Chapter 879 End of the Penalty

With the Ancient Emperor Party receiving fresh reinforcements, the advancement of the Pioneer Party was restricted.

An armed organization being led by a Beyond Grade A seed entering the battle to help the Ancient Emperor Party? All the organizations watching the civil war were naturally shocked.

There were still those who dared fight the Black Star Army in the Shattered Star Ring? Although the Black Star Army was not the sole tyrant of the Shattered Star Ring, such an action still baffled many. After all, this was fighting the Black Star Army head on.

The Black Star Army had plenty of experts in its ranks. Where did the four Calamity Grade Supers get their courage to intervene in the Black Star Army’s employment mission? Even if one of them was a Beyond Grade A seed, it still was not enough.

Han Xiao, who received news from Phillip, had his thoughts verified at that moment.

Furthermore, Han Xiao knew who the mastermind was upon seeing the armed organization.

“It turns out to be them…” Han Xiao came to a realization.

The Beyond Grade A seed of this organization was called Luthor, and he was a famous Super who was active in the Shattered Star Ring. In truth, Luthor was actually an elite member of a financial group that spanned across various Star Fields called [Limitless].

Peaceful times brought about plenty of business opportunities and many large financial groups. Limitless was a unique financial group because its leader was a Beyond Grade A Super.

Not every Beyond Grade A wanted to form an armed organization, and different Beyond Grade As had various interests and strengths. The Limitless leader was a Beyond Grade A who enjoyed making money by the name of Sorokin. He had a special position in the universe.

After Sorokin took over as leader of the financial group, he developed the Limitless Financial Group to its current scale.

This super financial group was an elite business organization that was involved in many sectors, including management, military, technological, trade, intelligence, service, and manufacturing. It had many different brands under its name, and its operations spanned across many different Star Fields. It was a conglomerate that was extremely famous and even had business dealings with the three Universal Civilizations.

The Limitless Financial Group belonged to the neutral faction and was already a listed company in the universe. Their a.s.sets were frightening, and their logo was a Mobius strip.

The armed branch of the Limitless Financial Group was not to be underestimated. With a frightening amount of wealth, the Limitless Financial Group developed many subsidiary organizations in the various Star Fields, which were akin to the military might of the financial group. Luthor’s organization was such an existence.

Furthermore, Sorokin was not the only Beyond Grade A combatant in the Limitless Financial Group. Sorokin had roped in a few other Beyond Grade A allies through their stocks with a few Ancient Ones being included.

With money to open the path for them, the Limitless Financial Group’s network was unfathomable.

In comparison, although the Black Star Army was also a Beyond Grade A organization, its history was far too short, and the scale was incomparable to the other party.

Luthor had only exposed his own ident.i.ty in the later versions, and no one knew that Luthor belonged to the Limitless Financial Group at this moment. However, Han Xiao was different; he understood Luthor’s background. As such, he immediately knew the mastermind interfering in the Gulal Civilization’s affairs.

This was his unique advantage. Many ‘secrets’ were not secrets before his eyes.

The Limitless Financial Group seems to be extremely interested in the players, but this isn’t too strange, Han Xiao thought to himself.

In his previous life, the Limitless Financial Group was a faction that players could join with their headquarters being in the Sea of Star Spirits. Many players in the Sea of Star Spirits joined the financial group during the middle phase of the game.

Even now, there was a large group of players in the Sea of Star Spirits being recruited by the Limitless Financial Group, and the Limitless Financial Group was pretty popular on the forums.

Han Xiao could guess the other party’s intentions, and they probably wanted to spy on his vegetable garden.

Hmm, they should have noticed that the immortal troop is extremely similar to the players that they have recruited and sent someone to probe the players. Perhaps the Limitless Financial Group will discover some of the player’s habits. For example, they only have to issue a request to the players, and even if it isn’t logical, some of the players will still carry out the request. Thus, they got the Ancient Emperor Party to issue a plea for help toward the army to test the reaction of the players.

