The Legendary Mechanic, page 175
“Prize-Pool… What’s this?”
“1,000 experience points are required to accept this mission. Let’s try it out.”
Many could not hold back their curiosity, and immediately accepted the mission. However, they were all surprised when they all found out that this mission was grayed out.
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Mission Introduction: Someday in the future, a calamity will strike this world, and Sanctuary Three will become the last remaining bastion for humanity. Protect this dwindling flame from the encroaching darkness. Only then will there be hope to overcome this calamity.
Requirement: Protect Sanctuary Three. The destruction rate must not go above 50%.
Mission Status: Frozen
Start Date: Unknown
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The grayed out name implied that this mission had not started. This was the first time that the players had seen a mission with the ‘Frozen’ status, and many were mystified. Word soon got out, and more and more people learned of this news.
Chapter 316. Prelude to an Age of Strife (2) |
Han Xiao could assign all sorts of mission, and those that were in the challenging category were more difficult than usual. They were often large-scale mission, where every movement of the individual players could impact the final result. Therefore, they had to work together to complete the mission.
He had witnessed some missions that could affect the version, where millions of players fought for the same goal. Every player’s actions earned contribution points, and the mission needed tens of millions of points to complete. Once finished, it would be the turning point of the entire storyline.
[The Last Bastion] was a mission that Han Xiao had created so that the players would still protect Sanctuary Three after he left the planet. In the mission introduction, he hinted that there would be a disaster that would fall upon the land, yet he was vague in the description. However, it was enough to raise the interest of the players as they tried to guess the future storyline.
Han Xiao did not give out a clear instruction just so that the players would think that the information was a leak from the mission, which would make it credible.
The testing mission that he had published before was just to warm up the players.
Freezing a mission was a special method where the mission would not start until the disaster actually arrived. Han Xiao then could activate the mission from miles away. This was like bait for the players as it lured their curiosity about the fate of their future.
One condition to issue a mission was that Han Xiao could not be too far away from the players. Han Xiao had tested a lot of trials to find out this hidden condition. After he left the planet, it was impossible for him to directly give missions to the players. But now he could activate the mission from far away by using frozen missions.
There’s still a few days before I leave the sanctuary. I have enough time to walk around the entire city and give missions to hundreds of thousands of players, Han Xiao thought to himself.
With this, he could ensure that the players would still hang around Sanctuary Three as if it was their main hub. At the beginning of Version 2.0, these players could protect the sanctuary through the hardest times.
…
For the players, shocking news came wave after wave.
Since Han Xiao had remained in the dark for a quite some time after the storyline of the Germinal Organization, the players had started to believe the analysis of [Galaxy Times], thinking that the character had no more storyline and was just a normal NPC.
But after staying quiet for more than half a year, Black Phantom had started to become active again, and his actions were shocking.
He wanted to take the players across the galaxy!
Not only that, Black Phantom also left a frozen Prize-Pool Mission, and the introduction hinted at a disaster that would sweep across Planet Aquamarine.
The ‘old-fashioned’ ‘NPC’s return from the dead’ started another wave of nostalgia players as they remembered the time when Black Phantom took over the world after the game launched. The scene was now showing in front of their eyes, and it felt rather dear to them.
On the forums, countless of players were discussing what was the upcoming ‘disaster’.
“Alien invasion? Another war from the Six Nations that destroys the whole planet? Or is it a natural disaster?”
“I think this could be the start of a new storyline. Just look at storyline on the other planets, all of them are intense, while Planet Aquamarine is so chill. It’s time for something to happen!”
“Someone once said ‘those long divided shall be united, and those long united shall be divided.’ Is this the start of the romance of the Six Nations?”
With the boiling discussion in the forums, one player out of nowhere connected the two things that Han Xiao had done.
“Is it possible that Black Phantom is trying to escape the disaster and that’s why he wants to leave the planet as soon as possible?”
“No way! I still remember an episode in ‘Cabbage hits itself’—it was a speech from Black Phantom to gather troops, and he said that he would do everything he could do protect the innocent lives. Isn’t that courageous?”
“If that’s the reason, then there must be no hope for us to survive, and that’s why Black Phantom is leaving his hometown. I wonder how devastating the disaster will be… There won’t be that much of a change in storyline, right?”
“Maybe not. It’s possible that Black Phantom is just scared. Don’t you see that he is trying to gather helpers for his escape?”
“Quit joking around. He’s still a main character in the storyline. He wrecked the Germinal Organization by himself. Do you think he’ll still run away?”
“Well, the circumstances are different. A lot of his story with the Germinal Organization had to do with planning. Moreover, there is a history between him and the Germinal Organization. They were each other’s mortal enemies, so of course they would use everything that they had to kill the other. But that’s a different story for disasters. If he has the chance to run away, why wouldn’t he do so?”
