Chapter 782 Interlude, an Unexpected Gues
The headquarters of the Black Star Army started to get lively.
In the following half a month after the recruitment order was issued, countless s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps flew into the headquarters to pay them a visit. All of them were candidates that had been vetted by Phillip and the alliance, and they went to the headquarters to meet Black Star and await the final review of the Army Commander.
While the fleet that had gone for the battle had yet to return to the headquarters, all the new members were orderly lined up in the satellite base’s outer layer, awaiting Black Star’s arrival. If one looked up from the surface of Planet Golden Gate, they would be able to see another ring somehow materializing around the Black Star Army’s headquarters. The headquarters seemed to have a ring of stars that consisted of s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps s.h.i.+ning like bright mist.
“Yet another batch of new recruits is coming in.” Within one of the metal strongholds in the headquarters, the drill sergeant, Brock, who was supervising the training of the reserve members looked out at the spectacular sight outside the porthole and could not help thinking back.
Brock had joined the Black Star Army more than a decade ago. He had witnessed the history of the Black Star Army, how it had grown from an ordinary mercenary group into the behemoth that was allied with a Universal Civilization.
With DarkStar having long been annihilated, the problem with discrimination in G.o.dora was also beginning to settle down. The mixed G.o.dorans were gradually returning to the embrace of the G.o.doran Civilization. With no goal to fight for, Brock thus buried his past and decided to conceal his ident.i.ty as a DarkStar spy, completely devoting himself to the Black Star Army.
Brock, however, was unaware that Han Xiao had known of his ident.i.ty since the beginning. However, with DarkStar having vanished, there was no need to settle debts with this ‘obedient’ spy, so he had left him to his work.
While working in the Black Star Army was tough, after abandoning his ident.i.ty as a DarkStar member, Brock’s att.i.tude became more relaxed. He began to fall in love with the process of grooming batch after batch of warriors and soldiers. Under the care of Han Xiao, he had served for a decade as a drill sergeant and had long become accustomed to his role.
He could be considered a veteran in the Army and was also the top person in the G.o.doran faction within the army. Due to the popularity of the Black Star Army in G.o.dora, many of the G.o.dorans chose to work in the army and formed a G.o.doran faction, which was just one of the many factions in the army. With the current size of the Black Star Army, there were naturally many smaller factions within.
Just as he raised his head to observe the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps hovering in the air, there were also three pa.s.sengers in a s.h.i.+p staring intently at the headquarters of the Black Star Army within the huge group of s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps outside the headquarters.
This was a small, standard s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p commonly found in Galaxy, completely una.s.suming.
“Can we really blend in with them? The Black Star Army personnel won’t be so negligent, right?”
A man with thick eyebrows and big eyes had a hesitant tone as he spoke. He was a humanoid species, with smooth and bright silver skin, wearing a black cloak. Inside the black cloak, his exposed skin could be seen, covered in complicated and delicate magic lines.
“Other than that, there’s no other way about it. If we want to see that person, we can only enter the Black Star Army headquarters,” another person said. This person was a mixed race, with red, dragon-like scales on both his cheeks. He was a burly man about four meters tall, wearing a simple metal vest that exposed the knotted muscles on his arms.
“Relax, even if we really get exposed, we can masquerade as people trying our luck to join the Black Star Army. They’ll at most chase us away. There won’t be any danger.”
The last person leaned against the wall as he spoke. He wore a tight combat suit, with two pairs of arms extending from his shoulders. One of his upper arms was placed behind his head like a pillow, while the other played around with a silver alloy dagger. The lower arms were placed akimbo on his waist, giving him a lackadaisical air.
These three were not new members of the Black Star Army like the others. They had different objectives, and they seemed to be led by the silver-skinned guy who had spoken first.
At this moment, in the starry sky outside the porthole shone a sudden stream of light approaching them and stopping over Planet Golden Gate. It was the Black Star Army that had returned to the headquarters.
“Wow, so many new members.” Seeing the ring of s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps, Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.
“This is only the first batch of recruits. They’re all waiting here for you, Master, hum…”
In Han Xiao’s neural connected quantum network, Phillip started to bubble. His small body was lying at the extremes of Han Xiao’s field of vision, with only his head popping out in his vision.
“Humph, I suggest sending a mechanical army to test the actual combat capabilities of these new members. Unqualified people will not be eligible to join the troops of my master!”
On the other side, the usually quiet and solemn Artificial intelligence Sparta also revealed his body. He was wrapped in heavy armor, and his face could not be clearly seen. Only a single cold looking eye was revealed, and his voice was husky and powerful.
With Han Xiao’s [Virtual Technology] skill tree having been completed, he had studied the data structure of Risda and given his Artificial intelligence the ability to think for themselves, as well as unique personalities. This would be used to improve his computing power, as his brain would be connected to them through the quantum network at any time. This would allow him to supervise the dynamics of the Artificial intelligence without the fear of accidents happening. It was similar to taking care of a pet, just that it did not require someone to clean up their sh*t after them, and the AIs would not flare up, even helping in his daily life.
Would there be a better pet than the one stated above‽
Within the quantum network, Han Xiao’s thoughts turned into a stream of data, flowing into Phillip’s eyes. He instructed, “You can open the hangar of the headquarters now. When I dock, let all these new members come and meet me.”
