered their border.
On the other side of the Seoul Star Cl.u.s.ter was the largest Star Cl.u.s.ter, the Setin Star Cl.u.s.ter. Seoul was in the middle of Setin and Colton; it was the second smallest Star Cl.u.s.ter in the Shattered Star Ring.
In terms of government, the Star Cl.u.s.ter Civilization that ruled Seoul was called the Klent Kingdom, and the Star Cl.u.s.ter Civilization that ruled Colton was the Purple Crystal Civilization. These two civilizations coexisted peacefully. They had built many large Stargates in each other’s territory. G.o.dora’s Stargate had been built by the Purple Crystal Civilization.
The Tyrant’s Bloodshed Land was the Klent Kingdom’s VIP. With a Star Cl.u.s.ter Civilization behind them, the Tyrant’s party represented both the influence of a Beyond Grade A and the position of a Star Cl.u.s.ter Civilization. Hence, so many people would attend.
“So, we’re going to the Seoul Star Cl.u.s.ter, right?” Han Xiao sighed. “Take my s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p then.”
Smiling, Ames said, “That’s exactly what I thought.”