The players were stunned for a moment. From Black Star’s tone, it was obvious that he treated them as one of his own, and they had a special feeling in their hearts.
When they were on the spaceship, they had found out that the other players were also able to join the Black Star Mercenary Group, and they were no longer the only ones who enjoyed such a privilege. They had all felt extremely helpless toward that matter. But at that moment, they all realized that ‘old birds’ like them still got special treatment.
Now that they had returned to Black Star’s side, they immediately felt at ease.
“Actually, expanding isn’t entirely a bad thing,” Hao Tian said. “The Black Star Mercenary Group is a faction with the potential for growth. Only when the members of the faction increase will the growth of the benefits that the faction can provide be rapid.”
The other professional players agreed. Indeed, with more players, the faction would be able to grow quickly, and this was not a bad thing for the professional players in China.
However, while they all understood this logic, they still felt miserable that they were not able to have Black Star solely for themselves!
During Version 1.0, Han Xiao had made use of Bun-Hit-Dog’s videos to plant a concept in the players’ minds. This concept was that his faction would continue growing as they completed more and more missions. This made the players feel as though they are able to contribute to the growth of the faction and gain more benefits from it.
Currently, this concept was not deeply ingrained in the hearts of the players yet. When the players entered the galaxy and more players personally experienced this point for themselves, not only would they fervently complete missions, they would also call their friends to join Black Star. Conning one would recover his costs, and conning two would allow him to earn double.
Furthermore, as the players toiled away for the faction, their sense of belonging toward the faction would also grow, and this was a part of the Great Mechanic Han’s plans.
Those professional players did not delay and also found Han Xiao to learn new skills. They were looking forward to seeing Han Xiao again because they realized their advantage; only they had Enas!
The few of them had already gone to the galaxy and had the initiative in their hands. Han Xiao allowed them to be wealthy, and while the players on Planet Aquamarine could only stare at the items in the faction store and drool, they already had the capability to purchase those items.
“There are quite a few new items in the store and also a lot of Advanced Knowledge.”
“There is new Sunil armor? The simplified version of the Commander Class armor has much higher specs than the NCO Class armor. A pity there is a level restriction.”
“Electromagnetic Shield. This item isn’t too bad either. I don’t remember seeing this item before the update.”
Everyone had a face full of curiosity. There were many new products in the faction store, and they were truly spoilt for choice. After discussing for a while, they all bought the items that they wanted with the bulk being Advanced Knowledge. In any case, they definitely would not lose out if they bought knowledge. They had seen the market price of the Advanced Knowledge in the galaxy before, and it was no different from cheating them from their money. The benefits of the Black Star faction store were still the best. A single Advanced Knowledge only required around 10,000 Enas, which was almost half the market price.
The criteria to purchase Advanced Knowledge was to spend 1,500 Faction Contribution Points. All of these players only had a few hundred Contribution Points. Below 1,000 Contribution Points, 100 Contribution Points could be exchanged with 50 Enas. From 1000 Contribution Points to 3000 Contribution Points, 100 Contribution Points needed 500 Enas to exchange. But even so, spending a little more than 10,000 Enas to purchase an Advanced Knowledge was far cheaper than the market price in the galaxy.
Before the update, these players had followed Han Xiao for six to seven missions. Taking away the repair fees and expenditure on new equipment, they still had twenty to thirty thousand Enas. Thus, they immediately contributed a large sum to Han Xiao the moment Version 2.0 began.
In less than five minutes, he earned more than 600,000 Enas!
Han Xiao felt a warm and cozy feeling in his heart.
Only if the players were rich would he be able to harvest them. This batch of players that he had taken into the galaxy was his first batch of crops. Han Xiao had already verified the feasibility of his plan, and this harvest was within his expectations.
For him to have Frenzied Sword and the others back, apart from letting them spend money and sucking their wallets dry, Han Xiao had another target. It was for them to become an example.
The other players did not have any money, so let them watch the rich people from afar and feel the difference.
Intentionally creating different social classes to create conflict. This move of Han Xiao’s was truly a dirty one. As Han Xiao observed the surroundings, he saw many players with faces full of envy and longing.
Originally, all of them had been poor peasants who did not have any money, but now that they saw Frenzied Sword and the others buying the items that they could not afford like a bunch of nouveau riche, a more intense desire was immediately ignited in their hearts. Even though Han Xiao had already whetted the appetites of the players to the point that they were drooling, Han Xiao did not mind taking out a few new dishes for them to see.
He was the most proficient in making them drool!
After settling the requests of Frenzied Sword and the others, the sky was getting dark, and the sun was setting.
Han Xiao did not continue to stay behind and gave Frenzied Sword and the others a mission to help the Sanctuary before leaving the plaza. He still had other things to do and would not stay there from day to night.
I should increase my level first. After the slight delay, I almost forgot about this matter.
Opening up the interface, Han Xiao threw all of the experience which he had just earned and finally heard the sound of him leveling up again.
