by <unknown>
This mission is extremely open. Every round has different clues that will lead to different endings. Usually, the more targets are completed, the better it is, and the higher the evaluation will be. Han Xiao had completed this type of mission before, so he knew that there were many possibilities.
It was like walking a maze. In order to find the exit, one had to gain as much information as one could, and with the ending of Hannes and the others, this mission posed very high risks.
The rewards of the mission did not bring shame to main storylines. Just the basic reward of the first round was already 350,000 experience, and the bonus rewards were very likely to be items, abilities, or talents.
But the mission was too cumbersome. The location spanned across three continents, so it would cost him a huge amount of time. No wonder it was an A-grade mission. Han Xiao tightened his brows, feeling a little distressed.
“I will try it.” No matter what, he needed to accept it first.
Garian nodded. “I will count on you for these missions. The three of us have other missions.”
Hannes and the rest were all very strong characters from the old era, so their mission was definitely not simple. Han Xiao decided to let the Dark Net help keep an eye on it.
After getting the mission requirements, Han Xiao left the safehouse.
“So, is he trustworthy?” Vernina asked.
Hannes shook his head and then nodded. “We don’t know much about him. Let’s see what he will do for now.”
“The documents I gave him have real and fake information,” Garian said. “It was only one tenth of the clues I had, so it will be best if he can complete them. If he has other thoughts, we won’t lose anything. It is just some unconfirmed intelligence anyway.”
“He is a friend of Bennett, so he should be trustworthy.”
[a]Is this the right was round? I’d have said it’s easier to go from rich to poor than poor to rich XD
[b]Haha I would say so too, I think I was not clear in the translation, this was regrading the transition of lifestyle
Chapter 193. Tease |
This hidden storyline seems to have something to do with digging the history. Logically, it shouldn’t result in a big impact, but since it’s the main storyline, could it be that there’ll be some shocking secret that’ll be dug up? Han Xiao thought as he walked on the street.
No matter what secrets there were, it was not his mission, and there were enough chances for him to explore it, but of course, the rewards were the most important part.
Since the mission in Maple was completed, Han Xiao left that very day. The threats that he had issued had resulted in the local intelligence institution carrying out a hidden investigation throughout the city, but because of the ‘godly assassination’ of a government official, the investigation was very thorough.
Because they were in the same organization, Han Xiao brought Golden Fox and Ghost Blade as he retreated. Ghost Blade was unwilling at first, but the situation was severe, so he had to compromise.
Ghost Blade did not like the feeling of being protected by someone, so he was sulking most of the way.
After successfully leaving Maple, Han Xiao separated from the duo and rushed toward the cargo plane toward Farian without stopping. The players in the novice villages of the Western Continent were still waiting for his arrival.
The forum had exploded. The players that were waiting for Han Xiao panicked and were worried that he would not be coming anymore. They started being superstitious and spammed posts in the forum to pray for Han Xiao’s arrival. The posts reached the astonishing number of 300,000. It was so terrifying that Han Xiao was worried that he might be buried in the sea of players.
Some of the players started to play with memes.
“Youngster, did you drop this Black Phantom, this White Phantom, or this Yellow Phantom? Hmm, you’re an honest child. To reward you, you can exchange your money to learn skills.”
“Shhh, look at what I found, there’s a Black Phantom that is different from the others. We can try to capture it. One Black Phantom could provide us with energy for many days. But it is not easy to deal with. We have to quietly close in from its back… Ahhh, I’ve been discovered. Help, it wants to eat me, run Calvin!”
“Black Phantom used Death Stare. It was super effective.”
Finally, after tens of thousands of summons, the Great Mechanic Han Xiao arrived at a novice village. The players waiting for Han Xiao there were countless, much more than any other novice village.
The moment he appeared, players rushed over like an avalanche. People who did not know might even have mistaken them for a locust plague.
Han Xiao looked at the level of the players—they were at an average of level ten. The hundreds of top-level players on the forum have already reached LV 18; Maple Moon was one of them. With the help of the Great Mechanic Han, she had been the biggest winner of the prize pool.
However, other players also had their own opportunities. The number of people at the same level was not small, but most of them were players from other countries on other novice planets. Planet Aquamarine was the base camp of China’s esports clubs, but the number of their players at the top of the level leaderboard was the lowest. It was quite a pain for Han Xiao.
Disappointing, come on guys, buck up!
Then, he looked at the countless players in front of him, pondered, and said, “What’s the use of leveling up fast? Being able to fight is the way to go.”
Hmm, nothing wrong with that.
Only players from big guilds that were climbing the level leaderboard would be rushing their levels without upgrading their abilities. Other players would not be doing the same. Even though leveling up was fast at the start, it would be slower as their level became higher.
With the experience quota, Han Xiao had to think about the missions he gave out. If he wanted to cultivate one player, he could make that player grow at a much higher speed than anyone else, but he would not do that, at least not before the players reach LV 20.
