During the process of the spaceship diving down, the pilot sent out a distress signal to the area channel, and invisible waves spread out in space. The area channel was like the public channel for players—all the spaceships passing by the area were able to receive it.

“This is Fawn Galaxy, the territory of Holy Stone Civilization and Black Raven Civilization. Friction occurs very often due to territory boundaries. These two large civilizations always have people stationed nearby, and they have set up very strong signal receivers that are sensitive to all sorts of waves. The Fawn Galaxy radiation is always operating at high output, which means that this area is like a bright spot in both of their detectors. If DarkStar activated a signal disruptor, there would be an obvious area with shade out of nowhere. Holy Stone Civilization and Black Raven Civilization would think its each other’s forces, they would definitely send people over,” Goa explained. “Therefore, I’m fifty percent sure that DarkStar is not disrupting the signal.”

Buzz!

Communication requests from Porter and Cerleni appeared on the screen, discussing their strategies anxiously. They had sent out a distress signal as well, but Cerleni was very pessimistic. “Even if someone receives our signal, the problem is, who dares to come? DarkStar is the one attacking us after all. Holy Stone and Black Raven might come to just watch and guard against DarkStar in case they have other motives, or they might not be willing to waste their military power to help us, a group of irrelevant mercenaries. Unlike Godora, who have so much hatred toward DarkStar, Holy Stone and Black Raven might not want to mess with DarkStar.

The three of them looked at their superiors, and the superiors nodded firmly.

“We have already contacted the commander; he will come to save us. He’s sending emergency dispatch orders to the nearby teams. We fear DarkStar, but we definitely will not let them do whatever they want, and we will certainly not give up on our own people. The commander is currently assembling a fleet and sending out messages to all partners. We have to protect ourselves. Stall for time—there will definitely be someone here to save us.”

All the mercenaries were instantly motivated, and a sense of honor rose in their hearts as firmness and hope appeared on their faces.

“Large armies really are different—they’re very united.” Han Xiao was envious. There were definitely some things that large armies did right after being created for so many years. Although they were all mercenaries that valued rewards, given that they could unite strong forces from everywhere showed that they knew how to build a sense of belonging. Although many members knew about this, they could not deny that they enjoyed it. After all, being in an organization that did not give up on its members was one thing that bonded them together in this cold universe.

DarkStar was known to be fearsome, but Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold were not some organizations that they could easily mess with. Other than their own forces, they also had a very complicated network in the mercenary industry. They had many partners, and they were all very strong individuals or organizations. It was not simply three large armies that DarkStar messed with—it was half of the entire mercenary industry throughout the three nearest Star Clusters!

In other words, DarkStar was used to being unbridled, but this time, they stabbed the hornet’s nest.

However, a distant water source could not put out a nearby fire immediately.

Han Xiao took out the unidirectional communicator that Jenny had given him. He calmed his mind and sent the request.

The mercenaries called for backup, and he also requested help from his cheap boss. He was not putting all his hope on the three armies.

“Didn’t expect to use it this soon…”

Ding.

Ames appeared on the screen. Han Xiao saw the environment Ames was in—a palace filled with a sense of magic, built with obsidian, white crystal, Mithril, fine gold, jade, and precious stones, like a piece of jewelry enlarged thousands of times. Mysterious magic patterns hovered in the air, colorful and bright. Many translucent magic dragons swam happily in the air. Ames was sitting in front of a small hovering table, and on it were all sorts of unique and rare foods. Sitting opposite her was… a kid in a red and white magic cape. He looked about six to seven years old, with sharp ears, white and tender skin, and a cute round face. The cape on him was like a blanket—it did not fit at all. The cape was long, but the kid was short, so it was almost burying him.

Han Xiao’s mouth twitched. This little kid was another beyond grade A being of the Shattered Star Ring, a Mage whose race was a long-lived species that looked like humans on the outside, but his real age was hundreds or maybe even a thousand years old. Also, he was a fighting opponent of Ames’. More accurately, Ames was there as a guest. The four beyond grade A beings in the Shattered Star Ring knew each other. Fighting was just to kill time, and once they were tired from fighting, they would sit down to rest and have a meal together in a very peaceful manner… Han Xiao just pitied that small planet.

Ames’ eyebrow raised a little. “It’s you, my new subordinate.”

“… Did you forget my name?”

Ames swiped the communicator like she was looking for something. One second later, she said with a very natural tone, “Black Star, what is the reason for you contacting me? Have you found the whereabouts of my teacher?”

She emphasized Han Xiao’s name like she was trying to say that she did not forget.

Han Xiao shook his head and said, “The aircraft I’m currently in is attacked by DarkStar. The situation is dire, so I’m here to ask you for help.”

“Why did DarkStar attack you?” Ames asked curiously.

Han Xiao coughed.

“A few days ago, DarkStar caused trouble on Floating Dragon while you were not there. It seems like they were up to something. Coincidentally, I happened to disrupt their plan. This attack should be an act of revenge.”

Ames tilted her head. She recalled Jenny’s report. Now that DarkStar was mentioned, she seemed to have some kind of beef with DarkStar, and she had even been planning to find trouble with them earlier.

“Alright, wait there, I’ll go when I’m free,” Ames said with a casual tone, then hung up the communication.

Han Xiao was speechless. Ames’ attitude was carefree, so he had no way to force her to come immediately. He was not strong enough, so he could only seek help from someone stronger.

_____________

You have triggered an urgent mission [Escape]!

Mission Introduction: Start running.

Mission requirement: Escape DarkStar’s pursuit and stall till backup arrives.

Reward: Basic reward 800,000 experience. The final reward depends on mission rating. The basic reward is given when achieving the lowest rating, D. After lasting for 2 days, the mission rating will reach D. The rating will increase by one level every 12 hours thereafter.