Han Xiao’s guess was not too far from the truth.

If I’m remembering it right, the Limitless Financial Group was also very active in the Flickering World…

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.

The various Star Fields had their own organizations, and they would all enter the Flickering World in Version 4.0 to become compet.i.tors. The Limitless Financial Group was one such organization.

It seems like I cannot avoid coming into contact with them in the future.

Han Xiao pondered for a moment before calling for his Black Star Guards.

Very quickly, Hila brought the members of the Black Star Guards into the workshop.

“I have a mission for all of you.”

With a wave of his hands, a holographic screen appeared with Luthor’s information being displayed.

“This armed organization entered the Gulal Civilization civil war and provided reinforcements to the Ancient Emperor Party. I want all of you to reinforce the front lines and get rid of the four of them. Right, the one called Luthor is a Beyond Grade A seed. Hila and Hadavy, be careful.”

“Alright.” Hila nodded.

“I know Luthor.” Hadavy crossed his arms. “I approached him for a spar a long time ago. He is an extremely powerful Pugilist. Strange, I remember him as someone who kept an extremely low profile. Why would he suddenly go against the army?”

“Who knows?”

Han Xiao was not prepared to tell anyone else that he was aware of the other party’s background.

The Limitless Financial Group probably thought that they were still operating from the shadows, and Han Xiao planned to keep things as such.

“Alright then.” Hadavy did not say anything else. Although he knew Luthor, he would not go easy on Luthor since he was going against the army.

The Black Star Guards then left the room. Han Xiao opened the doors to the secondary dimension and summoned his Apostle Weapons.

“Lord.”

Psionic Prime knelt so that his head was at the same level as Han Xiao.

“Take a batch of mechanical soldiers to the Gulal Civilization,” Han Xiao said. “If Hila and the others do not succeed, find a chance to get rid of Luthor’s group of four. Phillip will send you information about the enemy.”

He could not do anything to the Limitless Financial Group as both parties were not enemies. However, exterminating Luthor’s group was not an issue since it was in line with the Black Star Army’s stance. Since they had accepted an employment mission to go against the Black Star Army, the other party would definitely kill members of the army.

Since the Limitless Financial Group was eyeing on his immortal troop and wanted to probe them, Han Xiao would use this opportunity to pull out the claws sent by the Limitless Financial Group. He would still be able to warn the other party even if he pretended that he was not aware of their objective. This would prevent the Limitless Financial Group from becoming bolder and sending more people to probe him.

…

Boom!

A s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p crashed onto the surface of an uninhabited planet, leaving a huge crater behind.

When the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p stopped rolling, Luthor crawled out from the wreckage.

Hila and the other Black Star Guards descended from the sky with light injuries.

Luthor’s injuries were far more severe, and he held onto his bleeding chest. His beating heart could be seen through his ribs, and his wounds were slowly healing.

“Black Star truly thinks highly of me. He sent out his entire Black Star Guards. Cough cough, it will be an honor even if I end up dying today.” Luthor’s face was pale, but despair could not be seen on his face. Instead, he looked extremely carefree as though he had seen through life and death.

Both parties had met on the battlefield, and the Black Star Guards had already taken out his three comrades. He was the only one left, and his time had come.

Hadavy shook his head and said, “I don’t understand why you had to accept the employment mission of the Ancient Emperor Party. If it was to earn money, why did you have to go against the Black Star Army? You killed the members of the army, and His Excellency Black Star was always going to send experts after you. You definitely knew this fact.”

“I do not have a habit of giving explanations to others.” Luthor took a deep breath and prepared to fight to the death.

Hadavy hesitated for a moment and tried to persuade him. “Surrender. His Excellency Black Star is very easy going and treasures talents. You are a Beyond Grade A seed, and His Excellency won’t make things difficult for you if you are willing to join the army.”

“Ha! I am not interested in that. Either kill me or be killed by me. I am not prepared for a third choice.”

“Is there really such a need?” Hadavy frowned. “There isn’t any hatred between us, and it wasn’t easy for you to become a Beyond Grade A seed. Why do you have to rush to your death?”

