by <unknown>
The result was a definite—Xiao Jin won with an overwhelming number of votes.
The people of the Xiao Faction were smiling brightly while the others had to suck it up and congratulate Xiao Jin one after another.
The Xiao Factions’ ways had the other factions feeling very uncomfortable, but the result was not unacceptable. After all, Xiao Jin was a very senior member of the family and had made a lot of contributions.
Who knew that Xiao Jin would win in the end? Todd’s heart was bleeding. The Home Faction had controlled Alumera for all these years, and now, they had lost their power all of a sudden.
Todd knew that from that day onward, the Home Faction would slowly become a vassal.
Seeing that things were settled, Han Xiao left. The crowd split open automatically, and the high ranked officials who were congratulating Xiao Jin also stopped to look at Han Xiao as he left.
Although Xiao Jin was the final winner, in the eyes of everyone else, the center of this meeting was Black Phantom. All he did was show up, and it decided Xiao Jin’s position.
This was the power of overwhelming strength.
The people were all very jealous of Xiao Jin. As long as Black Phantom remained in the Xiao Faction, Xiao Jin’s position would be forever stable.
Chapter 213. The Fight Between the Sandpiper and the Clam |
The structure of Alumera changed. Xiao Jin became the leader, and the other factions all congratulated him. The power to make a lot of important decisions has been moved from the Home Faction to the Xiao Faction.
At night, Xiao Jin invited Han Xiao to his mansion. All the high ranked officials of the Xiao Faction gathered around. Xiao Hai and the other children were there, too. They bowed to Han Xiao and called him stepfather when they saw him. No matter what these youngsters of the Xiao Family thought in their heart, they had no choice but to maintain respect for Han Xiao on the surface.
The butler led Han Xiao to the book room and closed the door, leaving Xiao Jin and Han Xiao alone in the room.
Xiao Jin’s wish had been granted, and he had become the leader. Although he was still expressionless, one could tell he was happy and satisfied from the feeling he gave off.
He did not forget the benefits that Han Xiao had given him, and because Han Xiao said that he was leaving the next day, Xiao Jin dropped everything else and invited Han Xiao over to express his appreciation on the first day of becoming the leader.
“I really appreciate your help,” Xiao Jin said sincerely.
Han Xiao did not sit down. He stood in front of the bookshelf, played around with the small items in the drawer, and said casually, “Get to the point.”
Xiao Jin took out a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. He then walked to Han Xiao and handed one glass over.
“Our agreement remains unchanged. If there’s anything you need me for, I’ll provide help.” Xiao Jin smiled. His tone was more confident now that he was the leader.
The wine was amber and fragrant; its taste was smooth and soft. This was Xiao Jin’s very high-quality collection that he treasured. It would only be opened for extremely important guests, and it had been stored for many years before that day.
Han Xiao took the wine glass but did not drink it. He just swirled the glass around and said coldly, “I’ve been thinking recently and have come up with a very interesting theory. You knew Su Dinghua was going to assassinate Darryl a long time ago, but you didn’t tell anyone and let it happen because there would only be a chance to become the leader after Darryl died.
“Then, when everyone was suspecting me, only you insisted to help me because you knew who the killer was, and it was a good opportunity to gain my favor. Later, when other factions had already established a bad relationship with me, you found an opportunity to throw out Su Dinghua as a clue and became the one who found the real killer, largely increasing your prestige while simultaneously starting good relations with me.
“You used that as a reason to gain my help to win the leader’s election by using my strength to overpower all the other factions. You’re not the real killer, but you’re an opportunist who acted while riding along the waves and harvesting the final fruit of victory.”
Han Xiao turned his head and looked at Xiao Jin. “What do you think about this theory?”
Xiao Jin shook his head in laughter. He sipped the wine and said, “It’s interesting, but it’s not true.”
“I think it’s true.” Han Xiao’s expression resembled a smile, yet it was not a smile.
Xiao Jin’s expression changed slightly and said, “That’s just your speculation…”
Han Xiao walked toward Xiao Jin. His body was leaning forward, and the pressure forced Xiao Jin to step back continuously until he hit the table.
They stood extremely close. Xiao Jin could only look at Han Xiao in his eyes because he had nowhere else to look. He felt a cold murderous intent in Han Xiao’s eyes, and cold sweat started dripping.
“I don’t need evidence. If I think it’s true, then it is,” Han Xiao sneered.
Xiao Jin had to tighten his facial muscles to control his expressions, and his heart began to sink.
“Remember, whatever you borrowed from me, I can take it back anytime.”
Han Xiao’s fingers pressed two times on Xiao Jin’s chest strongly. The act was provoking.
Xiao Jin had been promoted with the help of Black Phantom, and Han Xiao could do the same thing for the others anytime. Xiao Jin had no doubt that the other factions would be willing to spend a huge sum to make Black Phantom their ally. With Black Phantom’s strength, he could even duplicate the assassination. If their relationship turned bad, there was no way Xiao Jin could protect himself against a legendary killer every single day and night.
Xiao Jin understood what Han Xiao meant—threaten, intimidation, and blackmail!
