Chapter 1258: Test and Welcome
He asked around. There were only a few people in the second batch of the revivors who were willing to join the association. Han Xiao memorized their names, looked at the Holy Accord members, and nodded.
“I’ll leave the rest to you then. You guys usually don’t have anything to do anyway. You should be fine helping the newcomers get used to this era, right?”
Beiger smiled and agreed on behalf of the others. “Don’t worry, we’re adept at this. We were just in need of new card-mates too.”
Oathkeeper nodded subconsciously but then suddenly realized, Wait a minute, isn’t this my organization? Why are you the one giving the orders?
“Er…” Oathkeeper was just about to speak.
However, before he could, Han Xiao clapped, interrupted him, and smiled.
“I’m glad we’ve come to an agreement. Let’s get to familiarizing them with this era then.”
The atmosphere in the place became calmer as he said that. The Holy Accord members led the others and left the room while chatting. Their voices gradually grew more distant.
Oathkeeper’s lips twitched slightly.
I, the organization’s leader, have been ignored? Don’t I deserve some face‽
This time, Han Xiao walked over, patted Oathkeeper’s shoulders, and said, “I’m afraid you’re going to be busy for some time. These revivors are intimidated by me for the time being, but I can’t keep an eye on them all the time. There’ll definitely be someone who wants to sneak away. You have to monitor them closely but not too obviously, in case they get unhappy about it.”
“Understood…” Oathkeeper coughed. “Ahem, I know what to do. You don’t have to teach me.”
Han Xiao smiled. He summoned a virtual screen and quickly made a list.
“This is a partial list of keys for the other Sanctums. You guys are the expert in this. It’s best to keep collecting them. The more keys we have, the better.”
“You found this in the Third Sanctum?” Oathkeeper looked surprised. “Why didn’t I see it when I went in?”
“It might be because your authority level is too low…” Han Xiao shook his head and briefly explained authority levels. As for whether Oathkeeper kept it a secret deliberately or not, now was not the time to be concerned over such trivial matters.
“Alright, this way, opening the Sanctums in the future will be easier.” Oathkeeper was glad.
Although the information recorded in the various Sanctums differed, the Sanctum revival function worked in all of them. Having the methods to open the other Sanctums meant that the Sanctum revival function could be carried out many times more.
Accepting the list, Oathkeeper paused and asked, “Have you decided on the timing for the first batch of revivors to appear in public?”
“Probably in the next few months.” Han Xiao responded.
“After they appear, the attitudes of the three Universal Civilizations will change drastically. Are you ready?” Oathkeeper sounded worried.
No matter how mentally prepared he was beforehand, as the one who would start this storm, it was impossible for him not to worry. That was especially so when this was most certainly going to be a fuse to cause the structure of the universe to change dramatically, as well as the turning point for all Beyond Grade As. Its influence would be colossal; it might lead the future of the galactic society to a completely unknown direction. He was naturally nervous.
“I know what I’m doing. This is a step we must take. There’s no need to worry so much.”
Han Xiao smiled and patted his shoulder.
Oathkeeper frowned slightly and slowly said, “Also… we hid the truth about the Sanctums, making the others think that they can only revive once. This means that although the three Universal Civilizations will still be concerned, they most probably won’t give up on the idea of the ‘cleansing”… Are we really not going to share the truth about reviving?”
Han Xiao shook his head.
“It’s okay. We have to hide this trump card for a while. Although letting this information out will make the three Universal Civilizations cautious, they might change their strategy because of it too. It’s better to give them the wrong idea. After all, being able to revive an infinite number of times… will only be convincing when it actually happens. If the cleansing is really carried out, it won’t be too late to reveal it then anyway. That way, not only will the three Universal Civilizations’ strategy be disrupted, it would also be a surprise to those who died.
“Plus, fear is the lock of desire. If we tell the truth to the revivors now, it won’t be easy to manage them anymore.”
Oathkeeper sighed and said, “But you’ll face too much pressure this way… You’re the one who will bring the revivors into the association, so anyone would think you know the truth. The three Universal Civilizations will definitely target you. Will you be able to deal with it?”
“It’s not a big problem. As soon as the association sees that the Sanctums can revive people, the Beyond Grade As will be united around me like never before. In addition, with my capability, forces, and the Underworld, it won’t be a problem to stand against the three Universal Civilizations for the time being. That way, there’ll be room for negotiation.”
Han Xiao smiled and made Oathkeeper not so worried.
