The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385

by Chocolion, 齐佩甲

  “I know that it’s very abrupt to bring this up as an individual, but I have no choice,” Ceselin replied. “The Ancient Emperor Party has assigned me the mission of applying to you for war employment. They are ready to use force to eradicate the other two parties and take back all the divided land.”

  “So, it’s like that.” Han Xiao understood it.

  The Ancient Emperor Party wanted to resolve the strife once and for all, but they did not wish to be controlled by an advanced civilization. Thus, instead of asking for help from the Star Cluster civilizations, they planned to hire foreign aid in the form of interstellar mercenaries. In the Shattered Star Ring, the most representative of the mercenaries were the Mercenary League, Bloodshed Land, and Black Star Army.

  Since the Black Star Army was also the head of the Mercenary League and an ally of the dynasty together with Bloodshed Land, as long as the Black Star Army was hired, the mercenaries of Shattered Star Ring would not be employed by people wishing to oppose the Black Star Army. After all, with the current might of the army, no one wished to send themselves to die, and mercenaries that are cooperating with each other would not send their people to opposing sides.

  In the mercenary world within the Shattered Star Ring, the Black Star Army had already reached the highest level of influence and reputation.

  As the ruling party, the Ancient Emperor Party had already attached themselves to the Black Star Army. As long as aid was received, the Pioneer Party that Ceselin looked upon fondly would be destroyed, so he could only brave this risk and boldly make this request of Han Xiao.

  Man, of all the people you chose to be the emissary, you chose an emissary that is a backstabber… Han Xiao’s mouth twitched. Could this be the legendary plot of ‘I didn’t choose this, but now I wish to be on the good side?’

  Han Xiao shook his head. “Let’s be practical. Which party is in power has no impact on me. Since the Ancient Emperor Party is cooperating with the Black Star Army, they will definitely offer a good price. And since you came here in a rush to find me, that means nothing is set in stone on your side… Forget it. I don’t wish to say any more unpleasant words. Let’s consider this conversation over.”

  Han Xiao put down his glass and stood up, walking toward the door with a dissatisfied mood.

  While the words from Ceselin were nice to hear, it was true that he could not bring out any substantial remuneration. Han Xiao did not care about the struggle of a party in an unfamiliar civilization. The Black Star Army had retained its mercenary business after the transformation and did not change into a charity overnight.

  Violation of professional standards was a behavior without any professional ethics. Without practical benefits, he wished to use only his mouth to influence a Beyond Grade A?

  If he had such a fantasy, he should just die in that fantasy!

  “Please wait.” Ceselin immediately stood up. “Just as you mentioned, whichever party it is has no influence toward you. The Pioneer Party can also maintain a cooperative relationship with you. I hope that you will help the Pioneer Party. The Gulal Civilization can also become stronger, which will be more rewarding for you. The Ancient Emperor Party has decayed, and the Pioneer Party is the only righteous one now.”

  “What does your righteousness have to do with me?” Han Xiao did not bother turning back. Waving this so-called banner of justice was useless in front of others.

  His kindness only existed to people he knew. Toward strangers, this was greatly limited. His coldness was created with the times, and with all the matters experienced, he would not easily allow people to sway him.

  “Please help the Gulal Civilization!”

  Dong!

  A weird sound was heard, and when Han Xiao turned back, he saw Ceselin prostrating on the ground. A Calamity Grade actually begged him for help.

  However, glancing at him, Han Xiao remained indifferent and prepared to push open the door.

  At this moment, a mission notification appeared on his interface.

  _____________________

  You have triggered an S-ranked Mission (Gulal Civilization: The Flames of Pioneer!).

  Mission Introduction: The Gulal Civilization is a galactic civilization that has been plagued with internal strife. The civilization has not progressed for many years and has even deteriorated. In order to break this deadlock, Ceselin, who is an upper echelon of the Ancient Emperor Party, has decided to support the Pioneer Party and has made a request to you.

  Mission Requirements: Overthrow the rule of the Ancient Emperor Party, eradicate the Descendant Party, and support the Pioneer Party to become the new rulers of the Gulal Civilization

  Failure Condition: The destruction of the Pioneer Party

  Reward: After completion of the task, the reward will be determined by the Mission Rating.

  _____________________

  S-ranked mission? Han Xiao’s footsteps paused. A coup d’état of a galactic civilization was as good as engaging in total war. It was indeed deserving of its S-rank difficulty, as players would find it difficult to control the direction of an internal war.

  Of course, it was different for him. The influence of the Black Star Army was huge, so he was naturally qualified to intervene in this war. This mission was not difficult for him.

  But while thinking about it, Han Xiao did not stop there and walked out of the room, leaving Ceselin in the room looking lost.

  The S-ranked mission was indeed attractive, but it was unreasonable to aid the Pioneer Party just because of the mission. It was unreasonable to assume that the Ancient Emperor Party would not have a mission, as Han Xiao immediately saw with his experience that this would be a series of missions.

  Han Xiao was prepared to speak with all the upper echelons of the Gulal Civilization and activate the missions of each party before deciding.