“And here I am, still thinking that he wouldn’t have any more screen time after the Germinal Organization incident.”
One single topic would not have only one explanation. Some people stood up for Han Xiao, while others stood against him.
Han Xiao was not bothered at all because having oppositions was not a bad thing. It was through conflict that more people would pay attention. On the other hand, if everyone praised how all mighty Han Xiao was, then it would easily bore the players.
However, Bun-hit-dog did not want the players to look down on Han Xiao for thinking that he was trying to run away. Bun-hit-dog had already decided to start a new space adventure show, and if the audience viewed him as a deserter, then it would negatively affect to the show. On the other hand, if Han Xiao’s reason for going to the outer space was courageous and noble, then their upcoming adventures would touch the hearts of the audience, which fit with the content that Bun-hit-dog had planned.
Because of that, Bun-hit-dog leaked the discussion between Han Xiao and the other three, which could reveal the reason for Han Xiao’s departure—to find a solution for the upcoming disaster. This suddenly boosted the public’s view of Han Xiao.
At the end of the episode, Bun-hit-dog released the preview. “As I looked up the mysterious night sky, my heart and soul were absorbed in the solidarity. I will follow Black Phantom to the world beyond the stars, and for this, I will create a new series recording the moments of the journey in the universe and present them right in front of you. Coming soon.”
Because the topic was hot, Bun-hit-dog’s preview for the show spread like a wildfire. The players then all understood that Han Xiao’s departure from the planet was to save them from a disaster. Without any delay, most of the players all respected him from the bottom of their hearts, while a small minority were still suspicious.
No matter what attitude the players had, they were all paying close attention to the event, thinking about Han Xiao traveling through the galaxy, and they were excited for Bun-hit-dog new show.
These new messages, however, where only visible for the players. The organizations on the planet still had no idea what was happening.
…
In the powering snow and freezing wind stood a mountain range located in the territory of Raylen. There were a lot of wild beasts in the mountains without any civilization. Not even a single town was visible within dozens of miles, and the roar of beasts echoed in the mountain range.
Raylen’s secret laboratory was right there in the mountains.
Inside the laboratory, Kerlodd’s spaceship was hanging in midair, and thousands of pieces of equipment and wires surrounded the spaceship, detecting any data coming out from the spaceship and presenting it on the big screen. Countless researchers came and went while adjusting the equipment.
After moving the spaceship around for more than ten days, Raylen secretly organized people for this research operation, the best researchers from both the military and the intelligence organization. There were normal people and some mechanic superhumans.
Even with so many talents working together, there was little progress to be seen. The technology that built the spaceship was too advanced for the people on Planet Aquamarine to understand. Moreover, Godoran technology also contained magic, requiring the magic engravings for it to work. It was a completely different type of technology compared to that of Planet Aquamarine.
For the researchers who had never seen magic, they did not know where to start. In their eyes, this spaceship lacked many important components and modules, and they could not even find where the energy source was. They only found some parts that looked related to the energy source, some really ancient parts, and a black liquid object that looked like motor oil. It was stored in an empty test tube on the side and being experimented on.
Chapter 317. Lift Off |
The director of the research operation walked in with high officials wearing Raylen’s military uniform. An older gentleman who looked like the leader said with a deep frown, “Any progress?”
“There’s literally no progress at all.” the director responded helplessly. “The alien spaceship technology is too much for us to comprehend. We can’t solve the mystery. The meters from measuring equipment are constantly jumping at the same time, which was completely illogical.
“Then copy just a small part. I only need something concrete.”
“Sorry, but most of the components are too weird in structure, and we don’t even know what they are used for. We tried to copy the engravings on the spaceship, but nothing happened, and we can’t even start the engine up…”
“After years of investment, you give me this kind of answer?” The old official stared at the director coldly.
The director was sweating. “But there is something that we have found out. Please follow me.”
The group then moved in front of the transparent test tube that contained the black liquid. The director said, “This seems to be motor oil that the spaceship uses for fuel. It is extremely dense and viscous. We found some special characteristic that resembles a microorganism after looking through the microscope. More importantly, its reaction can produce energy.
“From our understanding, the molecules in the liquid can separate by itself and reproduce while keeping the original mass. The extra molecules are then released as energy. The process is completely automatic, meaning that it can produce energy without any input. This is revolutionary. We think that this is a reusable energy source that is used by alien civilizations. If this object can keep on separating molecules and producing energy, in theory, it can produce an unlimited amount of energy. We are still trying to understand the mechanism behind the process.”
The black liquid slowly moved in the test tube, and the old official frowned.
“Why is it moving by itself? Is it a living creature?”
