Porter, Cerleni, and the others also all threw glances at Han Xiao as they were getting dragged off, telling him to improvise.
Those mercenaries had been rendered completely useless within an instant, and although they did not understand how Han Xiao suddenly became Ames’s subordinate, he was now their only hope.
The Silvers rescue’s all on you now, buddy!
Wilsander walked over and led the others out of the hall to go to another giant building.
“Don’t worry. Since Ames has already recruited you, we’re now colleagues. Ames treats all her subordinates decently, so you don’t have to worry. I’m now taking you to go see the Head Butler. She will assign you with your duties,” explained Wilsander passionately.
Han Xiao nodded. He was obviously familiar with the pros and cons of working under Ames. Most of her underlings were random fodder, and she only had three important subordinates. The first was the Head Butler, who was also her cousin. The second was Floating Dragon Island’s logistics manager and a skilled Mechanic. The last was Wilsander. Although he seemed like quite a pushover right now, he had once been a big-name pirate who roamed the stars.
The three each took care of their own jobs and were Ames’s trusted people. Some called them the ‘Dragon Guard Trio’. Most of the players in the past who came to Floating Dragon Island received missions from these three.
Han Xiao went back and forth with Wilsander for a while to get close to him. He had a certain understanding of Wilsander and was able to quickly get on the latter’s good side.
After chatting for a while, Wilsander could not hold back his curiosity any longer and held Han Xiao’s shoulder as he asked, “Hey, Black Star. The person you were talking about earlier… What’s his relationship with Ames?”
“I’ve only met each of them once. How would I know?” Han Xiao’s eyebrows rose up as if they sensed something. “It seems like you have feelings for Ames…”
Wilsander did not become awkward at all upon hearing the remark and instead laughed aloud. “Haha. Although she has never answered my pursuits, my handsome appearance and bravery will surely be able to win her over sooner or later.
Handsome… Han Xiao carefully scanned the other person. If we go back the Demon Tribe’s standards, then maybe your looks would at least be considered to be normal.
In truth, that person was not Ames’ lover or anything of the sort. That person was her teacher. In the player’s eyes, that person was an extremely mysterious travelling merchant. Chance encounters with him could give them the opportunity to buy unique items off of him, and they might even be able to trigger some legendary questline. That person actually did not want to meet Ames, so Han Xiao was not really lying to her. He even let her know about this news earlier so that she did not have to continue waiting for him all that time.
Ames’ past was clouded in mystery, but it was not because she came from some extraordinary background. She had originally been a very normal girl. She had been abandoned by her family at a very young age and taken in by her teacher. She had then awakened her powers and built her foundations as an Esper under her teacher’s wing. These two went way back, and the teacher had left her with a promise before leaving for an unknown reason—to find her again once she had made her name known throughout space. However, after she had rose up to her current heights, her teacher was still no way to be seen, giving Han Xiao chance to pull the earlier trick.
They arrived at a tall building. It was the Administrative Center of Floating Dragon Island in name and was there for people to conduct their daily business. When the group arrived at the rooftop, they saw a large office with ten or so assistants working their *sses off inside. The Head Butler was giving out documents behind a table. Ames’ cousin had the appearance of an ordinary woman and was Ames close friend.
“Jenny, these are the new recruits. See if you got any jobs for them,” said Wilsander the moment that he walked into the room.
Head Butler Jenny did not even look up at and continued to deal with the documents. “Name, power.”
Her words came out so fast, as if she did not even have a second to spare.
“Black Star, Mechanic, grade B…” Han Xiao and the players each stated their basic information.
Right after they finished, Jenny said, “Black Star, go report to the Logistics Manager. They’re in need of a new skilled mechanic there. The others will all join the guards. Your information has already been registered. Uniforms and badges will be given to you in two days.”
The players had become part of the guards, while he became a logistics worker. His mechanic skills just so happened to be good enough for the manager. He did not mind this arrangement, and the officer feature of the faction interface could finally be put to good use now that he was splitting up with the players.
After they left the hall, Han Xiao said in a quiet voice, “Herlous, you will be the temporary leader of the other members. Protect them and make sure that they don’t cause any trouble.”
“I know.” Herlous nodded. “You be careful, too.”
Having Herlous as the leader should decrease the chances of the players doing something stupid in his absence… However, aside from the few idiotic players, most of these pro players could handle themselves well enough. Although they were slightly shocked by the sudden turn of events, they trusted Han Xiao and would take things one step at a time.
“Haha. I will take care of your team. They will get to form a squad of their own.” Although Wilsander did not look the type, he was actually a very easygoing person. Han Xiao had also been able to get on his good side from their earlier conversation, and so he was willing to lend a hand to help.
…
Floating Dragon Island’s logistics work mainly included the repair and maintenance of the device that kept the floating island afloat. Han Xiao went alone to the logistics department and was met with a massive high-tech garage. This department had the lowest number of people compared to the other two on the island.