Before LV 20, [Energy Training Technique] had a lot of market potential, so it was extremely profitable.
…
Han Xiao taught abilities as usual, and the players came swarming. Gaining experience points in novice village was also a way of relaxation for him, so he had time to browse the forums.
On the forums, the popularity of Inhuman Phenomenon was over the top, and not only on Planet Aquamarine. Similar situations had occurred on other planets too, and players received different treatments.
On the Wizard Planet, they were researched by the witches and were discovered to have a very high talent for sorcery, which was in fact the learning ability on the player Interface. They then shockingly joined various sorcery academies.
On the Ancient Planet, they were seen as messengers of God and worshipped.
On the Ice Winter planet… Oh, the players in the Ice Winter Planet were the safest. The devil species had no interest whatsoever in their unique characteristic of being able to revive after death, and when the players saw the spaceships of the Space Devil species dash through the universe and breaking apart the meteors surrounding the planet for resources with their gravity capturing devices, they all understood why the reaction of the devil species was so normal.
To the Extinguish Army, the strength of the players was like an ant. Who would care about what an ant looked like?
Of course, there was also the possibility that the devil species were used to seeing the ability to revive. No one knew for sure. It was all just speculation anyway.
The planets above were all very lucky, but Planet Aquamarine was one of the unluckiest planets. NPCs were very fearful toward the players. The players were captured, experimented on, sliced to pieces, and brainwashed—they were treated like slaves.
Players being filled with hatred was a certain, and with the situation on Planet Aquamarine, the players had new speculations.
Black Phantom was probably a compensation from the game c
ompany and producers!
“No wonder! That’s why a character like Black Phantom only exists on our planet!”
“Luckily, there is Black Phantom. If we didn’t have him, we would have nothing to play with!”
Seeing comments like this, Han Xiao smiled. His efforts did not go to waste.
As he saw the expression in the players’ eyes, he smiled even brighter, looking like a farmer who was looking at his harvest.
The Inhuman Phenomenon on Planet Aquamarine had arrived at a key stage. All the organizations were contacting the players. Some of them were using a soft approach like Stardragon and Hesla; there were also some that went for a colder approach like Raylen and Ordina; other militaries and financial organizations were taking action, too. It was not all bad for the players, at least they had the opportunity to join an organization without having to run everywhere, and that was exactly what the players did, with the Six Nations having most players joining them.
In Han Xiao’s previous life, the Germinal Organization had lured in the most players, but now, their bases were all destroyed, and they could only capture players in the local area of their headquarters. It was pathetic—their player count was reduced by approximately eighty percent compared to his previous life.
The Inhuman Phenomenon also lead to another change; the players developed a hobby of teasing the NPCs. They became very curious and asked a lot of questions, and they liked to do things that were out of the line, wanting to see the reaction from the NPCs.
Players had a lot of fun, but to NPCs, they were acting extremely weird.
All the organizations did one thing at the same time—they added one line to the Inhuman documents. “Most Inhumans have a mental illness. Their actions are very random, and they might do anything. They cannot be judged with a normal mindset.”
Han Xiao did not know to cry or to laugh when he saw this line on the Dark Net. There was another line that made him burst into laughter.
“With research, the Inhumans have gender, but they do not have genitals and reproductive abilities.”
The game did not allow players to get naked, and from the NPCs’ perspective, it was like their underwear was part of their body, which was very incomprehensible.
Han Xiao was laughing uncontrollably. He could imagine how the organizations found out about this…
Unable to reproduce, which meant that Inhumans were not a new species. Of course, there was a possibility that their way of reproducing was different from what the people on Planet Aquamarine knew about. There were also all kinds of speculations about the Inhumans on the Dark Net, with various emotions like terror, nervousness, and many others.
Han Xiao noticed the once abandoned religion seemed to have rejuvenated. They claimed Inhumans to be messengers sent by God to save the world.
Some players had the thought of teasing Black Phantom. Since Black Phantom was the guider of new players, would he also be shocked like the other NPCs? Teasing an NPC was a fun thing to do.
“Black Phantom, your name is Han Xiao, you served Stardragon before, and you are now a member of the Dark Net, am I right?” a player named Flying Naughty Prawn suddenly said. He had seen the video from Bun-hit-dog and had an interesting idea. He wanted to expose Black Phantom’s identity right in front of him and see what would happen.
There was no way for Black Phantom to know that his identity was exposed. When he saw a stranger stating his true identity, would he be shocked and lose his cool?
Flying Naughty Prawn was staring at Han Xiao while snickering.
Chapter 194. If You Are Going to Scam People, Scam Them for as Much as You Can. |
The rubbernecking crowd all looked at Flying Naughty Prawn with respect.
This guy really is a courageous warrior who lives for trouble.
Then, they all stepped back simultaneously. They stood further back so that they would not be splashed by the blood.
Han Xiao knew where Flying Naughty Prawn had gotten the information from. This was an impact of Bun-hit-dog’s video. To expose some information and increase the curiosity of the players toward his identity and to increase his fame, this had gone through his consent.
