The Legendary Mechanic, page 66
For those who were more informed, they were not as surprised by the tough stance of the Six Nations as the intelligence they had gotten—why did the Six Nations act simultaneously, and how could they launch precise attacks on the hiding grounds of Germinal?
There was only one possibility—someone had provided a large amount of intelligence!
In another way, this mysterious person providing the intelligence was the real puppet master behind the war!
After many inquiries, the name of the man was leaked out from within the Six Nations.
Zero!
Germinal’s traitor!
The underground world was shocked.
Among the outlaws taken in by the Germinal Organization, some were idealistic fighters while others were hooligans who had committed petty crimes. There were traitors in the past, but they had all hidden like street mice, afraid of being hunted down. Zero was the only person that had strike back on Germinal so openly, generating such chatter.
How did Zero get so much intelligence? Was he a high-level officer in Germinal before he defected?
Many were scratching their head over this.
All this was a mystery. There was no way anyone could get an answer, but that did not prevent all the major powers from adding the name ‘Zero’ to the threat list.
…
“A war is coming…”
Bennett looked up at the hazy sky with furrowed brows, his mood was as gloomy as the sky.
Wang Yuan whispered to him from the side, “It seems like we need to get the shelter plan up ahead of schedule.”
“There are still a lot of things left unprepared…” Bennett shook his head. “I guess we can never be fully prepared. Let’s roll out the shelter plan. Contact some allies and get strong independent fighters to join us. We must rally all our forces.”
Chapter 124. Open Beta |
In the Germinal Organization Headquarters at Andrea mainland…
BAM!
A fist covered with a black glove slammed against the wall, creating a sound like a steel rod being swung against a car window. The thick force made a large piece of the wall shatter and collapse, exposing the steel bars. His fist, however, was not injured.
The leader’s body trembled with fury. His anger was obvious. His subordinates trembled next to him and dared not move an inch.
All the secret bases on the other three continents were being swept through by the Six Nations’ armies, incurring huge losses every day. The Germinal Organization’s base camp was located on the continent of Andrea. The secret bases on the three other three continents were intended to be the beachheads to nail the enemy in future wars. So, the loss this time was equivalent to the organization’s painstaking efforts for many years being destroyed! It had severely wounded the organization.
“Zero…” The leader took a deep breath into the unfathomable depths of his lungs.
How much information does Han Xiao have? This was a question that the leader had always been suspicious about. He felt that Han Xiao was not in a position to be aware of key intelligence. He had once told the organization’s hackers to check the program loopholes repeatedly, and there were no signs of hacking. He had also conducted multiple investigations on the top management. There were no traitors.
Zero’s source of information was really too suspicious. It was as though he was a prophet.
In fact, the four bases that were lost, including the Dark Crow Valley base, were not of particular importance to the organization. Before the four secret bases were removed, the leader hesitated over whether or not to relocate other bases in Southern Continent, but he did not implement any action. It was not that he wanted to leave it to chance. He felt that moving other bases rashly would expose these locations and cause them to lose their secrecy. It was like abandoning the huge amount of up-front investment, wasting their finances and time. Perhaps, it was as Zero had mentioned, making a mountain out of a molehill.
However, the situation made it clear that Zero had mastered the detailed information of the organization, far more so than he had expected!
The Valkyrie experiment strengthens the brain, and awakens… Thinking of Han Xiao’s performance, the leader felt as if there was a hint to the truth.
Zero has awakened the ability to predict!
No wonder he could get intelligence, escape from the lab, and avoid the tracking of the organization…
The leader closed his eyes and anger brewed in his heart. He felt that this was the only possible explanation. Zero was a monster created by the Germinal Organization, and all the organization could do was accept it.
Regret? The leader did not allow himself to have this kind of emotion. There was no room for regret.
This kind of character is too dangerous. If he is allowed to live, all the actions of the organization will be made known.
He has to be killed!
The pin drop silence continued for three minutes.
The leader’s low, hoarse voice slowly sounded, and it spoke of deep savage intentions. Even though the Germinal Organization’s members in the room knew that the leader was not targeting them, it still sent a chill down their spine.
“Move all the bases in the three continents. There is no need to care about the loss and damage. Withdraw whatever can be withdrawn. Start the crisis plan [Hibernation Project], and all activity is to be moved underground. All intelligence personnel are to thoroughly investigate Zero’s tracks—not a single clue is to be neglected. Before we find Zero, the full-scale war plan is to be delayed… indefinitely!”
…
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[Fall of The Germinal] current progress 13.8%.
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At the Graymetal Base, Han Xiao lay on the sofa, sliding his fingers across the tablet and brushing through the information collected and organized on the Dark Net, almost all of which was related to the movements of the Six Nations.
