“‘Dark Lord’ Clotti has temporarily resigned as the Guard Captain of the dynasty Ruler, and his position will be temporarily assumed by ‘Quantum Demon’ Judith…”

Han Xiao focused, browsing through this internal intelligence. He could not help but fall into deep thought.

The three Universal Civilizations each had a pinnacle Beyond Grade A as their Guard Captains. For the Crimson Dynasty, it was [Dark Lord] Clotti; for the Federation of Light, it was [Golden Ring] Oulou; and for the Arcane Church, it was the [God’s Chosen] Wuornos. All of them were Beyond Grade As of direct relation to the civilizations.

In the dynasty’s Beyond Grade A circle, the Dark Lord had a transcendent status and was also well known for not mixing and socializing. Throughout his years of contact, coupled with the memory of his previous life, Han Xiao had a good understanding of what Clotti’s personality was.

This was deathly loyal to the dynasty. If there was no special reason, he would not step down as the Guard Captain.

In his past life, this incident did not occur during this particular time period, so the possibility of settling his private affairs could be ruled out. It should be because Clotti had accepted some sort of special mission.

“This should be the butterfly effect I’ve brought about. Maybe it is related to the Evolutionary Totem or even the Hila Rescue Mission…”

To be honest, he was a little apprehensive regarding this news.

Based on his memories, some of the Beyond Grade As that were directly related to the advanced civilizations were often loyal and dedicated, placing the needs of their civilization above those of the Beyond Grade As, and the Dark Lord was undoubtedly one of them. These people would not be part of the Beyond Grade A united front and might even turn against them.

To allow such a monster to move freely in the outside world, it was unknown what sort of changes would occur. This might hinder the construction of the Flickering World Beyond Grade A Development Union.

However, it was useless to delve too deeply. Because of Han Xiao’s existence, many of the fate lines for the characters had been altered, and he could only adapt as he went on.

As for the ‘Quantum Demon’ Judith, who replaced Clotti, he was a Virtual Mechanic coming from the Crimson Dynasty. He was the person in charge of guarding the Heroic Soul, the main Artificial intelligence of the dynasty, and had relatively strong combat ability.

“Speaking of which, the direct line of Beyond Grade As from the dynasty really do not mix around much with the allies.” Han Xiao’s eyes flickered.

Within the Beyond Grade A circle in the dynasty, only the allies liked to gather together and mess around. As for those directly related to the dynasty, they mostly chose to remain isolated.

Unlike allies, those directly related to the dynasty would always have official positions. Some guarded the secondary dimensional outposts, some served as instructors, and some were fleet commanders. They were not as free as those who were allies. Only those semi-direct allies such as Kohler would be so relaxed…

Of course, it might be because the dynasty thought of him as too weak.

Just as he was thinking, countless particles surfaced in front of his eyes, coagulating to form an image of Phillip.

“Master, hum… Jotina and her party have arrived. It’s time to check up on them.” Phillip blinked his big eyes. This was a reminder set by Han Xiao.

“Oh, take them to the lobby of the inner ring. Also, summon Hila and the other Calamity Grade officers to meet the newcomers.”

Han Xiao took up, putting on his Army Commander jacket before walking out of the room.

…

Jotina and her party followed the receptionist all the way into the lobby, and many of the army officers slowly trickled in. They were curious about their future colleagues, but without the approval of the Army Commander, none of them engaged in any conversation.

This party not only included the seven Calamity Grades that defected with Jotina but also the second wave, including Schneider. The total number reached eleven. They waited in the center of the lobby, also looking over at the officers.

Both sides stared at each other, and after a while, Han Xiao and Hila walked in.

“Greetings to Army Commander Black Star and Deputy Army Commander Hila.”

Jotina and her group stood up to salute.

Han Xiao was all smiles. “Everyone is here. You’re welcome to leave the shadows and join the light. After joining the Black Star Army, you’ll be part of our family.”

“Yes, welcome.” In front of everyone, Hila did not smile, keeping her words short.

