The Legendary Mechanic, page 685
After that, the army entered into a low-profile development period. Black Star no longer featured in the top news as often and quietly remained in the Flickering World. Then, in the year 716, the war with the Kunde Race erupted. This was the first sub-Star Cluster native civilization that was eliminated.
However, the records of this period of history were very sparse and vague. There was only a rough conclusion, and nothing could be found online. The only valuable clue that Frenzied Sword had was that the Black Star Army was now responsible for the transformation task of the Kunde Race, which had been going on for thirteen years.
After the Kunde Race war, the army remained low profile during the second and the third phases as well. Everything had been peaceful and calm until only recently, when the army revealed its second Beyond Grade A, someone they were familiar with.
“Hila has become a Beyond Grade A‽” Seeing the name, Frenzied Sword’s eyes widened in shock.
No players born on Planet Aquamarine were unfamiliar with Hila. Be it when she was the villain ‘Crimson Snake’ in the Germinal Organization or when she fought on their side during the Mutation Disaster of Version 2.0, these impressions were all deeply rooted in each and every player of Planet Aquamarine… mainly because Hila’s astonishing beaty made the deepest impression.
All the old players knew that Black Star and Hila went way back, from Planet Aquamarine to the universe. She was an old friend who appeared very long ago.
Frenzied Sword had worked hard for four versions in the army, so the army was his home faction. Now that his own faction had another person to rely on, no words could describe how pleasantly surprised Frenzied Sword was.
Suppressing his excitement, Frenzied Sword turned to the last bit of the records—the ‘Meeting of the Gods’ that Black Star had hosted just recently, where he summoned more than seventy Beyond Grade As to gather in one place.
Seeing the shocking influence Black Star had, even his heart skipped a beat. After twenty years, how had Black Star’s position in the universe already achieved this standard‽
“My god…”
Before Frenzied Sword could pull himself out of the shock, loud laughter exploded from beside him, startling him.
“Hahaha! Nice!”
Bun-Hit-Dog guffawed into the sky with his hands on his hips. His mouth was opened so wide that it almost looked like it was going to crack. His smile was like the smile of an evil hound.
Frenzied Sword covered his ears. “What are you laughing about?”
“Look at this. During the twenty years of the version update, look at how much has happened to the Black Star Army. This is all material for videos. This is a treasure!”
Bun-Hit-Dog was exhilarated. With so much material, he would not have to worry about having nothing to make videos about for quite some time.
He planned to include all the things the army achieved during the update, to help the army players know about the army’s history. Just thinking about it made him certain it would be popular, and he was sure he would probably go viral again!
With that in mind, Bun-Hit-Dog took a look around and realized that many people were looking at their communicators and browsing through the history of the army. He could not help but open the forums. He used his talent as the number one reporter and uploaded the army records. At the same time, he gave the post an attractive title—’Shock! The Army’s Glorious Twenty Years!’
At the start of a new version, countless players were exchanging information on the forums with excitement. As soon as this post was uploaded, it attracted a lot of attention in the Shattered Star Ring panel.
Army Commander’s Big PP: “Old Black is fierce as always!”
Fulliron Alchemist: “Old Black has been like this ever since the first version. He’s undoubtedly a legend at starting from zero. Is there anyone in the entire universe more amazing than him?”
Stupid Cat: “The ID of the brother above…”
Magnet Link: “I didn’t expect Hila to become a Beyond Grade A too. By the way, do you guys remember Black Star’s origin? He started as a traitor of the Germinal Organization, and Hila was a member of the Germinal Organization too… Tsk, what an organization.”
Mysterious Man: “Germinal doesn’t die; it only hides!”
While Frenzied Sword was deeply drawn to the stupid comments, he was suddenly dragged by Maple Moon toward the dock.
“Stop reading, let’s quickly go to the Flickering World, as soon as possible.”
With someone taking the lead, the players of the entire Black Star Army headquarters started moving and swarmed toward the dock.
…
The forums, which had been quiet for quite some time, suddenly became extremely boisterous. After the army players scattered around various places understood what was going on in this version, they immediately headed to the nearest army base and boarded a fleet toward the Flickering World. No one wanted to miss out on the world server.
As members of the Black Star Army, since they had such a huge advantage, they were not going to waste it. Every second counted.
In the eyes of the foreign professional clubs, the exclusive faction advantage the Chinese players in the Shattered Star Ring had was just about the worst news they could receive. The guilds of the various countries hastily started private meetings to discuss the matter.
“Things are not looking good. The main storyline of this version is way too good for the Chinese players. The world server is right beside the Shattered Star Ring, and they’ve already been there. When our guilds enter the world server, it will be very difficult for us to compete with these top Chinese guilds such as Dynasty and Long Sky. We will certainly be at a disadvantage in Guild Wars, which will very likely affect the growth of our professional players.”
