“Hila?”
Among the Space Lice, Han Xiao, who was herding up these cuties, felt the fluctuations coming off from Hila and looked over. His eyes brightened immediately.
In a flash, he appeared before her, smiling. “I’ve not seen you for a while. Did you miss
me?”
“I miss…” Hila caught herself before she subconsciously spoke out and continued in surprise. “Why are you here? Where did you go this time?”
“I went over to the secondary dimensions to take a gander. The signal there is not good. Did you see the cuties yet? These were my war trophies. I intend to let them settle down around the Underworld to serve as a line of defense. Their combat power is pretty impressive…”
Han Xiao babbled on with the introduction, pretending that he did not see Hila’s hesitation.
After losing contact for several months, he knew that Hila would definitely worry, but he did not intend to disclose his experience of the trip for the time being. Thus, he decided to hide the truth and simply gloss over it.
After listening for a bit, Hila still could not resist interrupting Han Xiao’s words, “Do you know the impact your loss of contact has brought us? If it was not for me blocking the news, there would be a lot of people in the army that wavered…”
Han Xiao laughed. “You’re the Deputy Army Commander. There’s still you even if I’m not around. Nobody will be able to do anything. I have faith in you.”
Hearing this, Hila’s expression became a lot better.
She vaguely felt that Han Xiao was hiding something from her, but she did not want to ask more. The most important part was that he had returned.
Hila did not continue questioning him and turned her attention toward the weird looking Space Lice.
“When these groups of life forms join forces, can their battle strength truly reach the pinnacle Beyond Grade A level?”
“Their attack power won’t be as good, but their defenses can indeed reach such a stage. They feed on chaotic space streams, so not only will they not attack the secondary dimension but also provide protection. They like the environment around a secondary dimension, so they usually settle down and use it as a nest, hence attacking all outsiders.” Han Xiao nodded.
After catching a batch of Space Lice, he had split up with Kasuyi and headed home. Through the journey, he did research and discovered the habits of the Space Lice, which allowed them to coexist in harmony with the secondary dimensions. They were suitable for guarding homes and were simply natural bodyguards.
“Alright, as long as there’s no danger, I have no issue keeping them here.” Hila agreed after thinking. “My teacher came to look for you three times but was rejected by me. Remember to go see her.”
“Ok.” Han Xiao assented and asked, “Anything happen with the association while I was absent?”
“The same old. There has been no change, except for the lack of fighting between you and Manison. No one is moving for now. It’s basically a formality.”
“Those fence sitters only wish for me to get things done…” Han Xiao’s mouth contorted slightly.
In the eyes of ordinary people, the Beyond Grade As were people of high authority and prestige, but in his eyes, they were a group of boring people.
He then rejected Hila’s invitation to get abused before throwing the Space Lice at the Underworld and using the King to teleport himself back to the Army’s Base camp in the Emerald Star Cluster.
With a blur in his vision, Han Xiao returned to his office and found Sylvia sitting there with her legs propped up on the table.
Seeing that someone had suddenly appeared in the room, Sylvia was taken aback. But after recognizing Han Xiao, she calmed down, and instead of standing up, she purposely struck her feet on the table once, huffing as she angrily said, “Oh, isn’t this His Excellency Black Star? You still know your way back? I thought you had forgotten all about us.”
Han Xiao did not show offence, rather walking up to Sylvia and patting her head. Feeling her hair, he smiled.
“Seems like you have worked hard these few months. It’s been hard on you.”
“Scram.” Sylvia knocked his hand away before standing up and snorting. “I could not contact you, and there’s a large backlog of issues that you need to handle. Hurry and clear them. I’m still waiting.”
Having finished speaking, she turned to leave, but suddenly, she realized something just as she reached the door. She turned back, picking up the jacket she draped over the chair and the gold rimmed glasses on the table, rolling her eyes at Han Xiao again as she left.
“Tsk, what a huge grudge she has.”
Han Xiao pursed his lips. He naturally would not be so petty with this balding baby.
This trip had been a great harvest for him. He not only learned a lot of secrets of the universe but also greatly expanded his knowledge. For him, returning to his universe felt like he had come to another world. But in the eyes of his officers, it was only a few months that he had disappeared. Except for a few, no one was curious about where he had gone.
Han Xiao reconnected to Phillip, encrypting all the data he recorded on this trip.
This technological treasure was too rich, such that even a pinnacle Beyond Grade A like him would take around a decade to finish studying it. While Awakening Points and Experience could speed up the research progress, it would be a waste to use them that way. After all, before the next Version arrived, it would be difficult for him to supplement those. Since it was not long until the Version 4.0 update, he could take his time to slowly digest it then.
He summoned a housekeeping robot to spray some air freshener in the room to remove the remnants of Sylvia’s elegant perfume before sitting back in his chair to handle the backlog while logging onto the forums to check on the players.
