With his Grade A strength, he was more than qualified to be the deputy captain. However, Lagi had just joined, and Han Xiao felt that he needed to know more about him more before giving him any important positions.
The secret war between Klent and Purple Crystal would not start any time soon, so Han Xiao could not increase his relationship with Purple Crystal even if he wanted to. There was nothing urgent to do, so he was quite free.
During the time he went out to look for trouble, there happened to be one huge matter that had attracted the attention of the players.
Pro League Season Two was about to start!
Some players uploaded the video of a scrimmage between tens of Calamity Grades, showcasing the Black Star Networking Group’s ability. Bun-Hit-Dog’s new video also mentioned information about the next version, which was related to the Crimson Dynasty as Han Xiao had said. These posts all got Han Xiao some attention. However, compared to the popularity of the Pro League, everything else was pushed side. Even he could not compete with the Pro League for popularity.
It was already the late stage of Version 2.0. Galaxy’s players had been steadily increasing through the version. Although it had not reached the explosive increase stage, there were already many players.
The first season was quite successful. There were now many people paying attention to the second season. Galaxy Times had been talking about the Pro League for a few consecutive episodes, heating things up.
Han Xiao returned to his room, took out a bottle of ‘Handsome and Happy’ water and gulped it down. He then opened the latest Galaxy Times episode. This was the last episode before the start of the Pro League. It was their last effort to add more wood to the flames of this huge event.
The two hosts showed off their ability to make cold jokes before talking about the main focus of the episode, emphasizing on the rules of the second season of the Pro League.
Version 2.0 added a few novice planets. However, most players had already left their novice planets and entered space. Hence, the divisions were adjusted and were no longer based on novice planets. The divisions were now based on Star Fields that had novice planets in them. As some novice planets were in the same Star Field, they were combined into the same division.
There had been thirteen divisions in the previous season, but now there were nine. This meant that the teams of some countries would meet before the main event. Strong teams would face off against each other to qualify for the next stage. Even though more teams were allowed to advance this season, the competition would still be more intense.
The locations for the divisions were no longer on novice planets but a few nearby unpopulated planets in every division. The entire planet would be the venue. As the players had already entered the galaxy, they would definitely be able to come to the venue.
The format did not change much; it was still Singles and Groups.
There had only been three types of battles in the previous season-Duel, Groups, and Singles. One more was added this season-Survival. As the name suggested, it was about surviving. This would appear both in the point-based Division Regulars and the International Regulars. There would also be two types of Survival matches, one for teams and one for single players.
According to the Galaxy Times’s introduction, the Team Survival was a battle between four teams. The only winner would be awarded a lot of points, the second and third would be awarded a certain number of points, and the last would not get any points. The Singles Survival would be a brawl between sixteen Singles players.
As for the schedule, the first stage was still the Division Qualifiers and Division Secondary League. All players would be able to register for the Division Qualifiers. The Division Secondary League was a jumping board for the second-tier teams of some clubs. The top forty teams and sixty-four Singles players would enter the Pre Season to warm up, followed by the Divisions Regulars.
The Divisions Regulars was point-based. The top eight teams and sixteen players would enter the Division Finals. After the Divisions Regulars, the ones at the top of the scoreboard would take part in the entertainment-oriented International All-Stars.
The Divisions Finals used the best of five format to determine first place and the runner up. As there were fewer divisions this season, the top four teams and eight Singles players would all be able to enter the International Regulars.
This time, the gap between the Internationals and the Divisions was hugely reduced; the schedule would be much tighter than the previous season.
The Internationals was also point-based. The most elite players from the various divisions would fight to determine the top eight teams and sixteen Singles players who would enter the International Finals, where the world champions would be determined.
Han Xiao looked at the forums’ videos and nodded in approval.
The format was the same as in his previous life; the difference was the people taking part in it.
The show then heavily focused on introducing players with potential in China. When the time for the interviews came, the captains of the four biggest clubs in China were invited. Frenzied Sword, who had finished among the top in the International Singles in the previous season, was also invited.
The two hosts asked them a few questions and chatted. The atmosphere was light and relaxed.
For the last question, the two hosts asked every team about their goal this season and what they expected. The answers these people gave made the Chinese viewers feel excited.
Dynasty’s King Admiral smiled lazily and said, “Dynasty only has one target this season, to win every single battle. We’re going to be the Division champion and the world champion!”
Temple of God’s Li Ge sounded very formal. “We will do our best to win every match and make use of all our strength. We hope to achieve enough in the Internationals to not disappoint the supporters of Temple of God.”
