For example, the Bloodshed Land, assuming that it had grown to its present size without Tyrant, would definitely have a ton of problems. Internally, the authority would be held by several Calamity Grades, none satisfied by being on the same level as the others, thus causing internal disputes and factional conflicts. Externally, without a Beyond Grade A leader, despite being such an enormous organization, no one would be able to unite them. In the end, they would definitely go their separate ways.
Therefore, a leader who could suppress everything within determined the upper limits of an armed force.
Han Xiao had been in the center of attention recently, and his reputation had exceeded the normal Calamity Grade range. Through his contacts, he learned that many intelligence organizations even called him half a Beyond Grade A. Numerous organizations believed that he would become a Beyond Grade A. Those organizations were not blind; his combat record was hard proof, so no one would inexplicably underestimate him.
As the faction leader’s position increased, the Black Star Army’s appeal transformed as well. Even mercenaries knew that following a possible Beyond Grade A would be a more promising future, so the number of people lost in the business transformation would be significantly reduced.
Not only that, with his current position, he could even attract more new talents.
“Because of my reputation, the Black Star Army’s influence is growing every day. This is a great opportunity to scale up.”
Han Xiao was in a great mood. He had initially intended to develop his forces through the support from the Purple Crystal civilization, but to his surprise, his own fame seemed to have allowed him to exceed what he had planned to achieve for the organization during the update period.
Strength was the most important!
“This expansion is an opportunity to improve the Black Star Army. There are many goals to be accomplished. First, the business transformation. Second, the expansion of manpower. Third, the increase of the armed troops. Fourth, becoming a long-term partner of Purple Crystal… Hmm, as long as the first three are completed, the fourth goal should not be a problem.
“Of course, the most important thing is my own strength. When I’m done with these trivial problems, I have to take a period of time to get a silver legacy blueprint to complete the Class Advancement mission. After that, complete the level 200 Promotion as soon as possible. The stronger I am, the faster the army will develop.”
Han Xiao pondered and quickly set out a list of goals.
He did not expect to perform this well before the war, nor did he expect to spark such discussions. The way he saw it, the development plan that he had originally set was too conservative.
This wave of discussions surrounding him was an extremely rare opportunity that he had to take.
Dong! Dong!
At that time, someone suddenly banged loudly on the door of the modification room.
“Who is it?” Han Xiao regained focus and opened the door.
Hairy, muscular abs entered his vision. Han Xiao looked up at the three-meter-tall Harmon standing outside the door.
“Lagi’s back. He wants to see you,” Harmon said with a low and muffled voice.
“Oh, I thought he’d throw me an excuse that the hyperdrive engine broke and drag his feet till the end of the war to return.” Han Xiao was surprised.
Harmon scratched his hairy head and gave a long grunt, as if the muscles in his brain could not process the meaning of the sentence.
“By the way…” Han Xiao suddenly remembered something. “How come you are the one reporting? Where’s Herlous?”
Usually, if Sylvia was away, Herlous would be his male secretary, a more decisive, reliable adult male.
“He asked me to lie to you that he was training,” Harmon said with a straight tone, giving off a strong vibe of the word ‘reckless’.
“Hmm…” Han Xiao’s mouth twitched, and he did not know what to say. “Then, what is he actually doing?”
“He’s playing cards.”
Han Xiao was speechless.
“Okay, got it. I’ll go to see Lagi now.”
Han Xiao closed his door and walked for a while before recalling something. He turned to Harmon and asked, “By the way, how many years till the selection battle for your tribal chief?
Harmon was one of the heirs of the Luhan Beastman Civilization’s Rockfall Tribe. The side mission from him was to join his War League and help him become the chief.
If he remembered correctly, this should be a Version 3.0 side mission, but in case the storyline had changed, Han Xiao decided to ask again.
Harmon counted with his fingers for a while and said with a hesitant tone, “I think eleven years less three days.”
The average life expectancy of the Luhan Beastmen was about 250 years, which was quite long. The selection of chief was a major event, it usually gave more than ten years to the candidates for them to form their War Leagues. This was because one selection often determined the chief for the next two hundred years.
“It’s a good thing you have comrades,” Han Xiao said with resignation, “otherwise I suspect you’d miss the selection battle and lose your position as an heir…”
Harmon opened his eyes wide and blew his lower lip unhappily, his thick lips shaking.
Han Xiao went straight to the bridge and immediately saw Lagi, who had been waiting for a long time. He smiled and walked forward, patting Lagi on the shoulder.
“You’re back.”
“Yes, I didn’t die on the way,” Lagi murmured. “I think it took all the luck I have in my life.”
Han Xiao’s smile stiffened. You’re too pessimistic!
“Ahem, do you remember what I said before you left?” Han Xiao said with resignation.
“Yes.” Lagi nodded and said, “You said you were going to cancel my workload and give me a raise.”
“No, I didn’t. Don’t bullsh*t!” Han Xiao clenched his teeth. “I said when you get back, you’ll be my vice captain!”
“Oh, then I remembered wrongly.” Lagi’s kept a straight face.
