…
An hour later…
Ohm!
The protective shield was retracted, and the golden pillars returned underground. Noriosse had finally retracted the protective shield.
This also meant that the financial group was certain that the battle was over. Their surveillance showed DarkStar’s fleet picking Ember up before leaving immediately, and everyone from the financial group heaved a sigh of relief. While they had a few thousand battleships around Noriosse, it was best if they did not engage in battle.
With the troops chasing after him retreating, Han Xiao knew that Nagakin’s mission was completed. When Godora sent their reinforcements, the mission would be concluded. Getting rid of an Anur was already a good bargain for them.
Despite the battle being over, the effects of the battle had only just begun to show. With a Grade A Super from DarkStar dying, Godora would definitely pay close attention to this event, and the entire Shattered Star Ring would have their eyes on this news. While countless people were dying every single second, there were differences between people. The death of a Calamity Grade Super was naturally far more significant than the death of an ordinary individual.
Furthermore, with him using Ames’ abilities, Ames would definitely be very curious.
However, none of that was important at the moment. Dealing with the members of the Noriosse financial group was what they needed to face. After Han Xiao and the others were freed from their predicament, they were immediately requested to meet the upper echelons of the financial group.
The financial group was getting ready to settle their scores, and they had to give Noriosse a suitable amount of compensation.
Chapter 503 - Effect and Plan
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The protector took everyone to another city on an aircraft. In the middle of the city was a skyscraper. Even in the iron city that was filled with buildings, the skyscraper stood out like a middle finger being pointed to the sky.
At the peak of the skyscraper was a helipad protected by a transparent cover. The cover gradually opened up, and the aircraft landed on the helipad. From the helipad to the interior of the building, numerous soldiers were lined up orderly by the side. Han Xiao and the others followed after the protector and entered the top level of the luxurious skyscraper.
A man was seated on the sofa with his back facing the crowd who had entered the room. He was looking at a wall of holographic screens with the scenes of the battlefield being displayed on them.
“Look at what you have done on my planet.”
After pressing a button, the sofa turned around on its own to face Han Xiao. After seeing his appearance, Han Xiao felt that he looked extremely familiar. All of a sudden, Han Xiao remembered seeing a picture of this person before him.
A couple of days ago, he had still been playing a cat and mouse game with Aesop. Aesop had requested for him to steal an accessory. After he asked Phillip to make a search, Han Xiao had found out that the accessory was something that the head of the Noriosse financial group had purchased his wife. The person in front of him was the head of the financial group. Just what was he called again?
“Rockfess. I am the owner of this planet,” the man said with a calm voice. “I know who you are. Nagakin from Godora, Wilsander from Floating Dragon, and Black Star also from Floating Dragon.”
Because he belonged to Floating Dragon on the surface, the Black Star Mercenary Group was deemed a part of the Floating Dragon army. Han Xiao was not too bothered by this as the status of being part of Floating Dragon had always brought him more benefits than disadvantages. Allowing his mercenary group to be tied together with a gigantic faction was extremely helpful to the growth and fame of his mercenary group.
“I have roughly understood what happened, and I am uninterested in the battle between Godora and DarkStar. However, your actions have resulted in damage to my planet, and Godora has no rights to deploy their army in my territory. I require an explanation from all of you and suitable compensation. My subordinates are currently calculating the exact damage, and we shall negotiate the details after they are done.”
Rockfess did not give the two a chance to interrupt and spoke without allowing anyone to refute him.
“I will report this matter to headquarters, and Godora will compensate your losses. Black Star is only a mercenary who I hired, and his actions were part of my request. Godora will never shortchange our friends, and Godora will compensate you on his behalf.”
With Anur being killed, Nagakin was in an extremely good mood. For an official of his level, taking action would definitely result in destruction, and there would definitely be people to clean up after them. He had never thought about escaping from paying compensation before.
Because Rockfess had extremely good connections and had a pretty good relationship with a couple of civilizations in the Shattered Star Ring, Godora was not willing to offend him either.
“Don’t worry, I never intended to seek compensation from him.” Upon hearing that, Rockfess looked toward Han Xiao with a smile, and his tone became gentler. “Give my regards to Ames.”
He actually isn’t asking for compensation? Han Xiao immediately felt goodwill toward Rockfess, “You know Ames?”
“Hahaha, who in the Shattered Star Ring doesn’t know of the Dragon Emperor?” Rockfess said with a laugh. “I have dealt with Floating Dragon a few times. I heard that Aesop wanted you to steal something of mine, but you caught him instead. Haha, well done.”
Han Xiao came to a realization. It turned out that Rockfess knew Aesop. No wonder there was such a prank.
However, Han Xiao did not think that it was strange at all. After being alive for so many years, Aesop was a legendary figure, and his connections were extremely deep with his friends being scattered all over the universe.
With Aesop’s abilities, the figures whom he befriended were naturally those with authority and power. Since Ames had taken Aesop back, Floating Dragon would definitely receive a huge boost, and their hidden forces would definitely be expanded.
