When they put forward this condition, they were a little nervous in fact. They were worried that Black Star would reject everything at once, since the three Universal Civilizations would have made similar requests, and the sanctions meant that Black Star had rejected them, probably because he did not wish to strengthen his enemies.
In all fairness, if they were standing in Black Star’s position, they would also firmly control the quota of the Sanctum Revivals and not easily resurrect the direct members of the other factions. Thus, they were not confident in their proposal.
But when they heard Han Xiao’s answer, everyone was finally relieved. It did not matter if the price was too huge, as long as there was room for negotiation!
“These can be discussed. I don’t know what sort of conditions you might have.” The leader of the Star Arc Civilization probed.
Han Xiao stroked his chin, slowly saying, “Since a Beyond Grade A can only be revived once, this is a one-shot deal, so every revival will be worth a lot. Does everyone here agree?”
Everyone nodded.
Han Xiao secretly smirked, but his tone remained casual.
“Thus, don’t expect me to resurrect all your direct descendants at once. I will only do it in batches, with a fixed number in each batch. As for the specific resurrections, it will depend on which civilization gives me the price I want. First come, first served… Of course, my needs at each stage will be different. It might be that, later, fewer things will impress me, so a larger amount of money will be needed.”
The leaders all revealed choking expressions.
This was practically trying to rip them off!
They were all allies, but each civilization would definitely wish to resurrect their own direct descendants first. Black Star’s move was undoubtedly a plot to make them outbid each other. This was the power of a monopolistic business.
However, the leaders present were mentally prepared for this. They knew that cutting off some flesh was unavoidable.
“What exactly do you want in general?”
Han Xiao casually pinched his fingers as he smiled. “High Grade Blueprints, unique technology, Universal Treasures, rare resources… it does not have to be all these, you can weigh the standard of the items yourself. After all, I don’t know what items each of you hold. You can discuss it among yourself. I don’t care, but don’t try any tricks. In here, it doesn’t mean that the highest bidder wins but rather that I have to be satisfied.
“Of course, I also welcome those who wish to operate in the dark and privately bid. I’m still a bit ethical and will not disclose your respective bids easily… In short, it depends on how much you are willing to fork out.”
Hearing this, the Star Arc Civilization’s leader exchanged a glance with everyone before nodding on behalf of them all.
“… Ok, we’ll accept this condition.”
“Then, I’m delighted to have reached a consensus with you all. I look forward to cooperating with all of you in the future.”
Seeing Black Star cancel his projection, the taut nerves of the leaders began to relax, their expressions resigned.
“Black Star has quite the appetite.”
“Humph, he’s just taking advantage of us.”
“What else can we do? Who made it that he would be the only one monopolizing the Sanctum Revival knowledge? We’ll have to discuss what price to pay now.”
Based on the situation, they could only play by Black Star’s rules and not anything else. They had finally opened this channel between both parties, so if they did something stupid for the sake of reducing costs and ended up offending Black Star, causing them to lose their Sanctum Revival privileges, that would be a disaster.
Universal Treasures, unique technological blueprints… these things might cause them to feel the pinch, but they could still afford it.
They intended to discuss who would resurrect their descendants first and who later on, arranging the order. They were unwilling to blindly bid and hurt their relationships.
…
After Han Xiao cancelled the communication, his vision returned to his office. His eyes flashed.
“Heh, god knows how much good stuff I can obtain this time. While I scammed the Super Star Cluster Alliance quite a bit this time, they should have sufficient treasures to meet my demands.”
Taking out a piece of fruit candy from his snack jar, Han Xiao fiddled it casually before throwing it into his mouth. The sweetness he tasted mirrored his emotions.
From the beginning, he had planned to cooperate with the organizations that had a need to resurrect others; it was the correct way to maximize the benefits of the Sanctum Revival. In the past, in order to maintain the mystery and to stabilize the situation, he did not engage in this business, but now, his situation had changed. He had to adapt to the changes and adjust his strategy.
The Sanctum Revival was a rare product, so Han Xiao was not worried that the Super Star Cluster Alliance would not agree to his demands. To him, this was a way to gain something without risking anything of his own. As long as he continued to pretend that the Sanctum Revival was only available once, he could drive the price up and trick them into giving him a lot of resources in exchange for the precious ‘one-off’ quota.
