She took one look around and said, “Guests, contestants, and viewers behind screens, welcome to the closing ceremony of the first Black Star Cup. I’m the army’s Chief Administrative Official, Sylvia.”
Then, Sylvia paused as stated in the script. Han Xiao smiled and applauded her. The people around followed his lead. Very soon, the venue was filled with roaring applause.
Seeing this, Sylvia then said, “As the army expands, the number of members continues to grow. The initial purpose of the Black Star Cup was to select the elites of the various professions inside the army so that the new members who are capable but not senior enough can have an extra path to rise up. At the same time, it gives the older members a chance to improve themselves. Now, the Black Star Cup has come to a fulfilling end. To our pleasant surprise, we realized just how many elites the army has in various professions…”
Sylvia started reading the script. The image was broadcast to the entire universe through the media cameras present. Of course, the Black Star Cup closing ceremony did not consist of only giving out the reward. The detailed order of the ceremony went Sylvia’s speech; the Black Star Cup organizing committee’s speech; the winners of various items going up onto the stage to accept their reward and each giving a speech; then last but not least, the army commander’s concluding speech. There were also a lot of performances and shows in between.
The army had invited many galactic celebrities, such as singers, actors, and the like. All those invited were extremely famous.
Usually, normal events would be honored to be able to invite just one of those celebrities, given how famous they were. However, the Black Star Cup was way too high class. These celebrities were the ones feeling honored to take part in the closing ceremony. This was an entertainment event hosted by a universal-level warlord, so it was an extremely excellent opportunity to build connections with people at the highest level of the society. In order to obtain a spot in the performances, the companies behind many celebrities even had intense fights.
Han Xiao was invited to the stage very soon to give the awards to the winners personally along with some words of encouragement. The remote projections of the two Vice Commanders, Lagi and Hila, stood beside him. They did not speak and only nodded at the contestants to show encouragement.
However, the reasons behind the two of them not speaking were different. Hila did not like talking, so she did not speak, while Lagi’s voice communication function was cut off by Han Xiao so that he could not speak.
The award ceremony had breaks, which were filled by the celebrity performances. As the closing ceremony was about halfway through, Han Xiao felt as if his face was twitching from smiling too much, and the spectators’ palms were also getting red from clapping too much. Finally, it was time to give the award to the outstanding contestants of the Immortals’ Square Scrimmage.
Here it is… Han Xiao focused.
The people walked onto the stage. Fly Free clenched his teeth and walked up. His back gave off a vibe as if he was walking up to an execution ground.
“Congratulations, you’re all talents of the army…”
Han Xiao read the script once more, gave Fly Free a glance, smiled in his brain, and took two steps back, giving the stage to the contestants to speak.
No one on the stage stepped forward; they all looked at Fly Free.
Fly Free nodded at everyone and walked to the lectern with heavy steps. The entire venue was extremely quiet. Everyone’s eyes were on him, waiting for his speech.
The players all subconsciously straightened their backs and became nervous, paying attention to every movement of Fly Free.
Fly Free took a deep breath, prepared himself mentally, and spoke. “I’m very proud to have achieved good results in the Black Star Cup, but that’s not what I’m going to talk about today… Just a few days ago, we discovered a shocking secret—the army commander who’s standing on this stage now is not Black Star! He’s someone else in disguise!”
Hu!
we
It was like bombs were being set off everywhere.
All the spectators, army officers, guests, celebrities, and even the Beyond Grade As present were completely startled by this sudden change. They looked at this guy and could not respond.
W-what’s going on?
“I’m a member of the Black Star Army. This is my home. I will only ever recognize Black Star as our army commander. I won’t allow anyone to disguise as our dear army commander to control the army!” Fly Free’s tone became firm as he yelled, “Today, right here, I’m going to use my life to expose this guy’s conspiracy to the entire universe! Save our leader!”
As soon as he said that, Fly Free turned around, flames erupted all over his body as he charged toward Han Xiao, screaming at the top of his lungs, “Mechanic Emperor! Die!”
At the same time, in a secret base at an unknown location, Manison’s hands trembled, and popcorn splashed all over the floor.
Chapter 1138 - Players Not Causing Trouble Have No Soul
“Go!”
A sudden change occurred. With a loud shout, the audience platforms erupted into chaos. About one fifth of the players suddenly moved. Silhouettes rose into the sky and headed right toward Han Xiao on the stage. They were all heroic players who had answered the call.
Like a taut string suddenly snapping, the rest of the players became excited about what was going to happen.
In the crowd, Winter Wolf’s eyes sparkled. He quickly ordered in the channel, “The chance is here! Let’s go!”
The next moment, several hundred players suddenly moved again and were about to attack the audience platform around them.
Winter Wolf flew up from his seat. Layers of frost condensed on his skin as he dashed right toward the celebrity seats.
Excitement appeared on Winter Wolf’s face as the reflection of many celebrities’ shocked faces entered his sights. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and was about to activate his Esper Ability and release an ice storm to turn these celebrities into ice sculptures.
