Chapter 814 Players: I Don"t Want To Socialize. Han Xiao: No, You Do.
This chapter is updated by Wuxia.Blog
The transport spaceships landed on the headquarters' docks one after another.
As the more than 700,000 Constellation Corridor players stepped onto the headquarters' grounds, the millions of army players quickly came. The harbor and the hall were all filled with players. Luckily, the army headquarters satellite was large enough to carry billions of members.
This was the first time players from different Star Fields met outside of professional competitions. Be it the Chinese, Russians, or the Australian players, they all sized each other up in this first meeting.
When comparing the two sides, the difference was obvious.
The equipment on the more than 700,000 Constellation Corridor players varied broadly in terms of color and models, it looked quite messy.
On the millions of army players' side, the color of their equipment and weapons were mainly black and silver. Although their equipment models differed, they were not as messy as the Constellation Corridor players. Most of the army players used the few sets of widely recognized army combat armors with the best performances, they looked like an elite military force and looked neat. The individual tiny differences between them were not that obvious. Furthermore, their equipment all had the Black Star Army symbol on them.
After getting down from the ship, some of the more than 700,000 newcomers greeted and talked to the others, some curiously observed and looked around the headquarters, and some went to communicate with the army NPCs. Generally, they scattered around and familiarized themselves with the headquarters.
Vodka and Captain Old Henry brought along their guild officers and looked for the guild leaders of the large Chinese guilds.
While the Long Sky club was in their rented base in the Black Star Army headquarters, the leaders of Sky Territory and Ancient Dynasty, Jade Green Sky and Morning Snow Twilight Frost came to meet the Russian guild officers.
"It's good to see you, my Chinese friends. I'm the vice-president of Power And Glory, Vodka."
Vodka and his friends introduced themselves.
"Good to see you too," Jade Green Sky smiled and said, the translation function relayed the meaning of his words to Vodka and the others.
They chatted casually for a while before getting down to business.
"The people above told us to build a guild branch here. Some time ago, the guilds on your side and our side have already contacted each other. The people above said that your guilds would provide us with some help in the early stages..."
Morning Snow Twilight Frost smiled and said, "That's right. If I may ask, how many guild members did you bring here to build your guild branch?"
"I brought 12 guild officers, 150 official members, and 1,200 external members," Vodka said.
The representatives of the other guilds said their numbers too, all were around 1,000. Being an officer or an official member of the large professional guilds was a proper job, they received salaries for playing the game. As for the external players, some of them were casual volunteers and some were similar to studios, they received bonuses from the clubs as well.
"For the thousands of you to start guild branches here, the road ahead is quite tough. You have to start from zero in every aspect. You will need to purchase all kinds of tools, items, carriers, which all require money; it's the same for equipment repairs, enhancements, and renewals; building your bases is quite costly as well, and don't forget about the traveling fees to do missions too. Furthermore, you need to search for channels that can provide stable streams of EXP, materials, and money. The earlier you turn losses into profit, the better, right?"
Vodka and the rest nodded continuously. To them, operating the guilds was a job, they were here on a mission. Their job performance depended on how well they operated the guild branch.
Morning Snow Twilight Frost secretly exchanged looks with Jade Green Sky, smiled and said slowly,
"Some time ago, we completed the Black Star Army's main storyline mission [Secret War], many of us obtained the army exclusive honorable title [Secret Warrior]. Anyone with this title can enjoy a 10% off discount on any purchases within the army. Of course, you guys don't have that treatment."
Only the army players who took part in the secret war had such privileges, this was a limited time only title, the players who joined later had no chance to obtain it anymore.
These guilds who had just come from another Star Field knew about this long ago through the forums, of course, they were jealous.
"You mean..."
"Yes, we can provide a channel for you to enjoy that discount. We will purchase products from the army at 10% off, and we will sell them to your two guilds at 3% off. Large guilds like us have more than enough funds and Contribution Points to fulfill your mass purchase needs... Of course, you can also look for normal players and ask them to help, but there's a risk of getting tricked."
Vodka did not give a response. It was clear that Dynasty and Long Sky were planning to profit from the price difference. As the manager of this guild branch, he had to be calculative.
Compared to purchasing resources from these Chinese clubs, he was more willing to work with reliable normal Chineses players. He could lend their title to purchase at 10% off and give them some resources from time to time, which would be much cheaper than a mere 3% off.
However, Morning Snow Twilight Frost saw right through them and knew exactly what these Russian guild representatives were thinking. He smiled faintly and said, "If you purchase from us, we will provide help to you in other ways too.
"In what ways?"
"For example, quality mission resources, hidden NPC intel, if you accept some kind of high difficulty mission, we can provide manpower to help you, also... we can ensure your safety."
"Safety?" Vodka's expression changed. "What do you mean?"
"The Shattered Star Ring is the territory which us Chinese clubs have been operating in since many versions ago. The dozens of large guilds and many more medium to smaller guilds have split most of the quality resources here. As outsiders who suddenly arrived to build your guilds, I can't guarantee no other guilds will have conflicts with you. And if it just so happens that you guys will have to fight guild wars with other local guilds, since you're just a guild branch and have very limited manpower, you will be at quite a massive disadvantage."
