_____________________
As expected, the Mercenary Alliance wrote in the information about me being a member of Floating Dragon, Han Xiao thought. This was a label that he would not be able to get rid of in a short period of time.
The news brought him many points of Renown in several areas of Shattered Star Ring. The total Renown of his faction was 67, many times of what he previously had.
Although the total was not little, when counted individually, his Renown in other Star Zones was actually just one to two points. To most people in the galaxy, they had only heard of Black Star. The good thing was, the faction interface only counted the total Renown. If he wanted to get to this number through the normal method, he would have to take at least one to two hires at each of these areas. This had saved him from needing to do twenty to thirty hires.
Han Xiao talked to Lerden for a while and told the Sunil warriors to gather at Juberly Hub.
Herlous was overjoyed. From what he saw, Black Star willingness to accept his people was him giving them a helping hand in their tough times. How righteous!
After getting rid of Herlous, Han Xiao opened the player forums, which he had not visited for a very long time.
Countless posts had appeared. The time between these posts being posted was very short, which meant it was very active.
He glimpsed through. There were all kinds of posts such as showing off equipment, discussing duels, selling things, asking to team up, arguing, telling stories, and many more.
The earliest batches of players were already familiar with the game. They had started to go deeper into the storyline and train their skills. Other than Planet Aquamarine, the main storylines of other novice planets were still going. The other planet did not have someone like him who stirred up everything, so their game experience was very normal.
Also, many new players had joined the game recently, so there were many posts from these new players on the forums asking for help.
“Coordinates Planet Winterfrost Pond Of Bones, need a pro to carry [Frost Baptism] dungeon. Price is to be discussed.” This was from someone who was willing to pay.
“Planet Lasting Song villager here, please help me farm Bandit Canyon. I can last hit and shout ‘well played’!” This was from a noob player.
“Female with a cute voice, soft body, and 8/10 face looking for a male mentor. Need to be thoughtful, handsome, gentle, caring, in possession of a magnetic voice, experienced in providing comfort. No chauvinists or hideous men, thanks.” This was one of a kind. Without context, people would think that this was an online dating personal profile.
It had been almost three months since Han Xiao left Planet Aquamarine. Many new players had joined the game. The situation on Planet Aquamarine did not change much, and Sanctuary Three had become one of the default gathering places of players.
The prefix ‘Black Phantom’ on Sanctuary Three had sparked curiosity in some new players. They had asked around about who Han Xiao was, which gave the old players opportunities to show off their seniority, explaining Han Xiao’s past with a lot of emotion, telling the new players that there was this legendary person. Han Xiao’s name became more well known.
There are more and more players now, but it’s still very far from Galaxy’s peak in my previous life… Anyway, this is only the first version. These players will become the most senior players in a few versions. As the versions are upgraded, the level limit of the players will increase, and the environment will become more dangerous. However, this is a double-edged sword, as long as I always maintain the lead, with the help from the players, I will be able to strengthen my position in the universe… Speaking of which, time will not be synced during version updates, and players will disappear too. In just over a year, the first version update will arrive.
It had been some time since he had last visited the forums. As his current activity area basically had nothing to do with the players, he did not pay much attention to the status of players as a whole.
Conversely, the players paid a lot of attention to his actions. Bun-Hit-Dog’s videos were the only source of information on the galaxy, so every release of an episode was extremely popular.
Bun-Hit-Dog edited his videos to look like a drama show. The first episode was when they came to Juberly Hub and created the mercenary group. The second episode was the Sunil Defense Battle. The latest was the third episode, which was about Black Star joining Floating Dragon. Ember had yet to make an appearance—it was mainly introducing the three large armies and Floating Dragon, as well as the dock scrimmage to rescue the Silver captives, followed by the highly-skilled players catching thieves in the Guards after joining Floating Dragon.
Compared to the two previous episodes, the popularity of this episode created a new high once again. Han Xiao had yet to watch it.
He clicked open the video, and the introduction was covered in countless comments. He gave a closer look and realized that these comments were all very similar.
“47:35, the screen is covered in long legs!”
“Ahhh! Please marry me, Ms. Dragon Emperor!”
“Ames is mine! Draw your sword!”
Han Xiao’s mouth twitched. He finally understood why this episode was so popular—at least half of the audience came to look at Ames.
Chapter 409 - Black Star Series: Episode 3
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Han Xiao liked to watch Bun-Hit-Dog’s videos; it was a way for him to relax and have fun.
At the start of every episode, Bun-Hit-Dog always did a summary of the previous episode, making it similar to a drama. The third episode was connected to the previous episode. This time, the background displayed before the players was much larger, and there were the space battles, the river of stars, and many more. Giving the players a clearer knowledge of more details of the galaxy. More and more forces appeared—Silvers from another Star Field, three large mercenary armies, the Floating Dragon Island, and so on.