“This should be the reason it could produce molecules. It has characteristics of microorganisms, but it does not have a nervous system, which means that it does not have conscious, so the movement is probably a reaction from the molecule separation process. This liquid is basically the same as bacteria.”
Since it was an alien technology, all the researchers accepted all the unexplained phenomenon, and the director added, “We have already run the tests. The liquid is not radioactive, and it does not contain poisonous materials. We also used a death row prisoner to touch the liquid with his body, and nothing went wrong after the contact.”
The old official nodded, and the others all looked at the liquid.
“The progress is still too slow,” one of the officials said. “Our time is limited, and we can’t keep on hiding this operation from the Godoran Civilization. We need physical copies as soon as possible.”
“But the difference in technology is too much; it’s not easy to break through this barrier. Unless…” The director hesitated. “Unless there’s someone who understands the technology to help us.”
The higher officials quickly looked at each other and thought of the same person.
“The missing Godoran… He must understand this technology.”
“If we can find him, not only can we report this back to Godora, we can also use the excuse of repairing his spaceship to obtain part of their technology.”
The old official turned to the official of intelligence organization and asked, “How is it with the Dark Net? When will Han Xiao turn the man in?”
“He never responded,” the intelligence official replied coldly, “and the Dark Net keeps on postponing the request.”
“God damn it!” the old official shouted with anger. “He is crossing the line on this matter that can impact the future of this planet! A civilian organization dares to ignore us, do they want to die?”
“Should we send someone?”
“The Southern Continent is Stardragon and Hesla’s territory, so he thinks that we don’t want to leak any intel to them. Haha, he underestimated us,” the old official said in a deep voice. “The upper command gave us the order to retrieve the missing investigator. We will contact the other countries and work together to suppress the Dark Net.”
Originally, Raylen had thought about using violence to directly raid the base of Dark Net, but considering the safety of the Godoran Investigator and Han Xiao’s strength, there was no way it would work. The only way was to force the Dark Net to give up the hostage voluntarily, so they had to cooperate with other political powers and pressure the Dark Net.
Even though Raylen did not want the other nations to know that they had the spaceship, compared to the future of the planet, this concern was negligible. Of course, the negotiation condition would probably require the other nations to join the research. However, since they had no progress in the beginning, maybe working together could maximize the potential benefits under the condition that everyone would share the research knowledge to each other.
This was also a plan to deal with the individual strength of Han Xiao, and it was obvious that Raylen hated him.
Raylen could simply have helped the investigator return to his own planet and built close ties with Godora as if they were love birds, but Han Xiao had ruined this honeymoon dream and cut off the red string between Raylan and Godora.
“The top officials are contacting the leaders from the other countries. If the Dark Net ignores us, then let’s see if he can deal with the power from the Six Nations. More importantly, Han Xiao still thinks that he’s invincible and the strongest man on the planet. He keeps on using the sacrifice that he made as an excuse to do whatever he wants.”
“I hope this punishment will teach him that there are powers in this world that he cannot steal away.”
The old official laughed coldly.
…
The players in the sanctuary all accepted the mission [The Last Bastion]. The prize-pool mission that seemed to be a main storyline kept on attracting more and more players to join.
The prize-pool quickly reached an astronomical number and met Han Xiao’s requirement for the number of participants. As more and more people discussed the mission, the mysteriousness of Han Xiao thickened.
Counting the numbers of days left, the day of the arrival of the tourist group grew ever closer.
Di di!
The galactic communicator rang, and it was a new message from the Acute Galactic Travel agency. They would arrive at Planet Aquamarine the next day, and the agency reminded the passengers to pack the luggage. The position to aboard the spaceship could be controlled by the communicator, so Han Xiao could choose whichever place he wanted to enter.
It’s finally here.
Han Xiao suddenly got up, and his heart was pounding with excitement. The memories of battles in the galaxy boiled in his mind, and the scenes popped out in front of his eyes like bubbles.
In the universe without borders, one civilization after another, new powerful storyline characters, millions of new species, the battleship that sailed across the universe, life filled with danger and action… all the memories flashed before his eyes.
The galaxy was the future. To first explore the universe was to build a proper foundation for the future growth for later actions from updates of the version. The galaxy would be the spotlight.
Han Xiao calmed down and thought, I have all my equipment and have chosen dozens of team members. I have all the resources that I need for the journey. I don’t have to worry about experience points for quite some time, so I’ve dealt with all the small things.
His accumulation in Planet Aquamarine was the bottom line for exploration in the galaxy.
…
When dawn arrived, the thundering sound of engines break the silence of the sanctuary. A heavily armored convoy quickly responded and drove to the gate. The players and strangers on the street all looked toward the convey.
The logo on the cars represented the highest rank troops that were under the direct command of Han Xiao. Players suddenly realized what was happening and followed behind the convoy.
