Chapter 811
This chapter is updated by Wuxia.Blog
Every Ultimate Knowledge involved the territory of the gods. The prerequisite to learning them was an extremely high Intelligence.
Han Xiao did not choose the Energy Branch [Mechanical Life Tinder] just to activate [King's Mentor]. It was also because this Ultimate Knowledge had a very wide application range.
Compared to the Virtual Technology Ultimate Knowledge, [Mechanical Life Tinder] was more useful for him now.
As the complex knowledge flew into his mind, images flashed before Han Xiao's eyes.
On the desolate black earth, a man planted a mass of metal. As time passed, mechanical cities rose from the ground, and metal spread out on the surface extremely quickly and replaced the black soil. Countless blue, well-dressed beings kneeled on the ground. Their minds entered mechanical bodies through pipes one after another, leaving their physical bodies behind.
In a rift under the ground, countless scrap parts scattered around in the darkness. One day, a golden streak of lightning landed from outside the sky right onto the waste mechanical parts, and a golden energy wave expanded. The scrap mechanical parts were united into one by an invisible force, forming a rough mechanical life..."
"These are the origins of mechanical lives..." All kinds of images flashed past as Han Xiao's understanding deepened.
Machines were initially just tools, tools that countless races learned to use and build as their civilizations grew. There were countless races in Galaxy, but mechanical lives born from nature were almost non-existent. Most of them were artificially built.
Some races built mechanical soldiers for war, which led to mechanical lives. Some left their weak body behind and became mechanical lives to get through a disaster. Some races lacked the ability to move themselves so they created mechanical lives as slaves.
Beyond Grade A Mechanics were the peak of creating mechanical lives.
As the knowledge learning was complete, Han Xiao took a deep breath and slowed down his mind.
He looked at the new abilities on the interface. [Ultimate Knowledge Possessor] was the talent rewarded when learning the first Ultimate Knowledge, and [Mechanical Life Creator] was the talent given by [Mechanical Life Tinder].
Han Xiao then looked at the new ability, [Tinder Awakening]. This was the most important one.
With a thought in his mind, the hovering guards behind him trembled and flew in front of him. They assembled with cracking sounds into a human-shaped mechanical soldier.
It had silver alloy armor and a streamlined body, and cannon barrels were embedded in its palms, knees, shoulders, and head. Psionic blue light emitted from within the armor's gaps. It had a very heavy futuristic vibe.
This was one of the elite mechanical soldiers that Han Xiao could build. Its name was Hovering Fissionist. It could both act as his hovering guard and assemble into a mechanical soldier. It was an orange, high-level machine.
This Hovering Fissionist was controlled by the combat artificial intelligence, Sparta. It stood still before Han Xiao.
"Let's see its effects..."
Buzz!
Han Xiao raised his palm, clenched his fist, and used [King's Mentor].
A mass of blue and gold Mechanical Force appeared in his palm and made cracking sounds like a thunder cloud. The next moment, this mass of Mechanical Force dashed onto the Hovering Fissionist, turning into electric sparks on its mechanical surface. Then, they entered through the gaps between the Hovering Fissionist's armor and fused into its energy furnace.
Han Xiao did not stop there. Another mass of Mechanical Force appeared in his palm and entered the Hovering Fissionist. It was [Machinery Fusion].
After that, Han Xiao activated [Tinder Awakening]. Gold light shot out from his eyes, a bright gold sphere of Mechanical Force appeared on his hand, it was blinding.
Although [Tinder Awakening] did not have a cooldown, it could only be used on targets already enhanced by [King's Mentor] and [Machinery Fusion], and these two abilities had cooldowns.
These three abilities in addition to [Emperor's Gift] were the complete set of abilities to create a mechanical life.
Han Xiao extended his hand forward, bright gold Mechanical Force flowed into the Hovering Fissionist.
His health, stamina, and energy immediately decreased a huge chunk.
Having lost half his health and energy instantly, he felt extremely weak.
This ability is really tiring to use... Han Xiao's mouth twitched. Ever since I became a Beyond Grade A Super, this should be the most health I've ever lost in a single instance...
He exhaled and let his body slowly recover, staring at the Hovering Fissionist before him.
Ding!
Suddenly, the light from the energy of the Hovering Fissionist became much brighter!
The next second, the mechanical parts on it moved on their own. The armor plates on its surface opened and closed like scales.
Clank!
Han Xiao could feel that the Hovering Fissionist was going through a change on the microscopic level.
Countless nano-grade silica-based neural fibers grew extremely quickly in its body. The parts on its body gradually turned into an organic 'whole'. The electrical sparks of a mind ignited in its chip, forming special thinking organs and fundamental logic. Energy flowed through its entire body and fueled this change.
Bang!
It was as if something in the Hovering Fissionist had awoken and ignited the tinder of life.
Hum...
