Without the information lockdown, two days later, the video footage of the battle over Planet Earth Ring exploded on the internet extremely quickly, shocking and attracting the attention of the galactic residents.

The Black Star Army’s search notice was quite famous lately, the entire galactic society thought Black Star was just looking for someone. Quite a number of them even took part in it. However, they never expected something so shocking to happen while they were not paying close attention.

Was Black Star not looking for someone? Why did he suddenly fight the Mechanic Emperor‽

Most importantly, he even won!

Due to the Mechanic Emperor’s stand being exposed in the Intelligent Plague incident, his reputation had plummeted. However, his strength position was hardly shaken at all. Although the three Universal Civilizations had been promoting the tie, since there was not enough firm evidence, the promotion was not very effective.

However, with Black Star’s strength, at least people would not laugh at it, although they knew it was probably not completely through. Everyone only supported it because Black Star had made a tremendous contribution to the universe, so no one would step out to object it.

This time, however, the video footage recorded the entire process without anything missing. Black Star basically emerged victorious in a duel, proving the authenticity of his achievement and shocking everyone.

The powerful image that the Mechanic Emperor had built in countless galactic residents started to fade, while Black Star’s image became taller, gradually snatching away the Mechanic Emperor’s reputation.

In the many decades in the past, the Mechanic Emperor had given the impression that he never seemed to incur a loss anywhere at all. However, in less than a year, the Mechanic Emperor lost twice, both against Black Star!

Black Star had risen out of nowhere. In a few short decades, he had achieved legendary things one after another, becoming the publicly recognized most eye-catching Beyond Grade A of the century. The influence of this achievement was even greater than the one before. Through this incident, the majority of the galactic society could feel that times were changing. It seemed like a new round of the new taking over the old was taking place right in front of their eyes.

Of course, being shocked was one thing. Most galactic residents were more confused as to the cause of this incident. They were curious why Black Star had fought the Mechanic Emperor.

The whole galactic society knew that these two were the president and the vice president of the Beyond Grade A Association, and the purpose the association claimed to have was to defuse physical conflict between Beyond Grade As. However, now the president and the vice president had taken the lead to break that rule. In the eyes of some, they wondered if this meant that the development union was just a facade and that these individuals with great power would never settle down.

Quite a number of the galactic residents had stereotypes about Beyond Grade As that were embedded deep in their bones—they both respected and feared them, yearned to be like them but also hated them. However, Black Star was one of the extremely few exceptions.

About this incident, one version of the conspiracy theories was the most widely spread, claiming that the Mechanic Emperor was definitely plotting something evil in secret, and Black Star stopped him once again. After what happened with the Intelligent Plague, the Mechanic Emperor’s good reputation had gone completely bad. As soon as he did anything that was a little over the line, the public would subconsciously assume that he was planning some conspiracy that would hurt the entire universe again.

This kind of image did not come out of nowhere. The recordings clearly showed that the reason the Mechanic Emperor locked down the planet was to search a fugitive. It was tough not to associate the identity of the fugitive with Aesop, for whom Black Star Army had been searching.

This way, many people suddenly ‘figured it out’ and felt that everything connected.

The Mechanic Emperor discovered that Aesop had gone missing, so he wanted to secretly kidnap Aesop to threaten the Dragon Emperor and Black Star!

This guy is such an *sshole. This was clearly an internal affair of the Black Star Army, yet he wanted to kidnap their family, despicable!

This conspiracy theory seemed very logical. More and more people started to agree with it. On the network, it seemed like the Mechanic Emperor became a notorious public enemy overnight.

Of course, for a rumor to spread this fast, there were undoubtedly people behind it, from more than one party in this case too. Those organizations who had beef with the Mechanic Emperor or did not like the Mechanic Emperor were all secretly helping to spread the news. Judging from the Mechanic Emperor’s reputation in the industry, it was not difficult to guess who these people were.

A few days after the rumor had fermented, the Black Star Army finally publicized a short announcement, which pushed the incident to a new height.

The Black Star Army claimed that they had already found Aesop and discovered that Aesop did not go missing on his own will but was kidnapped. They had already found that the Mechanic Emperor was one of the culprits who assisted in the kidnapping, and the mastermind behind this was the Modo Civilization. The army stated that the possibility of further action was not ruled out.