At the same time, the heroes who were rushing toward the main stage also noticed this group of people who were using this opportunity to attack the innocents. Shock and rage appeared on their faces.
This was not in their plan at all, and subconsciously, some people were about to turn around and stop Winter Wolf and the others guild spies from hurting the innocents.
All these changes happened in an instant. As chaos was about to erupt, a bright electric light blasted in the middle of the venue!
Snap!
Countless bolts of Mechanical Force lightning shot out like a spider net. The mechanical soldiers that were hiding in the various audience platforms activated instantly and pounced at the players who were causing trouble around them.
These mechanical soldiers were all ‘Restrainer – Modified’ that could disassemble into advanced restraining suits and capture the target alive. Now that they had received Mechanical Force bonuses from Han Xiao, their attributes completely exceeded the players who were Grade B at best.
Buzz!
Black silhouettes crisscrossed everywhere, and electrical sparks flickered. All the players who were rushing toward Han Xiao from all over the place were suddenly controlled by the Restrainers’ electromagnetic chains and the restraining devices, unable to move like birds without wings. Fly Free and the rest of the contestants who were on the main stage were instantly blown away by the exploding energy, falling down at the edge of the stage. The group of them were just about to climb up and continue to charge when Han Xiao softly flipped his hand over. A powerful energy shockwave pressed onto them and slammed them all flat on the ground. The next moment, the metal floor turned into robes made of nanoparticles under the effect of Han Xiao’s Mechanical Force, tying Fly Free and the others up tightly.
Before the guests had time to react, the sudden danger was resolved by Han Xiao, who was prepared.
Whew, fortunately, I’m prepared.
Han Xiao sec
retly breathed a sigh of relief.
The players were not even at the Calamity Grade, so they were no different from ordinary people to him. They would not be able to cause any threat to him with numbers, but if they were to attack others, the ordinary spectators would definitely be hurt.
Even if he could react quickly, he could not ensure there were no casualties. However, since he was prepared and the players did not know, he was able to restrain all the players the moment they started to move, and no guest was hurt.
This operation was caused by Fly Free leading the momentum; that was all. These people were no different from a group of brutes with no proper unity and plan. Furthermore, most of the participants only took part on impulse, which was a common occurrence among the players. Plus, the time to prepare was too short, so there was no way they would be able to come up with a detailed plan.
The entire operation felt like a suicide mission.
“His responses are way too quick!” Winter Wolf could only feel a flash before his eyes, and he was captured without being able to resist at all. He was shocked.
He struggled to turn around and take a look and saw that all his friends had been captured by mechanical soldiers and restrained, unable to move.
Sh*t, not even one person died… Still, what we did was enough to anger the army and reduce its trust in all the players, which will in turn make the players in this faction receive fewer benefits…
Winter Wolf was a little regretful that his plan had failed to reach the optimal results, but judging from their goal, this was not a total failure.
These changes happened quickly, and the danger was resolved even quicker. The guests present and the spectators from the various Star Fields were stunned for quite a while before realizing what had happened.
Wait a minute, did we just slip past the gate of death?
“What just happened?”
“Looks like the Black Star Army’s men started a rebellion?”
“They said Black Star isn’t Black Star. Why do I have no idea what that means?”
“That startled me. To think it wasn’t a performance!”
As the guests finally realized what had happened, they became surprised. It had all happened too quick; they did not even sense danger arriving, and it was already resolved. They did not feel scared at all, only surprised and confused.
All the people started discussing the incident while staring at Han Xiao with confusion.
Many army officers quickly came to Han Xiao and stood around him, staring at those players with extremely hostile looks.
Hila stepped forward, her face filled with murderous intent as she yelled, “Arrest all of these rebels. Escort them away and interrogate them thoroughly. I want to know who ordered them to do this!”
“Hey, don’t get all tensed up. I still have some questions I want to ask them. Plus, I think the guests would like an explanation too.”
Han Xiao pulled Hila back and signaled for the officers to step back.
Feeling the confused and curious looks of the people around, he calmly raised his finger. Nanoparticle robes then separated from the metal ground and slowly flew to before Han Xiao, holding Fly Free and the others.
Deliberately showing a somewhat confused expression, Han Xiao curiously asked, “What did you mean by what you just said? Why would you think I’m the Mechanic Emperor in disguise?”
Fly Free was quite frustrated. The sudden act of so many people had absolutely no impact, and they were instantly wiped out. They had become prisoners of the ‘Mechanic Emperor’.
However, at least he yelled what he wanted to say to the entire universe, so his goal was achieved. What was left in his heart was only self-sacrificial emotions, so he yelled, “Mechanic Emperor! No matter how good your disguise is, I know you’re fake!”
“Do you have any evidence?” Han Xiao raised his brows.
Only players could see the Character Summon Card screenshot, so this evidence would not work on NPCs. Furthermore, that particular Character Summon Card had already been used to prove what they said, so this reason was not convincing at all.
Fly Free had guessed he would face this question long ago, and he knew he would not be able to convince anyone but the players. He was prepared to insult the ‘Mechanic Emperor’, so he shouted, “Your vibe!”
