Han Xiao frowned slightly.
The situation was not in his favor currently. Gaud was a direct member of the dynasty. This identity protected him. There were many things Han Xiao could not do because of it.
The imminent issue was to acquire evidence to prove there was something abnormal with Gaud. Only then would he have sufficient reasons to do something.
Otherwise, if he beat up a new direct Beyond Grade A whom the dynasty expected a lot of for no reason, he could easily imagine just how strongly the dynasty would respond.
The dynasty had to take responsibility for all of its direct members, so they would certainly never compromise or take a step back. In the worst case, the dynasty would instantly become his enemy, which would destroy almost all the preparation he had done up till now. Even though he was very useful to the dynasty, when it came to this kind of thing, there was zero room for negotiation. The dynasty would not hesitate to lose him as an ally.
As long as there was no evidence, any explanation for such actions would be meaningless.
If he really had to act without enough evidence, he had to do it secretly and wipe out all the clues. There could not be witnesses, clues, or anything else, and he must not fail…
“The risk is too high. There’ll be tons of problems if I’m even slightly careless.”
Han Xiao shook his head.
Clearly, giving up the profit network and connections he had built up over all the years just for Gaud was certainly not worth it. Unless he had no other choice, he would never do it.
There was a less risky path now, so Han Xiao did not want to take this risk.
If Gaud really is EsGod, something has definitely happened with the body he left in the Spacetime Amber… Looks like I’ll have to request from the dynasty to visit EsGod.
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.
Gaud still had to stay in the Flickering World for some time. It would be best to figure things out before he returned. Otherwise, things would be much more difficult once Gaud returned to the dynasty’s territory no matter what he wanted to do.
Ding!
While he was pondering, a notification popped up on the interface.
_____________________
You have triggered the hidden mission [Gaud’s Secret]!
Mission Introduction: Gaud is a new direct Beyond Grade A of the Crimson Dynasty. During your contact with him, you noticed something abnormal about him. This might be a shocking secret.
Mission Requirements: Figure out Gaud’s secret.
Reward: 1 Character Summon Card, draw one ability/talent from the target.
Tip: This mission might affect your relationship with the Crimson Dynasty faction. Please decide how to act cautiously.
_____________________
Han Xiao looked at the interface.
A hidden mission… Was it triggered because I saw his abilities? That’s not an easy trigger condition… I can only see all of Gaud’s abilities because my level is higher than his. I’m probably the only person who can trigger this mission.
Chapter 1221 - Release
1221 Release
Han Xiao turned off the interface, prepared a request to visit EsGod, and sent it to the dynasty.After a short while, he received the response.
“Hmm? My file got sent back?”
Han Xiao looked at the virtual screen in front of him that was showing the request file he sent to the dynasty.
A red stamp was added to the bottom right corner of the file that wrote ‘Unapproved’ in the dynasty’s language. This meant that his request was rejected.
“The dynasty isn’t letting me visit EsGod. What does that mean?”
Han Xiao frowned. He took out his communicator, thought for a while, and did not call Urranrell’s private number but her office.
The communicator rang for a while and was picked up very soon. Seeing that it was Black Star calling, the liaison officer directed the call to the head secretary of the office.
“Your Excellency Black Star, what can I do for you?” The head secretary had a good relationship with Han Xiao.
“I have just sent a request to visit EsGod, but it was not approved. Is this Urranrell’s decision?”
“Ah, Her Excellency has been attending a meeting, so it shouldn’t be her. I didn’t know about this. Your request was not reported to us.”
“Can you check which department processed the request for me?”
“Sure, please wait for a moment…”
The head secretary searched through the internal system for a while and brought up the files before sighing.
“This is the collective decision of the dynasty’s main artificial intelligence, Heroic Soul, and the prison department. I looked at their internal remarks. The location of EsGod is top secret, and no one is allowed to visit under normal circumstances. Your Excellency Black Star, you are a special case. You’re surprisingly on their visiting blacklist…”
“Why am I on the blacklist? What did I do?” Han Xiao was confused.
The head secretary sighed and said, “You didn’t do anything, but you’re currently the only person in the world who can release EsGod. Therefore, before the five-hundred-year sentence ends, you’re not allowed to visit…”
Han Xiao was speechless.
I caught EsGod for the dynasty, and now I can’t even visit him?
Alright, from the dynasty’s perspective, this is logical. I’m the only person in the universe who can open the Spacetime Amber seal, so I’m the only one who has the ability to release him. This way, the reason for the dynasty rejecting my visit seems normal. It’s simply to avoid risk.
Although it was not wrong for the dynasty to do this, Han Xiao was still disheartened emotionally.
He thought the request would be smoothly approved. He did not expect it to get rejected.
“Can’t something be done?” Han Xiao frowned.
“The authorization level for EsGod’s prison is very high. If you must visit him, you’ll have to ask the Ruler to help. She can approve your request, but it’ll need a sensible reason, otherwise…”
Hearing that, Han Xiao nodded.
He had quite a good relationship with Urranrell, but there was no way she could just approve it without a valid reason.
