by <unknown>
In the timeline of that version, due to the Crimson Empire expanding once again, all the Star Fields could only care about themselves. The large mercenary groups in various Star Clusters of the Shattered Star Ring mimicked the mercenaries in the Silver Arm Star Field, creating the Shattered Star Ring Alliance. They turned themselves into an enormous mercenary group with millions of members and tens of thousands of battleships of all kinds of models, more than enough to take part in even large space wars.
Sylvia was the arch-enemy of the mercenary alliance.
Players back then took part in the mercenary alliance event. In their eyes, Sylvia was a renowned villain boss of the opposite party. Many players received missions to chase and kill Sylvia, but they all failed. Sylvia was too strong.
During the times of opposing the mercenary alliance, Sylvia often appeared in the eyes of the players. Then, through what looked like an accident, she discovered that her father was the bad guy and knew that her father deserved his death. She then disappeared for a period of time. When she reappeared, she was not a galactic pirate anymore; she became a freedom fighter of Shattered Star Ring, helping the people who were victims of harm, dealing with some criminals, and being responsible for quite a number of famous events. Furthermore, they rejected rewards or requests in any form; all their actions came from themselves. They were like Superheroes… Basically, she reformed.
Although Sylvia was not the main character of a certain event, she was a renowned character like Hila. She was involved in many events in the Shattered Star Ring. When the players wandered in space, they would sometimes bump into her fighting bad guys and could choose to help her. She was loved by many in Shattered Star Ring… These were all things that happened after Version 3.0
Han Xiao shook his head. Sylvia’s reform process and her experience of turning from someone with so much hatred into someone as righteous as a knight were filled with opportunities for parodies, such as…
Bah! Why am I thinking of this?
Didn’t expect to meet a future celebrity…
Han Xiao stroked his chin.
For some reason, he felt somewhat strange, like he had missed some important information.
…
Floating Dragon Island was in the Rain Star System of the Colton Star Cluster. There was a small star gate on their way that could teleport them, and the traveling time was about ten days.
Every day, Han Xiao built machinery and traded with the players.
He did not pay much attention to the league, only looking at the results. The top four teams were decided. Long Sky stopped at the top eight after facing Devil, who were ranked first, and were defeated 1:3. It was quite regretful. Dynasty defeated Rose Knight 3:2, advancing to top four. Japan’s Hydra defeated Australia’s Kangaroo Boxing 3:1. The top four teams were Tulips, Devil, Dynasty, and Hydra.
The upcoming grouping was extremely important. It seemed like the prayers of countless Chinese spectators had an effect; Dynasty’s next opponent was team Hydra. Compared to the steady Tulips and extremely strong Devil, Hydra was no doubt a weaker opponent. Dynasty had the most confidence in defeating Hydra as compared to the other two teams. The Chinese panel in the forums was practically celebrating already.
In terms of Singles, King Admiral advanced to top eight, Frenzied Sword stopped at top sixteen. But Frenzied Sword was very satisfied; he was already overjoyed that he could enter the second round of the International League, a result that was much higher than his initial expectations. Compared to Frenzied Sword’s ranking in Han Xiao’s previous life, this was indeed a huge improvement. In his previous life, Frenzied Sword did not even make it into the International League, but now, he was one of the top sixteen players on the International League. Frenzied Sword benefitted the most, and his position among the Chinese players rocketed from nobody to a Supernova.
Ten days later, the spaceship exited the jumping state. Floating Dragon was only half a day away.
It was dining time. Han Xiao walked out of the machinery modification room and came to the dining hall. This was the usual dining area, so many people were eating there. The food was all portable space food, so it could not be considered delicious, but it was not tasteless either.
Herlous called for him from the bar.
“Have a drink?” Herlous had a bottle of liquor in front of him, the alcohol made his face slightly red.
“Almost forgot you’re an alcoholic.” Han Xiao sat down, and the bartender passed him a new cup. Herlous laughed, lifted the liquor bottle, and poured him a cup.
Han Xiao shook his head and lifted up the cup. Just as he was going to drink it, his movement suddenly stopped, and an unknown alert appeared in his heart.
Frowning slightly, he looked at the object introduction on his interface.
_____________
[Strong Liquor with an Added Ingredient]
Effects: Unknown
_____________
Bang!
The smashing sound shocked everyone. They put their food down and looked over in surprise.
Han Xiao held the bartender’s collar, pressed the panicking bartender on the bar table, and said coldly without an expression, “You added poison‽
Chapter 431. Revenge from the Past (1) |
“What do you want‽”
The bartender was a member of the ship’s crew. His face was filled with panic, and he could not even struggle.
Herlous was shocked. “Captain, this is?”
Han Xiao pointed at his cup and said, “Someone added something inside, probably poison.”
“Impossible, I brought the liquor. Why am I fine after drinking it… or have I been poisoned too?”
Herlous was shocked. He hurriedly touched his tongue and throat, but there was no sign of the numbness from being poisoned.