One of the goals those guilds which belonged to clubs had was to provide resources for their professional players, and the large guilds of the various nations were each others' biggest competitors. There was no way the Chinese clubs here would watch other professional clubs peacefully operate their guild branches here. Their higher-ups have already informed these guilds to think of some ways to restraint the developments of those competitors.
No matter how rich these foreign clubs were, if there were always people disrupting their missions, robbing their resources, and chasing down and killing their members, they would not be able to grow and would always make losses.
What Morning Snow Twilight Frost said was a reminder to Vodka and the others, saying that if they did not pay some "protection fees" to them, there were more than enough people here that could find their troubles.
Of course, the Chinese clubs were not too excessive about it. After all, players from all around the world were watching the situation of these first batch of players who have traveled to another Star Field. As the host, they could not openly bully these newcomers who had absolutely no foundations here. Even though they were competitors, they had to care about how much attention this matter attracted. They did not want the other countries to have a horrible image of the Chinese professional circle, so they still gave a little bit of discount and help, so that it would look like the foreign clubs did not make too much loss on the surface.
The normal players, of course, would not be targeted. However, the clubs of the various nations were first and foremost, commercial businesses. In order for their business to bloom, they had to rely on the glory of their professional players. While they had to make profits, they also had the hopes of the players on their shoulders. Professional players fought in competitions, and they, the official guilds had to fight in the game as well. If the Chinese clubs went to another Star Field to start their guild branches, they would be treated very similarly as well, restricted in many aspects.
Vodka and the others exchanged looks then agreed with resignation. Deep down, however, they did not yield so easily. They secretly decided to look for chances to work with normal players without letting the Chinese clubs know, so they could pay lesser protection fees.
On the other side at the guild base of the Temple of God guild.
The guild president of the other two clubs, Jupiter and Cowherd Star were having a meeting with the Kangaroo Boxing guild branch president, Captain Old Henry, and the other Australian guild representatives. They were discussing the exact same thing as what Long Sky and Dynasty were...
The four largest clubs had already made agreements behind the curtains to do the same thing. Compared to their plans, this bit of protection fees were just minor profits.
...
To the more than 700,000 newcomers, the army headquarters was their new main city.
While they were familiarising themselves with the environment, Han Xiao had returned to the office of the Army Commander. The officers who had been managing the headquarters for the past two months were reporting to him.
Han Xiao leaned on his chair and looked at the group of officers in front of him.
"How's the army doing while I wasn't here?"
Sylvia took a step forward and reported, "We have digested the gains we made through the last expansions, as well as successfully linked with the business channels of the various allies in the Shattered Star Ring. The Black Star Army's current business range covers more than 10 industries, forming a complete trading system, intelligence system, transportation system, and many others."
Reynold said with a deep voice, "The Logistics Department has built 126 machinery workshop factories in various locations, making rushed orders of more satellite bases. According to the army's future blueprint, we will continue to build more divisions in all the seven Star Clusters and expand our forces."
Herlous nodded and said, "Due to the increase in the number of members and the size of our forces, the army's fleet is expanding as well. The Logistics Departments already have a lot of things on their hands that are yet to be completed, so I made orders with the financial groups we're working with and there're new batches of battleships being built every day."
Han Xiao nodded. These were all things he told them to do before he left. He then asked, "Anything else?"
Sylvia said a little awkwardly, "Erm... our funds are running out..."
Han Xiao's eyes widened. "We have so many businesses, including the resource planet mining rights from many civilizations, how are we lacking money?"
"The cost of expansion was too high. The current maintenance fee of the army is extremely costly, plus the Logistics Department has been producing at full capacity all the time, which is reducing our funds at quite a terrifying speed. Furthermore, it's the off-season for trading lately, many of the financial groups working with us have seen decreased sales, so the profit period of the mining of resource planets is extended. Hence, our capital flow is a little tight..."
"Did you not look for the Crimson Dynasty and the Purple Crystal Civilization's men and asked them to send funds? Didn't I tell you, that you can look for them whenever we're lacking funds if it's caused by normal operation?" Han Xiao asked.
"I did..." Sylvia replied with resignation, "They did not reject, they just said that they would only do so when you tell them personally. They only recognize you."
"Alright then, I'll contact them later." Han Xiao's mouth twitched. These two only recognized him as their ally, which was unavoidable. Although his army was enormous, its true core was still him.
"One more thing. You told me to gather the teams needed to explore the Flickering World, I've already done so. They're split into many fleets and are now in standby at the various sub-bases in Colton, ready to depart anytime," Sylvia said.
"Good, Zoel will be hurrying me to get going very soon."
Han Xiao gave Sylvia a very satisfied look.
The three of them then reported some of the details. Seeing that Han Xiao had no other orders, they relaxed and started casually chatting.
"Why didn't I see Lagi? I've returned and my vice-captain isn't here to see me, what's he been busy doing?" Han Xiao wondered.
"Hehe, he's been busy every day, either busy playing cards or busy sleeping!"