Eleven Calamity Grades could be considered a strong fighting force, enough to carve out a territory in a corner of the universe. Now that this group had joined the army, the high-level combatants belonging to the army had increased quite a bit. Furthermore, there were also elites such as Jotina and Schneider.

Han Xiao had to personally review every advanced combatant that joined the army. This was also the reason why these original officers of the Beast Ancestor had come to the Black Star Palace.

“Regarding your positions, I have yet to arrange them. If you have any requests, do tell me. I’ll take them into consideration.” Han Xiao smiled.

Hearing this, everyone expressed their intentions, saying that it did not matter as long as they could serve the army. Only Jotina put forth a different suggestion.

“Your Excellency Black Star, if possible, I would like to join your personal guard.”

“Eh?” Han Xiao curiously looked over. “Why is that so?”

Jotina raised her head, looking straight at Han Xiao with a fiery gaze, not bothering to hide anything. “The body does not lie. I have strong feelings for you, and I hope to always accompany you around. If there’s a chance, I hope that some chemistry can spark between us.”

The moment she spoke, the entire room turned dead silent!

“Hmm‽” Hila eyes narrowed sharply. She was originally distracted and inattentive, but she suddenly seriously sized up Jotina from head to toe.

The officers around all thought there was something wrong with their ears. All of them adopted incredulous expressions. They did not think that this woman would be so blunt and speak out so honestly.

Even Schneider and the others were frightened, finding it unbelievable that their own elder sister would speak like this with a straight face.

F*ck me, we just joined the army, and you’re already expressing the intention of mating with a Beyond Grade A in public‽

Aren’t your guts too big!

Even if you really feel something for Black Star, you should proceed step by step.

To actually be so direct… indeed, only you can do so!

Han Xiao was stunned in place, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He waved his hands.

“Alright, I’m not interested in stuff like this. I’ll do my best to consider your job requirements, though. Let me first get started by getting a preliminary understanding of your strength. Walk up to me one by one and take a punch of mine so that I can judge your abilities.”

He lightly skipped over this topic, and Jotina did not insist either.

The conversation returned to normal, but a weird atmosphere lingered.

Everyone constantly shot weird glances toward Han Xiao or Jotina, cautiously moving around them while staying clear of Hila, whose eyes were firmly locked onto Jotina. They were afraid of being caught in the crossfire.

A line of Calamity Grades stood in front of Han Xiao. Nanoparticles rushed out behind Han Xiao, fusing into a silvery black humanoid machinery, floating beside Han Xiao like a stand-in.

This humanoid body sent a powerful iron fist to every officer originally from the Beast Ancestor, dealing some damage.

The attributes of each Calamity Grade were displayed on the combat information interface, and Han Xiao quickly scanned everyone’s abilities.

Among this group of people, the most powerful was naturally the Beyond Grade A seed, ‘Claw Empress’ Jotina. She was outstanding even among the Pugilists in the Calamity Grade, adept in claw arts and the pugilist arts of the Beast Ancestor. Her strength and agility were on point, and her damage output was high. She was more of an all-rounder fighter, and her combat power ranked in the forefront of the Army’s Calamity Grade officers. A good gauge would be third or fourth place.

As for ‘Boa Constrictor’ Schneider, he was an elite Calamity Grade. Among this group, there were two of them who were quite close to each other in terms of combat power, standing out from the rest.

Out of the eleven of them, nine were Pugilists, and the other two were Espers.

Because the Beast Ancestor Organization was one where they were muscle tyrants, not adept at using their brains, no one liked to learn. There were practically no mechanics or mages there.

Han Xiao intended to let all of them become combatants, while a small portion would be filtered into the Black Star Guards. Most of them would be commanded by Herlous as senior officers for the different fleets.

After some encouragement, Han Xiao left the scene with Hila, leaving the officers to mingle with this new group of colleagues.

As the two left the hall and walked through the corridor, the army members they passed nodded and saluted. Hila did not care while Han Xiao smiled as usual.

After walking for a bit, Hila suddenly opened her mouth. “You’re actually quite popular.”

