In the conference room with three times the security, the two kings of Modo and the upper echelons held an emergency meeting. Everyone present was someone who had seen the world, so they got over the shock very quickly. As soon as they recovered, they felt endless anger and fear.
"Did you find out who did it?"
The two kings of Modo were livid.
Every time they thought back to that scene, they would feel fear. If it had not been their unlucky colleague who gave the speech, they might have been the ones who died!
Who dared to openly assassinate them, the leaders of their civilization? This was a challenge to the entire Modo Civilization. The two of them were furious.
"We haven't caught the culprit yet, but the intelligence department has submitted the analysis report of the video and found a match in the database …"
A senior intelligence officer operated on the table with a serious expression. The next moment, a green virtual screen rose from the table in front of every officer, displaying the same document.
"The weapon used by the culprit is a golden spear. According to the data, the owner of this weapon is a highly wanted criminal with the code name [Secret Thorn]. The earliest record was during the Kunde Race incident. This person committed many assassination cases back then and disappeared for more than ten years. Recently, he became active in the country again and killed some elites of various industries …
"According to the analysis, [Secret Thorn] has the strength of a top Calamity Grade and is suspected to be at the level of a Beyond Grade A seed. The golden spear he used is a powerful enchanted weapon, but because there are too few observation records, we don't have much information. "However, from this assassination case, we can infer that [Secret Thorn]'s weapon has extremely strong energy penetration and is extremely lethal to powerful targets. "On the other hand, [Secret Thorn] might be a gang. It seems like many of the assassination cases committed by other people are related to him. We suspect that he formed an organization in the more than ten years he disappeared …"
The assassinations targeting the Modo Civilization were not all done by the Assassin's Society. There were other organizations that were active in the dark. There were many enemies of advanced civilizations. Seeing that Modo was in chaos, some of them took advantage of the situation. Some of them were black market assassination organizations, and some were foreign terrorist organizations. There were also racial radicals and criminals who pretended to be assassins to commit crimes. The law and order of society were unstable, and the police were having a hard time.
After the two kings of Modo finished reading the report, one of them yelled, "I'm more concerned about who ordered this assassin. Which power does he belong to?! "
"The appearance of the [Secret Assassin] is obviously related to the Kunde Race incident. Back then, the main parties involved were the Red Empire and their allies. Although we don't know which organization the assassin belongs to, he definitely has something to do with the Red Empire. He might be a soldier of the dynasty secretly nurtured, or he might be an officer of one of the dynasty's Beyond Grade A allies …"
"So, this operation might be ordered by the Red Empire?" The two kings of Modo looked uncertain.
"That's … not necessarily." The intelligence officer thought about it and said with a deep voice, "The situation back then was different from now. More than ten years ago, the Beyond Grade A Association had yet to be established, and the dynasty still had enough control over their Beyond Grade A allies. The assassination back then was indeed related to the dynasty, but the situation has changed now. We cannot rule out the possibility that this incident was a private action of the Beyond Grade As."
Hearing this, everyone's expression changed. A figure subconsciously appeared in their minds.
"Could it be … Black Star?!"
The Modo Two Kings were shocked and furious.
Although the Red Empire was a gangster, the risk of assassinating the leader of an advanced civilization was far greater than the benefits. There was basically no reason for them to do so.
After thinking about it, it seemed like only Black Star, who had a deep grudge against them, had such a motive.
"Black Star! He gained the upper hand in the Flickering War and made us suffer a lot, but does that make him think he can do whatever he wants? How dare he do such a thing? He's too arrogant! Modo will never let him go! "
The two kings of Modo were furious.
This way, they had one more goal in the Flickering War. Not only was it for the future of the civilization, but it was also to make Black Star pay with his life. The two of them believed that after this incident, the entire civilization would be united against a common enemy.
However, this time, one of the upper echelons hesitated and objected.
"But I don't think that's right. What's Black Star doing this for? Is it just a momentary revenge? That doesn't make sense! He's a person who prioritizes his own interests. He gained the upper hand in the Flickering World and took the initiative … To be honest, he could've surrounded the enemy and made us suffer again and again. There's no need for him to assassinate the leader of a civilization. Doing so would even bring him risks.
If he's exposed, the hero image that the three Universal Civilizations created for him will be heavily damaged, and he'll fall into a passive position. Black Star doesn't look like someone who would make such a rash decision … "
After hearing this, the upper echelons present frowned, shocked and doubtful.