After a few months, the fourth Pro League had entered the International League phase, and they were at the Quarter Finals. China had two teams qualifying this time, Dynasty with the most stable performance and Rivervale.
After three league matches, Rivervale was no longer a dark horse but rather a stable and powerful team.
The previous International League group stage that had just ended was the most dangerous one, with the crazy targeting of the Chinese clubs still ongoing. As a result, there was one less team that had qualified for Quarter Finals this time.
However, looking at it from another angle, even with the clubs of various countries trying to push them down, there were still two Chinese teams that had made it in. The results were gratifying
Now the hope of the country fell on Dynasty and Rivervale. So long as either of them won the championship, it would mean three consecutive victories for China. None of the other countries in the top eight wanted to see such a result, but they were unable to encircle and suppress the Chinese players as much as in the group stage.
“Now that it has reached the Quarter Finals, it’s not far from the end of the Pro League. There are at most two months left before Version 4.0 ends… I have to prepare.”
Chapter 1207 - Finals and Reorganization
In his past life, Version 5.0 represented the Calamity of the Supers. The Beyond Grade As of history revealing themselves, conflicts intensifying between the Supers and the ordinary citizens, the emergence of the Grade A players, and the unwillingness of the Super Star Cluster Civilizations in losing the war all combined to throw the universe that had just stabilized back into turmoil.
Under his own influence, there were too many variables, so he could not properly predict what the specific changes in the next version would be. The only thing Han Xiao could determine was that the importance of players would rise once more and become the focus of more factions. No matter how much reservations the factions had, they would introduce welfare measures to recruit more players.
While the army had greatly expanded its scale of players in Version 4.0, this was an opportunity and yet a trouble. Not to mention the potential confusion that the players would bring, the ot
her factions would also attempt to poach the army’s own players. As long as they were willing to fork out a sum of money, it will naturally have an effect. Han Xiao was not so arrogant and self-confident that no player would not succumb to such a measure. Moreover, the idea of being a big fish in a small pond might appeal to some players, rather than staying in the army and being a small fish in a big pond. This was especially so for players who would reach the level of Calamity Grade. They would naturally have a huge impact on the Super employment market in the universe.
A true Calamity Grade would have the qualification to dominate an entire area on their own, so the majority of factions could not afford to employ them. However, even if the regular remuneration was reduced to a fourth or even a fifth of the usual rate, it would be enough to feed the players. While the strength of the players for their Calamity Grades would be at the bottom of the barrel, they were the cheapest Calamity Grades that some small factions would be able to afford.
The only way I can deal with the other factions is by continuing to strengthen the construction of the faction, increasing the status and attractiveness of the army during the Version update. Even with my personal influence, this will be a step-by-step process, but if I can take out some of the valuable civilian black technology, it will greatly speed up the progress. In the eyes of the public, it will seem as though I developed this… The army’s operations in the Flickering World were on the right track and had limited room for further development. To continue expansion, he could only target other Star Fields by developing branches.
The following few decades while the version updated would be a good time for him to lie low and develop. With the aid from the Association, the army did not need to participate in the war between the three Universal Civilizations and the Super Star Cluster Alliance, thus not being dragged down. They could all just sit this one out and reap the spoils later.
On the other hand, this was also conducive to the construction of the Association’s community of interest. The final structure had to exist as a multi-faceted interest network, where the most powerful Beyond Grade As sold various resources and services while the weaker ones obtained support, maintaining a balanced relationship. With the size of the current Black Star Army, it was naturally qualified to become one of the facets.
Each term of office for the President was stated at fifty years. Han Xiao had already thought about it, planning to oust Manison when his term was up and sit in this position. With his current right to speak in the Association, so long as Manison did not make any underhanded moves, he was quite assured.
The moment he sat in the position of President, with his results of exploring the Sanctum, there would be no suspense when it came to future re-elections.
“The specific plan will depend on the actual situation…”
Han Xiao opened his memo, beginning to write out the prototype of the plan.
Because Han Xiao and Kasuyi’s actions were carried out in secret, the time of their disappearance did not cause any alarm. After all, the risk of exploring the secondary dimensions was too great, so it was normal that the major organizations would not pay much attention to the duo’s actions.
The news of Black Star returning quickly spread through the army, and players noticed, but the International League had already reached the quarter finals, and everyone had already run out of blank Character Summon Cards to use. It was with pity in their hearts that they refocused on the event.
Since the start of Version 4.0, China’s major clubs had enjoyed the development benefits the Black Star Army provided them, making a lot of money in the process. The better their official guilds developed, the greater the support for the professional teams. At present, China’s first-tier professional teams basically all belonged to the To and T1 tiers internationally, with outstanding strength. They had performed strongly during the quarter finals. Because they met with such harassment, the Chinese teams were unable to obtain many points this time round. Both Dynasty and Rivervale entered the quarter finals at second and fifth place respectively. After three victories in the best of five, they both reached the semifinals, succeeding in occupying two seats. This meant that they would get at least a third place.