“Are you referring to Jotina?” Han Xiao laughed. “In any case, I’m standing at the peak of personal power, so it’s normal for people to treat me like their idol. Don’t you worship me as well?”

“Nonsense, when did I ever worship you?” Hila snorted and avoided his gaze.

“Well, when you were surrounded and attacked, you were the one that personally admitted you had admired me for decades. It’s no use trying to deny it. I still have the recording.”

“Damn, you want to fight?” Hila was so embarrassed and angrily glared at Han Xiao.

“Hehehe…”

Hila’s forehead bulged with veins before she took a few deep breaths to regain her tranquility.

After being distracted by Han Xiao, she no longer felt depressed. Instead, she frowned and asked, “So, how are you going to handle Jotina? Are you really going to place her among the Black Star Guards?”

“Her ability speaks for itself, so why not? Are you afraid that a Calamity Grade can do anything to me? I’m a Beyond Grade A.” Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.

“Humph.” Hila turned her head away.

While she did not like the brazen Jotina, Hila would not use her position to trouble others. She was not someone who would engage in small tricks and would not interfere in Han Xiao’s decisions.

Seeing that Hila was silent, Han Xiao thought for a while before suddenly saying, “Anyways, the army is expanding very quickly these days, and there will be a new batch of people every three to five days. As a result, there are many members of the army that are not familiar with each other and do not know the officers. There is a sense of distance, which will not be conducive to the unity of the army. So, I was thinking that we should hold some large-scale events to promote camaraderie.”

Hila looked over. “What are you planning?”

“I’m thinking toward some internal competitions, such as a military parade or a sparring competition…”

As he spoke, Han Xiao’s eyes began to gleam.

As of now, the Black Star Army already had a large number of groups and a large number of talents under its command. There were sufficient resources to host large-scale internal events, allowing members of the army to participate in such events outside of their work. This would be conducive to increasing the sense of belonging and promoting the camp culture.

Han Xiao’s idea was to create a league of his own. The Pro League was an internal game for the players, but he planned to create a large-scale event organized by NPCs under the Black Star Army’s name, not only for the players but for all members.

Sparring would be one of the focal points. He could separate them based on their ranks, and the elites of each rank would be selected from the competition. There would be prizes, and it would also allow the normal members to witness the officers displaying their strength.

In addition to competitions, a variety of events could also be held, such as sports or technical skills such as piloting and commanding. Even the Wayne Cards could be used as a separate leisure event.

In Han Xiao’s vision, such an event could be turned into something similar to the Olympic Games for the army, held every few years as a celebration and also to showcase their strength to the outside world.

If this could be carried out, the scale would be many times larger than that of the players’ Pro League, which would serve as a carnival for everyone.

Just thinking about it made Han Xiao excited.

“But holding such an event seems like it would need a lot of money…” Hila hesitated.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? Are we lacking money?”

Shortly from now, the sale of the Evolutionary Totems would be opened to the universe, and he would also become a shareholder of the Limitless Financial Group. At present, the Great Mechanic Han was bloated from the amount of money and could be considered to have fully entered the realm of a Rich Daddy.

If this money could be used to improve the faction cohesion and attractiveness, it would be quite profitable for him.

The more Han Xiao thought about it, the more he felt that this was something he could do. After he returned from the secondary dimension and settled the affairs of the Beyond Grade A union, he would have a lot of time to plan and hold such celebrations.

But it would be good to propose a prototype for Sylvia to perfect.

He had people to take care of his chores, so there was no pressure on him. Squeezing his own Chief Administrative Official had become a habit of Han Xiao’s.

He had no other choice. Who made Sylvia so good looking and capable, making him so pleased with her work?

…

Sylvia’s efficiency was high. She only took a day to perfect the draft of the Flickering World Beyond Grade A Development Union.

Han Xiao revised it before sending it to Manison to discuss the matter together. While they had conflicts of interest, they had to cooperate for this matter.

“This Development Union… the idea is not bad. While it is an excuse, it is reasonable enough to pass through the eyes of the three Universal Civilizations.”

