The universe was extremely vast. Even if one had superhuman strength, if one did not have a large enough organization, it would be difficult for one to achieve anything in the galactic society.
The current Black Star Army was already the top warlord organization in the galaxy. They had people, money, cannons, and ships. As soon as Han Xiao gave the highest order, the people of the Black Star Army left in the Shattered Star Ring immediately followed his orders and searched the Star Systems one after another, locking down the various transportation hubs while looking for traces of Aesop. The troops of Floating Dragon Island were almost all out as well.
Of course, such a huge commotion could not be hidden from others. Very soon, it attracted the attention of the galactic society. It turned out that the Dragon Emperor's elder had gone missing. In order to search for him alone, the Black Star Army had caused a commotion that affected twenty to thirty Star Systems.
Such a huge search affected the operation of some public facilities. Some galactic residents complained, but with the Black Star Corps' reputation, the local civilizations did not care, so no one dared to take it seriously.
Other than sending troops to search everywhere, the Black Star Corps also posted a bounty on Aesop and spread it through the local media, mobilizing the power of the people.
As long as they could provide any real clues about Aesop, they would receive a huge reward, such as eyewitness reports, transit records, and so on. If they could capture Aesop alive and hand him over to the army, they would receive a huge sum of 135 million Enas. This was an amount that a normal galactic resident would not be able to spend in a few lifetimes. Even for some small and medium-sized armed organizations, it was an astronomical amount.
As the saying went, 'When there is a huge reward, there will definitely be brave men.' Some small and medium-sized organizations spontaneously joined the search team, and a large number of free mercenaries also took action excitedly. Even some galactic pirates and scavengers were secretly searching for Aesop, hoping to get the reward and wash their hands clean. The local galactic residents of the Shattered Star Ring also paid attention.
All of a sudden, Aesop became the target of countless organizations in the Shattered Star Ring, and countless people had their eyes on him.
Back then, Han Xiao was all alone, and capturing Aesop was mainly due to Fu Ding's luck. However, now that a few decades had passed, his army had grown into a giant, and there was no need for him to play hide and seek with Aesop like before. As long as he spread out his forces, it would be difficult for the other party to move.
Even if Aesop had a powerful prophecy ability, in this situation where everyone was an enemy, he could only act stealthily like a rat in a sewer, not daring to expose himself in front of ordinary people.
Of course, these arrangements were only the foundation. Han Xiao's core search method was Rody's prophecy, Ames, Fu Ding, Nero, and Harrison's luck, as well as his own Virtual Technology. They would constantly determine Aesop's possible coordinates on the star map and conduct a targeted search.
…
The dark red sandstorm covered the sky endlessly, as if a red curtain had covered the entire planet.
Looking through the sandstorm with extremely low visibility, he saw a figure wearing a heavy protective suit walking alone in the desolate red desert. The strong wind that rolled up the dust was like a heavy hammer, smashing on his body and making muffled sounds.
After walking for a few hours, suddenly, a meteor-like flame pierced through the sandstorm and rapidly fell toward the figure. The figure stopped and looked over. A small spaceship was coming closer and closer, reflected on the alloy mask of the protective suit.
Hu!
The spaceship slowly landed in front of the figure and released an air force field with a diameter of fifty meters, isolating the surrounding sandstorm and creating a clean area.
The hatch opened with a swoosh. The figure did not hesitate and stepped onto the spaceship. He shook off the sand on his body and took off the heavy protective helmet, revealing an old face. It was Aesop.
Aesop patted his helmet, looked up, and asked, "You guys are the people who are here to pick me up?"
"Yes, we are now responsible for sending you out of the Shattered Star Ring." The captain walked up and replied, "Don't worry, we are professionals. We are definitely reliable."
Aesop nodded and said, "The single person spaceship that sent me here hasn't been destroyed yet. You guys can blow it up while you're at it. Otherwise, if it falls into Black Star's hands, it will be a medium for prophecy. Don't leave such clues behind."
Because of the Black Star Army's lockdown in the Shattered Star Ring, it was extremely difficult for him to move around. He had finally found a space capsule and landed on this desolate planet. After waiting for quite some time, this spaceship finally arrived.
"No problem." The captain nodded.
The spaceship took off and arrived at a desert not far away. It discovered a metal spaceship that was half buried in the desert.
Bang!
Bang! Two explosive beams shot out from the spaceship's cannon and blew up the spaceship. The flames only burned for an instant before being extinguished by the wind. Only charred metal pieces were left on the ground, which were gradually buried by the sand.