“There is no problem with the liquor; it’s the cup.” The item information of the liquor bottle was normal—only his cup had something added into it. The only possibility was that someone had put something into the cup in advance, and the bartender who took out the cup was the most suspicious.
This started as a very simple daily escorting mission; Han Xiao did not expect to meet something like this. He was very curious—who wanted him dead?
This time, the players and the company employees came. Dekker and the others hurried there as well. They were very confused.
“What happened?”
Han Xiao explained simply, and everyone was surprised.
“Could it be a mistake?” Dekker asked.
Han Xiao shook his head. He wrote a new mission and threw it to the players.
_____________
You have triggered mission [Poison Testing]
Mission Introduction: Someone seems to have attempted to poison your captain. Are you willing to help him to test the effect of the poison?
Mission Requirements: Drink [Strong Liquor with an Added Ingredient]
Reward: Black Star—Han Xiao Favorability +8, 150,000 experience.
Remarks: Possible death
_____________
The mercenary group players received the notification on their interface. Their eyes sparkled for this was the first time that they had seen such an easy mission that could increase Han Xiao’s Favorability and receive experience. Dying once was nothing.
Just as they were about to snatch the cup, a shadow flew past everyone. Bun-Hit-Dog snatched the cup extremely quickly and gulped it down without saying a word.
“How are you able to run this fast‽” Second Prince was shocked. I’m a Dexterity-focused Pugilist, yet I could not even catch up to you. How did you do it?
Bun-Hit-Dog glanced at everyone with pride. Before he could speak, his face suddenly changed, and the veins under his skin expanded and turned black, covering his entire face. He opened his mouth but could not say a word. The other players moved back as they saw this, leaving no one within a three-meter radius from Bun-Hit-Dog.
Bun-Hit-Dog froze in place for a few seconds, then bloo
d sprayed out from his every orifice. He collapsed onto the ground and died on the spot.
“Tsk tsk, truly a man of the wind. He even died quickly,” Frenzied Sword said.
“He—he’s dead just like that‽”
The company employees and the crews were all dumbfounded. A mercenary died right on the spot, yet his friends had no reaction at all. What mercenary group is this? They’re so cold-blooded! So horrifying!
Plus, these mercenaries are way too loyal to Black Star. Black Star had yet to even speak and they were already rushing to drink the poisoned alcohol, testing the poison with their body. This does not feel like a mercenary group at all but a fanatical cult!
However, the next moment, Bun-Hit-Dog’s corpse turned into white light and disappeared, then the sound of trotting footsteps appeared outside the door almost immediately after. Bun-Hit-Dog had run over from the revive point.
“Yo—you…” Dekker stammered in shock.
Han Xiao looked at him. “After working together so many times, I’m surprised that you don’t know that we have the nickname ‘Immortal Mercenary Group’?”
“I see, I don’t know much about the mercenary industry.” Dekker smiled bitterly. No wonder the mercenaries were so calm, they were all immortals.
Black Star’s name was widely known, but his details were only known within the industry; the other industries did not know much about it.
Han Xiao turned around and asked, “What was the effect of the poison?”
Bun-Hit-Dog looked at the notification from earlier.
_____________
You have consumed a certain poison. Judging END… Your END is lower than 280. No related immunity ability detected. You have entered [Poisoned] state.
High Concentration Corrosive Blood Poison: This is a poison made from some Esper ability and requires blood poison cure.
Current poison level: 135/135
You are losing 750 health per second.
Duration: 8 seconds
Warning! Your health is too low. Please consume antidote as soon as possible!
Your health is lower than 0!
You died!
_____________
Bun-Hit-Dog read accordingly, and Han Xiao nodded.
6,000 health in eight seconds, very lethal to players but can’t kill me. This means that the person who added the poison has limited information of me, but the fact that the culprit could poison me on this trip means that they know my location or at least know that this ship is transporting supplies for Floating Dragon and that I would definitely appear here. This ship is only so big, and the culprit is definitely hidden among them. Plus, even the title of ‘Immortal Mercenary Group’ did not scare the culprit away, so there can only be two possibilities. Either they know that I’m not immortal or… an act of revenge?
Han Xiao’s eyebrows were locked tightly. He had many guesses in his mind, and even the players were not excluded!
He had to guard against the possibility of something like this happening. He made himself stronger by helping the players, but he never completely trusted them. After all, he knew too well what the players were like. He only hoped that this was not the right guess and that there was no player who privately accepted a mission to assassinate him.
After proving Han Xiao’s words true, many pairs of eyes full of hostility stared at the bartender who had collapsed on the side. The bartender saw that the poison did exist and was scared sh*tless; his entire body was shivering.
“It wasn’t me. I don’t know anything about this. I just took an empty cup from the drawer…”
Han Xiao opened the bar drawer. There were many empty cups inside. He took all of them out and poured water in each of them. These were all normal; his cup was the only one that had poison. He frowned and said, “There are so many glasses, and the only one with poison is the one you gave me. How can you explain that?”
