Star Odyssey

Chapter 862: Astral Cemetery

“You can ask the other top management members if they’ve heard about it before,” Lu Yin casually replied. Initially, he had not bothered too much about his new status as a Chosen, but after spending two days contacting Elder Lohar and chatting with Aden, he had finally come to understand what this status meant within the Hall of Honor. 

The Honor Chosen represented inheritance. There were not many Honor Chosen within the entire Hall of Honor, and each one of them held a high status. They were able to use authority that did not even belong to them, and this was all because the Honor Chosen were the Hall of Honor’s future. 

Everyone in the Hall of Honor’s upper echelons had once been an Honor Chosen, so to such youths, the Hall of Honor bestowed great authority. For example, the Honor Chosen could incorporate subsidiaries under themselves, and those powers would not be subject to the Hall of Honor’s supervision, which was one of the more basic authorities given. 

Just like the Innerverse’s Ten Arbiters, each Honor Chosen had their own background, and each one had powers that submitted to them alone. Nobody interfered in their affairs because nobody dared. 

This was the basic authority of an Honor Chosen, and once one became one of the Cosmic Five, their power would no longer be limited to just the Hall of Honor. They would be able to influence the entire universe. 

On the other side of the call, Starfox transmitted Lu Yin’s words to the Black Mask. At first, that old assassin was also puzzled, but then, he suddenly thought of something, and he immediately contacted Lu Yin himself. 

Lu Yin had never expected someone within Aegis to have actually heard of the Honor Chosen title before, as he himself had not heard of this term before being given the title. 

“I once saw this title in an ancient letter, and the person who penned it came from the Cosmic Sea. They wrote about the Hall of Honor’s Chosen, and reportedly, the Honor Chosen are the Hall of Honor’s heirs,” Black Mask explained in a deep voice. 

Lu Yin was astonished. “You know quite a bit. That’s right, I’m one of the Hall of Honor’s Honor Chosen. You can obtain authentication from the Hall of Honor itself.” 

“Is what Alliance Leader Lu said true? Can my Aegis become a subsidiary of the Hall of Honor, but not actually be subject to their supervision?” Black Mask asked. There was a certain fluctuation in his tone, which betrayed the fact that he found this condition rather alluring, especially to this old assassin who had survived the calamity that had nearly destroyed the Outerverse’s assassins. This old man was able to understand the value of such a proposition. 

Lu Yin replied, “On paper, you will belong to them as my subsidiary, and only I will have any authority to oversee Aegis. You can rest assured, as we will sign a contract.” 

Black Mask considered the matter and then said, “Very well, I agree. So long as the Hall of Honor recognizes Aegis’s status, Alliance Leader Lu will be considered a member of Aegis’s first level managers.” 

As someone who had avoided that ancient calamity and then gone on to establish Aegis, Black Mask was clearly not stupid. Lu Yin would have to first get the Hall of Honor to recognize Aegis’s status, and only then would the old assassin be willing to allow Lu Yin to join the organization’s highest managerial level. This was basically a way for Lu Yin to prove his status as an Honor Chosen. 

Lu Yin naturally understood the man’s intentions. 

He ended his call with Black Mask and then immediately contacted Elder Lohar. 

Lu Yin’s status as Chosen had been granted to him by Yuan Shi, which meant that Elder Lohar did not know about it since Yuan Shi had not announced anything. However, there was no need for the old man to announce anything; so long as Lu Yin went to the Neoverse’s Hall of Honor, there would naturally be a way to authenticate his status. 

However, Yuan Shi had never expected Lu Yin to use his authority as an Honor Chosen while still in the Outerverse. 

When Elder Lohar requested for Yuan Shi to verify Lu Yin’s status, the ancient powerhouse felt a little helpless. “I’ve heard that this fellow cannot stand loneliness and that he can easily stir up trouble. It seems that that’s really the truth.”  

Elder Lohar smiled wryly. “He wants to pull Aegis in as a subsidiary organization of the Hall of Honor, and it seems as though he is hoping to borrow their strength to act against the various weaves of the Outerverse and thereby unite them.” 

