Chapter 817 Pioneering
This chapter is updated by Wuxia.Blog
"Your Excellency Black Star, you're welcome to come and visit the school any time."
At the harbor, the principal brought his people along and sent Han Xiao and the others off. The lecture in the morning was very effective. The students were not the only ones who learned from it-he did too. So, his closeness and gratitude toward Han Xiao now were very sincere.
"Hmm, keep in touch." Han Xiao nodded before leading the rest onto the Blacklight Stealth. It took off, turned into a stream of light, and disappeared in the dark, vast cosmic space.
Having obtained the data and completed the promised lecture, the goal of this trip was achieved. He did not stay any longer and left the Tyla Civilization.
As for the impact of this, he did not care about it much. The Tyla Civilization was considered a neutral and powerful civilization in the Shattered Star Ring. Other forces rarely messed with them, and they did not mess with others deliberately. The afterheat of the Black Star Army's expansion had yet to vanish, so this bit of news would not cause too big a storm. At most, it might trigger some responses from the Star Cluster civilizations of the same grade.
Instead, the excited Mechanic players on the forums surprised him. Only through the forums did he know that his open lecture triggered a random ability EXP reward event.
There were many ways the players could obtain EXP, and this was one of them, but a very rare one. Other than their luck, it also depended on the knowledge difference between the players and what the NPCs were teaching. Pugilists and Mages were no strangers to this. Pugilists could secretly listen and learn abilities from some dojos. It was risky and did not guarantee success. The players mainly did this to avoid spending Contribution Points. It was the same for the Mages.
"What a surprise, this coincidentally strengthened my Mechanic class mentor image." Han Xiao shook his head.
His consciousness entered the quantum network and poked at Phillip.
"How's the study of that set of data?"
"It's too complicated, hum... I can't estimate the time needed to decipher it."
The location data of the wormhole had been given to Phillip to analyze. It required a huge amount of experiments and tests, and even Han Xiao did not know how long it would take before there were any results.
However, Han Xiao was not in a hurry. Since the Tyla Civilization now knew that EsGod and he had their eyes on this set of data, they would definitely feel that this data had secrets. Therefore, they would have professional scientists secretly study this data. The efficiency of an entire Star Cluster civilization would definitely not be slower than him or EsGod, and this was one of the reasons he had befriended the Tyla Civilization. If the Tyla Civilization discovered any clues, he would have a chance to learn them as well, which would be quite nice.
He also planned to send the data to the dynasty when he had time and borrow the dynasty's technology to decipher its secret.
...
After a smooth flight, the Blacklight Stealth returned to the army headquarters.
They rested for a few days, and the gathering order of the dynasty was officially announced. The dynasty had notified the Black Star Army, the Bloodshed Land, and Klent, the various Shattered Star Ring allies, to immediately head to the Flickering World through the dynasty stargate at the border of the Star Field.
After preparing for so long, the dynasty was finally about to start its first stage of exploration of the Flickering World!
Han Xiao immediately announced this as well.
When the departure date arrived, Phillip's broadcast announcement echoed in the entire army headquarters.
"All army members participating in the developments of the Flickering World, please board the ships immediately. We will be leaving in thirty minutes! I repeat, all..."
The players moved with anticipation and entered the harbor, boarding the transport ships one after another.
After the secret war ended, the Flickering World had become the next main storyline in the eyes of the players.
Exploring a new Star Field... this was the largest main storyline they had ever seen!
The millions of players were exhilarated!
Furthermore, with the example of the limited title [Secret Warrior], most of the army players accepted the Flickering World's main storyline mission. The players were excited just thinking about it.
Among which, the Constellation Corridor players were even more excited. The Shattered Star Ring players at least had similar experiences before, but the Constellation Corridor players had rarely had any large group missions like this, if any.
In the past, they had only heard about the benefits of being in the Black Star Army. Now, they had personally experienced it. The new recruits had an even higher rating for the army in their hearts.
The people at the army headquarters gathered and boarded the spaceships very quickly. With Han Xiao's order, the fleet departed.
Sylvia had already prepared all the fleets a few months ago. While the main fleet departed from the army headquarters, the teams in standby at the various sub-bases in the Colton Star Cluster departed as well. According to the plan, these subdivisions would rendezvous with Han Xiao one after another along the way.
The number of fleets and people the army had dispatched this time was enormous. Almost all the members who could move freely went along. It was the largest-scale operation in the history of the army.
