The Legendary Mechanic

by <unknown>

  “I believe everyone already knows that the army announced a new system recently. This is the first step of the change. You’re all from my home planet and my comrades who grew alongside the army. The term ‘Immortals’ has a very important meaning to the army. You’ve all made a lot of contributions. Therefore, I’ve decided to give you more independence, and I hope you can make full use of your talents to achieve great things.”

  As soon as his sentence ended, shock appeared on many players as they exchanged looks. They were very surprised.

  This seemed to be the first time Black Star had called them Immortals.

  Before this, although they were working for the Black Star Army, they did not feel like they were very important. Although the outside world called them Immortals, their Army Commander did not seem to have said anything about this in any public occasions and had always been treating them like the normal members.

  In Version 1.0, the Germinal Organization had studied the players, and similar situations still existed. All the players knew the fact that they were immortal might pique the NPCs’ interest, but to most people, this was just a way to improve the sense of realism. They did not pay too much attention to it.

  Now, however, having suddenly heard what Black Star said, the players present all had a strange feeling as if something they had ignored for a very long time had resurfaced again—the fact that they were really special. In their eyes, Han Xiao’s image became more alive.

  Other than this strange feeling, the players were also glad to hear their faction leader Black Star personally saying they were important to the army. Many people were very motivated and felt a subtle sense of achievement and belonging.

  Han Xiao looked around and saw the expression on everyone’s faces. He suddenly smiled and said, “You don’t have to be shocked. Although both Hila and I are Beyond Grade As now, you’re all my people from the same mother planet. In this cold universe, we’re on the same side. Therefore, you don’t have to be too cautious in front of me. I have high hopes for you. Remember, the Black Star Army will always have your back.”

  Everyone was thrilled to hear this.

  From the same mother planet… that’s right, how could we forget that? We and Black Star have this bond!

  Seeing Han Xiao’s attitude, everyone felt that Han Xiao had become more friendly.

  Inside the crowd, Maple Moon quietly poked Frenzied Sword’s waist and softly said, “Why do I feel like Black Star seems to have changed?”

  “Changed? Haha, you’re wrong. He’s not changed at all!” Frenzied Sword was filled with excitement. “This is the Han Xiao in my mind, not that cold and beyond-reach important Black Star!”

  His voice was so loud that many professional players around looked over.

  “He’s right. How long has it been since Black Star has had close contact with us?” Second Prince murmured.

  “With Black Star becoming stronger and stronger, it has been very difficult for the others to come in touch with him. To think that he’s still as friendly and down to earth as he was in Version 1.0. Looks like he really sees us as one of his own.” Sleepy Winter smiled.

  Many people were discussing this quietly, while Bun-Hit-Dog focused on recording this moment with joy on his face.

  Han Xiao very discreetly glanced at him shortly and nodded in his mind.

  In the previous versions, with the rapid increase in his position, the opportunities for the players to come in contact with him had constantly decreased. After two versions, his image had already become cold and beyond reach.

  However, in Version 4.0, as the players would become much more useful, Han Xiao decided to be more down to earth and close the distance between him and the players. This would strengthen the players’ emotional attachment to him, which was a key factor in influencing the players other than profit.

  After all, he was a player himself in his previous life. How could he not know what the players liked?

  Seeing the players were filled with joy, Han Xiao coughed and spoke again, finally getting to the point.

  “The competition in the Flickering World has become very intense. I will be deploying some fleets toward the fourth exploration phase’s area to compete with the external forces. You can choose to participate. As long as any member of a registered subsidiary organization participates, the organization will receive more Team Merit Points depending on the number of members participating and will be allowed to build strongholds on the planets in the army’s territory. At the same time, they will all enjoy a thirty-percent discount in the military supplies store for all items.”

  As soon as he stopped speaking, a faction mission popped up on the interfaces of the players. Many players’ eyes instantly brightened.

  Not only would there be a massive scale faction main storyline mission but also thirty percent off in the faction store. They would even be allowed to build official guild strongholds in the army’s territory…

  Black Star really is the same old Black Star—a walking bag of profit!

  Seeing that everyone was excited, Han Xiao called an end to the meeting. The players scattered almost immediately and headed right to the military supplies store to shop. They still had the money they saved from the last version, most players had a lot to spend, their purchasing power was ample.

  The thirty percent off was a promotion method to encourage the players to spend. Although the players were focusing on leveling up, with such a big discount, they would definitely be influenced. This was to harvest the players’ experience.

  Han Xiao had stockpiled Mission Completion Cards for twenty years. He was now LV 307, so he would be able to go through his Promotion as long as he reached LV 320.

  The few Star Clusters in the fourth exploration phase would be where the competition would be the most intense, as well as the main stage of the conflict in the World Server between the players. This move also served to encourage the players to secure their advantages before going to the fourth exploration phase area, helping the army players keep their lead so as to avoid them being bullied by the foreign players working together.