Black Phantom was more fearsome than he had expected. This partnership with Black Phantom was catching a tiger by its tail.
The atmosphere became more and more intense, and when Xiao Jin was almost suffocating, Han Xiao took a few steps back to ease the atmosphere. He played around with the wine glass and said coldly, “What are you going to do with Raylen?”
Xiao Jin sighed. He knew that this was the time for him to show his stance. “I will make them pay. I’ll pursue and kill all of their intelligence agents, attack the organizations they support, and destroy their bases in the wilderness.”
Originally, it was not suitable to start a war right after he became the leader. His original plan had been to stabilize the internals in six months. However, Han Xiao’s threatening made him understand that he had no choice. He could only listen to Han Xiao and retaliate against Raylen immediately. Alumera’s damage was not in his consideration anymore; he had to listen to Han Xiao no matter how he much heartache he felt.
“Very good.” Han Xiao gave a faint laugh then left and said, “Enjoy your time as the leader.”
The wine glass was placed on the table. Han Xiao did not drink any from the start to the end.
The sounds of the youngsters yelling “Stepfather!” outside the door grew faint and distant. Xiao Jin only sat down after the sound disappeared. The happiness of becoming the leader became weaker because of Han Xiao’s threats.
“He’s got my weakness.” Xiao Jin laughed in bitterness and called Xiao Hai in.
“Father, Black Phantom left.” Xiao Hai could not hide his happiness. The position of leader finally belonged to the Xiao Faction.
“Pass my order down. The out of town divisions will be launching a full attack on Raylen’s forces in the wilderness!” Xiao Jin was back to expressionless.
Xiao Hai’s smile froze. Waves of shock filled his heart, and he said in disbelief, “Father, you’ve just become the leader, and the structure has yet to stabilize. If we start a war at this time, the power of the family will be hugely damaged, and our position will be even more volatile. The priority right now should be to stabilize the internal matters! Although Raylan set us
up this time, there’s no need to seek revenge immediately. There are many more days to come, and there’s no benefit to what you’re doing!”
“Stop talking, do as I said,” Xiao Jin said coldly.
Xiao Hai was stunned.
…
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You have unlocked the Alumera Family. Current relationship: Respect (3000/6000) – [Partner of Xiao Faction].
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The starting relationship is ‘respect’. Seems like Xiao Jin gave in. Han Xiao was very satisfied.
He did not threaten Xiao Jin out of nowhere. The deduction earlier was made from his speculation through the pieces of evidence. Firstly, Xiao Jin’s actions were all very goal oriented and connected with each other, and these actions all brought him a benefit, which was very suspicious. Secondly, [The Real Killer] was a puzzle mission, but Xiao Jin found Su Dinghua straightaway. Thus, the mission had been completed too easily, which made him feel that Xiao Jin knew who the killer was all along.
If Xiao Jin knew that Su Dinghua was going to assassinate Darryl from the start and did not do anything about it, then the character that Xiao Jin played was neither the real killer nor the mastermind, but someone who waited for the opportunity to take on the position of the leader.
Han Xiao had already thought of this when Xiao Jin came to look for his help, and he had planned this back then when he agreed to help.
He acted like he did not know and let Xiao Jin use him to increase his rank, but at the same time, Xiao Jin had to rely on him to do so. Therefore, Han Xiao turned around and threatened Xiao Jin because, unless Xiao Jin wanted to give up his position as the leader, he had to listen to him and almost become his puppet.
From Xiao Jin’s actions, he was an ambitious guy who knew how to analysis his situation. The chance of him compromising was more than eighty percent. He definitely could not let go of the leader’s position that he had worked so hard to get.
Furthermore, Raylen was the mastermind who framed him, and there was no way Han Xiao was going to let them have an easy time. Therefore, he had ordered Alumera to clash with them without considering the costs for them. The people of Raylen would definitely not expect Alumera to counter-attack so strongly; it went the exact opposite way that they wanted it to go, and they had brought fire to themselves.
This way, Han Xiao could take revenge on Raylen without getting blood on his blades, and he did not even have to do anything.
It was easier to fight a large organization with a large organization.
During what happened in Alumera, Han Xiao had been watching like a bystander and only showed his teeth in the end.
The fight between a sandpiper and a clam benefitted the fisherman in the end!
Of course, there was a possibility that his guess was wrong. Xiao Jin might not actually have been someone who knew all along and acted on the opportunities that surfaced.
However, this was not important at all. It was as he had said before.
I don’t need evidence. If I think it’s true, then it is!
It must be!
Xiao Jin did not have a choice.
I should complete the mission. Han Xiao opened the interface.
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Please state the real killer’s identity.
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“Su Dinghua, Raylen…” Han Xiao described the situation. The mission requirement was to find out the mastermind who framed him, which was Raylen without a doubt.
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[The Real Killer] has been processed. Determining…
Requirements met. Mission complete.
You have received a chance to learn a random ability or talent. Please select.
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Han Xiao pondered for a moment. He felt that a talent would be better; there was a chance to get a rare talent or even a molding ability.
“Talent.”
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Randomizing… Completed. Please choose from one of the three below.