However, after three versions, the Chinese players had grander ambitions. No one was satisfied with just third place. In the eyes of the players, only three consecutive championships was worthy of being their goal.
The semifinals were decided through lot drawing, and this caused the Chinese players on the forum to be divided into two sides. One hoped that both Dynasty and Rivervale would not meet each other in the semifinals, and the other side hoped that they would meet. If both Dynasty and Rivervale could defeat their opponents, that would of course be the most ideal situation. However, if both sides lost, then China would be halted at the semifinals. However, if both faced each other, this would be a sort of insurance to guarantee that one of them would definitely step into the finals.
Under the prayers of the two sides, the semifinals list appeared. The Chinese teams were not facing each other. Dynasty went against Team Thunderbolt Pythons from North America, whereas Rivervale’s opponent was Team Kimchi from South Korea.
The Chinese players who supported having their teams meet in the finals got their wish, but for the players on the other side, they were all depressed, worrying about the possibility that both teams might be defeated. As the saying went, one would only know what they wanted after the matter had taken place. In the end, most players discovered that rather than having two teams meet in the final, they would rather have a shot at winning the championship.
Both teams tried their best, but Dynasty missed out on a round, being defeated two rounds to three. They failed to qualify for the finals, and the hope of replicating the scene of having two teams from the country in the finals was dashed.
Rivervale, on the other hand, performed wonderfully, qualifying with three rounds to one. There was a saying in Galaxy that every version would have a god-like respective class. The Mechanic class gradually began to exert its strength in the middle to late stages, and because of the limitation of level cap in each version, the Mechanic’s feature of burning money to continuously increase strength was favored by professional teams. Rivervale’s team was made up of Mechanics as the core, which explained their strength.
In the previous Pro League, Rivervale barely eked out a victory against Team Key in the semifinals, allowing China to dominate the finals. Though they failed to win the championship, they still received endless praise. This time, they really had a chance to obtain the championship, shouldering all the expectations of the Chinese players.
The date of the finals was set a few days later, and the forums were discussing this matter enthusiastically.
Outside of the players’ field of vision, a new regular meeting of the Beyond Grade A Association was held.
A series of Beyond Grade A remote projections descended on the headquarters of the Beyond Grade A Association, walking into the round-table meeting room and sitting down, whispering to their neighbors.
Sitting in the President’s seat, Manison looked at this harmonious scene, glancing at the empty Vice President’s seat as he felt as though the air was fresh and the atmosphere relaxed.
At this moment, an untimely voice sounded outside the door, breaking his harmony and tranquility.
“Hehe, I’m back! Did everyone miss me?”
Hearing the familiar voice, everyone turned around to see Han Xiao, who had vanished for a few months, walking into the conference room with a smile that asked to be slapped.
“Oh, Black Star’s back!”
“It’s been a few months, but you look pretty good!”
“Where did you go these few months? To not even inform us.”
Upon seeing Han Xiao, many people present smiled, beginning to chat and wave to him. Even the direct subordinates of the three Universal Civilizations also nodded in greeting, and the place became lively
Han Xiao was quite c
omfortable in the Beyond Grade A circle, having a good relationship with most people. He smiled in response to the crowd, walking to his seat and plonking himself down before turning to look at Manison and joking, “I heard that you’ve been very comfortable these few months. It’s alright, I’m back now.”
Manison displayed a passive expression as though he had not seen or heard him. The moment Han Xiao appeared, he had put on this poker face.
Seeing this, all the Beyond Grade As were full of spirits, their eyes jumping between both of them as they revealed expectant expressions.
A meeting without the Vice President spitting nonsense did not feel complete. The last few months’ meetings had been too dull, causing everyone to feel drowsy and lethargic. With Black Star finally back, they could enjoy his repertoire again. No one allowed their minds to wander.
At this moment, Kasuyi also walked in, and after some greetings, he sat in his position. Everyone could not help but cast suspicious glances.
The duo had disappeared for several months and reappeared at the same time, which left a lot to their imagination.
Manison also looked at Kasuyi a few times before suppressing the doubts in his heart, not asking on the spot.
Surveying his surroundings, he coughed twice before saying, “Since everyone is present, let’s start…”
Before he could finish, Han Xiao immediately raised his hands. “I have something to say.”
Manison was interrupted in his opening speech, but he was not angry at all. He was already used to it. As long as Black Star was present, he would never have the chance to finish a sentence.
Everyone else’s eyes lit up.
It’s here. It’s about to get nasty. Black Star is indeed our source of joy. He’s so dedicated that he starts his job the moment he comes.
Han Xiao looked at everyone, seeing them anticipating what he was about to say. He then turned to Manison and spoke in a deep voice.
“Recently, I’ve been thinking about it, and I feel that Manison’s Felon technology is not conducive to the unity of the Beyond Grade As. Having this living body transformation is going overboard, and I feel that Manison should take the initiative to abandon his technology, releasing the Felons.”
The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385 Page 863