No amount of manpower would ever be enough in exploring an entire new Star Field, so this exploration team would be building strongholds in the Flickering World and not return for a very long time, including Han Xiao.
The Black Star Army had already stabilized itself in the Shattered Star Ring, and its business was consistent. Furthermore, with the support of its two allies, the dynasty and Purple Crystal, as well as the protection of being a member of the Shattered Star Ring Civilization Conference, there was basically nothing to worry about.
The Flickering World would be the central stage of the next version. Developing the Flickering World was a crucial part of the next stage of development for the army.
The dynasty allies in the Shattered Star Ring were the ones to start the exploration first. Han Xiao had gone through a lot of planning to obtain such an advantage, so he could not possibly miss it. In order to deal with the countless organizations that would be fighting for territory in the future, he had to gain bigger advantages and build firm foundations in the early stages.
...
Somewhere in the Shattered Star Ring drifted Floating Dragon Island.
"I see, so Black Star has departed..."
Han Xiao's message appeared on the communicator. Ames looked away from the communicator and glanced at the floating dragon officers at the two sides of the throne.
"Let's go, toward Planet Aquamarine."
...
In the Central Galaxy, on the Federation of Light's mother planet, the president of the Federation of Light, Bader Ohoside, put down the deck of intelligence in his hands, looked at the Elders in the room, slowly said, "The Crimson Dynasty is finally going to officially start to explore the Flickering World... The dynasty will be focusing on this in the future. The exploration of the Flickering World is estimated to take decades or even an entire century."
The Chief Elder tapped the ground with his crutch and said with a hoarse voice, "It was our detectors that discovered the Flickering World. Back then, we transferred the ownership of the Flickering World to the Crimson Dynasty for a lot of profits. It will take a very long time for them to make a net profit from developing a new Star Field."
Back when they compromised with the Crimson Dynasty, it was not just to exchange for profits and calm the Crimson Tide. They also had more secret plans.
"Hmm..." Bader said indifferently. "In order to develop a new Star Field, the dynasty will definitely put in a lot of manpower and resources. The Flickering World will become a pond of quicksand that keeps dragging the dynasty's men down in the decades to come. The dynasty will have a very difficult time fighting for anything else during that time. This is highly beneficial to us."
The Chief Elder caressed the crystal at the top of his crutch and said, "When the dynasty purchased the ownership of the Flickering World from us, we made an agreement that only the Crimson Dynasty is allowed to build stargates at the early stages of the exploration. Any unauthorized forces in the Flickering World will be seen as enemies of the dynasty... However, the agreement is just words."
"Without us having to do anything, those ambitious beyond Star Cluster civilizations are smart enough to know the Arcane Church's and our stand on this," Bader said. "They know very well that this is a perfect chance for them. Almost none of them will be willing to give up on the resources of a new Star Field. Although these chess pieces only obey us on the surface usually, as soon as they see something with low risk and high reward, they will act according to our goals without needing us to do anything."
After a pause, Bader continued. "With so much attention on them, the dynasty doesn't have the ability to have the new Star Field to itself. Due to multiple factors, the dynasty will open the Flickering World to the entire universe around the time they complete creating a full star map of it. This way, they will be able to obtain an infinite amount of foreign labor and resources, and most of the dynasty's military and manpower will be able to retreat."
The Chief Elder nodded. "The dynasty has the ownership of the Star Field, but the larger the profit, the more pressure they will have to endure. Let them endure it. Something can only be said to be lost when it was once possessed. We can obtain larger profits by taking a step back here."
Bader crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Since the dynasty is willing, let's give them more pressure."
...
On the Crimson Dynasty Mother Planet, the Dynasty Ruler, Urranrell, had just finished reading the intelligence of the Black Star Army and the Bloodshed Land departing. She put down the deck of data in her hands and looked up. Everyone there was a top-level official of the dynasty.
"Your Excellency Ruler, the Shattered Star Ring allies are the ones to carry out the earliest explorations. We will continue to put in more dynasty troops and allies in the future. The Federation of Light compromised on paper, but they will definitely violate the agreement secretly. The Federation of Light, the Arcane Church, and those beyond Star Cluster civilizations will undoubtedly move discreetly."
