by <unknown>
“They’re still matching the data with the coordinates. We don’t know how long it will take to accurately locate the location in the data records. That set of data is too strange. It does not seem to be in the explored universe. Even if we have the data, without the matching coordinates on the star map, the workload is enormous.”
“Results are the only thing I want. Confirm the location as soon as possible,” EsGod said coldly. He then turned to look at his capable assistant beside him and said, “Help me to contact the Arcane Church’s men.”
“Oh? For what?”
This person licked his lips. His tongue was purple and covered in spikes, like a whip. A bright red mask was embedded into his face bone as if it was soldered into his face. The mask blocked the upper half of his face, not even showing his eyes. Only his mouth and chin could be seen. He was a being with an upright spine but not human, about 1.7 meters tall. His back was bent like an old man. His skin was thick, dark purple, and rough like sandpaper. He had two pairs of upper limbs and one pair of lower limbs. He looked emaciated, and his body was like a purple brunch of a dead tree. He had the EsGod-brand fashionable beggar hood on too. He emitted a sense of evil and creepiness from all over his body.
Fakisen, nicknamed the Purple Devil, one of the Beyond Grade A Seeds in the Central Galaxy many years ago. He was once a wanted criminal chased by universal civilizations, then he joined the Fallen Ark and had been an important officer under EsGod for around a hundred years.
“Tell the Arcane Church’s men, didn’t they want the data left by the Evolutionary Civilization? I can give it to them.”
“On what terms?” Fakisen tilted his head.
“To work together and snatch the Evolution Cube. Tell them, if that succeeds, the Evolution Cube is theirs. I only need to use it a few times,” EsGod said slowly.
In order not to make the same mistake, he decided to borrow Psyker’s ability to locate the Evolution Cube. As he had slaughtered many Star Pupil Holy Race members before, Psyker would not work with him, so EsGod planned to directly negotiate with the Arcane Church in secret. As long as the Arcane Church made a decision, he would be able to discreetly borrow Psyker’s ability.
The Arcane Church had an unusual passion for the Evolution Cube. Ever since EsGod stole the Evolution Cube from Psyker and made it known to the public that he possessed information about the Evolutionary Civilization, the Arcane Church had proposed many terms to him secretly in exchange for the Evolutionary Civilization’s information.
According to EsGod’s speculation, the Arcane Church’s feverish admiration for the Gods was one of the main reasons they wanted the Evolution Cube. EsGod did not know the details of it.
Although EsGod knew that he was the common enemy of the three civilizations. Since he shared a common goal with the Arcane Church, it was not impossible for them to work together in secret. Furthermore, the target of negotiation was the mysterious Arcane Church, which had the most ambiguous stand among the three civilizations. Compared to the Federation of Light and the Crimson Dynasty, the Arcane Church was the least keen to kill him.
“We’re going to make a deal with the Arcane Church? That’s really risky. If there’s a chance, they might eliminate you during the process,” Fakisen said with a mocking tone.
“Hehe.” EsGod smiled faintly and did not reply. He then said, “I’ll leave this matter to you. I need to sleep for some time.”
Pa!
Fakisen’s tongue whipped in midair and created a sound that had the same meaning as humans snapping their fingers, expressing that he would get it done.
EsGod grunted and lowered his head. His face turned back to a vortex shaped black fog and entered his slumber.
Fakisen was used to this. The various Esper Abilities of EsGod all existed in his body in the form of Genetic Chains, which had a very heavy load on his body. Continuously switching between his various Esper Abilities would cause his cells to age very quickly. When EsGod absorbed Esper Abilities from others, he was basically using his life span in exchange for power.
EsGod’s cell activity had already started to deteriorate, and his life span had entered the elderly stage. However, he also had Esper Abilities to suppress aging and temporarily return him to his youth, which had to be triggered through sleeping. This was the reason he often slept. Usually, after intense battles, EsGod always slept.
“Black Star…”
Fakisen licked his lips. He knew that EsGod had gone to negotiate with Black Star. It clearly did not go well, and EsGod had even gone back empty-handed, which was shocking to him.
…
After the battlefield was cleaned up, Murraky’s army returned to the border army base together with Han Xiao and the others.
There were millions of border army bases across the dynasty’s wide border line. The highest position in one base was colonel.
As this battle came to its end, Han Xiao and the others bade farewell to the colonel of the base and left.
Han Xiao and Beyoni said to meet again when they had the time before going their separate ways. Beyoni left alone, while Han Xiao took Ames and the others to head toward the location where the Black Star Army was going to build a new division.
While heading there, they took a detour, and Han Xiao retrieved the Evolution Cube and the other mechanical army. He felt much more assured when the Evolution Cube was on him.
As the portable base of the army had yet to arrive, they were not in a hurry, so Han Xiao slowed down the traveling time. This was the first time Hila and the others had gone to the Central Galaxy. They made stops here and there on the way, occasionally visiting the colonial planets of the Crimson Dynasty for sightseeing.
