“… Basically, they’re bored, so they want to start a fight.”
Han Xiao shook his head. The internal affairs of the players had nothing to do with him. He did not plan to interfere.
The location was not in the Ferdinand Battle Zone. It was on a planet in the frontlines called Marrison. When the players headed there to participate, it would affect the army’s battle in the frontlines to a certain extent. Although the army could use orders to restrain the players and not let them participate in the big battle all players could take part in, it would not have a positive impact, nor did Han Xiao plan to do so.
After all, players were not really his employees. If he restrained them too much, it would only achieve the opposite effect.
Of course, not only him, but all the organizations who had players would be affected to different extents. If these forces forcefully stopped their players, it would instead benefit the army and make recruiting players easier in the future.
“The army players will stick together in this war. They’ll be the largest group, so they’ll probably be targeted by many other alliances… but that’s not bad for me.”
Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.
The Pro League during the final stage of a version was an excellent way to boost sales. Many players would be willing to spend a lot of their savings to make themselves stronger. When that happened, the army’s sales would rocket, and Han Xiao would harvest a lot of EXP.
However, the Pro League had already been hosted three times. Most normal players were now very aware that they had no chances. A lot of them preferred saving their EXP to use in the next version.
Large scale wars were different; the players would not miss it. It was also a natural opportunity to boost sales, which was very beneficial for him. He would be able to harvest even more EXP near the end of Version 4.0 that would become his inventory during the version update.
“If I remember correctly, the interval between Version 4.0 to Version 5.0 should be about half a century, even longer than the last one…”
The next version was the Calamity of the Supers. The conflict between the Beyond Grade As would break out, and some of the Primordial Ones would return. However, since he had changed a large portion of the storyline, the events in Version 5.0 would certainly be completely different because of the butterfly effect.
This was not a big deal. Han Xiao knew those people who were important, so he was not afraid of changing the original storyline. The biggest version of the next version was actually the players.
In Version 5.0, the maximum level of the players would become level 180, which meant they would become Calamity Grades. The version name ‘Calamity of the Supers’ was a subtle hint to the players that their impact on the universe in the next version would be tremendous. “This is good news for me.”
By then, the middle level combatants of the explored universe would skyrocket. Although the players would bring chaos, they would also become a crucial force in fighting the World Tree Civilization. In the World Tree War in his previous life, the importance of the players was absolutely irreplicable. If not for the millions of Calamity Grade players, the explored universe would have suffered even heavier damage.
Also, the army would become excessively stronger. All this planning throughout these past versions was for when the players evolved.
There were decades till the next version, so he had more than enough time to prepare. Plus, some of old Manison’s words made a lot of sense; foundation was crucial for Mechanics. He planned to spend decades focusing on improving his Mechanic skills while waiting for the effects of (Key of Adeptus Mechanicus] to become stronger.
The effects of this talent would increase once every few days, continuously making him stronger. This meant that more and more of Manison’s believers were running into his arms. He could imagine the shift in the Machinery Faith.
All kinds of thoughts flashed through his mind. Han Xiao continued to browse through the forums till the battlefield was cleaned up. He then boarded the spaceship back to Black Star Palace. He had made up his mind on finishing the remaining twenty-seven spars within two months.
In a secret Crimson Dynasty military training base, Gaud strolled through the training base, wearing a high-level dynasty officer uniform. He was not in a good mood. Just now, Gaud had received a message from the dynasty’s upper echelons, telling him to postpone the plan indefinitely. The plan referred to using his Esper Ability to try to figure out the core energy of the Evolution Cube.
Back when they came up with this plan, it was totally achievable. However, times were changing too quickly, disrupting the tempo of many hawk faction dynasty upper echelons. At this point, Black Star’s position and strength had reached a new height, so this plan became more and more risky. Hence, the upper echelons had no choice but to pause this plan temporarily with resignation, both because they did not want to mess with Black Star as well as to keep Gaud hidden as a trump card.
At the root of it, this was because of Black Star’s extremely quick growth that kept changing the situation repeatedly, so often that people could not react fast enough.
This was the source of Gaud’s bad mood. Black Star’s growth speed was even faster than his even though this was his new account. He could not even see Black Star’s taillights. It was tough for him not to feel frustrated.
“Black Star… Black Star…” Gaud mumbled as he walked to a public training facility without realizing
The sound of intense battles entered his ears. He looked at the source of the sound and saw a low-grade elite class fighting in pairs under the supervision of the drill sergeant. They looked like a group of novices.
At this time, two Grade C Pugilists were fighting in the venue, one having the upper hand and the other barely hanging on. It looked like the latter losing was just a matter of time.
Unsurprisingly, only a few seconds later, this spar ended. The one who was barely holding out got kicked out by a leg swing of his opponent. He slid on the floor and just so happened to stop in front of Gaud. “Karlot, you lost again.” The drill sergeant frowned at the loser. “You’re at zero wins and nine losses. It’s embarrassing.” “Sorry.” Karlot rubbed his chest, stood up, and smiled with resignation.