"Makes sense. Black Star wouldn't do something meaningless. If the assassination was his idea, he must've done it to achieve some goal …"
"What goal could it be?"
The room quieted down. Everyone frowned as they racked their brains, trying to come up with a solution.
After more than ten seconds, an intelligence officer's eyes sparkled. He stood up and said, "I think I understand Black Star's plan!"
"Oh? Hurry up and tell us. "Everyone's eyes immediately gathered on him.
This intelligence officer's eyes flickered, and his tone was firm.
"Black Star is doing this to prevent us from surrendering!"
"Huh?"
Everyone tilted their heads in unison, a big question mark popping up in their heads.
"You … explain." The two kings of Modo frowned.
"My guess is this. Black Star knows that we know very well that Modo has no chance of breaking out of this situation in his hands. He's afraid that we'll give up on the Flickering War and withdraw the expeditionary army. This way, he won't be able to continue attacking the enemy. Therefore, in order to prevent us from retreating, he secretly ordered the assassins to do this, publicly provoking the face of the entire Modo Civilization. It's because he predicted our reaction in advance. Whether the assassins are his people or not, we'll definitely suspect him.
"Then, because we're enemies, he thinks that there's a high chance that we'll publicly claim that Black Star is the mastermind and damage his reputation in this way. This way, we'll fulfill his wish … Once we claim that Black Star is the mastermind, under the eyes of the entire universe, we'll have to pursue the matter to the end. We can't withdraw the expeditionary army easily. Instead, we'll have to keep sending in more troops. Otherwise, the outside world will think that we're giving in. As an advanced civilization whose leader was assassinated, there is no way we will compromise. This way, Black Star has successfully maintained the situation and prevented us from retreating. He will continue to encircle our base and attack reinforcements, constantly chipping away at our troops. "
Everyone shuddered. They quickly thought back and realized that their thoughts were actually the same as this speculation. They could not help but feel chills down their spines.
As expected, our reactions were all predicted by Black Star … Luckily, we predicted Black Star's prediction.
One of the two kings of Modo shook his head and said, "No, no, Black Star knows that we'll accuse him. Isn't he afraid of losing his reputation?"
"I think he might not be afraid …" An official pondered and said, "If we don't catch the culprit and have no evidence, with Black Star's heroic image, who will the outside world believe? Even if we have evidence, Black Star can still deny it and say that we're framing him … Plus, his heroic image was specially created by the three Universal Civilizations. Although Black Star enjoys the benefits, he's also bound by his reputation. If he can get rid of it, Black Star won't lose anything. The three Universal Civilizations might be more anxious than him … "
As soon as he said that, many people nodded and felt that it made sense.
The two kings of Modo suppressed their anger and said, "Then, if Black Star really did it, not only will we not pursue the matter, but we'll even help him cover it up? Impossible! Don't even think about it! "
The two of them admitted that this inference made sense, but in order to not fall for Black Star's scheme, they, as an advanced civilization, would not pursue the culprit but instead hide the culprit and suffer such a huge loss for nothing?
This is ridiculous. Do you think I don't care about my reputation?
We're a Supercluster civilization. Why would we be scared by something like this? This is such a horrible incident. We'll deal with it however we want. There's no way we'll compromise!
This time, the intelligence officer who made this inference hesitated for a while before speaking again.
"Actually … there's another possibility."
"Continue!"
"Ahem, I just thought about it. What if a third party predicted our reaction based on our grudge with Black Star, so they sent someone to pretend to be a [Secret Assassin] or bribed this assassin and deliberately assassinated Black Star in front of everyone, causing a huge commotion and framing Black Star, deepening our grudge with Black Star … Would that be the case?"
Hearing this, everyone was shocked.
There were many examples of third parties instigating conflicts in history. This inference was completely possible.
"Who would do such a thing?"
"Needless to say, it could be Modo's enemy, or it could be Black Star's enemy. They secretly instigated conflicts and watched us fight each other until both sides suffered losses …"
"So, if that's the case, we should withdraw the expeditionary army so that we won't fall into the enemy's trap?"
The two kings of Modo were led into thinking again and again. They were completely confused.
They couldn't be blamed for overthinking things. Smart people would always make all kinds of assumptions about an undetermined event, guessing the reasons behind it, and deducing things from one level to the fourth or fifth level. However, they didn't think that the matter was actually very simple. It was just a hothead acting on his own initiative, and everything else was just him fooling himself.