After completing this, the spaceship turned around and shot into the galaxy, leaving behind a trail of flames that slowly disappeared.
At the same time, Manison, who was far away in the Primeval Star River, received a message and opened a surveillance image. The image was of Aesop in the spaceship.
"Finally, we've picked him up …"
Manison looked at the image, and his eyes flickered slightly.
This spaceship that had gone to pick up Aesop had concealed its organization symbol in order to keep it a secret. It actually belonged to an organization called 'Milde Armed Transport Group', which was one of the secret organizations that Manison had planted in the Shattered Star Ring.
Not long ago, the Modo Civilization had officially pulled him into their plan and revealed some information to him for help.
The Modo Civilization had no choice. The Black Star Corps' lockdown was too strong, and it was not convenient for them to move around in the Shattered Star Ring. They could not sneak Aesop out at all, and they were almost discovered a few times. Therefore, they decided to borrow the people of the Mecha Empire and let him take over the 'delivery'.
"Modo must have used the Soul Swapper to influence Aesop and made him run away on his own accord."
Manison stroked his beard and pondered.
In the information provided by the Modo Civilization, of course, they did not mention the existence of the Soul Swapper. They only said that they had used some kind of mental manipulation method to control Aesop and did not explain in detail. However, they did not know that Manison already had information about the Soul Swapper and knew what trick Aesop had fallen into.
Manison had no intention of stopping Modo's battle plan. He even planned to cooperate until the end.
Aesop had once been a member of the Ancient Ones, but he had long since left the organization. The Ancient Ones were mainly composed of those with long lifespans, and the Beyond Grade As were only the leaders. Not all of the members were Beyond Grade As. There were many people like Aesop who were very weak but had special abilities.
Although Manison knew Aesop, they did not have much of a friendship, so he did not mind sending Aesop to his death.
In this regard, he had the same interests as Modo. Using Aesop's death to plot against Black Star might force him to violate the peace treaty of the advanced civilizations. This way, it would greatly damage Black Star's reputation and destroy the great image that the three Universal Civilizations had built for him. This was exactly what Manison wanted to see, so he was willing to cooperate.
However, this was just icing on the cake. Manison's main goal was still the Soul Swapper.
Aesop is currently in my hands, so he must have come into contact with the Soul Swapper within a certain range. By checking his whereabouts, I can roughly determine the search range. By comparing the records, I can find the Modo Civilization's secret fleet that transported the Soul Swapper. The one controlling Aesop's body now should be someone from the Modo Civilization. Maybe I can use hypnosis to ask.
Manison's mind raced.
He did not know that the Soul Swap Twins had already escaped. In his mind, the Soul Swapper should be being transported back by the Modo Civilization's fleet, and the direction of his search had already deviated.
…
Some time after the spaceship that transported Aesop left, another fleet visited this dark red desolate planet. Its outer armor had the Black Star emblem engraved on it.
In the command room of the main ship, Han Xiao, Ames, Fu Ding, and the others gathered. This fleet was led by Han Xiao himself.
"Hmm, it's this planet. It's exactly the same as the prophecy, and it's also one of the locations that Fu Ding, Harrison, and the others chose."
Han Xiao looked down at the surface of the planet.
Rody's prophecies were sometimes accurate, but what he gave was basically key information. At Han Xiao's request, Fu Ding and the others, who had the Advanced Luck Glow, randomly chose some coordinates in the search area. Han Xiao focused on investigating the parts that overlapped.
Although he had not obtained any clues yet, Han Xiao was still confident in this method.
What he did not know was that he had almost stopped Aesop several times. This method was indeed very effective. In a sense, luck was the one that was truly invincible.
"Detect this planet for me. Report any abnormalities."
Han Xiao waved his hand, and spaceships immediately left the team and flew around the planet. They used all kinds of detection devices to detect the planet without any blind spots.
The normal detection results were fed back on the screen in front of Han Xiao. There did not seem to be any abnormalities. However, after a while, a spaceship suddenly sent back some shocking information.
"Reporting to the Legion Commander, we have discovered an extremely weak high-energy radiation reaction in a desert. The source is quite scattered and buried a few meters underground. Should we start digging?"
"Dig!"
The surveillance screen quickly switched to the perspective of this spaceship. The traction device at the belly of the spaceship stirred the sand and sucked out pieces of charred metal fragments. They looked like mechanical parts that had been blown up.
