For the next ten days after Rivervale won the championship, the forums were still as bustling as ever. During this period, the Galaxy Times also stepped up its production, producing a new program. The past three champion teams of Rivervale, Dynasty, and Long Sky were invited as guests, giving rise to an unprecedentedly grand occasion.
Han Xiao was also watching, his screen constantly being barraged with bullet comments. Two hosts, a man and woman, were seated on one side. The team players, headed by Frenzied Sword, King Admiral, and Hao Tian, were seated on the other. The interview had already begun.
“… Since the first Pro League, we’ve witnessed the rise of Rivervale step by step. The team has continued to mature, and after four versions, you’ve finally won the highest honor. Captain Frenzied Sword, any thoughts?” the female host asked.
Frenzied Sword carried a proud smile on his face as he said, “First of all, I would like to thank the club for investing in me. After the first Pro League, Rivervale decided to rebuild the team up from scratch, and they gave me a lot of authority. It can be said that without their support, there would not be the present me. Next, I would like to thank my teammate. Everyone put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to achieve the current results. Without our tacit cooperation, we would not have today’s glory.
“Next, I would like to thank Dynasty, Long Sky, and the other Chinese teams. Without their efforts in the previous two leagues, we would not have been able to obtain the honor of having three consecutive championships. This is the result of the hard work of all the Chinese teams. Everyone has won glory for the country.
“Lastly, I would like to thank the Black Star Army. Though a bit strange, if I were to be honest, I feel that the Black Star Army has played an irreplaceable role in the course of our championship titles. It might even be one of the main factors.”
The male host nodded. “There are indeed such sayings on the internet. Many people think that the achievements of China’s three consecutive championships is inseparable from the unique faction benefits offered, which means that there is a factor of luck involved. Do you feel the same?”
Frenzied Sword spoke in agreement. “I would think so. The players who have experienced four versions like me will understand. The Black Star Army started off small in its early stages. It was us who painstakingly built it up from scratch, which has brought us long-term gains. “Being able to join such a promising faction at the very beginning is part of our luck, and it does indeed provide a lot of convenience. There’s no need to deny this… Of course, the team’s contribution is also equally important. Those who wish to get work done must first sharpen their weapons. In this respect, our faction allowed us to develop well, and we used these resources to give a glorious answer sheet.”
Hao Tian added, “Frenzied Sword is right. The Black Star Army does have a part in the honor of our three consecutive championships.”
In Version 1.0, he was one of the ‘four pillars’ under Han Xiao, so he naturally agreed with Frenzied Sword.
To mention an NPC faction during a championship interview seemed a little weird, but most players in the Chinese teams would not feel that way. After four versions, the Black Star Army had given them a strong sense of belonging, making them feel like they were part of a larger family. Seeing that the topic had reached this point, the female host turned over her card as she said, “Speaking about the Black Star Army, just a few days ago, Black Star himself publicly stated that he would buy the Planet Milton and give it to the subsidiary Golden Alliance as their base. This has aroused a lot of conversation. What do you think of this?”
Hearing this, everyone turned to look at Maple Moon. She was, after all, the recognized plot digger among the professional players, and everyone felt that her answer would be more reliable.
Maple Moon thought for a bit before answering. “I feel that, although the behavior of our Army Commander was a little sudden, it’s not at all surprising if you think carefully about it. You have to remember that during the national war, there were quite a few NPC spaceships from the various organizations watching us on Planet Milton. With our existence in the universe, it is impossible for Black Star not to pay attention to our national war.
“While the NPCs do not know what we’re doing, they can also make basic judgments. From the perspective of the Army Commander… I think that while he might not understand why we are fighting, in his eyes, it is likely to be a conflict between us Immortals. He didn’t want to manage this, but because the Golden Alliance is under his command, and there were also teams that were subsidiaries of the Super Star Cluster Alliance, there was an environment of faction conflict.
“Therefore, when he saw his affiliated organizations defeating all the other enemies, he might have been pleased. Then when he saw us staying in the battlefield of Planet Milton and establishing a player Main City, he might have thought that we were reluctant to leave this place, so he generously decided to purchase it to reward his subordinates.”
After Maple Moon’s analysis, many of the viewers suddenly realized that the cause and effect were quite clear, and the screen immediately flooded with a barrage of comments.
“Indeed, a professional player good at digging out plots. This idea is actually pretty clear. I can understand it immediately.”
“What do we need to analyze anyways? All we need to do is scream ‘Army Commander, you’re impressive, awesome’!”
“Even when fighting a national war, our faction still gives us benefits. Only the Black Star Army have such good treatment, right? This is too good!”
The national war was a player’s spontaneous activity, so there was originally no reward. However, because of Black Star’s generosity, they now had something to celebrate.
Moreover, even if the guild alliances of the other factions won the national war, they probably would not get such benefits. Only the players of the Black Star Army would have such treatment. Was this not too fortunate?