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[War Mechanic] leveled up to Lv.20 (max).
+300 Energy, +3 DEX, +3 END, +5 INT.
You have received 6 Free Attribute Points.
You have received 1 Potential Point.
_____________________
Your total level has reached 120. You have triggered the next phase of the Promotion Mission.
Level 120 Promotion Mission [Energy Secret]: Energy Level reach Level 10.
_____________________
Eh? It is actually this Promotion Mission.
Han Xiao’s brows were raised, and he was pretty surprised.
[Energy Secret] was not a common mission. It was not a difficult one since he did not need to battle, but it needed quite a bit of time. It required the character’s Energy Level to reach a certain standard, and this standard would definitely be higher than one’s current level.
Now that he was level 120, Han Xiao’s energy was at 8,360 points, and it was still level 9. This meant that his energy would give him the level 9 bonus stat. The concept of Energy Level could also be understood as something similar to the internal energy cultivation realms.
Whenever his energy hit a certain number of points, he would receive a new level of bonus stats. When he used his skills and exhausted energy, causing his energy to fall below a certain level, he would temporarily lose the bonus stat of that level, and his overall stats would temporarily be lowered. It was akin to him being exhausted in battle and causing his combat ability to decline.
One’s stats would be at their peak only when one’s energy was the most abundant.
Level 10 Energy Level required 9,000 points of energy, and Han Xiao was still a few hundred points away. This small gap was not difficult to fill. As long as he found one to two Energy Training Techniques and trained them up to the maximum, he would be able to complete the mission.
In his previous life, increasing one’s energy
level had been a way to increase one’s strength after reaching max level. Many players would find NPCs to learn new Energy Training Techniques, hoping to reach a new Energy Level so that their stats would receive a great boost.
This Promotion Mission isn’t too difficult. Bennett, Herlous, or Harmon should have different Energy Training Techniques, and with our current relationship, the three of them shouldn’t reject sharing it with me…
Han Xiao nodded. Since the Promotion Mission was not difficult, he would save his Mission Completion Card to use later.
Apart from the Promotion Mission, there was also the Class Advancement Mission for his Mechanic class.
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Class Advancement Requirements: Learn any one of the following three High-End Knowledges and increase it to the maximum level: [Huge Duplex Machinery Technology], [Super Nanotechnology], or [Advanced Artificial Intelligence Technology].
Note: Your choice of knowledge will determine the outcome of your Class Advancement.
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This mission was within Han Xiao’s expectations. The next Class Advancement requirement of [War Mechanic] was fixed, and every Mechanic class player would have the same mission.
During the first Class Advancement mission of a Mechanic, they would face the choice between three different routes: Cannon Master, Mechanical Pugilist and Machinery Master. At this current phase, Mechanics faced another new choice. They would have to choose between the Armed, Control, or Energy branches to specialize in.
[Huge Duplex Machinery Technology] would be to walk down the path of large sized machinery, [Super Nanotechnology] walked down the path of nanotechnology, and [Advanced Artificial Intelligence Technology] would walk the path of virtual technology. All three paths had their own advantages and disadvantages, and one would still be able to learn the knowledge from the other subclasses after the Class Advancement. It was just that they would place an emphasis on different skills.
Just like how the knowledge of Cannon Masters, Mechanical Pugilists, and Machinery Masters was the same, but the skills that they obtained were different.
Furthermore, the biggest difference would be the number of Potential Points required to learn knowledge. For example, if one leaned toward the Armed Branch, the final two levels of High-End Knowledge of the other two branches would be thrice as much.
As for which branch he should choose, Han Xiao did not even need to hesitate. He wanted to pick the path of Virtual Technology.
There were a few reasons for that. First, he would definitely meet high ranked Mechanics in the future, and Virtual Technology would allow him to prevent his own machines from being controlled by the opponent. If not, his machines might end up being infiltrated and snatched by his enemy. In his previous life, he had suffered plenty of losses because of this. While the Armed and Energy Branches seemed extremely cool, they were not as important as the insignificant looking Virtual Technology. Regardless of how powerful his machines were, the moment his enemy infiltrated his machines, they were no different from scrap metal, and they might even end up attacking him.
Second was because Han Xiao was not afraid of the high cost of Potential Points. An ordinary player would find it impossible to learn all the knowledge of a class as the sky-high prices would cause them to despair. However, this was not impossible for Han Xiao.
As long as he had the huge experience farm called the players, his speed of collecting experience would be many times quicker than the players. As long as he increased all of his skills to their maximum levels, he could slowly save up Potential Points.
Thus, the negative impact was not that great for him.
I still have another 200,000,000 experience points. I won’t rush to complete my Class Advancement. I’ll first complete my Promotion Mission and accumulate more experience. At that time, I can level up in a single go.
Han Xiao looked at his level 120 stats and threw all of his Free Attribute Points into Intelligence. He had finally broken the barrier of 900 points. Following which, he closed the interface and returned to his residence.