Of course, the wording of the official announcement was subtle, but the galactic society could all clearly see what Black Star was saying between the lines.

You piece of sh*t, playing dirty behind my back? Just you wait!

…

“It’s confirmed. The Soul Swapper has fallen into Black Star’s hands…”

Inside the secure conference room of the Modo Civilization, the atmosphere was so tense that everyone present found it difficult breathing.

They knew that the real reason Black Star and the Mechanic Emperor fought was the Soul Swapper, and the Mechanic Emperor had confirmed personally that Black Star had obtained the Soul Swapper.

Initially, Modo did not know Manison’s goal was the Soul Swapper. They thought that they had kept the secret well, so finding out now was too late.

Even though the Mechanic Emperor’s motive was not pure, the one who got the Soul Swapper in the end was Black Star, so there was no point holding the Mechanic Emperor responsible for anything. The partnership they had might even end because of it.

Comparatively, Modo would have preferred for the Mechanic Emperor to get the Soul Swapper, but it landed in the hands of Black Star. To them, this was the worst possible result.

“The Soul Swapper is way too perfect for sending spies. If Black Star infiltrates the upper echelons of the expedition army, that place will become a black hole that will devour all the manpower and resources we send,” the army upper echelon said with a grave expression.

“He’ll do that for sure. The Black Star Army’s announcement is his declaration of war. We will be receiving even stronger attacks. Black Star might even participate personally.”

“All we can do is think of ways to eliminate the Soul Swap Twins so that Black Star can’t use the Soul Swapper,” one of the Modo Three Kings said with a deep voice.

Since there was no source of information, they did not know that the Soul Swap Twins were already dead. The Modo upper echelons’ speculation was that Black Star would also be using the Soul Swapper through the Soul Swap Twins, so the plan of eliminating the Soul Swap Twins was brought up once again.

Hearing this, the others nodded and expressed their approval. They felt that this was one of the very few plans that could be carried out right now.

Of course, if the plan failed, they had to suffer the consequences. The Modo Civilization knew the risks involved. They could only blame themselves for not being lucky enough to win the bet. The most important topic to discuss at the moment was how to deal with Black Star’s counterattack. Black Star gave them way too much pressure, and everyone was worried sick.

If they had known these chain reactions would happen, they would not have tricked the Kunde Race into attacking the Crimson Dynasty. They had lost much more than they gained, and the upper echelons present were filled with regret.

Their Super Star Cluster allies were completely unreliable. They were reluctant to deal with this mess Modo had made and wanted Modo to deal with Black Star alone. They did not want them to cause any more problems that would affect their overall strategy. However, this was clearly impossible. No one would be willing to give without returns. Modo would not just rot in this horrible situation. They would certainly come up with plans for themselves.

Due to the difference in stands, what the Modo Civilization did was completely dreadful to the other Super Star Cluster civilizations. Not only did they not hold Black Star back, but they might have even caused him to take part personally. Therefore, the unhappiness of the Super Star Cluster allies was imaginable.

An upper echelon hesitated before cautiously saying, “There’s no point in discussing this anymore. Judging from our current situation, if things go even worse, maybe we will have no choice but to exit the Flickering World competition…”

“No way!” The Modo Three Kings’ voices were firm. “As long as there is even a tiny chance, we will give everything we’ve got and never exit the Flickering World competition!”

As soon as he said that, the rest hastily agreed to express their political correctness.

However, in their hearts, not every upper echelon really agreed with it. Of course, fighting for the civilization’s future was important, and none of them minded working hard for it. However, if the price of that was that their initial position would be affected, indirectly damaging the power and position in the universe of these people, the attitude of many upper echelons would become rather ambiguous.

The members in the leading level had changed time after time since the exploration era. Although the spirit of fighting till the end was still somewhat there, their philosophy still leaned more toward being conservative. This was unavoidable.

Compared to those upper echelons who grew in blood and fire, not all the upper echelons now had such an admirable sense of responsibility. No system could restrain selfishness… What happened to the civilization later was just a matter for the future; people who lived in the moment cared more about the present or the power and position they could enjoy while they were alive.

To some people, if there was nothing that could be done, maintaining the current state of the Super Star Cluster civilization was not a bad choice. After all, those who were willing to take one path and walk to the end of it were not the majority.