"Reporting, the radiation source has been found. Data analysis is in progress … Analysis complete. This should be the remains of some kind of space capsule. It was blown up by a high-energy cannon. The molecules were affected by the energy and left behind a certain amount of high-energy radiation. It's gradually weakening. In a few days, the remaining high-energy radiation will completely disappear."
"Looks like we're not late." Han Xiao's eyes lit up.
If they were a few days later and the energy radiation dissipated, they would not be able to detect this fragment.
Now that they had this thing, not only could it be used as a medium for Rody's prophecies, but it could also be used as a trigger for [Bold Explorer]. One could see the future, and the other could look back to the past.
Soon, this pile of space capsule fragments was sent to Han Xiao and the others.
Han Xiao picked up one of the fragments, looked at the burn marks on it, and said in a low voice, "That's right.
"It doesn't look like it was attacked. It looks more like it was deliberately destroyed. They probably didn't want to leave any clues for us … Unfortunately, he failed at the last step. We're really lucky."
Clenching his fingers and holding the fragment in his palm, Han Xiao activated [Bold Explorer].
Ripples appeared in his vision, and the scene in front of him changed instantly.
He saw a space capsule fall from the sky and smash onto the surface of this planet. The hatch opened, and a figure in a protective suit walked out and slowly walked away.
Although he could not see his face, he felt that this person was most likely Aesop.
Time seemed to have been shortened. Not long after, a spaceship suddenly appeared above the space capsule and shot out two explosive energy beams, blowing the space capsule into pieces. The image stopped there. Han Xiao shuddered and returned to normal.
This video was very short, but it revealed a lot of clues.
"This is indeed the space capsule that Aesop left behind. Then, a spaceship suddenly appeared and destroyed the clues. It means that it's here to pick him up …"
Han Xiao recalled the appearance of the spaceship in the video. It was not a common model but a high-speed spaceship known for its hyperdrive speed. It was very expensive and not everyone could afford it.
"Philip!"
"Coming, hum … Master, please give your orders."
"Search all the people and organizations in the Shattered Star Ring that have Light Grade shuttles. Don't let any of them go. Also, mark the organizations with strongholds near this area."
"Huh?" Philip blinked his big eyes and said with a pitiful expression, "That's a huge amount of data, hum … It takes up a lot of computing power, hum …"
Han Xiao glared at him. "Then, why aren't you making the best use of your time?"
Philip sniffled, took out a progress bar from his pants, and placed it beside him. He then summoned a big box filled with papers, jumped in, and started searching. The progress bar started moving at the same time.
After a while, the progress bar finally reached its peak. Philip's head popped out of the box, spat out a mouth full of paper, and held a piece of glowing paper in his hand. He puffed up his face and said angrily, "Humph! Found it, hum! Take it away, take it away! "
"You're the only one who spends a lot of time."
Han Xiao rolled his eyes, switched to the quantum network, and accepted the search results.
A huge amount of data flowed into his brain like a tsunami. Han Xiao's brain capacity and computing power were like a dam, easily blocking the impact of the data flow. He did not feel any discomfort and quickly browsed through it.
"A total of 37.031 matches … Hmm, let me see who they are."
Han Xiao quickly filtered through the data in his brain, and in less than two seconds, he had memorized all of them. Only a Virtual Mechanic could use such a 'stupid method' to lock onto suspicious targets … As long as he had the ability to filter through the entire ocean, finding a needle in a haystack would not be difficult.
Most of them were worthless data, but there was an organization that caught Han Xiao's attention.
"Milde Armed Transport Group … I seem to have some impression of this name."
Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and searched through the memory palace in his brain for a while, and the relevant memories surged into his mind.
"… I remember now! This organization seems to be one of the subsidiary organizations of the Mecha Empire that was exposed in my previous life. "
Han Xiao's expression became serious.
Although he had not confirmed it yet, his intuition told him that this organization should be the one that transported Aesop's people away.
Did this not mean that that old b * stard Manison was also involved in this matter?
Han Xiao did not plan to question the Mecha Empire. It would be useless even if he did. They would definitely not admit it.
Various thoughts flashed through his mind, and Han Xiao turned to look at everyone.
"Get someone to keep an eye on the Milde Armed Transport Group … No, keep an eye on all the organizations that I mentioned later. I want to know their recent movements, but don't alarm them. Follow them closely. Without my orders, don't close the net!"
He had always known what organizations the Mecha Empire had secretly planted in the Shattered Star Ring. Originally, he did not want to alert them, but now that the Mecha Empire was suspected to be involved in this matter, Han Xiao decided to take measures to keep an eye on all the subsidiary organizations of the Mecha Empire in the Shattered Star Ring!
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