“Roger, hum…”
The hangar for the headquarters opened, and the Black Star Army fleet slowly descended, sliding into the empty hangars. As for the new members who had waited for many days, they also received the notice and started to descend.
The huge s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p ring around the headquarters split into a few dozen streams, pouring into the various hangars. Numerous mechanical a.s.sistants were activated to receive all the new members.
The majority of the new members would be directed to the s.p.a.cious lobby of the headquarters. When everyone had gathered, they would meet up with Han Xiao together. As for the new members in the Calamity Grade, they would receive special treatment and would proceed to the conference room in advance to meet with Han Xiao and his officers personally.
Leading his officers, Han Xiao entered the conference room. Within were more than ten people, and their gazes all shot toward him the moment he entered. All of them stood up immediately.
“Your Excellency Black Star!”
“Army Commander!”
They all saluted, excitement filling their faces. They were the first batch of Calamity Grades to be admitted, coming from different Star Systems. This was the first time they had personally laid eyes on their new Beyond Grade A leader, which made them extremely emotional.
In the eyes of the ordinary, reaching the Calamity Grade was already something unbelievable, but when faced with a Beyond Grade A, the majority of the Calamity Grades had the same feeling as when an ordinary person faced them. Furthermore, there was also another layer of yearning and longing.
Han Xiao smiled. “h.e.l.lo, everyone.”
After becoming a Beyond Grade A Super, not only had he advanced in strength, his horizons had also widened. In the past, if there were over twenty Calamity Grades who wished to join his Army, he would have been smiling from ear to ear, but right now, he was actually very calm. He could at least endure till there was no one around before he burst into laughter.
While the fame of a Beyond Grade A was appealing, a Calamity Grade could also be considered a high-end combat power. Many of the Calamity Grades were unwilling to join under other forces. Even though he was a Beyond Grade A, Han Xiao would never look down on Calamity Grades. Recruiting more than a dozen high-end combat personnel this time was the highest record ever for the Black Star Army.
Han Xiao chatted with the dozen or so Calamity Grades, motivating them. These recruits were the top combat force and would be his officers in the future.
Because the size of the army was too huge, Han Xiao did not have the time to check the attributes of every single new member. Thus, he only focused on the stronger newcomers, which were precisely these Calamity Grades.
After quietly looking through the interface properties of everyone, he secretly nodded.
While none of them have any Molding Talents, the strongest has reached the level of A+ and can be considered a mini-boss.
Turning back to look at Hila, Han Xiao said, “The Black Star Guards will serve as my elite unit, with the Calamity Grade as the threshold for entry. Hadavy is also a member of the Black Star Guards, and this is my Guards Captain, Hila. Because the Guards were only established recently, it needs to be expanded. The quota is known by Hila, and she as well as the other Black Star Guards will test your abilities and pick a few of you to enter the Black Star Guards.”
The eyes of the Calamity Grades lit up. The Black Star Guards were obviously the bodyguards of Black Star and would follow him around. The temptation of this position was not little at all, and compared to the benefits they would obtain as ordinary officers, they looked forward more to learning from the experience of a Beyond Grade A, allowing themselves to be stronger. After all, earning money at their level was pretty easy, and the attraction of material enjoyment was quite limited. What they pursued was more of a promotion in realms.
The Black Star Guards took the ten or so Calamity Grades away, and Han Xiao led the rest of his officers to welcome the new members. However, Phillip suddenly started emitting bubbles again.
“Master, hum… I discovered a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p with no verification. There are three people on board the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p who do not have an invitation. They’re not new members joining our army, nor is their data present in the database. Their ident.i.ties are unknown, and they are situated in Hanger No.6. Do you want to look through their information?”
“Oh, they might be here to fish in murky waters and try to be accepted into the army. You can just chase them…” Before Han Xiao could finish, the image of the trio was transferred to his mind, and he suddenly paused, his eyes growing wider.
Seeing that Han Xiao did not reply, Phillip tilted his tiny head to the side, prompting him. “Master?”
“Hu…” Han Xiao let out a long breath, his eyes flas.h.i.+ng as he changed his order. “Don’t stop them. Let them enter and pretend you are unaware of their ident.i.ties. Just activate the surveillance within the army and constantly lock onto their positions.”
“Roger that, hum…”
After disconnecting from the quantum network, Han Xiao stroked his chin, his eyes narrowed.
“To think that these three thugs dared to show up in my territory at this moment… Hmm, it seems that the b.u.t.terfly effect I’m causing is spreading. There’s an eighty percent chance that they’re here for her…”
…
The s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p entered and stopped at the dock. The trio—Silverskin, Dragonscale, and the four-handed man—set foot on the crowded dock, looking around.
There were none of the antic.i.p.ated alarms, no mechanical a.s.sistants waiting to confirm their ident.i.ties, and no one coming over to escort them.
They had entered so easily!
“The Black Star Army’s security measures are too lousy, as good as nonexistent.” The four-handed man pouted. “Even my mother star that is about to be destroyed by the crazy scientists is safer.”
Silverskin was a little uneasy, softly saying, “We’ll blend in first before looking for a chance to split off and act. Don’t get caught.”
“Ok.” Dragonscale nodded.
Silverskin then squeezed his fingers as he murmured, “Hopefully, we can find the rumored Rossellin here…”