Boom!
A shockwave expanded. The two of them instantly started attacking each other. Their movements were extremely quick as they moved across the planet’s surface. Everywhere they passed, they would leave cracks and deep claw marks hundreds of meters long on the ground.
TIL
Boom!
Violent Pugilist flames continuously landed on Hadavy, shattering all the hills and forests around like a dragon crawling on the land. Disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis erupted. Hadavy was a hardening-type Esper, while Jotina was a Pugilist. Both of them were good at melee combat. The battle between them was violent and savage, basically just the clashing of muscles and muscles, like two beasts fighting each other. To be more precise, Jotina was attacking, and Hadavy was enduring the attacks. The battle would only end when the one enduring the attacks could not take it anymore or when the one attacking got exhausted.
The impact of a Calamity Grade battle was exciting and beautiful for most of the spectators, but in Han Xiao’s eyes, the movements of the two of them were like a slow-motion video. He could easily count how many times Hadavy’s skin rippled after he got punched.
With Han Xiao’s current level, battles of Calamity Grades had absolutely no suspense. Hence, he decided to look at the forums while occasionally glancing back.
Under the eyes of countless people, the result was finally decided after the two of them fought for a very long time. The surface of the planet looked like it had been hit by a meteor shower. It was tragic. In the end, Hadavy was victorious. Although he was covered in bruises and wounds, Jotina had collapsed from exhaustion first.
After decades of combat training, or rather, getting beat up, Hadavy’s defense was now extremely high. In combination with his two Molding Talents, True Damage Immunity and Low Strength Attack Immunity, there was not a single person tankier than him in the Black Star Army other than Han Xiao
“Haha, I’m the pillar of the army who His Excellency Black Star personally trained for decades. You’re still too young.”
Hadavy was very proud as he wagged his finger at Jotina, who was on the ground.
If not for his bruised face, this would have been quite convincing…
“Damn it!”
Jotina was not satisfied with the loss at all. She slammed the ground and created a crack dozens of meters wide.
She could not win the championship, which meant that Black Star would not notice her strength. Black Star not noticing her strength meant she would have less time to communicate with Black Star during the award ceremony. Less time to communicate with Black Star during the award ceremony meant it would be more difficult for her to build feelings. More difficulty building feelings meant the chances of her carrying out reproductive activities with Black Star would be lowered. As a new member of the army whose goal was to sleep with Black Star, she was extremely unhappy.
Han Xiao watched as the two of them were sent to have their injuries taken care of. He touched his chin and started pondering.
In my previous life, Hadavy did not reach the Beyond Grade A realm, and Jotina even died at the hands of Beast Ancestor, but now they’re both under my command. I’ve trained Hadavy for decades. His chance of reaching Beyond Grade A, well, isn’t zero. It’s just that his ability is too monotonous. Even if he does become a Beyond Grade A, he’ll probably be at the lowest level like Kohler and Beyoni…
As for Jotina, other than her wild and open personality, Han Xiao quite liked her.
In terms of just potential, the chance of Jotina becoming a Beyond Grade A was probably even higher than Hadavy. However, it would be basically impossible for her to reach Beast Ancestor’s level. Han Xiao felt that the limit of Jotina’s growth was probably somewhere around the level of ‘Star Slasher’ Viru, or ‘Tyrant’ Heber…
Not very strong but not among the weakest. As Han Xiao was reminded of Heber, he started thinking of him. Ever since Heber was defeated by him, he had been keeping a much lower profile and quietly growing in the Shattered Star Ring. Speaking of low profile, Han Xiao was reminded of Psyker again. He felt that this guy’s presence had gotten even lower in the universe. He might want to visit the Star Pupil Civilization some time. After all, he was now the Special Consultant of the three Universal Civilizations, so visiting Psyker would be totally within his duty.
While his thoughts ran wild, Black Star Cup’s logistics department entered the venue and started using tons of industrial devices to operate on this almost destroyed planet.
After a new venue was built, the host announced the start of the last final. Rivervale, Dynasty, Thunder Storm, and Gold’s teams entered one after another, greeting the spectators.
However, all the players’ eyes were focused on Gold, even including the other three teams. Clearly, they were waiting for their proof.
“Captain, should I use the Character Summon Card now?”
Fly Free looked around the entire place and firmly said, “Use it! This is the perfect time to prove we were not lying.”
The Mechanic player took a deep breath, opened the interface, and activated the Black Star Character Summon Card. Then, he enlarged his status bar and made it public.
Of course, as the interface was displayed, ordinary people would not be able to see it. Only the players could see the name of the effect given by this Character Summon Card.
Black Star Character Summon Card—[Billion Mechanic Empire-Manison)!
“It’s true!”
The players became excited. Some even stood up and made the other spectators confused.
Han Xiao floated in midair with his arms crossed and listened to the discussions of the players from the feedback of the cameras inside the audience platforms. He smirked.
