Sylvia nodded. “We should first establish the stargate transportation network within the seven galaxies to form a whole and facilitate fleet transportation. Through our exploration, the network has already taken shape, which is convenient for us. After this, we should install the army’s own warning and space monitoring devices, and we’ll lay a large scale quantum network base station to place the seven Star Systems under the management of the artificial intelligence system.”
The Black Star Army had to establish its own infrastructure to take over the seven Star Systems and make it into a seamless whole, strong as an iron board.
“According to the plans left by the Army Commander, we need to focus on the two Star System gateways, Ponzale and Purple River. We must firmly control the entry and exit stargates for the main traffic routes. These stargate stations were originally made by the dynasty, and now that the station is under our control, we have to spare some troops for the stations. “In terms of planetary terraforming, the priority should go to the army bases and resource mining bases. The galactic cities and transit stations will only come in handy when the Star Field is opened, so we can put those off until a later date.
“The blueprint also states that the Sigma Star System will be the logistics base of the army within the Flickering World. There will also be a need to focus on the transformation and the construction of a large number of barracks, military factories, and airports there…”
The construction scope for seven Star Systems was a monumental task. Han Xiao only provided a blueprint, and the specific action plans would need to be developed by those responsible for each star system. While everyone was discussing, Lagi maintained his usual style, not caring about anything and serving as a mascot.
A plan was quickly formulated, and under the command of Herlous, the construction troops began to proceed in an orderly manner. The stargate passage was set up, various devices were laid, and they took the facilities that had been left over during the exploration to be reused, saving a lot of resources.
At the same time, Bloodshed Land, Klent, and the rest of the dynasty’s allies also started to construct their territories. The entire Flickering World entered a period of rapid development.
Rural development was a long-term project. It would take a lot of time to raise the region to the standard of the currently explored universe. The seven Star Systems that Han Xiao had chosen were all important areas in his past life. Han Xiao had drawn out the renovation plans according to his memory, and it was expected to take decades to completely construct everything on the blueprint. It was estimated that the next phase of exploration for the Crimson Dynasty would not be held back for so long. As long as at least two Star Systems were complete in each Star Field, the second phase of exploration would then proceed.
While the construction team was in full swing, the mechanical lives and Black Spirit Race also arrived at their new, separate home planets.
The Sigma Star System was a central area of the Garu Star Cluster, rich in resources. It bordered the other two Star Systems, Ednea and Orlando, occupying a vast area.
Planet Apostle was one of the resource rich planets within this Star System, which was named by Han Xiao. The whole planet was gray, with rich mineral veins and metal resources. Although it was not a habitable planet in the conventional sense, it was very suitable to host mechanical lives.
Dozens of spaceships landed slowly on this gray wasteland. The Psionic Prime disembarked from the spaceship with the hundred thousand mechanical lives and glanced around. The undulating wasteland extended to the end of the horizon, and there was no greenery in sight, only endless gray rocks and flying sand. “This will be our homeland in the future.”
The Psionic Prime held his spear and directed everyone to begin building the city immediately.
If it was a normal civilization, eighty percent of them would collapse from the mental burden of establishing a civilization on this desolate planet. However, to the mechanical lifeforms, this emotion did not exist, and their mentality leaned toward a colonialist mindset.
With the engineering equipment provided, coupled with their natural talents, the speed of the mechanical lives in building cities was incredibly fast.
If one overlooked the planet, they would quickly see a metal area appearing on the surface and spreading out to form a city of machines.
First of all, a large number of assembly lines were built. With sufficient resources, the mechanical lives were assembled. A portion of the existing life forms consumed their energy to synthesize their own tinder gene codes, incubating the second generation of mechanical lives.
Having a large quantity of soldiers was the specialty of a Mechanical Race.
At the same time, they built specialized equipment that allowed them to excavate the underground veins and resources, smash apart stones, and gather all these raw materials into the warehouse.
Without any enemies, the construction efficiency was frightening, and under the command of the Apostles and the Psionic Prime, the mechanical lives’ civilization slowly unfolded.
On the other side, the Black Spirit Race also arrived at their new home, Planet New Black Spirit.
This planet was different from the Planet Apostle. It was a habitable planet with vast vegetation and verdant forests. There were many indigenous beasts with mild temperaments.
The migratory fleet landed on a fertile plain, and the Black Spirit Race rushed down from the spaceship. Their newly evolved green eyes curiously took in the scenes.
“This is our new homeland?”
“It seems even more beautiful.”
One of the spaceships fired a traction beam, lowering the Black Star statue onto the plain. They were unable to move the entire city, but landmarks could still be transported.
To the Black Spirit Race, the statue of Black Star was just like their landmark, and its function was similar to a ‘civilization monument’. This monument gave their race hope. They could do without the city but not without the statue.
