by <unknown>
It continuously went deeper along the twists and turns in the gap. Inside a dark and narrow space, a pair of long-asleep eyes suddenly opened. The back of his palm was giving off a dim light. A microchip was planted inside, which received the signal and vibrated softly. The vibration happened in the vessels and bones, awakening this person from his sleep.
“Finally…”
After a while, the wait for the spaceships on the surface finally ended—their target had appeared. In the fissure far away, a man climbed out and slowly walked over. It was an Esper indeed. He looked terrible, and his face was bony. He was the only survivor of the Sarota fleet. Before the Dragon Emperor arrived, Sarota had given the retreat order. However, when Esper knew the enemy was Ames, he knew that the mothership would most likely not be able to escape, so he had taken a risk. He had decided to stay underground. In a deep cave, he had formed a carbon structure with his power and sealed himself, controlling his heartbeat and blood flow, entering a fake death state. As he expected, these allies that boarded the fleet to retreat were all killed by the mercenary fleet, Holy Stone, and Black Raven, turning into fireworks in space and becoming dust.
After Sarota’s fleet was demolished, the mercenaries had caught the mothership’s highest commander, Sarota. Therefore, they did not bother to search the entire planet for a possible survivor. This DarkStar team had been completely defeated, so there was no need to waste more time. Therefore, Ember had survived. Important officers like him all had a location microchip planted in them. After everyone left this planet, a rescue spaceship came to pick him up.
At that time, Han Xiao was also more inclined to believe Ember died, although he still had a small doubt in his heart. After all, characters with legendary characteristics should not die that easily. However, he had no way to search the entire planet. The other mercenaries had been in a hurry to head to Godora and would not help. With his manpower, God only knew how long it would have taken him to search the entire planet. There was no need for that. Plus, it was not worth it from a probability perspective. Hence, he did not think too much about it. Regardless of whether Ember was dead or alive, Han Xiao could accept it.
The DarkStar warriors wanted to support him, but they were swept away by Ember. He did not need anyone to support him. With a cold face, he said in a low voice, “Tell me, what’s the situation now! Did Sarota and the rest all die?”
“Ames slammed Sarota’s mothership down. We received attacks from both Holy Stone and Black Raven, and the fleet was completely defeated. A part of the members of the ship survived, including Sarota. They were transferred to Godora; this was just reported by the Colton News. They were all sent to the Rainbow Prison.”
Every mothership was a moving stronghold of DarkStar, and losing any of them was a heavy blow.
Ember clenched his teeth and said, “What about the Secret Message Bead?”
“We heart that the Secret Message Bead was picked up by a Floating Dragon guard, then given to the Holy Stone Civilization, which then gave it to Godora.
Ember’s body shook, and he growled in a low voice, “So, you’re saying, our sacrifices were completely meaningless and did not make any impact at all. We suffered such a catastrophic loss. How can it just be over? Even if we cannot beat the Dragon Emperor, she has to pay the price! She attacked us to save Black Star, so we shall find an opportunity to kill Black Star, showing her that we’re not easy to mess with.”
This time, a heavy and powerful yell stopped Ember’s words. “In important times like this, it’s unwise to mess with a strong enemy. Remember, Godora is our true enemy.”
A hologram appeared in front of Ember. It was a hybrid Godoran with light gold skin. On his skin were some strange scales and beast hide like wrinkles. His forehead was covered in markings of a mysterious pattern, extending down to his eyebags and nose, like the war paint of savages. This man was rather old, but his eyes were very sharp, and he gave off a steady aura like the mountains.
The anger in Ember’s eyes was suppressed as soon as he saw this man. He lowered his head and said respectfully, “Teacher.”
The other DarkStar members beside him also lowered their heads in fear and said, “Your Excellency Anur.”
Anur was the mentor that developed the potential of Ember’s power and guided his path. He was a high ranked officer in DarkStar, one of the few grade A individuals in the organization. His position was above all and only below the leader.
He looked down at Ember and said in a low voice, “I can see you’re resentful. Tell me, who is the source of your anger?”
“Black Star… He’s a mercenary group captain under the Dragon Emperor. I failed against him twice… no, thrice. Ever since I started working for the organization officially, these are the only three failures I’ve ever experienced. He’s caused me great shame, and he has special abilities that counter my power… Only his death can brush away my shame!”
Anur intercepted and said coldly, “Childish! Narrow-minded! The organization has spent an enormous amount of resources on you and raised you to be a strong warrior, not to let you fight irrelevant people. The organization has a lot of hope for you. The responsibilities that you bear are beyond your imagination. A small mercenary is not someone that you should concern yourself with. Focusing your thoughts on him is a waste of time!”
After a pause, he added, “Furthermore, Black Star is under the Dragon Emperor. Now is not the time to provoke them. When the bigger matters are dealt with, you can settle such issues.”
Ember lowered his head and asked, “What should I do?”
“Anger has affected your sanity. This is an unforgivable mistake. For the next year, you’re not allowed to carry out any missions. Stay in the base, focus on training and self-reflection.”