“In the previous season, three teams out of the top four teams were from China. We can’t keep letting them have such dominance over us no matter what this season.”
“It’s going to be tough. The Black Star Army is basically going to be the locals in the world server, and it’s backing the Chinese players up. Are we going to join the Black Star Army?”
“It’s very difficult for the professional players and the guild top players to join other factions on a completely different side, or all the effort spent in the previous versions will go to waste.”
“That’s right. Even if we do change factions, we can’t compete with what the Chinese players have built up in the Black Star Army over several versions.”
“Let’s observe how things go for now, see how the Chinese guilds respond to this. If it’s not ideal… we might have to unite the clubs from the other countries.”
Although this was just the first day of the start of the new version, the situation had already made the clubs from various countries agitated.
After all, the faction advantage for the Chinese players was way too huge. While the Americans, Frenches, Koreans, and Japanese were feeling indignant, they all had thoughts of forming an alliance.
…
“So, all the players have moved…”
Han Xiao smiled after hearing Phillip’s report.
With the opening of the Flickering World, the traffic of this Star Field would explode. There would be demanded businesses everywhere, bringing opportunities. It would be like the age of digging for gold. The advantages the Black Star Army had been building for so long would now finally show their effects.
To him, this was not the stage of exploration but the stage of harvest!
With the territory he had, it basically meant he could just sit and watch while others brought him profit.
Countless organizations would be competing there, so the players would have plenty of mission resources and countless ways to gain EXP, as well as no shortage of opportunities to fight.
However, it’s not that easy to harvest EXP at the start of the new version, Han Xiao thought.
The players’ current main goal was continuing to level up, so most of the EXP they earned would be spent on levels. It was not time to harvest yet.
In order to quickly level up, Han Xiao had to wait for the players for a period of time.
However, Han Xiao was in no hurry. Quite a number of new items had been added to the army’s store. No matter how petty the players were, he could make the players open their wallets. The efficiency of getting EXP from this still far exceeded him doing missions himself.
His level, which had remained stagnant for so long, could now finally increase rapidly!
Players from various nations swarming into the world server was an opportunity to enlarge his farm. For the Black Star Army to attract outside players now, Han Xiao no longer had to do much. The advantages he had obtained over the versions and his positive name were the core appeals.
The bigger the advantage the army players had in the Flickering World, the more attractive the Black Star Army would be. However, due to exactly this reason, Han Xiao could guess that some foreign clubs might get together to fight the Chinese players. Therefore, helping the army players was a must.
In his previous life during Version 4.0, the clubs from the various nations kept forming alliances and betraying each other in all kinds of ways that made things almost look like they were in the ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ era.
His plan was to use the army’s territory as a base to provide resources while helping the army players become stronger in Version 4.0. At the same time, he would use the players’ power to create trouble, attacking the enemies while protecting their own forces, attracting more players, and satisfying his need to level up.
“Modo Civilization, Primal Chaos Mysterious Energy…” Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.
It would still take the players of the various Star Fields some time to arrive at the Flickering World. Other than the players, these two matters were what he needed to deal with the most.
The Kunde Race’s mission required him to take revenge against the Modo Civilization. Back then, the dynasty told him to only fully execute the plan when the Flickering World was completely open. Now, the Modo Civilization’s troops had also entered the Flickering World. On his turf, Han Xiao had a hundred ways to make life hell for the Modo Civilization.
The mission reward was the [Proof of Leadership] talent, which was extremely useful for the leader of a huge organization like him. Han Xiao had waited more than ten years, and he could finally make a move.
The moment when the Primal Chaos Mysterious Energy appeared would also soon arrive, and there would probably be quite a number of organizations who would fight for it. Han Xiao had already sent troops off toward the location marked in EsGod’s heritage.
He had also researched its owner in his previous life. If he remembered correctly, it should be an ordinary person called Evans. He already had the location of Evans, who was also in the Flickering World and under his surveillance.
If there was no one under his command that could control the Primal Chaos Mysterious Energy, he would find the owner from his previous life, who would definitely be able to control it.
While pondering, Han Xiao told Phillip, “Search for the current location of the Modo Civilization’s fleet… I shall send them a huge ‘gift’ to begin.”
Chapter 1011. I“m Going to Beat You Up. What Are You Going to Do About It? |
The Flickering World’s Dawn Star Cluster was an area completely controlled by the army. It was also the first station after entering the Flickering World. As the fleets of countless organizations swarmed in, this Star Cluster became countless times more boisterous, gradually turning this place into part of the galactic society.
There was profit to be found everywhere in the Flickering World at this time; all of the Star Clusters had demands that were not met. The outside organizations mainly had to choose where to set foot.
The transit stations at the entrances of the Star Field contained huge profits. Many organizations and galactic residents scattered and headed right toward the transit stations as soon as they entered the Star Field, while more organizations went other ways to the further Star Clusters to look for opportunities.
