Chapter 416: Conclusion and the Next Stage of the Plan

The requirements are rather high. It’s very difficult for normal level 90 Mechanics to have 200 points of Endurance, and even if they do, it just converts into 8,000 health points. Wearing this and losing 3,000 health points will be losing almost half of their health. Plus, psychic abilities can easily go through the armor. But for me, that’s only one-fifth of my health, so I’ll still be very tanky when I’m wearing this. 3,000 health for 30,000 armor is completely worth it. Han Xiao nodded.

Void Dragon was the strongest combat suit that he could build at this moment. All the materials for it were used up, so he could not build another one. Be it toughness or damage output, it was top-notch in its level. The two core additional abilities were [Indestructible Toughness] and [Void Jet Spray]. The former increased its durability and gave it the ability to self-recover, while the latter had a very strong explosive damage and came from the precipitated magic inside the Void Dragon Bone. Although Han Xiao was a Mechanic, due to the uniqueness of the material, the Void Dragon mechanic suit that he had built could be considered half-magic and half-mechanic equipment.

There were quite a few ways to build self-recovering equipment through mechanic methods, such as nanotechnology repair robots, which required the high-class knowledge of the Energy Branch [Nano Energy], or to build it with shape-memory alloys, which required the Armed Branch ability [High-End Material Technology].

Speaking of magic... Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled. He called the three Volga brothers. These three looked very similar, and they were hard to differentiate. Usually, the oldest brother would speak for the three of them.

“Captain, what is the reason for calling us?”

“What kind of spells do you guys know?” Han Xiao looked at the oldest Volga brother.

“I’m a specialized mage in water spells,” the oldest Volga said. “My second youngest brother is good at shape manipulation spells and enhancing auras. My youngest brother is a Psychic. Actually, when the three of us were younger, we applied for the Phill Mage Academy, and only my youngest brother was rejected. I still remember that recruitment instructor said this to him. ‘Give up on magic, your talent is not suitable for it. To you, magic is like the Varisel Mountain; you will never be able to climb it’. Do you know the Varisel Mountain? That’s the tallest mountain on our home planet...”

The eldest brother was very talkative and could not stop talking. He diverted from the topic in the blink of an eye. Han Xiao was only dazed for two seconds, and the topic was already on how their first childhood pet died.

“Stop...” Han Xiao hastily stopped the oldest Volga brother, coughed, and said, “I called you here to enchant some weapons.”

He pointed at the machinery on the table as he spoke.

The three of them had no objections to the captain’s request, but their faces turned bitter when they turned and saw the machinery.

So many machineries... the workload was way too large.

“I wrote the specific requirements on paper, and it’s on the table. You can do it slowly when you don’t have missions.” Han Xiao waved and walked out with big steps, leaving the three of them there looking at each other.

The youngest Volga brother was very happy. He was not a mage, so it had nothing to do with him. He looked at the two older brothers with glee in his eyes and left joyfully. The other two looked at his cheerful departing figure and almost wanted to gift him a magic beam.

Theoretically, most inanimate objects could be enchanted, including machinery of course. Enchanting was also a career that the Mage class players had by default. In his previous life, most of the mages provided enchanting services to earn some extra money. Water-type enchantment increased physical damage reduction, and shape manipulation type usually gave bonus damage.

Han Xiao’s ability to enhance weapons through his mechanic methods was already at his limit, so he sought new ways to enhance. Since there were mages in his team, he might as well make full use of them.

I’m now level 95, five levels away from the level 100 promotion limit. However, the Mechanic main class is stuck at the class advancement requirement, which requires me to learn two high-end knowledges... Sigh, I have yet to even finish learning all the advanced knowledges... Han Xiao shook his head in frustration. His main class was at the fifth stage, which made up 65 levels. When players had such a high level in their main class, it would already be long past Version 2.0, and the next class advancement would only be possible to complete in Version 3.0, as that was when they could get their hands on high-end knowledges. Even in Version 3.0, the cost of learning high-end knowledge was still very high. They would basically only be exchangeable in faction stores, and the players would have to spend a lot of time farming favorability and money for them.

The class advancement that he had received randomly was quite difficult. Just advanced knowledge already cost him so much effort to obtain—high-end knowledge was even harder to get. The area exchange center in Garton Galaxy only had one high-end knowledge for sale, and it was a rather unimportant knowledge. Even so, its price was a hundred times more expensive than advanced knowledges. He had about a hundred thousand Enas in his account, but he would still not be able to afford it.

There were two difficulties with this class advancement requirement. One was money, and the other was channels. The former required time and effort to earn, and the latter required him to look through various galaxies in the Shattered Star Ring to find a seller. Very few Mechanics were willing to share their knowledges. Therefore, Han Xiao felt that he would not be able to advance class in a short time, even with his Floating Dragon Faction background.

There will be more promotion requirements once I reach level 100. I might as well find a new subclass first, level up to level 100, and take a look at the promotion requirements. If convenient, I can complete both of them together. The Secret Message Bead triggered three large missions for me, all related to Godora and DarkStar. I need to plan it slowly. It’s better not to make any moves before the next version... Wait, counting in the hidden mission from Aroshia, I have four high difficulty missions. Aroshia was very mysterious. She had awakened her Esper power to turn into energy, and it seemed like it made her curious about Esper powers. Han Xiao had told Herlous to teach her how to use her energy, and he also guided her himself sometimes. He realized that Aroshia was very talented and improved extremely quickly. She had extraordinary potential inside her like a sleeping treasure. Her power received fertilizer from her potential and became stronger very quickly. Han Xiao estimated that she would officially reach grade C within a month.

