Chapter 966 - The Second Exploration Phase (2/2)
“This is…” Nero then looked at the sign board and asked, “A gambling den?”
“That’s right.”
“Wait! Why would there be such a place in the army? Who opened it?” Nero asked with doubt.
“Who else but me… cough, our respected Black Star. Us Black Star Guards are usually with him and don’t have much to do. How could we survive without some entertainment? Let me tell you, although this is the second headquarters of the Black Star Army, the entertainment venues are extremely comprehensive.”
Hadavy then threw the floating motorcycle to the side and dragged Nero into the gambling den. The gambling den was bustling with activity with a huge crowd in the place.
“Why are you bringing me here?” Nero asked timidly.
Hadavy then squeezed his way to a Wayne Card gambling table and placed a huge wager. He then whispered into Nero’s ears.
“Hehe, I lost a few years’ salary here, and I am relying on you to win it back for me.”
After Reynold took over the Logistics department in the Shattered Star Ring, it became difficult to meet him. Furthermore, Feidin did not allow Hadavy to disturb him. Thus, Nero became the only person left who Hadavy knew was good in cards.
How would he miss such a good opportunity to recoup all his losses!
“I… I am still a child.” Nero’s mouth contorted, and he looked at the expressionless robot in front of him.
He truly suspected that Black Star had opened his gambling den to collect back the salaries of the Black Star Army members.
He is my godfather indeed! A Mechanic that knows how to cut costs is definitely outstanding!
…
The next day, the meeting for the second exploration phase was being held in a conference room on Planet Lighthouse, and all those participating in the meeting were the various bigshots of the dynasty.
The moment Han Xiao’s projection descended, many people greeted him.
“Eh? Black Star is here.”
“Come here, I saved a seat for you.”
After the event six years ago, Han Xiao had gained a higher status within the circle of Beyond Grade As and was extremely popular.
These Beyond Grade As all knew that Black Star would probably be the next pillar of the dynasty and were thus more passionate toward him.
There was no need to mention the old dragon, Beyoni, and his other old friends. Ravenlaude, Maximiler, Viru, and Lotus Swordsman were present, and Han Xiao also saw Heber.
Heber naturally did not greet him. Heber only snorted and looked away to prevent himself from being irritated.
The moment he saw Heber, Han Xiao thought about the development of the army in the Shattered Star Ring. Over the past six years, the Bloodshed Land had competed with the Black Star Army in many areas with the aid of the Limitless Financial Group. Both parties continued to swallow up other organizations and expanded their operations greatly.
The Germinal Financial Group developed rapidly and became the representative financial group of the Black Star Army. Iapetus displayed outstanding talent and also sat in a high position. With the support of the Black Star Army, the Germinal Financial Group showed signs of becoming a first rate financial group.
The Crimson Dynasty had also expanded some of their operations in the Shattered Star Ring and provided some aid to him. The Black Star Army was temporarily able to resist the pressure brought about by the Limitless Financial Group. However, since the Limitless Financial Group had entered the Shattered Star Ring market, they would not back off easily and had become a powerful competitor.
Han Xiao greeted the other Beyond Grade As and finally sat in between the old dragon and Maximiler.
The Beyond Grade As had their own small circle, and the other civilizations all sat far away.
The meeting had not started yet, and everyone was busy chatting with each other.
After waiting for a while when everyone was present, Tarrokov walked forward to the stage and coughed twice to attract everyone’s attention.
“I’m sorry for the wait. Since everyone is here, let’s begin.”
The conference room then fell silent, and everyone looked at him.
Tarrokov then pressed a button, and a huge holographic screen appeared behind him with the star map of the Flickering World on the screen. The green explored region had been expanded with Renault, Dawn, Garu, and Crown being lit up.
“Everyone here should be extremely familiar with this map, so there’s no need for me to explain it further. I shall get straight to the point. We’ve spent over ten years on the first exploration and construction phase. The construction of the basic facilities is going well, and the first phase is about to come to an end. The dynasty has decided to embark on the second exploration phase.”
As he said that, Tarrokov tapped on the screen and circled two unexplored Star Clusters.
“These two Star Clusters will be our objective for the second exploration phase. They are the Russo Star Cluster and Dust Light Star Cluster.”
Everyone present felt their spirits being lifted.
The two Star Clusters were neighbors to the explored region in the first phase. The Russo Star Cluster was where Han Xiao had obtained the Spacetime Amber, and it was a neighbor of the Garu Star Cluster. The Dust Light Star Cluster was a neighbor of both Renault and Crown.
“Why is there one less region in the second exploration phase?” someone asked.
Tarrokov nodded and explained, “Yes. There are many different reasons with two more prominent ones. First, we need to continue with the construction of the first phase, and that will require manpower and resources. Second, we will be adopting a new exploration method during the second exploration phase, and we’ve chosen to shrink the region down because we would have more things to do.”
After looking around to make sure that there weren’t any questions, Tarrokov said, “There are more people participating in the second exploration phase. Please refer to the list for the exact breakdown.”
A screen appeared in front of everyone, and the organizations participating in the second exploration phase were shown.
Han Xiao glanced over the list. The scale of the second phase was much larger, and many of the new organizations were subsidiary civilizations and galactic contractors being hired.
During the first exploration phase, not all the allies had an opportunity to participate. Some weaker subsidiary civilizations were not even within the dynasty’s consideration. From the second exploration phase onward, the dynasty needed to share the cost of the development and thus allowed more to participate.
According to this development pace, the Flickering World would be opened up to the public in the fourth phase.
Only the Beyond Grade A allies who joined in the first phase could seize the best opportunities. As more people joined in the exploration, the benefits would become less.
Tarrokov waited for everyone to finish viewing the list before saying, “I have already made a small booklet on the things to take note of during the second exploration phase and will issue it to every participating organization. Everyone must read it as we have added some new rules.”
The Beyond Grade As then looked at each other and nodded.
The rules in the first phase were intentionally more relaxed for the Beyond Grade As to obtain more benefits. However, the rules would be stricter toward these subsidiary civilizations.
“To all our Beyond Grade A allies,” Tarrokov then said with a smile, “the dynasty has already assigned your missions, so there’s no need for you to choose your targets. Please be understanding.”
After seeing that no one had any issues, Tarrokov continued.
Indeed, the dynasty would control everything. Han Xiao shook his head. This meant that he would not be able to fully utilize his advantage.
However, the most valuable Spacetime Amber was already in his hands, and it would not matter to him if he had a choice or not. According to his understanding of the second exploration phase, regardless of the mission that the dynasty issued, he would probably be sent to deal with some native advanced civilizations in the end.
In his previous life, the Crimson Dynasty met an advanced civilization that was located in the Dust Light Star Cluster.
Because of some reasons, the advanced civilization harbored great enmity toward the dynasty and was not easy to deal with. It even caused some trouble to the dynasty’s exploration.
During the first phase, they met a native Star System civilization. However, this advanced civilization was already at the Star Cluster level. Of course, they would not be a complete Star Cluster Civilization without the support of the galactic society. However, they were pretty powerful and different from the frogs in the well before.
The dynasty might not have mobilized their armed forces if everything went normally, but there was another power pulling the strings in the background.
Han Xiao’s ‘Nero training plan’ was targeted at this advanced civilization.