Chapter 396: The Team (In Honor of Jian Shan Gen, the Alliance Lord)

"Yes…"

Qi Ao Si's expression remained unchanged; the higher the rank of a professional, the more personal interests they demanded, and he had to satisfy them.

As a Federation administrator, this is precisely my job!

Once all these competing interests were settled, matters became much easier.

Actually, persuading these Ninth Realm professionals was relatively easy.

The Tenth Realm professionals—and even the human apexes of the Eleventh Realm—were the real trouble.

"Therefore, during this war, we have plans to capture the 'Lord of Entropy' and 'Laplace's Demon'… and if 'Chaos Flame' appears, we will severely cripple it."

Qi Ao Si chose to reveal one piece of information.

"The Huo Luo are also a cosmic superpower—does the Federation have confidence?"

Fang Xing's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help asking.

"The top combat strength of the Huo Luo—General Ceng Yun will explain it to you… If the plan fails, you may withdraw at any time."

Qi Ao Si made a guarantee.

"How do we withdraw? Fight our way out of the Huo Luo star cluster?"

Regarding escape routes, Fang Xing had to clarify—whether he went or not.

"No need for that. The Federation Research Institute will equip each combatant with a 'Sky War II' spacecraft—you can think of it as a reverse spatial bubble… Though expensive and single-use, it guarantees your return from the imaginary space."

Qi Ao Si said.

Fang Xing swiftly weighed the pros and cons, knowing full well that the Blue Star Federation offered benefits—and he must bear responsibility in return.

Though deep-penetration combat behind enemy lines was dangerous, for him it was still relatively safe.

After all, if things turned sour, he could instantly retreat into the cultivation world through the Gates of All Realms—a truly shameless tactic.

"And… perhaps this war hides some conspiracy? Perfect—I'll go and take a look."

Fang Xing mused inwardly.

If the Coexistence Faction or the Escape Faction truly had a plot, staying away would only draw more attention—and risk concentrated strikes against him.

Joining the battle openly, blending among other Divine Warriors, would make him less conspicuous.

"Fine, but I have a few conditions."

Fang Xing spoke.

"Please go ahead…" Qi Ao Si appeared extremely amiable.

Being able to set conditions meant there was still room for negotiation.

"The Blue Star University's funding for the next decade must be tilted by Federation finances… plus high-tier mecha technology support and slots for refining Divine Essence."

Fang Xing began counting them off on his fingers.

These were interests every major faction fought over; Qi Ao Si had to concentrate fully and debate each point with Fang Xing…

Half an hour later.

Fang Xing reappeared in the conference room and noticed Duan Hai, the Divine Warrior, was also present.

"Are you also preparing to join the battle, Duan Deputy?"

Fang Xing, in good spirits after securing his terms, greeted Duan Hai.

Duan Hai, with his short haircut, gave a slight nod: "The Moon Goddess mecha needs battlefield testing… and I'm particularly skilled at evasion and speed."

Fang Xing understood—and felt a pang of envy.

Duan Hai of the Nine Swords Academy was one of the strongest geniuses, on par with him.

As a space ability user who cultivated the aberrant martial art 'Cutting Void Blade,' his progress had been meteoric.

After reaching Divine Warrior rank, his space ability had been pushed to its peak—even allowing limited 'teleportation'!

This 'teleportation' resembled the Nascent Soul's innate divine skill of a Nascent Soul True Lord—but while a Nascent Soul True Lord could only teleport his spiritual form, Duan Hai could shift his own flesh-and-blood body and even his mecha… the difficulty was incalculably higher.

Combined with his blade art and space laws, his offensive power would be terrifying.

Add in his Divine Warrior mecha, and his combat strength was undoubtedly formidable even among Tenth Realm warriors.

Saying he was best at evasion and speed? That was modesty.

"My own space law comprehension has only reached 'proficient'—even teleporting myself is difficult… carrying a mecha along? Nearly impossible."

'Teleportation' naturally had a distance limit—it couldn't mean jumping to any coordinate across the entire universe; that wouldn't be teleportation, but full-map teleportation…

According to Fang Xing's estimation, once his space law reached 'mastered,' he could achieve self-teleportation, with range increasing as proficiency grew.

"In truth, Duan Hai is the one truly likely to break into the Tenth Realm—not as a martial artist, but as an aberrant ability user!"