As Han Xiao stepped through the door, he saw a six-armed, human-sized, two-legged insect walk up to him. What was interesting was that this creature had a mechanic’s uniform on.
“You must be Black Star. Welcome. We’re currently very shorthanded right now, and it’s nice that we finally got a new mechanic.”
This arthropod was the Logistics Manager. Its species could only make clicking noises when they spoke, and the special communicator that he wore turned that voice into that of an old man’s. His translated name was Haier.
Haier was a very high-level mechanic who had been working for Ames for a long time.
Han Xiao had already met the three top dogs on the island within the short period of time since arriving on the island, and he could already tell how carefree Ames was with choosing her subordinates. The Head Butler was her cousin, Jenny; the Guard Captain Wilsander was of Demon Tribe and even used to be a pirate; the logistics manager was an arthropod.
“Our work includes maintaining the island’s boosters, anti-gravity device, life-sustaining device, and mineral collector. We also sometimes create and repair spaceships…”
Although Haier had a scary appearance, he was actually very kind and took Han Xiao on a short tour around the logistics department after his short explanation.
After learning about his work, Han Xiao was pleasantly surprised. Logistics work could actually be quite beneficial to him, and he did not even have to work that hard. With the interface, he could create a lot more blueprints from doing all the repairing and maintenance!
Moreover, the logistics department did not really set any strict rules or regulations on its employees, so many spent their free time working on their own machines. Although this was never explicitly stated, it seemed like they could also use the rare and unique materials on this island for themselves. Such as the Void Dragon’s skeletons…
After the standard introductory procedure, Han Xiao officially became one of them.
For the next few days, he fo
llowed Haier to familiarize himself with the work on the island. He was quickly accepted as another member in the department. The players were also faring quite well on their end. Most of the other Dragon Guards were normal people, and they did not dare cause trouble with the team of Supers led by Herlous. After being dispatched on and completing a few missions, they slowly transformed from random outsiders into the enforcers on the island.
…
In the slave market, Horlaide was very excited when he found that the Silvers had been captured. He had been trying to find a client for these past few days. Many buyers had secretly offered him their prices, but he was not happy with all of them and was still in the middle of the bargaining stage.
That day, Horlaide received a communication request from the base.
“Haha. You’re still alive.” Horlaide made fun of the caller.
“I almost died.” Peggy had a raspy voice. He had nearly kicked the bucket after getting beaten up badly by Han Xiao and barely made it out alive and back onto his ship. He wanted his money. “The Silvers have already been handed to you. Where are you going to hand me my pay?”
“What pay?”
“What do you mean?” Peggy frowned. “Are you not planning on paying me?”
“No, no, no. You need to understand something. Your cargo was taken away by the mercenaries,” Horlaide slowly reasoned. “I had to work to get them back. Why would I pay you money?”
Peggy had an ugly face as he switched off the communicator. “Filthy merchant!”
The Silvers were a Super valuable cargo. He knew that he had no way of dealing with Horlaide. He was the one who had gotten beaten up and lost the cargo. Nothing could be done no matter how mad he got. A criminal lived by the code of the survival of the fittest, and even he could not do anything about Horlaide breaking their promise.
“That bunch of stupid mercenaries!” Compared to Horlaide, the mercenaries were the biggest reason that he had failed so badly. He hated them to his bones and gritted his teeth as he smashed apart the communicator with his palm.
Just as Peggy was getting angry all by himself, an ordinary-looking spaceship docked next to him.
“Ember, we’re here.”
Chapter 374 - Your Friend DarkStar Is Now Online
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
This spaceship had specially been dispatched for a mission by DarkStar, and it had been re-outfitted to look like a normal traveler ship. A group of people walked off the ship and stepped onto the Floating Dragon Island’s docks. The savage inhabitants of the island who were at the docks glared at these seemingly unsuspecting common travelers.
The DarkStar people kept their heads low and headed into town. After making several twists and turns in the streets, just as they were about to pass by the alleyway between two houses, a muscle man walked in front of them and blocked their path. A group of brutes also appeared from behind them, pincering them.
“This isn’t the kind of place that ordinary people should visit. I suggest you guys pay up for that advice…” The pirate who acted as the leader of the ambushers said this as he calmly pointed his gun at the newcomers’ leader.
The other pirates also smiled creepily. However, their leader failed to make any more sounds after that sentence, and they started to feel like it was odd. One of the lackeys lightly shook the leader’s shoulder, and suddenly, the leader’s head came rolling off and fell onto the ground.
His clothes also fell onto the floor, and black-colored dust wafted off them.
The pirates’ hesitation instantly changed into fear, and they turned ran. However, they could not get very far before they all disintegrated into dust particles, leaving piles of clothing on the floor.