This lasted quite a while before the light emitted from the Hovering Fissionist returned to normal.
Han Xiao sized it up and said, "Sparta, give me the inspection report."
"... Inspection complete. A new consciousness has been born in this unit. It's very young and is trying to communicate with me. I temporarily closed its network port. What should I do now? Please give the order, master."
Sparta appeared in the quantum network and spoke with a serious and formal tone, completely different from how lively Phillip was.
"Hmm... Build a data firewall around its consciousness first, and check its fundamental logic to see if an order to never betray me is fixed. Open its network port and filter some information for it to download."
Han Xiao gave the order and slapped Hovering Fissionist to deal some damage, triggering the combat information.
Hovering Fissionist's attributes appeared on the interface-there was no longer the equipment introduction but the attributes of a character.
The race was shown to be [Mechanical Life] and its level was as high as Lv185. It could level up like normal creatures. Its armor value became its health, and its various parameters became its other attributes. Its weapons and parts became many talents and abilities that had growth potential.
It has become a living unit.
"Sparta, let it control its own body."
Sparta responded and temporarily stopped controlling the Hovering Fissionist.
Hum!
Hovering Fissionist shivered. Its tensed body seemed to have relaxed. It then stretched his head around as if it was adapting to the vision provided by its senses. It raised its palm and touched its face.
It felt completely different.
When the combat artificial intelligence controlled all the mechanical soldiers at once, although their movements were not stiff, they did not make any unnecessary movements and were objects that only followed orders. When control was given back to the Hovering Fissionist, its movement felt immediately lively. It had become a living being that could think, doubt, and move on its own will.
Phillip and Sparta were artificial intelligence; their nature was different compared to mechanical lives. Mechanical lives' individual consciousness was equivalent to their 'freedom' and 'soul'; they had emotions and feelings.
However, that consciousness was born from the circuits in their chips, so they did not have the general 'soul'. Hence, they were immune to normal psychic and mind attacks. To the mechanical lives, only the Virtual Mechanics' attacks were considered 'mind attacks', as they could hack into the consciousness of mechanical lives and rewrite their fundamental logic.
Han Xiao had preset the ordering logic of Hovering Fissionist to be one level lower than his artificial intelligence, so orders from his artificial intelligence were like military orders that could not be disobeyed.
Hovering Fissionist looked around. It turned to look at Han Xiao and said in a wondering tone, "Mas... ter?"
It used the Universal Language.
Han Xiao nodded. He then walked around it once and sized it up from head to toe.
Hovering Fissionist stood still, but its head turned 360 degrees to keep looking at Han Xiao. It was filled with the ignorance and doubts of a newborn baby.
Why does it feel a little creepy? Han Xiao asked, "Is there anything you want to ask?"
"Want? To? Ask?" Hovering Fissionist said word by word as if its consciousness circuits were quickly working. After some thinking, it then asked, "Who... am I? Where... am I? What should I do?"
Okay, the ultimate three questions... Han Xiao thought it was funny. He then shook his head and said, "Sparta, open its network port and send it data."
The next moment, Hovering Fissionist's movements stopped. An enormous stream of data relating to the universe, life, and combat entered its consciousness and was quickly digested. It skipped the ignorant stage of a newborn instantly.
It stayed silent for a while before suddenly getting down on one knee and changing the way it spoke.
"Your Excellency Black Star, my creator."
Its voice system simulated a respectful tone.
Han Xiao raised his brows, thought for a moment, and asked, "Now, do you know who you are?"
"My name is Psionic Prime." It gave itself a name.
Psionic Prime? Why don't you call yourself Optimus Prime? Han Xiao complained in his mind.
"You're the first mechanical life I've created. Show me your strength."
Ka ka ka!
Psionic Prime moved and tested weapons one after another. It disassembled into singular hovering guards and flew around like butterflies before assembling again. Its combat style was extremely swift and flashy-mechanical lives had a very high application level to their own bodies. They could acquire abilities on their own and fix them on their character information interfaces.
Han Xiao's Mechanical Force bonus was effective on it as well. Psionic Prime was stronger than it was before Tinder Awakening.
"Come back."
After some testing, Han Xiao gave an order, and Psionic Prime automatically disassembled into hovering guards and floated around him obediently.
"Not bad." Han Xiao was satisfied and started planning in his head.
He could only create mechanical lives with self-growth potential using the set of abilities including [Tinder Awakening], [King's Mentor], and others, so its efficiency was limited, only creating elite and mini-boss units over time.
As for the majority of mechanical soldiers, Han Xiao was not planning to turn them into mechanical lives. One reason for this was the efficiency limit; he had to turn the high-level machinery first. Another reason was that the casualties of those mechanical soldiers were too high, so its long-term effect would be inferior compared to high-level machinery.