"I know," Urranrell said calmly. "Ever since the universe entered the Galaxy Calendar era, the Federation of Light lost their sharpness and are no longer willing to endure the pressure, so they don't deserve the largest profits. I never expected them to obey the agreement anyway. In the coming decades, things might be tough for us, but history will eventually prove that those who have given up on the future will be abandoned by the future."
Everyone nodded in silence.
"Those who cause trouble secretly will not expose their identity. Using this chance, we shall strike fear into those beyond Star Cluster civilizations who are getting more and more lawless."
Urranrell's eyes became focused as she spoke with a powerful and firm voice.
"Let's remind them of the dynasty's way of doing things!"
...
On the Fallen Ark, Harrison woke EsGod up from his sleep.
"The Arcane Church has responded."
EsGod woke up, breathed, and said slowly, "What did they say?"
"They say that they've never heard about this."
"That means they agreed." EsGod narrowed his eyes. "Tell the fleet to turn around and go to the desolate universe belt near the Arcane Church. Let's see where the temporary stargate they've prepared for me is."
...
At the edge of the Shattered Star Ring, inside the endless darkness, a gigantic stargate stood in the cosmic space. The enormous Black Star Army was approaching slowly.
This was the Crimson Dynasty's exclusive stargate connecting to the Flickering World, which was currently the only way to go to the Flickering World. A lot of dynasty's battleships were stationed there to keep anyone from sneaking through.
After reporting their identity, the Black Star Army fleet entered the stargate one batch after another, disappearing into the blue space vortex.
"We're going to do pioneering!"
"Brothers, I'm a little excited!"
The players on the transport ships were filled with anticipation.
As the main ship was about to enter the stargate, on the bridge, Hila and the Black Star Guards all turned around subconsciously to look at the bright stars behind them.
Han Xiao glanced behind him as well.
The next time I'll be back here will be very far in the future...
Looks like I'm going to have to spend the ten-month EXP penalty period in the Flickering World.
When I am back in the known universe by then, my level should be far higher than the 240 I am at now.
And the Evolution Cube might not be the only Universal Treasure in my hands...
Turning his head back, Han Xiao looked at the blue stargate vortex ahead. The other side of this stargate was a wide world filled with opportunities.
Boom!
The next moment, the main ship entered the stargate and trembled.
In an instant, there was only a bright blue light in their sights.
Chapter 818 Black-sheep-wall!
This chapter is updated by Wuxia.Blog
The main ship crossed the stargate and arrived at the Flickering World immediately from the Shattered Star Ring.
There were dynasty's fleets stationed on this side of the stargate too.
Han Xiao looked outside the window at the masses of star lights distributed around.
Unlike that prosperous Star Field in his memories, the Flickering World was still very primal and desolate. It did not have any traces of being developed before. The quantum network was silent; the only quantum network signal that he could connect to was the dynasty's military base station channel. This meant that this new Star Field was not open to the public.
"Beep beep..."
As soon as the main ship crossed the stargate, it received a communication request from the dynasty's military.
After the communication request was accepted, a 3D projection appeared. It was an old dynasty officer and a familiar face.
Hila glanced at the dense number of badges on this person. She looked at the military ranking badge on the sleeve of his army uniform and concluded that this person was a dynasty admiral, a well-established upper echelon of the military.
This person's eyes were locked onto Han Xiao. He slightly raised his head and smiled gently.
"I'm Tarrokov, the commander in chief of the development team of the Flickering World. Your Excellency Black Star, welcome to the Dawn Star Cluster."
"Commander." Han Xiao nodded.
Tarrokov was someone he was familiar with. In his previous life, when the players were active in the Flickering World, Tarrokov was also the commander in chief of the dynasty's troops stationed in the Flickering World. Back then, many of the missions were distributed in the form of military documents, and they were all signed by Tarrokov. He was in charge of the dynasty's troops in the Flickering World; all the dynasty missions came from him, so of course, the players were familiar with him.
Now that he had come to explore the Flickering World, Tarrokov would be considered as his semi-boss. Tarrokov would be contacting the dynasty's many allies on behalf of the dynasty, relaying the dynasty's orders to them. Han Xiao knew that he would be seeing this guy a lot for quite a long time.
Luckily, Tarrokov was a very senior military boss, and he was very gentle and steady, easy to get along with. This was also the reason the dynasty had sent him to take care of the matters in the Flickering World.
"Bloodshed Land and Klent arrived at the Flickering World two days ago. Come with your fleet as quickly as possible. When you're here, we will discuss the field exploration plans."
"Okay."