Yuan Shi was not at all surprised. He was not aware of Aegis, as he had been gone for far too many ages, and many people and powers had changed. In his memory, the Outerverse did not only have some Neo-Vestige Sect, Dark Phoenix family, and Millions City as its peak powers, as it had also possessed various other strong powers. But now, all of those other powers had vanished, so Yuan Shi did not particularly mind this Aegis. 

“Unite the Outerverse? Interesting… That would be a good thing, as a unified Outerverse will be able to gather an even more powerful strength,” Yuan Shi commented. 

Elder Lohar was surprised, and he watched as Yuan Shi’s image then vanished. After considering things for a long time, Elder Lohar made the decision to fully support Lu Yin. 

Yuan Shi had not merely tossed the title of Honor Chosen to Lu Yin, as he had also spoken words of support for Lu Yin’s dream of uniting the Outerverse. Elder Lohar could only imagine the shock he would give to those Innerverse forces if Lu Yin returned with the position of master of the Outerverse. 

Or perhaps, whether Elder Lohar himself would be able to return to the Neoverse depended on that youth. 

Elder Lohar’s expression was resolute. He quickly called Lu Yin, and this time, the old man’s tone was even more respectful, and it was completely unlike how an expert with a power level of more than 300,000 should speak to an Explorer. In fact, Elder Lohar’s behavior made Lu Yin start panicking. 

Elder Lohar personally used his position as an elder of the Hall of Honor to confirm Aegis as a subsidiary power of the Hall of Honor. And at the same time, he appointed Lu Yin as its supervisor. 

The Hall of Honor was highly efficient, and after just half a day, Aegis underwent a complete change in status. From once being an Outerverse’s assassination and mercenary group, they had become a part of the Hall of Honor. Although the organization’s strength did not change, its status was completely different. 

Even if the Innerverse and Outerverse reconnected, the Innerverse’s great powers that wished to move against Aegis would now have to obtain the Hall of Honor’s permission to do so. 

When the Black Mask received the notification from the Hall of Honor, a dazed feeling went through his entire being. 

In the past, they had been surrounded by the entire universe because they had grasped too many secrets due to their line of work while having no backing or background. These secrets were so deadly that some had even implicated important characters from the Innerverse. After all, some of their hits had been ordered by those Innerverse powerhouses, which was enough to lead to a purging of the Outerverse’s assassins. 

Now that Aegis had risen up in power again, the old assassin had become worried that a similar event would play out once more. Thus, he had not dared to reveal himself and had remained dormant. This was not only because he wanted to survive for a bit longer, but also because he was afraid of attracting those powers’ attention once again. 

But at this moment, the old assassin no longer needed to entertain such fears, as he had become someone under the Hall of Honor. Even if those great characters were overbearing, they would not dare to move against a subsidiary organization of the Hall of Honor. 

“Alliance Leader Lu, welcome to Aegis.” Black Mask appeared on Lu Yin’s screen. Before, he had not spoken with Lu Yin while showing himself, but at this moment, he had revealed his entire being. 

Black Mask looked like a very ordinary man, though he was slightly paler and thinner than the average. If Lu Yin did not pay attention, he would have thought this old man was a scholar. Who could imagine that this man was a terrifying assassin who had survived for tens of thousands of years, or that he had even founded Aegis. 

By formally joining Aegis’s top level, Lu Yin was informed of everyone who was a part of Aegis’s first level management. Aside from Starfox and Black Mask, there was also another assassin with the appearance of a child. In total, there were three old assassins. 

“When we first founded Aegis, there were five of us, but today, only three of us are left,” Black Mask calmly explained. 

Starfox had similarly appeared on the screen, and he looked at Lu Yin in a clearly uncomfortable manner. He felt that the induction of this person into their highest ranks would force Aegis to change its ways. 

That child-like assassin had been kept back at the border by the Hall of Honor to aid in the defenses.

Once he understood Aegis’s entire strength, Lu Yin was thrilled that he had not decided to fight them to the death. Black Mask’s power level was over 300,000 while the child-like assassin’s power level surpassed 200,000. Even Starfox might break through the 200,000 threshold at any time and become an Enlighter. 

Without mentioning anything else, if Black Mask had wanted to kill Lu Yin back then, then he might not have survived. 

He had been lucky. 