The video was made from Bun-Hit-Dog’s third-person perspective. It started from the Silver recruitment to arriving at the colorful and dangerous Floating Dragon Island, where large mercenary teams roamed. There were thousands of strange species and equipment. The viewers felt a sense of immersion, which sparked their interest. The comments was full of envy.
“Sigh, how I envy these god tier players, able to enter the space.”
“They are strong after all. Don’t you guys remember what happened last time? Only true men can last thirty seconds with Black Phantom.”
“Hehehe, only the god tiers players of our country have been up to the sky. I heard that the professional clubs of other countries are feeling very stressed; their players are working overtime every day just to do more missions.”
The clubs were preparing for the National League in nine months’ time. These pro players following Han Xiao had the perfect opportunity to develop, which made the other competing players very stressed.
Bun-Hit-Dog’s cuts between scenes were very straight forward. The next event came very soon. The mercenary group had locked onto the target, and the dock scrimmage started in an instant. It was a scrimmage involving hundreds of people. There were countless abilities used, forming colorful lights and explosions, almost deafening to the ears. There were pirate groups shooting lasers simultaneously, Pugilists crashing into each other head-on, and many more.
The viewers were dazzled, they felt like they were in the battlefield themselves, like a boat in the midst of a storm, following Bun-Hit-Dog’s perspective behind Han Xiao and charging forward, breaking through everything before them.
From the perspective in the video, the audience could see Han Xiao’s battle very clearly. Han Xiao was in a complex and black mechanical suit, a pair of mechanical turbo bat wings extended behind his back, and his scythe was covered in electric sparks, like a god of death. Then, the heavy attachments fell from the sky, automatically attaching themselves onto Han Xiao’s body through magnetic connections, changin
g into Siege Mode in a blink of an eye. The four-meter-tall mechanical exoskeleton giant waved his hand like an iron sphere, crushing the enemies. Han Xiao was unstoppable.
“These metal parts look so cool. I wonder if he can transform and roll out 1 .”
“Ah, these angular lines! Ah, this complex structure! This is the beauty of machinery!”
“Beauty is all Mechanic class has; it’s really trash when it comes to fighting. Us Pugilists rank first in professional PKs, what do you think?”
“All you Pugilists do is punching and kicking, there’s zero technicality to it. What’s the fun in playing that? You have no idea how fun the Mechanic class is, the excitement of gambling blueprints, the sense of achievement of finally building a piece of machinery after collecting materials, the fun in combining styles…”
“And then, the machinery that you spent so much effort building is turned into waste with a few punches from us, hahahahah—”
“Well, aren’t you arrogant. If you’re so good, why don’t you look for Frenzied Sword? Do you think his title of ‘Top Mechanical Pugilist in China’ is just for show? Also, have you seen the video of North America’s top Mechanic during his competition? How many Pugilists did he defeat with ease with his dazzling machinery combos…”
“Well said, I choose Esper.”
“The Mechanic class is really too costly, can’t top up enough…”
“All of you are trash, my spells will make you feel sorry!”
Other than these arguing comments, there were also people who discussed normally.
“Black Phantom is stronger than before. Was he always this strong, or was he slowly getting stronger?”
“The Planet Aquamarine players are smiling silently.”
“Didn’t the Galaxy Times mention that this kind of NPC is a main character, and they are very strong. I think, since Black Phantom said that a disaster will happen in Planet Aquamarine and he went to space to look for a solution, he will definitely play a part in the next version’s Planet Aquamarine storyline! Think about it, space is the future, and something will definitely happen that helps us go from our planets into space. I’ll bet fifty cents that he’ll have something to do with it.”
“Waiting for analysts to get slapped on the face.”
“Tsk, Floating Dragon’s culture is so savage.”
Other than discussions, there were also show off comments.
“From a time, I started to have senses. First, a small piece of metal, then more parts were birthed. My world was filled with darkness. I can’t see, but I could feel someone was creating my body.
“As time passed, I started to have more senses. One day, I suddenly felt pain, a pain that gradually made my mind clearer. Finally, I had eyes. I tried opening them, and I saw a dense number of data streams in my vision.
“‘What are these?’ I was curious.
“A warm stream of light landed on me, and the colors of the world appeared before my eyes. I looked down, and I saw a small mechanical spider.
“‘Is this my body?’ I thought.
“This time, I heard someone’s voice above me.
“‘It’s finally complete.” He sounded happy.
“I looked up following the voice. A man looked at me from above, his eyes filled with love, smiling.
“I had never seen a smile before, and it turns out they’re so pure and gentle.
“‘He is my creator.’
“A sense of connection appeared from the bottom of my heart, but… why do I have a heart? Why do I have emotions? I’m just a machine!
“Have you gifted these to me, my creator?
“The man reached out his hand and stroked my body, his temperature passing through my cold armor.
“It turns out, that is what warmth feels like.
“It’s so comfortable.
“I couldn’t help but rub against his hand. He smiled and said, ‘Looks like the Artificial Senses are very successful. The artificial nerves are working perfectly. Hmm, let’s put this on standby first.’
