The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385

by Chocolion, 齐佩甲

  The spirit of the players was stoked. They were trying to know what the Black Star Army had become at this point, so they quietened down, their gazes staring fixedly at their virtual screens.

  “The Black Star Army was established in the Year 688 of the Galaxy Calendar and has been established for 17 years. Its original name was called the Black Star Mercenary Group, and its founder was (Black Star] Han Xiao…” Rossellin’s voice sounded, and the screen showed a silhouette of Black Star at the forefront, with the figures of his Officers behind him.

  Just by looking at the opening, Bun-Hit-Dog’s eyes lit up. “This feels like a blockbuster here…”

  After explaining the creation as well as the leader of the army, Rossellin’s tone changed as she immediately began to describe the process of the Black Star Army’s transformation in scale.

  The picture showed a star map of the Garton Star System. On the upper left corner, there was a time indication of Year 688. This was exactly when the Black Star Mercenary Group was first established. Within the vast star map, a humble and small green dot represented the forces of the Black Star Mercenary Group at that time.

  As the time on the upper left corner started to move, the tiny green dot slowly moved around, finally finding a base and beginning to expand into a small, irregularly shaped green area. This gradually expanded over time, showing the development trend of the Black Star Army.

  Not only were the hundred thousand players at the headquarters watching this, but players from the other bases were also watching the video at the same time. This portion was the events that had taken place from Version 1.0 to 2.0, and to have it displayed in this manner attracted the attention of all the players.

  As the green area slowly expanded in the Garton Star System, the time shown on the upper left-hand corner finally reached the mark of ten years ago, just before the version update.

  The players started to pay attention. From now on, it would be the decade that they had not experienced, which was the unknown changes.

  At this moment, the view on the virtual screen suddenly zoomed out tremendously, directly expanding to show the entire Colton Star Cluster. The star map was enlarged dozens or hundreds of times!

  At the same time, the green area that was originally confined to the Garton Star System suddenly ballooned out to spread to more than half of the Colton Star Cluster, occupying half of it!

  Everyone present was stunned silly.

  Following the time skip, the sphere of influence rose sharply. If the expansion of the Black Star Army in Version 2.0 was considered that of running, then the period of ten years between the two versions was as though it was riding on a fighter jet!

  The time finally arrived at Year 705. Out of the entire Colton Star Cluster, close to ninety percent was green in color.

  At this moment, Rossellin’s voice sounded in the background.

  “Today, the Black Star Army has completed its transformation, having branches throughout the whole Colton Star Cluster. Its business scope includes warfare, planet mining, and more. It is also the long-term ally of the Purple Crystal Civilization, the ruler of the Colton Star Cluster, with over ten other civilizations as collaborators. The Calamity Grade Supers under His Excellency have also grown to almost twenty people, with tens of thousands of battleships and hundreds of planet mining rights. The Black Star Army stands at the forefront of the organizations in the Shattered Star Ring.”

  Frenzied Sword and Bun-Hit-Dog stared at this commentary. They were not alone, as the players around them had the same expressions as them, full of shock and surprise!

  When they originally arrived there, Frenzied Sword had already grossly inflated the power the Black Star Army had after a decade, but even he did not expect that he had still underestimated the Black Star Army! His imagination had truly limited him.

  This sort of feeling was like, after falling asleep for a night, waking up and finding out that the factory in town that you worked for had turned into the world’s top five hundred companies! Overnight!

  I only looked away for moment, and you had already ascended to the sky?

  The curiosity of the crowd was so great that they were anxious about the deeds of the Black Star Army in the past decade. They could not help but wish to scrub the video straight to the end.

  Just what exactly happened when we were not here? How did the Black Star Army leap up to become such a great influence?

  Chapter 718 - Defensive Measures Against Thieves

  The size of the Black Star Army truly shocked the players. The video then continued to play, and the video finally began to explain what the Black Star Army had been through over the past ten years.

  “Galaxy Year 695, the Crimson Dynasty expanded their territory, code name Crimson Tide. The Shattered Star Ring was thrown into chaos, and the Klent Kingdom ordered Bloodshed Land to invade the Purple Crystal Civilization. The secret war exploded, and the Black Star Army joined Purple Crystal and fought on their behalf. The war has been going on for ten years and isn’t over yet. During this time, the Black Star Army has fought hundreds of battles and clashed with Bloodshed Land time and time again and forged their prestige…”

  Rossellin introduced the background of the secret war and everyone was startled.

  Crimson Tide? Isn’t this the name of the version? It turns out that this refers to the expansion of the Crimson Dynasty. During the end of Version 2.0, Black Star revealed information about this. So, it turns out he was truly revealing information about the next version.

  To think that Black Star Army would be dragged into a war between Star Cluster Civilizations. This means that the Main Storyline Mission for Version 3.0 should be related to the secret war…

  Many of the players began to speculate.

