by <unknown>
This was fertile ground!
Tsk, I risked my life to earn that small amount of money. Any random mining operation on a resource planet would bring me back thousands of times more profit. Why am I still a mercenary? Han Xiao could not help but silently curse.
Indeed, the most profitable way of earning was to establish a civilization!
After settling his mind, Han Xiao put on a solemn expression as he said in a stately tone, “Everyone, you have shown me too much sincerity. To be honest, the terms and conditions you have given me are quite tempting. I’m very willing to cooperate with you, but my Black Star Army is currently in its recruitment phase. After this recruitment has ended, I’ll schedule time to visit your areas to build a base.”
Hearing this, everyone agreed and began to chatter.
“No problem, we can wait.”
“Of course, we understand. We can sign the contract first.”
Han Xiao smiled. “Since no one has any objections, let’s fix it this way.”
Everyone present handed in their contracts, and Han Xiao signed them with some emotions in his heart.
In the past, there had not been so many good opportunities available for him. However, opportunities were knocking constantly on his door. This led to Han Xiao recall the words that Aesop had once said to him.
As long as you surpass Grade A, many powers will immediately offer up benefits to you. You will rise to the heavens with a single step and be at the highest level of the dining table!
Right now, he had only revealed a chance of breaking through Grade A, but this sort of situation had already happened. It seemed as though the old man Aesop had not lied to him.
Having finalized this business, the emissaries all heaved sighs of relief. This time, they would be able to answer to their superiors.
After sending off this batch of satisfied emissaries, Han Xiao did not stop but instead approached yet another reception room. He still had matters to settle.
The impact of his expansion this time was too great, so he had to meet all kinds of leeks every day, to the point that he was so busy his feet did not have time to be fixed on the ground.
The large influx of people that he had caused had to be solved by him, even if he was crying internally from fatigue.
However, everything would lead to extremely rich rewards, making Han Xiao satisfied.
Opening the door of yet another reception room, the people within the room looked over and greeted him as they smiled.
The occupants there were people who were more familiar to him, the great figures around Shattered Star Ring. This included the leader of the Dark Underworld Army, Underworld Feather, the captain of the Sky Ring Army, Gureja, and a few other Army Commanders.
“Brothers, it’s been a long time.” Han Xiao greeted them and curiously said, “You guys were being very secretive on the communicator. What happened for all of you to come look for me to speak face-to-face?”
The few army commanders exchanged glances before suddenly smiling.
The Sky Ring Army Commander Gureja stroked his steel- like bristly beard, winking as he spoke. “This time, we’re here to invite
you.”
“Invite me for what?”
“As you already know, the situation in the Shattered Star Ring is currently quite turbulent. With opportunities everywhere, it’s hard for an organization to completely swallow all the opportunities alone. I’ve already discussed this with these few army commanders, and we’ve decided to integrate the entire Shattered Star Ring and establish a Mercenary League so that it is convenient for us to participate in various missions between the Star System Civilizations. In such troubled times, we need to combine forces and seize this opportunity!”
Without waiting for Han Xiao to speak, Underworld Feather, who was by the side, lazily interrupted, “Black Star, with you being so popular recently, how about you just come and lead our Shattered Star Ring Mercenary League as the leader? Anyway, you don’t seem to mind having a lot of things to do.”
Gureja coughed and hurriedly added, “Her meaning is, since your current appeal is far greater than any of our Grade A Mercenary groups’, we came to you this time to recommend you to take the spot of leader and founder of the Mercenary League.”
Han Xiao’s eyebrows jumped up, feeling a little surprised.
This was one of the branch storylines of Version 3.0—[Shattered Star Ring Mercenary League]. The major mercenary groups had joined forces to integrate the scattered mercenaries of the Shattered Star Ring, establishing a large-scale mercenary league. The league developed and became a huge faction later that was extremely popular with players.
He did not expect the captains of each mercenary group to plan to make him the head, so he ended up getting involved in the storyline this way.
“You guys are really…” Han Xiao’s mouth twitched, and he raised his thumb. “… SO smart and insightful!”
Chapter 690. Three Years |
Gureja and the others got the answer that they wanted and were overjoyed. After finalizing the details, they left satisfied.
Walking out of the Black Star Army base, they turned around to look at the majestic base, and Gureja lamented, “Black Star stepped into the mercenary world less than ten years ago, but he already has such accomplishments under his belt. He is truly an amazing fellow.”
Another person shook his head and sighed. “Every individual capable of becoming a beyond Grade A Super has their own legend behind them. They are not characters that we can understand.”
“That’s right. He is no longer on the same level as us. Thankfully, we got to know him early,” Gureja said with a complicated mood.
In one of the corridors of the Black Star Army headquarters, Herlous and the three Volga brothers were walking and chatting.
“Have you heard? Three Calamity Grade Supers have joined us. His Excellency Black Star personally met them. They will definitely take on important roles in the army in the future,” the eldest Volga brother suddenly said.
