The Legendary Mechanic, page 910
“Black Star, if the three Universal Civilizations really manage to obtain the Sanctum Revival technology, then that will be the day they take action. The three Universal Civilizations will definitely try to monopolize this technology and will attempt to neutralize this advantage of the association. The three Universal Civilizations just have to get rid of you and then revive you before anyone else does in order to not be challenged any more… I feel that you should stop walking down this path.”
Han Xiao frowned and spoke in a slightly offended tone.
“Do I need you to remind me of such things? You might think that it would be safer to join the three Universal Civilizations after they have mastered the technology, but think about it. The three Universal Civilizations’ target of revival will not be as loose as ours. They will not think much of Beyond Grade As after gaining this huge weapon, so Beyond Grade As will only become a tool for them to unify, and if they are unwilling to become tools, then they will not be able to enjoy the benefit that is the Sanctum Revival.
“Why else do you think the association is resisting? Only when we exist can the Beyond Grade As still achieve the maximum freedom. If you don’t choose to bet and contribute your strength now, how long will you wait? To have to constantly look forward and backward, afraid of this and that, don’t be naïve. There’s no surefire method to win. If you have a need for the Sanctum Revival, then you have to give something up. If you’re not interested, then stop wasting my time and continue your own escape from reality. Obediently stay out of the way until the end of your life.”
Joey’s expression was twisted, his emotions tangled, as he dully replied, “I did not mean that. Could you give us some time to consider instead…”
Hearing this, Han Xiao no longer made any noise but took out a few secure communicators, throwing them toward the four. “This can allow you to connect to me directly. If you make up your mind, inform me. Right now, the situation is still stable, so you have a lot of time to consider. I hope to get a satisfactory answer. If you only choose to continuously shy away from the changes of the times, in the end, you can only passively accept the final results. If you don’t fight and pay for yourself, who else can you count on?”
Finished, Han Xiao waved his hand, recovering his army into the secondary dimensional army box before disappearing in place with a single teleport. He had no intention of returning to the Land of Four Gods as a guest.
Seeing this, Joey and his party could not help but stare at each other. After a long while, one of them said, “Is Black Star fed up with us?”
“Seems that way… Joey, you seem to have annoyed him.”
“He wouldn’t be offended, right?”
The four of them were concerned about their gains and losses.
Their feelings were very complicated. On one hand, they wished to avoid all risks, tagging behind Black Star to ask until they were confident that it was completely safe, but they were also worried that this sort of questioning would make him unhappy.
This was especially so since they had just seen the opponent’s combat power. They subconsciously shrank back at the mere thought.
Joey gripped the communicator and helplessly said, “Black Star is right. My request might be too much… Let’s discuss it ourselves first. We shall not disturb him.”
…
His vision blurred, and Han Xiao was teleported back to his office in Black Star Palace. He took off his mechanical suit, sighing.
“My trip was worthwhile… I just don’t know if they will agree.”
Stroking his chin, Han Xiao felt curious.
He had a lot of experience in interacting with Beyond Grade As. With such people who had no ambition or motivation, rather than settling things amicably, it was better to show off his strength and influence.
These people had stayed away from the world for too long a period and had no ambition. They were soft tempered, and trying to persuade them with nice ways would take double the work to achieve half the effort. On the contrary, a person with strong authority would instill a psychological tendency to make up their minds and settle on a decision in them.
He knew Joey well, that this person was the type that would only regret when things were too late. He was an indecisive person, so it would be basically impossible to convince the other party to join the association on the spot. Even if the discussion went well, the other party would hesitate and ask many questions. Instead, it would be better for him to develop a tough attitude, rule over their tendencies and let them worry about their own personal gains and losses themselves.
After all, the association was full of talents, and there was no urgent need for the four of them to join. He was not begging them; it was rather the other way around.
Han Xiao himself did not fancy the strength of the four but their identities.
“If they are willing to join, then this will indirectly send a signal to all the recluses in the secondary dimensions. Perhaps they will lead us to find more secluded hermits, increasing the momentum of the association.”
In his opinion, succeeding in this was a good thing, but it would not be much of a pity if he failed.
Han Xiao didn’t take this matter to heart, turning his head and opening his interface to turn in his mission.
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You have received 65 billion experience.
You have received the talent ‘Secondary Dimension Adaptor’!
Secondary Dimension Adaptor: When battling in the secondary dimension world, you will gain bonuses of 3 – 6% in Attack, Resistance, Ability Strengthening, and all Attributes. This effect also applies to mechanical soldiers, summons, and subsidiaries.
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“The effect is not bad. Three percent is better than nothing.”
Han Xiao nodded, just focusing on the lower limit of the stat boost.
A prompt also appeared, asking him to select a subject to extract an ability from.
Recalling his combat information, of the four of them, there were two Mages, a Psychic, and a Pugilist. Their Molding Talents likely fitted with their own Classes, so it was impossible to obtain. He simply chose Joey as his target to obtain an Intellect talent.