Sylvia felt angry whenever Lagi's name was brought up. He then gave Herlous a stare and said, "You too. He has been dragging you to play cards every day, why don't you ever reject him?!"
"What do you know about fun between card-mates?" Herlous snorted.
"Don't mention playing cards in front of me." Han Xiao complained. "How has Lagi been teaching Tomar?"
Tomar was a protagonist character he brought back, and Han Xiao did not forget about him.
"I heard he's learning very fast."
Han Xiao nodded, then looked at Reynold and said with anticipation, "What about my godson? Has he shown any special talent in terms of machinery?"
"Err... no," Reynold told the truth. "But he's learning very fast too, he's quite talented on the path of the machinery."
Sigh, I wonder if this will help in getting [Perfect Mechanical Sense]... Han Xiao waved his hand with resignation.
"I'll bring him out in a few days times, that'll be all."
The three of them nodded and left the room. Han Xiao took out his communicator and contacted the Purple Crystal Civilization and the Crimson Dynasty, successfully requested for funds.
Zoel also reminded him that the Crimson Dynasty was done preparing their exploration team, and told Han Xiao to lead his people to the Flickering World's Dawn Star Cluster sometime soon and rendezvous with the dynasty's army. By then, they would officially start to explore the Flickering World.
After settling the official matters, Han Xiao then looked at how the 700,000 new players were doing in the army's headquarters.
These Constellation Corridor players were still familiarizing themselves with the headquarters' structure and map. Han Xiao had noticed something - although these more than 700,000 players have already traveled to another Star Field, they were still posting on their Constellation Corridor forums page out of habit.
Although the players of both sides communicated quite a lot on the forums, only a minority of players interacted with each other in the army's headquarters. Despite all of them being army members, there were still obvious differences between the players of the two Star Fields. They were not completely avoiding each other, but they were basically playing on their owns.
"This won't do..." Han Xiao shook his head.
He pondered, then quickly wrote two Faction Missions and gave them out through the faction interface to all the army players.
_________________________________________________________________________________
[[Teach a Recruit] (Repeatable)]
Mission Introduction: The most recent expansion of the Black Star Army has brought back new warriors from another Star Field. The senior members of the army can choose to teach the new members, helping them to get familiar with the tasks in the army quickly.
Mission Requirements: Team up with one or more new warriors (players) from another Star Field and complete any one army mission.
Reward: 100 ~ 300 Black Star Army Contribution Points.
Remarks: Only players who have been in the army for more than a year can accept this mission.
[Consult A Veteran] (Repeatable)
Mission Introduction: As a new member of the Black Star Army, the veterans are the best people to learn from. Go and consult them, let them help you to know more about the army.
Mission Requirements: Team up with one or more senior warriors (players who have been in the army for more than a year) and complete any one army mission]
Reward: 100 ~ 300 Black Star Army Contribution Points.
Remarks: Only players who have been in the army for less than a year can accept this mission.
_________________________________________________________________________________
"Hehehe..." Looking at the two missions he had just distributed, Han Xiao giggled mischievously.
After existing for three versions, the army's Contribution Point had already become a key resource that was just as important as Enas, no amount was too much for anyone.
He did not want to players of the two Star Fields to form their own circles. Those club guilds were commercial competitors with each other so there was nothing he could do, but there was definitely something he could do for those normal players. Since they were all here at his headquarters, they were all leeks in the same field. He needed those new and old members to interact with each other and play together.
The social aspect of a game was a key factor in the players' game experience!
Since players of both sides were so shy and did not interact with their foreign friends, Han Xiao decided to lure them to socialize.
This would be beneficial for the Constellation Corridor to embrace the army's system. Not only would they be able to adapt to the new environment quicker, but the "Constellation Corridor" tag on those players would also slowly disappear and they would soon just think of themselves as "army players".
This way, the personal connection between the players would become another reason for them to stay in the army. Using players to "attract" players, indirectly enhancing the appeal and sense of belonging of the faction!
Han Xiao suddenly patted his forehead and his expression became weird.
"Why does it feel similar to the oldest profession..."
Chapter 815 Socializing Mad Genius
This chapter is updated by Wuxia.Blog
As Han Xiao distributed the two new missions, notifications popped up on the interfaces of all the army players.
"Doing missions with new members gives bonus Faction Contribution Points? That sounds like a great deal."
"Any mission? Does running errands count?"
"For sure, even using the army Dungeon Crystals counts."
"These can be repeated? Awesome!"
"Must team up with players who have been in the faction for less than a year, so only the new players born on Planet Deirdre in Version 3.0?"
"The Constellation Corridor players count too, right? Didn't they just join the army?"
The two faction missions became a faction event and stirred up a wave among the players.
Han Xiao's missions were not compulsory. He used the reward to lure them instead. Most of the players would not miss such a rare opportunity to farm Contribution Points. It was just teaming up with new players; they had nothing to lose and a lot to gain.
Maybe some players could not be bothered, but most players were willing to grab this opportunity.
