The Legendary Mechanic, page 444
“Why didn’t you try?”
What is that supposed to mean? Han Xiao frowned, but he could only see the back of Ames’ head.
He changed the topic and said, “A few years ago when I was ambushed by Thous… ahem, Klent, I asked for your help, but you didn’t agree to help me.”
Han Xiao was talking about when he asked for Ames’ help during the third round of [Prey] and was rejected.
“If you insisted back then, I would’ve still agreed. If you insisted on asking me to join the secret war, I might not have rejected… though I don’t like to be involved in these things,” Ames said with a calm tone.
Han Xiao could not see her face, so he could only speculate what she meant from her tone. “You mean that you want to take part in the secret war?”
“I’m no longer needed.” Ames paused and changed the topic. “Ever since the first day I met you, I’ve never seen you stop your footsteps, why?”
Are we doing quizzes now? When did you start to speak in such a mysterious way? Han Xiao’s lips twitched. He thought for a moment and said with resignation, “It’s not time to stop. You have the choice to stop, but I don’t.”
“What are you afraid of?”.
Han Xiao’s eyes were slightly moved, and he did not answer.
At this time, a spaceship finally stopped in front of Ames. The hatch opened, and the gangway was lowered.
Ames stretched her body. Her clothes tightened and highlighted her cursive, beautiful waist. She sighed and softly said, “I hope you’re willing to stop one day and look at the scenery along the way. This universe has an end no matter how enormous it is, but ambition has no limits.”
Then, she boarded the ship and closed the hatch, blocking herself from Han Xiao’s view, never letting him see her expression.
Han Xiao watched as the spaceship turned into a stream of light and disappeared. Then he sighed and massaged his temples.
He had a feeling that Ames had changed, and her mood had become more unpredictable.
When did she start to change? Han Xiao pondered.
The conflict between the Crimson Dynasty and the Federation of Light affected the entire Galaxy. All the Star Fields were affected by the Crimson Tide. It was a time of chaos. Big and small wars were also happening in the various Star Clusters in the Shattered Star Ring.
The Crimson Tide swept the entire Galaxy. Comparatively, the chaos in the Shattered Star Ring was just the tip of the iceberg.
The situation of the secret war was many times more complicated compared to his previous life. More people were involved, and more ‘accidents’ happened that had never happened originally. Nonetheless, overall, the situation was still a stalemate between the Bloodshed Land and Section Zero.
War meant opportunities; no one fought wars for the sake of fighting wars. The Black Star Army was slowly expanding and benefiting.
Han Xiao was very active in the secret war and became the brightest star onstage.
Like a violent river that never stopped or flowed backward, the secret war became more and more intense in the midst of this chaos that affected the entire universe.
In the flames of war, seven years passed in this universe.
Chapter 716. New Version-Crimson Tide! |
Galaxy Calendar: Year 704, 17th day of the 7th month.
In the Black Star Army headquarters…
Clank…
On the alloy walkway, a tall, curvaceous figure strode with her alloy boots making a clanking sound when coming into contact with the alloy ground. Her white-gold female armor only covered her important locations, and she wore a black nano form fitting suit on the inside.
A few warriors from the lower rungs of the Black Star Army turned into the walkway and were wearing a similar uniform to that lady. The moment they saw her approaching from afar, their expressions turned solemn, and they stood up straight to give a salute.
“Your Excellency Chief Administrative Official.”
Her footsteps paused for a while, and she revealed a smile in response. Her smile was like the blooming roses and radiant sunlight. The few warriors were stunned into silence and only came back to their senses after she walked far away.
“How beautiful. She is the number one beauty of the Black Star Army indeed…”
“If only I can catch her eye.”
“You must be dreaming. Her Excellency Sylvia is a Calamity Grade Super and the chief disciple of His Excellency Black Star. How could you possibly catch her eye?”
The lady who walked afar revealed a helpless expression as she heard the conversation between the two.
She was Sylvia.
In the past seven years, she had put in all her effort into training herself (struggling for survival). After a series of tempering (suffering), her latent potential was finally realized, and she had stepped into the Calamity Grade before Version 3.0!
With her strength growing, her fame grew as well. She became the Chief Administrative Official of the Black Star Army, and people finally began to acknowledge her title as Black Star’s chief disciple.
A Calamity Grade Super had a long lifespan, and Sylvia had transformed into a beauty over the past seven years. She had a tall, curvaceous figure with her long hair drifting in the wind. She was a beauty who deserved 9.5 points at the very least. Being a beauty who was both powerful and had a high status, Sylvia became the target for many males within the Black Star Army. Among all the officers, her popularity had only lost to Feidin.
Sylvia walked all the way to the rooftop of the base. This was the highest point in the Black Star headquarters, and it was surrounded by bright, twinkling stars all around. Looking up, one could see Planet Golden Gate like it was hanging down from the sky.