  Allowing these guilds that had registered as official organizations to build guild strongholds was also a profit bundle.

  With their homes in my territory, the cost of them leaving my faction will be even higher.

  All ploys and tricks, I’m such a bad man…

  Han Xiao shook his head and chuckled.

  He led Hila out of the hall, and the two of them walked in the army while chatting. This time, Hila suddenly said, “Black Star, I plan to go to the fourth exploration phase area too, to take part in the army’s exploration in the front line.”

  “Are your hands getting itchy?” Han Xiao glanced at her.

  “Hmm. I’m not you. You can remote control your avatar while being at home. I want to fight with more Beyond Grade As, and now is a good opportunity.” Hila nodded.

  After reaching Beyond Grade A, her motivation did not disappear at all. Knowing that the difference between herself and Han Xiao was still vast, she wanted to become stronger.

  Shattered Star Ring was not suitable for sparring. Now that they had reached the Flickering World, it was a good opportunity to improve herself.

  “Alright, you shall take the position as the commander of the fleet. Just a reminder, dozens of Beyond Grade As will be fighting in the fourth phase areas. For a very long time in the future, that will probably be the most dangerous place in the entire universe. If you meet anyone you can’t deal with, tell me. My avatar will be following the fleet at all times,” Han Xiao said.

  All these Beyond Grade As were not there to sightsee; they were all there to fight for the profits in the new Star Field. Without Han Xiao’s restraint in the Flickering World, these people would have fought all the time. Not just Hila, Han Xiao planned to let his avatar be stationed there for a long term as well.

  After splitting up with Hila, Han Xiao walked to his room and opened the player forums, browsing the movem
ents of the players in the various Star Fields and enjoying the nonsense of the idiotic comments and posts.

  While he browsed the posts and relaxed, a new post was suddenly pinned.

  Han Xiao looked at it and his eyes sparkled. It was the first episode of Galaxy Times since the new version!

  “After more than half a month, it’s finally here, huh?”

  Chapter 1015. The Great Mechanic Han“s Control from Behind the Curtain |

  Han Xiao clicked into the post, and as soon as he opened the video, the two new hosts appeared on the screen, still one male and one female.

  “Players and friends, good evening, I’m Ah Wei,” the male host said.

  “I’m Flower,” the female host said.

  “This is the Galaxy Times, dedicated to sharing first-hand gaming news. Your gaming career is our top priority.”

  After the usual opening, the two hosts started the show with the usual awkward conversation.

  “It has been more than half a month since the start of the new version. The players of the various nations are all trying to adapt to it. Compared to Version 3.0, 4.0 comes with a lot of changes. Just a preview, the content we have today is very rich. We’re going to tell everyone about the way to play this new version.”

  “Speaking of the new version, that reminds me of something. I have a friend…”

  Before he finished, Flower interrupted him and said, “I got it. That friend is you. Please carry on with your performance.”

  “… That friend of mine had a ghost-related incident happen to him recently.”

  “Where did it happen?”

  Ah Wei replied, “On this one day, when my friend returned from working overtime, it was already late night. His family was sound asleep. He washed up then went straight to bed hugging his wife to sleep. Then, at midnight, he suddenly heard footsteps outside the door, and he…”

  Flower suddenly interrupted again and said with a strange expression, “Wait… what does this have to do with the new version again?”

  “Ahem, I was just looking for an excuse to start the topic. Don’t mind these details.”

  “… Go on.” Flower rolled her eyes.

  “I… My friend and his wife were the only ones in that house, so he thought a thief had broken in. He quickly got out of the bed to turn on the light, only to realize that there was no one else, and the gate was properly closed. So, he went back to sleep. However, when he woke up the next day and went to work, he realized that the gate was open slightly, but nothing was missing from his house. He thought that he had only dreamed about the previous night, so he woke up his wife to ask her if she had heard anything last night, to which she replied no. Don’t you think that’s scary? It’s definitely a ghost.”

  “Eat more greens and vegetables in the future; it improves mental stability,” Flower replied.

  “So, what would you do if you really encountered a ghost?”

  “I’d beat it to death, of course. Do you think my materialism aura is fake?”

  After this interaction, the two hosts successfully pulled the players’ excited mood back to regular standards, all turning from thrilled to poker faces.

  As Han Xiao listened through the awkward conversation stage, the two hosts finally entered the main theme.

  “Back to business. It has been more than a half month since the start of Version 4.0 [Flickering World], and the uniqueness of this version is already showing… that’s right, it’s the world server!” Ah Wei said.

  “Yes, after three versions, the players from all nations can now finally gather in one place and interest in the same Star Field,” Flower continued. “This is a major play style revolution. We can see that this version will be exceptionally boisterous. There’s the possibility of national wars happening, so it will be a giant battleground for the players from all nations.”