As long as most people were deliberately teaming up with new members and not just with their inner circle friends, they would have taken the first step to socializing with players from other Star Fields, and Han Xiao's goal would be achieved.
When playing together, they would build some kind of relationship in one way or another. At the very least, adding each other to their friend lists would be common.
The two missions were a set targeted at different groups. [Teach a Recruit]'s purpose was to make the older members willing to team up with the new members, and [Consult a Veteran]'s aim was to make the new members look for old members to help them.
The Constellation Corridor players were not the only ones considered as 'recruits'. The players from the Version 3.0 novice planet, Planet Deirdre, were also new members of the army. The Shattered Star Ring old members would, of course, be more willing to play with them, so [Consult a Veteran] ensured that those foreign players would look for the senior army members as well.
Compared to those senior members of the army, these new members needed the Contribution Points more and were more passionate about this mission.
Secretly guided by Han Xiao, the situation in the army headquarters changed very quickly. The areas where players gathered became boisterous, and groups of people asked to team up in the public channel.
"LF1M[1] new army member above level 100, no Pugilists. All old army members here. Let's do missions together to farm Contribution Points."
"Level 88 Cannon Master, newbie here, need an old member to team up with to farm Contribution Points!"
"Thirty-man team here, planning to enter the [Secret War-Protection Warfare] dungeon. LF4M high-level Constellation Corridor players above Grade C+. Tank and disables needed, no damage dealers! Again, no damage dealers! Come quick!"
The interactions between players immediately became frequent.
The foreign players entered different army player teams and quickly mixed in with the environment. As the players were waiting for the Flickering World main storyline, they were mainly farming dungeons, which indirectly increased the sales of Dungeon Crystals.
The players had no suspicion of these two missions-to the players, it was very normal for the army to encourage the old members to teach the new members since a group of new members had just arrived from another Star Field.
"Hey, Chinese pal, do you know when this event will end?"
"Who cares? Just farm it as much as possible."
"You guys don't seem surprised at all. In our Star Field, group activities like this are very rare."
"Haha, this happens very frequently in our army. I've already taken part in many large missions that had hundreds of thousands of participants. You'll get used to it soon. This is a specialty of the Shattered Star Ring."
As the normal players were teaming up, so were the club guilds. The four biggest Chinese guilds were overjoyed.
They had just made the price difference agreement with the foreign guilds, and this mission popped up right after. The Russian and Australian guild players were all recruits, so these guild representatives came back right after they had just left.
Even the faction was helping them!
After monitoring for a while, Han Xiao nodded and was rather satisfied with the impact he had made. This was a good start to make the players from different Star Fields mix together.
This would largely increase the efficiency of communication between the players from two sides and was beneficial for the faction.
He planned to keep these two missions active for some time.
They would have to explore the Flickering World very soon, which would have countless missions, so this mission would encourage the players from two sides to work together.
Closing the forums, Han Xiao left the office and returned to his bedroom.
His bedroom in the army had a very minimalist layout. The walls were metallic, and there was a window on the ceiling that looked right into the vast universe. A large black bed sat in the middle of the room, with a bookshelf, fridge, automatic cooker, waste bin, and other simple items beside the wall. The one plant pot in the corner of the wall grown by Han Xiao personally gave this cold and boring looking room a sense of liveliness.
Han Xiao took off his clothes and took a shower. He then took out a hand full of special grade nutrition pastes of different flavors and casually gulped them down. This thing recovered stamina extremely quickly, and it was not cheap.
Beyond Grade As basically did not need to sleep or eat at all, but he decided to retain his habit as a human. The increase in strength and change in the race would make beings look at the world in a different way. He did not need to rest, but he wanted to remind himself he was still human.
Due to the astonishing control that Beyond Grade As had over their bodies, there was no way for Han Xiao to fall asleep naturally. He could only control his brain to enter a rest state.
Since travelling to the Central Galaxy, this was the first time he had slept.
Han Xiao lay on the bed. Before sleeping, his consciousness entered the quantum network and told Phillip, "I'm sleeping. Call me up if anything. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, master, hum..." Phillip replied.
...
After sleeping for a night, Han Xiao's eyes opened exactly on time. He came out from under the blanket, washed up, took off his pajamas, and donned his black robe, once again recovering to the image of Black Star.
The first thing he did was open the forums. Due to the team-up missions, more and more new members of the army had become active on the Shattered Star Ring page and interacted with the Chinese players.
Han Xiao noticed a new pinned post-it was the new episode of Galaxy Times.
"They should mention the Star Field migration..."
Han Xiao opened it up.
After the familiar opening, the two hosts shared what interesting things were happening around the various Star Fields. They soon mentioned the first batch of players to travel to another Star Field.
"Not long ago, the renowned NPC faction of the Shattered Star Ring, the Black Star Army, provided the Constellation Corridor players a way to go to the Shattered Star Ring. Based on statistics, there are a total of 713,000 players who chose to leave with the Black Star Army, completing the first known event of any player traveling to another Star Field.
"In Version 2.0, the Black Star Army was the guiding faction to lead the Shattered Star Ring players to the galaxy. Now, they have once again guided the players of another Star Field to cross Star Fields. Maybe this is a signal-in the next version, the players might be able to cross Star Fields on a large scale and go to different areas freely!
