Chapter 131 Shock! The Mastermind Behind the War is Actually...

A post titled 【Shocking! The Mastermind Behind the War is Actually...】 was uploaded to the Hailan Star section, and it was instantly pinned to the top.

During this period, the Hailan Star players had been drawn to the war, personally participating in a war that affected the world's situation. They deeply felt that their words and actions influenced the war's progress, giving them a strong sense of immersion. At this critical moment, the post revealed the inside story: a mastermind named "Zero" was behind the war, fueling the flames and single-handedly causing it.

Some players who had access to bounty missions immediately remembered that Zero was a traitor with a high bounty from Germination, sparking their curiosity about this character.

A traitor turning the tables and severely damaging their original organization – this kind of plot sounded legendary!

Secretly instigating a war, this must be a key figure in the main storyline!

The post introduced Zero's actions from Germination's perspective, leaving the players amazed. They thought the introduction was over, but unexpectedly, there was more content, which also introduced the Black Phantom's deeds. No special explanation was given for why this part was included, but the players patiently continued reading, thinking it wouldn't hurt to learn more about the Black Phantom.

But as they read on, reaching the final paragraph, the players' expressions changed:

——Whether it's the Black Phantom or Zero, they are both the same person!

"What does this mean?"

"The Black Phantom and Zero are actually the same person?!"

The players subconsciously doubted the truth, but the post also included a video of Han Xiao causing trouble at Germination's headquarters, solid evidence. Seeing is believing, and the players immediately exploded.

The players weren't familiar with Zero, but the Black Phantom was an old acquaintance. From the start of the public beta until now, he had given them a lot of benefits and frequently interacted with them. Seeing him attacking Germination's headquarters, they even felt a sense of normalcy, as if it were only natural. This was a sense of recognition that automatically arose after becoming familiar with the character, like seeing Kratos going to kill gods, it just felt right. He had become an iconic figure.

Now, his identity was finally revealed.

He was Zero, and he was also the Black Phantom.

——His name is Han Xiao!

The fusion of the two identities, Zero's actions complementing the Black Phantom's image, instantly fleshed him out. A picture emerged in the players' minds of a fugitive struggling to escape Germination's control, a tragic background and desperate situation not defeating him, gradually growing into a super-strong character, secretly dealing with the organization that had inflicted disaster upon him, and igniting a war that swept the world – it was practically an American blockbuster-like legend!

The market for personal heroism is always hot. The degree of Han Xiao's awesomeness in the players' minds rose again. It was clear he was the protagonist of the planet, and Germination was the big villain. Although the world was neither right nor wrong, people were used to making things easier to judge. Polarization was easier than diversification. The players didn't care about Germination's ideals; they were used to standing on the side of familiar characters. In their eyes, the image Han Xiao created was equivalent to "one of us."

The popularity of this post instantly exploded, recounting Han Xiao's past and present. The Hailan Star players had a sense of witnessing history and witnessing a legend. It instantly gained tens of thousands of replies, still rising at a rate of hundreds per second. In the official forum's automatically ranked hot posts, it instantly soared into the top ten, the popularity index increasing every moment.

As Han Xiao had predicted, the chemical reaction brought about by the merging of the two identities pushed his fame to a new peak, the resulting impact continuing to ferment, laying the foundation for his reputation and status in the players' hearts.

He had been building his presence since the start of the public beta, laying the groundwork for his current sublimation, like accumulating a pile of dry firewood. Now, with the addition of a spark, it finally turned into a roaring blaze, burning brightly.

The forum obtained first-hand information; the players were the first group to know. At this time, Han Xiao and the others had only just escaped from Germination's headquarters for half an hour.

...

Under the dark night sky, the off-road vehicle drifted wildly across the barren land like a wild dog that had broken free, as if it was about to take off. The towering, menacing headquarters base complex receded into the distance behind them.

Han Xiao in the driver's seat hadn't taken off his mechanical suit, but he had opened the mouth mask. With a cigarette in his mouth, he exhaled smoke, giving off a strong sense of a veteran driver. Hela in the passenger seat next to him was expressionless, her pale hand gripping the handle, the veins on the back of her hand bulging.

With a drift, the vehicle stopped, the tires kicking up a large amount of dirt.