The eyes of the guilds in the other factions were all green with envy. Seeing this, Han Xiao laughed in satisfaction. He liked this sort of player with an excellent brain who gave his army a sense of existence. The two hosts asked many questions, giving the players of the three teams much free room to talk. The interview ended in a happy atmosphere before entering the last link of the program, reviewing the course of this version and predicting the next version’s start point.
The male host slowly said, “Version 4.0, we’ve witnessed many historical events, such as the establishment of the Beyond Grade A Association, Black Star’s Godlike Battle, the Intelligent Plague outbreak, Black Star being awarded the Galaxy Medal and being hired as a special consultant by the three Universal Civilizations. There were also conflicts between the three Universal Civilizations and the Super Star Cluster Alliance, the Black Star Cup, and the participation of the Flickering World war… There were so many achievements…”
Many of the viewers were wrapped up in their memories, recalling the rich experiences from the past few years.
The hostess then added, “We’ve experienced a lot in Version 4.0. The opening of the World Server has given this version a special meaning, but the universe is still under turmoil. It’s difficult to predict what will happen in Version 5.0, so we can only make an educated guess based on existing intelligence.
“Right now, it’s the early stages of the Flickering World War. We don’t know how many years will pass between Version 4.0 and 5.0. In our opinion, the next version will likely be at the end of the war, letting us participate in the final decisive battle. It will likely be a time skip of more than ten years…”
Hearing the hypothesis of the Galaxy Times, Han Xiao shook his head. “They’re wrong this time.”
From the viewpoint of the players, the Flickering World War was akin to the Crimson Tide. They thought it would be a multi-version timeline, but they did not think that the Main Storyline of Version 5.0 would be the Calamity of the Supers. In the past, players were also involved in the conflict in
such a confused manner.
But it was no wonder they would think this way. The players were currently not at a high level, so there was no way to obtain too many clues. There were also sudden factors involved in the Calamity of the Supers, which basically no one could predict.
Now that there was a butterfly effect at play, the trend for Version 5.0 would be even more confusing. Even Han Xiao himself could not accurately predict what would happen, let alone the players.
While thinking about it, Han Xiao flicked his finger across the edge of the desk, and the blue virtual screen popped out. He glanced at the date on the upper right corner before exhaling.
“Only twenty-seven days left before the game will undergo an update. Version 4.0 is ending…”
Chapter 1210 - Oathkeeper Returns
Nearly a month later, it was the day when the version would be updated. There was a sea of people in Black Star Palace’s lobby. Countless players gathered there, chatting in twos and threes as they waited to go offline.
Bun-Hit-Dog wandered through the crowd, turning on his recording function as he enthusiastically took pictures of the scene in the hall as an assistant followed him.
In Version 4.0, Bun-Hit-Dog’s business had made significant progress, becoming an important co-reporter of the club, so he founded a studio. He no longer single-handedly edited videos, instead recruiting some employees to be responsible for all aspects of affairs. The most important task was to help him collect material. These employees all have their own work accounts. Their IDs were prefixed with the studio’s name. This assistant beside him had the ID of ‘Bun-Hit-Dog: Little Wheat’. At first glance, he looked like a happy little fat man.
“Boss, why are we shooting in the base? Can this even be used as material?” Little Wheat was curious.
“Are you stupid? Who knows what the army will become in the next version? If there are changes in the future, all of this would become historical data. It’s completely possible to produce a nostalgic video!” Bun-Hit-Dog instructed.
“Boss, you really have foresight!” Little Wheat gave a thumbs up.
“Humph, your business opportunity level needs to be improved. Take a good look and study hard.” Bun-Hit-Dog grunted.
Not far from the two of them, a group of professional players formed a circle, having a discussion.
“I’m going to retire,” King Admiral said, which immediately drew everyone’s surprise.
Frenzied Sword had always treated King Admiral as his idol, and he replied in disbelief, “We’ve just won three consecutive championships. Why are you retiring?”
“That’s right. Right now, China is at its peak,” someone added.
“Haha, it’s precisely because we’ve won three consecutive championships that I can retire with peace of mind. I originally had this idea after getting champion the last version, but I stayed on because I wanted to achieve it again with Dynasty.” He thoughtfully waved his hand. “I’m not young anymore, and I can feel my performance beginning to decline. Now is the right time for me to retire. My application for retirement has also been handed over to the club’s superiors, and they respect my choice. In the future, it will be Second Prince who leads as the captain of Dynasty. I have to give others a chance.” Hearing this, everyone turned to Second Prince.
Second Prince had always wished to suppress King Admiral and steal his position of Captain. However, now that his wish was coming true, he surprisingly did not reveal any happiness. He was silent and depressed.
King Admiral glanced at him before smiling. “Didn’t you always want the Captain’s seat? Now you’ve got it, why are you not happy?”
Second Prince moved the corners of his mouth, showing a wretched smile. “Nonsense, I’m obviously very happy. I finally chased you away, haha.”
Everyone present shook their head. They could tell that Second Prince was being insincere. He was obviously sad and disappointed, but he was still stubborn to the very end.