"So far, this is how the activity areas of the players have developed: Version 1.0, novice planet; Version 2.0, entering the galaxy; Version 3.0, exploring the Star Cluster... The activity range of the players has been expanding every version. Initially, we thought that the players would be exploring their birth Star Field mainly in the next version, but the Black Star Army has given us new ideas. Due to the theme of Galaxy, the players of the various Star Fields will interact sooner or later. Therefore, according to this trend, we can speculate that the next version will be the stage where players can freely cross Star Fields."
Han Xiao shook his head and smiled as he finished watching the show. This speculation was very logical, but Galaxy Times was only half right.
In the next version, the players would indeed be able to cross to another Star Fields on a large scale. However, unlike what Galaxy Times had speculated, the players would gather in the Flickering World instead of freely going to different areas.
Galaxy Times misguided the players, which was unavoidable. Other than Han Xiao, no players knew that the Flickering World would be the main stage of the next version.
...
"The players who are following me to the Flickering World still don't know how much of an advantage they've gained."
After looking at the forums for half an hour, only then did Han Xiao start to do other things. He patrolled around the army headquarters before heading to the Logistics Department.
When he entered Reynold's office, he saw Nero, who was buried in the mountain of books.
"Godfather!" As soon as Nero looked up, his deep and dark eye bags were clearly visible. Realizing that it was Han Xiao, joy bloomed on his exhausted face. He immediately threw away the theory book in his hands and dashed into Han Xiao's arms.
Looking at the terrifying amount of homework Reynold had given, Han Xiao's mouth twitched.
This is almost on the level of child abuse...
Scolding Reynold in his mind, Han Xiao patted Nero's head and said, "Come, I'm taking you out."
"Really‽" Nero was so overjoyed and surprised that his tears almost gushed out.
When he left Planet Aquamarine, Nero thought that he had followed his godfather out to play. To his absolute shock, there was an infinite amount of homework that he could never finish waiting for him!
Given Reynold's personality, the thing he was best at was forceful education. In the past two months, Nero felt like he was in living hell, and seeing Han Xiao was like seeing an angel who had come to save him-he could finally escape this endless misery!
"I promised you, right?" Han Xiao smiled. Actually, the main goal was not to take Nero sightseeing but to go to the Tyla Civilization, which Harrofal had been part of, and search for the set of wormhole travel data back from when EsGod's doppelganger entered it.
Other than Nero, Han Xiao only took Hila, Aurora, and Feidin along. They took the extremely quick Blacklight Stealth, so it would not take long for a return trip and would not delay the Flickering World mission.
As Harrofal had been killed by EsGod's subordinate long ago, the chances of finding the wormhole data were very slim, which was why Han Xiao brought his two lucky mascots-Feidin and Nero-to offset his luck.
After all, those who believed in luck were... the unluckiest ones.
...
The Blacklight Stealth flew through the stargate and did not make any stops along the way. Not many days later, Han Xiao and the others arrived at one of the Tyla Civilization's governance planets to visit the high-level mechanic school that Harrofal had been part of.
With Han Xiao's identity, as long as his intentions were not hostile, he was welcomed as a guest by all the civilizations in the Shattered Star Ring... except the Klent Kingdom, who had been cursing him every day, and the Star Pupil Holy Race, who had been secretly sticking needles into his voodoo doll.
This mechanic school was government-based and raised many Mechanic talents for the Tyla Civilization. The school was vast and magnificent.
The principal was already waiting at the entrance of the school with others. Han Xiao was met with a warm welcome the moment he arrived.
"Your Excellency Black Star, it's our honor to have you." The principal smiled brightly.
"You're too kind." Han Xiao nodded.
"Please, follow me." Mechanical hoverboards arrived as the principal raised his arm. These were all public carriers inside the school.
Han Xiao stepped onto the hoverboard and followed the principal to head to the guest room, chatting and laughing along the way.
They passed through the school, and to Han Xiao's surprise, they attracted a lot of attention.
It seemed like some students had recognized him and spread the message out, leading to groups of students following behind them on mechanical hoverboards and watching them from afar.
Han Xiao looked behind him and said with surprise, "These are all students of this school, right? Why are they following behind us?"
The principal said with resignation, "Your Excellency Black Star, as you know, this is a mechanic school. All the students here are Mechanic class Supers..."
"And?"
"Ahem, you don't seem to know your significance in the hearts of the Mechanic class students..."
Han Xiao suddenly understood. He then looked back and realized that the students behind him were all filled with excitement, surprise, and admiration as they looked at him. It was almost worshipping.
He was the one and only Beyond Grade A Mechanic in the Shattered Star Ring, so his position was even more special in the eyes of the Mechanic Supers. He was basically the top authority of the Mechanics in the Shattered Star Ring. His visit to this school caused a sensation among the students.
The principal smiled and said, "Your Excellency Black Star, why don't you host a lecture here and teach them a tiny bit of your infinite wisdom on the path of the machinery. What do you think?"