Han Xiao required the Black Spirit Race to develop itself during the decades when the version was undergoing an update, so he could only intervene in the Black Spirit Race’s civilization process. The spaceships that transported the Black Spirit Race were outfitted with many engineering devices and stayed to help them construct their new homes.
Under the gazes of the Black Spirit Race, an army member handed a communicator to the Germinal Tribe leader.
“This contains Knowledge that the Black Star God is gifting you. You can learn it and use it to transform your race.”
The Germinal Tribe leader carefully switched it on, and a list popped up. Within it was all sorts of information compiled by Han Xiao. It was a technological tree tailored to the racial characteristics of the Black Spirit Race, ranging from basic to advanced Knowledges.
Planning out a technology tree for the entire race would ensure that their development direction would not deviate.
Thanks to their mind network, the Black Spirit Race quickly found out about the contents and started worshipping the statue.
“Many thanks to Black Star God for this generous bestowal!”
The Germinal Tribe leader was very moved. This emotion spread to everyone else, turning their faith even more fanatical.
Their Black Star God had passed down divine knowledge to them, which had historical significance for the entire race. This scene would forever be inscribed in the inheritance memory of the Black Spirit Race.
While there were varied differences between the mechanical lives and the Black Spirit Race, they shared similarities in the fact that they had a hive mentality. One utilized a mind network, while the other accessed the quantum network, which could highly condense the productivity of their race. Thus, all races with such characteristics typically had unparalleled development potential.
The Black Spirit Race was akin to the Bug Tribe. So long as they were placed on the right track, they would enter the fast lane of civilization development. As fo
r the mechanical lives, they were even more overpowered, starting with a high technological level. All they lacked was land and population, which were easily expanded. Han Xiao had high hopes for these two races, so he had specifically placed them in different Star Systems, hoping to give them ample room for development.
Speaking of which, if both of them developed, they could be treated as Calamities that could shake the balance of the world. If one added in the players that were supposed to be the fourth Calamity…
Han Xiao himself occupied three of the four Calamities!
In the past month, countless people were paying attention to the construction of the Flickering World by the Crimson Dynasty and its allies. This was the most eye-catching event in the Universe.
Like the others, the Black Star Army also poured all its effort into development, investing a lot of manpower and resources within.
Taking advantage of this time, the Limitless Financial Group finally started to manipulate the network of interests that the Black Star Army had within the Shattered Star Ring.
Chapter 931 - Trouble Surfaces
The Colin Group was one of the local financial groups within the Shattered Star Ring. It was well-known for its large business scope that encompassed areas such as resource mining, logistics, and transportation, as well as the production of processed materials. While it was not a galactic-level financial group, it was still a sizable company in cooperation with many planetary and Star System level civilizations. At the same time, this group was also partnered with the Black Star Army and provided business channels for the army.
Many similar organizations cooperated with the Black Star Army, partly for the Evolution Cube, and partly because they were attracted to the influence of the Black Star Army in the area. Their identities as Black Star Army collaborators could bring a lot of convenience to their businesses.
The Colin Group, as one of the first companies to cooperate with the Black Star Army, had experienced a booming performance in the past few years, and their prospects were broad, but at this moment, all the corporate executives and shareholders were gathered together in the conference room of the Colin Group with frowning faces.
The current head of the group, Colin Duller, sat at the head seat. His expression was terrible, and he was suppressing his fury.
"The Hebrew and Sayde Civilizations have terminated their cooperation with us. They not only withdrew the planetary mining rights that we purchased but also cancelled the long-term contract for the supply of materials. Furthermore, I was negotiating with the Wiese members before, which would have allowed us to obtain a new business area. The negotiation had already come to an end, but the Wiese actually went back on the previous terms and chose to cooperate with others. Our situation now is very bad."
One of the upper echelons sighed. "That's right. Many of the heads for the civilization departments that had cooperated happily with us have now cut off all contact. This is not normal and should be our competitors pulling some underhanded moves…"
"Humph, I know who they are." Colin snorted coldly. "A while ago, the Limitless Financial Group sought me out, wanting to purchase the Colin Group, but I rejected them. The recent movements were most likely made by them."
"What, there was such a thing‽"
"Why didn't we know that the Limitless Financial Group had contacted us?"
A few of them displayed expressions of shock while some of them remained silent. Obviously, they had found out about this matter.
Colin's tone was furious. "I've already inquired about it. The Limitless Financial Group has been acquiring companies in the Shattered Star Ring recently, and those businesses that did not agree were more or less suppressed. I heard that the Limitless Financial Group has decided to enter Shattered Star Ring due to the development of the Flickering World, and they are preparing to invest in the large scale construction of a factory in the Hebrew and Sayde civilizations. They should have made a deal behind our back, so both of them terminated the cooperation with us."