Bang!

Luthor replied with a fist to Hadavy’s face.

The many Black Star Guards took action together and filled the entire planet with craters.

Even if Luthor was a Beyond Grade A seed, he could not endure such a ferocious attack. His mind, which was riddled with holes by Hila’s attack, finally collapsed, and his soulless body fell to the ground.

Luthor became nutrition for Hila’s Esper Ability.

Hadavy let out a sigh by the side. It was a pity that such a good man had been killed just like that.

The Black Star Guards then cleaned up the battlefield before leaving the planet. Not too long after they left the planet, Psionic Prime appeared outside the atmosphere with his mechanical troops.

“The Black Star Guards have killed the target, so we don’t need to take action.”

Psionic Prime had been watching the battle from the side.

…

“Luthor is dead?”

In the conference room, the upper echelons of the Ancient Emperor Party were stunned.

Although they knew that the reinforcements would not be a match for the Black Star Army, Luthor was a Beyond Grade A seed. They had never imagined that he would be killed so easily.

At this moment, one member of the upper echelons trembled, and his body was possessed.

In truth, this mysterious individual was the leader of the Limitless Financial Group, Sorokin. Despite being extremely busy, he had the ability to do a hundred things at once.

“It seems like our cooperation has to come to an end,” Sorokin said slowly.

The Ancient Emperor Party leader was shocked. “You…”

“The reaction of the Black Star Army is far more intense than I expected. My original plan was only to probe and observe them, but the loss is out of my expectations. If we continue to work together, the cost required will be too great; this investment isn’t worth it,” Sorokin said calmly.

A Beyond Grade A seed was extremely rare, and Luthor’s death truly made Sorokin feel a sense of heartache.

Sorokin did not know that Black Star already knew his ident.i.ty. According to his plans, the Black Star Army was always going to react in some way, but he had never expected Black Star to send out the entire Black Star Guards.

As such, Sorokin’s plan had failed. Although he was powerful, he could not possibly find Black Star personally for such a small matter, and he was not willing to sacrifice even more subsidiary organizations for a small experiment. Han Xiao’s reaction had forced him to give up on the thought of probing the immortal troops.

His plan to test the immortal troops could only be delayed.

However, he was not someone who liked suffering a loss. Even though Black Star was not aware that Luthor was his subordinate, he was not planning to let the matter rest so easily.

Of course, Sorokin would not take revenge with force. The Arcane Church had already tried to do so and suffered a huge loss. He did not think that he would be able to match the Arcane Church in terms of high-level combatants.

However, history had proven that Black Star was an ambitious character, and Sorokin believed that Black Star would eventually have to face his Limitless Financial Group. This day might not be too long later as he was currently attempting to gain entry to the Flickering World.

Without waiting for a reply, Sorokin left the body.

The Ancient Emperor Party leader’s face turned ashen.

…

A few months went by in a flash, and Han Xiao remained in the headquarters the entire time while observing the changes in the Gulal Civilization.

After the death of Luthor, the Limitless Financial Group retreated without any signs of fighting back.

The Limitless Financial Group wanted to hide their ident.i.ty so that they would not be spotted by him. The Limitless Financial Group was a business organization and not an armed organization after all. As long as Han Xiao could make the other party pay a sufficient price, the other party would definitely give up.

Without any future reinforcements, the Ancient Emperor Party was dragged back into h.e.l.l, and the civil war was controlled by the Black Star Army again.

Upon seeing that the Limitless Financial Group had given up on their attempt to probe the players, Han Xiao also stopped paying attention to the battle. As the players grew stronger, it would be inevitable for others to set their eyes on them.

The experience provided by the players was something that he needed to grow quickly, and this was a non-negotiable for him. If he did not take a hard stance, the other party would climb over his head.

After dealing with this little problem, Han Xiao turned his attention to something more important.

After a few months of seclusion, the sixteen-month experience penalty had finally ended!