In truth, Rockfess’ warm attitude was not entirely because of Aesop. He had always been supplying resources to Floating Dragon but had rarely requested anything in return, treating it as a form of sponsorship. Rockfess was not the only financial group that was doing so, and there were at least twenty different financial groups sponsoring Ames. When Ames first built Floating Dragon Island, she had released a notice that she wanted money, and numerous financial groups had swarmed over to give her money immediately. After so many years, there were many financial groups that still maintained their sponsorship status. If not, with Floating Dragon’s horrendous management situation, it would have been impossible for them to support all the maintenance, repairs, and other expenses.
Behind every one of the four beyond Grade A Supers in the Shattered Star Ring were numerous financial groups. A powerful organization would always draw a large number of willing sponsors; thus, these powerful beings never needed to be afraid of going broke. Many of the financial groups in the universe were past the stage of accumulating wealth, and if they were not able to convert their wealth into influence or something useful, their wealth was no more than a useless string of numbers. Investing their wealth into such organizations that housed powerhouses was the best option for them.
For someone like Ames, it was no longer her asking others for money but others taking the initiative to offer her money. Whether or not so wanted to accept the money was dependent on her mood.
As long as one became sufficiently powerful, many problems would be taken care of easily. At the same time, however, one’s actions and words would also take on more responsibility.
In the later versions, a few unions would have the right to cooperate with the financial groups to obtain resources and funds. The impact of the players’ presence in Galaxy became deeper and deeper, and there were more and more avenues for both parties to interact. The influence that they had on the wor
ld was extremely dynamic and realistic, thus allowing the players to remain passionate about the game.
“I heard about your arrival as soon as you stepped onto Noriosse. Meeting you in person, you are even more powerful than in the legends.”
Rockfess took the initiative to reach out, and Han Xiao shook his hand. Smiling without saying a word, a thought suddenly surfaced in his head.
His plans for Version 2.0 would require a large amount of gold. To hold millions of players in his mercenary group, the hardware of his mercenary group must have an all-round upgrade, and all of that required money.
If he could mimic Ames and find sponsors, it may be much easier on his wallet.
Because Han Xiao was used to being a lone wolf in his previous life, he only had a vague understanding of deals between the guilds and NPCs. However, Han Xiao had never given it a try himself, and he needed to earn all of the money required for his plan. At this moment, a new idea sprung up in his mind. Perhaps the influence of a faction may be larger than I think.
Until then, Han Xiao’s core business had been to earn the player’s money to upgrade himself and his faction. However, could he improvise a little and get the NPCs to give him money while harvesting the money from players?
With this flash of inspiration, a new and exciting plan began to form in his head. While the plan was not feasible for the time being, it would greatly increase the benefits that the players could give him once Version 2.0 was unveiled. Of course, that was predicated on everything going according to his plan.
“Your Excellency Rockfess,” Han Xiao said, “I actually have something that I wish to request and hope that we can find some time to discuss the matter.”
“Alright, I will give you my personal number.” Rockfess nodded. “After this matter is over, we can talk about it in detail.”
…
A conclusion was made regarding the matter of compensation—Godora would be in charge of paying for all compensation. Rockfess then arranged for a completely safe stronghold for them to stay in. Before the reinforcements from Godora arrived, they were all required to stay there.
Aroshia met up with Alvin and the others. Alvin was extremely thankful that he had managed to escape death, and the Teleportation Mage left immediately after receiving his payment. He did not wish to have any relationship with those unlucky people.
Over the next few days, the news of this great battle began to spread rapidly, and the headlines of the various news outlets were getting more and more exaggerated.
The details of the battle were not leaked, and the various articles only reported a small portion of the battle and the outcome. While the infamous DarkStar was not the most powerful organization on the list of evil organizations within the Shattered Star Ring, it was the most radical one. It had destroyed many civilizations within the Garton Star System and caused countless citizens to lose their homes. However, there was rarely news of a head-on battle with DarkStar as they usually snuck into the various civilizations stealthily.
This time, a powerful member of DarkStar had died in the eyes of the public, and it was a truly joyous occasion.
With the news spreading, Han Xiao received multiple notifications of his Renown stat increasing on his interface. Just like before, his Renown stat increased in various Star Clusters, and his Renown level had reached [Slightly Famous] in most regions. In the Garton Star System, where he was most active, his Renown level had already reached the level of [Well Known].
In the eyes of most galactic residents, Ames’ strength was the only supporting pillar for the whole of Floating Dragon. However, her subordinates did not have much fame and rarely took action outside of Floating Dragon. In this respect, Floating Dragon was far inferior to the powers of the other three beyond Grade A Supers. The other three beyond Grade A Supers all had numerous experts under their charge with their soldiers being the elites of the elites. However, Ames only had a couple of little cats as her subordinates.
For the organizations of the other three beyond Grade A Supers, even if they did not have their leader, their organization would still be a tyrannical existence.