  He was never the kind that had an obsessive compulsion to complete every mission that he saw.

  An S-ranked mission’s war employment was no trivial matter. While the Black Star Army had a certain level of strength, it did not mean that they could just ignore the resources of a galactic civilization.

  Han Xiao was clear that although their status was high, it was mainly because of him. After all, the development time of the army was limited, and its military force, while able to participate in a star system level war, was still far from being able to control a star cluster level war.

  Han Xiao did not really require the mission reward and did not care for the remuneration of a star system civilization. Toward this, his main concern was the players.

  Such a war employment task naturally was not his to interfere—a Beyond Grade A joining a star system level war was being too much of a bully and was also incongruent to his name and reputation. Furthermore, he planned to quietly stay at the headquarters and construct more machinery while biding his time for the experience penalty to pass. Thus, this mission would definitely be given to the players.

  Players were the most suited for such missions since they would reduce the casualties of his mercenaries.

  Since the battle in Planet Lighthouse had just ended, there would not be any big events for a period of time. The players could only do side missions, and while the Flickering World had its benefits, it was too boring for the players. Thus, he planned to create an event for the players to fill up their spare time, catering to the players in the army.

  In addition, this would give the players more rewards before the Pro League, as the rewards from an S-ranked mission would be richer than the norm.

  By helping the players grow faster, it would attract more people to his faction. Han Xiao had always done it this way.

  At this moment, Phillip started bubbling in the quantum network.

  “Master, hum… I’ve found the information on the Ancient Emperor Party you requested.”

  Han Xiao’s consciousness entered the quantum network to read the intelligence.

  In this regard, Ceselin did not lie. The Ancient Emperor Party was
indeed unpopular, and its government was rotten. The people were suppressed by them and did not dare speak.

  The Descendant Party was also not any better; in fact, they were worse. However, the Pioneer Party was not as good as Ceselin made out. Still, compared to the other two, it was the most acceptable.

  After reading, Han Xiao nodded to himself.

  Now that he had seen the truth, with actual information, he had an idea in his heart.

  Chapter 874 - Isolation

  Han Xiao did not contact the Gulal Civilization immediately. The banquet was still ongoing, and it would be rude to ignore the guests.

  Returning to the banquet, Han Xiao collected more communication numbers. The relaxing time passed in a flash, and the banquet quickly approached the end. The guests all bade their farewells and left the venue.

  Han Xiao saw Ceselin among the throng of people leaving, his footsteps hurried but nothing strange from his expression. His display toward Han Xiao this time had brought nothing but ruin.

  However, Han Xiao did not intend to snitch someone to such a small star system civilization. He was a Beyond Grade A and had no obligation to report to such people.

  As the guests left, the mechanical waiters appeared to clear up the messy venue.

  This was the first year of holding the evolutionary banquet, and both the scale and influence were limited. It would need a few more years before its reputation would sound in the Shattered Star Ring and become a practice.

  After leaving the venue, Han Xiao did not idle but met up with the elites of the Crimson Dynasty separately. These people were more important, so they received special treatment. They did not talk about business but rather just chatted idly to improve their relationship.

  All these people in the Crimson Dynasty had varying levels of influence, and making more contacts would allow him to help expand his network in the dynasty, as well as his speaking rights.

  Because of the battle at Planet Lighthouse, Han Xiao’s fame and status in the Crimson Dynasty had increased, and he found that the elites’ attitude was now even more awed than the previous batch; they no longer treated him as a normal Beyond Grade A ally.

  Everyone had a great chat, and only after Han Xiao sent them off did he return to his room and got Phillip to contact the upper echelons of the Gulal Civilization.

  He did not disclose Ceselin’s backstabbing but indicated that Ceselin had offered him war employment and completed his mission, leading him to call to discuss this matter.

  The Ancient Emperor Party did not suspect anything and offered a price for his war employment efforts, including remuneration, military supplies, machinery materials, and long-term mining rights for their resource rich planets.

  Normal mercenary groups would only obtain remuneration, military factory borrowing rights, procurement channels, and other rewards, but due to the nature of the Black Star Army being vastly different, they were able to obtain resources such as mining rights.

  Unsurprisingly, the Gulal Civilization civil strife turned out to be a mission series. After he contacted the Ancient Emperor Party, a similar S-ranked mission appeared, the only difference being the name of the mission titled ‘Protect the Orthodoxy’. The mission objective was to aid the Ancient Emperor Party in suppressing the other two parties and reclaim their territories.

  Without giving the Ancient Emperor Party confirmation, Han Xiao cut the call, stroking his chin as he contemplated.

  “Both are S-ranked missions, so the reward should be the same… Oh, there should be some minute differences. Because the Ancient Emperor Party is the strongest, suppressing the other two will be the easier option. If I help a weaker party ascend, the reward should also be higher.”

  After thinking about it, Han Xiao had Phillip search for the leader of the Pioneer Party’s number. Ceselin was just an unexpected factor, and Han Xiao was prepared to just leapfrog ranks and talk straight to the leader.

