The Legendary Mechanic, page 922
The enemy’s hacking was untraceable. The crew of the fleet had absolutely no way of fighting against it, and they could only stare at the ‘Candy Crush’ on their screens.
If these brutes really came from the Black Star Army, Black Star might have done this personally… It was because of this speculation that the fleet commander did not dare to make any extreme moves. Even after he regained control of the ships, he only sent a small fleet after the enemies while he cheekily remained on the planet. “Then… What do we do now?” The Planet Burger manager was still shocked.
The fleet commander sighed. “I’ve already reported what happened here to the upper echelons. Let’s wait for their response. This is not a decision we can make.” At this time, his communicator rang. An upper echelon of the Feeney Civilization came online, looked at the two of them, and said with a deep voice, “This was a private battle. The two sides conflicted in Dafis’ headquarters, and the law enforcement went to investigate. Dafis used the law enforcements to escape all the way to Planet Burger and landed on the planet surface without having obtained approval, wanting to make use of the planet’s garrison fleet to stop his enemies. Because of that, he brought disaster to the planet’s residents. Before we could banish him, the second group of brutes came and attacked the planet. Understood?”
The Planet Burger manager was stunned for a second, then understood the meaning behind this and hastily nodded.
Planet Burger suffered huge casualties, and it became a big matter in the civilization. The upper echelons wanted to reduce its influence and remove their responsibility for the matter. Therefore, from now on, Dafis had absolutely no connection with them; everything he did was based on his own will.
The emissary did not exist, nor was he, the planet manager, ordered to protect Dafis. As long as they did not say anything, on the surface, Dafis was using them and brought the disaster to Planet Burger. Planet Burger was just the victim… This way, the rage of the Feeney Civilization citizens would be transferred onto these brutes, and the upper echelons did not have to take the blame for it.
“What about us?” the fleet commander asked.
The upper echelon glanced at him and slowly said, “You guys were dispatched to stop this disaster. Dafis brought the disaster, so the army prioritized killing him, successfully eliminating the brute who caused this. After that, you let the other group of brutes leave because they took citizens of the Planet Burger hostage. Hence, your army let them leave for the time being, only chasing after them later, shifting the battlefield, all to reduce the civilian casualties, understood?”
“Understood.”
The fleet commander heaved a sigh of relief while giving the upper echelon a thumbs up in his mind.
It was still the same matter, but just by changing how they described it, it felt completely different. Not only were most of the responsibilities removed from them, but they also emphasized their image of protecting the safety of their citizens. Marvelous!
At this time, the upper echelon suddenly changed his tone. He said with a bit of anger, “Of course, this is just to calm the citizens down. As for those Immortals, we will openly condemn their actions and bring the attention of the public to them. We will also report to the Civilization Conference and ask the three Universal Civilizations to give us an explanation!”
“Emphasize that they’re the Black Star Army’s men?” the Planet Burger manager asked.
“No, we can only say they might be from the Black Star Army. Just emphasize that they’re Immortals…” The upper echelon clenched his teeth.
The fleet was taken over instantly. It was most likely the doing of a Beyond Grade A Virtual Mechanic and not just an ordinary Beyond Grade A; it might very likely be Black Star himself.
The reason the Feeney Civilization was not afraid of offending the Black Star Army was that the army was too far from the Endless Nebulae. However, since Black Star might have acted personally, they had to hold back to a certain extent.
However, the Feeney Civilization was not going to just put up with this. They suffered severe civilian casualties, so as the victims, they had the moral high ground. They were definitely going to make a big deal out of it. Of course, they also considered the possibility of Black Star having the evidence of them protecting Dafis.
However, this risk was not enough to turn them into cowards. The Feeney Civilization clearly knew that even if they were found out to have protected Dafis, they would still have the moral high ground. The side that actively slaughtered civilians would always be the side that was wrong. Them protecting Dafis would not be the main cause of it, but the fact that these Immortals did not retreat and still attacked… This was the logic of the galactic society, the rules set by the Peace Treaty.
Actually, the upper echelons very much wanted to insist these Immortals were from the Black Star Army. However, when they tried finding evidence earlier, they discovered that all evidence that pointed toward the army disappeared. This group of Immortals suddenly became a ‘ghost team’ with unknown origins.
These upper echelons knew that someone had erased the evidence. While they were frustrated, they could not do anything about Black Star.
Nonetheless, the fact that they were Immortals was already a clue. After all, the entire universe now knew that the organization with the most Immortal members was the Black Star Army… The Feeney Civilization was only giving the three Universal Civilizations ammo for their conflict with the association. As long as this happened, their plan could be executed even without solid evidence.
Several days later, an announcement made by the Feeney Civilization in the Endless Nebulae caused a sensation in the galactic society.