"After turning into mechanical lives, their growth potential is increased tremendously, and they are even able to grow into mechanical civilizations. Manison has some mechanical civilizations under his command..."
Han Xiao pondered. He could imitate this and let his mechanical lives develop into civilizations.
If he had a mechanical civilization under his command, they would automatically operate, reproduce, and create offspring, which meant that they would provide him with a continuous source of soldiers. The only problem was that this was extremely time-consuming.
However, his life span and the time between version updates were both very long, so this was not a huge problem.
"Or can I take someone else's mechanical civilization?" Han Xiao got rid of this thought as soon as it came up. He thought it was better not to create enemies everywhere.
Steady and firm, that was the Great Mechanic Han's personality.
Having learned an Ultimate Knowledge, Han Xiao was content and had a smile on his face. He walked out of the workshop and saw a few people immediately. Hila and the Black Star Guards were all waiting at his door.
"What are you guys doing here?" Han Xiao looked around and then fixed his eyes on Hadavy. This guy stood at the front of everyone else and had a mysterious smile on his face.
Hadavy took out a deck of Wayne Cards and showed Han Xiao the top card. "Look, your card has been updated again."
Han Xiao looked at it. This was the Strong Card with his image on it.
"Black Star-Han Xiao."
It was finally updated to become a Beyond Grade A, as well as the 'Crimson Dynasty Ally' trait. Its description also included his fight with Heber and Psyker, and its card effects were greatly increased.
"Isn't that just a matter of time? Did you guys come all the way just to show me this?"
Han Xiao was speechless. With his position, how could the Wayne Card company not update his card?
Hadavy chuckled and skillfully moved his fingers to fan the cards. Han Xiao looked through it and raised his brows. These cards were Hila, Feidin, and the others. They were now marked as 'Black Star Guards'. Like the Bloodshed Land's Vanguard Officials, they had their own cards.
One of the reasons he had formed the Black Star Guards was to make Hila and the others famous. Now, this goal was achieved. The Black Star Guards name became their identity, and they were now famous, so they came to share this piece of good news with Han Xiao.
"That's not bad, congratulations on becoming known in the universe." Han Xiao smiled and casually rubbed Feidin's shoulders, which led to Chen Xing rolling her eyes.
This time, Aurora spoke with her crispy voice. "Uncle, one more thing, there's someone special here to see you."
"Who? Someone from the dynasty?"
"No, that guy calls himself the ruler of Sodrian. His name is Troy."
Sodrian's ruler?
Sodrian was the novice planet of the Constellation Corridor players in Version 1.0. Due to its ruler being involved in sensitive political matters, the ruler was treated as a traitor. The ruler then escaped with his fleet and hid from everyone, still not captured till today.
What is this guy doing here? Han Xiao was curious.
...
Troy was the only one in the conference room, and he seemed to have a lot on his mind.
He was a tall humanoid. His yellow hair was tied into a foreign-style braid. His eyes were sharp, and his nose was a pair of small holes in the middle of his eyes. He was not considered to be ugly looking, just quite old. He had two hands and two legs but no tail. He had a pair of large wings behind his back with yellow feathers on them.
"Will Black Star help me?" Troy's eyes flashed.
He escaped with his fleet and had been chased by the Star System civilization till now. The situation was not looking very bright. If this continued, he would be captured by the Star System civilization sooner or later. Due to the political secrets that he was involved in, Troy knew that if he was captured, his fate would be worse than death.
Just as he was being extremely anxious about his future, he received the news about the Black Star Army building a subdivision and recruiting manpower on a large scale on Planet Gilman. Suddenly, he saw some hope and felt that Black Star Army might be able to help him.
He just had to join the Black Star Army and follow the army's fleet to borrow the Crimson Dynasty's stargate, leave the Central Galaxy, and take refuge in the Shattered Star Ring. That way, he would be safe.
Troy initially wanted to hide his identity while joining the army and secretly smuggle his way out of the Central Galaxy. However, he thought about it and felt that the risk of being discovered by a Beyond Grade A was too high, and he would very likely be discovered. By then, he would lose even this opportunity. Therefore, he felt that it was better to request to see Black Star, explain the situation, and sincerely make his proposal to convince Black Star to help them.
In his eyes, the only way he could rise again was to leave the Central Galaxy and return in the future to take revenge on his political enemies.
When he thought of how his political enemies had destroyed what he had been working on for so many years, Troy's expression became more furious and full of hatred.
He was now a traitor and would never be able to return to his civilization. The only thing he could do was flee. If he ever got the chance, he would destroy his political enemy's everything without hesitation and take revenge on the civilization that kept hunting him down.
Swoosh.
The sound of the door opening broke Troy's train of thought. He hastily stood up and looked at Han Xiao with admiration.
"Your Excellency Black Star," Troy hastily greeted respectfully and introduced himself, deliberately acting trepidatious.