An independent sector was carved out in the core region of the Sanctuary for him and the mercenaries to stay in.
Pa!
After making the last corner, Han Xiao suddenly stopped his footsteps. Bennett was waiting outside the door for him.
“Black Star, the Six Nations want to talk to you.” Bennett got straight to the point.
“They couldn’t keep still.”
Han Xiao’s eyes flashed. After waiting for a day, the Six Nations had finally made a decision. It was now time for him to extort them.
The Six Nations in the past had sided with Godora, but now, he had the initiative in his hands and arrived before Godora.
His status today was different from before. Whether or not he could convert this novice planet into a long-term base would be determined by the outcome of this negotiation!
Chapter 518 - The Bargaining Chip Is the Future
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
When the two of them entered the secret conference room, the upper echelons of the Six Nations had already been waiting for a while. The gigantic screen in the conference room showed the images of the Six Nations’ leaders. This was a long-distance video conference.
The moment that Han Xiao walked in, the upper echelons of the Six Nations began to size him up. Han Xiao then turned around and gave Bennett a look, and Bennett retreated to the side to indicate that he would not be participating in the negotiations.
“The leaders of Stardragon, Hesla, Raylen, Theseus, Maple, and Ordina, I believe that this should be our first meeting. Good evening, gentleman,” Han Xiao said with a calm tone.
“Hello, Black Phantom. More accurately, you should be called Black Star now. We noticed you a long time ago, and we are very happy to have this conversation.”
The leader of Stardragon replied with an amiable smile. Because Han Xiao had once worked for Stardragon’s intelligence agency, their relationship was the best, and the leader of Stardragon was the representative for this conference.
Han Xiao raised his brows. “I know what all of your intentions are. Just be straightforward.”
“Bennett understands our intentions, but we would like to have a personal conversation with you. Bennett said that the purpose of your return is to protect this planet and its inhabitants from being destroyed by the Mutation Disaster. You are a person of class, and we truly admire you. Just as you have observed, our citizens are living in threat and worry every day, and we hope to seek your aid through this meeting.”
The Stardragon leader did not beat about the bush and got straight to the point.
“What are your requests?”
“We hope that you can help restore our fractured social system and save our citizens who are in danger.”
“How do you want me to achieve that?” Han Xiao said patiently.
“After some discussion, we all hope that the Sanctuary can share the recipe of the suppressant and its raw materials with us, and send people to instruct us on the concoction process. At the same time, we hope to obtain a large amount of completed suppressant to solve our countries’ immediate needs. We will need to first recover our government building and army before trying to quarantine and save our citizens. As long as we can regain our strength, we will be able to prevent the situation from worsening. In this process, we hope to borrow the strength of your warriors and fleet. We will inform you again of our detailed plan.”
“Doesn’t sound too bad. You guys delayed contacting me for a day to discuss this plan, right?” Han Xiao said calmly without giving a reply. “Then, what kind of benefits will I gain?”
The leaders of the Six Nations were stunned for a moment. Didn’t you come back specially to stop the calamity? Didn’t you help the refugees unconditionally? Why are you talking about benefits now?
“Why are you so surprised?” Han Xiao raised his brows. “Isn’t this a trade? If there
aren’t any benefits, don’t waste my time.”
“This… no one will be able to avoid the calamity, and fighting the calamity is everyone’s responsibility. Why would this be a trade? Didn’t you return to save the inhabitants of this planet?” The leader of Ordina interrupted.
“Indeed, but that isn’t what we’re talking about now.” Han Xiao folded his arms and continued. “All of you want to borrow my strength to restore your control over your nation. I help you restore stability to your nation, and you give me benefits in return. This is a fair trade. If not, why should I help all of you?”
“Helping us will allow more refugees to be saved. Isn’t this a reason?” the leader of Hesla said.
“Everyone has to die eventually, and it is a pipe dream to save everyone on the planet,” Han Xiao said. “You’ve all read my file before and know that I am not an idealist. My goal is to stop this calamity so that this planet will not be destroyed. Regardless of how many people die, I will be able to accept the outcome. Don’t make use of this to hold me hostage. I am not Bennett and am not as kind as him. This isn’t a chip that you guys can use to get me to do whatever you want.
“The life and death of your regime has nothing to do with me. I can just guard the Sanctuary and wait for refugees from all over the world to seek aid from me. They would not foolishly wait for their deaths in your nation. When all of your regimes are destroyed, I can then support the Sanctuary to become the new and sole ruler of the planet.”
Bennett opened his mouth and wanted to say something. He did not have the ambition to rule and did not agree with this point. However, after some hesitation, he decided to watch from the side and trust Han Xiao.
“I don’t deny that all of you do indeed intend to save your citizens. However, your biggest motive is to borrow our suppressants and my strength to prevent your regime from collapsing. This is something that you cannot deny.” Han Xiao shook his head and said coldly, “Since all of you are pleading for help, make sure you look like you are seeking aid. The one who has the right to make demands is me, not you guys.”
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