“I—I don’t know. That glass was at the most outside. I really just took it randomly!”
The bartender almost urinated out of horror.
Herlous suddenly was covered in cold sweat. “If the bartender took the wrong cup, wouldn’t that have been the end of me‽”
“Your body is strong; the poison wouldn’t have killed you,” Han Xiao replied. He stared at the shivering bartender and said, “If it’s not you, it’s someone else that did something to the cup. Captain! Where’s the captain?”
The spaceship’s captain hurried to the scene, stepped out of the crowd, and said with sorrow on his face, “I’m the captain of Rainbow Conch. I am extremely sorry that something like this happened in my ship. I will provide my full cooperation to you with finding the culprit.”
“I want to see the surveillance recording of this few days and see who has come close to this place.”
“As you wish.”
Other than the bedrooms, most areas of the spaceship had surveillance cameras, including the dining hall. The culprit could be found immediately through the recordings.
The bartender was surprised. “So, I’m free to go?”
“Are you dreaming?” Han Xiao said. “Tie him up and bring him along.”
The captain led them to the main control room. Just as he was about to browse through the surveillance recordings, he was shocked to realize that the recordings had been wiped. Even the earliest recording was from less than one day ago.
“The surveillance recordings are all deleted!” The captain was stunned. “I’m the only one who can make such commands. Could it be that the spaceship system has been infiltrated? The culprit could bypass the alarms‽”
He hastily opened the background, passed through authorization with his fingerprint and pupils, and activated the system scan, but there was no sign of infiltration.
“Why can’t the infiltration be detected? Is the spaceship completely controlled by the enemy‽”
The captain was sweating profusely. He looked at the operation diary of the spaceship, hoping to find the ID of the person that deleted the recordings. This small traveling spaceship belonged to a galactical traveling organization, so the captain was hired and only had second-tier authorization. The highest system authorization belonged to the organization, and the captain could not modify the dairy. Hence, even if the culprit controlled the spaceship, the dairy would not be changed. Unless the opponent’s technology was strong enough to bypass the quantum network defense of the organization’s headquarters and get the highest authorization.
However, there was no sign of any other accounts logging into the system, but they did find the records of the recordings being deleted.
_____________
[Operation Dairy #00784315]
22 hours ago—Clean all surveillance recordings.
Authorization granted.
Confirm/Back
Confirmed.
Deleting… Complete.
Operator: Captain’s account
_____________
Chapter 432. Revenge from the Past (2) |
The captains’ eyes opened widely. “Why is it my account‽ I didn’t do it! Twenty-two hours ago… I was sleeping at that time! It’s the culprit, the culprit stole my account! But… the login password is my biometric data, how can they be stolen…”
The people looked at him doubtfully. Maybe it was you. Now that the surveillance footage is gone, you can say whatever you want.
“There are a few possibilities. Maybe the superiors of your travel agency worked with another organization that is against us, or maybe the opposite party used some method to get the captain’s body password data, or maybe… there’s a shapeshifter Esper hidden in the ship,” Herlous contemplated.
Everyone’s face changed. They looked at each other with suspicion—everyone looked like an enemy.
Han Xiao raised his eyebrows and looked around the crowd. Everyone on the ship was gathered here, even Sylvia. She hid at the edge of the crowd and showed half of her face, sizing him up…
His eyes suddenly narrowed.
&nb
sp; Wait a minute, Sylvia?
With a flash of insight, Han Xiao finally realized where the strange feeling came from. He looked at Dekker and said, “Sylvia is your friend’s daughter, is she?”
Dekker nodded and said with a confused face, “Yes, what’s wrong with that?”
Han Xiao squinted his eyes. “Her family… only has her father, and if I remember correctly, that person is not a nobody. I almost fell for your lies; you acted quite well. Leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist. Are you going to confess on your own, or do you need me to help you confess?”
Dekker’s expression froze. His eyes clearly expressed his shock and disbelief.Why do you know who Sylvia is‽
Although Han Xiao did not know exactly who Sylvia’s father was, he remembered that her father was a villain in the background introduction, and that was enough. Dekker was just a regular employee of a business organization, yet he had a villainous friend. It was certainly possible but still very questionable…
Han Xiao shook his head in his mind. He should have noticed this long ago, but everything was normal, so he did not think too much about it. It seemed like he had let his guard down a little recently.
After resting for a month due to the Pro League, along with not facing any huge threats in the nine months before that, his alertness had decreased subconsciously. Luckily, he noticed that in time and became more alert.
This time, Sylvia walked out. She was frowning. The feeling that she gave was completely different; the young and energetic feeling that she gave earlier was all a disguise. Although her body was still in puberty, the feeling that she gave was not like a teenage girl anymore—she felt more mature.
Sylvia stared at Han Xiao; her tone was complex and mixed with astonishment.
“You know me?”
She could not figure out how it was possible for Han Xiao to recognize who she was despite him meeting her for the first time. Logically, Black Star should not even know that she existed; she should have always been hidden in the dark.