Chapter 1281 - Gains Without Risks (2/2)
Han Xiao waved his hands in dismissal. “I’m a little busy. Just get to the point.”
“Alright, this time, I’m here to represent the Purple Crystal Civilization to apologize to you…” He snuck a glance at Han Xiao’s expression that was still calm before carefully following up. “Due to the sanctions imposed by the three Universal Civilizations, the Shattered Star Ring Civilization Conference has already passed the proposal, and we have no choice but to cooperate. The Purple Crystal Civilization Conference has been happily working with you for a long time, but with the severity of the situation now, I hope you can understand…”
“So, you wish to end all our partnerships?” Han Xiao raised his brow.
“Cough cough, please believe us when I say it’s temporary. You also understand. Given the chance, we would love to continue working with the Black Star Army, but the attitude of the three Universal Civilizations is too tough now. We’re just being safe. When the problem is solved, we’ll immediately resume our business dealings and will also give you compensation…”
The representative of the Purple Crystal Civilization spoke sincerely, emphasizing their helplessness.
Han Xiao did not agree with him in his heart, but he did not refute him, only verbally expressing his understanding.
He then followed by answering the communications of all the others in the Shattered Star Ring one by one. Everyone basically had the same attitude, which was to apologize and express that they had to cooperate with the sanctions.
After hanging up the last communication call, Han Xiao sneered.
“Humph, a bunch of fools who steer the rudder based on the wind direction.”
They cooperated with the army when they wished to have benefits, but now that they were under pressure, they kicked the army to the curb since they had outlived their usefulness.
Of course, the civilizations had to take care of themselves, and there was no point in them supporting the association either. Han Xiao understood this clearly, but it did not mean that he had to forgive them.
These civilizations blindly thought that the rule of the three Universal Civilizations over the Galactic Society was still stable, and thus, they would rather offend the Black Star Army a little than being marked by the three Universal Civilizations. For civilizations, between the Black Star Army and the three Universal Civilizations, it was easy to decide which to trade off.
Thus, Han Xiao could not be bothered to force the civilizations to choose his side, or else it would only turn nasty. It was better to keep this current state of getting along and make the other party feel as though they owed him something. While it might not be of any use, it was better than making more enemies.
He snorted as he chewed on his candy.
“Once the sanctions of the three Universal Civilizations lift, you’ll be the ones who bleed… Heh, you think that the Galactic Society will remain stable so long as you are under the rule of the three Universal Civilizations? The moment a foreign enemy invades, you’ll know how fragile this peace is, and by then, let’s see if the three Universal Civilizations that you trust so much will have the energy to protect you.”
After cursing a while longer, Han Xiao reined in his emotions, calling his secretary and letting him handle the handover procedures of the civilizations.
He then opened the organization territory distribution version of the star map, looking at it as he muttered.
“Expanding and controlling the Galactic Black Market in various places will be our next focus. The three Universal Civilizations will definitely not sit back and watch, however. It will likely turn into another secret war, which will cause quite a high death rate. Thus, the players will be the best to send in for the mission of obtaining the black markets. Not only is their strength good, but they are also not afraid of death. It is sufficient to take on this mission.”
As he spoke out loud, Han Xiao marked down this idea on the star map, deciding to issue this order in a few days to send the players collectively to perform the mission.
“Furthermore, in terms of advanced combatants, we have to put more pressure on the three Universal Civilizations. I previously promised them that I would not casually resurrect any historical Beyond Grade As, but now that they’ve done this, I have to be ‘courteous’ and respond in kind. It’s a pity that the keys to the Sanctums have not been fully gathered, so I cannot simply just resurrect a batch of new ones…”
Han Xiao’s thoughts flew rapidly.
“The Holy Accord can come in handy, since there are still many of them hiding within the organization. It’s better to pull a portion of the Beyond Grade As into the association, pretending to have done a new resurrection… Having a trump card is indeed convenient, and I don’t know how the three Universal Civilizations will react…”
…
Meanwhile, the three Universal Civilizations’ leaders met up in a joint meeting room to secretly discuss matters.
“The association has frozen the membership rights of our direct Beyond Grade As and also announced that they will not accept any tasks from us. These are all expected counters, but they’re meaningless,” the Pope said indifferently.
Louis nodded. “The association’s next move is expected to be the integration of the black markets. This will be their main resource channel in the future, but we will have long set the ground and will not let them succeed so easily.”
Marbruce then spoke in a deep voice. “This is not the main point. The key is to test if Black Star can indeed perform Sanctum Revivals at will.”
“Well, with his character, he will inevitably take countermeasures, such as contacting the Super Star Cluster Alliance and cooperating with them. The Super Star Cluster Alliance will likely also propose resurrection as a bargaining chip, and it is hard to say whether Black Star will agree to that. But even if the deal is not reached, Black Star will also try to recover other historical Beyond Grade As to put pressure on us. Now, it’s up to him whether he can do so.”
“If he cannot do this…” The Pope’s eyes gleamed. “Then whatever he’s doing now is undoubtedly playing for time!”
The sanctions by the trio were not just to contain the expansion of the association but also to test Han Xiao’s control over the Sanctums.
This was not a whimsical thought but rather a conclusion they reached as a result of much research in the Sanctum Revival Research Institute. They had confirmed that the Sanctums were immensely difficult to open and needed some sort of catalyst as well. Thus, the Sanctum Revival could not be casually done.
Based on this idea, the trio had introduced the current sanctions. If it was proven that Black Star could not resurrect people at will, this would be the best time to implement the cleansing plan. Otherwise, if they waited too long, it might allow for another wave of Sanctum Revivals.
However, even if Black Star resurrected newcomers, it might be an opportunity for them as it would cause Black Star to waste a valuable medium and cause the resurrection method to enter another cooldown.
Of course, they did not rule out the fact that Black Star had seen through them and deliberately kept his hand hidden. This was a danger to them.
This was undoubtedly risky behavior for them, which would not only make them pay a huge price but also go against their need to maintain order. Thus, they had yet to make up their minds, only wanting to probe Black Star.
At this moment, the Pope glanced at Louis, before asking, “By the way, how are your preparations for Manison’s operation?”
Louis calmly nodded. “It’s almost ready, thanks to your help. The things we promised you will be delivered back to you soon.”
“That’s good,” the Pope replied blandly.
When the federation came knocking on their door for help, he had suggested returning the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter back to them.
Because they were unable to crack apart the Spacetime Amber even after so many years, the federation finally agreed to this request and chose to return the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter in its seal back to the original owner.
At the same time, the federation also had their own expectations. If the Arcane Church could manage to unblock or duplicate the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter by chance, then in the future Beyond Grade A cleansing operations, this would come in handy.