  “Speaking of what might happen, I recall the speculation we made in the last episode of Version 3.0. Back then, we speculated that Version 3.0 would fully open the function of cross Star Field traveling. Now, our speculation has proven to be half correct, only that we did not guess the opening of the world server.”

  “Due to the appearance of the world server, the Shattered Star Ring players now have two natural advantages. One is their geographical location, as these two Star Fields are next to each other, which means the Shattered Star Ring players can arrive in the world server earlier than the players from the other Star Fields. Another is that the Shattered Star Ring players have exclusive faction advantages.”

  “That’s right. Among the factions that the players are able to join, The Black Star Army is the only one that made contact with the Flickering World in the previous version. The players followed the army to participate in the first exploration phase of the Flickering World and built their foundations.”

  “Not only that, the Black Star Army has already become the strongest force in the Flickering World in this new version, apart from the dynasty. I can still remember the Black Star Army being the guiding faction for the Shattered Star Ring players in Version 2.0. Now that they have grown to become such an enormous organization, they will provide tremendous help to the Shattered Star Ring players in the Flickering World, giving them exclusive advantages.”

  “Nonetheless, I feel that there are two sides to everything. The Shattered Star Ring players who have such clear advantages might become the joint target of the players from all the other Star Fields.”

  “As for the play style of the world server, there have been many posts analyzing it across various boards. According to our conclusion, the competition in Version 4.0 might revolve around guilds. The players without guilds will have more freedom and more choices, but the efficiency in obtaining resources will not be comparable to guilds.”

  “The source of this is the system the Black Star Army recently announced…” Ah Wei suddenly paused, hesitated, and said, “Speaking of which, how many times have we made version speculations based on the Black Star Army’s actions?”

  As soon as this was said, the players who were watching the show started a rampage. Countless comments flew across the screen.

  “Too true. Everything starts with the Black Star Army. Without the army, the Galaxy Times wouldn’t even know how to do their shows.”

  “Ah Wei: Making speculations is easy, just see what the Black Star Army is doing.”

  “Trash show. Completely reliant on the army :)”

  “Black Star: That’s right, I’m the most handsome man in the Shattered Star Ring.”

  As the viewers started to joke around again, Han Xiao smiled.

  This compliment feels quite good. The benefits I’ve provided all along to guide the versions didn’t go to waste.

  Flower coughed and said, “Alright, back to the main topic. The Black Star Army is indeed an important factor when it comes to predicting version development. The core mechanism of the new system they announced some time ago turns guilds into official organizations in the universe and allows the players to become somewhat independent.”

  “The independent playstyle has always been unpopular in the previous versions, mainly because the conditions had yet to mature. However, in Version 4.0, with the increased maximum level, the influence the players can have as independent organizations has increased. This playstyle might become very important.”

  “The Black Star Army has led this playstyle, and according to what they have done in the past, this will very likely become the mainstream play style of Version 4.0, encouraging more people to create guilds.”

  “However! Attention to all players! Becoming independent through normal processes will require you to leave your original faction. As of this moment, the Black Star Army is the only faction that has a system of semi-independence. This means that only the army players can be independent while still getting to keep their identities as members of the Black Star Army! This is another unique and exclusive advantage!”

  “We still don’t know if this is one of the specia
lties of the Black Star Army. If the factions that the players in the other Star Fields are in don’t have this system, I feel that many foreign players will join the Black Star Army… Therefore, here comes the problem. If they become players in the same faction, will national wars still happen?”

  Quite accurate analytics, Han Xiao thought.

  This was a good thing for him. It would help to promote how superior his system was so that the players would better understand how amazing the army was, increasing the appeal of the faction.

  The show went on to analyze the possibilities of the world server in detail, as well as what was happening to the players in the various Star Fields. Han Xiao watched from start to end, mainly to see the movements of the players of the other Star Fields.

  Unlike the Shattered Star Ring, the players in the other Star Fields did not have a unified faction. They belonged to many different factions and were on their way to the Flickering World with their factions. There were also many solo players who quit their factions, mainly Americans and Europeans. After all, the love for freedom was in their blood and bones.

  The exterior factions that had players were worth paying attention to, but they were mostly small organizations.

  Small organizations were nothing to worry about. The Flickering World had way too many powerful organizations. The methods of joining them in Version 4.0 would increase drastically. The players would not be able to resist the temptation to join bigger organizations.

  Furthermore, some might even sell out their old boss in exchange for Contribution Points from the new boss.

  Han Xiao could recall many examples where players deliberately used small organizations’ names to mess with enormous organizations. They would then betray the small organization while bringing the small organization an undefeatable powerful enemy, which led to their doom. Afterward, the players would then join the new hostile faction with a higher position and salary, and this was the definition of completely shameless anarchism.