"Hmm..." Han Xiao thought about it and did not reject it. He waved his hand and said, "I'll see to it, if this trip goes smoothly."
"Is there a goal for this visit?" the principal asked. Han Xiao only requested to visit and had yet to tell him his goal.
"Harrofal was my friend. I'm here to look for a set of data he had left behind."
The principal was stunned for a moment. "Oh, him... alas, some time ago, the school was attacked, and he was killed by a group of kidnappers. He was an amazing researcher, and regretfully, we lost a crucial talent."
"Those killers were EsGod's subordinates. I've already avenged him."
After a moment's silence, the principal suddenly asked, "Did those EsGod subordinates you spoke of kidnap him because of that set of data you mentioned?"
This was not difficult to deduce, so Han Xiao was not surprised. He glanced at him and nodded.
"Yes. When Harrofal was doing wormhole research, I visited him many times. One time, we were attacked by the DarkStar leader, and I was forced to fight an EsGod doppelganger. However, back then, I was no match for it. Only thanks to Harrofal's help was I able to lure the EsGod doppelganger into a wormhole and banish it. What I want is that set of location data for that wormhole."
The wormhole cluster of the Taralam Star Cluster was the center of the Shattered Star Ring. The teleportation location of every unstable wormhole was random, unlike stargates, which had a fixed destination. Also, the chance of those random destinations repeating was infinitely close to zero, so finding that same wormhole would do nothing. Only the recorded coordinates data would be useful.
The principal shook his head. "When Harrofal was kidnapped, all the wormhole detectors in his lab were taken away, every single one of them."
"He should've recorded the data into the internal database of your school. I hope that you can give me the authority to search for it."
"Er... the database consisting of the research data is highly confidential. I can only allow outsiders to browse it when it's approved by the upper echelons of the civilization... I'm not even sure if Harrofal backed up that data. Also, there are too many sets of wormhole data he recorded. If you don't recall the date and time, we won't know which set of data you're looking for..."
"Then please notify the upper echelons of the Tyla Civilization for me," Han Xiao said with a deep voice.
Internal databases that had something to do with the government definitely had extremely strong virtual defense measures. As there were still hopes of obtaining the data through a just method, he did not want to use Virtual Intrusion and make a Star Cluster his enemy.
As a Beyond Grade A, he could not always do things sneakily. Furthermore, he still had no idea what was so important about the set of wormhole data that EsGod mentioned.
[1] LFxM is a common term in MMOs meaning Looking For x More player(s).
Chapter 816 Mechanic Class Top Mentor
This chapter is updated by Wuxia.Blog
The group of them entered the school's central building. The Mechanic students were not allowed to enter, so they loitered around outside for a while and gradually left one after another.
Han Xiao and the others came to the principal's guest room. A bionic mechanical assistant secretary brought them some drinks. The principal invited them to sit. "Your Excellency Black Star, please wait for a moment. I'll relay your request to my superiors."
Han Xiao nodded and watched the principal leave. The group waited in the room.
Nero leaned on the window and curiously looked at the scenery in the school. Small mechanical islands hovered in the sky, metal buildings in yellow and blue stood tall on the ground, students crossed between the buildings riding mechanical skateboards, and the red, yellow, and green forests waved with the wind. The alloy buildings coexisted with the artificial greenery, forming a harmonious color tone. It had a special sense of beauty.
"This place looks so different from Planet Aquamarine. It's so beautiful." Everything was fresh to Nero.
"This is nothing. The dynasty school at the Crimson Dynasty's mother planet is much more magnificent than this." Han Xiao chuckled. He had brought Nero out not just to rub some luck from him but also to broaden Nero's knowledge.
"Really? I want to see that." Nero was really interested.
"I'll take you there if there's a chance." Han Xiao beckoned Nero over, pointed at the drink on the table, and said, "Come, try it. It's good."
On the table were a few cups of hot white liquid flickering with a tint of light gold, giving off a thick milky fragrance. This was some kind of milk product provided by the Tyla Civilization.
Nero picked up the cup and took a sip. His eyes widened, and he gulped down a mouthful. He exhaled in satisfaction, licked away the white stain on his mouth, and looked like he wanted more.
"How was it?"
"Godfather, what is this? I've never tasted such delicious milk before."
Han Xiao smiled and explained, "When the Tyla Civilization was exploring a certain colonial planet, they discovered a galactic being that was on the verge of extinction. They were called the Herepoli Beasts, commonly known as the Giant Nebula Beasts. They are extremely large and can travel in the universe with their body. Some even call them the Mount of Giant Gods. However, the reproduction speed of the Giant Nebula Beasts is very long; they only mate every hundred years or so. After their cubs are born, they enter a three-month lactation period. The Giant Nebula Beasts only produce milk in those three short months. Their milk is rare, expensive, nourishing, and very unique. That's what you drank."
"I see." Nero rubbed his stomach. "No wonder my body feels so warm after drinking it."
"Do you want more? Drink mine too." Han Xiao smiled.