"Your Excellencies, we're just making assumptions now. We can't confirm that Black Star is the culprit yet. Catching the culprit is our top priority!" an upper echelon reminded them.
The two kings of Modo came back to their senses, nodded heavily, and shouted, "Yes!
That's right! No matter what, track the killer with all your might. We must catch him and find out who the mastermind is. Even if it's really Black Star's trap, Modo will not back down or compromise! "
Then, the two of them looked extremely gloomy. They felt depressed. They felt that no matter what choice they made, they would not be able to escape from Black Star's grasp.
An opponent like this was so scary!
Everyone looked at each other. Many people wanted to say something but did not say anything in the end.
If it really was Black Star's trap, then the two kings of Modo's decision was exactly what he wanted. In some people's eyes, the two kings had lost their minds.
The opposers who jumped out were being investigated, but there were still some opposers who did not jump out. They were getting more and more uncertain.
Maybe Marco and the others were right. It was time for a new leader.
In the corner, seeing that no one was paying attention to him anymore, the intelligence officer who made the conjecture sat down. He only had one thought in his mind.
Help me up, I can still imagine!
…
If Modo only suspected Black Star, then the Red Empire was certain.
"… So, Black Star might be doing this to prevent the Modo Civilization from backing down?"
In the Red Empire's Ruler's office, Uranril crossed her arms and rested her chin on her hand. Her eyes flickered.
Modo had blocked the video, so the assassination process could not be seen through normal channels. However, the three Universal Civilizations naturally had their ways to get the video. It had nothing to do with Virtual Technology but because they had accumulated enough intelligence channels over the years.
In this regard, the accumulation of advanced civilizations was not something a Beyond Grade A could compare to. For example, Han Xiao's influence in the Primeval Star River was limited. Although he could easily get the video with his Virtual Technology, he still had to go through a process. He had to descend from the Flickering World and launch a Virtual Intrusion to get the video. Not doing it personally but still wanting to get the information immediately was within the scope of intelligence channels.
During the Kunde Race incident, Black Star and the dynasty had a tacit understanding when it came to assassinations. Because she had seen it before, even if she did not know the exact identity of the golden spear user, she could conclude that this person was Black Star's subordinate. Therefore, she immediately thought that the assassination of the Modo Three Kings was part of Black Star's plan.
"Heh, Black Star is more daring than I thought. He even dares to assassinate the leaders of advanced civilizations … Although it's a little against the rules, it seems to be quite effective."
Looking at the report on the screen, Uranril's eyes sparkled.
Not long after receiving the news, she also saw through Black Star's' plan '.
The three Universal Civilizations also did not want the Modo Civilization to back down so quickly. Their goal was to beat up these Supercluster civilizations. Black Star's' method 'was in line with the interests of the three Universal Civilizations.
Wonderful, wonderful …
"However, this is still a little too much." Uranril stopped smiling.
A Beyond Grade A assassinating the leader of an advanced civilization was a very sensitive matter. It would touch the nerves of all advanced civilizations, including the three Universal Civilizations.
Just thinking about the meaning behind this was enough to know how bad the nature of this was and how much the leaders of the advanced civilizations feared it.
This was because this was what Beyond Grade As did when they were first born!
Using a single soldier's combat power to kill a leader was much more cost-effective than using it in a large-scale war. One could imagine how terrifying a Beyond Grade A who focused on being an assassin could be.
During the exploration era war, the Beyond Grade A assassins who specifically targeted the leaders of civilizations were the nightmare of all the surviving civilizations. The three Universal Civilizations built the Psionic Seal Ring on their mother planet mainly to prevent other civilizations from attacking their mother planet, but they also prevented Beyond Grade A assassins from targeting the leaders of civilizations.
This assassination case reminded Urranrell of the tragic examples from the exploration era. Once someone made such a mistake, it was very likely to have a far-reaching impact that was detrimental to the advanced civilizations.
"Sigh …"
After pondering for a long time, Uranril finally sighed.
Times had changed. No matter what, Black Star was an important ally recognized by the dynasty, a National Pillar.
On this matter, she had no choice but to clean up after him. Logically speaking, it was impossible for her to do something like 'betray an ally'.
"I wonder if Black Star's subordinates managed to escape … Just in case, let's get the people hiding in the Modo Civilization to provide some help …"
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