Oathkeeper nodded and said with a solemn tone, “As long as you got a plan. Anyway, whether we can walk under the sun in the future all depends on you.”
…
The next day, Han Xiao went back to hosting the association and Kasuyi stepped down. Kasuyi contacted Han Xiao multiple times privately, trying to find out what Han Xiao acquired in this trip, but Han Xiao smoothly avoided the topic every time.
Reappearing again after going missing for four months did not attract too much attention. It was common for Beyond Grade As to travel, so the various organizations did not overthink about what Han Xiao had done while he was missing.
After waiting patiently for more than half a month, the three Universal Civilizations finally acted and sent Han Xiao a private meeting invitation.
“After observing for so long, they’re finally on the move, huh…”
In his room, seeing the invitation notification on the communicator, Han Xiao focused and sat up straight.
He opened the network link in the invitation letter, and his remote projection entered the online conference room.
The next moment, he came to a secret conference room. The remote projections of the leaders of the federation, the dynasty, and the church were all already there.
“Black Star, you’re here.” The dynasty’s ruler, Marbruce, smiled with his squarish face.
Han Xiao looked around, put on the signature smile of the eighth king of the Underworld, and said, “Your Excellencies, what can I do for you?”
“We haven’t officially congratulated you for being elected as the Beyond Grade A Association president, congratulations.” Marbruce nodded.
“Thanks.” Han Xiao smiled. “It’s all thanks to the support of the members.”
“We have high hopes for you. You’re more suited to lead the Beyond Grade A Association than Manison. We all agree that under your leadership, the Beyond Grade A Association will walk further on the right path…”
The few of them superficially praised each other as usual before getting to the main topic.
The federation president, Louis, stroked his moustache and said, “We’ve called you here today mainly because we need your help on a matter… The issue of the Beyond Grade A Association members privately spreading Ultimate Knowledges of the various classes has gone on too long. Manison deliberately allowed it when he was in office and ignored it. Now that you’ve become the president, we hope you can help settle this issue.”
Han Xiao raised his brow. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise it’ll work. After all, I can’t possibly interfere with the private life of every member.”
Knowing this was a perfunctory response, the church leader coughed and slowly said with a more serious tone, “Black Star, this issue is very important to us. This has lasted decades. We can’t possibly allow it to continue. There’s a limit to everything. We hope we can see the situation improve very soon.”
“I’ll do my best.” Han Xiao maintained a smile and did not reject it. He was not surprised.
The three Universal Civilizations never opened up the restrictions on the spread of Ultimate Knowledges legally, so the association members could only spread it privately. This was an important factor to attracting new blood, so of course, Han Xiao was not going to agree. The three Universal Civilizations clearly knew that too. Part of the reason they still deliberately brought this matter up was to test his position as the new president, and the other part was most likely to set the path for the ‘cleansing’.
If he rejected it, the three Universal Civilizations would have a justifiable reason to target the association. If the association compromised, the members would definitely be shaken. Arguments and split opinions would certainly happen too.
The three of them gave Han Xiao a meaningful look.
“We’ll wait for your results then. You won’t disappoint us, will you?”
“Of course. I’ve always believed in taking the win-win path; you guys know that.” Han Xiao smiled. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”
“Hmm, go do your stuff then.”
Han Xiao made a simple gesture to bid farewell and hung up the communication.
When his remote projection in the room disappeared, the three leaders remaining in the room looked at each other, nodded, and came to an agreement.
“Looks like it’s time to take action.”
Black Star replacing the Mechanic Emperor and taking office was the opportunity to act. This was because, to them, the biggest difference between Black Star and Mechanic Emperor was that Black Star knew all too well about avoiding conflicts, unlike the Mechanic Emperor, who was very headstrong. The chance of Black Star flipping the table was very low. This was one of the reasons they waited to act till Han Xiao took office—the personality of the leader was very important.
The three of them did not plan to target Black Star. Their plan was to kill some and poach some. Peak Beyond Grade As were not the three Universal Civilizations’ targets. Instead, they were even going to compensate and woo them during the operation so that they could divide the Beyond Grade As.
According to the personality analysis based on their large databases, Black Star’s predisposition to seek profit and avoid conflict was extremely strong. In order to protect his own interests, there was only a very small chance he would stand on the complete opposite side of the three Universal Civilizations for the other Beyond Grade As. As long as the operation was firm and cruel enough, Black Star would very likely step back to protect himself, which would give them an opportunity to divide the association.