Within the encrypted channel, Manison made comments while browsing the draft.

“Oh, this is just a cover,” Han Xiao explained. “On the surface, the scope of cooperation will be limited to the Flickering World. In fact, as long as this union is created, the conflicts of the Beyond Grade A in other Star Fields can also be resolved through this platform, and at the same time, the Beyond Grade A organizations can form a network of interests throughout the universe, providing each member with a place to exchange and cooperate with each other. This will achieve the goal of uniting power.”

Manison pondered. “This is similar to how The Ancient Ones operate, but to achieve this, most of the Beyond Grade As will need to voluntarily accept such cooperation, linking their organizations in the interest network. But if there’s no benefit, most people will be unwilling to cooperate, and then there’s still the obstacle of different factions…”

Han Xiao interrupted him. “That’s why we have to declare that this union is completely neutral by nature, just a loose one similar to The Ancient Ones. We have to organize it as much as possible so as to weaken any possible opposing influence from the factions. As for benefits, we will need the larger Beyond Grade A organizations to lead by example, by becoming the leader of the interest network and actively taking out cooperation shares. That way, the other Beyond Grade A organizations will be willing to join.”

“Who are the confirmed initiators leading this?”

“Only you and I.” Han Xiao shook his head. “In terms of influence, we can be considered behemoths in the Beyond Grade A circle, enough to serve as an example. The fact that we are willing to cooperate should attract a lot of people, but well… just two of us isn’t enough. We need more leaders, preferably the pinnacle Beyond Grade As. Otherwise, we cannot hold on to the crowd.”

“I understand what you mean.” Manison agreed. “We’ll need organizations with sufficient influence in various fields. On my side, I can try to lobby all the ancient ones, and the Protectors of the Galactic Black Market should also be brought in to take the lead. At the same time, we cannot forget about the neutral Beyond Grade As. Oh yes, there’s also Sorokin who controls the Limitless Financial Group. His money is very important.”

In the Beyond Grade A circle, Sorokin was recognized as a top dog with one of the highest assets. While the majority did not care much for his combat abilities, no one underestimated his power to make money.

At this time, Han Xiao’s eyes gleamed.

“I have a question. With so many pioneers… who will be the Chairman?”

Hearing this, Manison narrowed his eyes.

Since they wished to form a union, this problem could not be avoided. The Chairman of this union was of great significance, equivalent to the position of the leader of the martial world, the nominal chief of the Beyond Grade As.

Thus, be it strength or influence, it had to be convincing. The prerequisite was to be a pinnacle Beyond Grade A. Manison would definitely be a hot candidate, and Han Xiao was also eligible to compete for the Chairman position.

The position of Chairman came with a risk, that he would become the main target of the advanced civilizations, attracting their firepower. However, with great risks came great rewards.

Manison was staring at this position naturally out of interest, but as the main initiator of this project, Han Xiao had no reason to actively hand over the position.

After silence reigned for a while, Manison spoke slowly, avoiding this sensitive topic.

“There’s only two of us now. It’s too early to discuss such a matter. Let’s bring in all the members before we decided on this.”

“Okay.”

Han Xiao nodded slightly before ending the call and letting out a sigh of relief.

Because this was a Beyond Grade A union, everyone present would be big bosses of an area. Thus, it would be impossible to make this into an area where only one person’s word mattered.

Thus, persuading other Beyond Grade As to join would be tantamount to pulling supporters for himself. Only with enough Beyond Grade As supporting himself could he justify becoming the Chairman of the Flickering World Beyond Grade A Development Union.

Simply put, this was a matter of fighting for face. Just his strength was not enough.

“My network is quite extensive, but compared to Manison…”

Han Xiao shook his head.

He was confident in his relationship side, but Manison had been around for far too long, and his relationships were definitely much deeper than Han Xiao’s. It would be difficult to compete.

If he wanted this position, he could only start with the benefits part. He had to let people see that whoever served as the Chairman would bring about greater benefits.

“What a difficult task. I’m afraid this will be another uphill battle…”