At this time, Venomous Snake narrowed his eyes and muttered, “While we cannot jump ship, we still can utilize the benefits offered by the Black Star Army. The best method would be to allow some guild members to join the Black Star Army and increase their contributions within. They could then purchase a large amount of resources at discounted rates. At the same time, we can get them to monitor the movement of the players in the army, which will be beneficial for us.”
“Espionage?” Everyone present shared a look. “This is indeed a good idea, but will this cause us to be targeted by the Black Star Army?”
“What does the business of us players have to do with them?” Venomous Snake was nonchalant. “What we should take notice of is the Chinese players. We need to be careful of them stealing the supplies that we purchase.”
“Good, then we shall do it that way!”
Everyone confirmed the battle strategy and buried their heads to discuss the details.
…
The Lesykes Army was a large private mercenary group active around the Blackhole Edge. However, it had an official secret backer—it was the secret military force of the Ursa Civilization. This organization was named after the leader, and right now, the Captain Lesykes had just brought his reinforcements to enter the Flickering World.
In the command room, Lesykes shouted in an excited tone.
“Increase speed. Rush over to the free competition zone as soon as possible.”
The Ursa Civilization had many secret mercenary groups under them, so the civilization rarely gave him any missions. Normally, he was only disguised as a normal mercenary, so he attached great importance to this opportunity to acquire some merits.
Initially, he only sent in the advance troops, and he remained in the base camp to monitor the operations of the mercenary group. However, when the Flickering World was officially opened, the players, who had disappeared from the Blackhole Edge for twenty years, came back online.
In every Star Field, the traits of the players were different, so the impressions they left on the local organizations were also different. Due to the scattered population of the players within the Blackhole Edge, their exposure was far from comparable to the players in the Black Star Army. Thus, their threat level was also lower.
However, there were also a large number of local organizations that had noticed the special existence of the players, thinking that they might be the same species as the Black Star Army’s Immortal troops. But the problem was that because the players were too scattered, the local organizations were unable to figure out their actual population. Before the players showed their ability to resurrect, they would behave like any other person, making it difficult to distinguish them.
Lesykes was one of the few to notice that the players had reappeared, and he was extremely impressed with these guys who did not seem to fear death. Therefore, he made a personal decision to recruit them en masse.
As it happened, many of the players in the Blackhole Edge were also looking to enter the Flickering World. They hit it off, and he was able to recruit over ten thousand of the players to transport over to the Blackhole Edge as a support force. This would allow him to claim extra credit.
Not long ago, he had received some good news; the Ursa Civilization had fallen into trouble on the front line. One of their collection units was overturned by the Immortals of the Black Star Army, and they desperately required reinforcements. Lesykes felt that he had suddenly become the person who supplied coal during a snowstorm, and he could not help being overjoyed.
This batch of reinforcements is just in time to help the civilization fight against the Black Star Army. Not only that, in the fight with other organizations, they can also use these Immortals to take the advantage. I’ve made a big contribution this time! Lesykes thought to himself secretly.
…
At the same time, among his fleet, a group of players from the Blackhole Edge stood in front of the porthole, whispering among themselves while enjoying the view of the Flickering World.
“We’re almost here. Hurry to the free competition zone. I’m almost dying of anxiety!”
“Look at what missions this mercenary group can do in the Flickering World.”
“Stupid, why would you even still follow this mercenary group? There are so many strong organizations in the Flickering World. What’s the point of remaining with this tiny organization?”
“Makes sense. When we arrive in the free competition zone, we can kick this mercenary group aside.”
Now that the many top-tier organizations were beginning to gather in the Flickering World, why would the players stick with the smaller groups? Only by switching to a stronger advanced faction could they then meet their increasing needs, especially their need for Class Knowledge.
Lesykes, who was full of hope, did not realize that he was being treated as a tool by the players.
The consequences of betraying a strong organization were serious, but for such a small organization like Lesykes’, the players did not give a hoot.
The top choice for the average player in the Blackhole Edge would be the three Universal Civilizations or any Beyond Grade A or advanced civilization in the Blackhole Edge, followed by the Black Star Army.
Players in other Star Fields naturally had no sense of belonging to the Black Star Army. Only the benefits and development prospects would move them. In this respect, the Black Star Army was just like a firefly in the night, extremely evident.
Throughout the many versions, the various benefits players of the army received had long been eye-catching for all the other countries. Now that they could finally cross Star Fields, the reputation and appeal of the army from several versions had accumulated to achieve the effect of allowing a large number of ordinary players to be inclined toward Han Xiao.
Among them, the ones that wanted to join the Black Star Army the most were the Mechanic players from the Blackhole Edge!