"Switch seats, you drive. I have to modify the car. First, install a radar-resistant coating. I don't want to be blown to the sky by a missile." Han Xiao opened the door and got out of the car, conveniently maxing out the 【sui Anti-Radar Coating】 and 【Camouflage Coating】 on the panel.

He also looked at the progress of the trial mission, which was now 74/2000. Not much. Advancement missions were always long-term goals.

Hela closed her eyes and took a deep breath, got out of the car, and stumbled. She held onto the car for a few seconds before suppressing the churning in her stomach. Although she felt sick, she had to admit that under the premise of escaping, Han Xiao's driving skills made her feel very safe...

Aurora was asleep in the back seat, completely unaffected, sleeping soundly. Han Xiao glanced at her and said with a "whoa," "Your sister will definitely be more successful than you in the future."

Hela didn't respond. After switching seats, she continued driving. The rearview mirror reflected Han Xiao's figure, busy taking out parts from his equipment bag to modify the car's outer coating. She spoke, "We are still within Germination's sphere of influence. We can't take the main road. We can only take the rugged wilderness. Crossing the enemy's area will take at least eight or nine days. During that time, we will have to deal with Germination's pursuers. They are determined to hunt us down, with endless planes and convoys, even bombing us with missiles."

"Use the map to find a relatively safe route, since you are more familiar with it." Han Xiao didn't turn his head. Now that Germination knew about his ever-changing disguises, the heavy encirclement was definitely a case of rather kill the innocent than let one escape. Disguising and running away wouldn't work.

He hadn't guessed wrong. This time, all search teams were equipped with cameras, the footage directly connected to the command center, preventing him from disguising himself and infiltrating the teams. Once a camera went black, the team would be immediately considered dead, without any wishful thinking.

Germination sent out various vehicles to search. Their only way was to run faster, quickly cross Germination's sphere of influence, and only when they entered the territory of the Six Nations would they truly escape. Germination naturally understood this principle as well, pursuing with a carpet search at all costs. Escape was the most dangerous moment, the enemies were endless.

Fortunately, Han Xiao had the anti-radar coating, which could prevent remote positioning. This was a basic condition for escape. Germination could only rely on manpower to find them.

But there was another dilemma at hand.

"We only have enough fuel to drive for another eight hours, and we have no drinking water or food. Moreover, this off-road vehicle has limited ammunition. We must find supplies. The situation is not optimistic," Hela said.

Han Xiao grinned and said, "We don't need to find supplies. The enemies will come to us themselves. I'm a mechanic, without guns or cannons. The enemies will send me parts to build."

Hela remained silent. By now, she had long abandoned the idea of going her own way. Following Han Xiao was safer.

While modifying, Han Xiao secretly opened the panel, pondering.

"Although we have anti-radar, we shouldn't be located, but to prevent Germination from panicking and taking desperate measures, it's best to find a way to deal with missiles..."

They were within Germination's sphere of influence. Planting mushroom clouds was basically impossible. It should be conventional warhead short-range strategic missiles, fired from missile silos near the base. The power wouldn't be too terrifying, but using them to deal with just a few of them was already a grand gesture. Short-range strategic missiles had a range of hundreds or thousands of kilometers as a basis, and were always used to attack important enemy buildings.

As a Class C Super, he could withstand small armed forces using gunpowder weapons, but it was too early to use his body to directly receive missiles that could destroy several kilometers in radius.

Supers dealt with weapons of war by using their own abilities to maneuver. For example, a metal manipulator wouldn't be hit by a missile, but if he didn't use his ability to directly receive it, he would still be reduced to slag. Other abilities were the same. Using limited stamina and health to directly receive unlimited destructive large-scale weapons of war was purely suicidal.

Compared to the terrifying and endless weapons of war, Supers themselves were fragile, but various abilities had infinite possibilities. Supers who reached Class A and above were powerful figures who dominated one side of the starry sky, even able to destroy small interstellar ships single-handedly. But those who reached that level were, after all, a minority. Most Supers, although possessing extraordinary individual strength, could not contend against large-scale forces... especially the higher the level of civilization, the higher the technical level of the forces, from gunpowder weapons to electromagnetic kinetic energy weapons, to energy weapons. Even ordinary soldiers could have a mechanical suit, which was very terrifying. Therefore, the Star Sea universe was based on civilizations, not individuals.