“Are you sure?” Han Xiao was suspicious. Why do I feel like you did that on purpose?
Hearing Han Xiao’s doubt, Lagi’s face became upset as he muttered, “You don’t trust me… Sigh, I should have known. People like me have no credibility.”
“Enough, you,” Han Xiao said with resignation. “Since you don’t have any objection, I’ll announce to the whole army that you’re the first vice-captain. By the way, I’m also planning to announce your past. You were once the Hidden Red Robe Abbey’s Forbidden Sorcerers’ commander. This past will increase your reputation, and no one will be unhappy about you becoming the vice-captain. Do you have any questions?”
Lagi nodded. He had no objections, but he did emphasize one point. “Don’t forget, you promised that my vice-captain position is just a title, and my workload won’t increase.”
Don’t you f*cking remember that crystal clear?
The appointment of the vice-captain was quickly transmitted to the communicators of the hundreds of thousands of official members of the Black Star Army.
When opening the Black Star Army’s mercenary group resume, under the ‘leader’ column, the vice-captain position that had always been empty finally had a first name written in it—Lagi Schwer.
Lagi had only joined for a very short time, so there was still a huge number of mid- to low-level mercenary members within the army that did not know him. With curiosity, confusion, surprise, and so on, they opened Lagi’s resume and were immediately shocked.
Not only was this newly appointed vice captain a Grade A+ Super, he was also the Hidden Red Robe Abbey’s Forbidden Sorcerers former commander, as well as the fourth disciple of ‘Magus’ Austin!
Lagi’s past was very impressive. Few outsiders knew about what had happened between Lagi and Austin; to many, this was a core member of a Beyond Grade A organization leaving and joining the Black Star Army!
Han Xiao was at the
height of his popularity, so his every action attracted attention from countless people. Not only the army members, the various organizations that were paying attention to him were also shocked.
One of the Magus’ core members is now the vice-captain of the Black Star Army. Are they now working together?
The perception of the Black Star Army had subtly changed for countless people, including its members. Black Star’s recent achievements and the Black Star Army’s expansion seemed to show an inexorable rise.
As many people could see, Black Star wanted to use his soaring influence to benefit the Black Star Army, intending to become a Star Field level VIP!
The question that followed suddenly sparked interest from all sides.
What would Floating Dragon do if Black Star rose?
After all, the Black Star Army was nominally Floating Dragon’s field team. Now that Black Star showed Beyond Grade A potential, if he did deliver on that potential, would he continue to stay under Ames given the amount of ambition that he had shown?
While it was still unclear whether Black Star would become a Beyond Grade A, ambitions were not easy to erase. Black Star’s soaring position would change the way he thought sooner or later, inflating his ambitions.
Countless people were excited when thinking about the possibilities of the future.
If the announcement of the vice-captain drew attention, Han Xiao’s subsequent announcement triggered an earthquake.
The Black Star Army publicly issued a large-scale recruitment order to the entire Shattered Star Ring!
Han Xiao planned to tap into the ‘Beyond Grade A seed’ title to attract a large number of talents.
He believed that there were plenty of people willing to bet that he would become a Beyond Grade A.
Joining at this time would be more valued than joining a Beyond Grade A organization, it was equivalent to becoming a partner at the start of a business. Even if they lost the bet, it would only cost them time, so the loss would be within an acceptable range.
It was a huge gamble!
As the Black Star Army made the announcement, countless people and organizations across the ten or so Star Clusters in the Shattered Star Ring were tempted.
Chapter 689 - Leeks Coming from Everywhere! (2)
Chapter 689 Leeks Coming from Everywhere! (2)
The moment the recruitment order from the Black Star Army was sent out, practically half the star field exploded from excitement, and all the responders began to gather!
In just ten days, Phillip had already received countless resumes from various sectors of the Shattered Star Ring.
Riding on this wave of heated public opinion, the number of applicants was far greater than any of their previous recruitments. The target was not just toward original mercenaries. As long as one did not have a ‘Wanted’ tag on them, everyone would be treated equally.
Philip first eliminated the weaker candidates and did a screening of the first batch of top-rated talents. Just these people already totaled 1.4 million, more than the total count of the Black Star Army. This would effectively double the official staff of the Black Star Army a few times over!
More than a million people had already been selected, and this was not even the final result. Han Xiao was prepared to open the floodgates fully instead of restricting entry this time. With his fame and reputation, he already possessed the qualifications to form a large organization. This time, he was making full use of the opportunity.
Now was not the time to consider if over-recruiting would cause them to be able to absorb the members properly. This recruitment was not just targeted toward talents but also a way to show his influence. The more sensational this response was, the higher the position of the Black Star Army in the entire Star Field. If one combined the results of the recruitment with his current fame, he would be able to engrave his existence into the hearts of countless influences around, ascending to the top in one step and becoming a famous force in the Shattered Star Ring!
Compared to the other large organizations, the Black Star Army, while huge in scale, lacked reputation and influence. However, this did not prevent the popularity of their faction from rising. This was of great benefit to their future development, so from Han Xiao’s perspective, the storm of public opinion was perfectly utilized.