Duplicate Channeling: 2% – 8% chance of duplicating the ability during channeling. Triggering the ability depends on Luck.
Call of the Wild: Increases default affinity with beast type monsters with a chance to communicate. Charisma increases the chance of communication.
Frost Resistance: +35% resistance to ice element and makes it harder to receive debuffs from ice element such as slow or frozen.
Chapter 214. Leaving |
Between these three random talents, the one with the highest practicality on the surface should be [Frost Resistance], which had a very specific effect. However, in terms of usefulness, Han Xiao felt that [Call of the Wild] had a broader area of application.
Beast type monsters were a very large monster group. Other than planets that had been highly modified or had very little life, every planet across the entire Galaxy would have some beasts. Beasts were a very important part of the biological chain, and there were many types of beasts living across land and sea. There were even some stronger beast species that lived in space, unharmed by the radiation, meteoroids, and many other forms of danger existing in space. These types of species were all BOSSes that would appear in later versions of the game.
As for [Duplicate Channeling], it was a sorcerer talent. It did not apply to any ability other than magic, so it was completely useless for Han Xiao, who was a Mechanic. If it was not for the random factor, Han Xiao would have never gotten in touch with any talents from another class.
After some consideration, Han Xiao decided on [Call of The Wild]. Although his Charm was a little low, it was still a rather useful talent.
Planet Aquamarine in version 2.0 would be filled with monsters, beasts would be crawling across the planet. Han Xiao had a feeling that [Call of The Wild] would be useful by then.
His plan was to leave Planet Aquamarine before version 1.0 ended, but he had a thought in his mind. The main storyline of version 2.0 was [Mutation Disaster]. It was a virus that came from space and caused mutations in many planets, including Planet Aquamarine. The cure was later invented by a higher civilization. Han Xiao was thinking that he could return with the cure in the future and bring an end to the storyline earlier.
After he spread intelligence of the Germinal Organization before the game’s official release, Han Xiao knew that there were a lot of benefits to bringing large impacts to the main storyline.
This was just a blueprint of the future; Han Xiao was still focusing on the current issues.
The accident in Alumera had come to an end, and the result was satisfactory.
Not only did he not lose anything, he also gained quite a number of benefits. Although his schedule was delayed because of the days that he stayed in Alumera, no one disliked having more side missions; the more side missions there were, the more benefits they would bring.
The players would always be there, and they were not complaining or anything, so there was no rush for Han Xiao.
The next morning, Han Xiao left Alumera. All the high ranked officials came to see him off.
The cold of the north seemed to have pierced into the hearts of Alumera’s high ranked officials. They held on tightly to their beast hide coats.
Black Phantom had become a member of their family on the books, so this outsider was now the strongest in the family. The high ranked officials were willing to suck up to him, and they gifted him an SUV to save him the trouble of walking.
Everyone in the Xiao Faction arrived. They all greeted Han Xiao with manners and respect, displaying their closeness by having their youngsters calling Black Phantom ‘stepfather’ one after another. The other factions despised this yet were jealous of it. If they could get Black Phantom’s support, they would do the same willingly. They sighed in their hearts—that Xiao Jin had grabbed the opportunity before them.
Xiao Jin was having mixed emotions. He looked Han Xiao in the eye and nodded lightly. Only they themselves knew the deals that they made behind everyone else’s back.
&
nbsp; Although Xiao Jin’s wish came true, he could not help but feel some bitterness deep in his heart.
Han Xiao waved as he got into the SUV and left in the wind and snow.
“He finally left.”
The tensed bodies of Alumera’s high ranked officials all relaxed. It was like a huge stone had been removed from their heart, and even breathing felt easier.
Not far away, the players of the Bamboo Rain Guild cheered with joy; their mission was finally completed.
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Black Phantom captured the real killer and brought a huge impact to Alumera’s structure. As his helper, you witnessed the entire process. Bonus reward: 15,000 experience.
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The experience from this mission was a lot for the players at the time, so they were very satisfied.
“By the way, Xuan, didn’t you make a recording of Black Phantom?” Guild Leader Bamboo Rain Fragrance asked.
Bamboo Rain Xuan said with pride, “I’ve already sold it and emailed it to Galaxy Times. They have given me a reward.”
The mechanical suit, men’s romance.
The background of Galaxy had players guessing about all sorts of combat system, and the mechanical suit was a very popular topic among them. Articles about mechanical suits created countless fans, and many players looked forward the day of them battling in a mechanical suit. Between the five main classes, only the mechanic class fit the speculations, but since the official release, no one had seen an NPC that fought in a mechanical suit.
Han Xiao was the first person who had showcased the mechanical suit, and he had created another first without noticing.
The impact of this on the players would only show after the next episode of ‘Galaxy Times’ was released, but before that, it first impacted the local organizations.
When Han Xiao killed Luann and Vanessa, he had used his mechanical suit. It had been recorded by the people of Alumera and leaked into the Dark Net, which triggered waves of shock within the organizations.
Everyone could see that Viper had an astonishing level of performance. It was a very advanced mechanical suit. Black Phantom was a Mechanic, so this had undoubtedly been built by himself, possessing a higher quality than the military experiments of many large nations.