Two months ago, he had provided intelligence to the Six Nations. Naturally, none of the Six Nations acted immediately. They first sent people to confirm the accuracy of the intelligence, then they secretly dispatched resources to prepare for the war. The military operation only became official two months later. The results were very gratifying. A large number of Germinal bases were removed. Yet, there were some secret bases that Han Xiao was not aware of. They were forces that had been preserved.
Han Xiao’s mission profile had increased exponentially. Although the increment was reduced, he was winning by volume. With the actions by the Six Nations, he was progressing every day. The Germinal Organization was not a pig that would stretch out its neck dumbly to be slashed. They were determined to preserve their last breath by any means. They had evacuated all remaining bases and were trying to minimize losses. This was within Han Xiao’s expectations. He was simply waiting to see how many battles the six countries could win next by chasing Germinal’s trails hard.
With the momentum now, my mission progress is estimated to be more than twenty percent.
About fifty percent of the Germinal Organization’s bases in the three continents had been conquered, whilst their base camp on the Andrea continent had only half its size left.
The morale of the Germinal Organization had been so badly hurt that it would not be able to declare war against the Six Nations in three months’ time as per the original scenario. This had a far-reaching impact.
One such impact was that the Germinal Organization’s sub-bases on the three continents had been removed, cutting off the channels for most players to join the organization. That meant that the players in Germinal’s camp would be ninety percent less than originally! In Han Xiao’s opinion, this was the biggest gain.
Taking advantage of the chaos, I can also personally intercept and kill countless disoriented troops and improve my mission progress.
Releasing information could only be done once, so Han Xiao was ready to make full use of this opportunity to strike against his enemy while it was at its weakest, hoping that his attacks would deal some serious damage and advance his level.
The small butterfly effect he had set off was rolling up into a storm, causing a huge mess in the quest between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization. If one of the front-line events on Planet Aquamarine was accidentally annihilated, the players on this planet would become idle and start to freely explore.
Interesting… Han Xiao’s face broke into a sinister smile.
His two-month killer career had earned him a lot of EXP. He had already unlocked [Night Stalker], providing him skills such as [Stealth] and [Steady Aim]. This sub-professional upgrade bonus had a slant toward agility. With this, Han Xiao’s total level had reached LV 40, and he was stuck at his advancement.
The manner in which he completed his mission was a prerequisite for his next advancement.
_____________
[Second Stage Advancement]: Defeat three strong enemies beyond your level.
Note: Your opponent must be at least five levels higher than you.
Current Progress: 0%.
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Defeating a higher-level opponent was a common requirement for class advancements. The difficulty was not high, and the player could compete in a team. This made it easier for Han Xiao. It was a pity that his previous such assassinations were not counted for his current task.
As his level increased, higher-level killing was becoming more and more difficult. With Han Xiao’s level, he had to kill opponents beyond LV 45 at the bare minimum to achieve the cross-level standard. Moreover, these LV 45 opponents were already in the third stage of Planet Aquamarine’s combat power, possessing ghostly powers.
Because he was stuck at advancement and could not upgrade to the next level, Han Xiao was putting all his EXP into developing his skills. He had managed to improve his combat sniping skills.
Before building a powerful machine that could become the core of his tactics, he was not going to change his strategy of using [Moving Snipe] for the time being. In addition, he had also incorporated new blueprints, improving his personal capability tremendously.
In addition to becoming a legend in the list of killers, Han Xiao had also unexpectedly become a legend for a different reason.
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The Legend of Planet Aquamarine: The Mysterious Zero
As a traitor of the Germinal Organization, you have uprooted the solid foundations of the organization based on your sole effort. No one expected such a course of events. You have already become the arch enemy of the Germinal Organization. Perhaps you should protect your identity as there are many people who are searching for you.
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The source of my legendary status comes from my intelligence that inflicted a great loss on the Germinal Organization and caused Planet Aquamarine to fall into a state of chaos. I think I figured out how to attain such legendary status. I guess I just have to disrupt the original quest of the camp, and that means to wreak havoc… I guess that is my strength. Han Xiao touched his chin in thought.
His relationship with the Germinal Organization had fallen to -3,000. He was becoming their arch enemy; the relationship was unsalvageable.
This hatred is really deep-seated.
Han Xiao furrowed his brows.
On the other hand, the Graymetal Base was also becoming better-equipped. Han Xiao had upgraded the energy source on the base. There were already eight assistant robots working hard. It was a stable source of EXP. The cost of manufacturing each assistant robot was about 200,000 EXP.
Mechanics could create assistant-type robots, but few people did it in the early days because it was not cost-effective. These robots cost hundreds of thousands of EXP to develop, but they would only provide a few thousand XP each day. One could easily attain that by completing simple tasks. Moreover, these low-level intelligence robot assistants could only complete simple manufacturing tasks. If spare parts were needed, players could directly purchase them from the player market. Even unions were unwilling to use the assistant robot in their early stages. They had their production team and were in no shortage of manpower.