  If they continued along this line of thought, the expansion of the Black Star Army would definitely be related to their participation in the war. The Black Star Army should have gained wealth from the war.

  However, they had only managed to guess half the truth. The next part of the video immediately triggered a huge wave of commotion.

  “In this war, leader Black Star revealed the potential of becoming a Beyond Grade A Super. He suppressed all the high-level combatants of the enemy and is invincible on the battlefield. He is the most likely individual to become a Beyond Grade A Super in the entire Shattered Star Ring. The Black Star Army also became a Beyond Grade A seeded organization under his lead, with Purple Crystal and dozens of other Star System Civilizations expressing their goodwill toward him.”

  As the leader of the faction, Rossellin gave a detailed introduction on Black Star and described his frightening combat prowess and the influence he had in the development of the Black Star Army.

  Most of the players understood that the video was trying to hint to them that the Black Star Army was only able to develop to such a level because of Black Star. If not for Han Xiao displaying the potential to become a Beyond Grade A Super, the Black Star Army would not have been able to stand out in the war.

  Black Star was the one who had developed the Black Star Army to such a size in ten years!

  The players all came to a realization and immediately extracted the main point.

  Beyond Grade A!

  After two versions, they already knew that Black Star was extremely powerful, but never had they expected him to overturn their understanding of him yet again!

  A Beyond Grade A Super was already at the peak of the Galaxy to the players. Black Star was a character who came out in Version 1.0, and his storyline had run through three different versions. Currently, he had the right to become a peerless expert and would probably become an important character in Version 3.0.

  Han Xiao was already one of their own to the China players, and the players could not help but erupt with excitement when they found out that their boss was such a ferocious character.

  Before the update, many players were looking forward to seeing how the Black Star Army grew during Version 3.0. The outcome a
t this moment truly filled them with satisfaction and was out of their expectations. When they were not around, Black Star was as reliable as always and had led the Black Star Army into such a fantastic shape. He was truly awesome!

  Their captain was still the best!

  With such a powerful leader, their faction had a greater potential for growth, and the players grew even more passionate for the Black Star Army.

  The video continued playing, and Rossellin went into detail about the various events and accomplishments of the Black Star Army over the past ten years. She weaved in the various personal accomplishments of Han Xiao. How he fought of multiple enemies alone, fought bravely to scare off the enemies, resolved numerous assassination attempts, battled EsGod, wiped out DarkStar, and so on.

  The lesson introduced the entire history of the Black Star Army, and after the end of the video, many players were still hungry for more. With Bun-Hit-Dog’s videos as a foundation, this video made them feel as though they were chasing after a drama series.

  “This can be considered a background introduction to this new version, right?”

  “Why do I feel as though this is more like an action film?”

  “Black Star is awesome!”

  “This is truly a growth-type faction! Our future is bright! Hahaha.”

  All the players discussed the video excitedly.

  The changes in the Black Star Army had truly shocked them. After calming down from their initial shock, they were immediately overjoyed.

  As long as the change was a positive one, the players could be at ease. The more impressive the achievements of the Black Star Army, the more at ease they would be. This was a faction which they had witnessed for a full three versions.

  “Who would have thought that so much would happen when we weren’t around?” Frenzied Sword could not help but lament.

  Bun-Hit-Dog felt his heart ache. “What a pity. I could have made so many videos with all these resources.”

  The video showed them the history of the Black Star Army and allowed the players to have a better understanding of their own faction. Han Xiao had always aimed to use the accomplishments of the faction to increase the sense of belonging that the players felt to the Black Star Army, and the outcome was extremely good. A faction that had a history behind it would bring about a greater sense of belonging apart from the benefits that it could bring to the players.

  Through the events over the past ten years, all the players had a basic understanding of Version 3.0. It could be said that the players adapted at the fastest possible speed to the new version through Han Xiao’s guidance. This was also the outcome that Han Xiao wanted to see the most.

  The second phase of the (Ten Years) mission was completed and Han Xiao released the third phase of the mission.

  All the players in the Black Star Army received a new notification.

  [Ten Years]: The Third Link

  Mission Introduction: You now understand the situation in the Shattered Star Ring. The Black Star Army is currently participating in the secret war. As a member of the army, you should make your choice.

  Mission Requirements: Go through the necessary procedure and accept the secret war mission.

  Reward: Start of the secret war storyline, +800 Black Star Army Favorability.

  “Triggering the Main Storyline Mission at the very beginning? It seems like this is the same as in Version 2.0.”

  They had triggered the Mutation Disaster storyline the moment they logged into the game as well. The players did not hesitate in the slightest and chose to participate in the secret war.

  In his previous life, the players had to go through an exploration phase before being guided to join the secret war by the various factions. This time, Han Xiao had immediately placed the Main Storyline mission right in front of the players and saved them a great deal of trouble. The earlier the players joined the mission, the more benefits he would receive.