"I've heard about you. You're now a rebel. What do you want from me?" Han Xiao asked.
"Well..." Troy took a deep breath and used the sincere tone that he had practiced a hundred times to explain the situation in words he had prepared long beforehand.
Basically, he was saying that he was framed by his political enemy and misunderstood by his civilization. In order to protect himself, he could only resist and escape, which forced him to become a rebel. He wanted to join the Black Star Army and work for the army, in exchange for an opportunity to take refuge in the Shattered Star Ring.
"I see..." Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and sized Troy up.
Suddenly, he seemed to have recalled something, and the look on his face became strange.
Chapter 812 Stealing Leeks Makes Me Happy
This chapter is updated by Wuxia.Blog
Looking at Troy's trepidatious and respectful expression, Han Xiao chuckled and asked, "So what you mean is, the reason you're in this situation today is all because you were framed, and that you're innocent?"
Troy swallowed his saliva and said, "I was tricked by my political enemy, they framed me for many crimes."
Han Xiao gave a long "oh", not expressing whether he believed Troy's explanation and said, "So now you want to take refugee under my command and let me protect you?"
Troy said cautiously, "I won't dare to ask for your protection, all I'm asking for is for you to allow me to follow the Black Star Army's fleet and leave the Central Galaxy through the stargate. I'm wanted by a Star System civilization, I can't use any stargates without anyone's help.
Han Xiao laughed and shook his head. "All the civilizations in the Constellation Corridor are ruled by the dynasty, don't you know I'm the dynasty's ally? You're now a wanted criminal of a civilization under the dynasty's ruling, it's already kind of me to not capture you right here, but you still want me to bear the risk and bring you to the Shattered Star Ring? All you have are words, yet you want me to help you for free... do I look like philanthropists to you?"
"No no, you're mistaken." Troy quickly waved his hands and said, "Although I do want to take refuge here, my intention to join the Black Star Army is sincere. Your rise in the Shattered Star Ring has spread across the universe, I've admired you for a very long time. If you don't mind, I'm willing to work for you and be loyal to you in the future."
"Oh?" Han Xiao placed his elbows on the table and his palms crossed before his nose, stared at Troy and said slowly, "You said you're innocent, do you think I believe that? Your ambitions failed and you're wanted to by a civilization, so you want me to back you up and use my name to pay the cost of your failure for you. Do you think there are such great things in the world?"
In fact, this guy was not innocent at all. In the years he ruled Sodrian, he secretly planned a lot of conspiracies to obtain more power. When these things got exposed, he became a rebel to the civilization. His political enemies did indeed exaggerate some of the things he did, but he was no saint either.
The situation Troy explained to Han Xiao was not completely untrue, he just changed some of the reasoning behind them and deliberately kept the factors regarding his own ambitions a secret, and did not tell the whole truth. He wanted to put the blame on others and make his crimes seem less severe, so he would look like he was forced and helpless, which he delusionally hoped would lower Han Xiao's suspicion towards him.
However, this was completely ineffective to Han Xiao. Sodrian was the earliest novice planet in the Constellation Corridor, with so much information the players had dug up, Han Xiao knew what happened all too well. Troy could not hide it from him at all.
Furthermore, Han Xiao had searched through the forums and found a hidden mission in the Galaxy Chronicles recorded by the Constellation Corridor players - When Troy was retreating and fleeing, he arranged people to plant high energy explosives in the political building of Sodrian's capital city that was more than enough to wipe out more than 10 streets. He completely ignored the civilian casualties and was extremely cruel. However, this triggered the players' hidden mission and the trap was destroyed by the players. This was more than enough to prove that Troy was nothing but a cruel and heartless man who would have his revenge no matter the means and the unnecessary casualties.
Under the stare of Han Xiao's eyes, Troy's expression stiffened. He was anxious, if not because he had no other way out, he would not have taken such a desperate measure. He clenched his teeth, let go of all his pride and suddenly prone before Han Xiao - In the universally accepted cultural standards, this position represented complete obedience.
"With your position, who dares to lie to you! It's my fault for not saying things clearly and causing your misunderstanding, I am sorry. Please save my life, I'm willing to forever work for you."
Han Xiao curled his lips in his mind. He knew exactly what Troy was intending to do - it was nothing but an attempt to take refugee after making a huge mistake. Since the army was recruiting, he thought this was his opportunity so he intended to use sweet words to convince him.
If not because Troy had a special use to him, he would have let people capture Troy long ago to exchange for the bounty.
Han Xiao stood up, glanced at Troy's back of the head and said, "I don't need your loyalty, and I don't need your appreciation even more. I'm too lazy to capture you, so I'll take it as I've never seen you. Get out of my sights right now and don't let me see you again, or else..."
Whoosh! The door opened and Hila walked in, she stared at Troy coldly and clearly signifying him to piss off.