Among which, the Modo Civilization was one of the organizations that headed to the further Star Clusters. Their goal was to develop the territories of the third and the fourth phase.
The reasoning was simple—the further the Star Clusters were, the less they had been developed, which meant that not only would there be more holes to fill in the various industries, but the dynasty’s control would also not be as strong compared to the earlier Star Clusters. And this was extremely important to Super Star Cluster civilizations.
The Super Star Cluster civilizations knew very well that the dynasty would definitely not let them develop comfortably. Therefore, almost all the Super Star Cluster civilizations gave up on the first and second phase territories.
Even an ordinary person could see that the few Star Clusters that were about to be explored in the fourth phase would become crucial stages of competition for the external organizations.
Inside the main ship’s command room, a tall man stood before the command post, looking up at the star map. His face gave off a cold and tough vibe, and his expression was solemn.
He was Roddick, Senior General of the Modo Civilization, currently the commander of the ‘Expedition Fleet’.
‘Expedition Fleet’ was the name of this fleet, a new fleet the Modo Civilization had built just for the Flickering World. They had gathered a large number of elites, among whom Roddick stood above all and took on the responsibility of commanding this crucial fleet. Clearly, the upper echelons of the Modo Civilization had high hopes for him.
A member of the Modo Race who was wearing a government official uniform asked, “Commander, how long till we cross the first and second phase areas?”
This man was a senior officer of the Modo Civilization. His name was Lagos as translated into the universal language. He was given the position of the inspector of the Expedition Fleet, responsible for monitoring Roddick.
Lagos did not have much power in his hands, so he could not interfere with Roddick under normal circumstances. His main job was to report the situation to the upper echelons, as well as contact the temporary stronghold the Modo Civilization had built in the Shattered Star Ring. He also managed the resources and manpower.
Hearing the inspector’s question, Roddick stared at the Star Cluster and replied without turning his head. “The time spent in the first and second phases was the longest. The Crimson Dynasty and their allies had already built full sets of long distance portals long ago. Travelling was very convenient, so it should only take about seventeen days to arrive at the third phase territory. Most of the time will be spent on the area between the stargates.”
Then, Roddick squinted and added, “Actually, the quickest route is through Garu. The Black Star Army’s territory is connected in one line by the stargates, so the transportation there is even easier. But, as you know, the risk of that is too high, so we have no choice but to take a detour.”
“Well, I can only say that’s karma,” Lagos said with resignation.
The Modo Civilization knew very well that they had already insulted the dynasty because of what happened with the Kunde Race, so they knew clearly that the dynasty would target them in the Flickering World.
The best route toward the further Star Clusters was through the Black Star Army’s territory, but Roddick did not dare go close to the Garu Star Cluster, so they could only take another route that was not as popular and convenient.
Lagos shook his head and said, “The dynasty might send people to attack us. Stay vigilant.”
“I know. The military equipped us with such a strong defensive force because of exactly that. There are plenty of armed fleets and high Grade Supers. The Expedition Fleet’s size is sufficient to even participate in a galactic war.”
“Hmm, you’re right… But the dynasty will definitely not send their official army to attack us in the Flickering World. Even if someone does come for us, it’ll definitely be the dynasty’s ally,” Lagos said.
Roddick frowned. “Usual enemies are not a problem, but a Beyond Grade A would be very difficult to deal with.”
“Don’t have to worry about that. The upper echelons have already made private agreements with some Beyond Grade As to provide us with help.” Lagos smiled with confidence.
“Who are they?”
Roddick, however, was not surprised. Super Star Cluster civilizations making short-term deals with Beyond Grade As was nothing new. This was also a form of business for some Beyond Grade As.
Given how important the Flickering World was, it was impossible for the Super Star Cluster civilization to not make any preparations. They all brought out tons of resources to hire top-tier combatants, which led to some Beyond Grade As earning quite the fortune. Many of them also accepted jobs from multiple civilizations at the same time.
“Those Galactic Black Market people with Beast Ancestor and Secret Master in the lead, as well as some neutral Beyond Grade As… Oh, some of the Beyond Grade As of the federation and the church have also made deals with us privately… Hehe, they were probably given orders by their leaders to use us to attract the dynasty’s attention.” Lagos could not help but sneer.
The federation and the church’s intentions were as clear as day, but the Super Star Cluster civilizations did not mind being used, as they would benefit from it temporarily as well.
“Even though we have allies, that’ll only help us when we pass through the first and second phase territories. I’m worried the dynasty might attack before that,” Roddick said with a deep voice. “After all, most of the organizations are taking the Black Star Army’s route. There aren’t many allies who are taking a detour like us.”
“One of the hired Beyond Grade As is coming behind us just to protect us. The upper echelons convinced him to make a detour.”
“Who?”
“The Blackhole Edge’s neutral Beyond Grade A, Garoze, nicknamed Leader of Colossuses.”
“That Summoner? I’ve heard about him.”