  Originally, the method to trigger the secret war mission was to join either Bloodshed Land or Section Zero. However, Han Xiao knew about this and had thus spent the past ten years growing the Black Star Army into an important member of Section Zero. This enabled him to tie his faction together with Section Zero and allowed the players to participate in the secret war mission without joining another faction.

  The rewards of Han Xiao’s effort were slowly showing themselves.

  The next moment, a notification popped up on the player’s interface. They had triggered the Main Storyline Mission that Han Xiao had triggered ten years ago.

  You have triggered Grade S faction mission (Secret War: Section Zero]!

  Mission Introduction: The Klent Kingdom has invaded the Purple Crystal Civilization, and you chose to stand on the side of the Purple Crystal Civilization.

  Mission Requirements: Listen to orders and force all invaders out of the Colton Star Cluster.

  At the end of the mission, your reward will be based on the rating of the mission.

  Grade S Mission!

  The eyes of the players lit up. The Main Storyline Missions of the first two versions were Grade A missions, and this was the first time that they had accepted a Grade S mission.

  Han Xiao had received this mission ten years earlier than the players. While the Mission Rating would only be displayed at the end of the mission, Han Xiao was certain that he had long reached the highest rating.

  “This Main Storyline mission has a suffix. Does this mean that we will also be able to do this mission in the Klent faction?” Bun-Hit-Dog immediately managed to guess the truth.

  In Han Xiao’s previous life, the players could choose between Klent or Purple Crystal, and both factions had their own strengths. Purple Crystal was located in the Colton Star Cluster, which was also where the players were located. On top of that, they also had the geographical advantage as the defending party. On the other side, the Tyrant from Bloodshed Land was a Beyond Grade A Super, and he was also extremely attractive to the players.

  The original storyline of Version 2.0 did not include the Black Star Army. Godora and DarkStar were the organizations that brought the players into the galaxy. They each hired some players and brought the players onto two different paths.

  The players that were in the DarkStar faction had automatically joined Klent due to the connection between Klent and DarkStar. Because of the Tyrant’s prestige, many players had chosen to join Bloodshed Land, resulting in the Section Zero faction being on the passive side.

  However, Han Xiao had already changed the storyline and set a good foundation in Version 2.0. He had singlehandedly snatched almost all the Planet Aquamarine players from both Godora and DarkStar.

  Currently, the Black Star Army was the most important member in Section Zero. This meant that all the players would naturally be on Purple Crystal’s side!

  Those who wanted to join Klent would have to give up all their investments in the Black Star Army from the past two versions. This meant that the players’ cost of changing factions was extremely high. While the players did not like being forced, with the sense of belonging being cultivated in the first two versions together with his first mover advantage, the players would not feel too troubled by the lack of options.

  While the Beyond Grade A Heber did indeed have some attraction to the players, the players had just watched a video that showed them that Black Star also had the potential to become a Beyond Grade A Super. The Bloodshed Land immediately lost their greatest selling point, and even if the majority of the players knew that they could switch factions, they would not do so as it was not worth it.

  Thus, it would be impossible for Klent and Bloodshed Land to gain a large number of players like in Han Xiao’s previous life!

  The butterfly effect that Han Xiao had created in Version 2.0 was still affecting events.

  However, the players were a strange breed, and there would be some who wanted to join the whistleblower club. Han Xiao had already thought of a plan to deal with them.

  He had consid
ered many different scenarios over the past ten years.

  As the players discussed the Main Storyline Mission excitedly, Han Xiao no longer pretended to view the scenery and returned to the inside of the armed satellite fortress.

  The first step is complete. It is now time to fertilize the crops…

  Chapter 719 - Fertilization

  On the dock, the more than one hundred thousand players scattered. The guiding mission given by Han Xiao had ended, they decided to explore the Black Star Army headquarters and get to know the facilities here.

  The players knew that this planet fortress would most likely be their base in Version 3.0.

  The Black Star Army headquarters was extremely large, not cramped at all even for more than a hundred thousand people. They quickly scattered and fused into the usual Black Star Army members.

  Frenzied Sword, Hao Tian, and a few other close professional players moved together, accompanied by Bun-Hit-Dog and Maple Moon. They walked around and observed the NPCs passing by while discussing the main storyline mission they had just received.

  “The storyline of the new version is so exciting,” Frenzied Sword said. “I can’t believe we are going to experience an enormous war between two Star Cluster civilizations. Those in the other Star Fields did not receive the main storyline mission as soon as they entered the game like we did; they’re still exploring.”

  “Well, this isn’t the first time. In every past version, the main storyline always appeared the earliest in Shattered Star Ring. This should be our specialty.” Twinkle Fried Rice shrugged.

  “Indeed, it was the same in Version 2.0. We knew about the main storyline as soon as we came online. The other Star Fields only got it months or even a year later.” Hao Tian nodded.