Aside from meeting these three who formed the first level of management, Lu Yin was now also able to access the registry that listed everyone who was a part of Aegis’s second level managers. In addition to that, he could also access the assassination and employment records tracking all the operations that Aegis had undertaken throughout the years, and this was what Lu Yin needed the most. 

“What do you need these records for?” Starfox was curious. 

Lu Yin glanced at the man. “Since I can, I want to, and I enjoy it.”

Starfox felt stifled, and he directly disconnected from the call.

Lu Yin hastened to look for Hai Qiqi, and he shared his authority over Aegis with En Ya. “Whatever way you used Mafioso Planet’s intelligence in the past, go ahead and do the same with Aegis’s network. I want you to formulate a battle plan that we can use against the weaves in the central region to conquer them at the greatest speed possible.” 

En Ya grew excited, as she finally saw a hope of accomplishing the dream to unite the Outerverse under one banner. “Yes, Your Highness.” 

It wasn’t just Aegis, as Thousand Eyes’s intelligence network had also been handed over to En Ya, and her authority was now exceptional. However, Lu Yin had also left a backup and created checks and balances to En Ya’s power. Huan Sha, and Wendy Yushan both had ways to counter En Ya’s authority. 

It was not that Lu Yin did not trust En Ya, but rather that she had been recommended by the alluring Madam Nalan. Truth be told, Lu Yin did not really have an understanding of the Nalan family. 

Of the four great corporations of the Outerverse, Lu Yin had developed an understanding of Endless Borders, Amethyst Exchange, and Aegis. However, he still had not learned much about the Nalan family, which caused him to remain wary of them. 

There was also Wei Rong, who still had not revealed himself. Nobody had dared to openly offer him shelter, but it was impossible that Wei Rong had given up on revenge. 

Lu Yin had already communicated with Amethyst Exchange, requesting for them to inform him as soon as they learned of Wei Rong’s whereabouts. Money was not a problem, as he was rich at the moment. 

After settling all of his immediate affairs, he then boarded a spacecraft and headed towards the coordinates that Hai Qiqi had shared with him. 

The Outerverse was peaceful at the moment, and even the pirates had disappeared. 

In the past, Wei Rong had been worried that Lu Yin would use the pirates to reverse-infiltrate the weaves in the central region of the Outerverse, and he had ordered a purge of all pirates from the central weaves. This had caused many pirate crews to be annihilated, which was actually a good thing. 

Ten days later, just as Hai Qiqi’s patience was about to go over the tipping point, Lu Yin arrived at the astral cemetery located on the border of Endless Weave. 

The astral cemetery lay between Southside Weave and Endless Weave’s eastern border, so it was a fair distance away from where Mister Mu had pushed back the Outerverse’s defensive line. The cemetery itself consisted of trash strewn about outer space, going as far as the eye could see. Nobody had ever cleaned this place up. This place could also be considered as Endless Weave’s greatest junk yard, and all sorts of strange objects had been thrown here by countless people. 

Many were searching the region along its outer edge. While dumpster diving seemed embarrassing, it was actually a hidden method to make a quick profit, and there were many contractors who would come to this place and pick through what they found. 

However, those activities were limited to the outer edge of the astral cemetery. The further in one went, the more dangerous it became. Many broken technological items could explode at any moment, and there were also quite a few strange astral creatures that roamed about the area. 

Lu Yin looked around and noticed that there were groups of rune lines that occasionally passed by. There were actually space-exploring creatures in this place. 

He could not understand why Hai Qiqi had come to such a place. 

Before long, Lu Yin found Hai Qiqi’s rune lines, and he was surprised to see that the brat’s strength had increased quite significantly. 

It had been quite some time since the two of them had last seen each other. 

Lu Yin looked at her with amusement in his eyes. “You must be very happy to see me.” 

Hai Qiqi nodded. “Very. Right, can you lie?” 

Lu Yin was puzzled. “Why do you ask?” 

“Which of your eyes sees me as happy?” Hai Qiqi blinked. 

Lu Yin choked on his words and fell speechless before looking past Hai Qiqi towards the Astral River. 

That energy barrier was still so magnificent, and it was impossible to know its height or depth. However, it had still isolated two regions of the universe. 

“Where’s this passageway that you mentioned?” Lu Yin asked. 

Hai Qiqi brought Lu Yin onto her collapsible spacecraft and headed closer to the Astral River.