Ever since entering the team, Second Prince had been competing with King Admiral on the field. While he liked to trash talk, he had always treated King Admiral as his best buddy in his heart. He had a competitive nature and hoped to surpass King Admiral, not to obtain the Captain’s position in this manner.
Upon thinking that he would never be able to fight with King Admiral side by side in the future, Second Prince felt an empty spot in his heart.
“Relax. Although I’m retiring, I’ll still be working in the club. I’ll likely take on the position of coach.” King Admiral patted Second Prince’s shoulder as he smiled. “As such… this means that I’m still above you. You don’t need to miss me.”
While he did not say it directly, the implied meaning was there.
A younger brother will always be one. You want to step over me? Dream on!
Second Prince changed his face faster than an opera face-changer did as he barked out, “Who’s missing you? Hurry and resign and get lost. You irritate me!”
Everyone immediately withdrew their gazes, unable to bear this ‘tsundere’ moment.
“Speaking of retiring, I also have similar thoughts.” Long Sky’s Sleepy Winter sighed. “I should be the oldest player here, and I have almost reached my limits. Now is the best time to retire, since we’ve already achieved something big. I feel that it’s time to allow the newcomers to step up. Isn’t Rivervale doing well as a newcomer superstar?”
“We’re only so-so. That’s right. Since we won this time, it’s our turn to treat everyone.” Frenzied Sword scratched his head in embarrassment.
The group of professional players were there to discuss their respective careers. Li Ge was secretly happy, wishing that all of his competitors would retire. He seemed to foresee the rise of his Temple of God.
Time passed slowly, but it did not take long to finally arrive at the time for the Version update. White lights flashed as the players went offline one after another. The hall of the base suddenly became desolate.
Version 4.0 update initiated.
Saving data… Saving completed!
Player forums closed. Update Duration: Unknown. Please wait patiently.
In his personal machinery factory, Han Xiao withdrew his gaze from the surveillance of the main hall of the base, calling up the interface to take a look.
“The players have gone offline.”
Han Xiao sighed, quickly adjusting his mentality. This time, it would take much longer for his farm to harvest, so he had to properly fertilize his land beforehand.
The fourth Pro League had brought him another wave of experience at the end of this version, but his reserves were still quite lacking. His current experience upgrade cost was too huge, such that it was crippling even with the massive amount of experience the Celestial Star Alliance storyline had given him. In this version update, Han Xiao decided to first focus on the God’s Trait Transformation
– Machinery, raising it to the max before moving onto his Void Branch.
The God’s Trait Transformation had changed on the tenth layer, adding prerequisite missions. The Mission Completion Card was tested to be effective, so Han Xiao planned to do more missions with random rewards during the Version update to obtain more Mission Completion Cards. This could save him a lot of God’s Trait Transformation points.
The main source of God’s Trait Transformation points was in creating Gold Grade equipment from blueprints. There were many Gold grade blueprints in the inheritance left by Jayz, which was a large source of points for himself. Han Xiao decided to first study that technological information.
With this technical inheritance, there was no longer a need to go to the three Universal Civilizations to acquire blueprints, and there was no need to perform missions for Contribution Points. This saved a lot of time and energy, also allowing the three Universal Civilizations to misjudge his technical background, thinking that he did not have many Gold-grade blueprints. This was killing many birds with a stone.
“In the next few decades, there’ll be anothe
r batch of new Beyond Grade As. I wonder how many of those under me will be promoted…”
Han Xiao stroked his chin.
In his eyes, the officers who had a chance of promotion would be Aurora, Feidin, Hadavy, Jotina, Lothaire, and Lagi.
Among them, Aurora had no bottleneck to speak of. It was just that her normal development was slow. However, with the Holy Light Seed as a leek field, it would greatly accelerate her development process. For Feidin and Lothaire, they were just that talented, with the possibility of a breakthrough. As for Hadavy, Jotina, and Lagi, they all had deep accumulations, which granted them a chance to grow further.
Evans’ training career was still too short, and a few decades would not be enough for him to grow. The ‘New EsGod Cultivation Program’ would take some time.
As for Karlot, he belonged to the late bloomer type, and this timing was far from the peak of his previous life. However, because of Han Xiao’s own influence, his maturity might have some changes.
“It’s still more reliable to focus on cultivating Aurora, allowing her to reach Beyond Grade A so that the spirit of Germinal will resurface in
US…”
Han Xiao sneered in his mind.
Within a certain base of the Holy Accord, a secret hall had been redesigned as a huge laboratory. In the center of the room was a circular mechanical base with a diameter of about fifty meters. It was covered in complex patterns, energy transmission pipes, and magic circuits. At first glance, it looked like some sort of ceremonial venue.
In its surroundings, many members of the Holy Accord Organization wearing white lab coats were intensively debugging the various instruments. Law and Fay were present to supervise.
“How much longer till the agreed period?”
“There are three minutes left to enter the preset time range. The receiving device has been warmed up and can be activated at any time.”
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