The DarkStar’s people could not even be bothered to spare another glance before they quickly went on their way as if they had long become used to this scene. This was their captain’s ability, Ember. The ability could, to an extent, control carbon molecules, making it a huge control to all carbon-based organisms. As long as his enemies had even a speck of carbon molecules in their bodies, he could deal some devastating true damage to them by a thought of his mind. Even energy-protected Supers would be dealt with heavy damage by this ability. His Esper power’s potential rating was an A+!
Ember was a member in DarkStar’s plan to nurture a new generation of trump cards. The information in the Secret Message Bead had been bought from a research organization in another part of space at a very high price. DarkStar had already been working with the other group for many years, and this time, they each sent disguised parties, the carriers, of mixed species and races that ‘coincidentally’ came to the Shattered Star Ring to do business.
The Silvers were responsible for transporting the goods this time, but they got into an accident, and both the carrier and the Secret Message Bead were lost. This team was specifically dispatched the lost Secret Message Bead.
Ember brought his group to a hideout to rest. There were anti-detection devices already prepared in the room for them. He then sent out some of his men to search for information. The men returned before long, and the whole group gathered in the room for a meeting.
“We got the info. The Silvers are confined in a local slave market. We have already marked the location on the map. We should now try to get in contact with the carrier.
“So, what’s the plan? Do we raid the slave market and rescue the carrier directly?”
“Only saving the Silvers would be too suspicious. If we’re going to do it, we should break all the slaves out.”
After everyone had finished discussing with each other, Ember slowly opened his mouth and said lightly, “Let’s not use to resort to force yet. We are, after all, in the Dragon Emperor’s territory. I will go look for the slave market people and try to buy the Silvers back.”
…
Beside a large mineral burrowing device on Floating Dragon Island stood Han Xiao. He was currently carrying out repairs for the device with a group of workers surrounding him as they watched him work.
After screwing in the last nut, the device whirred back to life, and the workers were able to go right back into their work. Han Xiao turned and left while opening up the interface.
The machinery on Floating Dragon Island is all gigantic, and the level of technology used is also much more advanced. Although I still don’t have enough knowledge to reverse engineer blueprints for them, I did manage to come up with the blueprint for the Dragon Guards’ aircraft.
He had been secretly learning the fighter aircraft’s blueprint over the past few days of logistical work. Its name was ‘Dragon Butterfly Aircraft’. It was an anti-gravity hovercraft capable of atmospheric flight, and it was extremely fast and agile. Its size was average and allowed it to carry six to ten passengers. This was a blueprint that Haier had developed himself, yet Han Xiao had been able to learn it without anyone knowing.
The Great Mechanic Han had always been thinking about building a multi-passenger transport. With these new blueprints, he could finally overcome the technical difficulties that he had faced in the past, as well as greatly increase the capability of the transport that he had in mind. He constantly utilized the free time given to logistics workers to design the structure for his new transport.
After he returned to his personal garage, Han Xiao was faced with a giant sphere-shaped machine that was hung up in the middle of the room by several chains. His manufacturing speed had increased several folds recently in part due to the [Instant Deconstruction and Assembly] ability that he had obtained from the Silvers. He had already put in ten potential points to max this ability out.
The best part of working for the logistics department was that he had mountains of raw materials that he could use whenever he wanted. He did not even have to care about production costs. However, only Haier was allowed to use the more valuable materials, such as the Void Dragons’ bones.
Han Xiao was incredibly envious about this. Void Dragons’ bones were unbelievably hard,
and even on their own, they were harder than all types alloys that he could currently produce. One of the more advanced blueprints for a higher-level battle suit required Void Dragon bones as the material for its core. That suit was even stronger than Amphiptere without the bones, and being imbued with the Void Dragons’ special power made it several times stronger than Amphiptere.
That blueprint was not too hard to learn and could be obtained as long as one had the necessary knowledge. The hard part was gathering the materials required to build it. Floating Dragon Island was one of the only few places in the whole Shattered Star Ring that produced Void Dragon bones. If he could get his hands on enough of those bones, he could build himself new battle armor that would be upgraded from the ‘snake’ label.
Aside from the bones themselves, the liquid that could be extracted from the Void Dragon marrow was also extremely precious. However, Haier carefully watched over the stock of these materials. This was a clear show of the benefits that the Floating Dragon Island carried with it. Even without Ames managing the island’s affairs seriously, it was still able to amass countless goodies.
Now that I have finally blended into the crowd, it’s about time that I went to find Horlaide to talk about the Silver issue. I am also in a much better position now to make deals with the island’s people.
Han Xiao knew that he could not trust the people from the big three mercenary groups and could only rely on himself for this.
Once again, Han Xiao visited the slave market. However, unlike usual, someone hurriedly called out his name just as he was about to stride in through the main gates.
“Black. Black Star! Please wait!” Theon rushed over while out of breath.
“Oh, it’s you.” Han Xiao gave him a glance from the side.
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