Han Xiao hung up the communication. Urranrell was in a quite important meeting, so he had to wait a while before he could contact her. Since there was time, he used it to think about what to say.
“I was going to see EsGod by visiting him, but sadly, that won’t work. Without a valid reason, the dynasty won’t allow me to get close to EsGod’s cell in any form. Even the coordinates of the prison are a secret, and I don’t have the authority to check it…”
Han Xiao tutted with dissatisfaction.
Simply saying he wanted to check on EsGod would not be able to convince the dynasty. Plus, he had to open the amber seal if he wanted to check on EsGod. The best method was still to come up with a special reason so that the dynasty would allow him to open the amber. The risk of this method was the lowest.
If he could not convince the dynasty, he would probably have to imitate Old Manison and try to hack into the dynasty’s database to search for related information. Although he would offend the dynasty by doing so, stealing information was not too serious an offence… but this could only be the backup plan.
After a while, the secretary sent a message to him saying that the Ruler’s meeting ended. Han Xiao then called Urranrell’s private number, and it was picked up very quickly.
Urranrell appeared on the screen with a calm face and cut to the chase.
“Black Star, I heard you just tried to contact me and want to visit EsGod, why?”
Although she hid it very well, Han Xiao was very observant and saw that Urranrell was a little mentally tired. He thought about it and said, “EsGod has already been locked up for decades. I want to open the seal and check on the status of his soul. ”
“Is that necessary?” Urranrell frowned. “You were th
e one who suggested the five-hundred-year sentence, and it’s only been a few decades. With EsGod’s strength, his soul won’t have dissipated this quickly. Opening the seal now will only cause trouble.”
“Ahem, I was not strong enough back then and had a limited understanding of the level of strength EsGod has. That’s why I suggested that the sentence should be as long as possible. Five hundred years was just a rough estimate. Now that I’ve reached this level and have a deeper understanding of the Spacetime Amber, I’ve discovered that wiping out the soul of a Beyond Grade A probably won’t take that long.”
Han Xiao said the reason he had prepared. He did not have proof to explain his suspicion of Gaud, so saying that would only make the dynasty suspicious. Thus, he did not mention Gaud.
Urranrell did not doubt him but still shook her head and said, “I don’t think that’s needed. EsGod is too dangerous. I still think imprisoning him is the safest. The dynasty can afford to wait that long.”
Han Xiao expected Urranrell to say this; he was not surprised. “Experimenting on him is just one of the goals. I actually have other worries. I’ve only come to understand how strong someone at this level is, and thinking back now, I realized that capturing EsGod was too easy. Something’s not right. From what I know about EsGod, he very likely escaped using some kind of soul-related ability. I’m worried that we’ve been tricked, so I want to open the seal and check.”
Urranrell’s eyes flickered, but she was still not very convinced.
“Evidence?”
Han Xiao deliberately spoke in a solemn tone. “This is just speculation, which is why I want to verify it. But if you need evidence, you can ask Lotus Swordsman. Back when we caught EsGod, she sensed a strange soul ripple from EsGod. I suspect that was where the problem lay.”
Gaud was a star the dynasty had high hopes for, so mentioning him was not a wise choice. Han Xiao’s words were mainly targeted at EsGod.
Hearing this, Urranrell finally became serious about the issue and immediately told the head secretary to contact Lotus Swordsman.
Lotus Swordsman came online very quickly and agreed that it did happen. Only about thirty years had passed since it happened, so she remembered it vividly.
Seeing this, Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief in his mind. This evidence actually could not prove anything. Everyone thought that it was just EsGod’s final meaningless struggle. However, now that he made use of it to make his excuse sound more convincing… If this did not happen, convincing Urranrell would probably have been much more difficult.
Having received a response, Urranrell went silent, seemingly analyzing the pros and cons. After a while, she looked up right at Han Xiao’s eyes and said seriously, “Black Star, if EsGod gets free, can you guarantee you can capture him again?”
Han Xiao smiled. “I could do it then; I can do it now.”
He no longer had the Esper Silence Character Summon Card, but after decades, he was much stronger than before. Even if his guess was wrong, he would just have to seal EsGod up once more.
Furthermore, the others did not know that the Character Summon Card was a one-time ability. They would only think that he could still use the ability.
Urranrell pondered for quite a while and nodded in the end.
“Okay, I’ll approve it! Since your suspicion makes sense, open the seal and check EsGod’s status. Make sure that we did not capture an empty shell!”
…
Over ten days later…
A huge cube shaped mechanical building hovered in space. It was a galactic fortress covered with armor and shields that were more than enough to endure bombardments from hostile fleets. This was the space prison EsGod was locked up in.
At this point of time, dense dynasty fleets surrounded the prison. Cannons extended from every battleship, all ready to fire.
A black silhouette hovered near the prison. It was Han Xiao. He had opened the secondary dimensional army box and was summoning his army, forming a second encirclement.
Gaud was still on his way in the Flickering World. Han Xiao wasted no time and directly used the King to teleport into the dynasty’s subdivision in their territory, boarded the dynasty fleet that was there to pick him up, spent about ten days traveling, and finally arrived at this restricted area.