Han Xiao nodded, and Tarrokov hung up the communication.
Han Xiao opened the 3D star map. The current map of the Flickering World appeared before everyone's eyes. Only the Dawn Star Cluster was marked as green and completely explored, which had a rather complete star map. The other ninety percent or so of the area was all gray and had no details.
The dynasty had built many strongholds in the Dawn Star Cluster, among which the main stronghold was on a planet at the border of the Dawn Star Cluster that connected to the unexplored area. The planet was named Planet Lighthouse, signifying its place as the lighthouse that guided the explorers' return.
The gathering location marked by Tarrokov was there.
"It will still take some time till all the fleets cross the stargate." Aurora pressed here and pulled there on the operation table, bringing up the gathering countdown that was calculated by the artificial intelligence.
Officers with important jobs such as Sylvia, Herlous, Reynold, and Lagi had all remained in the Shattered Star Ring to maintain the army headquarters' operations. Han Xiao had only brought some of the army's officers along this time, such as the Black Star Guards. Most of them did not have any jobs to do usually, and they were now assigned to different posts to take care of different matters in the exploration team.
The tons of non-combat knowledge that Aurora had learned could now be of use. She became Han Xiao's administrative officer and was responsible for the miscellaneous matters.
"Phillip, plan the route," Han Xiao said.
"Roger that, hum..."
An illuminated line immediately appeared on the star map, marking the quickest route to Planet Lighthouse.
The dynasty knew the importance of transportation and had built many military stargates in the Dawn Star Cluster to allow frequent jumps, tremendously reducing the traveling time within the Star Cluster. These were all marked on the star map. However, this was only the case during the closed exploration period. Han Xiao knew that once the Flickering World was open to the public, the dynasty would recover some of those military channels.
Han Xiao thought for a moment and said, "Split a few engineering fleets out from the main fleet and build the quantum communication stations for our army in the Dawn Star Cluster. Let the dynasty know about it. Tell them that this is for us to interact with the people in the Shattered Star Ring headquarters more easily."
It was the countless base stations and network nodes everywhere in the known universe that allowed the quantum network to exist in all places. However, as the Flickering World had no such stations, it had yet to connect with the quantum network of the known universe and could only redirect signals from the dynasty's nodes and base stations. This move from Han Xiao was to plot out the army's network base stations here. When the Star Field was open to the public in the future, they would become natural intelligence channels. Usually, this was an authority only high-level civilizations had.
However, now, this was one of the privileges given to the dynasty's allied forces. The dynasty would not stop him.
The army's battleships passed through the stargate one after another. Very soon, they all arrived at the Flickering World and immediately headed toward Planet Lighthouse in hyperdrive.
There were currently no outsiders in the Dawn Star Cluster, so the trip was smooth. After traveling for a few days and through dozens of military stargates linking the various strongholds, they crossed the entire Dawn Star Cluster, and Planet Lighthouse was within their sights.
A planet surrounded by countless battleships appeared outside the porthole.
On a tiny planet, the dynasty's direct exploration team, the Bloodshed Land's exploration team, the Klent Kingdom's exploration team, and the late to the party Black Star Army's exploration team gathered. The number of spaceships gathered there exceeded a hundred million!
It was marvelous!
Among which, the dynasty's direct spaceships had the highest number. They made up to about seventy percent of all the spaceships.
Not far away from the planet, there were many stargate stations coexisting but were yet to be activated.
The surface of Planet Lighthouse was covered by machinery and metal, not showing even the slightest soil. The dynasty's exploration team used the dynasty's well known 'Foolproof Planet Base Expansion Pack' on Planet Lighthouse. It flattened the ground through high pressure, increased the planet density, changed its landscape, and modified its crust, directly turning this planet into a Planet Grade Military Base.
The fleet stopped outside the atmosphere. Han Xiao and the Black Star Guards took a small spaceship and landed on Planet Lighthouse's dock.
Whoosh!
The hatch opened.
Han Xiao stepped onto the metal dock, looked across at the metal buildings, and fixed onto the most conspicuous building far away.
It was a few-thousand-meter-tall building. All the buildings around it looked like dwarfs under a giant. This was Planet Lighthouse's stronghold headquarters.
There were already officers waiting at the dock. After they did their formal military greetings, they invited Han Xiao and the rest to board the ground carrier and head to Planet Lighthouse's headquarters together.
Whoosh!