The most ideal result would be the Beyond Grade A Association disbanding, fundamental and medium level members all dying, and most uncertainties eliminated, leaving only their direct members and the peak Beyond Grade As. This way, the three Universal Civilizations would once again gain control of the individuals with great strength, and everything would go back to how it was.
When the three of them were discussing the plan, inside Han Xiao’s office in the Black Star Army, he put down the communicator and mumbled, “The situation is about to reach the tipping point, looks like it’s time to bring the revivors out… there just happened to be a new member requesting to join the association recently, I can use the opportunity to announce their existence to the entire universe.”
…
Half a month later, at Beyond Grade A Association headquarters on Planet Finn, a small fleet slowly docked.
In front of the porthole at the bridge of the main ship, a skinny man looked out the porthole at Planet Finn.
“The Beyond Grade A Association finally accepted my request…”
Mahel was relieved, like heavy weights were lifted off his shoulders.
He was a new Beyond Grade A who stepped into this territory a few years ago, raised by a certain Star System civilization. Although the chances of this happening were extremely low, it was not completely impossible. Some civilizations would get unbelievably lucky once in a while.
As the one and only Beyond Grade A of the civilization, Mahel carried heavy responsibilities. After he stepped into the Beyond Grade A territory, he became the guardian of his civilization, earning benefits for his civilization and stabilizing its forces in the local area. He did not join the Beyond Grade A Association as soon as he became a Beyond Grade A, but he also rejected the offers of the other civilizations.
He had only just requested to join the association, and he had come with a mission. He hoped to gain a hold inside the Beyond Grade A Association and bring more benefits to his civilization using the resources of other members.
Today was the welcome meeting the association hosted just for him. Mahel had made a lot of preparations for today. He even hired professionals to draft a script for his speech. He had memorized it and planned to earn the favorability of other members using this nice speech so that he could quickly blend in.
“Hope everything goes smoothly…”
The spaceship stopped at the dock. Mahel walked out and followed the receptionist into the temporary lounge of the venue. On the way, he kept rehearsing the speech he would give later on.
Very soon, Mahel came to the door of the lounge, pushed the door open, and walked in. He subconsciously looked around and was suddenly stunned.
In the room, dozens of people stood and sat around while casually chatting. Hearing someone had pushed the door open, they all stopped chatting and looked at him.
“Isn’t the temporary lounge for one? Did I enter the wrong room?”
Mahel was stunned for a moment. He took a step back, looked at the room number, and was confused.
I’m not wrong. This is the lounge for the rookie to wait to enter the venue. Isn’t this supposed to be my room? Where did these people come from?
At this time, the people inside the room suddenly started laughing. The people near the gate stood up, pulled Mahel in, and pressed him down on the sofa.
“Yo, finally, a real rookie is here.”
“Sit, sit, get something to eat.”
“This is the first time I’ve seen a rookie of the new era.”
The others all crowded around and sized him up curiously while chatting.
Mahel was stuck in the middle with no idea of what to do. He could not take it anymore and yelled, “Who are you? This should be my room. Please get out!”
Hearing this, the others exchanged looks and smiled. Suddenly, everyone’s body shook.
Boom!
The presence of Beyond Grade As erupted in an instant and disappeared the next second.
Mahel was startled. He froze in place and was totally dumbfounded.
All these strangers are Beyond Grade As‽
“W-who are you peop…”
Mahel’s eyes opened wide. His brain was short-circuiting, and he could not even speak properly.
Beiger joked, “Don’t be so nervous. We’re just like you, all rookies joining the association.”
“Impossible! How can dozens of new Beyond Grade As appear in the universe silently‽ Who are you guys‽”
Mahel stood up and lost it.
Isn’t today’s welcome meeting to welcome just me‽
Beiger smiled and waved. “We’re not strangers. Take a closer look, do you recognize us?”
Hearing this, Mahel hastily observed the people present. Suddenly, his expression changed drastically.
“I’ve seen your information… you’re Primordial Ones‽”
“Haha, I knew you would recognize us… Come on, don’t look at us like that. We just simply revived. It’s no big deal.”
Beiger patted Mahel’s shoulder with a smile.
As if his bones were shattered, Mahel lay flat on the sofa with no color in his eyes like he had lost his soul.
At this moment, his brain was completely blank. There was only one thought left in his mind…
When did I fall asleep?