After summoning countless mechanical soldiers, Han Xiao finally closed the secondary dimensional army box gate and said in the communication channel, “I’m ready. Activate all spacetime stabilization devices and open the prison core.”
“Roger.” The fleet commander’s serious voice sounded in the channel.
The next moment, an invisible ripple extended from the fleet’s center. The spacetime of this area instantly ‘tightened’. The spacetime coefficients of this area became extremely stable. Almost all abilities related to spacetime became useless.
Then, the space prison opened layers by layers like a blossoming flower showing its stamen. The core of the prison was an egg-shaped cabin that stored the Spacetime Amber of EsGod, tightly locked in place by the mechanical structure of the prison.
As the prison opened, the egg-shaped cabin was unlocked as well. Its independent power system started operating. The thrusters shot out flames and slowly pushed the cabin out.
As Han Xiao extended his arm, his Mechanical Force pulled the ten-meter-long egg-shaped cabin toward him. He then opened the cabin door.
A familiar face entered his sights. It was EsGod, who had been trapped in the Spacetime Amber for decades. He still had the same expression and posture as his last moment of freedom before he was locked up.
“All units ready! Prepare to fire!”
The fleet commander’s grave toned voice sounded in the communication channel.
Even after decades, the fear EsGod had left in people’s hearts had yet to fade away.
“Now, it’s time to verify my speculation…”
Han Xiao looked into EsGod’s eyes, took a deep breath, took out the core of the Spacetime Amber, and poked at the Spacetime Amber seal.
Pop!
It was as if the crisp sound of the Spacetime Amber shattering could be heard.
The prison that locked EsGod up was opened, but his body did not move. It only floated in the vacuum right before Han Xiao’s eyes.
“Is it already an empty shell…”
Han Xiao took out a suction plate shaped device and placed it on EsGod. This was a device used to detect the state of one’s soul.
Although Mechanics were not experts in the soul territory, at his level, building a device to only detect if the target had a soul was not a problem.
As the suction plate was just about to touch EsGod’s body, the next moment, Han Xiao suddenly felt a resistance force at his wrist as if someone suddenly grabbed his wrist tightly. His hand stopped moving abruptly.
Han Xiao immediately looked up at EsGod’s eyes that had color once again.
At the same time, a deep mind message entered Han Xiao’s mind.
“Like I said, we’d meet again sooner or later…”
Chapter 1222 - Deception Is the Way of Wars
1222 Deception Is the Way of Wars
“Like I said, we’d meet again sooner or later… Only, I didn’t expect it to come this soon.”EsGod’s tone was filled with mockery.
Han Xiao’s pupils constricted.
This body isn’t an empty shell‽
His first thought was that he got Gaud’s identity wrong and set EsGod free for nothing.
However, when he heard what EsGod said, his eyes gleamed, and he asked, “Why were you so sure I’d definitely let you out?”
“Oh? You’re not letting me out to seek help from me?” EsGod’s brows raised. “You didn’t station so many soldiers here just to open the amber and see if I’m dead yet, did you?”
Seek help? Right, this b*stard knows about the World Tree Civilization and left the wormhole data behind. He might think that when the advanced civilizations discover the World Tree Civilization, they’ll most likely let
him out to ask him for information. Is that why he said that we’d meet again sooner or later?
The Spacetime Amber froze everything except the soul that was also trapped inside the body. EsGod knew absolutely nothing about the outside world in the past decades. His impression of the universe was still the same as when he got captured.
The mind conversation happened in the split of a second. The movements of the two of them did not stop during it.
Hu!
EsGod backed away instantly and was about to teleport right away, only to realize that the spacetime of the area around him was stabilized and he could not teleport. He quickly analyzed the strength of the encirclement he was in and came to the conclusion that he would not be able to break through it using ordinary methods. Hence, he quickly thought of other ways to escape and started to use his Dimension Crack ability to fill this area. As long as he could create just a tiny crack, he would be able to escape with teleportation.
Although he did not know why the dynasty let him out, to him, escaping was his top priority.
Han Xiao acted immediately. He led the dozens of Apostle Weapons and many mechanical soldiers forward to surround EsGod. It did not matter what was going on with EsGod. As long as this body was not an empty shell, he had to seal it up once again.
The dynasty fleet around started attacking. All kinds of control-type weapons were also launched continuously. Dark-red energy filled the space.
The battle erupted in an instant!
EsGod was submerged in countless attacks in the blink of an eye.
“Back then, it took eleven Beyond Grade As to finally catch me. Black Star, you’re alone now. How are you going to capture me?”
EsGod’s mocking voice appeared in Han Xiao’s head. Despite being heavily surrounded, he did not panic at all.
After he evolved, the load on his genetic chain had drastically decreased. His strength was undoubtedly at the top tier in the universe. Although he had just come out of the Spacetime Amber, his soul was in a weakened state and had no time to prepare dozens of Beyond Grade A level doppelgangers, he still had the health-energy conversion ability.
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