“Huh?” Even Han Xiao was stunned for a moment.
“Humph, our Black Star army commander is a man of justice and honor. Just looking at him will make people uncontrollably admire him. But you, Mechanic Emperor, you ignored the safety of the universe for your own sake, attempting to keep the source of the Intelligent Plague for yourself! Your despicable vibe has exposed you!”
“The Mechanic Emperor is despicable?” Han Xiao deliberately raised his tone.
“Very despicable!” Fly Free was not afraid at all. “Who is Black Star? He rose in just a few decades and can already fight you on par. You call yourself an Ancient One? All the years you’ve spent alive have gone down the toilet! Compared to our army commander… you are nothing!” Quite many Beyond Grade As touched their nose awkwardly… Why does it feel like we’re being insulted too? Han Xiao’s face twitched. He had to do everything he could not to laugh.
Beautiful!
That’s right, buddy, keep going!
“So… this is the reason for your mutiny?”
“It’s not a mutiny! Don’t even think about twisting our motive! We’ve fought and bled for the army; we’re inseparable from the army! Only Black Star has the right to lead us. If anyone else attempts to put their hands on it, we’ll definitely retaliate! Even if you kill me today, I’ll still continue yelling these words in my grave-never compromise!”
Fly Free said it with so much emotion that even Han Xiao was almost touched.
The infectious words made quite a number of senior players’ blood boil. The emotions from many versions rushed to their heads. They were fearless, as they would not die anyway, and they started shouting. “This is the Black Star Army! F*ck off, Mechanic Emperor!”
“Black Star will shine forever!”
“Captain is the best!” “Immortals will never be slaves!”
The voices echoed in the venue. The faith inside these words moved many viewers.
So, is this what it’s like in the armed forces? How beautiful.
On the other hand, the Beyond Grade As were all at a loss.
From their perspective, this was beyond ridiculous.
At this time, Kant suddenly said, “Actually, I can somewhat understand the mindset of these Immortals…”
The others turned to him with expressions of disbelief.
Kant coughed and said, “I’ve recruited some Immortals. Most of the time, they’re quite normal, but sometimes, they’ll show signs of being mentally challenged and do things I cannot understand at all…” “Such as?”
“… There was one guy who asked me directly to turn into a naked female human. I accidentally killed him… three times.”
Kasuyi agreed. “I have some Immortals under my command too. Even I can’t understand what’s in their heads. Someone actually tried to steal my undergarments. Do you believe that?”
“I recall hearing a theory. Experts say that the Immortal Race’s undying trait caused their minds to undergo synchronized mutation, which makes them have intermittent manic episodes, delusions, logic disorders, and other mental disorders.”
“Oh, then it makes sense…”
Suspecting that their boss was fake just because the vibe was not right? What kind of normal person would ever do that?
However, when it was the Immortals who did something like this, the people would instantly accept it. It seemed that no matter what outrageously weird things the Immortals did, the others would not think of it as abnormal.
As soon as the topic was brought up, many Beyond Grade As who also had Immortals under their command started chattering. Very soon, they came to the pleasant agreement that the Immortals had mental issues, and they reall
y respected Black Star for being able to effectively manage the Immortals, who were so unpredictable.
Secret Master snorted and said, “What are you all talking about? This clearly was directed by Black Star to deliberately embarrass the Mechanic Emperor. My eyes have seen through it all.”
“It’s a shame the Mechanic Emperor isn’t here. His expression would be a sight to behold.” Milizaus chuckled.
They then imagined what it would look like and giggled with glee.
While they were chatting, Han Xiao had many exchanges with Fly Free, insulting the Mechanic Emperor from head to toe in all styles.
“Come, kill me.” Fly Free looked heroic.
Seeing that it was about enough, Han Xiao said, “Although for some reason you are so sure that I’m the Mechanic Emperor in disguise, you really are mistaken… The Mechanic Emperor isn’t capable of disguising as me. He’s far from it.”
Hearing this, Kant laughed and said, “Wouldn’t we know if he’s Black Star or not? You guys are too young and naïve. At least get some solid evidence before you act.”
We do have solid evidence… but only we can see it.
Seeing the reactions of Han Xiao and the other Beyond Grade As, Fly Free and the others started to get shaken. They started to doubt themselves. Those who did not fully believe in the theory that this Black Star was fake started agreeing The effects of Character Summon Cards would not be fake, so the possibility of another theory was higher-Black Star had learnt the Mechanic Emperor’s ability somehow.
Seeing that they were pondering and hesitating, Han Xiao waved and said, “Escort them away for now. I’ll have a proper talk with them after the closing ceremony ends.”
He did not do anything to them for the time being. Dealing with these people was the army’s internal affair, so it was not suitable to handle it there.
The Restrainers took all the players who caused problems out of the venue. After Sylvia came up to calm everyone’s emotions down, the Black Star Cup closing ceremony continued. However, most people’s attention was no longer on the ceremony but on this tiny incident.
The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385 Page 807