Due to the difference in planets in Version 1.0, the composition of Supers in each Star Field was also very vast. The most common Class in the Blackhole Edge was the Mage class, followed by Psychics. The overall focus there was more toward the arcane, and the mechanic department only accounted for about twelve percent of the total players in the Blackhole Edge.
In comparison, the Black Star Army was simply like a paradise for Mechanics, and with Han Xiao as the top mentor of the Mechanic Class, there was no need to worry about the lack of Class Knowledge.
In the eyes of these people, one sentence could summarize the meaning of Black Star to the mechanic players.
If the Heavens did not give birth to me, Black Star, then the Mechanics would essentially be fumbling in the dark!
As for the Mechanic Emperor… while it was rumored that he was extremely strong, the players were not too familiar with him. They instead gravitated toward Han Xiao. After all, the Chinese players had forged the route for them, so they knew that Han Xiao was a reliable person.
The group chatted around, and at the edge of this crowd, a player with the ID of Muay Thai as Warning appeared to be alone, looking out the window.
This hidden mission told me that the Lesykes mercenary group is actually an affiliated organization belonging to the Ursa Civilization. I heard from my friend that their Long Sky happened to grab some resources from the civilization and had a conflict, so our group is probably here to serve as reinforcements…
The friend he mentioned was actually a peripheral member of the Long Sky Guild. They had once gotten into a spate on the forums, but they had suddenly realized that the other party also made sense, so they apologized to each other and finally became friends.
With this in mind, a bold idea surfaced in the mind of Muay Thai as Warning, and the soul of the whistleblower started to burn brightly.
If one wishes to jump ship, then they definitely have to present a gift!
…
At the same time, somewhere in the Emerald Star Cluster, a small financial group’s exploration fleet docked
at a temporary transit station that was constructed by an advanced civilization for a rest. The crew went for some leisure time, only leaving the logistics personnel behind to clean and repair the equipment.
Buzz!
Within the maintenance channel inside the spaceship, two ground crew members wearing protective gear were holding onto maintenance tools, working in front of a complex piece of machinery. Sparks constantly splashed around.
It took a while before they completed their job. Evans took off his hood and wiped his sweat.
He then opened the logistics task list on his wrist, glancing at it, before opening the communication channel to report to his superior.
“Ground Handling Group No. 005 has completed the task. The issue with engine group component T1018 has been eliminated. We will now proceed to sector C0080 for cleaning.”
“Received, continue your work. You still have three more tasks to complete.”
“Understood.”
After finishing his report, he left the communication channel before patting his companion’s shoulder. “Let’s go to the next area.”
His companion, however, waved his hands in frustration. “We just finished our task. What’s the hurry? Let’s rest for a while.”
Evans tried to persuade him. “We’re pressed for time today, so we should try to get them done before work ends. It’s best not to take a break during working hours, or else we will not be able to finish.”
“Then we’ll just postpone it till tomorrow. It’s not just a one-day stop here.” The companion sat down in dissatisfaction. “If you want, you can go on ahead. I’ll rest here.”
Evans frowned but shook his head and no longer tried to persuade him. He could not control anyone; he just needed to do a good job himself.
He went along the maintenance tunnel by himself, and the figure of his companion soon disappeared, leaving him alone.
The lighting in the maintenance tunnel was dim, with only one light source situated at a large distance away. After walking for a while, Evans suddenly found a red light flashing in front of him. He stopped walking.
“The lights have gone out? Did I see it wrongly?”
Evans found it a little weird. He observed the environment detector, but there was no change. He initially thought it was his eyes playing tricks and walked forward a few more steps.
Buzz!
At this moment, a burst of red lit up his vision. The light source appeared on his side, less than a meter away!
Evans quickly reacted in shock, jumping to the side and tumbling on the ground, holding the welding torch in his hands as he stood up to face the light source.
What greeted him was a bizarre scene of an unknown red light zipping around in the air, constantly moving and leaving a trail of red light behind it. There was a lot of beauty to this scene.
“What is this thing?” Evans showed a wary expression as he secretly took out his communicator, wanting to report this anomaly.
However, the next moment, his eyes blurred as the red light dashed over at an inhumane speed, piercing through his body.
Evans hurriedly looked down but found himself unscathed. Instead, he felt full of energy. His fatigue from working was swept away, and his physical strength was restored.
At this moment, the red light paused before frantically hovering around him.
Evans seemed to have felt an emotion of happiness from this bundle of light, causing him to freeze in shock.
Before he could recover, the light seemed to stop suddenly, and as if pulled by some invisible presence, it suddenly disappeared, leaving Evans standing there with a blank expression.
After a long pause, Evans slapped himself hard.
“Ouch it hurts, I’m not dreaming… It seems like I’ve finally gone crazy.”