Most of the recruited talents in the first batch had some sort of fame in their respective sectors. At least sixty percent were also battle-hardened elite interstellar warriors as well, with the lowest being at Grade C. While the number of Supers was small, if one cast their eyes across the entire Star Field, the total sum was still exaggeratedly huge.
Recently, the secret war had begun turning into a full-fledged tug of war. There were no signs of activity on both sides, and there was free time to deal with his own internal affairs. Purple Crystal attached great importance to Han Xiao’s potential and was glad to see the Black Star Army develop itself. Furthermore, this indirectly meant a supplement to Section Zero.
More than a million of the newcomers then travelled thousands of miles from various star clusters to the Garton Star System, going through the procedures at the Black Star Army Base. Han Xiao also returned to his own base to deal with the various issues caused by the huge swelling in his faction.
In the reception room of the Black Star Army Headquarters, Sylvia brought in three new recruits of different races and appearances, and Han Xiao stood up from the sofa to greet them.
“Your Excellency, Black Star.” The three of them had respectful attitudes and stepped forward quickly to exchange handshakes with Han Xiao.
“Come, sit.”
Han Xiao waved his hand, and they all took their seats, beginning to chat.
With millions of newcomers, Han Xiao had no time to meet up with them individually. The reason he was meeting with these three was because the new recruits were actually all at the Calamity Grade!
A Calamity Grade Super would never submit to another easily. Before he became known as a potential Beyond Grade A seedling, Han Xiao had tried many times to recruit a Calamity Grade, but other than Lagi, everyone else had rejected him.
However, his status today was greatly different when compared to that of the past. Being a highly anticipated Beyond Grade A seed was enough to make some of the Calamity Grades stop hesitating and run under his banner. If their bet paid off, they would then become the backbone of a Beyond Grade A organization!
If one likened the Beyond Grade A to an Emperor ascending to the throne, they would be the dragons that became his officialsbright futures awaited them!
It was a pity that Ames was too much of a slacker. Even if she was a bona fide Beyond Grade A, her attraction toward Supers might not exceed that of Han Xiao’s. Not many Supers would deign to follow a leader without any ambition. Furthermore, Ames could not even be bothered to actively recruit Officers.
Those three Calamity Grades were the cream of the crop among the leeks, probably considered leeks that had grown legs, running a thousand miles to deliver themselves to be harvested by him.
Status and strength went hand in hand, and the Calamity Grades in an organization were destined to be the upper echelons. That was the only reason they had come. After all, they could not be expected to climb slowly from the bottom like a Grade C Super, right? Thus, Han Xiao had to personally take a look at the three of them and use this opportunity to observe them.
Before meeting with them, Han Xiao had already flipped through their resumes.
Karmbe, Grade A Pugilist, male. Tall with extremely pale skin, he seemed to have the bloodline of the Blood Race. He used to be an external instructor in one of the Super institutions with a civilization in some Star System. He resigned later, walking through multiple galaxies and taking a lot of private employment.
Marian, Grade A Mechanical Pugilist, male. He was wrapped from head to toe in heavy, dark-gray armor and always wore a helmet, seldom revealing his face to others. He looked like some knight from a fantasy civilization, and the reaso
n he had come over was the same as Reynold, because he looked up to Han Xiao as a Mechanic.
Misecech, Grade A Esper, male. His resume was clean. Other than him being a Calamity Grade, there was nothing worth noting. He had hung around with multiple mercenary groups but had not worked long. He was a typical spectator.
These people who took the initiative to sign up would not be very strong, but they were at least at the Calamity Grade. The Black Star Army had originally only had three Calamity Grades. With the addition of three more, this doubled the total number, raising the advanced combatants inside the army.
Thus, the Supers that took the opportunity to rush over were basically ‘career men’. They were accustomed to changing jobs and moved to wherever had some benefit. Naturally, they would not be loyal of this, Han Xiao was clear. He also did not hope for them to sell their lives to him. As long as they could complete the work based on their scope as Calamity Grades, that would be good.
After chatting with them for a while, both sides had observed enough by now. Han Xiao stood up and extended his hand, smiling. “Then, I’ll represent Black Star Army to welcome you three on board.”
“That is our honor.” Misecech immediately took the opportunity to speak first. Karmbe replied shortly after, and Marian nodded in silence.
“I’ll need some time to consider what roles to assign you. Don’t worry, I will not treat you badly.”
“Haha, our requirements are not high.” Misecech had a flattering smile.
After replying with some pleasantries, Han Xiao sent the trio off before asking Sylvia to take them through the formalities.
Han Xiao did not rest after but immediately entered another reception room.
There were tens of people within there waiting. The moment they saw Han Xiao, they immediately stood up, greeting him warmly.
“Everyone, please sit.”
Han Xiao waved his hand, glancing at everyone present.
Within this reception room, everyone present were the emissaries of various civilizations from the Colton Star Cluster. They had come to seek cooperation of their own initiative.
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