“I know.” Herlous nodded with both joy and depression.
He was happy about the high-speed development of the Black Star Army but depressed that his own status would be affected because of this.
With three Calamity Grade Supers joining the upper echelons of the army, the competition would definitely get more intense, and Herlous felt a great deal of pressure.
Strength represented authority, and he still had not touched the Grade A door yet. His importance to the army would only decrease as time went by. There were already many mid-level combatants in the Black Star Army. If not for the fact that he was the one who had followed Black Star the longest, he would not have the right to be part of the upper echelons with his Grade B strength.
Herlous already felt that he was growing rapidly, but he was not able to keep up with Han Xiao’s footsteps and the high-speed development of the Black Star Army. He did not wish to fall behind just like that and thus became extremely nervous.
In order to train his body, he halved the time that he spent playing cards… It would be impossible for him to stop playing cards. It would be impossible in this lifetime of his.
“The Calamity Grade truly seems so far away…”
Herlous let out a sigh.
The development of the Black Star Army made many of the old officers lament at the speed of their growth. However, the wheels of history would always continue to spin, and Han Xiao would not stop because of this.
Han Xiao spent a full seven days meeting all the emissaries from the various organizations and reorganized the structure of the expanded Black Star Army. Only then did he have some free time to himself.
Han Xiao locked himself up in his office and took out a piece of paper to summarize the benefits that he had received recently and made a new blueprint for development.
The rapid growth of the Black Star Army had exceeded his expectations, and the original development plan was no longer suitable. With many organizations and Star Syste
m Civilizations giving him the opportunity to expand, it would be a waste for Han Xiao not to make use of them. As long as he made good use of this opportunity, the development speed of the Black Star Army would be increased by ten if not a hundred times!
This was an enormous harvest!
Han Xiao began to organize which opportunity would be able to bring him the largest benefit and how much he needed to invest. He made a simple list for himself and began to analyze it.
At the same time, he also began to grade his faction based on the different grades of equipment. He had two different grading schemes. First, current size. Second, potential for development.
The evaluation of the current size of a faction was determined by the amount of resources, size, military strength, number of members, influence, and so on.
The evaluation of potential was determined by networks, allies, scope of operations, long term benefits, development opportunities, and the like.
Han Xiao chose an organization to be the benchmark for comparison. He rated the Bloodshed Land to be at the orange grade in terms of size and potential. With that as a reference, he began to analyze the Black Star Army.
“Not including the players, before this large expansion, the scale of the Black Star Army was limited to a few Star Systems. Our size was around the dark green or light blue grade. Currently, it should be at the light purple grade. When Phillip recruits the second and third wave, we should be at the purple grade.”
Han Xiao mumbled to himself while spinning his pen.
“As for potential, the reputation of me being a beyond Grade A seed was an orange grade development opportunity. The secret war and setting up a bridge with the Purple Crystal Civilization are also orange grade. The contracts with the various Star System Civilizations are orange grade. Setting up the Mercenary Alliance is pink grade. Together with my own network and potential, the potential of the Black Star Army should be at the orange grade on average.”
Han Xiao made a list on the piece of paper and nodded.
As long as he was able to realize the orange grade development potential, the Black Star Army would be able to quickly enter the level of a pink grade organization.
All the organizations of the pink grade were famous organizations on the Star Field level. While they were still a distance away from the Bloodshed Land, they were truly super-sized organizations.
Han Xiao began to make plans for the various opportunities of development.
“With so many Star System Civilizations inviting me to set up a branch, this is akin to expanding my territory. All the newly hired manpower can be put to use and sent to these new Star Systems to expand our scope of operations.
“I can let a portion of them pioneer the discovery of resource rich planets to resolve the problem of our organization’s transformation. Apart from employment missions and war duties, we can also obtain more revenue streams by mining for resources.
“Hmm, if the manpower isn’t sufficient, I can send the people from Planet Aquamarine to make up the numbers and allow a portion of them to become galactic residents. Furthermore, digging seems to be the specialty of those worms. With my reputation in the Black Spirit Race, I should be able to find a large number of elite laborers.”
Han Xiao then put a tick behind the words ‘Star System Civilization’.
“Setting up a mercenary alliance within the Shattered Star Ring is also pretty simple. It will expand the scope of my operations and increase my influence. With the support of the other large armies, as long as I call for support, building the foundation of an alliance won’t be an issue. Everything else will just be a matter of time.”
Han Xiao very quickly came up with the new blueprint for development.
Putting down his pen, a smile could be seen on Han Xiao’s face.
After memorizing what was written on the paper, Han Xiao reduced the paper to dust with a single snap of his finger.
“When Version 3.0 is released, the changes in the Black Star Army will probably shock the players.”