Troy's face was pressed onto the floor and his expression could not be seen. Only after two seconds did he stand up and patted his shirt as if he was patting away the non-existent dust. With his head down, his eyes were fixed onto the floor and he did not dare to look up at Han Xiao's eyes. Under Hila's sharp stare, he walked out of the room step by step silently with clenched fists and was escorted out of the subdivision.
After he left, Han Xiao's expression relaxed and turned into an odd smile.
"I wonder if this will be of use in the future..."
The Great Technician Han had a motive to deliberately let Troy leave. As the main storyline NPC of one of the novice planets, Troy still had some storyline on him. According to how things out in the previous life, Troy would barely escape from the chase in the end.
Then, since he was a wanted man, he fled into the border of the Central Galaxy and survived there. Afterward, he was accepted by the Fallen Ark and became one of EsGod's subordinates, but he did not even make it to the officer position. The players only noticed and recorded this because he was once the main storyline NPC of a novice planet.
The fact that an important NPC in the early stages became someone so insignificant in the later stages was like an easter egg to the players, which was why Han Xiao remembered Troy.
Therefore, before Han Xiao let Troy leave, he secretly planted a ward on him.
EsGod was immune to the Observer's Mark, but Troy's appearance gave Han Xiao a flash of insight - if Troy joined the Fallen Ark in the future like he did in the previous life, Han Xiao would be able to monitor EsGod's movements.
Although he had no idea when and if this would work out, since it was not a significant plot, Han Xiao was casual about it. After all, he did not have any good way to deal with EsGod yet. It would be great if this ends up working, but it would not be a big deal even if it does not.
...
40 days passed very quickly.
Han Xiao stayed on Planet Gilman all along, waiting for the subdivision to recruit more people. During this time, he had been expanding his mechanical army every day, as well as using the new Ultimate Knowledge to slowly create mechanical lives. Starting with Psionic Prime, he now had 3,000 first-generation mechanical lives under his command...Read more chapter on vipnovel.com
There were a few reasons why he did not create more. Firstly, [King's Mentor]'s cooldown used days as a unit, and this was the prerequisite ability of [Tinder Awakening].
Secondly, although [Tinder Awakening] could be used on multiple targets at the same time, its upper limit was not very high. Even at its maximum level, it could only be used on more than 10 targets at once. Furthermore, Han Xiao had discovered that if he used it on multiple targets at the same time, their initial level would not be as high compared to if he used it only on one target. The cost of this ability was the same be it single or multiple targets, so when his energy was spread amongst multiple targets, they naturally received lesser energy individually.
Thirdly... his body could not take it if he used it too frequently.
This had also made Han Xiao's thoughts about developing a mechanical civilization more firm. The efficiency of creating mechanical lives was not high just with [Tinder Awakening]. His health and energy recovered fast, but stamina required rest to recover. In comparison, a fully developed mechanical civilization could provide him with a supply of soldiers at a much faster efficiency without him having to put in all these efforts on days on end.
In the past 40 days, the recruiting of the Planet Gilman subdivision had settled.
There were many Beyond Grade A organizations in the Central Galaxy, so Black Star Army's appeal here was not as high as compared to back in the Shattered Star Ring. The Planet Gilman subdivision had only recruited a little more than 10 million new members and it was slowing down. Compared to the Beyond Grade A organizations in the Central Galaxy, this number was quite low. This was only the beginning for this subdivision.
Amongst the new members, about more than 4 million were players, which made up about 85% of all the players in the Constellation Corridor. Through the army's benefits and the words of mouth on the forums, the majority of the Constellation Corridor players had rushed here to join.
In this more than 4 million players, most decided to become members of the mercenary department. There were two types of army members, one was the full member who obeyed the army's orders, another was the semi-members who worked for the army but had generally complete freedom. Mercenaries were a typical example of the latter.
The mercenary system was lenient, and the mercenary department of the army did not violate the rules of galactic mercenaries. Most of the Constellation Corridor players were here for the benefits, so being mercenaries was a choice with more freedom. They basically had a very simple relationship with the army of doing things for the army in exchange for resources, this way their faction would not be locked.
Han Xiao was not surprised about this, the players in the other Star Field had just known his army, he knew that feelings needed time to develop.
He gave the Constellation Corridor players more than enough time to make their choices. Amongst the more than 4 million players, 700,000 accepted the Flickering World main storyline mission and requested to go to the Shattered Star Ring with the army.
The majority of the 700,000 players were normal players. The remaining millions of players decided to stay in their birth Star Field to continue exploring while watching how would things turn out for those that decided to go to the Shattered Star Ring.
Han Xiao was able to dig away 700,000 leeks just in the first batch, so he was quite satisfied with this.
Today was the day of departure. An enormous Black Star Army transport fleet was ready to leave, all the 700,000 players have already boarded the ships.