The topic of the announcement was the Planet Burger Massacre, where a large number of citizens were killed. The Feeney Civilization expressed strong condemnation for such a violent deed, stating they would find whoever was responsible and make them pay. Driven by those with motives, the message that it was a group of Immortals who were suspected to be members of the Black Star Army who attacked the colonial planet was spread quickly, attracting wide attention. If it was wanted criminals who attacked a colonial planet, this would be a police matter at most, and the galactic residents would not dwell on it much.
However, the big boss of the Beyond Grade A Association was suspected to be involved in this. As a giant organization of the Lawful Faction, they violated the Peace Treaty and slaughtered civilians. At such a sensitive time, this matter immediately became a political issue and sparked intense public discussion!
That was especially so when the Feeney Civilization reported this to the Civilization Conference, crying and asking the three Universal Civilizations to pressure and question the Black Star Army, hoping to investigate and find out the truth. The matter became even bigger.
In the next few days, the three Universal Civilizations took the ammo from the Feeney Civilization, fully activating their propaganda machine, and started to verbally condemn the Black Star Army in all directions. At the same time, they increased the matter to involve the Beyond Grade A Association too, strongly questioning the association’s purpose and its ‘justice’.
The Star System civilizations were within the protection range of the ‘Peace Treaty’. Such a violent act of slaughtering civilians on a colonial planet caused everyone to be enraged. Even the Super Star Cluster did not dare show support to the association at this point of time and remained quiet.
Emotions needed a place to vent. Driven by the advanced situations, although the Feeney Civilization only claimed that the brutes were suspected to be from the Black Star Army and had no proof, ordinary people did not care about that. They directly assumed that the Black Star Army was responsible for it. Their fear and hatred toward the Supers and Immortals that had been suppressed for a very long time turned into overwhelming verbal condemnations… After all, they had the most Immortals in the entire universe, so who else could they scold?
Han Xiao became the main target of the condemnation. With the advanced civilizations controlling the tempo, tons of civilians ignored what he did in the past and infinitely exaggerated the importance of this matter. They started to question why a leader who allowed his subordinates to do such horrible acts could receive the ‘Stuarts Peace Prize’ and the ‘Galaxy Medal’. How could he possibly have the right to be respected by the galactic society? There was no way the three Universal Civilizations were going to let such an amazing opportunity slip past. They started to go all out to damage Han Xiao’s image-as long as they could take away the ‘reputation amulet’ that they had once built for Han Xiao, they would have the ‘moral high ground’.
With the operations of the advanced civilizations, the Planet Burger massacre became a fuse that intensified the conflicting emotions of the ordinary people and the Supers.
Countless galactic residents were worried. As ordinary people, no one wanted to be dragged into wars between Supers and die for no reason.
The influence this matter had on the ordinary people was that they supported the three Universal Civilizations’ pressure toward the Beyond Grade A Association more and more. From their perspective, of course, they wished that all Supers could be strictly controlled by civilizations so that disasters would not fall onto them one day for no reason.
Suddenly, the people’s request to attack the Beyond Grade A Association received more and more support… However, that was where it stopped. The three Universal Civilizations only used this opportunity to damage their reputation; they did not plan to make a move yet.
Faced with such aggressive accusations, the Black Star Army only made a simple announcement, saying it would investigate internally and only make an announcement when they come to a conclusion. Plus, the Black Star Army warned the Feeney Civilization not to accuse them without evidence. Then, they remained quiet no matter how noisy the outside world got.
…
In a desolate universe belt in the Endless Nebulae, the Guild of Gods fleet was slowly flying Tons of guild pillars were standing and sitting around while looking at the forums casually, giggling with joy from time to time.
“President, look, our deeds have already been written into the Galaxy Chronicles. Our first guild kill has been acknowledged.”
Poseidon was overjoyed. Jupiter looked at the forums. The Guild of Gods making the first guild kill of a Calamity Grade had filled the pages for many days and gained a ton of fame for the club. He was also rewarded by the upper echelons of the club because of this.
However, looking at the praise on the forums, Jupiter was not that happy but distracted.
Poseidon noticed and asked, “What’s wrong? You don’t look too happy.” Jupiter shook his head and said with a worried tone, “Don’t you all watch the galactic news? It’s a mess out there. We caused big problems for the army this time…” The emotions of the galactic society got worse day by day, and Jupiter was very worried. However, he did not regret it. After all, achieving the first guild kill was too amazing an achievement. He would probably make the same choice even if he went back in time. Only, he could not help but be worried about how the army would deal with this.
Those members who caused problems for the army in the past did not end up well, so he had examples to learn from. Although the Guild of Gods did not do this on purpose, since the matter had become so big, Jupiter was unsure what the army’s stand was on this.
He had been waiting for the army to contact him all these days, but it never did, and he became more and more anxious.
Buzz!
Suddenly, the spaceship’s communication system suddenly activated on its own, attracting everyone’s attention. Han Xiao’s remote projection suddenly appeared in front of them. “Army Commander?”
The various players present, including Jupiter, were all startled. They did not expect Black Star to come so suddenly.
Han Xiao scanned over everyone and stopped at Jupiter. With a poker face, he cut to the chase and said, “Don’t you owe me an explanation?”