As they traveled across the buildings on the planet's surface, the sound of wind howled outside their carrier.
Han Xiao observed around and realized that the buildings on the surface were mainly hangars and warehouses. Countless carriers and mechanical assistants were transporting trucks of resources like hard working ants.
Seeing that they were looking around, the officer explained, "Planet Lighthouse is the logistics base of the exploration team. A large amount of supplies and resources are stored here."
Han Xiao nodded. The three Star Clusters that would be explored in the first stage were Renault, Garu, and Crown, all neighboring Star Clusters of the Dawn Star Cluster. Planet Lighthouse was located at a crucial junction and was the best transit station.
The ground distance was very short, and they arrived at the Planet Lighthouse headquarters very soon. Through the anti-gravity lift, they came all the way to the middle level at the headquarters, more than 1,400 meters above the ground.
Following the instructions, they walked into an enormous strategy conference room. There were already many people in the room. Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and immediately saw Heber-with his tiny-mountain-sized body, he was the most conspicuous.
Heber turned and looked over. Their eyes clashed in midair. Heber's eyes had no emotions in them. He sat still on his seat and did not move before casually nodding in greeting.
Behind him were the Eight Vanguard Officials of the Bloodshed Land, who all looked at Han Xiao with hostility in their eyes.
That was especially so for the Chief Vanguard Official, Fosters, who looked like he wanted to turn his sight into knives and stab Han Xiao with them.
Although the Black Star Army and the Bloodshed Land had agreed to have a ceasefire, the hostility that the Bloodshed Land officers felt toward Han Xiao would not reduce because of it.
"Humph."
Seeing this, Hila took a step forward, and the Black Star Guards behind her followed right after, staring at the Vanguard Officials of Heber.
Hila and Fosters' sights met and almost created explosions in midair. The atmosphere became very tense.
In the past, when Han Xiao attended the Tyrant Party the second time, Fosters had challenged Han Xiao's subordinates. As the captain of the Black Star Guards, Hila had accepted the challenge, but Heber had appeared and told Fosters to back off, so the two of them did not end up fighting in the end.
Now that they had met again, this history appeared in both of their heads.
One was the Bloodshed Land's Chief Vanguard Official; the other was the Black Star Army's captain of the Black Star Guards. Be it their position, identity, or strength, they were naturally opposed to each other. Whoever beat the other would prove that their faction was better than another. The two of them stared at each other coldly while adding each other's name to the list of enemies they had to fight in the future.
Since Aurora had more than enough safety assurance, other than to repay Han Xiao, Hila continued to work for Han Xiao to become stronger. As she had the experience of being restrained by others, she had a very strong desire for power. Although she did not take the extreme path like she did in Han Xiao's previous life, she did not give up on any opportunities to challenge someone strong.
Han Xiao was not bothered. He waved and told the Black Star Guards to take a step back.
There was no way they would end up fighting right under the dynasty's nose, so there was no point in just staring at each other.
Seeing that the two sides had settled down, Han Xiao smiled at Heber.
"You're quite early."
"Unlike you, I don't like to be late," Heber replied indifferently.
He saw Han Xiao as someone on his level but had no intention of learning more about him or befriending him.
The two sides had a deep hatred for each other and only reluctantly became allies because of the dynasty. Although they were now at peace, they were still competitors in terms of the Flickering World exploration.
Since they were business competitors, Heber did not want to be friendly. His action of asking for a ceasefire with the Black Star Army in the past had already reduced his reputation within the Bloodshed Land. He could not let people mistakenly think that he was actually afraid of Black Star.
Han Xiao chuckled and knew exactly what Heber was thinking, but he did not mind.
Ty-Ty has been having a hard time. Let's not make it worse.
Not bothering about Heber, Han Xiao turned and looked at Tarrokov, who was standing beside the strategic analysis board. He smiled and said, "Chief commander, we finally meet."
"Your Excellency Black Star, Zoel might have already said this, but let me say it again. On behalf of the dynasty, we welcome your alliance."
When Han Xiao was speaking with Heber, Tarrokov watched from the side and did not speak. Once Han Xiao spoke to him, only then did he give a formal reply.
"Looks like we're going to be colleagues for a very long time in the future." Han Xiao shook Tarrokov's hands.
"Please, take a seat." Tarrokov smiled and pointed at a seat.
Han Xiao nodded and led his people to sit down. His men and Heber's men sat on opposite sides of the room, and the Klent Kingdom's men were in the middle.