…
The Black Star Army became bustling with activity, and after hiring a few waves of new members, the Black Star Army had almost ten million members. The majority of them were sent out to set up branches around the various Star Systems of the Colton Star Cluster, and the operations of the army expanded from the Garton Star System to half of the Star Cluster.
Han Xiao did not forget about the secret war, and after handling the expansion of the army, he went back to the battlefield and continued to fight.
After the commotion from his expansion subsided, the large wave of discussion about him being a beyond Grade A seed petered out. Han Xiao had already become the biggest winner, and the Black Star Army left a deep impression on the entire Star Field during this period. The fame of the Black Star Army had entered the ranks of the famous organizations within the Shattered Star Ring.
Under such circumstances, the Black Star Army was still the Floating Dragon Field Team in name. Floating Dragon remained silent throughout the entire matter, and with some people fanning the flames from behind the scenes, more and more people started to treat the Black Star Army and Floating Dragon as two separate organizations. At the same time, people began to discuss both parties splitting up.
The storm that Han Xiao had created had a long-lasting impact. More organizations began to participate in the secret war both openly and secretly, and the scope of the battle became larger and larger.
The secret war was a Main Storyline Mission in Version 3.0 (Crimson Tide). However, news of the secret war was overshadowed by the commotion that Han Xiao and the Black Star Army had created.
The war was still ongoing, and the Black Star Army continued to develop.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
Chapter 691. Successor |
In Ames’ palace, two people were standing outside the gate. One of them was Aesop, and behind him was a tall, purple-haired human lady. Her skin was a little blue, her face looked gentle and pretty, and she had alluring eyeshadow on. She was looking up at the palace apprehensively.
Aesop looked at the beautiful, purple-haired woman and said with resignation, “Vilna, don’t be so nervous. It’s just meeting Ames.”
“I–It’s my first time meeting a Beyond Grade A. What kind of person is Her Excellency Dragon Emperor? It’s rumored that she’s very controlling. Is that true?”
Vilna bit her lips and crossed her fingers nervously.
“Fake, of course! That’s a rumor that only appeared in the last few years. It’s to deliberately vilify Ames because Black Star… Sign, let’s not talk about this.”
Aesop seemed to have thought of something troubling. He shook his head and sighed.
“Anyway, Ames is very friendly. This is your first time meeting her since joining Floating Dragon, so leave a good impression, will you?”
“I—I’ll try my best.”
Vilna still did not have much confidence. She inhaled deeply and tried to calm her emotions.
After walking into the palace, Aesop got to know where Ames was by asking the guard. He took Vilna to an outdoor area. From afar, they could already hear the sound of energy clashing
When they got closer, Vilna noticed two people fighting in this open area, and three people were watching from the side.
She looked at the fight, and her eyes were immediately caught by the two sides of the battle.
Ames was personally training Hila, flipping the light green force field barrier with her fingertips, spinning in midair. Her black dress was blossoming like a lotus, showing her long, snow-like legs from time to time.
Hila’s face was cold. Her body was surrounded by thick dark red streams, and she kept attacking Ames’ force field, making loud bangs.
Ames maintained the strength of her force field at the Grade B level. Still, she controlled it extremely accurately and completely overpowered Hila.
“Stop for a moment. Someone’s here.”
Ames suddenl
y stopped her Esper ability and slowly landed on the ground.
Hila glanced at Aesop and Vilna, slightly frowning, unhappy with how her spar had been interrupted. She deactivated her Esper ability as well, and the dark red energy surrounding her entered her body. Then, she followed behind Ames like Aurora, who had been watching from the side, sizing up Vilna.
“Your Excellency Dragon Emperor, I’m…” Vilna hastily wanted to introduce herself.
Ames raised her hand and said, “I know your name. Since you’re Aesop’s friend, stay around and see if there’s anything you can do. I don’t have any requirements here.”
“0—Okay.”
“You seem to be a little nervous.” Ames slightly raised her eyebrow.
“Er… you’re the first Beyond Grade A I’ve ever seen. I’m your idol… um, I mean, you’re my admirer…” Vilna blushed and could not even speak properly.
“Don’t be nervous. Beyond Grade A isn’t a big deal. I don’t bite.” Ames smiled faintly and spoke with a gentle tone. She raised her hand and touched Vilna’s cheek.
Feeling the touch of Ames’ palm on her face, Vilna’s body stiffened, and she did not know where to put her hands.
Aurora, who was at the side, pulled the hem of Hila’s shirt and softly asked, “Sis, is this woman Floating Dragon’s new officer?
“Yeah.”
As usual, Hila spoke with very few words.
Aesop coughed and said, “We shall take our leave and not disturb you guys. I’ll take her to get familiar with the job.”
As he was speaking, he took Vilna away, who was still stunned, disappearing before the other three.
Ames’ smile slowly faded. She looked in the direction that Vilna had left from and kept silent with complicated emotions in her eyes.
“I heard this new officer is someone Aesop called over from another Star Field. I wonder what she’s doing here.” Aurora was curious.