The drill sergeant looked unhappy as he yelled, “All of your test scores are at the bottom. I really don’t know why the people above have put you into my elite class to drag down the entire class’ scores. I’ve allowed you to stay in this class because I can see you’re hardworking enough, but if your scores are still at the bottom the next test, I won’t give you another chance and will make you leave!”
After he said that, the classmates all looked at Karlot coldly, not hiding their dissatisfaction.
Although these people were students, they were talents the dynasty had selected from the various departments who were being trained in this secret base. Furthermore, this was an elite class. Everyone in it was a talented dynasty soldier, and they were all renowned in their own divisions.
The opportunity to receive this type of training was very rare, so these students treasured it very much. This was exactly why they disliked Karlot-he was too ordinary and not like an elite at all. Logically, he was not qualified to receive such training.
Due to how difficult it was to get this opportunity, these elites all felt it unfair. From their perspectives, the first thing they thought of was the word ‘bribe’ when they saw a mediocre soldier training with them, making them unavoidably reject Karlot.
Furthermore, as soldiers, they respected the strong above all. Karlot’s ability was too low, so they looked down on him from the bottom of their heart. Naturally, they were not going to treat him well.
Noticing the cold eyes of everyone, Karlot sighed in his mind.
He had accepted the fact that he was mediocre long ago. He knew that these people were elites who were much more talented than him from the beginning, so he was not discouraged.
He had gained this opportunity to undergo suc
h advanced training thanks to Black Star. Although he was carefree, he was not someone who would give up an amazing opportunity. However, he was already doing the very best within his capabilities, yet he still could not match up to the growth speed of these elites. There was nothing else he could do.
Gaud quietly observed from the side.
Some time ago, he had heard people say that someone who Black Star once heeded had entered this training base, and that person’s name was Karlot. As it was related to Black Star, Gaud kept it in mind. This was the first time he had seen this person.
He sized Karlot up. All he could see from Karlot was the word ‘mediocre’.
Gaud considered himself to have sharp eyes, but even he did not find anything special about Karlot. He was confused.
Why was Black Star interested in this guy? He’s known for having accurate and sharp eyes. He shouldn’t have made a poor judgement…
Gaud could not figure it out at all. He thought about it for a second before waving at the drill sergeant.
The drill sergeant had noticed Gaud long ago. He instantly put on a smile and walked over. Almost everyone in this base knew that Gaud was the person with the highest chances of becoming a Beyond Grade A and had received a lot of resources and training. Gaud’s position was quite high.
“What is it, Gaud?”
“That novice called Karlot, whether he passes the tests or not, let him stay in the base,” Gaud whispered.
Hearing this, the drill sergeant was puzzled.
Based on his test scores, Karlot was bound to be disqualified and leave the training base. He did not expect Gaud to speak for him.
“I’m not sure. This guy doesn’t have much value. Keeping him here is a waste of resources.”
“Do what you can then.”
Gaud could not see what was special about Karlot either, but because of Black Star, he wanted to keep Karlot and observe him longer.
Han Xiao had stayed in Black Star Palace and did not go to the frontlines. One and half a month passed quickly.
On this day, a shocking piece of news suddenly erupted in the Modo Civilization!
The Tri-Race Senate announced the beginning of the impeachment process for the current Modo Three Kings. Throughout history, the impeachment of the highest leaders had occurred very few times, so this instantly shocked the whole society.
As the name suggested, this assembly was formed by the congressmen from all three races. It had extremely high power, including the impeachment right of the highest leaders. The initiators of this impeachment were thirty-three congressmen who proposed the impeachment together. The Tri-Race Senate approved it by voting. The preparations started quickly; it was clearly planned.
Being shocked was one thing, but the Modo citizens supported it to quite a large extent. The chaos in the civilization had already severely affected the daily operations of their society. Although this was caused by enemies, the citizens did not care much and blamed it on the highest leaders, which was much easier.
Marco had gathered more and more supporters, and he found the logical excuse of regaining order and objecting to the war. He used a long and formal report to analyze that Modo’s chances of winning this war were extremely low. Using this as evidence, he objected to the Modo Three Kings’ decision to continue supporting the expeditionary army, calling it a meaningless sacrifice.
His stand received recognition from quite a number of officials and citizens. Not everyone was willing to sacrifice their present interests for the so-called future potential.
The Modo Three Kings did not expect those who objected to their decisions to suddenly backstab them at such a crucial moment. Their plans were heavily disrupted.
Chapter 1180 - Assassination
As soon as the impeachment proceedings started, the political world of the Modo Civilization became boisterous. All the factions were dragged in and forced to pick sides. Modo had no choice but to shift their focus back to within the nation and deal with the impeachment. The three kings were forced to deploy their men to take part in a political war. Luckily, after so many years, their positions were firm and strong; they would not be overthrown easily.