Only when the mechanics learned how to manufacture intermediate-level smart chips to enable robots to perform more precise operations would these robot assistants gradually become the standard tools for mechanics.
But for Han Xiao, money was not that important. He took a brief look at his dark net account and a bunch of zeros leaped into his eyes. All these were rewards that he had collected from completing various assassinations. Well, it seemed that there were some orders from Division 13. He had almost forgotten.
Han Xiao looked at the interface, and it was the last thirty minutes before the public beta.
This day has finally arrived!
Over the past year, he had accumulated a huge amount of capital, way more than most.
Han Xiao’s eyes were beaming as he nestled in the sofa, waiting silently.
The public beta countdown was counting down to the last minute.
Looking at the time—Galaxy calendar, July 3, 688.
Countdown!
Ten, nine, eight… three, two, one!
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The public beta is now open.
Fetching data… Fetching data done!
Player Forum Open
Open beta duration: 1271 days
Welcome to Galaxy 1.0—Adventer!
Chapter 125. What Have We Missed! |
Ever since Galaxy was in the research and development stage, the game had received wide attention with minimal marketing. Only basic information was provided on the official website. Even so, its popularity was continuously rising. Due to the many groundless rumors, Galaxy was shrouded with an air of mystery, fueling the players’ anticipation and curiosity.
On the day of public beta, the enthusiasm of the players was exploding like the eruption of a volcano. Although the number of VR capsules in the first batch was limited and there was also a restriction on the number of purchases, the game was sold out in half an hour. Those who did not manage to grab hold of the game were utterly disappointed, whereas those who did get it could not wait to enter the game.
…
The day that the game was released, enthusiastic players rushed into the game. In Galaxy, there were dozens of players who came from different birthplaces, and this formed the first batch of players.
In the evening, more and more public beta players who had created their characters appeared out of thin air in the forest outside the settlement of Big Horn Village, looking around curiously.
“It feels so real!” exclaimed a player as he jumped around with ease.
“Quick! Look at the sky, there is actually more than one moon!” a player shouted out in excitement as he admired the scenery.
“Woah, can I take off my pants?” asked a muddle-headed player.
“Is there no novice village in this game?” Another player scratched his head, not knowing what to do.
As more and more players appeared, a huge crowd began to form. With more than a thousand people gathered, one could hardly see an end to the mass of players. There were thousands of players who had gathered. After some confusion, some observant players spotted the lights in the distance from Big Horn Village. Thinking that it was the novice village, the players rushed over en masse.
The guards at the settlement of Big Horn Village were shocked to see the group of ragged men and immediately blew the whistle to inform the rest of the population to lock their doors and stop this huge group of foreigners from entering their settlement.
The players were all stopped at the gate, and they started shouting out against the guards.
“What is going on? Why isn’t the novice village open?”
“My hunger level is dropping; I will die if I don’t eat something.”
“The expressions of these NPCs are so lively.”
Within the settlement of Big Horn Village, all the residents walked out of their house holding torches and weapons, and stood guarding the main door solemnly, preventing the mass of people from attacking the place. The village chief, Xander, gathered the few key personnel urgently.
“Where did this group of people come from? It’s almost 10,000 people!” Xander exclaimed.
“Is it a group of migratory vagrants?”
“Let’s just ask directly.”
Xander climbed to the watchtower and asked loudly as he looked down at the huge crowd of players, “Friends from afar, why have you come to us?”
The players looked at one another with confused faces, not knowing how to respond.
Xander then shook his head. “If you all do not state where you are from, I cannot let you enter the settlement.”
The public beta players were baffled. They were all new players who could not even understand the map. How would they be able to tell him their origin? Was that a joke?
Inside the settlement, the closed beta players found the whole situation amusing. It was like a show for them as they watched the situation unfold from the side. They had landed directly inside the settlement when they first arrived and did not have to go through the trouble that the public beta players who had landed outside the settlement had to face now.
Just then, they received a notification. It was a mission where they had to convince Xander to allow the public beta players to enter the settlement, and the prize was rather significant. There was a note that specified they had to make sure that their use of words would match the current game context.
“Interesting, there are no other games like this.”
The players inside the settlement were surprised by the creativity in this game. They could actually use their convincing skills to influence the NPC in this game. That was new to them.
After a few discussions, the closed beta players went up to Xander to start a discussion.
After what seemed like a long time, Xander finally understood. “Do you all know the group of people outside?”
One of the closed beta players answered with a straight face. “Yes, we used to be residents in the same settlement, called Earth Village. There was a disaster, and we lost all contact. This group of people outside are all as hardworking as us. Chief Xander, please accept them.”