At this time, players from all the Star Fields were paying attention to this occasion from the broadcasts on the forums.
All the players were interested in the first time a player would cross a Star Field, this might be an example for them in the future when they get the chance to do the same. Therefore, this became the most-watched occasion ever since the Black Star Army's creation, its popularity amongst the players had broken the record!
On the transport ships, the players chatted with excitement.
"I wonder what does it feel to travel across Star Fields, how will it be different from normal stargates?"
"Will the Shattered Star Ring players bully us?"
"Guys, do you think something fun will happen if we jump out of the ship in the stargate..."
"Guards! That's the guy!"
Inside the command room of the main ship, Hila lead against the wall with her armed crossed, Aurora busily operated on the main pilot seat, and Feidin stood beside her and watched.
Hadavy sat on the sofa with a square-shaped blue crystal wine bottle in his hand, gulping down on the mercury colored wine inside that made him choke and his face blush. Wayne Cards were on the table, the rule was to drink if you lost. There was a pile of empty bottles beside his seat, opposite him was the speechless old man Aesop who was dragged here.
Ames stood behind the scenery window with hands behind her back and looked at the fleet around. With Han Xiao, Hila, and Aesop, these people she was close to accompanying her for the past more than a month holiday, she had quite a good time.
Han Xiao stood before the star map, the destination was set long ago. When everyone had boarded, he gave out an order to the entire fleet.
"Depart."
Boom!
The thrusters shot out flames and the battleships took off.
"We've finally departed!" The many players on the ships were thrilled, the countless people watching on the forums were looking closely too.
The fleet slowly headed away from the Planet Gilman subdivision and accelerated. Carrying 700,000 leeks, it headed to the Shattered Star Ring.
Chapter 813 Ames" Reques
This chapter is updated by Wuxia.Blog
Shattered Star Ring, Crimson Dynasty Military Stargate Station.
The Black Star Army transport ships rode out from the blue vortex stargate one after another, the space energy covering their shields quickly dissipated.
"We're back." Inside the main ship's command room, Han Xiao exhaled.
Despite being prosperous and peaceful, the shadow of the universal civilizations always shrouded over the Central Galaxy like a mountain, giving him an invisible sense of pressure. Although Shattered Star Ring was rural, he had been here for more than 20 years and this was the army's headquarters, he felt calmer and secured here.
Ames walked to his side, looked out the universe outside the porthole and said, "I had quite a good time traveling with you guys for the past two months. Since now we're homed, I shall get going."
"What's the hurry? Come with us."
"Floating Dragon recently drifted to another Star Cluster, we're not along the way."
Han Xiao reluctantly nodded and said, "Alright then, I'll let my men prepare a spaceship for you. By the way, the preparations on dynasty's side are almost complete, I'll be departing very soon to explore the Flickering World, do you want to come too? There should be much new and interesting stuff there."
Ames waved and said, "That's the Crimson Dynasty's mission, I shall not go."
Aesop rubbed his beard and interrupted, "Yesterday, I had a new prophecy that's related to the Flickering World."
Another prophecy? Han Xiao's eyes sparkled and said with curiosity, "Old man, you've helped me with your prophecy ability again?"
"Erm, let me explain. I did not help you particularly, it's just that those people who are close to me will have some kind of fate connection with me, and my ability can randomly sense what might happen to these people in the future. It's like a dream, very blurry, basically just a feeling.
Yesterday, I sensed what might happen to you in the Flickering World..."
Then, Aesop paused and said with a very serious tone, "You better be careful about the Arcane Church."
The Arcane Church? Have they still not given up taking back the Evolution Cube? It does indeed seem possible.
Han Xiao blinked and realized Aesop did not continue, he wondered, "That's it? Don't you have any useful information like time and location or something?"
Aesop shrugged. "Things can change anytime since the future is so far ahead, there's no accurate prophecy, just intuition."
"Got it, I'll keep a lookout and let people keep an eye on the movements of the Star Pupil Holy Race. If the Arcane Church does want to do something to me, Psyker will definitely be part of it."
Han Xiao nodded and patted Aesop's shoulder.
"Oh, by the way, one more thing." Aesop rubbed his beard and said, "I heard some Ancient Ones members have been secretly asking around about you, a few of them seems to be interested in you."
Han Xiao looked at Aesop from head to toe and said with a doubtful tone, "Where did you hear that?"
"I used to be one of them too, what's so weird about me having a few friends?"
Aesop tsk-tsked, shrugged and said,
"When I followed you to the dynasty's capital and met those dynasty allies, Ravenlaude told the other Ancient Ones about me. Now those guys all know that a former member of The Ancient Ones is now with you and Ames, so some friends contacted me."
Having heard with Aesop said, Han Xiao could not help but feel amazed. For someone this ancient like Aesop, both his connections and history were unfathomable. Somehow, Aesop could always obtain information that was extremely rare and inaccessible to most people.