With Han Xiao’s identity, their journey was smooth.
Han Xiao had been paying attention to the Constellation Corridor page on the player forums all along and looking at the players’ reactions. Ever since more than half a month ago when he spread the word at the Shattered Star Ring that he was going to the Constellation Corridor, the players there had been in a state of excitement and anticipation. They could not wait for the Black Star Army to cross Star Fields and meet them.
The transportation in the Central Galaxy was very efficient. When Han Xiao was still on the way, the army’s main team finally reached its destination and arrived before the players.
Han Xiao had yet to arrive personally, but he could clearly feel the enormous impact of his army crossing servers on the Constellation Corridor page on the forums.
The passion of the players exploded!
Chapter 808. Harvesting Wild Leeks |
In Galaxy, Star Fields were like individual servers with different main storylines and events. The players all had different experiences, worked for different civilizations, met different characters, and saw different scenery.
While the events in the various Star Fields were different, the overall direction was the same.
In Version 1.0, the players were born on their respective novice planets and experienced events there. In Version 2.0, the players experienced upheavals on their novice planets. Then, under the guidance of different factions, the players officially stepped into the universe and started their adventure within the Star Systems. Now, in Version 3.0, the players’ stage started to gradually expand to the Star Clusters they were in. At the same time, they began to understand and become involved in more matters across Galaxy.
The professional clubs of the various countries chose different Star Fields as their base so that obtaining resources would be easier, and their local players would be more willing to start their character there. The Constellation Corridor mainly consisted of Russian and Australian professional players, as well as some clubs from smaller countries. Of course, the players could start in any Star Field they wanted, so there were players from other countries in the Constellation Corridor too.
The players there had experienced the Sodrian Rebellion on their novice planet. This planet was originally a rural territory of a Star Syst
em civilization, but it was a self-ruled area due to its history. The ruler of the planet was involved in a certain sensitive matter and was punished by the Star System civilization. Sodrian’s ruler was not willing to give in and rebelled.
In the mid to late stage of Version 2.0, the rebellion was resolved, and the Star System civilization regained Sodrian. The ruler led his fleet and escaped. The players entered the universe due to external factors. As they did not have guidance like the Shattered Star Ring players had, the players of the Constellation Corridor went many separate ways. Some were recruited by Star System civilizations, some escaped with Sodrian, and some traveled the universe. They were scattered around in various factions and civilizations in the Star Systems around, completely unlike those in the Shattered Star Ring.
In Version 3.0, as the Constellation Corridor was the Crimson Dynasty’s base, almost every civilization there was ruled by the dynasty, and none dared cause any trouble. Therefore, it was very peaceful there, unlike the other Star Fields. A few months after the start of the version, when the secret war main storyline in the Shattered Star Ring ended, the players in the Constellation Corridor triggered the main storyline.
As there were many factions and not much trouble, the players there looked for fun themselves. PVP became a norm, and guild wars were very frequent. As both Russia and Australia saw this place as their base, the normal players on these two sides took each other as the opposing faction. It was very boisterous.
To make communication more convenient, the players would always have public areas. The biggest safe area recognized by the Constellation Corridor areas was a trading planet called Gilman. It was a prosperous stargate transit station. Many players set up stores and looked for teams there.
The location that the Black Star Army had chosen was exactly Planet Gilman.
Just like the usual days, on this day, many players went to Planet Gilman by galactic flights and queued at the space dock of the planet. The spaceship queue extended like a river. It was quite crowded.
The guild Power and Glory’s vice president ‘Vodka’ was in one of the spaceships together with many guild members. This guild was the official guild of the most famous club in Russia. Its goal was to provide resources to the club’s professional team, ‘Glory’.
Vodka was doing missions with the rest in other civilizations and gathered some equipment. This visit to Planet Gilman was to rest and store this batch of equipment in the warehouse at the guild base on the planet.
A guild officer walked into the room and reported to Vodka. “The fleet captain sent a message saying that there were some problems with the identity inspection of a certain fleet in front of us, and it will take about ten minutes till it’s our turn.”
“Good work.” Vodka nodded.
Like the others, Vodka was browsing the forums while waiting. Many Black Star Army related posts entered his sights. He shook his head and said, “The Black Star Army topic has been trending for half a month. I wonder if they really are going to open a new division here at the Constellation Corridor.”
The others joined the conversation.
“We can’t even make contact with the Crimson Dynasty now. Who knows if the Black Star Army is already here?”
“Even if they’re indeed coming to start a division, we might not meet them. Who knows where they will appear?”
Currently, the players at the Constellation Corridor had yet to join the Crimson Dynasty, and Han Xiao had not taken any players with him. As no player witnessed the army, the players in the Constellation Corridor did not know the whereabouts of the Black Star Army.
As they were chatting, one of them casually glanced outside the porthole. His expression suddenly stiffened. Shocked, he stared right outside the window.