As for how and when to resurrect them, this was completely up to him. He just needed to say that the time was not yet right to turn away the dissatisfaction of the Super Star Clusters. These ‘leeks’ would have no choice but to only wait.
However, Han Xiao also did not intend to completely fleece them. He would resurrect a small portion of the Super Star Cluster descendants to give them a taste.
This move would not only allow the Super Star Cluster Alliance to taste the fruits of success, deepening their transaction cooperation, but it would also anger the three Universal Civilizations, causing both sides to go against each other. So long as the resurrected ones remained small, the situation would still be under the control of both the association and the Holy Accord.
After all, the Super Star Cluster was different from the three Universal Civilizations. Since there were more experts in the three Universal Civilizations, they naturally wanted to rule over everything, but once the advanced combatants of the Super Star Clusters returned, they would be able to pressure the three Universal Civilizations, which would indirectly benefit the association.
Thus, Han Xiao would only make this transaction with the Super Star Clusters and not with the three Universal Civilizations. Otherwise, this would only make the latter think that their sanction order had been effective, leading them to mistakenly think that they had succeeded in bending the association to their will.
However, if the war against the World Tree Civilization broke out, then Han Xiao would not mind resurrecting a lot of the old Beyond Grade As to deal with the invasion. The main thing was that he had to act on the spot and adjust his strategies flexibly.
Just as he was deep in thought, Phillip emerged from his table, holding a virtual screen several times larger than his body in both hands as he gruffly spoke.
“Master, master, many civilizations of the Shattered Star Ring have sent a communication request to you. Do you wish to answer, hum?”
Han Xiao came back to his senses, glancing at the caller ID on his screen before curling his lips.
“Heh, these people don’t dare to offend the three Universal Civilizations, and at the same time, they don’t dare to offend me either, so they ran over to apologize and explain… Let’s listen to what sort of rainbow farts they can give off.”
Han Xiao swept through the list before picking his old partner, the Purple Crystal Civilization.
When the representative of the Purple Crystal Civilization appeared, he did a customary bow before speaking. “Paying respects to Your Excellency Black Star…”
Han Xiao waved his hands in dismissal. “I’m a little busy. Just get to the point.”
“Alright, this time, I’m here to represent the Purple Crystal Civilization to apologize to you…” He snuck a glance at Han Xiao’s expression that was still calm before carefully following up. “Due to the sanctions imposed by the three Universal Civilizations, the Shattered Star Ring Civilization Conference has already passed the proposal, and we have no choice but to cooperate. The Purple Crystal Civilization Conference has been happily working with you for a long time, but with the severity of the situation now, I hope you can understand…”
“So, you wish to end all our partnerships?” Han Xiao raised his brow.
“Cough cough, please believe us when I say it’s temporary. You also understand. Given the chance, we would love to continue working with the Black Star Army, but the attitude of the three Universal Civilizations is too tough now. We’re just being safe. When the problem is solved, we’ll immediately resume our business dealings and will also give you compensation…”
The representative of the Purple Crystal Civilization spoke sincerely, emphasizing their helplessness.
Han Xiao did not agree with him in his heart, but he did not refute him, only verbally expressing his understanding.
He then followed by answering the communications of all the others in the Shattered Star Ring one by one. Everyone basically had the same attitude, which was to apologize and express that they had to cooperate with the sanctions.
After hanging up the last communication call, Han Xiao sneered.
“Humph, a bunch of fools who steer the rudder based on the wind direction.”
They cooperated with the army when they wished to have benefits, but now that they were under pressure, they kicked the army to the curb since they had outlived their usefulness.
Of course, the civilizations had to take care of themselves, and there was no point in them supporting the association either. Han Xiao understood this clearly, but it did not mean that he had to forgive them.
These civilizations blindly thought that the rule of the three Universal Civilizations over the Galactic Society was still stable, and thus, they would rather offend the Black Star Army a little than being marked by the three Universal Civilizations. For civilizations, between the Black Star Army and the three Universal Civilizations, it was easy to decide which to trade off.
Thus, Han Xiao could not be bothered to force the civilizations to choose his side, or else it would only turn nasty. It was better to keep this current state of getting along and make the other party feel as though they owed him something. While it might not be of any use, it was better than making more enemies.
He snorted as he chewed on his candy.