"And even after breaking into the Tenth Realm as an aberrant user… will he fall like Wu Wei Ao Gu? No one can say for sure…"

Fang Xing now deeply disliked aberrant users—and harbored a quiet dread toward them.

"What secrets does the Blue Star Federation's martial path still conceal?"

As he pondered, Ceng Yun, in youthful form, stood and spoke: "Comrades, the Federation needs you to strike the Huo Luo's Eternal Crystal Mine in the Vik System!"

Eternal Crystal Mine!

It was a cosmic rarity—Eternal Crystal regarded as a highly condensed crystallization of cosmic energy, nearly indestructible through eternity.

Astonishingly, after slight refinement, it could provide endless energy for high-tier mecha.

Worse still, it was said that Ninth and Tenth Realm mecha engineers absolutely required this ore to ascend further.

Not only for humans—it was widely used by other cosmic races as the energy core for top-tier spacecraft and ultimate weapons.

In fact, most of the Blue Star Federation's historical expansion wars had revolved around Zhengduo Eternal Crystal Mines.

This Eternal Crystal Mine was unquestionably the Huo Luo's lifeline.

"The Huo Luo have stationed many strong warriors in the Vik System, including one 'Huo Luo Emperor' and nine King-level warriors."

Ceng Yun spoke lightly: "Emperor, King, General… these are the Huo Luo's internal strength tiers—we can roughly equate them to Tenth, Ninth, and Eighth Realms. Note: Huo Luo warriors above General rank form their own legions, which accompany them into battle… within these legions, Huo Luo warriors gain a half to full rank boost. The stronger the warrior, the weaker the Zengfu."

"Like our mecha?" Duan Hai asked. "How much can the Huo Luo Emperor be boosted?"

"Hard to say—it depends on legion composition and the number of warriors within… Our recommendation is to destroy the legions first, then target the warriors… But we've confirmed: a Tenth Realm Emperor cannot be boosted to Eleventh Realm power by a legion."

Ceng Yun said: "The Huo Luo have only one Eleventh Realm entity—the 'Huo Luo Emperor Supreme'! Even if he mobilized all his elite guards, he still couldn't reach the Twelfth Realm…"

With Ceng Yun's explanation, Fang Xing gained a rough understanding of the Huo Luo's strength.

Whether top-tier or ordinary combatants, they were inferior to the Blue Star Federation.

But they were still dangerous enough to provoke border skirmishes.

"And this Ceng Yun… every plan he proposed was meticulously crafted, cunning and ruthless… perhaps he's an ancient monster who survived the Interstellar Expansion Era… Virtual-space avatars can be changed at will—it means nothing."

Fang Xing listened carefully, especially to his assigned mission.

"Principal Fang… you are to eliminate one of the nine great Huo Luo Kings—'Tu Ya Huo Luo.' Note: though Huo Luo Kings are only Ninth Realm, when supported by powerful legions, they can unleash Tenth Realm combat power." Ceng Yun warned.

"Understood."

Fang Xing's face grew serious, but inwardly he grumbled:

"The Federation really has high expectations of me… Tu Ya Huo Luo clearly has Divine Warrior-level strength, and with external boosts can reach Tenth Realm—his stats match my own outwardly displayed figures… yet they assigned him to me…"

"Are they trying to test my true cards?"

As he grumbled, Ceng Yun added: "I've already sent you the detailed battle plan. Follow it, and eliminating enemies should be relatively easy."

"Oh?"

Fang Xing contacted Xiao Lan and immediately received a flood of documents.

Several files made his eyes light up: 'The Federation has a spy embedded in Tu Ya's legion… and various measures to help me destroy his legion before battle… Compared to a mecha's heavy defense, legions are bulky and extremely vulnerable to ambushes and heavy casualties…'

'This doesn't look like sabotage after all.'

'But on the battlefield, anything can happen—you won't know the truth until you're there…'

…

Whoosh!

A drone landed above the villa.

Then, one by one, robots descended, carrying metallic crates.

"Councilor Fang, these are your combat supplies. Please sign for them."

The lead robot saluted.

Fang Xing verified his identity and opened the crates—inside were several military communication devices, enabling free communication across multiple star systems, a brand-new product after virtual tech upgrades, with extreme interference resistance.