Fried Eggplants with Fish’s Sun Eggplant said with an expressionless face, “In the last season, we regrettably could not qualify for the Internationals. This season, we’re going to fight to become the last winner.”
Long Sky’s Hao Tian sat up straight and said with a very serious tone, “Our only target is the world champion!”
The four biggest clubs all confidently announced that they were going for the championship; this made the Chinese players all very excited.
In the last season, Dynasty had been the first runner up. Although it was not bad, the Chinese players were still quite sad that they did not win.
They were close to the top, so they were more determined to reach it. The words of these four clubs were very morale-boosting.
“Four teams will be able to qualify in the Internationals. If all four of our clubs enter the top four and the Internationals, that would be really
fun.”
“Hehehe, that might not be certain. Although they are all very strong, the other tier-one teams are not bad either. Rainy Kim’s Thunder Storm and Yan Ran’s Berserkers are not easy to deal with. Nine Gates, Sky Palace, and Dragons and Tigers are all very competitive, too.”
“I have high hopes for Rivervale. Frenzied Sword was top sixteen in the International Singles last season. Rivervale have rebuilt their team with him as the core. They might be a dark horse.”
Many viewers discussed their thoughts in the comments.
Frenzied Sword was not as confident as the other captains on the show. He said that this was his first time leading a team and that he would do his best to enter the Internationals. He did not dare announce that they would be champions.
The clubs of other countries were all quite pressured. Planet Aquamarine was the base of the Chinese players, and they had entered space more than a year earlier than the others. This had resulted in the average strength of the Chinese teams being very high. All of them were strong teams that were not easy to deal with. Even the champions of the previous season, the French team, did not underestimate them and said that they would do their best to become back to back c
hampions.
Han Xiao was looking forward to seeing what place China would be able to achieve under his influence.
In the Pro League’s second season in his previous life, Dynasty had gotten third place in the Internationals and Temple of God had finished in the top eight. This time, China’s overall strength was clearly superior. It was not just their equipment, abilities, and experience, but also the fact that the pro players had taken part in galactic-level battles long ago. Their skills were honed as well.
The second season of the Pro League is an important stage. The first season was just a test. A lot more effort has been put into promoting the second season; it’s many times more influential than the first season. It will directly cause a huge number of new players to enter during Version 3.0. The better the results the Chinese teams achieve, the more exposure they will get, which will also be beneficial to my faction.
Currently, the roughly one million players in the Black Star Army had all been players from the earliest releases. There would be more newcomers joining in in the future.
The tons of new players in Version 3.0 were a second opportunity to expand the size of the army. Without the advantage of being the guiding faction, he had to compete with the many factions in Version 3.0. The Pro League would be a way for him to increase his faction’s attractiveness.
Other than these long-term benefits, every Pro League was a business opportunity.
The players earned money to turn it into their strength. During the Pro League, the players’ demand for equipment would explosively increase. The Genetic Medicines in his warehouse would sell very well. He was only worried about not having enough stock.
Pro League stimulated the players’ need to spend. The players were happy to empty their wallets. This was a chance to make a huge fortune.
A few unpopulated planets in the Garton Star System made up the competition venue. Han Xiao planned to gather a fleet to sell equipment at the venue. Whether it was to repair equipment, buy items, or learn abilities, the players would be able to spend on the spot. It would be amazing for them.
Anyway, whether it was amazing for the players or not, it was amazing for Han Xiao.
The Pro League is going to start in ten days. Time to go.
Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.
Chapter 646 - Training Soldiers
With the day of the Pro League drawing ever closer, practically all the players began to gather on the host planet. Even if they were not competing, they could still participate in the arena as spectators. This would be a large-scale event involving the entire playerbase, and for players who loved lively events, this was something that they could not miss.
The uninhabited planet that served as the competition grounds started to be filled with life. Spaceships flew in and out, and the entire planet served as the battlefield, a vast area. The players officiating and volunteers had constructed many platforms and viewing stands. Continuing the style of the previous season, they had allowed the players to participate in the construction of the venue, to enhance their sense of being part of the event. Since there were also many players that were idling away, they were happy to help out.
The casual players prepared the venue in full swing on the planet, while the participating players took advantage of the time to do their final preparations, strengthen their equipment, and upgrade their skills.
Han Xiao had brought a fleet, with a flagship serving as the core. They carried various stocks from the warehouse as they came toward the game planet. When the Black Star fleet appeared, the players on the planet were surprised as they did not know why the Army’s fleet had appeared.
After the fleet arrived, it remained floating in outer space. The players were curious; thus, they entered the flagship, only to find Han Xiao inside.
When the players asked, Han Xiao’s reply was concise.