Chapter 1024 - Jumping Ship
As the fleet passed by the Black Star Army’s territory, the aspiring Lesykes was quickly dealt a harsh blow.
When he arrived at Planet Black Gate, the Immortals that he had painstakingly recruited from the Blackhole Edge suddenly broke out in a massive rebellion!
Not only did these players leave the faction, they even took over the spaceships carrying them!
Players in any area were accustomed to maximizing their benefits. Since they had already decided to leave, they would take advantage of the other party. Plus, it would be troublesome to travel without a spaceship. Many players seized control of the spaceships carrying them, leaving the designated fleet route and turning toward the Black Star Army.
Even those few players who were not planning to jump ship immediately were also forced to join in. After all, they were on the same ship, and if they fought and blew up the spaceship, there was no good end for either side.
With so many players in each spaceship, it was impossible to determine the ownership. Most people would only follow the spaceship to the transit station, where they would then scatter and act independently. This was the disadvantage of a lack of a huge faction to rally everyone.
Due to the large number of players rebelling, the total size of Lesykes’ army shrank by half, and the loss of the spaceships and supplies within were significant to Lesykes, making him feel as though he was bleeding out.
“Crazy, those guys are crazy! They have no morals at all!”
Within the command room, Lesykes was jumping around in anger.
This sudden incident was completely out of his expectations. He was immersed in his dream of achieving his meritorious service and did not expect this group of players to suddenly stab him in the back.
When they were still in the Blackhole Edge, these Immortals were still pretty law abiding, so why was it that they went all crazy the moment they arrived at the Flickering World?
He found it difficult to understand, and subconsciously, he felt as though this whole thing was a conspiracy, that some organizations had secretly meddled with them. He did not even consider their personal motivations.
After all, Lesykes did not understand the players. In his view, some foul play had to be going on, otherwise there would be no reason for all these players to riot together.
The stolen spaceships quickly dispersed and disappeared off their radar. Thus, Lesykes gave up on the symbolic chase. The strength of the Immortals also gave him some reservations, and with the spaceships having a similar speed, it would be hard to catch up to them. With this area being the territory of the Black Star Army, he dared not draw too much attention.
“*ssholes!”
Lesykes was hurt and angry, and he left a black mark on the files of this group of rebellious players, reducing their credit rating on their resumes.
After completing this matter, he managed to quell his anger somewhat. Upon seeing that half of the Immortals had stayed, he felt a little thankful.
“At least half of them are here. Even if I get less credit, there’s still some merit. I didn’t make the trip for nothing.”
Lesykes, however, no longer dared relax around the players, commanding, “Separate the rest of the Immortals and increase the defenses of each spaceship…”
After this experience, he had his guard up against the players.
However, even with his vigilance, another round of betrayals took place once again when he arrived at the free competition zone. The majority of Lesykes’ armed force consisted of the players. Thus, no matter how guarded the rest of the crew were, they were useless in the face of overwhelming numbers. The players had remained up till now just to obtain a free ride to the free competition zone.
The players that he brought from the Blackhole Edge had almost completely gone, and Lesykes almost went mad with anger.
Well done, this daddy here personally ran all the way to escort you guys to the Flickering World, thinking of achieving some merit, but ended up gaining nothing. It’s like fetching water using a rattan basket[1]!
The bad news poured in one after another. Lesykes quickly discovered from his intelligence that even with the black marks he left on the
players’ resumes, there were still top-tier factions that took in these Immortals, the most prestigious being the Black Star Army.
Lesykes found this whole thing a little hard to accept, as though he had been bullied, and his heart was full of grievances!
Dammit, why!
This life is too hard!
What he did not know was that, in a tiny batch of players left behind, there existed people like Muay Thai as Warning, serving as spies and tracking the movements of the fleet, constantly reporting back to the army.
In terms of the attractive force of the factions, the gap between him and the Black Star Army was too large. Even if he could temporarily obtain the players’ bodies, he could never obtain their hearts.
…
There was naturally more than one organization that suffered from this massive wave of dissention. After entering the Flickering World, these Blackhole Edge organizations mostly experienced the phenomenon of a large number of players leaving, and the Black Star Army was the main place to go for these players.
The attractiveness of his faction had accumulated and matured over several versions, resulting in this surge in players wanting to join the army. There was no need for Han Xiao to do anything; the manual leek collection job had evolved into a fully automated process.
Within Black Star Palace, Han Xiao glanced at the EXP gauge of his attributes panel, his eyes gleaming.
“This wave of experience has shot up real quick.”
His plan to expand the leek plantation had finally begun to take effect, with this first batch of ‘foreign leeks’ pulling themselves out from the roots to transplant themselves in his plantation.
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