During the previous incident when Ames smashed up DarkStar’s mothership, the majority of the focus had been on Ames’ strength as well as the new member of Floating Dragon, Black Star. However, the news this time had shown Black Star’s strength, and many of the galactic residents and organizations had the same thought.
Ames finally has a capable officer. Sigh, it truly isn’t easy!
Godora was clearer about the details of the entire event. According to Nagakin’s report, the intelligence division of Godora’s War Bureau immediately placed a greater importance on Han Xiao. Together with the incident when they captured DarkStar’s mothership, this was the second time that Black Star had dealt a blow to DarkStar. Thus, he could be said to be on Godora’s side. Furthermore, Han Xiao had also aided Nagakin in killing Anur and gave them a huge aid.
After fighting together with Han Xiao, Nagakin also treated him with great importance.
In those few days, Han Xiao had specially built up his ties with Nagakin. This was also the reason behind him accepting this mission. Building up ties with Nagakin meant that he would have a direct channel to the upper echelons of Godora.
…
After waiting for a few days, the Godoran fleet arrived at Noriosse, and the entire event was finally over. Nagakin took Alvin to the pier where Godora’s gigantic fleet was waiting.
Before he left, Alvin took the initiative to shake hands with Han Xiao. “You saved my life, and I owe you a favor. If you need my help, I will definitely do my best to aid you.”
Nagakin also expressed his thanks toward Han Xiao. “It is truly a pleasant experience to work with you, and the War Bureau will pay you your reward. I hope that we have the chance to work together again.”
Han Xiao smiled. “Don’t worry, we will meet again very soon.”
Nagakin was stunned for a moment and thought that Han Xiao was only being polite. He then boarded the ship with Alvin, and the fleet quickly disappeared into space.
_____________________
[Nagakin’s request] has been completed.
You have received 5,800,000 Experience, 240,000 Enas, +850 Relationship with Godora Faction.
Godoran Civilization: Respect (3190/6000)
+30 Nagakin Favorability
+30 Alvin Favorability
_____________________
Adding close to 2,000 points of faction favorability and raising my relationship with Godora to Respect. This isn’t too bad.
Originally, Nagakin would have been crippled, and Alvin would not have survived. The fates of these two individuals had been changed by him, so DarkStar would definitely pay more attention to him. Who knew what kind of a reaction they would have?
“Where are we going?” Herlous asked, and everyone looked at Han Xiao.
Han Xiao stroked his chin. Before the new version was released, he had two targets. The first was his advancement. With his advancement being complete and him being freer, it was time to work toward his second target—prepare for Version 2.0. This was a huge project.
“Let me meet Rockfess first.”
Chapter 504 - Getting Investments
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“So, what request do you have, Black Star of Floating Dragon?”
Han Xiao was once again seated in Rockfess’ luxurious property, but this time, it was a private meeting between the two of them. They were seated face to face with the servants serving them tea.
After a couple of pleasantries, Rockfess went straight to the point.
“My time in precious. Please let me know if you have any requests.”
Han Xiao put down his glass and leaned forward. “I shall be straightforward then. My mercenary group is the Floating Dragon’s Field Team, and we have been operating for a year and a half. It is time for my mercenary group to expand. With the prestige of Ames on my shoulders, I can
not continue to have little battles and skirmishes. Blades and Sky Ring should be the target of my Black Star Mercenary Group. The stronger the Field Team, the stronger Floating Dragon will be. Thus, I need some funds to support me. I want to build a stronghold that belongs to my mercenary group and not rent a temporary gathering point.”
His preparation plan for Version 2.0 was to expand his camp before pulling all the players from Planet Aquamarine into his mercenary group during the Mutation Disaster. Both Godora and DarkStar would be his competitors, and Han Xiao wanted to give the players a third choice. Apart from the original ‘righteous’ and ‘evil’ path, Han Xiao wanted to provide the path of ‘neutral’.
As such, there was a huge problem that he faced. In order to contain thousands or millions of players, the size of his camp would have to be greatly increased. If not, he would not be able to attract new members.
The most important factor to attract players was benefits. Even if Bun-Hit-Dog’s program was able to brainwash a large number of spectators to be attracted to mercenary groups, it would be difficult to sustain their interest for a long time. Thus, it was key for him to provide players with missions and resources. With regards to this, Han Xiao already had a plan. He had created the mercenary group so that he could be the middleman to distribute the missions and form the bridge between the players and clients. At the same time, he would be able to borrow the almost endless mission resources to groom his own faction and keep players in his camp while building up the reputation of his mercenary group.
Apart from taking advantage of the mercenary groups, he also intended to make use of NPC resources to bring him more benefits.
Other than the resources given by missions, another important point was the special produce of a faction. On top of attracting investments, class knowledge, and skills, producing machinery would be his specialty. However, it would be impossible for him to fulfil a large order alone, and he had to consider the problem of mass production. He needed to form his own assembly line and build a factory of his own. With his current knowledge and skill, he would be able to just about create an assembly line.
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