“My intelligence showed that a large portion of our mercenaries had gathered on this uninhabited planet. This puzzled me, and I thought that you guys would be in trouble, so I came over to take a look.”
This reason was both acceptable yet unexpected to the players. Many of them found it interesting.
The players had long gotten used to actual feedback from the NPCs. Their every action would determine the judgment of the NPC as well as the change in Galaxy itself. This sort of strong interactive feedback mechanism often left the players in full immersion.
As a member of the Black Star Army, to have tens of thousands of their people gathered in one place such that the leader of the faction actually got alarmed and came to inspect was a refreshing experience to the visitors.
In terms of character interaction, some players enjoyed role-playing, conversing with the NPCs in accordance with the game to make it as realistic as possible, while others liked to directly admit to Han Xiao that they were having a tournament.
“If that’s the case, I would like to assess my mercenaries’ growth. Just nice, I don’t have anything on at the moment,” Han Xiao replied in a natural tone, pretending to ignore the words such as ‘Pro League’ and other game related terms. He instead implied that they were doing this as a large-scale friendly spar.
The majority of players did not doubt him. They did not expect an NPC to appear to observe their Pro League, but this only made it more interesting.
In addition, upon finding out that the ship was stocked with various services for supply and maintenance as well as equipment and potions, the players were even more pleased. This meant that there was now a convenience store right beside them.
The happiest group was actually the club players. Because they were filthy rich, the services that Black Star provided could allow them to flexibly adjust their tactics without the need to run to other planets to prepare their supplies. This saved them a lot of time.
Having Han Xiao spectate the event would naturally not be suspicious to the players. As long as he did not move toward that topic, nobody would think about the strangeness of this whole affair.
No matter how low the possibility of a player suspecting him as an NPC, even if someone really found out, it was useless. For him to have gone through so much from the start, if there were problems, they would have popped up long ago. As long as he did not interfere in the Pro League, maintaining his distance, there was no need to panic.
Three days later, the highly anticipated Second Pro League officially began!
The first stage was naturally the qualifiers. This could be considered a side dish before the main course. Directed by the league staff, the numerous contestants formed teams to undergo an elimination process and obtain the qualifications to enter the formal round.
Because the venue was much larger compared to the First Pro League, the time taken for the qualifiers had been greatly shortened.
On the forums, the officials released the highlights of the qualifiers for each division. Any Second Pro League content was thoroughly analyzed, and anything not related to the Pro League was lost in the sea of posts.
The players of every country were discussing the giants, seeded players as well as potential dark horses.
On the Chinese board, the main teams of the four giants had direct team entry for the regular season and did not need to participate in the qualifiers. The teams that received the most attention were the front-line teams such as Thunder Storm, Fanatics, and so on.
Frenzied Sword’s Rivervale also caught the eyes of many. Eliminating team after team, they blazed through the qualifiers.
In the Singles, King Admiral, Frenzied Sword, and the others who had fought and entered the International competition also had the right to skip the qualifiers, sparing themselves from the intense competition.
Unlike the team qualifiers, because the Singles was open to all, the majority of players wanted to have a go at it. Thus, the number of players in that event was the highest, practically the entire gaming community.
Compared to Version 1.0, the strength of the players was now much stronger, giving rise to various
genres and fighting styles, as well as tricks. The scenes were more intense, full of lights and stars as different abilities were used, making everyone who looked at it dizzy.
Since entering the galaxy, the players had also begun to come into contact with the Mage and Psychic classes. A number of newcomers, as well as old players who were playing on new accounts, had chosen those two classes. All the competition divisions had the same five professions for Supers, but the ratio was different. For the Professions that had only popped out in Version 2.0, the proportion of players were naturally the least.
However, compared to his previous lifetime, the situation had changed. Originally, the proportion of players in the Mechanic class had been the second lowest, ranked even behind the Mage class. However, the number of players with the Mechanic profession was the second highest, only losing out to the Pugilist class.
This was because Han Xiao had swayed a lot of players to the class advancement of a Mechanic back in Version 1.0.
The other point that Han Xiao noted was that the players in China had a stronger average strength, surpassing that of his past life. Because he had allowed Planet Aquamarine to enter the galaxy a couple of years earlier than the rest, be it experience, money, or combat capability, the region of Shattered Star Ring had more advantages compared to his past life. Rich resources had allowed for better support for various combat capability and tactics, and any half-decent battle teams had standards that were well above the norm.
The Second Pro League event was unprecedented, as the entire planet was used as a battlefield. The qualifiers and divisional battles proceeded quickly, and with the schedule being shorter than the first Pro League, the feeling was more intense.
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