At this moment, there were many officers standing on the rooftop, and they all turned around to look at Sylvia. After glancing at those present, Sylvia could tell that pretty much all the important officers in the Black Star Army were present today. Vice Commander Lagi, Logistics Manager Reynold, Fleet Commander Herlous, Culture Instructor Rossellin, and so on. There were more than twenty people present with fifteen Calamity Grade Supers among them!
“Everyone is here. Have you completed what I asked you to do?”
A deep voice sounded, and when Sylvia looked toward the source of this voice, a tall figure was standing at the edge of the rooftop. He was dressed in black with his back facing the crowd. It was Han Xiao.
“Everything has been prepared according to your instructions.” Sylvia nodded.
“Very good.”
Upon hearing that, Han Xiao turned around with a calm expression and a tinge of excitement in his eyes.
Compared to seven years ago, his appearance had not changed much, and he still looked as young as before. However, he had indeed been through plenty in the past seven years, and the wrinkles were not shown on his face but his heart. His aura had become more stable and unfathomable.
All the officers present had personally experienced Han Xiao’s change. If Han Xiao was like a ferocious lion with a tyrannical aura seven years ago, Han Xiao gave them the impression of a majestic lion at the moment. Apart from Lagi, all other officers present would be pressured by just looking him in the eye.
Today was the day for Version 3.0 to be launched. Han Xiao had waited for this day for a very long time.
It has been a full ten years… Han Xiao lamented in his heart. To the players, these ten years were nothing more than background story, but Han Xiao had personally experienced the full ten years. In order to prepare for the launch date of Version 3.0, Han Xiao had made many preparations beforehand. All his officers had arrived personally to report the progress of their preparations to him. They had only done as they were instructed but did not know the reason for it.
Compared to his previous life, Version 3.0 had quite a bit of changes.
In the past seven years, the secret war had become more and more intense. However, due to his interference, Klent was not as powerful as in his previous life, and both Section Zero and Bloodshed Land had some wins and losses. Section Zero was not on the passive side like before, and both parties were locked in an intense battle. The battlefield was no longer limited to Westwind, Kaya, and Chaida; two more Star Systems had been dragged into the war.
The secret war was one of the Main Storyline Missions in Version 3.0 within the Shattered Star Ring. Because of Han Xiao’s presence, the secret war was far more complicated than in his previous life, with many more organizations participating in it in secret. When the players returned, their first Main Storyline Mission would be the secret war that had been modified by Han Xiao!
In the past seven years, the various operations of the Black Star Army had mainly been focused on the war, mining, and employment missions. The Black Star Army had developed steadily and successfully gained firm footing in many different Star Systems. The Black Star Army was spread across the Colton Star Cluster with more than five hundred satellite bases, three hundred thousand battleships, a hundred million members, and a net worth of over a trillion!
With such a large organization, it would be a piece of cake for them to take care of a million players. Furthermore, Version 3.0 would be the time for new players to enter. With the performance that the Chinese players showed in the second Pro League, there would definitely be many new Chinese players joining the game. The Black Star Army had the capability to groom these new players.
The seven years of war had given Han Xiao a never-ending stream of experience. He was currently at level 211, and it would have been tough for the players to provide for his requirements during Version 2.0.
Thus, Version 3.0 would be a good opportunity for him to increase his strength rapidly again. Han Xiao also took the time to complete more than a hundred employment missions and had a stash of Mission Completion Cards.
Han Xiao’s preparations over the past seven years were akin to sharpening his own blade.
It could be said that he was fully prepared for the upcoming harvest!
Han Xiao took a deep breath and looked up at Planet Golden Gate. Opening the interface, he looked at the counter counting down.
Version 3.0 Activated
Fetching data… Fetching data done!
Player Forum Open.
Welcome to Galaxy Version 3.0—[Crimson Tide)!
It’s finally begun!
The players’ strength would only have a qualitative change in Version 3.0. The difference between a million Grade C Supers and a million Grade B Supers was like the difference between Heaven and Earth!
This version shall be the generation for the Black Star Army to rise!
Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled, and his lips curled up slightly. He then turned around to face the officers and waved his hands.
“Send out all our spaceships.”
At the same time on Planet Golden Gate…
Because the Black Star Army headquarters had been shifted away, Base No.1, which was situated on Planet Golden Gate, had been changed to a local agency for the Black Star Army. There were not many present, and the entire place was extremely silent.
All of a sudden, the entire base was covered in white light, and the players appeared one after another. The empty base was instantly filled with people, and the silent base became bustling with activity.
“Haha! We can finally come online!”
“It’s a new version!”
“It’s already Version 3.0, and we still can’t take off our pants? Bad update!” A male player roared in rage.
“My goodness, it is already Version 3.0, and the pants stripping party still hasn’t given up?”
“We will always be around and never leave…”
“Long Sky is so cool! Hao Tian is so cool!” There were still some who were trapped in the second Pro League.
In the base, the players all chatted with each other excitedly, and the entire base was bustling like a market.