The tiny amount of information exposed was of no importance to Han Xiao. The players were not like the NPCs who had a large intelligence network. Without the key information, it was completely useless to know his real name. Instead, the more viral the video became, the stronger his impact grew.
Therefore, Han Xiao had guessed long ago that there would be players who would asked him directly, so he calmed replied with a “hmm” then kept silent.
Flying Naughty Prawn was confused. It did not go as he imagined. How is Black Phantom so calm now that his identity has been exposed?
Does Black Phantom not care about strangers knowing his identity at all?
Or… is Black Phantom’s identity actually not a secret at all in areas that players don’t know about?
This plan didn’t work at all.
Flying Naughty Prawn was very discouraged.
Black Phantom was too steady. It was like he did not have a weakness and could not be teased at all.
The crowd looked at each other, becoming even more curious.
What kind of person was he?
Flying Naughty Prawn did not give up. He continued to look for trouble and asked again, “I want to join the Germinal Organization, do you know how can I do that?”
Everyone knew that Black Phantom was against the Germinal Organization. Thus, he asked that on purpose.
Yooo, are you provoking me youngster?
Han Xiao immediately deducted three relationship points as punishment.
Flying Naughty Prawn’s face turned green. Isn’t this reaction too straightforward? That was completely unexpected!
Han Xiao suddenly had a new idea. With the influence he had on players, maybe he could guide them on choosing a side to join.
So, he paused and said, “A war is going to break out. The Six Nations will come together for an expedition. The Germinal Organization will certainly lose. If you want to commit suicide, do as you wish. If you want to join the Dark Net, I can write a referral letter for you. If you want to join the Germinal Organization, get out of my face.”
The crowd got excited, Black Phantom finally had finally given a different reaction, and he had even said information that none of them knew. They started chatting with each other.
“Expedition? The Six Nations and Germinal Organization are going to war?”
“He knows much more than we do. His judgment is definitely reliable.”
“Then joining the Germinal Organization would be quite a loss.”
The players created a commotion. Only players in Andrea had joined the Germinal Organization. Han Xiao’s words would very soon be sent to the forums, and those who were planning to join the Germinal Organization might also change their mind.
He did not want to give up on any chances to harm the Germinal Organization. He had not bothered them for a while, and they seemed to be having a rather peaceful time.
Unacceptable.
Players noticed a keyword in Han Xiao’s words. “He said the Dark Net. That’s a hidden organization, isn’t it? Can he really help us join the Dark Net?”
Han Xiao smiled, opened up the store interface, and added a new item.
_____________
[Referral Letter]: Unlocks the Blood Pact Society.
Remarks: The Blood Pact Society is a subordinate hitman organization under the Dark Net.
Price: 250,000 Aquamarine Dollars
_____________
“250,000‽” The crowd was stunned. This was a sky-high price for them. Nobody could afford it.
Originally, to join the Blood Pact Society, there needed to be a few rounds of mission tests, but Han Xiao had gotten rid of all that. With his relationship with the Dark Net, introducing some players into the organization was a piece of cake.
A few months ago, when Han Xiao bought the Blood Pact Soci
ety certificate from Antonio, it had cost 200,000. He had used that as a basis and increased the price by 25%. He felt it was a reasonable price since inflation also needed to be considered.
With such a high price, normal players would not be able to afford, but Han Xiao was not planning to sell a large quantity. He was targeting the pro players from esports clubs who could afford the price with the backing of their guild.
Pro players were the ones who were most willing to become stronger by any means necessary. This strategy would attract pro players, which was beneficial for him in expanding his group of spare tires. Of course, most importantly, it was to earn money.
It’s not enough to only have inexpensive and high-quality normal items. There also needs to be a few luxury items with a sky-high price to enrich my store structure,Han Xiao thought.
250,000 Aquamarine Dollars was a price that none of the guilds could afford at the time, but they were rich and could use real money to purchase Aquamarine Dollars from other players.
Now, let’s see how many guilds will realize the benefits of joining a hidden new organization.
He was now Fisherman Han, waiting for people who were willing to bite the bait.
…
‘Unbelievable, the most expensive item by far!’
‘Black Phantom: Germinal Organization will certainly lose’
Posts with such titles appeared in the forums of Planet Aquamarine, and it immediately attracted players’ attention. When they saw the sky-high price of 250,000 for the referral letter, they were all shocked speechless.
“Wow, is this organization made of gold?”
“Blood Pact Society, no idea what they do.”
“The price is outrageously high. What’s so special about this organization called the Blood Pact Society?”
“Anyone had heard of this organization before?”
This person was just asking randomly, but someone unexpectedly replied, “I triggered the mission to join the Blood Pact Society. It is very cumbersome and difficult. The introduction of it is that it’s a killer association, and the benefits are still unknown. However, to me, it’s not worth it to spend 250,000 just to skip the prior missions.”