“What is that‽”
The others looked over and were shocked too.
A fleet was guarding an enormous portable satellite base out of the stargate from not far away and slowly approaching Planet Gilman. Not just Vodka and the players there, all the players and the galactic residents queueing at the dock saw this.
These spaceships were marked with the Black Star Army symbol, which the Constellation Corridor players recognized.
“Black Star Army‽”
“They’re here‽”
The Black Star Army’s satellite base slowly stopped outside Planet Gilman and communicated with the guard army of the planet.
Looking at this, Vodka was stunned. “Wow! Could it be that… the Black Star Army is going to build their division on Planet Gilman‽”
Realizing the possibility, the surrounding guild members’ expressions changed drastically, and they were overjoyed.
Not long after, news of the army’s arrival spread across the entire Planet Gilman.
Very soon, the negotiation between the army and Planet Gilman’s authorities was complete. Due to the identity of the army’s commander and the authority given by the Crimson Dynasty, Planet Gilman had no right to prevent the army from building a division here. They had no choice but to send people to help the Black Star Army build their base.
As the players were waiting with anticipation, the army finally announced to the entire planet that they were going to build a division there!
The news became a storm in the forums. All the players in the Constellation Corridor were overjoyed and filled with excitement.
After more than half a month, the Black Star Army had appeared. The players had speculated a lot about how they would come into contact with the Black Star Army, but no one thought that the Black Star Army would directly appear in their public area!
The responses of the players were clearly displayed on the forums. The topic of the army appearing on Planet Gilman instantly became the most discussed topic on the Constellation Corridor page!
The anticipation from the past half a month turned into flames of passion!
This was the first inter-Star Field faction that the players had contact with. Even the players from other pages on the forums were attracted.
Especially the Shattered Star Ring.
…
At the Black Star Army headquarters in the Shattered Star Ring, countless players stopped their footsteps simultaneously and opened the forums.
“The army has crossed a Star Field!”
“The forums over there have exploded!”
“Haha, let those foreigners experience what it’s like to be in our army.”
“Although we’re in different Star Fields, we might all belong to the same faction in the future.”
The players in the Shattered Star Ring were excited and visited the Constellation Corridor page on the forums. They made a post there with the title of ‘Welcome to the army, foreign friends’.
“Congratulations from the Black Star Army headquarters.”
“Congratulations from the Shattered Star Ring.”
“Welcome to the Black Star Army!”
“Remember, our slogan is ‘Captain is awesome’!”
Through the versions, the Black Star Army had become deeply rooted in the hearts of the players. Seeing that their own growing faction had developed to such heights, many Shattered Star Ring players felt proud. It almost felt like raising a child who had finally become successful.
The various players who met Black Star long ago including Frenzied Sword, Bun-Hit-Dog, and Maple Moon felt most deeply for this. They had experienced a lot of things with the Black Star Army, and those memories resurfaced in their minds.
We’ve come so far…
Their feelings were complicated.
To the players, this act of the Black Star Army was like the opening of a new era. Maybe this would be the beginning of the players being able to travel between Star Fields. Maybe, one day, all the Galaxy players might be able to gather in the same Star Field, and this might be its beginning.
…
The influence of officially building a subdivision on Planet Gilman could be seen immediately. Almost all the players doing missio
ns elsewhere rushed right back from various Star Systems as soon as they heard this piece of news.
From Version 2.0 when the players entered the universe, never had the players all gathered in one place in the Constellation Corridor. This time, due to the popularity of the army itself and the impact of crossing Star Fields, almost everyone gathered there!
The army subdivision made an announcement on the quantum network saying that since the subdivision had just been built, they needed to recruit a lot of manpower. The details could be found on the main page of the army.
As the players in the Constellation Corridor did not have any sense of belonging to the army, what attracted them was purely the army’s fame and the potential profit. With the example of the Shattered Star Ring, almost all the older players knew how good the Black Star Army’s benefits were. With Han Xiao working things for three versions, the army’s brand among the players had a very high position.
Vodka finished reading the recruiting information on the communicator and sighed. “The benefits are too good…”
Be it salary, bonuses, internal services, missions, or resources, the benefits of the Black Star Army were miles better than all the factions that the Constellation Corridor had experienced!
The faction store was especially attractive. Han Xiao had tons of low-level blueprints and had mass-produced them throughout the years. Currently, the army sold more than ten thousand mechanical items and equipment of all kinds of uses and functions. There were also tailor-made options, repairs, enhancements, and other services. Other than that, there were many Dungeon Crystals, Genetic Medicines, materials, and many other items, as well as the products from other financial groups. The faction store of the army was like a trade transit station with plenty of products.
“Vice president, are we going to join the Black Star Army?”
“Come, let’s go to their subdivision.” Vodka was thrilled. Not mentioning how attractive the benefits of the army was, just the Black Star Army being the Crimson Dynasty’s ally would have made him not hesitate about it.