He opened the forums and browsed through what the players were up to as usual. He saw that among the Black Star Mercenary Group players, someone had posted the process and difficulties of the level 90 dungeon. This was the first time that any players had seen a dungeon that exceeded the level limit of the current version. This post sparked very heated discussion.

Han Xiao looked through, and only then did he know about what it was like inside the dungeon. He estimated in his mind, and from his experience, level 60 players should have a chance at slipping through the dungeon and completing it with a very low rating.

Bun-Hit-Dog released a new video again? He noticed Bun-Hit-Dog’s new video, the fourth episode of the Black Star Series.

Han Xiao was surprised. He opened the video and glimpsed through.

This episode continued from the last episode, the second half of the hiring incident. From Floating Dragon Island to DarkStar’s chase to the Dragon Emperor appearing. Bun-Hit-Dog still had yet to beat [Warfare: Power of the Dragon Emperor]; he had given up and drawn this image himself. Hence, what the viewers saw was a slideshow of a kindergarten child’s drawings. That, accompanied by Bun-Hit-Dog’s rich and emotional description, felt like a salesperson trying to sell a piece of cr*p while insisting that it was a treasure.

“... DarkStar’s mothership saw that the situation was very, very bad. They yelled ‘we’ve got to run’ then started running immediately. Ames stared at DarkStar and yelled, ‘Hey! No running!’ She then activated her power and grabbed Floating Dragon Island like it was nothing, then threw it at the DarkStar mothership! The sky trembled as the two of them clashed, and like an egg smashing against a rock, the mothership crashed down to the ground...” ¹ Bun-Hit-Dog’s description was full of ups and downs like he was on steroids. His tone was more excited than a salesperson, like he was casting a fight of the century. However, the image was extremely humble and poor—it was a black stickman throwing a golden ball that dragged a dotted line behind to represent its movement. The ball then hit onto a big patch of black, which represented the DarkStar mothership. A “BANG” then appeared beside the image, in bold and red.

This guy really is a genius... Han Xiao’s mouth twitched. As he expected, the comments during this scene were like a rampage, and the audiences’ desire to mock it was at its maximum.

Luckily, other than this scene, the images after this went back to recordings. The video ended when they returned to Juberly Hub, and the incident ended. The players only saw what was on the surface, so they did not know about the conspiracy DarkStar had, only Han Xiao did.

Other than the ‘images’ emphasizing the Dragon Emperor’s powers, another focus of the video was Black Star Mercenary Group’s new officer—Aroshia. Compared to her, the Volga brothers became transparent and were completely ignored. Following the craze brought by Ames last time, Aroshia stirred up another frenzy. Her looks were superior to Ames’ and were almost perfect. Although she did not possess the strength, power, temperament, and other bonuses that Ames boasted, she had her own charm. Her amnesia made her pitiful and mysterious, and most importantly... she had breasts, very big breasts!

Unsurprisingly, the war between the Flat-Chest Faction and Huge-Breast Faction broke out once again!

“The Dragon Emperor is very strong, beautiful, and has long legs, but... she’s flat!”

“Pale skin covers ugliness; flat chests destroy everything. Sorry, my love now belongs to someone else.”

“I don’t want to say this, but you people are really terrible. Your brains are filled with breasts, what’s so good about being big?”

“Big is beauty!”

These people were split between the Ames faction and Aroshia faction. Han Xiao was happy to see this. The more they argued, the more popular the topic would be. As a male, he would never get dragged into the argument anyway.

After closing the forums, Han Xiao started to think of the next step of the plan.

I have gone through quite a few big events this time and have been dragged into battles of a higher level, entering DarkStar’s sights. It’ll be best to keep a low profile from now for some time, accepting requests peacefully and stabilizing my current position. At the same time, I’ll save some money as well. He had been through quite a lot this time for the compression technology, so temporarily, he was not going to take risks. He had made a name for himself, increased his abilities, and also formed some connections. The partners provided many rewarding missions, so he decided to finish these requests one by one. There was no need to hurry.

Furthermore, the players played a huge role in his growth too. It was now only Version 1.0, so the players’ abilities were very limited. When the players grew again in the next version, the benefits that he would be able to obtain from the players would multiply many times over.

He returned to the stronghold hall. All the players were there. They saw that Han Xiao had appeared and all surrounded him. “Black Star, when will we be going for the next mission?” Frenzied Sword asked.

These players were fighting dungeons all the time, so they were extremely bored in the stronghold. Their faces were filled with anticipation.

“Pack up, we will leave today.”

On the way there, Han Xiao had accepted the hiring requests from his partner allies. The missions were not difficult, and their rewards were quite handsome. Before the next version came, he was preparing to only accept such missions in order to earn some wealth, strengthen his position, and grow in a low profile.

After such a huge event, they had to rest for some time.

The players were immediately revitalized. They picked up their things very quickly. Fifty armored warriors stood before Han Xiao neatly.

Han Xiao glanced at them, turned around, and walked outside with big steps. The players followed right after.

“Let’s go!”

...

Han Xiao had decided on the plan—accept requests from partners one after another. They were active in various star systems in the Shattered Star Ring.

After the heat from the Floating Dragon incident cooled down, the position and name of the mercenary group were slowly being built up in missions after missions. Their resume gradually became richer.

The Black Star Mercenary Group was busy accepting one mission after another, and nine months passed in no time.