At this moment, the second largest shareholder of the company, who had always been dissatisfied with Colin, suddenly sneered.
"It's not only that. There are also several important cooperative businesses that have stopped businesses with us. Several civilizations no longer approve our loans, and our management level employees were also poached, leaving a significant gap… Now our business has shrunk by more than thirty percent, and our price on the stock market has plummeted. As I said earlier, you should not have rejected the Limitless Financial Group, one of the largest financial groups in the universe. There's no disadvantage to turning them against us."
Hearing this, Colin's face was pale.
He also knew that they could not compare to the brand or financial power of the Limitless Financial Group. If there was an opportunity, many would cooperate with them, even abandoning their previous partners, as the Limitless Financial Group would bring immense benefits.
The more Colin thought about it, the angrier he got, and he heavily thumped on the table, leaving behind an indentation. He gritted his teeth.
"Don't even think about it. The Colin Group is my hard work, and I will not agree to the acquisition requirements of the Limitless Financial Group!"
The second largest shareholder sneered. "How are you going to solve the current problems? If there is no way, the group will collapse sooner or later. Everyone here is a shareholder. If you want to gamble, you have to go through us first."
Colin fell silent for a while before shaking his head. "I have no method at the moment…"
A document was thrown out by the shareholder, landing on the table. He coldly laughed. "Since you have no methods, just sign this shareholder acquisition document."
Colin's expression changed. He stared at the shareholder. "You've been bought over by them‽"
"Bought over? I was just acting in the interests of our group."
The second largest shareholder laughed and surveyed the shocked or calm faces of the upper echelons.
Another large shareholder understood the idea and said, "Colin, just agree. We will have a hard time contending with such a large financial group at that level. Besides, their purchase price is very reasonable, and after joining the Limitless Financial Group, our businesses can be further developed with their support."
This seemed to be the signal to get many of the upper echelons to open their mouths.
"You, all of you…" Colin's eyes widened. How could he not understand that all of them had been bought over? The sum of all these people's shares was enough to overrule his decisions.
To think that the board had been infiltrated like this!
Even those hesitating shareholders were also staring at Colin with hopeful eyes now.
Colin's eyes were unreadable. "If I don't agree, are you all planning to overthrow me?"
The second largest shareholder indifferently replied, "That will depend on the strategy you can come up with. If you want to drag this whole group into the abyss, don't blame us for saving ourselves."
Colin stared at the acquisition book on the table, and hesitated. Without a word, he grabbed the book and read it carefully before signing the agreement with a heavy expression.
Pa pa pa…
A sudden applause could be heard outside the door, and the room opened, showing a man clapping as he walked in, a confident smile on his face.
"A wise choice."
Colin looked over frowning, but before he could ask, the second largest shareholder beat him to it.
"This is one of the upper echelons of the Limitless Financial Group, Mr. Madick."
"Oh, turns out you're the guy who bought us out." Colin's words were sarcastic.
"Hehe, there's no need to look at me like that. In the future, the Colin Group will be an arm of the Limitless, and we'll all be colleagues." Madick waved his hands while lightly smiling. "I'm here to tell everyone that there will be no major changes to the original decision-making structure of the group. You all wil
l still remain as the backbone."
Madick eyed everyone before continuing. "However, there needs to be an adjustment in business direction. We need to immediately terminate the cooperation with the Black Star Army."
"Why?" Colin could not understand.
Acquisition was one thing. What did it have to do with their business partner?
"Oh, our Limitless Financial Group has signed an agreement to cooperate and develop the Bloodshed Land. The Bloodshed Land is prepared to emulate the Black Star Army and build its own interest union, so it requires many organizations to join. Every business we buy must be converted to a partner of the Bloodshed Land, to provide them with channels to expand their business."
Madick smiled indifferently.
Colin frowned before a look of understanding flashed past his eyes.
He had also attended the previous Black Star Party, and Sorokin had been there, but the latter had chosen to invest in Bloodshed Land and was now using it to attack the partners of the Black Star Army. As someone local to the Shattered Star Ring, a bold conjecture appeared in Colin's mind…
The Limitless Financial Group did not just wish to enter the Shattered Star Ring; it wanted to attack the Black Star Army!
All of them were just pawns that had been caught up in the storm!
…
The Colin Group was just one of many examples. During this period, many of the local businesses within the Shattered Star Ring were acquired or controlled, either defeated directly by sheer banknotes or simply willing to go under the banner of the Limitless Financial Group.
For those that did not agree, there were many methods that the Limitless Financial Group could use.
For example, in response to conflicts, they could rally the smaller shareholders to overthrow the larger shareholders. They could also buy out some key personnel or invest in building factories to attract the civilizations to hinder the businesses of some companies. The Limitless Financial Group was well experienced in this.
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