“Suddenly, my body stood straight up on its own, and I couldn’t move anymore. At this moment, I understood. Although I have sensed, although I can feel temperature, although I can feel pain… what’s really controlling me is an artificial intelligence program.
“I’m just a machine; I can’t even be counted as a life. The meaning of my existence is to follow the programmed orders.
“But the effort you put in gave me senses. They let me feel this world, feel life.
“That’s fair, isn’t it?
“It’s alright, I’m willing to be trapped in this body and watch you silently.
“Thank you for creating me.”
“Holy, a master appeared!”
“That was some passage right there.”
“Literature master, do you want an orange?”
Han Xiao enjoyed reading such works—the players had really rich creativity.
Other than those normal comments, the rest were all regular spam comments from the fans of pro players.
“Boss Li Ge’s handsome face belongs to Li Ge Fan Club!”
“I, Hao Tian, don’t agree, fight me!”
“Old Wang (King Admiral) is looking at you second-rate contestants fight with a smile.”
“Black Phantom Engineering Team is here in the comment section to do construction. Irrelevant people stay back!”
What he did not expect was that there were players who sent spam messages with his name—this made his eyes sparkle. Being turned into a meme was one of the signs of becoming a renowned character, so he did not expect himself to have fans.
The video was still playing, and the comments were chaotic. However, when Ames appeared, these different comments all disappeared—they all became rampaging comments of praise!
Ames appeared at the dock, sitting on her dragon bone throne. She wore a high cut black dress, showing a huge portion of white on her think, long legs. She was beautiful and stylish, surrounded by a mysterious aura. Combined with her astonishing strength, her attractiveness multiplied. The viewers could not take it.
“Holy sh*t, top-level beauty!”
“All of you, go away! I’m going to lick the screen till it explodes!”
“‘Dragon Emperor’ Ames, one of the four beyond grade A Supers in the Shattered Star Ring. Damn, she is way too sexy!”
“Quickly, pass some tissues to me… Don’t misunderstand, I need them to wipe off the blood from my nose!”
“Ho—how dominant. I’m a female, yet I was seduced!”
“Quick, screenshot, I want to use it as wallpaper!”
“Such a shame her chest is flat…”
“What the hell do you know? What need does such a dominant beauty have for a chest!”
“Let me introduce you, this is my new wife.”
“I hereby announce that the Ames Guards is created at this very moment!”
Ames’ time of appearance was not long—it ended quickly, and the video went into the following events. The video ended at the pro players catching the thieves as members of the Dragon Guards. There were some pro players’ interactions with each other played afterward as bloopers. However, ever since Ames appeared, the comments were stuck on her and could not get out.
“Her screen time was too short. I want to continue watching her long legs!”
“Who the hell wants to watch these pro players? Go away!”
“I have betrayed my belief. Give my Ames back to me!”
Han Xiao closed the video and did not know whether to laugh or to cry. Beautiful females were always popular. After all, most of the people who played games were males—females were very rare. Ames appeared out of nowhere, so her popularity rocketed, almost surpassing his popularity, which he took so long to build.
She was strong, sexy, and her position was superior to most, which was very attractive. Her conditions were way too much better than Han Xiao. There was nothing that Han Xiao could do about it; he was frustrated, too.
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In order for male characters to be popular, there had to be something unique, either a strange person, a real man, or extremely strength. He was confident that being handsome was not something that he was short of, but the other factors were not high enough at the moment.
Anyway, the more popular Ames is among the players, the more I will benefit from it. I am currently under the Dragon Emperor, and as long as the players know about that, I can share her popularity and increase the attractiveness of my faction.
This was just something extra for Han Xiao. According to his original blueprint, even without Ames’ influence, he would also be able to make a large number of Planet Aquamarine’s players join him willingly. Regardless, the higher the influence, the better; he did not have a problem with it.
In two days, the materials I ordered will arrive. The number of machines that I have to build this time is very large, so I’ll probably have to build in solitude for quite some time. It’s best to first give those players something to do and make sure they’re not too bored, or they will cause trouble.
…
Bun-Hit-Dog had been very troubled lately.
Although the third episode reached a new level of popularity because of Ames, made him well known, and gave him a lot of fans, it also gave Bun-Hit-Dog trouble.
The Dragon Emperor was too popular. Many viewers sent him private messages requesting him to put in more scene including with Ames in them. Of course, Bun-Hit-Dog was very willing to do so. He had even already thought of the content of episode four. It would connect to episode three, including the twist and turns that came after, finally saving the Silvers, adding on new members, all the way to being chased by DarkStar and the Dragon Emperor’s arrival, creating a sensation.
But the problem was, he did not have the recording of this part!
When they were chased by the DarkStar fleet, during the times when he was not doing anything in the spaceship, he was hiding underground, so he had no chance to record at all, and he even missed the part where Ames completely destroyed DarkStar’s fleet. This had made him truly regretful.
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