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You have received the reward: Randomly draw an ability from Joey Terrain (Talent/Ability).
Remark: Joey Terrain is a Mage, not suitable for your Class, so the extracted skills will be appropriately adjusted.
Randomizing… complete!
Please select one from the five options below as the reward.
1. Melee Mastery – Talent: +1 Melee skills Level, +25% Melee attack power, +25% Melee attack frequency, +20% Melee parry rate. (As a qualified combat mage, it is reasonable to be good at melee)
2. Aura Wave—General Version – Ability: The commonly seen Super skill, by compressing one’s energy in the body then releasing it as a shock wave. The lethality is low, but it will give various negative statuses depending on one’s Energy Attribute. If one’s Class is a Pugilist, it will automatically be replaced by the Pugilist’s Shockwave Blast skill. Cooldown: 24s. Consumes 120 Energy.
3. Multiple Staff Strikes – Ability: When using a stick-based weapon (such as a Staff), you are able to unleash a continuous attack in an instant, gaining an extra 6 – 12% attack power bonus. The number of attacks depends on your DEX attribute, with a maximum of 12 times. Cooldown: 44s. Consumes 80 Energy and 270 Stamina.
4. Crisis Intuition – Talent: When you’re about to be attacked, you will receive a strong alert.
5. The Ancient Ones – Talent: A long life brings about precious spiritual wealth. +20% INT, +10% MYS, +2 all skill Levels.
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“This…”
Han Xiao’s mouth twitched. He did not know what to choose.
[The Ancient Ones], why is it always you?
This talent keeps popping out. Just how much does it love me?
Do you really want me to become an ‘ancient one’‽
Han Xiao glanced at the other options but only felt that they were too offensive. He almost wanted to curse out at the fact that a mage could possess the talent [Melee Mastery], totally not respecting the fact that they were a paper Class!
The five options were a jumbled mess, and there was no need to hesitate in his choice.
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You have chosen the talent [The Ancient Ones]!
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A wave of coolness spread through his mind, and Han Xiao felt revitalized. He could feel that his thought processes had become a lot quicker, as though he had been through a comfortable massage.
Compared to the four hermits, this talent was his biggest gain in this trip. Finally, he managed to obtain a positive fate with [The Ancient Ones] talent, which he had missed out on many times.
This time, he no longer needed the Old Man Manison’s Character Summon Card to reach the power of his explosive state.
Moreover, the Character Summon Card would still be useful. This would be similar to having double Perfect Mechanical Sense, having multiple The Ancient Ones stacked…
“Yo, I’ve gained quite a bit.”
Han Xiao had an expression of happiness as he switched off his interface and sent a message to Oathkeeper, telling him the problem was solved.
Kotlin and Joey both gave him a slight surprise, but there was no danger in the end. Everything was handled smoothly without anything being revealed.
However, this also caused him to have a sense of urgency.
“The longer I wait, the easier it is for such accidents to happen. I need to speed up the efficiency of harvesting experience…”
Han Xiao took a look at the movements of the army players before opening the book titled ‘Cultivation of Leeks’…
“Right now, the scale of players is too big. There are no big movements in the army, and the daily missions are also limited. It will not be easy for players to gain experience… It seems that the best method would be to scatter some ‘fertilizer’ to create more jobs for the players, accelerating their acquisition of experience. At the same time, I probably have to improve the internal welfare system of the army to better harvest their labor output…”
Chapter 1277: Continuous Benefits, Leek Harvesting Skill |
In a certain part of the Flickering World, a spaceship with the Black Star Army emblem was slowly moving.
In the cabin, a group of players were busy with their own affairs. Some were playing cards, some browsing the forums, others browsing the army shop. The IDs above their heads showcased that they were all from the Rivervale Guild. Frenzied Sword and Maple Moon were among them. This spaceship held the core members of the guild as they were going toward a mission location.
At this moment, in a corner of the spaceship, Frenzied Sword was lecturing the team members.
“After coming online, we have not been training diligently. We’ve yet to get back to our peak state. While we’re currently travelling, we should not waste time and engage in entertainment before we arrive at our destination. Let’s all go through a dungeon copy and practice our tactical coordination.”
As he spoke, Frenzied Sword pulled out a few Nightmare-level Dungeon Crystals from his inventory.
Seeing this, everyone could not help but sigh.
“Captain, how long has it been since the previous Pro League? We have yet to get a good rest, and you already want us to start practicing like that now? It’s still early before the next league!” Maple Moon complained.
Frenzied Sword patiently explained, “With King Admiral from Dynasty and Sleepy Winter from Long Sky retiring, their teams will have new players and thus need to break in the coordination. Their strength will likely weaken, so our competitiveness will be even more obvious. This is a great chance for us to win the championship once again. We’ll need to work harder.”
“… I feel like you’re becoming like Hao Tian, only knowing how to grill us daily.” Maple Moon pursed her lips.