  With the military division within the Gulal Civilization, the Pioneer Party had a clear territory, so it was easy to find the required number.

  The call was quickly connected.

  “Hello, may I know who you…” The leader’s secretary appeared on the screen, but in mid speech, the person exclaimed upon seeing Han Xiao’s face. “Black Star‽”

  With Han Xiao’s current fame, only bumpkins would not recognize him. As someone who was an official of a star system civilization, they would not fail to recognize this face.

  “Connect me to your leader.” Han Xiao calmly spoke.

  “Oh oh, I’ll divert the call now, you… no, sir, please hold on,” the secretary stammered. While they were not the ruling party, the leader of the Pioneer Party was not someone that any Tom, Dick, and Harry could meet as and when they liked. However, Black Star was obviously an exception.

  Not long later, the leader came online. He found it difficult to hide the surprise in his eyes. He was waiting for an important call, but he suddenly received news that Black Star was on the line, which gave him quite the shock.

  How come Black Star, who had never had any dealings with them, suddenly called and asked to speak with him?

  “Your Excellency Black Star, may I ask… what business do you have with me?”

  “I’ve heard about the situation in your Gulal Civilization, and not too long ago, the Ancient Emperor Party requested me for a war employment, wishing to borrow my strength to annihilate the other two parties. Are you aware of this?”

  “Is this true‽” The leader’s expression changed. While he did not know this, he had been waiting for a report from his spy, who had reported some movements from the side of the Ancient Emperor Party. He had guessed that they would seek aid, but this report was now directly confirmed by Black Star.

  The Pioneer Party leader also knew the importance of such a matter and immediately panicked. He quickly recovered though. If Black Star had accepted the employment, then there would have been no need to inform them. Black Star must have a reason for calling them.

  In a flash, the leader understood Black Star’s thinking. “Your Excellency Black Star, no matter what price the Ancient Emperor Party offers, we’ll double it and will not go back on our word.”

  Since the other party had already made his intentions clear, there was no need for pleasantries. The Pioneer Party immediately gave his offer. In fact, he also wished to receive the aid from the Black Star Army, but it was nigh impossible since the Ancient Emperor Party had long forged a connection with the Black Star Army through their business dealings.

  What a good fellow, he actually treated me like a warmonger… Han Xiao’s brows twitched, but from the perspective of the Pioneer Party, this was natural since he did not know about Ceselin.

  After thinking about it, Han Xiao did not choose to reveal the existence of Ceselin. After all, he had provided him with this mission. Before he took the initiative to jump over, his merits and fame would be hidden.

  After pondering for a while, he nodded to the nervous expression of the Pioneer Party leader.

  “Good, then it’s settled. When the time comes, I’ll look for someone to allow you to sign the employment contract.”

  He ended the call.

  Staring at the darkened screen, the leader of the Pioneer Party slumped in his chair, looking out of sorts, as though he had just woken up from a dream.

  Without any warning, he suddenly obtained the help of the Black Star Army, such a behemoth?

  “Could it be that Black Star is really trying to be a warmonger? He doesn’t have to do this.” A seed of suspicion bloomed in the leader’s mind.

  But Black Star clearly had no dealings with his Pioneer Party, so why did he choose them?

  “There must be some underlying factor…”

  The expression of the Pioneer Party leader flickered.

  It was just that Black Star did not reveal anything, and it was not a good time for him to ask. However, the Pioneer Party leader did not wish to be kept in the dark. He decided to slowly dig
out the reason. There had to be someone involved that had made Black Star seek employment from him.

  On the other side, Han Xiao put his communicator away. His part had come to an end; he only needed to send someone to get the contract finalized before sending out the mission to his faction. The rest would be completed by the players and his members, which did not require his concern.

  He had chosen to help the Pioneer Party, not because it had any relation with Ceselin, but because it was indeed the best among the three. Only when he could protect his own interests would he think about sowing good karma. This had always been his work ethic.

  On the other hand, the Pioneer Party looked more righteous. Many players loved such a scenario, so it would satisfy their emotional and ethical needs.

  Thus, after considering all these factors, he had chosen to give up on the Ancient Emperor Party and Descendant Party, and help the ‘righteous’ Pioneer Party. This would be conducive to enhancing the players’ sense of identification with the army.

  …

  A few days later, the elites left the Black Star Army headquarters.

  The Gulal Civilization’s spaceship also left the port, heading into the universe. Ceselin looked back at the Black Star Army headquarters disappearing, his crestfallen expression hard to hide.

  Two days prior, the Ancient Emperor Party’s leader had contacted him, praising him for his effort and explaining that Black Star had contacted them. They were expecting the Black Star Army’s aid soon.

  “I didn’t manage to convince Black Star… The Pioneer Party…” Ceselin was depressed, and he did not think that he alone could reverse the current plight of the Pioneer Party.

  At this moment, his teammate suddenly held out the communicator and exclaimed, “Guys, come look! The Pioneer Party just announced that they’ve employed the Black Star Army and are formally launching an offensive!”