“Once the sanctions of the three Universal Civilizations lift, you’ll be the ones who bleed… Heh, you think that the Galactic Society will remain stable so long as you are under the rule of the three Universal Civilizations? The moment a foreign enemy invades, you’ll know how fragile this peace is, and by then, let’s see if the three Universal Civilizations that you trust so much will have the energy to protect you.”
After cursing a while longer, Han Xiao reined in his emotions, calling his secretary and letting him handle the handover procedures of the civilizations.
He then opened the organization territory distribution version of the star map, looking at it as he muttered.
“Expanding and controlling the Galactic Black Market in various places will be our next focus. The three Universal Civilizations will definitely not sit back and watch, however. It will likely turn into another secret war, which will cause quite a high death rate. Thus, the players will be the best to send in for the mission of obtaining the black markets. Not only is their strength good, but they are also not afraid of death. It is sufficient to take on this mission.”
As he spoke out loud, Han Xiao marked down this idea on the star map, deciding to issue this order in a few days to send the players collectively to perform the mission.
“Furthermore, in terms of advanced combatants, we have to put more pressure on the three Universal Civilizations. I previously promised them that I would not casually resurrect any historical Beyond Grade As, but now that they’ve done this, I have to be ‘courteous’ and respond in kind. It’s a pity that the keys to the Sanctums have not been fully gathered, so I cannot simply just resurrect a batch of new ones…”
Han Xiao’s thoughts flew rapidly.
“The Holy Accord can come in handy, since there are still many of them hiding within the organization. It’s better to pull a portion of the Beyond Grade As into the association, pretending to have done a new resurrection… Having a trump card is indeed convenient, and I don’t know how the three Universal Civilizations will react…”
…
Meanwhile, the three Universal Civilizations’ leaders met up in a joint meeting room to secretly discuss matters.
“The association has frozen the membership rights of our direct Beyond Grade As and also announced that they will not accept any tasks from us. These are all expected counters, but they’re meaningless,” the Pope said indifferently.
Louis nodded. “The association’s next move is expected to be the integration of the black markets. This will be their main resource channel in the future, but we will have long set the ground and will not let them succeed so easily.”
Marbruce then spoke in a deep voice. “This is not the main point. The key is to test if Black Star can indeed perform Sanctum Revivals at will.”
“Well, with his character, he will inevitably take countermeasures, such as contacting the Super Star Cluster Alliance and cooperating with them. The Super Star Cluster Alliance will likely also propose resurrection as a bargaining chip, and it is hard to say whether Black Star will agree to that. But even if the deal is not reached, Black Star will also try to recover other historical Beyond Grade As to put pressure on us. Now, it’s up to him whether he can do so.”
“If he cannot do this…” The Pope’s eyes gleamed. “Then whatever he’s doing now is undoubtedly playing for time!”
The sanctions by the trio were not just to contain the expansion of the association but also to test Han Xiao’s control over the Sanctums.
This was not a whimsical thought but rather a conclusion they reached as a result of much research in the Sanctum Revival Research Institute. They had confirmed that the Sanctums were immensely difficult to open and needed some sort of catalyst as well. Thus, the Sanctum Revival could not be casually done.
Based on this idea, the trio had introduced the current sanctions. If it was proven that Black Star could not resurrect people at will, this would be the best time to implement the cleansing plan. Otherwise, if they waited too long, it might allow for another wave of Sanctum Revivals.
However, even if Black Star resurrected newcomers, it might be an opportunity for them as it would cause Black Star to waste a valuable medium and cause the resurrection method to enter another cooldown.
Of course, they did not rule out the fact that Black Star had seen through them and deliberately kept his hand hidden. This was a danger to them.
This was undoubtedly risky behavior for them, which would not only make them pay a huge price but also go against their need to maintain order. Thus, they had yet to make up their minds, only wanting to probe Black Star.
At this moment, the Pope glanced at Louis, before asking, “By the way, how are your preparations for Manison’s operation?”
Louis calmly nodded. “It’s almost ready, thanks to your help. The things we promised you will be delivered back to you soon.”
“That’s good,” the Pope replied blandly.
When the federation came knocking on their door for help, he had suggested returning the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter back to them.
Because they were unable to crack apart the Spacetime Amber even after so many years, the federation finally agreed to this request and chose to return the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter in its seal back to the original owner.
At the same time, the federation also had their own expectations. If the Arcane Church could manage to unblock or duplicate the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter by chance, then in the future Beyond Grade A cleansing operations, this would come in handy.