After a while, many players calmed down and looked up at Han Xiao’s back view. All kinds of emotions appeared in their eyes. Originally, since this was the last final, it should have been the center of attention. However, many players were in a state of shock and confusion and could not focus on the match. The NPC spectators were as excited as usual, cheering for the four teams, completely ignorant of the emotional rollercoaster the Immortals were going through Han Xiao did not focus much on the match either and was looking at the players’ comments on the forums. The match ended very quickly. Dynasty was the winner, and Gold Team was the first to get eliminated.
Gold Team had exposed their trump card in advance, so as expected, they got focus fired. Furthermore, (Billion Mechanic Empire) was not very powerful in the hands of the players
yet.
The players did not have those high-level Mechanic abilities and could not benefit from the specific bonuses. Furthermore, the duration was only a short hour, so the most powerful production and invention abilities of this ability were completely useless. The only things the player could benefit from were bonuses to their Intellect, Machinery Affinity, and Mechanic ability levels. These were just the basic bonuses. Though strong, it was not so powerful it would immediately turn the tide. This ability was totally wasted in the hands of the players. Only peak Beyond Grade A Mechanics would be able to fully utilize the power of (Billion Mechanic Empire).
“… All the events of the Black Star Cup have now ended. Thank you for watching, and thank you, army commander, for attending the matches today. In three days, we’re going to host the closing ceremony of the Black Star Cup. The army commander will be personally congratulating all those who’ve achieved great results in the Black Star Cup. Ladies and gentlemen, see you then!”
The host then left the venue and ended the broadcast.
The spectators also left the venue, including the players. They kept looking back at Han Xiao while leaving.
Han Xiao smiled and watched them leave. He saw the players’ reactions clearly. He uncontrollably raised his brows and felt anticipation for some reason.
I would like to find out how important I am to the players and how many are willing to sacrifice themselves for me.
Chapter 1137 -
Die! Mechanic Emperor!
It was as if a tide of sacrificial spirit was sweeping across the Black Star Army players.
As the Character Summon Card was proved to be real, the forums temporarily became the intelligence center of Operation Saving Black Star. Many army players gathered in groups and expanded their teams here, making posts under Fly Free’s Operation Command Center.
Many senior players who had played since Version 1.0 had a sense of responsibility and faith; they felt they had to do something to solve the crisis of the army falling into the hands of the Mechanic Emperor. Crowds gathered, and even some professional players such as Frenzied Sword and Maple Moon took part. Operation Saving Black Star had become a large event held by the army players themselves.
Of course, there were also those with other motives among the participants. Some just wanted to make the news bigger, some wanted to show their loyalty so Black Star would notice them after ‘returning’, and some wanted to try to trigger hidden missions. The atmosphere on the forums was like a war was going on. Everyone thought they were making a difference. However, the majority were just rubbernecking and adding spices. There were not only Chinese players in the army anymore. There were also a ton of international players who joined only in Version 4.0. Most of them were just watching with excitement.
Even among the Chinese players, there were also some who did not think it was worth risking the time and effort they had spent in the Black Star Army and did not take part.
Everything happening on the forums over the past three days was witnessed by Han Xiao. Operation Saving Black Star had absolutely no secrets to him.
Although these players were planning on how to backstab him the next day, not only did Han Xiao feel angry about it, but he even found it interesting
At this time, Phillip popped out and said, “Master, hum… There are a few Immortals who want to see you. They said they have found out that the Immortals are planning a mutiny, so they want to report it to you.”
“Oh?” Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.
Traitors?
Hmm, come to think of it, since they’re players, it’d be weird to not have traitors.
“Tell them to come here,” Han Xiao ordered.
After staying for a while in the office, a few players in flashy armor came in. They were clearly foreign players judging from their IDs. “Yo, army commander.” An Ice Demon Race player who seemed like their leader greeted Han Xiao in a very hip-pop style.
Han Xiao acted like he had no idea. He looked confused and asked, “You said that the Immortals are planning on a mutiny? Tell me, what is this about?”
“Yo, here’s what it is. We’re all good people, but some Immortals are ambitious people. They’re not happy with your ruling now, so they plan to use a ridiculous excuse to incite the army. Wow. At tomorrow’s award ceremony, they’ll attack you definitely.” Han Xiao rose his brows. “What excuse?”
“From what I heard, they said you’re the Mechanic Emperor in disguise. Ain’t that funny? Hahaha.”
“Interesting.” Han Xiao sized him up, smiled, and said, “Got it, I’ll investigate the matter. If it’s true, you’ll all be given rewards.”
“Hehe, I’d like more Contribution Points.” This person was very straight forward.
Han Xiao acted as if he did not hear them. He waved and told them to leave. This time, Phillip reported again, saying there were more people who wanted to see him.
He did not reject any of them and patiently spoke to one group of traitors after another. Most of them were foreign players, and what they said was mostly the same, exposing Fly Free and the others’ plan and twisting their motive, claiming the motive of the mutiny was ambition. After sending off the last group of them, Han Xiao smiled.
“Some of these are pure opportunists, but the rest are probably the spies the foreign professional guilds have placed inside the army. Hehe, they’re trying to cause more problems.”