"Who are the ones that are asking about me?"
"Mechanic Empire, Sun Hunter, Void Overlord..." Aesop's voice suddenly got deeper and said with a soft voice, "And Thousand Shadows."
Other than Mechanic Empire, Han Xiao did not have any contact with the first few Ancient Ones. Sun Hunter was a CannonMaster, Void Overlord was a Void being, and Han Xiao had no idea why they were asking about him. However, when Aesop mentioned Thousand Shadows, Han Xiao's eyes narrowed immediately.
Back then when they interrogated Thousand Shadows' "Shadow Warriors", Aesop was the one who helped. Aesop knew Thousand Shadows once had his eyes on Han Xiao, so he mentioned this to alert him.
"Maybe he still wants to capture me or something. He's at the Federation Of Light's Star Field so I can't do anything for the time being. I shall wait till I have the chance to deal with him." Han Xiao registered this matter to memory.
The mission [Prey] was still inactive. In the past, he did not know if Thousand Shadows had given up on him, but now, it seemed that this guy had yet to give up. However, he was no longer the Calamity Grade he was back then, so Thousand Shadows would not be able to capture him so easily.
This time, Ames suddenly said softly, "Black Star, I've been thinking about something recently and I want to discuss with you."
Han Xiao turned to look at Ames and captured a tint of hesitation on her face. This was very rare for Ames, so Han Xiao said curiously,
"What do you want to discuss with me? Do you want to borrow money? Is 50 million Enas enough?"
"Who's borrowing money from you? Do you think I'm that poor?" Ames's brow twitched slightly. "Actually... I've been thinking about Floating Dragon's development plan recently..."
Both Han Xiao and Han Xiao's eyes widened immediately, their faces were filled with complete shock.
"What happened to you? Is that something you should be thinking about?"
"Am I this unreliable to you?" Ames said with resignation. "I'm the Floating Dragon's leader, what's so strange for me to think for my organization occasionally?"
"It's not strange for others, but for you... it is indeed strange! Who doesn't know how laz... ahem, carefree you are."
Han Xiao changed the word he was going to say the last minute and hid his giggle. Ames had never thought about developing her faction all these years, and her slacker image was already deeply rooted in everyone's heart. God knows why she suddenly changed her mind.
"Stop kidding, I'm serious this time." Han Xiao gave Han Xiao a glare.
She never had any passion for growing her organization, but that had lasted for too long and she felt like it was time to make a change. Especially after how she witnessed Han Xiao leading the rise of the Black Star Army for the past ten-plus years with her own eyes. With such a positive example, it made her feel a tiny bit interested in growing her forces too. She wanted to imitate Han Xiao and operate the Floating Dragon better. It had nothing to do with her ambition or anything of that sort, Ames mainly saw it as an interesting thing to do.
However, of course, Ames was never going to admit to Han Xiao that the things he did were what piqued her interest.
"Alright then, I'll pretend it's serious..." Seeing the not so friendly expression in Ames' eyes, Han Xiao tried his best not to laugh and waved his hands. "Okay, okay. It's serious. So, you want to develop Floating Dragon, what do you want to discuss with me?"
Ames stayed silent for a while then said slowly, "Floating Dragon has been drifting in the universe for a very long time, I want to make it stay in one place."
Han Xiao pondered for a while, the nodded.
"Yo, that's quite a good idea. With a fixed location headquarters, it's easier for people to feel confident about Floating Dragon. As a Beyond Grade A, you have an extraordinary amount of appeal. As long as you can turn the image which the Shattered Star Ring Supers have about you around, and show that you're serious about expanding, the number of people who are willing to work for you will definitely be tens and hundreds of times more compared to now.
Han Xiao caressed his chin, sized Ames up and joked, "Plus, you're so pretty, so your appeal might even be stronger than mine."
Ames' expression became odd. She stared at Han Xiao and said in a shocked and doubtful tone,
"You actually think I'm pretty?!"
"What's so strange about that..."
Han Xiao was confused, he had no idea why Ames had such an exaggerated response.
Han Xiao shook his head and went back to the topic. "Have you decided on where Floating Dragon should stay at?"
"That's what I wanted to discuss with you..."
Ames calmed her emotions down, seemed to have hesitated for half a second then said slowly, "I'm planning to let Floating Dragon stay at Planet Aquamarine, what do you think?"
Han Xiao was stunned in place.
"No?"
Ames raised her brows and gave a faint smile, "More than 10 years ago, your mother planet faced a disaster. Through the galactic media channels, you announced that the Floating Dragon was interested in Planet Aquamarine. Using the Floating Dragon's name, Planet Aquamarine has received a lot of investments and fundings from a ton of financial groups and has been developing very well. Even Godora allowed the Floating Dragon's control over Planet Aquamarine... You're not going to go back on your words, are you?"
