The widened eyes were filled with regret.
The corpse suddenly changed shape into another man. This was the shapeshifting Esper ability, especially suitable for infiltration. Herlous’ eyes sparkled. “I guessed correctly. There is indeed a shapeshifting Esper.”
Seeing this, Han Xiao could now guess roughly what had happened. “Looks like the original captain died long ago and was replaced by this shapeshifting Esper. He’s a killer you hired, and he should be the one that poisoned the cup as well.”
Sylvia bit her lower lip heavily. She turned her head to not look at the corpse. Despite her trying her best to stay strong, she could not stop herself from shivering or the tiny tears appearing in her eyes.
She only looked like a teenage girl in the face of her fear of death.
“Yo—you might as well kill me too!”
Sylvia closed her eyes and tried her best to make an unafraid expression.
“I don’t oppose that.”
The still-hot muzzle pressed on Sylvia’s white and smooth face. Through the muzzle, Han Xiao could obviously feel Sylvia was shivering more and more heavily.
Chapter 434 - Father (1)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Buzz!
At this time, a hologram appeared in the middle of the hall. It was an individual wearing luxurious clothes who looked similar to lizards. He scanned the entire place, looked at Han Xiao, and said in a confused tone, “The system of a spaceship under our organization was hacked. Black Star, did you do this?”
“Your response is too slow; I’ve been waiting for you.” Han Xiao leaned back on the sofa and looked up at this lizardman, temporarily putting Sylvia’s case aside.
This spaceship belonged to a galactic travel agency, so the organization had the highest level of authorization. As soon as the spaceship was taken away by an outsider, the organization would notice it right away and locate the spaceship, unless the connection was cut. However, doing so not only required hacking technology but also all sorts of disrupting and invading hardware, only then would the highest level of authorization be blocked. Han Xiao took the captain’s authorization, so he had known long ago that the actual owner of the spaceship would find him.
Although the spaceship was under his control, there was no way to block the owner’s range surveillance. With his technology level, it would take a few days to half a month to change the basic setting of the spaceship and erase the rights of the highest level of authorization. The deeper the authorization level was, the stronger its defense was; the difference in difficulty was like the difference between hacking into a small enterprise and hacking into the government.
The lizardman had thought that the spaceship had been stolen, but seeing the current situation, there seemed to be something else. He suppressed his rage and asked about what happened.
Han Xiao explained what had happened in a simple way. Knowing that the captain had been replaced and someone had tried to kill the passengers during the trip, the lizardman’s face changed tremendously… but the humans present could not see it.
“I took your spaceship because I trusted your travel agency, but I faced such a huge danger. Your reputation is very disappointing! If potential customers hear about this, who would want to take your spaceship that’s so unsafe?” Han Xiao pressed on his heart and spoke with an exaggerated tone, blackmailing under bright daylight. “Tsk… I have yet to recover from the terror. I am so upset. You have to compensate me for this, including mental damage, lost wages, post-trauma checkup, and others.”
The lizardman swung his tail and said with frustration, “I’m sorry, this is a dereliction of duty from our organization. We will definitely deal with it and give you compensations accordingly…”
Assassinations were hard to guard against. His travel agency had been dragged into that mess as well, but there was nothing he could do. After all, it had happened on his spaceship.
There were many galactic travel agencies in the universe, so the competition was quite intense. If this was spread out in an exaggerated way, their brand image would definitely be affected. At least Black Star was a mercenary group that worked for money and kept their word—he was willing to compensate and avoid the damages.
This travel agency owned dozens of spaceships and made close to a thousand Enas every day, it would be a waste if Han Xiao did not make them pay. Han Xiao directly stated an outrageous amount, and after some negotiation, both of them barely agreed with compensation of 30,000 Enas.
After receiving the 30,000 Enas, Han Xiao now had around 840,000 Enas. He sighed in his heart and felt that blackmailing was a much quicker way to earn money compared to being a mercenary… but not as quick as earning from the players’ wallets.
“Before you recall this spaceship, lend it to me for a few days. Anyways, you guys can track it and will know where the spaceship is,” Han Xiao said.
“This… alright.”
After agreeing, the upset lizardman turned off the communication.
Han Xiao did not intend to take the spaceship away. He was not a kid that could just snatch someone else’s candy. Robbing a spaceship with an official owner will make him wanted, unless there were no witnesses. The cons outweighed the pros, and it was not as safe as blackmailing the owners. In his previous life, many players proved the consequences of robbing spaceships with actions. Regardless of whether they succeeded or failed, they would become wanted and be chased by mercenaries, bounty hunters, and the patrolling law enforcement of all civilizations. Their initial Favorability with the various lawful civilizations would drop by a huge amount as well. Also, if they were discovered in the cities or planets belonging to the lawful factions, they would be surrounded by the guards and imprisoned. It was not worth it at all.
Han Xiao had no interest in walking down the same path. He had no urgent need for spaceships, so he did not want to risk it. Furthermore, he knew how to get spaceships for free without the side effects, so of course, he was not interested in robbing the spaceship.