…

In a certain temporary base of the Machinery Faith in the Ancient Star Desert, Zax changed into his best formal clothing, looked into the mirror, folded his mechanical-oil stained sleeves, and staffed a few hard paper plates into his collar to straighten them. After a whole five minutes, he finally pushed the door open and walked in the direction of the Holy Mountain Temple at the heart of the city. On the way, he saw batches of well-dressed Machinery Faith believers who were walking in the same direction, smiling and nodding at each other.

The Machinery Faith continuously migrated around the universe. Every Grand Priest would manage one migration team. Every once in a while, the Grand Priests would host a festival at the same time. All the believers from various places would wear their best clothes to attend. This was one of the cultural practices of the Machinery Faith.

Zax was an ordinary believer. His position was a heavy mining armor operator. He originally worshipped Manison, but after the Intelligent Plague incident, he had changed and started to worship Black Star.

Because of that, he received quite a lot of rejections from his neighbors, as believers worshipping the same person would choose to live in the same area most of the time.

Although the Machinery Faith supported complete freedom in beliefs, ordinary believers who were completely unaffected were still the minority. Therefore, Zax, who publicly changed his belief, was the most conspicuous where he lived. Although the neighbors would not do anything, they would definitely not be friendly to him.

This was especially clear when it came to his good friend Modir, who was a loyal believer of the Mechanic Emperor. After Zax changed to worship Black Star, Modir came to persuade him many times, which always ended in intense debates. The topic of the debate was the authenticity of that tied battle, which Zax felt was reliable while Modir insisted it was fake and just a method to make the Mechanic Emperor look bad.

They could not convince each other, and gradually, they stopped seeing each other. It had been many days since they spoke.

While pondering, Zax followed the crowd to the temple square while maintaining a faithful mindset. He took the festival items from the priest and then walked to the Black Star Temple. Every Mechanical Deity had their own sub-temple.

While on the way, Zax noticed the difference. In the past, there were hardly any Black Star believers. Although the numbers did increase after the Intelligent Plague incident, there were still very few, at most one-tenth of the number of believers the Mechanic Emperor had. The other sub-temples were always quiet, far from the festivity of the Mechanic Emperor Temple.

This time, however, he was pleasantly surprised to realize that there were many times more believers who were heading toward the Black Star Temple.

“More and more people are agreeing with me. I knew my choice was right. Black Star is more worth worshipping than the Mechanic Emperor.”

He walked into the Black Star Temple filled with happiness. The inside was extremely boisterous. Many times more believers gathered compared to before, so much so that people might mistake this for the Mechanic Emperor Temple.

Very soon, Zax completed a full set of festival procedures. As he was just about to step aside for the person behind him, he suddenly caught a glance of someone familiar.

“Hmm? Modir? Why are you here?”

Hearing someone call him, Modir turned around. When he realized that it was Zax, his expression turned unnatural. He quickly covered his face with his hand and walked away.

Seeing this, Zax instantly caught up to him, grabbed his arm, and refused to let him get away.

“What a coincidence, I didn’t expect to see you here.” Zax’s expression was filled with mockery.

“Hehe, it’s coincidental indeed. I wanted to go to the Mechanic Emperor Temple initially, but silly me, I got lost.” Modir’s smile was stiff.

“The Mechanic Emperor Temple is in the opposite direction. How did you get lost? Did you just follow the crowd, and because there are many people here, you went the wrong way?” Zax said mockingly.

“Yes, yes, that’s right.” Modir quickly agreed.

“Then… what’s this!” Zax suddenly reached into Modir’s pocket and took out a mechanical item. It was a statue of Black Star that was made to be placed inside homes for worshipping. He looked at the distressed Modir and chuckled. “Don’t tell me you bought the wrong one. You’d have to be blind to do so. Tell me the truth, did you also betray the Mechanic Emperor and change to worship Black Star?”

“Nonsense! Betray what?” Modir’s face was blushing fully as he tried his best to justify himself. “Can this really be considered a betrayal when it comes to believers?”

Zax chuckled with derision and did not speak.

Being stared at by an old friend, Modir quickly became less confident. He softly murmured, “Don’t laugh, alright. I admit it. I’ve started to worship Black Star.”

“Yo, now you admit. Why were you still quibbling earlier?”