In addition, there were medicines, rations…

Of course, the most critical battle plans and personnel assignments were all handled in the virtual world, under the supervision of the 'Omniscient Brain.'

Fang Xing inspected all supplies, then opened his assigned team roster—and froze: "Xu Sanyang?"

He paused, then immediately dialed a call: "Senior Xu…"

"Haha, little brother, you visited me last time—what's up now?"

Xu Sanyang now looked much better—no messy hair or dark circles, just an ordinary teenager.

He wore casual clothes, seemingly fishing on a seaside beach.

"War's coming—you've been assigned to my squad…"

Fang Xing spoke hesitantly, wondering if this unlucky man had been targeted again.

If so, he'd act fast—whether through himself or the Xu family, changing an Eighth Realm combatant's name was no problem.

"No… I requested it myself."

Xu Sanyang said: "After being contaminated by the Gate Sect's master, I've confirmed a serious Yinhuan … Better to send it out to contaminate outsiders than let it explode within the Blue Star Federation… Besides, it's part of the plan."

He spoke cryptically, but Fang Xing understood.

The Federation's launch of this war also included plans to capture 'Laplace's Demon' and the 'Lord of Entropy.'

Precisely because of this, Fang Xing did not see the Federation's true peak combat force—the founding chancellor of Saint Armor University!

"Using Xu Sanyang as bait? But I know for sure he has nothing to do with the Demonic God…"

"But perhaps the Chaos Flame side has poor relations with the Void Gate, and lacks communication… If so, Xu Sanyang might still serve as a decent bait."

"Yet even that value is slight; more likely, he's just a decoy force… masking the Federation's true objective."

Fang Xing was certain in his heart.

"So… is the main goal simply to dump him as a time bomb out there, letting him explode? Is that Xu Sanyang's own wish?"

"Sigh… he's a good man. But you don't understand—if I don't fall, you'll be safe…"

He sighed inwardly and let Xu Sanyang go.

After all, having an extra doctor in the team wasn't a bad thing.

"Then prepare yourself. The meeting starts in one hour."

Fang Xing ended the communication and called Wei Jiali over, informing him he would be leaving for a while.

"War?"

Wei Jiali's expression changed slightly upon hearing the news.

As a citizen of Blue Star Federation and a professional, she knew war was inevitable, yet she still couldn't help worrying about Fang Xing.

"Don't be afraid. I'm only on a preliminary mission—might even be back in a few days."

Fang Xing smiled and reassured her a few times.

An hour passed quickly.

In the holographic universe, inside a virtual conference room.

Fang Xing sat in the main seat, watching one after another team member arrive.

Xu Sanyang was among them, along with a massive white spherical object.

Sensing his gaze, the sphere stirred, splitting open to reveal a mech warrior, its voice cheerful: "Captain, good day. I'm Feynli Aoluo, eighth-jing mech master."

"Xu Sanyang, eighth-jing Martial Saint, accompanied by mech." Xu Sanyang spoke, drawing many glances.

After all, an eighth-jing armored Martial Saint had combat power nearing ninth-jing!

"Green! Eighth-jing Pharmacist."

A woman enveloped in a green robe introduced herself.

Fang Xing looked at the pharmacist; her file noted her expertise in toxins and plagues.

In terms of large-scale destruction, pharmacists were formidable—and this reminded him of an old acquaintance: Li Wei.

Yet these old classmates had already fallen far behind him.

His gaze swept further, spotting two more team members: the defender "Afu" and the eighth-jing professional skilled in speed and mobility, "Qiu Yan."

"Alright, everyone's here. You all know our mission objective."

Fang Xing projected an image of a terrifying powerhouse.

It barely resembled a human, its entire body ablaze with flame, crowned with twisted black horns, standing over ten meters tall—a true giant.

"Tuya Huoluo… ninth-jing combat power. Once fused with its legion, it will reach tenth-jing strength. Tactical goal: use our infiltrators and your coordination to inflict maximum casualties on its subordinate legions…"

Fang Xing laid out the plan: "If there are no objections, next time we meet in person at the camp, entering the virtual space."

All present professionals wore grim expressions.

After all, this was a deep-penetration mission behind enemy lines—if discovered and surrounded… the fatality rate would be extremely high!

(End of Chapter)