After this matter was settled, Han Xiao looked at Sylvia again.
This teenage girl was tied up tightly and was slumping at the side. Her low eyelashes trembled continuously, looking extremely pitiful and heartbreaking. However, this had absolutely no effect on the Great Mechanic Han. Only dead enemies were good enemies …
“Wait a minute… who tied her up like this‽”
Han Xiao had only just realized the superb tying skills used on Sylvia.
Bun-Hit-Dog raised his hand immediately like a good student answering a question. He said with a bright smile on his face, “I did. Doesn’t it look amazing?”
“You’re really letting yourself go.” Frenzied Sword’s mouth twitched.
On the side, Herlous shook his head and asked, “Black Star, what are you planning to do with her?”
Han Xiao played with a firearm, glanced at him, and said, “Judging from your tone, you seem to have some suggestions. You should speak if you have any. I’m not a dictator—I believe in democracy.”
Herlous paused and chose his words carefully. “She said, ‘You dishonorable mercenaries helped those tyrants suppress the people who are suffering.’ I think she has definitely misunderstood some details. We all know full well what kind of person Langley is, but she doesn’t seem to. I think… isn’t it better to ask about it first?”
Then, Herlous sighed and said, “After all, I understand the impulse of revenge. Not mentioning the fact that she’s just a child, if there was a chance for me to assassinate the leader of DarkStar, I would not even hesitate.”
“I see, good for you.” Han Xiao’s mouth twitched. He turned around, looked at the players behind him and asked, “What about you guys? Any suggestions?”
The players froze, not expecting to be asked.
“Us? Anything.”
“Whatever is fine.”
“Anything is fine… but which one gives a better reward?”
“This girl is quite pr
etty—it’s a shame to kill her.”
The players replied carelessly. Most of them were male—they preferred to be decisive and get it done with. The female players like Rainy Kim and Maple Moon were more gentle and suggested searching for the truth.
Sylvia clenched her teeth tightly and tried her best to show a fierce face, but her body was still shivering. She had no power to resist and could only wait for her fate to be decided by someone else.
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and stared at her as he contemplated.
He had many ways to deal with this; killing was the simplest one. As long as he pulled the trigger on Sylvia, who was acting tough but shivering in fear, the players in the future would lose thousands of parodies, making her journey end on his hand before it even started. He had a reason to do so. He was just killing an enemy, so no one could say that there was anything wrong with that.
With the blood of countless people on his hands, Han Xiao did not care for one more future known character.
However, he was not a bloodthirsty person. To him, killing was just a method; benefits were his real goal.
The question that was on his mind was if he could get more benefits from Sylvia and whether killing her or not killing her was more beneficial.
It did not matter whether Sylvia would be good or evil in the future; the Great Mechanic Han only needed someone with value, just like that crazy woman Hila. No wait, he saved Aurora, so Hila was not crazy. But in the storyline in his previous life, Hila wiped out entire planets of lives, so it would not be an overstatement to call her extremely wicked. Her power was what Han Xiao paid attention to, not her personality, beauty, or things like that.
There were many types of enemies. Archenemies that could not be negotiated with such as the Germinal Organization and DarkStar, competitors that could be friend or foe, enemies from misunderstandings, and so on. The way he saw it, Sylvia was an enemy born from a misunderstanding, and Han Xiao knew what misunderstanding it was.
Langley was a criminal rebel, but as a father, he had definitely hidden something from his daughter or even lied to her, finding excuses for his actions. Therefore, Sylvia thought that her father’s actions were fighting against a tyrant and that he was saving his people.
According to the experience from his previous life, Sylvia was quite righteous—she was just blinded by hatred and lies. If she knew what kind of person her father was, she might give up on her revenge as she did in Han Xiao’s previous life. Han Xiao had known the truth since long ago, and he knew how to quickly change Sylvia’s perspective. To him, those were just small deeds… but this was not the key.
The key was, what benefit could he get from doing that?
Hmm… maybe a certain mission can be triggered. Since there are some rewards, she still has some value. That shall be it then, keep her alive temporarily and complete the mission first, then deal with it depending on the situation. If she still is hostile… then I shall bury her.
Release her? That was completely impossible.
From the perspective of a businessman, Sylvia was not just a person but a resource that had value. His assets were not so large to the extent that he could throw away money on the streets and waste resources.
Upon having these thoughts, Han Xiao stood up and said, “Pack up and prepare to leave. Knock her out and lock her up.”
Sylvia’s tiny face was filled with shock. She looked up and said, “Where are you taking me?”
“To see your father,” Han Xiao said coldly.
Sylvia’s eyes widened instantly; she could not believe it.
Chapter 435 - Father (2)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Agolo Prison City was an enormous fortress made of steel located in the Agolo Alliance Garrison Planet, one of the seven planets under the New Phylen Alliance. It was used to imprison political criminals, war criminals, treason criminals, and other criminals from the members of the alliance. Sylvia’s father, Langley, was imprisoned here.