Han Xiao shook his head with resignation. During that time, the Black Star Mercenary Group was still a tiny organization that still belonged to the Floating Dragon. Only through using the Floating Dragon name was he able to give Planet Aquamarine the opportunity to so quickly step into the galaxy.
After he left the Floating Dragon, the Black Star Army took over the management of Planet Aquamarine. The Floating Dragon did not say anything about it, so he thought Ames did not mind. Unexpectedly, Ames now suddenly brought it up.
"Since Planet Aquamarine is a planet ruled by my Floating Dragon on paper..." Ames' smiled brightly, Han Xiao's troubled expression made her very delighted. She smiled and said, "Then it should be justifiable for me to choose Planet Aquamarine as the headquarter location for Floating Dragon, isn't it?"
"Are you going to chase my people away from my mother planet?" Han Xiao was surprised. Planet Aquamarine was the foundation of his seat in the Shattered Star Ring Civilization Conference, there was no way he would give it to anyone else.
"Am I such a horrible person to you?" Ames said with a displeased ton, "Don't worry, just like your army's headquarters, the Floating Dragon will just be parked outside the planet's atmosphere and will not interfere with Planet Aquamarine's government. That's why I'm discussing it with you."
Han Xiao's eyes spun around. If that was the case, not only would it not be a bad thing, but it would be a great thing instead.
Throughout all these years the army headquarters had stayed around Planet Golden Gate, it brought Planet Golden Gate an almost unparalleled chance of development. Its economy, security, and many other aspects had improved tremendously since then and it became a beyond top tier prosperous colonial planet of Godora.
If Ames did the same, Planet Aquamarine's development speed would rocket instantly as well and indirectly receive tons of resources. Furthermore, with a Beyond Grade A, Ames as its neighbor, Planet Aquamarine would be massively safer, which would free Han Xiao of many worries.
With some thoughts flashing past Han Xiao's mind, he understood what Ames was thinking - the reason for her to choose Planet Aquamarine as the headquarters of the Floating Dragon was much more than it just being "justifiable". He sighed and said, "Looks like I'm going to owe you another favor."
"Good that you know." Ames smiled.
"Alright, I agree. I'll let the army subdivision at Planet Aquamarine to work with you by then, Sylvia and the others will take care of the details..."
"Hmm, I'll let Jenny settle it..."
Speaking of Jenny, Han Xiao suddenly thought of something. "By the way, about this, have you told Jenny about it in advance?"
"No."
The two of them stared at each other's eyes and stayed silent for a moment.
So this is indeed a sudden idea... Han Xiao sighed. He actually really thought Ames had seriously considered this, but as it turned out, this was exactly her style.
"Ahem, now that that's settle, I shall get going." Ames dry coughed with her fist covering her lips to hide her awkwardness, then turned around and left immediately.
Han Xiao watched as Ames and Aesop boarded the small spaceship and deviated from the fleet, turning into a stream of light and disappeared. He then ordered the fleet to continue advancing back to the army's headquarters.
The task of traveling across Star Fields was completed. Han Xiao opened the forums to see what were the players' responses.
When they just passed through the stargate, the more than 700,000 players inside the fleet did not really react to it much, but instead the Shattered Star Ring players had bigger responses. It was because the players from another Star Field had come to their territory and they could not wait to meet them.
The first example of players crossing to another Star Field had extraordinary meanings, the players from the various Star Fields recorded this moment in their Chronicle posts:
"Galaxy Calendar: Year 705, March 18th.
Led by the Black Star Army, more than 700,000 players left Constellation Corridor and arrived at the Shattered Star Ring. This was the first example of players successfully traveling to another Star Field in the entire Galaxy."
The recruitment of players in the Constellation Corridor this time went quite smoothly, and Han Xiao knew exactly why - there were not many factions the players could choose in Version 3.0, and he knew what the players needed. Therefore, the Black Star Army was a top-notch faction in this stage and had excellent appeal.
As the players' level increases, the number of powerful factions they would be able to choose would increase too. For example, the three universal civilizations and beyond Star Cluster civilizations. By then, the army would not be able to recruit players as easily anymore. This was unavoidable, there would always be people who would want to try out new factions for a new experience.
This was also one of the reasons Han Xiao kept expanding his army and increasing its competitiveness. From a certain perspectively, it was actually a good thing to choose the rural Shattered Star Ring as its headquarters, as there were fewer direct competitors here.
...
After traveling for more than 10 days, the fleet finally returned to the army's headquarters.
Millions of Shattered Star Ring players were gathered in the army headquarters at the moment, looking forward to meeting the foreign Constellation Corridor players. The majority of them were here to rubberneck.
The more than 700,000 Constellation Corridor players looked at the army headquarters satellite outside the porthole, their hearts were filled with excitement.
After staying on the ships with anticipation for so many days, they were finally here.