He had always known that there were spies of foreign guilds in the army, and this was unavoidable. The motive behind Fly Free and the other senior players’ actions was positive, but these spies definitely did not have positive motives.
Han Xiao knew instantly that these spies were trying to make the situation worse. On one hand, they wanted the Chinese players to be heavily punished, so the Chinese guilds would be affected too. On the other hand, they also wanted to reduce his trust in the Immortals so that the army players would receive fewer benefits.
Clearly, the foreign players did not care if he was really the Mechanic Emperor or Black Star. If he was the Mechanic Emperor, he would be alarmed, discover the mutiny in advance, and take action. If this was all a misunderstanding and he was still Black Star, reporting the mutiny to him would also be an act of loyalty. They thought they were killing two birds with one stone.
Without the forums, Han Xiao might have fallen for it. However, Han Xiao already knew everything about this through the forums, so he easily saw through these spies’ plan to use him.
Looking at these traitors’ satisfied expressions thinking their plan had worked, Han Xiao looked normal but was laughing inside.
I’ll let you guys laugh for a while and deal with you after the ceremony.
Han Xiao tapped the table and ordered, “Phillip, secretly dispatch the mechanical soldiers in the warehouse and put them around the venue, especially the VIP area, audience seats, and the news stand. The moment anyone attacks the guests tomorrow, arrest them immediately.”
This order was not targeted at Fly Free and the others. Their target was only him, and their motive was to protect the Black Star Army, so their plan did not consist of hurting the innocents.
However, there would most likely be some people who would use this opportunity to cause problems, damaging the army’s reputation by hurting the audience. Han Xiao was quite sure that only those foreign pro guilds would do something like this.
Han Xiao did not want to stop Fly Free and the others from ‘expressing their loyalty’, but he was not going to watch people with ulterior motives damage the army.
Speaking of which, Version 4.0 is in its middle stages now, about to step into the late stage. The national war will probably occur the same time as the Super Star Cluster Alliance battle, just like my previous life. I wonder if those alliances formed by player organizations will still be founded.
Three days passed very quickly. The competition planet had already been turned into an open stadium for the award ceremony.
The main stage was a large floating platform. Only the most important guests were sitting there. It was surrounded by many smaller platforms, where the audience, media, and the winners of various items were seated.
Spherical shields shrouded the venue, blocking the cold wind in the sky and unrelated people from disrupting the closing ceremony. The inside of the shield had a virtual screen that made the venue look like a closed theater.
All kinds of spaceships floated in the exterior atmosphere. The formally dressed spectators, guests, and contestants arrived at the venue on the carriers provided by the army, found their seats, and sat down. Very soon, the venue became crowded. It was a true festival.
Fly Free and his team sat in the contestant seats, looked around, and occasionally exchanged looks with the players on the same floating platform.
Fly Free’s shoulder was tapped. He turned around and realized it was the Rivervale team’s captain, Frenzied Sword.
“When do we move?” Frenzied Sword lowered his voice. As a real loyal follower of Black Star, he also took part in the operation.
“It’s still early. No hurry. Just like the plan, when it’s our turn to receive the reward, everyone just wait for my signal and move at the same time,” Fly Free said quietly. “How many people do you think will be with US?”
“Although a lot of people signed up on the forums, it’ll be amazing if even one tenth of them actually do carry out the plan.” Fly Free shook his head.
“Okay, we’ll be waiting for
your signal.”
The players who were taking part in the Saving Black Star Operation communicated privately. On the other side, there was also another group of people planning for a different operation.
On a floating audience stand, a player with the ID of ‘Winter Wolf’ asked his friend beside him through a private channel, “Are our men scattered out yet?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. Our men are scattered throughout the platforms. Some are very close to the celebrity guest seats. When those Chinese make a move, we’ll be able to act in the midst of all the chaos. We’ll definitely cause quite a lot of destruction.”
“Good.” Winter Wolf nodded and said with a low voice, “The Black Star Army faction is too strong. We have to weaken it. This is the first field operation our Northern Battlefront has carried out since its secret founding. We have to make it count to open the path for our national war plans.”
“Understood.”
At the same time, Han Xiao was welcoming the Beyond Grade A remote projections at the VIP seats on the main stage.
With his position and reputation, almost seventy percent of all Beyond Grade A members of the development union came to watch the event. They all sat at the frontmost seats. Han Xiao casually chattered and laughed with them.
As the seats at the venue were fully occupied, all the lights gradually dimmed, only leaving the main stage brightly illuminated.
Seeing this, the noisy venue quietened down. Everyone’s eyes were on the main stage.
Sylvia walked up onto the stage. She was not in her uniform, instead wearing an expensive and elegant purple bare-back dress. She wore light makeup, making her face even more exquisite and beautiful than normal. Her hair was tied up, showing her long and snow-white neck. Her silver earrings swayed lightly, reflecting light from the venue. The bright but not blinding light colored her stunning and marvelous.
The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385 Page 806