The New Phylen Alliance was a small civilization alliance in the Rain Star System of the Colton Star Cluster in the Shattered Star Ring. In the sea of planets, there were countless political alliances like this. Usually, a civilization alliance only existed within a certain area. Most of them were formed when one civilization in the area decided to develop peacefully, hence forming an alliance.
The New Phylen Alliance had eight members, all small galactic civilizations in between planet level and star system level. These civilizations had once been nations on the same planet called Phylen. After Planet Phylen’s technology reached a level that allowed them to enter space, these nations could not come to an agreement. Since there were disputes, they decided to split up peacefully. There were so many resources in the universe waiting to be discovered, so there was no need to be inflexible. Therefore, the strongest nation stayed on their mother planet, and the other nations took migration spaceships and migrated to other planets. In the end, they all developed into different civilizations.
In terms of fundamentals, these civilizations all had the same roots. Their technology and culture were very similar. Hence, after many years of separation, they came together once again, forming the New Phylen Alliance. This was the strongest force in the Rain Star System.
In Han Xiao’s previous life, there were discussions about implementing a similar system on Earth. Since Earth could not be united, maybe this was a good idea. Of course, this was very idealistic, and problems regarding limited resources were always complicated. Furthermore, it was still unknown whether Earth could even develop to a point where they could enter outer space. Fortunately, the Great Mechanic Han did not have to care about this problem anymore.
Langley had originally been a high ranked army officer of a nation, almost a warlock that had a land of his own. His life was good, and he was paid handsomely too. However, one day, he suddenly used his influence to provoke the army, recruiting quite a number of people in secret and gathering a group of rebels, looking like they wanted to form a nation on their own. He called it an uprising, but in reality, they were doing immoral things. They built a very firm stronghold and fought with their old superiors for many years. In the end, they were demolished by a group of galactic mercenaries who fell from the sky and penetrated straight into their headquarters. The Black Star Mercenary Group was one of these mercenaries that accepted the hiring invitation from Purple Gold Army. There was a total of seven mercenary groups that worked together to complete this mission.
This time, Han Xiao was piloting Rainbow Conch spaceship and arrived at New Phylen Alliance’s territory. He had sent a request earlier, and the alliance always welcomed mercenaries who had worked with them before. Thus, they agreed to his request of questioning the prisoner.
The spaceship landed on the pier of Agolo Alliance Garrison Planet, took the land transport, and headed toward Prison City. Han Xiao only brought a few people along for this trip—Aroshia, the tied-up Sylvia, and a few players including Bun-Hit-Dog. The rest were waiting on the spaceship. This trip was just to let Sylvia see her father, so there was no need to bring a lot of people.
“Wh—why are you doing this?”
In the stably moving Hovering Battle Vehicle, Sylvia was feeling complicated. A few days ago, when she failed the assassination, she had thought that she was going to die for sure. But to her disbelief, not only did Han Xiao not kill her, he even brought her to see her father. In the rare times that she was awake along the journey, she had been questioning if this was a dream. Without approval from the alliance, she would never be able to enter the heavily guarded Agolo Prison City. She had thought that she would never see her father again. Sylvia could not understand why Han Xiao was helping her.
“To let you know that your hatred is meaningless and how unworthy it is for you to give your life for him. Also, to let your father know about your death. I really want to see his expression when he realizes that his lies killed his own daughter. Killing people and destroying their spirit
is my favorite.”
Han Xiao shrugged. He could not be bothered with Sylvia’s furious expression and opened up the interface.
After he let Sylvia live, a new mission [Lies] was triggered. Its requirement was to let Sylvia know the so-called ‘truth’. The reward was not too bad, 540,000 experience. There was no need to search for the truth—he just had to ask her father.
In Sylvia’s character background in Han Xiao’s previous life, her father was blasted into pieces by the mercenaries, but now, he had been captured alive by Han Xiao. That hiring mission had given a greater reward for capturing him alive, so he had let Langley live, which made things much easier now.
Agolo Prison City was enormous and magnificent. There was a lot of guards, and many snipers were positioned at high locations. The searchlight illuminated the night and made it look like the day. They entered the prison successfully, and a warden came to welcome them.
“Black Star, I’ve heard a lot about you.” This warden had a beard and was very straight forward. He shook Han Xiao’s hand firmly and laughed passionately. “My friend Barny serves in the 37th Field Army. He took part in the Langley Stronghold Eradication Operation and fought alongside the mercenaries. He witnessed how powerful you are and always mentions you to me. I’m stuck in this silent Prison City every day, and finally, I’m meeting someone as renowned as you.”
“You’re too kind.” Han Xiao maintained a slight smile and chatted casually as they followed the warden forward.
Very soon, they stopped before the metal gate of a single-person cell.
The distance was only one door away; Sylvia was very excited and almost wanted to immediately rush in to see her father. However, Han Xiao grabbed her shoulder, making her unable to move. “Mr. Warden, I want to see Langley alone first.”
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