Jupiter’s heart skipped a beat, and a resigned expression appeared on his face.
He knew he was in the wrong. What he did caused huge problems for his faction. Facing the questioning of the leader of his faction whom he had spent five versions with, he did not know what to say.
Seeing that he did not say anything, Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and purposely paused.
When he secretly saw that some of the guild players around started recording, he then continued
“You acted on your own without reporting to the army, which is why things escalated to this point, giving our enemies reasons to make the public condemn us. I’m very dissatisfied with this.”
Hearing this, their hearts sank.
However, Jupiter expected this. It would be weird of Black Star did not react to such a huge matter.
He sighed.
“… How will the army punish us?” Han Xiao looked around, viewing everyone’s expressions, snorted, and said, “I’ll be straightforward. This time, the army won’t give you any punishments. We’re all old comrades from the Planet Aquamarine, so just this time… I’ll settle it for you! But if there’s a next time, don’t blame me for following the rules!”
Everyone was stunned.
Seeing Han Xiao’s tone earlier, they were all mentally prepared to be punished by the faction. When they suddenly heard this, they froze.
Chapter 1292: Villain and Background |
Jupiter originally thought he would be heavily punished this time but was stunned. Suddenly, his memories since Version 1.0 resurfaced. He was both relieved about not having to be punished and touched by Han Xiao’s words. As a professional guild leader on a salary, what he had in mind had always been how to operate the guild better. Although he also had some emotional attachment to the Black Star Army after so many years, he did not see the army as his own faction like the normal players. The interests of the guild were his priority.
However, at this time, he still felt great warmth in his heart. He felt a sense of nostalgia in Han Xiao’s words.
However, though touched, Jupiter still could not help but ask, “Is this really ok? We caused bad influences after all…”
Han Xiao waved. “I understand the situation. If you people attacked a colonial planet out of nowhere, the army would strictly follow the rules and deal with you. However, your target was an enemy who kept disrupting your mission, and your mission in that area could not be carried out if you didn’t kill him. Since I told you guys to take over the black market, I gave you some freedom. Although I’m not very satisfied with how you guys overdid it… since the Feeney Civilization chose to protect your enemy, they’re an obstacle to our progress of taking over the black market, and they have to deal with the consequences of it. I can’t let them bully my men.”
“But the public opinion…”
Han Xiao interrupted him and casually said, “Although you guys were the fuse, the main conflict is still between us and the three Universal Civilizations. Even without this incident, they would find something else to shift the public opinion against us. I’m not going to punish the army’s members because of my opponent’s method of fighting us. Therefore, you guys don’t have to pay for the pressure from the outside world this time.”
Jupiter coughed and softly said, “But you became a target of the public too. Aren’t you worried about your reputation…”
Han Xiao shook his head and said, “I hope you guys can reflect on your mistake this time. It’s perfectly fine to eliminate enemies. If you come across enemies who disrupt the army’s mission again, do what you need to, but be mindful of the impact it might cause and make sure to do it cleanly. Unless left with no choice, don’t drag civilians into it. Request the army’s assistance if you need to, but don’t act alone again like this time and cause a large impact.”
Then, Han Xiao looked around at everyone’s pleasantly surprised faces and nodded in his mind. He believed these b*stards all understood his hint.
Ever since the start, he never wanted to completely forbid things like this but allowed it. He only wanted to guide them and make sure they did things cleanly, which he could not say out loud directly.
From the way he looked at it, what had happened had already happened. No matter what explanation he gave the outside world, it was not going to end up well. Therefore, he might as well ignore the public opinion guided by the three Universal Civilizations and let the army members do what they wanted to do, increasing the threat of the ‘Cancer of the Universe’ while removing the positive image the army had. Before he opposed the three Universal Civilizations, the three Universal Civilizations had always been promoting him and increasing his reputation, making the galactic residents give him all kinds of titles and auras. They did these things both to praise him and restrain him; it was a double-edged sword.
With reputation, the actions of the army were restricted. If they did something that violated the rules, they would suffer for it. This was the rope the three Universal Civilizations tried to put on the army.
Han Xiao knew very well that as the form of conflict became more complex, remaining in the rules set by the opponent would only make things more difficult. Therefore, although the players caused a big mess this time, it could be a chance to adjust his strategy.
Wanted criminals like EsGod did tons of extremely evil things, but most people were only afraid of them and did not dare say anything. This was because they knew they were evil villains and did not dare mess with them. One of the important reasons the outside world dared to condemn and scold the Black Star Army was that, in their hearts, the Black Star Army was once ‘good’, and ‘good’ entities could be messed with.
After being ‘good’ for too long, others fear him less and less… Those many civilizations who responded to the call of the three Universal Civilizations and obstructed the association from uniting the black market more or less had this attitude. They felt that they had the Peace Treaty ‘amulet’, so they thought the Black Star Army would not dare violate the rules and do anything to them.