“Understood.” Ember nodded. He respected Anur a lot. His mind calmed down, and he accepted the arrangement. The hostility toward Black Star was pressed down to the bottom of his heart… His teacher was right. He was destined to be an ace of the organization; what they planned for was much bigger. He should not spend energy on irrelevant people.
After pondering, Ember asked the last question, “Teacher, what about the Secret Message Bead?”
“Godora has the Secret Message Bead. Sooner or later, they will know what’s inside. The newest seventh-generation Mutation Source is in Godora’s hands, and the organization’s plan faces the risk of being exposed. This matter needs to be discussed again. In a few days’ time, the leader will host a high-ranking meeting to discuss this. The strategic planning afterward will all have to consider this as a factor, and we will need to make some adjustments.
Having received the answer, Ember did not waste any more time. He boarded the plane and took off.
…
Ten days passed in no time. The players were standing by in the stronghold and had nothing to do. They spent most of their time in the dungeons.
They tried [Warfare: Power of the Dragon Emperor] many times, discussed and exchanged experiences, and found a possible way to clear the dungeon.
Firstly, they had to choose the reinforcement faction. The countdown clock was the same as the DarkStar faction, three hours. Between the three factions, this was the easiest choice. Then, they had to get lucky and meet a main character—specifically, Goa of the Sky Ring Army—within the first twenty minutes and follow her for two hours without doing any side missions.
Next, they had to pay close attention to the time and leave before meeting the next enemy that would cause the players to be wiped out. This way, two hours and twenty minutes would have already passed. The difficult part was the last forty minutes. If everything went well up to this point, there should be at least six to eight players left. By using the method of leaving teammates behind one by one, there was a chance for the last person to clear the dungeon. Doing this would cause the reward to be reduced by ninety percent, but at least it could be cleared.
However, although there was a theoretical method, most of it relied on lu
ck. So far, no one had succeeded.
Initially, these pro players thought that if they chose the mercenary faction and met Han Xiao, they would be able to live. However, this was just what they thought. No matter what faction they chose, it was certain death once they met Han Xiao. Not mentioning the DarkStar faction, in the case of the mercenary faction or the reinforcement faction, after meeting Han Xiao, they would be able to pass a long time safely, but they would definitely meet Ember in the end. When that happened, everyone would be killed in an instant. Even if they left Han Xiao in advance, they would still meet Ember.
The pro players placed their focus back on the level 60 Germinal Organization dungeon. Its level was suitable and much easier. No matter how rich the level 90 dungeon’s rewards were, they could only look at them for now.
With this failure, Bun-Hit-Dog was not able to record materials about the Dragon Emperor. He had no choice but to do another episode about the past. He recorded parts of the level 60 Germinal Organization dungeon and continued on the previous Black Phantom Series. This series had yet to arrive at its ending, and most of the players had only heard of Han Xiao’s past but never seen it.
Bun-Hit-Dog’s video included the dungeon process. The Germinal Organization dungeon was a large team dungeon extending from Han Xiao’s infiltration into the Germinal Organization headquarters to the end of the Germinal Organization. The story built up very well and was very interesting.
Initially, Bun-Hit-Dog just wanted to use this episode as a filler, but the response after he posted the video far exceeded his expectations. It was just as popular as the Black Star Series, which really surprised him.
Through the influence of the Black Star Series, more players from other planets came to learn who Han Xiao was and knew that he was the first NPC to bring the players off their planet. The players from other areas were very curious about his history, and the Black Phantom Series happened to be Han Xiao’s origin story. Many new viewers were attracted by it.
Chapter 413. New Combat Style (1) |
No matter how popular Ames was, it was impossible for Han Xiao’s place to be threatened. After all, she was just a newly introduced character, whereas everyone was very familiar with Han Xiao. His image would not be impacted by this. The Dragon Emperor being beautiful was one thing, but Han Xiao gave a lot of rewards.
What was the point of just being beautiful? An NPC was only good when could make the players money!
Furthermore, according to the progress of Bun-Hit-Dog’s Black Star Series Episode Three, Han Xiao and the Dragon Emperor belonged to the same faction. The influence of these two was combined, which made the players have more anticipation. As Bun-Hit-Dog used the drama style to edit his Black Star Series videos, Han Xiao and the Black Star Mercenary Group were the audience’s first-person perspective, which gave them a sense of immersion. They felt like they were part of Black Star, and seeing the faction made them feel happy.
This episode was the latest episode of Black Phantom Series, the end of Germinal Organization. Han Xiao stole intel from the Germinal Organization headquarters, escaped and battle over hundreds of miles, met with the reinforcements from the Six Nations, and fought his last battle in the encirclement. The convoy rode across the yellow desert, stirring up dust and sand. The sky was dyed yellow, and it was filled with the murderous intent from both sides. Bullets and cannons rained down like a metal storm while the thunderous sound of explosions swept across the sand.
The video followed Bun-Hit-Dog’s perspective, taking part in the battlefield recreated by the dungeon. In order to show a stronger impact, he chose the Germinal Organization side. From the video, the audience could see Han Xiao dashing across the battlefield in an unstoppable way, moving like lightning. One moment, he was demolishing a few Germinal Organization Executive Officers—the next, he would be hundreds of meters away, flipping vehicles over with his shoulder.