Nero licked his lips and was very tempted. After some tough internal conflict, he shook his head and said, "This is so valuable and rare; I can't drink it all. Godfather, you drink it too."
The others all laughed.
"I'm fine." Han Xiao shook his hand. Luxurious things that were extremely valuable to normal galactic residents were nothing much in his eyes. He could have plenty if he wanted.
However, he did not have much interest in luxurious consumables. He preferred to buy more special grade nutrition pastes with that money, which were much more convenient to consume and recovered his stamina very quickly, much higher quality-price ratio.
After chatting for a while, the principal had yet to return. Han Xiao turned around and looked at the mechanical assistant secretary that stood still beside the wall.
"How may I be of service to you?" The mechanical assistant secretary sensed his sights and responded immediately.
Han Xiao shook his hand and observed the bionic skin of this mechanical assistant secretary.
This principal looked respectable and reputable, but the bionic appearance given to this mechanical secretary was extremely seductive and sexy. It might really have the full set of functions of a 'secretary'...
After waiting a while longer, the principal finally returned.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Your Excellency Black Star. The people above have agreed with your request and allowed me to use my authority to help you to find that data."
"Okay, thank the upper echelons of the Tyla Civilization for me." Han Xiao was relieved. Things were much easier now that it was settled with his face.
He was reminded of how even Star System civilizations did not give him face at all in the past, and he had to find someone to help him. Now that he was a Beyond Grade A, even the Star Cluster civilizations were willing to give him face.
The principal pressed a few times on the office desk. The color of it suddenly changed as it became the control screen of the internal database. He looked up and asked, "Your Excellency Black Star, do you remember the time and location of the data?"
Han Xiao nodded and told him. The principle then inputted the corresponding parameters and ran the search engine to look for related data.
Although they agreed to help, they were not going to let a Beyond Grade A operate their internal database, so the principal was assisting him.
Countless items flashed past the screen. After scrolling for a while, only one item was left that perfectly matched the parameters.
The principal exhaled deeply. "Found it. Looks like Harrofal uploaded the data; the time and location are both right. See if this is the data you wanted."
Han Xiao walked over and browsed through it carefully. Although he did not professionally study wormholes like Harrofal, he had related professional knowledge of it and could understand the coordinates. However, this set of coordinates was outside the star map of the known universe and had a very complicated set of parameters. Without a star map, nothing could be discerned from just the data. He would only know where it led after studying it.
"EsGod was so concerned with this set of data. Which corner of the universe did his doppelganger get thrown to?" Han Xiao wondered.
Confirming that this set of data was from when Harrofal banished the EsGod doppelganger, Han Xiao blinked and took hundreds of photos instantly, which were transmitted to Phillip's database. He then nodded at the principal.
"Looks like I'm in luck. I've already made a back up. Thank you for this."
The principal shut down the screen, and the desk returned to normal. He then smiled and said, "I'm glad you've found what you came for. I have one thing I hope to ask from you."
Han Xiao was not surprised at all-the Tyla Civilization would not help him for free if they did not want to obtain something from him in exchange.
"If it's within my capabilities, I will help."
"Haha, you're mistaken. All we want to do is for you to become an honorary professor of the Tyla Official Mechanic School."
That's it? Han Xiao was a little surprised. After some thinking, he then understood their intention.
As the one and only Beyond Grade A Mechanic in the Shattered Star Ring, if he became a professor at the Tyla Civilization's official mechanic school, the name of this school would be much more famous and would attract tons more students. Many Mechanic students would apply to study in this school, which would give the Tyla Civilization more talents. Furthermore, as a professor of the Tyla Civilization's official school, it somewhat meant he was on their side. The Tyla Civilization would benefit a lot from this.
Since they had just helped him, Han Xiao was not going to reject such a small request. He nodded and said, "Sure."
The principal was delighted. "Then I shall have my people settle it immediately. By the way, since you're an honorary professor of the school, I hope you can host a lecture here. Either tomorrow or the day after is fine. It won't take too much time. If you don't mind, I'll get my men to announce it within the school."
"Alright, I shall stay here and trouble you for a few more days."
Thinking about it, Han Xiao suddenly said, "By the way, since I'm now a professor of this school, why don't you give me a copy of the basic and advanced lessons of your school?"
The lessons of official schools like this were all very carefully authored. The fundamental textbooks would be quite useful for factions, so he could take them back and train the Mechanic Supers of the army in a systematic way.
Some high-grade Supers might not be good at teaching despite their strength... for example, Rey 'Forceful Education' Nold...
Since Han Xiao was now an honorary professor of this school, he might as well gain something from it.
...
The next day, the Tyla Civilization immediately announced in a very high-profile way that they had successfully hired Black Star to be the honorary professor of their official mechanic school. They contacted a bunch of galactic media outlets to spread this news.
Currently, many of the civilizations in the Shattered Star Ring were the Black Star Army's business allies, but being an honorary professor of a civilization's official school signified an even closer relationship. The first ones to receive this news were the various Star Cluster civilizations of the Shattered Star Ring; they were all shocked and felt it was so sudden. Why did Black Star suddenly get mixed with the Tyla Civilization?