The leader of the Klent Kingdom was someone Han Xiao did not know. They did not show Han Xiao any politeness at all, not even a greeting.
Compared to Klent, Heber's hatred was nothing. Klent's decade-long plan had been completely shattered. The secret war had been ended by Han Xiao single-handedly, and the resources they invested had yielded zero profit.
The loss they made was uncountable!
Hate Purple Crystal? They basically won without doing anything.
Hate the Crimson Dynasty? As if we would dare!
Hate the Bloodshed Land?
... Wake up!
Therefore, their hatred could only land on Han Xiao, no one else.
If the Bloodshed Land's hostility toward Han Xiao was two stars, Klent's hostility was at least ten stars.
"Since everyone's here, let's get started."
Tarrokov completely ignored the conflict between the three sides and turned on the strategic analysis board behind him. He brought up the unexplored star map of the Renault, Garu, and Crown Star Clusters.
"These three Star Clusters are the targets of the first stage of developments. The Bloodshed Land and Klent will explore Renault, the dynasty's direct teams will explore Crown, and the Black Star Army will explore Garu. These are your choices, which were made long ago. Now, let me talk about the details... The task of exploration is very cumbersome, but in the end, it can be divided into a few key points."
Tarrokov extended a few fingers.
"The drawing of the star map, the large-scale deployment of area observation buoys, the installation of a traffic network, the construction of transit stations and strongholds, the completion of the detailed information of the various planets... and the collection of resources."
Han Xiao nodded. These were just the main goals. There were tons of tasks that had to be carried out in reality. They had to carry out construction at the same time as exploring the map. The reason they had brought so many people there was to split up and increase their efficiency.
This time, Tarrokov said, "The dynasty has the most manpower. In order to ensure progress, we will be sending some teams to follow the three of you and provide assistance.
The dynasty made up to seventy percent of all the forces there, so it was normal to give them some of their manpower. However, this was just one reason; surveillance was another reason.
The dynasty was willing to let its ally forces take part in the exploration and share the benefits, but it could not completely leave things to its allies. Sending out these surveillance teams would prevent its allies from not reporting the resources discovered or reporting the incorrect quantity deliberately, ensuring the accuracy of the results of the exploration.
The dynasty has invested a lot of this, so of course, they're getting the largest portion of the resources in the new Star Field. Completely sensible...
However, there was still a lot of room in terms of how much extra profit the explorers would obtain.
The others had no idea what was on those unexplored planets and could only explore them one by one. It completely depended on their luck.
Han Xiao also did not know what was on most of the planets. He was an extremely experienced player in his previous life, but he was not as experienced as remembering the information about every single planet... However, he still knew full well about the famous and unique planets in the Flickering World.
This meant that he did not need to do field exploration to know which planets were extremely profitable and rich.
"Hmm..."
Han Xiao caressed his chin and contemplated.
Chapter 819 - Special Exploration Route
This chapter is updated by Wuxia.Blog
819 Special Exploration Route
Heber and the Klent commander knew that the dynasty would send out surveillance teams, so they were not surprised either.
Tarrokov explained the details as he pointed at the locations on the star map. The others listened silently.
When Tarrokov was finished, the Klent commander suddenly said, "We know what you've just said. What I want to know is, us Shattered Star Ring allies are the first teams to take part in the exploration, and the dynasty will be sending its allies from other Star Fields here too, so when will the next batch of dynasty allies arrive?"
Star Fields were too huge. Even all of them combined were just a leaf within a forest compared to a Star Field; they were very tiny. With just them, God only knew when the Flickering World would be fully explored. Therefore, the dynasty would be sending more manpower there in the future. Those dynasty allies who arrived later would be both allies and new competitors.
What Klent cared about was when the next batch of competitors would arrive, basically how much time they had ahead of others.
Tarrokov smiled.
"That depends on the arrangements of the dynasty's upper echelons and the gathering speed of our allied forces, as well as the progress of our exploration. I have yet to receive any notification on the exact time. However, according to my estimation, the next batch of exploration teams will only arrive in half a year's time at the earliest. Before that, the dynasty will have to rely on you guys. If the progress of the exploration is outstanding, the dynasty will not be petty in terms of rewards."
The few of them nodded. If the exploration was smooth and the results were beyond expected, it would all become their contributions. The dynasty would take a large portion of the resources, so they would be given rewards based on the results of the pioneering. This was the key factor of their competition.