There were extremely few advanced civilizations that were in a dictatorship. Being in the position as the highest leader did not mean instantly obtaining the highest power. Politics was an art of compromise; power came from obedience. Even as leaders of civilizations, in order to firm their position, they still had to fight for the support of various factions and train loyal followers. Only then would their power be materialized.
Otherwise, no matter what orders they gave, they would be obstructed by their political enemies. Becoming the highest leader did not mean the others would unconditionally obey them. There were many people who had their eyes on the position too.
In the following days, the citizens witnessed the changes in the political world. The Modo Three Kings and the opposing party pulled out one trick after another. The day before yesterday, someone resigned; yesterday, someone got summoned; today, someone was caught in a scandal. God only knew what would happen tomorrow. The citizens had plenty of new stories to follow.
Hearings of the Tri-Race Senate were hosted one after another. The objecting faction brought up a lot of evidence, and even some secrets that the citizens were not supposed to know were displayed, causing uproars among the public.
ars am
The Kunde Race incident was one of them. The objecting faction summoned key witnesses and had them provide the signatures of the Modo Three Kings that approved this operation. They then used this as evidence to prove that the Kunde Race incident was the reason Black Star was targeting Modo. Thus, they came to the conclusion that the Modo Three Kings had brought Black Star’s hatred to the civilization; they were the culprits that caused Modo to be in this horrible situation. The objecting faction claimed that the Modo Three Kings had made an awful decision and that the Modo Three Kings were not capable enough of remaining as the leaders of the civilization.
There were some more similar pieces of evidence. The objecting faction blamed all the sinful things on the Modo Three Kings, emphasizing to the Tri-Race Senate that the Three Kings were not capable, and suggested changing them.
This was not framing the Modo Three Kings. As the highest leaders, even though some plans were not proposed by the Three Kings, they would only be carried out with the signatures of the three of them, so they could only take the blame.
Endless testimonies caused the situation to gradually worsen for the Modo Three Kings. However, their position would not be shaken so easily. Their connections were very comprehensive. Including the military, many factions were their firm supporters. These factions all had members in the Tri-Race Senate. They worked together to obstruct the impeachment, which was highly effective.
The military was firmly on the side of supporting the war, which brought the support of more important upper echelons. Compared to the supporters of the Modo Three Kings, the objecting faction led by Marco was no match. The investigations hit a wall very soon, so the objecting faction turned their focus to the next batch of Modo Three Kings candidates, hoping to gain their support, which also failed without much suspense.
With the impeachment fermenting, the matter led to political strife. The Modo Three Kings had wasted too much time. They did not want to waste more energy on this matter, so they did not hold back at all.
Therefore, this nonsense did not last too long. In the end, the Tri-Race Senate rejected the objecting faction’s impeachment request. The result was basically a loss for both sides.
As the political opposition was dealt with, in order to regain their reputation, the Modo Three Kings decided to give a public speech to give a conclusive response on the impeachment matter.
Benid Square was one of the landmarks of the Modo Civilization’s capital, a tourist destination with tons of visitors every day. On this day, it was used by the government as the venue for the Modo Three Kings to give a speech. The venue w
as already set up.
Due to their negative image to the public, the Modo Three Kings did not speak in the political building this time but instead chose to give the speech in front of the public to build an image that they were close to their citizens. The filtered audience filled the square.
A cordon had been set up around the square. Tons of security personnel were stationed around, protecting the perimeter with expressionless faces. At this time, an audience that extended beyond one’s sights had gathered outside.
Many people held up banners with words like ‘Overthrow the Three Kings’. They were all protestors… Although the objecting faction had lost, they still dealt irreversible damage to the Modo Three Kings’ reputation.
The seats of the officials were around the podium, and the objecting faction’s seats were all at the edge, clearly arranged deliberately. The others were not willing to even look in their general direction, not wanting to have any connections with the objecting faction that had lost.
“I didn’t expect the Three Kings to invite us,” a member of the objecting faction mumbled. “They want to humiliate us in front of the public to enhance the effectiveness of the speech.”
Marco was not in a good mood.
He knew full well that at this point, there was absolutely no way the Modo Three Kings had invited them to attend the speech to repair their relationship. They were certainly going to condemn their actions as victors.
Of course, the objecting faction only stepped out to try to impeach the Modo Three Kings because they were confident that they could win. However, they were defeated in the end. The trump cards they had pulled out were resolved one after another, and some witnesses had changed their testimonies. Marco could only admit his loss. There were actually some others who had the same mindset as him but did not stand out this time because they did not dare take the risk. In order to change the path of the civilization, Marco was willing to take the risk. On the other hand, the people who hid to protect their positions did not take any actions despite the fact they objected to the Modo Three Kings’ decisions and watched the armies being sacrificed meaninglessly. Although he had lost, he still despised these cowards.
The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385 Page 841