The Purple Crystal was even more shocked. Never mind you sneaking into the Crimson Dynasty's bed, we can't mess with them, so we'll live with it, but how can you flirt with that shameless neighbor? You *sshole, did you forget I'm your origina... ahem, your earliest ally who has invested the most in you‽
Han Xiao's communicator was almost exploding from Ralph's calls, and he spent some time to finally calm him down.
This piece of news also shocked the many students in the Tyla Official Mechanic School.
Black Star is now our school's honorary professor, and he's going to do a lecture‽
How did that perverted principal convince Black Star‽
The students were exhilarated and honored.
Originally, the lecture was supposed to be carried out inside the building, but there were too many students attending, so the school decided to have Han Xiao give the lecture at the open central square.
As the day of the lecture arrived, the area was completely filled with people. There were absolutely no empty seats, and countless students even hovered in the air, riding mechanical skateboards. More than ninety percent of the people in the entire school came.
Most of the teachers and professors went to listen too-in front of a Beyond Grade A Mechanic, they were all students.
Han Xiao stood in the middle of the freshly built tall stage in the middle of the central square, looked around, and smiled bitterly in his mind.
He had thought that he would just be teaching a small group of students; never had he expected to create such a scene. Not only were there so many people here, but there were also even many recording devices around that videoed his every move. It was almost like a concert or even preaching.
Of course, he had no problem doing this. He did not even mind fist fighting with Heber in front of trillions of galactic residents back then, so this would not affect him at all. With his Beyond Grade A standard, he just had to casually share some experiences, and these students would be satisfied.
However, Han Xiao was not really used to this. Currently, the person who used lectures as core competitiveness was that old man Austin.
"Ahem, let's get started..." Han Xiao cleared his throat and started speaking.
...
At the Bloodshed Land's headquarters, Heber was confused. "Black Star went to give an open lecture to a Star Cluster civilization's official school? He's got to go to the Flickering World soon, yet he still has the time to do that‽"
Inside the Palace of Hidden Spells, Austin murmured with a strange expression, "This guy, is he trying to imitate me and form a Hidden Machinery Abbey or something?"
"Tsk, I hate Mechanics." On the Star Pupil Holy Race Mother Planet, Psyker shut down the screen without hesitation. He did not want to see Han Xiao at all. Every time he saw the Evolution Cube on his neck, his heart would ache... every single time.
In the Crimson Dynasty Diplomatic Building, Zoel shook his head and laughed. "Yo, this guy is doing it again?"
From the way he looked at it, Han Xiao was not satisfied with his current position and went to form alliances with more Star Cluster civilizations.
He was happy to see this as long as it did not affect the main business. The more influence the dynasty's ally had in a Star Field, the better it was for them.
As for the players who were at the Black Star Army headquarters, some also discovered the broadcast on the galactic channels. Word quickly spread among the players, and more and more players turned on their communicators to watch Han Xiao's lecture curiously.
"Huh, I thought the Army Commander has been in the headquarters. Turns out he went to another civilization."
"What's he talking about? Why does it sound like complete gibberish?"
When the many players were watching curiously, the Mechanic players among them were suddenly startled-a notification popped up on their interfaces.
_____________________
You are listening to Black Star (Lv ?) share his knowledge of the Mechanic class. Due to the wide level difference, judging INT and LUK... Judgment complete. You are not sure if you understood. 1 random Mechanic class ability has received 50,000 EXP.
You are listening to Black Star (Lv ?) share his knowledge of the Mechanic class. Due to the wide level difference, judging INT and LUK... Judgment complete. You kind of understood. 2 random Mechanic class abilities have received 120,000 EXP.
...
You are listening to Black Star (Lv ?) share his knowledge of the Mechanic class. Due to the wide level difference, judging INT and LUK... Judgment complete. With a flash of insight, you suddenly figured it out. 4 random Mechanic class abilities have received 350,000 EXP.
_____________________
All the Mechanic class players who were watching the broadcast were shocked.
"This is... imparting ability experiences‽"
The Mechanic class players were overjoyed.
This was the notification that would pop up when NPCs shared abilities or their experiences with the players, but events that gave random ability EXP were very rare. The Mechanic class players did not expect this at all; they had only watched the broadcast out of curiosity and happened to trigger this amazing event.
Very soon, this piece of news spread on the forums like a typhoon. All the Mechanic class players came to know about it and all went to watch the broadcast with excitement.
"Holy, my Mechanic class ability leveled up!"
"Is this a random event?"
"This is so much quicker than doing missions... damn, my [Intermediate Machinery Affinity] is at Lv.9, one level from maximum!"
"The Army Commander is awesome, as always!"
Leveling up abilities was always a bottomless pit of EXP, so the Mechanic class players were euphoric.
The players of the other four classes could only watch the Mechanic class players with jealousy.
It had been a very long time since Han Xiao had personally taught the players any abilities. As his interaction with the players decreased, many players had gradually started to forget the things he did in the past. This accident coincidentally made countless players recall that he was once a mentor.
Because of this, he became the recognized Top Mechanic Class Mentor!