“Misunderstanding… It’s all a misunderstanding…” Modir’s face was burning red.

The two of them had debated the topic dozens of times. He had insisted that Black Star was inferior to the Mechanic Emperor. However, the recordings of Black Star cutting the Mechanic Emperor’s avatar into pieces a few days ago slapped his face so hard it was swollen. Hence, he secretly scolded the Mechanic Emperor and changed his belief. He was afraid of getting laughed at, so he hid the fact that he had changed his beliefs, which was why he was avoiding his old friend.

Seeing him like this, Zax shook his head with dissatisfaction. “You have clearly only just started worshipping Black Star. A complete newbie, you don’t understand the essence of it at all.”

“The essence?” Modir was very interested but was too embarrassed to ask further.

Zax placed his hands on his waist and said confidently, “Humph, look at you, getting awkward and embarrassed in the face of something so trivial. Shameful, what part of that looks like us Black Star believers? As believers of Black Star, you cannot have other things, but your skin must be thick!”

“That’s a saying?” Modir’s eyes opened wide.

“Of course! This is the attitude to life that Black Star has taught us. Often, you feel like you’ve embarrassed yourself, you feel awkward, but… who cares about how you feel? Don’t be so narcissistic!”

“Huh?” Modir opened his mouth wide, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

“Shut up. Don’t ask so many questions and let me tell you the doctrine.” Zax stared at him.

“… But I haven’t asked anything‽”

“Ahem, anyway, as believers, we have to learn the incredible parts of our idol. Black Star’s thick skin is known throughout the universe. Look at me. I didn’t even move house. I don’t care what they say. If they dare come and debate with me, I’ll take it as teaching them a lesson. Look at you, you’re already worshipping Black Star, yet you’re afraid of letting others know. Unqualified!”

“Sounds sensible… Is there anything else I should be aware of?” Modir humbly asked.

“Of course. Black Star told us that a qualified Mechanic should train his body every day and get a strong physique!” Zax folded his sleeves and showed his large biceps.

Doctrines and rules were all set by people. The believers would pick out the specialties of their idols and see them as the creed of their religion. As for the specialties of Black Star, they showed a new world to quite a number of believers and broke the old concepts.

It turned out that a real Mechanic should measure himself with the standard of a Pugilist.

As long as you have a strong physique, you can make up for your weakness, use yourself as a trap, and lure the enemy to get close!

Black Star had already proved through actual battles that this was a more advanced combat strategy!

The news of Manison being defeated by Black Star for the first time caused the Mechanic Emperor to lose a ton of believers. Many changed to worship Black Star instead. Suddenly, the popularity of bodybuilding swept through the Machinery Faith. Bodybuilding equipment was always sold out. The same thing was happening in many different residential areas of the Machinery Faith.

…

“Black Star is becoming stronger and stronger…”

In the Limitless Financial Group subdivision, Sorokin looked at the news with a grave expression.

Even with his harsh standards, the Mechanic Emperor was very powerful. Black Star had gotten quite a beating from Manison just a decade prior, yet now he could make Manison lose head-on, twice even.

As someone who might know who Sorokin really was, Black Star being this strong was not good news for him.

“With Black Star’s current strength, if I want to eliminate him, I’ll have to take back all the Soul Seeds and regain my full strength. But if I do that, this body won’t be able to hold it and will basically be destroyed. I’ll have to change my identity again…”

Sorokin walked back and forth, annoyed.

Among the many Beyond Grade As, some wanted fame, some wanted power, some wanted strength, some had no desire… while he just wanted to make money.

Throughout the years, in order to achieve all kinds of plans, Sorokin had changed his identity time after time. This time, however, he could not let go of the identity of the leader of the Limitless Financial Group. He had spent way too much effort to obtain this large sum of money.

…

Meanwhile, in the returning fleet of the Black Star Army, after Han Xiao had finished dealing with the chores and had the free time, he finally remembered about testing the Soul Swapper. Hence, he called Feidin over and temporarily took back the Soul Swapper.

His fingers caressed the mirror and tried to press in but could not at all. No matter how much strength he used, the Soul Swapper did not give in. It was the complete opposite of how it actively tried to suck Feidin in.

“Since only some are qualified to use you, let me see what on earth you are…”

Han Xiao activated [Bold Explorer].