By the side, Bun-Hit-Dog snickered. “After all, he is the captain. Rivervale has lived up to its expectations to achieve good results, and credit is inseparable from his own serious responsibility. I still remember that in the first Pro League, Rivervale was a disgrace, but luckily, the superiors of Rivervale put Frenzied Sword as the cornerstone, allowing him to reform the team. Facts have proved that your club invested in the right people, with Rivervale now having the reputation of a top-five club in China.”
Frenzied Sword felt comfortable hearing himself get praised. He raised his thumb up. “Nice words. I’ll agree to an exclusive interview.”
“Alright, I have some goods now. This trip was not waste.” Bun-Hit-Dog laughed.
This group was still joking around when the President of Rivervale club, ‘Moon of Thousand Rivers’, walked in, approaching Frenzied Sword.
“Frenzied Sword, another NPC organization contacted me. They wish to poach us from the army.”
“Again? Who is it this time?” Frenzied Sword was curious.
“It’s people from the Federation of Light.” Moon of Thousand Rivers was a little helpless.
Recently, they had received many such private solicitations. There were all kinds of organizations involved and they all were offering generous conditions, with the hope that their club would pull out their roots and leave the army. It was not just Rivervale; all the affiliated guilds to the Black Star Army were experiencing such things.
“The Federation of Light wants to rope us in? Since when did our ranking become so huge…” Federation of Light murmured. “Don’t worry about it, we’re not planning to switch factions anyways.”
He was a hardcore supporter of the army, so even if the three Universal Civilizations wished to poach him, he was not interested in jumping ships. As far as he knew, most of the guilds in the army shared the same attitude, not liking such poaching tactics.
“Recently, all the major galactic organizations have been trying to poach players from the army. This intensity is greater than in previous versions. During this period, I’ve analyzed the current situation, and it is estimated that the war between the galactic civilizations and the association is inevitable. Thus, we ‘Immortals’ are the most suitable to be used for attacking, becoming the sweet pastry that all sides want to fight for. Otherwise, why would organizations on the level of the three Universal Civilizations specially send people to win us over?” Maple Moon thoughtfully said. While she had become a professional player, she still retained the same interest in analyzing the storyline.
At this moment, everyone’s communicators rang with the notification tone reserved for the army’s internal message.
“What’s this new announcement from the army?”
Taking out their communicators, Frenzied Sword and the rest opened the intranet. An internal document titled ‘Recent System Reform of the Army’ came into their sights.
Everyone quickly browsed through it, and their expressions changed to joy.
According to the announcement, the army had expanded the type of available positions for the Immortals, opening up more middle-tier positions and long-term official positions such as in logistics, instructors, captains, intelligence officers, and more.
To put it simply, they just opened up more channels for the players to be promoted. Originally, the players were only assigned mercenary and combatant roles, but now they could become part of the middle-tier officers in various departments, gaining power and leading a group of subordinates or commanding a group as their player identities. This appealed toward the players that loved to role play.
At the same time, such a position also represented formally entering the organization, which allowed them to receive a fixed salary from the army. This was also in line with the preferences of the Chinese players.
The requirements for promotion were to have a sufficiently high level of Faction Authority, which depended on one’s accumulation Contribution Points, as well as a purchase of a digital qualification certification named ‘Army Officer Registration Application Form’. The purchase required only a few Enas and experience points, and they would then await the review of the various personnel in each department.
In addition, the army also released at the request of their members a new insurance service, named ‘Army’s Specialized Protection Scheme’. This gave them faction store discounts, free medical treatments, equipment repairs, enhancements, and free logistical services. Depending on their protection level, they could obtain various welfare guarantees such as loan qualifications, lower interest rates, lower renting costs, and so on.
Those members with a higher authority would be able to purchase more advance protections, but this was not a one-time cost. They required the player to renew it at regular intervals. However, the benefit of discounts was enough to stimulate the players to purchase this Specialized Protection. Not to mention the special services, one just had to look at it to know that they would make a killing!
This was especially so for the price of Dungeon Crystals, which had been reduced the most. They were currently the main source of experience for the players. It was akin to an inexhaustible vein of ‘experience ore mineral’, and the players were akin to the miners.
Adding on to this, the army also stated that they would increase the range of missions that Immortals could accept, as well as setting up special missions with rich rewards. The players would need to spend experience points and a certain amount of money as a ‘mission deposit’. The money would be returned upon completion but not the experience.
However, players would not care about this paltry amount of experience when they were being given missions. With the huge size of the army, the daily amount of disposable experience earned would be astronomical. With his experience quota being allocated to players through quests, Han Xiao then harvested that experience from the players, maintaining this positive cycle.
Han Xiao also put in the announcement that the Evolution Cube was now eligible to be used, requiring players to spend money and experience to purchase usages.
Because the players would only be able to reach level 160 in this version, the extra Race Evolution chance offered by the Evolution Cube would be useful, and the demand would not be too low.