The one whose exploration went the smoothest and obtained the most profit would be merited the most.
Tarrokov paused and asked, "For the Star Clusters you've decided to explore, what direction are you guys planning to enter from?"
The Star Cluster could be divided into dozens of Star Systems. They were all exploring into the center from the edges of it.
The border line was extremely long, so the direction they were going to enter from was very important. If they started exploring from poor locations, they would make a huge loss since they would waste a lot of time not discovering many resources.
The only information they had to decide on this was the semi-complete star map drawn through astronomical observations. The most they could do was just avoid the obvious desolate universe belts, but the resources on the planets were still unknown.
Although Tarrokov had only just asked, the few of them had discussed and analyzed this privately long ago.
Heber and Klent were on the same side. They planned to split into twenty-three teams and enter one Star System of their choice from twenty-three different locations. The teams would not be far from each other and would advance together in a fan shape, gradually gathering at a certain point to build a large transit stronghold. They would then continue to split and explore, making sure the exploration range of every team would not be repeated as much as possible.
Han Xiao listened as the Klent commander described their plan and nodded in his mind.
Heber had made a good choice. The first area they were going to explain was called the Jeraton Star System, a rather rich Star System of the Renault Star Cluster in his previous life. It did indeed have rich resources.
If the Flickering World's star map was 2D and linked with the known universe, the Dawn Star Cluster would be at the most west side of the Flickering World. As for the three Star Clusters right beside it, Garu was at its North, Renault was at its East, and Crown was at its South. The Jeraton Star System, which Heber and Klent were going to explore first, was the border Star System on the southwest side of Renault.
Tarrokov nodded, turned to look at Han Xiao, and asked, "What about you?"
Han Xiao pointed at the border Star System at the southernmost point of the Garu Star Cluster. He drew a route upward that penetrated more than ten Star Systems, connecting the southernmost part of the Garu Star Cluster to its easternmost part.
"What do you mean by this?" Tarrokov was surprised.
"Well..." Han Xiao smiled mysteriously. "I will have my main force explore from the border Star System at the southernmost side and send out a team carrying stargate devices. This team will only build stargates along the way and not make any other stops. I'm going to build a stargate route and connect these ten Star Systems together first."
"You want to build the important long traffic route first?" Tarrokov raised his brows.
"Not only that, whenever this team connects to the next Star System, I will split up more men to explore other Star Systems." Han Xiao shrugged.
Tarrokov frowned slightly. Heber and the Klent commander exchanged looks, too. They were a little speechless.
In their eyes, the problem with Black Star's exploration plan was too obvious-insufficient manpower.
With only so many people, even exploring one Star System would take a lot of time, yet Black Star wanted to explore more than ten Star Systems at the same time. How would he have enough manpower? They all thought that his appetite was too large, and it had exceeded his capabilities.
Building an important long traffic route first was a good thing to the dynasty, so Tarrokov had no problem with that. However, this did not match the profit perspective of a dynasty ally, so Han Xiao's decision surprised him.
This was not a horse race. There was no point in connecting all these Star Systems if he would not be able to finish exploring all of them. Since the exploration efficiency was limited, wasting manpower to build long-term stargate channels would only make traveling to other Star Systems much easier for the forces that would come later. This looked like it had many more cons than pros.
Klent and the Bloodshed Land wanted to finish exploring one Star System before going to the next. In comparison, they were exploring in areas while Han Xiao was exploring in lines.
To balance the profit between its allies, the dynasty's plan was also to gradually move forward and slowly explore, not preparing to install complete stargate traffic networks in the unexplored areas immediately. The astronomical observations had already given them a semi-complete star map, so what they lacked was the completion of detailed information and field inspection. Therefore, the goal of the first stage of the exploration was just the three areas beside the Dawn Star Cluster.
During the slow process of exploration, the exploration team would always be building stargates. Therefore, the long-distance stargate channels would eventually appear, and there was no need to build it specifically.
This meant that the Black Star Army was wasting its own resources and time while reducing its results. This made Tarrokov, Heber, the Klent commander very confused.
"Do you want to reconsider?" Tarrokov asked out of good intentions.
Han Xiao waved and chuckled. "No need, I like to rely on my luck. Maybe I can discover some rich resource planets in advance."
Seeing that Black Star remained stubborn, the Klent commander ridiculed him in his mind.