In Bun-Hit-Dog’s video, Han Xiao was like a BOSS. The Germinal Organization’s leader fought him head-on. Every time they clashed, the ground shook, and the soundwave trembled in the air. The impact was almost overflowing from the screen as if the screen would shatter like a mirror at any second!
Their fight was like a flying dragon that extended across the entire battlefield. Just the aftershock from their battle was able to send the soldiers and vehicles in their path flying. The viewers could not take their eyes off. It was like they were there themselves; they were nervously holding their breath.
Boom!
With the last thunderous hit, the image trembled!
The viewers finally took a deep breath.
Blood splashed out from the Germinal Organization leader’s mouth as he was blown away, flying backward, rolling on the sand for almost a hundred meters, and leaving a marking behind. He fell onto the floor and vomited blood non-stop. On the other side, Han Xiao stood in the middle of the shattered mechanical suit pieces on the ground, unveiling his face. Bun-Hit-Dog was blown onto the floor by the shockwave, and he was looking up. The dust and sand settled, like a yellow curtain being pulled open. Han Xiao stood under the scorching sun, above the yellow sand and between the cannons and bullets, covered in twisting bolts of lightning, expressionless.
At this moment, his coolness level was at the max!
Even for Planet Aquamarine players who knew that Han Xiao was powerful, they could not help but feel emotional. This was perhaps the first time that the players from other planets had seen Han Xiao’s performance, and it happened to be his most impactful scene. They were immediately stunned with excitement and trembling.
“Wow, this man is so powerful!”
“So, he had this kind of past…”
Every novice planet had main characters. In comparison, Han Xiao received the most attention. Many new viewers attracted by the Black Star Series were shocked and more interested; they wanted to find Bun-Hit-Dog’s previous videos and find out more about Han Xiao’s past.
The video continued. The last scene was the cutscene of the nuclear explosion in the Germinal Organization Headquarters.
A mushroom cloud rose from the ground, and the dark red light in the thick smoke was like the boiling lava from hell!
The world trembled!
Just as the viewers were stunned by the image, the noise from the explosion suddenly disappeared. Only the image of the nuclear explosion remained. At the same time, a man’s voice appeared in the background.
“The clouds of war obscured the blue skies like the wings of death, and the scars of the previous war have been torn open again before they could even heal…”
At the end of the video, Bun-Hit-Dog had the genius idea of putting in Han Xiao’s speech from before.
The image was the end of Germinal Organization—the Six Nations launched a nuclear missile to end the war. The background was Han Xiao’s speech when he created the Sanctuary. The image of the nuclear explosion complemented and explained the content of the speech. The Six Nations started a war for their own benefit, and the Sanctuary was built to save the tinder of civilization. When putting everything together, the contrast was very strong, and it felt completely different.
After the video ended, the viewers could not have enough of it. It was like they had watched a short legendary drama. Thinking back to the storyline on Planet Aquamarine as a whole, they were feeling sentimental.
Although Han Xiao did not speak throughout the entire video, with the speech that Bun-Hit-Dog added at the end, the level of class that he had was off the charts!
Some audiences imagined his thoughts and analyzed his actions. When this event happened in real time back then, there had been players who did a similar thing. Now, the topic became heated up once again.
“Real men don’t talk, they use actions.”
“Black Phantom cares about the world and fights for the weak, so he wanted to destroy the evil Germinal Organization. Not bad, he’s my husband after all.”
“Black Phantom: Bullsh*t, I just wanted to run away with gi
rls. Do you think my nickname ‘Women Lover Great Mechanic Han’ has no meaning?”
The players made full use of their creativity and discussed excitedly.
Although this video was rushed, Bun-Hit-Dog did a very good job, and it received a very positive response. Han Xiao’s sense of presence and influence was increased largely. Originally, Han Xiao had already given the players a rich impression. Now, with this video about the end of the Germinal Organization, his impression in the players’ mind evolved and became clearer. He became legendary, and his unique characteristics started to shine through, which differentiated him from all the other characters.
He was the one and only.
This was exactly why Han Xiao had brought Bun-Hit-Dog along, and from the current situation, Bun-Hit-Dog was doing very well. In between building machinery, Han Xiao took a break and watched the video. He was very satisfied.
…
A few days later in the machinery modification room, the air was filled with a certain stench. The results of these few days’ work—hundreds of small orbs—were arranged neatly on the table.
“It’s finally done. A little earlier than I expected.”
This was the new machinery that he had created by taking the advantages of the same type of low-level blueprints. Their performance and attributes were far superior. Before he started building, he had spent two to three million experience and leveled up these blueprints to the max level. The more he built, the more familiar he was with them, and the faster he built.
Han Xiao took off the protective suit and counted the numbers. He then separated the small mechanical orbs into different types.
A method was needed to use the compressed small orbs as well. Usually, Mechanics would carry a portable small bag and store these small orbs inside, or they might make these small orbs into jewelry, such as a necklace, bracelet, or earrings. Sometimes, they might also tie them at the end of their hair like the Godora Observer or place them into the combat suit.