Failure Condition: Captured by DarkStar.

_____________

Han Xiao looked around at the players and realized that their faces changed a little—they had probably triggered the mission as well.

This time, the reward for the players was exactly the same as Han Xiao, so all the players were shocked!

800,000 experience!

Han Xiao was long used to it; it was not much for him. However, to the players, this was the highest reward that they had ever seen in a mission!

Shock, joy, surprise—various expressions appeared on the players’ faces.

Han Xiao analyzed the information that he read between the lines of the mission. The lowest rating requires me to last for two days. This should mean the earliest backup will only arrive after two days. Which means that we need to fight alone for two days…

He was instantly troubled. They might not even last two hours, let alone two days.

This time, the aircraft finally returned to the ground and flew at a low altitude. This desolated planet was almost completely empty. It had no forests and no signs of life, and it was filled with stones and mountains. The only good thing about it was that its terrain was vicious enough. The three aircrafts took the same approach—stall for as much time as possible by using the obstacles in the terrain.

Boom boom boom!

Hundreds of mini DarkStar hovering ships were in pursuit, firing green colored low-energy laser cannons from above, chasing after three spaceships, and creating clusters of dust on the ground. The sound of explosions was nonstop, and the spaceships’ shields were flashing from the impact.

DarkStar wanted to capture them alive. They did not want to destroy the spaceships as it would destroy the Secret Message Bead that might be in the hands of one of them. So, they sent out mini hovering ships that were less than ten meters long. The mini laser cannons had very low power too, good for damaging yet not destroying. Using speed and mobility, they would force the mercenaries to give up their spaceships.

“Split up!”

The three spaceships dashed past a black and gray colored menacing mountain, then suddenly split up and escaped in three different directions. Green lasers hit the mountain. With a loud bang, its peak broke and rolled down its hill, stirring up a cloud of thick dust. The hovering ships split into three groups as well, chasing after the spaceships.

The Sky Ring spaceship that Han Xiao was on was being chased by about a hundred hovering ships. However, unluckily, the direction that they turned toward was a plain land without any obstacles.

“This is bad!” Their faces changed.

The pilot was covered in sweat, trying his best to control the spaceship and dodge the attacks. The dust created by the green lights was like a fountain. The spaceship was able to dodge some lasers, but it was getting hit more often than when the three spaceships were together. The shield was flashing rapidly.

“Warning! Warning! Sixty-seven percent energy left in shield! Energy level entered the yellow warning zone! Please refill in time!”

“Energy core close to overload! Please cool down in time!”

A string of warnings was announced, like a hammer hitting their hearts.

The pilot’s face was pale.

Suddenly, they saw Han Xiao walk out of the crowd. He walked to the pilot’s side, pressed on his shoulder, and said in a confident tone, “Stand up, give me the seat.”

The face of all the mercenaries in the spaceship changed. Changing pilot during the fight, are you sure‽

Goa stared at Han Xiao and said, “This concerns the life or death of everyone here, do you know what you’re doing‽”

Han Xiao nodded and said, “If he continues piloting, the chance of crashing is ninety-nine percent. If I do, it’s only thirty-percent.”

“You!” The pilot was outraged.

Goa stared at Han Xiao for a full two seconds, then nodded and said, “Okay, you do it.”

The Sky Ring mercenaries were shocked. Even though they knew Han Xiao’s capabilities, piloting a spaceship was completely different from fighting. In such urgent situations, no one would be willing to entrust their fate to someone whose pilot skill was unknown.

“If we carry on this way, in less than an hour, our ship would crash. Let him try,” Goa explained.

Although the pilot knew that this was a fact, he was unwilling to let someone else control his fate. After the expression on his face changed several times, he finally gave the position to Han Xiao.

Han Xiao took over the pilot position immediately. This time, Goa walked to him and said in a very serious tone, “Black Star, our lives are in your hands… You must—must—be careful about this.”

At this moment, the mercenaries could only place their hopes on Han Xiao. Quite a number of mercenaries actually knew how to pilot a spaceship, but no one was confident that they could do it better than the previous pilot, nor did they have the guts to take on this responsibility, worrying that their mistake might kill everyone. This was a very large amount of pressure, and no one dared do it. Now that Han Xiao had stepped forward at this crucial moment, they could only hope that he was dependable.

“Black Star, you know how to pilot spaceships‽” Herlous said with surprise.

“I know many things. Do you know me very well?”

Han Xiao adjusted the control panels casually and easily.

Piloting a spaceship is nothing; I used to pilot mechanical suits!

Like the difference between a passenger aircraft pilot and a fighter plane pilot, one requires safety and stability, and the other requires complexity. The difficulty of piloting a mechanical suit was much higher than a fighter plane.

Han Xiao was someone who had horned his pilot skills killing other players in the galactic battlefields! Even in the entire universe, he was a top-notch ace pilot!

They suddenly heard an announcement from the system.

“Adjustment complete. Shield output decreased to 20%…”

“Have you lost your mind‽” the pilot yelled uncontrollably.

Everyone was shocked. Han Xiao weakened the shield as soon as he took over. The spaceship’s defensive capability was largely decreased. If they got hit by attacks like earlier, the body of the spaceship would be damaged.

Was that reminder all for nothing‽

Goa was filled with regret. Just as he was about to yell, another announcement sounded from the system.

“All energy is being directed into the engine… complete.”

Han Xiao turned his head back a little and gave the people behind him a reminder.

“Hold tight.”

The next moment, the sudden explosive recoil tore straight through the internal gravitational stabilization of the spaceship—everyone staggered and fell down in unison.

The yelling that was just about to come out of Goa’s mouth fell right back down his throat!