With such a poor exploration plan that clearly lacked consideration, their pioneering would definitely not go smoothly. This meant that they would most likely beat the Black Star Army this time.
"Okay then." Tarrokov did not insist.
No matter what method its allies used to explore, the dynasty would not make any losses. After all, the entire Star Field belonged to them. The only one that would make losses was the Black Star Army itself, and since Black Star did not care, he did not care either.
Han Xiao had a smile on his face, and the others could not figure out what he was thinking.
This exploration plan that looked to be very desperate for merit suited his goals the most.
The reason that the fewest organizations decided to explore the Garu Star Cluster, as mentioned by Zoel, was that in the few Star Systems at the south of the Garu Star Cluster, there were obvious desolate universe belts. If he imitated Heber and the others and only explored one border Star System, he would definitely not produce many results.
He used this exploration plan to first develop those known rich planets in his memories.
On this traffic route stretching from the south of Garu to the east, there were a few Star Systems that were extremely prosperous areas with many renowned rich planets in the previous life, which only he knew about now.
Also, as he stretched the exploration line, the surveillance of the dynasty would likely be less intense, which would give him room to operate.
Han Xiao was not going to give up on such a good opportunity.
Another goal he had was to distract the others away from his true goal.
Han Xiao hoped to go to the south of the Garu Star Cluster as soon as possible without seeming too obvious.
This was because the ownerless Universal Treasure in his memories was located in the other Star Cluster connected to the south of the Garu Star Cluster!
He would only be able to obtain that Universal Treasure as soon as possible if he built this stargate route!
Tarrokov turned off the star map and said with a deep voice, "It's all decided then. You guys, wait here for two days. I'll dispatch teams to fuse into your teams as well as pass the stargate, buoys, and the other exploration devices to you. We shall depart officially in two days."
"Okay," the Klent commander replied.
Han Xiao and Heber nodded and did not speak.
They stood up and left the conference room.
Walking out of the door, Han Xiao and Heber glanced at each other at the same time, as if their clashing sights created flames in midair. They then turned around and left with their officers in opposite directions.
...
"Hey, what do you think Black Star is thinking?"
Heber and Klent's men were walking together. On the way, a Vanguard Official could not help but ask the chief staff sergeant, Jorde, beside him.
"What are you trying to say?" Jorde glanced at him.
"Don't you know what kind of person Black Star is? He's never one to be willing to make losses. He clearly knows that there's no benefit in building the long-distance stargate route in advance, so he definitely has other motives."
Jorde's eyes flickered. "Indeed, Black Star's decision is strange..."
"Chief staff sergeant, what do you think his motive is?"
The people around all eavesdropped at the conversation.
"I'm not Black Star," Jorde said with resignation. "The only reason I can think of is that Black Star is not willing to explore the poor border Star Systems of the Garu Star Cluster. But still, there's no need for him to waste time and cross more than ten Star Systems. I can't think of any other reasons... Maybe his appetite is too large, or maybe he really wants to rely on his luck."
"Maybe he wants to first take over the planets that will be traffic stations in the future."
"No way, the dynasty won't allow it."
As the Flickering World was an undeveloped Star Field, everyone subconsciously had one assumption-no one knew the detailed information of the Flickering World. Therefore, there was no way anyone could guess Han Xiao's motives.
The Klent commander quickly walked to Heber's side and said softly, "Your Excellency Tyrant, what do you say we..."
"Finish your sentence if you have something to say. Don't make me guess." Heber looked straight forward.
"... what do you say we send people to secretly head to the Garu Star Cluster and monitor Black Star's movements?"
"What's the point of that?" Heber glanced at him. "Do you dare disrupt the exploration right under the dynasty's nose?"
The Klent commander was stunned for a moment. He pondered carefully and came to a realization.
Exploring the Flickering World was the dynasty's key strategic goal, so even if they did know what the Black Star Army was planning to do, they could not do anything about it. If they disrupted the exploration progress for their own interest, the dynasty would definitely not show mercy and make them an example, to show the other allied organizations who would participate in the exploration in the future what the consequences of daring to disrupt the dynasty's plans were.
Having realized that, the Klent commander backed off and did not mention this matter anymore.
It seemed like the only way to be above the Black Star Army was to compete fairly through their pioneering results.
Luckily, not only did Black Star choose the Garu, but he also chose to use a horrible plan. The Bloodshed Land and their victory were certain.