Before the update, many players had logged off in the various bases with the number of players in Base No.1 being the most. More than 100,000 players had appeared in Base No.1.
Frenzied Sword was also among the first wave of players to log on. After the Pro League ended, he took a good break. However, he was a professional player and could not afford to fall behind during the release of the new update. Thus, all the professional players all logged in at the very first moment.
Frenzied Sword, Hao Tian, King Admiral, Li Ge, and the others had all logged off in Base No.1. They all gathered together and instinctively opened the interface to check any changes.
“Our attributes and skills didn’t change, but the level limit has been increased. The level limit in Version 3.0 seems to be 120,” Hao Tian said.
“The faction interface is still present. Thankfully, the Black Star Army didn’t close shop.” Frenzied Sword and many others heaved a sigh of relief.
As long as the Black Star Army was still around, the Faction Contribution Points that they had spent a great deal of effort to accumulate would not be wasted.
After checking their attributes on the interface, the professional players all heaved a sigh of relief. At this moment, the other players also snapped out of their initial excitement and got to work.
Having experienced the previous version refresh, the players knew what they should do. The most important thing to do after the update was to understand what had changed in the world.
Including the professional players, all the players in the base took out their communicators to see how long had gone by since the last time they logged in.
Looking at the date, everyone was immediately shocked.
“My goodness, it has been a full ten years?”
“Isn’t this a little too long? Will the NPCs from the previous version have forgotten about us?”
“Version 1.0 and 2.0 were only separated by about a year, but this was multiplied by ten times…”
“How terrifying, truly terrifying…”
“Could this be because of the Main Storyline in this version? Could it be that ten years was required to develop the Main Storyline? I remember Black Star personally revealing the existence of the Crimson Dynasty in one of Bun-Hit-Dog’s videos. Bun-Hit-Dog analyzed that Version 3.0 will very likely be related to the Crimson Dynasty. Could this be why this version is called Crimson Tide?”
It had been a full ten years since the previous version. This discovery truly shocked all the players. This was the longest time skip between versions!
Everyone discussed the changes as they looked around the base to see the changes over the past ten years.
Everyone quickly realized something strange. In the past version, this base was the headquarters of the Black Star Army and had many NPC mercenaries around all the time. However, the base was extremely silent now without a single NPC in sight. It was as though the entire base had been deserted.
“Could it be that something happened to the Black Star Army?” Someone opened up the Mercenary Alliance page and realized that the resume of the Black Star Army had disappeared.
Following which, everyone then attempted to open up the child AI program of the Black Star Army but received an ‘Insufficient authority, please sign up again’ message.
In the past ten years, Phillip had updated its child program many times, and the program in the players hands was completely useless. They had to obtain approval from the Black Star Army and submit a new application before they could use the program.
This discovery was instantly spread among the players, and everyone immediately grew nervous.
Almost all the Chinese players were in the Black Star Army, and the Black Star Army was already their own faction. The players were desperate to find out what had happened to the Black Star Army in their absence.
“Let’s go take a look first.” Frenzied Sword was the most anxious, and he left the base with the other professional players behind him.
With someone in the lead, the players all swarmed out of the base and realized that there was not a single guard present.
Walking out of the base, the players realized that Base No.1 was much smaller than before as though it had been renovated. Many regions had been dismantled, and it seemed extremely desolate. Upon realizing this, Frenzied Sword and the others could not help but feel nervous.
The busy streets of Planet Golden Gate were located right outside the base, and the buildings were all covered in a warm evening sun. The street was completely filled with players, and some players had no choice but to activate their mechanical suits to fly up into the sky. They immediately got into action and searched for NPCs to find some clues.
Not too far away, there were a few Godoran pedestrians, and Frenzied Sword, Hao Tian, and the others immediately rushed forward.
“What do you guys want?” This pedestrian looked a little frightened.
“Don’t be afraid. We only want to ask you some questions,” Frenzied Sword hurriedly replied.
The pedestrian nodded with a tinge of fear and caught a glimpse of the Black Star logo on Frenzied Sword’s mechanical suit. His expression immediately changed, and he asked, “You guys are from the Black Star Army?”
Everyone’s face lit up. This person still knew about Black Star even after ten years! This meant that there was some hope!
Frenzied Sword hurriedly pointed to Base No.1 and asked, “Can I ask if that is still the headquarters of the Black Star Army?”
“You guys are from the Black Star Army. Why do you have to ask me that question?” The pedestrian had a queer look on his face but still replied honestly, “That is no longer the Black Star Army headquarters.”
“Then where is the Black Star Army headquarters located?” Frenzied Sword asked.
The pedestrian pointed up toward the sky and said, “It’s up there.”
In the sky?
Frenzied Sword and the others looked up doubtfully, and their faces immediately froze in place with their jaws dropping in shock.
All the players then looked up with their mouths wide open as though someone had cast a spell on them.
